Is Liz Still Here?

Lucky for us, Liz Wickham agreed to share some of her Bootcamp experiences with everyone. Enjoy!

When I signed up for the Ice Chamber back in December 2006, I promised my husband, “One month. Two at the outside.” I only needed a kick-start to my fitness program. I knew how to stay in shape! After all, I met Maya in 2003 when we were both training for a marathon. I worked with a personal trainer and ran three times a week. After the marathon, I slowed down on the running but started spinning. Feel those quads, baby – rock-hard! I even wrote an article for the Pacific Sun on outdoor bootcamps and tried out a few, including the one Maya and Steve were running from their home at the time. But then I moved from Marin to the Eastbay, fell out of my exercise routine, got busy, and…well…you know. One day, just like that, I was suddenly fat, flabby, and old.

So, I finally responded to one of the Ice Chamber newsletters. But being the self-disciplined fitness expert I was, I knew I could get back into my routine in one month. Two at the outside.

Which, no surprise, is not what happened. After just a few 6 a.m. bootcamps I was hooked – on the constantly changing routine, the group energy, the rigor (this is no Curves!), and the kind of discipline only a drill sergeant could impose. I had to face the ugly truth: I’m a lousy self-disciplinarian. I can take a trainer’s written routine to the gym and go through the motions – assuming I make it to the gym in the first place. But there’s nothing like Steve and Maya in “gym coach” mode to get me doing 20 burpees or row 1,000 meters.
Seven months later I’m still old, but I’m no longer fat and flabby. I’m steadily losing the “heart attack fat” that was creeping up around my midsection. My upper arms have more definition. And in addition to training for a half-marathon next month, I’m playing soccer every Friday at noon with my much younger colleagues. My teammates have a special cheer for me: “Bend it like Wickham!”