Climbing Out of the Ditch

I can't move.

We were promised that our first boot camp class would "be more of an introduction and assessment than a full blown workout." I couldn't sleep last night because I feared this was an understatement. I feared that my worst fears would manifest the moment I set foot in the gym. I feared that the "easy" work out would mangle my muscles and produce a week full of waddling and avoidance.

All of these fears crept to the surface of reality. There will be no squatting down or reaching up tomorrow. Shoot, there will be no squatting down or reaching up for the foreseeable future.

In our modified workout--with only one break--we had to do one straight minute of each of the following exercises:

Jumping jacks (easy)

pushups (dread)

full sit ups (okay)

squats (bad memories)

crunches (okay)

running in place with high knees ("like")

more pushups (because you can't get enough)

scissor kicks (fine)

lunges (ow)

planks (seriously?)

mountain climbers (that would have been hard earlier in the workout. This far in, really?)

and to cap off the work out...wall sits (secretly "like" in a masochistic way).

If this is an easy work out, Wednesday is going to be miserable.

My mom called just as I left the gym; I couldn't retrieve my phone. I attempted to return her call, but my muscles thundered for mercy as I tried to prop up the device.

It's been a while since I've worked out, but I vaguely recall the pain rising as I rose from bed the next morning. The fact it hurt to walk out of the gym cannot be a good sign. And yet good is the very thing this is all supposed to be. In fact, it is supposed to be fantastic. It is supposed to be enormously healthy to get my body moving, to force myself to succumb to torturous directives.

Every time I sit on this end of the "program" though, I wonder why I ever stopped, why I ever let my muscles atrophy and my cardiovascular system decondition. Why did I ever let go of my ultra healthy habits and allow myself to tumble into a pit so deep, the only way out is through lots and lots of painful, dirty climbing?

Ugh.

Day one is over. Day two haunts my future. I know I should be excited, but all of that action just makes me want to curl up under the covers and read a good book.