No pain, no gain

Ooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch!
I have not been very religious about working out during the past year. I've worked nights practically my entire career, and switching to day shifts really put the kabosh on my time at the gym. Why, you ask? two reasons. 1) I am just not a 5am workout kindof gal. 2) I may've had the best intentions of going after work, but then my husband or a colleague would say, "C'mon, let's go out to eat, get a drink, see a movie, etc . . . " and it wouldn't take much cajoling to get me to say, "Sounds great!"
So, during the past few weeks I've been trying to get back in the fitness groove. Nothing crazy, just making sure I'm doing something in addition to the classes I teach at the Y. Well, this week I've gone a bit overboard. Yoga & Pilates on Monday. I did cardio and some SERIOUS lifting on Tuesday. Wednesday morning, Kerry Kavanaugh and I went to a spinning class, taught by a slave driver named Herb. Great class. I hate him. This morning, I taught kickboxing followed by a weight lifting class. (By the way, Kerry promised she would be there but she was a no-show. Sissy.) My quads are on fire. I'm walking like I'm wearing a diaper or just got off a horse or something. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! I have to teach my kickboxing/sport circuit class on Saturday morning, so I think tomorrow will be a day of rest. Speaking of kickboxing - please check out the Sound Off Extra on the sports section of our website. Keith shows me his stuff and it is VERY impressive (bet his quads are on fire now, too.)
All of this is a great reminder of how nothing's easy and nothing's free. Most anything in life worth doing or having means putting in a lot of hard work. And sometimes, it hurts. But the reward is usually worth it. Bottom line, I'm a much happier person when I'm working out on a regular basis. My husband always says the only reason I keep teaching is because I like hitting things and yelling at people. I'm not gonna lie . . . it's great stress relief!
Right now, I need to go think about the 10pm show. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and a fantastic 4th of July!
Erin
erin.kiernan@whotv.com
PS . . . Some of you have asked about my folks. I did finally talk to them on Father's Day. They'd just gotten home from a wedding and were preparing to leave for a birthday bash in Florida. . . . now they are back home in Nebraska, but will be leaving for Arizona in a few weeks. I think that may be their last adventure before school starts. But I'm not holding my breath.