Tuesday, January 31, 2012
So a PT school candidate and her husband walk into a Chili's...
...and her phone beeps and it's an email and holycrapIgotacceptedatUCDenverareyoufreakingkiddingmeit'sonlybeentwodaysandtheyalreadyacceptedme!!!!
More tomorrow. Tonight I enjoy the bliss.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Rocky Mountain Hello
Just a quickie to say I survived interviews and I think they went well. I'll know in 2 weeks exactly *how* well they went. :-) Today, I'm off to cause a road hazard by driving while drooling over the mountains.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Refining Life Goals
In the past few days I've been talking to folks at the gym (mostly the managers, but also a couple of the members) about where I'm heading professionally and where I'd like to be in 5 years. The goals that have sort of surfaced from the primordial ooze of this whole "go back to school" thing have me really excited. I know that sounds weird...duh, they're my ideas about my future, so why wouldn't I be excited, right? The thing is, the way they come about is not by me thinking explicitly "I want to do x, y, and z" but rather by me seeing a situation I like and mulling over what I could do to make that situation part of my every day life.
What I'm coming to realize is that what's important to me is the delta...I really don't have a lot of interest in refining range of motion in elite athletes. I really do have a lot of interest in helping trauma patients learn to walk again. I have zero interest in working with kids, but I have a lot of interest in working with older folks or mentally challenged adults.
I've also come to realize that my ideal situation would allow me to provide rehabilitative care for patients, probably in either inpatient or a skilled nursing facility, and then turn around and provide personal training services for those patients to sort of extend their journey from just "becoming functional" to "becoming fit" or progressing beyond the minimum.
In particular, I've recently been inspired by a friend who's been dealing with cancer, whose outlet has been exercise. It seems to me (and I have no actual basis for this, just speculation) that there are at least a few people who would find a structured exercise regimen, modified to accommodate any limitations brought on by their conditions, soothing, particularly in the face of a potentially terminal condition. It also seems like training with the right trainer (and by that I mean someone with whom you connect, not just someone who kicks your butt) would be a source of therapy for the individual as well. It could also be a relief for loved ones who may be learning to live with someone who's suddenly home all the time because they're not quite well enough to work, but aren't quite sick enough to sit still. Actually, I wonder if group ex for families living in places like the Ronald McDonald house is a thing? It seems like it'd be therapeutic for everyone to get their sweat on and get out of their heads for an hour a day/week, but maybe that's just me. It's maybe a very specific group of people, but I think providing that kind of physical and emotional support in a fitness environment really appeals to me.
I have no idea if that kind of setting/opportunity exists, or if it'd have to be something that I set up on my own (work by day at a hospital or SNF and by night have my own personal training business at a local gym or something). For now though, it's the goal in the back of my mind that's going to keep me getting up before the sun to intern at the gym, studying hard to pass exams, and reading up on joint structure and function just for the fun of it.
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| Source |
I've also come to realize that my ideal situation would allow me to provide rehabilitative care for patients, probably in either inpatient or a skilled nursing facility, and then turn around and provide personal training services for those patients to sort of extend their journey from just "becoming functional" to "becoming fit" or progressing beyond the minimum.
In particular, I've recently been inspired by a friend who's been dealing with cancer, whose outlet has been exercise. It seems to me (and I have no actual basis for this, just speculation) that there are at least a few people who would find a structured exercise regimen, modified to accommodate any limitations brought on by their conditions, soothing, particularly in the face of a potentially terminal condition. It also seems like training with the right trainer (and by that I mean someone with whom you connect, not just someone who kicks your butt) would be a source of therapy for the individual as well. It could also be a relief for loved ones who may be learning to live with someone who's suddenly home all the time because they're not quite well enough to work, but aren't quite sick enough to sit still. Actually, I wonder if group ex for families living in places like the Ronald McDonald house is a thing? It seems like it'd be therapeutic for everyone to get their sweat on and get out of their heads for an hour a day/week, but maybe that's just me. It's maybe a very specific group of people, but I think providing that kind of physical and emotional support in a fitness environment really appeals to me.
I have no idea if that kind of setting/opportunity exists, or if it'd have to be something that I set up on my own (work by day at a hospital or SNF and by night have my own personal training business at a local gym or something). For now though, it's the goal in the back of my mind that's going to keep me getting up before the sun to intern at the gym, studying hard to pass exams, and reading up on joint structure and function just for the fun of it.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Quick Playlist Post
Not much to say today. Work is haywire as usual and I'm a little out of it anyway. I had a whole whiney post written in my head about how my hands and feet have blisters all over them (thanks, climbing and circle runs, respectively), but without gross pictures (it hurts more than it looks like...my hands are so pink!!) it fell flat before it even made it to the keyboard.
Anyway.
Tonight's playlist is the result of looking for upbeat love songs that could tell a story and only managing to find songs about slutty women and one-night stands. Go figure. I know there are more love songs out there, but they're not in my current circulation. I'm mostly inspired by Drive By by Train and Ass Back Home (which is more romantic than the title implies) by Gym Class Heros. I have an idea of what I want to do with them, but it's not happening this week. Maybe next week.
Anyway, here's this week's list:
Ohio (Come Back to Texas) - Bowling For Soup
Drive By - Train
Centerfold (Apres Ski Mix) - Captain Jack
SOS - Rihanna
I Know You Want Me - (Calle Ocho) Pitbull
Wind It Up - Kat Deluna
Dirty Dancer (Feat. Usher) - Enrique Iglesias
Boys of Summer - DJ Sammy
My First Kiss (feat. Ke$ha) - 3OH!3
A Girl Like You - Edwyn Collins
Ass Back Home (feat. Neon Hitch) - Gym Class Heroes
Candyman - Christina Aguilera
Naked and Famous - Presidents Of The U.S.A./Presidents of the United States of America
Anyway.
