In the past, I would have found a few excuses and stayed home, but I was determined to get there, even if I was late. I was really stressing about being late, and I wanted to eat...everything...so it was good that I as in the car and not home. I do that all the time. When I get stressed, or nervous, or agitated, I look for food. It was suggested that we keep track of the triggers that make us over eat and wow..that one is so right there. Instead of getting more uptight, I called and talked to family in Washington until I got to the gym. I turned out that I was about 10 minutes late but the class hadn't started yet...Hurray!
I wrestled with the hand scan and made it through the turnstile (by the way, I have a tennis ball size bruise on my thigh where I crashed into the arm thing yesterday) and found that the class was packed. Everyone had step-up decks, yoga mats, and weight bars, and they were stacked in there like cord wood. I was scrounging for the equipment (I didn't see any pink bars though), when they made an announcement that there was room for a few more crazy people in the spinning class. Spinning....humm...well....someone said "I'll go". I think it was my alter ego, because I'm just not that fond of bike riding! A couple of us went out to the bike room, and I really did think what the heck have I gotten myself into...
We picked out bikes, and had help adjusting the seat height, putting our feet into the pedal straps, making sure the water was in reach, and the helper mentor was passing out towels. How nice. It wasn't long until the leader gave us a quick rundown of the bike operations, safety when standing, and a few hints on keeping your tush from getting too sore. The music started, and we were off. Pedaling like the wind, then up imaginary hills which required us to crank the tension knob hard to the right, then stand up, pedaling..pedaling...pedaling harder, to the top of the hill, then knob to the right to release the tension, and off we go. Wheeeeee....
There is a HUGE fan in the room, so you get this whole breeze in your face exhilaration, and your pedaling to the music, and she is telling you to sprint for 15 seconds, then back off, then sprint, then breathe, and pedal on the flat surface, then here comes a hill....and stand up and go!!! What a rush! I have NEVER taken a class that made me feel that way before. At one point there was a song on that had a bit of an African beat that was about six minutes long. We were riding flats, then "hills", really taxing our legs. The frantic beat of the music, the wind in my hair, I was standing up pedaling for all I was worth, my head was down with my eyes closed, and I started to get choked up. It was all I could do to swallow back the tears. It was like no other moment I have had for a very long time. It was as If I was alone in that class, riding through somewhere fabulous, and I felt powerful! We kept up this ebb and flow pace for nearly 45 minutes. The last song that she played with the sprint - hill combos was "Firework" by Katie Perry. Wow....The lyrics say:
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time you let it through-ooh-ooh
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time you let it through-ooh-ooh
That was it for me, I wanted to cry again. The song ended and so did the ride. I wanted to fling out my arms like Rose did on the Titanic, feeling the wind in my hair and on my face. Fearless.
We did some after class stretching and the instructor shared that the first time she took a spinning class she said it would be her last. Well, that was 12 years ago, and she is the most awesome teacher. I was very sore in my tush, and burned at least 500 calories in less than an hour. I will take another spinning class because there is nothing like it and I am looking forward to it.
Tomorrow is up in the air so I'll get hold of my trainers to see what time. Until then...man, what a ride!
Kelly
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