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
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