Class #34 Cycling 6 p.m. Wednesday (Martha)

This class turns out to be memorable for reasons quite beyond the control of anyone in the room but I’ll get back to that in a minute. For the moment, I’ll remind you that this is my second bike class in a row as I just finished Krissa’s class a few minutes ago. I begin class significantly pooped out from the previous session hoping I can hang on through this one.

Martha is a good contrast to Krissa because she’s cut from the more business-like mode of cycling instructors as opposed to what I’ve called the “banter” group. Not that she doesn’t interact with the class because she does – it’s just that her commentary is restricted to the task at hand – no tales of the Oscars or Olympics, at least not tonight. She does use one interactive technique I haven’t seen before. At times, she calls on individual class members (she knows everyone by name) to pick an rpm or gear level and uses that input to devise the next exercise. It’s a cool way to keep everyone involved and on their toes.

When addressing the entire class Martha calls us “Wednesday”, I guess to distinguish us from the Monday group that she also teaches. As encouragement she might shout out “c’mon Wednesday let’s go!” It’s cute – I like it.

I first met Martha in yoga class as a fellow practitioner but later discovered that she also teaches yoga (regularly at the LRRC and as a sub at the LRAC). In fact, she usually goes to the M/W 5 p.m. yoga class and leaves a few minutes early to come teach her cycling class so she’s nice and centered when she walks in the room.

Martha Plaster has been certified as a cycling instructor since 2001 and has been teaching at the LRAC since moving to Little Rock from Biloxi in 2007. She and her husband Todd who is also a certified cycling instructor, share a passion for the bike both indoors and out. The interest in yoga has come more recently (Martha was certified by Turquoise Tree Yoga Center in 2008). Teaching yoga, Martha says, led to a decision to make a big career change, which finds her back in school as a full-time student working toward a degree in physical therapy.


As class nears conclusion one of our tennis pros, Linda Sneed sticks her head in the door and says “we’re under a tornado warning”. As a Club we try to let members know when the severe weather sirens are going off in case they want to get home or take cover. I don’t think too much about all of this, I’m more concerned with finishing class before collapsing. In that regard, as class wraps up, I take note that my wattage (i.e. work) level is down almost 30% from the previous class but my heart rate averages 133, which is identical to what it was in Krissa’s class. Interesting.

After class, as I’m getting everyone to sign up for the $25 gift certificate, things start to get really exciting. I notice out of the corner of my eye that outside the studio hordes of people are streaming by. It looks like what happens at a baseball game when the rain begins in earnest and people head for cover. Uh oh, this can’t be good, I think.

Sure enough, moments later, Cindy Waller yanks open the studio door and says in an urgent voice “we are under an imminent threat of a tornado and EVERYONE is being moved to the men’s and women’s locker rooms.” To my knowledge, in the history of the Club we’ve never done this before.

It turns out that with the sophisticated storm tracking systems operated by our local TV stations a warning has been issued that places a possible funnel cloud within a mile or two of the Club and headed our way. So for the first time ever, on a busy Wednesday night, just past prime time (about 6:55 pm) every single person in the Club is piled in to the locker rooms, which we have determined as the safest place to be should a tornado actually strike the building.

As you might expect I wind up in the men’s locker room and after about ten minutes I’m getting nervous – not about the weather but when these good folks are gonna revolt and say “Let me out of here!” Everyone’s watching the TV’s in there and sure enough the storm is all around us but no one likes being told to wait somewhere and not leave. Fortunately, a minute or two later, Justin, the Club’s Assistant Manager, sounds the ‘all clear’ with the caveat that storms are still in the area but the threat of a tornado has diminished.

As everyone exits the locker rooms it dawns on me that I could have been a little luckier in this matter. It occurs to me the emergency call could have come halfway through class and spared me the last 20 minutes of pain and no one would have blamed me for giving myself credit for completing the class. Oh well, I guess I should be thankful that the storm missed us entirely and gave me something interesting to relate in the blog.

