That’s right - no giving up on bootcamp.

Today is Day 2 of the dreaded 5-week program, and although I have a stomach full of butterflies, I’m better prepared this time.

This morning I had a small breakfast of 1 egg and 1 plum. They’ve had time to settle in my stomach and start digesting, and hopefully will not make a return appearance at the park today.

I also set out early this morning (if you consider 8:30am early) to Target. Last week the instructor told me I had to wear black shorts this week, so after searching the entire house for the black shorts I used to have and realizing that I no longer have them, I went to buy new ones.

I found some that have cool white stripes down the side - Converse brand - so I’m stylin’ and profilin’ for workout round 2. I also bought a new pair of running shoes, because goodness knows I’m going to be running a lot today. So aside from the polyester shirt that itches like nobody’s business, I’m ready to go.

One thing that will change from last week is that I’m not going to start out at a sprint. I’m going to take it easy and let my heart and lungs gradually pick up the pace. I can’t afford to be non-functional for the next 3 days like I was last week. Hopefully each week will get better, plus I’m trying to do some exercizing and stretching during the week too.

And now…off to more punishment.

POST BOOTCAMP UPDATE: OMG. Today was even worse than last week, although I’m feeling better this afternoon than I did last time. The workout was intense and I could barely keep up, but I didn’t quit. The instructor asked me how I was doing at one point and I said “I’m trying!”. He thought I said “I’m dying”. Then later when he asked again I said “I’m still here!”.

Again they were both very encouraging and supportive, but also firm in pushing people to their best. I really don’t know why some of the folks are there - they look in really good shape to me…certainly very few people who have extra weight on them like I do.

Anyway - rough day, but my recovery time improved, so that’s a really good thing.

Saturday was the first day of fitness bootcamp, which I mentioned before. I was already concerned that I would be the only guy there, surrounded by soccer moms, and I wasn’t disappointed.

When I arrived at the local gym where they start from, I noticed that one by one lots of women were showing up, but no guys. Oh well, this was about me getting in better shape, and I can interact with females just as well as with males.

After everyone arrived (and I changed in the required group tshirt), we set off on a run to a local park. That was where it started going downhill - right at the beginning. I am not a runner. I don’t run. If I have to go somewhere I walk or drive. I was exhausted after the first two blocks, and so I moved back to the “slow group” and entered a jog instead of a run. We paused to do a quick set of deep leg bends, and when I stood up to set off on the jog, both of my legs gave out of me. I nearly hit the ground. Talk about not being in shape.

I certainly don’t think of myself as completely sedentary, but this really pointed out how little I use my body on a daily basis - especially sitting at a desk most of the day. So once again I went with the slow group as we continued the jog to the park, whereupon we began push ups, lunges, jumping jacks, relay races, and any number of things that worked my body to the point of exhaustion.

I was breathing harder than I’ve ever breathed in my life (and I’m still coughing from it); my arms were aching; my legs were screaming at me; I was by far the slowest person in the entire group. I don’t feel bad about this, however, because everyone else that was there had done this before. I was the new guy, so to speak. So I watched as 14 girls ran circles around me, literally.

The instructors were motivational, but firm. There was a lot of “Come on Buckmaster!” but there was also a lot of “Good job Heath! Keep going!”.

By the end of the hour I was kaputt. I walked the mile back to the fitness center, and by then, everyone else in the class was long gone. I splashed some water on my face, got in my car and went home. Whereupon I slept for about 3 hours after taking a shower that gave my body chills. I was barely able to eat two strawberries, and downed about half a glass of water before I thought that would be enough. It pretty much demolished the entire rest of my day.

I couldn’t walk around the house without being in a lot of physical pain; my headache throbbed despite taking a lot of ibuprofin; it was overall a complete body attack. I pushed myself way too hard on the first day, having not worked out in years.

But, I’m paid up for 5 sessions of this, so I’m assuming I have to keep going, atleast four more times. I’m sure it will get easier, and the “burn is good”, according to other people who I have talked to…but I tell ya…I totally got my butt kicked in that first workout. Even today I am barely able to walk around the house, and forget about picking up laundry…that takes 10 minutes just to get myself near the floor so I can scoop it up.

Anyway - that’s how day one of fitness bootcamp went….hopefully I’ll survive another 4 weeks.

I am not a fan of the gym. I hate sitting on a stationary bike and peddling to nowhere, and I really detest lifting weights or pushing on exercise equipment bars. This lack of gym-motivation has led me to having a gym membership twice in my life that I used for a few months, then continued paying for over a year without every going.

Recently, I got back into biking. It’s more fun when you have someone to bike around the neighborhood with, and you’re actually going somewhere when you do it. But it’s not enough, and it’s not taking the weight off because I’m not doing it often enough to get the benefit - plus, biking doesn’t give you a FULL body workout, and I want to build muscle tone in my arms and chest as well as my legs/thighs.

Over the weekend I was reading a local neighbourhood newspaper and ran across an advert for a Fitness Bootcamp (Fitness Rangers). It’s led by two former frat boys (oh my!) who are now professional fitness training/coaches/instructors. They have been featured on Good Day Sacramento, and by the Sacbee as well. And so I signed up.

The class starts in September, is 6 weeks twice a week in the evenings, and it’s an intense workout including running, push-ups, pull-ups, calisthenics, and some other things I can’t pronounce. The nice thing is that they do a lot of this activity at midtown parks, so you’re getting a hard workout in while running through the Fab-40’s, or while smelling the roses of McKinley Park.

The only thing I’m concerned about is their military-esque style of motivation. I don’t like being yelled at - who does. In fact, one of the things in the news article was that they tend to have more females in their classes than men because, and I quote them here, “men don’t like to be yelled at.” I don’t know if that implies that women DO like to be yelled out, but it’s their quote, not mine.

They advertise that it’s a very supportive environment for all body styles/fitness levels, so I’m going to give it a try and see what happens. I might end every session throwing up in the rose garden, but I’m darn well going to lose some weight and get my body back in shape.

I’d be interested to hear from anyone who has done these type of fitness bootcamps before and what your experience was…