Back to Boot Camp... Part 5

Otherwise known as... How Ever Will I Salsa If I Can't Lift My Arms?

Today marked the last Monday of this session of the My School District Boot Camp that I have been attending with my fellow unnamed school district employees.  I can't say that I had a particularly busy weekend (salsa class on Friday and Saturday, horseback riding on Sunday), but this morning when I my alarm went off... I woke up tired.  I won't lie:  I made it through work largely due to an intake of Halloween candy in the a.m.

This afternoon, I left work right after school.  I came home, walked straight to my room, and crashed out on my waiting bed.  Aiko-chan purred all around my head, and I scratched her for just a bit. 

I know she misses me when I'm not at home.  And it is nice to be greeted by my mostly black kitty, who was born on Halloween, three years ago.  But, I digress.

I napped for fifteen blissful minutes.  I dreamed, although I cannot recall the dream, and woke up remarkably refreshed and ready... to work.  Or should I say... work out!

I changed into today's workout gear-- yoga pants, sports bra, and a t-shirt with Buddha on it.  I thought Buddha might offer some inspiration.  At least, I hoped Buddha would. 

A few minutes later, I left for boot camp.  Or as Mrs. Glassrooster calls it, torture camp.  Chad, our intrepid instructor, had all kinds of techniques to torment his prisoners-- I mean boot campers!--  today. After our warm up, we ran for four minutes... piece of cake after my five-mile run on Saturday morning.  (Tomorrow I'll be doing a jaunty three-miler.)  Then we did one minute sets of the following exercises, not necessarily in this order:

• 80/20 squats
• bent over rows
• shoulder presses
• tricep dips
• push ups
• sit ups
• bicep curls
• high plank

I think I left a couple out but you get the idea.  About three weeks ago I switched from five-pound weights to eight-pound weights at Chad's urging, I would rather you failed with heavier weights than succeed with weights that are too light.  I listened to his advice.  I know these heavier weights will be beneficial in the long run, but I find them terrifically formidable in the here and now.   

Nobody every said boot camp would be, or even should be, easy.

After the first set of one minute exercises, we were given a reprieve in the form of a fun activity (and it really was fun!) that involved half of us knocking over cones, and the other half of us putting them right side up.  The fun didn't last for long. 

When we returned to our mats, Chad had us do an exercise for one minute, a 20 second rest, and then another minute of the same exercise.  This time we did the following:

• lunges, with weights overhead
• these crazy rapid fire bent over row type exercises changing one arm at a time, that hurt
• punching with our weights in our hands
• lying on our backs, bringing our weights towards our faces in another tricep exercise
• shoulder flies
• low plank

There are many more, but my brain has blocked the memory to spare myself recollection of the pain. I should also say that throughout these exercises, Glassrooster was energetic and downright cheerful.  She kept cheering me on, telling me how I could do it... Finally I told her... Shut up!!!  Everybody laughed.  She kept up her cheerleading.  (She was using five-pound weights and could not in any way feel my pain!)  I couldn't handle it anymore, and exerted, I hate you!   She got the message.  I don't really hate Glassrooster (she actually makes working out fun), but I couldn't listen to her utter cheerfulness for a single second longer.

I am a positive person, but as with everything else-- I have limits... and that's okay.

After we were done, we did another fun cone knocking over/cone putting upright activity.  Then... Chad had one final hurrah in store-- a full tabata drill.  Eight sets of push-ups for twenty seconds, with ten seconds of rest in between. I will admit... I didn't quite make it through every twenty second set.  I had a really hard time with the tabata drill and all those blasted push-ups, but as Chad says, if it's not the last thing we would rather do, then we're doing it wrong. 

After the tabata drill... we stretched.  Oh boy did we stretch!  It was wonderful!  Amazing!  The best stretching ever!  And then... we were done.  The end of another hour at camp. 

Wednesday is our last My School District Boot Camp session until February.  I have mixed feelings about it.  I am looking forward to having two fewer scheduled hours in my week (although training for the half marathon will take the place of boot camp), but will definitely miss hearing Chad's little lectures and bits of information about nutrition and other training-related factoids, Glassrooster's positivity, and the camaraderie of all the campers. 

I already know that it's going to be hard for me to wash my hair in the morning.  My arms are heavy, and they really don't want to move.  How ever can I salsa if my arms won't move?  I am sure that on Wednesday night, I will manage.  Thanks to boot camp and those dreaded eight-pound weights, I'll be dancing with sexy sculpted arms, and a flatter, trimmer waist.

With one session left, I have survived, and the pain has been tremendously worth the gain.