Zumba Marathon Round 2

Even after all this time, about five minutes into every workout my muscles tell me they are tired and don't want to move. My lungs act like they want to feel out of breathe.   The knee that sometimes is wonky starts to let its presence be known.   My body tells me I'm tired, that I've worked out hard enough, that I'm too worn out or didn't eat enough or need to take a break.  This is all in the first five minutes.  Every time.  I remember taking off in my first 5K and looking back at my family behind me thinking, "what the heck am I doing?"

Over time though I've learned to silence this inner voice and know it for what it is:  doubt.   Over time I've learned that if I can get through those first five minutes and push forward, my muscles will limber up and my inner stamina will kick in.

Today Lakshmi and I went to our second two hour Zumba marathon.  This past summer, when we attended our first, we approached it with the idea that we would show up and see how much of it we could do.   We never expected that we could do a full two hours of intense cardio, but we managed to make it the whole time, despite how tough it was.  

This time I knew I could do it, but during those first five minutes in, my mind started to make me doubt my earlier confidence.  The instructors were pumping up the crowd, the crowd was shouting and dancing, the music was awesome, the disco ball threw colored lights over the darkened dance floor, but my mind was telling me, "you're tired, you worked out hard all week so you need to take it easy, your knee hurts and you're going to injure yourself, these steps are too complicated, you need to stop now."  

Sheer stubbornness kept me going today and in every workout I've ever done.  I refused to give into the inner slacker that dominated my life before my lifestyle change and after those first doubtful minutes, my stronger body took over and carried me through two hours of intense Zumba.

At the end of the class we were drenched in sweat and sore but in better condition than we were after our first Zumba marathon. 

After our first Zumba marathon this summer.

After zumba today: smaller us, more sweat.

Inner voices tell us that we cannot accomplish our goals; they also try to convince us that it's okay to eat things we shouldn't.  One of the best things I've learned along this journey is how to tell that voice to shut the h%$* up.