There are many things that I remember from gym in high school, most of them centering around hating being there or making headache related excuses to lay on the uncomfortable cot that they had set up in the office for an hour rather than don tennis shoes and play sports that I never completely understood anyway. There were some good memories, like the time a bunch of us got so far behind in cross country skiing that we missed much of our next class or the jokes that were always made when the bowling unit came about or even the it's-only-awkward-if-you-let-it-be-awkward rite of passage that was freshman square dancing (burgers and fries and cherry pies, do-si-do promenade), but mostly I hated it. It was only for a semester for three years, though, and it wasn't as though I was alone in the torture. Misery loves company, after all.
One thing that I will never forget was the pilates unit during freshman year. I think that it was only a few days long, so calling it a "unit" might be stretching it. I don't recall what the boys were doing during that time that we girls were shut in the padded wrestling room; I assumed it was something awesome like gladiatorial combat or skydiving. What I do recall is that having to try to follow a pilates video with a group of my peers in the middle of the school day was not my definition of a cool time. I also recall that our teacher at the time seemed to have the thing memorized as she did the exercises alongside us. As much as I didn't like gym class, I have to say that the gym teacher we had my freshman year was pretty badass. You have to give some credit to someone that would run the mile alongside us, if only because it meant that she wasn't really keeping track of how many laps we did so we could skip one and she'd be none the wiser. Not that I would do such a thing.
Anyway -- pilates. I was introduced to Blogilates a few days ago by a friend (hi, Whit!) and I was intrigued so I tried it out for the first time today. I liked the pacing of the beginners videos and the fact that the instructor really talks you through them, explains what's being worked, how to get the most out of each move, and is encouraging, but not annoyingly so. I especially enjoyed when doing one move that took a bit longer, she gave a little anecdote about doing pilates at the airport to stay warm. She's easy to relate to and approachable, almost as though you're being taught by a friend and I like that.
As I get into Whole30 (we're getting closer to the start!), I am looking to pair the healthy food choices with exercise. This is all about getting healthy and while I can eat well, I know that I also need to get active to really optimize this. Once the weather is no longer frigid as heck, I'm looking forward to making use of the path near my apartment that follows the river, but until then I'm going to be sticking with the pilates. I'd love to get a gym membership or even a treadmill of my own, but both are a bit out of my price range at the moment. Someday! Oh, someday.
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