Day 2 of my Beta Exercise Trial Study

Getting the the fitness centre was a whole lot easier tonight. I left work a few minutes early and headed down Crowchild trail and was breezing along thinking this is great and I will be there early this time. All of a sudden I heard the screams of sirens and sure enough in my rear view mirror I could see a fire truck flying in my direction. I pulled over to the edge of the road and it flew by and I could see an ambulance coming. The accident was just in front of me but once the traffic started to move again I had enough time to pull into the far left hand lane of traffic and managed to get by with out much delay. I guess I hadn't left work early I may have been late getting there. The joys of traffic in Calgary. Don't they know I am on the way to an important Beta Trial Study? Really still need to figure out how to get there by going on Sarcee Trail so I have an alternate route.

I arrived still a bit early no trainer was around so waited and then met Tanya. Nice very friendly petite and slim blond.....oh to be that fit! My dream. She introduced herself and said that I should warm up by walking around the track two times. Off I go to see the sights! It was interesting to walk around the track. There is much to see in the centre. The centre itself is huge and has plenty of windows to other fitness areas - swimming pool, climbing wall, skating rink and of course the beautiful outdoors where you can see the mountains. They have a spectacular view there. The other thing of course is the people watching as you are walking by - weight lifters, other walkers, runners and lots of people on other aerobic machines. It is easy to entertain yourself while you walk by casually and checking out what everyone is doing.

Once done the walking I met with Tanya and she provided me with my heart rate monitor and advised me how to put it on. You put what appears to be a type of large elastic band around your upper torso just below your bra. I had no idea that you had to wet the little connectors on the starp so that they would transmit your heart rate. I learned something new - that's how it works. I received instruction on what button to push to start recording and when to stop.....what button was that...I hope I hit the right one!

I was then off to try the Express bike. Now that is a piece of equipment I like. I has a video screen and it is similar to riding a bike outside because a path appears on the screen in front of you and there are different inclines. It was fun and I enjoyed it. Not like riding a stationary bike at home in front of TV. My stationary bike was tooooo noisy so I got rid of it. You need entertainment when riding a bike if you are not outside. 5 minutes on the bike and on a scale of 1 to 10 I would rate the experience as 10. I then headed to a new piece of equipment - rowing machine! Never been on a rowing machine and I thought it was going to be much harder than it seemed. The tricky part was sitting as it seemed tippy and then getting your both feet secured before you fell off. I managed to negotiate it and again 5 minutes flew by quickly. I guess I would rate it as a 6. I need a bit more stimulation when I am working out. Not enough entertainment value here but definitely good for you but BORING. I went back to see Tanya and she gave the option and I chose the elliptical for my last 5 minutes of workout tonight. I felt that elliptical was good because it works your arms and your legs. Rating on this was about an 8 out of 10. A good view of the outside with people walking or diving arriving or leaving. That was a fast 5 minutes. Yup. I pressed the wrong button on the watch already but Tanya was there to save the day. Another walk around the track and I am done! I must remember to take my head set with me so that I can listen to my iphone music or plug into their systems.

I sat with Tanya and she explained what my fitness level is and who it relates to my risk of heart disease etc. I am of course in the increased risk but only by 4%. I guess this is good but I thought I was worse than that so I perhaps I can improve. I am hoping by the end of the study that will be drop to below the 4% rate. It is a goal to keep in mind while doing the study. I have a year to work on it!

Tanya also recorded all my results. There is a lot of recording and paper work that needs to be done for the study. This study is important so tracking the information is extremely important.

Tanya sent me home with homework. Well not really home work but it is a book about the study and some hints on how to be successful as well, how to set some goals and nutritional information. Looks like some good information but will have to read it later. I breezed through it just to see what was in there but want to read it better so that I can incorporate the information that they suggest. I am sure it will be useful.

It was a nice workout and I am feeling good. Not exhausted but good. I thought this was going to be much harder to do. I know that the pace will increase as we go along but that is to be expected but I will work up to that level. It is so much easier when you have a trainer. You know how to get started and not work so hard that you never want to go back to exercise again. I will have to wait to see how I feel tomorrow if I have any aches from the little workout I have done. The other advantage of the trainer is they are their to encourage you and make sure you are successful - it is such a treat to have someone interested in seeing you be successful. Everyone should have this type of positive exercise experience. I think if I had a trainer before I may have exercised regularly (or maybe not but I feel interested and motivated). If did have a gym membership before but not a trainer and it was hard to know how much to do and how to work up to more. I never really felt that it was for me - even in the beginning. It was hard to go and not have anyone who met you or said hi that you knew. I guess for me I need a bit of the socialization to stay motivated.

Other participants in the study are constantly coming and going and there are lots of people that are at the same level I am at or just a bit ahead of me. The time goes by very fast and before you know it you are done for the session.

My next session is on Saturday morning at 9 am. It's a good start to a Saturday. I'm an early bird so it will be great to go and do it first thing in the morning.