Death Camp by Brian

It was another day at Adventure, but little did I know this morning I would be blitzed by a near death experience I've never known before. For the first time ever, I would be walking through the doors of a Death Camp fashioned by our "Top Gun", Brian. ;)

Yes! Did you hear what I said? A fitness Death Camp that was like "death by design!" This was a cardio/ ab workout day. How can one fitness director be so colorful and creative in his torture drills? Oh my, he really can! (lol) ;) Just listen! :)

We started with drills on the ladder and cones. This was suppose to be a warm-up, but it was a full-blown workout for me this morning. He kept us hopping, and there was no time for loitering or strolling between sets! We were moving at a speedy enough clip that I could hardly catch my breath. This was interval training at its best. Somehow, it seems like the intervals are a little longer these days. What do you think?!

Giddy-up! Yep, I found myself working at full power to keep up. I guess I was still trying to catch up from being torched by Brian's "All-American Tough Love" workouts last week! Yeah! My resiliency for recovery likes to take its sweet time, so I was waiting for my body to catch up with my mind and spirit! (lol)

Yet, even though Brian bombed us with some very mighty workouts through the week, the "Velvet Hammer" came along on Friday and inspired herself to put the final touches on these masterful workouts. Umm, like whip cream on top of the sundae? Like I said in my prior blog, I thought I saw a vampire, and she squeezed a little more blood out of that turnip! :)

By Saturday, she simply couldn't resist sweetening the deal with just a little more hard core fantasia! There came the cherry and nuts to finish the deal. Wow! :) What a team player, huh?! (lol)

By last Saturday, I felt like an exhausted duck ready to hobble back to my nest.

So today, I could only wonder, "Brian, where's the love?" (lol)

"Show us some love!" He wasn't gonna hear any of that silly stuff! It was "tough love" for today, baby! (lol) And he held his ground!

I had to assume.........we were ready to turn the corner on this last month of Transformation, and he knew we were contending with all the temptations of the holidays. Of course he's gonna ramp it up! All for our own good! ;)

Aw, Brian you are so special! :)

So "Death by Brian" was imposed and strictly enforced for our benefit. When you have the propensity to gain weight, it doesn't take much. So the best way to handle this is to "start depositing money in the bank early, so when you need to make a few unexpected withdrawals, you aren't gonna go bankrupt".

Of course I am talking about pre-burning future calories so we never have to face a gain of more than 2-5 lbs at any point in time, even when we eat more than we should on a holiday or at a party. Its called planning for success. And this is what our lead trainer was helping us do for ourselves.

However, our trainer has told us in more than one email, sometimes we are winning if we can just sustain. Hold ground for a minute, then continue forward on our journey. This is not defeat. This is winning long-term.

Why is it so imperative to adopt such an attitude? Because many people can lose weight with the excitement of outside stimuli, rewards,when things are new, and the compliments and attention of many embellish us. But one day that will end. As people get used to seeing you at your new weight, it will no longer draw the attention and excitement as it does in the beginning.

Then it will be day by day monotony, and maintaining will come from the rewards of fitness, internal affirmations, and personal self-esteem. It will come from the habits we have developed for a long term healthful lifestyle. You ain't gonna keep that fantastic figure without being able to pace yourself and maintain reasonable expectations.

Maybe this is the time of year where for sure, we can continue to lose weight and inches, and make strides , but maintaining is not a failure either. We got to look long term. This is a process, not a quick fix race. Fitness and healthiness is a life long endeavor. Sometimes we can miss the forest for the trees.

So Brian ramped it up to give us that little extra winning edge! He gave us a chance to deposit a few extra bucks in the bank to protect us for the future. He is teaching us what we need to do around holidays to avoid our pitfalls. God bless that Brian! A death camp to die for. :) Heh-heh!

As for me? I think "Death by Chocolate" sounds like a better idea! (lol) What you think?!

Enough about the chocolate! Let's get back to business. After our little "warm-up", we started on our ab work. One of our ab exercises included planks....regular and plank twists. I have found my abs getting stronger and looking toner with the fantastic ab work we do. It is a process that has required time and much patience, but more than anything else, it requires faith. Trust the process! Now my abs are beginning to wake up and whisper to me.

