And here we are

Wow.
I remember when I was a waitress, after a busy Saturday evening or Sunday brunch rush, looking around the restaurant, after we had closed, at all of the empty tables.  Exhausted, my mind still buzzing from balancing the demands 4, 5, 6 different tables.  It was hard to believe everyone had gone home.  I could relax and not worry who had hot coffee, who needed more bread, and could stop looking out of the corner of my eye to see if food was up in the window.
I very much have this same feeling today.
After a fall and winter filled with continuing my education in many different ways, I am finished.  For now.

A quick break down of where I have been:

• September - Teaching 7 days a week to make myself a little more known in the community and raise funds for my Level III Pilates training.  Also a 4 day trip to Austin, TX for training.  While in Austin I hosted my first #poweredbybits Twitter Chat as part of being a brand ambassador for Energy Bits.  If you have never taken part in or hosted a Twitter chat, try it.  You learn a lot and it is a whirlwind of fun.  I had so much activity that I got put in "Twitter Jail" which is technically a great thing!
• October - Teaching 7 days a week STILL!  Every Sunday in October I had the pleasure of teaching Piloxing at the Kansas City Athleta store SO fun!
• November - 3 day trip to Austin, TX for my second weekend of training.  No more Sunday classes, but picked up quite a few Saturday Reformer students.
• December - Studying for and taking my Peak Pilates Comprehensive exam.  This was about a 7 hour day filled with practical and written assessments.  This was also another 3 day trip to Austin, TX.  Oh, and the holidays!  I also had the pleasure of writing a small piece about the Studio On Main for a local publication.
• January - Began the 5 week FastTrac course for New Venture small business owners.  This class met once a week for 5 weeks from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm.  Because the class fell on a Tuesday, I would go straight from class to work, working with clients from 5:30 pm until 8:30 pm.  A three hour work day doesn't sound too bad, until you add that to the fact that my brain was on extreme overload from all of the great information in the FastTrac course!
• February - completed the FastTrac course!

And, here I am today.  With "just" my regular work week in front of me.  Don't get me wrong, graduating from FastTrac and becoming comprehensively trained are actually just the very beginning of a brand new chapter in my life and career.  BUT for now, I am going to take just a few days, maybe weeks, to breathe.  And do laundry!  It feels great to be able to sit here at home, enjoy a cup of coffee, blog, dust my mantle and scrub the bathroom.

Keep scrolling to check out some of my favorite pictures from the past few months!

Stay tuned, dear readers.  I am hoping to fill the pages of this blog once more with workouts, recipes and wellness tips just like before.  

What have you been up to so far in 2014?

Did you read about how we almost were zapped into smithereens overnight?  It is always fascinating to sit back and really think about how we are just floating along in space.

xo

Sally

Day one of my Level III training!

Hill Country, I miss you!

Walking near the UT campus.

Powered by Bits at 30,000 feet!

Piloxing fun at Athleta, KC!

Finished my Level III exam and took a short climb to the top of Mt. Bonnell.

Barton Springs Creek

FastTrac!

Glitter folders let them know you mean business.

Matching socks for business partners. Happy accident!

Goin' Uptown

I can't help it, I love all photos having to do with airplanes, airports, etc.

Piloxing

Many of you have asked me to do a post about Piloxing, so here it is!

I first heard about Piloxing a little over a year ago when an instructor came to me and asked if I wanted to offer it as a class.  
Piloxing is a hybrid of boxing, Pilates and dance.  Created by Hollywood trainer Viveca Jensen to give her Pilates students a great cardio workout as well.
Being the lover of Contrology classical Pilates that I am, I first cringed when hearing about this modern hybrid class.  I also am not the most coordinated person in the world, so the idea of yet another dance inspired class made me nervous.
But we set up a demo class, I put on a pair of Piloxing gloves, and LOVED it!  The choreography is easy to follow.  The Pilates portions of the class really speak to me and challenge me, and it is just so much fun.

My first-ever Piloxing class!

We were just getting ready to add Piloxing to the schedule when the instructor had an unexpected move for a new job.  Bummer.  No Piloxing.  Then 2013 rolled around and my boss decided it was really time to bring Piloxing to the Studio On Main.  She wanted me to get certified to teach it.  Gulp.  Being a student in Piloxing is one thing.  Teaching a dance/choreography based class is a completely different thing altogether! It is so not in my comfort zone to lead a dance class.  The ever-watchful, spotting, form-correcting Pilates instructor.  That's me.  Waving my arms, dancing about, being the Energizer Bunny...not so much.


