Leave it on the Bike

The other day, I was struggling with letting go of a major goal. I was signed up and in heavy training for a 6-day ultra-marathon in Colorado next month. For many reasons, this is not going to happen, and I needed to accept it. Ever since I watched Julie Moss' epic performance in the 1982 Hawaii Ironman, I have been intrigued by human endurance. Ever since the Eco-Challenge debuted on the Discovery Channel in 1996, I have been curious about adventure racing. Over the past 2 years, various factors in my life have come together, including my children getting older, that have made doing a really cool event a possibility. Unfortunately, it ended up feeling very much like the cliché of the carrot being dangled out in front of me. Oh, I can see it, but I just can't seem to get there. As I've posted in the past, I know that I create my reality and there are things in place in my life, whether thoughts or otherwise, that are preventing me from achieving this goal. Regardle...

This post has been sitting in the "draft" pile since February 15th. I ask myself why I haven't clicked the "publish" button. I knew it was hanging out there in cyber-land, but it just felt incomplete. I planned to add a ride profile and playlist to the end, something meaty to sink your teeth into...something to move students beyond their comfort zones. However, it was not until I just re-read the post that I realized, in this case, the music, profile and road do not matter. How can I choose which ride will push someone to a new awareness, to a new level? I can't. For some, it's that crazy hill climb that I teach. For others, it's an endurance ride: "How many minutes on a seated flat? OMG..I will need therapy after that" (yes, I really heard that once). So, there's no ride to be posted, because it can be any ride on any day. My own comfort zones have also been under challenge over the past few months, more so than I was aware ...

Let's talk about sex and the Spin room. Did I get your attention? Just about a year ago, there was a Facebook challenge going around among my friends to list 200 things about yourself. They could be random, deep, factual, opinions, whatever you wanted. It was actually a great challenge and I highly recommend it. Very telling, introspective and also amusing to see how the mind works. I offered up some small facts and some deep comments, but it was #17 that got the most attention..from every one who read it. It said: "I know what you are like in the bedroom by the way you ride the bike." Come on, instructors, you know exactly what I mean. And, if you don't, have fun in your next class. It became a hot topic of conversation, among students and instructors, with interesting stories coming out all over the place. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but there is something about sex and the Spin room. I think it's a combination of things: the "obvious...

I live in suburbia, just outside of NYC, in a waterfront town that is a great place to raise children. I have lived here long enough to have watched the kids grow from our play-group days to being ready for "the talk." I have also seen many women take the journey from working professionals to bleary-eyed new moms, trying to lose baby fat, to finding themselves once again. Every Thanksgiving, our town (like many others) puts together a Turkey Trot run. Ours is a challenging 5 miles that draws both the fastest runners around and families who want to spend time together in a healthy way. This year, my almost 11-year old asked to run it for the first time. While he's going to run the actual race with his dad, I have had the pleasure of doing his first "training" runs with him. A few weeks ago, we ended up running together in our old neighborhood, where we lived until he was 18 months old. As we started, I remembered that I used to run this exact loop with h...

There seems to be a movement going on around me. I wonder if it's because bucket lists have become so popular and, as we are reaching a "certain age," we are channelling the energy of midlife (gasp) into positive things. Whatever the reason, the movement involves people being inspired to take on challenges and to move beyond comfort zones. Many people I know (especially women) are signing up for races and taking on sports and distances that once seemed impossible. We (and I purposely include myself in this collective) are refusing to be defined as "one thing." We are refusing to be unathletic, uncoordinated, weak, slow, fat, skinny, not good enough, not a runner, not a cyclist, just a suburban mom, and all the other labels that have attached themselves to us over time. And, yes, I have heard all of the above and more. For some, who have lived their lives boxed in and limited by these definitions, the break-out can be challenging and sometimes terrifying. ...

Have you ever received a message, whether it be from the universe, God, Goddess, spirit, or your intuition? You know the kind...the kind you either try to ignore or the kind you notice, but push it aside for now. My latest one has been clear and it's all about shifting. I mostly embrace the changes that come my way, even if they are very painful at first. Lately, however, I have been feeling less of a dramatic change and more of a shift, a transfer, a movement. The voice has been telling me that my life is shifting. Some of the shifts are completely conscious, based on choices I am making, and others, not so much. I am not teaching as much Spinning as I used to, or as much as I would like. At one gym, my classes are full or overbooked consistently. I visualized this happening so the students would get annoyed at being closed out and ask for me to be on the schedule more, which they did, repeatedly. It hasn't happened. I have also had to drop classes due to personal s...

I just noticed the first leaves turning yellow and falling to the ground and, as I log in to write this post, I can't believe that I have neglected this as much as I have. I have started 3 posts that went unfinished and have had all good intentions, but it just hasn't happened. It has been an unbelievably busy summer and I have been living out of suitcases more than I'd like to admit. Used to the convenience of the school bus to take the kids door to door, I have had to readjust to driving, scheduling and making sure everyone is supposed to be where they are supposed to be, including myself! However, even with all this craziness, even with the school supplies spread out around me on the floor, and I wonder how time can possibly move so fast, I look back on a full and fufilling summer. A cruise, a camping trip and a mini "Eat, Pray, Love" vacation (kid-free) for me are the memories that anchor this year. In between them are strung water parks, swimming pools, sandy...