Other ab work we did consisted of chop squats, penguins, ab rotations with the weights, and some exercise band work. One of these was the side torso, and we also did crunches with our partners holding the bands taut above our heads. This was a new one, and it was incredible. Trying to get my shoulders up from the floor was a feat!

However, the parts that took me to the gas chamber were his aerobic choices. Oh baby, The Brian did not leave anything out today that had the capacity to kill! :) We did variations of speed skater, wall taps, and jump squats. There was spit hops, step ups on the blocks, jumping over the orange cones, and running between cones, and even side line hops over the cones! We were also blazed with some mountain climbers to really get the metabolism blowin'!

To make sure there was certain death, we campers were presented with a treat of knee highs alternating with speed squats. The minutes felt like hours as I tried to stay alive going full throttle. I don't remember how many alternating cycles we did, but they were blastin' the fat! Brian took me to my threshold!

His workout was so noteworthy, that some of the campers wailed, others mumbled, some whimpered and groaned, and still more laughed as they tried to pick up their crumpled, dying selves from the floor! Heh-heh! What a sight to see! Most of us were all in this together, struggling to survive this work camp!

I laughed and teased some of my comrades to work a little harder to get there! "Come on, Amazing Grace, move it on out!"

"Hey, "Sweet Little Buttercup", step it up!"

Yes, the spirits were high and we all were elevating ourselves to meet the standards and expectations of our trainer. It seems we really can do more than we think we can.

Our trainers and coaches are our motivating forces of nature in our fitness world. Even more, they are like our angels, reminding us to be mindful of our choices and encouraging us to do what we know we are suppose to do.

I know I was uttering to myself that this was a death camp that was unmatched! But then "Sweet Little Buttercup" passed me going to one of the exercises, and then I heard it:

"Uhhh, (sigh) this is a death camp", she proclaimed incredibly as she curled and crumpled her mouth in disbelief, before rolling her eyes and breaking into a chuckle!"

"You got that right," I laughed!

Ha! I knew I couldn't be imagining this all myself! That was too rare and hilarious! Whether she had heard me talking to myself or she came up with it herself, for certain, I was not the only one that knew in my heart of hearts, this was "Death Camp by Brian" and he held us prisoners for one hour with no escape hatch. (lol)

Yup. Probably the best and healthiest imprisonment I've ever had!

And what can we all learn from our experience with our lead trainer? Get ready for more! As we enter into the last week of Transformation Contest, our loyal coach is gonna turn up the heat! The fire is gonna be a'blazin! :)

Be prepared for more exciting adventures in Death Valley led by our commander in chief and his fitness team!

the pinK tiger..........

.....looking forward to more "sudden death" experiences in "Death Valley"............:)

Pulsing Ourselves Into Glam Babes!

I always look forward to Brian's "All Body" workouts, because they rock! And today was no different. It simply exhilarated all my body and senses.

Kicking off the intensity blitz was everyone's favorite walkout pushups. For me, this is a killer for the shoulders when I have to navigate my clumsiness and extra body weight in this awkward position. I'm always hearing a lot of groaning when Brian includes this in his repertoire! I am probably at the head of the class. :)

Some other pleasures that were included for the upper body were bicep curls, military presses, triceps, and planks. We did a variety of planks, one of my favorite being the spider planks.

We included some bicycle crunches for a little zip. And on one of the circuits we did lateral raises with the exercise bands.

Look at the muscle groups we hit today! Awesome! I always marvel at the well-rounded components of any camp that Brian constructs. At Adventure, under our "construction manager's" tutelage, we are learning to rebuild and construct our bodies, brick by brick, into our own personal masterpieces. Watch it now! We all are gonna become glam babe magnets! ;)

We also did some multi-function movements, like the dumb bell lunge rotations that worked both the abs and legs. I especially like this exercise because it gives my abs a great workout when I focus on my stomach muscles and not let momentum do the work.

Its also fabulous because it is a 2 for 1, and lunges have historically been challenging for me. In the past with other trainers, I always injured my quads or hamstrings that took over a year to heal when I did multi-body exercises. Attaining the ability to do this without injury is definitely a winning feat for me.

This is just another reason for me to acknowledge how much stronger and fitter I am becoming from Adventure! This camp is simply "the place to be" for women who want to adopt the lifestyle of fitness, and reap the results from doing the work. All the work!

