ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!

Today I had a HUGE victory in my pole spins class!!!!  We have been working on pole climbs since practically the very first class.  Pole pulls, pull ups, push ups...you name it.  All designed to build our muscles so that we can climb effortlessly up the pole.  Except...in my case, it hasn't worked! Try as I might, I have NOT been able to haul my fat booty up that pole!  And believe me...I have TRIED!!!  I have watched others get there.  And our instructor just beautifully floats herself up that pole daily like she's light as a feather and it's just nothing.  I, on the other hand, have been confined to the lower half of the pole because I just couldn't get there.  At the workshop I just did last week, the instructor taught climbing a NEW way.  I was hoping that was going to be my "ah ha" moment and that once I saw it done differently I'd be able to scoot right on up there.  However...once again, gravity won and I was AGAIN disappointed as I found myself still stuck at the bottom of the pole while others were enjoying the view from the top!  This morning, our instructor covered climbing...AGAIN.  I sighed and inwardly groaned because I KNOW that I cannot do this.  I told my instructor "I can't get up that pole, no matter WHICH method I try!".  She looked at me and said "Yes, you can!".  And I said, "Nope.  I've tried and tried and still cannot do it.  I'm just not strong enough yet."  So THEN she says that the next pole fit class was going to be 100% pole climbing so we could get that nailed down.  There was an immediate "OH CRAP" moment...for all of us there!  I'm not the ONLY one who can't climb the pole.  Seriously.  Several of us can't do it!  And I'm like, "Oops!  Sorry guys!".  We were all laughing about it.  And then we got on with class!  I got a couple of fantastic new bruises.  We were doing what I call the "pinchy spin".  Totally not what it's called, but you have to place the pole between your thighs and shift your weight to kind of lock yourself on there because your thighs take ALL of your weight on this spin...and when you do this, it pinches the living crap out of your inner thighs and makes it feel like they are being pinched to death while simultaneously ripping layers of skin off.  Sounds AWESOME right?!  Yeah,  Big fun!  And leaves some wicked bruises too!  Anyway.  We did lots of pinchy spins...and a cool mermaid like spin too and worked on a routine we've been at for a while.  Then we had about 5 minutes of free spin at the end to do whatever spins we like.  And I noticed another gal take off UP the pole...climbing.  And I decided I'd try it.  Just one more time.  And you know what?  I swung my leg around that pole, started climbing, AND JUST KEPT GOING!!!!!!  All the way to the ceiling baby!  Oh yeah!  I TOTALLY did it!  And everyone noticed!  And there was BIG cheering!  I even did it a SECOND time!  AND it was sort of EASY!!!  I'm so stinking proud of myself this morning!  I climbed all 11 feet of that pole!  And it was AWESOME!!!!!  My friends were proud of me too!  There were lots of high fives!  And total relief that now we don't have to do a whole session of pole climbing! 

As proud of myself as I was...my arms were SHOT at the end of this class!  Holy Macaroni!  I could barely get my water bottle to my lips, as my biceps refused to curl, even for some liquid refreshment!  That bottle felt like it weighed twenty pounds!!!  I was so shaky driving myself home and wished I had a chauffeur in my life for times like this!  I couldn't wait to get in the door and grab some ibuprofen.  And my ice pack!  Which I am alternating between my very sore, throbbing biceps and my very sore, tortured inner thighs.  As usual, the thought continually crosses my mind that I am just too old for this, and wish I had discovered this in my twenties.  But had I discovered it then, I am certain I would never have participated because that's just not the person I was back then.  So it is what it is...I discovered it in my forties and am excited about it in my forties.  So I will just continue to push this poor achy, bruised body into submission and enjoy discovering that sometimes I am simply stronger than I think I am!