Advanced Spin Class a Surprise

I arrived at the gym this morning for my scheduled meeting with the trainer for my first spin class with her. I gather that this class is her own exercise for the day and as such it is not a proper training session for the two of us, more of an introduction to the class and a chance to see how I cope with the cardio aspect of it. I took a little too much notice of her warnings to get to the gym early, and arrived before it even opened! Fortunately it was only by a couple of minutes so I didn't have to wait that long before I was able to get inside.

The instructor was already there and had reserved our bikes for us. After I dropped off my bag in the lockers I met her in the cycle studio and we set up the bikes. She scoped me out and made a few changes to the way that the bike was set up and we were ready to go - only 25 minutes before the class started! We chatted for most of this time and during this discussion I learned that the class was 'advanced' and wasn't for the usual 30-45 minutes, but was for an entire hour. It was at this stage that I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into...

I felt good at the gym, and had managed to have some very strong coffee to fortify me for the workout. I like a caffeine hit before going to the gym, I have no idea if it has a real effect, but it does seem to help power me through my workouts. When I heard I would be cycling for an entire hour I was most grateful that I had the foresight to get up early and suck back some stong coffee before attending the class.

As to the class itself, I knew I was in trouble when I started clock watching 20 minutes into the workout. I found it quite tough, and the music and pace was unrelenting. I kept up, and did managed probably to about 50 minutes of the workout keeping up with the class and even turning up the resistance when told to do so. I know that my form on the cycle is not correct, however I tried hard and corrected my positioning a number of times. It was a good effort on my part, and I know I went as well as I could during the class. I think that I may make this a regular thing as it was good fun, there was some good music, there was also some funny people in the class, and the instructor was pretty classy.

So, chalk up one advanced spin class at the gym. It is very popular and people were being turned away from the class so I will always have to make sure that I arrive very early and sit there cycling for ages. I did get sore from the seat on the bike, but I feel okay now. I know that I will be suffering tomorrow, I am already starting to hobble and it has only been about an hour and a half since I finished the class. This does not bode well for tomorrow and I will be assessing myself tomorrow morning to see how I pull up.

We're off out tonight to a BBQ in Newtown, a hip and happening suburb of Sydney where the University is. The BBQ is being put on by a work colleague of my partner and marks our first invitation out to a a party since we arrived in Sydney. It'll be nice to meet some new folks and have a bit of fun. We're both looking forward to it, and hope that we can return the invite in the not too distant future (we have to get a BBQ ourselves). Good stuff. Roll on weekend, it has started well and if I do 22km tomorrow it will finish well too! I may have to take Monday off and just get the blood test done and recover for the rest of the day.