That Moment When....

As I'm finishing up the production run of the King and I it has definitely put a damper on my physical activity but I've managed to stick somewhat to my healthy choices though dinner time on show days can be a rush. I have however somehow begun to loose weight again. Yay! My mom has come to visit for the next 6 weeks for the holiday season so it's been fun to share my healthy cooking with her too though she doesn't seem to think it's as tasty as I do. She also keeps hoping to wake up at 5 to do yoga with me but hasn't quite happened yet.

When she arrived on Saturday I brought her home from the train station and shortly after I headed out to do a show. When I got home she was very excited to show me a surprise she had carted all the way down here in her carryon bags......tada! A scale! My initial reaction was to laugh. It's kind of like getting wrinkle cream for your 30th birthday. What are you trying to say?!?! You feel slightly offended as the reality sets in that you actually need it.  I've just been weighing myself on occasion on one of the scales at work. I'm afraid now with easy access I might be more inclined to weigh myself more often and drive myself crazy but I'll try to keep it at a minimum.

Yoga For Neck & Back Pain

It's been over a week since I've worked out because I've been burning the candle at both ends. Now that the King and I is entering it's last weekend of performances I've had one or two nights off to feel a little more caught up on sleep and recouping some energy. With that being said, I got myself up at 4:45 to do some Youtube Yoga for beginners again. I'm still not looking to get back on the road and run so that I don't reinjure my ankle...at least not until I'm done jumping on it repetitively in the show. This morning I found one video that said it was Yoga for neck and back pain. It was heavy on the squats, lunges, planks and downward facing dog positions. At one point she went from just a standard hipraise to a back bend and I was all..."What part of this is for beginners?!?!" When it was over and I was sitting on the couch drinking my coffee and snuggling with the fur-kids I suddenly started getting sharp pains in my back. Well geez! I didn't realize that "Yoga for neck and back pain" meant it would give you neck and back pain. I'm alright now but I think if I'm going to do that girl's video again, I'll start with her first and second video, this one was apparently too advanced for me.

YouTube Yoga

Another morning of YouTube Yoga. This is day 2 of yoga for me. I don't particularly enjoy this girl's videos "Yoga with Adrienne", I find she talks too much and it's not soothing but I also didn't want to spend a lot of time surfing YouTube to find the perfect free video so I deal. I'm finding that yoga incorporates some of the staple exercises from bootcamp like planks and isolated squats but with less speed requiring more control through the transitions.

The best thing about YouTube Yoga is when it buffers during child's pose. The same does not apply to when you're in a particularly difficult pose like the Lord of the Dance pose or something ridiculous like that.

I discovered another perk about working out at home, you can wear whatever you want...or don't want...like your pajamas for example thereby reducing your laundry load. I think when I finally actually catch up with my laundry I'll find a significant decrease in volume.

No Shavasana For Johanna

On the recommendation of one of my friends and readers, I tried some YouTube Yoga this morning as an alternative while my ankle heals. As I'm in these really wrist intensive poses, it all comes back to me as to why I haven't done yoga in years. I think I'll continue with yoga though because I'll never recover full strength and range of motion in my wrists if I don't keep pushing myself. It's funny, you may feel while doing yoga that you're not getting an intense workout just because you're not dripping of sweat like in aerobics type workout but I can definitely feel my muscles are sore from the "smooth" and "graceful" movements.

I will say, one of the perks of working-out at home is when you need a potty break, it's right there and since it's yours, no need to add squats to your routine. :-) The downside, if you've got a zoo like me, you can have some rude interruptions. I ended up sharing my yoga mat at one time or another with both my cats, both my dogs and the dog I'm babysitting. While I was in shavasana aka corpse pose at the end, the little dachshund I'm sitting was so concerned for me he started crying and crawled on top of me and laid across my chest...my cat however decided I had enough relaxation time and knew just how to damage my calm as she attempted to sit on my face.

New Challenges

Swollen Cankles!

Now that I've got a big a swollen cankle I'm having to adjust my routine. This wouldn't be so difficult if I was still in bootcamp, I'd just tell Sgt Laura about my injury and then she'd tell me how to modify. I know now for next week that I need to do some research and plan my workouts since just winging it proved to be more difficult. Still I did some of my own tabatas with things like pushups, sit-ups, weighted sit-ups, leg lifts, and as a recovery between each, a v-hold. The moral of the story, don't make me laugh, I don't think my abs can take it.

Furryoga

The thing with doing floor exercises at home is if you leave for just a minute somehow everyone thinks that it's time for a group yoga class. Move over kids! Momma's got some sweating to do. It's sinking in more and more how different it is working out alone. So many of our bootcamp exercises can be done alone but they were most often done with a partner. Partner high-five sit-ups just aren't the same without CEO.com. Reggie kept walking behind me when I was doing my sit-ups and stood there so I couldn't lay back down. That's when I got the idea that he could be my partner after all, I DID train him to high-five. He had the attention span for all of three high-five sit-ups before he got bored and sat in his lay-z-boy chair.

When your gym partner
needs to cut those nails

Twist And Shout

Today was the first day working out on my own while I build my sponsorship pool to be able to rejoin a gym. Reggie and I put on our bright reflective gear and headed out for a run. Instead of the .7 mile loop I've done with him in the past, I decided to try another longer route since I've got that 3.1 mile Trick or Trot next week. We were about .25 mile away from the house when I stepped on the edge of the pavement and CRACK, I was down on the ground rocking back and forth cradling my twisted ankle while still trying to hold on to my exuberant shepherd/husky mix. There were no street lamps, no light from nearby residences just Reggie and I in the darkness almost exactly across from where Kaytlyn Cooper was fatally struck by a car a year ago. As I sit there pondering my options I was glad I brought my phone which was something I never did for bootcamp. I was thankful I knew of at least one friend that was nearby and awake at this ungodly hour if I couldn't put any weight on my ankle. The initial pain and shock subsided and I pulled my self to my feet. I started taking a few steps back home when I made the decision to walk it off. By the time I reached Lakewood and Golfview I was at a slow jog and found that it actually felt better than walking. This could possibly be because I put more weight on my toes when jogging or maybe my plantar fasciitis was more distracting while running. Reggie and I took Westminster on account of it having one of the few sidewalks in this town. I think we may have startled a few bootcampers when our paths converged on Westminster. Though he made no sound, maybe he gave them the evil eye because they stopped dead in their tracks. I decided we better cross to the other side of the road in case anyone wanted to run faster than us. When we got to the corner of Lakewood and Westminster I thought it best we walked the dangerous narrow and winding shoulder until we got back to Golfview. From there I fartlekked (walk/jog) the way back while Reggie outright farted lol. We made it, the whole 2.25 miles! As long as my ankle heals I feel encouraged about completing that 5k next week. I decided the combination of the trauma and the fear of being hit by a car burned enough calories for today.

