D.N.F. Bootcamp Day 1

“D.N.F” sadly stands for “Did Not Finish”. Yes everyone – it was bad, really bad.........

It is midnight now of Day 1, and I am thankful that I survived Day 1 – but boy, it was really tough. Well, maybe it was not suppose to be that tough and I WAS JUST THAT UNFIT!

As i attempt to finish this blog to share with everyone my experience, words cannot explain the muscle pain and the occasional “lack of breath” that i am still experiencing now – 4 hours after we finished Day 1 at 8pm just now!

Monday started positively – good start in the office, meetings going well. And at the back of my mind, excited about the Bootcamp at 6.45pm. And yes, was constantly drinking water as instructed thru out the day.

Made sure i organized my time and be at Astaka Field on time. Did well when i got there at 6.15pm! good start!

People started walking to the meeting place – differentiated by newbies like me in our assorted t-shirts and the veterans in their “Original Bootcamp” t-shirts. But all friendly people – all of us in all sizes and shapes.....

6.30pm paid our registration fees and also got our own new “Original Bootcamp” t-shirts and by 6.45pm, everyone was in their Bootcamp t-shirts! I got myself an XL t-shirt but immediately regretted as it felt a bit tight, should have gone for XXL as this must be Asian XL that don’t feel like the usual XL that i fit well in . But Michelle and Alex who came to support and take some photos for me suggested i stick to the XL t-shirt and hopefully, by the end of the month, this XL t-shirt will feel loose from the weight i should have lost then!

When we were called to the field by Sgt S and his 3 assistants – 1 Corporal and 2 Lance Corporals, we were given the first basic instructions which included:
1. We have to address them all by their RANKs at all times
2. There will be the need to keep proper attendance and timing on every training day as our “future team” will be penalized with extra workouts if one of our members break any of the rules – this will be “Peer pressure” big time!
3. We have to workout only in our “Original Bootcamp” t-shirt

After the briefing, the approximately 60 of us (about 40 newbies and 20 veterans of Bootcamp) was ordered to start slow jogging in 2 lines......so we proceeded to about 20 minutes of warm-ups of jogging, stretching, lunging..... MISTAKE 1 here – i should have taken it super easy during this 20 minutes as i was about to suffer.....suffer real bad.

After the warm-up, we started the Assessment Tests. This is conducted on every 1st session of each month. This will be used to divide us into teams – and as our timing of each assessment is to be put on the website for our records, Sgt S encouraged the veterans to use this assessment test to compare if they have improved from their previous Assessment Tests.

2 Assessment Test was conducted – both Time based test....and it was really really really challenging.

Assessment Test 1:
A 3 repetition sets of a series of exercise comprising of – 2 rounds of the 200meters track, 10 push-ups, 10 crunches and 15 sit-ups! All these must be done within 15 minutes.

This was the toughest test for me! Maybe because i started by “overestimating” my fitness level – I should have paced myself.....Set 1 went strongly for me. But by the end of the 15 sit-ups of Set 1, i knew that i am in trouble – I was already out of energy!!!!! And i have 2 sets of the series of exercises to do!

Trust me – it was not easy for an unfit guy like me. As I struggle to complete Set 2 – my mind has started to wonder if indeed I had made a big mistake. Is Bootcamp really for me? Will I come back on Wednesday? Do i really need this? Is staying at 91kg really that bad?

I struggled to complete Set 2 – was already walking most of the 2 rounds of running and by the time i came to the push-ups, i was really taking my time....I was not going to make it thru this assessment.....

And true enough, as i completed the 2 rounds of running of the finally 3rd set – Sgt S shouted “Times Up”. Anyone that didn’t complete the full 3 sets were given “DNF – Did not finish”. So i am now in the DNF group.....but at that moment, i really didn’t care, I was more concern with the cramps that i was starting to feel and also I wasn’t breathing so well too – i try breathing hard but somehow i don’t seem to get enough Oxygen....maybe its time i slow down on the ciggie and cigars......

We were given 10 minutes to rest – and we were told to NOT SIT DOWN, just keep slow walking around or we will be of worst shape for Assessment Test 2!

Assessment Test 2:
Running 8 rounds on the 200meter track = 1.6km within 15 minutes.
This was challenging for me mostly because I was still recovering from the first test! So it was a struggle....as I slowly push pass round 5, I really felt that this was not for me.....too tough........

But as i run pass round 7, Sgt S shouted “13 minutes”. I was 1 round away from completion of the test and there is still 2 minutes to go! So with all the remaining desire and will in my body – I pushed forward and HOOYAH! I completed the 8th round and test at 14 minutes 1 second – 14.01!

So no “DNF” for me this time.....!

As we wrap up the session with some warm down exercises – I thought to myself, maybe i need to stick to this and see if i can push pass the pain barrier. Afterall “No Pain No Gain” .

So as i call it a night (I can feel the muscles and body aching), I think i will give this a chance. I will be there on Wednesday for Day 2, Bootcamp......

Of course, that is provided i survive tomorrow when i wake up.......HOOYAH???