Spinning Report, Darts and Dominoes and Frank

I was genuinely dreading it.  I only went because I'm meant to be doing 2 classes with Kerrie per week and have not been fulfilling this requirement. Zumba was at 7 so left very little time to shower and change and get to darts and dominoes so spinning at 6pm had to be done.

I entered the class to find, as I expected, that I was the oldest by at least a decade. Most were in their early 20's. The girl next to me used to be a brownie when I was a leader back in the late 1990s!

I noted that spinning must be very good for the physique as several of the women there had gorgeous figures - slender, toned and just generally fit looking.  More work required for me I think.

Anyway, I was set up with my bike and had the controls explained to me and the dread increased.  Luckily I was not linked into the central display of work rates (heart rate?) as about half the women were but I felt as though I was well into the red pretty much from the start.  I found I could just about stick to the rhythm in or out of the saddle but I couldn't add in the upper body work or only in a very limited sense.

In one track she expected you to cycle standing up and then take your hands off the handlebars to tap across your chest or pump in the air and then alternate that with press up movements bending down onto the handlebars.  All while cycling standing up, fast.  I could just about do some repetitions of 4 but when she speeded it up to 2 or even 1, not a chance.

I was quite good at putting on a large resistance to mimic an uphill ride and then just slogging it out fairly steadily.  It was the fast tracks which really did for me.  Anyway, I kept going in some fashion of the whole class but was very relieved to discover (after 30 minutes) that the class was only 45 minutes long - hoooray!!

Will I go back?  Probably when it is the only class I can make but I don't think it is something I would like to do regularly, at least not until I'm a bit slimmer and fitter.  I don't feel I was getting enough out of it as I couldn't keep up so it was all pretty chaotic.  Also, I was starving when I got home and ended up mainlining carbs so it felt somewhat unhelpful.

I'm going to investigate joining the gym for the winter months so doing some more resistance based exercise and hopefully some more manageable classes as well.  And keeping up with the running too as I'm really enjoying that.

In other news I'm loving the new season of darts and dominoes.  I only play dominoes and I'm unbeaten so far this season.  Last night I beat a woman from the Little John team who has been my nemesis.  I've never beaten her before but I did it twice last night as we had her in the pub game as well as the actual match!

I played one game with Richard's "sort of Grandad", Frank.  He was Richard's gran's second husband and was devoted to her, visiting her every day after she had to go into a residential home when she went blind suddenly late in life and couldn't be cared for at home.  She eventually dies a few years ago.  He used to take 2 buses there and back to visit her every day well into his eighties as well as looking after his allotment and tending her first husband's grave.  A real old school gent.

He's Polish and came over here after the war having had, I think, some pretty tough experiences as a teenager in postwar Europe.  He's worked hard and lived in Bradwell for decades and is one of our proper old characters.  It is a great part of the darts and dominoes league that old chaps and women like him have somewhere to come out to every week and socialise when they might otherwise just stay at home.

He turned 90 a few weeks ago and threw a big party - bought himself a brand new (and very smart) suit, shirt, tie and shoes to wear to his party too.  What a fabulous attitude - none of this "I'll wear my old suit, it'll see me out", for Frank.  The highlight of the party was Frank standing up after the meal - not to give a speech but to sing the old Polish national anthem unaccompanied!  It was awesome.

I hope to learn many lessons from Frank as I get older.  Life may change and become somewhat confusing but the important thing is to crack on, keep active, maintain your values and keep giving (and taking) love and friendship right to the end.