Brrr.... how do they do it here?

It's 9 degrees outside and there is snow everywhere. I just wish I had my crampons from our Alaska glacier hiking trip last summer. Not only is it hard to make good choices when going out to eat every meal, it's hard to get motivated when you don't have your boot camp buddies. Add the time change and it is really tough.

I'm in Minnesota traveling for work and the Hotel I am staying at does have a small gym. But the treadmill is so boring and when I'm running on it, it's hard to read. I did bring my resistance band and have been doing triceps, bicep curls and a few other strength exercises that Roy has shown us. I also tried to do some cardio on the stationery bike. But I really really want to be outside, but it is way to cold. I seem to tense every time I'm outside and my feet get sooo cold.

Oh well just a few more days and it's back to sunny warm so cal.

It's good to be fit!

Today, my sister-in-law, Cyndi, my dear husband, Steve, my daughter, Jessy and Daytona bagged an Orange County Peak -- Bedford Peak. The first 2 miles had over 2000 foot of elevation gain. Cyndi led the way as she has been training by fitness walking on dirt trails with Jessy and Daytona not far behind. It was easy for me to keep an even pace for the 2000 climb.

Then we hiked the last half mile to the peak with a little gentler grade. At the top we could see the Lake Elsinore and city below. Although it was a little chilly on the top we had a great morning and headed back down the rocky steep grade. Daytona was in her element with what seemed like a permanent smile on her face. I could tell my recent workouts made a big difference in my speed and endurance. (Thanks Roy!).

Afterwards a nice lunch at Wahoos.

http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/CNFSilveradoMotorway_4472.asp

A good way to get in shape...

What do you do when your enlistment date for the Marine Corp is coming up and you still need some conditioning to meet the physical requirements? You join a fitness boot camp. Our new friend in boot camp is doing just that. I don't think any of us started boot camp with already being able to do full military style push ups and she can run the full parking lot!

She said when she started basic training right out of high school that she hadn't been on any school sports teams or much athletic training.

Well she is cute and tine with long dark hair and looks very much in shape to me. She said she would love to go to basic training again just to loose 20 pounds. I wonder how Roy compares to her DI. I don't' think he has made anyone cry yet!

It's great to see results!

Since I started boot camp in February:
down 22 pounds
loss of 30 3/4 inches overall

It doesn't matter how much you work out, if the calories going in are not less than the calories you are expending the weight will not come off. I was getting stronger and slowly losing. I was definitely eating healthier, but I need to really keep track of calorie intake if I wanted to see better results.

I went back to the weight watchers method of counting points which is really tracking calories, but it takes into account fat and fiber content and all vegetables are zero points. As our weight watcher leader says, they never knew anyone getting fat on eating carrots. Pat and our friend, Lou, attend a meeting each week close to work during our lunch hour.

This past week I went to see Sam to get an updated assessment and the numbers really showed the difference. I plan to keep losing - 28 pounds to go to make 50.

Sam wanted to know if I bought any new clothes. I actually was able to pull out some jeans I was holding onto and can easily fit into. I wore my other pants for a while even after losing 15 to 20 pounds as I had tried on the jeans at various stages, but in the past two weeks I pulled them out and they slid easily up and over my hips and snapped like they were a custom fit. Now I have to actually donate my larger jeans to someone else.
I'm a bit concerned that the weight could come back on, but I'm encouraged that if I lose it slowly and continue to stay active and exercise that I can maintain a healthy weight.

Now we will have a week off of Boot Camp. Steve and I will do our 15 mile fast ride in the morning be fore work. On Friday I was excited to think about not having to wake up at 4:45 a.m. But on Saturday while I was folding my newly washed work out clothes and putting them in the drawer I was kind of sad to think I wouldn't be getting my daily workout with the girls and Roy. I may miss it a little bit.

Lindsey Loves Abs!

Roy decided to take a 1 1/2 week trip to Hawaii in the middle of our boot camp. He left us in the very capable hands or a great trainer, Lindsey. Lindsey is very knowledgeable and was always well prepared. We were all on our best behavior because we didn't want her to give any bad reports to Roy when he got back.

She is a little quiet, (not at all sarcastic or crazy like Roy) and she really loves to work out the abs. It was great road laying to prepare us for the killer work outs that Roy moved us right into when he returned.

I was back at morning boot camp the Monday after my century ride. I felt fine for Tuesday and Wednesday but a little more tired than normal. By Thursday, I just couldn't face the early morning on the hill and I skipped a work out! I felt bad because only two women showed up that day for Lindsey. I thought maybe it was my age, but then I realized in all the century rides I had done in the past I didn't work out the whole week after. I guess the body really does need some recovery time.

Lindsey was good at always making sure we were warmed up and cooled down. She even taught us the name of a new muscle for stretching at the end of the session. The Piriformis muscle.

The piriformis (from Latin piriformis = "pear shaped") is a muscle in the gluteal region of the lower limb.

Let's ride to San Diego!

Roy says you have to get in your cardio and keep Hydrated!

What a fun way to spend a Saturday. Steve and I rode our bikes from Irvine to San Diego in the Orange County Wheelmen's annual Amtrak century ride. The weather was perfect. It had been unusually hot in the days leading up to the ride, but Saturday the sun chose to not show until well after lunch.

I was slow on the hills but made up for it on the flats and downhills. We were able to meet up with our friends the Painters and Kerfoot kids along the route. Having regular fueling stations made the ride seam easy. The months of boot camp conditioning plus a loss of 18 pounds made me feel like I was in my 30's again. Our total riding time was 5 hours and 47 minutes. We enjoyed some good snacks and fellowship on the train ride back.

It can be done!

A two week vacation, one week of it on a cruise with all the food you want, more alcohol than I've had in 8 months and I didn't gain any weight. It really makes a difference when you stay active. We always walked the stairs and tried to walk everyday.

The last blog shows the fitness room at the Sophie Station hotel. Following was my workouts and some photos:

8-3 Fairbanks Ran 2 miles plus 2 sets of reps in weight room.

8-3 Fairbanks Evening power walk with Cyndi and Jessy. Watch out for the mosquitos!

8-4 Fairbanks It's really smoky out because of the forest fires so I walked the floors and stairs in the hotel's long hallways for about 20 minutes. Round trip to Fred Myers twice about 1 mile

8-5 Train trip to Denali - day off from workout

8-6 Denali Steep uphill trek in the rain on the trail behind our lodge with Paul, Cyndi and Jessy. Not sure if it was really a trail or just a run off. Paul said if Rob had been with us we would have kept climbing. I was glad I had my trekking poles.

8-6 Bus trip to Talkeetna. This was the town where they begin the Mt. McKinley climbs. However the clouds never lifted so we didn't get to see the mountain. After spending a long day in the bus the girls decided to walk to and from town. 4 miles round trip.

