Bootcamp: Day 17 -- Emergency on the Train

So I'm on the train this morning, en route to Boot Camp and somewhere between Delancey St. and 2nd Avenue, the train stops. And it doesn't start again.

I check my clock-- 7:15am. 5 stops away from 23rd St. I. Cannot. Be. Late.

What's a couple of minutes, you ask? Well, to the poor girl who was two minutes late yesterday, it meant 250 squat thrusts with Reuben standing over her screaming.

With the torture of punishment exercises on the horizon, I decide on the stopped train that if it doesn't start again within two minutes, I'll just turn around and try again tomorrow. Just as the thought of more sleep and breakfast makes itself friendly in my mind, the train starts again. It pulls into 23rd at 7:26am and I sprint from the train, up the stairs, down Sixth Avenue and to the gym just as my class is starting to run their laps. I throw my coat off and fall in line. Phew!

We go through the normal warm-up-- laps, stretching, jumping jacks. We're in the middle of our first set of 20 push-ups, we're at #11 to be exact, when I hear Reuben scream "Nice Wong! Get up, START RUNNING!"

I was confused. I assumed Wong didn't have a proper form in her push-ups and had to do a lap to make up for it. Oh, was I wrong!

Wong was late again. And we all had to run to make up for it. She had to go into the changing tent to change and put down her stuff, and the guys kept yelling "THEY'RE GONNA KEEP RUNNING UNTIL YOU GET OUT HERE, WONG! TAKE YOUR TIME!"

Poor Wong. I really didn't care about the running when it was over. Frankly, I'd rather do laps than add to the callus collection on my hands with push-ups. But Wong, oh Wong. Alex made her do the Warm-Up From HELL.

While this was going on, we were still warming up, but harder. Reuben had us do Star Jumpers, but starting from an even lower squat than usual-- crouched nearly to the ground with our feet flat on the floor and our butts were almost touching ground as well. Spring up, return to this low position. We did 20, then held the low crouching position until Wong was done lugging the 3-ton (or so) sand sack from one end of the gym to the other.

Like I said, if I'm late, I'm not going.

So that brings us to about 7:40. We've only just begun.

Then it was 50 sit-ups at the Wall.

And then we did more partner stuff:

• I jumped the hurdles and climbed the walls while my partner did 30 V-Crunches (start lying flat, then raise your upper and lower body at the same time so you're a human V). 2nd set, I did the Rock Wall while my partner crunched.
• one partner did push-ups (they laid a boxing glove on the floor that we were to touch our chests to each time) while the other jumped up and over the 24" boxes 50 times. 2 sets.
• The other exercise involved one partner doing squats with a weight bar stationary overhead while the other partner did laps with the bar. The instructions for running with the bar were: "Hold it like an M-16." Oh. Got it. Like how I hold my M-16. Check.

So it was a KILLER day, and though I left more callused than when I went in, I feel good. Arms and legs like Jell-O, but good.

And to make up for my Monday sick-day, I'm going in tomorrow. Hopefully everyone will be on time!