Moving for Melanoma 5K - If you ever thought to read one of my posts, please make it this one. (September 20, 2015)

As a general rule, I do not touch on serious topics in my blog, or anywhere outside the realm of my close friends.  Even then, I try to do it sparingly.  Everyone is dealing with different daily challenges and carrying different burdens.  No one needs additional heaviness.  I will not say that this blogpost is heavy, or burdening, but it is serious, and for good reason.  This week, I did the Moving for Melanoma 5K with one of my dearest, and definitely my longest-standing friend, Leigh.

Leigh has been my friend my entire life.  Our parents have been friends forever.  I cannot remember a point in my life when I did not know Leigh, which I think most people can only say about siblings or cousins.

In June 2015, Leigh went to a dermatologist appointment (as I hope everyone does every year).  She wanted her doctor to look at a mole that she thought looked funny.  Her dermatologist did not think the spot looked alarming, but removed the spot for a biopsy.  Leigh's instinct was correct, and shortly after her biopsy, she was informed that she had melanoma.  Not only that, the melanoma had spread to her lymphnodes.  Metastatic melanoma.

Leigh is 33, and at the time of her diagnosis, had a 3-month old baby, Rory.  Yeah, he is the little guy in the pictures.  As usual, cancer did not care about a person's age, or life responsibilities.

Leigh was diligent and received quick and successful surgical treatment. The entire ordeal caused Leigh to become inspired to find funding for melanoma research.

Leigh organized a group of us to participate in the Moving for Melanoma 5K in Wilmington, Delaware.
 

The race was huge!  When I pulled into the parking lot at the Wilmington waterfront, I was shocked at the number of teams!  In 2016, we will need to get some kick ass team shirts to keep up with the T-game around us.  The 5K was a nice loop around the Wilmington waterfront.  The sponsors were giving away loads of sunscreen, which I diligently snagged. 

Of importance...to me, Leigh and I crushed her husband in the race.  Sure, you might say, "hey, he is pushing a baby." One, look at that serious face.  You cannot underestimate a competitor who looks that serious.  Second, I have lost to people running with babies before.  I think they secretly give you momentum.  I am counting this as a win.  Sorry, Ty.

Unfortunately, after a few months in remission, Leigh's cancer returned.  She has undergone surgery again, and she is hoping to get in a trial at Foxchase Cancer Center for immunotherapy treatment that is supposed to be very good.

 Leigh is a redhead with fair skin and probably more diligent about sun care than most people of my generation.  I will say that people my age (we will go with roughly 30) are better than our parents were about sunscreen.  I never witnessed my friends rolling around in baby oil and basking in the sun, which are the tales I hear from people my parents' age.  That said, I also see my friends diligently slathering 50 SPF sunscreen on their children in a way I never saw them put sunscreen on themselves when we were growing up.  That is why I think our generation is at a huge disadvantage in the healthy skin battle.  For our generation, both the ozone and the sunscreen use were weak. 

I encourage anyone to become an advocate for whatever they care about.  I'm not hear to preach, but if you don't have a cause and are looking to help out society in some way, efforts to improve cancer research is a great place to focus your time and energy.   Do the Melanoma 5K in Wilmington if you are in that area.  Consider joining our 2016 team because I have no doubt that Leigh will be putting a team together next year.  I love you, Leigh!  You are strong, and you are a fighter, and I am so proud of you.

And in the words of Baz Luhrman, wear sunscreen.

Revenge of the Penguins 10-miler - Beautiful scenery and one penguin mascot (September 13, 2015)

I ended up registered for the Revenge of the Penguins by chance.  I was registered for a 10-miler scheduled for the previous spring, but I became incredibly sick the week of that race and requested to transfer my bib to another race.  The organization hosting the race was incredibly nice and told me I could transfer my bib to a September race called Revenge of the Penguins.  Who doesn't love penguins?  Black and white animals are adorable in general. One word. Pandas.  I guess Zebras aren't so much adorable as majestic, but I am  getting side tracked.