And So It Begins

I "enjoyed" a week off from working out but really I was failing to drag my ill body out of bed in time to work out on my own thanks to a weekend in NJ with my sniffling and sneezing niece and nephews. I got up and went to the Highlands YMCA Bootcamp for one final time this morning. I won't be able to afford it moving on so starting this week I'll be forever alone.....well, my dog Reggie will have to learn to enjoy running without throwing up and pooping at least. I might even give my schnauzer a shot once in a while but something tells me running with him at 5am might not work for the noise ordinance in my neighborhood. I'm worried though that I won't be ready for my first 5k on the 30th now that it's up to me to get ready but I'll do some research and find a couch to 5k strategy that might work for me.

End of Bootcamp Round 3

2 Mile End
Photo Courtesy
The Mayor of Sebring

Today marks the end of my third round of bootcamp. As customary with each final day we had a bootcamp challenge. I find these challenges more stressful than fun because I feel the pressure to not let other people down even though there's really nothing to win except bragging rights. We were tasked with a variety of challenges, the first being collect as many flags as possible and take photos with all the flags for the following challenges. We had to go to the one mile turn around and take a creative planking photo, go to the 2 mile end and take a creative planking photo. We then had to take a creative planking video that included a tire, a table and a bottle of water while singing Happy Birthday to one of our fellow bootcampers. BTW Happy Birthday to Math Maniac! By the time 6:15 rolled around we still hadn't completed everything but we did everything that required the whole team so those of us that had to go, left. If the remaining team members were able to complete the rest of the challenges I think this may be the first time I've ever been on a winning team!

I didn't lose much weight this round of bootcamp but I feel slimmer, healthier and stronger. I'm enthused about being more active which is a nice change. I'm heading to Jersey for the weekend for a mini family reunion and birthday celebration where I've planned a joint Teenage Mutant American Ninja Turtle Warrior Birthday party for my sister and nephew who are both very active. I planned a fitness competition for the party adapting some exercises from bootcamp that should prove fun and rather hilarious if all goes well. Hopefully I'll get some good video and photos.

You're Tired? Now Do It Again Faster!

It almost seemed like a treat when we started the morning out in the classroom. We split into three groups and competed with timed relay burpees, relay sit-ups and the hardest of all the relay push-ups. The relay sit-ups were the real cherry on top, we just lay there and wait on the person next to us to sit-up as it goes through the entire group like a wave. The comfort was short lived when we did pushups and had to stay in a plank until it was our turn to do a push-up after our arms (and wrists) are already tired from the burpee round. After the group exercises we went to pairs for paired sit-ups, side twisting sit-ups, partner lunges, and push-up high fives. We then went to the sand pit of pain for a couple rounds of sprints. It baffles me that on the second round of sprints Sgt Zipper Pouch thinks that we could do better than the first time. Ha! My only goal every time is to not do far worse than the first time. Of course to top off the whole morning she has us do a timed mile run (or two miles for the overachievers).

Every morning on my way to work at 7:45 after bootcamp, I see "T-College Money" and "School Board Queen" still outside working out....It's no wonder they're so fit. If I had three hours to work out a day I might be....who am I kidding that's two hours I could be watching Netflix.

Balls To The Wall

It was the first time I felt a hint of fall when I left for bootcamp this morning. The feeling of a little chill was rudely interrupted when we began our workout with an 8 minute Indian run. These runs are always made more difficult and annoying when group three is lead by people who should be group two but don't want to make the commitment so instead we end up running just 10 - 20 feet behind the group two's causing the majority of the group three's to give up and walk. I'm almost talking about myself but not quite.

After that longer than usual Indian run around the two soccer fields we did 4 sets of partner 1 minute isolated squats and 4 sets of 60 partner planking high-fives. When I was squatting with one partner my knee popped so loud she heard it even over "Sgt Zipper Pouch's" screeching. (Yes I stole that euphemism) I got through about two rounds of the planks and when it came to the third and fourth round my wrists gave up so I had to just do forearm planks. We finished out our time at the skeeter buffet with a 4 minute Indian run. Our legs so heavy from the squats it felt like they could give out from under us at any moment. I did end up having to walk for a short time but when I got the 90 second count down I picked up the pace and tried to catch the group two people since all of my group threes were dispersed.

We headed in to the basketball court for a circuit that consisted of 15s of everything; table climbs, belly rolls, stability ball planks, jumping pull ups, partner under hand ball tosses and wall ball squat tosses. Belly rolls are always so awkward, trying to keep your balance with your shins on a stability ball while pulling your knees in is difficult and it's worse to dismount. It's entirely possible when I got off my ball, or fell off rather, my stability ball may have hit the guy in the head that was behind me but he didn't say a word. When CEO.com and I headed to the next room to do our pull-up jumps Sgt Zipper Pouch asked if we wanted to do banded pull-ups...she convinced CEO.com to try it but it looked like you'd actually have to be able to do a pull-up for that so I slipped out of there and did the jumping pull-ups. The wall ball tosses proved to be excruciating as you're supposed to go into a deep squat and as you come up throw this large ball up 12 feet in the air.....all this after 4 sets of partner squats?!?!? I might have trouble getting up from my chair at work today.

Honey I Can't, I've Got A Headache

Have you ever awakened with a headache so bad you for a moment thought maybe it was a hangover but couldn't remember drinking the night before? Well I did this morning and of course it happens on a bootcamp day. As usual lately I go through the inner debate of to skip or not to skip but that's a stupid question. My logical side says, you'll regret it more Monday when you've been lazy for 4 days in a row. So I get up and take some ibuprofen as quickly as possible in hopes of squashing this migraine before I head out, I keep all lights off except for one little lamp because every light I encounter feels like the flood lights of hell. I drive over to the Y and walk up to the basketball court. The lights! I immediately cringe from pain as I walk into the court, this won't be fun.

We started the workout with karaoke suicides and knee repeaters, every step I feel the thud reverberating in my head. After a few painful rounds of this we head into the classroom for some timed sit-ups and leg lifts as well as planks and pointed dogs. Though those are not my favorite exercises at least I'm laying down and it's not impact heavy. Surprising enough, I was able to do almost the same amount of sit-ups in 1 minute that I do in two minutes....meaning I need to work on my endurance.

I should have known, when we were done in the classroom we went outside to do our .7 mile loop as many times as possible until the end of class. I fartleked through one lap only to be passed by Beau as he finished is second. I decided to cut out about 7 minutes early knowing full well I couldn't fartlek through another one in that time. Yes I love the word fartlek.

