Boot camp

Writer's Block: we've all had it. I feel like there is some great post just waiting to be put out there, but I have so many thoughts that sort of tie in but could be their own posts and I go back and forth about what to write.

Then there's the little issue of TIME. This week has been insane. Yesterday felt like it should've been Friday because every day was so exhausting but now I think "where did the week go?" I worked late almost every day this week. Missed the Tuesday evening run. Missed the Wednesday morning swim practice. Had a dinner on Wednesday evening to go to so I thought I'd run either at lunch or leave work a tad early and squeeze in a run in before dinner. But I worked through lunch and right up until I had to go home and change for dinner!

It made my resolve to get to Thursday morning boot camp that much stronger.

For about the past few months I've had my YMCA spin students chiding me about coming to the Thursday morning boot camp that's put in by Lorenzo, a US Coast Guard guy that volunteers at the Y. Lately the chiding has gotten more intense. About a month ago, I finally agreed to go. As I left the Y one Monday morning, I saw Lorenzo and I said "I'll be there on Thursday!" "Okay," he said, "See you at o-five-thirty on Thursday."

Gulp.

5:30 A.M.??????

Needless to say, my tired butt has NOT made it there the past few Thursdays. So now they've upped the ante: the rumor has been that I'm too SCARED to go to Lorenzo's boot camp.

I decided that enough was enough, and no matter HOW much great wine we drank on Wednesday evening, I was going to GO TO BOOT CAMP, DAMMIT.

Yesterday morning, the alarm went off at 5:00. Ugh. The little voice crept into my head:

"you could just sleep. Sleep off that dinner and wine. Boot camp will only make you feel crappier. You know you want to keep sleeping. It's so cold out there. Stay here, where it's nice and warm. Could sleep for another hour or so, get up, have some coffee, read the paper, do some light stretching and get set for the day."

NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!

As I rolled out of bed, I felt a faint dizziness come over me. Was I slightly hung over? Okay, now I know I'm getting older...I drank nothing but WINE the evening before...no MIXIES...so WTF?. But I had to keep moving forward.

Moving very slowly, I began to get ready for boot camp. At 5:25, I closed the front door and began to jog down the street to the Y. The evil voice was still there, though. "You could turn around and still get back into bed. That dizziness would go away if you laid back down."

No way. I didn't care how bad it hurt. I had slacked enough this week. I was going to go.

As I made my way into the gym, a triumphant smile made its way across my face. Somebody said "hey...she MADE IT." A few others turned around and a loud bunch of cheers and applause erupted from my friends. "WOW! NOW LORENZO HAS TO GO TO SPIN CLASS! SHE ACTUALLY CAME," one remarked. Ha.

As for the boot camp itself, it was 30 minutes of HARD WORK!

Lunges across the gym (ouch). More push-ups than I've ever done in one session. Sprints across the gym. Ab work with Lorenzo yelling repeatedly, quickly "NEVER GIVE UP! YOU CAN'T GIVE UP! NEVER GIVE UP, YOU CAN'T GIVE UP!"

It wasn't even so bad DURING, but now that the DOMS has begun to set in...ooooh. Upper back, legs, butt...ouch. It gave me a whole new sense of respect for the people that do this every week. Actually, I really admire their commitment overall - many of them are NOT triathletes or runners or cyclists with a strict plan - they simply go to the gym at 5:30 a.m. every day, day in and day out, committed to their fitness and routine.

I had a great time. Then I went home, showered and climbed back into bed for another hour of sleep. Now that's a way to start the morning!