Tonight's playlist is the result of looking for upbeat love songs that could tell a story and only managing to find songs about slutty women and one-night stands. Go figure. I know there are more love songs out there, but they're not in my current circulation. I'm mostly inspired by Drive By by Train and Ass Back Home (which is more romantic than the title implies) by Gym Class Heros. I have an idea of what I want to do with them, but it's not happening this week. Maybe next week.
Anyway, here's this week's list:
Ohio (Come Back to Texas) - Bowling For Soup
Drive By - Train
Centerfold (Apres Ski Mix) - Captain Jack
SOS - Rihanna
I Know You Want Me - (Calle Ocho) Pitbull
Wind It Up - Kat Deluna
Dirty Dancer (Feat. Usher) - Enrique Iglesias
Boys of Summer - DJ Sammy
My First Kiss (feat. Ke$ha) - 3OH!3
A Girl Like You - Edwyn Collins
Ass Back Home (feat. Neon Hitch) - Gym Class Heroes
Candyman - Christina Aguilera
Naked and Famous - Presidents Of The U.S.A./Presidents of the United States of America
I'm probably not going to play that last one, not because it's wildly inappropriate (it's not, it's just funny), but because I'm saving up some of these gems for another 90s ride. I'll probably put Carrie Newcomer on the anchor spot instead.
The ride is going to be deceptively simple intervals again. You know the one, 10 seconds hard, 50 easy, 20 hard, 40 easy, etc etc. I wish 100 seconds were easier to count on a hands clock. At this point in my week though, I'm not sure I can handle that kind of higher math while working out.
Maybe I'll make tonight the world's first ever sleep n spin class.
On a more uplifting note, I passed the Star 3 exam earlier this week, so now I'm an "elite" instructor who's put in a lot of hours and given Mad Dogg a lot of money. Go me.
This weekend I get to go to CO for my interview at UCD. I absolutely adore the school and location. I'm actually bracing myself for heartbreak because I know I'm going to love it out there.
However, Denver has some pretty awful breed specific legislation against pitbulls, which translate to "if you so much as drive through our county with a pit in your car, we'll kill it and arrest you." So they probably aren't going to throw a parade for our little derp machine.
A real menace, that one.
So unfortunately, there's already a pretty major strike against the school. I'm going to check around with shelters in the area and see where would be safe for us to have her though, in case they offer me lots of money (ha!) or something, but barring a financial miracle and a safe place to let the dumb one roam free, it's not looking good. Boo, Denver. Boo.
The weekend's not totally lost though - I get to see my baby brother, who I haven't seen in over a year!
On that note, back to work and such. Who's riding with me tonight?
This weekend I get to go to CO for my interview at UCD. I absolutely adore the school and location. I'm actually bracing myself for heartbreak because I know I'm going to love it out there.
However, Denver has some pretty awful breed specific legislation against pitbulls, which translate to "if you so much as drive through our county with a pit in your car, we'll kill it and arrest you." So they probably aren't going to throw a parade for our little derp machine.
So unfortunately, there's already a pretty major strike against the school. I'm going to check around with shelters in the area and see where would be safe for us to have her though, in case they offer me lots of money (ha!) or something, but barring a financial miracle and a safe place to let the dumb one roam free, it's not looking good. Boo, Denver. Boo.
The weekend's not totally lost though - I get to see my baby brother, who I haven't seen in over a year!
On that note, back to work and such. Who's riding with me tonight?
Monday, January 23, 2012
Fess Up Friday, Or: Why it took me 18+ years to appreciate swimming pools
When I was about 10, we went to visit my grandparents in California. The magical thing about visiting them (aside from the pogs, warmth in December, and the general awesomeness that comes with visiting your grandparents, especially at Christmas when you live in a foreign country that's not Canada or Mexico) was their TV. When I was about 10, we lived in Norway, and as far as I knew we only got 2 channels in English: CNN and the Cartoon Network. In retrospect, this was pretty convenient, so I don't know if it was something my parents somehow finagled/convinced us of, or if that was legit. But for argument's sake, let's say we only got 2 English-speaking channels and only one was interesting at the time.
Visiting the grandparents was like a wonderland of overstimulation, available 24 hours a day, with the press of a button (or like 20, depending on how well you knew the remote). The problem is, there were also shows that, rightfully so, I'd never been exposed to until my parents weren't paying attention to what I was watching. (And in their defense, I waited until they weren't paying attention to watch them - sorry Mom.)
And so we have the back story on why I saw Jaws (even worse, just the last bit where the shark pulls the guy off the boat and eats him) at the tender age of 10.
NOPE.
Between that and Rescue 911, where a girl got her hair stuck in the drain at the bottom of the pool...
...pools were just about the worst place in the world to me.
The worst part is that I don't think I ever told my mom that, so shortly after that fateful trip to Cali, she put me on the local swim team. The pool at this particular place got super deep at one end, which had me convinced that Jaws lived there and was just waiting for me to slow down long enough to get eaten.
The irony, then, is that I ended up swimming faster so my coach thought I was pretty good...so I got to swim more. It was a vicious cycle...swim more, terrified longer, swim faster, look better, swim more, repeat.
They put me in a meet one weekend, in a pool that was only 3 feet deep and in a lane with no drains in it. I'm fairly certain I came in last and was never invited to compete again. I think they all thought I choked, but really...I just wasn't properly motivated.
Now, I told you that story to tell you this story. (Name the comedian)
I went swimming on Friday. Short, slow, and just enough to get the blood flowing and the rage out of my system for the day. It was wonderful.
However, now that I'm looking at pictures of sharks and drains, I may never go back.
Anyone know a good therapist?
Visiting the grandparents was like a wonderland of overstimulation, available 24 hours a day, with the press of a button (or like 20, depending on how well you knew the remote). The problem is, there were also shows that, rightfully so, I'd never been exposed to until my parents weren't paying attention to what I was watching. (And in their defense, I waited until they weren't paying attention to watch them - sorry Mom.)
And so we have the back story on why I saw Jaws (even worse, just the last bit where the shark pulls the guy off the boat and eats him) at the tender age of 10.
NOPE.
