Oh boy. I don't often play the age card.....as a 40 year old woman who completely changed her life and body, it doesn't usually fly with me when people tell me they are too old to get fit, or lose weight.....blah, blah, blah.
However.....that being said....I am feeling 44-1/2 today. Seriously. It seems like the harder I push myself physically, yes, I can do it, but boy, do I pay for it the next day! I think the hardest part of the weekend was the run....
Saturday Cassie and I participated in the 2nd Annual Oktoberun in Redwood City. All the money goes to the RWC school district, and directly to our schools. We did it last year, and I sense a tradition in the making. It was a great day, as last year, there were 700+ registrants and this year? 1800!!! I absolutely LOVE the atmosphere on a race day. Every race I've run gives me goosebumps in the minutes before the start. Hoover had a good size team, I think the biggest represented by one of the schools. We had teachers, our principal, parents and students. To run alongside a first grade and third grade student I know, with their moms, was incredible. Especially now that we are beginning a serious health and wellness movement at my school. In our poor, heavily Latino community, awareness is key and we received a grant that gave scholarships to families to participate Saturday. We are offering Zumba classes (I know, I know, but it gets them in the door and moving) and we are all getting pedometers and starting walking clubs at school. I am excited to do my part, and most of the teachers that ran the race were upper grade but these students know me and the expressions on their little faces as we ran together and high-fived each other.....then to see them and their moms at school today....just a new relationship in the making. Good freaking stuff.
Cassie was amazing. She moaned and groaned for 3 blocks or so, about being tired, her legs hurt. Then an amazing thing happened - she looked at people running, walking and jogging past us....then looked behind us and saw that there were not a lot of people there. She looked at me and said "Mom, can we run, please?" Uh, hello? OF COURSE! Then throughout the rest of the race, we would stop and walk here and there, and she kept pushing me and herself - "Come on, mom, let's run!" or "We'll walk when we get to the corner." Again, the thrill of hearing our names as we ran across the finish line.....I love sharing this with her. She asked me later on, as we watched the first of the half marathoners cross the finish line, "How many laps is a half marathon?" I told her that 13 miles was 52 laps. She looked at me and said she would never run a half marathon! I looked at her and told her that when she got older, if she ever wanted to run a half, that I would happily train for and run one with her. The look on her face.....I think she actually considered it. In her 7 year old mind.
A highlight of the run was running past a couple and the guy said "I told you it was HER!" and found a longtime member from PAC that I haven't seen in over 6 months. His partner said "He told me that you are his favorite BodyPump instructor!" He moved to San Jose and hasn't made it up to my Saturday class, but his fiancee is the new Vice Principal at one of our schools and that's why they were running in the race! We chatted, he said how much he misses my classes but when I told him that he could join the 24HF Super Sports in his area and get both BP and Combat, his two favorite classes, he was super excited. It was nice to see him and make the connection with his fiancee.
We went home to rest a bit before I had to leave to teach BodyPump at PAC. Class was good, although my legs were absolute TOAST by the end, after all the squats, lunges and jump squats! Then Cassie and I ran off to a birthday party. At the party, I walked by two female clowns (actual clowns there for entertainment!) and one of them stopped me and said - "Don't you teach BodyPump at PAC?" Turns out she comes to my class, but I didn't recognize her because of the wig and makeup! Her clown partner told me her mom comes to my classes. I was struck by the power of what I do in that one hour each week.....making an impression on people without ever realizing it. The reminder was awesome.
Sunday, I woke up with sore ankles, and my hamstrings? OMG. Running on pavement.....haven't done that in ages and I felt it. Taught BodyPump again and it was a great class. Felt better afterward. Headed to San Mateo to teach BodyFlow, and while I felt pretty good at the end, I was definitely tired. But was my day over? Nope. Had committed to stay and do GRIT, which is the new LM program - 30 minutes, High Intensity Interval Training. I've done it twice before, with Alex as the instructor and it seriously kicked my butt. I've done the cardio format and the strength (barbell) format. This time we were doing strength with Johnny, a new instructor, video taping the class. Tough stuff, but I went light on my weights because I was tired but it didn't matter. There is sprinting in the warm up, burpees, pushups, squats...a lot of bodyweight work that you just can't get around.
So today I woke up.....and the tops of my feet are sore, my ankles, hamstrings, shoulders, obliques......all good, really, but I feel my age. My hip has been bugging me, along with tight quads. Went to the chiropractor for an adjustment but what I really need is a massage - thankfully I have one scheduled for this Friday!
Although I am sore, and old, I can't help but really enjoy weekends like this. Where I push myself physically, mentally, and survive. I remember years ago when I suffered from my thyroid disease, and how physically weak I always was. Today I rotated my arm inward and happened to be feeling the back of that arm with my other hand and was shocked to feel how hard my tricep muscle was. I wasn't voluntarily flexing, and it was THERE. 4 years ago, I couldn't do a push up if my life depended on it. I couldn't do 5 lunges. Now I am jump squatting. I am proof that it can be done. It takes time, commitment, dedication, but most of all, the desire to change, and the willingness to accept no excuses, from others or from yourself. It's not easy. Far from it. But impossible?
The word says "I'm Possible". No excuses.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
Reduced to tears.....AGAIN :-/
I had every intention of sitting down tonight to blog about more fitness things; my newfound love for cxworx, the new Les Mills GRIT classes I've experienced the last two weekends that pushed me beyond my physical and emotional limits.....but then my son, not 20 minutes ago, goes to the mail box and brings inside his senior portrait proofs. All things fitness related went out the window.
I just finished having a fairly hysterical emotional breakdown at the sight of my son, my firstborn, in his cap and gown, in his tuxedo, looking unrealistically mature, adult and so FREAKING handsome, and it just immediately sent tears down my face. He will be 18 in two months. Where did time go? Where did my baby go? When did he grow up? When did he start making his own physical therapy appointments and driving himself to them? When did he begin to take initiative and start filling out college applications, sending emails to prospective college soccer coaches, making appointments at Notre Dame to meet with the coaches and come away with the local university being in his top 5? When did he......where did he......why did he.......
He's a man. He may still need me, when he negotiates "hey mom, if you buy me this pair of shoes, I'll pay for my senior jersey?" or some other monetary thing he needs from me. I drive his jeep on the weekends if he and his dad are taking the van to a soccer tournament and he actually tells me not to forget to put gas in his tank, when he has yet to shell out any of his own money for gas. He's making his own lunches now (thank goodness) and doing the dishes daily so I don't have to. He still smart mouths me and since I gave him his birthday present early (a laptop for this year and for college) he better learn to hold his tongue a bit more or I've got myself a new toy :)
He's still a kid in so many ways, but way too quickly, he's demonstrating he is responsible, independent and mature. I suppose he will figure out how to feed himself when he goes away to college, and I know he can do his laundry, but when I look at the framed picture on the wall of him at preschool graduation, in his blue cap and gown, age 5, and hold up his senior portrait, in his orange cap and gown, age 17-1/2.....well, let the hysterics ensue.
I sure hope I get this out of my system in the next 8 months. For his sake and mine. I already drive my family a bit insane with my fitness craziness before a launch. Cassie was almost in tears because for a brief moment, my attention was focused solely on her brother and not on her. She adjusted and brought me a box of tissues and told me my makeup was smeared. At least I didn't have anything in my teeth.
I'm such an emotional wreck these last couple of weeks. This was the topper. Let's hope things calm down. SOON. I don't know how much more I can handle.
