867-5309

Spin long enough and you will always find someone that does it like you’ve never seen it done before.  In Florida there’s plenty of talent and this morning I found a great way to end the year. Jenny took me around the world in a high intensity ride that nearly blew me off my pace. She was frenetic with the grace of a dancer and the artistry of a symphony conductor.  

In the near dark you could make out her athletic silhouette on her Johnny Spinner one moment then in a blink she was literally dancing center stage across the stadium studio as if she was leading a charge of the Light Brigade urging us on with military like precision. Her spirited  exhortations felt  like the backbeat to the choreography that  felt so purposeful to keep us between 85% and 100 % effort for the whole ride. 

In a way here was KSC south as there was not a bike to be had and several were turned away with more than a chagrined look. We started late but finished with a full 60-minute interval and I was amazed that her talent doesn’t have her but part time economics notwithstanding of course.  Get the picture? Jenny Little brings it big.  

Mommy's Turn to Drive

A second day at 24 Hour Fitness and this time the older generation took the wheel and boy can she drive. She could have fooled me that she was a septuagenarian. Only being a sexagenarian I had to look that one up but Beverly Pepe pulled off what some cannot half her age. There were times as I looked up at her thinking as a kid growing up that any person of her stature were headed to a nursing home or the happy hunting grounds now here was one that was playing rock music and had 36 junior citizens by comparison dripping in sweat and sucking wind.  Beverly Pepe, substituting for her daughter Lisa today might be breaking new ground teaching spin at 72 but as Petula Clark once sang: It’s a Sign of the Times. Her choreography was great and again like her daughter Lisa she featured a 5-minute jump, which cranked my HR up to 149. Not bad for a man on beta-blockers. 

Whose Petula Clark you ask? See Downtown. *

This chain is huge and boasts of a swimming pool, full court basketball, and a plethora of equipment some of which I wish EQ had like The True Stretch Cage which had 30 illustrated stretch positions that I found took all the guesswork out of which stretch does what. I have been in large gyms before but this one had me thinking when I am here in Florida this will be the place I will frequent.  Nothing can replace Equinox Woodbury mainly because of the friends I have made there and it’s always going to be my 3rd space no matter how far from home I roam.  

It was Mommy’s turn to drive and she was flooring that gas pedal for the whole 60-minute ride.  

* Sign of the Times: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tusqkxkhrls

Love the One You're With

Whenever I have had the pleasure to spin in another club outside of the Lavender Palace at EQ Woodbury, I never expect anything lest I be disappointed. And truth be told no one has let me down yet whether it be in an EQ in Florida or New York. Today however I was just too far to spin in Ventura and closest was the franchise of 24 Hour Fitness Center. 

A little about the club and although it didn’t have all the amenities of Woodbury like those plastic bags for our wet gym attire or an endless supply of hand and bath towels it was clean, spacious and the energy was pulsing which to me was a surprise.  And since this blog is about spin let’s get to it. I loved the studio, loved it. It was tiered stadium like and each bike looked to be about 54” inches apart so there was plenty of room between each Johnny G. Spinner bike. The iron horse looked new and although there was no console the pedal stroke was smooth as silk. Once I got used to the letter codes as opposed to the Numbered ones on our Schwinn’s I was good to go.  

Lisa Pepe Fernandez was the chosen star this morning and I don’t know what it is about some of the diminutive power houses I have encountered like Carolyn Mellace and Hayley Greenberg but here was another more than a 1000 miles from home. Lisa’s lithe form moved effortlessly from seated to #2 and #3 and although she carried a soft voice her command of the class was unmistakable.   Her discography was eclectic and roamed up and down the time scale of music with no seeming order to it but it worked well at least from this sexagenarian’s ears. What she did that I really enjoyed was a 5-minute “jump” in 4 time and I found that to be the most challenging part of the whole choreography.  And all I had to do was look on the floor beneath and see that my 3 pools I leave behind was right where it always is.  

Lisa Pepe Fernandez a great ride thank you. I hear that her mom Beverly Pepe is a 72-year-old spin instructor at this club and if it can be arranged I intend to take on the previous generation and I hope I can hold my own.  

Love the one you’re with or without.  

No Spin, No Problem

Uh yeah no that’s a lie. I miss my mates of the Lavender Palace because it’s not just exercise to me anymore it’s a way of life for me. I did some Napoleon Solo episodes on the beach with a breathtaking view last week but it just can’t match the energy I feel inside the confines of my EQ home.   

Tomorrow I will try 24 Hour Fitness spin class and I hope it is a reasonable facsimile at least to keep me somewhat sated for the time being. Up until now I have been running as a substitute with extreme difficulty and I never thought I would say this but I don’t miss the pounding on the knees or the crippling lactic acid that kept me walking like I had a stick up my alimentary canal. 

The fact that Kristen is absent this week makes it just a bit more palatable and I can justify taking a break but since I have an obsessive personality I miss taking my comfort in the exquisite sport that I have made Jack’s addiction. 

No spin? Oh yeah it’s a problem. 

