A Love Affair with Lifting, a few Adaptations, and Blogging from the Bathtub

It's only Wednesday and I've already resorted to my bathtub.

Twice.

I'm adapting to a new strength training routine that is no-joke (and completely amazing so far). By the time I hit the last set, I feel like a million bucks! Granted, it's a million dollars in crumbled up sweaty singles scattered all over the floor, but a million bucks none the less! Today was day 2 of the program and I'm actually not nearly as sore as I expected to be. I'm attributing that to a great warm up, great stretching, conditioning on my 'off days' and some spending some quality time with some Epsom salts and hot water... and bubbles. (Seriously, what's a bath without bubbles?!)

This week, something came up on social media in a couple of the groups that has seriously made me laugh. It's the statement of:
"I don't want to be Jay Humenay strong..."

Check it out! I have my own designation! "J. Humenay Strong!"

In case you assume that such a designation would inflate my ego, let me reassure you, a quick glance at my Facebook newsfeed keeps it well under wraps. Everywhere I look lately there are videos of teenagers at the Pan Am's throwing up weights that I still aspire to. It's at once humbling and motivating. After all, if a kid can do it... why can't I? Right?
I had the great experience today of meeting 2 new people in the gym who approached me on to the last set of my Death By Strength Training session (DBST for short). One of them was a woman who'd seen my progress from when I first signed on with Trainer Guy and was impressed. We got to chatting and the usual questions came up:
"Are you competing?" Yes, In November.
"Was that the goal when you came in?" No, it was to lose weight.
"How much have you lost?" Oh, only about 20lbs tops in a year.
"Oh, but you know your body composition has changed. Muscle is more dense and weighs more than fat." Oh! I know. I'm not complaining. Best goal I never hit, as far as I'm concerned. I still might hit it, but I'm done letting the scale rule my life.
"Good!" Yeah, I've already done every diet known to man just about. This is sticking with me - and it's working.
"Are you looking at going into the training?" (God, I LOVE this question.) Yes, yes I am. Testing for my Crossfit level 1 cert in 2 weeks, and I have my Olympic weight lifting coach cert. Still going to compete too.
"Cool!"
(Insert guy standing nearby)
"You have your Oly Cert?" Yup. It's still handy to have Trainer Guy around though. You know, doctors need doctors. Dentists need dentists. Coaches benefit from the eye of other coaches, and we all see different things.
 "Cool! Yeah, Snatches, Cleans, deadlifts... those are hard, but yours look pretty good." Thanks. Got 1 more set to do....

So, yeah. It was a great experience. Like I've said before, it's hard not to get noticed in a gym doing Olympic Lifts. The explosive moment attracts attention. (And to think, I wasn't even wearing a silly shirt today!)

All that said, every one has their own goals. For example, Strong Girl LOVES power lifting. That's its own beastie. Other folks love running or agility or just want to get up a flight of stairs without pain. All of them are just as valid as the others - and just as valid as mine.

Adapting to being able to coach for different goals is an enjoyable challenge that I can't wait to take on full time.

In the mean time, we're taking on some adaptation challenges here as well...
  While I love having My Sailor 'home' (well, sort of... so far we've been able to spend less than 24 hours together since Saturday due to his schedule at work - and most of that has been sleeping hours), there's a slow process of adapting to regular life and to each other again. It's a slow process that we're both being patient with. Our initial home study was just approved for the adoption, so we'll have that in our hands soon. Then it's a matter of settling things down on the home front a bit and deciding when to move forward with adding to the family - but it's a BIG step in the right direction (though it will still need to be updated, added to a new agency, etc).