My twenties and all the way up to my mid thirties was a very busy and messy time filled with finishing off my degree in Recreation Management, marrying a military man up in Canada, giving birth to two little boys in two years, divorcing and building a career while also a single mother. Needless to say, there was little time for dedicated athletic training.
My first full time job out of college was as a full time instructor with the eighth largest YMCA in Canada. I taught 16 group exercise classes a week (primarily high impact, but also low impact, mixed impact, strength and endurance classes, flexibility based classes, pre and post natal classes and step aerobics). I also taught 16 preschool movement education classes a week. 32 structured classes a week and personal exercise prescriptions in between.
Needless to say it was a very demanding regime and for a few months I was in excellent physical shape. And then (predictably) the endless nagging soreness began to turn into chronic injuries. Never ending shin splints. Foot stress fractures. And aggravation of a chronic knee injury from my time in karate. Even though I was only in my mid-late 20s and in excellent shape, I was getting worn down. By the end of 8 months in this position I was actively searching for another job. Enough was enough.
And then a supervisor of specialized fitness programs resigned. I interviewed for and got her job. I was still teaching (but only fitness classes and now only about 10 classes a week). It was a huge improvement in working conditions and I loved the new challenge (as well as the additional money) of being in a supervisory position.
A year later a second fitness supervisor left, the two positions were consolidated and I became the supervisor of all adult fitness classes at the YMCA. 160 hours of fitness classes a week held in 3 different areas of the facility, and over 100 part-time and volunteer instructors in all. I hired, trained, in-serviced and supervised all instructors, in addition to conducting Fitness Instructor Training Courses for 30 new instructors every two months. VERY busy job. VERY demanding job. And I loved it.
Three years later I moved myself and my two boys two hours west to open a new YMCA before ending up in northern Ontario as the Assistant Director of the 12th largest Y in the country. i oversaw all operations for the Adult Fitness, Fitness Center, Pre-School, Aquatics and Youth Programs departments. I was SO highly motivated and ambitious back then
By the time I moved down to Tennessee with my new American husband I was in my mid thirties. I had spent more than the past decade busily building a career and raising little boys and for while I floundered in my new home, trying to decide what my next move was going to be. A year after we moved to Tennessee I began working part-time as a Supervisor of Adult Fitness for a YMCA that at that time was holding programs in a large church community hall while a new Y facility was being built. In addition to that I also started a wellness consulting company that specialized in providing fitness and wellness programming and seminars for Law Enforcement agencies. The Y stuff I could do in my sleep and I did it all automatically and without much thought.
The consulting was a whole new ballgame and it opened up an entirely new sphere of challenges, and a learning curve that I relished. I conducted POST certified Fitness Instructor Training Courses at community colleges and the TN Law Enforcement Training Academy. I was published in a number of law enforcement publications as a subject matter expert (including a New South Wales, Australia monthly LE magazine). I visited law enforcement agencies to conduct seminars on topics ranging from fitness for duty to stress management. I loved it. All of it.
In terms of my own personal fitness and/or athleticism, I had reached the point by that time where I was aimlessly working out at a local gym. Aimlessly walking to nowhere on a treadmill. Aimlessly climbing to nowhere on the stair climber. Aimlessly lifting weights. Occasionally taking in a group exercise class. No goals. Just moving because it felt like my life was out-of-sync if I STOPPED moving.
And then one day I was flipping through TV channels looking for something worthwhile to watch and I stopped on the Discovery Channel. I started to watch something called Eco Challenge. And as I continued to watch I became more and more enthralled by what I saw. Something called Adventure Racing.
For a few nights in a row I tuned into this Eco Challenge race, watching teams of racers mountain bike, road bike, rappel, rock climb, swim, paddle navigate over hundreds and hundreds of miles of back country, day in and day out in some exotic locale. Racing together, suffering together, forcing their exhausted and injured bodies to keep moving day and night with almost no rest.
