A Better Time

My first night of bootcamp, I ran (read walked) half a mile and then they tested us to provide us with a baseline. I ran (again, read walked) 1.0 miles, half a mile at a time, did 40 deep knee bends (allegedly), did 30 killer sit-ups (allegedly), 20 push-ups (not even going to pretend on this one), and 10 squat thrusts (kinda). My time was 23:18 minutes. I barely did any of the exercises and I pretty much walk most of the way. I was a hurting cowgirl for 2 days following that little "test". But, I survived and kept going back for more.

Last night was our "final exam". I was able to mostly run the entire 1.5 miles, do all of the exercises, albeit not as well as the young kids, and live to tell the tale. I had the most improved time. My new time was 18:30. Not bad for the fat old lady bringing up the rear huh? The young kids who were able to keep up with all the exercises barely improved their times. Some shaved as little as 10 seconds off their time. This only confirms my theory that, for the most part, the kids in the class were not all that bad off to begin with.

Next stop is yoga. I bought yet another Groupon and will try my hand at yoga. This ties into my long-term fitness goals that started by purchasing a yoga mat 2 years ago and a bag to carry my mat in last year. Baby steps, don't wanna hurt myself by going to fast. After all, who in their right mind would sign up for a fitness bootcamp that starts at the end of July in an outdoor park?

Head Down

They keep yelling at me in bootcamp to run with my head up. I find myself looking down at the path directly in front of me. I find that I prefer to see the steps in front of me then to look up and realize I am not even close to the end of my journey. It seems to be a habit I developed while doing the whole BC thing. Rather then realize that the whole process of 3 surgeries, 8 doses of chemo and 6 weeks of radiation, would take a whole year to complete, I tried to think of just one thing at a time. How much longer to the next procedure? How many doses had I completed and how many I had remaining. By keeping my eyes on only the next procedure/dose/step, I was able to stay focused and not panic. It is the same when I am working out. By keeping my eyes focused on the next few steps I can keep going at my slow but steady pace.

I am not the fastest, but I always finish, even if it is in last place. I accept this. The other thing that helps motivate me is the fact that I am almost twice as old as everyone else in the class. I could be their mother. Considering my age, condition and myriad of medical issues, I think I am doing pretty damned good. I hope to use this momentum to keep going and lose some serious weight. I sat on my fat ass long enough for 3 people, so it is time to get moving and stay moving.

Bringing up the rear

I started my first day of fitness boot camp and I have to say I hate the person who invented this shit. My worst fears were realized when I was, in fact, the fat lady who was the last one to cross the finish line. We ran 1/2 a mile, had our introduction to boot camp, ran another 1/2 mile, did 40 deep knee bends, 30 sit ups, 20 push-ups, and 10 of those frog things where you drop down, kick your legs up and hop back up. After that, we ran yet another 1/2 mile. I will neither admit nor deny that I kept an accurate count of my calisthenics, but I did as best I could. I was the last person to cross the finish line by a good 3 minutes and I am happy to report that they cheered me on. I explained the whole cancer/chemo (gravy train ride) thing, and I further explained that I would not quit but I would do the best I was able to do and that was not going to make me first across the finish line. I found the running hurt the lungs more then it tired out my legs and the push-ups were hard on the upper body after barely lifting things for a very long time.

That which does not kill us will just hurt like hell for a very long time. I will go back for more punishment on Wednesday and Thursday this week. I have 3 classes a day for the next 4 weeks.......really??