Embracing the Wild on the John Muir Trail, by Lucinda LaRee

Four years ago I read the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Her story touched my soul.  I told my sister about the book, and after reading it she felt the same.  This was the beginning of our dream to hike the John Muir Trail. we grew up on the outskirts of the trail with our father, a miner, who worked the area and loved to explore the mountains. What a better way for us to explore the same mountains, honor our father, and embrace our inner “wild” than to hike in the High Sierra, the range of light.

Every morning since the New Year I read the John MuirTrail Guide by Elizabeth Wenk.    To make this dream a reality we had to secure a permit at the end of January through a confusing lottery system put in place to limit the amount of hikers in the back-country.  We won our date and entrance location: the beautiful Tuolumne Meadows, our Dad’s favorite place to hike due to it’s unique beauty and geological evidence of glacier activity.

The John Muir Trail totals 210.4 miles. It has 10 passes that are above 10,000 feet, it is meant to be scenic (and therefore long), has many snow-covered areas that can impede progress, and therefore takes an obsessive amount of planning, visualizing and physical preparation.

There are many times in my life that I am grateful for being in the profession that I am. Co-owning and operating City Fitness Gym gives me a daily workout boost. In addition to my normal workouts that include yoga, pole fitness, step aerobics and hiking, I added more squats, assisted pull-ups, and higher intensity core exercises. Hiking up and down mountains is a very different challenge than a 5-mile hike through a city park.  In addition to the elevation challenge, the trail is not manicured and can be quite unstable, and you are carrying your supplies at all times.

In researching a hike of this magnitude, it was advised to keep our packs at 35 pounds or less. Because we had done some backpacking in the past, we already had what we thought was appropriate equipment. We just needed to add a few items and some provisions. We were required to carry a bear canister (which prevents bears from smelling your food), which added weight and took up precious cargo space. Other items included rope, tent, stove, propane, cup, spoon, matches, lighter, sleeping bag and air mattress, buff, bandannas, camp shirt, underwear, long underwear, rain jacket, rain pants, puffy down jacket, socks, gloves, fleece hat, sun hat, sun glasses, eye glasses, knife, compass, whistle, map, wilderness first aid kit and emergency handbook, sun screen, tooth paste and tooth brush, wipes, water treatment tablets, and of course bear spray.  Our food included coffee, chocolate, trail mix, protein bars, mac-n-cheese, tofu jerky, shot blocks, refried beans, string cheese, tortillas, miso soup, oatmeal, peanut butter, butter, olive oil, ramen noodles, protein powder. Much to our chagrin, the packs ended up weighing 45 pounds including water.

As we were entering the trail 17 miles in, we planned to hike 10 miles a day to complete the trail including the mileage to exit the mountains to Whitney Portal. We allowed 25 days including time for rest days and emergency weather conditions. So much for the best-laid plans… 

Day one: We hiked through beautiful Tuolumne Meadows enjoying a gradual climb along the river up Lyell Canyon.  Little did we know this would be our only easy day.  Our first interaction was with a very cute ranger who checked our permit. Of course, he told us it was illegal to use bear spray in Yosemite National Park, which happens to be the bears’ favorite hangout!  We kept the spray, crossing our fingers that the bears would allow us safe passage.

With 1500 through-hiking attempts each year, it is common to engage with other hikers throughout your trip. Some you may see once at a watering hole, some in passing. Others may keep a similar pace, and you may see them frequently throughout your trek. On our second day, we stopped to re-fill our water bottles at a bridge crossing at the end of the canyon where hikers frequently gather. There, we met a group of hikers from all over the world. One hiker, Adam from North Carolina, was hiking alone as the rest of his party quit.  He recognized my sister, as he had lived previously in Bakersfield, from eating at the counter of the 24thStreet Café  where she works as a waitress.  At the same time I met an 18-year-old woman who just graduated from National Cathedral School, which happens to be here in DC, and worked out at City Fitness with her aunt.  It IS a small world after all.

