Hurdles

This whole process, from the first time I strapped on my skates again, to the tests I have to pass, have been physical and mental hurdles. I'm facing another big one now. My body. I'm in the strength training class, and it's having a great effect on my muscles. The problem is, they're still covered in squish. What's the point of having lovely bulging muscles if I can't see them? Plus, my belly fat is getting to be a big cause of grumpiness. I have lost a lot of fat and gained a lot of muscle since I started this journey, but if I want to take myself to that next level, I need to work harder on making my body more able to handle what I’m making it do. I have a two hour practice every Sunday, and my class is two days a week for 25 minutes each time. I also often do at least one other workout activity during the week. I was feeling down this morning because I feel like it's not having enough of an effect. Then I did some reading between moping, and realized the big thing I'm missing from my workout routine. I'm not getting enough cardio. Our weekly practice helps with this some, definitely, but if I'm going to increase my endurance and shave off some fat, I need to add more cardio. I'm still figuring out how I'm going to incorporate this, since I hate running with a passion, but I'll get there. Getting to more speed practices will definitely help, too.
I went and bought some basic home workout equipment. Resistance bands, a big yoga ball, stuff like that. I still need heavier weights, and a medicine ball. A bosu ball would be nice, but I'm trying to keep this cheap! One of my skater buddies was awesome and gave me a huge list of exercises I can do at home with little or no equipment that specify what muscles and groups they target. So armed, I can plan exercise schedules for myself, feeling confident that I'm actually doing some good. Another problem with the lack of athletic background was not knowing what all my muscles even are, or how to target them. I felt overwhelmed at the beginning when we were told all the different things we should be doing on our own time. I was like a child learning adding and subtracting, who was trying to do algebra. I understand so much more now about my body, about how to work out, and about what things are supposed to feel like. It's amazing. I feel almost like I've learned another language. I finally feel confident enough in all that I've learned to really put it to use. It's strange and exciting.