Bootcamp

Yes, I said boot camp. Last night Julie and I get all psyched up for kickboxing only to discover that the teacher that we don't really like couldn't make it. Instead, there's this tiny little fit looking woman who informs us that she is covering for our teacher but knows nothing about kickboxing. Therefore, we're going to do boot camp. That's right, boot camp. Before I go any further, let me explain my fear of step aerobics. Those of you who know me, know that I tend to be very athletic and will try almost anything. That said, I've always avoided step aerobics. They look like tons of fun to me, however, I've always been fully convinced that I will fall off the step. I mean, seriously convinced. Fast forward to last night. Our angelic instructor tells us that for the boot camp class we're going to need mats, weights and... ...steps. At this point, I begin to get nervous. Julie assured me that everything was going to be ok and that I wouldn't fall and kill myself. We start the workout by just stepping up and stepping down, with Julie shooting me encouraging smiles. We add weights while continuing to step. At this point I mention to Julie that I think this instructor and class are both pretty cool. Then we move on to jumping onto the steps, squatting and lifting weights in a thousand different ways ("now pretend that you're zipping your jacket" or "now hold them behind your head"). We do these different variations for sets of 30, 45 and 60 seconds. Now, 60 seconds is a pretty long time. Hold ten pounds above your head while jumping up and down for a minute and you'll see what I'm talking about. Still, I think to myself, this class isn't too bad.

Then we move on to push ups. I'm not going to lie, I have wimpy arms. Always have. After doing all the stepping/jumping/squatting with weights, my arms feel like they're going to fall off and definitely don't feel like doing push ups. Somewhere in the middle of the 30 second sets I look over to Julie and calmly inform her that I think our instructor is the spawn of Satan. She seemed to agree.

After that we moved on to every imaginable way of hurting your stomach possible. Yes, sit ups. The worst part was that on the last set the Devil, I mean, instructor, tells us "these are the ones that are going to make you feel like you got hit by a bus tomorrow". That is NOT what I want to hear when I'm faltering in my workout. I want encouraging words, like "wow your abs look great" or "almost done".

Needless to say, I feel like I was actually run over by a train today. There are weird muscles that I didn't even know were in my body that hurt. I am pretty dang proud to say I made it through the class though. I might even take it again some day.

Today was an interesting day. At about 5pm I suddenly had the urge to shop. I know, it's a small miracle. For those of you who don't know, I'm not big on the whole shopping thing. Anywho, I think it was predestined because I ended up getting MAJOR sales everywhere I went. Like an Express skirt that retails at $50 for $9.99. Or a Macy's shirt that retails $30 for $5. I know - amazing!

That said, I'm off to bed to get my "stop getting sick" sleep. I've been trying to get to bed super early lately and to stick to a general sleeping regimen. We'll see if it works!