My First Spin Class

Last week I went to my first spin class, thanks to Carly! Even though we follow each other’s blogs and live and work pretty close to each other, we hadn’t seen each other in person since we met at Fitbloggin’ 12. We were making plans to rectify that, and she invited me to join her at a spin class at RevolveDC–which is in Clarendon, Virginia, by the way!

I was a bit nervous, but Carly answered all my emails about what to wear, what to bring, and what time to get there–and even sent an up-to-date-tweet about where to park. Carly also had roped in invited Ashley and Ericka, and RevolveDC was in on the fun, and psyched us up with tweets throughout the day. (Thanks, Amber!) I love a company that gets the “social” of social media!

Carly, Ashley and I got there early, and had time to get some “before” pictures.

In case that picture didn’t turn out, I took a pre-spin selfie on my iPhone. 😉

Ericka arrived just in time, and we proceeded to spin and sweat with Grant Hill leading the way through a fun Body Spin class. The room was mostly dark except for a few spotlights, the music was motivating, and the air-conditioning was going full-blast. That’s important to know when you see me in the “after” picture below.

(Amber, Ericka, Grant, Carly, Ashley, Coco)

Look at how sweaty my shirt is! I have never sweat so much in air-conditioning in my life! There were rivers of sweat running down–at least it felt that way.

Looking back, I had no reason to be nervous or intimidated. Of course, going with friends made a big difference, but the people at RevolveDC were great. Amber helped me set up my bike, and Grant was encouraging, but not a drill sergeant. He walked down the main aisle between the bikes a few times, but only to motivate, not to intimidate or criticize. It was up to us to adjust the tension and/or our pace, and no one could tell exactly where we set that dial. Using my sweat as a guide, I think I pushed myself hard enough!

The 45 minute Body Ride class had 20 minutes of spinning, 5 minutes of upper body weights on the bike, and 20 more minutes of spinning. Most of the spinning was broken into intervals of varying length, so the class went by quickly.

Carly had warned me of post-spin hunger (it definitely rivals runger!), so I did not hold back when we went to South Block Cafe for dinner. I got a breakfast burrito with egg whites, cheese, salsa, guacamole, and potatoes in a whole wheat tortilla, and ate every bite. I also got a fresh juice blend with pear, apple, carrot, ginger, and probably other fruits and/or veggies that I don’t remember. Luckily for all their other customers, it was nice enough to eat outside so no one had to enjoy our aroma with their dinner!

I don’t usually drink juice, but this blend was so refreshing and I loved the bite of the fresh ginger.

After I got home and showered (and ate a small snack!), I caught up on Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere, and found out that I had WON the RevolveDC giveaway that MCM Mama hosted on her blog! Talk about a happy coincidence! Now I have 5 free “rides” to look forward to. 🙂

Has a friend recruited you to try something new?

Have you ever invited a friend to a fitness class?