Mixed bag

Today's post is going to be a weird mixed bag of stuff...because my thoughts are kind of a jumble. 

Reflections on missing my BMI-in-the-20s goal this past week. 

As you may have guessed from my last post, I was...ummmm...just a teeny tiny bit upset. (Actually, I think "distraught" might be the word that best describes my feelings of this past Monday.)

Really - I know that it's kind of stupid to have let myself get so worked up about missing the goal by so little, but... what can I say? I thought that after all of my hard work the week before that I had the goal in the bag and when it didn't happen...

Catastrophe! Disaster! How could I have missed it??? Gnashing of teeth!

Depression...

In any case, I've moved on. I'm over it. Hoping fervently that I'll make my BMI-in-the-20s at the next weigh-in. However, if it doesn't happen at the next weigh-in then I am not going to allow myself to get all worked up about it. It'll happen when it happens. I'll just keep eating right, getting myself to the gym and doing what I'm supposed to do.

Reflections on Boot Camp

So, last Sunday...Boot Camp Team Challenge!

Amazingly, I manage a pretty good showing.

The Boot Camp is held outside at one of our beautiful state parks by the water. The wind is kind of crazy and it's pretty darn chilly, but otherwise it's sunny and lovely. We start with running and walking. There are 4 groups: fast run, medium run, slow run and walk.

Guess which one I choose?

I'll reflect on my walk in the next section.

After the walk/run, we hit the boot camp stations in groups of three.  At each station we engage in 4 intervals of each exercise. Each interval lasts for 25 seconds. The exercises: step up, plank, side plank, chest presses, overhead lifts, walking squats, walking lunges, standing rows, crunches, and a few others.

The only exercises that completely do me in are the planks. Since I have virtually no core strength (d@#$ you, Bernice!), I manage one regular plank for a grand total of like 10 seconds (it may be more like it's 8 seconds...I'm not really counting...Bernice is too busy saying, "Are you out of your mind??? I can't do this!") before collapsing in a pathetic heap on the mat.

Pitiful.

Bernice and I give up quickly, but do crunches in place of the plank so at least my abs are getting a workout.

Pretty much same story with the side plank. No core strength. And this one is even worse - I manage to stay up for a whopping 5 seconds before falling out of the position.

Absolutely pathetic.

But aside from that I actually complete all of the other exercises. Oh, I'm huffing and puffing as I'm trying to get through each 25 second interval (who knew that 25 seconds could seem like an ETERNITY???), but I get through them. Some better and with more confidence than others. I'm surprised to find myself doing well with the walking squats. And the upper body lifting - not too bad on that front either.

The truth is that I had been very anxious all week about Boot Camp - afraid that I won't be able to do the exercises at all and end up feeling foolish and looking lame. The planks kind of suck and I feel kind of like a major wimp for not being able to do them, but I am so pleased about completing everything else that it kind of takes the sting out of my plank failure.


In between

So, I mentioned above that Boot Camp starts with 20 minutes of running or walking. Since it is well established that I am not much of a runner, I choose to join the walking group led by trainer N.

"We're gonna walk 10 minutes out and 10 minutes back," N announces as she leads us to our starting point, a wide asphalt path that runs along the bay. It's beautiful.

The slow running group has already taken off ahead of us.

As we start our 20 minute walk I realize pretty quickly if I walk at the group's pace that it isn't going to be much of a workout for me. Their pace is pretty relaxed. So, I decide to pick up my pace to one that will get my heart rate up.

I take off on my own.

Short quick strides with my arms at 90 degree angles and pumping hard, I quickly leave the walking group behind. For most of the walk I find myself at the half-way point between the walkers and the slow runners. I'm sweating, my heart is pumping pretty well, I'm not sucking wind, but I'm breathing hard and feeling good.

On the return trip, the slow walkers spread out far behind me. Trainer N catches up with me and we walk together for the last three minutes or so.

"Wow," says N, "you walk REALLY fast."

I do?

Yeah, I guess I do.

It's funny, but over the course of the Fall Fitness Challenge I have complained bitterly about my inability to run. About the fact that every time I start to run I end up sucking wind and I have to stop. Maybe this means that I'll never be a runner. And yet, here I am 6 weeks into this thing and I'm fairly certain that I have become a much faster, stronger and more efficient walker.

So I'm not a runner. Big deal. But I'm not a slow walker either...I guess that I'm something somewhere in between.



Am I OK with that?

Yes. I think I am.