Squats and the World Cup

I am almost delirious with pain from the flogging I gave myself at circuits Monday and Wednesday night. I am experiencing the ‘Second Day Pain’ today which is infinitely worse than First Day Pain. I am waddling like a duck and sitting on the loo is incredibly painful (squats… the muscles in one’s gluteus maximus most affected by squats seem to follow the exact contours of the loo seat). Stomach is also killing me. This is what happens when you miss two weeks of exercise – you fall apart.

The class was v empty Wednesday night due to the football (more on that in a minute), but Pondy and I stayed off the beers so that we could attend. We are so committed. Well, Pondy is. I was seriously rocking the 'stay home and carouse' angle but he was having none of it and dragged me, kicking and screaming, from the couch.

We had another new instructor Wednesday evening. She is normally a humble attendee, but must’ve done some kind of course to elevate herself to the hallowed heights of 'Group Exercise Leader'. She is quite chubby and I was initially worried that she wouldn’t be the best role model but she absolutely caned us. And is incredibly fit. Her push ups were particularly excellent. Pondy has the heads up and apparently she used to be v lardy but has lost heaps of weight with diligent circuit attendance and is well on her way to ultra buff if her form Wednesday night was anything to judge by.

In World Cup News…

England finally pulled their collective fingers out and played a decent football match to commence to the final 16. Thank God. The combined ire of a country full of enraged ‘white van men’ may have been too much to bear. It certainly would have made commuting more fraught than usual.

Australia almost pulled off a fairytale ending with their brilliant victory over Serbia. One can only wonder what might have been had Marco Rodriguez, the blind Mexican referee in our match against Germany, had not sent Cahill off. Alas…

Not a Groovy Kind of Funk

Another glorious day.

Simon informed me yesterday that he is ‘in a funk’. Not a groovy kind of funk. A ‘stuck in a rut’ kind of a funk (the kind of funk you fall into when you realise every day you get up, go to work, go to bed, rinse and repeat). I understand his loss of mojo, as I was in a funk of my own only last week. I solved my funk by launching myself into a variety of hobbies (blog, cello, muay thai). So I have attempted to lure Simon out of his funk with activities – figuring if he is v exhausted by non stop whirlwind of canoeing, bike riding and cliff walking he will not have enough time to indulge in funk. The whirlwind shall begin this weekend – we are taking life by the gonads and giving it a good hard shake.

Pondy is simultaneously delighted and appalled at my new found role of camp leader. I daresay in a few weeks time he will look back on his funk with a degree of sentimentality.

Went to circuit training last night and the 'new girl' was taking the class again. Normally circuits is commandeered by a pretty, short haired very ‘80’s’ inspired gym bunny complete with Madonna-esque head set. Her name is Sonia and she’s the kinda gal that would have worn leg warmers and g-string leotards over the top of bike shorts in the 80’s (like me… sob…). She must be on hols or something, cos a spunky little pocket rocket has been there for the last few weeks and the ratio of men to women in the class has shifted quite dramatically. Sonia has a pretty even mix of ladies and fellas, but pocket rocket is skewed approx 80 – 20 (men – women). She is tiny, has enormous bazookas and wears little tops to show them to best effect. Bully for her, say I! (In my youth this was the exact same combo I used to employ. Even in my dotage it’s one I pull out on occasion). The embarrassing thing is the way that men are reduced to giggling loons in her presence. The power of youth + norks in full bloom. It is also amazing how many men are concerned with ‘getting their form right’. Blokes who normally don’t give a rat’s what the instructor is doing are spellbound as she demonstrates push ups, sit ups and chest presses (they seem particularly concerned with the form of their chest presses…)