I should also point out that the members were really great about the evacuation exercise. Everyone seemed to appreciate the caution that was taken and relieved that the storm skirted by us without causing any serious damage.

The $25 gift certificate winner for tonight’s class goes to: Emily Hartman.

For the second week in a row, I’m leaving town for a Thursday-Sunday trip in the morning but I want to get one more class in before I leave. Therefore, next up is the ‘oh so early’ 5:10 a.m. bike class. See you then.

Copied below is Martha’s playlist for tonight’s class:

3x5, John Mayer
Sanima Inanma, Sezen Asku
Mr. Blue Sky, Electric Light Orchestra
E Rubero' Per Te la Luna, Negramaro
One Way Out, The Allman Brothers Band
Rods and Cones, Blue Man Group
O...Saya, A. R. Rahman & M.I.A.
The Unit - Main Title, Robert Duncan
Green River, CCR
Runnin' Down a Dream, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Si viene e si va, Ligabue

Class #33 Cycling 5:00 p.m. Wed. (Krissa)

Due to lingering issues with my gradually improving neck I’ve decided on a precarious double dose of group cycling this evening. Descending straight into the maw of cycling hell, I plan to tackle Krissa’s 5 p.m. class followed immediately by Martha’s 6 p.m. class.


I had strongly considered going to the 4:15 Zumba class and chase that with a single bike session but I was worried that the attempt to gyrate my hips might instead tweak my neck. There’s also, I’ll admit, some allure to the prospective challenge of back to back cycling classes. Can I do it? Should I? Oh, why not?

I realize that for “real” bikers, ninety-minute rides are child’s play but I’m plainly an imposter as a cyclist. Only the photo-shopped image above makes me look like the real McCoy and that’s all smoke and mirrors. I don’t even have bike shoes for goodness sake. Still, I know that pushing myself today will improve my stamina and will pay dividends down the road or so I hope.

When Krissa enters the studio she immediately engages with the entire room as if playing to an audience, which in a way she is. She’s a natural performer with an infectious personality that’s impossible to resist. She knows everyone in class by name and her beaming smile welcomes us to her world.

Among cycle instructors, I’ve noticed, there is a continuum of interchange with the class that runs from “all business” to regular and/or playful banter. Krissa is on the far end of the banter pole. During warm up she tells us stories that make me laugh. For instance, she asks who watched the Oscars and then launches into a bit she heard from some wag on the “worst dresses”. At the top of the list, she tells us, was Charlize Theron and her blooming d cups….the “expert” suggesting that they seemed to beg for water. Second worst was the dress worn by Zoe Saldana, the star from Avatar. Apparently it had some mink lined hem and weird embroidery that made her “look like a piñata”. The commentator suggested that any dress one wears that makes you want to hit it with a bat must be a bad idea.

Another aspect among the banter group is a penchant for asking rhetorical questions. Things like, “are you ready to push hard now?” or “can you pick it up some more?” These questions don’t require explicit answers because the implicit reply is always “yes”. Krissa has a habit of answering her own questions aloud as our proxy saying “yes” or sometimes “yes yes”. Meanwhile most of us avert our eyes so she won’t see our desire to yell out “no no”.

None of this banter, by the way, detracts from the challenge of the class. In a way, it’s all psychological sleight of hand designed to distract us while the work keeps getting ratcheted up. It’s effective too. I find that by the end of class, I’ve pushed harder than I meant to since I wanted to save a little juice for class #2. Now, I’ll have to survive on fumes and hope for the best.

As many of you know, Krissa Thoreson is one of Lisa Cooper’s younger sisters. Lisa is the Club’s long-time Fitness and Program Director and lured her sisters (Krissa and Holly, pied piper style from Minnesota to Little Rock. All of the sisters are first-rate athletes and the picture of good health and fitness. Krissa is an accomplished runner an triathlete, she won the huge Komen Race for the Cure a year or two ago. Currently she’s training for a half-Ironman to be held in Lawrence Kansas in June.

