I was walking home the other day and I thought to myself “oh I’m so glad I don’t have rehearsal tonight. That means I can get up early and go for a run on Friday”
I’m sorry, what?
Here’s the thing. I’ve always been too terrified to exercise in the presence of others. Too ashamed of my lack of co-ordination, lack of skill, lack of fitness, excess of flesh. But then I started running and I didn’t hate it. I almost kind of loved it.
I never was the best at staying motivated, however.
I became one of those horrible people who tweets about getting up at 5am to go for a run, I’d post a photo afterwards, sometimes even a screenshot of my Nike Plus running app screen. I tweeted my distance and if I felt like I was dying or not.
I wasn’t doing it to be obnoxious, promise (that was just a bonus). I just wanted to track my progress and, yea, sometimes I was a wee bit proud of myself.
Mainly I tweeted so that I would, at least in my own mind, consider myself accountable if I ever stopped. This has worked better than any other self-motivational method I’ve ever used.
So I’d been running for the last couple of months of 2012, quite enjoying it but never really challenging myself all that much. Enough to buy the running tights & new running shoes but only pushing myself to run just a little bit further each time. I was getting a little defeatist.
During our New Year holiday in the Mansion House Laura said that she would quite like to get bufty arms in 2013 while I said I would maybe perhaps possibly consider running a 5k* so our other Laura (my evil twin) suggested that maybe perhaps we could sign up to Les Mills for their January trial period and then we could all go to classes together. Seeing as how she was a member already and all.
Just like that #teambufty** was born.
But no, actually, I think I kind of adore the gym.
I thought doing classes & running on a treadmill in the same room as other people would be terrifying but everyone is kind of in their own little world. I’ve done classes where I lift weights until sweat drips from my elbows & classes where I punch & kick & get a little lost in the combinations and it’s brilliant. I push myself so much harder.
I’ve even got a little routine down – weights classes three times a week & running three times a week***. Sometimes I switch out one of the runs for a “combat” class instead.
It was when I tweeted at 8:30pm on a Wednesday that I’d just finished a weights class and I hadn’t pushed myself as hard as I would have liked so I was going to get up to do the 6:30am combat class that Aly tweeted me
@ohsarahrose right – I’ve let this go on long enough without confronting you. Who are you and what have you done with Sarah-Rose?
— alyciamaree (@alyciamaree) January 23, 2013
She kind of has a point. I’ve … never been a member of a gym before. I’ve never had exercise be such a regular part of my life before. I really quite like it.
(I also really REALLY love tracking my exercise. I’m currently using an app called Moves in addition to my Nike Plus Get Running & oh! I love it so. Now I’m coveting a Nike FuelBand)
Of course, it is still January. This could all be over by March. But I hope not.
* yea. That’s still very much a maybe at the moment. There is the Round the Bays in a couple of weeks but that’s 7km!
** we have members all around NZ and even an international contingent. It’s not really a thing apart from the fact that we tweet encouragement at each other.
*** you know MOSTLY. When life like rehearsal and um occasionally parties and such take precedence. I haven’t gone completely mad.
