With the cast and crew of Carmen
Despite all appearances to the contrary, Spotlight on Opera (my summer opera workshop) did not kill me. It was, however, four weeks of 12 to 15 hour days, into which we packed ten performances and a lot of classes. Yours truly was the Opera Mama, in charge of it all, as well as directing numerous scenes. I am very proud of the project, even though it sucked every moment of my time and every last bit of my energy for four solid weeks, and one of the things I am proudest of is the addition of a fitness boot camp two mornings a week.
Ten a.m. boot camp in the full sun on a Texas July morning is not for the faint of heart, nor the weak of constitution. It was HOT, and there was a lot of running (sometimes up and down hills, with jumping jacks at the top); squats, punt kicks, sit-ups, squat-jumps, jumping jacks and other plyo, and many many push-ups. It was exhausting. I thought I was in reasonably good shape until this boot camp, and indeed, if I hadn't been doing P90x previously, I wouldn't have had a chance. All things considered --- the extreme heat, the extended lack of sleep and of any kind of rest or relaxation, the elevated stress level --- I think I did pretty well. I would have liked to do better.
Running was particularly difficult in the heat. Any of the cardio was tough in the heat. I felt so out of breath and out of shape, especially next to all the twenty-somethings! Plyo, sit-ups,and push-ups were better. My fellow faculty member and I did better at some of those than some of the kids did; we're veteran singers after all, with a lot of core strength. But I could certainly tell that I'd taken a couple of weeks off from P90x and lost some fitness. On the other hand, I don't think I could have done 38 squat-jumps in a minute for the initial fitness test (43 for the final one!) if I hadn't been doing P90X.
As for my eating during these four weeks ... well, some days it was terrible, and some days pretty good. I had very little time to prepare or to eat, and most of the time I made lunches and dinners at home and took them, but there were a few days of eating out and there were too many late night snacks, as invariably I'd be hungry when I got home around 10 or 11 at night.
So let's just say I have some catching up to do.
On Monday, the day after the program ended, I was up early and on a plane to Chicago; and then in a car driving down to Watseka, Il where I am spending two weeks rehearsing and performing with the Sugar Creek Symphony and Song Festival. Yesterday, on four hours' sleep and having just gotten out of the car, I had six hours of rehearsal --- hi-ho the glamourous life --- but today is a day off, and the first I've had in four weeks. Aside from grocery shopping, I haven't done a blessed thing all day. And I have a glorious place in which to do nothing --- a beautiful estate out in the middle of the cornfields. It's quite remote and peaceful, sitting back on a large parcel of land with a private lake (complete with its own flock of Canadian geese!) and woodlands. Despite -- or perhaps because of --- the slow internet and lack of cell phone service, it's the perfect place to spend a couple of weeks.
And I intend to make good use of it. Finally, I have time to cook some healthy foods; and I have time to get back to regular workouts. Today is a DAY OFF. We'll see how I feel tomorrow; I may need another day of down time. But after that, it's back to work. I plan to restart P90X and this time do the cardio-intensive plan, to jumpstart some weight loss. I'm not happy with my appearance or the way my clothes are fitting right now. And as aware as I am that this is a lifelong struggle for me, it makes me very uncomfortable whenever the scale starts inching up. The only solution is to find some of that determination and start working again.
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