Back to Boot Camp... Part 6

Otherwise known as... The Final Chapter-- for Now...

Today was the last session for My School District Boot Campers.  I had mixed feelings about it.  On the one hand, I'm in the best shape that I have been in years, and boot camp has definitely attributed to my body's metamorphosis.  On other hand, I have been feeling very tired and over-scheduled.  That said:

I like having a mostly flat stomach.

I like having lovely firm biceps.

I even like having someone tell me what to do for two hours a week. 

Really.  As I've written on previous posts, I am someone who makes things happen, both at work and in my personal life.  So, it's kind of nice having someone else (Chad, our evil instructor) make the decisions about what I will be doing for the next hour of boot camp. 

Even if those decisions involve the most dreaded exercise of them all-- push-ups.

Getting back to the workout... today Chad gave us a light warm up, then let us loose for forty minutes with the same exact sheet we had used on our second session of camp.  The sheet had about twelve different exercises on it, with one hundred reps per exercise, broken up into sets of 10 reps each.  Five weeks ago, I did most everything on the worksheet, but only about 20 push-ups, 30 sit-ups, and no leg lifts whatsoever.  I also only completed about 70 jump rope reps before time ran out.  Five weeks ago, I was jumping rope in the last minute of the "assessment."

Today, however, was another case altogether.  I was a maniac.  Once we started, I had a strategy, which basically included doing at least twenty reps of any given exercise at a time.  Once we got down to the last three minutes, I had 30 push-ups left, and about 40 leg lifts left.  Everything else on the sheet was completed.  I did my last three groups of ten push-ups, pausing very briefly in between to mark off the last ten before tackling the next group.

About push-ups, know this:  Above all else in the world, except for human trafficking and the injustices of Wal-mart corporate practices, and okay, I'll say it, our loathsome governor, doing his best to assure that the retirement benefits of teachers will be a thing of the past... with the exception of these things, I believe that doing push-ups is the most horrid activity one can force upon himself.  Or herself, in this case.  Just awful.

Usually.

Today, though, I have to say that during those last three sets, I had adrenaline pumping, and those push-ups were the best I've ever done.  They were deep, and I felt strong.  Today I did one hundred push-ups.

It's official, thanks to My School District Boot Camp, I am invincible.

Overall, I was very pleased with my performance today.  I didn't get my leg-lifts completed, but everything else on the sheet was covered, and then some.  I accidentally did an extra lap of running of the ten laps to be marked off on the sheet, and I am convinced if it weren't for this extra lap, I would have finished the leg lifts, and completed the sheet, which Chad tells me is very rare. 

Life goes on.

Before we started today, I had told myself I would use five-pound weights, since they are what I used during the first assessment, and I wanted to compare apples to apples, which to me made sense.  Chad informed me that since I had increased my weights, I should keep the heavier weights as I traveled through today's fun.  But Chad, why?

Jen, do you really want to go backwards?

What a great question.  I knew the answer, although I didn't answer him out loud, the message in my mind was loud and clear.  NO!

I have worked too hard to go backwards, in every area of my life.  I kept those heavier weights today, and I did just fine.  At one point, Chad came near me while I was counting in my head while doing an exercise with those eight-pound weights, and started talking.  Chad, please, just go away. 

I was counting.  I couldn't count and exercise and listen to Chad at the same time.  That was when my friend noticed that my sheet was about to fly away in the wind, and recommended that Chad put a weight on it, which he did.

Chad, thank-you for helping me, even though I told you to go away.

Jen, that goes with the territory.  No worries.

I can't believe boot camp is over.  It was torturous, but it was so worth it. 

Tonight I went to salsa class, and enjoyed another hour of being told what to do by our salsa instructor.  I loved it.  But what I loved even more, was seeing my smiling reflection in the mirror.  I was a little bit thinner, a little more confident, and a little more amazed at myself, because today, I completed one hundred push-ups.  I never would have done that without Chad.

For this and so much more, I am incredibly thankful for having had this experience.  If My School District offers another Boot Camp session, I will most assuredly sign up.  In the meantime, I am training to run 13.1 miles at Disney in January.  I am taking salsa lessons at least twice a week.  I am strong, appreciative, and growing fast. 

Today as I walked to my car, Chad called out to me, Jen, when are you going to start training with us for the Tough Mudder?  

Thanks, Chad... I'll keep it in mind.

I'm never going to get you to train with us, am I?  My good friend Linette is in the training group.  Both she and Chad have been working on me since early September.  (Mostly Chad through Linette, to be honest.)

No Chad-- but I will be a cheerleader!  I have enough on my plate right now.  But I will absolutely be on the sidelines in Tampa, cheering my friends on, celebrating their accomplishments.    I know my limits... and I won't go backwards.