Anyhow, I am so happy with how this twist of fate worked out because the course was beautiful.  That said... getting there was an adventure.

The race was held at Carderock Park in Maryland.  Basically, on the opposite side of DC (from me...give or take... I'm geographically challenged), near Bethesda.   I could not find an exact address for the Park, but I wasn't worried.  I try not to look at any of the race information until the morning of the race because I like the element of surprise, or apparently, being lost.  I also find reading directions painful, which is why I don't own any IKEA products.

The day of the race, I even slept in a little...because I am an idiot. My logic - no one will be on the road, and Google maps can get me to the park because Google maps can do anything. Well, Google maps dropped me in the back of a neighborhood in Maryland, and apparently wanted me to abandon my car and hike to the middle of the forest.  That didn't seem right.

Race time was quickly approaching.  I left the adorable, but incorrect Maryland neighborhood and got back on the main road.  I drove around about 20 more minutes looking for civilization. Keep in mind, it wasn’t even 8 in the morning, and I was in a wilderness area, so there weren’t a lot of options.  Suddenly, what did I see ahead?  A bakery!  Perfection!  I would stop, get a delicious pre-race treat, get directions to the park and be on my way!  I went into the bakery and asked the store owner about the location of Carderock park. 

Turns out, I had stumbled upon a Korean bakery, which although delicious, presented a slight language barrier.  The man behind the counter had never heard of the park.  Well, that was a bummer.  Oh wait, another customer walked in.  I asked that gentleman about the park.  He could speak very little English and did not recognize the park.  Fuck. I thought to myself, this sucks...and, I should look into Rosetta Stone.  I'm never making the race.

Luckily, the shit in the bakery looked delicious, so as a consolation, I purchased a number of fruit tarts, cookies and danishes and got back in my car #healthy.  I gave up the ghost and started to drive home.  The Nation’s Triathlon (the real badasses) was about to start in downtown DC, so instead of driving back through the city to get home, I decided to take 495.  As I drove towards 495, I saw a sign for the Carderock Park’s picnic area!  It was a race day miracle.  I ended up getting to the race 5 minutes before start.

I can't say enough about the course.  We ran on the C&O Canal Towpath. It was gorgeous. Just look at the pictures.  At one point, the Potomac river was on one-side and the locks of the C&O Canal were on the other.  It was quiet and beautiful.
 

I have noticed that Maryland courses (based on all two Maryland races that I have run in) tend to be narrower, which is a little difficult in the beginning, but I think makes for a more pleasant race overall because it usually means the race is off the beaten path, smaller, and quieter.  The description online says it perfectly, "low-key, low-stress."

At the end of the race was an incredibly grungy looking penguin mascot being inundated with children who wanted to be held.  Watching that spectacle towards the finish line gave me a good giggle.  There is no way that mascot costume could be dry cleaned enough to recover from that day.  More importantly, at the end of the race was tons of peanut butter, and we received a nifty windbreaker with a picture of the penguin emblem, which you see above. 

I definitely recommend signing up for this race.  See http://www.mc-coop.org/revenge_of_the_penguins.aspx

I know I want run it again! 

Heated Power Yoga - That time I signed up for the wrong class (August 12, 2015)

I rarely workout during the middle of the workday.  There is usually too much work to be done, the mid-day shower is a hassle, and I generally feel as if I get my best workout in the evening.  That said, every once in a while I will try and squeeze one in if I know my evening is going to be hectic. On this special day, I decided that I would pop into one of those CorePower Heated Yoga Sculpt classes that I like so much.  Unfortunately, that is not at all what actually happened.  Instead, I showed up to the wrong class, and I didn't comprehend the mix-up until 35 minutes into the class.  Win.

The class that I ended up taking was Heated Power Yoga.  If you have followed this blog, I am terrible at yoga.  I am not flexible or quiet.  I would never sign up for something called Heated Power Yoga on my own accord.

I walked into the class.  Per usual, it was hot, so nothing seemed amiss.  I set up my mat (i.e. unroll it) and look around.  It seemed a little weird to me that no one had weights next to them, but I wrote it off in my head.  "We will probably just be doing a crazy amount of push-ups today.  No need for free weights." My flawed logic didn't end there.

