September 30, 2010 Lighter Than Air

Okay. I'm trying this again. I had this blog all finished and ready to publish last night and somehow it got accidentally erased. I saved the darn thing as I went along but when I tried to reopen it all I got was a picture. Hopefully I can remember some of what I wrote!

It was actually a beautiful early morning yesterday. The temperature was quite pleasant and I regretted the sweat pants I had worn. Our entire workout was at the hill. We began by walking across the field to where the hill began. Now I must admit I love horror movies. Not the grisly, gory, torture as entertainment kind of horror movies, but more the ghosts, supernatural, zombies kind of horror. And walking at the back of the group, across the field in the dark, with everyone just kind of silhouetted against the still moonlit sky, I told Sharon this looked just like a scene from Night of the Living Dead. "They're coming to get you Barbra!" Yikes!

After the warm-up we did the hill workout. We started by running up the hill for 20 seconds and then taking a minute to come back down. Then we did it again, trying to beat our distance. We did this a few times and then finished with a 25 second run. I felt really good during this. My legs felt strong and my breathing was all right. I beat my distance each time and came back down relatively quickly. My legs felt lighter than air. Just like Ramona the Pest when she ran around the playground. Also, I knew this would be the last hill workout with Dustin this outdoor boot camp season so all was good!

Once at the bottom of the hill we did an upper body workout. Some deltoid presses, bicep curls, and push-ups. We did this rotation twice, trying to do the push-ups where you explode off the ground and try to clap in between each one. I laughed though because my hands kept sticking to my mat! Made it kind of hard to get my hands off to clap and you come down really quickly.

We returned to the hill for our second go round. We ran up the hill for 10 seconds and then walked back down for 10 seconds. We would do this until we reached the fence at the top. As we got closer to the top, that 10 second walk certainly became much slower. At one point the people at the lower end of the group didn't have to walk back down while those at the higher end continued to walk down. Well, that was good and bad. The good was that I was in the group that had to continue walking. The bad was that I was in the group that continued walking!
After that we walked almost, but not quite, to the bottom of the hill. Now we ran for 5 seconds. Stopped. Then ran for another 5 seconds. Stopped. And on and on until we reached the top. I had a hard time just stopping. I had to shake my legs out or walk in place. It was hard for me to just stand still. Again, when we were done, I felt great. My legs still felt strong.

We continued our upper body workout with partners. We worked the deltoids more and did some partner pushups. At one point Sharon seemed to be applying more pressure on my wrists while I was doing deltoid work. I told her I was really starting to feel it and she said I would probably feel it still more since Dustin was helping her put the pressure on. Ouch!

For our last run up the hill, we had to carry our weights while we ran. That took the wind out of my sails. That was 40 lbs of extra weight I had to carry. I tried to run, even slowly, but I only made it about a third of the way up. I kept moving the weights around trying to find the position I could run best with but that would have been the position of weights on the ground so that wouldn't work. I walked for about the next third and then Dustin came over and encouraged me to run for 15 seconds. He counted it for me while I ran (if you could call it a run but I tried!) and I kept that pace back up to the fence. At one point I thought of just dropping one weight but I knew that I couldn't drop 20 lbs of weight that quickly in reality so I made myself continue to hold onto both. I asked myself what a 48 year old man, only 4 weeks away from being a 49 year old man was trying to prove. Nothing I told myself. I'm not proving anything. I'm just trying to stay in shape for my health, my kids, my life. Good enough reasons to keep on pushing.
However, when we finished my legs certainly didn't feel lighter than air or strong. They were beat!

Our last section was core work. It was getting increasingly foggy now. The mist was surrounding us. Who knows what could be in the mist. Could be unknown creatures or cursed pirates. I wasn't in possession of ill gotten gold so I knew i had nothing to worry about. Except for the core work. Managed to get through it though. The swimmers were the toughest for me for some reason. Oh well.

Now. One more outdoor boot camp this season and then we move indoors. From Dustin's description it should be fun and challenging. Very much looking forward to it!

