Boot Camp Blogger is a look into the life of Boot Camp participant Tara. Follow along each week as she experiences the challenges and successes of Boot Camp the Extreme Fit way!

There are so many aspects of Extreme Fit Training’s Boot Camp that have enhanced my quality of life in the past few months. I’m getting into shape; I’m getting into a routine; I’m changing my lifestyle; I’m becoming a better role model for my daughter. All of these things are things I had hoped would change in my life when I signed up. What I didn’t expect was that I’d become friends with the people who were going through many of the same things I was (and still am) at that time.

When I signed up for Boot Camp, I was not in a very good place in my life. I still had baby weight I was struggling to lose, I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t moving enough. I needed something to really kick my butt into shape and get me on the fitness wagon. And when Valerie (whom I’d worked with and whom I knew was an amazing athlete) mentioned that she was going to be teaching a “boot camp,” it was like a light went off in my head. I knew immediately it was what I had to do.

Initially, I was afraid these classes were going to be filled with tri-athletes like Valerie who were just there to get a little extra out of their workouts. But when I began class, I realized that I was not alone in the search for betterment in my life. There were people of all sizes, all fitness levels, all walks of life. Amazingly, I don’t think I was in the worst shape compared to my classmates (though I could’ve been close). I was in good company, and that remains the same today.

Making new friends in a situation like Extreme Fit Training’s Boot Camp was inevitable. We’re all working hard toward goals that are vital in our lives, whatever our core reason, especially those of us who stick with it month in and month out. We have all chosen to do something extreme, something many people wouldn’t dream of taking part in. We’re all to a point in our lives when we’re ready for real change. These new friends have become essential to keeping me focused on achieving my goals.

Case in point: This past weekend, four of Valerie’s Boot Campers (myself included) decided to go mountain biking. We met at the Cracker Barrel (I won’t mention how much food landed on our table for breakfast) and then headed out to Oak Mountain State Park. Now, I hadn’t been mountain biking since I lived Northern California, and mountain biking in the Sierras is quite a bit different than mountain biking in Birmingham, Alabama. I prepared by packing my backpack full of cereal bars and trail mix and water, anything that would keep us alive in case we got off track and had to spend a night on the “mountain.” With my history in biking out West, the fact that “mountain” biking in Birmingham should more aptly be called “hill” biking, and my full backpack, I figured I had a leg up in this endeavor.

We got to the park, de-biked our cars, and threw on our helmets. I tried out the bike loaned to me by a fellow Spain Park Boot Camper (thanks Steph!), and I thought I had a pretty good handle on the gears. So we oiled up our chains and headed out.  About .1 miles down the trail, I hit a rock, lost my footing, smashed my shin on the spiked pedal (yep, I have bruise), and slammed to a stop. I looked back, and my chain lay on the ground next to the bike. It was broken. Guess I need to rethink these Alabama “hills.”  

After breaking my friend’s bike and conceding defeat to the Alabama “hills,” the whole group walked back to the parking lot, and I prepared to leave. But my fellow Boot Campers decided to hang up biking for the day and go for a hike instead. Since my backpack was heavy (and surely a part of the reason I hit the rock initially), I decided to leave it in the car. We hit the red trail and hiked, talked, laughed about how Coach Val would have us running through the hills with a BOSU ball above our heads, and even went off the trail once (thanks, Steven, for getting us back on track and saving us from a cold night on the mountain with no food and only a few sips of water to keep us alive). It was a great day and a great workout.

I look forward to more excursions with the friends I’ve made through Extreme Fit Training’s Boot Camp. We all have goals we are striving to reach, and we’re helping each other to reach those goals, whether with a simple “you’re doing great” in class or on facebook, or by picking up your classmate’s broken, WD40-soaked bike chain after she ruins a much-anticipated bike ride. What I was looking for when I signed up for Valerie’s Boot Camp class was support and encouragement, and what I’ve gotten out of it is so much more. Thanks Coach Val and Spain Park Boot Campers. You have made my life so much fuller.

BOSU Ball Run Update: The day I wrote the post “The Albatross,” Coach Val decided it was the perfect day to do the BOSU ball above your head/run challenge (you tricked me, Val!). So I did it, and I survived. It was tough, I was miserable the whole time, but I did it. On a high note: We burned a heck of a lot of calories that night!