The class started.  The instructor gave no speech about lifting exercises, but I reassured myself that there was no need for an explanation since there were no weights.  Or, maybe she recognized us all from previous classes and knew we knew what we were doing. Of note, I had never had her as an instructor, so this conjecture was particularly baseless.

The music started and we began doing yoga stretches.  Not unusual.  The class usually starts with five minutes of this before the music amps up and we get going.  Ten minutes go by...man, why are we still doing yoga?

The music started to pick up, but not in that blaring Ludacris type of way that it should for this class. It was more like amping up from Enya to John Mayer.  We also weren't doing jumping jacks or push ups.  WTF? Herein lies one of my problems with yoga.  I couldn't just lean over and ask the person next to me what was going on.  Embarassment aside, I am just supposed to keep my mouth shut and not kill anyone else's meditative vibe.

Fast forward 35 minutes.  We are doing some aggressively advanced yoga...or, basic yoga. I can't tell the difference. It is all well above my skill level.  Anyhow, I looked at the clock and realized that I may as well beat everyone to the shower and get ready to go back to work.  Obviously, I stumbled into the wrong class. Luckily, as I try to do when I take classes, I had positioned myself by the door.  I slithered out.  I decided that the smoothest thing to do was to just leave my mat and stuff in the studio so as not to draw attention to myself while leaving.  Another poor choice.

I head to the locker room to take a quick shower.  I get out and get ready.  I step out, but unfortunately, the class still has two minutes left.  Shit. This is awkward.  I paced outside the studio in the lounge area (not looking weird at all) until class was dismissed and scurried in to get my mat.  The instructor rushed over to me and informed me that she was very alarmed because I just disappeared during class.  I think she was exaggerating her sense of alarm because she obviously didn't feel the need to check on me.  She was super worried in that kind of way where you take zero action and do zero follow up?  I think the more honest statement from her would have been, "I was mildly curious about where you went, but figured you would come back for your shit."

I explained to the instructor that I had to hustle back to work.  I didn't want to tell her that I blatantly signed up for the wrong class, and her class is actually how I envision my hell.  Nothing against the class or the studio - I'm sure it was lovely for the yogis.  One man's hell is another man's delightful lunch hour.

I returned to my office that day rather defeated.  I checked Classpass to learn that I had taken half of a Heated Power Yoga class instead of my beloved sculpt class.

I have no pictures from this adventure.  Embarrassment and bitterness doesn't photograph well for me no matter what filter I use.  As a result, I just provided a completely random one for aesthetics.  I hope you like
my dog.

Solidcore - How I learned Sheila might be a masochist (July 31, 2015)

Sheila is incredibly sweet.  When I started blogging about my workouts and said that my goal was to try a new workout every week, she took the time to tell me about a listserv called Active Life DC.  I signed up and I now receive emails almost daily about workouts, many of which are free, available around the city.  Super thoughtful suggestion from Sheila, right?

She recently sent a few gals, including myself, a group email about Solidcore.  She was very excited because a Solidcore studio opened up right next to her condo.  I was very excited because I had no clue what she was talking about.


I arrived at the Solidcore studio still knowing nothing about the workout (my preference).  When I walked in, the machines on the floor looked like heavy-duty Pilates carriages.  In my head I thought, "cool, fancy Pilates."  Per usual, I was wrong.  Solidcore is so much harder than Pilates. Actually, Solidcore is the hardest workout I have ever tried.  I sweat more doing Solidcore than any other workout.  That includes running distance races.

