What Doesn't Kill You...

As the sun set on day 1 of the DIY Wellness Retreat, I was already mourning the impending loss of my muscles.

24 hours later, my pride would be the only thing preventing me from using the elevator to access my room, a meager one level below.

But, as Friedrich Nietzsche said, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” 

Well, after completing three days of wellness retreat workouts and living to write about it, I should be freaking superwoman. 

But, I’m not.  

Apparently superhuman powers aren’t generated by one day of boot camp hell.

“Boot camp” is basically code for forcing your body to do things it doesn’t want to do, so Lani and I decided to begin the day with an early morning run. 

It sounds easy enough, but there are two important things to note: 

1. I do not jog. 
2. I do not wake up early.

The good news is, when you fall asleep at 4:00am, an early morning jog doesn’t roll around until about 10:00.

The bad news is my idea of a good run is a 200m all out sprint, and Lani’s idea is a long, consistent jog.

And yet, Lani and I were surprisingly good running partners. I encouraged her to push her speed, and she forced me to ignore the expletives running through my head as my body begged me to stop.

As a result, that morning I ran a full mile for the first time in years.

Although it does not sound like an impressive feat, sometimes it’s the little victories that count the most, like making it home without passing out because I neglected to eat breakfast or drink water before we left the house. Victory.

After taking some time to eat and recover from my sheer stupidity, we threw on Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred, an amazing, but incredibly intense circuit workout.  

I tried to inspire myself during the workout by running a loop of the chorus to Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” through my head. Unfortunately, this was drowned out by the rhythmic cracking and popping of my joints, a less than motivating soundtrack.

My body later performed the full Rice Krispies’ ballad, complete with snap, crackle, and pop, when the sound of the snapping of a metronome entered my head during our afternoon run on the beach.

Normally I’m an online dating profile cliché – I love movies and long walks on the beach. But a beach walk is not exactly a boot camp caliber workout, so Lani and I attempted a first for both of us: a barefoot beach run.

My attempt at forefoot striking

It took a minute to adjust to forefoot striking so as not to injure ourselves, but it quickly became my favorite workout of the week. We even went on a second beach run on spa day. After all, the sand is nature’s pedicure.

All in all, the boot camp workouts were my favorite of the week. On the one hand, it was a painful reminder of just how out of shape I am. On the other, it was promising to realize that we’re generally capable of more than we give ourselves credit for.

Often times, when your health and body frequently betray you, it’s easy to make up excuses, and justify not pushing yourself to the limit. At least I’ve found that to be true in my case.

So when I was faced with my greatest challenge of the day, I did not back down.

I grabbed that handrail, and, one step at a time, I coaxed my legs down that single flight of stairs. It was not pretty, but I persevered.

It’s truly amazing what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it.