8-7 First day on the ship....Let the stair climbing begin....

8-8 Day off from workout except for the stairs

8-9 Let's check out the fitness room! There is a track outdoors on deck 12. Jessy and I ran a mile and then did hand weight reps. In Juneau we took the tram up 900 feet and hike the nature trails. Steve, Jessy and I hiked to the snow field 3.5 miles round trip. Donna, A.J. & Sera did

about 1.5 miles.

8-12 We did our 8 mile round trip hike to the Laughton glacier. 1 1/2 miles were actually hiking on the glacier. We went through rain forest, then did rock scrambling before we made it to the Alpine area. The temps went down to the low 40's. We burned a lot of calories.

Except for our glacier hike, we ran the track and worked out in the fitness room the rest of the days on the ship. One of the days, Jessy and I even ran a full 2 miles without a rest. I wasn't looking forward to getting up early for boot camp, but I knew I was missing some core work.

Alaska - no boot camp up here.

But we are going to try and work out every day, especially next week when we are on the cruise ship with all that food.

Saturday was a 20 mile ride at home. We kind of took it easy because it was my 13 day in a row of intense exercise for a minimum of 1 hour per day. Sunday we did take a day off and Sunday evening we were on the plane to Alaska. Our room at the Sophie Station hotel, which we will be staying at for two more nights is a suite with a complete kitchen. So this morning we had a light breakfast and then Jessy and I went to the fitness room to do upper body weights. Steve joined us and we did a 1 1/2 mile jog down a dirt trail through the forest and ended up at the airport.

Poor Steve, stopped to pee and got a bee sting on the leg. The photo shows the view from the fitness room and the trail where we started our jog. Cyndi will be here tomorrow morning and Jessy will put together a boot-camp work out.

Conditioning by Bicycle

Today we rode 30 miles in just under two hours. We rode to the beach then to Newport and up the river trail. Quite the head wind, but I was able to hang with some guys at about 20 miles per hour for several miles down the coast.

Boot camp has definitely increased my fitness level and the little rises are easy to push up and over. In six weeks I need to be able to do 70 more miles in addition to the 30. I only had a 90 calorie granola bar for breakfast and some sugar in my tea, so round about 15 miles I felt like I was beginning to bonk. I could have sure used a banana at that point. My husband, Steve who rides with a heart rate monitor, a body bug and a power tap said we had burned 1000 calories.

We will see if I can get up and ride tomorrow before church as well. Got to get the miles in.

It's light out now when we start our work outs!

I know, I got really behind on updating my blog. We have a whole new group of girls but they seem really fit and willing to do everything. There isn't even much groaning. For the first week of this session we started out with lots of conditioning including two runs up the hill on Thursday. Pat did an awesome job not stopping her jog until she reached the top. Pat blames it on Jessy, but Jessy said she was walking behind her and Pat was so close when she was tempted to walk that she just had to encourage her to finish the climb.

My husband has signed us up to do the Orange County Wheelmen Amtrak ride in September. It's a century (100 miler) which means I have to find some time to get my bottom time in the saddle to make the 6 plus hours the century will take. We've been able to ride on weekends and last week I pounded up Edwards hill but I need to get in close to 100 miles per week and I'm not there yet.

The conditioning from boot camp though has really helped me when I'm riding. I'm able to ride hard for a full hour and at a decent average MPH. I forgot how much I loved my bike. For a while I thought it was just because I was overweight and then I realized it was because my fitness level wasn't where it should be. I am really enjoying the cool wind we create when riding especially during the hot summer weather months.

In two weeks we will be going to Alaska and the excursion we signed up for was an 8 mile hike. I'm not sure of the elevation or elevation gain, but I hope my current fitness level will enable me to do this hike easily.

Roy has been working us a lot on different circuits including a lot of arm and core work which we all need.

Over 1/2 done with our session...

Wow...I think we should call this a conditioning camp session. Roy seems to keep us really moving, running, jump roping, running some more, overhead presses with weights, also with TRX bands. Always something new. He also seems concerned that we are using our core and strengthening our core. I seem to end up sweating every day. Although it's still hard to get out of bed in the morning so early. I never regret that I was there once the work out is over. In fact sometimes the hour goes by so fast we feel like we still want more. Got to say though...working out with music is much better than listening to everyone's joints cracking and Roy's joke cracking.

Jessy started a training for her first 5K blog. She has included some info on how to tie your running shoes. I always thought it was weird that since I tied them in the dark, once my feet/ankles warmed up, it always seemed like I needed to tighten my laces. Of course I never wanted to stop at the beginning of my run nor at the base of the hill to tighten them, but the whole time I'm jogging I wished I had. Check out her Random Facts blog for the details: http://jessysrandomfacts.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-to-tie-your-running-shoes.html

You're killing us Roy....

Ok, you know we can handle it. But on a Monday morning -- two sets of Indian runs as well as the full parking lot and those burpee things and the half-knee squat with weights! Don't forget some jump roping in the middle of it all. I guess we are working on extra conditioning and I definitely need to work on my speed.

We are also all concerned with summer vacations coming up, how not to lose any conditioning or fitness when we can't be at boot camp every single morning.

It is so much fun having Jessy with us every morning. I can't wait until she can run again (although, then she will be passing me).

First one around the parking lot!

That was really nice of Roy to have all the fast runners stay home today. He kind of tricked us saying just go around the round-a-bout and back. I think he knows I'm use to do long distance riding and depending on the length will determine my pace, so I ran a bit faster than I normally do because I thought it was a shorter distance. But then he fooled us into a full parking lot run. Well with the girls taking a tapering day off for the mud run, Beca still not back at camp and Marta still overseas... guess who made the lap first! Actually once I was into a faster pace and after the success of a full hill jog yesterday, I just kept it up.

It's been a tough week, I'm a bit concerned about the new girls, but they seem to be keeping a good attitude and aren't giving up. I also know how much faster I could be and how much easier the hill would be (darn gravity) if I could get more weight off. At least we haven't done pull-ups or burpees yet.

And...... the Barb is back. Somehow, there are new campers that have been able to do the sarcastic comments for Roy. So although we missed her, she knows that her spirit will live on and we will make sure that Roy doesn't get away with too much.

I crushed the hill today!

I was inspired by last boot campmates, Kellen and Sabina. At the last hill day of the last camp session, Kellen and Sabina slowly ran to the top of the hill together without walking. At the top they had huge smiles and did a double high-five. If they can do it after one camp, then I thought I should be able to as well since I'm in my fourth session. I'm sure I could have walked it faster, but I just kept moving in a jog and made it all the way to the top without stopping or walking.