Order vs. Chaos

It’s no secret that my favorite spin instructors are the Evil Woman and Mr. Authenticity. Separate and together they’ve been promising sweeping changes come this January. How can it get any better than it already is I ask you? Well since they both deliver (at least from my vantage) we are all in for something extraordinary. I have made casual jocular reference to these two charismatic individuals as Order and Chaos. And quite frankly I love the polarity of the two protocols although it would seem that chaos is haphazard and undisciplined versus the fine art of structured choreography. I submit though that both cater to the imagination. Order is a guided meditation and chaos a silent one.

Although neither might admit it they both can take a page from each other and make us all a sweet and salty snack. And how many morsels can we gobble up that last an hour and give us the metabolic shift and the forensic change in our paradigm as we hit the street armed with alertness no amount of caffeine can muster.

The Open Road Inside

What can I say that hasn’t been said about Saturday KSC?  350 vignettes later I am still combing my afflatus to describe the best exercise regimen I have ever found especially for this time in my life. Nary an injury have I suffered except maybe a little ache in my feet from the shoes I need to replace.  My disintegrating disc and prior knee surgeries have never given me the least bit of discomfort.  Some of my spin mates have suggested I come out of marathon retirement and hit the road again. Romantic notion to be sure because some of the best times both literally and figuratively came in my New Balance shoes. But why tempt fate. I am so satisfied in my Schwinn and the pounding of the pavement is best left for those younger than I with aspirations I have long fulfilled for myself. 

Where is that guy that told me I could not lose weight in spin class? I think of him often now when I doff my soaking wet spin top and shorts.  He was a veteran of many a triathlon and he seemed to have a cogent argument two years ago which I can’t recall now but I am glad I turned a deaf ear to that non sense.  God I love spin class because it has become a way of life for me and well it works. 

A great idea EW had taking on double duty for Saturday. It gives rise to faces I have never seen before and why stop at 55 when 110 riders get to feel the road of Kristen James. 

Sour Note

It’s a rare occasion if ever where I am just a little pissed off about what transpires inside the Lavender Palace. Today was one of those days. I am the first to admit that 26 hours before I am refreshing my macbook to secure a bike for KSC.  And Wednesday morning at 6:30 I clicked and reserved #4 for today’s 8:30 class. And as per usual the room was filled in the proverbial 5 seconds for the Evil Woman’s daily show. 

As I checked back later yesterday I could see that the room was still booked full.  This morning however revealed quite a different scenario. Kristen absent today enrolled her substitute Lori Salti. Now I have taken Lori’s class before and there are not many trainers more passionate about fitness and spin than the White Angel is but it seems some of my spin mates just didn’t see it that way. Now I understand that everyone is entitled to spin with whom they wish but if you reserve a bike show up. I just think it was insulting that we can’t show one of our elite trainers support by being present especially if you reserved a bike in the first place. In fact I saw some of KSC regulars in the big room  chatting and some on the treadmill. It’s just not right.  

Having said that Lori was truly great and if you ask my front row mates you’d hear them echo the same sentiment. I was drenched and the indefatigable Ms. Salti was ready for her double duty in the 9:45.  Sorry no metaphors today I am just so disappointed.  

Here I am sporting my new specs from Optical Image where Cheryl and Heather are the proprietors. I got my eyes checked and they helped me pick out these glasses. What do you think? 

Ruby Red

Sauntering late into what I thought was the Corso Zone today I spy young Hayley Greenberg at the controls.  She’s a slip of a thing but don’t let that fool you. And this redhead may have a soft voice but possesses the will of an Iron Woman. I like my instructors that way. How about you? 

And Ruby Red has broken tradition with the AT 40 and her iPod contained an eclectic mix that was a great change of pace to my auditory canal. I have long been tone deaf to some of the music I have listened to these past two years but like all musical offerings there will always be artists that have melody filled  acoustics that resonate but that’s because I opened my closed mind. I am an ardent fan of the 60’s and 80’s and for me the music of today had a dearth of talent or so I thought  but if you stick around long enough many of the artists of today have taken music on a new course and some of the urban artists I formerly had disdain for are the innovators  and my musical clock has gotten upgraded I must confess.  

Ruby Red I shall call her and although it appears she is only in a minor role at present I hope that the Evil Woman sees fit to bring her into prominence as only she can.  Good luck Hayley my dear.  

What Goes Up......

It used to be so tempting to just eat whatever my heart desired after an all out effort in   KSC but this summer all that changed along with a myriad of other things in my life. Those bits of my Peyton Place have been chronicled in any number of my other blogs but here in my most viewed blog it seemed that I had lost weight in a precipitous fashion and I can’t quite put my finger on just how it happened but one day I found myself not covering up my upper torso. It was a dream of mine to be able to feel this comfortable in my own physiology by February 2012. Well it seems it came just a bit sooner.  As I started to say in the first year and a half of spin I never paid much attention to the junk I ate now I have given up diet soda and late night snacking. The soda I think was the key to curbing my appetite and now when the healthy choices are limited I find myself leaving something on the plate rather than consuming the whole thing. (Anyone old enough to remember that Alka Seltzer commercial where the mustachioed heavy set beleaguered man says: I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.)  Leaving something on the plate is so satisfying too it just feels good. And although sometimes my appetite is very strong I try to eat slower so my stomach can catch up to my eyes. 

I love that instrumental Christmas song that Kristen has played this December, as it is a perfect road to end class in a most challenging way. It’s a fantastic bit of choreography EW.  And that David Guetta song with those two bursts of 23 seconds of frenzy is a great way to go all out like a banshee and then completely do nothing.  

