A Humbling Admission

I came face to face with a humbling fact today: I am not nearly as flexible or strong as I thought I was. Not even remotely close. UGH.

Apparently, because I run a lot I seem to think that this entitles me to being strong, in shape, and capable of completing exercises at least somewhat well. I am now admitting, this is not the case.

When we lived in Salem, before I joined the "dark side" and started running marathons, we joined a class at our gym called Group Power. It was one of those classes that you think you're going to die in the middle of and you can't move for the following week. I LOVED it. We went to it twice a week and it quickly became a highlight of my day. Justin and I would meet at the gym, do the class, get some dinner, and often head back to the gym again. It was incredible. I loved watching myself get stronger and pushing myself to new limits in a safe, encouraging, competitive environment.

When we moved to Florida, I obviously had to stop attending Group Power, but I continued to do many of the workouts on my own. Slowly, this motivation faded as I didn't have the support and pushing from fitness instructors. I continued to run, though, so I felt like I was still in shape. Come January, I became pregnant and soon there after decided I was done with any ab workouts for awhile. My justification: I will be losing the muscle anyway as my belly stretches, right? (note to self: don't do this again with pregnancy #2)

Fast forward to now. I am back to running marathons and hope to PR this June. I have finally added hills and track workouts and feel like I am in great "running shape" when I am truly training. Sooooo, in my mind this somehow has made me think that I can do anything fitness related, within reason of course. Before I go on further, I am fully aware that I am not flexible enough and my abs and upper body are weak, I just wasn't aware of how bad it was.

Last week I decided to participate in a Powerflex class at Ballys (our gym). Turns out the regular instructor wasn't there, so the substitute (who was great) led us through a cardio/isometrix class instead. My initial "I feel stupid doing these things" attitude quickly dissolved when we began doing "berpies" (a horrible exercise that combines jumping and push-ups in very quick movements) and other like-exercises. Needless to say, I quickly learned how weak I was and was amazed at how sore my legs were. These are the same legs that I train for marathons with, right?

I went back to the class today with the regular instructor. The class format is similar to Group Power, but not as cool. It's ok, I'm going for the content. Anyway, once again I came crashing into the reality that I am incredibly weak and inflexible. So, why am I telling you this? Because I really, truly hope to be able to look at this post in a couple of months and note my improvement. I want to start working on my flexibility. Seriously, it is bad. I really think I am worse than most boys. (no offense, boys just aren't typically that flexible) And as far as strength training, I really, really want to get stronger - which shouldn't be hard figuring how weak I am now. I know doing squats, lunges, and calf raises will only help my running - once I get to the point that I can move again the day after I do them. And, of course, strengthening my core will help my lower back, etc.

Hopefully this humbling admission will be the start of a new journey and one that I can recognize improvement with in a couple of months. Until then, I'll keep on suffering through the workouts, pushing my pride aside, and try not to mutter mean things at the instructor as she walks by.