This morning there was a lot more cardio before our first attack on the hill. Roy had us doing relay style races around the small parking lot carrying a weight above our heads. I thought he wouldn't notice on the back side of the bushes, but he is like a teacher with eyes everywhere. I was just trying to reserve some energy for the "hill".

I was so surprised for a first week of camp that he had us do the hill again. For the 2nd run of the hill this morning, I just couldn't "crush it" again. But there is always next week.

Yes! We did miss boot camp...

Or maybe it was Roy? Or maybe it was the camaraderie of the group. It does feel good to be "at it" again. It's kind of weird because although we drive to camp in the dark, within minutes of arriving it is already light out.

This morning we had a handful of new girls. Kind of fun to see them a little nervous not sure what to expect. Roy however has a way of getting everyone comfortable yet still ensuring that everyone is challenged.

Today when we ran the parking lot, I tried to go a little bit faster. Usually I guard my pace because I want to ensure that I run the whole thing and not stop and walk. But then, I'm always the last one back and everyone seems to pass me. Today however I was only passed by about 4 girls and definitely made better time. (Jessy didn't have to tell me that many of the girls had to stop and walk. I guess my glory will be short lived as they find out they can probably run the whole thing too).

On Saturday's 18 mile ride with my husband, I did feel much stronger and the little rises seemed like nothing. I could keep my pace and easily accelerate after stops. If I can only break my sit bones back in, it would be no problem to go for a 50 miler (mostly flat).

Happy Birthday Cyndi!

Cyndi chose to spend her birthday morning getting up early and working out with us. Today we did the "hill" twice plus some partner medicine balls and runs around the small parking lot. I saw three bunnies surprising one in the bushes. Still no snakes, Barb. This week I have been really sweating. My husband says that is good because it means I am burning calories. Jessy is going to be able to join us in Aliso Veijo for camp this month. We are missing Barb, but her spirit remains.
I'm not losing tons of weight, but my pants definitely fit better and the scale slowly shows improvement week by week. Next week it's back to 5 days per week. We've so enjoyed some time off of the early morning.s

wow... a week off

Well this was our off week. It was great not to be waking up at 4:45 a.m. but it's hard to get motivated to work out. My work out buddies flaked on me this week. We were planning to try and get in at least two sessions in the gym or at least a hike. I guess they had good excuses because one was trying to get ready to leave the country and the other is nursing a bum leg. I guess I really didn't have an excuse. Last Saturday, my husband, daughter and I did a 15 mile road ride. I did a couple of 1 mile walks and yesterday my husband and I did a 25 mile bike ride. It felt great. I felt strong and except for needing to break in my sit bones a little more, I could have kept riding.

On Friday night, our boot camp group met to go bowling. It was a lot of fun and we had a lot of laughs and got to meet Roy's wife Victoria. Then my final hug to Barb until she comes back to the states for a visit. It is just not going to be the same next week. At least Kellen, Pat, Sabina and Diane will be at boot camp next week.

Here's the link to our bowling photo album: http://sports.webshots.com/album/572712497BtJCQo

I can't believe it's over...

..... and he made us do one final Indian run around full court. But then he did treat us to coffee. Today we tested out from the tests we did in the first week. Just about everyone improved, especially on keeping track of their counts. For sure everyone improved on the squat - overhead press with weights. During this session just about everyone went up in hand weight sizes. Now if he would only publish his exercise book so we can remember all the different core workouts and warm up stretches that we should be practicing. Cardio is an easy one to remember, but all the rest is just a blur....

It was a tearful goodbye as we knew that not everyone would be able to join us physically for the next camp session. However the spirit of campers before will always linger over us.

you have to crawl first

Well today we were crawling again on all fours, on asphalt, trying to keep our knees inches off the ground, coordinating arms and legs. I'm not sure why Roy enjoys it so much, but it all feels so uncoordinated. I can't believe that we have made it 5 days per week for two camp sessions. And there are only two days left. The last 3 weeks have gone by so fast. We are stronger but now Roy keeps us moving with only 30 seconds between sets of exercises. Lots of line stuff (including the crawling) plus 1-leg squats with weights. A least we didn't have to do the squat holding the pole. Here is our group photo. We miss our Katie and Sherrie though. Hopefully they are working out where ever they are, but it can't be much fun.

Sometimes you sweat,sometimes you don't

This morning's workout was definitely "sweaty". Roy keeps us moving with two sets of Indian Runs, lots of jump roping and jogging while we were waiting for the TRX bands. It's hard to not think about dinosaurs whenever he mentions the TRX bands. "Oooooh, Barbara really likes those bands."

I was in Minnesota again this week and missed two boot camp days. I did pack my workout clothes and my resistance tube. The workout room of the hotel I stayed at even had hand weights so I could do my reps. I walked outside around a great little local lake on Thursday morning, but it was very cold and very windy and I only had on a very thin sweat jacket. I wondered why no Minnesotans were outside working out.

Traveling does allow a little bit of reading time and I always try to catch up on my magazines that start piling up. I was really encouraged by Fitness magazine's editor Betty Wong's message that talked about us never having an issue with giving up when we are on a deadline, or in an argument or trying to get the last item at a sale. However when it comes to our work outs it is so easy for us to give in. I suppose some of our justification is that at least we are being physically active. But why can't we apply the same stick-to-it-tiveness to working through the tough distance or amount of reps. We are only cheating ourselves.

I really try to push myself to complete all of ,the exercises and so appreciate the fact that Roy keeps it varied. Lately however, I feel that being off for a couple of days and having a bit of tenderness on the arch of my foot, I have lost any type of speed I had. And those impossible seeming burpees. I need to remember to ask Roy why in real life would we need to be able to do a burpee? These are times I really miss my youth. When I was 8, I'm sure burpees were a piece of cake. Roy says by the end of the year, we will easily be able to do 1000's of burpees at a time.

Here is a cool video demo of a burpee:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MGljX4bbps

bunnies, rattlers and ants

That is what this morning's work out was all about. We got to do the hill three times! I saw a bunny hopping across the trail on my first trip up. On the second trip, Barb noticed the "caution rattlesnakes" sign for the first time. She thought maybe she was getting delirious but we assured her that the snakes only hung out in the bushes and it wasn't quite snake season yet.

Today was one cardio move after another including jump roping and burpees again. We were definitely sweating. But still the one hour went by very fast and before we knew it we were back in our cars on our way back to our normal lives. My mat was laid down on top of ants, so I was brushing ants off my extremities in the car on the way to my shower.

I wonder what kind of torture Roy has in store for us tomorrow. Perhaps we will be meeting at the skate park.

