Reflecting.

Looking back.

In 2011 I joined a gym. LA Fitness to be exact. Hazel was only a year old and had never really be apart from me... The daycare ladies had to come get me every. single. day. It was awful. I couldn't even work out for 30 minutes without being interrupted. 

When I joined is when I tried my first ever spin class. I walked in having no idea what to do. I asked the instructor to help me set up my bike and got on. 

After 1 song I was huffing and puffing.

After 2 songs I walked out. I couldn't even make it through 2 songs and I felt light headed and dizzy and that I was about to die. I went home feeling defeated. 

I never went back to a spin class there.

I instead did yoga a lot, tried a Zumba class, but mainly walked and ran on the treadmill. I soon cancelled my membership. Mainly because the daycare ladies couldn't keep Hazel happy for more than 30 minutes. So it just wasn't worth it.

So after that we started running at home. When we moved into our house that we live in now I was training for a half so we found this trail called "The Greenway" It's concrete and wood planks that go through the woods and over steams. It's beautiful. This is where I really found myself as a runner. This trail is split up into 2 trails. One side is 6 miles down and back and the other side is 8 miles down and back. They connect by crossing over a road. It was the perfect place for me to train. Hazel loves going there because there is so much to look at. I love going there because I despise the treadmill. For me running outside is so much easier. Probably because of the countless hours I've spent on The Greenway. I just love it. After the half I was burnt out from running. I had hurt my knee pretty bad so I just got lazy and didn't do anything. Then my BFF Aimee and I started walking. Like 6 miles a day. It was so much fun. We bonded. Hazel ate snacks and it was our time to relax and exercise. It was low impact so it didn't hurt my knee and it was summer so we sweated like pigs. When it got cold I felt worse and worse about taking Hazel out there and making her sit in the freezing stroller. I knew that Jonathan and I needed to do something so we toyed with the idea of getting a treadmill. Realistically, this wouldn't have worked for us. Seeing how much I HATE the treadmill, I wouldn't have used it very often. A couple of our friends went to Body Plex, where we joined and they loved it so we went in and gave it a try. We instantly fell in love. The first time we went we did Hot Yoga and I was instantly sweating like a pig hooked. It was awesome. So the next day we tried an RPM class. After my last spin class 2 years ago I was skeptical but decided to try it because Jonathan loves it so much. So we went in and set up our bikes and I finished the entire class. 9 songs people. It is amazing how far I have come in 2 years. Since doing that we have ventured into the group fitness class. I had to drag Jonathan. And we tried Body Pump. Again I was instantly hooked. Jonathan loves it too. It is just an incredible workout! Using weights and burning a ton of calories = the perfect workout. except for jumping squats...  I can't say enough good things about group classes at the gym. It's incredible how much harder I work out. It's like having a personal trainer... for free! 

For the first time in my life my arms actually have definition.

I still have a long way to go but I am so proud of how far I've come.