What I like about In2theWild Sessions…
First, there is the anticipation or excitement or dread - or all three rolled into one. As I arrive, I wonder where we will go and what we will do; I will wonder if I judged the temperature correctly – should I have gone for a vest instead of a t-shirt?; I wonder if I will regret eating my dinner beforehand, or regret not eating my dinner beforehand…
More often than not as we wait for the start of class, we stand with our shoulders up, fending off the cold – safe in the knowledge that we will be thoroughly warmed up within the first five minutes.
The warm up is the hardest part. From an unfit perspective, you think the warm up will kill you. The irony is that it is the not exercising that is more likely to kill you, in the long term. (And at least, if I keel over now, I will be buried in peak condition (or thereabouts…)!)
For the warm up, we go from a gentle jog into a couple of squats, a couple of lunges, a couple of arm rotations, a wee bit of side-stepping – just to get a bit out of puff and to make sure that we don’t pull any muscles once we get going.
I like the different terrain in the park. We can do sprints on tarmac paths, sit ups on the grass, run on the trails, squat on the steps, tricep dips on the benches, wall sits at the Pavilion. We can loop around Lone Tree, scramble up Muddy Hill, curse up Everest, swoop down the zigzag path, persevere up the stairs at the waterfall.
All the while, the feeling of success builds – Yes! We are doing it! Our lungs are full; our legs are strong; our hearts are thumping with life. We made it! Again and again. Again? (The horror!) Yes – one more lap….
And through the year, if we hadn’t been there, there are all the moments of nature that we would have missed. In Scotland – if you wait until it is nice, and then go out – by the time you are out, you have missed it. However, if you are always at the park, you catch the sunrise, the rainbow, the sunset, the mud, the grass, the glorious low winter sun, the summer heat, the stark, colourful brightness, the waterfall in spate or half frozen, the leaves encrusted with frost…
And at last, we are back at the start of the park, having a cool down, a stretch off and a congratulatory moment together before we all head off, ready for whatever comes next, feeling better than we had felt just an hour before.
What do I like about In2theWild?
It provides for me so many things that everyone knows are of benefit. Getting out, being active, connecting with other people, paying attention to the world around me – we know these things are good for us, and In2theWild affordably and efficiently ticks a lot of boxes on the road to general wellbeing.
I am not fast; I am not sporty; I have no talent for anything physical; I am not “naturally fit”. I am glad that In2theWild exists, to help people like me have a laugh and do the best I can do, having fun outside. You could join in. You just have to decide to turn up. (And actually turn up.) (I hope you do.)
Sandra McNicol
Rouken Glen Member
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