Week 2

Monday, July 27, 2009
Day 8

Week 2 Begins
And so the week begins all over again except this time we’re vets. We have our “I survived Fitness Ridge” t-shirts, we have a week under our belt, we know what to expect, where to go, what to do, and it’s fun acting the elder statesmen with all the new kids on the block, the new guests who have that wide-eyed “What the hell have I got myself into” look that we had only 7 days ago.

The Exercise Classes
Exercising for 6 days a week, they have to make it fun and interesting for us (and for them) so we’ve had a pretty good variety of exercise classes and instructors.
Circuit Training – 2 minutes of cardio, change machine; 2 minutes of resistance training, change machine; 2 minutes of cardio, change machine; 2 minutes of resistance training, change machine; and so on through 45 minutes of changes.
Treading – cardio on any machine (treadmill, elliptical, etc) with 5 minutes flat out, 5 minutes eased off, 4 minutes flat out, 4 minutes eased off, 3 minutes flat out and so on
Mountain – steady cardio, building up to a higher and higher levels
(Note: all cardio classes are totally saturated by Sounds of the 70’s” compilation CDS)
Step class – disco-isn’t- dead step class
Tai chi – grand master of Tai Chi took us through some basis steps under incredible control with amazing flexibility
Stretch classes – lots of different instructors teach us lots of different stretches which are paradoxically so exacting that you need another stretch class immediately after. I also discovered who buys all those Windham Hill “Sounds of the Jungle” “Sounds of Nature” “Sounds of Waterfalls” records.
Water aerobics – it’s amazing what you can do with 6 foot foam rubber number “noodle” under water. When it’s 108 degrees, it’s great to be in the pool and it’s surprisingly strenuous – the resistance of the water means that it takes about 4x the effort to do an exercise as it does on dry land. It’s an amazing and fun workout.

The Facial
There are lots of spa treatments here and I finally broke down and had my first facial ever. What an incredible experience. What have I been waiting for all these years? I had memories of my teenage years when the barber used to give me these wonderful, hot, steaming, towels to clear up my spotty little face. It’s a vivid sensation that’s stayed with me to this day, but tonight gave a whole new meaning to hot towels. So many exfoliates, I felt sure that we were going to hit bare bone any second. So many wonderful oils and of course what hands. Her hands had the delicacy of Delilah and the strength of Samson. And not just my face: my neck, shoulders, arms, and hands. I need to bring her back to work with me. I’m sure that I could sign up 750 willing clients within a matter of minutes.

Close
So, tired, burnished, and glowing, I return to my room to the most dramatic finale EVER of the Bachelorette, and blissful sleep.