Muskelkater (Muscle Hangover)

Every day now, more and more of this “CTI” thing is being revealed to us.  All the mystery and anxiety surrounding what had only been hinted at before is being peeled away.  There are fewer and fewer surprises, although each day brings with it something unexpected. 

Last week we had our first of four Baseline tests for the year.  This is their way of finding out if the PT they are putting us through is working or not.  They also used our results to split us into four groups for PT, based on our ability: groups A, B, C1 and C2.  I wonder why no one has come up with better names for the designation, because everything else here is very colorful and creative.  I’m in team RED 1, for example.  We already have a team van (Red, named Rick), a team gesture (Raise the Roof), and team chant for each morning (“Good morning [insert name of city currently in]!  It’s going to be a beautiful day”).  Good luck imagining me doing any of those things…yet I have, and do regularly…  Baseline involved doing as many sit-up and push-ups you can, given two minutes for each, then following that with a nice 1.5 mile run.  For the record, my stats were 47 sit-ups, 33 push-ups and a 13:54 1.5 mile run.  I would like to do better, but it was good enough to get me into the B group, which was actually my goal for CTI.  Now I need something to push me forward for the next month; there’s a 5k on Thanksgiving that I’m looking at running (I may have already mentioned it).

Regardless, Baseline set the stage for PT.  5:30 Monday morning.  Full corps workout.  500 people.  We stretched, then did some crunches and push-ups.  Then we ran a mile.  Then we stopped, did some more push-ups, some planks, some squat-thrusts, and some more crunches.  Then we ran a mile back.  Then we did some more push-ups, crunches, squats, and chased all that down with a few last push-ups, in what they called the “spider-man” position.  If you can read all that and not be sweating, I applaud you.  I knew I was getting in a workout when I picked up my hands after doing some push-ups, and I had left hand-prints on the pavement. 

PT kicked my butt.  It was great.

The next day, more of the same.  5:30 am, only the name of the day had changed.  B group met, stretched, pushed and sat up, and then we were divided into two subsections for the run.  We were given the choice, a 2.3 mile run or a 3 mile run.  Remembering how I felt the day before and wanting to make it to the end of the session, I chose the 2.3 mile run.  I’m glad I did, because the 3 mile group quickly became the 4 mile group.  For my part, we ran a little over a mile, stopped and crunched and pushed-up our way again, then ran back.  On Monday, I hadn’t been able to run the two miles without pausing for breath halfway through, but Tuesday I was determined to make it all the way back.  I just kept my legs moving and to my astonishment, ran the whole thing non-stop.  With my adrenaline pumping, I attacked the last sets of push-ups, et al., and really felt good after the workout.  Nowhere near as winded as I had been the day previous. 

We had this morning off from PT (and my knees and calves are thankful for that), but tomorrow we are right back at it.  Same time, same place.  And our days have been pretty easy following PT here.  I can’t wait to see what my body feels like when we workout in the morning, then follow that with an 8-10 hour day of work.  

But if I can convince myself to just keep moving my legs, I think I’ll be just fine.  I may even come to enjoy this.   

Happy Halloween!