Jan 03, 2009 01:37
2300 27 DEC 2008
There is a joke that says if you and your buddies come across a bear in the woods, you don’t need to worry: You don’t need to be able to run faster than the bear, you just need to be faster than one of your friends.
My new shipmates look at me strangely when I refer to myself as heavy, overweight, big, out of shape, or anything along those lines. They don’t understand that very recently I was a full 10% larger than I am now. Ten percent, or sixteen pounds in this case, doesn’t sound like a lot, but that is about how much weight a woman loses when she drops out a baby and its associated placental muck. While I didn’t shed my pounds that quite that instantly, they did go rapidly enough that I am still not yet used to my new smaller and much healthier self. The mental shift has not entirely occurred yet. My entire life I have been heavy, clunky, and woefully unable to do many physical activities. I still expect to look down and see that body. A little part of me is suspicious that all of the mirrors in my life were swapped with a funhouse set and I don’t actually look this narrow to anyone else.
Because my expectations are still lagging behind my reality, I am genuinely surprised when I can do something I couldn’t before. Even simple things, like running. Three months ago, a slow run of only a couple hundred feet would have sent my heart rate soaring, pain shooting through both my knees, and to anyone watching would have looked awkward and labored. No question about it: I would have been eaten by the bear. Now, it’s a totally different story. Now I can run. I am by no means a sprinter (and never will be) or able to run forever in a marathon, but I can cruise around without feeling like I’m going to die. When I entered basic training, the running made me want to vomit, cry, and collapse in a heap all at the same time. Now, it’s almost… funnish. We have a long way to go before we arrive at fun, but we’re heading in the right direction.
I am going to the gym at least every other day and running on the treadmill or doing sprint intervals on the stationary bike. They both serve the same goal and the bike is much less jolting on my knees. And that’s not all! All of those exercises we did as punishment in basic - pushups, crunches, flutterkicks - they are all in my regular workout now. As horrible as they may be, I recognize that I need to keep my activity level up and weight down to stay this healthy. Officer School will require me to be in shape when I arrive. There won’t be any time to play catch up. Those damn exercises are the key to my success.
This new body is actually pretty fun. Realizing that my limits are now much further than they have ever been before, I am looking forward to getting out and getting sporty. I will be able to try new things. There’s nothing stopping me from surfing, rocking climbing, or water skiing. And I can rediscover activities I enjoyed before. Biking, hiking, dancing, and snowboarding are going to be so much more fun now.
No one comes out of boot camp the same person as when they began. Some people gain maturity and confidence. Some straighten up and get squared away. How did it change me? Basic training saved me from the bears.
aspen,
basic training,
bears