I completed boot camp on June 6, and then ran/walked the Take Steps Crohns and Colitis Foundation 3 mile walkathon the next day in Magnussen Park in Seattle.
I was disappointed by my results from Boot Camp, as I only lost 6 pounds and 6.5 inches. Granted, that's not bad for four weeks, but I lost 10 pounds and many more inches in Carol's six week boot camp last year. So the bar was set higher for this years boot camp. Yet, though I worked myself to exhaustion, I didn't really feel like I was gaining muscle and losing fat. That could be because I had all that trouble with portion sizes (and I never did seem to get it right--Janice was critical of my food choices right up to the last week) or it could be because this boot camp wasn't as fun as Carols "Biggest Loser" camp. I bonded big time with the gals in that camp, and Janices boot camp had guys that added a competitive edge to the workouts that somehow felt judgmental to me, like I was being smirked at because I always came in last on every jog, every skip-walk, every wierd frog jump, inchworm or other seemingly innocent but totally brutal exercise we were made to perform. I still can't do crab-walks backwards, by the way. Just can't lift my body weight onto my wrists and scuttle like seafood uphill. I am not built to scuttle. The best I can manage is a lame lope.
Anyway, I only went to boot camp 3-4 times a week, because I refused to give up my beloved spin class, especially since its taught by the goddess of glutes and princess of pecs, Danielle, who, bless her, makes a religious experience out of Tuesday nights hour long stationary bike ride. Somehow, I always leave her class feeling like I've accomplished something important for my mind, my body and my soul. She's like Depak Chopra channeled into a pretty blonde California beach gal. She was my salvation while I was in boot camp, when I just wanted to toss in the towel and quit, because Danielle, and the other participants in the class, managed to convince me that all was not lost, and that I just had to keep on trying, and all would be well. "Its all in how you think about yourself, and visualize where you want to be with your body," she'd say, and somehow, her kindness and enthusiasm rubbed off and I'd go back to boot camp determined not to look like such a porky dork.
Of course, I've had a long-running Crohn's flare that decided to jump me the evening I began boot camp, and it didn't let up the whole four weeks, so I had to consume a lot of pain pills, Aleve, and extra Pentasa just to be able to stay out of the bathroom long enough to get through an hour of boot camp. Percoset, Naprosin and Levsin, oh my! Now I have Lomotil to add to the line up, because I finally got ahold of my grumpy gastro doc and his nurse, Amy Jo (who is an angel) called it into the pharmacy for me, bless her. But over 5 weeks of having a flare really takes it out of you, and pain meds make me feel tired and depressed, so that could be another reason that this boot camp didn't feel quite right to me. So now Carol and Janice and Angela, another great spin instructor, are encouraging me to do the WIO Triathalon on July 27 at Lake Wilderness. I can float along like a buoy for the swimming part, and I am sure that I can ride a bike, but the running part will be the real challenge, as I am just not a runner. I can jog for 5 minutes or so, but then I have to slow down and walk, and then jog again when I catch my breath. Takes me forever to do a mile (though I shaved 3 minutes off my boot camp mile, from 18 to 15 minutes).So I am giving it some thought, and I might just be challenged to give it a try. Jim said he'd even be willing to try it with me. Who knows, we might even do it as a family!
