13

      Karen

      Karen switched off the car wipers with a tut. Grey skies, drizzle, and the threat of heavier rain was not the ideal start but hopefully nobody would be put off at the first hurdle.

      She grabbed the kit she needed out of her boot, zipped her neon pink Bay Fitness branded waterproof up to her chin, and jogged down to North Bay beach. There were a few dog walkers, runners and cyclists on the promenade but the beach was pretty much deserted.

      She planted a neon orange flag in the sand then distributed some plastic marker discs across the beach to create workout stations. Ready. All she needed now was bootcampers. She took a few deep breaths to calm the butterflies that always paid a brief visit when she was meeting new clients.

      By 9.50 a.m., nerves settled, she had a full complement of six and she could almost smell the fear.

      ‘Good morning, bootcampers,’ she said, stepping back so that she could see everyone. ‘A massive welcome to Bay Bootcamps. It’s great to meet you in person and I’m glad the weather hasn’t put you off. I’m Karen Greene, one of three owners of Bay Fitness, which encompasses Bay Bootcamps, Bay Runners, and personal training or PT. I see a few nervous faces. Hands up if you’re nervous.’ Karen raised her hand and smiled as everyone followed suit. ‘It’s completely understandable when you haven’t done anything like this before. Despite the nerves, who’s a little bit excited, even if only a tiny, weeny bit?’

      Karen thrust her hand in the air again and laughed as one of the bootcampers copied but most of the others did a tentative half-raise accompanied by a grimace. ‘My aim for today is to take away the nerves and start building excitement. Before I explain what we’ll be doing, I want to emphasise something. You’re all starting from very different places and I want you to remember that you and your goals are unique. This means you’ll all go on very different journeys. Please don’t compare your progress, or what you may feel is a lack of it, to that of anyone else in the group. The only person you should be comparing yourself to is the person you were before you signed up. Simply by being here, you’re already a winner.’

      Karen smiled at the group again. ‘Let’s have some introductions. If you can give your name and tell me if you know anyone here, that would be great.’

      She moved around the group: a PT client of hers called Bryan, a mother-and-daughter team called Dawn and Hailey, and a woman in her late-twenties called Melanie who jokingly said that anyone who shortened her name to Mel would have to eat sand.

      ‘Melanie it is, then,’ Karen said, smiling. ‘I get it. The only person allowed to call me Kaz is my fiancé. Anyone else has to drop and give me twenty so be warned, you lot. Moving on…’

      ‘Hi. I’m Danniella and I’m going to continue with the name preferences thing. I know that Danniella is a mouthful but I’d rather nobody calls me Danni or Dan. Sorry.’

      Karen smiled at Danniella who looked like she wished the beach would turn to quicksand and swallow her up. ‘Thank you, Danniella. And do you know anyone?’

      ‘Alison, but we only met on Saturday. I fell over on the seafront and she patched me up.’ She looked at the woman next to her and smiled warmly.

      ‘Hi, I’m Alison. I’ll answer to that or Ali, although I’ve been known to respond to Fatty, Jabba, Porky, Chubba…’ She said it with laughter but Karen had seen the same self-deprecating approach in so many of her previous clients and wasn’t fooled by the bravado.

      ‘I think we’ll stick to Alison or Ali, eh? Welcome. Let’s get started, then.’

      Karen ran through the structure, demonstrated each exercise, then asked the group to copy. After a warm-up, the session started. She walked amongst the group, giving tips on technique, ways of making the exercises slightly easier for anyone who was struggling or harder for those who could push further, and encouragement to everyone.

      She loved teamwork and it was a joy to see it in action through the support that Danniella gave Alison. Working out next to each other, Danniella regularly encouraged Alison to keep going, even trying to pace the exercises she was doing to keep time with her. With Danniella’s encouragement, Alison really pushed herself. She’d told Karen that she’d been a keen hockey player in school and college but hadn’t done anything for the nine years since leaving education. She was Karen’s favourite type of client; those who came from zero fitness often achieved amazing things.

      ‘I hope you enjoyed your first bootcamp,’ Karen said to the group after they’d cooled down, feeling a stab of pride that it had gone smoothly and that they’d all worked hard. ‘Before you go, I’d like to get a photo of you all with the flag.’ She unfurled a bright yellow branded flag and assembled them into a group, those in the middle holding the flag. She’d previously checked they were happy to have photos posted on social media. Danniella said she’d prefer not to, so she stepped discreetly to one side. Alison had said it was only okay if she could always hide behind the flag. Sure enough, she positioned herself so her whole body was covered by the material. Karen couldn’t wait for the day when Alison felt proud of her body and didn’t feel the need to hide like that. Hopefully it would be soon. Alison had joked on the phone that she wanted to lose half her body weight but Karen planned to keep a close eye on that. Success didn’t need to mean a particular weight or dress size; it simply meant that Alison was happy with herself and felt fitter.

      Photos taken, Karen draped the flag over her arm, and smiled at the group. ‘If you have any questions or concerns before the next session, please get in touch. If you haven’t exercised for a while, you will probably hurt so I’m going to put some information on the Facebook page about how to ease that. Take on plenty of fluids, eat well, and I’ll see you on Thursday.’

      ‘I loved that,’ Danniella said, hanging back with Alison. ‘So much fun.’

      ‘Thank you,’ Karen said. ‘What about you, Alison?’

      ‘I wouldn’t say that love has sprouted but there’s a seedling there that may grow into something.’

      Karen smiled. ‘You did really well today, Alison. I was impressed with your determination.’

      ‘Really?’ Alison raised an eyebrow.

      ‘Really. And you were a great support for her, Danniella, so thank you for