Occasionally it is very difficult for the Queen of Spin to avoid innuendos even when she has no intention of being slightly provocative and it was hard not to think of the double entendre of getting “up” and then recovering this morning and as our eyes met Evil realized her blogger would grab any opportunity to emit a sardonic smile. Eliminating the “refractory period” is a pretty cool thing. I also wanted to let Kristen’s mom know that your daughter is teaching us how to “strip” and we just thought you should know how muti-talented she is. As if you didn’t know. 

....Must come down. 

The Cricket Stare

I never heard this idiom before but it didn’t take long for it to resonate with me and make it today’s title for KSC Saturday. I have only given cursory thoughts to what it’s like having 55 pairs of eyes staring at you because I have experienced it many times before when I engaged in   public speaking, but there is a major difference or two when it comes to spin class. When I spoke to an audience most often they never knew what to expect but with Kristen we know we are here for a powerful experience in body and mind. All I could hope for is that my audience had their grey cells stimulated. Here in KSC we have all senses engaged and no one is nodding off from a food hangover or excusing themselves for a biological break. So I think that the pressure EW must sense is only mitigated by the fact that everyone is in motion. Don once used the word: Entertrainment. And that is exactly what draws us here the combination of sweat and theater. Not many can pull this combination off but we all know Ms. James does.   

The cricket stare is of course an oxymoron but the anticipation of each and every one of us is like knowing but not knowing. We know the ride is going to be challenging but because of the many permutations of each ride we just don’t know when we will be breathless, in a strength-training mode or in the anaerobic state.  By the way I think I have figured out what breathless actually means and it was by a process of elimination. At first I just thought it was just an advertising marquee to attract us but I think that I have come to the conclusion that it is simply a suspension of regular breathing. Maybe Kristen can chime in here if she has a more technical explanation.

 KJ wants us to enjoy the ride every time. We know this ain’t no disco but we needn’t give her the cricket stare because a few smiles makes her job all the more gratifying.  

So what do you think about having two classes on Saturday? Kristen had to look at the signup sheet because some of the riders were not the usual familiar faces. Maybe they were members that had just given up getting in to Woodbury’s hot ticket. Now more of us get to share an hour with the charismatic one.  

Roll Film

As we enter the final stages of 2011 and I look back on my second year in KSC I think that I exceeded my wildest expectations. I have been wishing for this body to return and I knew it was there it just had be uncovered from the formidable amount of clay I slapped onto it over the last 10 years. It seemed like the ripped physiology of my 40s was just a dream but now maybe not so impossible. I have long admired most of you both men and women with shapes to die for and all of you have been my inspiration to not only lose nearly 30 pounds but you have helped me return to a social network beyond what was going on in my head.  

But it’s more than just the outer shell of the physical life because it’s what’s happened on my “inside job” as well.  I had been a hermit for about 5 years prior to spin class through no ones fault but my own but because of all of you some of my youthful personality has returned. Part of the reason is due to the fact that I am comfortable in my own skin again.   And again I have all of you to thank for it. 

KSC is all about us and although I don’t hear from you very much I know and thank you for your readership.  Maybe in 2012 if I can still find the afflatus in me to continue writing this blog you might drop me a line or two. I have found so many really nice people inside the walls of the Lavender Palace and I wish all of you a wonderful holiday season. 

I was watching Amy taking video of the EW today and although she might not be Cecil B. De Mille from what I could glean (because she was right in front of me) I think she captured the images rather well. That iPad is something else again. I think the late Steve Jobs was the second coming of Einstein. What do you think?  Taken from us way too soon. 

Cycle for Survival anyone?  I loved capturing that story last year and I do look forward to doing it again.  Have you signed up? 

This Ain't No Disco

At times it sounds like one but other than the songs that I can really attach to viscerally I agree it ain’t no disco. What it is though is a virtual ride through the existential side of our minds. It’s no joke when we say that we are not just spinning our wheels when we don those cycling shoes and clip in because the ride is anything but stationary.  For years in the main studio I would alternate between the elliptical and the recumbent bike searching like a cell phone signal for the deep connection I knew that I could never synch myself into because I was alone and unplugged.  It is here that I found the invisible yet (just like electricity) palpable current to make things arc and transform the sub, pre and conscious parts of my brain. 

 When you alter your thoughts your actions and reactions change and change inevitably follows in our physiology. How could it not because what we think about becomes our reality? When EW talks about incinerating fat our mind is hard at work making the chemistry to do just that.  I think most of us would agree that what we focus on expands and if we choose to think about what’s wrong in our lives the power of the mind manifests a deeper “wrong” because our brain wants to give us exactly what we want.  When I am in the CS it’s a rare moment when an outside thought descends into my consciousness. Just to make sure I leave my (what has become an extraterrestrial alien) cellular device in the locker room. I am alone and together with 55 precious beings trying to achieve the same thing a fit body with a mind to match.   

This ain’t no disco or even a dance party but the celebration in our heads makes me think it just might be.  

I Like How It Feels Part II

I like how it feels when I can take off my jeans without unbuckling the belt. 

I like how it feels when Ari and Lizzie say that I look like I'm wearing someone else's clothes. 

