Workout Day

Again, I will start off with my “special meal” because there appears to be some inconsistencies over the past five days. I thought peanut butter was a staple of my vegetarian special meal. However, last night with the main entrée being sloppy joes and the side entrée being baked beans, my vegetarian meal did not include the sloppy joes – obviously – but did include two servings of the baked beans. I wasn’t given any peanut butter because according to the kitchen supervisor – also commonly referred to as “free-stuff” by the inmates, apparently all the correction officers are labeled this, I asked someone why the term “free-stuff” but didn’t receive a plausible explanation. These workers receive a salary and thankfully who in their right mind would volunteer for some of these positions like kitchen supervisor and practically all the other positions who work with inmates everyday. Again, I am not sure why “free” is used but I am guessing it has something to do with the Co’s who are not viewed by the inmates as free – just a guess. I was receiving enough protein in the baked beans so there was no need for any peanut butter. I certainly won’t argue about this, in fact I am not crazy about asking for the vegetarian meal and having to stand off to the side while it is delivered to me. I really don’t want to cause any problems so I took the tray and said, “Thank you.” Fortunately, the baked beans weren’t too bad and I did eat them. There are other beans – pinto beans – which I don’t like because they taste disgusting so again I was fortunate.

I was a little disappointed not to add to my peanut butter inventory so I turned my sights to breakfast this morning. The breakfast was of a vegetarian variety according to the kitchen supervisor even though it included scrambled eggs. I was not going into the discussion of my entire eating habits so again I took the tray and said, “Thank you.” It worked out well because I traded away the scrambled eggs and pinto beans for the hot cereal which was cornmeal mush. I certainly don’t starve at breakfast unlike lunch and dinner. I was curious to see what my vegetarian lunch would consist of today because this was the first time I presented my notice of special vegetarian meal for lunch. I presented it to the CO who is in charge of giving out the lunches. He gave me my sack lunch from the special pile which is segregated from the lunches containing some mystery lunchmeat. I was given my sack – actually it is a clear plastic bag which may or may not qualify as a sack – and immediately I inspected it. Much to my disappointment it wasn’t peanut butter and jam, it was a French roll with two slabs of processed American cheese with oatmeal cookies and sunflower seeds.

I traded away the oatmeal cookies and sunflower seeds but I was truly disappointed. I am not sure if the American Dietary Association sanctions this type of lunch as nutritional. According to the prison standards, this does qualify as a vegetarian meal because it does not contain any meat. I am sorry for saying this over and over again but it does bear repeating. I am disappointed, but I will not voice that with anyone here because it is not worth it. The doctor who wrote the notification was going out on a limb for me and I won’t push the envelope. I have made do with my eating so far and I will continue to make do even with these sad vegetarian meals. My eating is all based on calorie consumption and so far I have consumed enough calories to maintain my weight. This will be more of a challenge due to my new job and all the working out I will be doing. However, I have a package coming soon which includes mostly food and next week I will be able to go to the store for the first time. I will be able to purchase more peanut butter, soups, rice, and beans. I won’t have to rely on the prison-dining hall to provide me with the necessary calories. I have a hot pot and will be able to prepare enough food to keep me from wasting away.

Today would be defined as an incredible workout day. It started right after breakfast because today unlike the last few days we started the real PFT training class without having to go back to the dorm. After a brief warm-up, we embarked on a four mile power walk. I am getting much more comfortable with the power walk and have found my stride. The only issue I am having is with my basketball and running shoes. The running shoes I ordered in the package are my proper size – 10 – but running shoes usually run small and these do. I have ordered many running shoes in the past and I did know this; however, I wasn’t thinking clearly when I wrote out the order form. I definitely should have ordered a full size larger – 11 – and hopefully there is some kind of exchange policy so I can receive the larger pair. I was even given a pair of new basketball shoes when I started the position on Tuesday. These are actually very good looking sneakers but looks can be deceiving because they are not functional when it comes to walking and running. It is a very durable shoe but it is very inflexible. I have been using these basketball shoes for the real training class mostly to match the other instructors who all wear them. Unfortunately, my right foot, most notably the toenail on my big toe, is paying the price for my conformity.

