Kristen Zen Part II

Can you top this? It seems to be the question I am asking myself every Saturday in KSC.  How can it be that we can exceed our goals from the week before? I have no answer but I can speculate. Could it be Kristen’s soliloquies, which are totally extemporaneous but expertly woven just the same? Today as she had us adding gear she stitched in a story each time we raised gear to levels 1, 2 and 3.  An adroit methodology that appears to draw out an even greater performance in our pedal stroke because we become fully associated and part of the story.  Or maybe it’s her experimenting with her choreography too. Today’s was singular in that it carried virtually no AT 40 and it was more the supporting cast like I have alluded to in past entries. This makes the ride more ethereal, more Zen like and it allows the ride to take on a hypnotic meditative quality that I hadn’t really experienced in quite some time.  The incentive for us  to push harder lies in  the innate talent she possesses.  Sort of like wanting to shine for the teacher because we don’t want to let her or ourselves down. It makes pushing the envelope a goal rather than a task.   

I can remember when I first started taking spin in earnest 19 months ago that Kristen would say: Right, left, right left. And today she used it again just like a metronome that sits atop the piano marking metrically the beat of the music. I delighted in this very simple drum check that gets my feet in time to the percussion and just a bit more focused on an intense ride. Right, left keeps me moving forward instead of looking back at what I just did on the road previous. 

 Today was particularly exhausting for me but that’s because I am improperly loading the resistance wheel (I know again John?) and a short talk with her post ride gave me the answer that I needed. She told me that if I wasn’t hitting the RPM at 65 it was because I had too many revolutions on that damn red wheel. She said in effect that I had to let the RPM be my guide and that if I found my reading lower than 65 I had to take off some gear.  Makes sense because I felt like I was in an anaerobic state for most of the last half of the ride and that’s not training effectively.

 Today she said: This is no joke. And as I looked at the burgeoning pool of sweat engulf the floor beneath my feet I had the proof that I never take riding with her as a joke. It’s serious training and I do need a day off now after 6 classes with my two favorite  stars Kristen and Tripp. Each fulfills my training regimen to the max.  The upcoming week has me looking for another star to report on, at least for Monday anyway. As KJ heads for chocolate town we wish her and her charges a safe and joyous time.  

The Shadow of Beauty

When someone has a beautiful countenance or a captivating physiology like Kristen and Michelle Corso, both genders can be inspired in various ways. In the case of Kristen James it was never what she looked like even though she would be any school’s Prom Queen. To me it was about the beauty of her commitment to her vocation and that means her members: you and me. This is the shadow of beauty. Not the reflection we see in our ocular mirrors but the one that resonates in our solar plexus, which to me mean more than looks ever, could. Looks fade but the shadow of beauty is one that never fades even as our bodies eventually will.  

As I have been chronicling a newer version of Kristen has appeared and this new model is not just sporting a new surname. She has lengthened and deepened her exercise curriculum to a level that quite frankly has me believing now that I can actually return (gravity notwithstanding) to my form from those thrilling  days of yesteryear; you know when the Lone Ranger rode the plains.  Kristen would be the first to say in a self-effacing style that it was I, John McQueen that did it. But had it not been for her that L for large on my shorts and shirts would not now be an M for the size medium that I cannot remember wearing since I was 45. Kristen that took me to that place and as I have done many times here, I thank her from the top of my heart to the bottom of my right ventricle.  She’s pretty cool even though some can’t seem to get into her class. By the way I thought that too but it’s not so it can be done and every time I am at my console here if I want a bike I get one. Just like anything else in life if you want it you have to go and get it. It’s not going to be handed to you. Of course good eye to finger coordination helps too. 

Beauty can take many forms. It can be a pretty or a handsome face. A fabulous physique a luscious body but the shadow of beauty is the one that lasts a lifetime. Kristen casts that shadow at least in my estimation.  

The Big Dogs

After a double spin in EQ Scarsdale and the Printing House this past weekend I have in my estimation concluded that no one comes even close to the strength and stamina of our members in EQ Woodbury. One might say that I am biased, but I assure you I would have simply given deference to the other franchises if I even thought the reverse was true. There is just no comparison and without the benefit of taking these trips I probably might have concluded just the opposite that Manhattanites would naturally be more athletic than us hicks in the sticks. Well my friends we simply kick ass and as I watched several riders during the PH session many of them simply were quitting before the road was done. You know this does not happen in KSC. We are the big dogs. 

I hate Mondays ordinarily but with KSC the first day of the workweek has a different look when this hour is concluded. I have my Zen for the day and am ready to run roughshod over any negativity that might be hiding in the weeds once I walk out those glass doors. I clip in and any thought that I am going to be a bystander in life’s proceedings for the day disappears. I used to feel exactly the same after my 10-mile runs every morning starting at 530 am. When I got on the train for the city I felt sorry for those that just crawled out of bed and used caffeine as their wake up alarm.  

