Andrea, Amanda and MT are my Heroes!

Hello friends! I. Worked. It. Today. (<--understatement!). But allow me to begin with yesterday. (Yes, friends, you have a lot of reading ahead of you...) Yesterday was Hershey Park day!!!! I went with a group of 19--to include 7 children!!! It was super fun as expected. So fun even I almost forgot to add that it took us close to three hours to get there due to the amazing amounts of traffic and accident and that Sam peed in a bottle in the car (yup...that happened)!!! Yes, our minivan was rear-ended!!! Luckily, the damage appears to be quite minimal and the I'm-Sorry-Here's-My-Insurance part didn't take long at all. Here's to hoping Chris and Shannon's minivan gets fixed with little hassle to them! Also, I checked the internet on the drive up and realized that HP does not allow outside food or drink!!!! Oh noes!!! So, I altered up my meal order and such to eat the refrigerator-able stuffs first and the bigger (in volume) things as well, so I could stuff the rest in my purse--success!!! I found it surprisingly difficult to resist the food at the park. I wanted pizza and chicken fingers and hamburgers and kettle corn and ice cream and, and, and anything else I saw. But I did it! I only ate the food I brought! I stuck to the plan!!!! Success!!! I am proud of me. Very proud of me. Also, Nate brought Jasper (adorableness!) and when we met up with them, Jasper had picked me a flower...

At this point, I will transition to 4:40am this morning when I woke up to my iPhone alarm. Awesome. It was an amazing 4 hours of sleep. :) I rode a bicycle alongside Andrea, Mary-Theresa and Amanda as they ran 20 miles!!! They were amazing. I am beyond impressed by the amazingness of these women. Absolutely phenomenal. We chatted and exercised and I got an amazingly long view of the three of their backsides. They have impressive calves...I'm just saying. Now onto me. :) I am *SO* happy with the bike ride. Let me count the ways:

1. I did it.
2. I rode the entire 20 miles. Yes, I stopped from time to time, but I never walked the bike anywhere. I composed myself and pressed on.
3. I did it!
4. I burned 1708 calories over 20 miles in 3 hours, 50 minutes and 30 seconds!
5. Did I mention that I did it? ;)

Me on the bike:


(L to R): Amanda, Me, Julie, Mary-Theresa, and Andrea in the front. She has a gift for large group self-photo taking...clearly...:


Fast forward (through a drive home and an excellent nap and shower) to 2pm, when I went to the gym to do my strength circuit. At this point, I think I am crazy. I am really not certain if/how I am going to be able to do this. But...I have to try. So, I went in with the attitude of:

It's 3 sets of 12 reps on each machine. When it is done, it is done. I can do that little bit. Then I can do the next little bit.

And I did it! I did:

NO WARM-UP (completely forgot!!! Oopsies.)
FM Squats, 100 lbs
FM Chest Press, 25 lbs
Seated Leg Curls, 75 lbs
Compound Row, 75 lbs
Shoulder Press, 20 lbs
Bar Bicep Curls, 20 lbs
Bar Tricep Pushdowns, 25 lbs
Planks, 35 seconds each
Chest Fly, 50lbs
Techno Upper Back, 40 lbs

I really had to push through it. For the first time, I feel like my workout was something I had to physically push through. I didn't have that in TEAM. I definitely had to dot he mental push through several times, but never physical. I love this! (Not so much to do it daily...but it is a good feeling). I am not sure if Zak the Trainer intentionally had me lift after an insane cardio morning or if he didn't think it through (::wink::), but I will chalk this one up to his mad personal training skillz (<-- yes, with a "z"). I feel like ZTT is an aggressive trainer, and I really like that. I like feeling like I am going as far as I can. And I, of course, love the feeling of finishing what seems to be very difficult. I feel amazing right now! In pain...to be certain...but amazing!!!

So, thanks to Andrea, Amanda, Mary-Theresa and Julie!!! And also a shout-out to Filly who cheered me on before I went to lift! You guys got me through today!!!!!

Next workout, tomorrow (yowsas!). 60 minutes of cardio in zone 2 at an incline of 5.0. I will be working out with a gym friend, so that should be fun!