Now, as good as the upper body workouts are, they can't compare to the brutality of the lower body combinations, especially when many of the leg exercises are comprised of an aerobic component as well.

And for a Monday morning workout..........Ohhhh, what were you thinking, Brian?! O-M-G! LoL! ;)

I notice he never pussyfoots around on Mondays, but I wouldn't be mad at him if he did. It takes me a little longer to start up my engines than some of these younger puppies playfully frisking about! ;) (LoL) I need "ease-in" time, baby! Oh, Lordy! It ain't easy getting older! (lol) Whew!

Well, Brian did not spare us any slack, but I was up for the challenge. He may often come into the camp with a warm smile and friendly greeting, but I never mistake his personal charm with a charming workout! His workouts are never charming; they are unequivocal monsters!! His charm just makes them more palatable.

How can such an engaging person create such monster workouts, I ask myself?! Heh-Heh! This is the mystery and dichotomy of Brian Schiff! The man doesn't play when he he's out to accomplish a goal. Beware of this master in disguise! :) He will literally work your butt off in the studio. I can testify for that! :) Yup, the inches are melting off, one by one.

'Course, I know all you other fellow campers working with Brian's other team trainers are feelin' me too. The activity plan comes from our "Main Man" so we all get the same crucifying treatment, but I can't testify for anyone else's charm factor. I have had the delight of working with the Velvet Hammer. She likes to come in with her sledgehammer and break bodies with one clean swipe! Yikes! Hee-hee!

Ahhh.....that "Velvet" is no fuzzy, wuzzy!

'Nuff said. With the lower body exercises, we did everything from wall sits, wall runs, side squat raises, and burpees with jumping jacks. Ouch! Those burpees are a blood bath! They are the authentic boot camp warfare, military style! What do you think?!

What else did our trainer beckon our bodies with? How 'bout squat jumps, one-legged squat jumps, single squat raises,and one-legged wall sits for those who really want something to cry about?!

Oh "Mary, Mother of God", the class was dying' with those one legged wall sits! "Star", attempted to do one of them with a crossed leg because she likes to challenge herself. However, Brian pointed towards some of the fit elitists, and he admitted the tougher version entails holding a leg straight out and maintaining the position.

What!! Are you kidding???! (lol) My legs are getting bombed just holding the position deep and low!

This one-legged stuff really ups the ante! We did lots of that today. It is something I am coming to gleefully anticipate because as tough as they are, they are so awesome for balance and working all your muscles, especially the stabilizing muscles. I have observed that 95% of us need help with rounding our total fitness with better balance. Me included.

And of course, there is never a workout that doesn't include our coach's all favorite "pulsing".

I looked over to Amazing Grace and whispered, "Brian really gets in to that pulsing action, doesn't he?"

"Oh, yes......he LOVES to watch us pulse", she laughed.

Ahhhhhh.........its all about the pulsing! Pulsing squats, pulsing lunges, pulsing triceps, pulsing biceps, and even pulsing wall sits! Imagine that! LoL! They dance in my nightmares at night! (lol)

Folks, its all in the pulsing as Brian offers no mercy in tearing down the old and building the new. Soon, we are all gonna pulse ourselves into being glam-babes! ;) Just sit back and enjoy the burn, as he chisels us with his torch!

We were all blabbering with those pulsing wall sits. Hope we will be alive long enough to enjoy our chiseled figures! :)

Finally, as the workout came to an end, I had a chance to talk with a couple of my buddies and check in on what some of us are doing outside of boot camp.

A few of us are doing an extra boot camp on Saturdays to give us a little edge. I try to do this once or twice a month. And it will kick butt when you do 6 days a week!

Others seem to be doing a good bit of running on their own time outside of class. "Star" is one of them racking up miles almost daily, yet admits its much harder in the cold. She has advised it requires being more prepared!

The "Little Rocket" has stated that she has taken it inside on the treadmill. She's one of the BiG Dogs and training for races is a familiar activity for her. She will do several short runs encompassing 5 miles or less, and one day a week will do an 8-10 mile run.

Some profess they are going as much as 5 -8 miles a day. Wow-wee! That's a hefty schedule for beginners and whether beginner or advanced, you deserve many accolades for having the stamina, dedication, and resilience to muster such a consistent schedule!