Kristen at one point had us driving on a challenging road and at its conclusion she seemed to almost stop for a split second as if to say did I really get them to do that? As serious as she is she also cognizant that we are following her down that treacherously steep double black diamond slope complete with plenty of ice and moguls. We don’t slide down on our keisters we take it at full force and if we do fall we get right back up and attack the hill.   

Mercurial Kristen

Just when I thought I knew all the sides of Kristen James she brings in another character that I’ve never seen before. This one has a countenance that purports to be aloof but the give away is that she cannot repress that iconic smile of hers that makes me know she has only changed her game face. This persona is less touchy feely and more like a football coach on the sidelines demanding her players give more. She often says to us that we’re not beginners. And truer words couldn’t be spoken because in KSC if you are true to her curriculum let’s call it you can’t be Tinkerbelle. You just cannot. Kristen always maintains her equanimity even when she grimaces with the face of pure power. 

So where are we in this next volume of KSC? I think her new regimen has cajoled us more into watching what we are putting in our mouth as to what is coming out.  I know now that I am a little more hesitant to pick up that Butterfinger than I was even 3 months ago. Some things I will continue to eat just because but today after class for example I didn’t finish that egg sandwich. On any other day I would have rewarded myself and inhaled the whole thing. Not now though. Some things take awhile to sink into this thick skull.   Kristen has been saying this very thing all along I think now I am hearing her words more clearly and taking them more seriously.  

Kristen James. I loved the sound of Gagne but this new version is like a shiny new Maserati. 

At Random

From Mark Nepo’s incredibly daily inspirational  book, he talked about the original meaning of this phrase: At Random. It is the moment when a horse at full speed has all four hooves off the ground. He says that random is the mystery of unbridled passion and the lift that comes with surrender and total immersion. In the present, the meaning of random means without design, purpose or method. Now when I hear this word it is Michelle Corso that will come to mind instead.  

As graceful as a gazelle and a physiology to match Michelle Corso is the embodiment of exercise in its true form. Her body is a temple because in order to maintain her 8th wonder of the world form she must have a reverence as to what she ingests. She has to have a design in her diet because unlike me who has little regard for my daily regimen, Michelle needs rocket fuel to move at the grace and speed this woman does. 

It has been awhile since I have taken a class with the Silver Bullet and that is my lament because she may not be as boisterous in her call as some of our stars,  but make no mistake she is learned, astute and passionate about her craft. I shake my head in wonderment when I look at her. And when she exclaims: Yes? You know that I am compelled to answer in a loud affirmative. 

Her musical selections are merely background because the main focus is what she says even though you must listen intently to pick up the subtlety of it.  She like Kristen has a plan which is not only well thought out it has an artistry to  it.  

At random, and  what I see now in my minds eye is  the female animal in the form of perfection. If you want to ride her session prepare for a headlong journey that will challenge your spirit as well as your fitness.  

Touch the Sky

The Evil Woman has stepped up her game as I have noted recently and who knows what her seminal moment was that precipitated it. Maybe it was just nascent and it was time for the next chapter in her ongoing repertoire that never stands still.  She has even changed her stretching routine and it has lost all signs of being formulaic. And she has even abandoned the word “flexibility” and inserted  “mobility” in its place. This makes sense too because when I think of flexibility it’s not me and in my mind it belongs to yoga experts or members of the circus.  So mobility is something that I can truly embrace and not lament about.  I will never ever be flexible unless I was willing to invest time that I just don’t have time for or more likely won’t make time for.

When I enter the CS now   I am taken back in a headlong rush to those days of yesteryear when I was training for a long distance race or my favorite run; the marathon. It was not so much as the competition with the other runners that fueled me but their unspoken camaraderie of being in the same environs of wanting to get in better shape and best the time before that made it so thrilling.  Tis’ how I feel about the spinning regimen it takes me back and moves me forward at the same time. One thing is different however, and that is I never got to know many people even in a cursory way when I ran. Today that’s different. Maybe because I am older and a bit wiser because imagined or not I feel a kinship to all of you and that’s not hyperbole, it’s real because when I’m there I touch the sky.  

I hope that I did justice to Peter Rothermel. I wrote from my heart rather than trying to capture this extraordinary man’s bio.  I feel we will lose him one day because like Kristen we can’t hold on to talent for too long we have to share them with the rest of the  world but our memory will never fade no matter what life journey they find themselves on.  

Sincerely,

John McQueen but some people know me as Jack.  

  

Happy 2nd Anniversary Peter Rothermel

Peter Rothermel

We all know this man but he is more often seen and not heard. Ah but there’s the true magic in Peter Rothermel, GM of Equinox Woodbury.

Having been a member of Equinox Woodbury since it’s inception in April of 2003, I have seen a battalion of staff and managers come and go, often without so much as a notice in the obituary column of fitness experts. I did some checking and in the 6 years prior to Peter’s arrival on August 11, 2009 there were no less than 8 GM’s that have passed though those glass doors.  Each time a new one sat in mission control I was convinced that ‘this one’ would be the one that stayed and made their mark on this club that I love so dearly.

