In Upstream Arts class yesterday we were working on the social and communication skills integral to getting a job: we were practicing interviews. I was the interviewer and one of the questions I asked in class came back to me last evening as I was biking around the lakes.
“Do you like to work alone or with other people?”
I immediately made the leap to “do you like to workout alone or with other people?” Which made me think of community, especially of my YWCA Tim Pearson’s Boot Camp community. In fact, I had just come from that community at the downtown Y where we had gathered to wish Tim a happy birthday. This community didn’t just appear overnight though, so let me give you the full story.
You may remember from my last blog post that my awesome workout buddy Kari Kelly and I started taking Boot Camp because we had signed up for the Meltdown challenge and got a free class. We just happened to pick a class with Tim Pearson. Little did I know how that choice would impact my fitness, my health, my community, my life. I am so grateful for that seemingly random choice of instructors.
Those first few classes were something else, let me tell you! “You want me to do what? Crawl like a bear up two stories of ramps? I can’t do that,” is what I was thinking, but I went ahead and took the risk anyway. Despite being at the end of the pack of bear crawlers, with more than a few expletives escaping my thoughts and slipping out of my mouth, I tried. My arms were sore, sweat dripped off of me, I was wondering why in the hell I would put myself through such things voluntarily, I wanted to stop, but Tim was there with encouragement: “You’ve got this…just keep going.” He wasn’t in my face, yelling at me to get it done. He wasn’t shouting over me, white washing the difficulty by being overly enthusiastic. He was a real person, truly connecting with me and offering support. So on I went. Even signing up for the next session after those grueling first six weeks were done.
“You want me to do what? Sprint up that hill by the Walker backwards? I can’t sprint,” is what I was thinking, but I went ahead and tried. A “sprint” for me is not very fast, kind of like how my “running” is more like “jogging,” but I kept going. This time it wasn’t just Tim offering encouragement, but it was the other exercisers. “Way to go!” with applause as I reached the top. I had been intimidated by how close knit the class was – everyone seemed to know each other really well – but as time went on, I got to know people too. Like Kari and I, some people knew each other outside of working out. Like Kari and I, everyone was committed to improving his or her health. I had also been intimidated by how many people in class seemed to be in great shape already, but as time went on, I was grateful to hear them bemoaning how sore they were after the last workout or how they didn’t want to do burpees either.
Nearly a year passed, and I was still boot camping. I even started showing up to Saturday morning workouts at Minnehaha Falls with more of Tim’s followers. I occasionally went to Thursday 6am workouts with Tim and some fellow bootcampers (and you know I’m not a morning person). Some of my new workout buddies found me on Facebook and I joined our fitness group there. We sweat together, we all grunt as we swing kettlebells together, we all bitch and moan about whatever monstrous workout Tim has cooked up for us (and we like it!). We also support each other through injuries, achievements, disappointments, birthdays, motivation slumps, and new adventures. We are a community.
As for our leader, we couldn’t ask for a better trainer that Tim. I have often called him “my trainer person” when talking to friends and family outside of the boot camp community. For some reason, saying “my trainer” feels weird. Partially because of perception: “you can afford a trainer?!?” Partially because I imagine trainers to be in your face in a bad way. But mostly because I think of Tim as a person more than a trainer. He’s kind, he’s generous, he’s supportive, he’s committed, he’s amazing at what he does, and he has the following to prove it. Sure, he’s crazy fit: doing a 30 mile trail run the other week, lifting ridiculous amounts of weight, and earning a spot in the World’s Toughest Mudder (a 24 hour extreme competition…seriously, it’s nuts, google it). But he’s also genuine: recommending the swim instructor who he trains with, taking extra time to talk about nutrition, making a weight training plan to help me prep for the tri, emailing me when he hasn’t seen me in a while to check on my progress. So I might just stick with “my trainer person.”
“You want me to do what? Do a handstand with my feet against the wall and do some pushups? Bring it!”
As for the answer to that question: I prefer to work with other people.
“Do you like to work alone or with other people?”
I immediately made the leap to “do you like to workout alone or with other people?” Which made me think of community, especially of my YWCA Tim Pearson’s Boot Camp community. In fact, I had just come from that community at the downtown Y where we had gathered to wish Tim a happy birthday. This community didn’t just appear overnight though, so let me give you the full story.
You may remember from my last blog post that my awesome workout buddy Kari Kelly and I started taking Boot Camp because we had signed up for the Meltdown challenge and got a free class. We just happened to pick a class with Tim Pearson. Little did I know how that choice would impact my fitness, my health, my community, my life. I am so grateful for that seemingly random choice of instructors.
Those first few classes were something else, let me tell you! “You want me to do what? Crawl like a bear up two stories of ramps? I can’t do that,” is what I was thinking, but I went ahead and took the risk anyway. Despite being at the end of the pack of bear crawlers, with more than a few expletives escaping my thoughts and slipping out of my mouth, I tried. My arms were sore, sweat dripped off of me, I was wondering why in the hell I would put myself through such things voluntarily, I wanted to stop, but Tim was there with encouragement: “You’ve got this…just keep going.” He wasn’t in my face, yelling at me to get it done. He wasn’t shouting over me, white washing the difficulty by being overly enthusiastic. He was a real person, truly connecting with me and offering support. So on I went. Even signing up for the next session after those grueling first six weeks were done.
“You want me to do what? Sprint up that hill by the Walker backwards? I can’t sprint,” is what I was thinking, but I went ahead and tried. A “sprint” for me is not very fast, kind of like how my “running” is more like “jogging,” but I kept going. This time it wasn’t just Tim offering encouragement, but it was the other exercisers. “Way to go!” with applause as I reached the top. I had been intimidated by how close knit the class was – everyone seemed to know each other really well – but as time went on, I got to know people too. Like Kari and I, some people knew each other outside of working out. Like Kari and I, everyone was committed to improving his or her health. I had also been intimidated by how many people in class seemed to be in great shape already, but as time went on, I was grateful to hear them bemoaning how sore they were after the last workout or how they didn’t want to do burpees either.
Nearly a year passed, and I was still boot camping. I even started showing up to Saturday morning workouts at Minnehaha Falls with more of Tim’s followers. I occasionally went to Thursday 6am workouts with Tim and some fellow bootcampers (and you know I’m not a morning person). Some of my new workout buddies found me on Facebook and I joined our fitness group there. We sweat together, we all grunt as we swing kettlebells together, we all bitch and moan about whatever monstrous workout Tim has cooked up for us (and we like it!). We also support each other through injuries, achievements, disappointments, birthdays, motivation slumps, and new adventures. We are a community.
As for our leader, we couldn’t ask for a better trainer that Tim. I have often called him “my trainer person” when talking to friends and family outside of the boot camp community. For some reason, saying “my trainer” feels weird. Partially because of perception: “you can afford a trainer?!?” Partially because I imagine trainers to be in your face in a bad way. But mostly because I think of Tim as a person more than a trainer. He’s kind, he’s generous, he’s supportive, he’s committed, he’s amazing at what he does, and he has the following to prove it. Sure, he’s crazy fit: doing a 30 mile trail run the other week, lifting ridiculous amounts of weight, and earning a spot in the World’s Toughest Mudder (a 24 hour extreme competition…seriously, it’s nuts, google it). But he’s also genuine: recommending the swim instructor who he trains with, taking extra time to talk about nutrition, making a weight training plan to help me prep for the tri, emailing me when he hasn’t seen me in a while to check on my progress. So I might just stick with “my trainer person.”
“You want me to do what? Do a handstand with my feet against the wall and do some pushups? Bring it!”
As for the answer to that question: I prefer to work with other people.