the back and getting back.

In October of last year I made Master of Sport in biathlon. Everyone who knows me, and the five who read this blog (prolly more like three now, I've been so negligent in my writing) know how hard I worked for years to achieve this goal. And.I.Fucking.did.it. And you best believe I am proud.
Over the next months, I took a bit of time off and then semi competed in November. I was burnt out. I needed a break.
Oh, be careful what you wish for.
OH BE VERRRRYYYY CAREFUL.

oh..bitch, you are SO not training...

My back is hinky at best. I have genetic problems, all the women in my family have scoliosis. I am no exception. I have SI problems...and blah de blah and on and on and on. Kettlebells have consistently strengthened and improved my back issues. But I don't know when to stop. A day in December and I was training. I felt my back just ache during the GPP portion, deadlifts...good mornings. I continued training for a few days, ignoring the ache. And then the pain became insane, I was rolling out and basically screamed because suddenly the back of my right leg was just in agony. Ask me if I stopped training. Nope. My husband was furious. My coach was glare-y.

this shit feels weird.

awwww...poor juliet, she suffers.

It's two months later. I have had to go to multiple doctors, take medicines I fear and despise, get an MRI, learn that when an MRI report says you have a "large" herniation poking your sciatic nerve, they ain't kidding, cry in pain, get a Epidural cortisone shot. Basically my life shut the fuck down.
(Oh, and my personal favorite, organizing the OKC California Open, and being on prednisone the day of the competition, basically I was INSANE)
I couldn't work, more importantly (to me) I couldn't train. My beacon of sanity. The thing that prevents me from going postal. I lived in a perpetual space of self pity. And oh my god, I can't thank the trainers at juno enough, I owe each and every one of them a plate o'pancakes. And jeebus, where would I be without my students. Love you guys, and NATHAN I miss the fuck out of you.
I say lived in self pity because I am hoping to get beyond this fucking place. Even though the back doctor said "yeah, well...you can't spinal load (aka jerk/snatch heavy) for 3-6 months..." my response was "3-6 weeks you mean." nah, he meant 3-6 months. Ok, ok, enough already. Fuck, I bore the shit out of myself.

So now what? I got off the meds. I come out of my shell. I swim (oh my god, water is all WET) to lengthen, I do (gulp) pilates to even out my muscle imbalances. I do wee 8k snatch sets. For the next 3-6 months. What a fucking haul. But I truly truly need to work and write and start working out on some level. Or go even more batshit.
Enough, enough. Here's to kicking myself in the ass (with a little help from my friends).

-juliet

pimpin' out the minions

Jennifer and Julie. It WAS movember

Somehow, trainers just fall in my lap. Not in a naughty way, but in the best way possible. Willow showed up right before Juno opened, and she has been with us for the three years we have been open. Miss Carey happened to be training at Ralph Gracie next door one day about a year and a half ago. The moment she shook my hand I knew she was right for Juno. John, well, he's my coach and has been instrumental in building our amazing kettlebell community. All of our staff are beyond amazing, I am grateful for them every day.

jennifer=note taking minion.

But let me introduce you to the trainers in training, Juno's minions.

An old friend emailed me about Jennifer, saying she was interested in becoming a trainer and did I have any tips (this is very similar to how I hired Willow, btw) for her. She dropped by and I knew she would fit right in. She faithfully attended the am bootcamps, observing, working out, taking ten jillion notes (I will never understand that, I think I'm just lazy as fuck). When I decided to add a pm drop-in class, I decided she would be the one to teach it. She worked with me all summer and took over late August. I think that all of the clients who get their asses whooped twice a week would agree that she rules. 

julie explains how sprint intervals are better,
not that we have a treadmill...

Julie moved here from Chicago and strolled into the nitey nite bootcamp, did the workout, posted a 5 star review on yelp (because...she was a minion even then!) and emailed me about tips on how to be a trainer.  She started assisting Willow in the mornings, and has been rocking her trial client, Liz. She is funny as hell, which I love. Even if she does send me links like this when I am doing the whole 30.
Both the new minions are great, I am really am amazed that these people just fall from the sky (like, it's raining men, only they aren't men) into Juno.
And, I know, we all roll our trainer-y eyes at Jillian Michaels, but this video is hilarious.

-juliet

Why We Do This

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

On July 14, 2011 this email arrived at Juno: 

Hello!

As you can see I am very near by. I am looking for a trainer to work with who will get in my face, not take my bullshit, and push me to do what I know is best for my middle age, middle class, white lesbian, 250 pound body.  So please tell me the truth, is that you?  There's aches and pains and 60 hours a week of work and I have two labradors and a damn elliptical in my garage that I clean every month or so and my heart rate only goes up when I'm in the hot tub every morning. I drive by you all the time and wonder if we were working together would I walk the 8 blocks or drive? My life has become a series of mental negotiations to avoid exercise.