It is difficult to articulate the exercises done on the apparatus, but it allows you to work all of your body parts.  There is a carriage in the middle of the machine that moves back and forth, and there is a stationary platform on either side of the carriage.  There are different pullies on the machine to perform exercises like overhead presses.  Or, you can perform triceps dips on the handles on the end of the stationary platform.  You can do lunges while standing on the machine, off the machine, or to the side of the machine.  It is difficult to adequately describe all that you can do with the machine, so I encourage you to watch the brief video on the Solidcore website: http://solidcore.co/

Now for the synopses.  The 50-minute class goes by incredibly fast.  As soon as you walk in and get on the machine you are working hard.  I have now been to a few classes, and they all seem to start with abs...and finish with abs. The class also goes quickly due to the  fast-paced music and the instructor counting down each exercise.  "In ten seconds...eight seconds...you'll switch to lunges...five seconds walk to the the back platform...only three more seconds..." you get the drift.  The countdown is necessary and not annoying at all.  I know that I am a sarcastic creature, but I am being one-hundred percent sincere.  Some of the moves are so challenging that if I didn't know that I only had to make it through eight more seconds, I would probably just give up and collapse on my machine.  After working out hard for roughly 45 minutes, you don't want to start doing planks to pikes as fast as possible on the torture apparatus, but you manage to get through the reps because you know there are only ten seconds left...five more seconds...three more seconds.

Encouraging things are written on the floor under the workout machine (see below picture).  I believe these sayings are to keep you going when you are crumbling from the successive mutant planks. For example, I saw one that said, "You're inspiring your neighbor."  I don't know if I am inspired by my neighbors in that class, but I have definitely been impressed by the strength of the other people in the class.    I am extremely confident that I have yet to inspire.  I was probably uninspiring the day that I forgot a shirt, purchased one at the studio, and then went home to realize that I was wearing it backwards the entire time.  For context, it wasn't a loose tank top.  It was a halter sports bra shirt.  I must have looked absurd.  Other sayings include, "Smile, you're getting stronger."   I smiled when I saw that one, but mostly because I was laughing from pain delirium.   I think the pain is pretty visible on my face because the other day I took a class and the instructor (standing directly in front of me) said, "just because it hurts doesn't mean you're doing it wrong or injuring yourself."  Okay, I guess I will take her word for it?  I think it hurts me because the class requires me to use a lot of muscles that I never usually use...or even knew existed.  Seriously, I think I worked a muscle that wraps around my ribs.  I didn't know there were muscles there prior to taking a Solidcore class.

All that said, the class is fantastic.  I swear that I notice a difference in my abs after one session. I now go in for tune-ups periodically (like post-fudge season, otherwise known as Christmas).  Admittedly, the classes are expensive.  There is no way around that fact, even when you buy a package.  Given that I already participate in Classpass, and I can't commit to any studio, I would never purchase a package, but I like going every now and then.  I think if you were trying to tone up for a wedding or a tropical vacation, it is hands down the best workout package you could purchase for fast results.

Thank you, Sheila.  I enjoy going to Solidcore every now and then.  Also, I'm completely convinced there is a masochist hiding behind your kind smile because Solidcore definitely hurts.  You are a bad ass for being a Solidcore regular.

Zum-Barre - Excuse me, ma'am. Did you get hit with a pipe? (July 23, 2015)

Continuing my Classpass extravaganza, I signed up for Zum-Barre.  The class was going to be a delightful combination of Zumba and Barre...or so I assume...I lasted 30 seconds.  Given the following description, I won't bother to mention where I attempted to take the class.

Things started off abnormal enough.  I drove to the studio, which was a new studio for me. It was in a building where you would find a dentist office or a podiatrist.  Small brick buildings in an office park.  That was fine.  I have seen workout studios in those settings.  Not sexy or exciting, but a space is a space, and I understand that rent is expensive.

I walked into the studio and another class was finishing up, so I hung out in the "lounge."  Lounge, lobby?  Waiting area?  Whatever.  It was a gem.  A lot of gyms sell gym clothes, and this one sold those, but it also sold hand made purses.  See one of the fine pursues to your left. And hand made jewelry.  There was also a mini-fridge in the lounge, but no indication there was anything inside the fridge for purchase.  It seemed to be used as random shelving, much like the empty cardboard box next to the fridge.

The class started, and I walked into the actual studio, which was surprisingly nice.  Again, see picture.

