Angry lovechild of capture the flag and tag.

Heading back to training.  One of my training partners, we’ll call her R, hates weights.  Of all shapes and sizes.  Hate is a strong word.  It conjures images of loathing, ridicule and scorn.  So…”hate” works just fine.  She is a cardio chick with a thing for running.  We’ve run together once.  There was a lot of crying, swearing and a little dry heaving.  All on my side of it.  People say running is fun and chasing something is more fun.  I’m of a slightly differing mind set.  Cover me in gravy and let loose a German Shepard…then you’ll see me run.

Time for a continuity break…

It’s a little my fault.  In fairness, she thought I could run.  So do a lot of other people I work with.  See, I volunteered to go to a camp.  One of the activities at said camp was the Animal Game.  Think of it like the angry lovechild of capture the flag and tag…then add the fear element of being hunted by another person.  The Animal Game is to Tag what Paintball is to Laser Tag. 

Fear is a wonderful motivator. 

This, in and of itself, is enough to give people pause.  The consellors at the camp gave out all the good jobs to other adults leaving me to be a squirrel or “something else you can think of”.  I came up with the Grim Reaper...the kids called me death.  Rules of the game were simple.  If you were caught, one of your lives was mine.  They offered the teachers a soft bean bag to toss as an alternative to running and to preserve our dignity.  Check that at the door.  I’m running.  No bean bag for Momma Maher’s boy.

I showed up in the following:
- Trail Runners
- Gators
- Camoflage
- Face Paint
- Gloves

The game starts up and I am paired with the runner.  We look at this game very differently.  She sees it as a game.  I see it as natural selection.  The chase was on and the screaming started.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not what I would call “Physically Imposing”.  I am a towering 5’7” (if I stretch) and, as previously shared, look like a brick on barbie legs.  But I’m fast and I have very little regard for “obstacles” or personal safety.

They run around a tall bush or brambles…I’m going through it.  Branches?  They should break.  I saw an opening between two trees…didn’t even slow…even after I clipped one and it spun me around before I could keep going.  Pure fun.  I ended up doing the game multiple times and running for hours on end.  Never even registered the time or distance.  Just the fun of it all.

Still don’t like to run.  But I can, and will, do more of it.  It’s a game changer for me.

I digress.

Back to my training.  My partner likes cardio, I like weights.  We needed a compromise and I wanted something to discuss on my blog to motivate and educate others.  Enter HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training.

Basically HIIT is and aerobic capacity exercise paired with an anaerobic exercise.  For those of you who didn’t follow that…it’s a cardiovascular exercise and a strength based exercise done in alternating series in a variety of ways.  This has been replicated in numerous different styles and programs from Fartlek to the modern WOD.

So, over the next few weeks I will discuss with you the benefits (or detriments) of HIIT and give you my rookie opinion at the training and wide spectrum results.

This will be in addition to other training modalities that "may" bolster some results but in no way should it alter what is capable by a motivated individual.

I will also be using a bunch of different pieces of equipment to showcase their benefits and unique ways to use them.

By the way, in regards to the animal game, the kids got to leave comments about their time on the trip and what they remembered.  My favorite is as follows: “I looked closely at a tree and it smiled and chased me down…I was so scared. It was awesome.”

I love my job.