On June 4th I ran my first 5K :-O ! That little emoticon dude was pretty much the way my insides felt the entire week leading up to the event. The part of my mind that is sane and reasonable kept saying, "You've run 3 miles before, you can do this. Everything will be fine, your friends and family are going to be proud of you and this is for charity for heaven's sake! Get a grip spaz monkey!" However the illogical part of my brain was screaming "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! What's going to happen? What if I quit? What if it takes me a really long time to finish? What if the other runner's think I look silly? What am I going to wear? What should I eat before hand? What if I get a cramp? What if I get sick? What if I get trapped in a herd of people and can't escape? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!" It was the italicized side of my thought process that seemed to win over my emotions most often and led me to drive Joe nearly mad with my outbursts of "I'm so NERVOUS" all week long. Bless his heart.
But I survived. I survived and I met my initial goals for this race- 1. No walking and 2. Finish in less than 30 minutes. *(a couple miles in I added 3. Do not vomit. I witnessed several people vomiting around me. Yuck.) I'm taking nothing but great feelings away from this experience. My friend Scott ran with me for the first 2 miles when my nerves were jangling terribly and both helped me navigate the crowds and kept me focused on his hilarious chatter and occasional bursts of songs. For the last 1.1 mile when I was on my own I got discouraged for a second and thought I was gonna stop and walk but I was able to reach inside somewhere and keep going. And, best of all, when I was approaching that finish line I saw my husband smiling at me and heard my friend Mandy cheering me on. I felt euphoric. Everyone was so positive and encouraging, I didn't feel slow or lame or even average. I felt awesome. And really sweaty.
So my first race is in the books and it won't be my last. After the race was done and over the following day I realized something- I don't care anymore that I'm slower than a bunch of my friends and whoever else. I don't suck, I'm working hard and I'm having a good time. Running is something I literally never thought I could do and I did it! With lots of encouragement from the people around me, I did it. So, let me take a moment to be cheesy and thank Joe, Mandy, Mark and Danielle for being inspirational and really encouraging to a newbie; Scott for being my buddy for this race and my parents for treating me like I'm a rockstar for accomplishing this. Sorry, the cheesiness had to happen. It's my way.
I got up this morning with the eye of the tiger and finally conquered this stupid loop that had been giving me trouble the past couple weeks. Take that stupid loop! Take that dumb small hill that seems real tall! Take that lungs that sometimes wheeze and make me want to quit! Look out green lakes hill that I hate, you're next!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Group Centergy
I joined a gym a few weeks ago so I've been trying out some of the different classes to see what I like. I've decided that even though it kicks my butt, I love Power Yoga and so I'd been looking for something else similar that matches up with my schedule. Thus, Group Centergy on Sundays which is described as a class in which you "grow longer and stronger as you explore this 60 minute journey of yoga and Pilates movements." Journey is a good word for my first day visiting Group Centergy.
It began with catching the cool down for the previous class "Group Power". A male instructor was guiding the class through the cool down while intermittently singing along to the music (Coldplay, "Fix You"). It gave the strange impression of workout karoke whenever he would burst into song ("TEARS STREAM DOWN YOUR FAAAAACE AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII") which made me look at the schedule posted outside the door so I could be certain to not take a class with him since I would certainly dissolve into hysterical laughter. Turns out, he's a sub so I have no idea who he is. I will just avoid all male instructors.
Karoke, I mean Group Power ended, and myself and a few others wandered in to spread out our yoga mats and stretch a little before class. Even though this was my first time I decided to be brave and sit near the front so I would have a good view of the instructor. Shortly after getting settled with my mat out and shoes off, a little woman, I would guess mid-60s, wandered over and spread out her mat right next to mine, almost overlapping. Anyone who has taken a yoga/pilates class, has a sense of personal space and/or common sense would know that two people can not possibly be that close to one another and not kick/hit each other repeatedly throughout the class. Unsure of what to do next, I stared at the woman who began chattering away about how she has a broken metatarsal and therefore will be wearing her shoes during class. I expressed my condolences as I eased off my mat and began slowly inching away. The whole time she maintained direct eye contact so I felt obliged to explain why I was shrinking away from her. In an effort to sound nice I explained I was going to move over so I could see the instructor more easily. She then replied that I'd better move since I had taken her spot and that was her spot and she was certainly not going to move. I did not burst out laughing (+1 Sara) and instead apologized for taking her spot. Which I will never do again. Ever.
