It is agreed that my workout days will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6 AM and I alternated between upper and lower body workouts. I was used to going to the gym three times a week and doing the same routine each time for almost two years. I used almost exclusively machines and figured it was working because between that and my running I had managed to lose almost 100 lbs in a year. In the studio I worked mostly with Alan. Corina was there almost every day and helped spot me for some exercises to Alan could take photos tracking my progress. For every exercise I did, there was four sets of about 8-10 reps. The weight seemed to progress quickly. They joke that I made it look too easy, so the weight had to go up. On the lower body days some of my favorites were squats and lunges. I feel that they had the biggest impact on the shape of my legs and with the squats it was always nice to go around bragging how much weight I had on the bar (I got up to 205). On the upper body for the same reason that I like seeing the changes I liked the bent over row and squat thrust. I remember one morning looking in the mirror during the bent over row workout and seeing how shapely my shoulders and arms were, I couldn’t believe that was my body changing so quickly right before my eyes. Two of my least favorites were the hamstring exercise with the swiss ball because it will really get that burning feeling and the prone cobra because it was at the end of the workout and my arms were already dead.
Music accompanied all my training sessions and I must say Alan’s library is vast. I am not sure I ever heard the same set, he plays mostly rock from the 80’s and 90’s I think. It is not my style so while I knew some of the more popular tunes I didn’t know them all.
Prior to working out with the Wolf Studio I was only doing two sets of every machine in the rotation and with no workout buddy. Now I am doing four sets, sometimes with heavy weight and having someone behind me strongly encouraging me to keep going because I only have one or two reps is helpful. I already miss that, so I just pretend when I am tired and don’t want to push out one more that they are behind me saying to keep going.
Part of my job as guinea pig was to get a weekly massage. That sounds so rough I know. Through my experience though I have learned that massage isn’t just for relaxation, but also for thearapy and that it can be used to fix any minor aches and pains (or niggles in Alan and Corina speak) before they become major issues and take out of training. I would come in on Saturday after my long runs and let them know what parts of my body was feeling the beat up. Most occasions the entire sessions were spent working on my legs since I was the hardest on them for my marathon training. While I did enjoy the soft tissue massage work (who wouldn’t?) I have learned the value in using it to keep me healthy. I did have some minor aches that were treated with massage and Kinesio tape. Both Alan and Corina have areas and specialties that they work on best, so my body got the best treatments every time.
Corina and Alan went above and beyond on what I was supposed to receive as the Guinea Pig. The offer was originally for six weeks, but they extended to me for 10 weeks. The same time I was beginning my training sessions at the Wolf Studio I was also training for my first Boston Marathon. Corina told me at one of our weekly fun runs that they were going to see me through to Boston so I wasn’t dropped with a month out and no training. On top of getting the extra training, Corina revamped my running schedule. I saw a few new workouts I had never tried before and was asked to push myself to faster paces I hadn’t tried. The first weeks took some getting used to, between the weight training and the new running program I was wore out. I enjoyed the physical challenge of it all and kept up with my workouts and runs. My least favorite run was probably hill for two reasons, because it left me out of breath and I had to do it before work in the winter in the dark to fit it in my schedule.
The Boston Marathon has come and gone. I trained hard to run a 3:20 race and was ready to set a new personal record with my best being a 3:28. Race day I was a bunch of nerves and my morning didn’t start off well. I spilled coffee all over my running outfit, spilled my breakfast all over the subway, took a big fall getting onto the bus, and couldn’t imagine what else would go wrong. I tied my shoes too tight and had to stop twice to readjust them, but it wasn’t until mile 14 that I really started to fall off pace. I felt dehydrated and getting water wasn’t seeming to help. It took me about six miles to feel better, but by then my PR was out the window. I didn’t have my best race time wise, but I had the most fun at a race. I will say it is very disappointing knowing that I worked so hard, put all I had into the last few months to get ready for one race and then had an off day. I know my 3:20 is in me and I will get it, hopefully within the year.
After the marathon I took a couple weeks off from running and weight training. I am back to the gym and slowly adding runs back to my daily activities. I the gym I did not go back to using the machines, but I am doing the exercises that I learned working with Corina and Alan. The photos from my sessions have come in handy as I used them to help remember most of the exercises I was doing in my training at Wolf. Through this process I have learned some new things: I like my body looking strong and healthy, that sit-ups do not equal core work, massage is an important part of training and therapy, and that Corina and Alan are great trainers, know their professions, and love their work.
Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to be the guinea pig!
Carrie
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