Pilates. Oy.

Yesterday, I decided to try pilates for the first time. There is a cute little studio on South Elm Street, a couple of blocks from where I work. Originally I had planned to go with a co-worker, but she had to back out last minute. So I jogged down the street to my first class, alone.

Mind you... I have been fighting a cold/severe allergies/SOMETHING that makes me hate my head. But I was determined to go to this class.

The studio is small and narrow. Tonya, the owner, has several professional mats (what I'm learning on) and reformer machines (which I'm not allowed to use yet since I'm a newbie.) The class was an hour long, and by the end of it, Tonya sounded to me like a drill sergeant. She would chant words like "again, and again, and again" or "now now now" whenever she wanted us to move faster or switch limbs. We worked out and stretched every part of the body, down to our fingers and toes. And as one of my fellow classmates said at the end of the class, "I feel taller." The work out is designed not only to strengthen your core, but to stretch you out... to work on your flexibility. Today, I hurt. But it's not necessarily a bad thing... it's that good ache after a work out that makes you aware you are slowly improving your body.

The goals I hope to reach by attending these classes are to improve core strength, endurance, flexibility, and my posture so I don't have a back that aches all of the time. And maybe to get a little taller... (ha*)