I must address a very serious recent event. For those not in Rachel’s class, you probably have not experienced the “Battling Rope Run” or as I call it “Straight Up Hell”. The only element missing in this exercise was rain. I swear it felt like we were in basic training. Let me explain. You run with a rope over your head with other members of boot camp. You must keep 2 hands on it at all times. If anybody drops their hands, everybody stops and take 10 steps backwards. See, I suck at running by myself and I felt sorry for anybody on my team. I really did. On top of that, throw in a gigantic hill. We did this three times. This was my worse nightmare brought to life. What’s next? I’m back in middle school and forgot my locker combination?!

The first lap was very hard for me. Like I said, running for me is not a good thing. It’s genetics. Then we had to turn around and do it again. Coming back down the hill, I had a horrible cramp in my side. I was so afraid to let go because other people were counting on me. At some point in that class, several people threw up. It’s the most I’ve ever seen. I think inside, Rachel was filled with joy. Oh and you guessed it, Baby Nooney here cried. I don’t vomit. I cry. I was able to hide it, until now, because it was cold/windy and everybody was sniffling & wiping their face. Why was I crying? Because I was full of endorphins and I was mad. Some people showed up late and we had to do it again! I was seriously mad. Let me be clear, I was NOT mad at the people that showed up late. I’m late all the time to things. My husband’s ability to be late has rubbed off on me. We can’t all be everywhere on time. I was mad at this exercise. I was mad that I suck at running. I have no idea why, but that’s what I was mad at. The third trip, well I think I blacked out. I thought I was going to take off and fly every time we came down the hill but I didn’t. I survived, finished class and crashed.

For some reason, I always think I’m the only one struggling and everybody else has no problems. Realistically, I know that’s not true. Some people in the class just make boot camp look like a walk in the park. I wish I could make it look so effortless. Every class is a struggle for me – and – I exercise outside of boot camp. Just the other day I was telling my husband all of this and I pointed out that it’s not easy and I’m always at the back of the pack. That really used to bother me. I would spend more time thinking about how I’m bring up the rear, pun intended, than focusing on giving my all. So I just quit caring if I came in last. I had to for my own sanity. So what if I finish last?! Somebody has to do it, might as well be me. Wait, that kind of sounds very Debbie Downer-ish but then I think about this: Me coming in last place in something in boot camp is better than somebody sitting on the couch.

Oh and to all the Extreme Fit trainers out there, get your team to do the “Straight Up Hell” run. For real. If there aren’t hills where your class is, they better count their blessings. I look at it like this, if we had to suffer, everybody should have to suffer. I know it’s not fair but I’ve already shed tears about it - literally. Hey, not only am I an Extreme Fit messenger, I’m also a client.