Tara decided she wanted to work with a local gym and go to boot camp class. While talking to her personal trainer, she was asked one of the typical fitness program set-up question:

What’s your goal?

To prevent atrophy, she answered.

Had I been consuming a beverage of some sort it surely and promptly would have come out my nose. That, first, is the beauty of new friend Tara. (Insert hameless plug for her program with Green Edventures here which, really, is fantastic.) Second, it’s quite frankly an awesome way for her to look at fitness. Sure, she said, losing weight would be great, but mostly, she wanted to keep herself active and moving and gaining strength.

I thought of her last night when my friend Mary invited me to a session of Urban Fit. Run by the sadistic good people at Fleet Feet Rochester, the sessions blend running with strength training outside. Basically it’s an outdoor boot camp with an emphasis on skills which will strength and improve your running. I decided to go because (a) I had the night off, (b) love hanging with my friend Mary and (c) felt the need to inject something new, different and difficult into my training routine.

We ended up a few minutes late to Cobbs Hill Park and had to run to catch up to the warmup. Pretty quickly we were doing pushups and shuttle runs, holding boat pose for what felt like a few hours and doing explosive jumps. We also attempted some sort of wheelbarrow exercise which, quite frankly, I did not enjoy. However, I loved the rest of it. It was hard. Really hard. I gave my best effort and focused on my form. And I smiled and high-fived. A lot.

This morning my backside was a bit sore. My swim workout went just fine, but I wonder what tomorrow’s long run will bring as the soreness slowly increases throughout the day. Still, I wouldn’t change my bonus Urban Fit experience. Not because it might help me with my trail marathon (which I think it will) or help me increase my overall fitness (which it certain will) but because at heart, I was just playing in the park with my friends. If I happen to fight off atrophy, well, that’s just a bonus.