Back to Boot Camp

After a six month break from Boot Camp I am back at it!

Last year, I decided to take off the Summer and Fall sessions of Boot Camp to concentrate on my long distance running.

The break was good in that I was able to start increasing my weekly mileage and I made it through one ultra and three marathons without any injuries.  The downside is that my short milage speed decreased and my overall fitness suffered from the break.

The MUSC (Medical University of South Carolina) Boot Camp is intense.  Its run by Marines that are in the MECEP program at The Citadel.  The workouts go at breakneck speed from the beginning to the end and push you to your limits.  The amazing thing is that there are so many people doing it that there are two classes, one in the morning and one at night (this works out really well for my wife and I - she goes in the morning and I go at night).

My main goal for this session is to increase my speed and strengthen my core.  The workouts alternate from upper body to lower body, but alway have a core element.  The evening class is only on Monday and Wednesday nights so I am also adding in a few nights of P 90 X core workouts.  My wife and son think I am nuts standing in front of the television doing the workout, but I have a feeling they will be joining me in no time.

I thought I would have to rearrange my running schedule to fit in the extra workouts, but the Monday and Wednesday night schedule lines up really well with my normal routine.  I am still recovering from the Charleston Marathon so my weekly mileage is relatively low right now, but I plan on increasing it as I get closer to my first 50K of the year.

The thing about doing class style workouts for sixty minutes is that you end up pushing yourself to do so much more than you think is possible.

I missed this feeling during my training last year.  There is something about being able to look back at these workouts as you hit mile twenty of a marathon and know that you can do anything for an hour.

Now drop and give me twenty!!!