Boot Camp is for Masochists

So the worst is over...right? Well, I sure as heck hope so. Needless to say, I'm pretty impressed with the dedication and persistence that both Patsy and I have had through this torture. So we're 3 days in and I'm not going to lie, I'm feeling some pain (and I know Patsy Cline is too) but it's not as bad as I thought it'd be. (sidenote, I think I'll be eating my words later.)

Day 2, It went something like this: (6PM class)
Typical warm up--Lunge stretch, sit ups, plank (damn you plank...you are evil), push ups and the squats that I love, I mean loathe. Then the fun began...cause you see a Masochist would call this fun.

Broad Jumps for 100 meters then sprint back...5 times. I'm sorry, WHAT? Do they not realize I'm a midget and by midget I mean almost 5'1ish...that's a whole lotta jumpin and running. All this followed by BCC--Boot Camp Cindy (I hope we don't re-visit this bad boy). This 'fun activity' includes AMRAP (boot camp lingo for: As Many Reps As Possible) 5 pull ups on the railing, 10 pushups and 15 squats. The number to beat was 17 from the morning class...and you know I LOVE a challenge, so of course, I put in 18.5 of these bad boys in 20 minutes. That's a total of:
-270 Squats
-180 Pushups
-90 Pullups
Holy Crap Much? I mean I seriously don't know where I get this energy/power/determination from but I suppose keep it coming. Final task of the day...400 meter run, not bad right? Except for my lungs were frozen!

Day 3, It went something like this: (6:30AM class)
So I was less sore than I thought after that brutal squat-a-licious day I had yesterday...that is until warm up began and the pain of the prior 2 days set in. So as the sun is still sleeping, Patsy and I shimmy on to our warm up, the usual stuff, nada there to report since well, we do it everytime. But today's actual workout...one word...BRUTAL!

We get split on to teams--3 teams, 4 people a piece. Suicides...I don't like these or suicides of any kind to be honest. But these were extra rough this morning. It seemed like we had to run to Alabama and back...which I mean I love Alabama and all, but not at 6:30am when I'm running in the chilly willy cold. Then we saunter (I really like the word saunter) on over to the 'Circle of Death' where our teams 'compete' in a challenge of sorts. 10 Burpees (or in laymens terms...up-downs) and 10 step-ups times the number of peeps in your group...7 times. UGHHHHH! So that means 40 of these bad boys per group per round. Needless to say, that it was a joy. But wait, there's more! You want me to do how many situps in 4 minutes....oh gracious.


The one thing about this boot camp I do like is the guys who run it (Mike, Jon and Patrick) are pretty encouraging without making me want to kick them in the face. So week one, DONE. Bring on the next three...I think.

Where's Melissa...Similar to Where's Waldo, but on the weekends only and I don't wear red stripes!

If you haven't figured out by now...my life doesn't move at the pace of a snail but more so at the pace of a really face cheetah running through the jungle! This is no joke. I mean let's be honest. I juggle work, dance, boot camp, training/running 5K's and warrior dashes, my friends, family and oh wait, Mike too!

My social life starts to speed up oh, ya know, this weekend! It seems that there isn't much down time to relax or hang by the pool this year, well not til July/August anyways. Some highlights of what I have going on (cause I know you're all DYING to know!)

-Jan 30: Tarton Trot 5K (woo hoo!)
-Feb 13: OYSTERFEST!!! (insert big yay here!)
-Mar 12: St. Baldricks (where Mike shaves his head for Kid's Cancer)
-Mar 13: Um, MY BIRTHDAY!
{here is where the real fun begins}
-Apr 10: Tyler's wedding
-Apr 17: Steph Bachelorette party 1
-Apr 24: Steph Wedding Shower/Twilight in Athens, GA
-Apr 28-May 2: Vegas Vacation (side trip to Zion Nat'l Park)
-May 13-16: Steph Bachelorette Party 2 (Destin, FL! YAY)
-May 19: David Copperfield (watch yourself fool!)
-May 19-26: Britney in town (biggest YAY yet!!!!!!)
-May 28-31: Maureen's wedding
-June 5: Kristy's wedding
-June 12: Stephanie's wedding

Boot Camp...Day 1

Welcome to the Jungle...the LUNGE Jungle. Holy Mother of Earth lunges and squats. I mean really...we all want great legs...but dear gracious, is this REALLY what you have to do to get them?

