The reason I put this on my list is to challenge myself to try something new. It's easy to get into a bit of a fitness rut and do the same thing every day. I've always wanted to try the RPM classes at the gym, but was worried about how intense it would be and whether I would be survive.
Recently I've been doing my 12 week challenge at the gym, and one of the things I've appreciated the most is the variety in our group training sessions every Thursday night. We had a taste of the RPM class, and I found I really enjoyed it, thus the decision was made. It was time for RPM.
During the 12 week challenge I've made a training friend, Vanessa. She agreed to join me for RPM one Thursday morning, and the added benefit of having her come with me meant I couldn't pike out. The date was set.
I arrived early that morning, and after going into the bike room and setting up my bike, I still had 5mins to spare. Vanessa hadn't arrived yet, so nervous I went out and went to the loo. I then paced around the gym quickly, then resigned myself to the fact that she wasn't coming and that I was going to be facing this on my own. You can't imagine how thrilled I was when I walked back into the bike room to find that she had arrived during my wanderings!
Having a friend in the class made it so much more fun. We sweated through it together, we groaned to each other, and most importantly, we completed the class together. 400 calories goooone!
Since then, I've done another couple of classes as well. I don't feel so nervous about randomly joining in for a new class. I know that I just need to flag to the instructor I'm new, and they will help me out in a way that doesn't single me out to everyone, but still provide enough correction on technique to know that I'm doing it correctly. Mario and I have done a “grit strength” class with weights which I really enjoyed. Strength is definitely an area I need to work on and has proven to help with my running, so I daresay I'll add that into the repertoire as well.
And for the record – I didn't dress like Romy and Michele in the photo above. I don't have the legs to pull it off.