Day 5

When you hit a bump in the road what do you do? 

I've been asking myself that question since Thursday afternoon at about 4:30. One lunge and the muscle on the back of my left thigh let me know in no uncertain terms that I did something it didn't like at all. Some people might have stopped at this point and asked the instructor for help. Me, well...I'm stubborn, so I tried the lunge on my right side. Same feeling on that side. A part of me demanded I keep going, that I work through the pain. 

The wiser voice I rarely listen to asserted itself "STOP!" echoed through my head and I stopped. Limped my way over to the wall and just stood there breathing and furious with myself. Oh yeah, there were tears too. To everyone who took a moment from their workout to ask if I was okay and encourage me: thank you so so much! I may not have been very gracious at the time, but the words meant so much. 

The instructor, Tyler, was wonderful. He had me do some stretches and even let me use the white roller to try and roll out the soreness. My muscles were having none of that. I was determined to do SOMETHING so Tyler suggested planks. Then I tried the bike and ended with push ups.

A fellow boot camper and good friend hurt herself too and she did push ups with me at the end and kept encouraging me and assuring me it was okay, Ben would be able to work with this and he'd make sure I got some workout in.

Did he ever. I made it in at 5:30 this morning and Ben greeted me with a smile and "Hey hop along!" The joke was what I needed, there was a good chance I might have cried otherwise. I felt embarrassed and so disappointed in my body for betraying me. 

I used the roller with the group and did a modified warm-up then it was time for the workout. Instead of Suicide Sprints and Burpees, Ben brought the bike out for me and I did sprints on that. At first I felt like I was cheating, not working as hard as the others...all the negative garbage. I wasn't running or doing Burpees, but I was trying to push myself and Ben was right there making sure I was pushing.

So week 1 is coming to an end. What have I learned?

1. Listen to your body, don't be a stubborn fool.

2. Sometimes the best thing someone can do is make a joke to put your bump in the road in perspective.

3. That negative voice in my head has GOT to GO! 

4. Eating supportively isn't hard, but it requires some planning and it's an on-going process.

5. This is only the beginning of a journey that I'm going to be on the rest of my life.


6. Even if your comfort zone is so far behind you it can't be seen anymore it is going to be okay. I'm stronger than I think I am.

7. When you think you've had enough water...go ahead and have some more. It's good for you!

8. With exercise I can actually get through the day with 1 mug of coffee in the morning.

Well, this is the end of week 1. I'm going to haul my sore butt and my bottle of water upstairs for a nice soak in some Epsom salts. Stay tuned...I'll have much more to share!