Silent Evil launched a new tactic the other day. She pitted us against each other.
You might not see it that way. You might think that, really, what she did was quite sweet. You might think it offered us the chance to show our love for each other.
But you'd be wrong.
Because no matter how hard you try, when you are exhausted and trying to hold the plank pose, a second seems like an hour.
Why is this relevant?
Because, apart from the lunges and the squats and the dumbell lifts and the weight-ball lifts and the press ups and the pull-downs and the walking with heavy weights, Silent Evil put us in a position where each of us could contribute to the length of the others' pain.
She put one of us on a weight machine where you do pull-ups. She made the other hold a plank pose on the floor for as long as the first took to do ten pull-ups.
I tried to make light of it by telling Fluffy Bear that I'd go faster if he promised me jewellery, but he was too tired and sweaty and hurting to respond.
My ten pull-ups felt like seconds. His ten pull-ups, as I held plank, felt like hours.
We didn't talk to each other much in the car on the way home.
She really is evil.