If You Could See Me Now

If anyone saw me for the hour after bootcamp you would swear I was a 90 year old with broken feet in a 29 year old's chunky body. When I get home around 6:20 I do the hobble back into the house. Every I stand up after sitting down its sheer pain all over my body particularly in my heels and today a little extra in my hips....but did I die? :-)

This morning we started with a "warm-up" circuit that included the following: tire flips with jumps, banded tricep pulls, suicides, kettle ball swings, banded side squats, jump ropes, ball passes, table climbs and run around the building and we did this twice. We then went out to the skeeter buffet soccer field where we flipped the tires 4 times, sprinted from one corner to the next and then to the third corner, then did banded side steps again, and the last corner we did more banded arm exercises. I managed to do this circuit 3 times before I was ready to quit luckily when I was at my quitting point we were asked to roll the tires back and be done.  Regarding today's workout, all I have to say is I think I would last longer than many others in a zombie apocalypse on account of my serious sprinting skills. I might not be able to sprint for long but I now know that I can sprint further in one shot than I thought I could before.

B-E-A-U Can Stop Lapping Me

There we were making Monday a leg day apparently. We started in the classroom doing 30 seconds of squats and lunges followed by 20 seconds of planks or v holds and we did this for 20 minutes. The only consolation was that the 40 or so of us were in the air conditioned room instead of in the 5:15am humidity outside. After that intensity we walked around the basketball court until Sgt Laura instructed us that we would have a 6 minute interval run. We would run at a high speed for 30 seconds then a recovery pace for 30 seconds. For many of us recovery pace was walking. There were two more intervals left when Beau, probably the fastest runner in our group and likely twice my age, was coming up behind me about to pass me for the umpteenth time. I thought, you know, there's only two rounds left lets try to keep up with Beau. I'm basically in a sprint but I'm keeping up with him until it was time for the recovery pace which with Beau I don't notice him slowing down much at all so I fall back but try too keep near by. When it was time to speed up for the last 30 seconds I met up with him again and pushed it out till the end. It took me an entire recovery walk around the track and almost our entire next circuit to catch my breath but I felt pretty good about keeping stride with Beau.
The following circuit consisted of burpees with combined pushups, star jumps, partner isolated squats, knee repeaters and roll overs. The roll overs were done in the classroom and by the second round there were several of us that just wanted to stay in the A/C a little extra longer. When we went back to the court Sgt Laura teased and said I think a couple of you did a few too many rollovers...Guilty :-P

1 Mississipi 2....Hurry Up and High Five Me!

I got myself out of bed on time today. Even made it to bootcamp early enough to do some warmup laps....but the parking lot was sparse. I found that today none of my other group three people came to bootcamp. We started out with an Indian run while carrying light weights. People chose weights anywhere from 1lb (mostly trying to be funny) to 4lbs I think. I chose 3lbs. It is a big change to run with weights because I'm usually running sloppy with floppy hands trying to conserve my energy in an effort to continue running. Running with weights not only means added weight to my arms, I have to expense the energy to keep my hands in a fist. There were several people who claimed that today they were group three for our runs but the truth of it is that we never actually split off from group 2. (The first time anyways, my butt was walking by the end of the hour)

When that "warm up" as Sgt Laura called it was over we started what we soon found out would be repetitive torture. We did 30 traveling sumo squats, pendulums and karaokes. Which later we repeated two more times for a total of 90 each. Because I failed to listen to directions I did my first 40 or so pendulums as lunge pendulums just to make things more difficult on myself. I find it funny how the more fit people consistently forget to count how many they have done. Here I am counting halves and quarters just to make sure I don't accidentally do an extra one...couldn't have that!

We ended up doing some partner work too on the soccer field we switched partners three times to do three one minute squat holds. Sgt Laura said we'd thank her next time we go camping in the woods or go to a public restroom on a road trip. We then had to do 60 planking high fives. Ok so in the past my partners and I have shared the same strategy that the faster you high-five the less time you have to spend planking. For this particular time I get partnered with an ity bity blondie from group one. I ended up planking there with one hand up waiting for a high five many times even though I specifically told her I can only do these if done quickly. I swear she counted 1 Mississippi 2 Mississippi between each high five. In my head I hear Jim Gaffigan saying "What are you doing here? You're done!"

Overdosing On Suicides

What's a better way to start the day than with a bunch of suicides?! Right when I got to bootcamp this morning...at exactly 5:15 we grabbed weighted bars and did lunge for number and at least three rounds of suicides. I sprinted at full speed for the first one but by #3 I was dragging. After I was panting and nearly lifeless we headed into the classroom for some bosu tabatas that included squats, planks, reverse planks, bicycles and probably something else but by this point I felt like I was in zombie mode. It was 5:45 and that meant it was time to do a quick change and jump in the pool. At this point I'm thinking there's a slight possibility I could drown because I felt like a giant dumbbell. I hopped in the pool trying to stay near CEO.com because though she's faster than me at least I won't feel like a stranger is speeding up behind me like a shark. That didn't last long and we were re-paired with other bootcampers and I happened to be paired with Curly Sue who is sooo fast she finished her third length of the pool before I finished my second. We at least had a break from the relays and took turns doing laps while the other person treaded water or did "jump squats" which I've mentioned makes me feel like I'm going to drown. By the time we got out of the pool I had to sit down before trying to get out to my car. I felt heavy and drained. I guess that's what happens when you miss even one day of bootcamp like I did Monday when I slept completely through it.

Does Running Late Count?

Have you ever pressed snooze in your sleep....twice? Well I did this morning. I woke up at 5 am but I still made it to bootcamp and only missed one set of tabatas. I wasn't the only one, when I got to the empty basketball court "Miss Booty" was running in coming from the soccer field where she had gone to look for the class so we figured they were hiding in the blue room. It was bosu tabata day. I came in just in time to step on the bosu upside down and do squats. For anyone that hasn't tried doing squats on a bosu let me explain. The bosu if you're not familiar is half of a stability ball. When you flip it upside down, the ball side is on the floor and the flat side is facing you. At this point you step on the flat surface, one foot at a time and try to keep your balance doing squats as your legs shake uncontrollably. In between squat sets we did side planks then the next bosu exercise was burpees and the superman. The superman, appropriately named is when you lay down with your belly on the ball side and hold your legs and feet straight out like you're Superman flying through the sky.


