Boot Camp

I must be crazy. I blame my trainer.

Normally, Saturdays are reserved for my six-mile trek on the treadmill. Obviously, in recent weeks, this has been about as fun a prospect as, say, getting a root canal, or swallowing rusty nails. Even my daily two-and-a-half mile jaunts on the treadmill have been boring me to tears lately.

With the weather getting nicer, G. the Meanie has been encouraging me to get outside more for my running. Only problem with this is that I need the speedometer on the treadmill to keep me honest, otherwise I'll walk a lot more than I run. But still, when he told me (at yesterday's appointment) to do my run/walk outside today, I was thrilled.

I slept in this morning for the first time in ages. I didn't get out of bed until close to ten o'clock. Glorious. However, I was a little stiff and tired, and figured that before I do any running, I should warm up really well and stretch. So I walked over to the gym.

Then I got stuck there.

Yesterday, as I was waiting for my appointment with G., I got in a conversation with the B. the Gym Manager. It went something like this:

"Hey Megan, are you coming to the Boot Camp class tomorrow?"

"Oh geez. Probably not!"

"Why not? You should come. It's going to be a great class."

"I have to do six miles tomorrow, on his [pointing towards G.'s desk] orders!"

"So, do Boot Camp first, then run!"

"I don't think so!"

Then I bragged about my Mt. Diablo adventure. He was suitably impressed.

At this point, G.'s previous client was leaving and he was ready for me. I walked back to his desk and B. called out, "Hey, G.! Megan says she's going to do Boot Camp tomorrow, then her six miles!"

I just laughed. "I did not!!"

"Then she said she's going to climb Everest!"

"No...no Everest. I'm adventurous, not stupid!"

Laughter all around.

Fast forward to this morning. I went to the gym to do a quikc warm-up on the Stair Master, then to stretch and work my muscles. As I walked to the stretching area, I saw B. standing there, so I asked him, "How was your Boot Camp this morning?" I just assumed I had missed it.

"It's happening in a few minutes. You should come."

"Ugh. I don't think so."

But as I did my stretching, I thought, "Oh, hell...maybe I could try it." B. would be teaching half, and G. the other half. Six months ago I would have been a fish out of water in there, but these days I can keep up pretty well. I asked G. what he thought.

"You should do it."

Heh. So I did.

And you know what? Not only did I keep up, I was doing difficult exercises and definitely NOT making an ass of myself. My half of the room got G. instructing us first, and every time he said, "Now this is a more advanced exercise..." I'd get a little worried--only to find it is something I've already done in my appointments with him, or very similar.

For half an hour, I did some serious lower-body and core exercises with G. Then it was B.'s turn to instruct the half of the room I was on. 'Til now, I've never worked out with B., only admired his rear end and tried not to drool when he smiles at me. I admit I felt a little pressure to stay cool and not make an idiot of myself in front of him.

I did a respectable job. The hardest part were the Burpees (Lord, I hate Burpees). I stopped a little earlier than everyone else, dripping sweat and catching my breath.

The best part was when he made us do thirty sit-ups. He had everyone partner up and lock their feet together. There was an uneven number, so he said, "I'm with Megan."

I'll tell you what. I normally piss and moan my way through sit-ups with G. but I did thirty perfect sit-ups with B. holding my feet down. : )

There is no way, six months ago, that I would have even felt comfortable attempting Boot Camp. I didn't have the strength or the skills. I didn't have the confidence. Part of my resistence to doing this class today was simply not wanting to look like a fool. Not only did I avoid that fate, I know I was doing a better job than quite a few people in that room.

At the end, B. had us split into two groups and do a "good, old-fashioned relay race."

"Losers have to do 20 Burpees."

I looked at my team. "We are so not losing this one. I hate Burpees!"

I was the 2nd on my team to run. Thanks to a good run by the girl in front of me, I had a good start on my opponent. I could hear G. calling, "GO MEGAN!!" as I ran my little heart out across the aerobics room. I beat by opponent back with room to spare.

My team ended up winning. : )

As we all left the room, G. introduced me to his girlfriend, who had also taken the class. He said, "Megan's the one who's lost a lot of weight, and who climbed the mountain last weekend." It's nice to know he's proud of what I've done. Every little bit has enabled me to get to a point where the hottie manager of the gym can ask me to do his Boot Camp class--and I can complete it without feeling lost, embarassed, out-of-shape, and idiotic.

I've come a long way.