Have you ever gone to an all-night vigil in Knock? It’s tiring, especially when you are only 10 years old and you haven’t a clue what’s going on only that you were allowed stay up half the night and are determined not to fall asleep.
Well an election count is something similar. You stay up half the night, there’s a lot of praying involved and it takes you about a week to get over it.
Having covered the local election counts in Mayo last weekend I can tell you I was delighted to be back in the spinning saddle on Monday. It was welcome relief from sitting on the floor in a small corridor of the Ruby room in the TF for about seven hours solid and there was probably a greater sense of achievement after, although there is something special about election counts if you have even the tiniest interest in politics.
Nicola put us through our paces in the aerobics studio again this week and it was far from thoughts of a Mills and Boon novel the class was invoking. Hard grafting, pushing yourself to the limit and then some, was the order of the evening and with every rotation of the pedals, and every ripple of fat which vibrated in response, we knew we were one class closer to reaching our goals.
With only one week left, the clock is ticking on this Operation Alteration programme and the day of reckoning will soon dawn bright.
We thought we were in for a welcome reprieve in the pool on Tuesday night, but the class was held up when Ivan from Kachina Spa treated us to free 10-minute massages, and Vanessa was in drill sergeant mode.
The intensity of an hour session was crammed into 45 minutes - but only because Vanessa knew we were up to it. She was right, there’s no point tipping around the pool and pretending you are killing yourself, because at the end of the day your goal will always remain at arm’s length. So we succumbed to her orders, which she administered in a particularly Sergeant Major type way, and we loved every minute of it.
The consensus seems to be fairly clear at the end of five weeks that spinning and aqua fit are among our favourite classes. Now other people might have a different view on this but generally speaking they seem to be the most energetic and sweat producing sessions. And a while in the Jacuzzi and steam room after is a great soother for those aching limbs.
So there is just a week to go before our final weigh in and measurements. I have to say I’m looking forward to it. There are a few of us who have really given 100 per cent to this programme and I’m hoping we all get the results we crave. But this is just the start of our new improved lifestyle. It’s what we take from Operation Alteration and use as we go forward that will really measure its success.
Until next week, adios.
