Never On Sunday

Never on Sunday are we sitting home wolfing down bagels and cream cheese sitting in front of the television with our feet up. We are in the Lavender Palace pounding the pedal stroke sweating up a storm.  

Never on Sunday are we catching up on sleep time because we are busy adjusting our Schwinn’s and clipping in for a ride that will leave us breathless, wet and reaching for hydration every chance we get. 

Never on Sunday are we texting, talking on the cell phone or gossiping with our friends we are listening to the Blue Sapphire’s adroit instruction staying in time to the beat of the music and jumping saddle up and saddle down. 

It’s hard to imagine how many gifted spin instructors we have here at EQ and to bookend the weekend with Kristen James on Saturday and Carolyn Mellace on Sunday just tells me it just can’t get any better. 

The new studio is far from being finished but when it’s done with all its gadgetry late in the year we will have every tool imaginable to not only make our ride memorable but the satisfaction that we have taken our fitness to an even higher level.

Never on Sunday do we say let’s wait till Monday because The Blue Sapphire, Carolyn Mellace has other plans.  

The Lambster Chronicles

It’s Sunday and time for a ride with The Blue Sapphire Carolyn Mellace. I have to digress before I write here and I ask you have you taken a good look at her lately? I hope I don’t embarrass her but her physiology is killer. If there is one ounce of fat on this woman it’s hiding in under her big toe because when I use the word lithesome Carolyn’s picture is next to that word in the dictionary. Amazingly fit body on this lady.  

She’s an extreme motivator always has been in my opinion and she brings it every time. We all have our off days but not The Blue Sapphire she’s ON every class. And today was no exception the discography was rocking and her voice over matched the syncopated beat. 

Some of my favorite spin mates were in attendance like Stacy, Josh and Howard and Ferne to mention a few they just add to the convivial ambience I experience when I enter the Lavender Palace. I forget my troubles and soak in the energy of my friends they always seem to lift my spirits. 

Carolyn had the baton today and her orchestration was fabulous. Thanks Carolyn for a great start to a Sunday as our summer winds down.  

Above & Beyond

When I drive into that parking lot and gather my gym bag in my hand I know that I am starting my day off on the right foot. Even though I will be using both the time I spend is well worth my efforts. My fitness regimen will insure a longer life (God willing) and one that keeps my mind alert, friends in touch and my aching body full of complaints. The alternative is not one that I can ever foresee because an athlete’s life is my life. 

This Sunday had me at church first leading my “other life” reading scripture at the lectern before I could saddle up and saddle down in Carolyn’s 9:15. The times have changed a bit as an 8 o’clock has been added for those hearty souls that need to start their Sunday just a bit earlier. I caught 5 minutes of John Kocaj’s class just because well just because. John is an under the radar instructor in my opinion. He doesn’t make a big splash but every one of his classes is power packed, constructed with strong preparation and something else he has elegance in his delivery with a dialogue to match. 

Sunday’s with Carolyn is something I am glad to get back to as this diminutive wonder is an all pro that keeps on delivering just as if she worked at EQ full time. There is no fall off with the Lambster’s limited schedule and Carolyn rounds out the stellar lineup just perfectly. She drives me hard and I like it like that. Every session has me pressing myself just one pedal stroke stronger than the class before. And Carolyn recognizes that we are athletes and we don’t mail it in ever! We take it above and beyond.  There are times when I feel and pardon the self-aggrandizement that we in Woodbury are the Elite. When I looked at Ferne and Janet next to me and Yale and Ritchie during the session all reminded me that although we are there to have fun we take spin class very seriously and whether that’s crazy or not we love it. That’s why I dig the first row we are there as Carolyn said: The first row represents.   

She's No Plush Toy

What is it about Sunday’s with Carolyn? I seem to rally in her class. After 5 days in the saddle I should be for all intents tired and spent from a week of my new battle with the Watts indicator. By the way those new consoles are a blessing and a curse simultaneously. They raise the stakes in our quest for fitness but it can also be a yoke a heavy one at that especially if we get too caught up in what the readings are.  Back to Carolyn, as I was saying normally I don’t expect much out of my physiology being 63 but The Blue Sapphire ups my game her personality, her conviction or maybe it’s her lesson plan. Carolyn always has one of those and by the end of today’s session my calorie meter read 800, and every indicator on that damn screen was higher. It’s always a good time with the Lambster. Thanks Carolyn.   

Sunday With Carolyn

Carolyn was nothing short of spectacular this morning. She has embraced these new consoles without letting them take center stage.  I know that the power numbers are the true measure of our efforts but each bike’s calibrations might be slightly different than the next and what I have to keep in mind is that each day is different and just like a pitcher whose curve ball doesn’t curve or sinker that doesn’t sink one class doesn’t have to mirror the last.  I may have more energy than the day before or just be dragging my butt.  Carolyn knows that instinctively and unlike me to her numbers are merely a guide not a religion. 

What The Blue Sapphire has done is put the fun back into our beloved spin class and given me a sense that I don’t have to exceed yesterday’s numbers but rather see progress over time. The Watts and other indicators are a measuring stick and are not there to hold us hostage for higher numbers every time we saddle up.  

The crowd on Sunday’s always seems to be just a bit different than during the week or on Saturday’s but there’s a good sprinkling of some of my favorites like Howard, Ferne and Ivan to name but a few and the new faces were just as energetic just as enthralling to be with and for that I thank you.  And Carolyn I am so glad that I have made it back to your class with more regularity. There was one that was conspicuous by her absence but I am sure she will be there smiling tomorrow. 

Queen Bee

I know her as The Blue Sapphire and the Lambster but she was the Queen Bee today. Her flawless execution of workout and discography made for a lightning like session. She helped me cap off yet another week of higher watts and calories burned. Carolyn is a master motivator and with the new equipment we have the wings to fly strong in and out of the saddle.  The new Schwinn’s are not perfect but a vast improvement over their predecessors. They have amped up the workout immeasurably.  

And the Queen Bee had it all going on today and we were the worker bees buzzing up and down her hive.  The energy for the early Sunday session had us focused, driven and relentless. For this writer that front row can be daunting but I like it up there with the likes of the Stacy Tucker’s of the world. Women like her and guys like Michael and Roy add just the right pressure for me to give my level best every session.  

Sunday usually ends the weekend but MLK has us savoring Monday as well. Thanks Carolyn for making Sunday morning great and to my friends Kristen Finello and Cameron Bean for a most enjoyable brunch too!

Go Someplace I’ve Never Gone Before

That’s what it was this morning with The Blue Sapphire, Carolyn Mellace. I have been pushing harder than ever in class these days in search of who knows what. The closest woman in the world to me worries I am spinning myself to an early grave. Well maybe not that severe but even I know that I give my all to this group exercise. My all.  When I looked at the river of my toil beneath my bike today I realized that what I seek is inside my head not in the pedal stroke. 

Carolyn’s class today was by far the best ever in the 3 plus years I have taken her sessions. It was the energy, the discography and of course the authenticity of the lithesome one leading a packed house in the Lavender Palace. Carolyn gives her heart and soul to us every Sunday and we love her for it.  Today was just well even better. 

The 1015 was for me a metaphor of where I am headed now. A new road, a new direction and if I keep my head right size one that I will take with me when I am but ashes.  Thanks again Carolyn for a great Sunday. After lectoring today it capped the morning off perfectly. Going someplace I’ve never been never felt this good.