Slow and Steady Finishes the Class
Any struggle worth struggling through requires the help of good friends. That is, people who are good at being friends.
So, yesterday, a friend who is helping to see me through this little adventure handed me a couple of articles she'd torn out of a magazine for me. One was about workout foods - what I should be eating before, during and after I exercise - which was helpful. The other was called "No More Excuses."
Some friend, right?
I read through it and related to every single one, which I have used at some point - and she's probably heard from me at some point - and I agreed. I'm done with excuses. In fact, I've hardly made any this week, except that there really were just those two days where I couldn't find the time...
I got home to find an email from her, encouraging me, providing some tips and suggesting that I come to her spin class the next morning at 8:30.
No excuses.
So I made excuses all night - It's my one day to "sleep in," we need to clean the house, the girls have a birthday party to go to at noon which will have us out of the house for 3 hours, it's supposed to be freezing...
But I woke up, refreshed, at 7:15. Earlier, really. I laid there, thinking about the class and about that miserable bike, thinking about how, really, I had no excuses. And then I remembered my pledge - my very public pledge - that I would take any suggestions offered for 2 months. I had to go.
My previous experience spinning was okay, except that she keeps the room so ice cold that my teeth hurt and it aggravated my "exercise induced asthma." Well, and it hurts. In multiple places.
So I set low goals for today. I would manage my breathing so that I didn't feel the cold in my teeth, and I would not stop. I may not stand up for as long (or at all) or go as fast as the triathletes in the room, but I would not allow myself to stop moving. And, whenever I felt like I could, I would increase the resistance or pedal faster.
And Ta-DA! I did it. I kept my eyes down so I wasn't discouraged by how fast everyone else was going. I even pedaled through the bonus song at the end. I didn't chime in with the "YES! ONE MORE SONG," but I didn't stop, either. Hooray for me.
The moral of this story is that if my friend hadn't cared enough or understood enough what it will take, then I would still be in my pajamas, rather than celebrating this little victory. So thanks, friend. You are good at being a friend. I only cursed you for a minute, around 7:30 this morning. And it might happen again this afternoon when I can't sit down. But I'll get over it, and I promise to come back.
So, yesterday, a friend who is helping to see me through this little adventure handed me a couple of articles she'd torn out of a magazine for me. One was about workout foods - what I should be eating before, during and after I exercise - which was helpful. The other was called "No More Excuses."
Some friend, right?
I read through it and related to every single one, which I have used at some point - and she's probably heard from me at some point - and I agreed. I'm done with excuses. In fact, I've hardly made any this week, except that there really were just those two days where I couldn't find the time...
I got home to find an email from her, encouraging me, providing some tips and suggesting that I come to her spin class the next morning at 8:30.
No excuses.
So I made excuses all night - It's my one day to "sleep in," we need to clean the house, the girls have a birthday party to go to at noon which will have us out of the house for 3 hours, it's supposed to be freezing...
But I woke up, refreshed, at 7:15. Earlier, really. I laid there, thinking about the class and about that miserable bike, thinking about how, really, I had no excuses. And then I remembered my pledge - my very public pledge - that I would take any suggestions offered for 2 months. I had to go.
My previous experience spinning was okay, except that she keeps the room so ice cold that my teeth hurt and it aggravated my "exercise induced asthma." Well, and it hurts. In multiple places.
So I set low goals for today. I would manage my breathing so that I didn't feel the cold in my teeth, and I would not stop. I may not stand up for as long (or at all) or go as fast as the triathletes in the room, but I would not allow myself to stop moving. And, whenever I felt like I could, I would increase the resistance or pedal faster.
And Ta-DA! I did it. I kept my eyes down so I wasn't discouraged by how fast everyone else was going. I even pedaled through the bonus song at the end. I didn't chime in with the "YES! ONE MORE SONG," but I didn't stop, either. Hooray for me.
The moral of this story is that if my friend hadn't cared enough or understood enough what it will take, then I would still be in my pajamas, rather than celebrating this little victory. So thanks, friend. You are good at being a friend. I only cursed you for a minute, around 7:30 this morning. And it might happen again this afternoon when I can't sit down. But I'll get over it, and I promise to come back.
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