This is IT!!!!!

I'm as ready as I'll ever be. It's 11:00 pm and I'm done. Can't run through it again, this last time tonight I finally felt like I had it. Especially since I never got to practice today with the others as planned..... I went early to sunnyvale super sport to help with some set up. Well, a bit of set up turned into the four of us, Karin, Yvonne, Orna and I, along with Angie, moving all the steps, risers bars and weights from the group x room all the way to the other side of the gym in to the basketball court. That was 54 sets of everything. Then, the truck delivering the other 50 sets was two hours late, so we set out setting everything up. We had the steps set up in rows in order to fit over 100, then heard that Ingrid wanted it set up stadium style, so the shifting began. When the rental truck arrived, driven by Ingrid and some 24HF corporate people, the pallets were unloaded and we started unpacking boxes upon boxes of more risers, steps, bars and weights. We had 104 set up but there were some pieces missing so we only have just under 100 and the latest sign up count is 107! Unreal. It's amazing the amount of work that goes into something like this. At LM quarterly events, there are crews that handle this. We helped Angie work with the party rental people who were building the stage, the LM banners were left and we had to get someone to hang those. The balloon guys showed up as Angie was leaving to go to San Jose because she is launching that one as well and and was setting up all those benches with hardly any help. I shudder to think what would have happened if we hadn't been there today. We got the balloon arches installed, the DJ table set up (he's arriving at 7:00 am and I hope that's enough time to get everything ready for a 7:45 live event!) I plan to show up at 7:00 am to help Angie get the DJ going and any last minute things done. There is literally a red carpet leading to the basketball court, with ropes. It looks awesome and should be a ton of fun. It's like a quarterly but not for instructors. I can't imagine what it will feel like being up there on stage with that court full of people, teaching an awesome release. There is always that first class uncertainty, when you release for the first time and have to work out any kinks. I wish the first time wasn't with Steve! Makes me all the more nervous. I'm going to plan on hanging out most of the day because after the first BP all the equipment has to be placed in the corner and sides of the gym, then after the Zumba party (370 people!!!!)that takes place after my CXWORX class, we only have 30 minutes to set up 60+ benches/weights for the 2:00 BP class! Going to be craaaaazy! Off to bed to try to get some quality sleep before I'm up before the sun ;-)

The Big Day Just Got BIGGER.....

I need to get through the next two days. I completed summer school today, closed up my classroom and turned in my keys. I can now focus on fitness, family and friends. So excited!!

 I was already feeling a bit freaked out about this weekend. I spend some time yesterday at the gym practicing with Deb and kept screwing up my chorey. I am overthinking this whole launch and I need to just slow down and breathe......easier said than done. Kerry today at work told me she went last night and signed up for both Pump and CX and that there are already 91 signed up for Pump!! 91???!!! My biggest class has been 50! It's going to be in the basketball court so there will be space, but oh boy. This is gonna be something!

I am planning to spend time tomorrow practicing with Orna and some other instructors who are teaching in the afternoon. Angie emailed us a confirmation of the schedule and I called her to get some more info and she told me what a major event the whole day is going to be. Here is how it lays out:

There will be a red carpet and ropes leading to the Group X room. BodyPump, BodyCombat and CXWORX are all being held in the basketball court. There are balloons, balloon arches, a stage and large banner behind the stage. There will be a DJ handling our music. WHOA!!!!!! My stomach started clenching when I heard this. Steven R and Orna and I will share 2 mics, but when Angie heard I have a wireless mic and receiver, she got excited and asked that I bring that and we will see if the DJ can hook it up to his system so all three of us can have mics.  I teach from 7:45am-9:00, then I will help Angie with checking in members and guests because the Zumba party after my CX class has 200 members already signed up! Then I will go teach the 11:00 technique and team teach CX with Wendy at 11:15. I'll be done by 11:45 and be ready to refuel and get ready for my own re-launch in San Carlos on Sunday.

This is, without a doubt, going to be the biggest event I have ever been a part of. I simply am having a hard time imagining what it will be like to be on a stage teaching 100 members while standing next to a BodyPump icon. I am super excited, beyond nervous, really sore from practicing, and just praying all will go well and I don't make a fool out of myself. I am exhausted from school and from cramming my brain full of choreography for both releases. Tonight I did another run through after class of the 3 tracks I am teaching for both classes, reviewed the entire releases and should really now be going over my scripts and track intros but my brain is fried. I think I just need to give in and go to bed.

