Our hotel in Mafikeng, South Africa has surpassed what I initially thought our accommodations would be like.  However, it does lack a gym of any kind.  There is a big building labeled “Fitness Center” in the back, but it’s locked shut with chains around it and the staff says it’s been that way as long as they can remember and no one knows of any plans to re-open it.

I sort of thought this might be the case, so part of my prep work included loading T25 onto my laptop so I could do a workout in my hotel room (thank you, Kinney’s!).  I didn’t want all the good work from the wonderfully awesome boot camp I went to all year long to go away while in Africa.  Plus we are eating constantly here and usually a buffet, so working out is a must.  But I knew being motivated to do it would be tough.  I did the first T25 video alone in my room the first night in Mafikeng and didn’t even do the whole thing … which is comical since it’s only 25 minutes long.

I decided to recruit my colleagues and happily found an eager set to join in.  The first morning 6 folks met in the lobby at 6:30 am, but we couldn’t find a space to do the workout so we did it in the hallway leading to the casino.  Needless to say, the hotel staff quickly found us a room.  By the next day, we had a conference room that was ours every morning and we haven’t looked back.  We lost a few from the initial workout (and I won’t call you out on the blog!) and picked up one more and now have a core set of 5 of us who have diligently done T25 every morning for the last 11 days. I bring my laptop, little speaker, we set up in our ‘usual spots’ and proceed.  I don’t think I’ll ever like mornings, but knowing people are waiting on me to do the workout is motivation enough to get me out of bed … and by the end of our half hour together, I’m awake, happy and feeling good.  It’s created a nice little subteam within the greater team.

Not familiar with T25?  It’s a full-body workout in 25 minutes. With zero rest. You do a different video each day ranging from cardio (aerobics), lower body focus (more squats and lunges than you can count), ab intervals, speed (lots of plyometrics) and total body circuit (by far the toughest one with tons of planks and pushups).

Pictures from this event are tough because we are always moving … but the one below is pretty good.  The mystery blue circle is a core team member who wishes to remain anonymous.  Maybe by the end of 30 days, this person will let me reveal his/her identity 🙂 Leigh, Effie and Paola round out the core team.

The T25 core team (with a mystery person yet to be revealed!)

Making do without a gym … our fancy set up

#ibmCSC