DANCING! 12/10/08
You would not believe me if I told you. You would not believe me if I showed you pictures to confirm it. You wouldn’t have believed it, even if you’d seen it with your own two eyes.
But it’s true.
I sang a solo before an audience of hundreds.
At the end of my song, “Froggy Went a Courtin’” (which you can download from iTunes) I bowed, as I had been instructed in the manner of gentlemen upon the stage, to the audience which I was certain numbered in the thousands. I was seven years old.
My voice cracked during my song. This brought laughter from that great host of people. My face turned bright red and I broke out into the worst “flop sweat” you could imagine. I could feel myself blushing with shame before that multitude as I struggled to sing above the laughter.
I don’t think I’ve been as frightened as I was then. Nor have I been as embarrassed.
Nothing like that awaits you if you come back to Boot Camp. Some of you have allowed a missed day to turn into a missed week … and a missed week to become a missed month … Until you’ve found yourself months in Turdeville … maybe even longer. And embarrassed about coming back. Don’t be.
As I’ve said often, when you return, you will be welcomed back like the Prodigal of the New Testament. I’ll put a ring on your finger and we’ll dance (not the Baptists, though) and we’ll feast and celebrate!! I might even sing again!
It’s seldom easy to do things that are hard. But the rewards, both physically and mentally, can hardly be cataloged, or overstated.
This morning I commended the hearty souls who mustered on the Quarterdeck in a cold drizzle. I counted upwards of 40! This is the gist of what I told them.
“The benefits of doing this are more than just physical. Yes, there is the exercise of the body that results in physical strength and vitality. But there is an emotional, spiritual, and mental benefit that comes with it too. It begins the night before when the decision is made to get up early, while the house is still and cold and the bed is warm and beckons like the Sirens in “Ulysses,” or the ones in “Oh Brother” if you prefer. Then the alarm goes off and the decision to get up is followed by the decision to dress and get outside where it’s dark and wet … and cold.
That decision is followed by the next one and the next one until at last you’ve staked your claim to your own piece of the Quarterdeck. Then for the next hour you’re harassed and badgered and worked like a mule … and then at last, it’s “DONE, ALL DONE!” … and you’re dismissed … and you sound off with a renewed strength and an “AYE, AYE SIR!” And driving home you feel the feeling that only comes with accomplishment, knowing that you’ve done something that few will ever do … and there is reason to be proud and satisfied in that … and there are few things in this life that give you those things. And you would be hard pressed to find one rich man in ten, with a satisfied mind like that.
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CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Congratulations and “WELL DONE!” go to the following Boot Campers and those who trained with me for the St. Jude Half Marathon! Some, you will note, did the FULL marathon, 26.2 miles!
I am enormously proud of you all!
In no particular order, here are our finishers:
Teri Trotter
Matt Prince
Sherry Irwin
Rob Norcross
Joe Fracchia
Bryan Smith
Kirk Johnston
Bridget Rose
Joey Bland
Ruth Wilkins
Tammy Townsend
Danny Loe
Cheryl Loe
Malise Culpepper - Full Marathon
John Mercer
Christina Clark - Full Marathon
Hilde Haynes - Full Marathon
Sarah Bowen
Rob Johnston
Elizabeth Terry
Donald Williams
John Pender
Amy Klesges
Courtney Humphreys
Jenny Engler
Holly Guthrie
Mary Linder
Anne Emmerth
Lindsey Scrip
Matt Green
Leslie Garey
Elizabeth Collins
Hank Hill
Elizabeth Stacey
Wyatt Aiken
Margaret Caffey
David Caffey
Wendy Greenlaw
Jean Johnston
Nina Sublette
Laura Rogers
Holly Spraker
Amy Rhodes - Full Marathon
Ahmed Morad
Daniel Shaffer
Estelle Winsett
Kelly Gerhart
Jeb Fields
Buck Cerulli
Sarah Trouy
Celeste Autry
Nancy Miller
Lexie Johnston
JoAnn Jones
Amy Moffatt
Alison Ryan
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HOLIDAY SCHEDULE
Our last workout of 2008 will be Christmas Eve morning at 0530. We will “stand down” until Monday, January 5th.
The last workout of the year is always dedicated to Jim Steiner. I mentioned Jim to you recently. It’s his name that is attached to the “wood chipper” exercise. Jim, one of the very first Boot Campers, passed away from brain cancer on December 19, 2003. He was, by far, one of the finest men I have ever had the pleasure to know. I will tell you next week how he saved USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP from sure ruin and you have him to thank for the cult that it has become!
Jim was the friendliest, most outgoing, and genuinely sincere of people. He was also quite the jokester! He believed that the last workout of the year, on Christmas Eve, should be “The Speedo Workout.” That is, everyone should wear their Speedo to Boot Camp! Fortunately, no one ever took him up on it!
It is fitting that at the last workout of 2003, all of Jim’s family came to Boot Camp that morning in honor of Jim. More than 30 of his family and friends gathered on our Quarterdeck to remember him and to participate in something that had become a part of Jim’s daily life.
In honor of Jim, you may purchase a gift certificate for the first month of USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP for only $75. Give one to a friend or family member for them to use anytime in 2009!
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THE WEATHER OUTSIDE …
Here are the FIVE BENEFITS OF OF COLD WEATHER WORKOUTS
1. Strengthens the immune system.
2. Naturally increases the body’s production of saratonin, a natural calming chemical in your body.
3. Increased calorie burn!
4. Runny noses keep the cooties from taking up residence and making you sick.
5. Bragging rights! You get to tell your sissy “indoor” friends how tough YOU are!
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USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES
At Christ Methodist
0530 Monday through Friday
0645 M-W-F
0830 M-W-F
5:45 PM: M-Tu-W-Th, (5:30 PM on Friday). M-W-F are weight days, Tu/Thu are cardio days.
At Evergreen Presbyterian
0530 Monday through Friday
COLLIERVILLE BATTALION
Sergeant Les Bonnett and the Collierville Battalion have moved from Faith Lutheran Church to Forest Hill Community Church just north of Collierville on Houston Levy Road. It’s the big white church in the curve on your right just after you cross over Wolf River via the new bridge.
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NASHVILLE HALF MARATHON TRAINING!
1/2 Marathon (13.1 miles) Training for the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville on April 25, 2009 will begin on Saturday, January 24, 2009. More details to follow!
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Find me on Facebook and make me your friend! (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=629618416)
I’ll make you mine! Then join the USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP Group!
While you’re on Facebook, you might see an ad for USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP pop up. Do NOT click on it! Facebook charges me for every time someone clicks on it. The ad is NOT for you knuckleheads!
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“The Few, the Proud, the BOOT CAMPERS!”
~ Sgt. Tony
To your continued good health and fitness!
Tony
Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow
USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
5358 Denwood
Memphis, TN 38120
901-644-0145
www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com
www.shaklee.net/tonyludlow/main
