Bootcamp at the football field

Wow! I just got home from a new bootcamp class some friends and I took that was being offerred for free at our local high school football field. I DID NOT expect what I encountered! I thought, "oh , it will just be a few ladies (stay at home moms who don't go to a regular gym, who are just getting their "feet wet" with a free class that is probably run by someone at the school" I heard it was hard, but I thought "yeah, but WHO'S saying its hard? Someone like me who works out all the time, or someone who never works out and this is new for them?"
Wow, was I in for a shock! It WAS hard. Yes, there were lots of moms with kids there (all 22 of us), and yes, some looked like this was probably their first time. But that did not stop the "drill sargeant" from laying it all on us! We started out with a warm up jog aroung the field-no big deal. I'm thinking we'll follow this up with some jumping jacks, maybe some sprints back and forth the field(like what u would do on a basketball court), some bleacher running for sure, and maybe some sit ups or some other type of "h.s. gym class" type of exercises. I did NOT expect to break into groups and go thru 5 minute circuit training that included FLIPPING A 5 foot in diameter TRACTOR TIRE side over side 10 times, then turn around and do it again, and again, and again! Nor did I expect to take a car tire and (try) to toss it over my head without using my knee or stomach for leverage, over and over and over again! (yes, I cheated and used my knee and stomach for leverage several times--you did notice how I said "try" to do this? I'm not quite sure how successful I was in this area). Then our third circuit was alternating between walking lunches, running with a huge bag of sand over our shoulder, and running with a keg filled with water in our arms----uuuuugggghhhhh! Finally our fourth circuit was running 3 sets of bleachers up and down, then sprinting behind them and doing it over again 2 more times. I have to admit that was my favorite part. I love repetitive high stepping simple moves. (leave the tires out of it puuulllleeeeaaasssseeeeee!) Then we all joined back up again for burpees-I hate these, and crab walks, I am beginning to really hate these too as our gym instructor Shelley has integrated these into our workouts now too (where do these instructors get these insane ideas???!!!). Then we went over to a longer set of bleachers and we all lined up and just ran up and down them a dozen times or so. Then to top it off she made us do 2-footed jumps from the ground to the bleacher. I was actually happy I could do this. I had seen it on Biggest Loser, and was never sure if I could jump that high, but I could, which was pretty cool. Then we came back to the field and did some planks and a few strectches, then we ended with a Word/scripture and some group prayer-that was definately pretty cool. I really love living in the Bible Belt where people are open with their belief in God and are willing and able to share it. It certainly has made for some really strong friendships based on similar beliefs and values.
The neat thing about this whole thing is that its completely free, and they even have some people to watch your kids if your kids are really young. Mine were old enough to hang out with their friends (my friends' kids) and watch us or play with the balls and jumpropes we brought. I thought that was really cool-I wonder if they have some sort of grant that is enabling them to do this, because that is a lot of time and effort to do completely without compensation, considering it was an hour, and they offer it 4 days a week (2 at the football field, and 2 at a church in town). Anyway, however they have worked it out to provide it, it is pretty cool. I don't know how many more I can go to based on my schedule, but it was fun and definately a good workout, and definately new! :)