March 3: Punch Drunk

        There was no WOW class today, so I had the opportunity to work out with Charlene at Slim & Fit in Mayfield Heights.  And I hit her.  Don't blame me!  She made me do it – she gave me the gloves and she told me how to do it.  As one who left a self defense class in tears, I believe I have special authority to say how much fun this workout was.

        I was nervous before the workout.  I even ate and tracked a bowl of -- as Calvin & Hobbes would say -- chocolate frosted sugar bombs.  {Note: this morning I realized I'm a stress eater.}  I was afraid that she'd expect more from me than I was capable of.  We people pleasers don't like to let others down.  I was afraid that I'm not as strong as I seem to be in WOW.  Maybe all that lifting & sweating I do would earn no better than a C+?

        Thankfully Charlene, who was a successful contestant in last year's Lighten Up, turned out to be friendly, funny, and supportive.  We did some treadmill, then some upper body, some treadmill, then back, some treadmill (to keep my heart rate up) and some free weights, some treadmill, then Charlene asked me if I'd every boxed.  Erm, no.  Are you kidding?  I catch spiders and put them outside.  I brake for squirrels.  Punch?  Only with the Wii or a DVD – never with another person on the receiving end. 

        So what do I do when I'm working out and faced with an unfamiliar, apparently uncomfortable task?  I step up and try it, of course.  To say "I can't" would be way more humiliating than to try it and look like the spaz that I am.  So I put on some giant red gloves, and Charlene put on some hand pads with targets in the palms.  She told me where to punch, and I punched.  Since it was absolutely clear she was in no danger of a bruise or a sprain or even noticing that I was hitting her, I was okay with it and found that this was FUN!  It was new, it held my attention, and it got me sweating!  When I hopped back onto the treadmill after that bout, I think I may have felt a bead of sweat forming on my forehead!  No dripping yet, but it's a start.

        My advice to you who haven't worked out with a trainer before: give it a whirl.  Trainers are fantastic.  No matter how weak I actually am, they make me believe in myself.  They tell me I'm strong. Today Charlene shocked me with a new one: she told me I'm flexible!  I'm sure it's only because my leg was in a rubber band going one way while the rest of me was pulling in a different direction, but it was still nice to hear.  It's another piece of positive talk I can keep in mind when I'm working out.  Sure I know that I'm lumpy and awkward, but I've also been told that I'm strong and flexible.  How cool is that?

~Karin