Between that and Rescue 911, where a girl got her hair stuck in the drain at the bottom of the pool...
 |
| NOPE NOPE NOPE |
The worst part is that I don't think I ever told my mom that, so shortly after that fateful trip to Cali, she put me on the local swim team. The pool at this particular place got super deep at one end, which had me convinced that Jaws lived there and was just waiting for me to slow down long enough to get eaten.
The irony, then, is that I ended up swimming faster so my coach thought I was pretty good...so I got to swim more. It was a vicious cycle...swim more, terrified longer, swim faster, look better, swim more, repeat.
They put me in a meet one weekend, in a pool that was only 3 feet deep and in a lane with no drains in it. I'm fairly certain I came in last and was never invited to compete again. I think they all thought I choked, but really...I just wasn't properly motivated.
 |
| screw you, shark. Screw you. |
I went swimming on Friday. Short, slow, and just enough to get the blood flowing and the rage out of my system for the day. It was wonderful.
However, now that I'm looking at pictures of sharks and drains, I may never go back.
Anyone know a good therapist?
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Word of the Day Wednesday
Today's word is hostile.
For some reason (maybe it's the reddit blackout, I dunno), everyone seems SUPER angry today. Normally I would be joining in on the fuss, but lately I've somehow managed to master the fine art of apathetic integrity. (Translation: I'll work hard to do what I need to get done, but I'm done getting all angsty about things beyond my control that prevent me from doing my job.)
So to that end, tonight's mix is a little grunge rocky, a little poppy, and totally fun.
Dog Days Are Over - Florence + The Machine
Natural Blues - Moby
La Grange - ZZ Top
Mondo '77 - Film Dialogue
Dressed To Kill - A New Found Glory
We Found Love - (feat. Calvin Harris) Rihanna
Leave It All Behind (UK Radio Edit)- September
Howlin' For You - The Black Keys
My Hero - Foo Fighters
* Plowed - Sponge
Are You Gonna Be My Girl - JET
Tobacco Island - Flogging Molly
Dance, Dance - Fall Out Boy
Blackout - Breathe Carolina
(If You Are Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To - Weezer
Sexy & I Know It - (SR) LMFAO
If I Had You - Lambert
Papi (www.DenFlow.Net) - Jennifer Lopez
Machinehead - Bush
Walk - Foo Fighters
Here's To The Night - Eve 6
Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand - Primitive Radio Gods
Mad World - Donnie Darko
*ride starts here
The profile is simple...we're going up a hill. A really big one. I may even bring in some markers to draw on the mirror, but it's going to look vaguely like this:
4 segments of high resistance with 3 segments of "pedal fast to get your momentum up" resistance. The 3 shallow parts will be recovery for newbies and "less hard" for the vets. The hard parts will be the same number of minutes as the level of awful - so the first part will be 6 minutes long, etc. The easy parts will be 2 minutes each. Total working part of the ride is therefore 36 minutes - practically a gimme ride, right? :-) I'll throw in some pickups and gear ups as we go too, I'm sure.
A little explanation on why this playlist is longer than usual, with a few more "mild" songs preloaded to the front...
We got new bikes!! Last Friday, every bike in the EHSC network got upgraded to one of these beauties:
I'm expecting to spend a while helping folks verify setups, so I'm going to have music playing while I run around and do that, but officially start class at 7 instead of 6:45 like usual. It'll go until 7:45 though, to make sure we all get our workout in.
And sorry to cut this short, but the pup needs her shots before I can run off and hang out with my best good friend this weekend, so I'm off to be a responsible pet owner. w00t.
For some reason (maybe it's the reddit blackout, I dunno), everyone seems SUPER angry today. Normally I would be joining in on the fuss, but lately I've somehow managed to master the fine art of apathetic integrity. (Translation: I'll work hard to do what I need to get done, but I'm done getting all angsty about things beyond my control that prevent me from doing my job.)
So to that end, tonight's mix is a little grunge rocky, a little poppy, and totally fun.
Dog Days Are Over - Florence + The Machine
Natural Blues - Moby
La Grange - ZZ Top
Mondo '77 - Film Dialogue
Dressed To Kill - A New Found Glory
We Found Love - (feat. Calvin Harris) Rihanna
Leave It All Behind (UK Radio Edit)- September
Howlin' For You - The Black Keys
My Hero - Foo Fighters
* Plowed - Sponge
Are You Gonna Be My Girl - JET
Tobacco Island - Flogging Molly
Dance, Dance - Fall Out Boy
Blackout - Breathe Carolina
(If You Are Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To - Weezer
Sexy & I Know It - (SR) LMFAO
If I Had You - Lambert
Papi (www.DenFlow.Net) - Jennifer Lopez
Machinehead - Bush
Walk - Foo Fighters
Here's To The Night - Eve 6
Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand - Primitive Radio Gods
Mad World - Donnie Darko
*ride starts here
The profile is simple...we're going up a hill. A really big one. I may even bring in some markers to draw on the mirror, but it's going to look vaguely like this:
A little explanation on why this playlist is longer than usual, with a few more "mild" songs preloaded to the front...
We got new bikes!! Last Friday, every bike in the EHSC network got upgraded to one of these beauties:
And sorry to cut this short, but the pup needs her shots before I can run off and hang out with my best good friend this weekend, so I'm off to be a responsible pet owner. w00t.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Dance with Me
Man oh man, strength class tonight is going to be fun.
I just got Jackie Warner's 30 Day Fast Start in the mail last night, so it's been in the background at work for inspiration. Her pyramid (more like a ladder, but who's counting) method is going to be FUN. Basically, you take 2 exercises and alternate between them starting with 1 rep of each then building up to 10 of each.
Pure gold.
I'm also making us waltz tonight. I'll see if I can get a picture of this somehow (I don't have my camera with me, so it may be tricky). Basically, we have these resistance bands that go around your legs. At about shoulder width, you can feel resistance a little. I'm going to have us do a little box step with that band around our ankles, making sure that the "feet together" part is really just shoulder width.
