Worst set of numbers a half-asleep Arleen had ever seen. But I asked for it weeks earlier, when I signed up for boot camp. I slapped the alarm, slipped into some athletic garb and dragged a bag of dumbbells across the floor.
I hate boot camp.
And boot camp hadn't even started yet.
The camp, Spring Hill Adventure Boot Camp for Women, meets a month at a time, five days a week from 5:30 to 6:30.
In the morning.
So Day 1, I showed up with a couple of questions:
1. What was I thinking?
2. Why the heck would I ever think it?!
I'm a nut job, I thought, while I hopped curbs and crunched abs and jumped rope before dawn cracked. I dropped after 11 push-ups and took more than 15 minutes to run a mile.
"Power through!" said Frank Pastorelli, owner of Genesis Health and Fitness and the trainer who heads up the camp that meets in Sterling Hill.
I'd really rather quit, I thought.The only thing I liked during Week 1 was my meal plan.
See, I'm not an athlete. And I'm certainly not a morning person. I am, however, a health nut. Obsessed, even, with nutrition. Before camp, I'd choose organic food and a movie over exercise any day. And I had some pudge to prove it.
But my choices changed after boot camp started. And, after a while, so did my feelings for the camp. By the second week, I was proud I had survived the first week. And, dare I say, I started to like it.
If my P.E. teachers could see me now, I thought.
They would hardly believe the laps I ran or the weights I held while I squatted, curled and pressed. They would never believe I barely complained while I did it.
By Week 3, I'd grown to expect a different regimen every day. Whether we — about 20 women from our late teens to 50s — worked our abs, our legs or our entire bodies, I could run longer without getting tired, and I rarely woke up sore. I also remembered why I signed up in the first place.
"When people make the decision to change their life, that decision can very easily be short-lived if they don't have somebody behind them, pushing them," Pastorelli said.
And he loves to be that person.
"Do not quit!" he said whenever I gave up.
"I'm proud of you!" he said whenever I didn't.
His pushing kept me motivated, and the potential for results kept me dedicated.
"We've had someone lose 16 pounds, we've had someone lose 16 percent body fat, we've had somebody triple the amount of push-ups they can do," Pastorelli said.
Past participants are sleeping better, they tell him. Some who are mid menopause say their symptoms are gone. Others are off cholesterol medication. And I believe it. But I didn't believe I would notice any big changes in me. Until Week 4.
A usually tight top hung loose. I found a new bone in my elbow. And I don't mean to brag, but I started to look good.
"If you look good, you feel good," Pastorelli said. "If you feel good, you do good."
I think I did pretty well. Last class, I could do 10 more push-ups than I could the first week. I gave the mile run another shot, and shaved 4 minutes and 5 seconds off my time. I accepted, gratefully, the award for most improved camper.
When Pastorelli took my new measurements, my jaw dropped a little. In four weeks, I lost 2 1/4 inches in my waist, an inch in my thighs and half an inch in my upper arms. My body fat shrank by 2.7 percent.
If, a month ago, anybody had tried telling me I'd sign up for boot camp again, I'd tell them they were nuts. But next camp starts Monday, and my name is on the roster. And when the alarm rings this time at 4:45 a.m., I know exactly what I'll be thinking.
I love this camp.
Arleen Spenceley works in the Times' Carrollwood office. She lives in Spring Hill. She can be reached at (813) 269-5301 or aspenceley@sptimes.com.
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Up for the challenge? Visit www.springhillbootcamp.com.
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