I, too, have been doing a little running, but must admit the cold weather does not entice me to do something that I am still finding my way to love......especially when it is cold, wet, dark, and dreary. I think when my breathing problems resolve themselves and I can let go of my anxieties, it will be a new day for me and my running. I often work on the elliptical trainer for my extra cardio time.

However, I find this running phenomenon utterly fascinating and perplexing, because I have been to many exercise groups and classes and never have I seen so many new people decide they want to take up running. Perhaps its the magic of exercise and the group camaraderie at Adventure that drives us to a new level!

That's all for today folks! Thanks for kickin' it with the pinK tiger. We got a new day comin' tomorrow, so keep the energy torched!

the pinK tiger

I Think I Saw a Vampire

Good Morning World!

Wow! Brian left us something to remember him by, when he designed today's workout. He created a routine that included the shoulders, legs, abs, and cardio. My shoulders were still cryin' from Tues, and my abs, hips, and legs were moaning from Wed. My legs felt like they had worked out every day this week with 50 lb. weights. I was really tired. It took all my discipline to come in today, and I fell asleep twice on the snooze button.

But as always, unless I have no way to get to camp, I am compelled to come and fulfill my promise to myself, and maintain accountability to Adventure. I can't stand it when I miss my boot camp.

Now today's workout was even deeper. Brian decided to floor it! Naturally Brian's partner in crime, the Velvet Hammer, was put in charge to decimate our enemy Mr. Fats. This was gonna be an outright war, folks! Something about her told me she was out for blood.

I knew I was in trouble as soon as I walked through the door. Her eyes were shiny and gleaming; she looked like she was a cat that just finished gulping a mouse for dinner when she caught my glance. :)

She appeared to be such a sweet little thing! Yet I saw something deep in her eyes that warned me that this human/ creature was craving blood as her eyes danced with mischief! Yikes! What the heck have I got myself in to??

I had to rub my eyes several times as I imagined fangs growing from the sides of her mouth as she smiled and tossed her head back, laughing. Huh?! In fact, I think I saw a vampire peering at me from behind those bright black eyes!

It was! It was! It was a vampire I saw hiding under her golden blonde hair and fair skin. I swear!

At that moment, I decided I better get a move on before she sank her fangs in me and got a taste for my blood! ;) As far as I could tell, the Velvet Hammer was going to suck a little blood from all of us before it was all over.

We started off on the ladder as a warm-up and then did circuits that included lots of intense work, including some deadlifts and cardio.

Some of the things we did for our shoulders included the shoulder push up, reverse lunges with shoulder raises, and doing the exercise bands to work the trapeze muscles in the shoulders.

The shoulder push up is always a goodie, and most of the time you're gonna hear a lot of huffing and puffing, groaning and mumbling cause they are so tough! Our routine was strenuous, and highly effective.

But you know what, warriors? Actually I am thrilled. I have begun to notice in the mirror that my deltoids are beginning to rock! Ever so slightly, they are shaping into some really nice mounded curves. My transformation is beginning to take form. Wow-wee!

For the abs, there was no reprieve! We did spider planks, penguins, russian twists, chops, ab crossovers, and a pose typically used in yoga. We also had the opportunity to choose our ab exercises at least a few times. I usually like to do the bicycle crunches best, or some form of the plank.

This had tremendous variety, and I felt all my muscles working to failure. Think about how svelte we are gonna get! Look at that repertoire! What a premier ab routine!

This is another area in which I am beginning to see some changes. I still have a layer of padding to burn off, but my upper abs are getting toner, and I notice this when I get dressed in the morning. Whoo-hoo! When I take off another 15 lbs, I am gonna have some glam-abs and feel like a rockstar!

Then of course, there was a generous amount of cardio that required us to work our legs. And work we did! This was when I really believed our vampire was circulating the floor for blood! We did everything from wall taps, to squat jumps, knee highs, and wall runs. We did lunges that nearly killed me. I focused on every muscle group, making each rep count. The best in the batch was the squat sits. I even held a weight to make it that much better, and it was lethal!

As a last encore, the Velvet Hammer treated us to a "quad burnout". You know she loves those treats!! Yep, and this was serious, folks. We did each of the exercises in this group on one leg. Awesome for balance, but extraordinary for taxing the muscles that had to stabilize our weight.