And because you don't waltz with your arms at your sides, we're going to hold out light weights as if we were actually dancing with someone else (left out front and up a little, right out to the side, then reverse when we do the box step backwards...can't be lop-sided!)
And back to work for me.
I just got Jackie Warner's 30 Day Fast Start in the mail last night, so it's been in the background at work for inspiration. Her pyramid (more like a ladder, but who's counting) method is going to be FUN. Basically, you take 2 exercises and alternate between them starting with 1 rep of each then building up to 10 of each.
Pure gold.
I'm also making us waltz tonight. I'll see if I can get a picture of this somehow (I don't have my camera with me, so it may be tricky). Basically, we have these resistance bands that go around your legs. At about shoulder width, you can feel resistance a little. I'm going to have us do a little box step with that band around our ankles, making sure that the "feet together" part is really just shoulder width.
And because you don't waltz with your arms at your sides, we're going to hold out light weights as if we were actually dancing with someone else (left out front and up a little, right out to the side, then reverse when we do the box step backwards...can't be lop-sided!)
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| Google images never fails to impress. |
And back to work for me.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Sprints - Why, God, Why?
Went to Deb's classes again tonight. Definitely my abs are not going to be letting me stand up straight tomorrow, but for tonight...let's talk about how I haven't done an honest to goodness sprint in probably months, possibly even several years. Like, full out, trying to beat the person next to me, asthma-inducing sprint. Tonight, Deb had us finish with sprints. If I hadn't already been super late coming home (hubs even called, I was so late...oops), I would have gone to the track to get in a round of Tabatas before heading home. I maybe should have just sucked it up and done them (I mean, it's 4 minutes, come on), but I didn't. I'd like to say I'll do them tomorrow, but I won't. Why? Because....
I got a new toy which demands immediate use. I'm loading them up with music tonight and trying them out in the pool tomorrow. Has anyone else tried these? They got reasonably good reviews on Amazon, so I'm hopeful. I don't have any real plan for the pool, but I'm going to try and get there before work to get in some easy cardio. No speed work, nothing too intense, just moving around and getting a short (30-45 minutes? Maybe my attention span can handle that with music...) workout in before work. I'm teaching strength tomorrow night as well and may go to pilates afterward to wind down. Or I may stay for kickboxing, it depends on how work goes.
I think I haven't really fully been channeling work stress into workouts as efficiently as I could be. I think I need to do a better job of bottling it up during the day (ie, not complaining so much out loud), then tearing it up at night once I have some equipment to abuse. Today I was the only one at work, so I had no outlet until FIT...guess what? I got more out of FIT tonight than I have in a while. So that's what's going to happen - less out loud complaining and more efficient workout therapy.
Umm...what?
Moving on.
I think I haven't really fully been channeling work stress into workouts as efficiently as I could be. I think I need to do a better job of bottling it up during the day (ie, not complaining so much out loud), then tearing it up at night once I have some equipment to abuse. Today I was the only one at work, so I had no outlet until FIT...guess what? I got more out of FIT tonight than I have in a while. So that's what's going to happen - less out loud complaining and more efficient workout therapy.
Moving on.
One of the In Crowd
I don't know why it's still so strange when people recognize me, but for some reason I'm always caught off guard by it.
This morning when I was waiting for something (it was early, I don't remember what it was, but it definitely wasn't coffee) someone came in and, on introduction, said "oh I know who she is, I've taken her classes a few times." Maybe I just have some serious inferiority complex or something, but in my mind I still feel like the new kid who's trying to make a name for herself and I'm always shocked when someone recognizes me - even more so when it's accompanied by positive response. Somehow, at some point in the last year or so, I've apparently managed to make a name for myself, without even realizing what I was doing.
Oops.
This, of course, has had the unfortunate side effect of making me finally open my eyes and realize what a home I've made for myself here. I think for the last 5 years I've been doing what I always do - treating "here" (New England in general really) as a sort of pit stop, not a home. Blame it on the military upbringing - it's what's comfortable to me I guess. I invest only to a point, then don't go any deeper as a means of self-preservation. It's a little like being at the beach and knowing you both desperately want to swim but also have to drive home and have no change of clothes. You hike your pants up (or if you're really sassy, I guess you just take them off and hope you're wearing fun underwear) and wade on in, but only up to the point where stuff starts getting wet. Because the wetter you get, the longer it takes to dry, and the more cold and clammy you'll feel on the drive home. I think maybe it's time for me to start nutting up and jumping in, then dealing with the drive home when it comes. Because you'll never get to swim with sea turtles if you only wade in up to your shorts, right?
Anyway. Suffice it to say, I've loved every minute of working at EHSC and IF we end up leaving the area, it's going to break my heart to have to tell everyone goodbye. IF. (Dear FPU, could you please accept me and give me lots of money to come to your school? That'd be super rad. Also, put a rush on that because I'm impatient and March is like forever from now. Thanks, me.)
In other, completely unrelated news, it's been brought to my attention that, in spite of trying to focus on upper body stuff in Tuesday night strength, I'm becoming a weakling. This is super no bueno, since I'll be running both Tough Mudder New England runs this year and what I remember most from last year is feeling everything above my navel giving out on me, repeatedly. To that end, I'm starting over on the 100 pushups challenge and would love it if someone else out there would join me. I'm not even sure I'm at the week 1 level yet...definitely not on my feet (instead of knees) anyway. Just more proof that I need to stop being scared of the weights area and start making that part of my rotation I guess. Sigh.
Still my favorite zombie movie of all time. I can't wait to see Woody in Hunger Games. Anyone else read that trilogy yet? I can lend it via Nook if anyone's interested. Let me know.
This morning when I was waiting for something (it was early, I don't remember what it was, but it definitely wasn't coffee) someone came in and, on introduction, said "oh I know who she is, I've taken her classes a few times." Maybe I just have some serious inferiority complex or something, but in my mind I still feel like the new kid who's trying to make a name for herself and I'm always shocked when someone recognizes me - even more so when it's accompanied by positive response. Somehow, at some point in the last year or so, I've apparently managed to make a name for myself, without even realizing what I was doing.
