onepinkfuzzy

So we get out of work on time, and carpool to Bally's, where Paki has a lifetime membership. We manage to get two bikes side-by-side, and she explains exactly how it works: how to adjust the resistance, how to adjust the bike to your body (I had to lower the seat, in addition to moving it forward, I'm so short!), how to fit your feet into the pedals, etc.

The instructor comes charging into class, all business. I admire her lean, sleek body; I can tell has been an athlete for years! The class is full; I see big bodies, little bodies, men, women, serious athletes, slacker college dudes.

The music starts thumping. Wow, I've never exercised with music before! I don't run with an iPod, and I've never done aerobics. I enjoy pedaling to the beat. I can't really hear the insturctor, so I watch to see what happens next.

We start out sitting down on the bike, and I am quickly reminded of why I haven't gotten on a bicycle for years...it is literally a pain in the ass. She quickly gets us moving into "sprints" - stand up for a five-count, sit for five, up for five, sit for five. Whew. But I make sure to keep the resistence low so I don't over do it. (I'm notorious for over-doing things.) After 10 minutes, I realize that everyone around me is sweating profusely. I am not. I must be under-doing it, so I crank up the resistance.

Much better. I begin to break a sweat, and suddenly, my favorite feeling in the whole world surges through my body...it's the endorphins. I am smiling more than I have smiled since my ultramarathon. I am relaxed, I am confident, I am comfortable, I am moving, I am.

As we pedal standing up for minutes upon minutes, cranking up the resistance, I finally begin to feel my legs tiring. I am getting a workout, and I love it. The instructor keeps calling us "challengers" and telling us to "crank it up." I don't crank it up nearly as much as she tells us to, but I like the encouragement to do so.

I can feel the excess skin and flab on my thighs jiggling and shaking as I move my legs as fast as I can, around and around and around and around. I feel the burn in my muscles. I realize I have so much more shape to get into! I wonder just how much of the "flab" on my legs is just stretched-out, excess skin from having weighed 65 pounds more a year ago?

I decide it's much harder to work out inside, with people around. I can't exactly hawk a snot rocket over onto Paki. I laugh to myself, thinking about how if I have excess body fluid when I run (especially on trails), I can just get rid of it! Spit, snot rockets, loogies (sp???), etc. Not so in the gym!

We start the sprints again, and my poor tushie! I am in pain. I have cranked up the resistance, and my legs are finally tiring. I can't do the sprints; I yank myself up, then crash back down onto the seat (ouch).

Finally, I hear her say, "Thirty more seconds!" Whew.

We begin the cool-down, and then she had us s-t-r-e-t-c-h. O-o-o-h-h-h-h-h...that felt so good. My legs are shaking, and I am smiling. It feels good.

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I wake up this morning, and I am surprisingly not in pain. So I pack my running gear, intending to run at lunch. I convince Paki to go home and get her running gear, so I have someone to go with. We head out into the cold, cold wind, and run three fast miles. I focus on my breathing, letting Paki talk, just listening. I feel strong, fast. My knee is not hurting me.

We get back, and I feel great. I stretch, change back into my work clothes and plop down into my desk chair. 30 minutes later, I attempt to get up from my chair. Key word: attempt. A groan escapes, and I barely can rise to standing. Go figure, spinning didn't hurt until I ran three miles on top of it. Ha!

I spend the rest of the day moaning and groaning, laughing and enjoying feeling my body recover from two awesome workouts.

Needless to say, I'm taking tomorrow off.

Friday: hooking up with Barbara for the first time since December to take a four-mile run before work.

Saturday: Sabino Canyon, here I come!

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I'd like to address Mike's comment re: June 10 is close...I responded in the comments, but wanted to get it out here...

I know June 10 is close, but I never said I CAN run the thing, I just said I CAN sign up for it! :D It gives me hope, something to aim for (but not something to stress over). The cut-off time is 12 hours - I can practically hike 32 miles in that amount of time! (Okay, so I might be over-estimating myself there...)