Blisters

I'm sitting here pouting. Trying to concentrate on several projects (that desperately need my full attention) is difficult because I feel the effects of missed workouts. I didn't teach my class last nightor manage to get in my walk today. I taught yoga at the community center yesterday morning but that's about all I've done this week. Why? Because of the stupidest, smallest injury -- a nasty blister on my heel. On my list of "must-haves" is Thor-lo socks. (Along with a heart rate monitor and an iPod.) Thor-los are great. The orlon keeps them from getting wet and causing friction on your feet and yes, from causing blisters. I mentioned how proud I was of the Phit chicks and their 6-mile walk on Saturday. Unfortunately their organizer/coach hurried out of the house in the wrong pair of socks. Good socks, good shoes, good bra; anything else goes. Newbies reading this - come walk with us next Saturday. We're meeting at the track at Liberty High School. We always meet in or near Liberty, Missouri as that's where most of us live. Hope to see you there!

So proud of Phit Chicks

A couple years ago I moved to Liberty, MO from Overland Park Ks to marry my Mr. Right (aka Larry Bedell). He is wonderful. I love the community of Liberty.
Sometimes, however, I'm not so crazy about how un-fitness savvy the community is.
But Saturday I was incredibly proud of 13 women who completed the Phit Chicks Challenge.
A little background... I teach a class (technically it's small group personal training) specifically for women over 35. We do weight training, Pilates, cardio, stretching, outdoor circuits, a little bit of everything. Most of the women don't know sets from reps when they begin, and most of them want to lose weight. http://www.yogahappyhour.com/pages/3/index.htm There were many who wanted to get more cardio in, so a couple months ago I started a walking club here in my hometown of Liberty. These gals meet me at 7:00 am and we take off on their choice of a 3, 4, or 5 mile route. Last Saturday they completed their Phit Chicks Challenge -- a six mile walk.
To be honest, the domain name FitChicks was taken, and one of my clients who spends alot of time with pre-teenagers thought of spelling our name with "PH" to resemble the way the kids say "Phat." Worked great. Phit Chicks was born.
I teach the small group personal training sessions (we call the class "Equilibrium: Balanced Fitness for Women), as well as some Yoga and Pilates and cardio classes. Like I mentioned before, I started in legwarmers in college and have been addicted ever since. Love it. Well, all my yoga, Pilates and other students show up for these Saturday walks. Some of them bring their mothers, their daughters, their husbands, sometimes even their dogs. It certainly beats the heck out of watching the treadmill seconds tick by...8 minutes one second, 8 minutes, two seconds ...doing a 30-minute workout can be excruciatingly dull. But these ladies are loads of fun. I'm soooooooooooo proud of them.
If you happen to live in Liberty or North Kansas City, come join us on Saturday morning. the walking club started for women, but sometimes men come too. Its free. Get up! It's worth it. See http://www.phitchicks.com/pages/1/index.htm to find out where we're meeting this week.

Getting started...

I spend a good deal of my professional life helping start things. As a marketing consultant by day (that would be 7a - 4p) and fitness instructor by early day (5:30 - 7a) I help business owners jump start their sales, help fitness professionals start an entreprenuerial adventure and women start feeling good about themselves (via exercise).

Now I'm starting something -- a blog.

The word was a turnoff to me for a long time, but I'm getting used to it. I used to pride myself on being ahead of the curve with technology. I was the first manager in a conservative office to request a PC instead of a dictaphone, the first to use email, to learn to create a website, etc, etc. But this blog thing has been intimidating.

Communicating is appealing though, and I'm excited to share thoughts.

My thought of the day is aging. How boring. You see, I turned 40 this year. And lucky (and unlucky) for me, so did Sandra Bullock, Kristin Davis, and other skinny, fit, beautiful celebrities. Sarah Jessica Parker was on everywhere in the past few months sporting size 0 for the Gap. Wow. Oprah turned 50 and looks better than she did 20 years ago, Clint Eastwood won an Oscar in his 70's, and well, there is just no excuse to NOT be an overachiever at any age, much less ever slow down. Or run two miles instead of five. Funny thing is, it takes five miles now to accomplish the same weight that two miles used to.

This incredible "ordinariness" has been quite a learning experience for me (a humbling one, but valuable nonetheless). I have been teaching exercise classes since the 80's -- to records. Wearing leg warmers. Yeah.

Today I own a fitness education business -- www.FitCareers.com -- and I spend my days motivating tenured fitness pros to teach the wanna-be's to have empathy and commitment in their new jobs as personal trainers and group exercise instructors.
Boy, I wish I could make every 20-something personal trainer take their incredibly lean body and spend a day as 45-year old with a mortgage and job. Empathy lesson would be done. Many years ago I read about a cutting-edge residency program that required new docs to spend a week in the hospital as a patient. Great idea. Same thing I'm thinking for these super-fit trainers.

My fitness school is doing well. We are offering courses in 19 cities now. Speaking of which, one of them is calling. I will finish this! Check back, or share your thoughts.
Angela