I just finished having a fairly hysterical emotional breakdown at the sight of my son, my firstborn, in his cap and gown, in his tuxedo, looking unrealistically mature, adult and so FREAKING handsome, and it just immediately sent tears down my face. He will be 18 in two months. Where did time go? Where did my baby go? When did he grow up? When did he start making his own physical therapy appointments and driving himself to them? When did he begin to take initiative and start filling out college applications, sending emails to prospective college soccer coaches, making appointments at Notre Dame to meet with the coaches and come away with the local university being in his top 5? When did he......where did he......why did he.......
He's a man. He may still need me, when he negotiates "hey mom, if you buy me this pair of shoes, I'll pay for my senior jersey?" or some other monetary thing he needs from me. I drive his jeep on the weekends if he and his dad are taking the van to a soccer tournament and he actually tells me not to forget to put gas in his tank, when he has yet to shell out any of his own money for gas. He's making his own lunches now (thank goodness) and doing the dishes daily so I don't have to. He still smart mouths me and since I gave him his birthday present early (a laptop for this year and for college) he better learn to hold his tongue a bit more or I've got myself a new toy :)
He's still a kid in so many ways, but way too quickly, he's demonstrating he is responsible, independent and mature. I suppose he will figure out how to feed himself when he goes away to college, and I know he can do his laundry, but when I look at the framed picture on the wall of him at preschool graduation, in his blue cap and gown, age 5, and hold up his senior portrait, in his orange cap and gown, age 17-1/2.....well, let the hysterics ensue.
I sure hope I get this out of my system in the next 8 months. For his sake and mine. I already drive my family a bit insane with my fitness craziness before a launch. Cassie was almost in tears because for a brief moment, my attention was focused solely on her brother and not on her. She adjusted and brought me a box of tissues and told me my makeup was smeared. At least I didn't have anything in my teeth.
I'm such an emotional wreck these last couple of weeks. This was the topper. Let's hope things calm down. SOON. I don't know how much more I can handle.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
A Pivotal Moment.....
It has been quite the busy start to the school year. I underestimated how difficult it would be to learn three programs at this time of year. I think it must be challenging at any time, but when I am so focused on new students, testing and my own children and their school activities, well, it's proven to be more challenging than I expected.
I can barely keep my eyes open but I had to write about what happened today. I have been struggling with learning my programs, but more so, BodyFlow. BodyPump I was able to learn fairly quickly, because I am so familiar with the format. I tackled flow first, as it was brand new except for my training release. This new release, 58, is so different than my training release, with all new poses, and even though I have been told how simple the chorey was, I was seriously struggling with getting anything to stick in my head. CxWorx - I didn't even look at it until a little more than a week ago.
I have been very stressed the last few weeks, and even though I would spend practically every spare moment with my notes and music, and practicing, and watching, it really wasn't sticking in my brain. Yesterday was the 24 Hour Fitness re-launch and I was launching BP and CX. Today I would need to have flow learned.
Yesterday went well; I taught pump at SMSS and CX afterwards. I had a BLAST teaching both, and although I was nervous about CX, it went off without a hitch and was a really fun release to teach. Super hard!! I ended up teaching another full BP class when the BodyCombat instructor cancelled, just so the 20 members who showed up would at least get a workout and they were all very agreeable to a BP class. Once the day was over, I knew I had to finish learning flow. Time had run out.
Up until last night, around 11 pm, I was practicing. Watching. Doing. I was sore, and didn't want to wear myself out more physically, but I need to DO in order to learn. I can't simply watch the dvd or just read the notes; doesn't work for me. So after 11, I finally got the chorey, but wasn't feeling good about the whole thing as I wasn't confident on my coaching and cueing. But I had to get some sleep.
This morning, I taught BP in San Carlos, and then ran to San Mateo. I spent time in the car reviewing the notes again, and then had to just let it be. I was extremely nervous walking into the gym, knowing I had a very high chance of flubbing up in more than one track. And then something amazing happened.
From the time I pressed play, and stepped into position on my yoga mat, it just flowed. Literally. From the tai chi warm up, through the sun salutations, to standing strength, balance, hip openers.....then the dreaded track 6, the core track. The one that physically was so hard for me, the one that kept me up late last night. Was it perfect? No, but my timing was on, and the entire room groaned throughout the track. The core back track, I love and that went well. By the time I hit track 8, spinal twists, I literally had goosebumps. By track 9, hamstrings, and the track that brings the class back down, brings the members to focus internally......I was actually in tears. Not enough so that members could hear it in my voice, but it was so emotionally moving...it's hard to describe. As I sat and guided the class through relaxation and meditation, I was swept by such a feeling of completeness, such a feeling of "this is what I am supposed to be doing".....and after class, several people thanked me and told me it was a great release.
I went to the locker room to freshen up and began sending a message to my amazing trainer, Rachel. I had an urge to let her know how incredibly moving my first 58 class was. She had posted recently how track 9 brought her to tears, and I remember thinking, "well yes, it's a great song, but tears?" I didn't get it. Until now. The wave of emotion that ran over me, like a wave, was indescribable.
It's like everything fell into place today. All my worries, all my stresses over this first post-training release, GONE. When people would tell me prior to today, "oh, you'll be great" or "you'll be fine", what they don't understand is that I didn't believe that, not deep down. My fear of totally screwing this up have been weighing on me. What I didn't realize is that while I thought none of it was sticking, it actually WAS. That was the most shocking thing of all. I wasn't able to give this release the time and dedication I did for my training release and that weighed heavily on my belief that I could deliver a good class. No one was watching and waiting for me to fail. Just ME.
It's not often I have these kinds of revelations. But damn, when they happen, it's like a ton of bricks. The thought that maybe this is the program for me. BodyPump - always and always will be my first passion, the one that truly set me on this path to better health. I've posted about moments like these in BP, usually, though, when I am sharing my story or journey with the class. A single track or release has never brought me to tears while teaching. But today? It was simply life changing, the way I felt delivering this class to my members. They will never know how today affected me, and in truth, it wasn't anything they did or didn't do, I don't even know if it was about them. It was about me. How I felt teaching this to them.
Simply powerful. Pivotal. A moment in time where I was in the zone. A different kind of zone than my BodyPump zones that I've experienced. A truly emotional zone.
BodyFlow.
I can barely keep my eyes open but I had to write about what happened today. I have been struggling with learning my programs, but more so, BodyFlow. BodyPump I was able to learn fairly quickly, because I am so familiar with the format. I tackled flow first, as it was brand new except for my training release. This new release, 58, is so different than my training release, with all new poses, and even though I have been told how simple the chorey was, I was seriously struggling with getting anything to stick in my head. CxWorx - I didn't even look at it until a little more than a week ago.
I have been very stressed the last few weeks, and even though I would spend practically every spare moment with my notes and music, and practicing, and watching, it really wasn't sticking in my brain. Yesterday was the 24 Hour Fitness re-launch and I was launching BP and CX. Today I would need to have flow learned.
Yesterday went well; I taught pump at SMSS and CX afterwards. I had a BLAST teaching both, and although I was nervous about CX, it went off without a hitch and was a really fun release to teach. Super hard!! I ended up teaching another full BP class when the BodyCombat instructor cancelled, just so the 20 members who showed up would at least get a workout and they were all very agreeable to a BP class. Once the day was over, I knew I had to finish learning flow. Time had run out.
