Except for the very first day, when I was flying back from England, I went to every single day of this past round of boot camp. That’s 19 days of burpees and other business, folks. Every single day was hard as hell. My knees were achy and sore from all the squatting and lunging. I felt like such a sucky loser watching the other, fitter girls lap me in every activity.
But I had to believe it was good for me and I could feel little muscle tendrils sprouting and being stronger.
I thought I would try to keep up with my running plans while doing boot camp, but after two attempts decided that it was a lost cause. My knees couldn’t handle it and ultimately, I was just dog tired. So I stopped. And went 3 and 1/2 weeks with no running, worried that I was risking some very hard won gains.
Today, my first day off of boot camp, I went out and ran the 5K loop around my neighborhood lake, in the dark.
I did it in exactly 35 minutes. 2 and 1/2 minutes faster than the best time I had been able to muster before. I spent 3 months after running my first 5K trying to improve on my time to no avail. Turns out, not running was the secret!
For the first time in ages and ages and ages I feel like I actually did something good. It was still hard and I had some low points, but still. Faster. Improved. I am pleased.
margaret edith 