New outfit and training continues

The next morning, Molly got up on time but kind of groggy and got up to get to work. Paul wished her a good day from bed as she rushed out before finally sliding out of bed himself to get to work.

Grabbing a small breakfast on his way to his home office, he sits down to get caught up with work.

Part way through his working session he is interrupted by the front door. On his front door step, he finds a delivery box a bit larger than he expected confirming it was from Bill’s supplier. Dropping it next to his workout area, he gets back to work.

Alerted by the calendar again, he saves work and gets his new equipment from the box. Breaking the seal, he is surprised by the bright neon shades he sees.

Taking out a pair of shorts he’s surprised by the bright baby blue shade. Not expecting it's something for a guy, but the tag clearly has the Lance Armstrong wanna be on the tag. Shrugging he grabs a shirt and replaces his pants with the shorts, shaking his head at the striped legs.

Seeing a few other items, he found the shoes but wasn’t expecting sandals for a fitness routine, but that’s the only foot coverings he sees so he tries them on. Since he was already on the ground, he went ahead and got in his starting position frustrated at the streaks he sees on his knees.

Trying not to focus too hard on the coloring he tried to work on stretching his legs. He wasn’t really sure if they had moved much from the tape or it was about the same, but then realized he was slouching a bit, so he gripped his arms behind his back & straightened his spine. He was pretty sure there was a little distance but probably too early.

Bill connected and was a little surprised to see Paul in this position again. The bright shorts were a nice touch and he was glad to see the heeled sandals were already in place. It was somewhat encouraging.

“Hey, Paul.”

Broken out of trance, Paul shot back, “Oh, uh, hey, Bill. How goes?”

“Goes alright. I see you got the delivery?”

“Yup, uh, thanks. The colors are a little loud, but seems to fit well.”

“Glad it fits; it looks like the colors will provide better contrast here. Let's get started.”

Bill takes Paul through his training routines. When Paul first stood up, he found the sandals a little disconcerting and suddenly realize the elevation was different with them. Not overly bad, but is definitely a difference.

“k, now that you’re warmed up, lets practice some walking.”

“Right,” Paul stood up. “So where do we start.”

“K, first thing you need to focus on your upper body posture: back straight and tall, shoulders back,…..” Bill continued on and on, give step by step instructions to get Paul moving.

As he watched, Bill started notice something odd about the lines of his shorts with lots of crinkles and bunching that should not be happening with bike shorts.

“Um, Paul, are you wearing boxers under there?”

“Well, ya, whats it mater?”

“Paul! Have you never worn bike shorts before? The whole point was to make sure I could read your form right. If you put something that destroys the line, how am I supposed to tell your form?”

“Uh, well,..”

“Do you not have a jock strap or anything?”

“Uh, no...”

“Look, I'll get something tomorrow again for that, but there’s something else we need to talk about and that’s your commitment to doing this right, with quality.”

“Uhmmm... ya?”

“Exactly... ‘Uhm’, ‘Uh’, ‘ya’, ‘na’. Wrinkled up shorts, just going through the motions, you’re not showing real commitment and respect for the process. This isn’t just something handed to you; it takes work and dedication. Is that something you can do?”

“Well... yes”

“I think its safe to say we’ve been peers for a long time, but during these sessions we need to clearly define our roles.”

Paul tentatively responded, “How?”

“I’m not looking to Dominate you, Paul. Have you heard of a ‘Sensei’?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Good, a sensei is more a teacher, an instructor, showing someone a new technique. I would never presume to take on a stoic mantle of a sensei, but I am a trainer. I'm highly accomplished, very skilled trainer looking to teach you specific techniques.”

Paul nodded a response.

“So, what I’m trying to say is we should have a more formal and focused response to show the proper focus and reverence. Make sure you’re using full words: “yes”, “no”, “I understand”. Utilize a title for me 'Trainer Bill'. It's all about getting in the right mindset and focus. It would only be during these sessions. Outside these sessions, I can still be your peer Bill, but in here ‘Trainer Bill’. If we start on this now, it will help you concentrate on making this real and not just some passive activity. Actually get you directly engaged in both mind and movement. Understood?”

Paul thought about it for a bit. “Yes, I think so.”

“No, try it again. No think, no ambiguity. Either you are or are not.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“With the title.”

Paul took a deep breath, and bit back a bit of bile, “yes, I understand, Trainer Bill.”

“A good start, but we’ll need to work on the tone. By the way, did you get the tanning mess squared away?”

“Oh, yes, I got that squared away. They were able to line up sessions on Saturday to work that out.”

Bill stared at him expectantly.

Paul looked at him quizzically.

Bill gestured for him to continue.

Paul swallowed a bit more finally realizing what he wanted, “They were able to line up sessions on Saturday, Trainer Bill.”

“Great! That’s excellent to hear!! I’m sure the humility was not easy to do with them but I’m proud you made that step.”

Paul was actually pleasantly surprised with the earnest praise and then remembered about the attire.

“There was one thing.”

Long pause....

“There was one thing, Trainer Bill.”

“And that was?”

“I need to ensure I have a proper change of clothes for after the session that won’t ruin it or they want let me start.”

Bill nodded in response.

“I need a short pair of running shorts and a loose sleeveless top, as well as open toed sandals. All in dark colors.”

Bill considered it and could think of some ideas, but said nothing.

“I figured since you had some contacts for getting me these fitness outfits, Trainer Bill, you might be able to help get me something appropriate to ensure Saturday is successful.”

“Yes, I think I can get you something.”

“Thank you, Trainer Bill!”

“I’ll look through their inventory and have them drop ship something tomorrow along with some jockstraps or something to help with this layout. It’s getting late so we’ll pick this up tomorrow.” *disconnect*

Paul sighed and shuffled back to his room to shower and get going on dinner.