Now back to the regularly scheduled program:
I sat in my car at 4:45 a.m., preparing myself mentally for the day. I said a quick prayer that I could live in the moment and take advantage of the opportunity for physical improvement that I was about to be offered. Then I thought about some of the pressing issues in my life and how they have just hammered me mentally and physically. I turned off the car and threw my glasses on the dashboard. I walked into the football stadium with my mind prepared for whatever beat-down the coaches would offer.
I checked in, ran a lap around the track to loosen my legs. “Sure hope we don’t run much today. My legs are tired.”
Ha.
First of all, Coach Clark made sure our heart rate was properly up before we even got out of the stretching line. Jumping jacks, burpees, mountain climbers, high knees — it’s heck to be winded before you start. At least I thought that as we ran the 80 yards to the weight room.
Then we did kettle ball swings and what I like to call the Louis Zamperini bar lift (In Unbroken, he lifts a beam over his head for 37 minutes). From there, we went to Coach Clark and put on our parachutes. And then we ran sprints. Lots of sprints. 50-yard sprints. 100-yard sprints. With the chute. Without the chute. Next station was Coach Trahan. He had run a 50-yard W drill. Except it wasn’t really a W. We zigged and zagged continuously without stopping to recover. Next, we did a 50-yard drill with bear crawls, inch worms, crab walks, hop scotch, frog leaps and then a 50-yard sprint. We then jogged 100-yards back and did it again. And again. And again. I’m tired typing it.
Then it was time to run the gauntlet on the football stadium. Let me tell you this, I am faster than most going up a stadium and slower going down because my glasses are on my car dashboard, not my face. I have no depth perception when going down stairs. Next time, I am wearing one of the parachutes, so I can float gently down when I fall. I survived my blindness. Don’t ask me how.
At 4:45, I typed this status update:
Don’t feel like working out but I’m about to because I need to. Success is putting needs before feelings.
I meant that. This morning was a tough workout. I didn’t feel like being there. But I needed to be. I’m so thankful I showed up — even if I felt like shoving a lung back in my mouth.