It was an amazing experience to learn for the first time about this sport called Adventure Racing and I instantly knew that I wanted to do it. It called to me. Only...............I didn't know anything about the outdoors. I hadn't been on a bike since I was a little kid (and never a geared bike). I had only been in a canoe once. I didn't know how to rappel, or kayak, or read a map or a compass. I didn't even know how to swim for Gods sakes. I was in my late 30's by this time. God, I was too old. I didn't know how to ANY of those things that I had seen racers do during the race. I was in my late 30s. I was too old....................I put it out of my mind.
A couple of years after starting my consulting company my husband accepted a position a few hours away and we moved our family to a tiny town in middle Tennessee. And I accepted a position with a small town municipal Parks and Recreation Department. I was the supervisor of a community center which sounds like a great job, but in truth I had no responsibilities aside from sitting in an underutilized building babysitting the few people who wandered in daily to work out in the weight room. I was bored out my mind, was treated poorly by supervisors, and (again) within the year I was actively looking for another job.
I found the Eco Challenge on TV again the next year. Again the race took place in some exotic locale, and again I was mesmerized by the talent, stamina, sheer toughness of these men and women who suffered through 10 straight days of racing. I couldn't get it out of my mind. I had been trying for the past year but hadn't been able to forget about it. With much trepidation and a whole lot of hesitation, I realized that second year that it was not going away and I decided that I was going to begin training, begin learning, begin thinking seriously about actually becoming an adventure racer.
I borrowed an old beater, geared mountain bike from a friend. I began going to the pool regularly so that I could teach myself how to swim. I began to read up on map reading and compass reading. I began hiking with an increasingly heavy pack.........................
Before I had a chance to quit my wholly unsatisfying job as a community center supervisor someone within the Rec Department left his position. I was offered the position and I accepted. A year earlier I had gone to the pool to learn how to swim. It turns out that I was a natural and learned quickly (who knew??). A year later I accepted a position as the Aquatics Director for the city. More learning - I needed to get certified as a Life Guard as quickly as possible. And then I needed to get certified as a Life Guard Instructor as quickly as possible. With my boys in high school and college by this time, I was very busy learning and training, both personally and professionally.
And then one day I saw a post on a regional message board. A Nashville based team had signed up for an 8 hour race at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina. It was a co-ed three person team, their female team-member had just dropped out at the last minute, and they were desperately looking for a female to fill in. It was Wednesday. The race was Saturday. I contacted them. It would be my first adventure race........................
My first full time job out of college was as a full time instructor with the eighth largest YMCA in Canada. I taught 16 group exercise classes a week (primarily high impact, but also low impact, mixed impact, strength and endurance classes, flexibility based classes, pre and post natal classes and step aerobics). I also taught 16 preschool movement education classes a week. 32 structured classes a week and personal exercise prescriptions in between.
Needless to say it was a very demanding regime and for a few months I was in excellent physical shape. And then (predictably) the endless nagging soreness began to turn into chronic injuries. Never ending shin splints. Foot stress fractures. And aggravation of a chronic knee injury from my time in karate. Even though I was only in my mid-late 20s and in excellent shape, I was getting worn down. By the end of 8 months in this position I was actively searching for another job. Enough was enough.
And then a supervisor of specialized fitness programs resigned. I interviewed for and got her job. I was still teaching (but only fitness classes and now only about 10 classes a week). It was a huge improvement in working conditions and I loved the new challenge (as well as the additional money) of being in a supervisory position.
A year later a second fitness supervisor left, the two positions were consolidated and I became the supervisor of all adult fitness classes at the YMCA. 160 hours of fitness classes a week held in 3 different areas of the facility, and over 100 part-time and volunteer instructors in all. I hired, trained, in-serviced and supervised all instructors, in addition to conducting Fitness Instructor Training Courses for 30 new instructors every two months. VERY busy job. VERY demanding job. And I loved it.
Three years later I moved myself and my two boys two hours west to open a new YMCA before ending up in northern Ontario as the Assistant Director of the 12th largest Y in the country. i oversaw all operations for the Adult Fitness, Fitness Center, Pre-School, Aquatics and Youth Programs departments. I was SO highly motivated and ambitious back then
By the time I moved down to Tennessee with my new American husband I was in my mid thirties. I had spent more than the past decade busily building a career and raising little boys and for while I floundered in my new home, trying to decide what my next move was going to be. A year after we moved to Tennessee I began working part-time as a Supervisor of Adult Fitness for a YMCA that at that time was holding programs in a large church community hall while a new Y facility was being built. In addition to that I also started a wellness consulting company that specialized in providing fitness and wellness programming and seminars for Law Enforcement agencies. The Y stuff I could do in my sleep and I did it all automatically and without much thought.