But, you know what they say, that if it is something that scares you it is probably really good for you...or something like that.
So, I took the training.  And it was fun.  And challenging.  And something I knew I would need to practice.

From the training class.  So much fun!

For each class there are several blocks of boxing, Pilates and dance.  At the end of class there is mat work that focuses on the core and glutes (booty).  Turns out the the order of classical Pilates that I love so much is somewhat there for Piloxing, too.  With required boxing and Pilates exercises that every class needs to include.  A well-rounded mix of boxing for cardio and endurance, Pilates for sculpting and balance and dance for cardio and FUN.  I am always sore exactly where we all want to see improvement:  abs, booty, triceps (good-bye wiggle wave!) and thighs. Wearing the 1/2 pound Piloxing gloves ads a cardio boost and trims and sculpts my upper body. Also, the class is done barefoot and I have seen a big improvement in my plantar fasciitis symptoms.  I haven't had pain for months.

Half-pound gloves to mimic actual boxing gloves.

You definitely need to try the class to really get an idea of just how fun it is.   Piloxing is popping up everywhere now.  Head to Piloxing.com to find a class near you!

Oh!  I almost forgot!  I just did a local TV spot about Piloxing.  Check it out!

Fitness Focus: Piloxing - KCLive.tv

Stop wearing shoes to Zumba!

In the last few months I have tried to go to Zumba several times.  I am not the best at dancing, following choreography, or looking sexy so Zumba is most definitely out of my comfort zone.  But I love cardio and running more than 5-10 miles per week takes too much of a toll on my body, so I like to mix it up with cardio.
One reason I wasn't a huge fan of Zumba is that it hurt my ankles, knees and hips.  For a runner, protecting your knees is on the importance meter right next to your children or parents.  It's a big deal.  So I shy away from anything that hurts my knees.
Then I took the Piloxing certification class.  Piloxing is done barefoot for the same reason so many have started running barefoot.  It helps with form, balance and strength.  If there is a giant rubber outsole and foam insole between your foot and the ground it makes it hard on your joints when you turn, twist and stop quickly, like you do in Zumba.

Piloxing didn't hurt my knees or any other joints, so I couldn't wait to try Zumba barefoot.

I went to a Zumba class last Saturday and took my Toe Sox with me.  Surprisingly I was not the only shoeless Jane in class.  I even convinced my gal pal to wear Toe Sox with me! You could do the class completely barefoot, but I prefer to wear Toe Sox, with the little grippies, because who knows how clean the floor is, right?
I enjoyed the class SO much more and experienced no joint pain.  I also felt safer when it came to stopping and turning because I wasn't babying my joints.  The balls of my feet are a bit sore, which is natural when you begin any sort of barefoot training, whether Piloxing, Zumba or running.  

Have you done Zumba barefoot?

Do you do any form of exercise sans shoes?

Will you be trying barefoot Zumba soon?

Zumba and Me, week 2

I did it!  I went back to Zumba on Saturday!  Plus I had lots of friends there which made it extra fun.

JF and E came with me.  They did amazing!  I can honestly say that a lot of my friends husbands wouldn't go to Zumba.  Yay me!  
JF even said he didn't hate it and would go again.
E kept up very nicely but he wasn't a huge fan of the booty-shaking.  I can't blame him.  I doubt most 10 year olds are.

Real men do Zumba!

My friend Angie also was there!  We have known each other for over 10 years!  We met working retail together and she also happens to be a fitness addict.  She has come to lots of classes at the Studio and was in my first ever Zumba class years ago!
We chatted after class and agreed that, while this super-huge Saturday class is lots of energetic fun, there were also advantages to our 3 and 4 student classes back at the Studio.  The instructor(s) of the smaller classes could really break down each movement, tell us what we were working, why and how. In the larger class it's all about keeping up, but the crowd makes it fun, and easy to hide!

I felt a little more in control of my body in this second class.  JF mentioned that I looked like I was trying really hard and I was!  First class was all about not falling over.  Second class I felt like I could try, TRY I said, to look a little less robotic and a little more at ease with the steps.

Real friends do Zumba...
and all sorts of other fitness classes you tell them about.
Thanks, Angie M!

Okay guys...bad news bears time.
The bad news:  I won't get to go to Saturday Zumba this week.
The good news:  I am getting PILOXING certified!  About a year ago I took a class and loved it.  We tried to offer it at the Studio but our instructor moved away.  This Saturday there is a workshop and I will be there!  So, even though I am missing Zumba I will be training to teach Piloxing (gulp!) learning to teach choreographed fitness moves (double gulp!)
Of course, I will let you know how it goes!