Have a good one.

Roger

September 27, 2010 Double Duty

This morning was cold. Really cold! I decided to wear sweat pants as well as my hoodie to boot camp. Got off to a rough start though. After locking the door I couldn't find my keys. We finally had to leave with me keyless. I was not a happy camper. We had to leave so we wouldn't be late. We did not want to do extra push-ups this morning for tardiness. Luckily, when we got to camp I found my keys. They had dropped into my lunch bag.

We did a parking lot workout today so we could exercise where it was lit. There seemed to be a lot of people this morning. People were lined up along the curb and the line seemed to go on a ways. We put our mats down at one end of the parking lot but had to move them so that we were all closer together.

After our warm up Dustin told us we would break into 2 groups. One group would do core work with mild strength training while the other did chariots. Chariots! I didn't mind but Sharon said "We just did these on Friday!" Sharon is not a fan of chariot races. Our group got to do core first and then we would do the chariots. I noticed someone pull into the lot late and thought, "Uh-oh, extra push-ups for someone." Well, someone got a little something extra all right but little did I know it would be me. While we started our core, Dustin discovered that someone had indeed arrived late. He had already divided the group evenly so everyone had a partner and now he had one extra. While I was doing my sit-ups with a dumb bell press across the body, Dustin told me that I would be doing 2 people. Yikes. Extra cardio I thought. 2 trips down and back. First with Sharon and then the other person. I thought that was kind of odd since there were 3 of us I thought maybe we could just do a rotation but I figured I'd just do what he wanted. Well, when it came time for us to do our chariot racing I learned I had figured it all wrong! I put the tubing around 2 different people while they ran across. Then on the way back they both held the tubing while I ran across! That was quite the challenge for me. But, yay, I did it. However when we went back to the core work I found it to be extremely difficult now. Then we had to do the tubing again, but backwards. We finished with a run across backward, and then came back forward. I was almost done, turned to Sharon and said, "At least we won't have to do the hill now."

"When you are done, take a water break, and then sprint across the field and up to the top of the hill," Dustin said. I literally almost stopped in my tracks! After the tubing I didn't know if I could walk, let alone run to the top of the hill. My sprint became a walk across the field and then I tried to run when I got there. I made it about 1/3 of the way and then had to walk the next 1/3. When I was almost to where Dustin was standing I started to sprint. He encouraged me and even ran with me so I kept pushing. The people at the top were also calling to me and encouraging me so I did make it finally. I didn't care that I was second to the last. I just wanted to get there. We walked back down and slowly sprinted across the field and back to the shelter. We were finished.

I found that on our way to the Princeton Club to shower my legs were shaking. They did this all the way down the stairs and to the locker room. I also felt like I had no strength in my arms. The shower helped a great deal and I'm feeling pretty good now.

That was quite the workout for me but I liked the challenge. I was disappointed that I walked a third of the hill but my legs wouldn't listen to me. Got so much more to work on I guess. Always a work in progress.

Have a good one.

Roger

September 26, 2010 The Blustery Day

Had to get up extra early on Friday and really move. Didn't get my stuff ready the night before plus had to get Elijah's stuff ready too. Moved so fast we wound up leaving earlier than usual and arriving at boot camp really early.

The wind was really howling that morning. I couldn't believe how windy it was. Ryan had us work out in the bigger, lit shelter. We did warm up in the parking lot. Glad I had on my hoodie because that wind made it a little chilly. For our workout we did several stations. Jumping rope was hard but I wasn't sure if it was because I did it outside of the shelter and the wind made it a little more difficult or I'm just clumsy at it. We also spelled our names with the medicine ball held in extended arms, deltoid work, and jumps. Later we did chariot runs. Sharon was my partner and she held on for dear life. We only did one band and I really pulled her across the grass. We also did tricep presses and pyramid push ups. That was quite the challenge. We finished with core.