I like how it feels when I don't look my age. 

I like how it feels when I am the fittest person at the Thanksgiving table. 

I like how it feels when I walk into the CS and know most of the people.

I like how it feels spinning next to athletes like David, Cindy and Stacy because it makes me feel young. 

I like how it feels when we can use creative visualization to improve our lives in the other 23 hours. 

I like how it feels to be positive. 

I like how it feels to be passionate. 

I like how it feels to be enthusiastic.  

I like how it feels to write about the Renaissance that is taking place in my life right here right now. 

I Like How It Feels

I like how it feels when I put on a pair of jeans that I haven’t been able to fit into for 8 years. 

I like how it feels when I stand in the shower and I can see my toes. 

I like how it feels when I look in the mirror and my shirts look like they’re swimming on me. 

I like how it feels when I get out of the shower and I am not afraid to look at myself naked in the mirror. 

I like how it feels when my friends tell me how good I look and ask me; did you lose weight?

And I like how it feels when I start to stretch in the cool down and know that I gave my body the healthiest start to the day.  

I like how it feels I know I do. 

P.S.

I like how it feels when I can take off my jeans without unbuckling the belt. 

I like how it feels when Ari and Lizzie say that I look like I'm wearing someone else's clothes. 

I like how it feels when I don't look my age. 

I like how it feels when I am the fittest person at the Thanksgiving table. 

I like how it feels when I walk into the CS and know most of the people.

I like how it feels spinning next to athletes like David, Cindy and Stacy because it makes me feel young. 

I like how it feels when we can use creative visualization to improve our lives in  the other 23 hours. 

I like how it feels to be positive. 

I like how it feels to be passionate. 

I like how it feels to be enthusiastic.  

I like how it feels to write about the Renaissance that is taking place in my life right here right now. 

Dance With Me Kristen

From the front row a dance is certainly within the realm of possibility as I can just reach out to our vaunted leader and do an inside turn. However, this is just a metaphor for the real dance we do each morning in KSC.  I worked up quite a sweat  “in my life as a dancer” and now in my life of spin (that is nigh on two years) I work up that same sweat and then some. Never since my days of long distance running have I worked this hard in achieving the level of fitness I now enjoy.  You can see it in the mirror but the feeling inside viscerally is where I feel it the most. It’s a leanness that makes us feel like all our clothes are loose which is gratifying beyond words. We can dance in the Lavender Palace during the day and when we dance in the dark at night it feels as if a pirouette is child’s play. 

And the dance is always different. The Evil Woman may program her discography but never her soliloquies. She could never be content with the same old thing it always has to be cutting edge and whenever she can shed the “old school” thought process she does. The latest is her disposal of the theme of just burning calories. I tried that for almost 7 years in the main studio and I know it just doesn’t work because you wind up (if you’re lucky) maintaining your weight or more likely gaining weight instead. I think that if we use the philosophy of just burning calories it gives us a false sense of what we can ingest. For me I think I thought I could eat anything because I had worked out for the day. But more than likely I ate back my workout and more. With Kristen’s credo of going into the day in caloric deficit our metabolism shifts and our bodies become an inferno as we incinerate the food we eat.  

I have always loved to dance since The Twist* in 1960 and if the circle of people that would surround me back then in 5th grade were any judge I was “doin’it and doin’ it and doin’ it well.   And now in 2011 I can still dance and each morning I am dancing as fast as I can.

*The Twist is the only song to be released twice once in 1960 and then again in 1961 and reach #1 in the Billboard Charts both times.  

Didactic Kristen

Monday KSC is a time to purge all of our eating indiscretions from the weekend. 

Although because of her encouragement I have lessened my intake of sweets and empty calories. Not all the time of course but since I don’t drink alcohol I have a leg up on you “earthlings” that drink socially. I do know that those calories are like candy bars without wrappers and I am also cognizant how smooth booze can be and how those pounds can sneak up on you and tip that scale to the right. 

Merriam says that Didactic means: intended to convey instruction and

information as well as pleasure and entertainment. The Evil Woman does just that doesn’t she? That is one of the secrets to her success. She takes pride in giving us technology that is always cutting edge, even if we have a tendency not to hear her every word. In time however, we listen to her message and all we have to do is look in the mirror to see a reflection that we haven’t seen in sometimes many years. 

And as far as entertainment goes who does it better than she with her double entendres that both titillate and inspire.  She works the room better than anybody because she makes sure she knows all her members and what their strengths are as well as their weaknesses. And who doesn’t love hearing her call out our names every class and when we don’t we know we’ve been sent to Coventry but that never lasts for long because she loves us like we love her.  

Didactic Kristen. Today we learned a new word: “Stripping”. She had plenty of fun with that and why not getting naked is always fun in the right setting but this term had us taking down road instead of adding resistance and it made the ride feel like more like the open road going up on a hill attack and then enjoying the ride down the incline. It gave the ride at least to me a new dimension that I can’t wait to try on Thursday. 

Note to Kristen’s Mom: Just between us did you ever wash her mouth out with soap when she was a little girl? She is terribly naughty albeit in the most intoxicating way.   

