It was an eventful week. First the good surprise. I tried out a new workout class, small group, exclusive for woman, designed for busy women so workouts are efficient, and super friendly staff. I heard about it from a colleague’s wife who raves about it. She had recommended many things to me in the past and they were all top! So I wanted to give it a try. I found a center 1 mile from our house so really convenient. I went there on Tuesday after my run. The setting is cozy, feminine, has tons of props, and other 6 woman in the class. The class is 60 min, focused on strength, core, mobility, and a bit cardio. It’s super dynamic, the exercises are at the right challenge level for me, and the instructor comes to adjust often to each of us. We were given a waist band and after the class it shows us which zones we worked the most. I was on 7th place in term of calorie burn, intensity. I was hooked! But then when I saw the price tag I hesitated. It’s quite an investment as it’s a boutique gym.
So I went back on Thursday for another class to feel it. I still loved it! The workouts were sightly different but same format (3 circuits that repeat 3 times) and equally challenging but not feeling I was dying. So, I signed up! It has been decades since I joined a gym or go to regular class. After a lot of trying different strength training format, I think I found what could work to ensure consistency because it’s fun. With two 60 min session per week of solid training, I would be less concerned about other days not doing much. The convenient location (I go biking), the flexibility of the program (I can pause for 1 month per 6 months for travel, and use un-used credit for the 3rd session when I travel for work), and the “fix” schedule with the same group of woman, all seem to make sense to me. I’m super excited!
The bad surprise. A colleague of mine who came to Brasilia for work, was hit by a motorcycle on Wednesday when crossing the street, and broke his tibia. He had operation Thursday evening and will have to stay Brasilia for at least 2 weeks until he can go back to DC. It came like a shock that this could happen because we rarely walk in Brasilia, it’s a car based city. After panic, I went on caring mode because he’s here alone and his wife won’t come very soon. So I’ve been going to visit him everyday to keep him company and bring him homemade food because hospital food is just not great. I plan to continue to do that while I am in Brasilia and arrange visitors when I travel next week. He’s also a runner and while I was jogging I felt devastated for him. Yet, he’s so calm and zen about it. As I spent time with him, I got to learn that he’s doing a master in philosophy while working full time. There’s still lots of logistics to figure out, who will take care of him when he leaves hospital and go to stay in a hotel, I need to get him crotches, what will he eat, how can he go to the bathroom at night. I hope we figure it soon. Life is really full of surprises. We never know when a bad one hit us.
I also met my boss’s father who’s born in 1937, left Argentina when he was 20 years old, as she arranged a get together of Argentinian colleagues in the office for cheese and wine on Thursday. He’s impressed for his age. The get together was fun but I got home almost midnight. I left feeling: okay, there’s hope that I can still visit my kids when I am 80 years old and still join the conversation and make people laugh.
Weekend plan:
- Join a group class at my new gym on Saturday which is a different format. more participants, more fun, cardio and core.
- Visit Hugo, my colleague.
- Meal prep as I travel to Buenos Aires next Wednesday.
- Check out a trampoline park with Lizzy to plan for her birthday party.
- Buy crotches for Hugo.
- Run errands.
Our New Journey 