Training Days

I am happy to report that my podiatrist has cleared me for all activity, as long as it feels comfortable, he said. That happened Jan. 18, and I went out for a run the next day. I went slowly because it had been three months since I had done the physical work of running but also because the roads were spotted with ice. While my time for the 2.2 miles was no big deal, my cardio capacity did allow me to run the entire time. I'm guessing that the swimming I have been doing these last four weeks can be credited for that.
While I was recovering I purchased several Living Social/Groupon deals to local fitness centers, Fitness & Dance of CNY Pilates & Yoga, as well as Champions Fitness Center. The former gave me five classes of my choosing and I selected pilates, since I wanted the core work and yoga is familiar to me. Champions' deal is for 10 classes, and they have impressive offerings--Zumba, group cycle, yoga, core, water fitness. I took a cycle class yesterday, and plan on trying out Zumba.
I thought these would be good transitional fitness opportunities until I could start running again. And they are. But quite honestly, I'm not really loving pilates. I'm not sure why, exactly; yoga is just more my style, I guess. The ab/core work of pilates is impressive, and I enjoy the simplicity of the moves that can be quite challenging physically. But it's just not my thing.
Which leads me to my point--there are so many fitness options out there, that folks really have no excuses. Not everyone has to swim-bike-run-lift-yoga as I do, or get on an elliptical, or do pilates. The important thing is that you look into the options, try out a few classes, and see if they're for you. If not (as in my case with pilates), then you just try something else.
Now that I can run again, I am thinking about which race to tackle first. I'm contemplating the Skunk Cabbage 10K, in Ithaca on April 1. I'll keep you posted as to my progress.