When I'm Thirty-Three.....

The birthday weekend was TONS of fun....started on Friday; going away party at Taj, hanging with buddies at Slate, where I indulged in shameless flirtation with this adorable blond Bulgarian - yes, we asked! - waiter who winked every time he served me a drink, so, of course, there were multiple return trips! Saturday night, I felt like Miss Thang when my friend Matt came over, and within 45 minutes, made my face all dewy and glow-y, and my eyes all smoky. We headed to Leela Lounge, where 30+ friends and friends of friends had a blast hanging out, imbibing the cocktail of the evening, the Judylicious, a delightful combination of mango juice and champagne. At midnight, the Gentile members of City Blend serenaded me with a jazzed up version of Happy Birthday. After a while, we spilled out onto the street, and treated the partygoers to an impromptu version of "Only You" (we were like, we have all the parts! Let's sing!). The party moved on to Plan B, where my friend Manju did a bang-up job at being my married wing-woman - of course, I couldn't take it to the next level, but that is beside the point. The night ended at Indian Bread Company, where we munched Lamb Vindaloo Naaninis (unknowingly, Sunil B. and I ordered the same dish). I tumbled into bed at 3:45 AM.

The next day, I managed to pull myself together by the evening, hauled myself all the way up to Mom/Dad's place for a bit of a pre-game, and then had a ridiculously yummy dinner at Calle Ocho (Cuban food - caipirnhas, ceviche, mahi mahi and a sinful chocolate cake) - Pooja joined us, and gave me a baby tee that I had been eyeing for a few weeks - Stewie Griffin on the front, with strategically placed crystals, captioned, "How dare you disobey me!" It's the familial bond; she had no idea I wanted to buy it, but thought of me when she saw it. A wonderful way to end the weekend.

Monday was a day of vacillation. Originally, I was supposed to have the remainder of my root canal, cancelled it because I didn't want to miss boot camp for too long, and then decided to cancel boot camp just to rest up. What a productive evening!

So, after bagging Monday, I went back on Wednesday. Determined to have as positive an experience as I had the Friday before my birthday. It was a small class, maybe 8-9. Titus called for 7 laps; I had positioned myself closer to the wall, and started out at the beginning of the pack, because in the past, starting at the back did NOTHING for my stride. But I trotted along, feeling good, and only started feeling it on #6 (thank you, Vitamin Water!), and only 1 person passed me.

Back to the PT area, stretched out, and then 65 jumping jacks, no problem - stayed focused on the spot about 10 feet up on the wall. Titus hollered for 20 squat thrusts, started flagging around 12. My partner stayed on course, why wouldn't he - he was past his 6 weeks, and into his 'regular' time. Push up position, held it for a count of 25, and then moved on to 20 mountain jumpers. 25 more jumping jacks, and then we were given 5 seconds to get onto our backs for butterfly kicks - 15 of them - our legs 6 inches off the ground. This is one exercise I know I can manage, even with Titus hovering over me; it only had me shouting out my count all the louder. Back to the push up position, hold for a count of 25, and then all the sudden, we had 12 seconds to do a lap around. Push up position again, and then feet together, feet apart, 20 of them, more difficult this time. Felt it in my calves, which have experienced quite a bit of conditioning thus far, but no matter. No one showed signs of fading; someone told me if you could make it through the warm-up, everything else is a piece of cake. I agree and disagree.

To round out the warm-up, two laps around. I didn't fall behind, and so DI Wong put me into the non-wimp group in the class (a vast difference from the week before). Was ordered to do the hurdles then the 4 walls. Hurdles were fine, throwing alternate legs over the hurdles, but something in me would eventually like to jump over. Got to the walls, on the third wall, Wong thought I needed more help, but a mere nudge and I was over by myself. Next up, the Intensity wall. Peeled my gloves off, and got up with one boost. The real help was needed when I was at the top. See, on the other side of the wall, there are pegs where you are supposed to put your hands and feet so you can make your way down. That first peg is always the one I need help with. Wong was busy barking at the recruits on the ground, doing their canteen sit-ups. I looked for Titus, but he was looking the other way. It must have looked pretty comical, me, hugging the top of the wall, saying, "A little help here?"