Up until last night, around 11 pm, I was practicing. Watching. Doing. I was sore, and didn't want to wear myself out more physically, but I need to DO in order to learn. I can't simply watch the dvd or just read the notes; doesn't work for me. So after 11, I finally got the chorey, but wasn't feeling good about the whole thing as I wasn't confident on my coaching and cueing. But I had to get some sleep.
This morning, I taught BP in San Carlos, and then ran to San Mateo. I spent time in the car reviewing the notes again, and then had to just let it be. I was extremely nervous walking into the gym, knowing I had a very high chance of flubbing up in more than one track. And then something amazing happened.
From the time I pressed play, and stepped into position on my yoga mat, it just flowed. Literally. From the tai chi warm up, through the sun salutations, to standing strength, balance, hip openers.....then the dreaded track 6, the core track. The one that physically was so hard for me, the one that kept me up late last night. Was it perfect? No, but my timing was on, and the entire room groaned throughout the track. The core back track, I love and that went well. By the time I hit track 8, spinal twists, I literally had goosebumps. By track 9, hamstrings, and the track that brings the class back down, brings the members to focus internally......I was actually in tears. Not enough so that members could hear it in my voice, but it was so emotionally moving...it's hard to describe. As I sat and guided the class through relaxation and meditation, I was swept by such a feeling of completeness, such a feeling of "this is what I am supposed to be doing".....and after class, several people thanked me and told me it was a great release.
I went to the locker room to freshen up and began sending a message to my amazing trainer, Rachel. I had an urge to let her know how incredibly moving my first 58 class was. She had posted recently how track 9 brought her to tears, and I remember thinking, "well yes, it's a great song, but tears?" I didn't get it. Until now. The wave of emotion that ran over me, like a wave, was indescribable.
It's like everything fell into place today. All my worries, all my stresses over this first post-training release, GONE. When people would tell me prior to today, "oh, you'll be great" or "you'll be fine", what they don't understand is that I didn't believe that, not deep down. My fear of totally screwing this up have been weighing on me. What I didn't realize is that while I thought none of it was sticking, it actually WAS. That was the most shocking thing of all. I wasn't able to give this release the time and dedication I did for my training release and that weighed heavily on my belief that I could deliver a good class. No one was watching and waiting for me to fail. Just ME.
It's not often I have these kinds of revelations. But damn, when they happen, it's like a ton of bricks. The thought that maybe this is the program for me. BodyPump - always and always will be my first passion, the one that truly set me on this path to better health. I've posted about moments like these in BP, usually, though, when I am sharing my story or journey with the class. A single track or release has never brought me to tears while teaching. But today? It was simply life changing, the way I felt delivering this class to my members. They will never know how today affected me, and in truth, it wasn't anything they did or didn't do, I don't even know if it was about them. It was about me. How I felt teaching this to them.
Simply powerful. Pivotal. A moment in time where I was in the zone. A different kind of zone than my BodyPump zones that I've experienced. A truly emotional zone.
BodyFlow.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Summer Reflections
I went back to work today. Officially. Sat in a staff training the entire day, and while it wasn't horrible, it wasn't fun sitting all day. One more Looooong meeting tomorrow, then I get Friday to work in my classroom. One day to set it up and be ready for Monday. Paid, at least. I can put in as much time as I want on the weekend.....but I don't. I have 3, maybe 4 classes to teach at the gym (if I sub for Deb) and I don't want to be in the classroom in between. Thankfully Janet is coming Friday and one of my former parent volunteers, whose daughter is playing soccer with Cassie, offered to come help too so I will have 2 amazing people helping me unpack. I just may finish on Friday :)
Yesterday was a nice ending to the summer. We spent the early part of the day taking Cassie, Alexander, Amanda and her family out to Año Nuevo to see the elephant seals. It was a 2 mile hike to the beach each way, total of 4 miles. I didn't remember it being so far when we took Alex as a cub scout, but I was game. The girls were troopers and it was a beautiful crisp day. After the seals, we stopped at a beach up highway 1 and played for a bit. We had to rush back to Redwood City because Alex had to work at school; as BOSA Secretary he is already putting in a lot of hours working student registrations, planning for assemblies they are running, etc. I needed to go home and ice and get ready to teach my first Triple Tuesday at San Mateo Super Sport!
I was seriously nervous about my new schedule of classes. I have never taught 3 classes back to back and even though two of them were 30 minutes, I was still teaching 2 hours straight. I was looking forward to it; to teach all three of my formats in one fell swoop? HEAVEN!!
I arrived early to see if I could use my wireless mic in their stereo.....nope. It needs to have the same setup with a splitter that I have in San Carlos, so I will have to see about how I can get that accomplished. I am so accustomed to using my own mic that I really don't like using the club's mic anymore. I was very worried about how many people would actually come to a 4:30 BodyPump class, followed by a 5:00 CXWORX class. I figured 5:30 was a decent hour to come for BodyFlow. I am used to my participants being more of the working set and 6:30 being a challenge to arrive to on time, but I was pleasantly surprised to have 20 for BP! Lots of male members, relatively speaking, and I was able to have them all grab their resistance tubes for CX to save set up time. I explained they would have to put away all BP equipment quickly so we could stay on schedule and not cut any of the 5 tracks I was teaching. Two of my regulars from San Carlos came, as they live in Half Moon Bay and come all the way to SC just for my class. This is closer and they got to try CX.
BP went well, they seemed to enjoy the class and then a few more came in for CX while we were putting away the equipment. About 25 for CX. This was a tough class, as only 2 had come to our launch on Saturday (more later on that). At the end of CX, though, there were smiles through the sweat. Lots of comments from people about how hard it was but how they loved it! Some people left and more came in for flow, and I had close to 30 for that class! There was no time to even go to change or go to the bathroom, because I needed to keep things moving and on schedule. Many people didn't know to bring a yoga mat so I took a few minutes in the beginning introducing the format, explaining about the mat, etc.
Now I had fun teaching BP and CX. But BodyFlow? I am in HEAVEN. I truly love this format. Several men stayed for this class, and a couple had stayed from the beginning of pump. To teach this after two other classes; I knew it would be challenging physically, but it wasn't as hard as I thought. I think doing the 4 mile hike first was what made my legs feel like jello! At the end of class, before relaxation, half the class got up and left and when the Zumba people came in as I was packing up, both instructors thanked me for flow (they were in the back) and told me not to take offense at how many people left early - they had to get their Zumba shoes on! Which was fine, they left at the best possible time.
The best part of flow? During track 4, the balance track, people started giggling. Now I strive to teach in the essence of all my programs - this is the most calm, most serene, most focused of tracks because we are balancing on one leg through the entire track. Most people struggled with this and as they started to topple over, they started giggling, and as one giggled, more fell over and joined in. This, of course, made me smile, and it lightened the mood and actually bonded us as a class - to have them feel like yes, it is a serious track, but everyone moves at their own skill level and pace, and it was OK for them to not be able to balance. It's hard to explain, but it just made it more fun. It was natural and I explained later that we are all learning together, we are all going to get stronger together and it will be wonderful to see them progress as time goes on. Many came up to me after and told me they loved the class. So do I.
I was pretty beat when I arrived home; it was a lot of physical activity in a day for me but I was excited and hopeful for my new classes in San Mateo. I look forward to meeting new people, teaching my new formats, and still being able to see my regulars in San Carlos.
