Day 40: I Didn't Need That Skin Anyway

Today was crazy busy. I was at the warehouse all day prepping for this weekends staging. I got out of there about 5:30, just in time to run back to the house, walk Fi, and grab clothes for this evening's pole fit workout with Q.... and surprise guest Sabrina! I was so excited. This was her first pole class.

As usual, Q's music was on point. We opened the class with The Weekend's Earned It which is probably my favorite song at the moment. It was all fabulous R&B with a little hip hop mixed in. I always feel so amazing when she teaches. I was even able to CLIMB the damn pole tonight for the first time ever. I still can't invert, but I am getting closer. A few more weeks of arms and I think I will be there.

I told you a few weeks ago that Pole can be "dangerous". I usually end up with bruises and such (which I kind of love)... Well, tonight was no exception. About halfway through the class, I look over and see Sabrina with a pained look on her face, holding her finger. She knocked into the pole wrong and completely took off one of her acrylic nails. OUCHY! With 15 minutes left in class, S runs out to catch up with her hubby and I took her pole. That thing is CURSED I tell you. I was going through our choreography and went to hop up into a pole hold when I heard something rip, immediately followed by the feeling of one thousand tiny needles digging into my hand. I pulled my hand back, looked down and realized my skin just separated from my body. Sexy, right?

That shit hurt like a BITCH! I looked at it for a second, kind of in shock, because it didn't make sense to me. It was a smooth pole.... but upon further investigation of my hands, I realized that I had a callous coming up because of the type of training I am doing. So, between the callous and the alcohol I was using to keep my hands dry enough to grip the pole, my skin decided it no longer needed to be attached to my hand. Needless to say, I am not getting back on the pole without some gloves... which happens to be conveniently sold at the front desk.

Once I figured out what happened, I ran out of class to the front desk, grabbed some pain cream and Band-Aids, and went to the locker room to change for this evenings festivities.  One of my friends (Hi Sophia!) got promoted, so everyone converged on Samuel Becketts' Gastro Pub to celebrate. It was a really good time. I imbibed on some delicious Pinot Noir and a couple shots of Fireball (since this is my last weekend to drink), hung out with some of my favorite people, and met some new friends. It was a great end to a crazy week.

I hope my future weekends will be as much fun without my good friend, red wine. I guess we will find out! I will talk to you tomorrow.

Day 32: That Music Though

Today was quite the productive day. I got an absurd amount of work done. Juggling 3 positions, in 3 companies and a daily blog could prove to be a handful, but a side effect of working out seems to be improved focus and additional energy. This makes keeping things in order a lot more manageable than it was a few months ago. I am digging it.

Part of my focus has to do with the music I listen to when I am working.  I love a lot of different music. Jazz, EDM, Electronica, Rock, Some Pop, Folk, Blues, R&B, even Country when I am in the mood..... but It's no secret my favorite music is Hip-Hop. I love it. Good Hip Hop is pure poetry and good beats have the ability to transport you into a different dimension. Example: today I was listening to Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and Nas - Illmatic on repeat. Both, excellent. Never get tired of them. I put on the music, I get my focus on, and I do work. It's great.

Let's talk about what is NOT great. //begin rant// Country or Justin freaking Bieber or some other terrible pop shit in a super intense spin class. I love MOI (Mind of Intensity) Cycle and I love Krank, but I do NOT love the heinous music that comes along with it. I need to be able to zone out and fall into the music in order for me to get the most out of this class. If one minute we are listening to some killer Dubstep, going 100 RPM's, then all of a sudden some woman or man child who sounds like a woman comes on crying about their lost love, I AM NOT INTO IT! The mood is now wrecked, I am irritated that I am being forced into listening to some shitastic music, and my legs or arms stop doing what they are supposed to be doing.

 

This has nothing to do with our instructors. Steven Shaw you are a God among men and may the Lord bless you for having to listen to these terrible songs on repeat leading up to the class and still manage to push us into amazing results. I have to BELIVE that our instructors are not the ones responsible for the music in MOI. I suspect these play lists come from the designers of MOI and they go with a predetermined workout. I get it. Not all of the music is bad. Just 60% of it. All I'm saying is I really wish that whoever is designing these playlists would take into consideration the club demographics in urban areas when choosing the songs. I am sure a lot of MOI's playlists are great for somewhere like Aspen or wherever MOI was developed. Not so much for us over here on the east coast. Would it kill you to add a little hip-hop and more EDM or DubStep? Maybe even a class with all electronic music.... SOMETHING?! 

If I have to hear another country song in a spin class, I may get up and walk out. I just can't with this music. Country has a time and place... mostly drinking beer around a tailgate... NOT when I am trying to sweat my ass off with 30 of my closest friends... who, mind you, are ALL bitching about the same terrible music. Please hear my cry MOI. We need better music! //end rant//

Ugh, I am going to cleanse my earholes. I'll talk to you tomorrow.