Our last week of outside boot camp is coming up. The mornings should be cold and the grass wet. We will be so happy to throw away those old shoes on Friday.

Have a good one.

Roger

September 23, 2010 The Results Are In...

Yesterday's boot camp was a retest day and a hill workout day. Both went pretty well.

I was very happy with my results. I improved in all areas. I increased my push-ups, going from 32 to 50. When I count my push ups I have to count in groups of 10. Just seems easier if I'm only doing ten rather than thinking I'm on number 49. I can tell today that I did 50 push-ups. My chest is sore.

I did better in my wall sit as well. This was the first time I used any weight while I sat. I held a 20 lb weight. I improved a minute and a half. The last time I sat only a minute but this time I got through 2:45. To help me this time I used my ipod shuffle. I do much better if I take the concentration away from my legs and sing along in my mind to the music. It worked.

Finally the burpees. Went from 19 to 22. I was cruising but around 16 I started to tucker out. Must have been the push-ups because my arms felt really tired as I lowered myself down and got back up. Still, improvement is improvement. We still have to do our cardio test. Sharon and I are planning on doing that on Sunday. I want to try and improve by 12 seconds so that I do it in under 4 minutes but we'll see.

For most of the rest of the time we did a hill workout. It really is getting easier. Except for running backwards. I ran on the path but it was slippery and my foot slid off a little bit. Avoided a fall. Sharon wasn't so lucky and over she went. I told her she was just really trying to become one with the hill, and was trying to merge into it. She told me she also fell after the wall sit. Poor Sharon. Sometimes physical grace is not one of her strong points. But I love her anyways!

Off to bed now for early boot camp again tomorrow.
Have a good one.

Roger

September 20, 2010 Playground Fun

The outdoor workouts are quickly coming to an end and we will soon be moving inside. Today we did one of my favorites, the playground workout.

There were quite a few people at boot camp today. Dustin has a special 14 day plan going and it looks as if many people are taking him up on the offer (I think we are going to try the food plan that goes with this but we will wait until October when pay day finally comes). Since there were so many people we had a lot of stations to cover. Each station lasted 45 seconds. My favorites today were the medicine ball, the body row (I'm getting so much better on this), the pull ups (I still am really bad here but I'll eventually get it), and the knee tuck for the abs. All the exercises were effective but those ones I particularly like. When we finished one full rotation of the stations we had to run a lap around the parking lot. This is actually getting much easier so my endurance must be getting better. We did a second rotation but each station was only 30 seconds. Then we sprinted again and I still did pretty well. My motivation was that the faster I went, the faster I could be finished and get some water. We finished with some exercises to start bringing our heart rate down. We did some burpees (which we will be tested on this coming up Wednesday) and mine still were not great. Dustin told us to aim for 12 and I did 14 so that wasn't too bad.

I'm looking forward to moving indoors. I'm very curious as to what kind of workouts we will do there. This whole boot camp has been quite the adventure and I can't wait to see what the journey holds next.

Have a good one.

Roger

Friday, September 17, 2010 A New Discovery!

Late night last night. Stayed up late trying to finish laundry, reburn some CD's, and do some dishes. Then Elijah woke me up at 2:30 am! Everything got accomplished but paying the price for it this morning.

Morning did come way too early and almost skipped my workout. I have a long drive tonight and really didn't want to be too tired but Sharon had a conference this morning that she couldn't be late for so we decided to just go to camp. I was so out of it that when we got there I was a little confused. The shelter we usually use for rain was lit up. I thought it was our regular one so when Sharon moved to park I couldn't figure out why she was parking so far away. Finally I figured it out.

Smilin' Ryan was our instuctor today. He had us take our weights with us on our warm ups. We did some lunge walks and then ran some. We then used the weights and rotated them over our heads and then touched down bt the opposiet leg. This was the exercise we were doing when Sharon hurt her back last time. She was very careful this time and all was should. We also did some squats "under the rope" and jumps "over the rope", some push ups, and some side steps. All these really got the heart rate going and warmed up the muscles.