Passion in Our Pants

Do we all know just how much drama goes into securing a bike online for KSC? I mean do you really know? I awake at 6:25 to the alarm clock app on my 4G phone that keeps getting louder if I do not heed the dismiss tab. And as I saunter sleepily into my bathroom I know my macbook is fully charged. When I open it I  have the Firefox browser loaded to “Book a Bike” all set up and within a few seconds I am poised with one finger on the “refresh” tab and the other on my touchpad. And at the stroke of 6:30 I am at the ready when Kristen’s class magically appears. I try to relax and because I have gotten so successful in securing a bike when I am in front of that computer some of the nervousness has subsided but there is still that smug satisfaction that I don’t have to consider the Loser Line.  

I love to get bike 3 because it’s nearest the top of the app and every millisecond I save in moving that cursor insures my success ratio. Today I had  #4 (Which is Stacy Sable’s bike) but I was unceremoniously unseated by Louis because my bike was "traveling" on the floor. I had no real issue with the slight dysfunction but the new GM anxious to throw his weight around pushed me back three rows to #23. I was slightly miffed but after all I was here and the Thursday edition was just where I wanted to be.  

The ever-mercurial Kristen was part playful part animal and the combination was lethal. All I needed to do was watch David Cooper just in front of me to know that even a hulk like him was hit by gamma rays rendering him a shelled pistachio.  

Spin Notes. 

The Evil Woman gave some great nutritional advice and today I was determined not to eat any candy and make sure no ingredient that I couldn’t pronounce went into my cakehole.  Harold still longing for a hamburger even at 8:30 in the morning was fit to be tied at such a blasphemous thought.  

Note to Kristen’s mom. She was talking about having “Passion in our Pants” this morning and God only knows what she was referring to. I just thought you ought to know.  

Advanced Kinesiology Part Unknown

There are so many ways that I can describe spin class with Michelle Corso but unless you actually experience her firsthand you probably won’t be able to fully cognate what the hell I am talking about. How many times can I tell you about her kinesiologist’s dream like physiology and you not get sick of hearing me? I will tell you again that it’s simply not to be believed. But that’s not what I want to talk about today.  

Michelle to me is as I have related before is technically gifted and has a vision every time she takes the wheel. There is no ad hoc performance from her as   she is meticulously prepared and damn it she has great rhythm when she starts gesticulating off the bike to drive her point home.  I really don’t think she is as shy as appearances might indicate because with 4 daughters one would need all the social skills that God could provide because the estrogen alone would kill you.  

Michelle is also apart of Cycle for Survival in February and the stars are coming out that day.  February 4 might seem like a long time from now but hell I just put my bathing suit away and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  

A Day In the Life

As I approach the CS there’s not much on my mind except getting to my numbered bike and making the various adjustments but first I have to navigate (and I do have a third mate’s license) past the sea of members milling about the narrow entrance of the Lavender Palace. For the biggest studio on record it sure has the smallest ingress on record. We could use wider doors if there is any mistake the designer made. Of course I’m talking about Kristen’s Spin Class where the hot ticket is still hot and 55 bikes was supposed to be more than enough but alas that studio hasn’t been built yet.  

Thursday night I had the chance to spin with the incomparable Carolyn Mellace. She’s The Blue Sapphire to me and although my time schedule doesn’t seem to dovetail with her limited appearances at EQ but when it does it’s always a treat. She has her own inimitable style like jumps and her patented isolation spin where going slow never was as challenging as it is with her. Last night she played the Doobie Brothers a song that you’re not likely to hear anywhere else but because Carolyn is more impromptu rather than sticking to a script it makes her truly singular in nature. 

Kristen has a great lineup slated for Cycle for Survival in February and it’s the Queen followed by her star-studded staff including Tripp, Damian and the aforementioned Carolyn Mellace. Now I don’t have this from Mount Olympus but it seems like this is the starting rotation. It should top last year’s event and I just hope I can cover it like last year.  

Relentless

What does that word mean to you?  It’s a notch up from persistent I think. Relentless means that one never gives up.  Persistence is something you keep on repeating regardless of the outcome. Relentless is all about the outcome and nothing matters until one is successful or an outcome results even if its failure.  

A great word to focus on in KSC today and this wordsmith is all about relentless. I never give up because I have found that even if things take year’s relentlessness will eventually bring results. Sometimes it’s not necessarily the outcome we were aiming for but a decision will be made one way or the other. Without the character trait of relentless I feel that we have only one outcome and that’s no. It’s like picking up the phone if we don’t the decision has been made however when we do pick it up we may get the outcome we were hoping for. 

Can you actually see yourself if you are physically able in this class not giving it your all?  What is it that drives us on and on? Of course our trainer Kristen puts us in the position to be the best we can be but in the end it is we that have to shoe it.  Riding next to motivated riders is a key element as well as their energy combined with ours provides us with the impetus to be relentless.  

Has anyone read Liz Davies entry? Kristen suggested she come here and ride with us and I have extended that invitation to her.  She apparently is an avid reader of exercise blogs and somehow stumbled on KSC. I am glad she did and if she is willing I have also asked her to contribute here so we can get her perspective.  Might be a little less fanciful than my approach but nonetheless it might give us a lens we haven’t spied through.    

P.S.

My friend Mike a retired anesthesiologist was in the right place at the right time for me today and I just wanted to acknowledge him even though he won’t see these words.