Feet back on terra firma, I waited for my next task. 50 partner sit-ups with the iron bar, as opposed to the canteen. My partner had seen me at my weakest, so I know she wasn't expecting much. I know I didn't quite make it to 50, but I wasn't huffing and puffing, I managed to make it to 40something. We were ordered to do two laps around, after which we grabbed a mat, and went into two sets of 25 throwbacks apiece. Remembering the lesson from the previous session, I inhaled on the way up, exhaled on the way down. My jubilation was short lived; one lap around with my feet in front of me, hands flat on the floor, in the table position, trying to get around. Not happening, so Wong gave me the easier option of the bear crawl. Another hated exercise; I think if my arms had been longer, or eventually when I get stronger, I can manage this stuff. When I hit the stretch of shredded tire, the bear crawl ceased, and I crawled on my hands and knees. Realizing how much of an anchor I was threatening to become, Wong ordered me to run it in. Grouped together with two men and one other woman in the class, we were put on a circuit of box squats, which had us stepping up on the box, grabbing the bars on the window, doing a squat, and stepping back down; and then rotating to do squat thrusts/push-ups. 2/3 of a burpie. As many as we could do in 2 minutes. One of the guys asked if we should jump up onto the box as opposed to stepping up onto it. Suck-up. Two times around. Then one lap around.

We grabbed a bar; for me, I took the lightest one, 12 pounds 3 feet long. Couldn't imagine what we had to do next. Taking the bar in one hand, we had to do bicep curls, 20 of them, and then switch to the other hand. Now, realistically speaking, this is only 2 pounds more than what I can usually do, but the fact that the bar was 3 feet long as opposed to a compact dumbbell, managing that feat was definitely a challenge. And Wong didn't give any leeway to the women; he allowed us to assist our wrist with the other hand. Move over to the next hand. Very tough. Next up, shoulder presses, in the same way. Marginally easier. Finally, grabbing the bar in two hands, you squatted down and then brought the bar up to your chin; 20 reps. Over? Hardly. Wong gave the guys the heaviest bars, and then me and the other female recruit in the group were given the 18 pounders. We were to hold the bar diagonally across our chests, like a rifle, and run around the perimeter. Ridiculous. After the first lap around, he told us to go one more. Wasn't going to happen for me with the bar I was holding; I asked for a lighter bar; Wong agreed. This vision flashed across my mind - Vincent D'Onofrio as Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket, behind the rest of his platoon, with his fatigues around his ankles and his thumb in his mouth. Thankfully, nothing like that would happen here. One thing which provided a point of pride for me was that as I was toughing it through the bar exercises, I saw that out of the corner of my eye, the other group was pretty much focused on doing laps and sit-ups. Not me, not this time! And you know what? I don't want to be in the slow group ever again. I like the variety, and honestly, I want to be more challenged than doing merely laps and sit-ups.

With the lighter bar raised above my head, it was high knees around the perimeter. Next time around, Wong called for 'straight legs', didn't matter how high, as long as they were kicking straight. I focused on my breathing, didn't kick the highest, but got around fine enough.

Back to the PT area, Wong had his stopwatch in hand, and led us through the next exercise. You had to squat down, shuffle right, shuffle left, and that would be a count of one. We did 20 of those at a moderate pace, but of course, it couldn't be too easy, so after the 20, double time! There was a point when I just gave up keeping pace, toward the end.

Last, but not least. I have never done Pilates, but I saw Tea Leoni in a similar position when she was in the movie 'Spanglish' and I can imagine that is what people do in Pilates class. It's hard to describe, but imagine that your right arm is straight, hand planted flat on the floor, and you are supporting the entire weight of your body with your right arm. Sort of like a scalene triangle. The exercise went as follows: In that position, you raised your left hand straight up, and then brought your left hand down, and through the space between the right side of your ribcage and the floor. Repeat 20 times. Switch sides. This definitely felt non-military.

Finally, resting with our legs tucked under us, we stretched out, and then moved into child's pose, and then what Wong called cobra pose. I have done yoga before, and this definitely felt yoga-esque.

Over to the wall, where I loudly counted off the 25 sit-ups. Wong is one of those DIs that if he doesn't hear volume, he will make you continue. We had to do 75 a week back - really. Made it through. As I left, I saw that Titus had a less scornful look on his face. Am I finally proving my worth? I felt it today!

Oh, and btw, I officially made the decision to sign up for another 6 months. Not sure if I am going to blog that. But this is definitely a longer-term plan.