Last summer I went to East Hampton, New York for a few days with my cousin. We have spent a month there every summer since we were young, and we missed it and our family. Traveling there was a story for a different time but when we got off the Jitney, we were greeted with smiling faces and squeezing hugs. That night we had dinner and took a trip to my Uncle's friend Patrick's house, whom we had not seen since he bought it many years ago. After chatting about what was going on in each of our lives, Patrick, said Uncle's friend, told us about SoulCycle. He mentioned that he was going that next day and invited us along. My super-fit cousin Syd jumped on it, and since I had always wanted to try it, agreed as well.
The next morning came faster than I wanted it to. Our alarm went off earlier than I would care to admit. Both Syd and I mustered up all the courage we had to get out of bed and get dressed for our adventure. Patrick soon arrived and my Uncle Mitchell sent us off with hugs and scruffy kisses. Terrified, I got in the car. As soon as we walked into the building seeing the bright white and yellow walls, I regretted my decision and was ready to go home. Patrick knew the teacher and got us bikes in the front corner. I got into my shoes and hopped on the bike with some help and I was ready to go. The teacher invited Patrick to sit on the trainer bike next to hers and off we went. She took us on an adventure.
Looking around the room during warm up, I was not sure why I needed weights, but would find out soon enough I was sure. I also was so scared that I was in the front row with all the fit moms that come to these classes six days a week. Six. The intensity slowly started to build, as well as my heart rate. I pushed myself that day harder than ever because I wanted to prove not only to the class but to myself that I could do it. My cousin and I, though on stationary bikes, were getting left in the dust. The teacher kept yelling and pumping us up but all I could think about how much my legs were burning and I wanted to stop. The intensity kept rising, song after song. That's when it happened. The weights came out. Then we started doing push-ups while biking, and doing arm workouts with more intensity than most. If anyone knows me, I'm athletic, not coordinated. It was the hardest workout of my entire life and I used to work out for three hours every day at lacrosse practice. Finally, it all ended and I needed more water than the Atlantic Ocean had to offer me. My legs felt like Jello and I wasn't sure I would ever be able to walk again.
After a few "nice job!"s, Syd and I took a picture and left. I was dripping sweat from my head down to my socks. I had never done something like that before and it was thrilling. After class, I realized how fun spin actually was. I had a full body workout in 45 minutes and I hadn't even had breakfast yet (I don't want the lecture about not eating before a workout. Results probably would have been very different if I had). Walking in, I had no idea what to expect. I was intimidated, scared, and in significantly worse in shape than everyone there but I did it and I would do it again. Though the actual act felt like I was dying, I loved how I felt afterward. It was a confidence booster for me to say that I took a spin class in the Hampton's and survived.
Have I been to spin since then? No. Would I go again? Yeah, sure. All I know is the people who take classes six days a week are my heroes. I couldn't even sneeze without everything in my body hurting. Getting dressed in the morning took 20 minutes and washing my hair? Forget it. It turned out to be a great experience, but definitely not my go-to workout.
SoulCycle participants, Patrick and our teacher, you guys are truly amazing.
