Last Chance Workout

Today I completed what was probably the hardest workout of my life and survived to tell the tale!

I know what you're thinking- P90X, Insanity, Turbo Fire, Bob Harper's Inside Out Method, or Jillian's 30 day shred? NOPE. And I have done all of those, by the way. :P

It was a circuit from non other than Emily, my trainer. She created it last night and after completing it had this to say about it: "The best kind of workout is the one where you want to puke and/or cry halfway through, but you dig deep and find the motivation to finish." So well said, especially since during this workout I definitely wanted to cry and/or scream a couple times. Or just kill her. That is, if I could just catch my breath long enough to do any of those things. To have the sheer audacity to give me this crazy workout- to actually think I could do this? CRAZY!

Well, obviously she wasn't crazy because I completed it- 2 full rounds of this insane circuit that after 1 round I wanted to throttle her when she said "Ok, let's do that again!" Squats, lunges, cardio, abs and more cardio till I felt like my legs were made of lead....or jello. I'm pretty sure that if I'm able to walk tomorrow it will be a miracle.

The worst part of the workout, which was also the greatest, was the last 15 minutes on the treadmill. I never knew that walking could ever be so close to hell- but try walking 3.7 mph at a 10% incline and then you might understand. My heart rate was up the whole workout- but during those last 15 minutes of each set it stayed steady between 170-176. WOW!

There was a point, about 2 minutes into my second circuit on the treadmill when I wanted to quit. No, quitting is not strong enough. I wanted to kill Emily for thinking I could do this then fall over and join her on the floor. She recognized my change immediately and told me that I was hitting my mental wall. "Push through it, you can do this! Remember, you already did this once before." Of course, my excuses reared their ugly head and I was ready for her "Yeah, but I just did a whole extra circuit before this one....I can't do this!" She went right on encouraging me until I realized what I was doing- making excuses. I have come so far through this journey, and I was not about to let the last 15 minutes of this hour and twenty minute workout beat me. So I jumped the wall and kept right on going. It sucked and it was a brutal 10 minutes but I pushed through it!! When I was able to bring the incline back down and cool off I had a major endorphin high and felt like I was walking on air. Now that is a last chance workout! Without the annoying hassle of humiliating yourself in front of the country on national television.

I definitely owe some major props to Emily today- I have never in my life been pushed like that and gotten over the mental wall of a brutal workout. I've always just stopped before getting to that point. But, today I hit that point and pushed passed it. I'll definitely be sore tomorrow.... yet I can't wait to do it all over again! :)

What happened to the old Colleen? I for one, am glad she's taken a hiatus.