From there, we started our climb to Donohue Pass, the first of many passes to come. We felt every one of the 45 pounds on our backs. A hard lesson learned on the trail was that our backpacking equipment from previous trips was not exactly right for this longer distance. Most hikers are now using ultra-light versions of what we were carrying. One thing we were happy not to have skimped on was our bear canister. On our third night, we set camp at Garnet Lake, on the edge of Yosemite, an area where there were other campers, and a bear paid us a visit. We could hear it sniffing and snorting around the perimeter of our tent. We lay perfectly still except to whisper, “Is that a bear?”  It did not smell any food, and thankfully no food = no problem. It moved on to our neighbor’s tent to be scared off by a flashlight.  A very frightening experience was safely out of the way.

Daily we woke up naturally at sunrise, had coffee, breakfast and packed up our camp.  I was surprised how long a mountain mile really is.  We hiked up switch –backs, down switch- backs over varied terrain; shale, rolling round rocks, granite slabs, pumice, big stone steps, and wet slippery rocks and many water crossings, even past a waterfall going down a cliff.  It took us all day to travel between 7 and 14 miles, climbing up, up, up to 10,000 feet and higher, over a pass and down the other side trying our best to get below 9000 before dark where we could camp near water and make a nice warm fire. Many days we were running away from the inclement weather, doing our best to get over the pass before the afternoon thunderstorm, rain, sleet, hail or snow arrived.

It was so great to spend three whole weeks with my sister Shara, laughing and enjoying the expected muscle pain and soreness but well worth it to see Mother Nature at her best.  We made new friends; Fiona, from North Carolina who founded an active ladies of the JMT facebook group, and Legia from the bay area that gave me my trail name, Squaw who stops to talks a lot.  I loved hearing about where everyone I met was from, why he or she was on the trail and where he or she was headed.  The funniest line I got from many tired hikers when I asked where they were going…Canada is all they replied.    Those skinny PCT hikers could be spotted a mile away!  And the joke when asking how far it is to here or there, ‘Mile, Mile and a half.” never got old.  We meet people from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, and Mexico and all over the United States. It was refreshing to see many young people on the trail and a hand full of women my age inspired by the book Wild.

Despite our best planning, food became an issue on the trail. It is hard to pack with enough variety; we packed a lot of similarly flavored white foods. In addition to getting a taste aversion to them, food trash had to be packed in the lower portion of the bear canister causing quite a smell each time we opened it. It is also impossible to carry enough provisions for your whole trip in a light enough pack, so there are re-supply stations along the way. These allowed us to refill our food stores and to have moments of what you might call “normalcy” in our eating. Often, there are free giveaway items left out and we found a few treasures. We even shipped ourselves a bottle of hooch. We did not know until we picked it up that it was illegal to send it in the mail. Oops…but it helped us make friends.

About 80 miles in we made it to the Muir Trail Ranch and our second re-supply.  We had run out of food and seeing our bucket was a sight for sore eyes.  We rummaged through all leftover buckets, finding homemade strawberry jam, whole-wheat tortillas and luxury items like grapefruit scented wipes and apricot face wash!  That afternoon we set up our camp early at the ranch in a common area, jumped in the San Joaquin river, soaked in the natural hot springs and shared our contraband Bowen’sWhiskey  with our fellows campers around the camp fire.

The next four days we made our way with up the very hot Piute Canyon toward Evolution Basin, a place behind our childhood home where there are 10,000-year-old glaciers.  This beautiful, rugged, in an “other worldly way” place was my favorite. Clear, clean ice blue water flows out of granite, down green tarns, into high mountain lakes, one stacked on top of the other surrounded by boulder fields all the way to Muir Pass.

The weather began a turn for the worse and we decided to change our plans.  At this point, our energy was drained, our food supplies were almost depleted, and two hikers had joined our party and one was having major knee trouble. We did not want to risk going another 80 miles over 5 more passes over 12,000 feet, so we decided to exit over Bishop Pass saving the goal of Mt. Whitney for a future trip. This was the toughest day of all.  Starting at 7 am we hiked 7 miles up steep switchbacks in weather that changed every half hour.  We made it to Bishop pass 12,000 feet at 4:00p.m. totally exhausted and out of food.  We hiked another 7 miles down very steep switch- backs then up and down past 5 lakes until we reached the parking lot at 8:00p.m.

We planned to hitch a ride to Bishop but saw no one around. Earlier that day we meet a packer with his mules who told us we could use the phone at the pack station a mile/mile and a half down the road from the parking lot.  We left our friends and backpacks, only taking our bear spray, as it was getting dark and headed to find help. As we walked we noticed headlights coming down the road so we stuck out our thumbs and a sweet family, forgiving our stench, gave us a ride.  They had talked with our friends who asked them to be on the look out for us.   They did not have room in their car for all four of us but surprised us by going back to pick up our friends and packs and hauling them to the pack station. 

