Day 8: Decemeber 5

I hope you live a life you are proud of. If you are not, I hope you have the strength to start all over.

Welcome back, Monday. Today was about remembering where we were a week ago. Struggling to wake up, tightening on hikes, blistering, and tired. Ok maybe I am tired again today but I have to say we are both stronger and recovering faster. Week two "stay over" guests and anyone staying beyond that are expected to fit in an additional 45 minute workout somewhere in their day. Here is our schedule:

0600 Stretch w/ Jake

0700 Breakfast: Turkey sausage, egg and soy cheese sandwich on a whole wheat english muffin w/ mixed fruit

0745 Hike descriptions & departure

0800 Hike: M.A.S.H. Site (Upper Bulldog: Upper meaning ALL uphill)

1115 Stretch w/ Tina

1215 Lunch: Turkey sandwich w/mixed greens (mini dill pickles were added to the salad bar today, AMEN)

1315 Lecture: Eating Out

1345 Open Gym

1430 Core Training w/ Katina

1530 Circuit Training w/ Tonia

1630 H2O Intervals w/ Katina (FREEZING)

1730 Dinner: BOMB.com Teriyaki Chicken breast, brown rice steamed veggie bowl and 2 dark chocolate dipped strawberries 

1820 Open Gym (went for about 40 minutes)

So every Monday we are reevaluated on our hiking group, they want to make sure that we are pushing ourselves and that we are pushed by the group we are in. We were with a large group today, 10 hikers, 4 guides. We went to the M.A.S.H set, yes you can walk through the location they filmed at but that was after we walked up hill for 1 hour. Tina, the hiking guide that pushed me 6 miles last week, had me trotting (jogging) up hill at 3 parts. I LOVE IT!!! LOVE IT!I also am finding that I am recovering so much faster than ever before. 

We are also working out and learning from former Biggest Loser contestants. Tara Costa (7) Arthur Wornum (11) Sarah Nittah (11) Courtney Crozier (11) Sione Fa (7)...they have so much to share with us and are working out right beside us. Sione has also been working as a trainer and instructing our classes. It is a reminder that this works. Know your calorie in take and MOVE YOUR BODY!!!

Looking forward to getting everything we can out of this week. Blogging is important to us, but might be a little bit shorter. Tonight we attempted the challenege of Jacob's Ladder. It is a ladder that moves with your weight and as you climb it moves and can get going faster and faster. The goal is to jump on during cardio intervals, Treading, or during any cardio class and stay on it for 2 minutes or longer. 

One last thing I wanted to make sure I commented on was how lucky Betty and I are with the support network we have at home. When we left home we were handed a wrapped package from our family with clear instructions to open on our first night here. So last week we opened the package to find large envlopes filled with letters, cards, and gifts from our family and closest friends. I must say that this was beyond what we expected. It is clear from those letters and from the amazing support on Facebook and on our blog, that we have people rooting for us, but most importantly we have also motivated and inspired others to get up and get moving. And that is the best response we could get. 

What have you done today to make you feel proud?