Class was somewhat confusing, especially since we had a substitute instructor who didn't always seem 100% sure of what was going to happen next. At the end of class she approached me (she knew it was my first time as she had all newbies raise their hands before we started) and asked where she had seen me before. I said nowhere that I knew of and she insisted that I had taken her NIA (don't even ask) class. Nope. Haven't. Don't plan to. Then she told me that she hadn't noticed any mistakes during class when she was watching me except that I should really try to step my foot all the way forward to between my hands when coming out of down dog into the lunge. I said thank you for the critique, smiled and went about rolling up my mat. She hovered. I looked up and, uncertain of what to do, just kept awkwardly smiling. She said, "is there anything else I can help you with?" I had no idea how to answer that question so I panicked a little. Should there be? Didn't she just tell me I didn't make any mistakes? What would I need help with? I said, "umm... no I... don't think so... is there?" and she said, "any poses you want help with?" More panic. "Umm... I... I don't really know... is there?" She had no answer. I had no answer. We left it at that. Awkward.
This will not be the end. I'll prolly give Group Centergy another shot sometime and see what it's like with the regular instructor. At least I will know not to take that woman's spot next time.
It began with catching the cool down for the previous class "Group Power". A male instructor was guiding the class through the cool down while intermittently singing along to the music (Coldplay, "Fix You"). It gave the strange impression of workout karoke whenever he would burst into song ("TEARS STREAM DOWN YOUR FAAAAACE AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII") which made me look at the schedule posted outside the door so I could be certain to not take a class with him since I would certainly dissolve into hysterical laughter. Turns out, he's a sub so I have no idea who he is. I will just avoid all male instructors.
Karoke, I mean Group Power ended, and myself and a few others wandered in to spread out our yoga mats and stretch a little before class. Even though this was my first time I decided to be brave and sit near the front so I would have a good view of the instructor. Shortly after getting settled with my mat out and shoes off, a little woman, I would guess mid-60s, wandered over and spread out her mat right next to mine, almost overlapping. Anyone who has taken a yoga/pilates class, has a sense of personal space and/or common sense would know that two people can not possibly be that close to one another and not kick/hit each other repeatedly throughout the class. Unsure of what to do next, I stared at the woman who began chattering away about how she has a broken metatarsal and therefore will be wearing her shoes during class. I expressed my condolences as I eased off my mat and began slowly inching away. The whole time she maintained direct eye contact so I felt obliged to explain why I was shrinking away from her. In an effort to sound nice I explained I was going to move over so I could see the instructor more easily. She then replied that I'd better move since I had taken her spot and that was her spot and she was certainly not going to move. I did not burst out laughing (+1 Sara) and instead apologized for taking her spot. Which I will never do again. Ever.
Class was somewhat confusing, especially since we had a substitute instructor who didn't always seem 100% sure of what was going to happen next. At the end of class she approached me (she knew it was my first time as she had all newbies raise their hands before we started) and asked where she had seen me before. I said nowhere that I knew of and she insisted that I had taken her NIA (don't even ask) class. Nope. Haven't. Don't plan to. Then she told me that she hadn't noticed any mistakes during class when she was watching me except that I should really try to step my foot all the way forward to between my hands when coming out of down dog into the lunge. I said thank you for the critique, smiled and went about rolling up my mat. She hovered. I looked up and, uncertain of what to do, just kept awkwardly smiling. She said, "is there anything else I can help you with?" I had no idea how to answer that question so I panicked a little. Should there be? Didn't she just tell me I didn't make any mistakes? What would I need help with? I said, "umm... no I... don't think so... is there?" and she said, "any poses you want help with?" More panic. "Umm... I... I don't really know... is there?" She had no answer. I had no answer. We left it at that. Awkward.
This will not be the end. I'll prolly give Group Centergy another shot sometime and see what it's like with the regular instructor. At least I will know not to take that woman's spot next time.
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