Bootcamp: Day 18

This was the first time I had ever gone to Boot Camp on a Friday, so I wasn't sure just what to expect.

Let's just say I, um... got my money's worth.

Today we had our usual warm-up, but instead of Alex, Nizio was calling the shots and setting the pace. One of the girls at the end of class said that when he does it, it's like we're all little mice and someone pitched the record up from 33 to 78*-- we're doing jumping jacks at warp speed and doing our best to keep up with counting out loud and breathing at the same time.

Then it was on to partner sit-ups in the tire with a weight bar. My partner, poor thing, was told during push-ups in the warm up that today was her "Graduation Day", meaning that she could no longer do girly push-ups (like me!) and now had to do them with her feet on the ground. Apparently she also graduated to a heavier bar, because when she went to grab our normal blue (lightest) bar, Alex caught her and made her take a green (3-ton). 100 sit-ups, passing the bar back and forth between us. I went into today with sore shoulders and left with sorer ones.

It turned out today was Circuit Training Day. And it hurt like hell. There was the Nizio circuit and the Alex circuit, and I'm not sure which one hurt more! I saw the 6:30 class doing this when we got there, and I felt bad for the poor bastards without realizing that this was my ultimate fate.

I ended up in a group of four with the two Best Girls in Class. It all happened before I could realize what was going on. This was a huge mistake, I feared. These girls Do Not Fuck Around-- one of them being the triathlete who bounces springily over the hurdles and the other being the girl with the Will of Steel-- she pushes herself and pushes herself and it doesn't seem to wear her down. I got a huge nervous pit in my stomach.

We were sent off to run laps with our weight bar, holding it like a rifle. As I mentioned yesterday, I love this direction. "Hold it like an M-16, Hold it like a Rifle." Sure. Like when I'm carrying my rifle around town. Gotcha.

Our first circuit was with Nizio:

• Jumping Jacks with the bar
• Star Jumpers with the bar (held behind the neck)
• 1 minute of Squat Thrusts (I did 36 this time-- I tried to keep up with the BGICs)
• Chin-ups (with a partner who's legs I stood on as my shaky arms pretended to lift me up-- sort of like this, only different)
• Tricep dips in the window sill (like a reverse push-up)

Two sets of all of that. Then over to Alex. One minute of each of the following:

• Squat Presses with a Tire (I swear, I'm going to hide the tires someday)
• Box Jumps (jump up onto a 24" box, jump down, repeat)
• Jump Rope
• Jackknife Crunches (lifting and crunching upper and lower body together)
• Squat Thrust with Long-Jump style Star Jumpers

My total number of all five circuits was 150. The two BGICs were 237 and 238. They don't rest in spots like I do, apparently.

I was surprised when that was the end of class, but I was also relieved. I don't think I've ever sweat as much as I did today. I have two days for my shoulders to recover and for my knee calluses (gross!) to build up so I can keep on with my girly push-ups. Yowzer!

*How's about that for a reference that'll make you feel old, huh?

Jumprope girl from Etui, where Julie Meredith prints these beautiful cards and posters. Cute, right?