This week is hell week at Boot Camp. We didn’t find out until after the first session (which involved a massive uphill climb which I doubt a car would’ve been able to make).

Today we were confronted with Big Bertha and Little Bertha. Bertha is the name they give to the dreaded rope. The Bravo group (my group) got to use Little Bertha which was nice. Not so heavy but the challenge is much the same. We ran a course of approximately 4kms with this rope on our shoulders. The person in front had to peel off, run around the back of the group, back to the front, tag the front person, and then join in at the back. So, we all got a few turns at running around a running line of people. Fun – NOT! Every 1km or so, we got to put the rope down. For the break, we had to do 10 push-ups and 10 crunches/sit-ups.

You couldn’t stop or you’d be left far behind and you didn’t have the help of your swinging arms either which made the run a little more difficult. It wasn’t until we hit the beach that the pain really started to hit me. Thankfully this was the last stretch. We made it! 4kms with very little stopping (except for strength exercises) and no-one dropped off. I never thought I could actually do it. My first goal of jogging 2kms without stopping by the 24th of February is well achievable now.

As an added bonus, here are a few health, fitness type sites I’ve been reading lately:

• A time to run – Beginner’s section
• POSE running technique
• Using heart rate monitors for weight loss and fitness
• Running tips, workouts and gear

The photograph shows what looks like a pretty fun activity. When I was researching Boot Camp, this is one of the images which actually motivated me to join up. It looked like tough but rewarding work.

I now have nightmares about that 100kg rope and dread it making an appearance again. It was by far, the hardest single piece of exercise I have ever done. Ten people jogging in soft sand with a 100kg shipping rope on their shoulder. Ten kilos each doesn’t sound too bad. Believe me, it is awful!

Apart from the rope, the rest of our first week was awesome! The activities are somewhat varied although there is far too much uphill running for my liking. Wednesday was on the beach (with the rope) and a solid session of boxing practice. Friday was even better and mainly focused on sprinting with strength exercises to break it up.

I feel like I’m slowly getting better and definitely have a lot more energy through the day. We’re both eating really healthily too which makes a huge difference. Surprisingly, I’m not craving chocolates and other sweets like I usually do.

By the end of our first 4 weeks of Boot Camp, my aim is to jog an entire 2kms in our fitness test. It doesn’t sound like much, but I am a hopeless runner and get puffed really quickly. Achieving this will be a massive thing for me. I’ll let you all know how it goes.

For anyone needing a good kick to get started, I would highly recommend this tact. It’s not easy and you get pushed to your absolute limits, but it is incredibly rewarding.

This exercise thing is much harder than I thought. My calves and pecs are quite sore at the moment. I guess it’ll subside eventually. I hope it’ll subside soon!

Fitness test
Boot Camp started for us on Saturday morning with quite a rigorous fitness test. We started with some stretches which I liked very much. They weren’t too onerous. Then we jumped into a “Beep Test.” From memory I think I got to level 5.6 or somewhere around there. That totally killed me and really managed to aggravate my asthma for two days.

A few push-ups and squats followed and we ready for our 2km run. Now, you need to realise, I have never run 2kms in my life. In-fact, I have never even run 1km before. This was quite a struggle for me and I had to walk part of it. My aim is that I can run the entire track by the end of the course.

The first session
So we got up just after 5am. The only time I get up whilst it’s still dark is if I have an early plane flight. Getting on a plane is exciting so I’m usually motivated. This morning was completely opposite. We turned up whilst it was still dark, did some stretches and had a roll call.

Then we were forced to do 20 push-ups because two people didn’t turn up. Then we had to do another 10 because we didn’t line up quickly enough. This is going to be an interesting course and I feel there will be many people with black eyes if they continue to wag training sessions.

I think I did better at today’s session than I would’ve expected. It was a dirt running track right near the beach. We had to run for a bit, do a series of push-ups, run some more, run up an incline, struggle through some sit-ups and more push-ups, then run back to the start again. The course would’ve been between 1 and 2kms and we had to do it continuously until the hour was up.

I pretty much ran the entire first circuit and had to walk sections of the second and third. E did really well getting in 6 laps. Much to her disgust, The Sarge ran along with her for the last three!

One day of resting now before our next session on Wednesday which will be on the beach. Argghhh, running on sand – fun!