Here we are at the start of another week. Do you ever get the feeling of wanting to do so many things but not knowing where the time is going? I've been so caught up in training and in work that I've let a lot of other things go. I've decided that every day, I need at least an hour or so to myself to do something that is just so selfish and so not involved with training. I've been remiss in catching up with reading, in doing my cross stitch (I think the dust is beginning to fill in the parts of the linen cloth that I haven't stitched in, and soon I'll be able to frame it and hang up with the design that those dust bunnies have created...sad, sad, sad!), in hanging out with friends.

There is one thing I definitely want to do. On December 17th, the third Lord of the Rings movie comes out, and I'm dying to see it. I'll save it for the following Saturday when I can really relax and have a treat (I love Twizzlers) and just lose myself in the storyline. If anyone sees it before I do, you must post on the boards and inform me of whether you liked it or not. Just don't tell me the ending!

Okay, onto the stuff that y'all are probably most interested in: my training. I've begun to drop a little bit of fat and water, so I'm beginning to see the shape that my body is taking, and I must say, I'm a bit tickled to see the fruits of my efforts starting to pay off. I won't display the progress until the beginning of February, at which time I'll begin the serious dieting down and heavy cardio training and consistent sprinting every week (won't that be just a jolly good time...lol!). But my symmetry is beginning to become evident. My legs have not seemed to put on any size, just changed a slight bit of shape, and my back...whoa, my back is truly getting wider and thicker, and after you hear of my workout from today, you'll understand why.

I began with regular lat pulldowns, but see, I changed my grip a couple of months ago and instead of using such a wide grip, I have narrowed it a bit so that my hand placement is almost dead even with the width of my shoulders (now remember, my shoulders are a bit narrow). I now feel this exercise deep along the lower portion of the lats and the low trapezius area. I never felt this exercise there before! And guess what?! I did this with 100 pounds on the first two sets and then 110 pounds on the last set. I was quite proud (and walking around the gym like a peacock with my feathers...umm...wings...umm lats spread out). Of course, that's not all that I did tonight. I supersetted that with overhand grip cable rows. After three sets of that, I moved to reverse grip bent over rows with a 100-pound bar. The key to this exercise is to be sure your back is pulling the weight and not your biceps. I use a false grip to help ensure this a bit more. A false grip just means that your thumb is hooked along the bar in the same direction as your fingers, instead of being wrapped around the bar against your fingers.

I finished up my back workout with a superset of close grip pulldowns and close grip lat extensions. Talk about total exhaustion!

Oh yeah, I also did hyperextensions...sets of 20. I took a few weeks off of these. My goal is not to build a big lower back but to instead keep it tight and tiny. And I'm pretty proud of myself: I did abs three times last week, as I promised myself I would.

I've been going into the gym later at night...around 7:30 or 8 p.m. I know that throughout December and January, there will be an influx of people who are desperately trying to shed that pound of cookies and gallon of egg nog they destroyed at the company holiday party, so I'll be anxiously awaiting February and March when it begins to die down a bit. It's almost impossible to superset--much less tri set or do a giant set--when you never know who is going to steal your machine (and of course it's my machine! Everything's mine when I step into the gym...lol! Yeah...on what planet?!). And then there are the people who just join a gym to find a date. What's up with that? The other week, when I walked into the gym, I saw a guy chatting it up with a girl who had a very disinterested look on her face. When I finished my workout (legs and plyos...so you know it was a lengthy one), they were still in the same spot and still jibber jabbering away and showing no signs of leaving. Almost two hours! And look at the amount of reps and sets he could have done!

When I go into the gym, I like to slide the headphones on, plaster a grim look on my face, go grrr at anyone who dares to interrupt my workout, and then race from dumbbell to dumbbell or barbell to barbell and get through the workout so I can get through cardio so I can go home and EAT! And sleep!

Well, I think I've worked your eyeballs enough. And mine are a bit tired too, so I'm off to take a shower and get ready for bed. It's an early morning tomorrow and a full week at work (lots and lots and lots to do...will the work never end???), so I need my beauty sleep.

Only 18 days until Christmas! Please post on the boards what you're doing for the holidays and what your wish list is for Santa this year! Mine's a new car...but methinks that won't be occurring this year! Lol! A toy car might be in the works, though...lol!

Take care and have a great week. I'll definitely write again by Wednesday.

Jodi :)