We headed out to the basketball court next for another circuit which included jumping rope, karaokes, weighted lunges, weighted pendulum lunges and partner squats every other exercise. CEO.com figured out for us that every Friday, Sgt. Laura likes to completely decimate our legs because we have two days to recover. Good thing there aren't that many places with staircases in Florida.

Well That Escalated Quickly

 

Today was as good a day as any to get out there in the volleyball sand pit of pain. We began the day with everyone's favorite bonding exercise, partner planking crawl through. CEO.com and I paired up as usual but this was our first time doing this together. Last time I had the pleasure of crawling under Sgt Laura who then copped out of crawling under me so this was going to be the first time I had to stay up in the planking position to refrain from crushing someone under my body weight. I got to go first and low crawl under CEO.com, as I crawled under he over and over I ended up making a nice tunnel that she was able to use next. Then it was my turn to assume the position. As I'm getting into planking position, CEO.com says "Oh this is going to be easy because you always stick your butt in the air." I'm so glad we have an honest relationship lol. She was right though when she said it'll the fastest plank because you're not paying as much attention. As Sgt Laura called time, CEO.com was still under me and threatened to stay there. Very funny. We finished off the sand pit of pain with two sets of sand sprints.

We went back to the basketball court for a small circuit which seemed to consist of several variations of lunges, table climbs, some weighted arm exercises, tire flips and a run around the building. We did that twice then we had to do a mile run. I'm disappointed that I lost some time on my mile but I suppose it could have been due to the sand sprints and runs around the building. As usual though, I still pushed out a final sprint when I reached the edge of the parking lot.

Sometimes You Just Can't

In honor of Special K and friends.

I knew it was going to be bad. I woke up with horrendous stomach pains reminiscent of food poisoning but I went to bootcamp anyways. Today started with sets of 25 double leg lifts, squat presses, banded side steps, step ups, and star jumps. Up until this point I have been doing modified star jumps aka jumping jacks but today I thought it was time to graduate. Here I am doing a jumping star and catching my breath each time and look over to see Special K knocking them out without taking a breath it seemed. I'm fully aware I can't compare myself to her as she is sooo fit that she does 90 minutes of bootcamp and then crossfit right after. After two rounds of this circuit we headed to the soccer field for a two minute jog then another circuit that included 4 tire flips, then 10 each plank rolls, jumping stars and banded leg lifts. CEO.com and I started on the jumping stars seeing how Special K did it, we gave it a shot. It felt like my arms were going to be torn off.

I almost made it through a full round when we got to the plank rolls, which are still next to impossible for me, when I finally decided to take CEO.com's advice and listen to my body. If I stayed any longer anyone else listing to my body might have heard how uncomfortable I was. So unfortunately, my workout was cut short, I left at 5:55 rather than 6:15 but when you can't you just can't.

Battling The Battle Ropes

I know it's going to be a rough two weeks being at the theatre most every night till late because of The Sensuous Senator performances or King and I rehearsal but it really was tough to roll out of bed this morning especially after last nights knee bruising "dance" rehearsal. It started out with "Indian Runs". I always feel so politically incorrect saying that but there we were separated into 3 groups. Today however, there seemed to be little distinction between group 2 and 3. When it was time to sprint and take my place at the front of group the two ladies who were somewhere in between didn't know which group they were in (I asked) so I had no idea if I was supposed to go in front or behind them. Pick a group! When we were done the 6 minute Indian Run we then did a 1 minute partner isolated squat and 60 planking high fives and followed that with karaokes across and back of the two soccer fields.

Enough is never enough for Sgt Laura so we returned to the basketball court for two rounds of circuits at which we spent a minute with 10 second break and then 30 seconds at each station. The stations included, "recovery" planks, kettle ball squat swings, banded side steps, battle rope overhead swings, tire flips, isolated partner squats, and banded squats. This was the first time we'd done the overhead battle rope swings. Basically, we are taking about 4 feet of the end of a battle rope (big fat tug of war rope) and swinging it over our head like cowboys. If you don't get enough momentum you really just look like you're fighting to keep a big black anaconda out of your face. Needless to say some of us might have a few head injuries but at least it was comic relief while we sang Watch me whip, now watch me nae nae.

So Far From Comfortable

Arriving late to bootcamp on pool day when there's 50 people in class is no bueno. It means you have slim to no choice with whom you share a lane. Sgt Laura smiled a little too big when I asked where I could possibly go and she said right this way putting me in the same lane with two super fast guys and one pretty fast girl. We basically had to do relays where two people would be on one side of the lane and the other two on the opposite side taking turns doing laps once the other person reaches the halfway point. That might work if all four people went remotely the same speed. The entire time my inner theme music was of course JAWS because I felt like I was swimming for my life being chased by sharks. We hadn't done it in a while but it finally came back to haunt me, the underwater jump squats. I don't know what it is about these but doing squats underwater and jumping out quickly 25 times in a row leaves little time to breath and gives me major anxiety. I can only equate to the sensation of waterboarding. Yes I might be a little dramatic but it feels terrible to me.

When pool time was over we did a quick change and met out on the basketball quart. 25 must have been her magic number today because our circuit consisted of 25 of everything; lunge pendulums, toe touches, mountain climbers, belly rolls and box jumps. CEO.com and I accidentally walked into the blue room in which we're supposed to do the box jumps but I wasn't ready to try them so we said oops wrong room and went into the next one. Everyone's comic relief today was the belly roll. You lay with your belly on a stability ball and walk your hands out until you're planking with the ball under your shins. You then pull your knees toward your stomach 25 times. There was no way to steer if you started veering off and there absolutely was no way for me to gracefully dismount after 25 belly rolls. I pretty much just fell off the side spread eagle. Finally with my partner-in-pain back in town we sped through the exercises noting that for once when Sgt Laura exclaims that we should be on our second round, we're usually far from it but we were much closer today.

Fitness Is A Labor Of Love

Happy Labor Day! We celebrate labor day to recognize American workers who have contributed to the strength, economic health and overall well-being of our Nation. What better way to celebrate than to concentrate on our own individual strength, health and well-being? While 30 other bootcampers must have been vacationing or visiting family there were still 20 of us that showed up for bootcamp this morning. First thing we did was head out to the damp and darkened soccer field. It was the first time we'd been out there this session. We were told to pick a partner and with my usual partner-in-pain still on holiday I had to get over my social anxiety and I latched on to Sgt Laura's former Marine husband. I think it was a good choice, though Sgt Laura called out to everyone that it wasn't a race and that we should be "enjoying the movement" Mr. Marine motivated me to speed through our partner high-five pushups, high-five planks and partner squats. Then we had to do tabata sprints, 8x 20second sprints each followed by a 10 second recovery jog. I'll admit that I wasn't giving each sprint full speed but mainly because I was fully aware of how many more we had to do and I wanted to survive. When that was over we trekked back to the basketball court to find out we would only be there long enough to do sumo squats, burpees, jump squats and pendulums which we would then have to do again 4 times over at each corner of the soccerfield. As we're panting from the thick hot air on our way back down to the soccer field Sgt Laura says, "This humid air is great for detoxing and that comes free with the program!" Always the optimist.

