Wine and Dine Training

Today, as I think about the Wine and Dine Half Marathon and running in general I desperately wish I had friends in town who ran. There are not really any running groups in town and I have tried asking several friends to join me running with no avail. There is a tri group here in town that trains together that my husband dabbles in but the problem there is they are REALLY serious about triathlons, they run Ironmans frequently and one of them has qualified for the Ironman in Kona this fall. They are ridiculously serious and WAY above my training level. I long for a group of people who run together.

I also have realized that if I am going to train well, I need to start getting up in the morning to run and workout. My evenings are consumed by meetings and I just want that chance to hang out with my husband if we have the opportunity. Yes, sometimes we do go for runs together, but he is definitely more focused on learning to swim so that he too can run triathlons, and I am excited for him and want to keep encouraging him to grow in his swimming skills.

Sooooo I have begun my adventures of getting up and workout out in the morning before work. I managed to make it happen this week - we'll see if I can pull off two weeks in a row. It just takes time for me to become accustom to it. Fingers crossed I will make it work.

August 9: 30 minute run with a friend
August 10: rest
August 11: 45 minute swim
                  30 minute run
August 12: 30 minute run
August 13: 60 minute swim
                  45 minute dog walk
August 14: 45 minute run
August 15: 6.5 mile run

New Fitness Class

          This morning I did it, I feel like I can pat myself on the back just a little for a moment. Yes, I am a pastor, yes it  people person, however I HATE going new places/to new things alone! Seriously I don't know why but it seems like the worst thing ever to me. Unless it is a state park or something where I can take Dakota and we can go off and hope to not see anyone. (I love people, but I also love time with just Dakota and me.) Anyways, back to the point of this story, for months (literally months) I have been telling myself that I should go try the group power class at the ymca here in town in the morning, and for months I have been making excuses: I don't want to get up (class starts at 5:40 am and you have to set up your weights and stuff starting at 5:30 am), I don't know anyone, I don't feel like it, blah blah blah insert lame excuse here. Well today I did it! I went to bed early last night (some days a small miracle to be home at a decent hour to go to bed early enough to get up to get to class) and set my alarm for before the crack of dawn.
          This morning as my alarm went off I knew it was time to make a decision, to go to class or not. I couldn't come up with a lame enough excuse to keep me in bed, so I got up, let the dog out (she was not happy to see that it was still dark out and begged to be put back in her kennel before I left), ate a small breakfast, and was off to the ymca. I pulled into the parking lot, there was a handful of cars, none that I recognized (I secretly was hoping that I would know someone), and proceeded inside. After dropping my sweats in my locker I headed into class nervously. People were hussling and bussling setting up weights, bars, benches, and filling out little cards. I had no clue what was going on.
        After all of about two seconds looking around someone recognized me, someone I teach swimming lessons with on occasion (she subs from time to time). I felt like I had almost walked into the Cheers bar off of tv, everyone knew everyone's name and were rapidly catching up on life, after a few introductions, a quick overview from an instructor, we were off and going for the next hour. While confused from time to time, it wasn't impossible to catch on to (which I had convinced myself time and time again that it would be [I Zumba-ed once - I am a rotten Zumba-er]), the work out was wonderful, I am certain I will feel it later, and dare I say I enjoyed the class and look forward to going back again.
         Trying something totally outside my box wasn't as totally awful as I imagined it would be, it wasn't horrible and scary, and while lost for moments at a time, it was totally possible to catch on and I look forward to more group power classes. If I had a sticker chart for myself today I would totally have given myself one for trying something new.


How do you feel about stepping into something new and different?
Do you like group fitness classes?
What is your favorite group fitness class?