So Ready

Yesterday evening, I again branched out (by necessity) and I attended a cardio-boxing class at L.A. Boxing with a buddy of mine. I knew it would be challenging and I was/was not (pleasantly?) surprised, depending on how you look at it.

We started out with 15 minutes of "warm-up." This consisted of running in place, mountain climbers, push-ups, jumping jacks, and several other exercises--far more than what I would normally anticipate a warm up to be. I was sweating by the time we were finished warming up--and I was getting worried.

We then started into some shadow boxing. No gloves, just a time to work on "form." I had no form, so this period of time was useless for me. All the while, the guy leading the class explained the 6 basic punches. I tapped the bag and tried to look like I knew what I was doing, while I secretly tried to recover from the warm up.

Next up, we donned our gloves and began punching combinations. The leader would call out numbers, and we would have to punch the bag according to the combination. Now, if you know me, you know that I am horribly uncoordinated (which is probably one reason I took up running, although even that is sometimes a challenge to my coordination). So I was at times spending more time trying to figure out how to progress from one punch to the next rather than actually punching the bag, while I secretly tried to recover from the warm up.

I was actually starting to do OK, but then, the leader came over and encouraged me to move around the bag. I was thinking, "Buddy, you don't understand." But I did as he requested (relatively speaking), while I secretly tried to recover from the warm up.

Quite some time later, the punching part ended, and it was time for a "cool down." The cool down consisted of running in place, mountain climbers, push-ups, jumping jacks, and several other exercises, including one that I came to dislike perhaps even more than the others. We were asked to do a few push-ups, then, rest in a straight line on our elbows, then go back to a push-up, then back to our elbows, and so on. My wife, (who clearly knows more about exercise than I do) told me that these were called "planks." Whatever they're called, they are ridiculously (and very surprisingly) tough. I tried to hang in through these and many other ab-killing exercises, but I was not doing a great job at this point, while I secretly tried to recover from the warm up.

I should mention at this point, to add to the pain and humiliation, the entire class was conducted in front of huge, wall-length mirrors, so I could actually watch myself the entire time to see how ridiculous I looked, while I secretly tried to recover from the warm up.

At the end of the workout, the leader came over and asked me how it went. All I could muster was the word, "Tough." I smiled politely and somehow explained that I needed some air, and I then went outside to sit for a few minutes to get some fresh air, while I secretly tried to recover from the warm up.

After several minutes outside (once the feeling that I needed to barf had sufficiently subsided), I went in to return my wraps and to listen to a short spiel about why I should join the gym. [I was there on a guest pass--a great idea (so I thought) that I got last week after a doctor told me not to run for two weeks]. I listened as the guy explained to me that as a marathon runner, this sort of thing would be great for me. I quietly chided myself for ever mentioning that was a runner, while I secretly tried to recover from the warm up.

I'm so ready to run again.