Finally, to finish off the hour we did another tabata and partner exercises. This time, instead of tabata sprints we did tabata skips. There's nothing funnier than seeing 20 grown adults skipping around a field at 6am. As ridiculous as it was, I found that by singing, "We're off to see the wizard" it kept me at a good rhythm and speed.

You know it was a good workout when just in the two minutes sitting in your car your body deteriorates from the depletion of those endorphines and adrenaline that you get out of your car and hobble bent over double like an 80 year old. Well I had my coffee and recovered enough to then finish mowing my two-week old grass. Cheers to the labor of love going from fat to fit.

Pain In My Honor

I knew it was coming, I had secretly hoped that no one would notice, I even wore my favorite shirt that says "LEAVE ME ALONE" but of course, a birthday doesn't sneak by without Sgt Laura recognizing it. As usual, she has the entire bootcamp class form the bday girl's initials while planking. This time she said, "Johanna I was thinking you could do a side plank with your free hand and foot in the air while holding a medicine ball." I proceeded to laugh in her face and tell her she was certifiable. Thankfully whomever started singing the birthday song did it with a good pace but unfortunately it was too fast for Sgt Laura so we still had to hold our plank after the song.

Now, let's get to today's torture. Our circuits included knee repeaters, jump ropes, banded arm exercises, lunges and squats, weighted arm exercises, ball passes, tire flips and a run around the building. With the combination of the running, the jump ropes and knee repeaters it felt like a lot of stress on the shins and ankles so thankfully I have two days to recover. After the first round we went to the volleyball court for some sand sprints. I pushed myself hard and was able to get in more that ever but then we find out we have to do it again. The number of laps didn't improve the second time around....at all. At least I got my exfoliating treatment for the week.

Yes, I Hear Voices

Rolling out of bed proved more difficult this morning than usual as I still have not recovered from my pre-birthday weekend. It was a small voice but there was a voice in my head that said, "Just sleep in and go on Friday. It won't hurt to miss one day." So, I rolled out of bed, holstered my jiggly parts and hopped in the car. Not long after my arrival Sgt Laura split us into two groups, one group did lunging for numbers while the other group did 30 knee repeaters on each leg. If I haven't said it before, knee repeaters wreak havoc on your ankles when you're carrying so much weight. After that, we did a .7 mile run and timed sit-ups, pushups and leg lifts. That right there felt like a good workout so I thought we might do a few more circuits but no, the bomb drops and Sgt Laura says "let's go out to the parking lot for a timed run, oh and those of you who've been with me for a while can't get away with a mile anymore, you need to do a mile and a half." Is she cray cray?!?! We just ran .7miles already! I thought about just running a mile with the newbies especially with the shin splints I got from the loop we just did but a different little voice in my head said, "You signed up for a 5K in October (1month 4weeks & 1 day), may as well start pushing further now." I listened to that one and slow and steady made it more than half way before I started fartleking. (Laugh and then look it up. Wikipedia research is acceptable for you educators reading this). Of course as always, at the end of my runs, I use whatever energy I have left to sprint the last little bit. It's my favorite part. So, for a total of 2.2 miles run today I'm well on my way to proving I can survive a 5k.

Round 3 Begins...

Before I delve into the today's adventures let me recount Thursday and Friday. I didn't write on Friday because I had family visiting for an early birthday celebration. In preparation I made sure to go to spin class on Thursday so I could just enjoy my time with them Friday.....I couldn't believe it. People were actually telling the truth that spin doesn't hurt your bum as much the second time you do it. I didn't leave feeling like I bruised my crack! Friday morning I slept as late as possible knowing full well that my house guest weren't use to getting up before 5am for bootcamp. I think I made it to 6 so I had to hide out in my room for another two hours before waking them up. It was my mission to show them Highlands Hammock State Park though I've never gone myself. We hiked around out there for a good hour and yes, it was as bad as I imagined. We were attacked by the most vicious horse flies and probably donated a pint of blood each to the mosquito population but it WAS pretty out there. If I ran a 5k out there I'd probably complete it in record time because I would faint of blood loss if I went any slower.

This morning culminated the beginning of bootcamp round 3 for me. The enrollment was jaw-dropping when I arrived at the Highlands YMCA this morning. There must have been at least 50 people there. It's great to see so many taking control and making that step towards healthy living. Also, as usual, misery likes company. We started with a little circuit where we did three burpees, 3 tire flips, 27 rope things (sorry, no idea what to call them but we basically had to take both ends of one of those tug of war ropes and flick it 27 times on each arm), then we ran to the volleyball pit around the little lake that was forming and do 3 sand sprints. When that was over we did another circuit that involved table climbs, lunging ball passes, shoulder presses, a couple banded arm exercises and tire flips. Then we started both circuits over again. It's amazing that I actually missed that squeaky little voice that tells me to sink lower into my lunges. No, the voice is not in my head, it's Sgt. Laura making sure I earn that shower.

Two-Shower Morning

Reggie and I were up and at it. He knew today was the day he got to go for a run. I warmed up with a little Shaun-T Hip Hop abs and then we hit the pavement. Hopefully my hands get use to hold the leash so tightly soon because right now it almost feels like rope burn. What would be even better is if Reggie actually stayed by my side without me holding on for dear life.

We got home so I put him in a cold shower again and dried him off to cool him down. Then I jumped in the shower myself. When I got out I looked at the time and wondered why I was done so early. Duh! I was supposed to meet CEO.com at the YMCA pool at 5:45. It was now 5:43. Well I threw on my bathing suit and made it to the pool only five minutes late but apparently the shower initiates cool down mode because I was whining about doing laps like a child leaving a candy store. 6:15 couldn't come fast enough.

Magic Yoga Mat Rides

I made plans to meet up with CEO.com at the Y, so I wondered how Reggie would take it. I half expected him to follow me to the door wondering why he wasn't dressed for a run yet but that boy didn't even follow me out of bed. I guess he's isn't afflicted by the same guilt as me when I want to stay in bed longer.

