Let me tell you...I really missed working out (as a group) during the break. I knew going in tonight that I was going to be hurting...it would be like this was my first night...and I was right.

As expected, there are a few brave new souls who have made resolutions to get in shape...2 to be exact. Best of luck to them.

Walk/run, stretch, 1 JJ 1 PU, 2 JJ 2 PU...etc.

The night's routine was Core to the Bone. I've detailed it in other posts, but will sum it up again:

6 min lunges (this time with a leg lift after each lunge)
1 min leg lifts
1 mins laying down toe touches
1 min leg lifts
1 mins overhead toe touches

6 mins Sumo Walk
1 min push ups
1 min butt lifts
1 min push ups
1 min butt lifts

6 mins backward lunges with leg lift
1 min plank
1 min belly blaster
1 min plank
1 min belly blaster

BUTTS & ABS

fire hydrants
bird dog
overhead toe touches
alternating toe touches

Surprisingly, even though I felt like collapsing last night, I'm not too too tired...but definatly sore in the ab area. Yikes! Tonight is going to be the real test, I'm sure.

In any case, it's great to be back. As dedication to my New Year's Resolution, I commited myself to a YEAR contract...all the more reason NOT to quit!

So, Monday was pretty rainy...and cold. I felt the beginnings of a cold coming on and thought I'd be better off NOT tempting fate by playing in the rain for 90 minutes. Needless to say, I skipped boot camp, but felt terrible about it all night...and wondered how many ladies were there.

Last night was cold & wet, but at the time of boot camp, not raining, so I decided to brave the weather. I learned that quite a few ladies went the night before, however not so many faced the rain again. Last night there were only 4 ladies...including me. Small class, but effective none the less.

Walk/run (which is a lot more difficult in 40° cold & humid weather). It had now started to rain, and varied from a light sprinkle to a decent rain...luckily no downpour. Finish warming up with2 sets of 10 - 3 count JJ, 1/2 JJ & fast feet (1..2..3 "1" 1..2..3 "2" 1..2..3 "3")

We did a modified core to the bone, as we were limited with non-ground contact exercises. We did 6 minutes of 1 cardio, then 1 minute of 4 core exercises. The night went as follows:

6 minutes lunges
1 min angel arms
1 min side to side crunch
1 min angel arms
1 min side to side crunch

6 minutes Sumo Walk
1 min angel arms
1 min side to side crunch
1 min angel arms
1 min side to side crunch

6 minutes backwards lunges
1 min angel arms
1 min side to side crunch
1 min angel arms
1 min side to side crunch

6 minutes Frankenstein walks
1 min angel arms
1 min side to side crunch
1 min angel arms
1 min side to side crunch

Butts & abs were also heavily modified since we couldn't lay on the ground:

Holding onto a light post...3 minutes standing leg lifts, each side
Holding onto a light post...3 minutes standing leg swings, side to side, each side
6 mins Standing bicycle crunch

Hmmm.....my legs are PRETTY sore today...thanks Tracey!

I SWEAR...if I hear "IT'S SUPPOSED TO HURT" or "20 Seconds!! Anyone can do ANYTHING for 20 seconds" one more frickin time, someone's going to get hurt.

It bugs me when Tracy stands over us with her stopwatch encouraging us to continue for the last few seconds . I don't know why it irritates me, but it does. Would these drills be less of a challenge if Tracy did them with us? Certainly not, and I know that she works out on her own and there's NO WAY she could work out with all 3 of her classes throughout the day, but at least I wouldn't have to listen the constant, "How does it feel?" questions or lie and say things felt AWESOME as much. For some reason when I'm working out (aka killing myself) my thoughts turn from pleasant to down right ugly toward her. I hate that. Must be the heat.... She really is a nice person, and I really DO like her a lot. Just don't ask me when I'm working out! I know that these are just temporary thoughts envoked by PAIN...and I need to blame someone. I have no doubt that these thoughts will soon disappear as my body becomes stronger. In all honesty, Tracy is great, and I love what she's put together to give me (and others) this amazing oppertunity to show ourselves what we CAN accomplish when we're pushed hard enough, and (like it or not) I know it's what I need to succede. Keep it comin' Tracy! YES I CAN

Last night Jen was our trainer again, as Tracy's daughters had an event of their own to attend. I really like Jen too. She's peppy, very sweet, and pushes us like Tracy. When I'm at a point where I've reached my limit and continue to trudge through the pain, Tracy & Jen will try to encourage me to hold on for the last few seconds, and it always seems to work. Imagine that!

