Hey there bootcampers! Sorry for the long time away from posting, bear with me as I bring you up to date on my boot camp related activities over the past couple of months.

I ran the St. Marten's Episcopal School 5K on September 20th. I finished it in 27:45. Not my target time, but it was my first race since July 4th. It was a nice course with a few hills that made for an enjoyable run. Thanks to Chris and Mari Garner for helping me keep pace the last mile of the race. It was also an opportunity to reconnect with some fellow bootcampers from my old West Midtown location.

The last race that I ran was the MMRF Race for Research on October 26th. I finished this race in 25:13. I was very pleased with the time, but the course was a little short. It was only 2.9 miles long instead of the 3.1 miles of a full 5K. The course was a nice, fairly flat course along Freedom Parkway. It was a fun course. This was also another reunion race of sorts. I ran this race with my old boot camp instructor Collette and a couple of fellow bootcampers, John and Renee. It was good to see all of them and spend some time with them over a cup of coffee after the race. It was just like old times at the West Midtown boot camp location.

Alot of things have changed for me with boot camp since I last updated the blog. I survived the month of September at the Chastain Park boot camp location with no problems. Fortunately, I learned how to tackle the hills around the park and was able to bring my mile time back down to the 7:30 range. I must admit, that the long run course around Chastain Park is much more enjoyable than the course through Atlantic Station at my old West Midtown location. I have really enjoyed getting used to the new location and terrain. Plus the increased number of bootcampers and instructors has really made boot camp more enjoyable for me. In fact, I have been enjoying boot camp so much that I was asked to become an instructor. Can you believe it? Me, a boot camp instructor?!?!

The month of October was my first full month as a boot camp instructor. What a difference from being a regular bootcamper! I'm actually one of the people leading and assisting the bootcampers now. The transition has been interesting to say the least. The biggest change has been having to "lead" all of my fellow bootcampers. As one bootcamper friend stated, I've "gone over to the dark side." Don't get me wrong, being an instructor is alot of fun, but very different than being a boot camper. I'm really glad that they asked me to become an instructor. It has really renewed my excitement in and dedication to boot camp.

Although it has been a little strange being an instructor to some of my fellow bootcampers, I have really enjoyed meeting some of the new bootcampers. They know me as an instructor and it has been much easier for me to lead and instruct them as opposed to some of the boot camp veterans. I'm still not that comfortable with barking orders to some of the boot camp vets, but it gets a little easier everyday. I have found that I have a special talent at motivating the new campers. Telling them my story and discussing my boot camp experience with them has really helped me to motivate them and give them hope that they can truly change their lifestyle and help them meet their fitness goals. There are several campers from last month and this current month that I feel that I have really built a strong bond with.

I was unable to run a race during the month of November due to being out of town every weekend. My next 5K is the Jingle Jog on December 13th. This was the first 5K that I ran after starting boot camp last year. My previous time for this race was 31:20. I'm hoping to blow that time out of the water this year! I'll get some more information on the Jingle Jog and post it to my blog so that you can come out and join me. I'll keep you posted.

A Change of Scenery

I started at the Chastain Park boot camp location last week. What a difference from my previous location at West Midtown for the past 11 months! The terrain at Chastain is very hilly, whereas the West Midtown location was very flat. To give you an idea, I ran a 7:33 mile on the last day at the West Midtown location. It took me 8:20 to run a mile the first day at the Chastain Park location. Granted I had a pretty wild Labor Day weekend in between those two mile runs, but I could definitely tell a difference when I was running up and down the many hills. Over the last couple of weeks, I'm slowly getting used to the large hills.

It's been a nice transition to the new boot camp location. I've enjoyed the change of scenery as well as getting to know some of my new boot campers and instructors. Although I'm one of the new campers, I already feel very comfortable with the group. This has been the second biggest issue that I have faced at the new boot camp location...other than the hilly terrain. After being with the same instructors and many of the same campers for almost a year, the first couple of days didn't feel right. I guess I was so entrenched in the everyday routine of the West Midtown location, that I didn't realize how big of a change I would face in changing to Chastain Park. One thing I have enjoyed is the larger group at the Chastain Park location. It's been interesting to see where I stand with the campers at my new location. Plus, it's given me an additional push to work harder with my new boot camp group.

I've hit somewhat of a plateau in my weight loss. I'm still hovering around a weight of 250 lbs. Although I'm down about 50 lbs. since I first started boot camp last October, I still want to continue to lose weight and get closer to my target weight of 200 lbs. I must admit that I've slacked off on my diet. I'm still watching what I eat, but not as strict as I used to. I've been slipping in a slice of pizza or a cheeseburger and fries every now and then lately. I'm planning to get back on a good diet starting next week when I return from a business trip. Hopefully, the strict diet and suggested meal plans will allow me to break through this plateau and continue to lose weight. It's going to be a tough journey, but I've made up my mind that I'm going to do it.

August was the first month of this year that I didn't run a race. I was out of town every weekend and just didn't have time to squeeze a race in one Saturday. I am signed up to run a race next weekend. It's a 5K sponsored by the St. Marten's Episcopal School on Ashford Dunwoody road in Brookhaven. I'm still looking to continue my streak of breaking my previous 5K race time with this one. It'll be tough, considering my last 5K was a totally flat course, but I'm going to strive for it. You can find information about the race on Active.com. Sign up and come out and join me!

I'll continue to keep you posted on my weight loss journey. Sorry for not keeping you more up to date over the last month. I won't let it happen again.

Back At It Again

Sorry for the extended delay in posting, but I've been gone alot over the past few weeks. Let me catch you up on what's been going on.

I finished last month's boot camp with a mile time of 7:31. That's not my fastest time ever in the mile, but I'm pleased. We had the week of July 4th off and returned to boot camp that Monday, July 7th. My mile time that morning was 7:43. A little slower than what I wanted, but I was still pleased considering that I had been at the beach on vacation for the previous 5 days. I'm very happy with my results so far. I've officially taken over seven minutes off of my original mile time of 14:42. My goal is to get down to a 7 minute mile. It's going to be tough and take some time to do so, but I feel confident that I can do it.

While on vacation, I did participate in a 5K on the morning of July 4th. While some of you were battling the crowds and the hilly course of the Peachtree Road Race, I was running through the flat, shaded neighborhoods of St. Simons Island. And by flat, I mean flat. There was not a hill in sight. I think the only hills on the island are on the golf courses and the sand dunes. I took advantage of this flat course and posted a time of 25:52. That's my best 5K time ever! I was very pleased with my results. I hope I can keep up that pace during my next race.

