What came back to me was a bit different. My trainer sent me the confirmation that she was all set with the music with the comment that,"you could tell it's an emotional one, but it's for your birthday so people have to deal with it." Wait. Emotional? I was not so sure I knew what she meant. I sent AC/DC and Aerosmith after all, among other things.
As I entered the lobby, I would discover a birthday greeting with the tally of the classes I had taken at Orangetheory in 2 years and 7 months, 692. Wow. That was a pretty big number. No wonder this felt like home. When it was time for class, we would enter the studio to find "Raspberry Beret" was playing. A nod to my 80's teenage years when I was that obese child dancing around my own room, just a wee bit self conscious to do it anywhere else. As we mounted the treadmills, "Black Betty" started and it was time to move past the warm up and right into push pace. In that moment, I began to think about all those 4:30 am mornings early in my training when getting out of bed seemed to be the most cruel joke of all. In the dead of winter, I would have to bundle up, put this on in the car and weave a string of profanity as I traveled to the studio. I would have to convince myself the misery of this night owl being up at this hour was far worse than the disappointment that would surely come later if I didn't go, and worth the satisfaction of a workout complete. I would always find those two things to be true, but it didn't stop my early morning pre workout antics any. In fact, at times, my schedule will not allow for anything other than 5:00 am and in that case, Black Betty and profanity is still a thing.
"Back in Black" would then usher in an endurance segment as I would be reminded of college days gone by. The days when my friend and I would hit up The Cue in Iowa City to play pool and drink more than our share of beer. In those days, we would have several hilarious capers involving a keg put in a car the wrong way causing a broken hatchback windshield, or long discussions during walks home in the wee hours. Little did I know, 25 years later, this same friend would find encouragement in my story, lose the weight himself, complete a Spartan Trifecta this year with me and now help me run 1DOS and become a huge inspiration to many.
At one point during the workout, we transitioned to the rowers for a distance row. I found myself next to a guy I train with often. Kid Rock's "All Summer Long" would come on as he and I would find ourselves watching eachother's monitors trying once again to beat one another as we often do. Of course, this involves a certain degree of trash talk we have all come to love in this class. In this moment, with the references to summers at the lake, I was reminded of another time when he and I were on the rowers when he would push with such force off the foot plates he would explode the water drum causing a tidal wave that would splash onto the treadmills, demonstrating that being over 50 did not mean we were not capable. In fact, I am not so sure anyone else has done that. Yes, maybe hitting that half century isn't so bad.
Back to the treads we would go as "Walking on Sunshine" would come on. Katrina and the Waves would sing out this 80's classic as my closest training friend would occupy the tread next to me screaming this was her favorite song. It was appropriate too. She has walked a very similar path to mine. Polycystic ovarian syndrome, large weight loss, crushing goals she never thought possible, even scaling an 8 foot wall just one week ago at the Fenway Spartan. She has a habit of screaming encouragement to everyone on the floor, truly spreading the sunshine wherever she goes. To be honest, after doing several races with her, I can say my mile time only is what it is because of her encouragement. She has a knack of reminding me all of my past failures don't matter and that any limits I have are likely just mental.
There would be songs that appeared in other blog posts like "Wake Me Up" where I discovered that I really had spent the last three years finding myself, when I had no idea I was lost in the first place. "Born this Way" would take me to the early days when my mom died this summer and I needed the reminder that despite her being gone, she still believed in me.
Song after song....I think maybe my trainer was right. Rather than the badass fun playlist I made it out to be, this really was more a musical journey through my three year quest for health and fitness. Seeing my fitness family sing along and laugh to it all reminded me how lucky I am to have people in my life who believe in me so I can do the same for others, and how fortunate I am to have come this far, while at the same time reminding me that there is so much more to do.
When the hour was up, it was finally time for stretches. We were drenched, out of breath, and still laughing... "Only the Good Die Young" by Billy Joel is what came on. Why would I pick this? Several people asked me. Was it about good versus bad? Be bad and live forever? Not really. Not in my mind. It was more about playing life safe versus busting out of my own comfort zone that existed in insulation of fat I walked around in for decades and seeing what it was the world has to offer. For now I choose to run with my dangerous crowd of ferocious sharks and believe at nearly half a century, that the best is yet to come.