Tomorrow I can sleep in for the first time in a long time. Then up and off to Sunnyvale SS to help unload a truck full of additional bars, weights and benches and to get the room set up for Saturday. Practice for a couple of hours, then hopefully some relaxation in the evening and a good night's sleep to be at the gym by 7:15 am. It's going to be an A-Mazing weekend!!

Forgive the Format...

For some reason now when I post a blog entry, even though in my draft I have paragraphs, it publishes all in one long paragraph. Sorry to those reading this as it is hard to read and I have yet to figure out why the settings have changed :-(

Exciting Times!

It's been quite the ride these last few weeks! School ended, I packed up most of my classroom and the jumped right into teaching a summer bridge program. I've been lucky enough to have been able to include Cassie as a student and she has done a great job learning the content and writing more in English, as she is usually immersed in Spanish most of the day. She has been writing crazy amounts in her writing journal and I am so proud of her. As fun as it has been, summer school will end in three days and it couldn't come soon enough. I am knee deep in learning new Les Mills releases for this weekend and the upcoming launch. Yesterday was a great day because my friend Ingrid, from Seattle, was in town staying with a friend and she came to my class in San Carlos! I stayed with her when I did AIM2 training in March and she has been enormously supportive during my journey. She is a trainer herself but just wanted to enjoy being a participant and it was so fun to have her in the front row of my class. I have a huge amount of respect for her and she has become a dear friend in the year since I met her in Dallas. After I auditioned a few weeks ago for CXWORX, I was asked to be a part of the new Premier launch of the Sunnyvale Super Sport location. This Premier launch means that 24 Hour Fitness is adding several LM formats and it's like a dream.... BodyCombat, CXWORX, BodyFlow and RPM to come to 24HF! Many Super Sport clubs are transitioning and adding these formats. I initially thought I'd do RPM as my next format because I would have a place to teach it and it would be great to add the cardio. After talking to Angie, my GM about it, the gyms closest to me, San Mateo and Millbrae, will not be getting RPM but BodyFlow, which is even more exciting because I do love that program but never thought about teaching it because I'm not very flexible. There are several classes being offered at the gyms but no instructors yet so I've signed up for initial training in July!Like any other format, I will train to increase my flexibility and as I have a passion for this program, I am confident I can learn to teach it. I just need to get through this weekend's launch so I can focus on flow. The weekend launches in Sunnyvale and San Jose have been unsettled because several LM people are coming to teach some of the classes and the schedule keeps changing. I was originally slated to team teach the first BP class with two other Instructors. Susan and Steven Renata and Ingrid Owen are all coming to be a part of the launch. I had heard that Steven R would be teaching RPM and may be a part of BodyPump as well so I have just been waiting for the dust to settle to see what my role would be. Today I received a call from Angie and stepped out of a planning meeting to take it. She told me to take a deep breath and not freak out. Huh? How does she know that about me? She then told me I would be team teaching BodyPump with Steven. I sputtered......"you mean shadow with him?" She said no, I'd be actually dividing tracks with him and teaching together. I literally started shaking and had to sit on the corridor outside the classroom. They call him Mr. BodyPump. He is currently the CEO of Les Mills West Coast, moved here from New Zealand to run the West Coast office, married to Susan, who is an International Program Director for BodyPump. Whoa. Can you say intimidated? I am honored to be able to share the stage with someone like Steven but I am still currently in freak out mode. I spent the day with Susan at Groundworks training a week ago and adore her. She is very down to earth and easy to talk to. I'd feel so much better if I were team teaching with her because at least I have met her. Kimi gets to team with her San Jose. I don't know Steven but I will in a few days! Angie told me it is a great opportunity to teach with him and I agree.....and can't believe that I get to do this. She told me she needed strong instructors for these launches and again, I am humbled that I get this opportunity. She decided to add another instructor so I wouldn't feel so much pressure. Now we are teaming with Orna, and between the three of us have already divided up the tracks. I am doing back, biceps and abs. At 11:00 I am teaching CXWORX technique and then I will team teach it with Wendy and am super excited about it - we trained and certified together. Now I will spend the rest of the week finishing summer school, the final packing of my classroom, polishing up BodyPump and CXWORX and then I anxiously will await the arrival of BodyFlow next week and take my fitness to another level :)