We're almost done with the second week of the July boot camp session. These past two weeks have really been rough on me. Last week was rough due to coming right off of my vacation. This week has been tough due to a long weekend at the lake as well as having a little summer cold. I actually missed boot camp, as well as went in late to work, on Tuesday due to the cold. I'm feeling better now and hope to get over this cold ASAP. Sadly, this is the last week of boot camp for the month for me. I'm out of town for the next two weeks on business. I'm taking my workout clothes with me and am going to try my best and keep up the exercise while I'm away.

I've been looking into races to run for the month of August. I've got several scheduling conflicts on some of the weekends, but I'll keep you posted as to which one I decide to run. Hope to see you at a race soon.

I ran the Mid-Summer MusicFest 5K at Candler Park this past Saturday. I ran this race by myself, but did run into some fellow boot campers who attend the Mason Mill boot camp location. I finished the race in 28:38. I'm pleased with the time, but I was hoping to be about 2 minutes faster. My previous 5K time was 26:51, and I was hoping to break it during this race. The course through and around Candler Park was very hilly and had a lot of turns. The constant up and down and the curving path that we followed made it difficult for me to get into a good rhythm. Nevertheless, it was a good run and I am still satisfied with my results. I'm going to have to find another race soon to see if I can finish it around 26:30.

I've had a really nice past couple of weeks. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was in St. Simons for a conference the first week of the month and was able to go jogging on the beach. The second week of June took me to Ponte Vedra for another convention. I did workout while I was there and took advantage of the wonderful workout facility at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club as well as went jogging on the beach. The tide was coming in when I was jogging in Ponte Vedra. This made it extremely difficult jogging in the thick sand, but the broken sea shells on the edge of the water line did provide some stability. Had I jogged at low tide, my experience would have probably been totally different. I must say that my beach jogging experience was better in St. Simons than it was in Ponte Vedra. Considering the fact that I had a lot more fun in Ponte Vedra balances it out in my opinion. I shouldn't complain one bit. Most people I know wish they could take business trips to the beach.

I attended a banquet here in Atlanta on Saturday night and saw a lot of old friends and familiar faces that I had not seen in several months. You should have heard some of their remarks when they saw me. Some of my buddies couldn't believe how great I looked, plus the fact that I've lost almost 50 pounds since I first started boot camp last October. I can't tell you how much motivation hearing their comments gives me to keep working hard and pushing myself. Hopefully, next time I see some of them, they will notice even more of a difference in me. I'm going to keep up the boot camp routine and watching what I'm eating so that I can continue to drop the weight. My target is 200 pounds, I've got about 50 more to drop before I get there.

Today was the first day of the last week of boot camp for the June session. We'll have our final mile run on Friday. I'm hoping to finish strong and take some more time off of my mile time. I started the month at 7:43 which is 7 minutes off of my first mile time back in October. I ran the mile in 7:28 at the midpoint of boot camp last Monday. I'm hoping to possibly even beat that time this Friday. I'll keep you posted on how I do.

We've got next week off from boot camp for the 4th of July holiday. I'm looking forward to a week off from boot camp, plus the possbility of a little vacation time. If I am able to make it to St. Simons for the 4th, I'm going to run in a 5K down there being held the morning of the 4th. I must be honest, though, I will miss boot camp. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. It's become such a huge part of my life and daily routine that I don't feel right if I don't get up and go to boot camp. That feeling plus the fact that along with the instructors and other campers, we've become such a tight knit group of people that motivate each other during the exercises. It's almost like we've become a pseudo family at the West Midtown/Atlantic Station boot camp location.

It's the second week of the June session of boot camp. We've had a couple of great workouts this week. Today, we used the tension bands. Once again, I completed the workout with the black bands. It was very tough using the strongest bands, but I could feel the burn in my muscles throughout the workout. I'm sure that's not the only time I'll be feeling pain in my arms and upper body. I'll probably be a little sore for the next couple of days.

I tried something new this past weekend. I attended one of the kickboxing classes at The Boot Camp Company studio in Brookhaven on Saturday morning. What a workout! The 45 minute class was awesome. I got a much better workout than I would have had I just gone for a jog. Needless to say, I'm still a little sore from the kickboxing class. The new workout forced me to use muscles that I normally don't use that often in boot camp. My calves and my arms have been extremely sore. I'm still feeling the pain in my calves. It's made these two workouts this week really interesting to say the least. I enjoyed the kickboxing class so much that I think I'm going to make it a regular routine in my weekly workouts.

I had a new experience last week and I'm looking forward to the same experience this week. I was in St. Simons Island last week for a conference. I got up each morning while I was down there and went for a jog on the beach. What an incredible experience of jogging on the beach as the sun was rising. The moment was almost magical. Taking the normal sounds of traffic and the hard pavement here in Atlanta that I usually experience while jogging and replacing it with sand and crashing waves was incredible. The runs seemed so much more relaxing and really helped me get my days started on the right foot. I'm heading to Ponte Vedra this week for another convention, and am looking forward to another couple of early morning runs on the beach. I hope the experience will be the same this week as it was last week.

I've got a few good friends of mine that have started boot camp this month. Unfortunately, they're doing it a different location than me, but it has been fun discussing our boot camp experiences together. I actually ran into a couple of them at the kickboxing class on Saturday morning. It was really exciting to run into them at the studio. I've also had a couple of other people contact me about signing up for boot camp. Many of them have heard me talk about it ever since I started back in October. I guess my constant discussion of my boot camp experience is helping to motivate some of my friends. Or it could be that there is a link to my blog on The American Boot Camp Company website...

I still haven't found a race to participate in for this month. I'm out of town this coming weekend, but am going to try to do one in the next couple of weeks. I'll keep you posted on what I decide to do. I'm planning on being in St. Simons again for the 4th of July this year. I actually found a 5K down there that is being held the morning of the 4th. I'm planning to run in that race to try something different. I thought about staying in Atlanta to run the Peachtree Road Race, but I decided to skip it and go to the beach for a nice little vacation. I'll let you know what I decide to do and keep you posted on my race results.

We started the June session of boot camp yesterday morning. My mile time was 7:43. That's the same time that I posted at the end of the May session. Considering that we had the week of Memorial Day off and I only ran once that week, I was very happy with my mile time. I really had to push myself yesterday to make that time, and I could definitely feel the results of not running the previous week. With two workouts down this week, I can definitely feel some soreness in a few of my muscles as well. Probably attributed to me being totally lazy last week, only running once, not working out at all, and not watching what I was eating like I should.

Our boot camp class at the West Midtown location is growing. We've had several people return from last month as well as a few new faces show up. It's interesting to see how the group is growing. It's hard to believe that when I first started boot camp last October, we had less than a dozen people in the group. Given the success of the Chastain Park and Blackburn Park locations, I can only imagine what the group might be like in a couple of years. This morning's workout is one of my favorites...cone sprints. For the first time ever, we had the group divided into four different lines as we all ran the cone sprints. I remember when we only had two. It was really something to see all of us out there. I reminded me of that day when I was at Blackburn and we ran cone sprints. I think they had about eight or nine lines that morning.