Oops.
This, of course, has had the unfortunate side effect of making me finally open my eyes and realize what a home I've made for myself here. I think for the last 5 years I've been doing what I always do - treating "here" (New England in general really) as a sort of pit stop, not a home. Blame it on the military upbringing - it's what's comfortable to me I guess. I invest only to a point, then don't go any deeper as a means of self-preservation. It's a little like being at the beach and knowing you both desperately want to swim but also have to drive home and have no change of clothes. You hike your pants up (or if you're really sassy, I guess you just take them off and hope you're wearing fun underwear) and wade on in, but only up to the point where stuff starts getting wet. Because the wetter you get, the longer it takes to dry, and the more cold and clammy you'll feel on the drive home. I think maybe it's time for me to start nutting up and jumping in, then dealing with the drive home when it comes. Because you'll never get to swim with sea turtles if you only wade in up to your shorts, right?
Anyway. Suffice it to say, I've loved every minute of working at EHSC and IF we end up leaving the area, it's going to break my heart to have to tell everyone goodbye. IF. (Dear FPU, could you please accept me and give me lots of money to come to your school? That'd be super rad. Also, put a rush on that because I'm impatient and March is like forever from now. Thanks, me.)
In other, completely unrelated news, it's been brought to my attention that, in spite of trying to focus on upper body stuff in Tuesday night strength, I'm becoming a weakling. This is super no bueno, since I'll be running both Tough Mudder New England runs this year and what I remember most from last year is feeling everything above my navel giving out on me, repeatedly. To that end, I'm starting over on the 100 pushups challenge and would love it if someone else out there would join me. I'm not even sure I'm at the week 1 level yet...definitely not on my feet (instead of knees) anyway. Just more proof that I need to stop being scared of the weights area and start making that part of my rotation I guess. Sigh.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
First Day of School
Or something like that. I went out and got myself black pants and a long sleeve black shirt today, to wear while interning for PT. Of all the workout clothes I own, I have exactly one pair of black pants (the rest are capris, and even that one pair I use mostly for pajamas) and exactly zero long sleeve black shirts. So that's fixed, which is good.
I know you guys have been dying to see pics of both me and my completely trashed sewing room (yes, I sew) so here:
It's still cool to wear tags on stuff, right?
There's no picture in the world that a little duck face can't make worse.
Huh what?
Anyway.
I also took a couple of online Spin CEU classes and am now 2 points shy of being a Star Level 3 instructor. Woo go me, right? Right. I have one more class to take, then an exam, then I get a new id card and a patch and...a towel maybe? I'm not sure. After getting 40 CEU credits in 2 years, you become a lifetime spin instructor, so I won't have to get recertified every 2 years. I guess that makes me spimmortal? No? I crack myself up guys.
So last week I managed to go to 2 classes a day for 3 days in a row, then totally buggered out Thursday and Friday, Saturday I taught spin and today I've been sitting on my butt. This coming week I'm hoping to find some kind of workout that'll convince me to make the gym part of my Thursday/Friday routines. Well, Thursday anyway. Friday's workout is going to be mostly for one finger on each hand and all the muscles in my face that it takes to rage drive down to MD to see my best good friend, Mr. James Brown. (No seriously, that's his name.) I'm told we'll be climbing at some point on Saturday, then Sunday will be the reverse rage drive to get home. I'm pretty excited. I think it's been a year or more since I last saw him, and he very nearly just left me for the wrong coast recently.
All that to say, what's your workout plan this week? I wish I could convince myself to work out at home, but everything is so messy right now (see pics above) with our attempt at decluttering (go figure - getting the mess out of our lives actually makes it messier) that every time I try, I end up cleaning for 4 hours instead. And by "cleaning" I mean "making it worse". Any tips on staying motivated at home?
Anyway.
I also took a couple of online Spin CEU classes and am now 2 points shy of being a Star Level 3 instructor. Woo go me, right? Right. I have one more class to take, then an exam, then I get a new id card and a patch and...a towel maybe? I'm not sure. After getting 40 CEU credits in 2 years, you become a lifetime spin instructor, so I won't have to get recertified every 2 years. I guess that makes me spimmortal? No? I crack myself up guys.
So last week I managed to go to 2 classes a day for 3 days in a row, then totally buggered out Thursday and Friday, Saturday I taught spin and today I've been sitting on my butt. This coming week I'm hoping to find some kind of workout that'll convince me to make the gym part of my Thursday/Friday routines. Well, Thursday anyway. Friday's workout is going to be mostly for one finger on each hand and all the muscles in my face that it takes to rage drive down to MD to see my best good friend, Mr. James Brown. (No seriously, that's his name.) I'm told we'll be climbing at some point on Saturday, then Sunday will be the reverse rage drive to get home. I'm pretty excited. I think it's been a year or more since I last saw him, and he very nearly just left me for the wrong coast recently.
All that to say, what's your workout plan this week? I wish I could convince myself to work out at home, but everything is so messy right now (see pics above) with our attempt at decluttering (go figure - getting the mess out of our lives actually makes it messier) that every time I try, I end up cleaning for 4 hours instead. And by "cleaning" I mean "making it worse". Any tips on staying motivated at home?
Friday, January 13, 2012
Let me rephrase
Last night's post wasn't nearly as eloquent as I'd hoped it would be.
The bottom line is that I got to thinking about how becoming a personal trainer isn't just a hobby career...it may never be my main job (let's face it, until I'm selling my soul to train Biggest Loser contestants, it simply won't pay all the bills), but it'll always be a passion for me. I love working out, and I love being an inspiring factor in what makes other people work out.
The problem is, in order to be an effective trainer, I need to be as committed to the process as the client is. If I can't guarantee that I'll be here to help them progress in a year, it doesn't seem fair to start a relationship that's based on the idea that the results are long term rather than immediate. If I can't tell a person that, assuming all things remain within a standard deviation of "the same", I'll be journeying with them at least 6 months from now, it feels a little like leading someone on. I've never been good at letting things play out in relationships - if I know I'm not in it 100%, I tend to be honest about it, to a fault, and end up ripping off the bandaid now rather than later. So knowing that I may be moving in 7 months or less makes me want to hold off on building those relationships, if not for my sake then for the sake of anyone who might start trusting me with their fitness goals.
