Last week, I revealed that I made the decision to run a 5K for my birthday in February – a decision that came after nine years of less than frequent exercise. My adventures in fitness continue below…

The first step toward completing my goal to run a 5K was to sign up for Shocker Fitness and I did that. I’m golden now, right? Well, not so much. In the two weeks since I started the workouts, there have been some highs and lows.

One low? I’ve skipped a couple of workouts in favor of sleeping in. To be fair, one of the days I was legitimately sick and didn’t want to contaminate my new Shocker Fitness friends. I have no excuse for missing the other workout except I stayed up too late the night before trying to finish Twilight. I can’t tell what is more ridiculous: the fact that I stayed up too late reading a book found in the young adult section or that I openly admitted it to you guys.  Let’s just go with both and move on.

Another low that I’ve experienced is an injured knee. Here’s a tip from me to you: if you are a person of my size, it is not a good idea to jump up and down, because what goes up must come down and that’s a lot of weight to be coming down on. I’m on the mend though, so things are looking up once again.

It hasn’t  been all bad; I’ve gone from only being able to run 1/4 of the track during warmup to running 1/2 the track. That’s progress and I’m damn proud of myself for that. Also, one day the group ran 100s relays for 20 minutes and I agreed to join them instead of walking like I had been. I blame lack of sleep and my very convincing friend, Deena, for talking me into this one. Even though I thought I was going to die, I still did it. I think it was the fact that it was a relay and I knew my other team member was waiting for me to finish so she could take off. Another awesome thing is that I’m exercising and actually enjoying it despite myself. Didn’t see that one coming. What I really like about Shocker Fitness is that it’s not just about working out, it’s about feeling like I’m part of a team again. A team that gets up at the butt crack of dawn, encourages each other, has lots of laughs while working out and regularly schedules events outside of workouts that involve fried food and beer. That’s my kind of team.

While I absolutely love Shocker Fitness, I wanted to branch out and try other workout options.  So I found some information online about a hip-hop dance class, recruited some friends to join me and went to Care to Dance on Wednesday night. As I walked into the  front room, there were people ballroom dancing; I looked down at my t-shirt and sweats and couldn’t help but feel out of place immediately. It’s a classy place and I am anything but classy. Luckily, though, they pointed us to the back room where it was less formal and there were other women in their sweats waiting for class to start.

Turns out the class was not Hip Hop Dance after all. Instead, it was a Zumba class. Having no idea what Zumba was, I wouldn’t have been offended if my friends would have just bailed, but thankfully they stuck around. For 55 minutes we shook our groove things… well, they shook their groove things while I spent most of the time watching the instructor. By the time I finally figured out what she was doing, she would switch to something new. My friends caught on quickly. I, however, did not. I am the least coordinated person ever.

To make it even better, there were mirrors. Full-length mirrors. Watching myself dance was like watching Elaine from Seinfield dance. It’s so bad that you just have to laugh. I tried to keep to the side of the room to avoid the mirrors as much as possible but there were times when I’d catch a glimpse and instantly crack up. Also, one of my friends brought her video camera. I would like to publicly state that I did not sign a release for my picture and/or dance moves to be filmed. I’m pretty sure she is plotting her blackmail already.

Despite my lack of coordination, the class was a blast. Zumba – which, it turns out, is an aerobic dance routine inspired by Latin dance – was a good workout. I left sweaty and full of energy. Gina, our instructor, had a lot of spunk and her attitude was infectious.  Classes are Mondays and Wednesdays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at 10 a.m. For $6 you get a 55-minute workout that is fun and doesn’t feel like actually working out. I’m definitely going back. I’m not sure if my friends will join me or not.

I’m looking into other classes in Wichita to try. Readers, what do you do for exercise? What keeps you motivated to keep doing it? Sound off in the comments.

Related posts:

1. [move] Running Just as Fast as I Can: Week 7
2. [move] Running Just As Fast As I Can – Week 1
3. [move] Running Just As Fast As I Can: Week 3
4. [move] Running Just As Fast As I Can: Week 4
5. [move] Running Just As Fast As I Can: Week 5