The consulting was a whole new ballgame and it opened up an entirely new sphere of challenges, and a learning curve that I relished. I conducted POST certified Fitness Instructor Training Courses at community colleges and the TN Law Enforcement Training Academy. I was published in a number of law enforcement publications as a subject matter expert (including a New South Wales, Australia monthly LE magazine). I visited law enforcement agencies to conduct seminars on topics ranging from fitness for duty to stress management. I loved it. All of it.
In terms of my own personal fitness and/or athleticism, I had reached the point by that time where I was aimlessly working out at a local gym. Aimlessly walking to nowhere on a treadmill. Aimlessly climbing to nowhere on the stair climber. Aimlessly lifting weights. Occasionally taking in a group exercise class. No goals. Just moving because it felt like my life was out-of-sync if I STOPPED moving.
And then one day I was flipping through TV channels looking for something worthwhile to watch and I stopped on the Discovery Channel. I started to watch something called Eco Challenge. And as I continued to watch I became more and more enthralled by what I saw. Something called Adventure Racing.
For a few nights in a row I tuned into this Eco Challenge race, watching teams of racers mountain bike, road bike, rappel, rock climb, swim, paddle navigate over hundreds and hundreds of miles of back country, day in and day out in some exotic locale. Racing together, suffering together, forcing their exhausted and injured bodies to keep moving day and night with almost no rest.
It was an amazing experience to learn for the first time about this sport called Adventure Racing and I instantly knew that I wanted to do it. It called to me. Only...............I didn't know anything about the outdoors. I hadn't been on a bike since I was a little kid (and never a geared bike). I had only been in a canoe once. I didn't know how to rappel, or kayak, or read a map or a compass. I didn't even know how to swim for Gods sakes. I was in my late 30's by this time. God, I was too old. I didn't know how to ANY of those things that I had seen racers do during the race. I was in my late 30s. I was too old....................I put it out of my mind.
A couple of years after starting my consulting company my husband accepted a position a few hours away and we moved our family to a tiny town in middle Tennessee. And I accepted a position with a small town municipal Parks and Recreation Department. I was the supervisor of a community center which sounds like a great job, but in truth I had no responsibilities aside from sitting in an underutilized building babysitting the few people who wandered in daily to work out in the weight room. I was bored out my mind, was treated poorly by supervisors, and (again) within the year I was actively looking for another job.
I found the Eco Challenge on TV again the next year. Again the race took place in some exotic locale, and again I was mesmerized by the talent, stamina, sheer toughness of these men and women who suffered through 10 straight days of racing. I couldn't get it out of my mind. I had been trying for the past year but hadn't been able to forget about it. With much trepidation and a whole lot of hesitation, I realized that second year that it was not going away and I decided that I was going to begin training, begin learning, begin thinking seriously about actually becoming an adventure racer.
I borrowed an old beater, geared mountain bike from a friend. I began going to the pool regularly so that I could teach myself how to swim. I began to read up on map reading and compass reading. I began hiking with an increasingly heavy pack.........................
Before I had a chance to quit my wholly unsatisfying job as a community center supervisor someone within the Rec Department left his position. I was offered the position and I accepted. A year earlier I had gone to the pool to learn how to swim. It turns out that I was a natural and learned quickly (who knew??). A year later I accepted a position as the Aquatics Director for the city. More learning - I needed to get certified as a Life Guard as quickly as possible. And then I needed to get certified as a Life Guard Instructor as quickly as possible. With my boys in high school and college by this time, I was very busy learning and training, both personally and professionally.
And then one day I saw a post on a regional message board. A Nashville based team had signed up for an 8 hour race at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina. It was a co-ed three person team, their female team-member had just dropped out at the last minute, and they were desperately looking for a female to fill in. It was Wednesday. The race was Saturday. I contacted them. It would be my first adventure race........................