Spin City (Reverb11 July)
There is a great chance that tomorrow morning I will not be able to walk. No, I’m not in the middle of a flare up of my connective tissue disease. I’ve actually been doing exceptionally well this summer. But this morning I got out of bed before dawn and headed to the gym to try spinning – a high intensity cycling class.
July’s Reverb prompt is “What new thing will you try this month?” and last week I decided spinning would be it. OK, technically I’m not completely new to this. I’ve tried spinning once before, but I hated it. And that was in college so I was 10 years younger, 20 pounds lighter, and in much better shape because I was a certified aerobics instructor. So to my body, this was new.
My instructor, Cherie Fields of Riviera Fitness in Homewood, is also a friend of mine so I felt assured that if I passed out and fell off the bike she’d call 911 pretty quickly.
By the end of the warm-up, which consisted of an easy ride that quickly transformed into an uphill climb as we increased the resistance on our stationary bikes, I was already dripping with sweat. Uh-oh, I thought, I’m in trouble. But since I’m conscious to write this post you know that I survived.
Cherie challenged us with sprints, during which we pedaled as fast as we could. We also had four hill climbs during which we cranked up the resistance as much as we could. One of the things I enjoyed most were jumps, during which you move quickly from a seated to standing position on your bike over and over until you’re convinced your quadriceps are going to leap out of your thighs, tell you to suck it, and then bounce out the door.
But the music kept me going. Cherie played tracks like “All of the Lights” and “Only Girl (In the World)” and considering I’m a Beyonce stan I was too pumped when I heard “Run the World (Girls).” Cherie was also a great motivator. At one point she said, “When you start to get really fatigued…” and I was waiting for her to say, “just reduce the resistance or take a break” and instead she said, “just push through it! You can do this!” What? No! “I want a break!” my body began to scream. But she was right. I could do it. I did do it. I pushed on and in the end I not only survived the class I actually really enjoyed it, too. It was tough, very tough, but I loved it and I’ll be back for more.
Even though the Reverb prompts are intended to help us writers and artists in our creative process, I believe that applying this month’s prompt to my fitness life was just as effective. The next time I’m staring at a rejection letter from a magazine, a blank screen during a bout of writer’s block, or a dream that seems too big to ever come true I’ll simply say to myself, “Just push through it. You can do this!”
What about you? What new thing will you try this month?
I’ll admit I was not pleased to hear the wifey was attempting to get her Lance Armstrong on this morning. I assumed she’d wind up looking like Stretch Armstrong. But she’s a trooper.
Haha ya spinning is no joke. Me and my boy Eric did it during spring break. It was a killer
-ya boi matt
I am, at heart, a bookish snob, so I never EVER thought I’d attend a spinning class, much less enjoy it. However, I had a conversion experience last year. Now I truly love the sweating, the shouting, the music and even bike shorts. I hope you keep at it!
Good for you Mrs. Bowser.
Mr. Bowser, you’re a lucky man, lol. A lot of women don’t care about exercise. I know, I know, a lot of men don’t either.
I set a goal to exercise at least every other day and haven’t done a good job with that. I’m going to get better though.
Thanks for the motivation!
Thanks, Stanley! I keep telling Mr. Bowser he should be glad that I want to exercise so much. I could just say, “Well, I’m married now. Time to let myself go.”
Glenny, I’m happy to hear of your conversion. Now I’m going to try to get you to a dance aerobics class with me. Ha!
I may start running. I tried it but didn’t stick to it. Spinning is a ___ NO for me… Feel free to fill in the blank with whatever you like. :0)
you wont catch my fat butt spinning nothing but a bottle of ketchup. LOL