Days 20 & 21...I take back what I said about hiking

Saturday - Day 20

So today we had a two hour pool workout that ended in an intense game of Ultimate.  Of course it was all about the sport of playing and the exercise we were getting from the workout so the winners and losers were not important.  Since I am not competitive at all I will say that we all had fun and that was the main idea...Yeah right, you all know me and I was pretty excited that my team won!!

Then our director, Sheryl, thought it would be fun to pack a lunch and go hiking all day.  Not my idea of fun, but no one asked me of course.  Nikky's hamstring was not being nice to her so she stayed back and did a 4 hour workout on the Nu-Step machine. Doesn't sound like much more fun than hiking.  So we started hiking the Cascade Falls.  Of course there were a ton of steps and the waterfall was pretty nice.  Then we kept walking and Katie and I ventured out on our own and we were supposed to meet at a bridge and then turn around.  After walking a while we ended up walking through the enchanted forest and ankle deep in mud we decided we had missed the bridge.  So in order to make it back where everyone else was we had to double time it back and that included jogging most of the way back.  We were pretty tired after that hike.  But low and behold they had another hike for us.  For fun we decided to hike up Oberg Mountain and then stop at the top and eat lunch.  The mosquitoes were awful, but we made it to the top and ate then started to head down.  Things were going pretty well when I suddenly stepped down on a rock, twisted my ankle and fell hard to the ground.  I will admit I said a few choice words when I was on the ground.  My leg was bleeding pretty good and my friend Jenn tried to wash it off with water from her camel back.  I decided it wasn't going to get better so I just got up and started walking again.  I left a blood trail for those behind us in case they got lost.  When we got to the bottom they had another surprise for us, ANOTHER HIKE!!!  I take back what I said about hiking, it is my arch enemy once again.  So we started walking and we felt like we were walking up hill the whole time and then we got to the mountain climb.  I was pretty sore, exhausted and I didn't think I could possibly make it.  I will say I shed a few tears but I kept walking so that no one would see.  It was a pretty intense moment.  They are right when they say that your mind will shut down before your body ever does.  I was mentally shutting down, but my body kept going.   We made it to the top and then made our way back down.  After 3 1/2 hours of hiking, a bloody leg, and a twisted ankle they decided that we still needed to fit in one more hour of cardio on our own when we got back.  We weren't very happy (that is and understatement) but we did it anyway.
But then we went back to get massages last night.  They were unbelievable!! After that we came back and had another fun game of hand and foot (card game).  All in all it was a good day.  Oh and we got 4 letters today which completely made our day that much better! Thanks Dawn, Jamie and Mom you guys are great!!

Sunday-Day 21  Sunday=Fun Day

We have decided that we would like more Sundays in a week.  We love our rest and recovery day!! We were weighed this morning at 6am.  We still don't know our results, but we will find out next weekend.  Then in the afternoon we decided to go to Duluth.  Our friends Camille and Sharon needed new shoes so Nikky and I took them to the Duluth Running Co.  our favorite shoe store.  Sharon (who will be 69 in August) needed some shoes that didn't have a high heal on them.  So we convinced her to buy a new pair.  She got the same pair that I got two weeks ago and now we are going to be twins.  Since Nikky and I didn't need any workout shoes we decided to try on the Fivefingers shoes.  They are the shoes that have a place for each toe.  They are supposed to be really good for building strength in your feet and legs.  They look kind of funny when you wear them, which made me fall in love with them right away.  Nikky loved them as well.  They feel like you are barefoot, but they have grip on the bottom. You can wear them in the water, walking, hiking, running, or anywhere.  I ended up buying a fun blue pair and our friend Camille bought a black pair.  Nikky wanted a black pair, but they didn't have that color in her size so she is going to order some later.  Instead she got a cool pair of shoes that are just like them without the toe separation that are black and hot pink. They are awesome!  We then headed to Target to get a few more band-aids and some other essentials. 
When we got back we met our new roommate Allyson.  She is very nice.  We also met Jill our new next door neighbor who also seems very nice.  We are now getting ready for bed so that we can get through our LAST MONDAY here at Fitness North.  YEAH~~~

Camille and Nikky