Friday Night Storms and Weekend Allergies

I’d debated going to see The Conjuring last night, but it didn’t happen.  The main reason was that once I got to my friend’s house, the AC and her super comfy couch were so inviting, I didn’t want to leave. The secondary reason was that it was opening night and I usually try to avoid crowds at the movie theater. Besides the social anxiety (which hasn’t been much of an issue as of late), watching the movie with a crowd leads to a greater chance of sitting near someone who does nothing but talk the whole movie.  When I went to see “Mama” several months ago, I actually moved seats because the people behind me wouldn’t shut it. I could still hear them five rows up. Last week at Pacific Rim, there was a parent who’d brought their  child to the theater. Don’t get me wrong…kids at a certain age are fine, and it’s actually kind of funny when they’re into the movie and get caught asking a question out loud about it. This kid? Not into the movie and not even of an age to say actual words.  Toddler babbling during a movie does not add to the experience in a positive way.

It’s also sad when a person pays for a movie and then can’t leave their cell phone off or pocketed for two hours. Yes, that’s directed at you, Guy Who Sat A Few Seats Down From Me and Had Their Phone Out Almost the Whole Time. Sorry to nitpick, but the glare from your screen was annoying. You made me want to throw something at your face.

So it seemed easier all around to stay at the house, and it was nice. I finished a book, I took a couple videos of the hail storm that came out of nowhere, and I played on the internet. My revised plans had loosely included going to the gym before picking Jon up at the game store, but then I had a flash of brilliance. My friend has Zumba DVDs, and I figured that the training video would be okay. I’d be moving and learning and no one would be around to see how silly I look trying to do Zumba. That happened for about 15 minutes before I gave up to watch the ending of the movie “Twister.”  Like eating kale, I will eventually either come to terms with Zumba and own it, or I will stop trying and accept the fact that it’s not meant to be. This may be a lengthy process.

The storms were rolling in while I was driving to town to pick Jon up and they hit their hardest just as we got back. They lasted for five minutes and then rolled away. Fairly anticlimactic, but I guess that’s what happens. I think they’re calling for more today, so it’s still debatable whether or not we’ll make it to the zoo.

This morning is rough. My cough seems to be getting worse and my throat itches. Before we head to Topeka, I’ll be stopping at Walgreens to get some Benadryl and cough drops. I want to enjoy my day, not spend it hacking up a lung. Oh sure, I could just stay home and rest and recover, but I’m a glutton for punishment. Besides, I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for a very long week. Come hell or high water, I’m going to enjoy it.

A.

Just (Zumba) Dance

Last night I took another Zumba class.

Back in September, I tried one for the first time and it was pretty horrible.  I knew that at some point I would try again, but I was planning on that some point to be a long way off.

This class was a Zumba Tone class, which was supposed to be less cardio intense and more fun with weights.  I thought that maybe I’d improved a little bit where an exercise class was concerned so decided to go ahead and give it another go.

We were told to pick either 1, 2, or 3 lb weights, so I went total lightweight and did the one pounds. The warm-up was alot of moving around but not as much as I remember from the first class. From there, a couple of the songs were more dance while others were more focused on arms and using the weights.

I improved a little bit. In the first go round, I left the class completely after 10 minutes, in too much pain to keep trying and way too embarrassed to just sit there. This time though, I’m happy to say I stayed for the whole thing. I sat down several times but always got back up again. Even when I was sitting down I still moved my legs or lifted the weights.

I didn’t try to keep up with every little move the instructor did. Most of the time I improvised. I mentioned on my FB that I kind of looked like a flailing sea monkey. My knees are improving but they’re still not great and they’re definitely not in lunge or squat shape. There’s also no way I’m going to do all the hopping and running. Instead, I did kicks or lifts, just something to stay going.

Breathing was fine. It was the pain in my back and ankles that was the hardest to take.  The ankle stuff was likely the result of moving in ways I’m not used to. The back stuff is just more of the same pain I’ve been dealing with and not having been to the chiropractor in a couple months. I also realize both ankle and back problems are weight related as well and another reason to not jump around any more than is healthy for me.

I’m proud of my progress, but I was also really frustrated. Everyone else seemed to be having a good time, and everyone I talk to about Zumba seems to find this magical glorious fun time when they do it. I did not have the magical glorious fun time moment. For me, it was about trying to stay caught up and not falling on my face. It was about pushing through the pain and saying that I did something that I didn’t think I could do a year ago.

During FB comment chat, a friend said that she found that it got more fun each time she went, so I’m going to hold on to that hope since I do plan on going back in a couple weeks and then trying it a few more times on an every other week basis.  If I end up hating it, then I’ll at least know I gave it a good try.

Right now, the goal isn’t even to look like I’m really dancing. It’s just to finish a class without sitting down.

 

 

 

Keep On Dancin’

Today, I tried Zumba.

Let me note here that I completely failed at the class itself.

I don’t know where the moment of insanity came from, but earlier today I asked SV about it and told her I thought I’d try it. She goes once a week and loves it, and it’s dancing, so I figured I’d like it too. I was trying to be realistic about what I could and couldn’t do, but I thought maybe I could push myself a little bit and that the different movements wouldn’t hurt too much. SV warned me about some knee stress, but my knees have been feeling pretty good, so I thought maybe I’d just roll with it and change things up to keep from hurting them.

I spent most of the day being nervous about it, and came close to just calling the whole thing off, but when I get “brave” like that, I tend to roll with it because it doesn’t happen on a regular basis. I knew I had the option to leave, and there were balance balls in the room itself, so I had somewhere to sit if I wanted to take a break.

It started out okay. I could at least follow what the instructor was doing.

I made it to the second “warm up.” The first one kicked my butt. The second one was lunges and squats, things I thought I could just fake it through and really couldn’t. Needless to say, I lasted about ten minutes and was out of there (and I did have to sit down in those ten minutes).

Honestly? I felt horrible about leaving. I felt like a loser. I felt every single pound and inch of being out of shape and fat and unable to move like other people move. The fact that I’m improving with every workout and seeing good things happening in other areas of my life (breathing, mobility, etc.) was completely forgotten because I couldn’t  dance for 45 freakin’  minutes.

One of the issues I have is my ankles. They’re not strong and the side to side Zumba moves really put some stress on them. Coming out of the class, I had it in my head I was going to do my regular machine, but I was in too much pain and I didn’t have the enthusiasm to push through, so I went to my car. On the way out, I asked the girls at the front desk to tell SV I would wait for her outside.  I was doing okay until they were nice to me and asked if I was okay and if I wanted a glass of water and a banana.

When I’m already upset, people being nice to me sends me to that place where I just cry. So I made it to the car (took the water, declined the banana) and had a small tear fest. I felt better afterwards, though I’m still a little bummed about not being able to do the class. However, I’m not going to give up. I’m going to keep going to the gym and moving more, and eventually, I’ll go back to a Zumba class and try again.

This isn’t over, Zumba. We will meet again someday.

A.