TurboKick!

Last weekend I did something I had been wanting to do for quite a long time.  You’ll recall, if you read my blogs or know me, that a few years ago I lost a good chunk of weight—about 50 pounds. I wrote some blogs about my diet and exercise routine and how my FitBit helped me learn how to count calories. 

During this time I really fell in love with exercise (mainly because I did not love dieting).  I was taking a variety of classes at my Anytime Fitness gym in Virginia, including a cardio dance class, yoga, boot camp, and I tried a body pump style class a few times. As I continued to be a student in these classes, I started wondering if I had what it took to be an instructor.  After talking a bit with some of the gym staff, I decided to try it out and signed up for some classes at the local community college.

Alas, things changed and Jim and I decided to move back to Massachusetts. I dropped my classes and put my group exercise trainer dreams on hold for a bit.  When we got back to Mass, I was gym-less.  I started running occasionally and did some boot camp style workouts in my living room, but I wasn’t getting the same kind of workouts I had fallen in love with.

Christmas rolled around and my mom got me the gift of 3 Kickboxing classes at a place nearby. I loved the workout, but I knew that when my trial classes were up I would have to get out my wallet, or just get out. The prices weren’t horrible, but the weren’t in my price range.  The cheapest option required a two-year commitment, and even that took up my whole monthly exercise budget—without leaving room for the variety of classes I so enjoy.

But I loved the style of workout! Kicks, punches, and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).  So I took to the internet to find more affordable classes in my area. I found TurboKick Live, a choreographed dance class infused with kickboxing moves and HIIT.  And right there on their website it asked if I wanted to be an instructor. I clicked on the link and found an instructor training a few towns away, but it was $250 dollars! I can’t afford that! 

I told my mom about it and she was so excited. “Do it! I’ll put it on my credit card and you can pay me back in free workouts!”  I rolled my eyes and secretly thought about taking her offer, but wanted to think about it more before I made the leap—I had never even been to a class!

The next day at work I was reminded that we are required to get 20 hours of trainings each year, and that there is some money set aside for those trainings. For some reason I was under the impression that these trainings had to be teaching/child related, seeing as I work at an after-school program, but I ran the TurboKick thing by my boss, and gave me the go!  As long as I use what I learn with the kids, they will help pay for it. So all I have to do is teach a class or two with them—sweet!

I signed up for the training and was reimbursed by work the next day. I found an existing class a couple towns away and figured I should try it out before I become a trainer.  The class was perfect! It reminded me of the cardio dance class I loved in Virginia, but also had the punches and kicks that I learned in the Kickboxing class. I went to two classes with two different instructors and then it was my time to learn.

Last Saturday was the instructor-training course. From 9am-5pm I, along with six other girls and one guy, spent the day in a dance studio learning the moves, the music, the counts, the cues, and being reminded to smile while you’re working out. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and already sore. But I did it! I even taught a small section of the workout to the rest of the class. And I didn’t totally suck! I messed up a couple of times, but the other people with me were in the same boat, and totally supportive.

We got DVDs of the workout and CDs of the music and were told to go home and practice.  Just the other day I got my “digital diploma.”

And the best part? I work right next door to my town’s recreation department, and have worked with them before, so I know all the people there. I went in and told them I was officially a TurboKick instructor and that I wanted to start teaching.  I am all set to start an 8-week class in April!  Until then, practice, practice, practice.  And maybe I’ll try it out on the kids at the after-school program!

The Thing About Writing Is…

Last year around this time, I made it my mission—nay, my resolution to publish a blog once a week.  If you keep up with me or my blog in any way, you know that didn’t happen.  I published a bunch in January, then one in February, a couple in march, then I dropped off the grid for good after I chopped my hair off in April. Part of the reason was that I didn’t feel I had the time, but I think a big part of it was that I have been too harsh and rigid with my writing…

For one, I gave myself a very structured timeline: once a week. This timeline is virtually impossible to keep, as there are going to be times when I can’t reach a computer or don’t have the time, or just forget. Sometimes there just wasn’t anything worth writing about happening in my life, and I couldn’t muster the creative energy to pull something out of thin air… plus, I don’t really think that my blog is an appropriate place to publish my fiction pieces… I might have to make a new tab for that.

Another reason I failed at my blogging goals was because I was too worried about my writing.  If you have never taken a writing class, you might not know that most writers go through numerous drafts and reworks before they even think about trying to get their work published. I took this method to my blog writing, and had some of my writerly friends “workshop” my pieces. This would be a great idea if I’m thinking about submitting my work to magazines and writing journals. But my blog is not that formal—nor should it be.  This is a place for friends and family to see what’s going on in my life, for me to keep up my writing skills, and for the occasional potential employer to see my raw skills.

There were actually numerous times I wrote something and sent it to my writer friends (and my mom, duh) and patiently wait for their response. The majority of the time, they said “post it” or “this is great, go for it!” or give me a quick change and a few spelling errors. Like this wonderful nugget:

"Yes, post it BUT you spelt losing wrong in the first sentence. You did loosing. Grammar police. Weee oooo. Weeee ooooo. That's the sound of the grammar police."

But occasionally they would take a long time (I don’t blame them, they have real lives and jobs and other friends). Or they would give me too many changes and want me to rework the whole thing, like these comments:

"I would hold off on posting this until more happens. Right now, this is more something you would tell your friends about in a 5 minute phone call."

And

"Right now it just feels as thought you're jotting down the bullet points."

Admittedly, that “story” was a desperate attempt to reach my one a week goal. My friends are great and I adore them and count on them to help them with my writing, but sometimes it got to the point where I got there comments back and didn’t care enough about my writing to go back and edit and publish it. I had already finished it in my mind and had moved on to another place.

In closing, my writing goal for 2016 will more loose (spelled correctly, I looked it up). I want to write more often, and publish stories and such when they deserve to be published. I want to let the blog be for my raw writing, for my friends and family to see, and for me to continue practicing and improving.

PS: If any occasional potential employer is reading this entry, I promise I will revise and edit my work for you.