The Bionic Woman

I entered the Corso Zone via the venue of Roslyn this Tuesday and it was just as daunting as it is in Woodbury.  I thought about what I wanted to say and what appeared were phrases like: Enter the Corso Zone at Your Own Risk and Terminator Corso. She as I have written is an extraordinary life specimen in terms of physique and talent.  What makes her preternatural in my eyes is her aloofness. She might not like that description but it is also what makes her so f***ing good too.  I know that underneath (to those that know her) lies a pulsing personality, but do we really get to know our spin instructors? I mean do we really know them? I love the limited notoriety I have achieved in KSC, spinning with Mr. Mayhem and The Blue Sapphire but I don’t have a personal relationship with any of these very distinct personalities. They have their own lives to live and any relationships with members has to be for the most part very limited. So if you can bypass the familiarity we enjoy some of the time and just take on the purest element of spinning, take Michelle Corso’s class. Someone said to me, that Corso’s class had two speeds: Fast and Faster. That is such a fallacious statement. If you listen to her instruction, you will find her technically superb.  And by God her music selection sent me on a trip to Mars, I loved it.  

There is something else that I am hesitant to say but I will say it anyway. The reason that her classes are not always filled is because members think they are much too difficult.  I hate to say it but it’s true.  I have had to dig so deep into my psyche of my past to muster the strength to get a passing grade in her 60 minute interval. One could lollygag like I saw some riders do in Roslyn today, but to be fully engaged and keep up with Michelle (if that is possible) requires not only a caliber of fitness that takes years but also carries a necessary deep concentration and focus that is simply not easy to do.  If you really want a challenge, enter the Corso Zone.  

Lady Penelope

I was a touch curious what two days of not spinning would do to my stamina, and as I suspected the rest did me good. A Sunday Blue Sapphire gave me a double shot of the diminutive wonder this week. She had the usual full house and Carolyn is never routine, predictable or boring. She changes the music, cadence and her repertoire is unfailingly dynamic in its’ scope and thoughtfulness to detail. For instance when she adds: “Take it up, take it down” it not only requires concentration but adds endurance to the rigorous pedal stroke as well. 

Toward the fourth quarter of our hour I got into oxygen deficit, more commonly known as  the anaerobic zone. After nearly 7 months of devoted spinning, the intervals of going anaerobic are fewer and fewer, signaling to me that I am improving.  But today watching the Mellace perpetual motion machine, I fell off the diving board into deep blue water. I felt like I was going down for the third time only to be bailed out by the end of the hour.  

Scanning the room I found a few scattered KSC riders and I was especially glad to see my lithesome friend Debbie who for some reason reminds me of Lady Penelope a character from the 1968 television show, The Thunderbirds. The blonde dulcet, looking even more fit than I can remember, always has a smile and a kind word whenever I see her in the CS. It also made me sad as the summer has disappeared yet again in two shakes of a lambs tail.  

Heartache

II discovered an idea that can help my recovery between sessions without missing a day in between. On Wednesday I took the Mike Borska 830 AM class and then The Blue Sapphire, Carolyn Mellace on Thursday night at 6 PM.  The 32 hours in between seemed to work and gave me the rest my body was clamoring for. In a previous class Mike said I looked a little tired and for me because I get wrapped in taking classes and then writing about them, I lose sight of the fact that each class is an all out effort for me.  It also feeds into my addictive personality which I have to be on guard for.  

Carolyn keeps us on our toes. She is always about having fun but she doesn’t “fool around” She has a singular devotion and it’s not just for the money. She’s shares the passion as we do to keep our bodies “in the pink.” An old expression dating back to Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet in 1597. A little history lesson but one that always reminds me that the peak condition is something that the athlete in all of us drive for. 

I love Thursdays  with Carolyn primarily because it sets up the weekend and always seems to propel me towards a sharper state of mind as the week winds down.  She is always sharing her personal touch whenever she twinkles one of her blue stars.  

Have you been aware of the changes in the club?  When I went for the shower I saw that half of them were sheet rocked up and just four were working. Not a problem for the evening but what about during the morning rush when the club is burgeoning with people?  I suspect that much less women shower at Equinox so it probably is not a real issue on their side of the continental divide. However, all in all I think the construction is going on well without nary an interruption for us members. The management must be nervous as I know Peter feels like this is his home away from home. He is unlike any manager I have seen at this club and I have seen them all. His devotion to Woodbury, membership and staff is unparalleled at least in my opinion.  

Just a word about the new membership counselor Louis. He is a ubiquitous fellow isn’t he? I see him all over the club, not just in his glass cubicle behind his computer and phone. He is enthusiastic and takes his vocation way beyond anyone that I have seen before in that position which unfortunately has a huge turnover. He seems to be taking in the pulse of the club and I wish him well and I hope he remains a long time. I recommended a new member and he treated her with deep concern and continues to do so long after the sale.  

Okay, so the question is will I be able to make the Saturday edition of KSC? For those of you who read me I am a little under the weather with my atrial fibrillation today and I so wanted to be with you this morning. Hello Evil Woman. Do you miss me, just a little?

Caution: Double Black Diamond

I came to the stark realization that spinning with Michelle Corso  feels like that first time I got up on the high diving board at Slate Lane pool. You know the fear I’m talking about? I could feel it in my solar plexus. Or that time skiing when I edged off the chair lift and saw those double black diamonds indicating the most difficult downhill the mountain offered.  I would peer over and see that steep drop which seemed like it was 90 degrees. It always struck  abject fear in my heart. I felt nearly paralyzed thinking that I was not going to be able navigate the Corso Zone. 

