I awoke on Wednesday July 29th 2009 full of anticipation to meet Marianne. She was emailing me directions to the facility so I was all set. I am very directionally challenged but can follow directions.
The whole day I was watching the clock and counting down the time. The closer it got the more nervous I got. But I was not cancelling and it never crossed my mind until the very end. Brandon was so supportive of me and he was telling me he thought it would be a great place since I would not be intimidated by other people who were fitter than me already.
I planned to work a little late and go meet Marianne straight from work. I had put my workout clothes in my little bag that morning and had them in my car. I was all set, until I remembered that I might not have put socks in the bag, yep sure enough no socks. Trouble, I had to go home first before going to meet Marianne. I had time, disaster averted. I ran home it was not too far out of the way and changed clothes and got socks. I left in plenty of time to get to the Gym. I was calling Brandon for moral support. The closer I got to the place, the more anxious I felt. I was really worried that I would be the fattest person Marianne had ever seen, who wanted to train. And that there would be other people in there training who would look like they had been going to the Gym their entire lives. And I would be the outsider daring to enter their world. I thought fit people have this secret club and they don't admit us non fit.
(If you are reading this and you can totally identify with my last statement. Let me tell you that you are wrong. Fit people will welcome anyone into their world with open and very supportive arms. They want us all to be as fit as they are. I have received support from tons of people, but by far the most positive and supportive have been my friends who are fit and were athletes in High School and College. People I only talk to once a year or have not talked to in years have posted notes of encouragement on my facebook page. Others are checking in on me to see if I am staying on track. So much of what I thought other people thought about me was really a reflection of what I felt about me. Do not let what you feel about yourself and your current fitness level keep you from getting fit. It is never too late to change until you are in the ground. I did not really understand that. And I am still learning every day. Getting fit will totally change every facet of your life and attitude.)
I passed the place on the first go around. And on the second round I found the parking garage and a spot. Hey I was on my way. I started looking for the place. I had neglected to print out the email from Marianne so while I was at the right location I did not know which part of the Center it was located in.
I wandered around the center and was thinking man I am going to be winded and exhausted before I even find the place, that will make for a great first impression. I called Marianne on the phone to try and find the location. I think 3 calls later I found it. Now I had to go there was no chickening out now. The main door was locked so she met me at the door to let me in. She was so friendly and outgoing. She put me at ease instantly and hey great, the place had an elevator. Like we were going to take the elevator. How I even thought that, is totally hilarious and should have been then. She opened the door to the steps and up we went 2 flights. I was really worried about making it up to the 2nd floor. I hate stairs and take the elevator when ever possible. I really had not paid attention to where the stairs were, I was more concerned with surviving the stairs. (This would be key when it came time to leave).
I don't really know what I expected but this was not what I pictured it to be. It was this big room with equipment along the periphery and some mats more in the middle of the floor. Along the far wall the cardio equipment was located. Treadmills, a stair machine and yes a bike. Marianne really put me at ease. She was training another client and just gave me a stack of paper work to fill out while she finished up. It was quite extensive but nothing I would consider out of the ordinary. Name, Address, injuries, surgeries, waivers etc. I must say I am always a bit nervous to sign a waiver because you know they would not have you sign one if something could not happen. And being the anal retentive person that I am, I read every line.
After I filled out the paperwork and Marianne finished with her client, she came over and went over my paperwork. Then she asked me about my fitness goals and anything I had done in the past. She was very reassuring and so non judgemental. That was really huge for me. She was just nice. So we talked for a few minutes. She was thinking I should start with hour sessions, I said well I was thinking about starting out with the Half Hour Sessions and progressing to the Hours. She was on board with that. I asked her if we could go ahead and schedule the next 2 weeks out. I figured it I made a two week commitment up front that would lock me in and not let me wienie out. She instantly looked at her book and reeled off 6 appointments over the next 2 weeks. Okay that was not painful. I could do this. (Okay yes, I realize to this point all I have done is fill out paperwork and make appointments.)
