The Agony and the Ecstasy – 3rd Week of Feb.

The Agony

The weather cooperated last week, so the class moved outside to the football field. Man, that's a different work out than inside the gym! The best part about being on the field is that you can really get a good stride going. In the gym, you are changing directions as soon as you reach top speed so there isn't a lot of sustained sprinting. Since we're on the football field, our warm up sprints really start feeling like the actual workout. The important difference about moving outside is Ryan's ability to get us moving in one direction for longer distances. Thursday's workout instructions basically were, "Run half a mile then climb the bleachers. Rinse and repeat for 40 minutes." Thank goodness Ryan warned everyone to bring an iPod so we were mentally prepared for a distance run.

We did a lot of shuttles and circuit training this week. The 300 yard shuttles Ryan mentioned on Tuesday were a killer. What you do is start at the goal line, run to the 50 yard line and back, then 100 yards to the opposite goal line and back. Friday can mean a lighter workout some weeks, perhaps concentrating on abs or running relays and competitive games. This Friday was definitely a work day though. Ryan had us doing pushups, crunches, burpees and Mary Catherine's – think lunges combined with jumps – sandwiched between 100 yard sprints. After that, we did towel runs with a partner. A towel run is when a partner holds a towel around your waist and provides resistance as you're sprinting 30-40 yards. After the towel runs, we did sprints, lunges and bear crawls around cones spread out about 30 yards between each point. And that was just the first set! Do a couple circuits of those exercises and you'll sleep really well at work.

The Ecstasy

Sounds like a lot of hard work, right? It is, but each and every day I can do a little more, run a little faster, or sprint a little further. My fitness level increases every week so the physical limitations are subsiding and I can really push myself longer. When I started in December, for example, bear crawls were torture and I didn't make any bones about it in a previous post. I struggled to even bear crawl 55 feet across the basketball court once. Now bear crawls are probably one of the exercises I can push myself the hardest in and perform the best at. In a similar vein, I stayed away from mountain climbers and burpees for a while because my hip flexibility wasn't good enough to get my feet into the correct positions, not to mention my gut was probably in the way too. Burpees still give me problems but I can at least do a few no whereas I substituted body squats before.

I feel light years better, but what about tangible results? At the start of the January camp, I weighed in around 365 pounds. Friday morning I weighed myself at 348 after the workout and 350 after I got fluids and breakfast in me. 15 pounds since January started, and I think 10 of those pounds were dropped so far in February. Not too shabby! No doubt the nutrition plan that I followed to the T last week has been a huge boost. Thanks, Bethany! You probably know that I spent last weekend in Boston with Sarah, and she could definitely notice that I was slimming up, gaining muscle, and getting lean. She particularly liked the muscle mass building up in my arms and shoulders.

Want another reason to be ecstatic? It's 70 and sunny, and today is my diet plan agreed day to enjoy some frosty beverages! It's time to go enjoy a patio out in the Highlands somewhere. I'm playing golf tomorrow with some coworkers, so this weekend can't get much better.