Burpees and bear crawls

Nothing very exciting to report, so I thought I'd fill you in on our new morning fitness routine. We've been doing this three times a week since the end of February. I swear, every time the alarm goes off, there is about 45 seconds of wingeing (a great Aussie term), occasionally a bit of swearing, creative excuses for not getting out of bed, etc. but eventually we unfurl, and sleepwalk up to Observatory Hill for our 30-minute torture session with Daniel, our "conditioning coach". It's a love/hate relationship.

This all came about because over the past few months, we've noticed a peculiar outdoor group fitness phenomenon - people charging at each other with boxing gloves, throwing around medicine balls, etc. It's everywhere. We were curious and agreed it might be good to try something other than running - I believe this is called "cross training".

Yeah. Cross training. This term scares me. Chris pointed out a group of decidedly fit people running, jumping and rolling around on the grass on top of Observatory Hill, so we tentatively approach to see what is going on. Fast forward four days and we are chin down in the muddy grass, doing body blasts, spiderman crawls, sprinter shuffles, star jumps, hover-to-pushups, and another 10 things that I can't remember the names of because they were so painful I blocked them out. Oh, wait. There were bear crawls and burpees too. Who came up with the term burpee?

The stuff is hard. The next day neither of us can get out of bed. But it gets us going in the morning, and our group is small so we've gotten to know some interesting personalities. It's amazing the things you say to complete strangers when you're in pain.

Last Monday we arrive at 7:05 and about 15 minutes in, it starts raining. I don't mean a light, lovely mist to cool your face, this is a deluge. So the group starts wingeing (I so LOVE it!) and moping around. Tamsen isn't happy. Emily certainly isn't happy, but Daniel isn't about to give in. It is pouring and I'm drenched and muddy, but I have to admit, I did feel a little bit like Rambo doing push-ups in the mud. The last session of our 8-week "commitment" was Friday, but now I'm worried. I mean, we can't just STOP, right? What's gonna happen? I get up the next morning instantly sad and flabby?

Our next session begins on Monday.