Sweating to the sunrise

A few weeks ago, probably hours after I enjoyed waking up on my own at a reasonable time without an alarm clock, I decided to sign up for the ultimate challenge and give myself a good a$$ kicking. I signed up for Shocker Fitness.

I have my walking friend Jenna to thank for introducing me to the program. She started mid-way through the last session and told me about all the "fun" I was missing. Seriously, what's fun about running sprints and bleachers before the sun gets up ... or really any time? Well, four weeks into this session and I have to admit that it's actually a good time in a crazy way. The workouts are led by the WSU track coach and staff three days a week at three different times. The earliest is best for us since Park is still sleeping and Craig works out at home on those mornings.

At the first workout, I went out a little too hard for the warm up and wanted to vomit during the remaining 45 minutes of 60 meter relays and bleacher climbing. Lesson learned. But this morning, four weeks and several hours of less sleep later, I was running faster for the warm-ups than I ever had and still had plenty of energy and enthusiasm to go for the circuit training that entailed running up and down bleachers and ramps, lunges, abs, push ups and power skips. And as I ran to the top of Cessna Stadium and caught the sun coming up, I realized that this is a pretty cool way to start the day and the view isn't nearly this good from my bed.

If you live in town and are looking for a challenge, I encourage you to check it out. All levels and ages are welcome (I'm pretty sure I got passed by a seven-year-old this morning).