Working Out

This morning, Tom and I attended our last hot yoga class.  I don't have any photos because it seems inappropriate to photograph people at 6 AM when they are drenched with sweat.  My book group friend, Erin told me about this class which has been offered once free weekly to military spouses via an organization Healthy Body Healthy Life founded by Jannell who is also here working on her Masters.   It's a non-profit that offers classes, and info regarding fitness, nutrition and wellness.  Great recipes on their website as well!  Anyway, I had been several times and knew Tom would love it to help with his flexibility so he started going as well.  The studio is heated to 95-100 degrees so the warmth helps your flexibility and you're sweating out toxins like there's no tomorrow.  You don't even consider participating without a water bottle and towel nearby. Seriously we leave sopping wet after an hour class.  

Another friend, Sarah from ACSC does a runner's yoga class which is free on base a couple of times of week and then Erin has been leading a practice at her home once a week for a few of us.  They are all different but I have always loved yoga and have been grateful for the opportunity to have access to these wonderful practices.

I'm not sure what motivated me to commit to the once a month 5K because I am NOT a runner.  I have never enjoyed it and never got that runner's "high" you are promised.  Tom has, on the other hand been a runner and before we left HAFB had been involved with a personal training program with his unit that had really gotten him into great shape.  So I guess jumping on board the 5K band wagon was a way we could do something together, would be a good stress release for Tom and besides, I didn't have anything else going on here that would compete for my time.  As I've said, I've still yet to run an entire race without having to walk at some point and would still love to break the 30 minute mark.  But I've finished every race I've done and had my best time this past weekend.  I plan to keep this up.  

I also had my free personal trainer on base for a while but there were cutbacks and apparently the contractor handling that program was one of them.  I showed up one day for a session and he was gone!  He did reiterate the need for strength training for women "my age" so I've made it a point to keep doing that.

If anyone had ever told me I would do a Boot Camp I would have laughed in their face.  Tom started doing this back in the Fall but had to stop when he had his eye surgery and then he started training for the Triathlon so he had a different training schedule.  He had suggested I do it as well, but made a point of telling me it was very difficult.  That was enough to make me not want to do it!

Then I met some of the people from the class at the 5K's we were doing and Karen (who is the non-tiny girl in this pix) convinced me that if she could do it, I could do it.  Hence, since April I've been going across the street from 5-6 AM three days a week.  And it has KICKED MY BUTT!     Chris Day is our trainer and is a great motivator!  He's always encouraging without letting you slack off.

The workout goes something like this:  We start inside with 30 minutes of warm up by running in place, weights,  push ups, planks, lunges, squats....that kind of stuff.

Then we go outside where we do bear crawls (on all fours) or run up this hill....

Once we're at the top we do push-ups or dips along the curb of the road before more running.......

We may run laps around the adjoining buildings, or sometimes we run to the Megaplex Theatre and run up and down their stairs, or maybe the big field between two restaurants where we do MORE running exercises, but often we run to Lowe's parking lot where we do sprints, push ups, bunny hops and plenty of other annoying things.

Then we run back to Fitness South where we begin our "stations".  In groups of 3-4 we move from station to station.  The time at each is based on how long it takes the "tire-pulling" group to get through their station.  When I first started, I couldn't do the tire pull on my own.  We have to pull it the length of the parking lot and that sucker is heavy!  Finally by the end of April I was able to do it without any assistance!

The others who are doing their stations along the wall become your cheering section!

We carry sandbags, jump rope, dead lift weights, do crunches, hold a plank while someone else jumps over us, run obstacle courses.....

.......take these giant tires and flip them down the parking lot....or there was the one time he had each team CARRY ONE to Lowe's parking lot!!!
Finally we go back inside to do a 5 minute stretch and cool down and yes, after all that, I'm always thrilled that I actually got up to do it.  I love that by 6 AM my workout is off my checklist.  I definitely feel stronger, and even though it's still hard......it's a GOOD hard and well worth the effort.  Everyone struggles but you're only competing with yourself and trying to get better and stronger.  Tom started back up this week (it even kicks HIS butt) and we'll keep going until we leave Alabama which looks like the middle of June.