When Krissa first moved to town she took a job as the Fitness Director at the North Little Rock Athletic Club. Unfortunately we eventually lost her to the Little Rock Country Club when they opened their fitness room and needed a manager of that area. We’re happy though that Krissa is a group ex teacher for us because she’s excellent at it.

At the end of class I gather names and e-mail addresses for the $25 gift certificate drawing from the 15 or so participants. My tennis buddy Tim Orellano is among the entrants and he requests an immediate and public drawing. Leave it to Tim to come up with a new wrinkle on this process. Krissa does the honors and picks Jan Bartlett as the winner. Sorry Tim.

Okay, no rest for the weary, I’m staying put for the double feature hoping that my legs have more left in them than I think…..

ps Due to technical difficulties and/or incompetence on my part I couldn't load the photos of Krissa that I have. Furthermore, I'm out of town and don't have my usual computer with me. I'll add the photos when I get back home - you know, maybe:)

Class #32 Yoga 6:30 p.m. Tuesday (Sherri)

I head straight from Adiel’s cycling class into the Intermediate Yoga class. I think I’ll be able to do yoga fine but I’m still a little worried about the crick in my neck.

After saying hi to Sherri, I let her know about my ailment and assure her that I’ll modify postures if I need to to protect myself. This is standard protocol in a yoga class - the instructors always want to know if anyone has an injury so they can offer modifications if necessary. By approaching Sherri first, I’m letting her know that I’ll be responsible for taking care of myself, which relieves her of that duty.

This is one of only two “intermediate”’ yoga classes on the group exercise schedule. The idea is that members coming to this class should have some background in yoga so that the teacher isn’t starting someone from scratch each time. It allows the practice to move somewhat faster and to cover more complex asanas. The students who are ready for this, and there are a lot of them at the LRAC, appreciate the opportunity to be challenged like this in their practice.

Sherri begins class by telling us a story. She’s just returned from a trip to a yoga retreat center in Hawaii. While there, she was awakened one morning at 5:30 with news of an impending tsunami and the immediate need for everyone to move to higher ground. She noted that some of her fellow classmates became panicky upon receiving this news. The lesson then, was about staying grounded even when life throws us a curveball. Sherri offers the suggestion that we “dedicate” tonight’s practice to someone we know who could use some grounding energy. It’s a nice thought to begin a practice with.

Sherri also tells us that while in Hawaii she got to spend time swimming with Dolphins and how deeply it had touched her. There is a beautiful and powerful asana in yoga that is called “dolphin” and she tells us we will be practicing that tonight.

Dolphin pose

I’ve known Sherri Youngblood for years and have seen her in yoga classes many times (she has a beautiful and strong practice) but this is my first time to take one of her classes. As I suspected, she turns out to be a marvelous teacher. I predicted as much for two reasons: 1) I’ve heard soaring praise from many of her regular students time and again and, 2) She is passionate about yoga and for Sherri – it’s much more than “just” a practice, it’s the way she lives her life.

Sherri seeking high ground in Hawaii

In the “real world” Sherri is a Registered Nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at UAMS. That is an intense world where one is surrounded by life and death situations at all times. An ability to stay grounded and keep one’s wits is critical for an RN in the ICU. Sherri says that her philosophy in nursing is to “nurture the body, mind and soul” and that same philosophy extends to her yoga practice and teaching.

Sherri leads us through a series of postures to warm up our bodies and prepare us for more difficult poses to come. She has the confidence that only experience brings and she steadily guides us through an interesting and stimulating series of postures. At times she demonstrates a pose but mostly she’s circulating the room, verbally instructing us but also making postural adjustments where needed. At one point she moves my arm into the correct position and a light bulb goes off that had been dim before. Thank you.

Throughout the practice Sherri reminds us to really listen to our bodies and to back off if a certain posture is too much. There are always possible modifications that can be made to accommodate the various bodily limitations that most of us have.