I ran in five marathons, eight half marathons, and countless 5 and 10 k’s. I have had my share of running problems but I have never had a toenail issue. I have met so many marathon runners who have lost numerous toenails due to the excessive running and they all chalk it up to just an occupational hazard. Now here I am having started my new Instructor position, logging only a few miles and the toenail on my big toe is in jeopardy of falling off. Also, it is not the most comfortable feeling I have had. In fact, it hurts. With all that said, when I am power walking, running, and doing my exercises, I just ignore the pain. (A quick story – the first time I ran in the La Jolla Half Marathon, I felt a slight irritation on my left ankle during the run but didn’t think anything of it. I completed the run and was changing out of my running shoes. When I took off my left shoes, I noticed the back of my sock was all bloody. Yes, I had punctured a hole in my ankle due to the stupid fact that I was running in brand new shoes. Interestingly enough all I felt was a slight irritation during the run but after discovering the bloody sock, my ankle started to hurt. I guess mind over matter does work.) Of course, I just ignored the pain all throughout the day. Oh, by the way when I went in for lunch after the training class I took off my sneaker to discover some blood on my sock– not like the half marathon story. All I did was take off my socks and quickly washed them in the sink and put on a new pair.

Back to the extremely good workout day – in spite of the toenail issue. After the four mile power walk was complete, I was told to join two of the other instructors for the PFT Plus Class – this is the class that is given twice a day for all the inmates. This being Friday means it is the toughest class – in terms of intensity - of the week. In fact, this is the test for all would be instructors which I have written about in the past. When I took this for the first time three weeks ago, I couldn’t get through the second rotation (there are three in total) now I would be leading it. It was fun to be in front of the class for the first time instead of being in the class. I was responsible for the one mile run and I also wanted to do all the exercises associated with the class, not just the second rotation which I would be leading. I was able to complete all the exercises and during the second rotation I lead the class. During this time I was a little too excited and went too fast. Some of my fellow instructors had a hard time keeping up with me let alone the inmates in the class. This is one of the problems when it comes to exercises and running, I go too fast. I have to realize that not everyone can do the exercises or run that fast. I need to slow down so everyone can keep up. I also have to realize it is not a race and I need to tone it down a bit.

After the PFT Plus Class was over, the lead instructor critiqued me on my performance and he told me to slow down. It was a combination of being excited about leading the class and my competitiveness. I completely understood the criticism and I know I will do better the next time. This class was over but the real PFT training class was still going on. I hurried over to them on the track and joined then for their one mile run. This was done at a slow pace and felt good to run at this pace because the previous class was very intense. The run was over and the participants were lead through their cool downs. They finished and were done for the day. However, my day was not over because I had to come out after lunch to do the PFT Plus Class again. It’s given twice a day so inmates from both tiers can participate in the morning and afternoon yards.

I changed my bloody sock and had a quick peanut butter and jam sandwich. I returned outside to once again do the PFT Plus Class. This afternoon I didn’t lead any rotations because three other instructors who did not participate in the morning class led the rotations. I still wanted to test myself to see if I could do two of these classes along with all the power walking and running in the other class. I again was given the task of running the one-mile which was fine by me because it is all part of the class. I was able to get through all the exercises and I could feel myself slowing down greatly from the morning class probably from fatigue. I was extremely happy to get through all of the workouts without any problems. This is a far cry from three weeks ago when I stopped midway through the second rotation. I am very pleased that I came a long way in a short period of time and I only expect it to get better.

The afternoon class was complete, but I wasn’t done working out. I wasn’t sure if I should do more running because I only did 7 miles as opposed to the 10 I try to do or do something else. I didn’t want to aggravate my toenail anymore so I passed on the running and opted for doing the step-ups that are also called Harvard Steps. I did an hour and 10 minutes of this exercise. Heedless to say I was drenched with sweat but I did feel good. When I stopped doing the step-ups it felt like my legs were still moving but nonetheless this was a great way to end a great workout day.

The best part of the day was the fact that the time flew by. I started out at 8:00 am, had an hour for lunch, and finished at 4:00 pm. If all the days go by this fast I will be back with my family in no time. The other good part of the day was I had no time to think about my surroundings. I just concentrated on the tasks at hand. In fact, these past four days have also flown by since I started my new position. I do have two days off – Saturday and Sunday – and I haven’t decided what type of exercise I would like to do. But I do know that I will definitely take one day off from exercising so my old body can recover. Next week is a short week due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. Obviously, I like this position and hopefully as the weeks pass things will continue to get even better.