What I will Miss From Art In Motion Fitness

I know that I'm missing Runfessions this Friday, but my mind has been on something else.  I mentioned in the last Runfessions Friday that I was in complete denial of my Zumba studio closing. Well, I can't avoid it anymore. August is done, and with it goes Art In Motion Fitness out of my life.

Last Monday when I was there for zumba, they had stripped the floors off the bamboo hardwood flooring... it was a harsh reality.

Tomorrow I’m heading to my last Saturday Zumba Morning class with the ladies of Art In Motion Fitness. I have tried to write an email to them about how much my time spent there has meant to me, but I end up going off in a long over detailed story of nothingness and crying. I have also tried to write a post about how going there changed me, for the better, but I also end up going out into oversharing and long stories and crying again… I am a puddle of tears sometimes. Here are things that I will miss about going to zumba and any other class at AIMF.

1.       The friends- My zumba crew! Carmen, Beth, Melissa, Amy(x3), Aleney. And especially Denise, Susan, both who always made laugh when we were trying to shake and move the way they showed us.

2.       The EPIC Holiday parties! For 3 years in a row, I have been attending the Halloween parties, two years of Christmas and one random summer party that lasted two hours. Everybody dressed up for Halloween, and some people came up with the best costumes!! Their parties were an absolute blast! We would dance, laugh and danced until our cheeks hurt… both in our faces and our butts! And ate good food!  

I don't remember what we were doing here, and it's a blurry shot, but trust me, lots of fun was had!

Our last Halloween Party

 

3.       The Music- Before going to Zumba, I had a complicated relationship with happy music. It was an amazing experience to welcome happy, joyful danceable music back into my life.

4.       Having an outlet for frustration, stress, sadness, anxiety. So many days, so many times when things were just difficult, thinking and knowing that I was going to zumba later that day kept me from meltdowns.

5.       The Motivation. Without AIMF, I would have not started running again, and I would have never convinced myself that I could complete a 10K, a Half Marathon, a Marathon! On days when training was hard, I would remind myself what Susan and Denise always said to us (sometimes yelled at us over very loud music) You Are NOT TIRED! You can do this!

 

I'm still hopeful that Denise and Susan will find another location and open again, but for now, it's goodbye to Art in Motion Fitness.