So, are you for fit folks wanting to be fitter or can you take on a struggling ex-athelete trying to figure out how to get some amount of control back in her life?

the before

I feel like I'm writing a personal ad but I'm a little desperate.

Best,

Marj

Juliet asked me to make the follow-up call and Marj began training at Juno in early August of 2011.  

From day one Marj knew she had some demons to face and some work to do BUT she never actually complained. Not once. I have rarely seen such drive and dedication.  Marj was ready.  

Soon Marj's partner Tracy started training too and they inspired each other in a team effort.  They initiated major changes in their nutrition and educated themselves about what foods work the best for them individually.   They began working out between training sessions on their own and together.  Their dogs didn't know what hit 'em!

Of course there were setbacks. There were the aches and pains that accompany a leap into exercise.  There were times when we had to construct workout work-arounds to keep the momentum going despite old injury flare-ups and the body shifts that come with such full commitment to lifestyle change.  

They developed mental toughness and self-compassion.  They learned about physical self-care, respecting their limits and how to keep going when the going gets...hard.  They learned perspective. 

And: They took everyone with them.  They became vocal about their commitment to health and fitness.  Marj participated in a cardio challenge fundraiser and began posting her workouts online.  People noticed.  Juno noticed.  

Their hard work paid off: They are in amazing shape.  Their in-session training intensity is high-level.  Over 14 months Marj has lost 60lbs and Tracy has lost 40lbs.  And they want to take this further.  THEY ARE NOT DONE!

They took themselves on a walking tour of Tuscany last week and I got this email from Marj: 

The trip is fantastic! We are hikers! I've always wanted to be hikers. People talk to us like we are hikers. Yesterday we hiked 5 miles straight up and down a hill (twice because we took a wrong turn) and it was totally doable. We thank you with every step.

We, at Juno could not be more proud of, impressed with and inspired by the two of you. (Juliet admitted she actually shed tears over how far you have come, and Juliet is...well...badass).  This is why we do what we do.  THANK YOU. 

the after

-Carey

Oh look, Juliet is talking (whining) about kettlebells...AGAIN

45.5, hot in my reading glasses, yo 

I lift kettlebells because I love LOVE lifting them. The technical aspect keeps me from ever getting bored (like having a child, it's never boring and often frustrating), the fact that I am actually a decent lifter at the age of 46 (I know! I only look 45.5)  feeds my vanity and helps my self esteem.

I am getting ready to compete in Chicago at the WKC worlds. I registered in June (being the super organized lady I am) thinking I had sooo much time to train. How the fuck did it get to be four weeks away? I feel like I've procrastinated, but I know I haven't. I just don't feel like I'm getting any better.

i perish...

My training protocol is brutal right now. I'm almost into stage 4, when I start to taper so I don't explode into little pieces when I compete. Stage 3 is the hardest stage, I am under the bells either at a brutal pace, numbers or weight. I often can't/won't finish sets*, actually I am shocked when I can. My body constantly feels beat up and I am exhausted. I do my last viciously hard set, why...TOMORROW. I cringe just thinking about it.

tether? i'll show you tether...

*Note-often when I can't finish sets it's because my mind tells me "nofuckingway...NOFUCKINGWAY" and I put the bell down. This is a different type of failure than the physical donsies. This is the mental quitsies, and is much more insidious.

Here is a conversation I had with my glorious (read-big meanie) coach after I put the bell down early in a set:
me-"I'm at the end of my tether!!!"
jwb-"no, you're not."
me-(almost in tears) "But...I just...am..."
jwb-"you're not."

who doesn't love sexy anime cheerleaders?

And he's right. I am not at the end of my tether (the husband has informed me that rope would be the correct noun in this saying, but fuck him) I am at the end of stage 3, about to start my competition season at a much higher level than last year. So on a positive rah-rah note, with very little eye rolling, I am better, WAY better. I am ready for the next two competitions. I have trained hard, I have competed many times in the last 2 years and have done well. I look forward to being on the platform and doing my best, I always do in competition, it's where I thrive. I can snuff out the mental quitsies when I compete, all that hard work and frustration finally pays off.

UPDATE-it's the next day, I did the way hard set today. I didn't do the numbers in the time I wanted, but I held onto the bell.