So in my mind I am thinking time to go and Marianne says so you want to go ahead and get started tonight. Without thinking I said sure. She said let's start with some cardio, I said I really hate the treadmill. She had me with these words, then let's not do the treadmill, do you like the bike? I said I love the bike. She had won me over, NO TREADMILL, Brandon owes me, he said I would have to do the treadmill. (Spoiler alert - he will be right in the long run) I was on cloud 9 at this point.
She took me over to the bike and I got on and she programmed it. While I was riding we were talking and getting to know each other, you know like what I did for a living. I am a Certified Public Accountant and of course she had a tax question. Everyone always has a tax question for me, which is totally fine it always gives me an in and is an instant ice breaker. Plus it really put me at ease and made me not think about how long I was biking for. I am sure everyone has a fitness or health question for her. She did add a twist I was to keep the RPM's above 70 and I had I was talking. She had me bike for 11 minutes, not too terribly bad, hey that was almost the 15 minutes of cardio. I figured hey in a week or two I will be doing my 15 minutes. (Okay I admit it I am so Naive)
She also told me what a big step it was to just come in and meet with a trainer. She said people make appointments and stand her up for the initial appointment frequently. I said I could identify as people did that to me as well in my business. I said I had learned that if they demand an after hours first appointment or a weekend that they were not treating it like a real business and it was not important enough to them. So they usually stood me up, so I had stopped going out of my way for initial appointments. I bet she said it was a huge deal just to take the first step about 10 times in that first appointment.
Next I think we went and did this exercise where you sit on this big low table and then stand up while trying not to let your knees cross your toes. I am sure there is a name for these. There is a name for everything. They were challenging but not impossible. Hey this resistance stuff is not bad. I may actually be able to do this stuff.
We moved to that mats and did a repetition where I put my heels up on a little bench and lay on my back, then raised my butt off the ground while squeezing my butt cheeks together like I was trying to crack a walnut between them. I am sure these have a name as well. I am thinking we did one more other exercise but I can't remember what it was. If Marianne reads this maybe she will remember and comment, if she can stop laughing about how uninformed I am.
So that was it, not really bad at all, I felt like I would still be able to move tomorrow. Of course at this point I should have realized they don't kill you on the first lesson or you won't come back. Especially if you have ROOKIE written all over you. I had ROOKIE AND GULLIBLE written all over me. I needed to believe I could do this or I was probably not even going to try.
I have never been really athletic since I became a teenager. Maybe if I had made the basketball team in 8th Grade it would have been different, maybe not. I will never know and it is not something I dwell on. That was the last time I ever tried to make a team or pursue anything athletic until I became an adult. Now they have so many more opportunities for girls to play sports in Middle School and High School. Back then there was Basketball, Track and Field and Tennis. They added Softball I think when I was a Sophomore in High School, now they have Volleyball and Soccer and probably some others as well.
I left the gym feeling like I was going to be able to do this stuff. And that Marianne was going to help me reach my goals and realize my potential. As I left I realized I did not pay attention when we came up the stairs so I had no idea where to go. I found a staircase and took it, but it was the one that was more of an emergency one or service one I ended up outside at the back of the building. Turned around again. I managed to find the garage and my car. I was so excited to call Brandon and give him the scoop. He was totally up for it and so happy for me. And he counseled me to just not go a few times and quit. I said well I made appointments for the next 2 weeks so I could not quit. I got home and ate dinner and went to bed. It had been a Great day and I had taken a Giant step towards my goal of being fit, even if I did not realize it at the time.
The moral of this post is don't be afraid to try stuff that is scary to you or you think you may not be good at. Be afraid when you don't try those things. You might be like me and find out you can do stuff you never imagined you could do. Sure you are going to fail at stuff, but you are going to fail trying. You can't fail at stuff you never try, but you can't succeed either. I am 45 years old and I tried one of the scariest things I could think of and did not fail. (Evidently I am going to try all the others in the next year, according to Marianne)
Until next time Keep Fit!
pam
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