A Feb. 16 Weekend article incorrectly described Patrick "The Sarge" Avon as the founder of the Sergeant's Program fitness boot camp. Grant Stockdale founded the Sergeant's Program in 1984; Avon has owned the program since 1989.
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Sir, Yes, Sir!
Now in recovery, Boswell has gone on to encourage the women in her group to do monthly self-exams and has raised everyone's awareness about breast cancer. She gladly credits boot camp with helping her deal with the emotional toll of cancer and for having gotten her into good shape before she faced it. She plans to continue with boot camp "for a very long time to come."
By the end of the first day, after a grueling hour of slow and controlled calisthenics and stretching, I am facedown in the muddy grass, not caring about the dirt or the damp and feeling deeply sore before I even get up to leave.
 Doug Vasiliadis, 45, of Great Falls, leads Active Duty Fitness for Women at the YMCA in Reston, VA . (Michael Temchine - FTWP) |
"Hang in there," Christine Montminy encourages. Tall, trim and blond, Montminy, 38 and the busy mother of three, could easily pass for a model in a fitness magazine. She has been a member of Active Duty for three years.
Montminy boot-camped her way to a 50-pound weight loss this year. At 5 foot 8, she used to weigh 187 pounds and wear a size 14. After pregnancies (one with twins, during which she weighed more than 200 pounds) Montminy developed hip and knee pain related to her weight.
"I am not coordinated and can't do the aerobics thing, so there was no way I was going to a gym," she says. "I didn't know enough about fitness to do it myself, so when someone suggested boot camp, I thought I would give it a try."
She now wears a size 4 and in a little more than a year went from 30 percent body fat to 18 percent. "I had to give away everything in my closet, including my shoes. Even my feet got smaller!"
What's even better, Montminy assures me, is that she no longer experiences hip or knee pain. "Looking great is nice, but feeling great is so much more motivating."
Four years ago, Carol Donovan got a postcard about Active Duty in the mail. Unlike Montminy, the 48-year-old from Vienna wasn't necessarily looking to lose weight but to increase her fitness and strength levels. She looked at the postcard every day for two weeks before she called.
For the first three weeks of boot camp, Donovan admits she was pretty sore, but within a couple of months her clothes fit better, she had more muscle tone and she felt stronger. After six months of boot camp, she got an idea to try a triathlon. Something she never would have dared to think about before. Her goal was to finish a sprint triathlon -- a half-mile swim in open water, a 12-mile bike and a five-kilometer run. Almost a year after she started boot camp, she did it.
Now, four years later, Donovan has completed 10 triathlons, a half-marathon and several 5- and 10-kilometer races. She has won first place in road races in her age group and has taken third in a triathlon.
"I feel like I am making up for lost time," says Donovan, whose new motto is "A fit woman is a confident woman." Ten other women joined Active Duty about the same time as Donovan. They are all still in the program and working out together.
"How many women stick it out together in an aerobics class for four years?" Donovan asks. "We count on each other for support."
