At my gym, we have to call and sign up for the spin classes, I suppose because they are very popular and can fill up fast. Last night I called the gym, and put myself down for a spin class, my very first session. If you are new to the class, they ask that you arrive early for set up. How hard could this be, I thought?
So, after getting my hair cut this morning, I take my daughter against her will to the gym. I bribe her with a promise of a trip to the mall afterwards.
I arrive about 5 minutes early to class, and learn how to properly set up my bike. The instructor helps me and gives me pointers while adjusting the bike. Seat should be about level with my hips height wise, when I sit my knees should not be bent in an angle greater than 2-3 degrees, and my knees should be above my ankles. She also says I may want to raise the handle bars since I’m new. Sure, why not!
She then shows me how to adjust the resistance and gives me a scale for 1 being the easiest, and a 5 about to the point where I need to stand up. We, the three of us students, start at a 3 for a warm up, and then about four other students show up.
After setting up my bike, I place my pedometer on my shoe to count pedals. When on a bike, your hips don’t move much at all, so it won’t count like it should. Of course, you only get half the amount of steps in this way, but it’s better than nothing! And I’m not cheating, I read this tip somewhere.
We warm up sitting for a few minutes, then the time comes to stand up at a level 5. This is harder than it sounds. I try to stand up while pedaling, but it doesn’t work that well. My legs stop pedaling, and I just stand trying to push the pedals. Eventually I get going, but it’s not pretty. Luckily the room we are in is dark and only lit with black lights, and my bike just happens to not be in front of a mirror.
Then I learn I’m not standing right, I guess there are different levels of standing, and my butt needs to be almost touching the seat. It was much easier when I was just standing up. My thighs are burning less than 10 minutes into class, and my calves and feet follow soon after. I keep looking at the clock wondering when it will be over, but I know it’s an hour long class. I ran out of water about 30 minutes into class.
The instructor goes through several calls for us to do things, but I only understand a little bit of the terminology like climbing a hill and recovery. Oh well, I manage to do ok and follow along. Then we form “teams” and are racing with groups of us pulling the team along by standing. I’m drenched in sweat and dripping over the bars. This was a bit difficult, but I tried to keep up with my team and stood as much as I possible could.
Neighbor asks if I’m having fun. Honestly I answer, “No.”
I’m looking at the clock and we only have 15 minutes left, yes! But not so fast, then we get to do these fabulous resistance drills that will build up our endurance. We push up the dial, stop pedaling and stand up, then have to start pedaling really fast then we can sit down, but have to keep pedaling fast.
The end of class didn’t come fast enough, but its finally over, and we cool down pedaling, stretch our upper bodies on the bikes, then get off the bikes to stretch our legs. I didn’t think I would be able to walk, but I survived. My pedometer counted 4,300 “steps”. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow, and if I get delayed onset muscle soreness again.
My instructor was cool, not like this one at all, and at the end she said I did a good job for my first time. I’m glad I stayed for the full hour.
My Polar F11 arrived in the mail last Tuesday night, and I took it for a test drive starting Wednesday at my one hour spin class. I ordered it from 
This weekend in DC was a big one for walking and running events. Saturday was the Step Out to Fight Diabetes walk, and Sunday we had the Marine Corps Marathon.