I've really been trying to watch what I eat lately. For the past three weeks, I've been eating Fresh N Fit meals. I found out about them one night at the boot camp studio in Brookhaven. You sign up for the meal plan and pick up your prepared meals twice a week. The food is excellent! Every meal is individually packaged and most of them you can just nuke in the microwave for a couple of minutes. They offer a couple of different calorie levels and I've been on the 1200 calorie diet. I figured getting 1200 calories from three meals a day, and another couple of hundred calories from my other meals easily keeps me under 2000 calories a day. This is under my daily minimum calorie level and has been helping me to shave off the excess weight. You can get more information about Fresh N Fit at http://www.freshnfitcuisine.com/.

Speaking of losing weight, I've hit somewhat of a plateau. I've easily dropped over 40 pounds since I first started boot camp, but the last few pounds that I've lost have been really tough. I also must admit that I've been letting my eating habits slip a little. I've decided to get back on the boot camp recommended meal plan and stick to it the best I can. I know I can continue to drop the weight, it's just going to take longer to do so and I'm going to have to work hard in order to accomplish my goal. I still have about 50 more pounds to lose to get down to my target weight of 200. Considering that I was a shade under 300 when I first started, I'm about half way there.

With June now hear, I need to find a race to run. I'll look into see what's out there and let you know which one I pick. Stay tuned to find out and maybe even you could join me...

"Go Speed Racer Go": 5/13/08

I'm getting faster. We ran a timed mile on Monday morning and I finished it in 7:39. I couldn't believe it! Officially, I have taken over 7:00 off of my original mile time back in October. Can you believe it? My first mile time was 14:42, and now it's taking me 7:39 to run the same distance! My best time before that had been 7:53, and I really had to push myself hard to make that time. Monday's run seemed easier, and yet, my time was much faster. While running, I didn't feel like I was really straining myself too terribly much. I guess it's the additional weight loss as well as the everyday training that's adding to my increased speediness...

Speaking of speed, we had an old speedster show up this morning at boot camp. John came out today for the first time in a couple of months. He's been doing boot camp for awhile now, but has not been able to do it the past couple of months. He's always been fast and can run a consistent 6:30 mile or so. He was very surprised at how fast I have gotten when it comes to sprinting. There were a couple of times when I beat him when we were sprinting. Granted, I started out in front of him, but he never did catch me. It felt good to hear him comment about my speed. I might have gotten lucky by beating John in a couple of sprints this morning, but I am totally confident that he would wax me in any distance race. Maybe I could take him one day...

I ran the Big Peach 5K a couple of weeks ago. Finished it in 26:51! I was aiming to beat 27:00, and I did it! This was a huge boost considering that my finish time for the last race, the Sprint for Cancer 10K, was actually slower than my previous time. I've been pushing myself hard between each race so that I can continue to shave time off. The American Boot Camp Company helped sponsor the race and we had a large number of campers from different locations around town show up in Brookhaven for the race. I also saw quite a few friends of mine at the race as well. My buddy JJ ran the race with me. We started the race together; then I got out in front of him; then he passed me; then I caught back up with him. We finally finished the race together as we sprinted in to the finish line.

April ends and May begins: 5/1/08

We finished the April boot camp session last Friday. My mile time was 8:23. That's 30 seconds slower than my previous run. I was really disappointed with my effort. I must admit, I really wasn't pushing myself as hard as I could. I got into a comfortable pace from the beginning and gradually slowed down during the run. It's not the end of the world, though. I did improve on the number of push-ups and sit-ups that I can do in a minute. I did 61 push-ups and 37 sit-ups on Friday. This has been one of the tougher tests throughout this boot camp experience.

On Saturday, we held a boot camp session at Atlantic Station. We didn't start until 7:30 am, so it was nice to be able to sleep in a little bit. Plus, it was weird doing boot camp with the sun out. We had about 25 people out there. A handful of us were boot camp veterans, but the rest of the group were new to the boot camp experience. I hope everyone enjoyed it and will sign up and join us at the West Midtown boot camp location. I believe the plan is to start holding bi-weekly workouts at Atlantic Station on Saturday mornings. I look forward to taking advantage of the additional workout as well as helping introduce new people to The American Boot Camp Company.

This week is the first week of the May boot camp session. I missed Monday's workout, but have been there for all of the other ones. This week has been interesting to say the least. Our number of boot campers continues to grow. We have several people returning from last month's session as well as several new faces. I think the group is now over 20 people. This is really going to be interesting to see how this works out. The bigger crowd makes things more interesting. When I first started boot camp back in October, there were less than 10 of us. We've more than doubled our numbers since then. Some of the other American Boot Camp Company locations have huge crowds. Blackburn Park has 70+ and Chastain Park has 30+ boot campers every morning! It'll be interesting to see if our West Midtown location reaches those numbers one day...

I've got the Big Peach 5K this Saturday morning. My buddy JJ is running the race with me as well as several of the boot campers from my location as well as others. JJ and I are aiming to beat 27 minutes. We'll have to keep a good pace the whole time, but I think we can do it. The American Boot Camp Company is helping sponsor this race and I'm pretty positive there will be a large contingency of boot campers there all wearing matching shirts or something like that. It's really fun to see everyone out there having a good time and cheering everyone on. Collette is especially pumped up about having her bull horn out there to cheer everyone on. Sign up at www.bigpeachrunningco.com and come out and join us. Hope to see you there!

You win some, you lose some: 4/24/08

Tomorrow is the last day of the April session of boot camp. The May session starts on Monday. Woo hoo! I get a whole weekend off before the next session starts. (I'm being very facetious just in case you didn't pick up on it.) We get to do our final test for the month tomorrow morning. I'm hoping I have improved on my 7:53 mile time. I'll get to see in the morning if I have lowered my time over the past couple of weeks.

I ran the Sprint for Cancer 10K this past Sunday morning. Finished it in 1:09:56. That's a whole 12 minutes slower than my previous one. I was so disappointed with my results. I was really tired during the race and I could really tell that my body was fatigued. My calves started burning about a mile into the race and never stopped bothering me. No matter how much they hurt, though, I never stopped running and kept moving the entire race. I shouldn't get down too much about it. I did just complete my second 10K ever. I believe that every athlete has their on and off days. Obviously, Sunday was an off day for me. I'm going to work harder and better prepare for the next race so that I can blow my previous times out of the water. I'll have to check the calendar to see when the next 10K is that I can participate in.