It's getting tough out there

But Roy knows we can handle it. We are into our 2nd week of our 3 4-week session. Today I was able to jog the whole parking lot hill. We are able to push through each exercise even when we are talking which helps to distract from the toughness of our moves. During the first session, first week, I thought it would be impossible for me to hold a plank for a full minute and the dead bug seem to really kill. We so appreciate that Roy always warms us up and provides a cool down.

We are getting stronger, stronger, stronger. Everyone is easily able to do the heavier weights they have moved up to. Now, if we can just accomplish the full push-ups and pull-ups. I think it's a girl thing not having those strong biceps.

A few blogs back, I did a list of things I loved about boot camp, so I thought it only fair to provide equal time to:
Things I don't like about boot camp besides getting up early.
1. The long drive to get there. (no speeding ticket yet).
2. Having to figure out something to eat before I work out. Love those 100 calorie pack almonds, trying to get some protein.
3. Worrying that I may have forgotten to pack some essential item for my getting ready session at 24-hour fitness.
4. Leaving my sweet husband in bed.
5. Not being in the same camp as my daughter.
6 . Not working out with my husband.
7. Disappointing Ray.
8. That it is over too soon... Can't believe I would ever want more than 1 hour.
9. Being slower than the other campers (I'm going to say it's an age thing.)
10. That muscle weighs more than fat.

What do you mean we aren't allow to sweat?

Boy, has it been two hard working mornings. I think Roy forgot there are new girls. I also didn't realize we had to be able to count. I just get distracted thinking about my breathing in and out and doing the particular move right. On Monday, we did some tests so we can compare at the end of the camp. Back and forth across the basketball court touching the lines. Then some squat presses. We finished the morning off with an Indian run. What....the new girls are suppose to like this group thing. I wondered how many we would lose by the second day.

By Tuesday we were still working hard on strength and training and the plank, over and over again, you would think that Roy was trying to put in hard wood floors. But I really do feel stronger each week. If I remember back to the very first week of boot camp I had to do the plank from my knees, now I can do a full on one and hold it. Ok maybe not the full time but almost.

What's the purpose of doing a plank, besides I guess just the ab-core strength thing. Roy said the reason it's good to be accomplished at the plank is when Barb and I are camping in the Amazon jungle and we have to make an emergency exit from our tent, army crawling and we come to a river that is filled with floating mines we can easily lift our torsos over the mines safely. Hmmmm...worth training for? Maybe.

I still am really loving the variety we get in our work out each morning. Even the jump ropes and the parking lot are so dreaded anymore. This weekend I turn 50 (yeah, already). I definitely feel fitter and am committed to keep going. I'll see how much working out I can do while I am in Eagan for the next 3 days. At least the early morning in Aliso Viejo got me use to the daily weather in Minnesota.

Let's do some real cardio!

I have the two best workout buddies in the whole world. Ok besides Jessy and my husband. I love being outside, so the gym just does NOT inspire me like it does my single friends who may be oogling all the cute guys. Course most guys in the gym are not noticing because they are so focused on themselves. Then when you do meet a nice guy, like the one on Tuesday who gave us some pointers on using the ab leg lift equipment....he is way too young....or Pat says, "Maybe not..."

So this morning instead of heading to the gym, we decided to meet at Concourse Park at the border of Lake Forest and Trabucco Canyon and take a hike. Let's get our hearts pumping, burn some fat and use our leg muscles. We could still talk but I didn't feel as guilty as when we talk at the gym and could be "fake" working out. We hiked 2.3 miles total out and back along Concourse road into Whiting Ranch. At the turnaround point we had a great view overlooking the foothill ranch area including the Oakley building.

I saw a cottontail rabbit and a domesticated golden retriever. But, we did talk about the cougars, coyotes and rattle snakes that do inhabit the area which I guess doesn't count as "sighting" wildlife.

By 7 a.m. we had an hour's workout in. This was definitely worth doing again. Maybe we can get Roy to hold camp there one morning?

We had our post assessment with Sam this afternoon. 3 inches overall loss and down 5 pounds. Definitely headed in the right direction.

Week off

Mmmmm....... we really miss those daily emails from Roy. It's really hard to drag yourself out of bed to exercise on your own. Barb, Pat and I did meet at the gym on Tuesday after taking a Monday off. I did walk on Sunday. But being in the gym is just not the same as the varied work outs we get from boot camp. On my drive to the gym, after cuddling way too long in bed, I saw amazing sun rise. It was gorgeous outside and just begging for some outside time. Instead we did some weights inside. Maybe on Thursday we can go for a walk instead.

We made it!

Ok, I guess someone must be reading, because Marlee let me know I was behind on my blog. I was so faithful to update it after every workout. But this week getting up at 4:50 a.m. every morning for 5 days and Roy really kicking our butts, has made it a little difficult. I think this was Indian run week. Maybe if we tell him that we really like them, he will decide not to have us do them. I think Roy just gets a kick out of us running around basketball courts.

On Wednesday, my daughter, Jessy joined us. It was very cold on the back side of the school and we had to go up the hill twice! That's when we knew it was a tough week. The partner stuff was fun. Barb's knee seems to be getting better and Tiffany keeps smiling always.

Thursday was a killer killer. We kept moving, jogged the parking lot. Did the bands on the pull up bars, jump roped and jump roped and push ups.

Friday was testing day again. Everyone improved especially on the overhead presses with weights. It was a little confusing at first because most of us had gone up in weight size over the last 4 weeks, so it was a scramble to get every one the right set of weights so we could truly compare scores. One last Indian run and then it was off to Starbucks for some girl gossip time. Oh yeah, Roy was there too, but he's pretty good at the girl stuff as well. After all his fav color is pink I heard.

Now, it's a week off from camp, although we will be trying to maintain some kind of routine and stay active. I really am going to miss seeing my Barb every morning. Now I can't seem to wait until the next session starts.

Back at Bootcamp!

Wow....what have those girls been doing while I have been gone? They are all able to do the 12 pound weights and they told Roy their favorite is the Indian runs. We did 3 sets of them this morning. It was exhausting but definitely doable since I tried to stay active on my vacation. The morning was still very early even though I spent a week in another time zone. But hmmm..... that low 50 degree weather didn't seem very cold.


Barb looks really strong. I think it's because if she ends up working at night, she does another "in-the-gym" workout right after boot camp in the morning. She is really dedicated.

We now have learned Roy's age and his favorite color. We may need to save the information for blackmail in case we have to do anymore of the burpee specialties. At least he keeps varying it up.

Is this how you do a burbee?













Watch for the Team Roy at the Spectrum event this weekend. Roy's girls should at least get the best enthusiasm award.

Fresh Powder!

