Slow and Steady Wins the Race

All day I thought about that. What was the lesson in this? They're just burpees .... but there's something to picking a pace and sticking to it. Being okay with slow...

Tuesday was a big day. Not in any earth shattering way. At 6am, for the first time ever, I completed an entire burpee set.

Since my swimming days over ten years ago, burpees have been the demise of any workout. The constant up and down leaves me nauseous and out of breath before even knocking out a few. I'd even visited the doctor a couple years ago due to how they'd make me feel.  He advised me to see a cardiologist (which I still haven't done) so I found ways to modify the set over time. Two Saturdays ago I held back tears as the set was called out "60 bar facing burpees" to be repeated in a set over 10 minutes. The thought of it literally made me sick inside. Jaw-tightening-up sick. I proceeded with double the amount....of mountain climbers. Not even close to what the set called for.

By no means am I in the shape I was ten years ago, so why Tuesday when the clock started was a set of 86 soon to be accomplished?

"Guys, before we start these, pick a pace and stick to it." the coach yelled. I thought about his words and then he added, "trying to be fast leads you to stop and try to catch your breath, that's when you fall behind. Burpees are always done fastest when you take your time and don't stop."

hmm, I thought. If anything, I can do a modification if I start to feel sick. 

"3, 2, 1" and the music began to roar. No longer could I hear my heart beating or the sound of labored breathing. Slowly, I tackled out the first 42, a rowing set, and then moving to 28 more burpees and rowing again.

I'm still alive. Man, my legs are burning, but I'm not passing out. The last 16 were the longest set, but at no point did I need to bend over, hands on my knees to get my breath. Sweat moistened that stinky, chalk ridden floor. More thinking...this floor is so germy. Even though the entire thing took me 36 minutes, at the end I knew flood gates had opened. Woah ... wet hair caked my scalp and neck. After picking a pace and sticking to it, it was done.