The phone did not work!  So Squaw who stops and talks a lot was appointed the task of asking a guest in one of the log cabins to give us a ride to where we could get cell phone reception and call my local family to pick us up.  Instead, the kind man with a very big truck and his teenage son took us the whole 30 miles to town and dropped us off at a restaurant.  Thank god for small and large miracles.  As he was driving the sky opened up and it rained cats and dogs.  Thanks to these warm hearted souls we made it out of the WILD and to our small hometown safe and warm.

Life is meant to be enjoyed, feet on the ground, spiraling up to our higher self to vibrate at a higher frequency. We learned to respect nature in both its beauty and its harshness. I have a deeper appreciation for fries and milk shakes, as that meal I had waiting for my niece Holly to pick us up tasted amazing. Our warm and comfortable bed in Mammoth Lakes was so soothing. And we awakened the next day to sunshine and fresh food including a kale and brussel sprout salad with an ice-cold beer at Mammoth Brewing Company.  A great ending to a wonderful adventure!

A Giving Community: The City Fitness Crowdfunding Campaign, by Dega Schembri

Launching a Crowdfunding Campaign is a bit daunting for so many reasons.  For me, however, the biggest challenge, plain and simple, was the sheer fact that we would be asking for donations.   Asking for anything is particularly hard for me unless it is for a donation to a charity that I believe in, and this was a little different.  Although City Fitness is a community, we are also a business, and we are asking people to show their support for it by making donations.

Before we even launched our campaign, the first step I had to take was going out into the Cleveland Park Community to ask for donations from our area merchants.  As part of our Crowdfunding Campaign, we wanted to offer “perks” for anyone that made a financial donation.  For example, if you donate $50.00 you will receive a 20% discount from an area merchant.  In the past, we have received tremendous support from these businesses when we hold our annual Fitness Fiesta Fundraisers to support various non-profit charities, such as Girls On The Run DC.  This time, we are asking them to support our business.  These are other small businesses, like us, struggling to keep afloat. 

My first stop was Weygandt Wines, our downstairs neighbor in the Park-n-Shop.  Without hesitation, they agreed to offer a 20% discount on any wine purchases.  I was met with success again and again right in our own center with Ibhana’s, the new woman’s clothing shop that just opened, Parcel Plus DC and Paragon Thai.   From that point on, I would say that 99% of the merchants that I approached readily agreed to very generous “perks” - discounts on services, discounts on meals, free eye exams – it was simply unbelievable.  Our own trainers offered discounts on their training packages.   A member offered a discount on acupuncture and our staff massage therapist offered a discount on massages. In less than two days, we accumulated so many perks that the Indiegogo site could not handle the volume.  We had to combine some of the perks to fit into the site’s template to fit them all!

This was just the beginning of my being overwhelmed with the amount of generosity shown.  We launched the campaign and as of right now we are almost at 50% of our goal.  We received two very generous donations of $1,000.00 and another of $500.00.  Unbelievable.  Many of the women who are students of mine at our corporate site, the US Supreme Court, who do not even and will probably never come to City Fitness Gym donated.  We had one member who is struggling financially and offered to help in any other way than with a monetary donation and then ended up donating anyways!  Another member not only donated, but is offering to buy a drink to the first 25 folks that show up to our public Crowdfunding event, the date and location to be determined.

I understand the expression, “my cup runneth over”.  It is with a very full and grateful heart that I offer my deepest thanks to everyone that has participated so far.  It does indeed take a village to create and continue our special City Fitness community.

Small Business – The Roots of a Community, by Lucinda LaRee

I come from working class roots, as does my business partner, Dega.  I grew up at the base of a 13,688-foot Mt. Tom in the Eastern High Sierra.  My father worked for Union Carbide, The Mine in the Sky.   One of the most productive tungsten mines during WW2.  We lived in a little mining village called Rovana.  At the heart of the community was the gymnasium and in close second, the baseball field.  It was here we gathered as a community to watch our father’s train with old leather boxing gloves and medicine balls and our fathers and our mothers play ball. It was here boys and girls alike learned to play basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, football, as well as cheerleading and gymnastics.  It was here we gathered for the Halloween Carnival and the company Christmas party to sit on Santa’s Lap and Vacation Bible camp.  Because I grew up in a close-knit community that valued exercise and sports it was a natural fit for me, coming of age during the fitness boom to dream up a future in fitness.  I just wanted to continue running, dancing and “cheering” people on!

