I recently had my first two days of Pilates classroom instruction. To say the days were overwhelming is an understatement. When you get to my age you do not have many opportunities to learn in a classroom setting. Sure you are always learning something new at your job or trying to keep up with advancements in technology but it has literally been decades since I have been in school. I was mentally and physically exhausted after each 8 hour day. Sitting on a hardwood floor for multiple hours at a time did not help my old body. I could barely get up, let alone practice a new exercise. Between learning the history of Pilates, anatomy, a new exercise and all of the relevant details to go with each exercise I kept going back and forth between I got this and what have I gotten myself into? The end of my first 8 hour day culminated with me needing to teach three new exercises I had learned to a fellow classmate. Oh yea, and the kicker was I could not use my notes. Let’s just say that I did not put on the most stellar performance. That evening all I could hear in my head was my instructor telling me she has only had one student she ever felt did not belong in the program and now I am thinking she has just met number two. I struggled to get up the next morning and subject myself to the same humiliation on day two. Well, low and behold it was not as bad. I still waivered moment to moment on my love/hate relationship but at the end of the day I did feel a bit more confident in myself.
The next day, I woke up and decided I definitely needed to get outside and run. It was barely 20 degrees but the sun was finally shining and I mentally needed to get outside after spending my weekend indoors. As many people do while running my mind starts to wonder. I decided I need to complete this Pilates program for a number of reasons and more importantly know I can excel at it. Unlike when I was in my early 20s, I now have a daughter that looks up to me. I need to show her that maybe you are uncomfortable in a situation or are not really good at something but you truly do need to work at it and accomplish your goal. My daughter even jumped in the other night to start working on exercises and was quizzing me on facts this morning. I also really believe I can use Pilates to make a difference in people’s life. Oh and most importantly, this Pilates thing really does help strengthen your body. Even though I recently completed marathon training my quads were never as sore as they were when I woke up Monday morning.
Sometimes all you need is a little run to clear your head and put a perspective on things.
