Exercise: The Reunion

I've recently decided that I am not in good shape.  I don't mean that I'm fat (although there's always room for toning) or I weigh too much; in fact, I'm not even sure I know how much I weigh right now.  No.  I just have started getting that feeling that I can only describe as "schlumpy," which I associate with not exercising enough.  I don't really know why I ever stop exercising, because when I do it regularly, I feel the best I ever feel...ever.

The main reason I feel this compulsion to get into shape is because of my upcoming boat adventure.  The upper body strength I'm going to need (and obviously develop) when I'm working on the Wanderbird is something that, right now, I don't even begin to have.  I also want to make sure that my arms are strong so I don't hurt my shoulder again.  So about a month ago, I started taking a Zumba class two times a week.  That wasn't enough, so I started running a couple of times a week too.

Me without exercise.

Side note: there's this funny thing about running-- running is also a really good way to push out any negative feelings I might be having at the time.  For example, the other day, I was feeling generally negative about a number of things, so I decided to go for a run.  I was listening to my music and thinking about why I was irritated and I realized that I was running really fast. I felt like I was in one of those intense sports movies where the main character is angry so he goes and runs and he has this intense, angry-looking face on for the entire scene.  It kind of made me laugh because I felt a little bit ridiculous (thankfully it was at night so none of the people driving by could see my face).  But it's kind of awesome to be not in a super cheery mood when I run because I end up running much farther when I'm fueled by something I need to get out (I ran 3.6 miles the other day).  Then at the end of the run, I feel amazing.

Me with exercise.

Anyway, I realized that running and Zumba were helping with my lower body and my cardio, but what I really needed was a good workout for my arms and abs (more than just my little ab/pushup ritual at the end of my runs).

And so we come to the reason I'm writing this post.  I'm SO EXCITED because I just found a climbing gym here in LA that has pretty cheap monthly memberships that, if you get it with a series of classes, gives you free shoe and harness rentals (also it's great because as of today, I'm only going to be here for another month anyway).  So I signed up for it!!!!  I really like climbing, even though I've only been a couple times (right after the second time I went I hurt my shoulder for the second time and had to take a break from it-- then a while later I had to get surgery so...yeah- it didn't really work out).

SO- since tomorrow marks the one-year point since my shoulder surgery, I figured it would be a good celebration of my good range of motion and semblance of strength in my shoulder.  So there we go!  Hopefully, this will help me not die from my arms falling off when I'm working on the Wanderbird.