We went back to the shelter for our stations. We did an agility drill using the picnic table benches, some 180 degree jump turns, medicine ball work against the wall and then some deltoid presses. We had a break and then did it all again. When we finished the second time we didn't get a break. We had to go into tricep dips, slow count pushups, and more tricep dips. Then a water break.

The rest of the workout took place outdoors. Core work. We started with planks, then moved to swimmers. We then turned over and did penguins where we shifted side to side trying to touch our feet. Then we did side planks with a twist. Finally we performed russian twists and then V-sits. But we had to keep doing this. Russian twists, switch to V-sits, russian twists, v-sits, russian twists, v-steps! I didn't think this would ever end!

We finished with some cardio. Again we used the medicine ball. We didn't actually thow it but we quickly took the ball out and in (keeping it at chest level). We also used the jump ropes and ran through the ladder, lifting one knee high and then switching to the other. Yay. The End.

My new discovery for myself, which was very encouraging, is that I find I am now trying to get those extra reps at the end of a count. In the past, when the instructor would start counting down I would slow way down so I wasn't quitting but I wasn't doing as many. Now, when they start counting down I try to push myself harder so that I can fit in a few more before we change.
Another example was today when we were doing penguins. For a penguin we just lie on our backs with our legs in the air. Then we shift at the waist bringing down our arms towards our feet. Ryan told us to try and touch the sides of our foot as we did this. I could do it but I thought, "Maybe I should just bring my knees in a bit. My feet would be closer and this would be easier!" Tempting thought but I didn't do it. So, to me, all this is progress. I am becoming more willing to exert a little more pressure to myself in order to improve my fitness level.

Have a good one and Go Blue!

Have a good day.

Roger

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 The Hills Are Alive...

I woke up not feeling particularly well today. Only into the third week of school and may have caught a little bug already. Oh well, I figured this bit of queasiness and sore throat certainly would not keep me from attending the Michigan game on Saturday so I would not let it keep me from boot camp either.

We got to Elver Park a few minutes before Dustin so we waited in the car. I wasn't sure where we should park because if it was going to be a parking lot workout we would have to move the car. Dustin pulled in and drove into the park and over to the hill. Oh no. I knew this meant a hill workout. I also knew this meant it would be really tough. I resigned myself to this fact when I realized Sharon was ecstatic. She really loves the hill workouts. I half expected her to run up the hill, belting out the words to "The Sound of Music." Only the hills would soon be alive with the sound of huffing and puffing, mainly mine. However, the hill was one of the main reasons we chose to go to the Elver Park boot camps to begin with. We both wanted to conquer it. We have taken different approaches though. Sharon has embraced the hill. It is her friend. She looks forward to the hill workouts and today was no exception. As for me, well, as my son once remarked to me as we passed the park, "That hill is your arch enemy isn't it Dad?" Dang straight. But maybe I need to take the other approach. Maybe I need to become one with the hill. Maybe I just need to go sit or lie on the hill, breathe in its scents, roll around and feel the texture. Can't really enjoy the view because it's too dark. Ah, maybe not. It's too wet in the morning.

But I digress. We went carefully over to the hill as it was still pretty dark. When we got there, carrying our mats, weights, and water with us, Dustin told us we needed to break into 2 groups. A faster group and a slower group. Sharon told me I had to go with the quicker group. I wasn't sure but all the other times we've done this I've had to go with the quicker group so I did again. We were going to do a 15 minute challenging hill workout. Challenging was a nice word for it.