 I have struggled with this atrial fibrillation for quite some time now and today was the first time that I had the symptoms of light headedness and mild dizziness that accompanied it and did not have the accelerated HR I almost became accustomed to.  When I awoke I was feeling that unmistakable HR and took my meds which I am still derelict in doing most days and proceeded to head for spin class. Thinking it would simply dissipate as it usually does with the combination beta-blocker and arrhythmia drug I climbed aboard for what was in hindsight a dumb thing to do. 

In any case after class  as I sauntered around the locker room and wandered aimlessly Mike grabbed my wrist  and told me that even though my HR was low that it was indeed irregular and that I should get my butt to the emergency room and get a monitor on. As it turned out my return  call to my cardiologist came in  and I went to my doctor’s office instead. I am now wired for 24 hours  and the admonitions from everyone are ringing in my ears and maybe this time I have actually heard what they are saying.  

Liz Davies: Guest Blogger

I was recently contacted by one Liz Davies who had just stumbled on this blog and she asked if she might write a guest blog here. I just finished reading it and it is superb!  Maybe it is happenstance or serendipitous in any case her article is about exercise for cancer patients. She makes a compelling argument to that end. We of course at Equinox are deeply committed to Cycle for Survival 2012 and I thought you might find this young recently graduated college student's article of strong interest. And here it is in it's entirety unedited. 

Fitness Inspiration for Cancer Patients

Those who have cancer may feel like the treatments are more draining than the disease itself. These can sap their energy, making them feel weak and tired all of the time. They may even feel nauseous and sick. This is not the way that they want to live, and they will be glad to know that it is not the way that they have to live. Something that many people do not realize is that exercise can really help them to overcome these feelings. It can help them to regain their strength and to feel better. This is true for all types of cancer including breast cancer, lung cancer and even rare forms like epithelial mesothelioma.

Increased Strength

First of all, exercise can help them by increasing their muscle mass and making them physically stronger. The body will be weak already, so this strength can help them to feel like they are able to be more active. They will be able to do more things, showing them that their life can still be as fulfilling as they desire. 

Better Blood-Flow and a Higher Heart Rate

Any exercise gets the heart working. This helps to prevent blood clots and other such problems. The rising heart rate can also make them feel less lethargic. This is one of the reasons that cancer patients have been shown to have a lower risk of a reoccurrence of cancer if they are exercising frequently.

An Improved Outlook

Exercise can just help people to feel better in an emotional sense. They will be more awake and alert. This will improve their mood. It can also help them to connect with those around them. 

The Best Exercises

Some exercises are ideal for cancer survivors. One such exercise is simply stretching. Increased flexibility helps with blood flow and allows more exercises to be possible. Resistance training with weights or machines is also a good idea since patients will have often lose muscle mass during their treatment. They could also have gained fat, and having larger muscles will help them to burn it off. As they start to feel better, aerobic exercises such as walking or swimming are encouraged. These can also help to reduce fat. 

How to Stay Motivated

When someone is not feeling well, it can be hard for them to want to do anything, let alone work out. They need to keep the positives in mind so that they can be encouraged to continue working out. They need to set goals for themselves. Even small goals, such as walking for a mile, can be helpful. Furthermore, they could reward themselves when they accomplish certain things. Maybe they have been denying themselves deserts. When they have reached a certain exercise goal, they could allow themselves to have a dessert that they love. They should also think of exercise as a way of showing cancer that it cannot rule their life.

Liz Davies is a recent college graduate and aspiring writer especially interested in health and wellness. She wants to make a difference in people’s lives because she sees how cancer has devastated so many people in this world. Liz also likes running, playing lacrosse, reading and playing with her dog, April. 

Space and Time

Kristen eluded to the fact that we were a “team” today in this a very rainy Saturday edition of KSC. She reasoned that because all of our bikes are so close together that we exchange a free flowing energy with each other. All the members of “The Team” are watching us and that is one reason why we give the effort we give. Kristen must know because although we are usually only focused on one set of eyes, hers she is seeing 110 eyes on those 55 bikes staring back at her. 

Now I think we happen to be so close together because it’s what the Fire Marshall will allow in what is virtually always a SRO Kristen’s Spin Class.  (SRO: Sitting Room Only)

But on the abstract or metaphysical level spin class at our EQ is more like a community of friends that may only know each other in a cursory way but nonetheless we share each other’s aura and that is a deeply personal exchange probably only possible because of  our instructor Kristen James and also  in large part to the type of members we enjoy in Woodbury.  

Sit next to Stacy Sable or any number of the plethora of riders that have a drive reserved only for dedicated athletes and you will find out exactly what I mean. And if you are a devotee of KSC you know and have experienced this phenomenon.  

We have limited space in the absolute in one of the largest spin studios on Long Island or anywhere else for that matter. Just try to move around before or after class off the Schwinn and you’ll know I speak the truth.   Maybe though Evil Woman has something there when she talks about our proximity and what we share with one another and in truth I wouldn’t want it any other way. And as far as time is concerned the minutes continue to fly by as if the minute hand was on speed attached to an interval linked to the upper reaches of 120 RPM’s on our consoles.  From the beginning for this rider it was a challenge to make it mentally through a whole hour and although it is even more challenging now than it was nearly two years ago I am never glad our time is through but it does set the day and readies me for the challenges of life on life’s terms.  