My buddy Jay ran this past race with me. It was nice to have both him and Denny with me the whole time. They both took turns motivating me and helping me through some of the more difficult parts of the race route. This is the first time that Jay and I have ever done anything together like this before. Most of our time together is spent hunting, going to football games, fishing, etc. You know, mostly doing "guy" things. The funny thing is, if you have known us since we were in school, that Jay and I are probably the last two people in the world that you would expect to see running a 10K. And there we both were...running the Sprint for Cancer 10K. We started together and we finished together. Two friends participating in an event together and using each other as motivation. It was a great moment that I'm sure both of us will cherish for many years to come. Jay has already talked about doing a half marathon or a sprint triathlon. We'll see what my next move is....

I'm running the Big Peach 5K next Saturday, May 3rd in Brookhaven. Come join me. Get the details at http://www.bigpeachrunningco.com/. I hope to see you there.

Progress, almost 4 minutes down: 4/15/08

I ran the Georgia Tech Pi Mile this past Saturday morning. I finished the 5K in 27:45! I was shocked when I saw the clock at the finish line because I really felt that I wasn't doing a good job of keeping pace. I'm sure you can imagine how happy I was to see the official race time. Saturday's race was an interesting one for me. It's the first race that I have run by myself without my boot camp instructors. It was different to say the least. It just didn't feel right not having anyone from boot camp there with me. At least I was able to prove to myself that I can complete a race on my own and should never use the excuse of not having anyone to run a race with me.

The past couple of days at boot camp have been exciting. Yesterday, we had our midpoint test. I ran a 7:53 mile! That's 4 seconds faster than my previous time two weeks ago. I'm at the point where my mile time is only going to improve in small steps like this. I've got to continue to push myself and work hard in order to keep shrinking my mile time. It's going to be a while before I build up the endurance required to consistently run that fast of a mile.

We played war today at boot camp. Some folks might even call it capture the flag. Everyone was divided into 2 teams and had flags around their waists. We used the flag football type flags that are attached to a belt and can be easily pulled off. We chased each other around an enclosed area and tried to rip the flags off. When your flag was taken, you had to go to prison and do different excercises. Whichever team one got to celebrate by doing victory jumping jacks while the losing team did pushups or burpies. It was a very fun way to get a good cardio workout. You don't realize how much sprinting and running around you're doing until it's all over.

The Sprint for Cancer 10K is this Sunday. This will be my second 10K and I'm looking to beat my previous time of 57:25. Barrett and Sean are both running it as well. I think there are several other boot campers running the 5K. We're hoping to have another large presence of American Boot Camp Company campers at this race. If you make it out there, stop by our booth and join us in the fun. For information about the race check out http://www.sprintforcancer.com/.

Change of Focus to Weight Loss in Boot Camp: 4/7/08

Started the second week of the April boot camp session at West Midtown today. It felt good to be out there. It's nice with the weather starting to warm up. We had a good workout with tension bands this morning. Luckily, I'm not quite as sore as I thought I would be. The workout was tough and I was able to complete it again with the blue tension band. This time, I wasn't the only one to use the blue bands. A couple of the other guys in the group stepped up and completed the workout with the stronger bands. Maybe one day, I'll be able to do it with the black tension band...which are the toughest. We'll see...

I'm really excited about these next few months of boot camp. My busy time of the year has now passed, and I'm going to focus on weight loss. I still have a long way to go to reach my goal and it's going to be a tough journey, but I think I can do it. I'm really going to watch my diet and strictly adhere to the meal plan. I've done a decent job so far, but I'm really going to start counting the calories. I've also even floated the idea of trying to get even more exercise than just going to boot camp in the morning. I was thinking about trying to run every evening and even giving my body more opportunities to drop weight. I haven't discussed this idea with anyone, but I plan to because I don't want to push myself too hard. This is a long journey that I have embarked on and I can't afford to injure myself in any way.

I signed up earlier today for the Pi Mile at Georgia Tech this coming Saturday. It's only a 5K, but I'm in the mood to run a race. I can't believe I just said that! It's weird how I have started to think regarding working out and running races. I hope I can recruit some of the other boot campers to join me. My best official 5K time is 29:02 and I'm hoping to beat it this Saturday. When I passed the 5K finish line during my last 1oK, the clock had just turned 27:00. That being "unofficial" since I was running the 10K, but it gave me a nice benchmark to work with.

I'm also signed up to do the Sprint for Cancer 10K on April 20th. I hope I can break my previous 10K time of 57:25. This race is at Atlantic Station and will probably be close to the same route of my previous 5K. If so, I will really be able to tell what kind of improvements I have made over the past month. I really feel good about my speed, but it's going to be another tough test. With two more weeks of boot camp to go through before then, I feel confident that I will be ready. The American Boot Camp Company is sponsoring this race and I expect that we will have a large number of boot campers in attendance. You should come out and join us...

Success: 3/30/08

I broke an 8 minute mile on Friday! Can you believe it? I ran a mile in 7:57! It was tough, and I was worn out afterwards, but I broke 8 minutes. It was quite an accomplishment for me considering that when I started boot camp my mile time was 14:42. Through a lot of hard work and pushing myself, I've been able to take almost 7 minutes off of my mile time. I don't know how much more I can improve on my mile time, but I'm going to keep pushing myself. Who knows? Maybe one day I can break 7 minutes.

Friday was the last day of the March session of boot camp. It felt great to complete my fourth month, and I'm ready to start another month on Monday. We're going to have some of the folks returning to join us as well as several new boot campers. I'm excited to see who is going to show up. We've had a steady number of new boot campers each month since I started attending. Maybe one day our West Midtown boot camp location will have as many folks as the Blackburn Park boot camp and Chastain Park boot camp locations. We've got a long way to go to get to that point, but attendance has been steadily growing since the West Midtown location started last September.

I'm looking forward to continuing to improve as boot camp progresses. I'm really excited about trying to focus on weight loss over the next few months. Fortunately, I'll be able to do a better job of focusing on eating right. With my busy season of work wrapping up, I won't be working long hours and having unhealthy food and snacks always within my reach. I'll be able to focus on the meal plan and do a better job of not eating bad stuff for me. I know that if I strictly adhere to the meal plan I will continute to see wonderful weight loss results. I've still got a long way to go to get to my weight loss goal.

I'm signed up to run the Sprint for Cancer 10K on Sunday, April 2oth. This will be my second 10K and I'm striving to beat my previous time of 57:25. Several of the boot campers are also going to join me in running the 10K. We're all going to work together over the next three weeks to prepare ourselves for the race. There's also going to be another large crowd from The American Boot Camp Company participating in the race. We're hoping to have a very large crowd show up. You should come out and join us as well...

I want to run...what's wrong with me? 3/26/08

What an interesting past few days. It's the typical Atlanta early spring weather. Freezing temperatures in the morning and mid 70's in the afternoon. It's made it very interesting at boot camp this week. By the way, this is our last week of the March session of boot camp. I will be completing my fourth month of boot camp and have made some incredible improvements from when I first started. I'm hoping to break an 8:00 minute mile this Friday during our final PT test.

