Boot(ie Kicking) Camp

Back at the end of December, through a fudge-induced haze, I read an ad for a 10 week boot camp being offered in January.  It was quite a deal- 10 Saturday morning sessions for the bargain price of a $20 donation to the Boys & Girls Club of Silicon Valley.  It's a good deal for the boot camp company, of course, in that they can tap into all of us New Year's resolution makers and maybe get some permanent clients for their regular boot camps.

I talked a couple of friends into joining me and headed out that first Saturday, unsure of what we'd find.  We ended up doing an extended version of their "warm up."  I hurt for 2 days.  My friends were equally bedraggled after that first day.  And yet, I was hooked.

What is it about getting one's ego handed to them on a platter that makes them want to say "Thank you sir, may I have another?"  Whatever it is, I have come to love boot camp.  Just when you think you can't do something one more second, they've moved you on to the next thing, then a third, then backwards, then forwards.  It's always changing and you're all in it together.  Maybe it's the group aspect of it that's so appealing- misery does love company, after all.  Whatever it is, I feel like boot camp has been a significant addition to the running I had already been doing, and has even improved my running.  I ran my first 10K (6.2 miles) last weekend and it went much better than the 9+K (just under 6 miles) I ran last November.  So, the boot camp folks (audrabaker.com, to give them a shout out) are getting what they had hoped from that free boot camp and I am signing up for their regular camp.  Their unlimited membership is way out of my budget, but they have a punch card that I will be using to continue with boot camp one day a week.  Between that, running 3 days a week (though I flaked and only ran once this week), riding our exercise bike once in awhile and just playing around, I'll have more exercise than I think I ever have had before!

I have also been working on eating healthier, both to lose the 10 lbs I gained last summer and to try to lower my cholesterol.  Slowly, but surely, I am getting there.  When I donated blood last week, my cholesterol was 181- the lowest I ever remember being tested at (it's been averaging about 230 for the last 3 years, with a low of 201 this past November).

Maybe this bookworm is finally getting fit!