Yes, this big ol' truck tire!

Good-bye Atlanta

 Given our earlier experience, we got up early, had breakfast at the hotel, loaded the car, checked out and walked to be at the Georgia Aquarium first thing.  Got there about 8:45 for a 10AM opening, but because it was a holiday they opened up at 9AM.  Yippee!  Worked out great!

 Got to touch these little Bonnehead sharks, see these creepy Lion fish that have found their way into our seas and are real bad guys.....

 Watched these guys cleaning the window with a scraper inch by inch...

 and got to watch them feed the whale sharks.  This display was just huge and I could have stayed there for hours!  Next we went in to see the Dolphin Tales show (no photos) which was a musical production with singing, swimming, and dolphins doing all kinds of cool things.  When we came out of that show, the aquarium was packed so fortunately we had seen everything and were ready to head out of town.

 Tracked down the LDS temple before we left and since I was craving something healthy, we actually stopped nearby at another chain (Sweet Tomatoes) so I could get a salad.  Of course, all the bread, soup and dessert that also comes with it wasn't that healthy but I really wanted some veggies.  We ate a whole lotta deep fried on this trip!

The drive home was uneventful and we finished listening to Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography.  The man may have been a genius and his products are elegant and intuitive, but as a decent human being...he was really pretty much a jerk.

Atlanta Day 3

 So our plan was to hit the Georgia Aquarium after sleeping in but when we got there the lines were crazy so we opted to be flexible.  We went to Underground Atlanta which didn't open until noon so we wandered the streets looking at cool old churches and any other building that appealed to me and snapped some pix of the capitol.

 Headed back to the Underground which was frankly a little run down looking with some shops and such.  Several places for band to play so it's probably a little more happening at night.

 We did stop and listen what looked to be a family band that was playing jazz.  They had a tip jar out and were selling their cd's for $5.  Seemed like a good investment.

 Next on the list was the High Museum of Art.  I must say Tom was being a very good sport as this probably wouldn't be on his list of "must do" while in the city.  Again, not a big fan of the modern stuff but I do love the European and early American art.

Love just about anything with Mary and the Christ Child

How to best frame a photograph

 And yeah, it does appear that there might be a theme in my "likes'.....

Sigh....stained glass

Loved these colors and yes, this should be in the Swan House we saw yesterday

 This solid black building was right outside the museum and looked like something from a Batman movie. Cool!

We headed to Atlantic Station to see what it was and what it was was a great shopping area with awesome stores including H&M where I've ALWAYS wanted to go yet have never been near to one.  I've been trying to find a jacket to wear to the graduation ball with a dress I already have and within 5 minutes in H&M found one I loved!  Man, I could have shopped in that place for hours if it wasn't for the 50,000 other shoppers in there!  Made my purchase then Tom and I sat outside and had Italian Ice and people watched for awhile in an area called Central Park.  Great complex!


 We headed back to the hotel to rest up and make some decisions about the evening.  We had talked about hitting an 8 PM Atlanta Braves game but Tom found a comedy club that started at 7 so we opted for the earlier entertainment.  It was in The Laughing Skull Comedy Lounge which was in the back of this restaurant.  Not sure why comedy clubs are always tucked back in some very small square footage as an afterthought but that seems to be the trend.  We saw Morgan Murphy who was very funny but like most comedians was a little coarse sometimes.  The warm up guys weren't funny at all so that was a little disappointing.  We walked the neighborhood afterwards and stopped at one restaurant but left without ordering because nothing really spoke to me.  We were tired so just grabbed a quick bite at Five Guys and yes, if you know Tom and his "we don't eat at chains while on vacation" vow you would know this is a big deal.