I just met my friends Blaine and Amy (Blaimy) before dawn in the park to run up 12th street a few times. We do a prologue warm up lap through the park before the hellish laps up the hill begin.
Today the park was full of groups of chanting bootcampers, counting in unison and waving their arms. I’m vaguely disdainful of them but I don’t really know why or if I should be.
Blaine’s a multiple Ironman finisher and Amy’s a Boston marathoner a few times over. I’ve done a few races. I wonder if the bootcampers look down the row of other chanting, gesticulating forms at the three of us warming up and think “Endurance athletes. Hah!”
We ran past a big group chanting and running up a short hill in formation and I found myself wishing they were headed off to attack a rival bootcamp group. That would be entertaining. I imagine young housewives and Jr sales associates and Information Technology II’s all charging into one another and chanting numbers and a smile eases onto my face.
I think I’m disdainful because I consider bootcamps to be working out without a goal other than just to work out. Maybe they do races too, I don’t know. I definitely would hate having someone tell me what to do, though.
I did a bootcamp at Turner’s corporate offices with my buddy Doug and it did wear me out, so it’s definitely hard work and all that. It’s just not for me.
We ran on and another group was gesticulating wildly and earnestly as some very peppy people shouted in rhythm at them.
“Look,” I said “They’re doing the Boogaloo”
That cracked Blaine up. I think I could have gotten a bigger laugh out of him had we not been running.
A few minutes later we passed yet another big knot of people chanting and running in a circle. One of their leaders shouted “Joggers coming through!” and they parted in majestic unison like those schools of fish you see on nature shows when a seal swims at them.
Call me a jogger and I’ll knock you out.
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Yes, you should be disdainful of them. I certainly am. Maybe just because I exercise because it is so damn FUN, and I don’t know why anyone would choose to do it in a non-fun way while yelling and getting yelled at.
But I agree, I would like to see some sort of Tropic Thunder-style situation develop in Piedmont Park. With faux-SEALs in the little lake, faux-Special Ops in the forest behind the dog park, maybe even a battle to take Park Tavern?
I took one after having a baby. I liked having someone make me do what I could not make myself do because I was too tired from being a new mom and housewife. I suppose everyone has a different way of doing it. I am just glad that some of us do, no matter how we get there.