the pomegranate tiger

So I finished Survivor Boot Camp last Friday. It's taken me a few days to mull it over and get my thoughts together about the whole experience. First of all, I didn't miss a single session. Twenty days. No mean feat for someone who likes to go to bed late and truly hates getting up early. At the beginning, I didn't know if I'd make it. The by-product is that I now consider getting up at 7 a.m. sleeping in. I'm stronger, leaner, and fitter than I've been in years. By the final Fit Test day, I improved in all areas and even managed to lose a few pounds and several inches from my jigglier parts. My snug pants aren't as snug and, by gum, I think I even look taller! I'm still not the svelte thing I was in my thirties, but that's okay. I'm impressed with the fact that I kept up to the thirty-somethings – well, all except for the running – and in the strength areas, surpassed some of them. At times, it was painful – especially those first two wee...

It's hard to believe there's only one week left. The past week has seen things ratcheted up another notch of intensity. Instead of doing two sets of twenty reps, we're doing two or three sets of thirty reps; instead of two minutes at each station for circuit training, we're doing three minutes at each station. It may not seem like much, but let me tell you, that extra minute of push-ups, squats, and lunges make your muscles scream, "Please, STOP!". I've found that I can handle most of the endurance and strength things pretty well. That's probably because I'm a stubborn ol' bird and refuse to give in. The jumping, running and impact activities are another matter. My knees really don't like all the jarring, so I've modified some of the exercises and have resigned myself to being slow and steady. I have no intention trying to keep up with the young'uns. They have resilient bodies that recover in half the time that mine does. W...

Yee Ha! Another week down. It hasn't been exactly easier, but seems more doable. The warm-up runs are still a challenge (I hate running) and I still finish at the back of the pack. I try to counteract this by starting my run early, so there won't be such a huge gap between me and the others. I can do the three laps non-stop now and finally did a 25-minute run (basically twice the distance) non-stop. It's not that I didn't want to stop at least a dozen times. I just talked myself into continuing. I'd think, okay, you can start walking at the next driveway. The next driveway would come and I'd think; you can make it to the next tree; then the next corner, etc. until I finished. It's really a mind-game. And I've figured out why people like to run with earplugs and music -- So they don't have to listen to themselves huffing and puffing with each step! When you're running alone, you can hear every single wheezing inhale, exhale and poundin...

So, I managed to survive the first week of boot camp. As I expected, things got a lot tougher on Days 2 through 5. Each day starts with a "warm-up" run of three (count 'em - 3 ) laps around the track. If it was walking, I'd have no problem at all. I can walk miles and miles. But running? Not so much. Needless to say, I can't quite make it all the way without walking part of it. My strategy is to go at a comfortable, even pace and try to walk less each time out. I'm now down to walking for only one short break abut half-way through the run. I figure that's not bad progress in a week. Of course, I'm always last to finish – but you know what? I don't care. One of the things I like about this class is that every day is different. Here's a re-cap of the rest of my first week: Tuesday: Following warm-up, we did standing, leg exercises. I'm sure we did every variation of leg raise imaginable. By the time we finished and had a water...

I arrived at the designated meeting place at 5:55 a.m. under cloudy and rainy skies. Our trainer, S, checked us all in and I found out that only two of us from the 50+ group decided to join the regular group (the sixty year old man didn't show up). We immediately glommed onto each other for moral support. S reassured us that her classes are geared for everyone to go at their own pace and we should have no trouble at all. (She wouldn't lie to us would she?) First thing on the agenda was a quick rundown about what to expect and a few tips about equipment, and pre-workout meals. Today would be mostly about fitness testing and body measurements for our "Before" level. There will be another fitness testing day at the end of the four week period to see how much we've progressed. We started with body measurements first: Biceps, chest, waist, hips, thighs and calf. Then it was off for a timed one kilometre run (one and a half laps around the high school track)....

I didn't think I'd be posting such an early follow-up blog about fitness boot camp. But here I am. It's Sunday afternoon. I'm getting pretty excited about my new fitness commitment. I've got my workout gear ready to go: weights, mat, shorts, running shoes, hat and jacket because it's supposed to rain. Then the phone rings. It's Tammy from Survivor Boot Camp. Unfortunately, there aren't enough participants for a separate 50+ class, she says. The four of us signed up for the 50+ will have to join the regular group. Ummm, okay, I say. What are the ages of the others? Well, there's a woman who just turned fifty, a man who is sixty, and someone else probably also in her fifties, a twenty year-old, and the rest in their thirties. Tammy hastily adds that she's quite sure I'll fit right in and won't feel out of place. It'll be fun. Okay . . . It's been a long time since my twenties or thirties. Heck it's been awhile sinc...

I need to preface this by saying that I've always been a person who likes trying new things. I get bored doing the same thing. So it should be no real surprise that I signed up for Survivor Boot Camp . Now, lest you think I've completely lost my marbles, I signed up for the 50+ class. It started innocently enough. On Friday (my day off), I was relaxing and reading my local community paper when I saw an ad for Survivor Boot Camp . I was just about to flip the page when I saw, "NEW – 50+ Class" . I knew it was speaking to me. I'm no stranger to fitness classes. However, in the last seven years, along with a more sedentary desk job, I've fallen out of a regular fitness routine and put on unwanted pounds. Most people would say I'm not fat, but I'm pushing the upper end of what a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) should be for me. Not good. My family has a history of high blood pressure and stroke. Also not good. I'm at an age that family ris...