Our final posture, for those who want to try it, is a forearm balance inversion, which takes off from Dolphin pose. Sherri shows us various ways to approach this technique with one or both feet on the wall and how to lift one leg at a time to simulate the full inversion. To do the inversion, especially for the first time, requires as she says “a leap of faith”. The first time I ever did it, I found this inversion to be exhilarating and it remains a favorite of mine.

Forearm balance

Sherri has been teaching at the Club since 2004. She received her basic teacher training from Robin Johnson with the Turquoise Tree Yoga Center and achieved her 200-hour RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher) through the Yoga Alliance. In 2009, she completed her 500-hour certification and has opened her own yoga school called Sage Yoga, which is affiliated with Turquoise Tree.

Tonight’s class ends with the beloved Shavasana pose where we lie on the floor and cease all effort. While we are relaxing Sherri comes around and puts a little China gel (think Ben-Gay with a kick) on our necks and gives our heads a gentle stretch. This feels wonderful to my cricked out neck and a great way to end the evening.

This class from 6:30-8:00 p.m. is well attended. As with many of our classes, the attendees are mostly women but tonight there are also three guys.

The $25 gift certificate goes to Beverly Foti.

Class #31 Cycling 5:30 p.m. Tuesday (Adiel)

It’s amazing how such a small thing can demand so much attention. I’m speaking of my neck or more precisely about a painful crick therein. For the past two days I haven’t gone more than a few minutes without being acutely aware of that body part.

The crick appeared on Sunday morning when I was still in California and woke up from a deep sleep….apparently so deep that I didn’t notice how poorly aligned my head had been all night. The stiffness from that morning slowly worsened throughout the day on Sunday and continued downhill on Monday. Still, I managed to get in two classes on Monday without too much trouble.



Today I was planning on going to a Step class in the morning but my neck was such that I didn’t think I should risk it. I had a chiropractic appointment at 2:30 with Robynn Zinser, who I’ve seen regularly for more than 20 years and who I have complete faith in.

Dr. Zinser worked on me long and hard and got all the vertebrae in my cervical spine pointing in the same direction but the muscles were still pretty inflamed. She knows about the quest and that I planned to do some classes later on – she just said, “don’t do any headstands in yoga”.




This is a long introduction to today’s cycling class but I’m going into it because I know that all of us get derailed in our exercise program from time to time by such things. Maybe it’s a nasty cold or a sprained muscle or a relative visiting from out of town but life sometimes gets in the way. The best advice I have is to not get too discouraged by these derailments and to re-engage the process as soon as possible.

If I wasn’t on “the quest” I probably wouldn’t have exercised today but then again maybe I would have…I’m pretty stubborn about getting it in every day. Besides, there are certain classes, like cycling where the head doesn’t move much and in those, the crick isn’t much of a factor.

In today’s class, I’m meeting the teacher for the first time. Her name is Adiel (pronounced a-deal, like Bob Barker would say it) and she is full of energy with a great personality and an easy laugh. She knows everybody else in class and gets us started by warming up and easing us toward our base level.

The class is a mixture of gradually increasing sprints (90 rpm’s, 95, 100, 105, 110 and back down by 5’s) and standing runs with a few high resistance, lower rpm climbs. Adiel’s style is to call out the number of gear levels from base that she wants us to increase for each exercise. I’m able to keep up with the suggested levels on all but one exercise where I sheepishly back off because I’m not quite keeping up with the pace.

Adiel keeps up a regular banter of encouragement and checks in with us after each exercise to see how we’re doing. I think I hear her say “eh” a couple of times like “that was a tough climb, eh?” and I idly wonder if she’s Canadian. Later, though she peppers her comments with “y’alls” so I revise my guess to southern Canada (or northern Arkansas). This, by the way, is the sort of mental drift I often observe when I’m distracting myself from the work at hand – I have no idea if it’s helpful or not, it’s just a habit.

It turns out (I just read her bio) that Adiel Looney is from Little Rock, a good ole home-girl. She’s been teaching at the Club for about a year after having participated in classes for a long time. She is certified in group exercise through AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America) and was trained in teaching group cycling through the Keiser M3 folks.