I feel really arrogant saying it like that, but it's the truth - as a trainer, I'd be hired to be a trustworthy source of information, inspiration, and consistency. If I can't provide even one of those things, I shouldn't be putting myself in a position to be hired.
That said, I want to learn all the tools I'll need when I can put myself in that position, so that I'm the best I can be when the time comes.
The bottom line is that I got to thinking about how becoming a personal trainer isn't just a hobby career...it may never be my main job (let's face it, until I'm selling my soul to train Biggest Loser contestants, it simply won't pay all the bills), but it'll always be a passion for me. I love working out, and I love being an inspiring factor in what makes other people work out.
The problem is, in order to be an effective trainer, I need to be as committed to the process as the client is. If I can't guarantee that I'll be here to help them progress in a year, it doesn't seem fair to start a relationship that's based on the idea that the results are long term rather than immediate. If I can't tell a person that, assuming all things remain within a standard deviation of "the same", I'll be journeying with them at least 6 months from now, it feels a little like leading someone on. I've never been good at letting things play out in relationships - if I know I'm not in it 100%, I tend to be honest about it, to a fault, and end up ripping off the bandaid now rather than later. So knowing that I may be moving in 7 months or less makes me want to hold off on building those relationships, if not for my sake then for the sake of anyone who might start trusting me with their fitness goals.
I feel really arrogant saying it like that, but it's the truth - as a trainer, I'd be hired to be a trustworthy source of information, inspiration, and consistency. If I can't provide even one of those things, I shouldn't be putting myself in a position to be hired.
That said, I want to learn all the tools I'll need when I can put myself in that position, so that I'm the best I can be when the time comes.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Long Term Relationships
That said, the conversation got me to thinking about the ramifications of becoming a personal trainer.
If I've gleaned anything (aside from how to take great butt pics) from Rose, it's that the relationship between a client and a personal trainer can have a level of intimacy not found in other settings. Most friends never see us pushing ourselves to our limits - trainers see that nearly exclusively. There's a level of trust in that relationship that's built both rapidly and organically, that doesn't necessarily exist elsewhere. In order to have a productive client/trainer relationship, the client needs to trust that the trainer knows what he/she's talking about and the trainer needs to trust that the client is both challenging him/herself and knowing when to say enough is enough. If the client is like me, the workout also becomes therapy, and the trainer needs to allow for that as well.
All this to say that once again I've managed to choose a life path that's got a lot of personal growth potential.
I'm excited to learn to play that role in someone's life. Both forms of PT (personal training and physical therapy) put me in a role of shover...like, the person who shoves you when you're on a bike with training wheels.
Anyway, I should probably do this whole studying thing. The usual.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Exskis me
Let me give you a glimpse into my childhood.
When I was about 7, we moved to Norway for 3 years (3rd, 4th, and 5th grades). For 3 years, this place was where we'd go when dad wanted to get away. I have no idea how many times we went (maybe only 3 for all I know), but in the haze of childhood memories, it seems like we went EVERY weekend. Obviously, that wasn't true...we also went to Hemsidal and some other places. But for me, childhood skiing is defined by Blue 8 at Trysil.
Blue 8 was this sweet little hill that was maybe 400 meters in length (it seemed a lot longer at the time - maybe it was and I'm way off, I dunno) and had moguls at the top then these fantastic giant rolling mounds at the bottom that basically screamed, "GO SUPER FAST AND JUMP OFF ME!!!"
Sort of like this, but without the actual jump ramps. I think if they'd actually had ramps my mom wouldn't have let us ever see the slope.
Sigh. This is the reason I don't ski in New England. It's just not the same.
Anyway, all mountain snobbery aside, tonight's ride is going to be a day of skiing. Minus the 3+ hours of hot chocolate breaks I always made my mom take with me. Secretly, I think she liked them as much as I did. :-D
The ride is going to follow the purple line:
It starts at the black star in the bottom left.
Now, an important note about skiing in Norway. Most of the lifts are what they call "T lifts". You don't sit on anything, you kind of put the thing behind your butt, squat a little (not a lot or you'll fall), and hope for the best. It's a team effort to stay on the stupid thing, and if either of you falls or stops paying attention, you're both going down. The worst thing is that just at the end there's always a massive upslope that weeds out the weak and makes you ski the slope of shame all the way back down to the bottom to start over again. Because lord knows no one wants to take their skis off and then trash that last little hill by digging their moon boots into it.
So the lift line actually goes super high, which is why you can't just grab onto the thing again if you let go. Some of them are like 50+ feet off the ground. These things are no joke. I think this is also why few Norwegians use poles. Combine poles, idiot gloves, scarves, and a T lift, and you've got a disaster.
Anyway, back to the ride.
So for every lift, we'll be doing an easy seated climb. I wish I could do some kind of hover for these, but that's not actually good for your knees. Maybe I'll turn this ride into a Strength class for next week, who knows.
For the mogul hills, obviously we'll be doing jumps. For the green that goes from the top of the first lift to the bottom of the second, I can very distinctly remember the point where it suddenly stops being downhill and if you don't have enough momentum, you stall out completely. So we'll do a standing run for that and then add on resistance with the emphasis on kicking back, like we'd do with skis on. God I hated that part. Dad usually tried to do the ski pole sling shot with us, but even that didn't always work out so well.
For the black slopes, we'll be either running with resistance or in a very fast (80-90 rpm) standing climb. Because going downhill at an uncontrolled rate of speed may be fast, but you're tensing up so much to brace yourself against impact that it *is* actually a workout. Not a small one either.
The last green run will be the cooldown. I put us on a lift that had a few runs to it, so I can add another one if needed. :-)
The playlist is still in progress, so I'll post that later today or maybe tonight, depending on when it gets done.
