It’s 5:55 a.m. I’m not looking for life lessons — I’m trying to catch my breath. My heart rate has been highly elevated for nearly an hour and my muscles are burning. The thought of quitting dances seductively through my mind. I run up another set of stairs and then back down them. I’ve run the length of Madison Central’s football stadium three times now. Up and down the stairs. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Then we run around the back.
This is our last station. I can tell by the looks on my line mates that we’re all worn out. A muggy morning and too many burpees and other exercises have taken their toll. Quitting crosses my mind again. I shake it off and pour on the coal.
My bootcamp is five stations (one being in the weight room) made up over various drills. All are designed to keep your heart rate up, test you mentally and crush you physically. We do this one hour a day, four days a week. It’s tough training. I’m easily in the best shape of my life.
But one thing about the drills is this: You can just get by — you know put in the minimum. If the coach isn’t looking, you can slack off. You can half-ass your way through the exercise.
Or you can pour on the coal. The more you put into each drill, the more you get out of the experience.
Isn’t that just like life? Zac Brown said it best — you get what you give. We all have the same opportunity out there at PLS. But if we choose to put our heart into it, we’ll truly excel.
My one-hour bootcamp sets the tone for the other 23 hours of my day. We’re all given the same amount of hours in a day. The truly special ones make the most of them.
It’s time to go pour on the coal. It’s time to make the most of my day.