This week’s boot camp was tough! If you receive Jordan’s weekly emails than you know exactly what I mean! This week’s workout pushed us all harder than we thought we could go but we all emerged with satisfied smiles on our faces. This week I was reminded of the importance of community when it comes to working out. I know that for some, they prefer head phones on and head down kind of method but that simply does not work for me and this boot camp is driving that fact home for me. I have mentioned several times already how much I enjoy working out with these other ladies, but this week I was momentarily faced with having to go one round on my own and it scared me spitless.
This week my seventh wedding anniversary (yes, thank you) was celebrated on Monday night so I had to miss the first workout of the week. I made plans to make it up by myself at the park Friday morning but was pretty much dreading every moment of it, especially after I actually experienced this week’s workout early Wednesday morning. But much to my happy surprise, I discovered that when I let the ladies know my intentions to have a personal solo session, they were all eager to join in! I can’t tell you what an encouraging feeling that is on so many levels. First, it lets me know that these other women are actually enjoying themselves and that they actually feel the benefits of this boot camp themselves. It makes me feel like I am a part of something more than me just wanting to look and feel better but that I am a part of a little community of women who want to look and feel better too and are committed to it.
I mentioned in my very first post that I am a big misery loves company kind of person but having worked out these three short weeks with these women has taken the misery out of it! Don’t get me wrong, there was a moment Wednesday morning, in the middle of these stupid freaking split lunge jump, arm swinging debacles of a drill that I wanted to whine and complain and be mad at my inadequacies and quit. But then I looked over at Sarah, who was having the same arm/leg synchronizing problems as I was, and then at Casey, who at one point might have almost fallen over trying to get her jumps just right, and I realized that we were all in this together and if they were smiling and laughing at their missteps why shouldn’t I just join in instead of beating myself up for not elegantly jumping/splitting/lunging with the grace of a ballerina….or Jordan, who by the way, is kicking butt at kicking ours. She manages to not only do all of these drills just right but looks pretty while doing it, keeps track of our time and yells out encouraging catch phrases like “Hey! You can do anything for 20 seconds, right?!” PS: You can do anything for 20 seconds but it will be the most agonizing and lengthy 20 seconds of your life.
In short, this little community of women who could barely run around the track, do a “real” push-up, and keep their butts down during bear crawls three weeks ago, is now kind of starting to do real good at this stuff and its partly because we are motivated simply by each other’s presence. It’s not about how many push-ups you do or whether you actually stay upright during a lunge split jump hell move. It’s about trying your absolute hardest and knowing that everyone around you is trying their hardest as well. And the results are really beginning to speak for themselves. Brittany is bragging to her husband that she can actually do a real push-up now. Grace randomly knocked 10 points off of her cholesterol, a result she wasn’t even really looking for. Sarah is right on my heels around the track, pushing me to make better time with each lap. And most importantly, these women and Liz and Doireann and Hilary and Casey and Anna and Hannah and Ruthie are doing this together and are committed to each other just as much as to inches shaved and pounds lost. And THAT is truly inspiring!
itaintallrainbows 