Just Do It

It all a distant dream… my girlfriends and I went to Scottsdale AZ for a spa getaway a few weeks ago. Our flight left Vancouver, BC at 7:30 a.m. We landed in Phoenix, got the car rental, stocked up on snacks and bevies and were at the Princess Fairmont pool by 1 p.m. After a few hours in the blazing sun I headed to my first spa appointments; a sixty minute massage is just want I needed to shift into relaxation mode.

“Beep beep beep…” I pushed the snooze button on my blackberry alarm two mornings in a row. CC and I hiked Camelback Mountain and Pinnacle Peak. We figured it would be best to start before it got to hot. Jules was perplexed by the sound of alarm clocks on vacation. “Have fun girls, I’ll be by the pool when you get back.” she yawned waving from her cloud like bed.  By 9 a.m. it was well over 100 degrees but we persisted and kept going even though I was sweating profusely and CC was showing symptoms of dehydration.

The first hike was followed by coffee, a shower and breakfast. I had about two hours of R&R  then changed in my workout wear and headed out to the hotel gym to meet Charles the Personal Trainer for a session. I was strangely energized and ready to give er’. I was also curious to see what I’d get for a $89 +18% gratuity PT session. Twenty five minutes in Charles asked “How you feeling?” “Greeeeat!” I grinned. “Huh?” He seemed surprised then kept insisting I maneuver the most difficult variation of each exercise he presented me. Charles was really nice and was able to quickly determine how hard he could  push me. “You’ve been taught great form” he complimented. We talked about the hike I’d just done and I explained that overcoming the heat was the most challenging part for me. “Camelback is a small hill compared to the Grouse Grind” I told to him. “I’ll have to come to Vancouver and hike this Grouse Grind you speak about.” Charles said. The Fairmont charges $64 for a 30 minute stretch session so it was nice of Charles to include a 20 minutes stretch at the end of my session. He observed the same as every other trainer and massage therapist does “You need to stretch more!” he said. My review of my Personal Training session at the Princess Fairmont was A+. Charles was friendly, personable, knowledgeable and adaptable. If you live in the Scottsdale area or plan on traveling there and would like a good ass kicking I would recommend calling him for a workout.

The week we got back I was swamped at work and only managed to squeeze in one PT session with de Wolf and one climb up the Grouse Grind. Our first attempt of the year was executed at 6:30 a.m.  The only good thing about going that early is the lack of other ‘crazy people’ in our way.  de Wolf  suggested we go up twice but by the time I got my sorry butt to the top there was no way! “I’m not going again, not happening!!” I shouted.  How quickly I forget how hard this hike is. “How did we do this three times in a row?” I asked de Wolf reminiscing of the day last summer we hiked up the Grouse Grind three times in a row before 11 a.m. where I’d actually I finish each climb under an hour and he’d finished his well under 50 minutes each. To me that seemed impossible right now.

This week was way more productive.  I had two PT sessions where abs seemed to be the “core” focus; fitting as bikini season is upon us I also laced up for the first time in seven weeks and did two short seven kilometer runs. Yesterday morning after the best uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep in a very long time, I decided to attempt a real run. Out before 8 a.m. the sun was shining, Stanley Park was all mine as I enjoyed my new tunes and the great West Coast scenery. Nowhere near a record time I was still pleased to complete 17 km with ease after such a long running hiatus. So even though I haven’t been training and will probably not run a personal best I’m thinking of signing up for the Scotia half marathon next weekend. “JUST DO IT!” Right?

PT Girl xo