“Go deep, deep, deeper…” he says in hushed tones.
“Push harder, yeah… You like that? You like it so much you wanna do it 10 more times, huh?” he says, in his half-Dublin, half-Italian accent. Beads of sweat are coming through my Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation.
“30 seconds more Mairead .. that’s all we have left together.” I’m panting, and I catch my reflection in the full length mirror. My mascara is smudged too…
Clean out those durrrty thoughts ladies. I’m just filling you in about Luiviu, a personal trainer from Energie Fitness in Dublin City Centre.
Now I consider myself to be fairly fit. I run a bit, and even did a half marathon in April in a fairly respective two hours and ten minutes. Not too bad for a first timer.
After that, I sort of let things slide a little. Then holiday season kicked in and I found myself having a winter coat in the middle of summer. So I’ve rejoined the gym.
After this weeks session I feel like a BIG STIFFY! I’m aware of how that sounds, but it’s the only way I can describe how my body feels.
It’s stiff, and oh-so-sore. My biceps are burning, my arse is aching, my thighs are trembling. Just lifting a mug of tea right involves so much movement I’m actually considering drinking through a straw. Climbing an average flight of stairs feels like a mountain and coming down them sideways? I look like a granny crab.
Why have I done this to myself?
Well, one reason is so I look deadly naked. 
But the main reason is because I’m tired of being tired. Everyone says exercising gives you energy, and right now I need that in abundance. I want energy in bucket loads.
I’ve cut out chocolate too. Shocker. After a few days of going through the DTs it has gotten easier. The hardest part is working alongside a professional treat pusher – Ray D’Arcy. He’s so bad he should be given a gangland name like The Cadbury Crawler or the Dairy Milk Don. He arrives in after lunch and dishes the brown bars out like snuff at a wake. He horses into a chunky KitKat and opens up the other confectionary for the team to gorge on.
Avoiding his gear has been the a struggle but I’m getting there. Over and over I repeat: “No thank you Ray”, while rocking back and forth in my office chair.
But with all that said, I feel feckin fabulous. The best I’ve felt in ages. Long may it continue – being off chocolate that is. Not feeling like a “stiffy”… Ouch.
M X