The first time we ran all the way up the hill to the fence and then came back down. I made it up okay, not last so I guess I was in the right group, but coming down was slow. I don't know why but I continue to come down slowly for fear of falling. Especially in the dark. Unfortunately Dustin already gave the direction before I made it all the way down. We were to pick up a medicine ball and carry it up the hill all the way back to the fence. I missed the part where he said if we were one of the last ones we probably should go up without the ball! Darn it! By the time I got all the way down and picked up a ball, everyone else was already on their way up. This made it extra hard because now I was running by myself. Also, it was so dark, I didn't even know who was in my group! Still, Dustin was encouraging and kept me going. All the way to the fence. Even though everyone was on the way down, he told me to go all the way to the fence. So I did. And then came all the way down. Next, we went up the hill again, this time going sideways, switching sides, then moving backwards, and forwards. Again, I was behind but I do better with the side movements. Dustin looked over to tell me to try and catch up but then saw that I was. Going backwards was tougher though. It is hard on the quads but the real problem here is I don't want to fall. I'm not sure what the big deal about falling is since the hill can't be too hard but I don't want to do it. Maybe it's the Carrie Ingalls thing. You know, at the beginning of Little House on the Prairie when the girls are running down the hill and Carrie falls down. She pops back up though. I'll have to remember that if I fall down. Again, I digress. Finally we did the last part on the hill. We sprinted for 10 seconds, walked back down for 10, sprinted for 10, walked back for 10. I was really winded here but I did do it. Yay! Finally it was time to come down and switch.

It was time for the next group to go on the hill and we were going to do our strength training. Sharon probably had a hard time restraining herself as she was so eager to do the hill. She probably should have just been in the hill group both times. Stanley really worked us in the strength training. We did 4 kinds of push ups, tricep extensions, back lunges with bicep curls, deltoid lifts, squats with deltoid presses and then more deltoid work using palm presses. We finished with the medicine ball, lifting it over our heads, then reaching down across our body and touching the ground on the other side. We did this while standing on one leg. As usual I was last going over to get a medicine ball so that there weren't any more when I got there. I started to go back to my mat and was going to use my dumbbells when Stanley said, "Wait. We found one more." "Dang," I said out loud without realizing it. I only realized I said it when Stanley and others in my group started laughing. This exercise was a killer balance workout and I really need to work on my balance more. The people on the hill finished and came back to join us. Sharon said, "We didn't have to do that one, " meaning that last exercise. Hey! I want to join the slower group next time. When we break into these fast/slow groups we always seem to have to do something extra!

We finished with core exercises. Planks, side planks, russian twists, swimmers, and upper body squirms. Overall it was just an extremely challenging workout. It was a cool morning and I was again drenched. And as soon as just a little light started to come out so did those pesky mosquitoes!

Sharon said this was probably her favorite workout of the whole summer. See, so Maria Von Trapp-like. She probably put this workout right on her list with raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. I was exhausted but it really is such an exhilirating exhaustion. Makes all the huffing and puffing worth it.

Have a good one.

Roger

Monday, September 13, 2010 Chariot Races

Today was the workout Sharon said she had been dreading. With good reason too. It was really hard!
Even the warm up was hard.

We did our workout on the tennis court today. We started with slow sprints across the tennis courts that rapidly became faster sprints. We ran forward, did karaokes (the exercise, not the singing), and side shuffles. When we were finished we did the chariot workout.

We broke into two groups, partnered up and then took two sets of tubing. One person wrapped the tubing around their waist while the other pulled back as hard as they could, providing as much resistance as possible. The lead person then ran across the tennis court. Once there we switched and ran back and repeated. Not as easy as it sounds believe me! We also had to do this while doing frog hops, side shuffles, and running backwards. We also had a great deal of leg work built into our stations while the other group was taking their turn. We did quick squats, lunges with bicep curls, backward lunges with deltoid presses and one legged dead lifts . We also did push ups while our partner provided resistance, regular push-ups, russian twists with a chest press, swimmers, and held a crunch position while the bottom half did squirms. It was a great workout but it was a workout!

Dustin asked me if we went to the Michigan game this weekend. I said no be we watched it. He thought I said we lost. Boy did Sharon jump in quick to correct him on that. The other people in the class laughed and also corrected him, telling him I said I watched it!