The sun finally came out today after 5 days of snowing. Today we decided to go out and go all the way to the top. The runs were not groomed and it was quite the site coming down. At least with the sun shining when you sat in the snow you didn't get cold. And it was soft to fall in. Here I am buried after one of the falls down the steep face full of powder.

Jessy and I did our boot camp stretches this morning before going out and I used my foam roller when I got back. My quads were not sore at all. All that boot camp conditioning really made a difference.

For those of you who really know me, I count my vacations as successful by the amount of wild life I see. We have had blue birds visit our patio each morning and squirrels regularly pass our paths while we are skiing. But....Friday night while we were sitting at the table after dinner looking across at the mountain, what came jogging down the road? A coyote. I guess he was on the look out for a bunny for his dinner. You can see him in the photo on the far side of the road just to the left of the tree. Shortly after this he circled around on the snow and you could really make him out against the white blanket of snow. Yep....going to be a fun week.

What? There is no vacation from boot camp?

I forgot to mention the only thing I don't like about boot camp besides getting up so early. It's that I don't get to spend it with my husband. We have shared almost all exercise activities since I was 16. I love the fact that it's just women and I think it makes more sense for what we are trying to accomplish and I love spending time with my boot camp buddies, but it's hard to get out of that nice warm bed in the morning with him still in it.

I do have the most awesome husband in the whole world. Not only does he support me in going to boot camp, but this morning he got up early and came with me so he could take some photos for my blog.

Roy even knows about nutrition. He is always up for any questions or concerns we have. He said No to my question, but Jessy is going to ask Sam and see what she thinks, "Does a chocolate peanut butter egg count as protein?" So I guess when they say to make sure and eat some protein in the morning, that won't count.

Pat and I are still doing the stress eating thing. So much for having a partner to keep you accountable, now we just help each other out. (sorry about buying the Almond Joy egg as well).

This morning's workout was my last before a week plus 1 day skiing vacation in Snowbird, Utah. Since my husband was vacationing from work today, he drove the trip to Aliso Viejo with me and then we drove home for showers and off to the airport to fly to Salt Lake City. The flight was short but my legs were aching to walk and seemed a bit tight from our jump roping and jogging this morning. I am so glad that Roy always cools us down before we leave, but I did spend some time on the foam roller this afternoon to work out some tight spots.

Now we will have 7 days of fresh powder! Should be some good quad, glute, and cardio work outs without stress eating.

Is he trying to killl us????

Must be that sinister laugh....Or when he says, let me know if you don't feel it....then he tortures us some more.

The last two days have seemed brutal but I try and push myself through every exercise. Roy seems to keep us moving with lots of cardio and circuit work interspersed with weights and then the core balance thing. I guess one thing is for sure, when we finish this session we should be able to pass a sobriety test.

For all my followers out there, please pray for Pat's mom who is in the hospital. She (Pat, not her mom) didn't make it to boot camp this morning because she spent 5 hours waiting in emergency with her mom during the night before they admitted her. Pat will be trying to help her mom make some decisions on next steps when she gets discharged.

Check out the YouTube video to see the flexibility and strength we hope to someday get by going through these camps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejg0aBjBLvw

One more day this week and then I'm off to Utah for some skiing. I'll definitely get in cardio everyday and hopefully some flexibility work, but I don't want to loose any of my strength work.
My daughter Jessy will help me while she is there until Monday.

Some interesting notes: While I was traveling it was really hard to make right food choices. But on the mornings I do boot camp, it seems easy for me to consistently make good choices. Except when Pat is stressing an really wants the breaded chick-fil-a sandwich instead of the grilled one on the whole wheat bun. (Course, she didn't do boot camp this morning mmmm..) Oh well sometimes we need little treats.

Also, my husband I did our Saturday morning regular 15 mile ride this last weekend. With years of riding experience, I can always make the distance, but over the last couple of months with inconsistent riding it has been exhausting and I always am ready for it to be over and I want a nap afterwards. During this last weekend's ride, even though I haven't ridden in several months, it was actually easy. I had good speed throughout, the hills didn't kill me and I was upbeat and cheery afterwards. The additional fitness I've gained from Boot Camp has really paid off even though it's not the same exercise/muscle groups being used. Now if only the mirror, scale and clothes fitting thing would pay off. I forgot how much I love my bike!

2nd Session Week 1 Day 5

Ok for me it was really only day 3 of the week, since I was out of the office for two days. Barb said she couldn't believe week 1 was already over, only 3 more weeks of session 2. We can do this.

Our workouts remind me of the Friday night rides we use to do after work. Real fast sprints, all flat up and back the river trail. We had to pack riding stuff and load the bikes, don't forget a water bottle in the morning before work. Then sometimes after a tough day at work you just didn't feel like going. However we went ahead and met at the ride starting point, thinking maybe we would just take it easy and not push, but then in the excitement of the group ride and the pace line after a warm-up we would get up to speed and spend the hour working hard. Afterwards, we were always glad we had done the ride. We went to dinner with the group and always slept well.

Friday morning's work out was a lot like that. Ugg... early morning again? Roy really had us pushing (but he always warms us up). Lots of jump roping, jogging the basketball courts, weird straps from the push-up bars, up the mini-hill, kung fu hand weights. I was really sweating and breathing hard. But afterward, I felt so good and was glad I had showed up and really pushed.

I can't wait to see what Roy has planned for us next week.

Let's do 5 days per week.

Monday, March 23rd was the start of a new boot camp session. Pat, Barb and I were committed to do being there 5 days per week. Barb said it was easy as she was already doing it from the last camp session, but she didn't have to go directly to work after each morning work out. I prepared my work clothes the night before but I also had to pack a suitcase because I found out Friday I needed to travel for work. I purposefully scheduled my flights so I would miss as few boot camp days as possible which was Tuesday and Wednesday.

4:50 a.m. Monday sure seemed really early. Will I really be able to do it for 5 days? We had some new faces at camp. Roy said this session we would be working on strength, flexibility and balance so we did some tests which included what seemed like sobriety testing. You could hear the giggles around the court as we each concentrated on the moves Roy requested.

I did pack my workout clothes and resistance tubes for my trip and asked for 6 a.m. wake up calls. However with the late flights (1 a.m. Tuesday morning arrival) and all day meeting and I supposed not having my friends counting on me to show up I didn't work it in. I was concerned I wouldn't be able to get my clothes organized and make the Thursday morning boot camp. However 4:50 a.m. came and once I was up and on the road, it was easy. It felt great being with the group and doing our workout. We did have to jog the parking lot but we also did some circuits which included mat work, hand weights, resistance bands on the chain link fence, ladders, and funny little spiked colored rubber spots we had to balance on and do squats. Quite the challenge. Oh yeah we also had to do some boot camper tipping, you should have heard the giggling this morning.