UPDATE***
Here's tonight's playlist:
Hello Hurricane - Switchfoot
How do you do! - Roxette
Saturday Night - Whigfield
Hey Baby (Uhh, Ahh)
Cup Of Life - Ricky Martin
Inspector Gadget Rave
DHT - Listen To Your Heart (Techno) DHT
The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani Ft. Akon
Italobrothers - Stamp on the ground.
I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones
Rock You Like a Hurricane - Scorpions
Candyman - Christina Aguilera
If I Had You - Adam Lambert
Vice Verses - Switchfoot
Always - Switchfoot
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
On a totally unrelated note, there's a new weekend open for Tough Mudder New England. July 14-15. Who's running it with me???
When I was about 7, we moved to Norway for 3 years (3rd, 4th, and 5th grades). For 3 years, this place was where we'd go when dad wanted to get away. I have no idea how many times we went (maybe only 3 for all I know), but in the haze of childhood memories, it seems like we went EVERY weekend. Obviously, that wasn't true...we also went to Hemsidal and some other places. But for me, childhood skiing is defined by Blue 8 at Trysil.
Anyway, all mountain snobbery aside, tonight's ride is going to be a day of skiing. Minus the 3+ hours of hot chocolate breaks I always made my mom take with me. Secretly, I think she liked them as much as I did. :-D
The ride is going to follow the purple line:
Now, an important note about skiing in Norway. Most of the lifts are what they call "T lifts". You don't sit on anything, you kind of put the thing behind your butt, squat a little (not a lot or you'll fall), and hope for the best. It's a team effort to stay on the stupid thing, and if either of you falls or stops paying attention, you're both going down. The worst thing is that just at the end there's always a massive upslope that weeds out the weak and makes you ski the slope of shame all the way back down to the bottom to start over again. Because lord knows no one wants to take their skis off and then trash that last little hill by digging their moon boots into it.
Anyway, back to the ride.
So for every lift, we'll be doing an easy seated climb. I wish I could do some kind of hover for these, but that's not actually good for your knees. Maybe I'll turn this ride into a Strength class for next week, who knows.
For the mogul hills, obviously we'll be doing jumps. For the green that goes from the top of the first lift to the bottom of the second, I can very distinctly remember the point where it suddenly stops being downhill and if you don't have enough momentum, you stall out completely. So we'll do a standing run for that and then add on resistance with the emphasis on kicking back, like we'd do with skis on. God I hated that part. Dad usually tried to do the ski pole sling shot with us, but even that didn't always work out so well.
For the black slopes, we'll be either running with resistance or in a very fast (80-90 rpm) standing climb. Because going downhill at an uncontrolled rate of speed may be fast, but you're tensing up so much to brace yourself against impact that it *is* actually a workout. Not a small one either.
The last green run will be the cooldown. I put us on a lift that had a few runs to it, so I can add another one if needed. :-)
The playlist is still in progress, so I'll post that later today or maybe tonight, depending on when it gets done.
UPDATE***
Here's tonight's playlist:
Hello Hurricane - Switchfoot
How do you do! - Roxette
Saturday Night - Whigfield
Hey Baby (Uhh, Ahh)
Cup Of Life - Ricky Martin
Inspector Gadget Rave
DHT - Listen To Your Heart (Techno) DHT
The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani Ft. Akon
Italobrothers - Stamp on the ground.
I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones
Rock You Like a Hurricane - Scorpions
Candyman - Christina Aguilera
If I Had You - Adam Lambert
Vice Verses - Switchfoot
Always - Switchfoot
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
On a totally unrelated note, there's a new weekend open for Tough Mudder New England. July 14-15. Who's running it with me???
Ski Songs - Input Requested!
So I'm putting together today's playlist and it occurred to me that I'm not the only one who has opinions on ski songs. So to inspire you, here's this:
So? What are your favorite ski/apres ski songs?
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Everything is Terrible
You are welcome.
In other news, I have a meeting with my gym (Executive Health and Sports Center, in case you're wondering) personal trainer manager on Thursday about an internship to learn the ins and outs of being a personal trainer. Guess I should really study for that exam, huh?
 |
| Hooray internships! |
So I've been watching Jillian work her magic on this new DVD and I am, once again, enamoured. I'm sure I'm missing all the things she's doing wrong (back to that whole studying thing), but dang if she doesn't have some good DVDs. I'm never disappointed in her moves - they're mostly new moves, not just the old junk in a new(ish) order. Like these gems:
Man, my class is not going to be happy tonight. Muahaha.
After strength tonight, I think I'm going to take it to the track for some Tabata work. I'm going to start making that part of my routine twice a week. Tomorrow night I'll do FIT before spin, then Thursday I'll do another set of Tabatas after my meeting with Joe. I think I need to reacquaint myself with some of the gym machines anyway - it's been a while since I've done anything that wasn't group ex, so I'm a little out of touch with that stuff.
In other news, I found out that one of the schools I'm still waiting to hear from isn't going to have a decision until...March.
C'mon.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
For once, I'm looking forward to February...
Just took a look at the calendar...Valentine's Day falls on a Tuesday this year! w00t! Hello Heartbreak Heavy Lifting!
Yes, I am happily married, and will be celebrating with all the romance a duo of engineers can muster, but since all anyone *really* focuses on for Valentine's Day is either the heartache of loneliness or the heartache of brokeness, doing something perky would be downright revolutionary. After all this time, I'm not sure why anyone pretends like "I hate Valentine's Day" is such a novel concept. Everyone does, even those in a happy, healthy relationship. So instead of bemoaning the holiday, let's all do something good for our hearts and get a slammin' workout in, yeah? Yeah. I'm going to come up with some fun stuff for this one, so stay tuned.
So Valentine's Day is on a Tuesday. AND!! Leap day is on a Wednesday! Leap day! Leap! Like, jumps! On a Wednesday!
Lest we've all forgotten, spin is Wednesday nights! So...something clever involving jumps of various kinds will definitely be happening here.