This past summer I visited Rovana on my way into the backcountry for a backpacking trip.  The mine closed over 20 years ago and the village has found itself populated with a different community. Since its back yard consists of some of the best rock climbing and mountain climbing in the world, you can find mountain and rock climbers from all over the world.  I was heart broken when I saw the little gym had been torn down. 

The fitness business has changed so much over the past 31 years (the lifetime of our business). The industry started out primarily as small independently owned fitness studios, offering aerobics “Jane Fonda” style and gyms for weight training, in the style of bodybuilding like Arnold Swartzneger.   The studio trend is making a comeback in the yoga and specialty class world although their fiscal wellness is being compromised by the name brand/elite celebrity sponsored fitness trend businesses like Soul Cycle and Balanced Core. 

The health and fitness business has grown into large, corporate, impersonal box gyms that are doing their best to not only gobble up the market share of memberships and personal training, but are now going after the yoga and specialty market too.  These gyms focus on quantity of membership over quality of member service.

  

We are “The Little Gym That Could.”   Our roots go deep.  We got our start as a business offering fitness at the work site, grew into a fitness studio and then a neighborhood gym.

We have keep our doors open despite the competition because we focus on the people first.  We believe in paying a living wage and want to help our employees grow their fitness careers and be successful. We believe in our members and we want to see them in the gym, working out and getting stronger. We believe in relationships.  In a world that promotes isolation and individualism we go against the grain.    We have purposefully resisted some of the tech trends like TVs everywhere in the gym, and key cards to check members in by sliding their card through a scanner.  We check everyone in by their name, we want to get to know you and we want to create a community where people can come and feel welcome and make friends. 

This can’t happen if everyone is into himself or herself and their own technology just tuned out with their headphones or watching TV or IPADS.  We hope to continue to be a place neighbors want to gather and motivate each other to stay strong mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Many studies show that friendship makes people happier and happy people live longer!

But the truth is that staying vibrant in this business means keeping up with the trends, staying innovative in training methods and fitness class offerings as well as equipment.  We have been doing business in Cleveland Park for 21 years and our business needs a facelift.   We are grateful recipients of the Great Streets Grant and this has allowed us to make some much needed faculty upgrades from our locker room renovations, to new very expensive HVAC units.  Not so glamorous but necessary.  Now we need working capital to upgrade our weight equipment and other facility needs.

To do this, we have become a part of this DC Crowd Funding Challenge. This is an exciting fundraising program allowing staff, members and friends of City Fitness Gym to give us that little extra financial help to reach our goals as we continue to go the extra mile to help them reach theirs. Check out our Crowdfunding website and please consider being a part of maintaining our special community. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-little-gym-that-could

Perspective about Physicality, by City Fitness member Neil Proto

I just returned from the Falklands, South Georgia, and the Antarctic,€“ a National Geographic expedition. Twenty-four days. Departing from Ushuia, Argentina, through the Beagle Channel once explored by Charles Darwin. My imperative for going was the journey of Sir Ernest Shackleton; what he and other Antarctic explorers saw, in part, even though I’d see it through the 21st century prism of better gear and an obvious safety net. We did not avoid risk, and often could not avoid the radical, often abrupt changes in the weather, ice conditions, the rough sea and wind currents in the Drake Passage, and the potential for the accident, including in the places Shackleton journeyed with his men during his failed expedition in 1914. It's been 100 years since his expedition began. 

