Give Me Fuel, Give Me Fire!!

Words can't express how amazing I feel right now.  I went through a night of hell last night at bootcamp, and then got up this morning and ran a 5K.....and I FEEL GREAT!!

I will start out with last night.  Wow, what a night.  Only 6 people showed up to bootcamp - I was really surprised.  We started out with our normal routine, and I'm proud to say that I'm back to doing pull-ups with no pain...that means I am now at 100% recovery!! Then the "fun" began.

I'm going to take a detour here in order to get my point across of how last night was.  For you Biggest Loser fans out there - how many of you have watched the show and said "man, I wish I could work out with Jillian and Bob?" Well, then get your butt to bootcamp - cause that's exactly how our instructors are.  "Jillian" is the one that yells "don't you quit", "come on" until you literally push yourself to the verge of puking.  "Bob" has a little more sensitivity, but he's not about to let you back down.  I have to admit, though, as much as "Jillian" makes me want to scream (and I do) I know I wouldn't push myself half as hard without her.  She has really helped me overcome my desire to just say "ok, I've had enough".  She finds that new level within me until she literally fuels my fire - and then comes the burst of energy that I need to get the job done.

So, back to hell night.  After "Jillian" style calasthetics - meaning flutter kicks, swimmers, jumping jacks, ski jumps, etc. - it was time for the obstacle course.  Last week, we got to do the course twice in a row...well, last night it was three times.  YAY!!!  No biggie, I did it - oh, yes I did.  Then, it was circuits.  Although I dread circuits - I would of gladly taken our normal circuits over the horrid 50lb sandbag circuits we did last night.  We did four circuits: flat pull-ups, sandbag lunges, sandbag bicep curls, and then push-ups.  My arms were screaming after the first circuit, but then it was on to the second, and then the third, and then the fourth...and then I lost count how many we did.  By the fourth one, "Jillian" was on me..."don't you quit" "COME ON, JOANNA!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!"  Again, the fire burned inside me - and I did another circuit...more push-ups, more pull-ups, more lunges, more curls.  After the last circuit I could barely move.  What a night - think it's over, right?? WRONG!!! What would hell night be without some sprints??  12 springs to be exact.  Six 25 yard sprints, four 50 yard sprints, and two 100 yard sprints.  Oh yeah, I was hurting...dying would be a better explanation...and I couldn't of been more happy to hear the sweet release of stretch time.  When I left last night, all I could think of was - "how the hell am I gonna be able to do a 5k race in the morning?"  Thus, we move on to part 2 of today's blog.

I woke up this morning at 6am.  My thighs hurt, my calfs hurt, my arms hurt, my ankle hurt...I considered for about 3 seconds to just get back into bed...but I didn't.  I got into my running clothes and took the drive to Springdale.  After registering, I took 15 minutes to warm-up.  I stretched, stretched, and stretched some more - hoping that the stiffness in my thighs and calfs would lift a little...no such luck.  The race got under way, and I decided to jog softly.  I jogged until the first hill - and then power walked up the hill, jogged down the hill, power walked up the hill.  The whole freakin' course seemed to be up hill - but I just kept a nice, brisk pace and decided to just do what I could.  My energy burst hit me a couple of times - and I jogged (or should I say bounced/walk).  By the last 1/2 a mile, my legs were really starting to feel it - but then the high kicked in and I jogged the rest of the way.  When the finish line was in sight - I took of...and sprinted across the finish line seeing 44:36 on the clock.  At first I was a little bummed that I had only shaved 4 minutes off my first 5K race in April - but then I thought "oh well, I did it".  I walked around for a while and then spent about 5 minutes stretching before heading home.  Overall, I'm happy with the time.  I think if I wasn't so sore I could of done better - heck, I took it pretty easy on myself and I know I could of pushed myself harder, but I didn't and I'm ok with that.  This afternoon, I will be spending time walking up and down hills around Eureka Springs so I really didn't want to be too sore to do that.

So, there ya have it...5K #2 is officially under my belt.  I shaved 4 minutes of the previous time..so there's only room for continued improvement. Now, I'm off to the shower and then out for a fun day with my honey.

Till next time.  ;)