As for this coming Wednesday, a lot of folks have been complaining about the lack of snow this year. I would like to remind all you northerners that shoveling sucks and last year was horrific, so no one should be complaining about an easy year.
I, for one, loved the 50s we saw this weekend.
That said, I know a lot of these bikers are also skiers, so to help them cope with the lack of slope, this week's mix is going to be a simulated day of skiing, complete with apres ski music. I don't know what everyone else grew up with as "apres ski" music, but I grew up skiing in Europe (we lived there, it's not as fancy as it sounds), so it was a lot of what the kids call "house" music. Something like this:
It's going to be magical. I may even make crab salad sandwiches (using krab and pita bread, of course) just for the occasion. I guess that's probably just us, but that's the ONLY thing we had for lunch as far as I can remember, whenever we were skiing.
And now I'm hungry for krab. Dang.
So Valentine's Day is on a Tuesday. AND!! Leap day is on a Wednesday! Leap day! Leap! Like, jumps! On a Wednesday!
As for this coming Wednesday, a lot of folks have been complaining about the lack of snow this year. I would like to remind all you northerners that shoveling sucks and last year was horrific, so no one should be complaining about an easy year.
That said, I know a lot of these bikers are also skiers, so to help them cope with the lack of slope, this week's mix is going to be a simulated day of skiing, complete with apres ski music. I don't know what everyone else grew up with as "apres ski" music, but I grew up skiing in Europe (we lived there, it's not as fancy as it sounds), so it was a lot of what the kids call "house" music. Something like this:
It's going to be magical. I may even make crab salad sandwiches (using krab and pita bread, of course) just for the occasion. I guess that's probably just us, but that's the ONLY thing we had for lunch as far as I can remember, whenever we were skiing.
And now I'm hungry for krab. Dang.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Called Out
Or something like that.
Taught spin again this morning, the anger ride. It was meh. I think darkness adds to the ability to really get into an aggressive ride, and at 10 AM with a giant window behind me...that's just not really feasible. Oh well.
Anyway, as I was getting set up, one of the women who'd come to my Monday night strength class a few times asked if I'd gotten certified as a personal trainer yet. She apparently got a gift card to the club for Christmas and wanted to spend it...seriously...on getting me to train her.
I can't tell you how flattering that was to hear, nor how much foot shuffling there was afterward when I told her I had not, in fact, gotten certified yet. Sigh.
So to that end, I'm making it facebook official (seriously, it's going on my facebook page as soon as I get done publishing this) that I'm going to take the exam Presidents' Day Monday. I'm totally totally cerial you guys, I'm signing up for this thing.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Butt Bible and Whatnot
I got mail! Woohoo!
Seriously, yesterday I got 4 packages! One from the lovely Lara over at Eat Less Move More, with my super awesome new iPod arm band:
I stole the picture from her blog, sorry about that. :-)
The second box was a book I've been excited to read:
A friend recommended it to me when I started telling her hilarious stories from PT observations this summer. Not about the patient conditions, just the stories the patients told me about their lives in general. I guess this book is actually by her family doctor, and has a bunch of stories about being a surgeon in relatively rural Maine. I'm pretty excited to read it.
The next two boxes are the real gold though...2 new DVD sets full of ways to make pain happen in class next week...muahahaha....
"Glutorious". I cannot wait. I actually brought Jillian to work with me today, thinking I'd do something productive over lunch, but I failed to bring any form of towel. If past experience is any indicator, working out to anything with Jillian involved requires a shower before returning to the real world (unless the real world is a grocery store or a Walmart, then all bets are off).
Now that it's after lunch and I did absolutely nothing that even remotely "glutorious" (unless you count eating Ramen and sitting on my butt in that category), I guess that's a moot point. Maybe tonight.
Tomorrow morning I'm teaching the 10 AM spin. I'm kind of tempted to just go with Wednesday night's playlist/profile - I actually really enjoyed the workout. The problem is, the music is pretty heavy and it's a little rated R for general gym use (more than a few expletives, it turns out...fine by me, but there are sensitive ears out there). I dunno. Maybe I'll try to find the radio edit versions of the more egregious songs.
Anyway.
I've been trying to find a good set of anatomy (specifically musculoskeletal) flashcards to start getting a jump on Gross Anatomy...I know, school doesn't start (still no decision, obviously) for another 7+ months, but I've only heard horror stories about that class, so I'm a little worried. I'm terrible at memorizing stuff, so I don't want to be going into it with a blank slate for a brain. Anyone have any suggestions?
On that note, I've just been told that I have nothing to do for the rest of the day at work, so I'm going home. Maybe I'll even work out. Or maybe I'll take a nap. Who knows. Crazy times.
Seriously, yesterday I got 4 packages! One from the lovely Lara over at Eat Less Move More, with my super awesome new iPod arm band:
The second box was a book I've been excited to read:
The next two boxes are the real gold though...2 new DVD sets full of ways to make pain happen in class next week...muahahaha....
Now that it's after lunch and I did absolutely nothing that even remotely "glutorious" (unless you count eating Ramen and sitting on my butt in that category), I guess that's a moot point. Maybe tonight.
Tomorrow morning I'm teaching the 10 AM spin. I'm kind of tempted to just go with Wednesday night's playlist/profile - I actually really enjoyed the workout. The problem is, the music is pretty heavy and it's a little rated R for general gym use (more than a few expletives, it turns out...fine by me, but there are sensitive ears out there). I dunno. Maybe I'll try to find the radio edit versions of the more egregious songs.
Anyway.
I've been trying to find a good set of anatomy (specifically musculoskeletal) flashcards to start getting a jump on Gross Anatomy...I know, school doesn't start (still no decision, obviously) for another 7+ months, but I've only heard horror stories about that class, so I'm a little worried. I'm terrible at memorizing stuff, so I don't want to be going into it with a blank slate for a brain. Anyone have any suggestions?
On that note, I've just been told that I have nothing to do for the rest of the day at work, so I'm going home. Maybe I'll even work out. Or maybe I'll take a nap. Who knows. Crazy times.
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