Carry a Big Stick

I love my job and all, but sometimes it makes me want to hit people.  Or decapitate them.  Just a little.  I'm kidding.  Mostly.

Fortunately, the Equinox at 76th and Amsterdam has the perfect Saturday lineup for getting all that workweek angst out of my system:  Impact at 1pm and Forza at 2pm.  Both are taught by the incomparable Ilaria Montagnani.  The woman has multiple fan groups on Facebook, so it should come as no surprise that sign-ups are required.  The sheets go out at 12:30 and, last Saturday, Impact was full within minutes.

This past Saturday was actually my first time at the recently opened 76th and Amsterdam location.  The gym is stunning.  It's also full of beautiful people, which made the 30 minutes between sign up and class very pleasant.  (Apologies to the guy I was drooling over - I hope that kind of thing doesn't make you feel awkward.)

Saturday was also my first time doing Impact and Forza in about four years.  It was probably overkill to attempt both on the same day, but I just couldn't choose between the two. 

Impact is a kickboxing class that's taught on a bag.  There are two people per bag, one on each side.  You wear bag gloves (the smaller, softer kind that don't require wraps).  Boxing gloves are gross and sweaty by definition.  If you use the gym's, be sure to also grab a pair of latex gloves to wear underneath.  Ilaria's class is fast paced.  After a quick warm up, you do various combinations of jabs, cross punches and roundhouse kicks.  I was drenched in minutes and had a blast.  Class ended with 50 pushups.  My arms hated me.

If you've never kickboxed, this particular class probably isn't the best class to start with.  The class is packed with regulars, and it's geared to people who do this a lot.  There are lots of good instructors, but I really like Steve Feinberg's classes to learn technique.  He's tough, but he'll teach you. 

Forza is a samurai sword fighting class.  I started taking it when Ilaria first brought it to Equinox and it was new to everyone, but I didn't stick with it.  Now, there are regulars.  And some of these chicks (and some dudes) have their own swords.  Seriously.  I want my own sword!  I also want the ridiculously cute pink carrying case that this one woman had. 

The swords are wooden.  If you blister easily, like me, consider gloves.  (The woman with the pink sword case has matching pink gloves.) 

Class is structured like a lot of aerobic classes.  You go through some basic moves, practice those, and then learn various combinations.  The basic moves in Forza involve lifting the sword overhead and bringing it down in front of you.  When done correctly, which I cannot yet do, the sword stops on a dime at the bottom of a movement.  It looks so cool.  You will feel this in your shoulders.  It's Tuesday night and I'm still feeling it.

While this class is also fast paced, newbies should jump right in.  Unlike Impact where you're facing a bag and can't really watch what's going on around you, in Forza everyone faces the front of the room.  The front row should be comprised of the kickass regulars.  Stand behind them, and watch what they're doing, and you'll start to pick it up. 

My Saturday morning volunteer activities put me on the west side, so I'm planning on making Ilaria's doubleheader part of my fall routine.  Maybe I'll even get my own sword!  I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

The Pool

"You really swam in the pool in Central Park?" Yes. Yes, I did.

Here's the scoop. After rollerblading at Summer Streets during Day 1 of the heat wave, my friend and I were desperate to find a pool. I've noticed Lasker Pool on my loop runs in the park, and we decided it was worth a shot.

In order to get in, you have to be wearing a bathing suit and you have to bring a lock for the locker room. These are non-negotiable rules and I don't recommend debating the, um, bouncers. The pool is open from 11-3 and then from 4-7. We got there around 2 and went right in.

The 3-4 break is no joke. Just before 3, everyone had to get out of the pool, empty their lockers and leave the premises. Seriously. People started lining up for re-entry right away. I have no idea if this means that there are normally lines to get in.  It may be that my friend and lucked out because we got there so close to the break.  (Anyone?)

The pool is huge. There were a ton of people there that day, but there really was room for everyone. A few lanes in the middle of the pool were set aside for laps, but mostly it was open for playing. (There was also a separate shallow pool for babies.) We laid our towels out on the concrete steps and jumped in. Ok, my friend jumped. I eased in. It felt soooooo good. We splashed around until we had to get out for the 3 o'clock break. It would have been nice to have more time, but I can't imagine that lying out on concrete is all that pleasant anyway.

If you want to swim - by which I mean actually get in the water and splash around with your friends - outside in NYC, I totally recommend checking out Lasker. The pool seemed perfectly clean to me. I didn't notice super high levels of chlorine or anything - but, to be honest, I'm kinda sick of having my bathing suits change color on me, anyway, so I'm ok with that. If you're looking for a place to lay out, I say stick with Sheep's Meadow, or your roof, or wherever. (Or splurge on one of the hotel rooftop day passes.)

Don't expect any frills. Aside from a few, mostly out of order, vending machines, there's no place to get food or drinks. Also, if you're the squeamish type, you probably won't like the locker rooms. They're public pool locker rooms in NYC, though, so what can you expect?

The pool closes after Labor Day, so I may not get another chance to check it out this year.  If I do, I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

Summer Summer Summer Summertime

Ok, the weather kinda sucks lately. I get that. But we only get one summer a year and I practically lived at work through June and July, so I'm making the most out of this August, come rain, shine or ridiculous humidity.

I was away for the first Saturday of Summer Streets, but made it to the last two. If you didn't get to check it out this year, mark your calendars for next year. Park Ave. gets closed off to traffic from 72nd street down to the Brooklyn Bridge. You can walk, run, bike, blade, skateboard ... or whatever. There are free bike and rollerblade rentals available. Along the route there are little tents with water (kudos to the Kitano hotel for the excellent, very cold water and to Equinox for the little water bottles), coffee, cheese (seriously) and silly photo ops. This weekend I may have been out too early, but last weekend there were dance and musical performances. Apparently, Crunch was offering aerobics classes along the way, too.

For my first Summer Streets experience, I went rollerblading with a friend. It turns out that Park Ave. is not so flat. I'm a big fan of going uphill, but downhill scares me. I know that speed and momentum give you greater control, but my brain and my body seem to have a disconnect on the issue. The spookiest part was heading uptown around Grand Central. You go past that Hyatt and then you're in a curvy tunnel going downhill. I rode my break pretty hard.

That was the first day of the heat wave, so I was very impressed by the number of people running and biking. I was even more impressed by the very perky people telling you when to stop for traffic. I don't know how they did that for 5 hours.

Yesterday, I wanted to run Summer Streets, and my sister and cousin invited me to run with them. While neither is actively training for a race right now, both are marathoners. Until yesterday, I don't think I'd ever run more than 7.5ish miles (from my apartment to the park, around the loop and back). They were talking about an 8 mile run. That sounded good. I'll be doing my first half in March, and while it's too early to train, it can't hurt to push it a bit.

It wasn't quite as hot as the previous weekend (it was pretty early in the day) but it was raining. The rain actually felt pretty good until I stepped in a puddle and my sneakers got all wet. Oops!

We ended up running from 72nd and Park down to more or less the Brooklyn Bridge and back. According to mapmyrun.com, that's about 9.2 miles. Go me! I more or less kept up with the fam for the first few, but after a while, I fell behind. I'm slow. I also have little legs.

Those little legs are a tad sore today, but survived an advanced Physique class, so I've got no complaints.  What will the rest of the week bring?  I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-