When I got to the gym I went immediately to the treadmill to warm up and wait for CEO.com. When she got there we started our 1 mile run on the treadmill. Ugh I really despise running indoors. There's nothing interesting to look at which makes you pay closer attention to your exhaustion. I wanted to quit around a half a mile but I know I can run .7 miles without walking so I pushed on. Once I got to the .8 mile mark I started walking to catch my breath but only for .05 miles then I picked it back up again. I was hoping to get under 13 minutes for my mile but I started my sprint a hair to late, however it's still marked improvement.

When we were done with the treadmill we reluctantly went to the blue room to work on some floor exercises. We did timed two minute situps, some timed arm exercises, planks, flutter kicks, leg lifts, pushups, sumo squats and burpees. We finished it off with some stretching and CEO.com says to me. "Don't you just wish these yoga mats were magic carpets and they could just take us home right now." Someday....Someday....A Whole New World

Success Is Not Throwing Up..I Mean Giving Up

Finishing up the first of two weeks without bootcamp. I'm definitely not getting the same intense workout I would get under Sgt Laura's screech but the important this is I'm still moving and now I'm sharing my healthy new habits with my 5 year old....dog. This morning, moments before my alarm went off Reggie popped out of bed and started nudging me. I told him last night we were going to run in the morning and I guess he was anxious to hit the road. Well I made him wait with anticipation because I first put on a 40 min hip hop workout dvd. When it was time for the cool down part of the dvd I got the yoga mat out. Oh I remember why I have to keep putting away the yoga mat. Immediately as I'm getting on my yoga mat, Reggie tries to bulldoze me over so he can lay on the yoga mat. No I'M going to do downward facing dog!

It was finally time to hit the road for our run. Boy he picked up some speed today, I tried to slow him down telling him to pace himself but he was determined to do more than prancercise. He was already much improved at staying by my side rather than bobbing and weaving in front of me but I also got more of an arm workout forcing him to stay by my side. We made it the entire loop and he never threw up. Yay! Always a nice thing when you don't throw up in the neighbor's lawn. I think I'd like to continue running in the morning with Reggie even after bootcamp starts. Maybe on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Healthy Mom, Happy Mutt

I've already worked out three times this week! I promised CEO.com that I would go to spin class yesterday and I kept that promise knowing full well just how miserable it would be. I don't think I've done spin since 100 lbs ago. It was no surprise how much those narrow rock hard seats hurt your butt, the surprise came when I made it through the entire class. Granted, I had to stand up and peddle often before I was supposed to but I had to do something other than run away to relieve the pain. I'm pretty sure I checked the clock at least twice a minute.

I woke up this morning determined to take my shepherd/husky mix, Reggie, for our FIRST RUN EVER. In the 5 years of his life I've never lead a healthy enough lifestyle to give him that kind of exercise. Sure he's run at full speed in dog parks and we go on an occasional long walk along Lake Jackson or to the nearest Redbox but never have we jogged together. Ok so my run is more like a fast walk for him but in that hot muggy Florida air at 5am the .7mile loop we did was more than enough for him. We got half way done and he threw up. He's always been a terrible walking partner, he bobs and weaves and while running, he nearly took me out several times. When we got back I had to cool him down with a cold shower and I went to the YMCA to meet up with CEO.com to swim.

We did a couple freestyle laps and then some kickboard laps and then we went to the deep end to run in place for a few 30 second intervals. As we're moving I tell CEO.com my legs are tingling, "I think that means I'm losing weight". She laughed at me and said, "I'm pretty sure that means your blood is flowing." I replied "Yeah, which means I'm probably losing weight!" A few more seconds passed and I said, "I'm losing weight in my ankles right now." We both busted up laughing. Exercise is no fun if you can't laugh about it.

Gym Anxiety

Today was the first day of the two week bootcamp hiatus. My fellow bootcampers talked the good talk on Facebook about still meeting at the gym and working out together. Well when I showed up it was a ghost town in the basketball court, I would have left then but as I was walking towards the entrance Mrs. Mayor showed up and encouraged me to go inside the gym. I exclaimed that I didn't know what to do in there! I'm terrified of the actual gym. There were two or three more people in there I recognized from bootcamp so I hopped on a treadmill beside them...and they moved on within a minute or two so again I was alone, bored to tears staring at a pitch black window. Twenty minutes went by and I decided enough was enough. I went home and put on a hip hop workout routine. I think the look I was getting from my dog, Reggie, was probably more judgmental than any look I actually would have got from someone at the gym. I was imagining him saying as he was laying in the lazyboy staring at me, "Look at this big white girl, she couldn't hold a beat with both hands." I carried on with my rythmless hip hop imitation for twenty minutes. I know I didn't get as good of a workout as I would have at bootcamp but at least I got up and moved. I somehow agreed to try spin class tomorrow morning so we'll see if I can even walk on Wednesday but I know that I need to come up with a workout plan for the remainder of this break so I don't get gym anxiety again and leave.

It's Over! Until It Starts Again...

Challenge: Run to the Circle K
to buy a banana and protein shake

Today was the last day of my second round of bootcamp at the Highlands YMCA. I really wanted to be able to say I've lost 30lbs since the beginning but I can only say I've lost 29. Just like last time the end of bootcamp is celebrated with a group challenge. Yay! *said saturated in sarcasm. For any introvert, group projects and challenges are never preferred merely tolerated...refer to photo.

Challenge: Put the tire in a truck
push the truck down the road

One challenge we did that was actually kind of fun was when we put a tire in the back of Sgt Laura's truck and pushed her truck down the road until she yelled stop, asked us a trivia question, if we got it right we pushed it again and if we got it wrong we had to take the tire out, roll it around the truck and put it back in.

Challenge: Skate around the
room as a group

We also had to "skate" around some cones as a group. I think we were fairly good at this one. Skating is actually when all 4 of us put our left feet on one 2x4 and our right feet on another lifting up one board at a time. The last challenge my group tackled was the pool challenge. Only two of us needed to do this so G Boss-man and I volunteered. He swam 3 freestyle laps and I just had to swim 2 kickboard laps. The sad thing is I barely finished my two laps ahead of his 3. Lesson learned though, bring a towel on challenge days. My car seat was still wet on my way to work.

And now a two week hiatus from the organized torture. I think several bootcampers are still going to meet up and work out during the break so misery will still have company.