Bootcamp

willow, pre-coffee iv

Beep beep beep beep…4:37am the alarm goes off…that is on days when I manage to sleep past 4:15.  I hate waking to an alarm clock so my brain usually wakes me up beforehand so I can switch the blasted thing off.  Get up, drink that first quart of coffee.  This time of day is so surreal; all of the people that stay up most of the night have gone to bed and the next shift of human activity hasn’t quite started yet.   It’s the best time ever to commute; the city is dark and quiet, just a handful of cars on the road.  It feels like I own this town.  Shift to the gym…almost eerily still…the smell of rubber mats and chalk. I switch on the lights and the brightly colored walls instantly saturate my retinas.  “Willow get ready to get your fitness on…did I drink all of my coffee yet?...where is the 18lb medicine ball?...I hope they like this workout…oops I failed to make a new playlist, AGAIN…how can I be this tired?” 

typical bootcamp workout

The words “boot camp” evoke a lot of negative imagery of some pinched looking guy in a uniform, barking out orders and raining down shame on everyone within shouting distance.  Not so at Juno.  Neither is it one of those cult-like gyms where you must, “comply to our lifestyle or fail”.  We don’t serve Kool-Aid at Juno, thank you very much.  A client once said (while groaning on the floor after a class), “I’m glad this is the ‘kinder, gentler’ boot camp because I don’t think I could take working this hard AND getting yelled at”.  I love teaching boot camp classes at Juno.  Of course it’s in no small part due to the amazing clientele.  I count myself lucky because across the board, from beginner to seasoned athlete they are inspiring.  Half the time when I’m standing there calling out time or counting (poorly) I’m thinking, “Wow I want to be like (your name here)!”   There is so much to love.  There’s the determination and fierceness that comes out in even the shyest, most unassuming person when they are driven to do that one more rep, to jump a little higher, to lift a little heavier.  There is the sea of positive energy that comes from a room full of people with the same goal, to be a little bit better tomorrow than they are today.  There’s the success that comes from hard work.  Seeing client progress is the best; that first push up or pull up, that perfect deadlift, positive changes in body composition, relief from back pain, better performance in their usual sport, the person that has “never worked out” admitting that she’s started doing Tabatas on her own.  Seeing those positive changes is so addictive it’s like a drug.  So what’s so special about boot camp at Juno? What gets me up at that early morning/fuzzy headed/haven’t-slept-enough-in-years time of day?  It’s not that I have some magical early morning skills (just try and get me to do simple math!)  It’s the people that come to class.  They are awesome. 

-Willow

OKC bay area competition! we laughed...we lifted heavy shit...

group pic! photo courtesy of Nazo...

On 8/11/12, Juno Fitness hosted the first bay area open kettlebell competition with the Orange Kettlebell Club and it was wonderful, we had 25 competitors and a bunch of awesome spectators.
The OKC and Juno team lifted really well, and a bunch of peeps hit PR's in their sets. Christian Golberg came from Colorado and whipped out a set with the 20k, just one rep short of MS! Folks from LA came up, also blowing away personal bests left and right. You can see all the videos here.

friggin' domo bell

Personally, I just decided to try out a snatch set with the 24k. That bell's a beast, there is absolutely no wiggle room. I did manage to eke out 50 reps total, not bad for my first run with kermit the bell.
I am really REALLY proud of are my students, Jennifer finally came back after years of refusing to compete (I'm sure she'll tell you why...suffice to say, a bell was thrown) and made a mad splash. Rebecca competed for the last time with the 12k (look out Detroit! she's a'comin' with the 16!) after a few months absence to deal with a health issue. Katy and Elisa each competed for the first time, funny ladies, both total robots doing rep after rep after rep. I missed my other peeps, Nathan, Shelley, Vaile, and Elle, but they will be competing soon.
John and Jason's students (which include...well...ME) did well, Nazo blew away her previous PR by whipping out 131 reps of long cycle the 12k and Mike Salemi with the 32? wowsers. And on and on...

look how smiley we all are! photos by nazo

All in all it was a great time, a lot of fun and the people were great which made the event a pleasure to host.

Guest blog by Julie. We love Julie already!

I think I got a booty call(ing)

 “That was a barf inducing set.”  These were the words that came out of my mouth mid-workout on Monday, August 13th at Juno’s nighty night boot camp. Or what is often referred to as “booty camp.” Don’t worry, continue on with grabbing that kettlebell, I didn’t lose my lunch on it.

My name is Julie, and I just moved from Chicago to Berkeley just over 3 months ago. I am a sugar-loving, I-would-do-anything-for-some-chocolate-pescatarian- vegan-marathon runner. I have been marathon and ultra-marathon training for the past 5 years, and jumped right into trail running and racing within weeks of arriving in the bay area. I haven’t always been competitive and I did think at one point not too long ago that running a marathon was fucking crazy and stupid. Why would anyone want to run longer than I even like to drive?

So what! What does Juno have to do with this? Though active, I am pretty hard on myself.  I have always hated the scale and the full-length mirror.  I am not one to run around screaming, “I am so fat!” But, I am one self-conscious mother. As the years pass, I have realized one pair of Spanks just ain’t cutting it, that my abdominal region is a magnet for every single thing I eat, and that I can knock someone out with my arm flab trying to hail a cab. My jeans are still my worst judge on how fit I am. Right now my jeans are awfully critical.

