And no I don't mean bicycle gears!

Over the last couple of months I have been slowly switching my gears from promoting our awesome Women's Woodstock Cycling Grand Prix road race to a more family centric take on exercise.  Reason being I just had a baby!

During the last few months of my pregnancy I really got into providing prenatal and family exercise on a whole new level.  And I love it!  Being able to literally grow with some of my prenatal clients and talk about all the ins and outs of pregnancy was wonderfully reassuring for both sides.  Teaching Mommy and Me classes with other toddlers gave my older daughter and my clients kiddos something fun to do while mommy got her workout on.  You haven't seen cute until you've seen a couple of two year olds playing peekaboo or singalong to each other's toys over video chat.

So, for the next few entries I'm going to talk about fitness and the family.  Sure, it will have a mamma centered approach but that doesn't mean dad can't jump into a class with his kiddos too!

So, yesterday I took my daughter up to Woodstock for our last official pre-race meeting of this year.  The goal was to get the safety team and course team all on the same page and geared to go next weekend.  

It was pretty intense.  The amount of thought, care and planning that goes into a race like this is pretty amazing.  Three towns are involved, local and state police as well as a fire department or two!  To see it all come together is just awe inspiring.  

So is the course.  It's awe inspiring and from the back seat of a car at the tail end of an energetic caravan it will twist and turn your stomach into knots until the stunning distraction of the epic scenery is nothing in comparison to what you would give for a good ruben and greasy fries just to settle your stomach!

This course is crazy. CRAZY I say!!!!  It's crazy beautiful, it's crazy long, it's crazy technical and it is CRAZY hard.  And you know what?  We have over 70 crazy brave and awe inspiring women already signed up!!!  Now THAT is amazing.  It keeps being said that grown men, avid cyclists have given up on the hills of this course and yet these women are coming back for a SECOND time to show us what they've got and through tenacity and training they WILL CONQUER THE CATS!!!!

So, whether you cycle or not, are into women's sporting events or not, love the scenic Catskills or not, this event what it represents, and these women deserve our respect and our support.  Because this is epic!  These women are epic for being amazing racers, the donations we will be able to give to the Hope's Fund for women is epic, and of course... this course is EPIC.

www.WWCGP.com <---- Check it out and join us this Friday and Saturday!!!

So, this year I am lucky enough to be involved in America’s only women-only cycling grand prix!  How amazing is that?!  Not only that I get to do something super cool but more importantly that we Women now have our own Cycling Grand Prix race!

The race takes place in beautiful upstate new york and is between 32 and 65 miles depending on which category you sign up for (Pro 1-2, Cat 3 or Cat 4).  The Pro 1-2 is no joke if you are familiar with the formidable hills of upstate New York you know what I'm talking about.  

Another beautiful thing about this race (apart from the scenery of course!) is that this event will help to raise funds and awareness for HOPE’s Fund; which I was also lucky to enough to be a part of at the very beginning of my entrepreneurial adventures.  The HOPE's Fund and affiliated projects helped me to gain the confidence, education and other tools for success under my belt.  They are largely the spring in my first steps that allowed me to make the leap into my own practice as an Exercise Physiologist and Personal Health Coach.  For this I am so proud to be a part of an event, like Woodstock Women's Cycling Grand Prix, which gives back to such an enriching community of Women for Women. 


We would love to have you there as an athlete, a sponsor a spectator or volunteer.  Join us in spreading the wealth of Women for Women in athletics and beyond.  

So, there are lots of great ways to get started on your new exercise regimen.  Keeping a positive frame of mind is one of them!  So many of us think of exercising as "work" and I'm not going to lie to you- it is.  BUT it doesn't have to feel like work.   The little guy in this picture doesn't think it's work at all because to him its play!  

So, if you are having a hard time wrapping your mind around getting out there to "work"; don't!  Get out there and PLAY!  Bring a friend to the gym or rail trail.  Find a new mountain trail to hike or bike.  Rent a canoe for the day.  Or one of my personal favorites-  stick the baby in a comfy carrier hike to a pond, bring a healthy picknick lunch and let her watch the fish swim, tadpoles wiggle and the ducks fly by.

Dear Partner,

You mean so much to me and today is the perfect day to say thank you for everything you have helped me to accomplish.  So, thank you for pushing me to put my running shoes on during the days I just can't be bothered.  Thank you for having the perfect name to pace my stride, especially when I'm feeling alone.  Thank you for always being the one I race toward when I feel like giving up.  Thank you for your joyous and approving smiles when you see me run through the finish line (even if I'm last).  And thank you, dear daughter, for calling me Mommy.

You give me the motivation to begin, the strength to keep going and more joy I at the finish than I ever could have imagined. I love you. ~Mom

For the Month of May I am offering a 50% discount on all packages purchased by or for Mothers!  There are 12 packages available at this rate so get them soon!  And don't forget to say Happy Mother's Day!!!  with the gift of fitness to the loving mother(s) in your life!  Just one package per lucky mama please!