Friday, August 7, 2009

Recruit will not Quit!

I have returned from vacation and have started back to the summer session of Boot Camp that is called the Y Train. Due to my vacation, I missed the first four classes but I hopped back on the train the morning after my return. In the summer session, I had to commit to attend either the 6 a.m. class or the 6:30 p.m. as they will not let you do both or flip flop between classes. The trainers want to get to know the recruits more personally so this is the way to do it as it limits the class size.

Last Wednesday morning I woke up at 5 a.m., shoved a yogurt and granola bar down my throat, threw on my exercise clothes, packed my bag with work clothes and shower items and headed out the door. As I looked around, I wondered what the round object in the sky could be. Was I seeing a UFO? It was then that I realized that this was not a normal time of day to be going to exercise and that what I was looking at was the moon because Mr. Sun had not even considered showing his face at this hour! A few months ago I would never have imagined that this 54 year old obese woman would get up at 5 a.m. to exercise! Take my temperature please! I must be sick.

I arrived at the gym and did my warm up exercises and stretches by myself as I tested out my muscle that I had pulled several weeks ago. For the first time in weeks, I felt as if the muscle has totally healed but once again, I am very paranoid about sustaining another injury.

After stretches, Oshun introduced our group to two new members of the Y Train. Nick Norena is a Boot Camp Assistant. Nick looks harmless but looks can be deceiving. I have listened to Nick barking orders. He may be quieter than Rico and Nestor but I do believe he will be just as brutal. He will take over whenever Oshun is out during this session or just assist during the classes. Brad Smith is another addition to the Boot Camp. Brad is a volunteer who is a Marine Reserve. Brad and Nick are great additions for Oshun as they stand at the front and do the exercises while Oshun wanders through the recruits to check how they are doing and if they are using the correct form. When Brad and Nick demonstrate the exercises, their forms are impeccable. Neither of these young men have an ounce of fat on their bodies. They are so thin that I want to have a fatectomy and give them a little of my fat! I guess you can say Brad is a lean, mean fighting machine! I know I heard that on a commercial for the Marines and he fits the bill. I am sure that I will enjoy getting to know these two young men and I hope they enjoy meeting the old lady and all the challenges that come in this package that is known as my obese body.

On top of being scared of another injury, I had not exercised heavily in over three weeks so I knew I was in for a beating during this session. I realized that I may have jumped right back on the Y Train but my caboose was definitely dragging along the tracks! I silently hoped that Oshun, the engineer or trainer for the beginner and intermediate group, would slow the train down and take it easy on me. Those hopes were quickly dashed as Oshun showed no mercy! She expected every inch of my body to be moving along the tracks into the positions she demanded. Sweat poured down my face like the column of steam coming out of a locomotive engine. My body groaned with every strenuous move like the cars bumping and twisting over the tracks. Was that the roof rafters of the caboose creaking? Nope…it was my muscles and joints revolting against me as they are once again forced into positions that they just became familiar with in the previous Boot Camps. Oshun verbally confirmed what I was thinking, “It is no picnic when you come back from vacation is it Doris?”

The next morning I managed to crawl out of my bed without thinking I was going to die. I did have aches and pains again but not like in the past when I first started. I may be the caboose in the Y Train but I will be back for more. This train cannot be derailed because my life depends on it.

In Boot Camp, Oshun has a mantra that we shout. “We don’t stop. We don’t quit.” No matter the mental, physical and emotional challenges that I face with every session, I can now firmly say that, “I won’t stop! I won’t quit!” And I truly mean it.

I am a recruit in the YMCA Boot Camp and I am beginning to believe that I deserve to be there! “I WON’T STOP! I WON’T QUIT!”

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