We finished with some relaxation breathing. We might have all taken naps, but the HS football team was ready to take over the basketball courts. Hopefully we can remember the relaxation techniques when we aren't being kept awake at night with all the worries in our heads.

Happy Birthday Jessy!

I am blessed with an awesome daughter, Jessy who turned 22 years old today. She chose to spend her birthday morning with me. Even though she didn't have class until later in the day, she woke up early so we could work out together. She toasted me a whole-wheat-extra-fiber English muffin and then we walked to the Bella Terra 24-hour fitness. It's 3 miles round trip. We did the pull-up assist machine and a couple other machines near by while waiting to get on it. Then we walked back. We probably should have tried to jog it because she swears she cannot jog 2 miles, but then we wouldn't have been able to talk as much.

We did walk fairly quickly. It was definitely better to do our cardio outside instead of in a gym on a treadmill or elliptical. Plus we were able to see bunny rabbits on our walk.

We were sorry we had to leave our dog, Daytona at home as she would have enjoyed the walk as well, but we knew that we wouldn't have been able to bring her into the gym with us.

Boot Camp starts Monday! I'm sad because I just found out I need to travel for work and will miss two days of Boot camp in my first week of 5 days per week. Hopefully I will find time in Minnesota to get a physical work out in because I know it's going to be a mental one.

I wonder if Roy misses us?

Well, we miss him. Actually Pat, Barb and I have worked out twice this week together. We met early in the morning at 24-hour fitness on Tuesday and Thursday. We sure don't miss the getting up early. We encourage each other, but I'm not sure we are working as hard as we would if Roy were directing us.

This morning we were suppose to take the 5:30 a.m. group x Camp 24 class. I was in the group x room getting ready when Barb looked at me with wide eyes. The class was described as a circuit course and I thought with an instructor telling us what to do we might work out harder.
Later in our workout Barb and I peeked over the upper railing and decided the step ups and jump roping just would NOT be good for her knees. Plus this week's workouts were all about the social thing and we can talk while we are on the bikes and machines. I don't think Roy will put up with that next week.

For all of you interested in really knowing what a boot camp workout is like, OC Bootcamp is offering a FREE fitness boot camp workout to be held at the Irvine Spectrum on Saturday, April 18th. No, you don't have to be there at 5:30 a.m. They are going to start at 8:15 a.m. You do have to register, just go to this link: http://www.ocbootcamp.com/lululemon-adventure-fitness-boot-camp-class.html Try it, you will like it and then who knows, you may be able to get up at 5 a.m. and join us.

Results are In!

Today we had our post assessment appointment back at the Boot Camp Offices. At my original appointment Sam said I could expect to loose 2 to 3 percent body fat loss. I had been really discouraged, because I didn't see the scale budging even though I was carefully watching my food intake. Roy said that it takes 21 days for the body to notice a difference. Saturday was 21 days since I started boot camp and I finally saw a budge in the scale. Sam retook my measurements and did my body fat. I lost 4.4% body fat and almost 6 inches overall. Wow there really was a difference.

Pat and I have signed up for 5 days per week. It does mean a monetary investment, but I have been eating out for lunch (and dinners) a lot less, so I am saving some money. I have a 1 week vacation planned during the next 4-week camp -- Snowbird, Utah. I will be doing some cardio during that time and I bought a foam roller and some resistance bands to take with me. I'm looking forward to being in better shape for skiing. I always do OK, but I think the muscles are going to appreciate it a lot more.

Pat, Barb and I are going to meet at 24-hour fitness to workout tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. before work. Hopefully we will push ourselves as much as Roy encourages us. Speaking of Roy, I wonder how he is getting along without us to give him a hard time every morning. Maybe we should call his wife and give her some good pointers. They've been married long enough it's probably time.

Sad or Glad?

Friday was our final day of boot camp. It's still hard to get up so early, but once I'm on the road and at boot camp, the early morning doesn't seem so bad. The stars were especially beautiful this morning. Only 6 campers showed up. We started with some yoga, one trip jogging around the basketball courts and some mat work, including planks. Then it was the dreaded strength retests. Hey...they weren't so hard. Everyone improved and almost all scores were a significant improvement.

Pat was told she could work on her flexibility. While doing squats she needs to imagine a short person standing there and she should smack him on top of the head with her butt. Hmmm.. I wonder what short person she is imagining.

Then it was off to Starbucks and coffee was on Roy. It was a nice time chatting and learning a little bit about the other women in the class. Roy's collar bone is getting better and now he only had it taped up. I think he was using that Hello Kitty tape.

On Monday, Pat, my daughter and I have our post assessment appointment with Sam back at the boot camp offices. I definitely think we are fitter, but not sure all the improvement we will see. Still considering signing up for 5 days per week. But, I think I will enjoy sleeping in until 6:30 a.m. all next week.

Pat and I went Kayaking on Saturday to test the new strength in our cores. The morning in Laguna was cool but very pretty and the sea lions splashed around and played in the water next to our boats.

Home Stretch!

We've decided on a new marketing ploy, like they do with traffic school. We could have themes for boot camp. How about "rock music boot camp" or "comedy boot camp" or "chocolate boot camp"? Whoops I think we are going a bit too far.

Today was definitely a tough one as we worked through cardio and lower body. Finally we got to run (jog....walk...climb) the hill. I went all the way to the top although I didn't run all the way up. I attempted to jog down but it's a bit uneven path and there are some sand bag lines across the path intermittently. A little skittish trying to do it in the dark. I think walking down is a little safer anyway since we are in Mountain Lion country. I read somewhere that you shouldn't run or act like prey at any time.

Pat was back and only had two drinks over the weekend. I guess she must have done her push-ups before I arrived this morning, because I didn't see her do them. She said the push ups would be worth the trade out.

Friday we will do our strength tests again to see how much we have improved and next week we will do a post assessment with Sam. Then finally one week of rest. Getting up at 6:30 a.m. will seem like sleeping in. Here is a few photos of our morning.....

Dark...Dark...Dark

We are in the home stretch. It was soooo hard to get up this morning. I am really looking forward to a whole week off. However I know I don't want to miss working out. It is so hard working all week and then the weekend comes and there is so much stuff to do around the house and errands to catch up on. My husband and I attended a work friend of his 50th birthday party at Old World. It was a fun party with a live band with 70's/80's music. I didn't have anything to drink and I was very careful on my portions of the yummy pasta and no cake for me.

We didn't get a workout in on Saturday, but on Sunday even though I had the full family coming over for dinner, the dog and I went for a 2 1/2 mile hike on the Bolsas in the afternoon. Seems kind of low mileage for me, but at least we were outdoors and it beat sitting on the sofa.