Last Saturday, we launched all these programs in a big event in the basketball court. I got to team teach BodyPump with Kimi and Tina, and we chose our favorite tracks. It was amazingly fun to teach with these two women! We had about 70, and a TON of my regulars from San Carlos! It was so great to have them. I also had several friends who don't belong to the gym come, from school, and soccer. Then I taught BodyFlow with Kimi and Jocelyn, and it went great. Kimi then taught Combat with Tina and she had brought out my FAVORITE from BC43 - The Black Pearl. I did the track right before that, and then went up to the front of the room as a participant model for the moves. It was so much fun but with my heel and my knee, it was definitely felt at the end of the day :-/
Kimi and Jocelyn and I taught CXWORX after that, and then had a break. Karin and I taught another CX, and then I was D.O.N.E. Home to shower and off to a soccer game. It was a great fitness day.
As I finished my three classes last night, I realized something: I began my summer vacation with the Sunnyvale launch, an amazing day of fitness. Teaching BodyPump with Steven Renata. I finished my summer with another amazing few days. The launch at my new club, and the first round of classes, introducing these formats to new members. How lucky am I?
I also realized something else. For the very first time, probably EVER, I don't regret how fast the summer went by. Yes, I was not ready to go back to work today. I am STILL not ready to start the school year. No, I didn't get everything done that I wanted to do. But I have no regrets. Seriously.
I spent the summer focused on some very important things to me. Spent time with my kids, my husband. Trained for and passed a new program, my new passion, BodyFlow. Participated in two amazing club launches, and pushed myself physically and mentally. Asked for and was given an almost perfect Group X schedule - 4 BP, 2 BF and a CX. I cleaned some, organized some, had a yard sale for my mom. Donated a ton, and let other things go. I enter this school year rested, both in body and mind, and am determined not to let myself get caught up in things that I can't control. We will see how that goes. I know full well it is going to be challenging, handling school responsibilities, learning and teaching 3 formats (just received the next round in the mail so by the end of September, I will need to know them all) and teaching 7 classes a week.
My son is officially a senior. I have 9 months to prepare mentally for this. I cried this morning. I am so flipping proud of him. Cassie begins 2nd grade on Monday. Sigh. Time goes too fast.
Take a deep breath. The ride has begun.
Yesterday was a nice ending to the summer. We spent the early part of the day taking Cassie, Alexander, Amanda and her family out to Año Nuevo to see the elephant seals. It was a 2 mile hike to the beach each way, total of 4 miles. I didn't remember it being so far when we took Alex as a cub scout, but I was game. The girls were troopers and it was a beautiful crisp day. After the seals, we stopped at a beach up highway 1 and played for a bit. We had to rush back to Redwood City because Alex had to work at school; as BOSA Secretary he is already putting in a lot of hours working student registrations, planning for assemblies they are running, etc. I needed to go home and ice and get ready to teach my first Triple Tuesday at San Mateo Super Sport!
I was seriously nervous about my new schedule of classes. I have never taught 3 classes back to back and even though two of them were 30 minutes, I was still teaching 2 hours straight. I was looking forward to it; to teach all three of my formats in one fell swoop? HEAVEN!!
I arrived early to see if I could use my wireless mic in their stereo.....nope. It needs to have the same setup with a splitter that I have in San Carlos, so I will have to see about how I can get that accomplished. I am so accustomed to using my own mic that I really don't like using the club's mic anymore. I was very worried about how many people would actually come to a 4:30 BodyPump class, followed by a 5:00 CXWORX class. I figured 5:30 was a decent hour to come for BodyFlow. I am used to my participants being more of the working set and 6:30 being a challenge to arrive to on time, but I was pleasantly surprised to have 20 for BP! Lots of male members, relatively speaking, and I was able to have them all grab their resistance tubes for CX to save set up time. I explained they would have to put away all BP equipment quickly so we could stay on schedule and not cut any of the 5 tracks I was teaching. Two of my regulars from San Carlos came, as they live in Half Moon Bay and come all the way to SC just for my class. This is closer and they got to try CX.
BP went well, they seemed to enjoy the class and then a few more came in for CX while we were putting away the equipment. About 25 for CX. This was a tough class, as only 2 had come to our launch on Saturday (more later on that). At the end of CX, though, there were smiles through the sweat. Lots of comments from people about how hard it was but how they loved it! Some people left and more came in for flow, and I had close to 30 for that class! There was no time to even go to change or go to the bathroom, because I needed to keep things moving and on schedule. Many people didn't know to bring a yoga mat so I took a few minutes in the beginning introducing the format, explaining about the mat, etc.
Now I had fun teaching BP and CX. But BodyFlow? I am in HEAVEN. I truly love this format. Several men stayed for this class, and a couple had stayed from the beginning of pump. To teach this after two other classes; I knew it would be challenging physically, but it wasn't as hard as I thought. I think doing the 4 mile hike first was what made my legs feel like jello! At the end of class, before relaxation, half the class got up and left and when the Zumba people came in as I was packing up, both instructors thanked me for flow (they were in the back) and told me not to take offense at how many people left early - they had to get their Zumba shoes on! Which was fine, they left at the best possible time.
The best part of flow? During track 4, the balance track, people started giggling. Now I strive to teach in the essence of all my programs - this is the most calm, most serene, most focused of tracks because we are balancing on one leg through the entire track. Most people struggled with this and as they started to topple over, they started giggling, and as one giggled, more fell over and joined in. This, of course, made me smile, and it lightened the mood and actually bonded us as a class - to have them feel like yes, it is a serious track, but everyone moves at their own skill level and pace, and it was OK for them to not be able to balance. It's hard to explain, but it just made it more fun. It was natural and I explained later that we are all learning together, we are all going to get stronger together and it will be wonderful to see them progress as time goes on. Many came up to me after and told me they loved the class. So do I.
I was pretty beat when I arrived home; it was a lot of physical activity in a day for me but I was excited and hopeful for my new classes in San Mateo. I look forward to meeting new people, teaching my new formats, and still being able to see my regulars in San Carlos.
Last Saturday, we launched all these programs in a big event in the basketball court. I got to team teach BodyPump with Kimi and Tina, and we chose our favorite tracks. It was amazingly fun to teach with these two women! We had about 70, and a TON of my regulars from San Carlos! It was so great to have them. I also had several friends who don't belong to the gym come, from school, and soccer. Then I taught BodyFlow with Kimi and Jocelyn, and it went great. Kimi then taught Combat with Tina and she had brought out my FAVORITE from BC43 - The Black Pearl. I did the track right before that, and then went up to the front of the room as a participant model for the moves. It was so much fun but with my heel and my knee, it was definitely felt at the end of the day :-/
Kimi and Jocelyn and I taught CXWORX after that, and then had a break. Karin and I taught another CX, and then I was D.O.N.E. Home to shower and off to a soccer game. It was a great fitness day.
As I finished my three classes last night, I realized something: I began my summer vacation with the Sunnyvale launch, an amazing day of fitness. Teaching BodyPump with Steven Renata. I finished my summer with another amazing few days. The launch at my new club, and the first round of classes, introducing these formats to new members. How lucky am I?
I also realized something else. For the very first time, probably EVER, I don't regret how fast the summer went by. Yes, I was not ready to go back to work today. I am STILL not ready to start the school year. No, I didn't get everything done that I wanted to do. But I have no regrets. Seriously.
