Week one...DOWN

Well we've all made it through our first week of competition.  It was a great week in some aspects and a very difficult week in others.  I'll get into all of that as I go through things here.  The bottom line is that I have discovered quite a bit about myself this week, and I really like what I'm beginning to learn.  I miss being an athlete, I didn't realize how much I missed it, and I'm determined to get back to that level again.

So I'll start with the laundry list of activities that I did this week by day of the week.  I'm expecting this to increase as time goes on and my body gets stronger, but I do believe that I pushed myself quite a bit this week.  It's interesting to flip your schedule...going to bed around 8 or 8:30 p.m. and getting up at 4:00 a.m.  It's a different feeling in its entirety, and a good feeling, not one that I was sure I would like.

Monday AM - First workout with our trainer Andi and then an additional 45 mins on the ArcTrainer
Monday PM - Line Dancing at Southside (This was a blast by the way, it's like club line dancing like the Cupid Shuffle.  It was a HECK of a workout!  I must have burned a bajillion calories!!)

Tuesday AM - Water Aerobics with some of the Purple Team members at Swift Creek and then an additional 20 minutes of lap swimming (I'd forgotten how much work that was!)
Tuesday PM - Zumba at Southside

Wednesday AM - Group workout with Andi and then an additional 30 minutes on the ArcTrainer and a full Upper body weight circuit (biceps, triceps, lats, shoulders, chest, etc. which took about an hour)

Thursday AM - Water Aerobics again at Swift Creek and some lap swimming

Friday AM - Group workout with Andi and then an additional 30 minutes on the ArcTrainer
Friday PM - Full lower body workout with a friend at Southside (quads, hamstrings, inner and outer thighs)

Then this weekend I have the following planned:

Saturday PM - Gentle Yoga and perhaps some cardio with a friend at Southside
Sunday PM - Line dancing with most of the Purple Team group at Short Pump

Then we'll get back to the regular grind on Monday.  I plan on uploading my armband data tomorow evening so I will post at more detailed look at calorie burn then, but I can tell you that on the scale I'm down almost 10 pounds in a week.  I feel good, I feel younger, stronger, and more like myself again.  With that said, however, not everything has been 100% positive this week.

When you venture out on a journey like this, you immediately begin to see which people in your life will be positive and supportive and which will try to be the "Debbie Downers" that you need to get out of your life.  Sometimes those people are the people that you honestly expected to be supportive.  Sometimes those people are manifesting their feelings of jealousy through trying to bring you back down to their level.  Sometimes they are so frustrated with the path of their own lives that they just cannot imagine anyone they know making such a radical change and focusing all of their energy on finding a new path.  Whatever the reason, they very quickly can become toxic to the new journey.  Their doubt, negativity, jealousy, and irrational behavior can spread like wildfire. 

It is crucial to any person involved in a life changing journey to surround themselves with supportive people, and to do everything possible to ignore those who would try to bring them down.  In my case, it's extremely difficult to ignore some of these people, as I am very close to them.  However, I know that my ultimate success depends on it.

It's hurtful beyond explanation for me.  I really believed that some of these people, including some who need more help than I do, would not only be supportive but would want to get involved as well.  I was under the incorrect assumption that they would want to better themselves.  It hurts that they do not.  If I could, I would bring every one I know, especially those who really need the help, along with me on this journey.  It hurts that some people I really cared about have given up.  It's sad really.  Sad beyond words.

I think that at this point, since I have made the decision, and the commitment to push myself through the good times and the bad on this road, that all I can do is keep going forward and hope that as these people see the changes in me that they will eventually realize that if I can do it, they can do it too, and they'll want to join in.  However, like I put as my status on facebook a couple of days ago, I have "discovered that the new venture in my life (the BAL competition) is pointing me in a completely new direction in every aspect of my existence. I believe this is a wonderful thing, and those who are still around to celebrate it with me when the dust settles are those who I will be fortunate enough to call friends."

So here's to those that will still be around for me in six months.  You are my true friends, and I do not know what I would do without you all!  Love you guys!