The Boot Camp Diaries, Day 5 (aka Capitol Gains)

Last week, a fellow boot camper who's a repeat camper remarked that Wednesdays were her favorite days because boot camp is always at the Capitol. I'm not sure that I can share that sentiment just yet, but it is nice to have a little "field trip" and take a break from the park.

As expected, today's boot camp involved lots of running up and down the Capitol steps. I still didn't think to count them; hopefully I'll remember to do so next week just so I have solid numbers to brag about. Of course, it's a little hard to remember to count when you're focusing on keeping one foot in front of the other and not tripping.

In addition to the many, many steps that we ran, Margaret had us run/walk all the way down Dexter Avenue and back. I've driven down Dexter many times--let me tell you, it is MUCH farther when you're actually running it. And I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to run much farther than I expected. I made it down most of Dexter before stopping to walk. I alternated between walking and running on the way back. Again, I was one of the slowest folks there (a couple of slower pokes did not show up for boot camp today!), but the important thing was that I finished.

For strength training, we did 50 push-ups against the wall, plus mountain climbers, triceps dips, and kickouts. Tough, tough, tough, but I can tell that, slowly but surely, my endurance and strength are increasing. My legs and glutes are more toned thanks to those many steps. Seeing results is encouraging--it definitely reminds me that all this pain is worth it, and makes me seriously consider signing up for another round of boot camp in a couple of weeks.