Skeeter Buffet

Today was very deceiving. I thought for sure we were going to have one last 1 mile run to gauge our improvement in our last week of bootcamp so I prepped with proper support....we didn't run a mile. When we arrived there were a few mats and bands set up in the basketball court so I thought we'd do some circuits there....but we went to the classroom for various weighted exercises with 20 second pick your plank recovery. Pick your plank is like saying pick your poison. You could do regular planks, left or right side planks or reverse planks. I tried reverse planks for a couple seconds but strangely it gave me a twinge in the back of the knee. So I pretty much stuck with the standard planks. After that we did three very quick exercises to include, high kicks, knee pulls and tire flips. I'm now at a point where I have to go for the heaviest tire or I'll feel guilty for not challenging myself. Then she said we were going to the field. People often call the soccer field the skeeter buffet but that can kind of be misleading because the mosquitos are the ones chowing down on bootcampers. Today however, right before we did our last sprint across the width of the two soccer fields, one particularly zombie-like mosquito had a hankering for brains I think because he flew up my nose so hard HIS life almost flashed before MY eyes.

Finally it was over but oh wait, it's someone's birthday again which only means we plank in some sort of design while singing happy birthday. People! Would you quit aging! Luckily this time Sgt Laura asked me to lead the song so for once it wasn't slow and painful....well after all those planks we did before it at least wasn't slow.

Last Week of Round Two

So it begins, the last week of this 6-week round of bootcamp. Time to finish strong. We started with a small scale circuit, many of the exercises seemed to target the glutes and legs because here I am singing, "These quads are on fire!"

Since my favorite part about my blog is recounting the ridiculous exercises Sgt Laura has us do, let me tell you about today. It is somewhat like a trust fall except you're watching your partner's agonizing expression on their face as they try not to let you fall on the floor with the full force of your twohemmem lb butt. This is probably one partner exercise that is a good idea to find someone around the same weight as you but did we do that? Nope. CEO.com and I, partners in pain, paired up as usual. It started with me on the floor and she is supposed to pull me up into a standing position and then slowly lower me back down to the floor with little assistance from me.....well since I've got a considerable amount of weight on her I tried to help as much as possible but lets face it, standing up from a lay down position is already a labored effort for me alone. So I think she still got a good workout.

We finished out the workout with a .7mile lap and I made it again without walking! Last Friday I signed up for my first 5k, I know I have a long way to go from a mile run to a 5k but hopefully I'll be able to work on the endurance to at least survive it over the next 2 months and 3 weeks. I also just found out that after this week I'm going to have two weeks without bootcamp. This will be good practice on how to keep active on my own....that's what I'm telling myself anyways.

Dodge This!

While doing our pre-workout laps around the basketball court we all notice the illuminated floodlights on the volleyball pit. That only means one thing, sand sprints. We started first on the basketball court doing ball toss relays, the concept of which eluded both CEO.com and I for quite a while at first but we finally got the hang of it. Basically, most of us stand in a line and shuffle left while 5 people toss a ball at us and we toss it back then they toss it to the next person and they toss it back and so on. Let me warn you that zoning out is not a good idea during this activity. I drifted off in thought and Radio Diva nearly took my head off with a medicine ball.

After a few rounds of this modified dodgeball we went into the classroom for some timed and counted plankwalks and leg lifts....then the time was here, it was time to go to the sand pit of pain aka the volleyball court. We did our sand sprints and then it came, the thing I was warned about, sand plank crawls. Of course because I'm the odd woman out and didn't have a partner, Sgt Laura, who by the way is quite petite with short arms, volunteered to plank for me and I am supposed to crawl under her....in the sand. To make it even better, we had to demonstrate the plank crawls for the group. By the time it was over the imprint in the sand looked like I was trying to tunnel through the DMZ of North Korea! Thankfully I haven't detailed my car yet.

I Felt Like G.I. Jo

I think Sgt Laura took a page out of G.I. Jane for today's workout. Our first exercise was called The Human Stopwatch Drill. I tell you, there's nothing more effective when torturing someone than inflicting the pain on someone else and making them watch. That's what the Human Stopwatch did. We had to pick a partner and go to opposite ends of the 2 basketball courts. One of you must plank while the other person runs the length of the 2 basketball courts and back 5 times. The idea that someone is suffering through planks for that length of time is a good motivator to run faster. What made it even worse was the three rounds we did, we had to have a new partner for each one so you had to torture three separate people.

We then went to the classroom for sets of 60 partner sit-ups, planking high fives and side crunches. The planks and the high fives I can do with some speed but ain't no way I can pump out 60 sit-ups quite yet. I think I slowly got to 30 when this pinching in my lower back became unbearable. Thankfully on the round of 40 we did, I was partnered with G-Boss Man so we were in the same boat, planks and side crunches ok, sit-ups not so much. Sgt Laura didn't even believe us when we finished the planking high-fives, probably because G-Boss exaggerates every other number. :-)

I'm A Tweener Now

I barely made it to bootcamp on time this morning due to various morning routines taking entirely too long. I arrived to find Substitute Sgt Java explaining the first set of circuits. I guess he learned this time that he doesn't need to demonstrate each one for us. :-P On one of the circuits we were supposed to do pushups for a minute but considering we were doing these on the basketball court the concrete is too hard to do modified pushups so I had to buck up and do REAL pushups...well obviously I couldn't do REAL pushups for a full minute so I took breaks and Sgt Java caught me on one of them so he took it upon himself to come over and provide workout theme music to inspire me to continue...I'm not sure what song he was butchering but it only made me laugh. That Sgt Java is a character, not only does he provide a live sound track but when giving us an update on time left on each round he yelled "You have a certain amount of time left." CEO.com retorted "Well thank you Captain Obvious!"

One of the last things we did were Indian Runs, apparently we didn't do them like Sgt Java wanted us to do them but we just continued on. As usual, we split into speed groups. Group one the fastest and group 2 the slowest. We got to the other side of the building when group 3 officially kicked me out and told me I need to be in group 2. I was able to keep up with group 2 for a while but finally near the end of the 8 minutes I had to drop out and join my compadre. I guess I'm once again in that awkward tweener phase.

Oh Snap!

Well today I sought to be comfortable for emotional reasons so I donned a 2xl shirt that's basically like a big moomoo on me and headed off to bootcamp....never again, never again. The shirt was heavy and hot with all that extra material. There was no comfort in that.

We actually used weights for some arm exercise tabatas today. Finally I feel like I'm getting an arm workout as opposed to failing at pushups! We also did banded tricep pulls in one of the circuits and while I was in the middle of the one minute round SNAP, I broke the band! Sgt Laura teasingly says "Good job! Usually you don't break a band until the 3rd round of bootcamp." Which reminds me, I've got two weeks left of this round. I've been doing bootcamp for 10 weeks now.

In talking with my sister about my shapeshifting, she asked if I'm getting a lot of loose skin yet. The prospect terrified me enough to start being a good high maintenance girl and covering myself with lotion after my shower. Between that and continuous intake of water and the fact that I'm trying to accomplish this transformation before my 30th birthday, HOPEFULLY means my skin won't make me look like an albino elephant.