So my friend Patsy (you'll see she gets named a lot, and blamed a lot for this boot camp thing) and I shimmy outa bed to hit up boot camp at the ripe hour of oh, 6:30am...yes, as in the morning! Warm up starts, the usual to include: squats, sit ups, planks and a push up or ten...then the fun begins. Today's adventure included these Tabata Jumping Jacks (you're asking what this is aren't you....)

Definition: The Tabata workout calls for 20 seconds of maximum intensity exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest, done 8 times without pausing – for a total of 240 seconds – or just 4 minutes.

So four minutes of these bad boys topped off with what seemed to be like a half-marathon (okay it was like 1/4 of a mile jog) to this identified location of..."OAK HILL" aka..lunge death squat hill.

It was there that we must endure 15 minutes of mountain climbers, followed by squats up a hill, topped with 10 push-ups and a run down the hill...REPEAT...for how long?!? 15 minutes, you've done lost your mind, or at least I have. As the time for boot camp rounds of for today, I'm thinking oh, maybe a slight jog back...but no! wait, there's more! Walking lunges you say...for how long? And you want me to look like a 'horse' doing this? Oh dear!

All in all, not too bad. "Looking forward" to tomorrow's adventure. Thanks Patsy, my legs will forever hate, I mean appreciate you.

Oh, Girl, I've done lost my mind...and hopefully a few inches and pant size!

So, 2010, the year to "lose weight and all that other good stuff" is here, almost one month down and 11 to go. In this one month, I've kicked up burning calories and signed up for some much needed (I think?!) personal torture. Not only do I go to Dance 101 (http://www.dance101.org/) four days a week, sometimes two hours a day or more, but in the same breath, signed up for both boot camp (http://www.fitnessbattalion.com/) and the warrior dash (http://www.warriordash.com/)!

About that... this whole boot camp thing I'm doing with a friend, Patsy. We found a great deal on Groupon (http://www.groupon.com/) for only $39 for a month of unlimited butt kicking, I mean workouts. 6:30am three days a week and 6:00pm one day a week and an occasional Saturday morning means for the next month, my butt better be in gear and racking up inches in the weight loss department.


So by the end of this, I wanna look less like this :


Me at Folly Beach, circa May 2009


and more like this:



Some good looking model circa 2009

My schedule has turned into complete madness. My week looks something like this:

Monday: Dance--Center Court Fitness 6:30-7:30PM

Tuesday: Boot Camp 6:30AM
Dance--Hip Hop 7-8PM

Dance--Atown Funk 8-9PM

Wednesday: Boot Camp 6:30AM

Dance--Jazzitude 6:30-7:30PM
Dance--Atown Funk 7:30-8:30PM

Thursday: Boot Camp 6:00PM

Dance--JazzTripHop 7:30-8:30PM

Friday: Boot Camp 6:30AM

Saturday:

Sunday: Dance--Urban Rock 12:00-1:00PM

Dance--Hip Hop 1:00-2:00PM

Needless to say, I keep pretty busy! Now, throw in some running, a 5K or three and the Warrior Dash, I best be in good shape come end of May!

How are you staying in shape in 2010? Are you as nuts as me?

It’s that time of year again…Wedding Season

The movie 27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988595//) might be the story of my life. I’m at my 5^th wedding…only 22 more to go (not that I’m counting). Never fails that every year, I have between 2-9 weddings to attend. This year, the magic number as it stands now…6…six freaking weddings in one year. Mind you, over HALF of these take place between April and July. I mean I love my friends and family more than you could ever imagine, but 6!?! Do you know that is almost 2 months I have to give up of my Saturday nights? I mean not to mention, showers, presents and travel. Holy me oh my. So in a nutshell, here are the ones I’ll be representing at…not crashing (those weddings don’t get counted in the number for the year…they are an added bonus!)

