Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Boot Camp - Disney Style

Because Molly and I are missing boot camp (well, maybe missing is not the word - more like Molly and I are absent at boot camp this week), we thought we should work out. We decided this would be a good idea so that next week, when it is week 3 of boot camp and things really get intense, we wouldn't be off on the side, whiffing in oxygen from the 911 paramedic team.

Yesterday, since it was my birthday, we did nothing. Except eat totally inappropriate food. And lots of it. And lay on the couch moaning and groaning about how much totally inappropriate food we ate.

This morning, in spite of staying up after midnight to witness the space shuttle that didn't take off, we decided to do the work out thing. We call it WDW Boot Camp, and I just thought I would highlight the differences between this boot camp and the one we attend in Nashville.

1. Nashville Boot Camp (hereafter referred to as NBC) starts promptly at 5:45. WDW Boot Camp (hereafter referred to at WDWBC) starts after we get up. And watch Jeopardy. Two episodes. And eat breakfast and a snack.

2. We warm up at NBC by walking around the gym, followed by jogging around the gym. We warm up at WDWBC by walking to Fort Wilderness and back. We jog once - from one tree to the next. And since we're in the woods, you can imagine how far apart the trees are.

3. We work our muscles at NBC by using our own personal 5-pound (and for the advanced people, 8-pound) weights. Since we didn't bring them in our luggage, we had to make do. So we went to the fitness room. There are a lot of Ibex or Apex or Ipecac or something machines. I once used them at the YMCA under the strict supervision of a professional. Here we were left to our own devices. So we adjusted weights and studied the diagrams. We managed to lift a little here and there and generally did something. Except for the one machine, which I will call the "pushy-leg machine." The concept is that you sit down and put your legs up on this platform and push it down. We couldn't get the seat adjusted, so we each ended up sitting down, hoisting our legs onto the platform, and completing the maneuver. The only bad part was the start, when our knees were stuck up by our ears.

4. At NBC, we keep our heart rates up in between strength exercises by doing cardio - running, jumping jacks, high knees, butt kicks, etc. We attempted to keep our heart rates up by using the cardio machines - which we didn't exactly know how to use either. I spent most of the time on the elliptical trying to figure out which way my legs were supposed to go - forward or backward. I think they went both ways, maybe at the same time. The bike wasn't much better, because it had about 1 million different programs, none of which seemed too desirable. Of course, it wasn't too encouraging at the end of my "ride" instead of listing my calories burned and heart rate, the display said, "Are you kidding me?"

5. After our wog in the woods and misusing most of the machines in the fitness room, we decided to return to our room to do our crunches and push-ups. Which we did. And I must say they were about as good as we do at NBC - meaning we were terrible at them and faltered half way through. But we tried, and are hoping that counts for something. Actually, I think my abs (or whatever exists in that general vicinity) were laughing their jiggly selves silly.

Our plan is that tomorrow we will WDW boot camp it again, hopefully starting a little earlier in the day. The space shuttle has been scrubbed again, so we can get to bed earlier. Now that we have a minuscule amount of experience in the fitness room, perhaps we can achieve greater results there. And maybe we'll do even better at our crunches and push-ups once we return to our room. We can dream.

After all, those Mickey Bars aren't going to lift themselves to our mouths!

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Things that made today special: Sleeping in after no shuttle, walking and working out with Molly, dinner and waiter at T-Rex, Segway tour on the trail, taking picture for family, video rental cast member

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