I spent the summer focused on some very important things to me. Spent time with my kids, my husband. Trained for and passed a new program, my new passion, BodyFlow. Participated in two amazing club launches, and pushed myself physically and mentally. Asked for and was given an almost perfect Group X schedule - 4 BP, 2 BF and a CX. I cleaned some, organized some, had a yard sale for my mom. Donated a ton, and let other things go. I enter this school year rested, both in body and mind, and am determined not to let myself get caught up in things that I can't control. We will see how that goes. I know full well it is going to be challenging, handling school responsibilities, learning and teaching 3 formats (just received the next round in the mail so by the end of September, I will need to know them all) and teaching 7 classes a week.
My son is officially a senior. I have 9 months to prepare mentally for this. I cried this morning. I am so flipping proud of him. Cassie begins 2nd grade on Monday. Sigh. Time goes too fast.
Take a deep breath. The ride has begun.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Bittersweet.......
Summer is almost over, I go back to work for a day on Thursday, and then for real next Wednesday. This summer, for the first time ever, I was able to turn in my keys and not think about school the entire time. Seriously. I have been so busy with BodyFlow training, practicing, family, cleaning, sleeping in, watching the Olympics....just anything but worrying about school and it has been....heaven. Everyone I see this week keeps asking me when I go back to school and I just plug my ears. I am not thinking about it until after this weekend, this big weekend, when I get to work the 24 Hour Fitness' San Mateo Super Sport Premier Launch! I am teaching 4 classes.....Team teaching BodyPump at 7:45 am, then BodyFlow, and 2 CXWORX classes. I am beyond excited to begin this part of my journey...the one that has me actively teaching 3 formats.
Tomorrow, however, is going to be so bittersweet. It is my last Tuesday class in San Carlos. Every class is special in its own way to me; I've written about it before. This class, though, is my largest, with regularly now 50+ people each class. Twice I've filled the room to capacity at 60. The energy is amazing and I dread announcing tomorrow that it is my last class with them. I was unable to give them any notice because we needed corporate to approval the new schedule, so after launch, I am in San Mateo on Tuesdays. I will be teaching all three formats: a 30 minute BodyPump, 30 minute CX, and then an hour of BodyFlow. My ideal line up. 2 hours. Beginning earlier, at 4:30, so there is concern on my part about how many people will make it that early. The room is half the size of San Carlos, maybe 30 can fit. I cannot wait.....but I know I will be so sad to leave my Tuesday group. I will still be there on Thursdays, so it's not like I am leaving for good, but each class has its own energy, its own group of members. It will be different. I will miss them.
I wanted to change up my playlist for them as a farewell; now, at midnight, it came to me. I am going to leave them as I came to them - with my training release, 76. Reviewing it now, I barely have to go over the choreography. It is permanently ingrained in my head, I taught it so many times, filmed it so many times. It brings back so many memories for me; the journey as I began it, to become a BP instructor, is wrapped up in this release. To leave my beloved crew with this, just really feels RIGHT. And so it is.
My Sunday schedule is changing as well. I will be remaining in San Carlos, but in order to keep my class, it had to move 2 hours earlier, to 9:00 am. I also have to announce this. This is so I can have a second BodyFlow class, but in San Mateo, at 11:00am. I hope that my participants will be pleased that I am staying, even though the class will be early. I am also sad about this; my Sunday class was the one that was relaxed, not sandwiched between classes, a time when I was always able to work with people who had technique questions, or just to chat freely without rushing out of the room. The upside? I get to teach BodyFlow, twice a week, and that just makes it all better. Two different clubs, but I have an hour to get there and I couldn't be more excited.
Although I wish I were teaching one more CX, I am happy with my new classes, and the next leg of my journey. Launch should be a blast; teaching BP, BF and CX with Kimi, Jocelyn and Karin, again in the basketball court, up on stage. I hope to get more people to sign up and fill the room.
My line up is now: 2 full BodyPumps, 1 30 minute BP, CX, and 2 BodyFlows each week.
YIPEE!!!!!
Tomorrow, however, is going to be so bittersweet. It is my last Tuesday class in San Carlos. Every class is special in its own way to me; I've written about it before. This class, though, is my largest, with regularly now 50+ people each class. Twice I've filled the room to capacity at 60. The energy is amazing and I dread announcing tomorrow that it is my last class with them. I was unable to give them any notice because we needed corporate to approval the new schedule, so after launch, I am in San Mateo on Tuesdays. I will be teaching all three formats: a 30 minute BodyPump, 30 minute CX, and then an hour of BodyFlow. My ideal line up. 2 hours. Beginning earlier, at 4:30, so there is concern on my part about how many people will make it that early. The room is half the size of San Carlos, maybe 30 can fit. I cannot wait.....but I know I will be so sad to leave my Tuesday group. I will still be there on Thursdays, so it's not like I am leaving for good, but each class has its own energy, its own group of members. It will be different. I will miss them.
I wanted to change up my playlist for them as a farewell; now, at midnight, it came to me. I am going to leave them as I came to them - with my training release, 76. Reviewing it now, I barely have to go over the choreography. It is permanently ingrained in my head, I taught it so many times, filmed it so many times. It brings back so many memories for me; the journey as I began it, to become a BP instructor, is wrapped up in this release. To leave my beloved crew with this, just really feels RIGHT. And so it is.
My Sunday schedule is changing as well. I will be remaining in San Carlos, but in order to keep my class, it had to move 2 hours earlier, to 9:00 am. I also have to announce this. This is so I can have a second BodyFlow class, but in San Mateo, at 11:00am. I hope that my participants will be pleased that I am staying, even though the class will be early. I am also sad about this; my Sunday class was the one that was relaxed, not sandwiched between classes, a time when I was always able to work with people who had technique questions, or just to chat freely without rushing out of the room. The upside? I get to teach BodyFlow, twice a week, and that just makes it all better. Two different clubs, but I have an hour to get there and I couldn't be more excited.
Although I wish I were teaching one more CX, I am happy with my new classes, and the next leg of my journey. Launch should be a blast; teaching BP, BF and CX with Kimi, Jocelyn and Karin, again in the basketball court, up on stage. I hope to get more people to sign up and fill the room.
My line up is now: 2 full BodyPumps, 1 30 minute BP, CX, and 2 BodyFlows each week.
YIPEE!!!!!
Monday, July 16, 2012
I Am A BodyFlow Instructor!!!
Well, I passed initial training! I still need to submit a video of me teaching an entire class.....but you know what? Dreams DO come true, and I know that I will work hard and submit a video worthy of passing. I have no doubt. I am not being cocky, or conceited, but confident because this weekend was SO amazing, I had SO much growth, personally and physically, that I know in my heart, this program was meant to be in my life right now. So yes, I will pass this video assessment. I have 2 months, September 15 is the due date. EEK.
This past weekend, just as I had expected, was amazing. ALL Les Mills trainings, and I have been to a few, are quality trainings. The initial trainings are now 2 days, and we receive our dvd's and choreography notes 14 days in advance in order to learn our tracks and be prepared. Day 1, Rachel, our AMAZING trainer told us, would be the hardest, and if we could get through it, Day 2 was going to simply be FUN. She was right.
Day 1.......I had thought that I would present one track two times on Saturday, and then the second track two times on Sunday, like other trainings. Nope. It was one track, once on Saturday and twice on Sunday, and it was TRACK 7. The one I had been dreading, the one I didn't like as much, the hardest track in the release!!! WTH?? I had been counting on track 3, which was hard with my lack of shoulder and hip flexibility, but track 7? with the hovers, the fireflies, the crocodile pose? AAAARRRGGGGHHH!!! Karin had to talk me down and convince me that I WANTED the hardest track at training, because I was going to get specific, one on one feedback on the hardest track in the release, so that when it came time to taping, I would nail it. Everyone else would not have had the same attention to that track that I had. So I tried to be positive, but deep down, I knew that I struggled with the firefly, which is this: when you are in a hover, on your toes and straight arms, you bring your knee to the same side elbow, as you come down halfway in a crocodile. Super hard for me with my upper body strength, which is stronger but still.
