Spin class…yes, this just happened
I went to my first spin class today. I. Damn. Near. Died. So, here’s my backstory…I’m far from an athlete, the only time my endurance proves exceptional is when I’m in denial, and I have an unnatural fear of cardio. Walking in (30 minutes early, of course) I was mercifully greeted by the sweetest, most non-judgmental girl as she showed me around and set me up.
I started to get nervous when she strapped my feet in to my bike, this meant I was committed to staying the next 45 minutes. I sat down on my bike seat and immediately stood right up again. I thought “no, this can’t be right, this hurt, this sucks I cannot fathom having to sit it back down on this medieval torture device. Before I could make a run for it the insanely fit instructor walked over and gave me a little newbie pep talk. Damn, now its personal I can’t leave, she knows my name…and then…it started.
The lights went down, the cool air went up and the music was fantastic. It was uncomfortable to stand, it was worse to sit but somehow it felt good just to keep pedaling. I realized that to survive this I need to be in the zone, a place you go during an intense workout when all you think about is your “after” picture, when you vibe with the music and just try not to think about the burn and sweat.
There was a countdown clock that I gazed at more intensely and more often than an FBI agent/suspect during an interrogation. There was a leaderboard, but it was all just numbers to me, I was last and I knew it. The instructor pushed the class to increase intensity about 5-7 times during the class, I took them as subtle suggestions and pushed only about twice.
The class ended with a gently stretch, by then I was so far gone I wasn’t quite sure what day of the week it was. I’ll probably go back, but if I do it will be when I’m in better shape and my butt is slightly smaller. I have a newfound respect for cyclist, they are true altheltes.
