20 min Walk/Jog & 30 min Pilates = PAIN

So, I'm officially out-of-shape, but trying to get back into shape. At least I'm doing something, although it's pretty painful in the process. I'm also taking great measures to ensure that I'm not overdoing it at this (beginning) stage. The last thing I want is to start out all strong and gung-ho to find myself incapacitated in little time.

So, I thought I was going to ride Juniper to the gym, walk for 20 minutes, do a strength training class, and then bike home on Juniper. I got my times mixed up, however, and found myself at the gym 30 minutes too late for the strength training class. That's okay; there's a Pilates class at 10am. I can go to that after I walk/jog for now, I thought. So, I headed up to the track, and began the cardio workout. I walked 6 minutes for my warm-up, then proceeded with 3 minute intervals of walking and jogging. I did a cool-down of walking for 2 minutes before heading over to the Pilates class. I definitely forgot how hard Pilates was. I could hardly do anything! Planks had me trembling and down on my knees! My balance was non-existent! Forget using the ball when lifting and lowering my ankles ... I couldn't hack it and after 30 minutes, I realized that if I didn't stop, I was going to over-do it and/or hurt myself. So, after a valient and demanding half-hour, I packed it up and headed out. For the first time in a really long, long time, I was "that girl." On the plus side, I have to say that riding the bicycle was suddenly the (easy) highlight of the day's workout plan ...

I don't think of myself as quitting, but just being realistic. It's too early to push too hard. I'm actually glad I stopped when I did. The walk/jog went really well, actually. The jog was much, much better than I had expected it to be. My Pilates performance left me wanting, but I did get a lot out of it (and can be felt today). I'm not crippled, just pleasantly sore in all the right places. I'm planning to take time to go for an easy swim this afternoon to help work out all of the soreness and kinks in my neck and shoulders. I am going to have to work on getting back in the habit of relaxing my upper body during workouts since I find myself shrugging and hunching-up my shoulders when I'm really pushing the effort.

So, for a total of 20 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of Pilates, it was a bit painful, but worth every moment.