Basic Training 11

Staying in good physical condition after you hit the 50 mark is not easy. I know that for a personal fact.

When I was younger living in New Mexico and Arizona, I was a runner. I also played tennis and golf, but I stayed in shape by running.

I would find a canal bank in the prairie country of New Mexico, park my car, remove my shirt, and go off on a run.

At first the run was around two miles. Then I upgraded it to three miles...four miles...five miles.

My oxygen take increased as did my stamina. I hit the 10-mile a day run and felt like I was in the best physical condition since Basic Training in the U.S. Army at Fort Ord, CA.

After moving to Phoenix in 1976, I continued running. Then I went into a slack period and spent more time in bars, casinos and at the race track than I did running on the back roads.

Dick Stauffer was a Congressional Aide to Rep. John Conlan, son of major league baseball umpire Jocko Conlan. He and I became friends after my editor Vic Thornton assigned me to cover the federal beat for the Gazette.

Dick was a former U.S. Marine who had served in Korea. He was best friends with Dan Nuzzo, a weightlifter who managed a boxing club in Phoenix. Nuzzo had also served in the U.S. Marines. He met Stauffer in Korea and they became lifelong friends.

I played poker at the American Legion in Phoenix with Stauffer and Nuzzo. We had a lot of fun talking about our military experiences. Nuzzo pooh-poohed Army Basic Training and claimed it could not compare with the Marines.

'I served as a Drill Instructor and I know what I'm talking about,' he said as he folded his hand. 'The Marine wind sprints alone would kill most civilians.'

That gave me an idea. I had been watching the popular television series 'Fitness by Jake.' Why don't we form our own fitness club here in Phoenix, I suggested. We could use an abbreviated version of Marine Basic Training and call it Basic Training 11.

'You and Dan could be the instructors,' I said. 'We could hold our exercise sessions in a park and we could charge a fee for all participants.'

They loved the idea.

I wrote an article about Basic Training 11 which my newspaper published and we received over 50 phone calls. Out of that, 35 signed up for eight weeks of basic training to get them back in shape.

Aside from the fact that I thought the program could earn us some easy money, I really wanted to get back into good physical condition. I knew it would make me a better poker player and it would certainly improve my health.

We found a good spot for our exercise program in Encanto Park. Our group met five times a week and Nuzzo really put them to the test.

For the wind sprints, he had us gather at the end of a field. On his given signal, we burst into a run and ran as hard as we could for about 100 yards. It was amazing how those wind sprints worked to increase our endurance and feelings of physical fitness.

My friend Dave Molina, who drank Coors Beer like there was no tomorrow, even joined our group. He reluctantly gave up his consumption of Coors and his two-pack a day cigarette habit for the duration of the training course.

'But after I graduate,' he warned, 'I am going to party like there is no tomorrow.'

At the end of the eight weeks, we had a celebration party at a Phoenix restaurant. I proudly gave out certificates of graduation to all our students. Dave, who was well into his Coors Beer, even gave a speech.

'When I joined this group, my wind was so bad I couldn't even cross the street before the traffic light changed,' he said. 'Now I run across the street. What this program did for me is amazing.'

That was about three decades ago. I am going to see if Basic Training 111 will work for me. Wish me luck and let the games begin.