Adiel (pictured below) is an accomplished triathlete having completed three Ironman competitions and preparing for her fourth one (Ironman Arizona). An “Ironman” by the way, is composed of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run (i.e. a marathon). It is a grueling event and my hat’s off to anyone who’s ever done one or even thought about doing one.



Along with teaching twice a week, Adiel has a full time job with Novo Nordisk as an Institutional Diabetes Care Specialist. Since diet and exercise are critical aspects in the treatment and prevention of diabetes, Adiel is walking the talk. With her delightful, motivating personality I’m sure she’s great at her job and will help a lot of folks who suffer from diabetes.

As I’ve mentioned before, music is a critical part of the bike class experience and it’s amazing to me how many teachers have selected great songs that for the most part I’ve never heard (I gotta get out more). Adiel is no exception in this regard – her music is happy and snappy and helps me break out of my torpor on numerous occasions during class (I’ve copied her play list at the bottom of this post).

Okay, time to move on – I’m going back to back tonight and I’m off to Sherry’s Intermediate Yoga class next.

The $25 gift certificate in Adiel’s class goes to Lisa Costa.

PLAYLIST
Tuesday: 5:30 PM-3/9/10

Wild Boys-Duran Duran
Fallin For You-Colbie Caillat
Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love-Coldplay
You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)-Dead or Alive
Take On Me- A-Ha
Walking On Sunshine-Katrina and the Waves
Born To Be Wild-Hinder
Meet Me Halfway-Black Eyed Peas
Whataya Want From Me-Adam Lambert
Going On-Gnarls Barkley
If I Had Eyes-Jack Johnson
You are My Sanity-Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds

#30 Water Aerobics 9 a.m. Monday (Mary W.)

For my second class this morning I head to the pool. I’m suffering from a crick in the neck that I woke up with on Sunday morning. My hope is that a little water therapy will help or at least not further aggravate anything.

This makes my 3rd water aerobics class and I’m starting to get the hang of things. The best description I can give you of these classes is the following: imagine spending an hour inside a washing machine with your head above water at all times. It’s something like that. You’re always moving this way and that, swirling, sculling, kicking and swooshing and if anything’s inside your belly (or bladder) you can bet you’re going to know about it.

As I’ve said before, it’s a surprisingly good workout – especially if you want your exercise to be completely low impact. There’s also a great deal of variety within a given class and between any two classes. The instructors know a jillion ways to put you through the spin cycle.

Usually in water aerobics our feet stay in contact with the bottom of the pool and we jog, jump and jive off of it. This morning however, Mary moved us into the deep end to do a series of water treading exercises. Somehow I had forgotten how tough that is to do.

Along with being a swimmer in college – I also played water polo and absolutely loved it. During that game, the feet never touch the bottom and water treading is a way of live. The goalies have it the toughest though because they have to churn continually and rise way out of the water to defend shots (see below – btw, she is NOT jumping off the bottom – that lift is all from an egg-beater kick).



We weren’t getting up quite that high though no one in class wants wet hair so there’s motivation to keep the eggbeater kick going. The point is, it’s tough to do and after a bike class there’s a significant danger of having the legs cramp. I was weighing how bad it would look for the former college polo player to be the first to cry “uncle” when Mary mercifully moved us back to the shallow end.

The class instructor, Mary Wohlleb, has told me that for the majority of her life she hated exercise with a passion because she always felt like such a klutz. That completely changed for her though when she discovered water aerobics at the LRAC in 1990. She loved it so much that she decided to get certified as an instructor and has now taught 2-3 classes a week at the Club for the past 16 years.



Mary is also something of a Renaissance woman. She has advanced degrees in Comparative Literature, French Literature and International Management. She also serves on various community boards and is the past president of the Herb Society of America. We’re glad that she’s decided to use some of that passion and brainpower on figuring out ways to make exercise in the water both fun and challenging.