We did the long run around Atlantic Station yesterday morning. We ran a distance right at 4 miles. My legs were aching when we got done. I was really in pain. I think it was due to a lack of stretching after working out over the weekend. Upon finishing the long run, I gave my legs a good and long stretch; they felt fine and haven't bothered me since. I was real proud of some of my fellow boot campers. This was the first time that some of them had run this distance. Everyone did great! They've all made great strides during this month of boot camp. I hope they will keep up the good work and return next month for another session.

I had a strange thing happen to me over the weekend. I was sitting around on Friday evening watching television. I had missed boot camp that morning, and I really needed to get some exercise on Friday. About 7:00, I got up off the sofa and went and ran 2 laps around Memorial Park. I don't know what happened to me! I just had the urge to go out and get some exercise. Anyways, I felt great afterwards and really enjoyed the jog.

I decided to not exercise on Saturday due to the fact that I had to travel out of town for Easter and spend time with my family. I tried my best to watch what I ate over the weekend, but it's really hard turning down all of that good cooking that you usually get with an after-church Easter dinner. I returned to Atlanta on Sunday afternoon and found myself in the same situation that I was in on Friday. I was sitting around the house and had not exercised that day. So, once again, I got up and went and ran 2 laps around Memorial Park.

What is wrong with me? Why am I getting up off a very comfortable sofa to go run 3.5 miles? Have I lost my mind? Actually, nothing is wrong with me. Exercise and eating right are becoming a regularity in my everyday life. I don't feel right if I don't exercise or eat something I shouldn't. It's amazing what is happening to me! I guess these things are becoming habits of mine that my body has slowly gotten used to over the past several months. I never expected any of this stuff to become habitual, but, obviously, I was wrong. Both my body and my mindset are changing due to boot camp. I guess it's just easier to see the results in my body as opposed to the changes inside my head...

I'll keep you posted on how I do this Friday with my mile time. I'm also planning to run in the Sprint for Cancer race on April 20th. It is being held at Atlantic Station and both a 5K and 10K are available to participate in. Check out http://www.sprintforcancer.com/ for details. I'm planning to run my second 10K at this race, and several of my boot camp compadres will be running their first 5K. You should come out and join us...

ShamRock N Roll Success: 3/18/08

What an incredible past couple of days! I ran the ShamRock 'N Roll 10K on Sunday morning at Atlantic Station. I finished it in 57:25! Can you believe it? I ran a 1oK in under an hour! The clock was just hitting 27:00 when I passed the 5K finish line. That means I ran the second half in just over 30 minutes. This was a great pace that I was able to keep fairly constant during most of the race. I was really nervous at first, but really felt good during the race. Collette and Colin from The American Boot Camp Company stayed with me the whole time and kept my spirits up. I thought I was going to really struggle through the course, but I was extremely surprised at how prepared my body was for the long journey. I even had enough energy to finish the race strong and sprint the last leg of the race leading up to the finish line.

We had a nice crowd of boot campers that participated in both the 5K and 10K races. We had some special St. Patrick's Day themed shirts made up and everyone wore them during the race. You could easily pick out our group from the couple of thousand runners in attendance. Most of our group from the West Midtown boot camp location ran the races, and we even had a couple of people place in their age group. Aaron and Lisa ran the 5K. John, Renee, Elizabeth, Felecia, Michelle, Carolyn, Barrett, Collette, and myself all ran the 1oK. It was really nice to have everyone out there supporting each other. I can't describe how it felt to have some of them cheering me on when I was approaching the finish line.

Our workouts on Monday and Tuesday were very good and left me exhausted. We had a mile time trial on Monday morning and I finished it in 8:10. That's 16 seconds faster than my time only two weeks ago. My goal next time is to finish a mile under 8:00. I want to get to the point where I consistently break an eight minute mile. I think everyone in our boot camp class improved their mile times; some folks more than others. Tuesday's workout included the dreaded jump rope. It was a different workout that what we routinely do with the jump ropes. Felecia did a great job in leading us and really pushed us hard to complete the workout. My lower body really felt the pains of the jump rope workout.

My next race is the Sprint For Cancer on Sunday, April 20th at Atlantic Station. The big decision I need to make is whether I want to run the 5K or 10K. Whichever race I choose to run, I'm going to work hard to try to beat my previous time. At the moment, I'm torn as to which race to run. Part of me wants to tackle the 10K again, but the other half of me wants to run the 5K race and really blow my previous race time of 29:47 out of the water. I'll keep you posted as to what decision I make...

The fat van, boot camp studio and big peach event: 3/13/08

We've had a good week at boot camp so far this week. I've enjoyed all of the workouts. Some of them have been repeats from previous months, but there has also been some new stuff added in to make them different. Today we had a first at the West Midtown boot camp location. Both Collette and Denny, our lead instructors, were not in attendance. Renee came in and subbed and did a wonderful job. It was a nice change to the everyday routine. Even though we did a normal workout, Renee's lead made for a nice change. It's hard to believe that we're almost finished with the second week of the March boot camp session.

I went to The American Boot Camp studio in Brookhaven last night for the first time. They had a mobile video gait analysis and a hydrostatic body fat tester show up for those of us who decided to come out. There were a good number of boot campers that showed up as well as others that participate in the sessions at the studio. The Big Peach Running Company brought out their video gait analysis for people to try out. You hopped on a treadmill and they filmed your gait as you ran. The analysis showed how your feet land when running. My gait was normal with only my left foot rolling inward a little bit. They discussed some different shoe options with me and gave me a form to take to one of their stores and get custom fitted for the right shoe for my feet. I'm going to try to go by there in the next couple of days to pick up a new pair of shoes.

After having my gait analyzed, I went and had my body fat tested. The hydrostatic body fat tester was an interesting contraption. I got in a big tub of water and did push-ups underwater while exhaling all of the air out of my lungs. While underwater, the machine was able to test my body fat. It took me a few times to get an accurate reading, but I eventually got it right. My body fat percentage is 29.9%. This is fairly poor for someone of my height and age. The test did show me, however, what my target weight and body fat percentage shoud be. It also gave me a breakdown of what my daily resting metabolic rate is and what kind of calories I can burn doing different types of exercises. It was really interesting to hear all of this. Plus, it gives me a great standard to work with and measurements to use as I continue to lose weight and transform into an active lifestyle. I can't wait to go back in several months and see what kind of progress I have made.

I've got the ShamRock 'N Roll race coming up on Sunday morning. I was originally scheduled to run the 5K race, but have since signed up for the 10K. This is going to be a tough race for me. I've never run that distance...ever. About the longest I have run so far is around 4 miles. I'm shooting to try to beat an hour. It's going to be a real challege, but I know Collette, Mari, and Denny will probably be with me the whole time encouraging me to keep going. I don't think I could do it without them. I'm a little nervous about it, but, at the same time, I'm excited and interested to see how I do. Come out and join me and the rest of the boot campers as we show up and conquer the Atlantic Station route. I hope to see you on Sunday morning!

