"I'm Just Trying to Live!" ~ Tina Fernandez

Today was a great day!  Yes, we are beat AND sore, but we had a fantastic day with lots of exercise and nutrition education.

Be sure to check out our hike pictures from this morning's trek up Camelback.  This one was a lot different than the previous hikes.  On the way up we practically scaled sandstone rocks like Spiderman.  It was pretty amazing.  We had to first traverse a "craggy" trail of rocks and sand that led to the base of Camelback Mountain.  It was actually pretty dangerous in retrospect.  One of our guides, Kendall, took a spill.  He was very lucky not to bust a knee.  This hike was a heart rate monitor freak's (that would be me) dream!  So we start scaling this sandstone rock that is basically at a 65-80 degree angle in most places.  The coolest thing about it is that it is 'sand'stone and our shoes basically adhered to its' surface.  So, we were all spider-women scaling the sandstone wall.  When we were at the bottom looking up, I turned to Zach, our other awesome guide, and said, "so how the heck are we climbing it, where's the trail" and he said, "we are going up this way".  I thought he lost his marbles, but soon I was rock climbing.  It was awesome!

So, not too far into the 'scaling' of the mountain, (by the way, we are the first group in 6 months they would take up this way because of its' level of difficulty), we were talking about how much the climbing was increasing our heart rate, and Zach said, "I am trying to get a good workout", and without a mis-step, our Tina says, "I'm just trying to live!"  It was hysterical.  One of many moments that have got us laughing like crazy on this trip. 

The rest of the way up was just as hard.  I have a slight fear of heights (when the edge is close), so there were a few points that I just didn't know if I could turn around.  The scariest part for me is when we climbed up onto the highest point on the rock that is in the FB pic.  There was not so much surface area for the 6 or 7 of us up there, but I did it anyway!  It was so amazing and once again, empowering.

Standing at the bottom of the mountain, looking up, my thought was, 'well isn't that interesting, he thinks we are going to climb up THAT?"  For a second thinking to myself, he must have overestimated our fitness level, but each one of us made it all the way to the top.  Once again... SO Proud!  Love these girls!

So we did our treading class at 4:30 today.  It was freakin' AWESOME.  Oh, yeah, and it was freakin' AWESOME!!!.  You can choose a treadmill, elliptical or bike to do this class.  I originally picked the treadmill so I could kill it again, but then, our buddy, Kevin, and his wife, Candace start pulling in SPIN BIKES from the aerobics room.  I yell, "I am soooo IN!!".  So, me, Trish, Kevin, Lisa and Tina hopped on the spinning bikes for this experience that we had 'somewhat' of an idea of what it was, but NOT REALLY.

Treading goes like this-
You go ALL OUT (and I am not kidding, these trainers expect and follow through, with all-the-freakin-out) for the following intervals:

5 minutes all-out/5 minute recovery
4 min all-out/4 min recovery
3 min all-out/3min recovery
2 min all-out/2 min recovery
1 min all-out/1 min recovery
...
oh... and then our lovely trainer, Sharon (me and Tina want to take her home with us), gave us a surprise bonus at the end...
1 more all out for 1:45.

We rocked those spinning bikes!  So, my indoor cycling crazies???.... look for a treading class addition to the schedule, real soon...

Last but not least, I wanted to mention another breakthrough today... Joanna ROCKED the elliptical during Treading!!  She was literally sweating her butt off and giving 100% like I've never seen before.  Sharon even stopped at our table at dinner and told her how proud of her she was.  Really cool stuff.

Only 1 and 1/2 days left of workouts (however, I will probably do my own LAST CHANCE workout Saturday afternoon before dinner), and I have ENERGIZER BUNNY energy.  They said Thursday was a day of high energy and they didn't lie. 

We are all having a great time and enjoying this experience.  I am taking a lot away from this, not only for myself but also for my business.  I love what I do, and I love my clients.  I thank you for your confidence and loyalty.  I look forward to paying it forward.

Have a great night...
Trace