Zumba

My Valentines Day present to my family and myself was a gym membership. I had been thinking about joining for a while and finally just walked in and signed us up. I got a copy of the class schedule and saw they had Zumba classes. I had always wanted to try Zumba. I had tried the videos at home but felt it wasn't the same.
Last week I finally decided to try my first Zumba class. I was so nervous. I arrived around 15 minutes early and sat in my car. I was literally shaking. I have no idea why.
I finally walked into class and looked around. There was a mixture of ages ( including senior citizens) and ethnicites and gained some confidence. I figured I knew how to dance and I'm Latina, I could show these people a thing or two about a thing or two.
When the class started the first song was Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. My first thought was WTF? This isn't Zumba music! But I figured when in Rome and got into it. 15 minutes later I was HATING LIFE. I looked up at the clock and wondered the heck I was going to finish this class. Then I realized that these past 15 minutes were just warm up.
The instructor started the music and we started to ZUMBA. I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my skin. I started to feel sick and worked my way to the locker room. I literally threw up in one of the stalls. So much for being a bad ass and putting everyone to shame. Feelings of panic set in when I didn't start to feel better. I sat in the  bathroom stall praying I wasn't having a heart attack and images of the 11:00 news flashed with the headline: WOMEN FOUND DEAD ON TOILET SEAT. No, I was not going out that way.  Finally after what seemed an eternity I mustered up some courage, did some self talk, and  I walked outside,  got some air and went back to the room. I limped in so people would think I had hurt my knee.
The smart thing to do would've been to grab my stuff and leave. But NOOOOOOOO, I had to continue. I had something to proove to myself this time. The heck with everyone else. So I paced myself and finished the class. (insert applause).
Now I know for next time to eat a better dinner because this class burns a lot of energy,  and to pace myself and gradually build up some stamina. This is also a great life lesson for me. I have a tendency to jump into things right away and attack them with such vigour that one of two things happens: I either burn myself out or I get bored and disinterested. So I'm going to try and slow down, relax and try to take everything a slower pace than what I'm used to.
Last thing I learned? That for a 39 year old, I can bootie pop and shimmie with the best of them. :-).