This Morning's Foolishness...

Two years ago, I started training for triathlons in addition to running. It was mainly a way for me to lose weight and get healthy, but somewhere along the way I really started to enjoy myself. Triathlon training isn't for the faint of heart, though, and I would often find myself sore and tired after a hard week of training. But it was a good kind of sore, one that let me know that I had worked my muscles.

In the "off-season" (every triathlete's dreaded time) we tend to go adrift without a race to focus our training. In order to prevent this, I work with a great trainer who keeps me on track. I meet with her every Wednesday and Friday morning for a strength training workout. My favorite part of the workout is the TRX. If you aren't familiar with the TRX, its is a deceptively simple nylon strap system that can kick your butt!

In my mind, I'm a much better athlete than I am in real life - I'm
faster, stronger and can accomplish acrobatic feats. That is the only
excuse I can come up with for the foolishness I found myself doing
this morning...my sleep-deprived brain couldn't separate fantasy from
reality.

My least favorite thing to do on the TRX is a plank. Your feet are suspended
in the air and your hands are on the ground while you try to hold a
plank. Its about 10 times harder than a normal plank and I find those
hard to begin with. But for some reason today, as my trainer was setting
up the TRX for me to do a plank, I said, "Hey, have you ever done a
plank with two TRXs? With your hands in one and your feet in
another?"

My trainer said, "you mean like an acrobat? No.....why, do you want to
try that??"

Me: "Yeah, I kind of do..."

So five minutes later found me straining every muscle in my body,
swinging like a trapeze artist trying to hold a plank. I managed for
about 5 seconds but my trainer managed to get a picture of it. She
ended the session with "I like this - we're going to do it more
often".

One of these days I'm going to learn to keep my mouth shut....