Breathing through the pain...

I remember when I was pregnant and when we took prenatal classes and they told us to "breathe through the pain." I remember thinking..."Yeah right, once I have the drugs, I will do all the breathing you want...but WITHOUT the pain!" And laughing at all the others who seemed to think they could breathe through the pain...suckers! But after my first exercise class last night, I think I finally get it. It's not a matter of remembering to breathe WHILE in pain, it's to breathe to take your mind off the fact that your body is screaming at you! Huh...
So after deciding on my month long blitz of getting myself in body banging condition (please don't tell my husband I said that! He'll get so excited...LOL), I went online and found that our local community centre has classes that I can either "drop in" on or pay for a 10 class pack. I decided on the 10 pack because if I commit to paying that money, I have to use the classes...even if there is no expiry on them. 10 classes in a month, I can do that! After emailing and texting all my friends to come with me, I finally found a fellow comrade in self torture. Another mom who wanted to tighten, tone and knew she couldn't do it by sheer willpower alone. I know two things about myself: 1) I need a structured environment to work out (aka a class or instructor) because if given the choice, I'll choose chocolate and the couch and 2) I need someone to come with me because if someone else comes, I have to go or I have to explain to them why I couldn't and fear being called a wuss...yep, peer pressure and bullying apparently appeal to me...who knew?
We arrived at the "Body Blast" class with NO concept of what it entailed...I figured the instructor would "blast" us with exercise. I wasn't under any delusions...I came to play and play hard. The people looking for the "lay down and do squat" classes would have to go elsewhere! I had my running shoes (note: my sneakers suck...I need new better ones that will probably cost too much!), my workout gear (blech) and my bottle of water (next time, I'm bringing the cooler!)...plus my inhaler in case this activated my asthma (which is fittingly known as EXERCISE induced asthma!). She began the class...we had those step things, two dumbbells (no, we didn't bring our husbands...they were at home watching the kids) and a long weighted bar. We were ready...or so we thought. I remember looking over at Candice at one point and wondering how she was doing and then thinking it was funny cause she was all red in the face and sweating...then I caught a glance at myself in the mirror and realized I looked the exact same...damn...the instructor had no mercy. She yelled at us if we were ready and then would make us yell out "YES!" again because our first attempt was a wussy version of a "yes" that no one but ourself could hear.
We squatted, we lifted, we crunched, we pushed, we burned (oh man, did I burn!) and then finally, there was a god and the class was over. I was laying face down on the mat contemplating just staying there until I had to get up for work the next day, but having my friend on the other side of me encouraged me to drag my weary ass up and off the mat. As we walked out into the fading heat of the day, we both briefly considered running through the splash pad located directly across from us...but who were we kidding? We were MUCH too tired to do anything at this point. So we parted ways...each vowing to do it again...I got home just in time to put my munchkin to bed, who of course wanted me to pick her up...I looked down at her and laughed feebly. Once that was done, I ate supper and crashed. Today, oh man do I ache! But I'm determined to keep going. How, I don't know...but I'm picking up more victims as I go...people who are also looking to tone, tighten and beat their bodies into a better shape. As the get fit posse grows, I will continue my (very bumpy) path to body morphing...but tonight, I'm taking a night off cause I have a company barbecue and won't be home until bedtime...but Thursday, game on!