Day 1 was a lot of technique work, after the Master Class with Rachel. Megan from the Les Mills West Coast office (I had met her at the Sunnyvale launch) came down to do the class with us. Rachel is a wonderful instructor and it was fun to go through the class with her live instead of the DVD. We had a group of 11 people instead of the 9 I saw on our original list. I knew Karin and Yvonne, and had met Patty once, and knew of Jocelyn. It was nice to meet other instructors, both from 24 Hour Fitness and other gyms. Once woman, Nikki, was like me in my BodyPump training, a participant from Bladium, and had never taught anything before but loves LM and chose this as her first foray into Group X. She is super sweet, knows several instructors that I do, and was super nervous, but WOW. She was AMAZING at her track, and it brought back so many memories of me just 19 months ago in training. Being a participant going into training is like no one else - we have a passion, a love of the programs and it shows, even with our lack of teaching experience. Nikki will be a phenomenal BodyFlow instructor!
We did our first presentations at the end of Day 1. I was super nervous, of course. I went up and began my track, I KNEW my choreography and timing, but for some reason, I got off track within the first 2 sets and it threw me off. I lost my focus, lost my place, got off on timing, but got back on track. I finished O.K. but as soon as I sat down and Rachel asked, as she asked each one of us, one thing we thought we did fabulous, and one thing we could work on, I BLANKED on the fabulous. I literally could not get any words out, and when I did, I said I HAD the chorey, and I just could not come up with what I did right. I came up with a laundry list of what I did wrong and Rachel stopped me and said "Stop - I am taking over this conversation!" and she told me that I did a great job, that my coaching was spot on, but she could tell I was totally in my head, I made one mistake and then in my head it was over. She told me this is NOT CXWORX, it's BodyFlow - it was ok for me to show one option on my toes and then go down to my knees to do the rest. That it was ok to show members then options because most people will not be able to do the high option and do it with perfect technique. She told me to do the first rep on my toes and then show the option on my knees, and it was OK. Well, the whole time she was talking, what was I doing? Crying. Yep. Me, the blubbering idiot. I felt so stupid, like such a failure, and she made me feel so relieved that it was ok to take the lower option, especially in this program. If we only coach the lower option and only show the higher one, people will feel like they need to do the higher option because we are doing it or feel bad that they can't do it. It is important to SHOW them, for a good amount of time, the level one option so they understand how to perform the move correctly.
Karin, in the parking lot before we drove home, told me she knew exactly what happened with me. This is so dumb. I ALWAYS teach with my hair back - usually in two braids, because it is such a curly mess that I have to put it back. Well, most of the day, I had my hair down, or would put it back in a pony tail. I had the hair tie on my mat, but didn't have time to put my hair back before I went to teach my track. Karin saw me sweep my hair away from my face near the beginning, heard me sigh, and that was it. That little blip of my hair getting in the way got me off the music by one beat and then it happened - lost my timing, lost my confidence, felt like I failed. It is such a minor thing, but it was different enough for me - pulling my hair back. As we sat in the car, it just all poured out of me and I couldn't hold the tears back - I was terrified of this track because I knew how hard it was for me, and I was dreading the fact that I had to teach it 3 times and this was the track I would be assessed formally on, when I was not confident in my ability to do so, because the moves were harder and I had my heart set on the other track. I had all these feelings of self doubt, being unfit, too fat, not good enough, blah blah blah. I mean, good GRIEF, when was this going to get better? Why haven't I gotten this message by now? Why am I constantly crying at trainings? Is this part of the process, am I still going through the journey of self discovery? Apparently I am. And that's ok. I was just overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy around other people, although for the first time, I felt on an even level with the other people in the training. I was so mad myself for screwing up, since I HAD it. I had the difficult timing, and blew it.
I felt better after that, knowing why I blew it. I reviewed it one more time at home, but didn't want to focus too much on it since I was already overthinking it. I put on some soft music to go to sleep, but ended up not being able to turn my brain off. Karin and Yvonne were picking me up at 7:15am on Sunday and I ended up going to sleep at almost 1:00am and woke up several times during the night. Nevertheless, I woke on time and was ready to go when they arrived. I felt much better that the night before, so I was confident I would be able to nail it for the second presentation.
Day two began with perky Rachel saying how wonderful it was going to be because Day one was so much harder and we were just going to have fun! We started off with presos straight away. This time, we shadowed our alternate track so I was able to have fun with that. My own track - how did I do? NAILED it. I knew it and it felt good. I was able to get in my compulsory cues, follow up cues and a bit of fun. Rachel videotaped the morning presos, but we did the class as a whole and she didn't stop to give feedback after each one. She gathered us after and we did the individual feedback as a group, then she showed us all our videos. She told me that she had nothing to correct me on except my arms were coming back too far on the upper back extensions (like we do it in CX so I had to remember to modify the move), my coaching and cueing were on, my technique was great now that I showed the options, and the only thing was she wanted me to let go and have fun. I was so relieved!
The rest of the day consisted of connecting, fitness magic, the challenge, bonding...it was truly a great day. It's always hard to sit and we were all getting stiff and sore, but we moved around plenty, and by the final presentations, we were all exhausted but fired up and ready to be done. Again we did the class as a whole and didn't stop the music between tracks, we each went up to the front to present in order. It was obvious how much growth each instructor made in just two days. Always gives me goosebumps to see this.
Preso #3 - I think I was truly able to embrace the track, this difficult track that had me peeing in my pants for two weeks before this training. I nailed it again, corrected my upper body move and I really did have fun with it.
We started to clean up and waited for Rach to get our final feedback forms to us, packed our bags and started chatting. I was one of the last ones to get my feedback - Yvonne and Karin both got their passes! When I went up to Rach, she looked up at me and said "You know you passed, right?" and what did I do? Started crying. Geez. I had a feeling I would pass, after I redeemed myself in the morning, but the feeling of accomplishment, the knowledge that I have achieved the first step in becoming a BodyFlow instructor.....there are no words to describe it. She told me I was going to be a wonderful BF instructor, and I believe her. I had such doubts, because I am a BodyPump instructor, and have been told I am too high strung for Flow, but I have discovered that I can alter my persona, my coaching, to fit the program I am teaching. This program is going to be wonderful for me personally and physically and I can't wait to share my new passion with others.
This weekend was amazing. Today, I feel like I've been hit with a truck. A big one. My obliques are screaming at me with every twist and turn. I had a throbbing twitch in one hamstring that lasted over an hour. I am sore on the tops of my feet, the bottoms of my big toes, I have two new bruises on my knees, my upper back/shoulder blades are tighter than anything......this feels like it was harder than CX training.
But it was SO worth it.
This past weekend, just as I had expected, was amazing. ALL Les Mills trainings, and I have been to a few, are quality trainings. The initial trainings are now 2 days, and we receive our dvd's and choreography notes 14 days in advance in order to learn our tracks and be prepared. Day 1, Rachel, our AMAZING trainer told us, would be the hardest, and if we could get through it, Day 2 was going to simply be FUN. She was right.