Many elements of the trip resonated with me: one was the way National Geographic managed risk, the other was how physical preparation - training of a deliberate, intense kind over decades - made a difference. I include in that a range of outdoor activities - snowshoeing, hiking, kayaking, and sailing (as the crew) among them, mostly in the Pacific Northwest, and with friends who taught me the meaning of safety, preparation, weather, and the value of camaraderie at hard moments. There also was running, playing tennis, standing on the METRO, and walking, not riding the escalator. Consistently throughout all of that, at times daily, certainly regularly, were workouts and the occasional expert training lessons and very particularized guidance at CityFitness. It has been, and was on this expedition, of imminent value to know my body, what muscles to use and what to call upon at different times. Perhaps most surprising to me were the few moments when the "accident" loomed or happened, including once when I slipped on wet tussock grass coming down a steep incline, and found that I "fell" into a position that I'd learned in yoga! It was the first thought I had when I stood up, and then continued, unharmed, down the hillside. 

The ultimate benefit was that I got to see more, walk higher and longer, cross rapidly moving streams coming off melting glaciers, and embrace every physically demanding opportunity. I did it with a very clear understanding of my physical limitations. It also meant, I got to see yet broader, stunning vistas, experience harsher winds and cold, and see penguins walk confidently up thousands of feet in snow and ice to reach their colony. Neil Thomas Proto CityFitness member for 15 years. (anyone interested in more narrative, photos, and videos can go to FACEBOOK; 7 posts, all of which are "public" (not confined to Friends) or to http://www.neilthomasproto.com

Join City Fitness' Crowdfunding Project!

Click to See Our Indiegogo Crowdfunding Project!

Just like many of you, City Fitness has goals for the New Year. To expand on our 2014 renovations, the next round of the Great Streets Grant will help us with some further modernization and equipment upgrades. But we want to do more…a lot more. 

City Fitness is a small business founded in 1983 with the simple beginning of providing on-site fitness instructors to places of business. Considered cutting edge at the time, work site fitness is now considered a mainstay and we have persevered. We provide fitness classes to the US Supreme Court, National Gallery of Art, World Bank, the Holocaust Museum, and the National Zoo to this day.

Our gym has been serving the fitness needs of the Cleveland Park community in Washington, DC for over 21 years. We have awesome long-term members, some of who have been with us since we opened, and this stability and co-support has created a thriving community where we serve people of all ages and abilities. We are a home-away-from-home where members feel safe, connected and welcome.  We maintain a quality member service mindset in an era where customer service has diminished, priding ourselves on providing personal attention.  City Fitness is the "Cheers" of Fitness because, unlike other gyms, we actually “know your name.”


Being small in a world of big box facilities, a woman-owned gym in a male-dominated field, and a friendly, neighborhood business in an ever- growing isolated world, we face the challenge of staying competitive. We have invested in our physical space constantly through the years with new equipment, new floors, painting, updating our accessories, and improving our customer service and staff education. In 2014, we began a major capital improvement campaign: with assistance from the Great Streets Grant we partially refurbished our locker rooms and replaced our aged fitness floor A/V equipment. In 2015, we are poised to finish the locker room upgrades, replace our HVAC system, upgrade our cardiovascular machines and more. The Great Streets Grant will help us with some of this, but we want to do so much more.


Our budget does not allow for the upgrades to our weight room equipment and other parts of our A/V systems. There are 4 weight room pieces that could be more user-friendly - especially for our more mature members while, at the same time, still serving our elite athletes.  Our televisions are very old and are difficult to see on some cardio machines. Our campaign to raise $10,000.00 will allow us to begin the effort of replacing these items. Help us achieve this goal while still allowing us to optimally service the diverse demographics that our gym proudly attracts. If we don't reach our goal, we will purchase as many pieces of equipment as we can with the money we raise. So, no amount is too small to help and every bit of it will help with working capital toward our upgrades.


We are very happy to provide wonderful perks from the local neighborhood businesses of Cleveland Park as well as from our own staff. As a “Thank You” for your contribution, we are offering discounted personal training packages, massage specials, and much more. Or, give the gift of fitness with a discounted membership! City Fitness Gym is proud to continue to be your neighborhood gym. Lift Locally, Think Globally.

Thank you,
Dega and Lucinda

The Positive Influence of Physical Training During Recovery, by Jennifer Elson

Substance abuse is a growing concern, with close to 24 million Americans misusing drugs each month. While drugs such as marijuana, crystal meth and heroin may come to mind when you think of substances that people are likely to become dependent on, this is only part of the issue as increasing numbers of people are becoming hooked on prescription drugs. Indeed, one-third of people who took drugs for the first time reported taking a prescribed product recreationally. Opiate based painkillers are among those most commonly abused, with increased demand for specialist opiate recovery programs. However, there is growing evidence that besides the traditional medical and psychological approach to drug treatment, exercise offers significant benefits during the recovery process.