Anyway...onto last night.

Yada Yada Yada.....Walk, Run, Stretch...same old, same old.

Jen called the routine last night "CORE TO THE BONE." When I got there, she asked how I was feeling after Tuesday's routine. I told her that my thighs were killing, and so was my left shin. She said "You'll be feelin' worse tonight." I asked if we were working our legs, and she said yes. Great. Not only were my legs in pain, but I wasn't feeling well. I had some serious GI issues last night...but they seemed to dissipate as the night went on...thank heavens!!

I have to admit that although the night was VERY DIFFICULT and EXHAUSTING, it FLEW by.

Things to note for future posts...JJ = Jumping Jacks PU = Pushups

The routine went as follows:

A JJ /PU ladder...1 JJ, 1 PU, 2 JJ, 2 PU....etc. until 10

6 MINUTES of lunges. Yes, 6 minutes...that's not a typo. I seriously think she was trying to kill us. I took a 20 second break in between because my shin was ON FIRE. It burned SO BAD!! Push through....you'll live...(that's what I kept telling myself).

2 mins of leg lifts
1 minute of plank
1 minute of butt ups, in plank position.

6 minutes of Sumo Walk. We were (though writhing in pain) laughing hysterically while we did this exercise. Imagine if you will...10 or so WOMEN (some fat like me) squatting as Sumo wrestlers do (Hands on thighs too) and "walking" HUGE steps while in that position...as Sumo's do when they enter the ring. It was quite a sight to see.

2 mins of plank kicks...while in the plank position, you alternate bringing in your legs to your chest, so rather than only having your elbows and both set of toes for support, you only have your elbows and 1 set of toes for support.

2 mins of scissor kicks (on back alternating legs up & down)

2 mins of side kicks (same as scissor, but vertically side to side)

6 minutes of backwards lunges (those are a mind trick! It's like re-training your brain how to lunge!)

2 mins of Mule Kicks

2 mins of alternating arm/leg touch...on all 4's left elbow touching right knee, right elbow touching left knee.

2 mins side crunch (right side)
2 mins side crunch (left side)

TIME FOR BUTTS & ABS

We did a lot interesting things last night. They wer almost all new...so let me try to remember...

Of course, we started with fire hydrants...

Bicycle
Reach throughs (on back, legs bent on ground shoulders off ground, reach your hands through your legs)
2 mins of leg lifts
left leg sky touch (like mule kick, but leg is @ 90° angle up and you touch the sky)
right leg sky touch

I don't know...I can't remember the rest. All I know is that my abs were (for lack of a better word) pooped and my butt was burning. Jen kept saying, "We're going to have tight butts for Thanksgiving!"

When we were done, it was time to share our homework, which you may remember was to write 25 affirmations of ourselves. We had to share 2. There were some that I really liked that others shared:

No matter if you think you can or you can't, you're right.

When you decide to make a change, a change will start to happen

I am a walking example of God's love

I now choose thoughts that nourish and support me in a loving and positive way

My body heals quickly & easily

My ultimate favorite affirmation (and the one I would like to close this post with) is:

I choose to live my life the way that makes me happy and I am free.

As soon as I got to the park, I let Tracy know that I somehow (while stretching) strained my neck which limited my head & shoulder movement. She said that she didn't think that any of the exercises planned for the night would strain my neck, but if they did to let her know. I felt like a whiner, making up excuses as to why I may not perform my best, but honestly (even as I type this) my neck/shoulder are very strained and painful. As I was walking away, Jen (the sub trainer) jogged up (I didn't know that she joined our class!) and gave a run down of how her night had gone. I overheard her telling Tracy "...and I couldn't believe Melanie! She gave 150% and kicked some butt! She's doing amazing for her first week!" I pretended that I didn't hear them talking, but it made me feel AWESOME and motivated!

As always...walk the park, run the park....stretch. Then we start hell.

