Boot Camp 1

Okay. I used to think that nobody reads this blog, but I know for a fact that there are at least 2 regular readers. Yay! I know this because one said that they receive an RSS feed for whenever I update this page, and the other regularly leaves comments. I know now that I am at least loved by a few people...

ANYWAY, I've been asked to spill over what happened at boot camp. I learned a big lesson: Boot camp is NOT THAT BAD.

It was at Victoria Park which to me meant nothing cos I'd never been there before. But I was surprised at how close it was to New Farm and how easy it was to get there. Damien kindly drove me there at 7.30am, dropped me off and went to the driving range around the corner.

There were quite a number of people there, mostly women. We started with warm-ups where Lindsey and Emma-Kate (our trainers) made us shuffle on the spot, do jumping jacks and all that sort of stuff on spot. It was simple, but they made us do it over and over and over again. This got quite tiring. My feet started to hurt as well and I suspect I have some problem with them. I have to have them checked out because it might be that I have high arches or something. Even wearing flats, walking down the street, I sometimes get a sharp searing pain in my arches. When I exercise (ANY type of exercise), this pain becomes a dull ache.

They then made us do 10 push-ups, followed by a sprint, then a jog back. They made us repeat this many many times, which was very tiring. Then, we had to run and I HATE running. We ran all the way to the other end of the god damn park. We went up hills and down hills and all the way to the end. My goal for the whole boot camp was to not stop once, no matter what I was doing. I slowed down a few times, but I never stopped. When we reached the other end of the park, they made us do more push ups, squats and other strength training exercises like that. Then we had to run back to where we started.

When we got back to the starting point, they made us do sit ups and planks and more strength training crap. Then more shuffling, jumping jacks, etc. like we did at the warm up. To end it, we had to do more of the push ups and sprints. It was bloody torture. By the time we finished, I was feeling alright. I only feel completely winded while I'm running/jumping/squatting/etc. Once I stop, I'm fine. It felt pretty good though.

As we walked back to the carpark, I saw Damien waiting for me, smiling. Apparently, he was watching while we were doing the last bit of exercises which was the push ups and sprints. He said the way I ran was really cute with me waving my "little arms" about. I didn't think I was that cute. Bah.

All in all, it was a good experience. I feel dread when a boot camp is approaching and on the day itself, I try to delude myself with enthusiasm and a positive attitude. The next one is this Saturday *cry* I just have 4 boot camps to go... I still think I look tubby and then I get annoyed all over again. Why can't we women just stop obsessing with our appearance? I blame culture and society for imposing such unrealistic expectations of what a beautiful woman should look like. If I saw a picture of myself with big arms, why must I feel upset? Why I can't I just feel happy knowing I have food to eat and that I'm healthy because I have the strength to go to they gym regularly and that I can walk a few kilometres without feeling winded? Why must our health and worth be measured by how we look? Just because a woman is skinny, doesn't mean she's healthy. Being healthy doesn't always mean looking like a skinny model. Healthy women have different shapes and sizes. All the girls out there choosing looks over health are doing a great disservice to us all and all the people out there who are perpetuating the notion of looking good (regardless of whether you can run for half an hour without stopping) ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Choose health and fitness. Not looks. If your body is healthy, strong and fit, it shouldn't matter how you look.