Today’s post is by Jackie Ayers, an Another Mother Runner brand ambassador who is gearing up to run the Portland Marathon again. Jackie, a night owl, lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband and two young sons. 

Hoping to stay engaged with upcoming marathon training when the weeks start to drag on, I decided to try out a more novel cross-training option: an Intro to Silks Aerial class. My friend Fed joined me, and we were the only adult novices in the packed class. For 90 minutes, we practiced new skills amongst tweens, teens, and a handful of more experienced adults. We each had our own silks, and the teacher worked with mini-groups of comparably skilled aerialists.  

Leaning into our goal of trying something new, Fed and I walked up to 15’ lengths of silk fabric hanging from the ceiling and turned expectantly to our teacher. Step one: learning how to lock our right foot into the silk so we could stand up and be off the ground. It reminded me of playing on a playground rope-swing with my sons, so it felt simple enough. 

Once we nailed the set-up, we moved on to four beginner tricks that tested my strength, flexibility, and stamina. Standing in the air, holding the silks at hip level, the teacher instructed me to lean back, keep my locked right leg straight, arch my back, and bring my left knee up to my chest—all while appearing graceful. The combination had my leg wobbling, my arms shaking, and my left knee waving around mid-air like a noodle. 

Performing more Aerial 101 moves, I could feel my muscles working and my skills being honed, yet the surprising benefit was the incredible joy I felt up in the air. Tipping over backward, supported by the silks around my hips and legs, flinging my arms wide, and having the instructor spin me was the closest I’ve had to an euphoric playground feeling in decades!  

The class proved a viable cross-training class for this marathoner. It definitely provided upper-body exercise, and the core and back engagement I felt spoke volumes to aerial’s ability to complement a running plan. Plus, it was simply fun! Giggling with my good friend over how ridiculous we sometimes (okay, often!) looked, while at the same time celebrating our wins of figuring out a move, made the class fly by.