Monday, June 28, 2010

How Was Your First Day Of Boot Camp?

It was HORRIBLE folks!

I was completely miserable the whole time. Whiny and nauseated and weak and whiny and out of breath in a totally painful way and whiny.

Basically, I felt like I was back in the worst kind of gym class where the exercises seem pointless and everyone is doing better than you and barely sweating and you just want to go sit on the bleachers and pout.

A family friend said it best: "I will start crying and assume the fetal position at the mere mention of gym class."

Yeah, that's about right. That's all I wanted to do.

First of all, I couldn't breath. I don't know if I was holding my breath or what (no headphones = I can hear myself breathing = I try to over-control my breath = suffocation = death), but I was miserable! I couldn't breath in deep enough and was making that awful gasping sound and then started to panic and ... well ... it's all downhill from there. Plus, it was about 153% humidity out there this morning. UNGODLY!

Second of all, my legs wouldn't hold me up. I was wobbly-kneed from the get go. You'd think all this running would have taken care of that, but I guess I've been working different kinds of muscles or something.

Third, I was late. It took me longer to get out of my place in the morning than I thought, took me longer to get there than I thought, and I couldn't find the friggin' group once I got there. UGH! I was between 10 and 15 minutes late, so I started on a terrible note.

Fourth, mountain climbers and push ups.

Fifth, I wanted nothing more than to puke and then lie on the wet ground. My stomach was not prepared for a pre-dawn exercise fiasco.

Clearly I was unprepared in more ways than one. I wanted to quit. I wanted to retrieve my gift certificate and give it to someone else. In fact, I even tried to get it back at one point, asking if I could reschedule for a cooler time of year. The trainer wasn't pleased and told me that I was just working at a higher level than I was used to and that I should try to slow down. I immediately went into defensive, excuse-making 9-year-old mode, which really helped me get out of gym class when I was 9 years old. Trainer Linda, not so much.

So, I left unsure if I'd be returning or not. I rested on my living room floor when I got home, struggled to stay standing in the shower, scarfed my breakfast happily, then tried to avoid taking a nap on my drive in to work. I stayed in a bitter mood for a good 2 hours, too. I'm a champion at that.

Well, the bitterness wore off, and I'm feeling a little better now. A little. We'll see.

On an educational note, I reached out to my knowledgeable Facebook friends today for advice on pre-exercise eating. See, I don't like to do it. When I run in the evening, I like to get out there before putting something in my stomach. As long as I can remember, I've always had a negative reaction to exercising with food in my stomach. This could have, however, had something to do with my tendencies to overeat. It wasn't until recently that I realized I only need to down 100 calories to sustain the kind of workout I do. Well, yeah, that still upsets my stomach. Today would be the prime example. I only had water and an apple and I still got sick. UGH!

So anyway, here's an article my FB Friend, Lauren, passed along to me: Should You Eat Before or After Exercise?

The other ladies also had some excellent tips and provided me with a little comfort in knowing that other people struggle with the same eating/sick thing. So thanks girls! After reading their tips and what the article had to say, I've decided to try some full-calorie juices and/or a piece of toast and/or a piece of fruit before I leave ... whichever combination suits feels best. I'll also be trying to get a whole glass of water down before leaving the house. Blech!

So, tomorrow is another day. I'm going to try to keep my mouth shut, stop whining, slow down, breathe, and just do what I'm there to do -- FINISH!

Okay, I may still whine a little. At least give me that!

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