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Boot camp: Three weeks and counting …
I’ve been playing Kanye West’s “Stronger” in my head to try and get myself through all the running (No walking!) for week three of Austin Sports and Social Club’s Boot Camp.
Corny, I know, but it’s sadly true. Monday we did the usual running from Zilker Park to Austin High to sprint the hill from hell — it has no incline but rather leaps straight up like a pole. We knocked out the normal set of five, but Monica decided to move us back for more distance and throw in three more sets. All the while I was thinking/singing in my head.
Despite the hill and running, I was feeling pretty good about myself. My body felt great and not too sore, I had more energy during the day, and I thought I was finally overcoming the aches and pains of boot camp. That was until Thursday morning rolled around. Thursdays we meet at Auditorium Shores and instead of dividing ourselves into two groups — one working at the bridge steps and the other at the parallel bars — it was all for one and one for all in one big group.
Trainers Marc and Monica do a great job of mixing things up, so we’re not doing the same repetitive things and, in turn, working different areas of our bodies. But something was different today, and not just with everyone being in one big group. Their eyes were glistening, and we soon found out why. I don’t know if there is a name for what we did next, but I’d like to call it the “Auditorium Shores Suicide.”
If you’ve played any sort of sports in junior high, high school or college, you know what a suicide is — a running drill usually done on a field or basketball court where you sprint to one line, run back to the beginning, sprint to the next line, run back to the beginning, and so on and so forth. They’re the worst of the worst things to do and are usually a punishment from the coaches for losing a game, poor performance in practice, or something else that’s really really bad. I don’t know what WE did that was so wrong but we were being punished — maybe for something we did in a former life.
We started at the side of the trail closest to the water and sprinted to the first wall. From there we climbed the wall and did agility drills to the next wall, then push-ups on the wall, agility drills to the last wall, then dips on the wall, and sprinting all the way back to the beginning. We did that three times and then it was back to the wall to do step-ups. Step-ups are just how they sound. You step up the wall with one foot and then back down. Simple sounding enough, but the key word is “sounding.”
After those it was circle time — usually this time is used for some crunches/sit-ups and stretching. More of a cool-down time than anything. However, this particular circle time was used for another torture technique. We separated into groups of two — one standing, one on the ground lying down with legs in the air holding onto the other’s ankles. The one standing shoved the other’s legs to the ground and the one being shoved had to keep their feet from hitting the ground and bring their legs up to the starting position. We did this straight up and down, and then shoving side to side.
The next day I felt like every ounce of muscle and meat had been ripped from my torso … and I loved it! I knew that if I hurt this bad then I was doing something right. Things can only go up from here, and I’m excited to see my progress next week.
For more information on upcoming boot camps, go here for all the details.
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