Still working hard!

It's been 2 weeks since my last post and I owe you an update. Unfortunately, I haven't checked another one off my list, but I have been working hard on my list. Here are the 2 that I'm inching toward now:

Read the top ten novels on a list (thinking this one)
I decided to start at the top and read To Kill a Mockingbird first. I had read the book in high school, but had very little recollection of it. It's a relatively short read and in my opinion a little disjointed, but overall a great book with some really great themes.

Next, I read Pride and Prejudice. I really enjoyed this book. Jane Austen's writing style was so different from anything else I have ever read, that it definitely took some getting used to, but it's very readable and I really enjoyed the story. I also loved learning about the characters I knew by name but didn't really know because I hadn't read the book. Heck, our friends Kim and Will named their dog Darcy after Mr. Darcy!

be able to do 10 push-ups
My whole life, I've had really poor upper body strength. I've always managed to keep my abs somewhat strong and have run several marathons and therefore have decent leg strength, but my arms have always been really weak. When I was making my list, I figured I should include something that would force me to work on my upper body strength. I started out by seeing how many push-ups I could do. The answer is: zero. That's right, I could do zero push-ups when I put this item on my list.

A few weeks ago, Taylor and I finally caved and bought a membership to the New York Sports Club gym on our block. Because this is New York, real estate is ridiculous, so gym memberships are $80/month PER PERSON.

For the past few weeks, I've been doing lots of arm, back and chest exercises, mostly on my own, but I've only managed to increase my push-up count to a whopping 1. :(

So, this past week a trainer at the gym approached me and asked me if I had had my "free assessment" since joining the gym. Basically, they offer you a free session with a trainer in hopes of getting you hooked and paying for sessions every week. I figured it couldn't hurt to take him up on his offer, so Saturday morning I met with Jamar at 11am.

The session was good. He determined, much like I had self-diagnosed, that my abs and legs are in decent shape, but my core and my upper body really need work. He took me through probably 20 different exercises targeting my arms and core. I think I did pretty well and I have to admit that it was nice to have someone to push you, but boy did I ache when I woke up this morning!!!

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be using Jamar's services. At $94 for a 1-hour session (they recommend 2 sessions/week, of course), it's a little steep. I did however learn some good tips and tricks for strengthening what I need to do be able to do pushups. Now if only I could get my count up to 2...