Working out to achieve better mental health
One way in which getting active can help addicts is by promoting good mental wellness. It is acknowledged that poor mental health is a risk factor for taking prescription medications and illegal drugs. That’s not all though, as conditions such as depression and anxiety can also make it much harder for addicts to successfully quit. The ability of physically training to boost your mood and relieve anxiety is therefore beneficial for anyone in recovery who is already affected by these mental health problems, but how does working out improve your well-being?

Exercise is certainly a useful treatment for mild to moderate depression, though no particular form of training seems to offer benefits over another, so whether you prefer a gym session or fitness classes, either can potentially lift your spirits. This is partly thanks to the endorphins released when you work out. Endorphins are chemical messengers in your brain, which promote positive feelings and you can feel euphoric after intense exercise, which is what a “runner’s high” refers to. These aren’t the only mood-boosting chemicals released on activity, as you also produce more serotonin and dopamine. At the same time as these positive chemicals rise, those that induce stress, such as cortisol, fall, which helps you to relax. However, changes in your brain chemistry and your blood work only go some of the way to explaining the mental boost you get from exerting yourself.
For instance, exercise is a great distraction, helping you to forget your troubles. Even if this gives you just temporary relief from anxious thoughts, this is still a welcome opportunity for some respite. Another benefit is that when you set yourself achievable fitness goals and you meet them, this enhances your self-esteem, so you feel better about yourself. A further plus point for physical activity is that it promotes healthier sleep patterns, so you find it easier to drop off and are less inclined to wake up during the night. This is good news, as low mood and anxiety can stop you sleeping, but a lack of sleep can also make the conditions worse, so a vicious circle develops. Finally, when you join a fitness center, it is another opportunity to engage socially, which itself is known to improve the way you feel.

Fitness training as part of rehab
There is certainly evidence in relation to cocaine, amphetamine and crystal meth that regular exercise has a positive influence on drug taking. For instance, when someone works out experimentation is less likely to become a regular habit, you consume less overall, your habit is less likely to spiral out of control or lead to binges, and when it comes to getting clean you are at lower risk of a relapse. So how can physical training have such a positive influence on drug use?
Firstly, as already mentioned exercise helps to reduce depressive and anxious symptoms, with users often taking drugs to mask these or to offer a form of escape. The positive changes that occur in your brain when you work out can also trigger its reward center, resulting in feelings of pleasure similar to those that you might achieve from drug taking. In the same way that focusing on a training session can help to distract you from your problems, this additionally allows you to better cope with your cravings. Similarly, knowing that you have met your exercise goals gives you the confidence that you can achieve a life free from drugs, so spurs you on to do just that. Then if that isn’t enough, the chance to meet new people is helpful when you are trying to avoid old acquaintances that you associate with your previous habit.
Although making the gym a regular part of your week can potentially help you to overcome problems with substance abuse, you should always seek professional help if you are struggling to free yourself from the hold of drugs.

Jennifer Elson is a writer who contributes to a number of health and wellness sites on various topics. Prior to taking a career break to bring up her two children, she worked in the healthcare sector helping people achieve better diets and fitness.

Real Women Deadlift at City Fitness Gym - Just Ask Heide Herrmann!

I stand five foot three inches tall on a good day.  I am a 40-year-old woman who wears pink shirts and pigtails to the gym.  At first glance you might think I’m the kind of person who spends most of her workout time on the elliptical, with maybe a few triceps dips thrown in because someone told me that’s how you get "Michelle Obama arms."  You might assume that the weight room is foreign territory for me.  But you would be wrong.

So far, my heaviest deadlift is 230 lbs. I squat 185 lbs. for reps.  When I lift, I wear a heavy-duty belt around my waist and straps around my wrists.  Both are pink.  I’ve been an attorney for fifteen years, and I’m very proud of what I do for a living.  But I’ve never been more proud of anything than I am of the work I’m doing in the gym.  There is no rush like setting a new personal record, and then looking up to see that all the guys in the weight room were watching when I did it.  There is no better feeling than the soreness that comes from working my muscles to failure and then letting them rebuild themselves, bigger and stronger than before. 