March at West Midtown Boot Camp and a day at Blackburn Park: 3/9/08

What a week! I've been extremely busy at work and have been unable to enter any posts to my blog. It's been an exciting week and I have a lot to talk about. So read on and enjoy. Sorry for the long entry, but here it is...

Monday was the first day of the new March session of boot camp ast West Midtown. We have several veterans joining us for another month, as well as several new boot campers that have taken the initiative to try boot camp for the first time. For once, we have more guys than girls at boot camp this month. It's going to be interesting to see how this goes. This is unchartered territory for the West Midtown boot camp location. So far, so good...

I had to miss boot camp on Tuesday due to an early meeting at work. This being the case, I went to the Blackburn Park boot camp on Wednesday to make up for my missed day. What an experience! We average about 15 people at our West Midtown boot camp location. Blackburn Park has a group of about 50! Working out with a group of that size was incredible. The workout was very similar to the ones that we do at our West Midtown location, but the atmosphere was totally different. I can't put into words how pumped up I was to see that level of participation. They had us split up into six different groups for the workout. At my normal location, we usually split into two groups. The massive number of boot campers and the different location made for an exciting workout of doing cone sprints. Unfortunately, we repeated the same workout the next day at our West Midtown location. I was absolutely worn out after repetitive workouts for two days straight. I could really feel my legs burning.

Friday was in interesting workout in the rain. We didn't touch the flooded soccer field and took advantage of the basketball court and used workout bands for the first time in a while. It was nice to get a good upper body workout from the bands, but I have been feeling the pain in my arms all weekend. Denny did an excellent job leading us on Friday and it really took a lot of effort to complete the workout. I was using one of the blue bands which is one of the stronger, heavier resistance ones. A couple of the other guys started out with the blue ones, but they both had to move down to a lower resistance level in order to complete the workout. It was tough, but I was able to do it. I couldn't have handled the blue band my first month of boot camp either.

On a different note, I had a interesting weekend. I went quail hunting on Saturday morning for the first time since I started boot camp. Other than being a little sore in my arms and trying to shoot birds, it was great. The biggest difference I felt was a lack of exhaustion after walking all over a huge field following the bird dogs as they spotted the quail. My dad and I killed 40 birds during the hunt, and we really had to move around a lot in search of the quail. We only took one break during the hunt to change out the dogs and empty our game pouches, but I never felt tired the entire time. On previous hunts, I can clearly remember being worn out after walking all over the place following the dogs. This was just a small reminder of how much better shape I am in after doing boot camp for over three months.

I attended a wedding on Saturday night for an old childhood friend. This was the first time that I had seen a lot of friends from home in a long time. Only a handful of them have seen me since I started boot camp last October. Numerous people complimented me on how good I looked. They could all tell that I had lost weight. Plus, I wasn't half as exhausted as I usually am after cutting a rug on the dance floor. I can usually last a few songs and then need to take a break, but I was out there last night dancing more than most of the other people at the wedding reception.

These two small things that occurred this weekend are the kind of motivation that keeps me going. Experiencing a clear change in my behavior and feelings as well as the continued support from family and friends are two of the main driving forces pushing me to continue on this journey the rest of the year. You'd be amazed at the differences you can feel when you decide to make a life-changing adjustment and start working out and eating right.

Come join me on Wednesday evening at The American Boot Camp Company studio in Brookhaven for an exciting time. The Big Peach Running Company is going to have their running stride tester out there. This machine analyzes your step when you run and can match you up with the best running shoes for your stride. I'm looking forward to seeing what it says about me and possibly getting a new pair of shoes. There's also going to be a body fat tester for those who are interested. All this takes place from 5:30 to 8:00 pm on Wednesday. Go to http://www.thebootcampcompany.com/ for more details and directions. I hope to see you there.

I've got the ShamRock 'N Roll 5K this coming Sunday morning at Atlantic Station. We do our long run around Atlantic Station and I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of official time I can put in for the race. I'm shooting to beat 29 minutes. Come join me at the race and see how you do. Details can be found at http://www.shamrocknroll.org/. I hope to see you there!

Sideways Rain: 2/26/08

Have you ever been outside in a hurricane? I haven't, but this morning felt like it. I've been out in the heavy rain before, but I have never been out in weather like this. Especially without some type of rain coat or umbrella. I don't even think an umbrella would have done me any good anyways. The ripping wind would have probably blown the umbrella right out of my hand. If I could have held on to the umbrella, I would have probably done a horrible impersonation of Mary Poppins.

We were doing the long run around Atlantic Station today at boot camp. We had about 3/4 mile left in the route before we got back, and the bottom dropped out. I'm not talking about a normal rain; it was a downpour. Within a couple of minutes, my clothes were completely soaked and my shoes had filled up with water. It made it extremely tough to lift heavy, water soaked shoes after already having run 3 miles.

The heavy rain continued to pour down, and, after a few minutes, the wind picked up. The rain was blowing sideways and the power lines were waving as the wind was blowing extremely fast. There was a flag at the corner of Howell Mill Road and 17th Street that looked like it was about to blow off the pole! Given the fact that I was already completely soaked from the rain, the stinging rain made it that much worse. I had to adjust my hat to deflect the piercing rain from hitting me directly in the face. Needless to say, I quickly picked up my pace and raced to the finish line. It's amazing what kind of motivation a soaking rain will give you.

For some strange reason, when we got done, all I could do was laugh. Everyone was soaked and it was a little chilly. We were all miserable, but most of us had a positive attitude. Collette said that it was the most fun she had ever had doing the long run, and I believe her. I would probably even have to agree with her.

After surviving a jog in the storm that brought tornadoes to several different areas of the state, downed trees and a loss of power to thousands around the Atlanta area, I really don't have an excuse to not work out in some of the worst weather that mother nature has to throw at us. It's the type of mindset that some people may say makes me crazy, but it gives me an incredible amount of motivation to get out there and work out. Like the United States Postal Service motto states: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. " This is the kind of motivation that I am going to have to keep in order to complete the goals which I have set for this year.

Chastain Chase 5K Results: 2/25/08

Ran the Chastain Chase 5K on Saturday morning. Finished it in 29:47. Unfortunately, I didn't beat my previous 5K time, but I peformed well. The course around Chastain Park was extremely hilly. One hill along Lake Forrest Drive was so steep that it almost felt like I was running up stairs. The long, gradual hill along Powers Ferry Road also made for a difficult finish. I really struggled on the hills, but boot camp instructors Collette, Denny, and Mari stayed with me the whole time and kept me motivated and moving. I wanted so bad to stop running and walk, but my "support team" kept me running the entire race.