There were about 15 in class today and guess who was the only guy. The $25 gift certificate goes to Joan Matthews.

#29 Cycling 5:40 a.m. Monday (Betsy)

I’m back in the saddle again (think Gene Autry but don’t let the tune get stuck in your head). It’s another early morning bike ride and after a few days off I’m raring to go. Well, I’m happy to be here. Um, okay, I’d rather be sleeping but proud that I got up.

I had to turn off my beloved Oscar show last night before it got to the good stuff so I could get up today. It’s no problem, I reasoned, I’ve got it recorded and can watch the gushing winners’ acceptance speeches on Monday. When I checked this morning though, I saw that the DVR had suddenly stopped recording just before they announced Jeff Bridges (my all time favorite since the Big Lebowsi) as winner of Best Actor. Drats! (Note to self – always extend the allotted time on the DVR for programs I really really want to see!).




Jeff Bridges as The Dude above and as Bad Blake on below.





I decided this would be a good morning to take Betsy’s normally sold out 5:40 a.m. cycling class. Surely there would be a few folks who stayed up late to watch the Oscars and/or someone who did the marathon and needed rest. When I got to the Club I saw that a full 28 had reserved seats. Uh oh.

I was early so I went in and told Betsy if it filled up – I would leave. I took a bike that was open and waited to see what would happen. It turns out that three or four folks didn’t show up so I got to ride after all.

Betsy teaches a great class – I see why she draws a crowd. She’s encouraging and enthusiastic, which isn’t so easy at that time of the morning. She also plays a nice mix of music that keeps the legs humming along.

Every cycling teacher seems to have their own distinct style even though you’d think there’s a limited number of ways to skin this cat. Betsy is the first one I’ve encountered who exclusively uses average watts as she gives instructions for effort level. Instead of saying, ‘increase your gears by 3 or 4, Betsy says “I want you 20-30% above your average watts”. This presupposes, of course, that one knows one’s average watts and that one can do rudimentary math in one’s head. Perhaps this gambit is to distract us from the pain while we work out the calculation. Anyway, I kind of liked it.

In today’s class we mostly did up tempo but steady rides. For most of the pushes today we stayed in the saddle peddling at a rate of 90-110 rpms although we also did a few standing runs at 80 rpms.

During class Betsy told us that she had done the half-marathon yesterday so she was understandably keeping her gear level a little lower than usual. She admitted to throwing in a grimace now and then to make us think she was working harder than she really was. Not to let the cat out of the bag but I’ve been using that strategy for years….

Betsy Kortebein (or the Betzinator as I think of her) has more than 25 years of experience in the fitness industry and is a frequent leader of group exercise at the LRAC and LRRC. She is also the Fitness Director at the LRRC and a Personal Trainer at both clubs. She is certified by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) as a Personal Trainer and as a Group Exercise instructor.


In her spare time, Betsy is an avid (and good) runner. In 2008, she won the master’s division of the Little Rock Half Marathon. She has also run marathons fast enough to qualify for Boston, a race she competed in last year. So, not much hope of wearing her down in a 45-minute cycle class.

Today’s $25 gift certificate winner was John Eidt.

I’d like to end this post with a note about a former LRAC group ex instructor who was a participant in class this morning. Sue Tull, who taught aerobics at the Club for years, is an early morning fixture in classes at the LRAC these days. Like Betsy, Sue also ran the half marathon yesterday and still managed to get up and ride a bike this morning. Sue ran yesterday’s race on behalf of her beloved son Jake who died unexpectedly and far too soon last May just before his 22nd birthday.

Jake was a student at the University of the Ozarks but in the Spring of ’09 was studying animal migration patterns in Kenya, Africa. As a special treat, Jake invited Sue to come visit and accompany him on a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. The two did indeed summit the mountain but tragically upon their return Jake became ill and died several days later of a hitherto undiscovered enlarged heart.