And no, I am not “bulking up.”  That’s a myth that keeps countless women away from strength training, which is unfortunate, because we need it.  Over the last two years I’ve lost just over 50 lbs. I’ve gone down five dress sizes. I was curvy before and I always will be.  But they’re better curves now, trust me.

My newfound love of weightlifting began when I met Phil, my personal trainer at City Fitness.  I would never and could never push myself the way Phil pushes me.  I used to get frustrated when I had eked out what I thought was the last rep I could possibly manage, just to hear Phil tell me “only five more.”  Now I might laugh, or I might curse him under my breath, but I keep going, because I know he’s right – if Phil says I can do five more, I can do five more.  I’ve come to trust him implicitly, and he has convinced me that I am capable of performing feats I once thought impossible. 

So I’m going to stick with this.  This is not like the piano lessons when I was eight, the scarf I started knitting when I was ten and still haven’t finished, or the book I always say I’m going to write.  I already know I will never stop lifting.  It makes me happier, healthier, and more energetic than I’ve ever been, and now I can never go back.

Finding the Fountain of Youth...in the Potomac River, by Dega Schembri

Somehow I got it into my head that when I turned 60 I would do a triathlon.  But, then I had a minor health scare at age 57 and the perfect counter strike was to strengthen my lungs.   So I decided to take up swimming and what better motivator to learn how to swim than by signing up for a triathlon?  Don’t get me wrong; I was no stranger to the water having been raised in Detroit in the proximity of the Great Lakes. But swimming free style, breathing properly, and going for 750 meters (1/2 mile) in the open water was, in a word, frightening!  I couldn’t even swim 25 meters without stopping and that was in a pool. Open water would be even worse. So what was I thinking? 

For the sake of full disclosure I have been in the fitness business for 30 plus years steadily teaching aerobic and body sculpting classes and providing personal training sessions at the fitness facility in Washington, DC that I co-own, City Fitness Gym. I also do my own weight training workouts. While I am not a cyclist, a runner and clearly not a swimmer, I knew that I had the physical ability and endurance to do all three.  I would just be completely out of my comfort zone.  I decided that this would be a good thing. 

I believe that as we age, our fears often become bigger and we stick with what we know and take fewer risks. I also believe that when you stop exploring, stop trying new things, and stop pushing yourself beyond your own level of comfort, you accelerate the aging process. 

At age 57 I signed up for the 2009 New Jersey Sprint Triathlon and immediately enrolled in the DC Triathlon Club’s “New Triathlete Program” (NTP).  Their first training session began with a 5 K run and I was undoubtedly the oldest in the group.   I quickly discovered, though, that most everyone was nervous about the run, not everyone was a runner and “triathlete wannabes” came in all sizes and shapes. It was a hopeful start.

During the NTP program I participated in all the group workouts and clinics.  Not only did I stand out because of my age, I also had a bike that was not your state of the art “Tri-Bike”.  It was a bike that I was emotionally attached to, having been given to me by my staff when I turned 50.  With it’s purple flower decorations, I was constantly asked if THIS was the actual bike I was going to use in the NJ Triathlon, to which I would proudly reply, YES!

When the day finally arrived, I was a wreck.  A few weeks prior to the real event I participated in a practice triathlon sponsored by the DC Tri Club.  It’s called “practice” for a reason.   First, the swimming was done in a pool – a far cry from the open water of a lake – and though I completed the swim, I was the last one out of the pool. Next, I had to immediately hit the bathroom (nerves) before I could get on my bike, and to top it off I started my run with my bike helmet on. 

The memory of all of that forced me awake even earlier than I needed.  We arrived at the event at about 6 a.m. and as I waited for my group to get called into the water, a woman about my age standing next to me could feel my fear (and probably also see my entire body shaking). She told me not to worry and that once I got out of the water I would probably pass her up on the run. The open water is intimidating because as you follow the big orange buoys that help you keep track of where you are going, you have a pack of other folks swimming over you, doing the same thing.  Despite all my freestyle training, my swim on that day consisted of a combination of the backstroke, sidestroke, and breaststroke and sometimes the front crawl. But I made it out of the water, the endorphins kicked in, the hardest part was over and I was in competitive mode. 

