Spin-O-Rama

So, one of the many gifts of being Brad's wife is that I now get to join his membership at Lifetime Fitness, what I like to refer to as the Mecca of all gyms. The first time I walked into this place, I just stared with this deer-in-headlights look on my face trying to hide my complete awe-struck feelings and maintain the "I know what I'm doing here" mantra that everyone else seemed to have.

I've discovered over the last few years that I am more of a social-exerciser. While I really admire the people who put on their iPod and run 10 miles in a day, I much prefer to do a workout with a friend, or even a stranger if a friend is not available. That is why I've really enjoyed the Group Fitness Classes. I've tried "Core Strengthening" which made it hurt to even cough 4 days later, and "Strictly Strength" which I'll let your imagination try and guess what that one's about. But yesterday, I thought I'd try the big one . . . Cycle 60.

In case you're not familiar, Cycle 60 is a spinning class. Spinning sounds so happy, doesn't it? Twirling in a field in a pretty dress maybe? My friend Bonnie in Pittsburgh is a big spinner and she does this several times a week. Surely I should be able to give this a try for a mere hour. Bonnie, I have an entirely new found respect for you.

One of the benefits of doing something for the first time is that you're pretty ignorant to what you're getting into. I should have known when the lady helping me set up my bike asked if I was wearing a heart rate monitor (Heart rate monitor?!? Am I going into the ICU? Why do I need to measure my heart rate?) and she kind of laughed when I said I didn't have any water with me. "You'll definitely want to bring that next time," she advised. "This class is pretty hard." And then she proceeded to tell me that she regularly goes on 100 mile bike rides with her husband. This would be the time when most intelligent people would realize they should probably leave. Unfortunately my stubbornness overrode my intelligence yesterday.

They start pedaling their bikes and I think, "Hey, this is fun! A nice bike ride. Good workout. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty worked out right now." Then I looked at the clock and saw that we had been going for 13 minutes and I hear the instructor say, "Ok now, let's get out of the saddle and really kick it up!" Kick it up? Wasn't that what I was already doing? And did I mention how thirsty I am? And how much it hurts to be sitting on this pole that's referred to as a seat?!?

The misery continued for the next forty-five minutes reaching a climax when the instructor said, "I'm feeling that it's now disco time!!!" Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. And as I was pedaling to "It's Raining Men" thinking about my complete torture, I was struck with the thought, "Wait a minute. I chose to do this. Oh no! I actually paid money to do this. What is the matter with me?!?"

I managed to make it through and looked at my bike's calorie counter that read, "65 kcal." The lady next to me assured me it was broken and it made me feel a little better that I didn't do all that work to burn off the apple that I would eat for a snack that afternoon. I'd also like to say that I won't be returning back there anytime soon, but as the wise Proverbs (26.11) have said, "As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." Me and my folly will probably take a spin again sometime soon. :-)