Medellin, Colombia - Pain

Working Out at 5,000 Feet
We found a gym  in our neighborhood giving one hour classes for 4 bucks.  I signed up for an 11am High Intensity Interval Training class, which I am familiar with from NY.  Bursts of very intense exercise with 20 seconds of rest between each.  I told Dodo she didn't have to join but her machismo got to her.  She puffed up and stuck up her nose "I can work out too!"

Our trainer was a short guy with a beard whose eyes were too closely set to each other.  When you got close to him, his eyes crossed.  Before class he asked me "Can she speak Spanish?"  Nope, I told him, you are going to have to show her.  He demonstrated each exercise and when he was done, I felt a strong urge to leave.  The first exercise was flipping this tire over and then jumping up on it, over to the other side and repeating.  Others included squatting and jumping up with rubber straps attached to your shoulders that doubled gravity, throwing a ten pound ball up to the ceiling and while kneeling on the ground, rolling out on a flywheel.  Each exercise was for two minutes, very long for a HIIT class.

The gym was at ground level and I made frequent trips outside during the 20 second breaks.  At 5,000 feet, you feel winded quickly and that feeling does not go away.  Besides Dodo and me there was one other girl, making it hard for us to cheat.  The trainer walked around constantly yelling "Vamos!"  It felt like a three hour long hour.

Today I am not as sore as I expected.  We will continue to work on our cardio in anticipation of our high altitude hikes coming later in the trip.