Stinkin' Water Nymphs

Yay! Pool day!....but wait let's change the one thing I could depend on as a routine, let's workout on dry land THEN go in the pool. Murr. Sgt Laura just has to change things up. We started in the blue room with 30/20 exercises. 30 seconds of something like squats, lunges, pushups, rollups...unfortunately not fruit rollups, then each set is followed by a 20 second "recovery" plank or v-hold. We did three sets of this and THEN changed and went in to the pool. Needless to say what hint of speed and energy I would usually have on pool days was completely lost. To make matters worse I've got two little water nymphs on either side of me leaving me choking in their wake. I swear CEO.com and Ms. Buy or Sell were born in water or something. Not only was I struggling through the warm-up laps, we had to do sprinting 25s meaning swim as fast as possible one length of the pool then turn around and do it again as soon Sgt Laura says go again. I still wouldn't even be at the wall by the time she said go. I would almost rather be sprinting on land! That's right, I said it. Today I would prefer land over water, it just felt like I was swimming against the current. When it was all over, I apparently celebrated a little overzealously for Sgt Laura's liking but we were finally done and I was relieved to get out of the pool. When I got out, CEO.com was right behind me and pointed out, it might be time for a new swimsuit, I guess my butt was sagging....good problem?

The Substitute

According to Bloomberg, Sebring will see the 2nd most economic growth in the nation next year due to the booming retirement industry. Well with CEO.com's and my bum knees as well as my newest aching body part, my hip, I think we just fit right in. Ugh.

Today Sgt Laura was absent for whatever reason, so we had a substitute drill sergeant. He only said his name once and was really soft spoken so I'm not entirely sure what he said, it sounded like Java so we'll go with it because he did look like a tall dark cup of delicious Java. Just sayin'.

After we razzed him a bit by making him demonstrate all the exercises with which we were already very familiar, we did some a tad bit unorganized circuits all in the basketball court except for the one we left till the end, the lap around the building. When we did the stability ball plank CEO.com and I said in unison when it was over "I did it! I made the full minute." Unfortunately, when it was over I was exhausted and dropped my knee on the concrete...bad call, lesson learned. After those circuits we split into two groups. My group went to the blue room, not to be confused with the red room of pain, and did timed sit ups, push-ups, legs raises, and burpees. Then we were supposed to do 60 partner situps and 60 partner planking high fives. Yeah I don't think I've done 60 situps since I was 17 and in AF basic training and it certainly wasn't going to happen today. We made it to 30 before we moved on. The final exercise was a .7 mile run. Holy moly I made it the entire run without stopping to walk! It may not have been pretty or fast but I made it!

Yay for daily successes....and injuries lol.

No Bleeding Today

To our surprise our workout was done entirely indoors today. Sorry mosquitos, no breakfast beverages for you today. We all crammed into one classroom. Some of the exercises of the circuit included, weighted lunges, weighted crunches, planking knee twists, weighted horizontal bicycle kicks, "recovery" planks on a stability ball, stationary bikes, weighted sumo squats, horizontal bicycle crunches, pull up jumps, tricep pulls etc.

Let's start with something Sgt. Laura called "Mopping the floor" already this sounds like a foreign concept to me. You put one foot on a Frisbee-looking-thing and sweep it back over and over. The sensation reminded me of skiing...from that half of a run I did when I was 15...just before I fell and tore a ligament in my knee. Yes there's photographic evidence of that somewhere.

Another fabulous one that had many of us laughing at ourselves was the one where we were supposed to lay down, sit up then stand up without using our hands. A nice smooth motion. Sounds simple right? I was thankful to see I wasn't the only one that lacked grace during this particular set.

We were so exhausted that CEO.com and I tried to get away with crawling from one yoga mat to the next one between exercises but nothing gets past Sgt. Laura, she called us out and yelled "We're STANDING up and WALKING to our next station ladies!" I just wanted to roll to it, the crawling was actually an upgrade in energy output.

I felt surprisingly ok when I was leaving, no jello legs, no walking bent over. Then it snuck up on me when I got home particularly when it was time to blow-dry and curl my hair. That's why God made hot rollers, so we can be lazy and cuddle while our hair curls on it's own.

They See Me Rollin'

It was one of those mornings when you're not sure if you have the strength to get out of bed much less make it through one of Sgt Laura's drills. Weak and shaking I drag myself out the door, more aware than ever just how shot my glutes and hamstrings feel.  Even walking around the basketball court pre-workout was strenuous the way my legs still hurt from Monday. We headed out to the soccer field, tractor tires in tow. Per my usual MO, I stand around a wait for someone else to volunteer to roll the tires to the field. I've been saying for a while that I'd rather flip tires than most anything else she has us do...well today I got my share of tire flipping. There were three of us on our tire, we took turns flipping and in between each flip we did two push ups and three star jumps. We did this for what seemed like 10 minutes but was probably more like 2. Then we had to do 20 repeating traveling lunges on each leg. Just what my body wanted, more leg exercises! Then it was time for some partner drills planking high fives and partner squats then back to more tire flipping. Oh what's that? You're out of breath from flipping tires? Let's run back to the classroom the long way for some tabatas! I'm pretty sure Laura got a lot of photographic evidence that the majority of each 20 second tabata was spent laying on the ground panting. It was great when it was my turn to use the bosu ball because it was like a rubber pillow. :-D Oh how about we run back and do more tire drills! Filthy, wet, and sweating I surprised myself when it was all over because I suddenly found that I somehow had volunteered to roll the tire back to the parking lot. I'd say I earned my shower.

I Died Twice This Weekend, Now We're Talking Suicides?!?!

That's right I survived my Murder Mystery weekend performances nose diving into some chairs after being shot in the back of the head as a result of confessing to murder....all in the name of theatre. After that drama now I'm met with the task of 20 suicides....then 10....then 5 as our first exercise! Can I go back to face-planting on chairs? It didn't get any easier, alternating table climbs, jumping rope, star jumps, and lots lots more. We took a break from the circuits to do 1 minute timed sit-ups and pushups, with side planks in between, then we went to the volleyball court for some lovely sand sprints. It was the newbies first time in the sand and now they fully understand the degree of misery to which I was referring. Regardless of the aching in my right knee and ankle and the pinch I felt in the left ankle on my last sprint, I made progress. We made our way back to the basketball court only to finish off our hour with lunges for numb
ers. I was recently enlightened that the point of golf is to play a little as possible. Much like golf, lunges for numbers is when we try to do as few lunges across the width of both basketball courts as possible which essentially means we have to take giant steps. Needless to say your legs feel like jello when it's all over.