A new year, a new challenge

Along with my requisite two dozen new year’s resolutions, my resolution to get fit and lose weight involved joining an aerobics class at the local rec center. Over Christmas I ate lots of tasty treats and it was just too darn cold to go running, and well, honestly, I’m a bit bored of running alone and the slightest bit lazy. Robin and I just got cable in our apartment and a world of marvelous sedentary delights were opened up to me. He had to teach me how to use the remote control and navigate through the channels, but now that I’ve got it, it’s tons of fun to watch various shows and movies and news and cartoons. I don’t watch a lot, but I definitely am not utilizing my time as efficiently as I used to.
I remember a time when I wouldn’t watch a movie without knitting or flashcards in my hands. I still can’t handle reading a novel- it has to at least be in a foreign language to stretch my mind.
But all that aside, I had my first class on Monday. I walked over to the rec center and into the big room and there were about 30 ladies and 1 lone man. Most of them looked like retirees- and most of them looked deceptively out of shape. I say deceptively, because by the end of the first 5 minutes I realized I had my work cut out for me to keep up with them.
The instructor had bright red lipstick and she bounced around in tune with the music, yelling out instructions for left, right, two steps this way, two steps that way, etc. etc..
I was concentrating so hard on trying to perform the mirror image of her movements at breakneck speed that I almost crashed into the lady behind me. The deceptive flabbiness of all the older ladies had caught me off guard. They were all wearing lululemon pants and sweat bands and they all had towels they wiped their faces with every now and again.
By 15 minutes I felt like my legs were going to fall off. I looked at the clock and realized that there was still an hour to go. At 30 minutes we were allowed to stop for a brief water break. The older man came over to me and said graciously,
“Don’t worry about keeping up; as long as you keep moving you’ll do fine.”
I wondered if it was obvious that I couldn’t keep right and left straight.
Towards the end of the class we did some stretching and as I bundled up to go, dripping with sweat, I realized I would either die, or get in shape.
Today was my second class and right now I’m sitting with a hot water bottle on my sore legs and trying to relax my shoulders so they don’t ache so much. There were less people in the class, and I was smart enough today to wear my stretchy leggings, so I didn’t stick out so much. The instructor had us run laps across the huge room, waving weights over our heads (at least that’s what I was doing), and at one point I realized I was struggling to keep up with a lady who looked old enough to be my grandmother. The embarrassment was complete.
In front of me was a lady who was about 80 lbs, wearing a teeny tank top and even teenier shorts (if you could call them that). I could see the bones on her back sticking out. As soon as the music started, she was off like a little energizer bunny. She looked like she had springs in all her joints, and during the water break she jogged on the spot. I was dying.
I stumbled home today and did housework and got groceries and went to a staff meeting at work and made a lasagna that turned out runny, and watched a bit of tv with Robin and now I’m contemplating going to bed, even though it’s only 7:30. I’m determined to keep it up with the class, and I’m determined to improve the coordination thing. I’ve heard that most women struggle with right and left more than men (hence the reluctance to drive standard in a lot of women), but no one seemed to be having more trouble than me in today’s class. I believe it can be overcome, though. I’ll keep you posted……