Within my first week here, I was craving a new challenge and a new community of like-minded people who are outgoing, kind, and like to kick ass. Running was great, but something was missing. I did some research and first tried the Daily Method, which is hard as hell, but I didn’t sweat, so I didn’t like it. I knew I wanted some direction—I wanted someone to tell me what to do, hold me accountable, and to yell at me. I Googled and Yelped gyms in the Berkeley area, seeking out a boot(y) camp-style workout. I read the reviews and checked out the website and knew I had to try Juno. My first class was on June 27^th with Juliet, and dayyyum my body hurt for days after! I was immediately addicted. The class was not only challenging, but my booty classmates, Juliet, and Willow were all so kind, supportive, and non-judgmental on how much I could not lift. Juliet and Willow were great about paying attention to every person’s form, and made sure that no one was slacking. I have never been to a class like this before, and it was so encouraging to know that anyone of any ability was welcome to join. After my first class, I immediately signed up for the 6 a.m. July boot(y)camp class. What was I thinking.

Let’s just say I think I made it to two classes. A 5 a.m. wake-up call did not suit me, clearly. In addition to waking up at the asscrack of dawn (I give mad props to those who can do this), I was also still competitively running and often found myself in days of pain after a race that I was not physically able to even look at a kettlebell.  I spent most of July doing some athletic soul searching. I was suddenly bored with running and dreaded my daily run workouts. I would walk in the door from work and want to spat on my trail shoes (I actually might have spat on them, now that I think about it). I pretty much became sedentary and refused to run, using any excuse I could to get out of my mileage. I realized that I lost my big picture goal, or, perhaps I reached it. I placed third in my marathon age group just over a month ago, and I completed 35 mile ultra-marathon last October in Chicago. It was my ultimate goal, and now I realized I needed something new. It was an emotional realization for me. At first I felt like a quitter. Who quits the one activity they have loved for the past 5 years? Running and competitiveness defined who I was for so long. I realize, though, that my love doesn’t have to completely go away, but it is time to refocus; it is time to try a new poison and a new barf and sweat-inducing love that brings out my inner-competitiveness.

I attended the OKC East Bay Kettlebell competition on Saturday, August 11th at Juno. This was the first kettlebell competition I had been to. I dabbled in Cross Fit back in Chicago, which is where I played with my first kettlebell. That weight with a handle is not as easy to throw around as it may look! I watched strong and dedicated athletes do what they love, and was lucky to experience just a little bit of what this community is all about: Awesomeness. Each and every athlete clearly connected their mental and physical strength, and gave the competition all they had.  I was so inspired by the sport and the dedication it clearly takes. I only knew one person competing and I found myself so proud of every person in the room. I left knowing I wanted to set a new goal.

So…here it is.

The measurements and the meat: 39 inch bust, 31 inch waist, 39 inch hips

Height: 5’8’’

Current weight: 156 pounds

My goals (in a nutshell):

·       Most importantly, I want to engage my mind and body in a new, challenging way.

·       I would love to be able to wave my arms and not say hello twice with my flab and ditch the belly fat.

·       I would like to break 150 pounds—I would be happy with 149.

·       It would be pretty cool to have at least a semi-decent looking snatch (with a kettlebell, you perv).

So, how in the hell am I going to get there?

The sweaty stuff:

·       For two months, August 13 - October 13, I have committed myself to attend boot(y) camp classes two times a week at Juno.  (I will of course attend after my two month goal, but I need to have an end date in site for my flab loss and muscle gaining goals.)

·       In addition, I am incorporating at least 45-60 minutes of cardio, 3 days a week. This could be running, the elliptical, cycling, whatever my little heart and big ass desire.

·       And, last but not least, I will lift weights on one additional day during the week.

The diet:

·       I am a vegan who eats fish, but I eat out A LOT! It’s probably a good thing Berkeley is not known for its overabundance of drive-through food joints. I often eat salads, veggie burgers, or tofu scrambles, but not knowing EXACTLY what the hell is in my food is vexing and clearly adding to my big-ass (literally) problem. That being said, I am committing to only eating out for dinner 2 times a week and lunch 2 times a week for two months.

·       Dark chocolate is the second love of my life, so I am committing to giving up any candy and chocolate for 2 months.

·       Alcohol: Anyone that knows me well knows I love me a good Belgian Ale or porter. Though I am not a daily consumer, I have committed myself to not drink any alcohol for the first month.

**Disclaimer**Labor Day, however, will be the only exception to these rules, as my best friend is visiting from Chicago, and he is shipping me my favorite brew from my favorite pub.

Last but not least, why in the hell have I decided to blog about this and think you care? 

I want to be held accountable. Now if you don’t see me at boot(y)camp you can judge me, and if you see me slacking in class you have free reign to yell at me.