Breakthrough

After several days of scorching heat and humidity (typical July weather) we woke this morning to cool breezes and moderate temperatures.  Off went the a/c and open went all the windows.  Let the air in!

At the beach the air was remarkable; fresh and clean and energizing.  Which must be why agility training went better today than it has for a while.  I was actually able to pick up speed when we ran the rope ladder, rather than plodding through it, as I have in weeks gone by.  I actually passed two of the other women twice.  The agility drills we do consist of running up and down a nylon rope ladder which is laid down in the sand.  We do a series of ever-increasing drills that involve first one step in each rung of the ladder, then two steps, then steps inside and outside the rungs, as well as running sideways.  We do this drill for twenty minutes and it is then followed by marching, skipping and running forwards and backwards in the sand.  The sand makes balance and stability harder and your body will work harder to accommodate the lack of a firm surface.

When we've finished working our lower bodies we begin on the upper.  Bruce asked us today "Are you ready to be animals?" to which I replied "Grrrrrr!"  Then we did bear walk - walking on all fours - in the sand.  Higgie and I were over-achievers and did it for twice the proscribed length.  That meant, of course that there was twice the distance to cross coming back the other way in crab walk.  I made it about 1/3 of the way before collapsing.  Since triceps strength is one of the hardest things to come by, I find crab walking extremely difficult.  It's also tough on my weak wrists but I compensate sometimes (like today) by balancing on my fists instead.

Working our core consisted of plank pose, which I have always been pretty good at, having strong shoulders, but this morning the minute we held the position just seemed to fly by.  I felt my abs engage and hold me like - a plank!  Then we did side plank; balancing on one forearm and the sides of our feet.  That was a little bit harder but maybe I was getting tired. 

It was a great work-out and I felt I had surpassed myself.  It still thrills me to see that I continue to gain strength.

I've started a new part-time job in a field I know nothing about and I find I'm enjoying it.  I almost see a parallel between being able to learn a new skill as well as train my body even harder than before.  I feel like there's a whole new world out there.

Walking back to the car we saw another French bulldog puppy.  He was a month younger than Lily and much smaller.  I can't believe how much Lily has grown this month.  Tonight we take her back to puppy school for lesson two which will be leash training.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how well she does.  She improved so much with just one lesson.  But hey!  If I can keep growing in strength, so can she.