Be careful what you wish for....

This weekend is a quick get away to the NC shore with my friend Kaye. I love the beach, I love the water, and being so far from the ocean is definitely one of the downsides of living in the midwest. I realized tonight this is the first time I have been to the beach (here in the US) since I started working with Gui and losing weight. It was amazing to me how different it was from my trip to Hawaii a couple years ago. That trip was so limited by my lack of ability to walk, the weakness in my right side, trying to get my body to cooperate, and my size. Today it was a piece of cake to walk across the beach, and without a worry or thought. It still strikes me every time I do something like that, I am far from taking it for granted and hope I never do!

In addition to enjoying a dear friend and the beach on this trip, I had set another goal for myself, to try to work out with another trainer. It's the first time I have worked with someone outside of my home club (Lifetime Fitness in Eagan, MN) and more importantly someone who hadn't worked with me from the beginning and knew my original limitations. It was a challenge both physically and mentally. I wanted to move outside my comfort zone of those I know and trust and also to see if I could physically manage the session.

I decided to work with "Murdering Meredith" she is the previous trainer of a friend and I felt it was a comfortable choice because she was a known entity but still allowed me to step outside my comfort zone.

I am really proud of myself to say I made it through most all of what she asked of me. There were two exercises that I really couldn't complete as she had planned, but other than that I did much much better than I expected. It was a nice measure of how far I have come. She lived up to her nickname quite well and kicked my butt, she definitely wasn't going easy on me, but I held my own and it made me really proud of the progress I have made! I'm really glad I challenged myself with this!

But what amazed me more than my accomplishment in the session was the unexpected lesson I came out of it with. I have never made a secret on here that Gui, while a top notch trainer, can sometimes be a challenge for me. He is a tough nut and not what one might term sensitive or sympathetic most days...he tells it like it is and calls me out on things when I try to find the easy way out. And for a while I have been wondering if that really worked for me or if I should be looking for a trainer with a "softer side". I now know that answer. Meredith was definitely that softer side trainer...supportive, calm and sweet. And the reality is...being paired with Gui is definitely much more my style. For as good a workout as I got with Meredith and as great a trainer as I found her to be, today made me come to re-appreciate the way Gui pushes me past what I want to do, how he kicks me in the butt when I need or deserve it and how hard he makes it on me at times.

The entire experience was a nice reaffirmation of how far I have come and what I need to have/do to keep moving forward.

Thanks MM for the awesome workout today and thanks Gui for getting me to here!!!!