Both my quads and glutes were blowing up after our sergeant buried us with that one. But I would give a million dollars for a set of quads like the Velvet Hammer! ;)

This workout had me psyched. The Velvet Hammer didn't disappoint. It was an extraordinary workout, and the combination cardio and leg sets were the bomb! They set my muscles on fire!

Finally near the end of our camp, I shook myself out of my vivid daydream, rubbed my eyes again, and realized that I was physically intact. I had not transformed in a walking zombie. No blood could be found at the camp. Wow! Everyone else appeared normal too.

As much as I anticipated the Hammer's fangs to pierce my skin and draw blood, I later realized it was simply a figment of my dazzling imagination.

When I woke up from my daydream, it was just our hard core drill sergeant deadpanning with glee. No fangs! I guess she really was not that vampire creature out to collect blood. Whew! Thank Goodness!

Still, the Velvet Hammer did squeeze the blood from our workouts........fangs or no fangs! Gonna have to watch her folks.

After getting such a premium workout, I was psyched enough to run 1.5 miles after class on Friday. Little by little, I am trying to increase my distance and stamina. And I am succeeding.

Tomorrow is Saturday. I missed our Monday workout, so I owe myself one. I guess I will come in tomorrow for more blood curdling action via the Velvet Hammer! Hope you'll be there! Nothing like getting "Hammered" on the weekend! ;)

the pinK tiger..........

.....gonna get "velvet" hammered..........

p.s. And I did! I was "velvet hammered". She tanked me! (L0L)

Deciphering the Silver Lining in Our Journey

Hello Friends!

Did you survive our best friend, Dirty Harry yesterday? Heh-heh! He came in with an encore, didn't he?! Ole' Mr. Fats didn't have a chance against our champion lawman on his quest to obliterate the bloat! Heh-heh! Sure glad I'm on his team.

We are approaching the end of our 2nd week, though it seems like we just started this month. I guess time flies when you're having fun and beginning to see your own transformation take shape, however slightly or dramatically.

Today was the last workout with The Brian until next week. We are going to lose him for tomorrow because of a convention he needs to attend in Las Vegas. As much as I miss Brian on those rare occasions he is gone, I think its absolutely fabulous that he is going to learn more up to date stuff regarding physical therapy & fitness that all of us will benefit from. It is vital that a leader in fitness and physical body training maintain continuing education to stay current and thrive on the cutting edge. And besides, there is nothing better than a smart coach!

I must say I was still extremely sore and tired from yesterday's workout! It was a monster, but I worked it as hard and intense as I could. Brian has mentioned in some of his emails and blogs the importance of recovery and knowing your body's threshold. I believe I am working up to that edge, but not getting stupid about it. Sometimes we can be addictive about exercise and not know when to back off. That's when injuries, feeling burned out, and even feeling a little melancholy can begin to surface.

However, I am delighted to realize some of the results from my hard work. My legs are one of my weakest body parts, so to be able to increase my weights and maintain my form is very satisfying. I am able to do things I could not do when I started at Adventure. However slow my results are coming, I can actually do full lunges, squats, jump, and do bunny hops that were totally impossible when I was a newcomer at Adventure BC.

Today Brian had us work on our chest, back, and arms. I always enjoy working my chest, and especially my back. Its time to annihilate those little pockets of flab that have suddenly redistributed above my bra strap! Arrrh! Things start changing as you get older, and I never know what I'll find when I wake up the next morning. Its not exactly a treasure hunt, friends, but its always a surprise when its something you've never seen before!

Some of the exercises we did to carve into some of that extra cushioning were figure 8's, line stepovers, pushups with our partner, and chest presses with the bands. Even though this was not a cardio day, we do a little just to keep the blood flowing. ;)

We did a nice variety of arm exercises, too, that included concentrated curls, cross-over curls, regular curls, and the all favorite tricep exercise with the bands. Brian helped me a couple of times to get my form correctly, and I always appreciate that immensely.

Though the triceps still remain elusive for upping my weights, my biceps continue to get stronger and stronger. I have gone from 5 lbs to 8 lbs, and now use 10 lbs. On part of the sets, I am able to handle 12 lbs weights.