Day 1.......I had thought that I would present one track two times on Saturday, and then the second track two times on Sunday, like other trainings. Nope. It was one track, once on Saturday and twice on Sunday, and it was TRACK 7. The one I had been dreading, the one I didn't like as much, the hardest track in the release!!! WTH?? I had been counting on track 3, which was hard with my lack of shoulder and hip flexibility, but track 7? with the hovers, the fireflies, the crocodile pose? AAAARRRGGGGHHH!!! Karin had to talk me down and convince me that I WANTED the hardest track at training, because I was going to get specific, one on one feedback on the hardest track in the release, so that when it came time to taping, I would nail it. Everyone else would not have had the same attention to that track that I had. So I tried to be positive, but deep down, I knew that I struggled with the firefly, which is this: when you are in a hover, on your toes and straight arms, you bring your knee to the same side elbow, as you come down halfway in a crocodile. Super hard for me with my upper body strength, which is stronger but still.
Day 1 was a lot of technique work, after the Master Class with Rachel. Megan from the Les Mills West Coast office (I had met her at the Sunnyvale launch) came down to do the class with us. Rachel is a wonderful instructor and it was fun to go through the class with her live instead of the DVD. We had a group of 11 people instead of the 9 I saw on our original list. I knew Karin and Yvonne, and had met Patty once, and knew of Jocelyn. It was nice to meet other instructors, both from 24 Hour Fitness and other gyms. Once woman, Nikki, was like me in my BodyPump training, a participant from Bladium, and had never taught anything before but loves LM and chose this as her first foray into Group X. She is super sweet, knows several instructors that I do, and was super nervous, but WOW. She was AMAZING at her track, and it brought back so many memories of me just 19 months ago in training. Being a participant going into training is like no one else - we have a passion, a love of the programs and it shows, even with our lack of teaching experience. Nikki will be a phenomenal BodyFlow instructor!
We did our first presentations at the end of Day 1. I was super nervous, of course. I went up and began my track, I KNEW my choreography and timing, but for some reason, I got off track within the first 2 sets and it threw me off. I lost my focus, lost my place, got off on timing, but got back on track. I finished O.K. but as soon as I sat down and Rachel asked, as she asked each one of us, one thing we thought we did fabulous, and one thing we could work on, I BLANKED on the fabulous. I literally could not get any words out, and when I did, I said I HAD the chorey, and I just could not come up with what I did right. I came up with a laundry list of what I did wrong and Rachel stopped me and said "Stop - I am taking over this conversation!" and she told me that I did a great job, that my coaching was spot on, but she could tell I was totally in my head, I made one mistake and then in my head it was over. She told me this is NOT CXWORX, it's BodyFlow - it was ok for me to show one option on my toes and then go down to my knees to do the rest. That it was ok to show members then options because most people will not be able to do the high option and do it with perfect technique. She told me to do the first rep on my toes and then show the option on my knees, and it was OK. Well, the whole time she was talking, what was I doing? Crying. Yep. Me, the blubbering idiot. I felt so stupid, like such a failure, and she made me feel so relieved that it was ok to take the lower option, especially in this program. If we only coach the lower option and only show the higher one, people will feel like they need to do the higher option because we are doing it or feel bad that they can't do it. It is important to SHOW them, for a good amount of time, the level one option so they understand how to perform the move correctly.
Karin, in the parking lot before we drove home, told me she knew exactly what happened with me. This is so dumb. I ALWAYS teach with my hair back - usually in two braids, because it is such a curly mess that I have to put it back. Well, most of the day, I had my hair down, or would put it back in a pony tail. I had the hair tie on my mat, but didn't have time to put my hair back before I went to teach my track. Karin saw me sweep my hair away from my face near the beginning, heard me sigh, and that was it. That little blip of my hair getting in the way got me off the music by one beat and then it happened - lost my timing, lost my confidence, felt like I failed. It is such a minor thing, but it was different enough for me - pulling my hair back. As we sat in the car, it just all poured out of me and I couldn't hold the tears back - I was terrified of this track because I knew how hard it was for me, and I was dreading the fact that I had to teach it 3 times and this was the track I would be assessed formally on, when I was not confident in my ability to do so, because the moves were harder and I had my heart set on the other track. I had all these feelings of self doubt, being unfit, too fat, not good enough, blah blah blah. I mean, good GRIEF, when was this going to get better? Why haven't I gotten this message by now? Why am I constantly crying at trainings? Is this part of the process, am I still going through the journey of self discovery? Apparently I am. And that's ok. I was just overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy around other people, although for the first time, I felt on an even level with the other people in the training. I was so mad myself for screwing up, since I HAD it. I had the difficult timing, and blew it.
I felt better after that, knowing why I blew it. I reviewed it one more time at home, but didn't want to focus too much on it since I was already overthinking it. I put on some soft music to go to sleep, but ended up not being able to turn my brain off. Karin and Yvonne were picking me up at 7:15am on Sunday and I ended up going to sleep at almost 1:00am and woke up several times during the night. Nevertheless, I woke on time and was ready to go when they arrived. I felt much better that the night before, so I was confident I would be able to nail it for the second presentation.
Day two began with perky Rachel saying how wonderful it was going to be because Day one was so much harder and we were just going to have fun! We started off with presos straight away. This time, we shadowed our alternate track so I was able to have fun with that. My own track - how did I do? NAILED it. I knew it and it felt good. I was able to get in my compulsory cues, follow up cues and a bit of fun. Rachel videotaped the morning presos, but we did the class as a whole and she didn't stop to give feedback after each one. She gathered us after and we did the individual feedback as a group, then she showed us all our videos. She told me that she had nothing to correct me on except my arms were coming back too far on the upper back extensions (like we do it in CX so I had to remember to modify the move), my coaching and cueing were on, my technique was great now that I showed the options, and the only thing was she wanted me to let go and have fun. I was so relieved!
The rest of the day consisted of connecting, fitness magic, the challenge, bonding...it was truly a great day. It's always hard to sit and we were all getting stiff and sore, but we moved around plenty, and by the final presentations, we were all exhausted but fired up and ready to be done. Again we did the class as a whole and didn't stop the music between tracks, we each went up to the front to present in order. It was obvious how much growth each instructor made in just two days. Always gives me goosebumps to see this.
Preso #3 - I think I was truly able to embrace the track, this difficult track that had me peeing in my pants for two weeks before this training. I nailed it again, corrected my upper body move and I really did have fun with it.
We started to clean up and waited for Rach to get our final feedback forms to us, packed our bags and started chatting. I was one of the last ones to get my feedback - Yvonne and Karin both got their passes! When I went up to Rach, she looked up at me and said "You know you passed, right?" and what did I do? Started crying. Geez. I had a feeling I would pass, after I redeemed myself in the morning, but the feeling of accomplishment, the knowledge that I have achieved the first step in becoming a BodyFlow instructor.....there are no words to describe it. She told me I was going to be a wonderful BF instructor, and I believe her. I had such doubts, because I am a BodyPump instructor, and have been told I am too high strung for Flow, but I have discovered that I can alter my persona, my coaching, to fit the program I am teaching. This program is going to be wonderful for me personally and physically and I can't wait to share my new passion with others.
This weekend was amazing. Today, I feel like I've been hit with a truck. A big one. My obliques are screaming at me with every twist and turn. I had a throbbing twitch in one hamstring that lasted over an hour. I am sore on the tops of my feet, the bottoms of my big toes, I have two new bruises on my knees, my upper back/shoulder blades are tighter than anything......this feels like it was harder than CX training.
But it was SO worth it.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Program #3...About to Commence!!!