Jake touched a lot of lives at the University of the Ozarks and the school meant the world to him as well. After his death a scholarship fund was set up in Jake’s name and the Little Rock marathon was targeted as a focal point to raise money for the fund and more importantly as a way to honor and remember their friend. On Sunday 40 classmates, professors, friends and family gathered to walk or run in his memory. Also at the marathon, the LRAC's unofficial water stop - formed by Kris Mougeot and her early morning posse donned the specially designed purple tee shirts for Jake and made their presence known.

The LR marathon effort has raised $5,000 so far and that number is still rising. The Club will be making a $500 donation to Jake’s scholarship fund. For more information or to contribute - e-mail me at priley@lrac.com and I'll send you a sponsorship form.

For further coverage of this story see KARK’s report at:
http://arkansasmatters.com/content/LittleRockMarathonTraining_Archive_Copy?cid=296801

and/or the following link to a newsletter article from the University of the Ozarks:
http://www.ozarks.edu/newsevents/communique/vol12/20100301.pdf

A Weekend in So-Cal

It’s raining in the desert, which is odd though not unprecedented. For a Little Rock boy it’s an odd sort of rain too – the kind that doesn’t get you wet – what's up with that? I imagine that even with this so-called rainfall the relative humidity is lower than a typical summer day at home.

I’m in southern Calfornia, the Coachella Valley to be precise about two hours east of L.A. in a land of contrasts. The Sierra Madre range due west creates a majestic snow capped wall to the arid desert valley far below. The Mojave Desert is a stark and foreboding landscape until or unless you add water then it blooms and blossoms and sprouts golf courses like toadstools.



Debbie and I have traveled all this way to enjoy a long weekend with my college friends, three fellows I swam with at SMU and their wives. We were best friends at school and despite our geographical dispersion (i.e. Montana, So-Cal, Ohio, Arkansas) we manage to reconnect almost every year. This trip was planned months ago before the quest was even dreamed up and it’s serving as a welcome respite, a chance to catch my breath and reflect.

In the first 17 days of my little experiment I’ve taken 28 group exercise classes at the Club. That puts me slightly more than 25% of the way down the path and pretty much on schedule.

I’ve been to the chiropractor twice and have managed to get two massages as well. All of the bodywork is precautionary against a back event that could stop me cold. The low back has gotten tight and at times painful but nothing out of the ordinary and so far, manageable.

The truth is, I feel pretty good. Even in this short period of time I can feel the conditioning taking effect, especially after a couple days of rest. I can also see some incipient little musculature forming in response to all the core work that’s dished out in most classes. These subtle bodily changes are nothing to write home about but are encouraging nonetheless.

A key to surviving this ordeal intact is maintaining a proper diet. For me that means upping the daily caloric intake by 500-1000. If I was trying to lose weight it would have to go the other direction but I’m much more prone to wasting away than gaining weight. After three weeks I’m within a half pound of my start weight, which counts as a victory.

Strategically, as I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, I’m trying to schedule classes in a particular way. Since most days I need to attend two classes, I try to pair up especially demanding ones like cycling, sculpt or power pump with one’s that I can handle more easily such as yoga, water aerobics or senior weights. I’m also carefully rationing the high impact classes, like Zumba, Cardio-Sculpt and Kickboxing because those activities are challenging for my low back. When I do take a high impact class I try to modify any activity that looks too jarring.

The most challenging aspect of the whole process so far has been simply managing my time. Between the classes and the blogging I’m spending an average of 5 hours a day on this project. My intention has been to curtail as many of my regular tasks as possible but I’m finding a baseline level of office work and time demands that just doesn’t go away.

The best part of the experience so far has been sampling all the different classes. I’ve been very pleased to see a consistent level of excellence among all the instructors. My expectations were high going into this venture but so far the teaching corps has exceeded them. It has also been great fun to meet lots of members and exercise alongside of you.

A member stopped me the other day to say she was trying out a class she had never gone to before because she was following the blog and decided to get in the spirit of things. That feedback was music to my ears. I appreciate everyone who's reading along and hope it will spur you to get outside of your comfort zone and exercise in a new way.