Weekend Warrior #1 Wrap-Up

Well, my first attempt at Weekend Warrior is in the books, and I think it was a great success! I may have had a smaller turn-out than I hoped for, but it was bigger than I expected.  Luckily, I planned for what I hoped for, so I wasn't short-handed with supplies.  Nine people showed up!!! And we had fun... well, at least I did.  The other nine people worked hard.

We started warming-up just running a little through the park, tossing in some high knees and butt-kickers.  We then did a push-ups/squats set, where everybody did 20 of each, then 15 of each, followed by 10 of each, and then finished with 5 of each.  And then we got into the proverbial meat and potatoes of the work-out.

I set up 8 cones in a row, about 3 feet apart.  With small, fast steps, the campers ran in and out of the cones, first forward, then backward.  Then they jumped over the cones, doing squat jumps up and over.  Then it was back to running in and out of the cones.  This time--since the cones were lined up east to west--they started running through the cones facing south (leading with their right side), and then the boot campers ran facing north (leading with their left side).  Finally, they jumped over the cones again, but this time they jumped on only one leg!  The kicker with this one is that they were not allowed to touch my cones!!!  If someone touched one of the cones, they did 3 Burpees (look it up on youtube).  If they knocked over one of my cones, it was 5 Burpees.  There were also some push-ups and squats in there again for everyone, but the fun part was the Burpees! (I just like the name Burpees, and so I keep saying it in work-outs and typing it in blog posts...)

After this set was over, I split the group up into two teams, one team of four and one team of five.  While one team ran what I call Double-8's, the other team played Ultimate Tag (again, my own name for this "game").  When the one team was done with Ultimate Tag, the teams switched and did the other activity.  What are Double-8's and Ultimate Tag?  Well, come to the next Weekend Warrior Boot Camp, and maybe you'll find out!

At the end, we had time for one more activity.  I asked people afterward what they're favorite part of the boot camp was, and almost everybody (if not everybody) said this last activity.  We ran what's called an "Endless Relay" race.  This time, I chose three team captains and then let those captains choose their teams.  We had three teams, and so we ran until there was a first place, a second place, and a third place.  It worked out perfectly, because everybody earned a podium spot!  And they earned their chance to relax and stretch out, drink some Gatorade and... see if they won anything in my drawing!

That's right, at the last minute, I pulled together some great give-away prizes for anyone who donated a minimum of $5 to Special Olympics Utah!  Everybody who came also donated, so not only did I raise $45 for Special Olympics Utah today, but everybody was entered into the drawing.  There were four prizes, so their chances were very good.  One person won a Blender Bottle, two people won a coupon for 50% OFF an hour massage, and one person won a FREE half hour massage!  Everybody who donated also received a card good for $5 off a full-hour massage. 

I plan to do this again, but I'm not sure when.  I will announce it here as well as creating an event on facebook, so look for my page: www.facebook.com/swiftri

I will have some of these same great prizes at the next one, so come, help a great cause, meet some new friends, get a good work-out, and have some fun!!!

Also, a huge thank you to everyone who came!!! It wouldn't have been so successful without you!