Adventure Boot Camp - Day 1

Well....what good is a blog, if you can't journal and chronicle the ups and downs of life...right?

I signed up for this boot camp in June....but due to my calf muscle injuries, I only made it to day one. This time, I'm on track to get them all in. :-)

Just a little background...ABC (Adventure Boot Camp) is a fitness boot camp that takes place at different parks around the Omaha/Meto area. My camp is located at Standing Bear Lake, 10 minutes from home. The camps (well, most of them) go from 5:30-6:30 am. (I work for a living, so the 9:00-10:00 option isn't a possibility for me...so... 5:30 it is!) You can choose the 3,4 or 5 day a week option. (I went with 5...if you're going to do something, go all out, or why go at all?)

08/04/08 - Day One of Twenty
4:45 came earlier than I could ever prepare. I went to bed earlier than usual, but ended up just laying there in bed, wide awake. Darn it...I should have had that bottle of wine before I went to bed!!! Actually, the alarm went off at 4:36...which gave me one opportunity to hit the snooze before my 4:45 "actually have to drag my lazy butt out of bed" time. I changed into workout clothes...debating wearing the tank top I had picked out..and changed into a regular big 'ole baggy t-shirt.

The entrance to the park is very hard to see when it's dark out. It's not marked well, and there's really horrible lighting. I drove right past it. Since I was there last, they put in a street light. I didn't turn onto that road when I drove by the first time, because I knew the street didn't have a light. They really should send out memos when they do that. :-) :-)

I pull up to the parking lot we work out in....grab my Gatorade, towel, yoga mat and 2 5lb dumbbells....and walk over to where everyone is getting set up. I'm quite happy to see that, unlike the June camp that I attended for one day, this camp does NOT leave me as the biggest gal there. Everything happens for a reason, so maybe my calf muscle injuries happened when they were supposed to happen?

Camp started out the same as it did on that one morning in June....introductions of everyone and then 2 laps around the parking lot. Last time I was there, I knew after my first step that something was horribly wrong with my leg....so I was a little gun shy about taking off in a run. But - never fear - brave Jen is here!!!! I knew, on Sunday - the day before - that I was going to have trouble with that leg. It was starting to hurt again. I HONESTLY think it was my because I was a little nervous about the camp...and it came out as leg pain. The human body is a very strange thing!!!!

Made it through the 2 laps just fine (actually, I passed everyone, and did the second lap quite a ways in the lead of everyone). I'm not a runner, so anyone who knows me...knows that me being in the lead means there had to be something else going on. As I was running, I kept thinking, they are saving their energy...they are taking it easy to spread out the pain through the whole hour. But I just can't do it. Like - singing really quietly is SOOOO much harder than singing loudly.....running really slow is soooo much more difficult for me than just running at a good pace. And I figure it's probably better on my joints as well.

Anyway....once we get back to where we started the run...she shows us the group of exercises we'll be doing for the day. Man...what did she call them all.....I love the names of workouts, sometimes they are so funny...or torturous sounding. :-) Hindu squat, standing lunges, Arnold's presses, bicep curls, leg lifts.....then run two laps (I walked the first, ran the second)....then do them all over again...then run one lap (I limped this one)....then exercises....then run one lap. I walked the first half, then ran the second. But, I can be proud, not many people ran ANY of it. I was keeping up with the crowd. How exciting is that?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

After that last run, we did some ab work. ankle grabbers, bicycle and Pilate's hold (which I know as "The 100" from Pilate's classes) ....we rested a little while, then did all those again (thank god - no running!!)

At 6:30, class is over. She gives us a few words of wisdom....actually, it was just see you tomorrow (with a promise that she'd have something really inspirational tomorrow) hehehehe :-)

I drove home, breaking a few speed laws, showered, dressed, grabbed lunch and ran out the door. Made it in at 7:50. If I have my lunch ready the night before, and clothes laid out...I might not have to run around like a crazy person in the mornings...guess we'll see how tomorrow goes!!!