Space and time limited commodities in our lives and the same holds through of KSC.   

Across the Mid Line

The challenge of spin has helped me drop twenty pounds since May and the key might be more dietary than just how hard my effort in the pedal stroke is. When I got on that scale after class I was astonished how far left I am pushing that sliding bar.   Avoiding those empty calories at night could be pivotal along with the end of drinking diet soda. I think there just might be a conspiracy theory about such drinks because although they carry no caloric weight the secret ingredient might be that it increases your appetite for those heavily laden fat foods like Five Guys and Golden French Fries. Just sayin’. If I had listened to Kristen at the outset I would have arrived at this revelation sooner but I just wasn’t ready until now.  

Talking to David (he’s usually in #6) in the men’s locker room and he agreed with me that KSC has taken on a new dimension in terms of the degree of difficulty so having said that I know that I am not alone. And now 21 months in I can actually say that I am starting to feel fit. And I have not been in this zone since my feet were hitting the pavement on a regular basis. Which for me is eons ago. 

And how dumb am I? Don’t answer that! But why did it take me so long to figure out that I could cross the mid line of the bike with each pedal stroke? Left, right, left right.  Just a small shift to either side of the mid line of the Schwinn has given me and added boost of strength and probably affords me an even higher RPM which has always bedeviled me.    

Kristen Rising

Is there anything more I can say about spin class with Kristen James? After all how many times can I talk about her charismatic personality or even her mercurial moodscape that changes like the phases of the moon? Well 325 entries later she continues to break new ground not only in the anatomy of spin but now that she is concentrating on regulating our HR, we are moving past just a fabulous workout and she is creating a more exacting fitness that only her scientific approach can deliver.  Now what does all that gobbly gook mean? It means that we are athletes and I haven’t felt like that probably since running the Boston Marathon.  And that is no joke because I would train 75/100 miles a week.  We are always “training” one day I would love to take it further and find out just how fit we are in a race day atmosphere.  

Kristen seems to be mulling over having rowing classes. I would love that. I can’t say for sure but that might seem the perfect upper body compliment to our lower body workouts of spin. My imagination went wild thinking I would have a whole new “pull” of stories about stationary rowing.  Just think about that for a bit. Where would all these pieces of equipment go? Well if she can get the Mother Ship to build a new multi-million dollar studio like the one we have nothing will surprise me. 

I would like to with Peter Rothermel much success in Great Neck and the best of success to Louis Cohen in his new position as GM of Woodbury.  

   

23 Seconds

Calling it her signature, Kristen has a sentient connection to the song by David Guetta called: Without You.  It also has two distinct bridges of 23 seconds that lend itself perfectly to an all out anaerobic effort followed by what EW calls: Do Nothing. The song itself is perfect on the ears as well and relatively brief lasting only 3:30. 

And how about Jennifer Lopez with that new one called: Papi. I could never stand her with the overexposure the media paid her and Ben Affleck. It prejudiced me about her I must admit as I thought it was just another one of those no talent couples that looked more like a train wreck than a relationship. She has changed my mind so completely after her “On the Floor” and now this latest song that she is using in her Fiat commercial. Of course she is a ravishing beauty but now that I have found out she can really belt out a catchy song I’m all ears.  

Establishing herself as far and away the most skilled technician of spin that I know Evil Woman has punched through a new level playing with our hearts. And I mean that she has us elevating her heart rates and then letting them touch down in a perfectly orchestrated synchronous pattern that has me reeling in the saddle at the sheer brilliance of it. These are not just my sentiments because a lot of the boys are talking in the locker room about her choreography and just how different the tapestry is that she has woven.   

Spin Notes:

Did you see how Deepak and Anastasia got some favorable press from our Queen of Spin in Thursday’s session? Deepak is Mr. iPhone and Anastasia is the miracle workers of sorts with making us all look like Dorian Gray.  What about Heather Featherr and Cheryl? These two young women are optical experts par extraordinaire. I think we should check them out for all our eyewear needs. Heather fixed my broken glasses in short order and delivered them to me today in class. I have no lens to grind but give a thought to calling on these two.  

Everything is Temporary

Everything’s Temporary. A powerful phrase that I have touched on in several of my less fanciful yarns over the last year and a half, and when Kristen uttered it today it reminded me in the context of our spin sessions whether up or in the saddle that our time in the Lavender Palace is the shortest of intervals. It is the one-hour where we become devoted to ourselves alone.  And in our hurtling existence had we not taken the time, our own needs might never be met in the other 23.  

 The Evil Woman has often said that you can do anything for 30 seconds and when it’s boiled down to finite intervals like that my motivation instantly rises to increase my pedal stroke and I instinctively move out of my comfort zone. That’s another phrase that I will focus on one day because the comfort zone is a moving target. Comfort it seems to me moves along a continuum that leaves behind discomfort in its wake. No sooner are we pushing a deeper level of fitness do we find ourselves climbing steeper and steeper climbs via that damn red dial. I could feel it today my legs punishing the pedals and when she told me to increase the resistance I was taken out of my trance of thinking I was where I should be.

