My Second Wind and Insanity Workout

I have been attending a class at the Provo Recreation Center called Insanity. The program uses a system of interval training that has you work as hard as you can for 3-minute intervals, with 30-second periods of rest in between. The atmosphere is charged with high fives and encouragement from instructors and other participants. Working out to rousing music and the blare of alarms to cue you when it is time to take a break, get some water and wipe the sweat off your face. I lose up to 3 lbs of water during a session!

Felicia Hurst and Dave Borland took me under their wing and have encouraged me to push my limits. I have almost fainted several times from the exertion of the workout. After working out with these instructors I felt safe enough to push right up to the limits of my strength and endurance. As the adrenaline rises, I sometimes see black spots, muscles burn from the exertion and I nearly faint.

However, encouragement sometimes turns to alarm and I have to reassure them that "I'm okay." I understand that this is what it takes to get my lungs to increase their capacity to absorb oxygen. The medical term is volume of oxygen or VO2. When I trained in previous years, I used intense interval training to raise my VO2 to a measured level of 89. Now I feel like I'm probably around 25. I used to run the trails up Mount Timpanogas; two hours up and two hours back down, a 19 mile round trip.

Dave has moved and Felicia has continued leading the charge. Last night was significant because I got my second wind for the first time since I started my post cancer workout rehabilitation. It is a milestone for me. I have only experienced this before when running long distances.

I took two supplements before my workout: Hammer Endurolyte and Race Caps Supreme. These supplements help to reduce muscle fatigue and increase workload capacity. I've been nervous about taking supplements again because of the tumor. I noticed that the tumor had receded last night during the workout and after.

Thanks to Felicia, a beautiful and talented athlete who I respect and admire. She helped me to push through the inertia of depression and despair.