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The Benefits of Team Training - Guest Post by Lisa Nicholson
If you had to choose between training by yourself or training with a team, what would you choose? I know I have gone the route of training by myself. I downloaded couch to 5k, and due to lack of discipline by the 3rd week couch to 5k was gone and forgotten. I’m not knocking the program; I just knew I needed something to motivate me to exercise.
I actually had a reality moment for me while volunteering for our local “Go Far” program. I had signed up as a coach, with the goal of getting into shape. I ended up feeling embarrassed and couldn’t even keep up with the kids.
One afternoon, my daughter and I were at the back of the pack and one of her friends had stayed with her to motivate my daughter to run. What happened was this young lady (a 10 year old) motivated me. While listening to her encouragement I knew that I needed to do something to better myself. She was a natural motivator and I knew what her father did for a living. Not only was he a local wedding minister, he was Jay Bowman, lead instructor at Outer Banks Bootcamps.
I had actually checked out the program on Facebook, and had been going back and forth for the last 6 months checking their website and Facebook page. At the time I didn’t have the courage to take the first step. That all changed with my wake-up call.
I went home and sent an email that night. I heard back from Matt Costa right away. He informed me there was a camp that I could join the very next day. Talk about going for it, I jumped at the chance and have not looked back.
I found a place to help get me back into shape, back into running and out of the couch potato status that I have lived for the last 10 plus years. Outer Banks Bootcamps, a place where they set the bar high, help you succeed and onto the journey of health. Not only did I find a fitness program, I have found a second family and supportive friendships.
What I love about boot camp is we are not judged. They help you discover your strengths as well as your weakness. They don’t judge, they help you to become what you want to be. In bootcamp we feel pride in our teammate’s achievements and sadness when we experience defeat. I feel this is the key to what makes our program not only successful but the best on the beach.
Our bootcamp takes place on the beaches of Kitty Hawk, with training sessions that stretch as far as the pier in Kill Devil Hills. We meet in the parking lot of KnuckleUp Fitness, at Mile Post 4½ and run to the beach or wherever our route takes us. No bootcamp is the same; our coaches keep the program interesting, fun and challenging.
Not only do we run on the beach and swim in the ocean, we train at Jockey’s Ridge in Nags Head, we trail run in Nags Head Woods, we run through the neighborhoods of Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. Our graduation run is a 4-7 mile run that takes place at the Wright Brothers National Monument in Kitty Hawk and is fondly called “Holy Hill”.
Since the beginning, the Beach Bootcamp has helped our members lose a combined weight of over 1,000 pounds, a number which keeps increasing. The original Beach Bootcamp started with 8 members and has grown to over 100 repeat members with new members added at each bootcamp every 6 weeks.
A couple of OBBC original students have lost over 100 pounds and continue to take the boot camp repeatedly. Almost all bootcamp students come back each and every time for new camps, and the number of new students increases each time.
Just a couple a months ago, Ann Marie Haywood signed up for the marathon express training camp. Her goal was to walk/run the ½ marathon. She ended up running the ½ marathon with 5 weeks of training and with the support of our coaches and teammates.
Our Bootcamp goal is fitness, but we give back to the community by participating, volunteering and hosting events for charities and we work together as a team and as a family to support each other and our community.
We are all on our own journey, but with team support we can set goals and meet or exceed them. I am still on my journey; I have lost 25 pounds and hope to lose 40 more pounds. As a 41 year old Mom I have discovered that I can be a successful athlete. I just have to take the time to make the change.
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