I was deep in REM sleep Sunday morning when my wife's alarm clock went off at 7:30. Mind you, this was already a luxury that we were able to sleep that late without one of the kids coming in to wake us up. But they were still asleep on this rainy morning. My wife set the alarm because she was planning on going to 'boot camp' that morning. But, because of an injury (or maybe she just wanted to sleep in) she decided not to go. So she woke me to ask whether I wanted to go instead. My immediate answer was, "No, now let me go back to sleep".
But after laying in bed for another ten minutes without being able to go back to sleep, thinking about how I should try this workout, I decided to get up and go. Fortunately, it's right down the street from where we live, and I was able to get dressed and make it there in a couple minutes for the 8am start.
All I knew was that there was supposed to be a cross section of people there, including athletes, Moms trying to stay in shape, and Dads doing the same, and some kids. This particular group meets in Elmhurst on a football field for sprints and calisthenics, then runs over to a nearby sledding hill for a good part of the workout. I run by that hill at least four or five times a week on my normal running routes, and have long realized it would be good to do a couple runs up it, but somehow I never had done it. This, I guess, would be the day.
I figured I'm in pretty good shape, having run some pretty good races recently. I've been keeping my weekly mileage near 30 miles a week since the Boston marathon in April. So, I thought," how hard can it be?". The answer, is pretty hard. It was a good reminder that running is a great activity that works your legs and your arms and cardio system. But it is an activity that works them in one direction: straight forward. As I've gotten older, the other sports I used to do more have slowly fallen off the radar. These days I rarely play basketball, volleyball, softball, or tennis. All those sports used to be regular parts of my life, before age, marriage, and kids took hold. Now, I'm clinging to my daily run and vowing that's the one thing that will not go!
But it also means I need cross training more than ever. We hear talk about working on our 'core' muscles all the time, but it really can't be emphasized enough. A strong core not only helps improve our running, and really helps prevent injuries, by taking some of the pressure off our knees and other joints. So, in short, that's why I thought the boot camp was a good idea.
One of the nice things about not having a marathon on my fall schedule this year, is that I can really mix up the workouts a little, and experiment a bit without worrying about following the rigorous marathon training schedule. Of course, I haven't experimented much, but it's a great theory. Other workouts just aren't as enjoyable to me as simply hitting the road or trail on a run. But as I lined up for the boot camp workout I realized I haven't done a workout like that since my high school football or basketball days. That was, ahem, quite a few years ago.
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About a minute after I got there, the leader was barking out instructions: Sprint to the end line and back, then do 10 push-ups. Then do it again, and again and so on. Then go back and forth accross the field and hit the ground and roll. It was so different from my normal routine that it was actually fun. I didn't know what to expect, so I paced myself early on. But I finished the workout feeling strong. Then I was sore for the next three days! But I'll ldo it again. Below is link to the group's website, and a sample of the workout.
I'll see you on the roads.....
The Workout |
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Each one-hour workout will choose from among the following:
- WARMUP - 60 meter sprint followed by 5 or 10 push-ups, crunches or burpees (x20)
- 60 meter sprint (forward, backward, side-shuffle, karaoka) followed by 5 or 10 push-ups, crunches or burpees (x20)
- Timed 400 meter sprint around soccer field to top of The Hill
- Calisthenics: push-ups, crunches, burpees, plios
- Run The Hill for 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes
- 120 meter sprints (x10, x15 or x20)
- Motivational talk and prayer
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http://www.hillsworkout.com/index.html
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