This morning's was a tough workout though. I'm not sure if Roy is pushing us harder or if the earlier time makes me feel like I don't have enough sleep. I must have been burning calories however, because I was very hungry all day.

We did the whole parking lot and a full court Indian run. I really tried to sprint on the Indian run but I seemed to be out of breath at the end. We did some circuit stuff with the ladder, medicine balls, jump ropes and hand weights. He keeps having us do these dead bug positions and then a modified one with arms and legs stretched out. Boy can you really feel them. I do feel a bit stronger but today was just plain exhausting. Today I bought a set of heaver weights.

Sometime this week we should be redoing our strength testing which means a number of squats, crunches and push-ups timed. At least they aren't pull-ups. I'm guessing Wednesday, since a couple of us are 3 day a weekers and I think he wants to finish early on Friday.

I've been counting my points and really sticking to WW plan but the weight just doesn't seem to be coming off. I'm hoping that it's because that muscle weighs more. I wonder if that it just something they tell you to make you feel better. We shall see at our post assessment appointment if the numbers look better.

Two more days....almost there.

What? There is a mini hill?

I cannot believe we have completed 3 weeks and only have one week left to go. Monday will be the real test, the start of day light's saving time. Instead of waking up at 4:50 a.m. it will feel like 3:50 a.m.

It is hard to get out of the warm cozy bed, especially since my husband is still in it. But, once I get on the road, I really am awake and looking forward to the surprises that Roy has in store for us. Since Roy has an out of commission left wing, we realized he is really good at descriptions. He tells us how to do a specific exercise and then tells us what muscle or muscle group should be feeling it. Just be sure you don't tell him, "I don't feel anything," or he will come over and have you apply some torture moves.

The one thing I did learn was it helps to face the same direction as everyone else. When his command is to lift your knee toward him and it seems impossible, it's probably because you are trying to contort the opposite direction. Today Roy had us working with the gigantic rubber bands with the handles on the ends. He made up a fun little move which was sort of like target practice trying to shoot the bands toward the front. I think we only ended up with about 5 various hurts and bruises over different body parts. I'm not sure if we were really exercising our bodies or our minds as we were trying to figure out specifically, right foot - left arm, kick laying on your stomach, all the way out. Seems like you just get it down and then feel the muscle and we switch.

Then, some cardio, weights, mats, push ups, modified pull ups and out to the parking lot. Wait, we aren't jogging around the whole parking lot? What, where did the mini hill mysteriously appear from. Run to the top and back down. I wonder if he would have noticed if we exited out the gate at the top.

Next week will be the last week of this session of camp. Think I should sign up for 5 days a week?

What I love about bootcamp....

It was 10 degrees colder in Aliso Viejo than Huntington Beach when I left home this morning. I think I'll have to keep some extra clothes in the car just in case.

What can motivate someone to get up so early in the morning, drive 33 miles to work out? The following is what I love about boot camp:
1) I get to be outside.
2) If it's cold outside, when I work out I get warm.
3) I get to see the sun rise.
4) I get to do it with my friend, Pat. And if she doesn't show up, my new friends.
5) I'm inspired by my camp mates who all seem to be so fit.
6) None of the women are whiners. They happily attack each exercise because they know it's good for them.
7) I haven't craved a Starbucks hot chocolate in 2 1/2 weeks.
8) The instructors like it. I think we have a new convert with Jennifer.
9) The shower at 24 hour fitness feels so good after it's over.
10) I get to have breakfast with my in-laws on Monday mornings after boot camp.
11) We get to do pull ups. (whoops, that's from the wrong side of the pro/con list, not that I really have a con list)
12) I'm the dog's favorite because I let her out of her crate in the morning. (Although she gets to go snuggle in bed with my husband)
13) I get to use the nifty little ceramic/ionic travel blow dryer we bought for trips. My daughter says she needs to use it for this weekends winter camp trip because after all I don't want her to be out in the snow in wet hair do I?
14) The works outs are varied and I never get bored.
15) The time goes by so fast. No one seems to be clock watching or asking, is it 6:30 yet?
16) I'm using muscles I've never worked out before.
17) It reminds me of my younger days being at the pool for 6:00 a.m. swim work outs.
18) I get to practice my listening skills....wait how many reps did she say we should do?....where are we meeting tomorrow?.....How do you get to the hill?
19) I'm able to fit a work out in even with a very busy work schedule.
20) It reminds me of being up early and getting prepared for a century bike ride.
21) I get to be outside (did I already say that one?)

This morning Jennifer was there for us again. She did the whole workout with us. I think that is why Roy must have made up the story about fracturing his collarbone so he would have an excuse of why he won't be able to work out with us.

We did learn some new facts.....The exercise that burns the most fat is not sex but walking. I think the camper's suggestion of it being sex was because you are inspired to loose fat if you have to be naked with someone. Also, that a 10 minute jump rope work out is equivalent to an hour's run.

This morning's work out was almost like being in the military. We started with some calisthenics, then jogged practically the whole way around the school, to the volley ball nets where we practice power bursts. Then a great circuit program around the mats back by the hill. Lastly we did a suicide drill (http://www.expertvillage.com/video/161427_sports-training-suicide-drills.htm) sprinting up the hill. That was really a challenge even though I think we didn't do it as fast as the basketball teams train on them.

My daughter and I walked to the Mall last night. She is in Sam's HB camp. When ever I ask her how her work out was her answer is, "Mom, boot camp is always fun." We checked out the work out clothes but then realized we really don't need to look spiffy for boot camp, since it's so dark when you start, no one really sees you. Then we noticed how the work out clothes are situated next to the pajamas and lounge wear. Hey some of them kind of fit the same. Maybe we should just wear pajamas to work out in. Then you can wear it to bed with your jog bra and tank top and just pop up in the morning throw on a sweatshirt and shoes and be on the way to boot camp. Hey, maybe we can get a couple extra minutes of sleep that way?

We will miss Jennifer but are looking forward to seeing Roy back.

Reach to the ceiling...

Wow...amazing what two days of sleeping-in will do for you. Ok not real sleeping-in but at least not waking up at 4:50 a.m. I didn't take the full two days of the weekend off. On Saturday, I did jog with the dog around my neighborhood block. It's about 1 mile. I've not been able to jog the whole way before.

And... we rode over 140 miles on the motorcycle on Saturday. I could feel my glutes by the end of the ride. That's the frog on Pat's motorcycle.

Since we can't make it a full 5 day camp week, I really want to concentrate on at least getting in cardio on the non workout days. But, it just feels so good not getting up before 5:00 a.m. I'll keep trying.

