Preppy Runner – Theodora Blanchfield

So, this week is a little surreal in the best way possible.

Tuesday, I met Jillian Michaels.

Wednesday, I got to hang out with Bob Harper.

And he is such a funny guy.

He did a program for us at work, DailyBurn Black Fire. It’s a 60-day CrossFit-style program designed to push you to your limits. Each workout is a total of about 30 minutes, but only 20 minutes of really freaking hard work. (We have a 30-day free trial, so you should really try this at home. You can also get a taste of the challenges — and potentially win prizes — by following our Instagram challenge.)

We held a media event at CrossFit Solace (which is freaking gorgeous) to unveil the program to the press. I was instructed to “come prepared to work out if you have to.” Have to? Ugh, I hate working out. Especially with hot celebrity trainers and getting my workout in at work. Thankfully, we had a spot and I got to jump in.

The workout we did was called Strategic Endurance, and hot damn is it hard.

I’d tried it out before the holidays because I wanted to know what we’d be subjecting the press to. Would it be hard enough? I’ve been to so many media events where you can tell they’re watering down the workout for the media. But this was for a room of fitness editors, so we knew they could handle it. And yes, it was plenty hard enough.

Three exercises, TWO MINUTES EACH, three rounds:

Burpee Stepovers: These are cruel. Do a burpee (chest-to-ground style, which I hate because I find it so much harder), step over the box, do another burpee. That’s one rep.

Box Dips: Good God. GOOD GOD. My triceps are still burning. 

Sit-Ups. You know the other two moves are hard when you’re looking forward to sit-ups.

A major component of the program is keeping track of your score and competing against yourself, so we tracked all of our reps for a total score at the end.

I actually did a whole lot worse than I did the first time I did this workout. I think I was over-caffeinated and under-hydrated. Hydration is important, people!

Afterwards, we had a meeting back at the office with Mr. Harper, and I am unsure I have ever laughed so hard in a professional meeting. The dude is freaking hilarious.

And tomorrow morning, I board a flight to the Bahamas for a press trip to run the Bahamas Half on Sunday. (More on that tomorrow!) Someone pinch me, I don’t know if this week is real.

What’s your favorite at-home workout?