You Spin Me Right Round

A little 80's music reference in the title for ya, but believe me - there was nothing RIGHT about the spinning I did on Friday! I went to the gym on Friday morning as part of my normal ritual but when I got on the treadmill and began to jog, I pressed play on my iPod and I got....nothing. Now let me explain the life shattering implications of this statement. I am one of those people that are figuratively and literally moved by music. Without some sort of encouraging tunes (today I was looking forward to calling on "all the single ladies...all the single ladies") the treadmill becomes some sort of medieval torture device and I become almost entirely void of motivation. Ugh...well now what? Clearly leaving was not an option so I began to look around for what else I could do. As you may know, I am on a weight loss journey and while elated to have lost 23 pounds to date, I seem to be stuck and with sickness and the busy pace of life, I have been holding on that number for a while. With this and the absence of my iPod, I thought one way to add some variety, trick things up a little, and get my much needed music would be to take a class of some sort. So I head over to the studio rooms to see what is on the board. Hmmm....let's see, no- I'm too late for that beginner step class, and no- that next conditioning class starts too late... guess I'll go check out the other studio. Oh my - what are all these people doing in line? Oooh this must be a really good class let's go see what it is....huh "Studio Ride" - well that sounds harmless, let's read the description "Studio Ride classes are fun, athletic, cardiovascular workouts. You’ll burn a ton of calories, get lean, increase lower-body strength and improve your cardiovascular endurance.". Okay - that sounds good I'm in!! I've been wanting to try spin classes so this is perfect! NOTE: You will not see the words 'perfect' and 'spin class' in the same sentence from here forward...I'm just saying.

So I'm not kidding when I say there are about 30 people in line for this class and most of them look in fairly good shape with their bike shaped water bottles in hand, special shoes, and biker shorts. Now thanks to my lovely sister, I am fairly appropriately attired in my Nike workout clothes but I was still feeling a little intimidated already and we hadn't even made it into the door yet. I must have screamed 'first timer' because this very sweet lady behind me in line tried to strike up a conversation about how she had never seen the line this long and hoped there would be enough bikes (I have to admit, part of me was hoping there wouldn't be). I told her that I had never done a spin class before and she launched into a soliloquy about the merits of spinning and how I was going to love it and want to come back over and over (someone drank their purple kool-aid this morning!). All kidding aside I was so glad she was so friendly because it was a mad house when we got in there and she told me where to go, how to move the bike (I won't even go into that awkwardness) and then she helped me set it up. There were no less than four settings on the seat and handles and after all the adjustments, I thought well, this bike's just gonna feel perfect! NOTE: You will not see the words 'feel perfect' and 'bike' in the same sentence from here forward...I'm just saying.

Purple kool-aid girl told me to tell the instructor that it was my first time so I went up and introduced myself. She was very nice, if not over excited (she drinks purple kool-aid by the gallon) and told me to just do what I could, know that the seat would take some getting used to (I'll get to the laughable nature of that sentence in a minute) and just to have fun! So my first sign of real trouble was when the previously friendly instructor turned on the music and welcomed the class by saying "Today we are going to do HILLS...and what do we know about hills? Hills are not easy, hills are not medium, hills are HARD. And I don't want to hear whatever excuse you came in with today because I know you've got them and I'll tell you where you can leave them - right in this trash can (yes she actually had a trash can up there). I don't want to hear it, whatever it is just leave it in there! I know you have it in you today, it's Friday, and it's gonna be 70 degrees today so let's GO!" (I swear to you that is word. for. word.) Where was the sweet person from 5 minutes ago that said to just have fun??!!?? (the kool-aid must have just kicked in). I might have started to cry except I was too focused on trying find a comfortable position on this seat....oh wait did I say seat - I meant jagged ROCK! I had wrongly assumed that since I seemed to have more padding back there then most of these people that the seat would not be such a factor for me. The physics of it all didn't make a bit of sense but suffice to say that I was dead WRONG!! It wasn't until about 30 minutes into the class that I found myself riding without thinking about how to sit. When climbing portions of the hills, she would instruct us to come up out of the 'saddle' (or seat...or rock) and I was so thankful...except that it only hurt that much more when I sat back down. My legs were burning, I was sweating like crazy, my mouth was open sucking in air and then she mercifully told us that this was our last hill. Actually she said "I'm only asking for eleven more minutes...eleven more - what is that - it's nothing!! Now come on find your strength in there and DIG IT OUT". I wanted to scream back 'please stop yelling at me, this is my first time' but she had already given the 'don't go get your excuses out of this trash can' speech so I just closed my eyes and kept moving my legs. My 'friend' had to leave the class a little early and gave me some encouraging words as she left and said she hoped to see me back next Friday (she must be assuming I have no short term memory). After the class was over, I could already feel soreness in places where no person should be sore! I managed to drag my bike back to its place which gave the instructor time to catch me as I was going out. She asked me what I thought and I quickly tried to come up with something positive that wasn't a lie and sputtered "it was a really good workout". She said "well you did great - I saw you working and most first timers don't make it through an hour long class". Well why didn't you tell me THAT sooner - was all I could think! I commented on the uncomfortable feeling left by the 'saddle' (she seemed proud of my use of the correct terminology but of course I was thinking JAGGED ROCK) and she said "Well you need to stick with it for about a month and then that feeling will go away". I had to cough to keep from laughing out loud - a month!?!? On the way home, I considered purchasing one of the seat pads she suggested and reflected on the overall experience. Once I got in the house though, I did what any sane person would....I went straight to the computer and CHARGED MY IPOD!