I start listening to two 17 years old ramble about smelling their workout mats while I put my stuff in a little storage cubby in the back of the room.  I lined up in front of the mirror to wait for class to start.  Unfortunately, then I looked at myself.  I had a massive welt on the side of my head.  Like golf ball large, and it was turning purple.  Alarmed, I grabbed my stuff and ran out of the studio and back into the weird lounge.  I walked up the to the girl who checked me into the class and asked "was this on my head when I walked in?"

The girl, who was an extremely disinterested late-teen or early 20-something stared at me looking rather dead behind the eyes for a second and goes, "ummmm, I dunno."  Frantically, I followed up with "what do you think it is?"  Again, "ummm, I dunno."

At that point, I decided that I needed to go to Urgent Care to investigate the situation because I feared an allergic reaction.  I told the front-desk girl that I would be leaving and told her to let the instructor know that it was nothing personal.

I hustled off to the closest Urgent Care clinic.  For a frame of reference, it was around 7 pm.  I scurried up to the Urgent Care...Closed.  Seriously, you closed two hours later than a doctor's office.  I need Urgent Care.  At that point, the bump was continuing to grow.  You can see the picture below.  That picture was my bump at about the time I left the class.  Gross, right.  Also, sorry for my friends who received text messages with the picture of this when I could not receive medical attention at the Urgent Care.  Sometimes, the best medical advice is randomly surveying your friends.

Okay, I needed to regroup.  A few doors down I notice a CVS with a Minute Clinic advertised.  Perfect!  Now, I obviously could have gone to an ER, but although I found the lump alarming, I did not find it ER worthy (and that was the consensus from the text message panel).  Anyhow, I scurried into CVS to ask whatever nurse was manning the minute clinic wtf was on my head.

Well, you know what also closes at 7 pm...the minute clinic in that CVS.  Seriously, what is going on?  What is the point of all of these after hours clinics if they close before dinner is over?

At that point, I was very frustrated and nervous because said lump was growing and very warm.  Desperate, I walked over to the pharmacist.

"Excuse me, but I believe I was bit by a bug," I politely say to the pharmacist.  "Do you have any recommendations?"

The pharmacist looks up at me and says, "did you fall down?"

A little thrown, I explain that I was in an exercise class and prior to the start of the class I noticed this in the mirror.  I reiterate that I believe that I was bitten by some type of bug.

"Did you get hit with a pipe?"  asks the pharmacist.

I just looked at her stunned at that point.  Admittedly, I did look like I was hit with a pipe, but I clearly stated what I had just been doing. More importantly, if I had been struck with a pipe, I probably would have gone to the emergency room, not be questioning my local pharmacist.  Also, where would I be getting in a fight that involved pipe beatings?  Am I in a Zumba gang?  Is there a lululemon fight club?  No, Miss Pharmacist, I was in a Zumba class...potentially with a bug.

She looked at me skeptically and then told me the aisle where I could find the Benadryl and recommended I put ice on my head.  She also said I should really go see someone if it got bigger...or if I fell down and forgot.  What? Just, what?

Luckily, I took a benadryl and held a bottle of water against my head and the lump began to go down.  Defeated, I got some frozen yogurt at the store next to the CVS and drove home.

I have not returned to Zum-Barre.  I do not know what caused my head injury, but I am too afraid to risk encountering whatever it was again, even if I want to see what kind of other goods they sell when they run out of purses.

Metabolic Resistance Training - Earl is a helper (July 18, 2015)

Continuing my Classpass experimentation, I signed up for Metobolic Resistence Training ("MRT") at a studio called Definitions.  Again, a workout studio conveniently located next to the previously mentioned awesome cupcake place, Baked & Wired.  

On a side note, I love all the different names for workouts.  You can take something as complex sounding as "Metabolic Resistance Training" and follow it up the next day with a class called "Pound." Anyhow, MRT is described as fun, personalized interval training.  I love interval training, and this workout wound up making the list of my top five favorite workouts; however, I must admit that I was incredibly skeptical when I started on my MRT adventure.

