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I’d had a frustrating day of three pages, and not sure I get to keep any of them. The book was going great guns, and now, suddenly, nothing. Okay, not nothing, but it’s painful inch by inch movement, fighting for every word, every paragraph. I won’t even bother to say that I fought for every page, I never gained enough momentum to count my progress in pages. Words, sentences, paragraphs, they add up, but not to much today. As I said, a very frustrating day at the computer.

What the hell was wrong with me? With the book? I’ve learned that when a book that was going well suddenly hits a serious wall one of several things is likely. First, the plot has derailed and no matter how much you like the scene it’s not the right one. Either not the next scene, or it belongs in a different book, or it just needs to not happen at all. Second, I just haven’t found quite the right way to write the scene and I need some other bit of thought, knowledge, or inspiration to hit before I’ll know how to do it. Third, something in the real world is interfering with the creative process. I know that this sounds all mysterious and Oooo-Ooooo, like it’s a fake reason for things to stop working, but you know what, it’s a legitimate reason for a book to stall. I’ve had it happen over the years. I had a book stall from when my daughter was a baby, and I lost my babysitter to a serious illness. Babysitter ended up being fine; yay, but I was suddenly trying to finish the last third of a novel with a baby and no daytime help. When I realized my first marriage was over I found it really hard to write. Divorce is not inspirational. But I’ve had other much smaller things stop me in my creative tracks, like a fight with my sweetie, or a disagreement with my grandmother, or even an unpleasant conversation with an aunt. So, what was wrong today?

I wasn’t sure, but at the end of the day I had little to show for all my desk time. It was time to get ready and go to the gym. Did I cancel gym and keep pounding my head against the brick wall that my book had become, or did I keep my gym appointment? I was truly debating, and leaning heavily to staying at my desk, but I texted a good friend who is even more devoted to the gym than I am. His schedule is also more punishing than mine, so I told him I was debating gym, or no gym. He told me, “You can do it!” I know it seems a small thing, but I respect my friend and his dedication to exercising. In fact, when I could keep up with him in a workout (lower weights for me) I was very, very pleased with myself. Him telling me I have good form ranks up there with my trainer saying it. So, when my will power was weak I turned to him, and he encouraged me. He didn’t tell me to do it, just that I could do it. I boo-boo faced for a minute, still debating, and then grabbed my stuff and went for the gym. I wasn’t sure it was the right decision, but getting away from my desk for awhile seemed like it might be a good idea.

I was still arguing with myself even as I drove. Then I saw a hawk circling high overhead. The second hawk was flying low, skimming the trees beside the highway. Seeing a bird of prey always lifts my spirits, and I drove for the gym feeling better about the decision to leave my desk. I saw a third hawk across the road while I was warming up on the treadmill. By the time I’d warmed up, I was ready to go in mind as well as body.

My trainer, Ryan, always seems to either rise to my mood, or find a way to get me motivated, but the best days are when I’m already motivated and he can just push me harder. Today was one of those days.

We started with T-Rex (TRX) suspension jack knifes, sort of a push-up with your ankles in the TRX bands, but your butt comes up as you bend at the waist. Yes, they are as hard as they sound. 🙂 Then crunches on the big ball, while you hold a weight plate in your hands. The ball forces you to hold your core in lots of places besides just your abs, simply to maintain balance. Then a thirty second plank. Now repeat; a lot. Wait, I forgot that we started with the machines and working on the arms, chest, and especially lats. I think they pale in comparison to the challenge of the later exercises, so I keep forgetting them. *grin* Hang cleans were next, and then the Tabata dead lifts so I ended with some serious cardio. Tabata dead lifts mean I have weights in hand as if I’m going to do a normal dead lift, but I do it as fast as I can and maintain good form for so long, then a few seconds rest, and back at it, for a total of four minutes, I think. Four, or five minutes. You can do Tabata intervals with pretty much any exercise, but make sure your form is really good, when you’re working with weights and doing it fast enough to make it cardio you want to make sure form is near perfect so you don’t injure yourself. There are some more shoulders in there somewhere, but again, they don’t stand out compared to the hang cleans and Tabata intervals. I’m especially happy that I can do Tabata dead lifts, because when I first came to Hammer Bodies Gym I could barely do a squat with just my own body weight without pain, or issues with injuries. The old injuries that I came to the gym with, at the suggestion of my orthopedist. She wanted me to put some muscle around my joints to avoid surgery. That I can do weighted dead lifts as Tabata intervals just totally rocks!

We actually didn’t get to do a full workout today, had to skip some shoulders, because two stalled cars and a fender bender made traffic interesting on the way to the gym, so we had to cut something. I sort of forgot that earlier, got distracted by all the hawks. But at my request, and me getting back into position for the next exercise more quickly, Ryan and I are starting to cut rest time between sets. He makes sure I have a bit between, but we are whittling away at it. I like it, and it seems to be working. By the time I finished the Tabata dead lifts though, my legs were rubbery and my arms a little shaky. I love it when I end the workout session like that, it means I’ve really worked my body.

Somewhere in all that sweat and exercise I seem to have shaken something lose for the writing. I think I’ve just been trying to start the scene too far out, and over explain. Sometimes when there’s action to be had, guns to be drawn, and bad guys to catch, you just need to cut to the action and back fill if it’s needed. Less talk, more action, for the scene. I find more and more that when I move my body, it helps move the mind, and my muse. Apparently, my muse likes muscle fatigue and sweat. Me, too.