I'm Not A Runner...

"How are you today?" Mike nicely asked. "Well I've had this muscle spasm in my shoulder since last night. I've had three muscle relaxers and it's still there." "When was the last time you had a muscle relaxer?" "About 9:00 this morning." "We're good then. Let's go outside. We're going to run." RUN??? Hearing that three letter word as part of my workout sent my heart into a rapid pace. My legs hadn't started moving yet and I was breathing heavily. Then we started. And I quit. I begged to walk briskly. I was allowed to get away with that for a short while. Mike started running with me. He wasn't into the brisk walking thing. Four laps. Then some sprinting followed by, you know it, lunges.

Eighteen minutes in the parking lot and we were allowed to go inside and do jumping jacks. Those two words, jumping jacks, increase my heart rate before I ever begin the exercise. I have a fear of jumping jacks and running. I shared this information with Mike who says he can use that to our advantage.

We mixed in some killer arm work and some dead lifts. I told Mike repeatedly how much I didn't like him. I assured him I was saying this and calling him names with only love. At one point, Mike told me I needed a little Jesus in my workouts. I don't know if it was because it was a Sunday or what. But here is what I will say and it's serious.

I've been praying about my weight for a long time. Praying that I would figure out the way to get the weight off and start feeling better about myself. Last year when the doctor told me I was borderline diabetic I got scared, but I didn't know what to do. I've tried a lot of diets and failed miserably. I just want to be healthy. When my husband came home and told me he had talked to Mike about me and Mike wanted to work out with me...it took me at least three months to quit making excuses. I made excuses because I was too fat and too out of shape to work with a trainer. Are you kidding me? I didn't want this guy to see what a loser I was and be like..."no there's nothing I can do for you." I kept praying and hiring Mike was the answer I kept getting. So I called him. Still I was scared because if he was screaming at me like the trainers on Biggest Loser that wouldn't be my thing. If he were at the other end of the spectrum acting like a cheerleader...well that woudn't be my thing either. Mike is the perfect trainer for me. He pushes me and he knows so much about how the body works that it never ceases to amaze me. An answered prayer is what this is.

I recently had someone ask me if I was going to be done working out with Mike after six more weeks and I said, "NO!" I've already had this conversation with Mike. I'm in this for the long haul. I get giddy when people tell me they can tell a difference in me. It is a total high for me. However, this is more than how I look. It's about developing confidence and challenging my body physically in ways I have been scared to before. I'm in this for the long term and lovin every minute of it.