MORNING: 31 days of 5-minute free writes

I know the picture above is a little hard to make out (sorry). It is the “wattage zones” guide I have used over the last 8 weeks as I have taken a spin class that met every Friday morning.

The first Friday, we did a threshold-type test to figure out our zones. And that informed the way we structured our workouts for the next seven weeks.

I don’t want to sound melodramatic saying this (as I go down melodramatic road), but it has been a rough six years or so for fitness and me.

One I finally had to stop running due to my exercise-induced tachycardia, I never trusted my body that much.

At some point, my electrophysiologist switched me to a long-acting beta blocker, which theoretically “lasts all day.”

Still, it was hard to believe that. (Originally, I resisted beta blockers due to a fear of fatigue and weight gain. I don’t think I can blame the past year’s weight gain on this medication, and the fatigue didn’t turn out to be the nightmare I had heard from others.)

For some reason, spin class doesn’t irritate my tachycardia like running does (fortunately).

But the point is … I have looked forward to every one of these Friday mornings, as difficult as it is to get out of the house by 5:15 a.m., workout, then work a full day.