I walked up to the building where the MRT class was supposedly located.  It looked like an apartment building, or perhaps an office building.  I did not see any signs for the class.  As I approached the building, an older gentleman (maybe in his 50s) was standing outside the building milling around.  We made eye contact.

"Are you Kelly?" he asked.

Well, I was a little taken aback, but responded "Yes."

"So you're here for the class.  My name is Earl. Follow me."  I trotted into the building behind Earl.  It felt like half spy adventure and half blind date - so basically, awesome (on a later visit to the area, I did notice the small sign to the right).

Earl led me through the lobby of the building into a gym.  We entered the gym, which had some free weights and machines.  We hustled all the way to the back of the gym where there was an additional, walled-off workout room.  That small workout area is where MRT takes place.  The room, though small, houses all sorts of toys.  Water resistance row machines.  TRX ropes. Free weights.   I was pleasantly surprised at what they had to offer in such a small amount of space.  The other added bonus was that because the room was small, so was the class.

Like most interval training, the class is set up with a few different exercise stations.  Two people were paired up at each exercise station, and each station had two exercises. There were eight of us, and I was paired up with Earl.  Earl and I began the class on the rowing machines. We were supposed to row at a high intensity for 45 seconds, then we would break for 15 seconds, followed by do 45 seconds of kettle bell swings, and the return to the rowing machine to repeat the sequence.  We would do this three three times.  After three sets of each exercise in a station were completed, we received a one minute break while we moved to the next exercise station.

"Kelly, try to row faster." Earl starts giving me a lot of feedback and encouragement right off the bat on the rowing machine and the kettle bell swings.  Earl's encouragement was sweet, but very confusing.  Sir, we just met.  Also, do I not look like I'm trying to row my heart out? We move on to the next station.  It began with chest presses.  The instructor switched out my weights for a heavier set, which I really appreciated. I, like a lot of women, am timid when it comes to free weights. She was a better read on what I could lift than I was.  I really liked being pushed.

"You got this, Kelly!"
"Thanks, Earl."

We got to the next exercise station, which began with throwing medicine balls against the wall.  "Twist, Kelly.  Twist!"  Seriously, Earl.  At that point I did not know what was going on. In my head all I could think was what kind of partner are you, Earl? We have never met. There is no way I can provide you with such reciprocal encouragement while I'm trying to do what is turning out to be a very intense workout.

We take a water break.  One of the other participants in the class turns to Earl.  "What time are you teaching today?"  Light bulb. Earl isn't just some absurdly encouraging classmate...he the other instructor for the Definitions studio.  I was basically getting the benefit of personal training.  Everything suddenly made so much more sense.  We returned to the room to do side shuffles.  "Faster, Kelly!"  Sigh, I knew at that point my workout was going to continue to receive a lot of attention, which was going to be both awesome and exhausting.

The workout was great. I loved the set-up of stations and doing exercises for 45 seconds and maxing out reps.  There were lots of toys in the small space.  Limiting the number of people who could participate in the class also allowed for a lot of attention, which I believe would have been the case even if I hadn't had my own personal Earl.

I would recommend doing this workout.  I thought it was effective, and both Earl and the instructor leading the class were very nice.  Try not to be off put by the weird entrance, and if you end up in a class with Earl, try not to be annoyed.  He is the instructor.  You are receiving a huge benefit, not a bizarrely supportive, randomly assigned partner.  I have not had the chance to return to the class, but I definitely hope to make it back at some point. Maybe, I can actually take Earl's class.

Flywheel - British guy and space pants, sign me up (July 5, 2015)

Between the hippie hangouts and my cameo as a lumberjack, I had failed to try out any new traditional workouts in two weeks. Needing to rectify this, I returned to the Classpass smorgasbord and signed up for Flywheel.
In addition to a great workout, which I will address momentarily, the cycling studio itself is located in a cool building in Dupont Circle.  It looks like it used to be an old movie theater. There is a small marquee in the front, and the cycling room itself is stadium-style seating.