Last night's routine was called corepedia (kor-pee-dia). It involved 2 sets of 1 minute exercises in rotation. Let me see if I can remember the order:

1 min Jumping Jacks
1 min fast feet (jumping up & down switching which foot is in front)
repeat

1 min Burpie
1 min jumping jacks
repeat

1 min jump squats
1 min angel wings (At this point, my shins and bottoms of my feet were literally on FIRE. Tracy could see that there was something wrong, so she said, "Talk to me, what's going on?" I told her, and she asked if my shoes were too tight. NO, THEY'RE NOT TOO TIGHT! I pushed on; I never quit, despite the fact that I was in an enormous amount of pain.
repeat

1 min V touch (talk about an ab killer!!)
1 min standing side to side crunch
repeat

1 min superman (right arm) - This is the only thing that aggravated my neck
1 min superman (left arm)
1 min push ups
repeat

1 min dead fish (Martha, the other NEWBIE, hasn't been able to make it through a whole routine yet. She gets dizzy or nauseous, or a cramp, not her fault. She's much thinner than me...maybe a size 12, and while we were doing this exercise she looked at me and said, "Melanie, you're amazing. You're a machine!" I told her thank you, and that she was doing AWESOME too. She made me feel recharged, and gave me enough motivation to go that extra 30 seconds I thought I wouldn't make.
3 min Turkish sit up (lay flat, sit up -no arms-, cross legs, stand up...all quickly...not a graceful exercise)
repeat

(I'm sure there were more...just can't think of them)

After we were done with the circuits, we were instructed to line up. Tracy had an 8 # ball that she handed to the 1st person in the line. She said that we were to run the park at a medium jog handing the ball overhead to the person behind us. When the last person got the ball, she was to sprint to the front of the line and continue. We were told that we had 8 minutes for this exercise. After we ran the park once, I was gasping for air. When we reached Tracy, she said, "Don't stop, Go around again!" I ARE YOU FRICKING KIDDING ME??? I I thought, "There is NO WAY I can go around again....while still jogging!" I could tell that everyone (except this lady Deb who must be 45 and is obviously very fit...though not thin) was exhausted and if I were to step out now, they would only have to work harder, so I kept in sync and made it around again.

I just realized that I ran (jogged) 1 mile without stopping last night. Holy Cow!!

Now that we were all dying...time for butts & abs. I was actually surprised that Tracy was making us do more core work since everyone...even Jen...was vocalizing their abdominal fatigue...but, that's what we're here for, right?

We started with fire hydrants (on all 4's lifting one leg as if a dog peeing on a fire hydrant) and I noticed that my hips weren't feeling normal...almost like they were coming out of socket. Irregardless, I continued...until "This feels AWESOME" and pushed out 10 more...both sides.

Next, we laid on our sides (my RIGHT side first) and did leg lifts for 1 minute. If anyone stopped, everyone would have to do 50 mountain climbers...so everyone begged "PLEASE DON'T STOP!" While doing the leg lifts, again my hip was in extreme pain and felt like I was dislocating it, but still I pushed on. After the lifts, we stayed on that side and did leg lifts to the front & then the back. Switch sides....

As I began doing the leg lifts on my right leg, I felt such an enormous amount of pain that I couldn't continue. I told Tracy (nearly in tears) that my hip was dislocating when I did that exercise, so I laid on my back and did leg lifts that way....for 3 minutes. I thought my leg was going to fall off, but at least it was in socket!

We finished with

sit ups (laying on your back, arms over your head, legs flat, sit up using abs and touch feet. Legs stay flat on ground)

up & overs (OH MY GOSH!!!) where you lean back on your hands while on your tail bone, feet off the ground going from side to side while making an "A" in the air

side to sides (lay on back feet up in the air, legs together and rotating your legs from right to left while getting as close to the ground as possible, making sure your back is flat on the grass) I used the grass as handles to help rotate from side to side!

& rope pulling (where you lay on your back, feet up in the air, shoulders off the ground, "pulling rope from the sky", or trying to touch your alternating toes (right hand left foot, left hand right foot)

PHEWWWWW.......done!

The only thing that hurts today is my stomach and my neck. That's it! I can't believe that even after last night, when I was literally in so much pain I held back tears, I'm hardly sore. My shin splints & burning feet went away after about 40 minutes. I just have to keep reminding myself that "this too shall pass" and that, with any luck, I will soon be looking at a smaller "me".