 Today for a plethora of reasons as I opened my eyes and cast my squinted glance at the digital clock reading 5:45 my impetus to rise was as a dead Duracell trying to light my way to the bathroom door, it just wasn’t happening. My desire was at low ebb and it would take all of my military school discipline just to muster donning my shorts and top and move my sorry ass to make the 8:30.  

But just as my AA idiom told me that bring the body and the mind will follow, once I heard the rhythm of the American Top 40 I felt like Jeff Bridges did in Starman as the Mother ship brought him back to life with those light rays from the heavens. So too did Kristen relight my blue pilot light that sometimes lets life extinguish my desire and enthusiasm. For many reasons I am in an emotional malaise but for this hour I forgot where I was and with the help of all of you my altered state of bliss returned albeit only temporary. 

P. S. 

Optical Image run by Heather Featherr and Cheryl Israeloff are my new Opticians.

I visited their store in Plainview last week and I can recommend them highly and after all I think we should support these friends in our home away from home EQ.  

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The Young Lion

I haven’t left contrary to popular belief. I have just been busy these past few weeks. On Wednesday with the absence of Kristen I elected to do a Napoleon Solo* around 4 PM. I was kicking my butt as best I knew how and just tried to simulate the call of our fearless leader. No easy task I can assure you but I was determined to get a cardio workout in so I tried counting pedal strokes (not exactly a fun thing) and pushing the resistance wheel up a ¼ turn for a 60 count up in #3 and 60 seated.  Some of our excellent MAINTAIN staff was hard at work tightening and tuning our beloved Schwinn’s where most often they function as they were part of our shoes.  

Lo and behold however at about 4:20 I see Young Atlas make an appearance for a 4:30 I didn’t even consider was on the schedule. I was more than grateful to see about 20 of you file in and pick up the slack in my unmotivated ride.  I have said it before this young man has been schooled well, very well.  Kristen has a great young lion here.  

As I finished my ride I thought I really did wish I could be two people and experience more than just Kristen and Tripp but for now it will be just the occasion like Wednesday that afforded me the luxury of being with Young Atlas.  

I think I had the flu with chills and fever and hope to make Saturday even though I will be on the L line for the 9:15

*Napoleon Solo- Spinning alone. 

The Tables Have Turned

When I think of what I’ve learned in KSC it would certainly include how to work that resistance wheel to get the most out of my workout but that is only one flight of stairs that I have climbed since February of 2010. I think what I’ve rediscovered is how to take it to my limit and manipulate my heart rate to help me shock my body out of my comfort zone. I had not actually thought that I would find myself there but when the Evil Woman spoke of it today I had to be honest I was spinning in my zone of comfort in parts of my workout. It was a wake up moment.  How could that be? I leave three huge puddles every single class but sweat doesn’t always mean results at least I don’t think it does.

Kirsten has me breathless virtually the whole ride and when she says anything about ‘faking it’ I know I am not in that equation. I actually cannot conceive who in her class actually is trying to be mendacious but I suppose from her vantage point she is the best judge of that. It still defies imagination that anyone would be here when they’d be better off on the elliptical or on one of the recumbent bikes in the main room.  And a lesson for some of the other instructors in her charge could be that paying attention to form of their riders should be the first order of business.  I for one have seen some that have their upper torso out of synch with their lower half and I just know that is inefficient at least for spin class.  I first learned how to keep my upper body “quiet” one Sunday in Carolyn Mellace’s class when she had us focus on this very discipline in a segment on one of her rides.  

 I have lost all my disdain for the musical selections in this class because this is what people want to hear nowadays I suppose. And to be truthful artists that gave me an earache last year I can actually tolerate now  and there are those that I can actually enjoy. People like Pitbull, Usher and even Jennifer Lopez have me at least listening with moderate interest. There are those too that I actually like Katy Perry, David Guetta and the Madonna of the 21st Century, Lady Gaga.  I would still love to hear more from the 80’s, as my own personal preferences like Erasure and New Order resonate with me like no other musicians since The Beatles.  

Spin Notes:

What the heck is Don doing in the second row? Does teacher need to watch him to keep him from throwing spitballs in class? Or is he afraid that the clock above his head might actually fall off the wall if he doesn’t “Get Up” when EW tells him to.  

There is new blood in class these past few weeks and months, which keeps it fresh and provides more foils for Kristen as she indoctrinates the uninitiated.  

Hamburger in His Pocket

There is always a foil for Kristen in the audience and  just like a  Don Rickles schtick  she always finds someone in the crowd who she can pivot on and get jocular with and make it last for the whole session if she so chooses. Deepak made the mistake of saying that she was killing him one morning. Oh boy. What a mistake to make-a.  It was comical how she took him through a Dean Martin roast.  Latest up was our back row miscreant Harold. Harold it seems is a big big fan of the hamburger. In fact the McDonald’s Hamburglar (Since passed away in 2003, rest his soul) and H were quite buddy buddy back in the day.  Now he is enchanted with “Five Guys”. Kristen thought he was inviting over five guys to her house just recently but it was a sackful of the newest sensation (or fad take your pick) of the now self proclaimed best tasting hamburgers. And so Kristen (not a hamburger fan) who lives on salmon, water and air was not about to ‘bite’ into Harold’s newest friend.  I instantly thought of Wimpy of Popeye fame who would exclaim: I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today’. I am not saying Harold is Wimpy but he did evoke a fond memory.