It May Be Cool and Rainy Out, But This Hour Long Workout Will Heat you Up Fast!

This is a map of the hills of lovely Phinney Ridge between Greenwood Avenue North and Fremont Avenue North. I first used this route back in the 90's when I lived on the Ridge. It was summer time and all the English style gardens were in bloom, Beautiful! Make this route a habit the next few months and you'll be rewarded not just with a strong backside and killer abs, but with a sigh worthy workout view of lush greenery come Spring.

If you haven't checked out the hills of Phinney, they are STEEP and make for a super lower body targeted, neighborhood workout. My favorite way to work these hills is to climb up, then down, then travel the length of each block along Fremont Avenue North. On the map above, you'll notice the inked-in path crosses each street at the top of the hill, and follows the length of each block at the bottom. Below is how it's done, complete with tips for beginning exerciser's:

1) START at the bottom of the hills on the corner of 71st Street North and Fremont Avenue North, on the SOUTH SIDE of the street, and head up to Greenwood Avenue. Pull your navel into your spine as you climb. Empower your core! Be mindful of pace and breath.

2) At the top of Greenwood Ave, walk across the street to the NORTH side of 71st and head back down the hill, using your core for control while you power up the quads on the descent. Your body may give you the signal to slow down as you descend. Listen to this! These hills are steep; controlling your speed by using your core power will protect your knee's, especially for those new to exercise.

3) Now at the bottom of 71st, turn left down Fremont Ave (heading NORTH) and SPRINT THE LENGTH OF THE BLOCK (Alternately, for beginning exercisers or those new to running, you can walk this portion or alternate a walk with a light jog. Let your quadriceps muscles be your guide as you progress during the hour. This is a great workout for beginning exercisers, as the climb can be adjusted to advancing fitness levels).

4) At the corner of 72nd and Fremont, remain on the SOUTH side of the street and again, CLIMB up hill to Greenwood Ave where you will cross the street to the North side, again heading DOWN hill. Continue traversing the ridge in this way, climbing and descending the hill to SPRINT (walk or jog) the length of the block along Fremont Ave.

End at the corner of 79Th and Fremont. Use the return distance back to 71st as a cool down, or power it up with an 8 block run!

ALTERNATE: Wanna go HARDCORE?? (recommended only for advanced exerciser's)
Run the up hill climb! Even at a snails pace, this will jack up your cardio and strength power. Be sure to ease down these steep hills, mindful of foot falls and strength sapping quad tension. Continue to Sprint the block along Fremont Avenue North.

A similar workout path can be made along any of the traversing hillsides found in Seattle. Another favorite, for those off Madison in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, runs the distance of 27th, heading NORTH away from the Madison shopping district.

We Finished Our First 5k!

Team SWL Bootycamp completed it's first 5k on Sunday, September 28th! The Alki Beach Run benefited Northwest Hope and Healing, a local organization providing social services to women in our community being treated for breast cancer. In 2007, Northwest Hope and Healing aided 240 women and their families with basic services ranging from child care to transportation to and from medical treatment. We are excited to have raised $700.00(and counting...) for this charitable event and we want to thank our families, friends and fellow Bootcampers for all their support, both financial and emotional- for some of us this was our first 5k run! Looking ahead, our team has big plans for the upcoming Pineapple Classic in November; another excellent fundraising 5k- with the added bonus of an obstacle course! Check it out at http://www.winterpineappleclassic.com/.

What's A Little Weather Among Friends?
This time of year, as the Bootcamp Summer season winds down, longtime Bootycampers begin to reminisce about days of yore, of misty Fall mornings and...mud! It's true, Bootcamp is held outside rain or shine, and while Seattle days like today(sunny and deliriously beautiful) make us feel as though it will never rain on our bun kickin' workouts, eventually...I mean, this is Seattle! For all the Duck and Cover we perform on rainy days, dashing to and from our front doors with heads hunkered under junk mail pulled fresh from the box, our Northwest weather is embraced at Bootcamp as that place where our Inner Child sends our Outer Grown-Up straight to time-out. Last winter, during one of those sideways rain December days that flooded the homes of many of our neighbors, the women at Camp, already soaked and smudged, took it upon themselves to "decorate" each other's shirts with big ol' muddy hand prints. I don't recall how it started, but for a brief moment between Push-Up's and Plank, it was a class right out of kindergarten. It really is true, what's a little weather among friends?

Hope to see you in the play!


Kimae