Casey and Some guy I don’t know his name (Mike’s cousin)—location: Jacksonville, FL
never met this chick. all I know is her brother is cool, unfortunately a florida fan and she has two
kids.

Tyler and some girl I don’t know her name (Mike’s friend, Scott’s brother)—location: Atlanta, GA
met this guy once. i happened to be wasted feeling a little under the weather. no idea what we talked about but i hang out with his brother, scott quite a bit. he’s a good guy. should be a good time.

Maureen and Mike (old boss and coworker)—location: Savannah, GA (memorial day weekend)
good pals of mine…both mentors for my life, both old coworkers and both cool as hell. wedding should be incredible and it takes place over memorial day weekend in beautiful savannah, ga. you better believe i’ll be taking advantage of some vacation and boozing on river street while there. Thankfully, another coworker and her husband will be attending this one with us.

Kristy and Dennis (Mike’s friend from college)—location: somewhere in rural cow land, GA
should be a small but pretty nice wedding. dennis works for mayfield dairy…maybe they will have free ice cream.

Stephanie and Rob (my HS friend)—location: Alpharetta, GA
i’m a part of this bad boy. got lots of work to still do…bachelorette parties, showers and all that hoopla and jazz. stephanie and rob are good people, this wedding is sure to be filled with major craziness and tons of greek galore given that i think she’s invited all of greece to attend. i anticipate drunk good times at this bad boy.

Kevin and Jenny (Mike’s old coworker)—location: Tulum, Mexico
damn sure looking forward to this bad boy. i mean mexico for pete’s sake…six days all
inclusive…YES PLEASE! mike and i are taking some extra time to enjoy the trip for
ourselves…and no, we’re not selfish! never met either of these two so it should be an
interesting affair. i’m just hoping for no sun poisoning and such like that but plan to drink many bahama mammas and tequila shooters and hope that the water is safe for sure.

So, if you're looking for me at some point this Spring...you can probably find me in a cocktail dress, cutting up the dance floor and watching one of our friends/family say "I do!". Here's to a fun wedding season of 2010 and hopes to be planning my own someday SUPER soon!

New Year, New Attitude

My how the time flies when you're getting older, I mean having fun. I can't believe 2009 is over and a new decade has begun. It's crazy to me to think that 10 years ago, I was finishing my freshman year of high school, just started driving and cheering for the Chattahoochee Cougars (yeah, I said it). Now, I'm practically married (ok, not even engaged yet but you know what I mean), working 5 days a week and have a college degree. I decided that a new decade brings a new me, and new attitude at that.

The old me would be pissed off and quit my New Years resolutions by January 1 approx midnight. This year, so far so good. I decided that I need to work on a few things...not the usual, " I need to lose 10 lbs in 2 weeks cause I'm fat BS," like I usually say, but real things that I think I can work on and make happen (oh, and lose 10 lbs because I'm fat BS added in of course!). So here they are (yes, I have a couple)

1. Limit caffeine intake...take my 3+ Diet Cokes down to 1 a day or none a day!
2. Anger Management...ok not classes like Khloe Kardashian but more so on the lines of
controlling my anger and being slow to anger. I let too much get to me too quick.
3. Getting in touch with old friends and/or keeping up with the friends I have. I've learned life is
too precious to let it get away.
4. Attitude in general. Seven times out of ten I leave work in a bad mood or frustrated. Nine
times out of ten I get in a bad mood which in turn changes my attitude to vicious, I need
to get on the jolly train.
5. Lose 10 lbs because I'm fat (ha I had to!)

Here's to hoping that I can keep them up. We're on day 4, check back next week :)