Today was a real example of why I like boot camp. It was challenging but everyone was so enthusiastic and happy. So much effort and pushing each other and it was 5:30 in the morning! I hope it is as fun when we move inside.

Have a good one!

Roger

Sunday, September 12, 2010 Anniversary Workout

Wednesday was my wedding anniversary. To start off the day on a positive we went to boot camp! Way to start!

Boy does it seem to be darker each morning we go. It is so dark that you have to be careful just walking to the shelter before starting. When Sharon and I were walking I noticed we couldn't even see the hill. "Look out," I said, "the hill has eyes!" Of course, we did a hill workout that day. It wasn't too bad actually. If you were on the hill, in the first rotation, you ran up for 30 seconds and then had 15 seconds to walk down. You did this four times. The second time you ran up 30 and came down in 60. Only 3 times this time. I was happy that I still had some left after so that was good. The weights were a combination of core and upper body. We also did some things for our legs. The fun part was the wheelbarrow. Sharon couldn't do this with me because of her back so Dustin was my partner. He really wanted to push me so he made me go very fast! I kept going as fast as I could and I'm sure it must have been very comical. The next time we did it we had to move sideways. Again I had to go pretty fast. It was funny to watch the other people around me doing this. We looked like a pretty uncoordinated bunch.

Today I taught body sculpt. It was the first time I had taught in a month. Why is this important? Because it was the first time I got a good look at myself in a month. Boot camp has really helped me tone. My legs have actually filled out a bit around the calves. Arms look decent too. Just more toned in the forearms. So that made me pretty happy. I incorporated some of the boot camp exercises and then, after class, made sure to remind the class to challenge themselves and not just stay where they were comfortable. It was a good class too.

Finally, good start to the football season. Wolverines beat Notre Dame and, as expected, Lions lost. Hate to see the Lions continue to lose but if only one could win I was glad it was my college team!

Have a good week!

Roger

September 9, 2010

September 6, 2010 3-On-1 Workout

Woke up to thunder and lightning again. I didn't believe Sharon when she said it was thundering outside. "Wishful thinking," I told her. Then I heard it too. We checked the boot camp website but there was no cancellation so we got dressed and off we went.

When we arrived Dustin was the only one in the parking lot. And he wasn't near the shelter either. It appeared as if the storm had passed so we were going to work out in the lot. Before we started a third person showed up, Mandy. But that was it. Looked like a day for alot of personal attention from Dustin.

We did alot of upper body work. Some of it was done with weights in the parking lot and then we moved to the playground for pull ups. Man these are hard. We actually kind of jumped up and then were supposed to hold ourselves up for 8-10 seconds. I tried to hold myself up but sometimes the rest of my body tried to pull me back down. Overall though I did okay. Poor Sharon had a harder time. She could get up but she couldn't hold herself up there. Dustin finally held her up. She has some upper body strength building to do.

Next we moved over to the parallel bars where we were supposed to do tricep dips. The bars were a little thicker and kind of slippery. I did what I could but then I heard Dustin kind of laughingly tell Sharon that she had to do something! I wasn't sure what happened. I guess poor Sharon couldn't really bend her elbows, dip herself, and then bring herself back up. So she had to kind of do the movement while standing on her toes. Then we went around the bars and did body rows. I did pretty well. At one point Dustin suspended me in the air while I lifted myself up. Yikes! Definitely made it harder.

For the last section we moved into the shelter because it was beginning to rain. We used the picnic tables for more tricep dips but this time we put our feet on the bench. Then we did push ups with the feet on the bench. We also did step ups and wall sits for the legs. The wall sits were my undoing again. I tried to use just one weight but Dustin busted me and told me I could use two.

This was a great workout today. With such a tiny group I felt like I gave much more effort because any sloughing off would be easily seen. This made me mad at myself because it made me question if I've been holding back at all. Hopefully not. I'll really make myself more accountable next time just in case.

Have a good one.

