day 4: "oh, i'm sorry did i say donuts? i meant ELLIPTICAL."

woke up a little later today. around 5:50. i ate a green apple and some cashews again (a little carb, a little protein) to make sure i wouldn't be hungry by the end of the hike. today we were assigned a hike called "stop sign" because there's a stop sign at the top. so original, i know. i hope someone vandalizes the sign someday. someday soon. (can anyone think of anything clever to write on it? other than "hammertime"?) well, let me explain further.

this hike is the longest of all of the hikes, i believe. however, from a first-weeker's point of view it seems that it will be the easiest because it is purely on pavement. it's 4.3 miles to the top: partly path, and partly on the main road through the ridges. when you finish, you can walk back down (another 4.3 miles--totaling 8.6 miles) or you can take the trail out to an overlook (about another 2.5 miles round trip.)

i guess i must've forgotten that if something is a hike to get to--it's difficult. i started off pretty enthusiastically. my friend shana and i have been in the same group together since day one and we tend to go at the same pace. she pushes herself really hard so i like to try and stick with her so she subliminally pushes me as well. she's been here before, so she knows the stop sign hike. keep in mind, i don't have any idea what to expect.

we started off at a fast pace and ended up jogging for a bit but after about 5 minutes of trying to keep up with her (time moves so slowly when you are hiking sometimes) i realized i had to pace myself a bit more as i didn't know what was to come. so i slowed down and moved into a brisk walk. the path moves out of the dessert terrain and ends at the highway. it's pretty hilly, not too intense but there are a few slopes that you have to push hard to get up. once you get to the highway, there's about 2 miles of pure hill. think christian herald x2, for 2.5 miles, after you've already been hiking for about an hour. SO HARD. and not even remotely enjoyable because you're not in the mountains like you are with the other hikes. you're just walking up a highway hoping that you can walk the rest of the day. probably the only time i'll ever think about how glad i am i didn't run.

once at the top, they take your gross, ugly, sweaty picture on their camera probably to put on the DVD we get at the end of the week. not exactly a memory i want to keep, me next to a stupid stop sign at the top of torture hill. i decided to hike back down and robin (one of the trainers) kept me company for a lot of the way. we walked pretty quickly as i hiked a little more than 7.5 miles in 2 hours and 15 minutes.
i think we have to do this hike again every week. i could probably do without that.

the rest of the day i felt a little nauseous probably from the energy i exerted during the hike. a couple of the other girls i hiked with felt the same way so i was a little less upset that i felt sick. it passed quickly.

after torture hill, we had breakfast which was a sausage, egg, spinach, and tomato sandwich. it was good but i felt sick immediately after so it's really hard to say. plus, we all know i just like food (that's probably a reason why i'm here). then i went to circuit training which was taught by paige this trainer who openly admits she is tightly wound. she started off by letting us know wednesday is the hardest day and we didn't need to push too hard, she wouldn't be upset. so, feeling sick, literally to the point of gagging, i gave about 70%. not great, but whatever i'm in workout town i'm sure i'll find a way to make up for it. after that was stretch. paige taught that too. she was awesome for that class, modified a few yoga postures which i quickly unmodified to get the whole stretch.

then we had lunch, which was french onion soup followed by a small salad and a half pita filled with mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and ground turkey. after lunch, i had a lecture on emotional eating. this lecture got so serious i honestly thought i might cry at times. i need to stop. it was just so emotional. we had to write down 3 negative thoughts we have about ourselves. i'm not going to share mine, because i think that's too personal for the internet. but the woman giving the lecture, jen, she used to be heavy. and she lost over 80 lbs and now works here, telling her story to everyone. she kept talking about how she used to feel like a "retard" (i kid you not) because of having learning disabilities and moving from place to place so much she didn't always have time to catch up. but really, there's only so many times you can hear the word "retard" in 45 minutes without wanting to bawl your eyes out. i was on the verge. every time i looked around people were listening, or picking their cuticles, or even their noses and there i was. saddened and teary from the lecture on emotional eating. not because of actual eating but because of everyones emotions flying around the room and hitting me on the head.

anyways, afterwards i had mountain. i decided to do incline today instead. i'm not sure why since my legs still felt like they were walking up death mountain. my heart rate didn't increase as much but my calfs were burning and i was sweating. i think that counts. next i had H20 circuit which was okay. it's too relaxing for me, but i'm sure i'll feel the work we did tomorrow.

my last class of the day was kickboxing with sharon. let me explain something. sharon is the head trainer. she is so fierce it's ridiculous. she has a pretty high pitched voice, and the stern face of a warden but i think i might be in love with her. she is one of the most beautiful women ever. i mean, she's pretty to begin with but then you add in the intensely fit body and the way she works with the guests here and she becomes phenomenal. she's inspiring. ...i think i figured out my type... anyways, i got a lot of shit out during kickboxing. it was awesome. great way to end the day.

dinner was salmon, over couscous with asparagus. and for dessert we had 2 chocolate covered strawberries. then i went inside for yet another nutrition lecture. i sat across from a man named marshall who is absolutely hysterical. we learned a lot, mostly about different types of eaters and how it's important to be an intuitive eater. i also learned that, "your hips are not a refrigerator" which i guess is sort of obvious but the whole room was silent so i'm going to go ahead and guess it was out of pure shock that our hips are not actually refrigerators.

my back is still killing me. time for bed.
p.s. everyone talks about food here and it's hysterical. favorite cookie conversations, favorite meals. today's conversation at my dinner table was, "favorite way to prepare grits". nice!

goodnight.