I don't know how many of these great days one person is entitled to, but I'll will take them if they keep coming. Today was my audition at 24Hour Fitness......finally the days of practicing seemingly non-stop would either pay off or I would be back to square one.
Yesterday was overall not very productive in terms of practicing as I went to the Exploratorium with Amanda, Vince and the girls. Had a great time but weighing on my mind was the fact that I needed to run through all the tracks. We got back to RWC in time to grab a quick bite at In N Out before heading off to the gym to do an actual class run through using Amanda as my guinea pig. The gym manager let me use the sound system so I could put on the CD, use the equipment and pretend to be an instructor. Ran into Jessica there and pulled her into the "class", and I cannot explain the thrill as I began......I got giddy! Did the class but had to stop 10 minutes early because the next instructor came in and participants started to arrive, but kept pretty much on time. Not bad for a first run through. Finished with the girls out in the gym. It's amazing how much it lowered my anxiety about today. They were so funny, I even got an "I hate you" from Jess. I've given that comment out many times! It was amazing how strong I felt, being able to complete the class when the girls had a hard time finishing certain tracks.
After we were finished, I got great feedback from them. I made several errors in choreography, and they both said that they never would have known it if my face hadn't given it away. That's has always been a problem of mine, even though I used to act in high school and could cry on command. I guess I need to brush up on my acting skills and learn how to just keep going if I make a mistake. Alex says it's a show - I need to learn how to perform, and it's not about the mistakes I make but how I recover from them. I also started out talking too fast - another constant problem of mine, even when teaching in my classroom. My constant motor mouth. Once I got more comfortable and confident, they said I got better. I kept it moving, didn't dilly dally, forgot to mention some of the options, but I felt such a rush when it was over! I am so excited to continue to do this and get better and better at it.
Went to dinner at Benihana with mom, Amanda and her family, and mine. Had a great time, but didn't get home until after 10:30 and didn't get much practice in. Sigh. Then Cassie, who had a runny nose for a day, had a really bad night. Coughing, congested, crying and throwing fits all night in her sleep. Needless to say, the good night's sleep I needed, I did not get.
Woke up around 9am and dealt with a cranky, sick child, which of course, didn't leave any time to practice! By 11:00 am, the nervousness started in. By noon, I felt sick but got ready and left the house around 12:30. When I arrived at the gym, Angie was still teaching spin so I hung out, stretched, tried to calm myself down. When I finally met her, I asked her if I should set up and she said she would meet me in the Group X room. I started to set up and when she asked if she had given me a track list and I said no, she told me to choose anything I wanted to do! I asked what she wanted to see, and when she glanced at the clock, I asked how many she had time to see. She said to choose 2, a lower body and an upper body. Was she for real? Was my dream coming true? I had actually thought, hoped, on the way over, that she would only have time to see a few tracks. Never did I imagine only 2! SCORE!!!! Actually I said something in my head a bit more explicit but I can't type it here.
I chose squats and biceps. Squats because no way in HELL was I going to choose lunges. I am still sore from Alex's Dangerous lunges on Sunday. And I chose biceps even though I love the tricep track so I wouldn't have to do tricep pushups! I do love the bicep track.
It was so weird because she just sat against the mirror, with her BlackBerry in her hand, getting texts while I was doing my audition. I was doing squats and I swear she just stared at my thighs. I cannot tell you what was going through my mind. Well, actually I can. I was thinking "great, she is looking at my fat legs and now there is no way she'll hire me". I figured I was toast and that was it. It was hard to see on her face what she was thinking. While I was doing squats, there was a woman in the room using a mat and a ball and I could hear her yell over that the music was too loud. Angie told her she was auditioning and she would be done soon and she couldn't turn the music off. The woman actually came over to her to tell her again to turn it off and Angie yelled at her to leave her alone, she was busy and she would be done soon. It was hard to keep it together during that whole exchange, but I did it. Biceps went better, but again, it was very hard to do this for one person, while pretending that I was teaching to a class. It was easier yesterday with the girls.
