Boot camp

Last night I showed up for Nordic Walking and got a bit of a surprise - no I wasn't wearing these shoes. The Run Inn, the crowd that co-ordinates all the marathon training clinics, for which the Nordic Walking group is a spin off, were putting on a "boot camp" session, and the Nordic Walkers were invited to join - we aren't usually, so this was why I was surprised.....NO WONDER so few people showed up last night.

Most of the people in my group moaned and groaned about the boot camp; grumbling that this was NOT what they had signed up for. I was open minded about the whole thing and happily joined in enthusiastically - how often does one get a free personal training session?

It was a warm night last night and the instructors worked us hard. First we had to run to the destination of our training, then the instructors had a bunch of "stations" set out and grouped us into our "speed level", and placing one group at each station to start. First we had to run as fast as we could while a partner pulled us back with a band - that was my favourite one. Next we had to do "t-push ups" for a minute, then sprints. The next station saw us jumping over low hurdles, then jumping onto a box with both feet up at the same time, then jumping in and out of tires placed on the ground. The next station we had to jump over and back over a rope for a minute, as hard as we could go, then do side push ups (which nearly killed me), then sprints toward an obstacle of cones with an abrupt stop at each cone. Then we had to jump in and out of the rungs of a ladder laying flat on the ground then....we had to do it all over again. After we went through the course twice, we all got together and did more sprints then slow jogged or Nordic walked back to the Run Inn.

I was completely exhausted by the end of it. I haven't sweated so much in my life - it was GREAT!!!! I wouldn't mind doing that type of workout once a week, if possible. Apparently there is such a session on Monday nights, which would fit in with my schedule. The boot camp goes for 6 weeks, but has already started, so I am not sure if I can still join in - we'll see.

Oh, and I am pretty sore today, but it is a good kind of sore, the kind that tells me that I did good work last night. Does anyone know it there are any running clinics in Adelaide, like the one I mentioned above. I believe there is a "Run Inn" in Queensland, but what about good ole SA?