You'd think with it being summer vacation, I would be caught up on my blogging. Well, the last two weeks have been crazy with learning my 3rd program, BodyFlow. I am SO happy I chose this to be #3, as it has already helped loosen me up and made me stronger. That, plus BodyPump 82. What a RELEASE!!!
I never wrote about my experience with launching the Premier club in Sunnyvale next to Steve Renata! It was definitely an A-Mazing day and experience. I don't know why I was so nervous...other than the fact that he was one of the original founders of BodyPump....very down to earth and he spent time before the launch going over stage position with me and Orna so that we knew how to move between the tracks we had divided. The room, the basketball court, was filled with almost 100 people!! It was truly energetic and even though I spent the warmup (that Steve taught) going over my back track chorey in my head, once I just gave up and trusted that I knew what I was doing, I was able to smile and have a blast! I had a chance to talk to Steve before he taught his second RPM class and found him to be just as down to earth and funny as his wife, Susan. He also told me to email him and he would give me some feedback once he had time to decompress. I had someone ask me if I was actually going to do it.... Duh.....of course! I am all about improving my teaching, getting feedback, no matter how hard it is to hear. I may moan and groan but I DO listen and apply feedback as best I can.
The rest of the day was spent working the crowd and the red carpet, meeting members, talking up the classes. I got to wear a 24 Hour Fitness nametag! Made me feel so official! hahaha. I then taught CXWorx with Wendy, and did the technique portion beforehand. Wendy is awesome, we did our initial training together and we had a blast. The room had over 100 people!! Including a few regular pumpers from San Carlos, as well as two co-workers from Hoover. We increased capacity in the room because the Zumba people were told if they came to our class, they would get to keep their spot for Zumba! It worked, and we worked them HARD! Some came up to us later and told us they never felt so out of shape, but they had fun and wanted to keep trying the class. That's all that matters - that people are moving, trying new things to shake up their workout, and working hard.
All in all, Sunnyvale's launch was a HUGE success. The acoustics are not great in the basketball court but I made sure to tell people to come back and try the classes in the smaller Group X room. I'll sub there if the need arises but there are great instructors in the South Bay so they are in great hands.
BodyFlow - I am so amazingly excited for this weekend. More than I thought I would be. This program is not an easy one. This release, however, has fairly simple choreography, and while I have spent most of my time learning my two presentation tracks - 3, a standing strength track, and 7, a core back track, I have done the entire release many times and have a few other tracks almost memorized. There will be 9 people in our training, so that is exciting because it is a small group, which means lots of opportunities for feedback that might be more difficult with a larger group. I have never been to a Les Mills training, though, even larger ones, where I felt ignored or like I didn't get enough feedback or personal attention. The trainers are top notch, and our trainer for the weekend, Rachel, is amazing according to some close friends of mine. I am very excited to meet her in person and learn from her.
I definitely have to work on my fitness - I am still dealing with hip flexor and shoulder flexibility issues, but I have improved over the last two weeks of training, and my deep tissue massage yesterday really helped loosen me up, after neglecting my monthly massages for over two months. I will not do that again! The more I train and practice, the better. The good thing about BodyFlow is that unlike BodyPump, there is no limit to the amount of times per week that is recommended to do the class. There is a lot of strength involved, but since it is a Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates program, there is plenty of stretching and muscle lengthening going on. The fact that I am focusing on my breathing more has helped to slow me down and this will be a good complement to what I already teach.
August 18 - the San Mateo and Millbrae Super Sport Premier Launches....my goal is to pass this training, learn the rest of the release, and be ready to launch BodyPump, CXWorx and BodyFlow on that day!! I'll have to do a video for this program, but hopefully I will have a class or two to teach and be able to do that like I did with BodyPump.
For now, tomorrow will be essentially a "rest" day, only going over chorey and my cueing to allow my body to be fresh and ready for an AMAZING weekend!!!
Program #3 .......HERE I COME!!!!!
I never wrote about my experience with launching the Premier club in Sunnyvale next to Steve Renata! It was definitely an A-Mazing day and experience. I don't know why I was so nervous...other than the fact that he was one of the original founders of BodyPump....very down to earth and he spent time before the launch going over stage position with me and Orna so that we knew how to move between the tracks we had divided. The room, the basketball court, was filled with almost 100 people!! It was truly energetic and even though I spent the warmup (that Steve taught) going over my back track chorey in my head, once I just gave up and trusted that I knew what I was doing, I was able to smile and have a blast! I had a chance to talk to Steve before he taught his second RPM class and found him to be just as down to earth and funny as his wife, Susan. He also told me to email him and he would give me some feedback once he had time to decompress. I had someone ask me if I was actually going to do it.... Duh.....of course! I am all about improving my teaching, getting feedback, no matter how hard it is to hear. I may moan and groan but I DO listen and apply feedback as best I can.
The rest of the day was spent working the crowd and the red carpet, meeting members, talking up the classes. I got to wear a 24 Hour Fitness nametag! Made me feel so official! hahaha. I then taught CXWorx with Wendy, and did the technique portion beforehand. Wendy is awesome, we did our initial training together and we had a blast. The room had over 100 people!! Including a few regular pumpers from San Carlos, as well as two co-workers from Hoover. We increased capacity in the room because the Zumba people were told if they came to our class, they would get to keep their spot for Zumba! It worked, and we worked them HARD! Some came up to us later and told us they never felt so out of shape, but they had fun and wanted to keep trying the class. That's all that matters - that people are moving, trying new things to shake up their workout, and working hard.
All in all, Sunnyvale's launch was a HUGE success. The acoustics are not great in the basketball court but I made sure to tell people to come back and try the classes in the smaller Group X room. I'll sub there if the need arises but there are great instructors in the South Bay so they are in great hands.
BodyFlow - I am so amazingly excited for this weekend. More than I thought I would be. This program is not an easy one. This release, however, has fairly simple choreography, and while I have spent most of my time learning my two presentation tracks - 3, a standing strength track, and 7, a core back track, I have done the entire release many times and have a few other tracks almost memorized. There will be 9 people in our training, so that is exciting because it is a small group, which means lots of opportunities for feedback that might be more difficult with a larger group. I have never been to a Les Mills training, though, even larger ones, where I felt ignored or like I didn't get enough feedback or personal attention. The trainers are top notch, and our trainer for the weekend, Rachel, is amazing according to some close friends of mine. I am very excited to meet her in person and learn from her.
I definitely have to work on my fitness - I am still dealing with hip flexor and shoulder flexibility issues, but I have improved over the last two weeks of training, and my deep tissue massage yesterday really helped loosen me up, after neglecting my monthly massages for over two months. I will not do that again! The more I train and practice, the better. The good thing about BodyFlow is that unlike BodyPump, there is no limit to the amount of times per week that is recommended to do the class. There is a lot of strength involved, but since it is a Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates program, there is plenty of stretching and muscle lengthening going on. The fact that I am focusing on my breathing more has helped to slow me down and this will be a good complement to what I already teach.
August 18 - the San Mateo and Millbrae Super Sport Premier Launches....my goal is to pass this training, learn the rest of the release, and be ready to launch BodyPump, CXWorx and BodyFlow on that day!! I'll have to do a video for this program, but hopefully I will have a class or two to teach and be able to do that like I did with BodyPump.
For now, tomorrow will be essentially a "rest" day, only going over chorey and my cueing to allow my body to be fresh and ready for an AMAZING weekend!!!
Program #3 .......HERE I COME!!!!!
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