Also, there is apparently a massive picture of a woman on a stationary bike that takes up the entire left side of the building.  I didn't realize this until I did a Google images search.  I still didn't believe I could have missed that huge image, but sure enough, there she was last Saturday when I took the time to look on my way into class. Call me Ms. Observant.

Flywheel is different from Zengo and the Soulcycle because there is no "dancing," but there is still the standard cycling with a five(ish) minute portion of light weight lifting.  What makes the class stand out is a small computer screen attached to the side each bike that is measures the rider's torque (resistance) and RPMs (speed).  These measurements combine to provide the cyclist a total power measurement.  This is helpful, at least for me, because it is much easier for me to understand that I am supposed to be biking at 90 RPMs.  I'm much fuzzier when it comes to the typical class instruction of  make "another quarter turn on the knob," or the subjective instruction to "sprint." The Flywheel classes are either 45 or 60 minutes.  My first Flywheel class was a 60 minute class on Saturday with Alex R.

In addition to a swoon-worthy accent, Alex provides an excellent workout.  He is encouraging without being in your face.  Some instructors are very loud and think that constantly yelling cliche phrases is the way to go, and that might get some people excited, but I like Alex's normal volume and consistent, but not constant, encouragement.

Speaking of loud, I'm writing this in a Panera and there is a girl across the restaurant talking so loudly that I can actually give you a verbatim snippet of her current bellows: "So, like, anytime? I think I'm going to sign up for a workshop. Like, anytime in March. Like, a whole weekend." She also is currently feeling a lot of things...things I should not know as a stranger on the other side of a restaurant.  I digress, back to delightful Alex and the Flywheel workout. 

The coolest thing about Flywheel is the that you can track your individual statistics.  When you register for your class you create an account, and when you check into your class the computer on your bike is monitored for the duration of the class.  Those RPM, torque and power totals are all recorded.  Following class, you can sign in online and you are provided with the results of your workout, which includes your average RPM, max RPM, total distance and total calorie burn, as well as some other statistics.   Even though my stats never really change, I find it really fun to check them out after class.

An added bonus for competitive folks are the two television screens at the front of the cycling studio showing the cyclists' power rankings. When you sign up for your class, you can opt to have your score on the board in front of the room.  If you do so, your power score will be put up on the screen...provided you are within the top ten highest scores for your gender.

 I'm not particularly competitive, as least as it relates to cycling, so I will probably refrain from ever using that option, but it is a great incentive for those who are more competitive. And regardless of whether you sign up to go on the board or not, I find that I try hard to keep up with those on the board, which improves my overall workout.  The competitive aspect has also allowed me to convince my boyfriend to go with me once in a while.  Though he also doesn't opt to go on the board, he gets satisfaction from the stats and the scoring system

Also, I think the class is space themed? Or, they just went through a period of time where they sold a lot of space pants.  I can't quite tell, but I did buy awesome space workout pants there.  See the picture of the space pants below...and my huge feet. You're welcome.

After leaving the class, I texted a few of my friends with Classpass to suggest Flywheel and specifically Alex R.'s class.  Apparently, I was way behind the ball.  The universal response I received was basically, "duh, of course we already go to the British dreamboat who offers a great workout."  Well, my apologies.  I have now also gone to Coco at Flywheel, who was also wonderful, but I tend to stick to Alex.  

Try out the class. Your shoe rental is included in the price of your class.  Though shoe rentals only cost a few dollars at other studios, it is still nice to not have to worry about paying when you arrive.  If you provide your shoe size when you sign up for the class, Flywheel will have your shoes waiting in a little cubby under your bike number (it is quite adorable).

Recently, I heard a two girls in a Zengo class discussing how they weren't fans of Flywheel because they found the class intimidating.  You may feel that way, but you should at least give it a shot.  For what it is worth, I do not find it intimidating.  I find the ability to track my numbers fun and interesting, and I do not feel like anyone in the room is trying to intimidate me through their performance.

Oh, and if you go, wear space pants (if you own them).  If space isn't actually their theme, I would like to push for it.  Seriously, the pants are too great.