Have you ever tried a Personal Trainer? It has been several years since my last session with a trainer but I would love to share a few memories from sessions with my favorite trainer who I will just refer to as Amber in this post.

Amber was the second of three Personal Trainers that I have had the pleasure of working with through local gyms. She was very pretty and very nice but would literally bring you to your knees on about your third or fourth session with her. She taught me the importance of pushing my physical limits which is something I find very difficult to do on my own. You know, I like to ease in to things. It would start during warm ups on a treadmill. Walking by, increasing the incline and speed on me just when I was getting comfortable. I hated that at the time. Then, even though I would try to make some interesting conversation or tell a funny story I would find myself faced with some new and daunting piece of equipment or a drill that I was unfamiliar with. She would push me to my limit. As a matter of fact, I knew I had to eat a light breakfast on my training days and not drink my usual two cups of coffee in order to keep from throwing up. Without fail, the lucky folks that were training with her would find themselves flat on their backs on the gym floor after their first few sessions as did I. She would leave you on the floor, staring at the ceiling like nothing happened. It was your chance to dig down deep inside yourself and summon your inner warrior. Then, there were the sprints up the hill. I had never done much running before but there I was, sprinting up “Heart Attack Hill” with my lungs burning as I reached the top. Oh man, there, I made it. I would walk back to the bottom with her and as I was starting to relax and catch my breath I would hear “Let’s do that again!” My heart would drop and off we would go sprinting back up the hill. After a few sessions like this I started to comment as I was walking into the gym that I thought it was really clouding up outside and felt like rain. This ploy was never successful.

It wasn’t long before I noticed a change in my body. I was stronger and more trim. I had lost weight. My body hurt but I definitely felt that “runner’s high” that you hear people talk about. I learned that my right IT band was very tight and learned how to stretch in ways that really benefited my body. The words she said to me one day are still with me: “I can tell you excelled in high school sports at one time.” OK, old high school classmates, you can stop laughing now. The thing is, on that day I believed it and I still believe it to this day. I am an athlete. I am strong and I am capable. Those sticky words have carried me forward into new adventures and have given me courage to try new things. And you know what? I’m good at those new things. Thank you Amber. I will be back!