Moving Along

I am sitting here – the first three inches of my hair are soaked and I feel a full-fledged trickle of sweat running down my back between my shoulder blades.  Its twin is soaking itself into my ratty sports bra in front.  I am almost but not quite heaving for breath. 

Let me introduce you to my new baby - the Sole F63 treadmill.   It just kicked my ass in 30 minutes.

Now, I am chugging some yummy, cool water. 

I realized that I needed to cancel my gym membership, well mostly because I was not going, but also because I really don’t like being around people.  WAIT – don’t run – I don’t mean I don’t like you! I have spent 10 years being the spokesperson for Fortune 500 companies and I am tired of making inane small talk when I don’t feel like it.  I especially don’t like to make small talk when I am gasping for breath, sweating, or god help me – squatting!

So, I choose to exercise alone, with my new baby and in the semi darkness.  No annoying earphones for me.  I can play my own music as loud as I want.  It can be dark.  I can leave my shirt off if I want – no one’s there to be frightened by my mid-section’s fish belly pallor.

My heart is slowing down to a restful rate.

I call it Diane time and I have been a faithful practitioner since college.  I am a person who needs solitude and my own space. I might be selfish and it might be why I am single and don’t have children.  I lack the self-sacrificing gene bestowed upon my mother but I don’t think it’s so bad.  It could also be the reason for lots of other things in my life – successes in all kinds of areas.

Whew, I am cooling off now and those elusive endorphins are kicking in. Now, I feel good.  Wow – I might even want to be nice to someone!

Reformation

I have written so little this week it is crushing my heart. Between how crazy work has been, visitors, impending visitors, a new friend and trying to be back on a regular workout routine I have been left with lots of ideas in my head but little time to transfer them to my PC.

A new thing I tried this week was a Pilates reformer class. I LOVED it. I have done lots of Pilates classes on a mat but reformer classes have always been prohibitively expensive until I joined a new gym – the Palo Alto Jewish Community Center. And, before I bought the package of classes they let you take a sample class. It was fabu.

A Pilates reformer class is a small group class where the instructor guides you through a series of very controlled exercises can be specifically tailored to the individual’s level of ability. You work on a reformer, a slightly scaring looking apparatus that allows for full range of motion with increasing levels of difficulty. It’s supposed to help you to attain a higher level of balance in your exercise program as you strengthen and stretch your entire body, ultimately helping you develop greater strength, improved balance, ease of motion, and bone density.

I definitely worked up a sweat during the class and the next day was sore. Always a sign that the workout worked!