June wrap-up

I'm feeling pretty good about June:

Yeah, I use stickers on my calendar to mark my workouts. So? It means that, at a glance, I can see that I did twelve boot camps (the animal stickers) and six runs (the smiley faces). Not so much running this month, sadly, but two of those smileys (the 2nd and the 23rd) were half marathons, so not too shabby.

The last boot camp session was good -- after warming up, we did the same tests as during the first session. Everyone improved on every measure -- even if, during the plank, Ellen made me laugh so hard I fell over...

When we tested in the first session, I ran a 9:17 mile -- my fastest ever. In the mid-session check-in, I ran much slower -- 9:41 or something like that. On Friday I ran 8:58. I find that hard to believe when I still put in two walking breaks. But yay me!

We did pushups next. Last time I did 3 standard and 17 modified; this time I got through 10 standard! (Not sure now many modified, to be honest...). Ellen did TWENTY PUSHUPS. She is a rock star!!!

Last time my squat press was 1:09, this time I dropped out at 1:15. Not a huge improvement, but this pose always hurts me knees and I just get too bored. I should probably work on this, huh? Hiromi bested her previous time and held for 4:30 and change.

Then the dreaded plank. I HATE this pose. But despite my shoes slipping on the turf, and Ellen making me laugh by asking, 40 seconds in, if she was supposed to be on her elbows, I did manage to hold for well over a minute. Hiromi held hers for 7:32 -- and her form is PERFECT, and she doesn't shake at all until the very end. Wow.

I've decided I'm going to go back for the July session -- I have just enjoyed the camp too much, and it's made me feel stronger. In fact, all of us except Hiromi (who is going to Japan) and Kelly (who is a grad student and can't really afford it) are coming back. I don't think I would have gotten through all of it so well without Ellen's friendship and support -- I'm excited to work out with her again!

The best thing about Kerry's boot camp is the community --- I've said it before, but it really thrills me that I know the names of all the people in camp, and that we cheer for each other. It's a very warm, supportive group. I've never had that before, so that's cool. I like that we're outside, and that we're usually moving -- it's great to be in the fresh air rather than cooped up in a gym.