"Ten more... Stay strong."

I haven't done much writing about Little Man starting kindergarten so far this school year.  Mostly, because it's a cliche - moms  getting all nostalgic when their youngest starts school - but also because with half-day kindergarten, he's actually in school fewer hours than when he was in pre-school.  So I'll save the boo-hoo-ing for when he is gone for more than two and a half hours a day next year.  He and I are getting a lot quality time together, lots of dates at Starbucks, walks in New Town's arboretum, and Hot Wheels races at home, all of which I am seriously loving.

What I am not loving is an unintentional side effect of my intentionally placing him in PM kindergarten.  I thought I was being super smart having him go to school in the afternoon.  The girls could still walk to school together while he and I stayed in our lounging clothes, waving them off each morning.  Many stores are not open before ten o'clock anyway, so I'd kill half my free time waiting if he were gone on the AM hours.  Guess what I forgot about?  My exercise class.

(Sound of record scratching)

I know!  Me, who bitches and moans whenever she has to use a public exercise facility on vacation, has started taking, and loving, an exercise class.

My former opinion of exercises classes, was below that of public gyms if you can believe it.  Using Jazzercise and Zumba as my narrow-minded examples, I assumed these classes were for the lazy, who wanted to pretend dancing was exercise.  They were for people who didn't have the discipline of self-motivation to workout on their own.  Yes, yes, many people love Zumba, with its fun reputation and "anyone can do it" mantra, and it has helped many sedentary people become active.  But I put those people in the same category those who lose weight after they stop drinking a six pack of soda and eating McDonalds three times a day.  Any change was going to result in weight loss.  I was already in decent shape so I thought an hour wiggling my hips to music was a waste of my time.  Then there was the other extreme - spinning and classes like Cross Fit.  I wasn't crazy enough to do one of those.  They have their own language for Christ's sake.  It's one step away from being a cult - and I'm sure I would wind up dead on the floor after either of them.

So when my friend invited me along for a free trial of the class she was currently taking, I was a little skeptical.  She assured me it wasn't too difficult, and she didn't seem like a member of a secret exercise cult, so I agreed.  Maybe I was drunk, but I now see what I was missing always working out alone.

I used to roll my eyes at the ladies chewing the fat outside the doorway of the step aerobics class at my local gym back in the 90s (while I was on my way to power walk on the treadmill, oh, the 90s).  You're here to work out, not make friends.  Get in, get it done, get out.  But I suppose now that exercise is one of the few things I do solely for myself these days, having a pleasant little chat before and after doing so is an added bonus.  In addition, many of the women on class are moms from the school so it's nice to shoot the shit while the kids aren't harassing us.

This class was hugely different from everything I was doing fitness-wise.  I was moving my body in different ways, using muscles I hadn't used in years.  Every class is a different combination of moves so my body never gets bored and neither do I, so I never get dangerously close to passing out from boredom.  From over-exertion?  Occasionally. This constant changing also prevents injury, which, as I enter my later years is becoming an issue*.  It also forces me to stretch since my instructor peppers the routine liberally with what I used to call "the lazy person's excuse to stop".  Now I know it's how you prevent yourself from being crippled.

Working out in a group setting pushes me like my own inner drive never could.  It's not that I'm competitve, I just don't want to look like a fool.  This class uses a ballet barre and your own body weight for lower body exercises.  Now I know why ballet dancers have legs like they do.  It's seriously friggin' hard.  If I were doing a video this difficult at home, I'd be stopping all the time to give my quads a break, pretending to check on the kids.  Not during this class.  When my legs are shaking like Jello, I keep pulsing.  I'll be damned if I'll be the first to stop.

And the absolute best part of this class is the instructor, Jen.  She pushes and encourages me at all the right times, without constantly speaking in all caps and exclamation points (see the title of this post).  Nothing makes my day like a "Beautiful, Mary!", during a sequence.  I realized, nerd that I am, I have been missing having a teacher to suck up to!  If she gave progress reports I'd be psyched.  She also has awesome taste in music, so it's like having someone make a really great workout playlist for you each week.  Pat Benatar and Salt 'N Pepa in the same class, I tell you!

So, dear readers, I am now officially a convert of group exercise.  Yes, I still need my solo time during my runs, but a few times a week I am a "joiner".  I highly recommend you give it a shot.

I'm still not taking Zumba though.

*I have been diagnosed with a labral tear in my left hip.  The same injury as Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees.  If he can have the same "sports injury" as a 38 year-old mother of three, it validates my opinion that baseball is not really a sport.  Go ahead and hate.  If you can have a huge gut and chew gum while doing it, it's not a sport, it's game of skill.  See also: Bowling and Archery.