We had a huge group of boot campers at the race. There were probably about 25 people wearing The American Boot Camp Company shirts that showed up for the race. We had runners of all different skill levels wearing a rainbow of different colored shirts. I saw red, blue, green, black, gray, pink, and white boot camp shirts. We had a great presence at the race. Plus it was nice to have most of them there to join me in my third race of this year-long journey.

I also had several friends that joined me in Saturday's race. It was nice to have some additional support from some non boot campers. These are also some of the folks that I hang out with on a regular basis and have personally seen my transformation so far. Their support adds even more to the constant support that I receive from the boot camp staff. Thanks David, Ed, John, Katherine, Paige, and Rebecca. I really appreciate it.

We started week 4 of boot camp at West Midtown today. This is our last week of the February session. Today's workout was tough, but I felt great afterwards. We did a workout consisting of football type drills that included 30-20-10 second sets with sprints in between. We mainly worked the lower body, but then focused on the upper body and abs during our extra credit workout. Yes, I had extra credit today because I didn't exactly follow the meal plan over the weekend. What can I say, I ate some chips and had a couple of beers at The Taco Stand the other night while out with some friends.

I'm looking forward to see what kind of progress I've made this month. I'll find out on Friday when we have our base test. I'll keep you posted on how I do...

Jumping rope brings back memories: 2/21/08

When was the last time that you jumped rope? It was probably some time back in middle school for me. Well, we did a jump rope workout at boot camp on Tuesday. I was in major pain afterwards. My legs were burning...especially my calves! Someone mentioned during the workout that jumping rope for 10 minutes is the equivalent of running 3 miles. I believe them. I was so worn out afterwards. It's been a while since I've been that exhausted after a workout. It was painful to experience, but it felt great to complete such a rigorous workout.

We had a very fun workout this morning. It was the free "Bring a Friend to Boot Camp Day" and we had 4 visitors join us for today's workout. We did a suicide type workout where we ran back and forth between cones and did different exercises at each cone. It's one of my favorite workouts that we do at boot camp. It's fast-moving and we are always doing something different to workout different parts of our body.

Got the Chastain Chase 5K on Saturday morning. I'm really looking forward to it. I actually went and ran around Chastain Park last Saturday afternoon in order to add some bigger hills to my run. I have a couple of small hills on my regular 3 mile route, but none as big as some of those around the Chastain golf course. It was also very nice to be back in my old neighborhood and to see some of the familiar sights that I haven't seen in a couple of years.

I'm hoping I can improve my 5K time on Saturday. I'm aiming to beat 29:02. The pressure is on me to perform well as several of my friends plus a large group from boot camp are running the race with me. I'm also praying that it won't be raining. It's going to be bad enough working out in the rain tomorrow morning. Hopefully, it will move on through and leave us with a dry Saturday morning for the race. I'll keep you posted on how I do. Maybe I'll see you on Saturday morning at the race...

Boot Camp Indoors: 2/14/08

We had a nice indoor boot camp workout today at the gym located on The Howard School Campus where the West Midtown boot camp is held. Thank God! It was freezing outside. I think it was about 25 degrees this morning when I left the house. Luckily, we have access to a gym and were able to take advantage of it. We did a nice workout working the legs. We ran some suicides, did some sprints, some shuffling up and down the basketball court, and even used some basketballs in some of the exercises. It was nice to get a good indoor workout for once.

This week's workouts have been much easier on my body than last weeks. Probably due to this being the second week of boot camp as opposed to the first. I guess my muscles have gotten used to the workouts, but, unfortunately, my body is still in the process of making the transition to getting up at 5:15 in the morning on a regular basis. I have been extremely tired during the mid afternoon and have come very close to falling asleep during a couple of meetings this week.

I've got the Chastain Chase 5K coming up next weekend. I hope I can keep up my streak of breaking my previous race times. It's going to be a real test for me to beat 29:02, but I'm going to try. Fortunately, I'll have some of my boot campers and instructors there to cheer me on and run with me. I've even talked some of my friends into running the race with me. You should come out and join us!

No pain, no gain? 2/8/08

As the old adage goes, "No pain, no gain." Well, this week has certainly proved that. We've had two days of ab workouts and today we worked our legs and glutes. My abs have been in constant pain throughout the past couple of days. Getting up out of a chair, bending over, and even lying in the bed. My abs have ached, but I've been able to work through it. Just when my abs started feeling better, today's workout left my lower body in pain. I could feel muscles that I didn't even know I had as I walked around. Luckily, this pain wasn't too terribly bad and didn't last too long. By the mid afternoon, I felt fine.

As much as it hurts, I must admit that it feels good. Knowing that my muscles are burning, reinsures me that I'm making a difference to my body...and that's why I'm doing this. As much as my abs have ached this week, they are probably the weakest part of my body and need the most improvement. I'm glad that we've focused on this particular body part. Who knows?!? Maybe I can turn this beer gut into a six pack...

I've got the Chastain Chase 5K coming up in a couple of weeks, and I'm planning to do some running this weekend. I'm going to try something new and head over to Memorial Park and go for a run around it. Maybe I'll see you out there...

First Day of Boot Camp at West Midtown: 2/4/08

Started boot camp today at the West Midtown boot camp location. The was the first group of 2008. It was tough getting up early and being out there by 5:45 a.m. again, but it felt good to be back at it. It was especially nice to see some familiar faces that I hadn't seen in a while. As well as meet some of the new boot campers. Fortunately, the rain had already moved on, but the ground was still plenty wet. I sometimes ask myself what in the world I'm doing when I'm lying on the ground working out in soaking wet clothes, but then I realize you have to make sacrifices in order to succeed.

The workout today was tough. I could definitely feel the burn that I hadn't felt in several weeks. I certainly could tell that my laziness over the past month had an effect on my body. I've tried to get up on my own in the morning and workout, but it's hard to do. It also felt good to have the boot camp instructors there with us while working out. Their constant encouragement really helps me make it through the workout.

One of the first day rituals of boot camp is doing the base line test which consists of the number of push-ups and sit-ups you can do in a minute and running a mile. My push-up numbers have greatly improved, but my sit-ups have only seen little improvement. I'm still trying to push myself harder and improve my core so that I can do more, but it's tough. My mile time did increase, mainly due to the fact that I haven't been running for the past month, but I was still able to keep it under 9 minutes. Considering that my best mile time is 8:29, I'm not too worried about reaching that point again and improving it.

This session of boot camp is going to be especially tough for me with my current work schedule, but I'm going to stay positive. I've seen great results so far and I don't plan on slacking off any. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Boot Camp Workout: 1/23/08

Met the boot camp folks this morning for a workout at Centennial Park. It was interesting working out in the middle of downtown Atlanta with all of the buildings surrounding us. I know it's hard to believe, but that place is really quiet early in the morning. The workout went great considering it was cold and wet. I think the change in venue had everything to do with that. It was nice to be preoccupied with my surroundings instead of realizing how miserable I was rolling around on the wet grass.

