Don't call me "Grace"

So I'm not very graceful, that was proven today! I don't remember ever being into gymnastics when I was a kid. I think I may have taken one or two sessions, but that's it I think. Not enough to impact my life, that was obvious today.

Dave and I met at the park today for a Par course....one of the obstacles was one set of 3 high bars or pull up bars at various heights.

With Dave's help I was able to jump up and grab the bar, but the twirling over the bar was crazy.. I have absolutely NO grace or coordination. Well, bar #2 was a bit too much for me....I lost my grip and BAM!! on the ground. I felt really bad for Dave having to watch the episode, but there really was nothing he could have done to help me...I just let go too early. Needless to say, I only did the lowest pull up bar today. My tailbone is killing me right now....so I'm looking forward to a break after tomorrow.

It was a really hard workout and the entire time I was asking myself, "is this how the Ironman will feel?" I wanted Dave to tow me, but I'm certain he would have said, "no"....

"Grace"

I dedicate today to *Julie*

Okay, a little background....Rick and I own Sierra Adventure Sports and are friends with a lot of great adventure racers, who we happen to think are some of the best athletes around...So I know this chick (we'll call her *Julie* until I get her permission to chat about her) who is a Phx firefighter and a real bad ass adventure racer! Her arms are like ROCKS - I'm not kidding ladies, I've never seen anything like it. Can you imagine carrying around those hoses and stuff? I mean you really have to keep yourself in top notch shape in order to do some of the things these fire fighters do. Anyway, I told Dave that I wanted *Julie's* arms (he's friends with her too). After my workout today I had to sit in my car for a few minutes before I could turn the wheel. Does that tell you a little about my workout? Just a little? I use to call my biceps Fear and Retribution....now it's me who is fearful of Dave's retribution :)

The entire time I'm thinking about the Ironman swim. Upper body strength is key! Today's workout is dedicated to *Julie's* biceps...what an inspiration they are!

Training with Dave

So I pretty much knew what to expect with my trainer, Dave. This is not the first time he's kicked my butt into shape ya know. Last year he put the smack down on my ass, seriously. I never felt so good. It's killed me that I have not been able to train with him for so long, but we had just moved and did a remodel so money was tight.

Let me tell you about day one! When your trainer says, "meet me at Squaw Peak" you pretty much know that for the rest of the day, and day two you won't be able to walk. We are just approaching the first bench and he says, "how are you doing?"..."fine", I say (thinking no problem, I've been up this mtn a ton of times right), then he says, "good, this is just a warm up!" WHAT THE HELL!!!! I swear a little piece of my spirit jumped right off the side of the mountain.....weeeeeee, right over she went.

Let's fast forward a bit....did you guys know there were stairs at Squaw Peak because I didn't....yeah, about 5 sets of them! I had to go up and down 5 times in 10 minutes. Sounds easy enough right...meet me out there and I'll time you - after your hike of course! I did it though but just a tad over the 10 minutes. Dave says we have a good starting point. He's right.....I know that if anyone can push me the way I need to be pushed it's him.

Just about the time I could taste my breakfast in my mouth again I started thinking about my goal and what I was doing this for. I will not forget my quest for Ironman! No matter how hard this gets or how many times I want to give up.

Thanks Dave...I bitch a lot, but I love every second of it!