Remember...this is good for you

I've been belly dancing for about three months now. I don't fall over near as much as I used to (except doing three step turns...too much fat going in one direction...overwhelming momentum). The moves are getting easier. I'm working more on improving my technique instead of just trying to keep up and do it half-way right.

But there are consequences.

Yesterday, we did a move called the full walking camel. It's a chest camel (moving your chest in a vertical circle) combined with a pelvic ripple (scooping your pelvis forward) while walking on your tiptoes. I've done it several times before. It's not easy getting all the rolls and the boobies to move the way I want them to, let alone doing it while I'm walking on my tiptoes.

However, I have improved to the point that I can do the move fairly well. Yesterday was the first time I did it in a dance, stayed on my toes the whole time, and didn't fall over or stumble at any point.

Today, I paid for my little victory.

I rolled out of bed feeling like someone had taken a bat to my ribs. My abs hurt. And my calf muscles have been a constant fire and no amount of stretching have appeased them.

Ah, yes. With gain comes pain.

And we'll be doing the same move again on Friday, along with the grapevine. Which is also done on tiptoe. And hip downs, which have a tendency to throw me off balance in sneaky ways.

I'm predicting injury here. Or, at the very least, a lot of whining on Saturday.