Week Eleven, days three and four....

Day Three, Wednesday....today I went to train with my trainer in the morning, and realized that this is my second to last session! So only one more next Wednesday, and then I'll be off to San Diego and will have to re-evaluate the plan. I wasn't necessarily planning on doing the training long-term, but it is so beneficial that I might just do a longer session every other week or something. If I decide I can afford it, I would definitely still do it weekly :) Anyway, she worked me hard as usual, and after training I did a half-hour of cardio, 15 minutes on the elliptical (med-high resistance) and then did the sideways running/sprinting intervals on the treadmill for 15 minutes. Great workout!! Then I had the rest of the afternoon/evening off to do some appointments (I had my first checkup in 2 years! Yay health insurance! Now I just have to schedule that dentist appt....ick), get groceries, and hang out. Sooo nice.

Day Four, Thursday.....this morning I went to my Pilates class at the gym which was again greatly challenging and rigorously worked my core!! Eben said he would come with me to class when he is home on leave, so I am anxious to see how he takes to the Pilates...it can be very challenging at first even if you are in awesome shape! Then after that I did my day three running stuff which is 10 minute run/5 "strides", repeat three times. After my workout I went over to the massage place next to my gym and made an appt. for later in the day, something I have been meaning to do for a LONG time. It was AMAZING! And very reasonably priced too, with the discount I get for being a member at my gym. They have a monthly membership deal where you get a monthly massage for $42 and anything additional is $35. So I'm going to try to make that happen once a month. My masseuse also happened to be engaged to a Marine! What are the odds....so it was nice to talk to her about her experience a little...her fiancee is just at the end of his four year contract and is officially out in a few months! He was stationed in Hawaii for four years....yeah, I could probably deal with that!

Anyway, she said that with all the working out and training and the physical stress of my job, it would really help me to come in once a month. I agreed. And now that I am in the mindset of doing nice things for myself and my body, I think I can definitely make that happen. It was also just so nice, toward the end of this crazy phase in my life, to have someone take care of ME for a bit! I have just been missing that physical, caring contact a lot too I think. But, having to take my own care so seriously of late has also made me realize that I don't have to wait for someone else to take care of me, I have every right to say "I need a massage today" or "I need to get more sleep, thank you very much. I am tired." and to realize that other people have to respect those decisions. And to not feel self-indulgent or guilty for saying so. Because so often Eben would make me slow down, relax, comfort me when I was stressed out, give me massages, reassure me, etc...and now that he's gone I have learned to provide myself with that support, care and comfort...and to realize that that is not only OK but absolutely necessary :) Man I am just learning lessons all over the place. All good things....