Day Two: Feeling the Burn

Well, so much for an extended honeymoon period for me and Ronn. LOL!

Last night he worked me hard, and I'm feeling it today, that's for sure.

First, I swung by Capitol Drugs in West Hollywood and picking up a big container of Ispure protein powder (in delicious Creamy Vanilla!), a case of Ripped Force energy drink (which Ronn says I should drink prior to working out) and a case of Isopure water (to be consumed following a workout). One of the very attractive employees--an adorable 20-something blond boy by the name of Tori--came up to me and asked if I needed any help, then said, "Are you on MySpace?" Turns out he'd seen me on there and remembered my eyes. "I remember liking your pictures," he said with a criminally adorable smile. After I dropped $118(!!!) on my purchases, I made it to Train just after 6:30, got changed and jumped onto the treadmill.

Ronn finished up with another client and came over to join me, and asked me how I was doing. "I'm a little sore, but OK," I replied.

"Good," he said. "'Cause you're about to get really sore."

Great.

Ronn talks to me while I spend 21 minutes on the treadmill, after which my shirt is already damp with perspiration. "I like to see that wetness there," Ronn says. "That's good." He then takes me upstairs to stretch me again. This time, I respond more favorably to his stretching, though, since Ronn has said he's going to be a little more aggressive with me, the calve stretches even MORE painful than they were the night before. "This is good for you," Ronn tells me. "You want this to hurt." Thankfully, I grit my teeth and resist the urge to grab his hair and yank it hard and then say, "That was good for you, too." The other stretches are more enjoyable (Can I just say that I love when he grabs my legs and hoists them into the air without sounding like a power bottom?), and it's easier to relax when it doesn't feel like my legs are being pulled out of my sockets.

Then it's back downstairs for some work on the abdominal machines. Surprisingly, I don't do so bad on them. At least not as bad as I expected I wouldIt helps that Ronn is to me and keeping me focused during the rests between sets. When Ronn asks me to give him 10 crunches, I do so easily. "That's it, Ken!" he exclaims. "Those were excellent. Lightyears beyond what you did last night."

We then proceed to spend the rest of the session working out my biceps and triceps. He makes me do several sets of curls with 12-pound dumbbells, and sets me to work on several machines that focus on arms. (Eventually, I even hope to start learning the names of some of these machines. LOL!) Through it all, Ronn remains a driving force in my success. "That's my boy," he coos at one point, "Let's do it, daddy" at another. (Strange how similar his training technique is to the way I talk when I'm in bed with someone, but I digress...)

Since I showed up earlier than the night before, the session is longer than the previous night's, and, while Ronn has upped the ante considerably, I'm able to pull off all of the reps with only a little bit of struggle during certain ones. "You're going to hate me Thursday morning," he says, referring to the soreness he predicts I will feel when I wake up in two days. Lovely.

We finish the night out with five minutes "climbing stairs" on a step machine that had to have been invented by a true sadist, but I just breathe deeply and grit my teeth again and try to smile. Afterwards, I feel spent, but in a good way. On my way home from the gym, I swing by Whole Foods and Ralph's to pick up the rest of my groceries ($69 worth), then make my way home to relax with my kitty Masha and watch an episode of Gilmore Girls while eating my chicken breast dinner. This time I put a little bit of Honey Hickory mustard (no sodium, no fat, and only 2 grams of sugar! Yippee!) on the chicken, and it's perfect. Then I drew a warm bath, lit a soothing soy candle and relaxed in the tub for a good 20 minutes before bed. I promptly passed right out.

Today I'm pretty sore, but it's a good sore. Looking forward to another productive session tonight! My buddy Kevin will be swinging by to snap a bunch of pics so I can post those on the blog, so keep checking back to read--and see--how I'm coming along!