When I couldn’t find a job after college, I briefly thought about joining the military. It was a short-lived and flittering idea, but I did consider it for about five minutes. I have all the respect in the world for the men and women at home and abroad who keep us safe and fight for our freedom.
But just because I never enlisted doesn’t mean I can’t partake in some militaristic type things like boot camp. A friend gave me a Groupon for the five-week boot camp. She was moving out of town and knew she couldn’t commute to the camp Monday through Thursday. The camp usually costs around $200, so I gladly accepted the gift and thanked her with a smile and a hug.
The River Market Boot Camp is held outside at the Clinton Library from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Of course there are earlier camps for insane people at 5, 6 and 7 a.m., but I’m not that committed or awake at that time of day. The nightly boot camp is a great de-stressor and the weather (in October and November) is close to perfect. The instructor, Wayne Bashay, is a ball of energy, and barks out a string of exercises that vary from pushups to planks and an exercise called the dead armadillo (which hurts my abs just thinking about it). During the last few weeks, we’ve ran the hills at the Clinton Presidential Park, jogged a 5K through downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock and worn out the sidewalk at the Clinton Museum.
I’ve actually had a lot of fun and traveled to places I’ve never been on foot and never planned on going! There have been mornings the following day or two after a workout where I can’t move or walk down stairs, but it’s all been worth it. I can feel myself getting stronger. I can “run” further without getting winded and I sleep better at night. I put run in quotations because I don’t think I will ever be a bona fide runner, but I do like to jog and sometimes I jog swiftly…sometimes. Most of the time we stay around the same area and do strength exercises on our yoga mats.
About once a week, we have “travel days.” That is where we turn the city into our gym and run around like a bunch of crazy people. I was absent during the first travel day, so when the next one came around, I made sure not to miss it. We met up at our usual spot and after running some hills, he turned us loose and we jogged to the Statehouse Convention Center (half a mile). From there, we jogged over the Main St. Bridge into North Little Rock. We stopped at this hill/step section and played cat and mouse. The game was simple – if the person behind you “caught” you, you had to start over. I knew the girl behind me and kindly told her, “You better not touch me!”
After making it through the concrete maze, we ran on the River Trail to the Broadway Bridge and over to the Robinson Center Music Hall (two miles). The Music Hall has about 50 steps in front of its grand entrance. Guess what we did? Oh yes, we ran the stairs and did pushups on them. I looked around for the bus that would take us back to camp, but there wouldn’t be a bus. We jogged back to our starting point (one and half miles), stretched and went home. I have one more week of boot camp, and as crazy as it sounds, I’m already thinking of re-enlisting.