Peter graduated from Hofstra University, majoring in business and his first notable managerial position was a GM of McDonald’s.  Now say what you want about the perception of that franchise and it being less than desirable in terms of nutrition, however Peter tells me their management training is World class and no doubt helped give him the acumen for running a fitness club that is also World class in terms of it’s personnel, equipment and facilities. But even with the best training it takes a singular talent to run our club because let’s be honest we overall as a group are a demanding constituency and in the vernacular we can be a pain in the gluteus maximus.

My own impression of Peter when I met him for the first time was that he seemed well intentioned but all of his predecessors staked similar claims that they were going to make Woodbury their home away from home.  Obviously two years later this man stood the test of time and I admit I was a skeptic just like some of us were when Peter first arrived on the scene. His quiet certainty was the key difference than the managers past. And that day when I queried him he answered just like I thought he would and he assured me that he was here and the revolving door, which was GM’s at Woodbury, had come to grinding halt. I will always remember that day and know what? He has delivered in every sense in terms of member satisfaction and all without him boasting what it is exactly he was doing. He is never afraid to get his hands dirty and Kristen always said how clean he kept that washroom upstairs as sanitary as fresh Kleenex.  And I don’t always agree with what his policy’s are but this is a man you respect and you can’t help admire.

 Now you all know no one tells me what I can write and what I can’t in my two spin blogs and what I write here comes from my heart and I have no agenda other than to get readers like you.  Peter always gives me the time of day and listens to my questions and concerns and it registers. I like that.

  When you stand next to this man you feel him exuding confidence and you know he knows what he is doing and this man is not Yes Man. He stands up to the Mother Ship better than any of his predecessors did and gets many concessions for his members not many a GM could ever dream of. He is on top of bringing in the best guest talent, and the most up to date equipment and together with Kristen the hottest group exercise the market offers.    Not many can move a big corporation like Equinox but Peter does.

I will let his startling video tell the story but suffice it to say that Peter lost over 200 pounds and his appearance on Fox News was the seminal moment for his career as Equinox scouts came calling and wanted him to run the challenging Woodbury location.  They could spot talent and unlike some of the free agent pitchers this man is of the CY Young category.

Equinox had fired more GM’s than George Steinbrenner did with the irascible Billy Martin but they soon discovered their diamond; Peter Rothermel and we are the lucky ones.  Take a look at this Fox video and get to know Peter Rothermel just a bit better.

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/good_day_ny/090327_Weight_Loss_with_Diet_and_Exercise

Treat Me Right

It’s not often I do a double dip of Tripp and Kristen but today seemed apropos because I skipped the club entirely yesterday. And I thought I could manage my pedal stroke to stretch my endurance over two sessions but as is my wont I get caught up in my own frenzy and the best laid plans usually go for naught.   Add to the mix that I am rarely logical when it comes to these two and today as the last 15 minutes of KSC were upon me, my knee started to ache and my Gator Ade was just not enough to carry me through. The fruit dish at home is usually filled with bananas but today it was empty and therefore so was my stomach.  You would think I would learn after two episodes of light headedness but as active and motivated as I am I can be extraordinarily lazy.  I can hear Kristen admonishing me right now.  

You have to love it Mark in front of me was pedaling like a mad man and the Evil Woman had us on a climb at 65 RPM’s and she called him out on it and he soon realized he didn’t have enough road on. This is what a great coach does, she doesn’t use mamby pamby tactics she gets right in your face with a smile and restores order to your session. The membership price here is chump change when you realize we get trainers with Masters degree in exercise physiology.  

Breathless Volume II

Kristen James is now unveiling Volume II of breathless and  I said to myself; I am still stuck on page 132 in Volume I, how in the hell am I going to advance to Volume II?  Well I guess I will just have to figure out that dilemma as I go. I have to say it was only recently that I figured out what breathless meant to me and that’s heavy breathing. I am always breathing heavily in KSC. 

Did you get how serious she was on Monday?  Like we need her to amp up even more? Good God. I have never seen her more ferocious than she was today it was immeasurable on the intensity meter and my scale of perceived exertion hit the wall as well.  I burned an incredible 600 calories again today as testament to just how much effort I was able to muster. However, I really need to redouble my efforts on what goes in my mouth as to what comes out.

I was determined to keep my voice silent on Monday but I could only hold out till mid session when my enthusiasm spilled over and I apologize for yelling out; Take a picture when Photograph was plated but honestly my readers I just couldn’t help it.  I will try and be a good boy because it’s not proper to act up in KSC. It’s just not done.  In Tripper’s class it’s okay because that’s how he rolls but that’s not how the Queen of Spin operates when she leads in the Lavender Palace.  And so I will admonish myself for my outburst in class and try to keep my amperage lower.    

Have you checked out her @kristenjamesfit on twitter? I will be an avid fan because that MS in exercise physiology will undoubtedly reveal some gold nuggets of knowledge along with inspiration.