Today we had a substitute trainer, Jennifer. She was cute and very flexible (body wise, no - we still had to do the whole work out). She actually did the full warm up with us. She kept a smile on her face even though it was so early. Her normal job includes doing group X classes and aerobic type ones. I think we almost got her talked into doing outdoor workouts instead of indoor ones. She kept saying to reach toward the ceiling. We had a gorgeous sunrise and the morning clouds were spectacular. Hopefully she won't start telling her indoor class to reach for the clouds. No rain for us yet.

We did some more partner things which resulted in some giggling as we ran around the court and back intermixed with different exercises at our meeting point. The football coach came out and told her that we were going to make his football team look bad with the amount of work we were doing.

Roy should be proud, Jennifer seemed surprised that we had good form through each of our exercises and movements. She seem to think we had a lot of experience. I think what he tells us must work because we try and concentrate on the muscle or muscle group that we should be feeling with the particular exercise.

We are going to miss the hill again tomorrow. Pat thinks maybe we should try to make a Tuesday or Thursday workout just to experience "the hill."

Halfway there....

Today marks halfway through our first boot camp. Pat and I thought of it as halfway done. One of our team mates laughed and said maybe we should think about it that we still have halfway to go.

Today we had to do the dreaded pull-ups. I truly thought that since this was an outdoor camp, and we hadn't done any yet, that pull-ups must not be in the curriculum. I was very wrong. Not only does the campus have pull-up bars that seem to mysteriously appear this morning, but there are push-up bars. Even with the aide of having a partner "hold" the ankles to provide a leverage, it still seemed nearly impossible. Funny though, on the push-up bars that were about 3 feet of the ground, the pull-ups seemed easy.

We asked, "why do we need to accomplish the ability to do a push up?" Roy did provide us with a real life scenario answer of why everyone should be able to do a push up. If you ever saw the movie American Flyers (http://www.fast-rewind.com/amflyers.htm), you could equate it to "training with my friend Eddie". I still think my husband would either be able to help me over the fence, or that miraculous strength that kicks in when the mom sees the car fall on the baby would kick in for me if I ever found myself in the "real like scenario" that Roy described.

Today seemed like a little circuit training without any accouterments except for our mats. We did some ab stuff, lawn mowers, some walking lunges, running around the court for several circuits. We learned that Johnny Cash does indeed make music to work out to. We also learned that although we are not suppose to imbibe (alcohol) during the 4 weeks of camp that Roy does have some interesting college experiences. (And it didn't involve a mean dog and a fence) Roy seems so fit though and he is off to a long weekend snowboarding in Mammoth. I just hope all this working out will provide me some additional strength for my upcoming ski trip to Snowbird, Utah.

Now we have two weekend days off, without having to wake up early. I'm looking forward to Monday with our substitute coach while Roy is snowboarding. We promised to be nice to her.

My friend at work pointed me to a great online site that provides WW points and tips. Check it out http://www.hungry-girl.com/index.php and you can also sign up for email tip of the day.

Cardio Time!

At least we don't have to call him "Sir". Today we did lots of cardio...run the whole parking lot and then some other fun stuff including the "Indian" run. It's kind of like a bicycle pace line where you take turns at the front, but in this case instead of falling off the front you sprint up from the end of the line.

We did some partner stuff with the bands and more partner cardio type stuff. I have the best partner - Pat. She always shows up and always makes me laugh. Then there is that new game "Guess that tune". Mmmmm..... I guess my satellite radio on talk stations isn't getting me any help in that game.

We did have to do the dreaded push-ups today. Pat says she can't do them, but she does all of them without even groaning. It must be those motorcycle muscles she uses. She also seems really strong in her core. I couldn't decide which I hated worse - push-ups or the plank. Then Roy tells us a push-up is actually a plank with motion. Ugh... no wonder I don't like either. But it should make us stronger. I wonder if that will take care of those bingo wings us older ladies tend to have.

Hey, today I learned what an apex is. And we thought it was the path during our turn on our motorcycles.

Tommorrow the girls will have to do the hill without us I guess since we are only Monday, Wednesday, Fridayers. I am really tempted to add and make the 5 days, but it is a really long drive and it is really early. I just need to keep trying to get some kind of work out in on my off days.

Week 2 - adjusting to early mornings

Note to self: unset alarm for the weekend. Sure, you have two days off and who remembers to not set the alarm. I just love getting up at 4:30 a.m. on days off - especially when it's cold outside. I'm afraid to not have the alarm set and miss my boot camp days. Who wants to do an additional 10 push ups because of being late.

I didn't take a full two days off from workouts for the weekend. My husband and I rode mountain bikes on the Santa Ana River trail. I pushed to keep about 11 to 12 miles per hour and we did ride about 7 miles. I could feel the same muscles that were worked on Friday. However, trailer camping weekends can be tough. Especially if you are the wagon master and most of the events are planned around food. How many push ups is it for alcohol? Was it 10 per ounce? I didn't even have my champagne hibiscus for breakfast even though I was serving.

Today I figured out that if an exercise is too easy and comfortable, then I must be doing it wrong. It takes a lot of concentration to try and understand the directions and then make sure you are contorting your body in the correct way to affect the correct muscles. I'm not even sure where my "glutes" are. I think I just figured out where the abs are. Seems like I think I have it just right and then Roy comes by and suggests that I flex a slightly different way. Then I can really feel it.

I know that most blogs are more interesting if there are photos, but you need to remember that I am too busy working out to stop and take photos. So I thought I would include an illustration of a plank. It is a great way to build endurance on the abs and also the back.

We did two cardio sessions today, one was twice around running 1/4 of the parking lot with side hops on the short ends and then the full parking lot. Total mileage today was .86 miles. I wonder what fun Roy is planning for our next workout.

Day 3 --- You can see the sun rise!

What do lawn mowers, pacman, rowing and cherry picking have in common? Did you know they are all strength exercises you can do with hand weights? I wasn't even sure Roy knew what pacman was with his young age and all. Course, I'm not sure why he didn't describe it as Ms. Pacman since we are all women. Today will be a short post since I'm technically on vacation doing real camping (OK in a luxury 5th wheel) for the weekend. I got a little lost driving in on the toll road from the 91 freeway and in the dark at 5 a.m. with no street lights, it's pretty desolate when you aren't sure where you are going.

Today I actually jogged the whole parking lot. It wasn't very fast and a quick walker could probably do it faster, but there is something about being outside in 40 degrees so early in the morning that keeps you going. Here's a photo of Pat and I with our instructor, Roy. I'm not sure when Roy eats. He meets us at 5:30 a.m. and then it was off to another appointment by 6:45 a.m. He sure seems to have a lot of energy though.....wait a minute, he didn't run the parking lot. What is it with these instructors not doing the full workout with us? We will assume he will be doing his own workout later in the day?