Sue's bootcamp, part 1

Last Tuesday, I went for a short 5k run, I still had this annoying cold and didn’t feel all that well. When I came back, my Mom wanted me to show her some of our bootcamp exercises, since I have been talking about it non-stop. We grabbed the bikes and cycled to the park. I brought all my equipment with me – a medicine ball, a resistance band, a mat, cones, a jump-rope – everything. I found a great location in the park that was ideal for our “beginner bootcamp”. It was on a hill overlooking the lake, it had a couple of stairs, benches, poles, a curb and a stone wall (ideal for step-ups and tricep dips). My Mom had no idea what she was putting herself into and neither had I. Half of the time we had to stop exercising because we had to laugh so hard… My Mom's final conclusion was that it looks so easy when I demonstrate but it is really difficult when she actually has to do it… but overall, we got a good workout in. Since my Mom has never done such kind of workout, I also wanted to be gentle and also pay attention to her form which is probably more important than a high number of repetitions in the first class. I had a lot of fun and I think Mom did, too – she was quite sore the next day but she asked for a second workout, so I think she liked it.

The next day, my cold was getting worse (probably because I hate to rest…) but I had promised my Mom to test a new trail with her. It is a 10.5k “Nordic Walking” trail. Nordic Walking is really popular in Germany, I said I would join her on the trail but without all the Nordic walking equipment. We were only 1k into the trail when it was closed. There were signs saying “Trespassing, danger of life! Falling trees/logging.” I said “Mom, we can’t go there!” but my Mom was like “Why? I don’t hear a saw…let’s go!” and off she went. Indeed, there were no people working but the trail was completely covered with fallen trees, it was quite an adventure to climb over all those trees…and I think I got bitten by at least 5 mosquitos. After 30 minutes, we thankfully got on a “regular” trail again. I have never done Nordic Walking before, but somehow it is not my thing… it is faster than walking but slower than running, I always felt like I want to start running… but it was nice to chat and hang out with my Mom and Nuernberg’s countryside is really beautiful!