Roger

September 3, 2010 Star Jump

Very tough waking up this morning. I had a difficult time sleeping even though I was exhausted. Not sure what that was about as I didn't really have any thing pressing on my mind. Finally fell asleep but getting up at 4:35 was not easy.

It was terribly dark at boot camp this morning. When we took off for our warm up Ryan told us to just follow his voice. He had stations set out but with the darkness he had us do something else. We did the usual warm up and then began doing different exercises. One exercise was called something like the skateboarder. We would squat down and then jump up and turn around and then repeat. We would do that for 15 seconds and then pushups for 15 seconds. We also did the star jump where we jumped up and spread the legs and arms. It looks pretty funny. We did a lot of leg work it seemed. Hoppers which really burn the quads after about 5 seconds, walking lunges, ran the hill (first time this week so not too bad) and jumping jacks. We did lots of core too. Burpees, planks front and side, russian twists (slow and the fast), more push ups, big circles in front of our bodies using weights while trying not to move the torso. All in all, a really hard legs and core workout. Ryan remained positive and happy throughout.

First football game this weekend. Don't know what to expect. Either way it is a little quiet time for Sharon and I so that's always a plus.

Have a good, safe holiday weekend.

Roger

September 1, 2010 Rainy Days and Wednesdays

The first day of school with kids today. And I smilingly greeted them...with a very tired and sore core.

It was raining pretty heavily when we woke up this morning. Since it had been storming during the night we were sure to check Dustin's website before driving across town. Since there was no storm, boot camp was on.

Upon arrival Dustin had us set up our mats and weights in one place today. For the most part we would be just staying in place for our stations. Since people had felt we had been neglecting our core, today we would be doing a workout that consisted of about 80% core to 20% strength training. We did variations on planks, V-sit up, russian twists, swimmers, squirms, and other things. And all I can say is...Ouch! It was a work out! The abs did recover pretty quickly after each, but we kept pushing them. I think my worst performance was on an oblique sit-up while bringing our knees in toward my chest. I could not do it. I could do the oblique part but could not bring in the legs. I kind of laughed and Dustin came over to help by trying to push them in, but those legs did not want to cooperate! Even he laughed. Then he looked around at all the other participants struggling and said it looked like this was something we would need to work more on.

I also laughed when I misunderstood something else he meant. We were doing push downs. I laid on my back with my legs straight (sort of) up in the air. Sharon stood behind me and would push my legs down hard and I would try and control and stop them before they went all the way down to the ground. She could push them down the center or so they went down to the side. I put my hands underneath my back to support it so it wouldn't hurt. Dustin came over and told me I should grab the ankles. I thought for a minute and just kind of gave him a look of confusion. Then I tried to reach up and grab my ankles. He laughed (and Sharon did too) and said "No, grab Sharon's ankles!" I laughed then too because I was wondering how Sharon was going to push my legs down while I was hanging onto my ankles. All I could accomplish there was a kind of rocking motion. It was much easier his way.

The strength training was a lot of leg work. In one exercise we sat on top of a picnic table with our foot of the bench. Then we were supposed to stand on one foot and then sit down. The right leg was not too difficult but the left leg, forget it! Again Dustin came over to help. He told me to use my arms to help propel me. I got at least 1 good one. Most of the time I got some good exercise for my arms but barely got off my butt! I could do it if I sat on the bench and put my foot on the ground and sat up and down that way. I thought it was probably better for me to do it the other way though since it was much more challenging.

So in addition to the core workout Dustin gave us, I also got one for all the laughing I kept doing. I was very, very glad to see those 6:15 am campers arrive. Again, just like Monday, I was shaking some as I went to the Princeton Club to shower for school. Later, even though I was moving around, my core muscles were really sore. Dustin said we would be sore tomorrow, I was sore within a couple of hours. When I got home from school, I took some Ibuprofen for the soreness. Still it was a great "first day of school with the kids" workout!

Might be attending boot camp Thursday instead of Friday this week as it fits into my schedule better but might be too exhausted from the first day to get up at 4:45 am.

Have a good one!

Roger