It's been a while since I last wrote. Admittedly, my last post was less exquisitely detailed than my past posts. I think the reason was that boot camp has had its highs and lows, and I suffered a slight setback for a few sessions after a full day of running around in the Poconos for my company's 'summer' outing. Without boot camp, I probably would have had a much harder time on September 13. Building a boat out of corrugated cardboard, attempting to race it, taking a swim in the lake when it sank, jumping hurdles, sprinting as my teammate threw a football, seeing how far I could get before the other team returned the pass, capping off with Woodloch Pines' version of 'The Amazing Race'. I was in the 3rd place group, and was awarded with an iPod Nano. The soreness I felt in my quads was unlike anything I had ever felt. Which made Friday the 15th, Saturday the 16th, and Monday the 18th RIDICULOUSLY difficult. Forget about any of the small triumphs I had experienced up until that point. And to add insult to injury, a new DI, Wong, started teaching. Combined with the 'What the F***K" approach DI Ruben had, it was like I was fresh meat again. A couple of moments here and there were positive, but there were more downs than ups. I tried to do a squat thrust on Monday 9/18, and pretty much toppled over. So, I was put in the 'slow' group - back to the course, with plenty of sit-ups in between. Didn't get to do the fun stuff like the boxing and tire reps like I had been able to do before. It was back to the basics. I made the decision to give myself some rest on Wednesday 9/20. The best decision I ever made.
I came in on Friday, fully rested and ready to redeem myself. For extra oomph, I chugged half a bottle of Vitamin Water as I walked down 6th Avenue. And then mixed the remaining half with my water. Given my performance as of late, I was not ashamed to drink something which was slightly performance enhancing. Not to the same extent as one of those supercharged energy drinks, but more like a placebo/psychosomatic effect - think 'Space Jam', when Michael Jordan convinced the ‘toons that plain water was a magic potion. Walked in, did my 5 pushups, changed, said my hellos, walked outside, and then took extra time to stretch. Noticed with delight that the DIs in residence were Titus and Alex. Interestingly enough, Ruben was taking the class! Was strange to see him out of his DI uniform, and in the camos that all of the class was wearing. He looked, well, smaller and less imperious. It was humanizing - not that I won't shudder when he pulls his "what the f**k' line again when he is back in DI mode.
Titus hollered for us to do 7 laps around. Focused on my body reacting, I made a mental note of when my heart really started to work. It was somewhere between 4 and 5. Regardless, I kept the pace, and was happy to see that my place in the line of runners stayed constant, with no one passing me, and thankfully I didn't finish last. As we reached the PT space, we fell into single line formation, and started doing our 50 jumping jacks. This class seemed to be extra focused and gung-ho because I distinctly remember Titus' interjections between us shouting out our jumping jack counts:
"Un two three - one!"
"Un two three - two!"
"Friday 6:00 - three!"
"I can't believe it - four!"
"Nice and loud - five!"
"Go hard core - six!"
"Keep it going - seven!"
"Going to 50 - eight!"
Well, you get the point. It seemed like everyone was on a mission. After the jumping jacks, we were given 10 seconds to get down on the floor, with our legs 6 inches off the ground. 15 alternating three-count leg lifts - managed that. Back on our feet, another 25 jumping jacks; then knees up for 30 seconds. Titus paced up and down the line, looking for signs of flagging or fatigue; I sure as hell wasn't going to show him any - and then he ordered us into a push-up position. Mountain climbers, 15 of them. And then into the plank position for 30 seconds - hadn't done that in a few weeks, and of course, what should happen? DI Alex passes by, and the usual, "Vincent, get that butt down!" Inwardly snarling, I forced myself to straighten myself out - and, unlike past sessions, Titus didn't gently nudge me in the stomach with his boot. (note: it has never been a kick or anything to inflict pain, but more of a reminder to tighten one's form up - I am NOT here to propagate the idea that they are in any way harmful). Next, feet-together-feet-apart for 20 reps, followed by 12 seconds to sprint around the course. I think there were squat thrusts thrown in there somewhere, but I don't remember exactly where. It felt like we were being rewarded for observing proper form, or not being punished for being slow in moving from one position to the next.
As we finished our sprint, alternately we were directed "Tires, hurdles." People who got the tire directive were made to do 40 press up reps, while the others were directed to the beginning of the obstacle course. I got the 'hurdles' order. Fair enough. One set of hurdles, and back to do the tires; then over the set of hurdles leading to the 3 walls, First one, no problem; second one, I got over with no help; third one, the one I had always needed major help with, gave me pause. Alex was not around to give me a boost, so I looked helplessly at Titus, and he told me to grab hold, and start climbing - a couple of steps up, he gave me a slight boost, and then I scrambled over the wall. Probably lying to me, he said, "I didn't even touch you." Then, over to the Intensity wall - very troublesome, until Alex suggested I take my workout gloves off - he put them in his pocket, and I made my way up. This was rewarded with a 'Very impressive, Vincent'. Yay.
After the first circuit of the obstacle course, we were instructed to come back to the PT area. Partnering up and grabbing a mat, we were instructed to do as many sit-ups as we could in 2 minutes, 1 minute, and then 30 seconds. My partner impressively muscled through 65 in her first two minutes, while on my first attempt, I barely managed 25-30; the subsequent reps were equally unimpressive - didn't help that next to us was a perky 23 year old 2nd year investment banking analyst doing sit-ups like her bonus depended on it. You're 23, what the hell are you doing in this program???? You can eat whatever you want, and still fit in the size 0-2s. I digress.
Next up: we had grabbed two tires, and while one partner ran around the perimeter, another was instructed to do squats - meaning, lowering oneself down into a sitting position and coming back up - 50 reps. I was the first person to do the squat reps, while my partner ran laps. As I was going through my reps, Titus commented that I barely needed to sit until my butt was on the second tire. My reaction? "Titus, if you want me to take a tire off and do 50, I'll do it - bring it on" He smiled and moved on. We alternated two sets of squatting/running laps. Then, 40 reps of tire presses. I had no problem with this, my partner, having done the class the day before (after two weeks of inactivity), was a bit more challenged. Admittedly, I was waning at this point, and wasn't running at my proper speed, even power walking when I was out of sight. Lastly, we did two sets of 'throwdowns' - which had one person standing straight, with the other lying on the mat, holding onto their partner's ankles, raising their legs to a 90 degree angle, at which point the person standing would push their feet back down. 2 sets of 25. My partner was awesome; she told me how to breathe, which made a WORLD of difference. The passing DI noticed as well :)
Final leg of the journey - back to the obstacle course. Made it through fine. And finally, back to the Intensity wall (second time that day!). I heard Titus calling everyone over for group sit-ups, and I looked pleadingly at Alex, willing him to let me just go straight to the group, but he said, "Bullshit, you are doing this." And I did it. Two times that day, baby!!!!!!!!!!! I beamed as Alex clapped me on the shoulder and repeated, "Great job, Vincent." Timing is everything, innit? He hadn't seen me do my thing in a couple of weeks, so check out the progress!!!!!
Unlike two sessions before, where we had to do 75 sit-ups, we were only called upon to do 25. Got through it! And spent quite a bit of time afterwards gossiping, while Sunil and the 7PM class were just starting their routine.
A fantastic session before my birthday. I felt like leaping down 21st Street on my way home.
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