Isn't that awesome? These are just more quantifiable measurements that prove to me that Adventure Boot Camp works!! Not only that, but I have had a few people come up to me and say I look like I've lost weight. Oh, it is so mighty nice to hear that! All I got to do is keep it up!

Although we are in the midst of a contest, I have not personally embraced this experience as a race. For some, it gives them an adrenaline rush. For me, I like to compete against my own record. I am quite content at making consistent, permanent, progressive strides towards improvement. I do not feel defeated in the least that my pace and weight loss changes are not as dramatic as my neighbor's or any other camper thus far. I need to stay focused on my own journey. Inch by inch, step by step, the pink tiger is winning with herself and making her own dreams come true!

How did I learn such patience and acceptance? Age and maturity, my dears! I have found that our expectations can be the root of our misery, resentment, unhappiness, and anger if they are not in keeping with you and the situation at hand. I have learned as I've grown older that there are things you have to accept, and some of them are the speed in which your body will change, able to exert itself, and recover. Our resiliency may slow as Mother Nature winds us down. The important thing is to fight back and stay on top of the mountain! This is no time to lose ground.

My body's ability to process changes has vastly changed since I was in my twenties and thirties. It has changed even more since I passed 52. Whether I like it or not, this is where I am, so I might as well enjoy the ride.

Expectations, whether positive or detrimental, can be our grace or undoing. I intend to keep my expectations high, but reasonable and appropriate. What you can accomplish in a month when you are 25 is way different than what you can achieve in a month when you are 55.

I hope all my friendly competitors and warriors out there will find their own understanding and silver lining in their experiential journey too!

Tomorrow we will be enchanted by the delectable Velvet Hammer! I know it will be a gritty workout, so get ready for the slaughter! Brian has worked up a routine for our shoulders, legs, and abs that should be awesome, and push me to my edge and threshold that much closer!

Regarding shoulders, our last shoulder routine on Tuesday was smoking! I'm still fatigued from that workout. And we did a lower body circuit on Wednesday that took me over the moon! Doing shoulders and legs in the same monster workout with a bunch of planks and crunches will certainly get my freak on! Bring it on!

I know the Velvet Hammer will delegate for Brian in a big way and make him proud. Are you up for the challenge? You know Brian doesn't say goodbye without a going away present! ;)

The pink tiger will be checkin' you out. Be there!

the pinK tiger......

....gonna get ready for the "Hammer".....

Dirty Harry Returns for Retaliation

Hello World!

Things are heating up at the Adventure Boot Camp! Today we had the most awesome routine there could ever be to gain that svelte, toned body. We did a mix of circuits that worked our lower body, abs, and of course, we got a generous dose of cardio that was out to blast that fat away!

Not only that, but our Dirty Harry returned to retaliate against the fat that makes us miserable! He wasn't playin' around. As experienced today, there was nothing he wouldn't do to get even with the enemy! :)

We did an intense variety of squats and lunges as the main features. Lots and lots of pulsing, folks! Yeeh-hah! You know what that does to your muscles and bum? My legs and glutes didn't forgive me OR Dirty Harry for about 5 days! Couldn't walk or even bend over, but I was lovin' it. I'm gonna trade these Big Mac buns for a pair of sweet babycakes! Just watch the transformation.

Some of the squats that were ordered to obliterate the enemy were squat jumps, one legged squats, sit squats (against the wall), and our all favorite pulsing squats. Was this Squat Heaven or what? Think about that. That's a lot of solid work that was ramping up the fat burn before the holidays.

I think as Brian once again morphed into our favorite vigilante against the enemy, he decided to announce to our unwanted guest "Ole Fats," that he was no longer welcome to inhabit any of the Adventure campers. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the enemy, real cold blooded like. If you know Dirty Harry you know he was itchin' for the opportunity to say those three little words! If Ole' Fats knows whats good for him, he better get out of Dodge now. Pronto! LoL!

Wasn't a pretty picture, folks. Do you think this valiant fat fighter was taking the shot gun approach? Yeah, baby. Poor Mr. Fats didn't stand a chance against The Brian! He was gonna get blown away on this day!

I'd say this was a hostile takeover.