Some of the exercises this morning felt great, others were painful. I can definitely tell an overall improvement in my body, but there is still much to be desired. I believe my abs and legs have probably gone through the biggest transition. Doing flutter kicks and ab bridges this morning felt much easier than before. I guess my running has improved my core and strengthened my abs. I used to struggle and exert all of my energy to do an ab bridge for 30 seconds. Doing one today seemed like a breeze. It felt great!

This was the first time I have worked out in over a week. Been real busy with work and haven't been able to find time to squeeze in any exercise time. Plus the snow over the weekend and frigid temperatures haven't exactly motivated me to get out there. This morning's workout was tough due to my inactivity, but I felt great afterwards. I can't wait for the next session of boot camp to begin on February 4th. I'm ready to get back in the swing of things.

Around Peachtree Battle 5K: 01/12/08

Ran the Around Peachtree Battle 5K this morning. Finished it in 29:02! That's 2:18 faster than my last 5K in December. I am so excited! I've called all of my friends and family today to brag on my latest accomplishment. They are all very impressed. I can't believe that I beat 30:00!

Personally, I was really shocked with my result. While running the very hilly course (and I mean very hilly), I thought that there was no way I would break my previous time. Thanks to my boot camp instructors Mari and Denny for hanging with me the whole time and helping me keep up a steady pace. I don't know if I could have done it without them. There were several times that I wanted to stop and walk for a little while, but they encouraged me to keep running and kept me going the whole time.

Let me add that my boot camp instructors make me finish the race strong. By "strong", I mean sprint the last stretch of the race. We turned it on for the last two tenths of the race this morning. It was tough, but sprinting up that hill and seeing the timer at the finish line was an incredible experience. I can't tell you how excited and shocked I was. Very tired and cold (it was really cold this morning when the race started) and seeing that timer just gave me even more motivation to finish strong. One friend of mine who finished the race a few minutes before me (he's a marathon runner by the way) noticed it and commented to me on it. That was a very nice compliment coming from such an avid runner and really made me feel good about my race time.

Not being in boot camp this month and having to work out on my own really had me worried about this race. I've been trying to run on my own most days of the week, but I haven't run this week since Tuesday morning. I can only imagine what kind of improvement I can make throughout this year once boot camp starts back up. I also can't wait for boot camp to start back up in February. With my progress so far, I'm excited to get back in the swing of things and start it back up. I've lost 25 lbs. since I started boot camp in October and I want to keep dropping weight.

Pictures

First Organized Run: 01/08/2008

Went on my first organized run of 2008 this morning with some folks from The American Boot Camp Company. Met some boot camp folks at IKEA and ran 3.5 miles around Atlantic Station in about 34 minutes. It felt great! Running with a group really helps me keep a faster pace compared to when I’m running on my own. Plus, the company is nice.

Most of the group was very impressed with my pace and stamina. Guess I can contribute that to jogging 3 miles almost everyday this month. I’ve been trying to, at the very least, jog each day. I really need to be doing more, but I’m really focused on this upcoming 5K this weekend. I wish boot camp was going on this month because I could really use the additional workouts and motivation to get up early in the morning. Plus, the instructors push us past our comfort zones and the workouts seem so much more intense.

I’ve got the Around Peachtree Battle 5K coming up this Saturday morning. Hope I can keep up my pace and run the race in around 30 minutes. I know some of the boot camp folks are going to be running in it as well. I’m sure they will be encouraging me during our run. I hope it’s not too cold. The forecast is calling for lows in the mid-30's.

Background Information

Let me give you a little bit of background information on me. My name is Hunter. I am a 30-year-old male living in Atlanta, Georgia. I am 6’0” tall and weigh 265 lbs. I am overweight. I have always been a little on the heavy side, but it has gotten worse over the past few years. I needed to make a change. I started trying to exercise in the evenings after work, but with my work schedule and other activities, I found it hard to get into a routine. I needed to try something else. One day, I got an email about The American Boot Camp Company and decided to give it a try. They were operating a boot camp not too far from my house and I signed up for it. I figured that working out in the morning was about the only way that I could get into any routine.

I showed up on that first day to boot camp and they tested us. They wanted to see how many push-ups and sit-ups we could do in a minute. Plus, we had to run a mile. Run a mile! I can’t tell you the last time that I had even attempted that distance! Well, I ran/walked a mile and it took me 14:42 to do it. Five weeks later I was down to a 9:39 mile time. After 9 nine weeks of boot camp, my lowest mile time has been 8:29. Can you believe that! Six minutes taken off my mile time in nine weeks! I was very impressed with my results.

My mile time has not been the only thing that I have seen results in. To this point, I have lost 25 pounds. I look much slimmer than I did previously. Everyone I know can see a difference and has commented on it. All of my pants are too big in the waist and my belts need a couple more holes punched in them in order for me to continue to wear them. This is a direct result from the combination of working out during boot camp and following a healthy eating plan which the boot camp instructors monitor daily.

As tough as it is to get up early in the morning and go and workout, I have really enjoyed it. The group dynamic of boot camp along with the constant guidance and encouragement of the boot camp instructors have really had a positive impact on my performance. I find myself constantly pushing to the edge of and beyond my comfort zone when working out. The boot camp workouts are so much more intense than any workout I have ever done on my own. I know it sounds crazy, but I enjoy doing the boot camp workouts more than working out on my own.

Welcome

Welcome to Boot Camp Hunter’s blog. I am an average guy living here in Atlanta and am about to start an incredible adventure. With the help of The American Boot Camp Company, I am going to run at least one race a month. Starting out small with a couple of 5K’s, I’m going to work myself up to 10K’s and possibly onto a sprint triathlon or ½ marathon. With the guidance of my boot camp instructors, I am going to make the transition from a regular guy into a runner. Using only morning boot camp workouts and a healthy eating plan to train, you can watch how I improve my overall fitness level, my race times and see how I become a life-long athlete in only a year.

Several weeks ago, one of the boot camp instructors called me and proposed to me this idea of being a blogger for The American Boot Camp Company. They want me to participate in at least one race a month and then write about it on a blog. Not too hard of a commitment, plus it gives me a goal to work towards each month. I told them I would do it, and here I am. I hope you will join me on this adventure over the rest of this year. I will be posting my thoughts and experiences during this adventure as well as my results from each race I participate in. Remember, we have something in common. I'm just like you. I am the guy that always comes up with excuses not to exercise; the guy that eats too much; the guy that has too much fun out at the bars; the guy whose weekends in the fall consist of nothing but football; the guy who's idea of exercise is walking 18 holes of golf. I am a regular guy who has decided to make a change. If I can do it, so can you.