It was within 8 minutes and the sweat was dripping profusely off my brow, faster than at any time during my 7 months on these Schwinn bikes. I finally started to overcome my fear and settled albeit uncomfortably into the ride.  Michelle said she wanted us to “dig deeper” I thought to myself that if I went any deeper I would be pulling up my socks. And as she petitioned us to add turn after turn I was thinking about using the bike next to me.  Of course a little exaggeration but I did have to exaggerate the effort with this supernatural talent. She is technically superb and I can say unabashedly a extraordinary motivator.  I have waxed endlessly about her physiology, and  how I could just see a classroom of kinesiologists having a ball identifying each muscle on the torso of Corso.  

Just as I was looking around the room wondering if I was alone, I could see even the veterans wondering where the next pedal stroke was coming from.  Michelle then launched Pat Benatar’s “Promises in the Dark” and that gave me a fourth wind but by songs end I was hopelessly in the anaerobic zone and gasping for air.  

It was the 830 hour and I wondered why the CS was not filled to capacity and it has to be that members are scared to take this class as I was. I know the element of the personal touch of having your name called out is conspicuously absent and there isn’t the social component that I feel is present in most of the other classes. This is not Michelle Corso’s style from what I can determine. It’s all business with her and that's perfectly fine because she has another fan in me.  It’s double black diamond: Proceed With Caution.  

All Lambs Go To Heaven

Even ones that take us to Hell and back.  

Let me tell you that our trip to hell and back was in it’s way, pure torture. However, being led down the path to Hades by the Blue Sapphire was like enjoying fire and brimstone.

 While I am always quite absorbed in the adroit call of this talented instructor, I am also taken by the visual Sapphire.  It is true that her lithesome physiology has been acquired part by genes but mostly (I suspect) by a dedication and work ethic that are beyond my comprehension. This coming from a man who for several years ran a hundred miles a week, so the admiration does not come without some allusion to how much dedication to hard work it takes.  

There is an ethereal part of Carolyn, a sense of delicacy despite the ferociousness of her spirt that one can almost see in the shadows that live just outside her furious athleticism. Almost beyond description, this jewel shines with a flawlessness that is even beyond viewing to the naked eye. 

This Sunday session I had resolved myself to take it just a little easier after spinning with the Evil Woman on Saturday and a planned session with the Corso Zone on Monday. The thought was only a fleeting one because as usual I got taken in by the two blue stars and a comet.  There was a moment when those two blue stars blinked only to be followed by the white comet of her smile. And just like the other 39 I left nothing in the studio except for the salty pool beneath my bike.  

I hope my spin mates that I have not waxed too poetic about all the instructors I write about, but they are all  so very talented and each singular in their talented natures.  This week between Kristen, Carolyn, Cathy and Mike I had the most  fun and I thank them all.  

Heart of Stone Part II

I always like to do something at least twice to see if my first impressions were correct. I am here to answer, indeed they were and are. Kathy Munzer, reacquaint yourself with the Heart of Stone. Can’t get into the Queen of Spin? Come here. I was motivated, the music was great and I sweated up my usual three pool triad under my bike. 

She has been teaching spin for 20 years and longevity in this sport does not happen by accident. She must be doing something right.  Duh.  Here is what I learned for the first time in my second go round with her. I have never had anyone tell me outright that I had the exact amount of resistance on the red dial. No one. I had been suffering from the delusion that I never have enough resistance on. I had this sense of relief and satisfaction.   Next, we tried something I never have done and that is freezing the upper half of the body and have the pedal stroke come entirely from my lower half. I loved that road.  It not only focused the power my legs have, but it also took my concentration to another level. It was like getting 20/20 vision again. 

What did deeply  disappoint me was not enough of you realize what we have here. I am here to beat the drum, the Heart of Stone is another bankable Equinox star. You all know that I am very objective and if I don’t have something stellar to say about someone I will keep my mouth shut. Wake up fellow spin mates.  

Kathy told me that she had a baby not long ago, and I said to myself AYKM? A baby, with that physiology? It must be in her genes because that was almost too hard to believe. 

SWLABR

Take it to the limit. That’s what I have been doing in earnest this past month. I know that like life insurance the dividends take awhile before you feel their affect. My workout regimen has been off the charts. Not your chart necessarily, but the one I am mapping does.  I started out gingerly and now although I have a long way to go my efforts have produced noticeable results. 

Another Borska event this morning. I kept ribbing him that we wanted more hip-hop and more Usher but he flatly refused me. Of course I am so glad he did. The second selection was SWLABR by Cream.  A little known hit on the B side of a record (what’s that?) Called Sunshine of Your Love. Mike has great choreography, and unlike anyone I have taken a spin class with, he uses mostly rock. He is not stuck in any one decade either as  the music travels from the 60’s right through the present day with groups like The Killers. Mike carries specificity in his sessions as he pays close attention to detail and just like the other elite instructors, he lets us know exactly where he wants us in terms of resistance and speed. And that’s what you want, at least I think so. He like Kristen adds that personal touch of coming face to face with his riders checking on their individual progress.  I love that. 

 I have told Kristen that I hate her music but when the call is a great one, it matters little what type of music is being played. However, I would still like her to play more Erasure and New Order and I do hope Oh My God makes it to the dust bin soon.