In addition to the squats, Mr. Fats was eradicated with a full circuit of lunges, step ups, jumping over cones, and other cardio and leg exercises. To make certain that our detested visitor was not welcome, our crusader bombarded all that jiggly stuff in the middle with great ab work like side planks, push downs, and side bends. It was awesome!

By the time our hard core lawman blew the smoke from his gun, nodded, and drew a slow smile as he called it a day, I felt like I had The Special Reinforcement Unit from the Rangers surrounding all the pockets of jiggly that didn't stand a chance on this day!

I had chosen to up my intensity and picked up my higher weights, alternating between 8 & 10 lbs. Oh, baby! 3 hours later and through the rest of the week, I was sore, achin', and incapsulated in majestic pain! It hurt so good. I swear, it must have been Dr. Feelgood that left me his calling card.

Now, because the energy was high, the endorphins were kickin' in, The Star and I decided to run the mile for practice. As you know, Star has been running quite regularly, but I was grateful that she offered to run with me now, because, friends, it really does make a difference!

She set her watch and we leisurely ran the distance to complete in 9:34 minutes! Is that right? It just keeps getting better and better! Now all I got to do is hire someone to run with me when Brian times us for our final Mile Run! Hee-hee!

So this was my glorious day on this Wednesday, feeling confident that inch by inch, I was gonna make my way to the top. Nothing gonna stop this pink tiger! As long as I had plenty of patience, determination, support, and reinforcement from my allies, I was gonna win this war against Ole' Fats.

And with Dirty Harry on my side? It wasn't gonna be a pretty sight. Oh, not at all World. Before he swaggered out the door, he just crumpled up his mouth, pulled out his shotgun and mumbled under his breath with squinted eyes, "Go ahead....make my day!"

Ole' Mr. Fats should have known better. ;)

Until next time, this is............

......the pinK tiger...........

......gettin' ready to blow smoke from her gun, too!

Mr. Mellow on the Loose

The pinK tiger is back! And today, December 1st, was a great day to start my morning with Adventure camp because this was my Birthday. Oh, wow, the years keep rolling. I am beginning to understand how people really become confused keeping track of their age, because they simply stop counting! Lol!

When I came inside the fitness studio, there was a very subdued vibe going on. I didn't know what it was at first, but soon I knew.

Our healthy vibrant coach had been whacked by the flu, cold, whatever you could imagine, and he was indeed subdued. I felt so sorry for him! Its one thing to do a solitary, quiet desk job when you feel like crap and just want to pull the covers up over your head. But this job required you to put forth personality, converse with a roomful of women, and demonstrate exercise options! That requires a load of inner emotional resources that sometimes doesn't feel accessible.

I don't know about anybody else, but it was another testament to the dedication, the very personal loyalty that Brian brings to his job and to us as his clients. I only hope I can reciprocate equal loyalty and dedication to him by how hard I work in camp.

Today, Brian had designed a program to work the shoulders and chest. Believe me, it was unbelievable! LoL! One exercise we did was to lay on our side and tuck our arm towards our chest, and do a side push up. It was an exceptional workout for our shoulders!

We did some wall push-ups for the chest which I liked, and ran against the wall for some cardio.

Within about 20 minutes of the class, Sleek&Chic looked at me and said, "Wow, Brian's really mellow today, isn't he?"

Ah, yeah, he was not his usual dynamic, charismatic self, but I'll tell you what! Mr. Mellow kicked it up a few notches BiG time, regardless! He wasn't going to let us slack because he couldn't go full throttle!

Brian had us do a series of exercises going back and forth from high knees, to speed squats; High knees, then speed squats; etc.

Oh My God! Mr. Mellow is ramping it up and killing us! This was one of the most intense shoulder workouts I can remember doing. And he was floorin' the cardio portion with his special designer mix!

Well, what can I say? I sure hope you feel better Mr. Mellow, but what have you got in store for us when you're ready to do somersaults?!

Oh.......... My........... God! Then "The Brian" will be on the loose! :)

Mr. Mellow, you put this little tiger through a hard core Birthday workout that I will never forget. Gonna get some sexy and shapely shoulders. Can't wait till tomorrow!

the pinK tiger......

......lovin' that Mr. Mellow........