I do have to say, though, that even though it was somewhat similar to my practice session with Alex, the one on one aspect with one person watching me, it was SO much better with Alex. It really does make a difference when you know that person cares about you and is invested in helping you. Angie didn't know me from Adam and it was very impersonal. So I may complain about Alex being hard on me, or not doing the routine with me, but again, I am struck by how much he knows about coaching and teaching and that he really did do what he needed to do, what he knew I needed. I had to admit to him today that I am learning to just trust him, that he indeed knows best and I just need to listen to him :-)
When I was finished, I packed up and met her at her desk for a chat. We talked for awhile, she said she is not looking for an instructor who says they can only work one day, one time at one club. She would like someone who can go from San Mateo to possibly Mountain View, 5 clubs with lots of opportunities to sub and take a class. We talked about BodyCombat and BodyFlow, and she said she doesn't know when they will make it to her clubs but they are in San Ramon. So it's hopeful that eventually they will come here. She said a common complaint about the current BP instructors, and the classes is that they are too boring, not exciting or engaging enough. She thought that I would be good at it, and the fitness magic and all would come in time. I mentioned to her that I applied a couple of months ago and she looked me up and found me in the system. At this point I am thinking, "so do I have the job or what?" because it wasn't clear. She finally looked at me and said "We would be happy to have you on board" and then we talked about the launch. She is doing it on Jan 8 and 9, both Saturday and Sunday. She also mentioned that she has trouble keeping instructors on Sundays because no one wants to get up that early. After taking several classes from Amy at 7:40 am I actually like the early morning classes so that I get it out of the way.
Angie then explained that I needed to come back tomorrow, fill out the new hire paperwork with Chris, the manager, and then the paperwork would take about a week, maybe a bit longer with the holiday. Once I got my employee number, I would meet with her again and we would talk about time slots but I would definitely be a part of the launch. OMG. I don't even know what that entails.
I set up my appointment for tomorrow, then left and I swear I had imagined bursting into tears, but instead I had this stupid grin, literally showing my teeth, for about an hour afterward. I got in the car, called Franklin and told him, then drove to Starbucks for my reward, called Alex, posted on FB, etc.
I arrived home and the guys were going to watch a movie and Franklin made me sit down and relax. I had so much energy that he literally had to pull me down. We watched a comedy but my mind was on the news and several times I just started crying. He asked me what was wrong but once he looked at my face, he knew I was having my typical freak out moment (god I have so many of these now, way more than I ever did!). I just kept thinking "Why in the world would she hire me? I didn't blow it out of the water. I did okay, but not phenomenal. She kept looking at my fat legs, why would she hire me?" and on and on. Both Alex and Christelle pointed out that Angie was looking at my legs cause that's what you do in an audition but Christelle specifically said she was looking at my range and seeing that I was doing the move correctly. That's when it hit me that she was not staring at my thighs :-)))) Franklin just held my hand, told me how proud he was of me, and told me it would be okay. Good thing he knows me well enough to just let me freak out.
Later we were talking about what we needed to pick up for presents, since we are not doing a lot this year. I told him I DID NOT want him to get ME anything. Usually I say this and he still goes out late on Christmas Eve to Best Buy or something to buy me things to put under the tree. I do not need that this year. When he asked me why I didn't want anything, I burst into tears. Again. He looked puzzled (didn't he know why?) and I just said, simply, "I have everything I want!"
It's true. I have my health. I have my teaching job. I have my beautiful family. I have wonderful friends that support me. I have a roof over my head and a car to drive. And I have my new, exciting fitness classes to look forward to. I don't need anything. I have my life that is getting better and better and what could possibly top that, wrapped under our little mini tree? Nothing. I'm good. Oh, I need a smaller wedding ring but that can wait.
I was and still am in a bit of a state of shock. When I think of where I was just 3 months ago. 6 months ago. Today. Wow.
A benefit of becoming more fit, becoming stronger is I have all this pent up energy. I ended up this evening making the entire family, even the sick one, help clean. This place has been neglected, yes by me, and I needed to do some serious cleaning. I cleaned for 3 straight hours, including an hour in the bathtub scrubbing, and I didn't get tired. Oh joy. Great benefit of being more fit.
Tomorrow I have a hair appointment in the morning, 24Hr Fitness at 11:30 to sign my paperwork, pick up the ham, go to Costco, and I have done NO Christmas shopping. It seems the world stopped as I prepared for this moment. Now I can relax for a couple of days but then I need to set up times to go work with Alex and Kimi and keep practicing.
I am THIS close to being a Les Mills Body Pump instructor. After I sign the papers tomorrow, maybe then it will really hit me. Watch out. Tears coming.
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