Change!!!

Yesterday I finally got to use one of the personal training sessions I got when I joined the gym.  Matey has been ringing me for about six weeks now trying to pin me down to booking a session.  Every time he's rung I've either been drunk, asleep or in a meeting (or all three) so finally he pinned me down  Over the last two weeks I have been running with Simon again.  I love running with him because he keeps me honest and pushes me in a way that is very subtle - and of course we are busy chatting and giggling and so if it is a bit uncomfortable, I don't really notice that much because we are outside and in the fresh air and having a laugh.  The other good thing is that his fitness is shite too at the moment, so we are both in the "getting back into it" stage, rather than the "totally fit and could run for miles" stage.  Who am I kidding, I have never been at the I could run for miles stage...but you get the idea.  Anyway, running is fab, and the idea of a PT session was a bit ho hum - I wasn't all that enthusiastic, and just getting the time out from work can be stressful in itself.

So when I turned up to meet Matthew, my new trainer, I was in my stubborn little "we'll do this my way" mindset.  Hahahahaha.  So he tells me to hop on the treadmill and we can chat about "what I want to achieve" and so I let him have it.  No, we are not going to sit down and talk about my goals, no, I don't want you to try and sell me more sessions, no, you don't have to do an assessment to see how well I can do a clean and press and by the way matey, we are not here for a chat, I want to walk away feeling like I have worked out.  So lets get on with it.  Matthew had a little chuckle and asked if it would be ok in that case to just do some high intensity interval training.  I was over the moon at that suggestion and said, yes please.  So we did 20 minutes of alternating between sprints and walking on the treadmill.  So far so good.  He turned it up so fast I thought I was going to come flying off the back of it, but once I got into the rhythm it was really good.  Then he said we would do a weights circuit and so we did around ten exercises without a break, about seven times.  Which was all fine until I got the headspins and my eyes went funny and I went crosseyed and I thought I was going to pass out.  By this stage we were talking and laughing and were best friends, which is just as well because after my hoity toity start with Matthew it could have gone horribly wrong.  Anyway, I really didn't want to say anything because I asked for a tough session, but when my vision started to go funny and I really thought I was going to faint,  I had to ask him for permission to sit down and collect myself.  Which was rather embarrassing.  He was very nice about it and didn't bring up my earlier attitude but I did tell him "you win". ...  To which he laughed heartily.  Within about two minutes I was fine and we had a nice cool down on the tready and I have already signed up for next weeks session.  And yes, I really did feel like I'd done a good workout.  I have a new best friend.

The other really good news is I have now got myself a place in North Sydney to live during the week.  (And judging by the location, I suspect at the weekend as well....).  I've been grumbling about the commute for ages now....it can take up to four hours a day on trains, and to be honest, I get tired.  In the summer it really isn't that bad, but last winter was quite horrible, cold, windy train stations at very early hours, numb feet, smelly sardine eating commuters, you name it, it's happened.  It's fair to say that commuting in the winter sucks.   So - I asked my lovely employers for a pay rise - enough to cover a nice flat in the city.  And guess what?  They gave me it!  And so I have found a little apartment in McMahons Point (right on the harbour, with views of the Harbour Bridge and Luna Park from the windows) and I sign the lease next Friday!  I can't wait!!!  Walking up Blues Point Road from the harbour after I had viewed the property was what sold it.  It is right in the middle of a big busy city but it is so peaceful and quiet and the birds were singing and it just felt right.  So now I will have a ten minute walk to work and I can run in the mornings and go to the gym after work, and get about on ferries and catch taxis and go to supermarkets without trolleys and car parks and see what it is like to live in the middle of a big city as opposed to suburbia.  Can't wait!!!