Gone Fishin'

I missed my 1st Monday back from Thanksgiving and I was bummed. Transportation problems can put a hiccup in your resolve. When I went to my car very late Sunday night, I was surprised to find a profoundly flat tire! I had no spare, and no one to help me. There was nothing I could do but call AAA in the morning.

The most unfortunate aspect of this time sucking incident was that today was the day for the Timed Mile and pushup count. As Brian has said, its all about accountability. Accountability is one of the pillars of success. We need it to keep us self-responsible. Accountability is very important to me because I believe how we "do" accountability is a reflection of our character and credibility. For this reason, guilt and anxiety gnawed at me.

However, I wanted to drop these nonproductive negative emotions from my response. I thought about the emails that Brian has consistently sent us that teaches us that though we may have to accept the situation, we can change our response to that situation. For me, that means I need to make lemonade out of lemons! I wanted to take this untimely mishap and spin it on its face. I was going to make something positive out of this aggravation.

The first thing I needed to do was get my mind right. So I thought. My most positive redeeming consolation was that on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, The Little Rocket, The Star, and I went around our mile path for practice and a little fitness bonding. Friends and readers, this was the very first time I was able to jog the entire mile without stopping! This was one of my milestones and I did it! Whoo-hoo!

Yes, I got winded, but with the great company and conversation that buoyed me, I was distracted enough to pull it off! We never timed our mile, but I have to believe there would have been some improvement in my mile run had I been timed. Ummmm..........success is so sweet.

I also decided to resolve this issue with my car once and for all. I was not going to miss another camp because I had not planned going forwards. With my car becoming frequently disabled due to ongoing flat tires, I broke down and bought 2 tires to replace the ones that kept causing me so many problems. Hurrah! Hopefully I will never miss another camp due to flat tires! Though the money was a real crunch for me, I decided it was time for me to set myself up for success regarding this matter; not failure.

Afterwards, I did my own version of a makeup class by incorporating cardio and resistance training like we do in camp. I worked on the elliptical trainer for about 35 minutes. Since I started camp, I have increased my intensity by 6 levels. I am close to being at my personal best about 3 years ago. I try to do something similar to the fartlek system on this. I alternate the highest resistance I can for about 30-40 seconds, then come down for about 2 minutes, maintaining a good heart rate.

And then what did I do next?

Hark!! I did my own little version of "Brian's Mini Monster Camp"! Hee-hee........well, you know..........it could never replicate our fitness guru's intensity and imagination for torture, but it worked in a pinch!

I did a succession of various squats, lunges, planks, and crunches, and push-ups. Then I took my exercise bands and did lateral raises, bicep curls, and seated rows.

I alternated with an interval cardio medley that featured more lower body work, including speed skater, line jumps, knee highs, and split hops. Whooh! It got my heart rate up!

I finished off with my favorite tricep kick-backs, skull crushers, and bent-over rows.

Not bad huh?! All I needed was to have a DVD of Brian instructing the camp through an entire workout. I could have popped that baby in the DVD player, and voila! Brian's smiling face and watchful eyes would have motivated me to even kick ass some more!

Then if I was lucky, I might have found some of those special high tech glasses to wear that would have made it seem like he's right there beside me in the room! Better than 3 D! It would have been a virtual reality experience for real! That is the wave of the future, so I know "the Brian" will be on the cutting edge! :)

Though I would have definitely preferred the real deal, it still felt fabulous. Like all great leaders, Brian has taught me to lead myself in his absence. One of his most significant gifts to us if we are listening, looking, and paying attention, is that he hasn't just brought us a fish for dinner. He has taught us how to fish and get our own food. How wonderful is that! Except, it just "ain't" as much fun going solo as when we all get to go fishing together as a group!

So for today, I decided to work some of that positive thinking and do things that could turn my day around to be a great day. Yes, maybe this car problem was a blip in my camp accountability, but now I have removed that obstacle from my future. And it provided me a practice run and demonstration of what I am capable of doing based on all those awesome fishing lessons I've learned from my coach and trainer!

I think I maintained accountability to myself and that made me proud. I know if Brian & Co. had witnessed my "Brian's Mini Monster Delight", they would have been proud to see how well they have taught me!

Well, that's all for the pinK tiger for now. The tiger's got to keep her groove on! Baby, I got fish to fry! :)

the pinK tiger......

.........fryin' lots & lots of bass, perch, walleye, etc............