day 27: bittersweet friday at the ridge

i woke up extra early this morning to get my RMR done. RMR stands for resting metabolic rate and it is basically the amount of calories your body burns if you sit in a chair for 24 hours and do absolutely nothing but breathe. it was kind of weird. sharon hooked a tube up to my mouth and to a computer and just told me to breathe for twelve minutes. afterwards, i found out that i have the metabolism of a rock. rocks don't have metabolisms, you say? that's correct. neither do i. my RMR is 1460 which means i'll have to stick to 12-1400 calories to stay in weight loss zone. it'll be ridiculously hard during the school year but have faith in me.

the hike we did this morning was "volcano". i'm not sure if you remember the blogpost in the first week where i wrote about this hike, but i'm pretty sure i wrote something about god making sure we didn't make it. well, little did i know, the first time i did the hike we didn't even make it to the volcano. we merely made it to a nice outlook that was near the volcano! boy, i was in for it. we got to the billboard memorial that was the landmark for the outlook that i'd made it to last time and i was thrilled to have "completed" volcano once again. and when i asked mason, my fav guide, if we were gonna head back after that, he said, "why would we go back when we didn't even get to the volcano part of the hike yet?". i was so confused but i continued hiking along, leading my group (which had pretty much been separated at this point-- there were only 3 of us going quickly along with mason).

finally, we saw it. the volcano. it looked like a black and gray hill with a dark brown path up it. little did i know that path was coated in tiny little lava rock marbles that were extremely difficult to walk on. i trekked up and once at the top i was definitely proud. the way down was definitely harder, though. it was a lot more stress on my mind and on my legs trying to figure out where to step so as not to slip and start slipping the whole way down. i must not have been careful enough, even though i was going the slowest, because i began to slip downward until i was on my butt still slipping and finally to stop myself from sliding i threw my knee down. it wasn't the smartest idea cause it cut my knee open but it didn't hurt that much and i'm not in any pain. blood is blood.

before breakfast, this man marc gave me an advantage+ band which has been engineered by NASA scientists to help the body operate at a frequency that improves balance. i don't fully understand it but it was free and he did a few things to show me how it worked and i was totally sold on the whole idea. i'll show you all when i get home if you remind me.

breakfast was toast, egg, and sausage.

after breakfast i went to fitness topics and then i took cardio intervals. fitness topics was basically a Q&A lecture with paige. i found it pretty helpful to see that working out doesn't have to be dreaded completely. cardio intervals was with robin and she is just wonderful. i pushed to my fastest speed at fitness ridge in her class: 10.2. wonderful! even if it was only for a few seconds.

at noon i had a personal session with tiffany to figure out a good workout plan that would be effective and reasonable. she helped me to decide that i'll work out 3-4, maybe 5 days a week but if i don't get in all 5 i have to be okay with that. the sessions are designed so that i'll incorporate programs i've learned here but also use the group classes that are offered at school. she also gave me a plan to use to train for a 5k. i plan to sign up for one that's in november. i'm definitely excited! everyone that reads this should do it as well. whether you run or walk, it's something to be proud of. i think there's one in october at oswego too. i think i'll try and take part in both.

lunch was tomatillo soup and a turkey club pita.

afterwards, i went to a lecture with nicole called "planning strategies". the lecture reviewed the four pillars of fitness ridge: fitness, nutrition, education, and relaxation. i found the lecture extremely helpful. every minute i became less nervous about my motivation to stay fit at school. but only time will tell.

it was fun friday today! zumba, zumba, and pool with meditation! today's zumba teacher was the one that i like which was a wonderful way to end my last friday at the ridge. i took 2 classes of it and i wasn't bored even a little bit. the pool class was nice and relaxing too only i can't say i got much of a calorie burn.

dinner was a salmon burger with coleslaw and a side of snap peas. dessert was a cinnamon crisp which is absolutely delightful!

graduation was really sad. i've appreciated every moment here and i am so thankful to my parents for giving me the opportunity. i'd love it if next year we could all come back here together at some point. everyone spoke about the ways in which they'd been inspired and i had so much to say i could barely say anything at all. i said my thank yous and i sat down, really. i have cards for the trainers so i'll say what i have to in that. we all took a ton of pictures after graduation and it was just really wonderful. i didn't think i'd cry but i definitely did. thankfully annie was right next to me supporting me the whole time. i wish i could be here to see her off for her final week, but i know she'll be just fine without me.

i love fitness ridge! time for bed!
goodnight. &love. lots of it.