Holy hell. It has been one year since I discovered that which is Peloton. One whole year since I took my very first class ever with the app. It has been an entire year since I stepped foot in a gym. I have kids so I am aware of just how fast time flies but I am still in awe. According to Peloton, it is officially a 53-week streak, but the first class I ever took was on December 19, 2020, with Ms. Tunde Oyeneyin.
Let me backtrack though. The details are a little fuzzy but I think I have Apple Fitness to thank for me discovering Peloton. Before that though, it was my husband. He was doing work at someone’s house and they were getting rid of their stationary bike and my husband knew how much I loved attending spin class and was missing it. So he asked if I wanted it. Sure… taking class with a mask on was not as tolerable as I thought it was going to be. We got the bike home, put new batteries in the display, and Apple Fitness had a free month or two promo going on so I signed up for it to try with the bike. I quickly realized that that particular stationary bike was not going to cut it. Off to Amazon I went… $300 for a basic spin bike with a heavy flywheel. Down the rabbit hole I went. Somehow I got to the Peloton app, discovered in 2017 I already used my trial membership. I could switch out the pedals so I could use my clip-in spin shoes, sold. Wait, I could get the Peloton experience without spending thousands of dollars – what did I need?! That’s stupid money. iPad, check. Cadence sensor in order to follow along in class, no problem. I’ve been taking spin classes for years, I can figure out 30 resistance. I definitely would never spend thousands of dollars on the bike, and $20 more on the monthly subscription. I didn’t need the actual bike!
Then it happened. I hit my 100th ride. It was June. I was in no rush. But hitting that milestone did something. I somehow knew this was something I was going to stick with. My gym membership was only slightly cheaper than the monthly subscription Peloton was asking for. Really, I just had to swallow the price of the actual bike. When I asked my husband what he thought of me buying the bike… he told me to go for it! 😱 So I went for it.
My bike was delivered in July and I have yet to look back. I thought I would feel guilty about spending so much money, but I didn’t. And now, as I reflect on my year with the subscription and five months with the bike, I don’t.
I was working hard on my Poorloton, but the real deal definitely hits differently. I have no interest in the leaderboard or high-fives but everything else… the numbers don’t lie. I am not interested in live classes or shoutouts. It is my time. It is a challenge. It is fun. It almost sounds ridiculous but the bike, the community, definitely changed something inside me. I am stronger on the outside and the inside. I feel like it was getting on that bike regularly that gave me the courage to finally cut all my hair off in October. Which is something I’ve wanted to do for years.
Having the bike meant I could adequately partake in Powerzone (PZ) classes. I first took the Discover Your Powerzone program (DYPZ) to figure out what the hell I was doing. The program was completed just in time to join in the Fall PZ Challenge. While I was on a team technically, it was really just forcing myself to stay accountable. As the weeks progressed, with school back in session and varying practices, it became difficult to make sure I did the work. I am pretty sure that is the point. Do the hard thing; we are built to do hard things.
When I step on the scale the number still reads the same. My clothes are still the same size, but there is definitely something different. I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is but I know it has something to do with the bike and instructors I chose to take classes with. In those early morning hours, before the rest of house is up. Or when I put my headphones in because everyone is going about their day. It is just me, that big ass screen, and any given handful of preferred instructors. I’m not thinking about anything that I have to do, or what is annoying me. I have yet to cry while working out (like so many supposedly do) but I definitely laugh and try to remember all the amazing things the instructor say (ultimately failing miserably). The days I hit a PR (personal record), great! But I am okay when I don’t. It’s usually a pleasant surprise when I see that gold star at the end of a class.
I never played sports when I was in school. And for years I never had to workout. Then I felt like I needed to workout, and hated it. I much prefer to sit on the couch with a book or interesting documentary. So to reflect on the last 52-weeks knowing that I chose myself a few times a week consecutively for so long is a little bit of a surprise. Even when I held an active gym membership I never made it there every week FOR A YEAR. If I happened to fall off my routine for any reason it would take me just as long to get back to it. And the excuses were real; especially in the winter.
So here’s to me and my commitment to my physical and mental health. This is one of those things I never saw coming. It really just kind of happened.
HAPPY PELOVERSARY!
jennadianne 
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