When you participate in triathlon events, they make sure that your body is marked using a bold black marker to write your race number on your arm and your age on your calf. This mortified me until I passed someone younger than me and was elated that they could see my age. The encouraging woman that calmed me down at the beginning of the race was correct – I did pass her during the running segment.

I don’t think I will ever forget the feeling of crossing that finish line, especially with my son watching and cheering me on.  I did it!  I wanted to do more!  I was hooked.  And most importantly, from that day forward, I could say that I AM A TRIATHLETE!

Since my first triathlon, I spent a lot of time and money learning how to swim better.  I now enjoy the quiet, meditative, and rhythmic back-and-forth of swimming laps; my Zen of swimming.  I bike almost one hour to and from work whenever I can and get a short run in about once a week.  I even sign up for some 5K and 8K runs.

I have since participated in four more triathlons, three of which were on the Potomac River.  Of those five I have actually won my age division three times! Even though winning isn’t really my goal, getting up on the platform and being number ONE is quite the emotional boost! My goal is to do one triathlon a year.  I love the cross training aspect of triathlon training because it does not limit you to just one sport. Swimming has made my entire upper body noticeably more toned and the running and biking have strengthened my lower body.  I still participate in other types of fitness activities including Yoga and Pilates.

Today, I feel physically younger at 62 than I did at 52 and attribute it to my triathlon training.  Who would have thought that I would find the fountain of youth swimming the notoriously murky waters of the Potomac River?  So, don’t let your chronological age hold you back either mentally or physically.   I challenge you to TRY A TRI!  It only takes completing one to say “I AM A TRIATHLETE!”

Silver is the New Blonde, by Lucinda LaRee

I turned 50 this year, went through menopause, grew out my silver mane, became a grandmother and joined the Pole Pressure Dance Troupe.

The half-century mark snuck up on me. Busy raising my son, owning and operating my gym, and living my ups and downs, I woke up one day and realized I had gained 20 pounds in the last 7 years. ‘How did this happen?’ I asked myself. Being a lifetime fitness enthusiast and owner of a health and fitness business it seemed out of character to find myself overweight or should I say, ‘over FAT!’

Looking back I can see where it all started. When I turned 43, I was peri-menopausal.

Hot flashes, no sleep, and all I wanted to do was eat potato chips and drink beer. I was emotional and stressed out! I was going through a separation, my teenage son was acting out, and my life was not what I expected it be. I moved to the suburbs and added an hour-long commute to my already packed day that meant more sitting and more stress.

For years, clients and students have told me about getting stuck in ruts. I realized that was exactly what was happening to me – mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. It was time to re-center and use the Native American Medicine Wheel to change my life.

My intention for 2012-2013 or “The Rainbow Bridge” as Brooke Medicine Eagle, author of The Last Ghost Dance, calls it has been to focus on the Native American Medicine Wheel to balance my life. The Native American Medicine Wheel represents the horizon line and is divided into the four cardinal directions: North, East, South and West. It is then subdivided into four more directions: North/East, South/East, South/West and North/West. The center of the wheel represents the self and one’s connection to the sacred circle, or circle of life. In India this “sacred circle” is known as a Mandala.

Circles are found in nature as in the rings of a still lake when you drop a pebble into it, the rings of a tree trunk that tell its age, the movement of a hurricane or whirlpool, the shape of the Sun, moon and planets, and the cycles of time and seasons. My roots are not just silver – they are grounded in my Native American ancestry and my yoga practice. Both cultures emphasize balance and harmony, and influence my life.

In The Last Ghost Dance, Brooke encourages all of us women to take responsibility to heal Mother Earth. To heal the world we live in we need to first heal the body we live in. To do this we must take a good hard look at our lives, past and present, take steps to heal the wounds, and transform our inner landscape. We must let go of the people, things, and thoughts that weigh us down, be in the now and intentionally create a new vision for our life. Then we can move courageously forward.

One thing I discovered on my inner journey was remembering how much I loved music and dance. It was my love for Jane Fonda and Jazzercise when I was 16 that got me on my path to becoming a fitness professional. Through the years, movies and dance sparked my interest and my creativity. I read a book many years ago called the S Factor by Shelia Kelly named after the S-curvature of the female body. After reading this book I wanted to learn more about feminine erotic dance and pole fitness. During the first introductory class I was so amazed at the teacher and how she could move her body, defy gravity and how beautiful, powerful, strong and fit she was. I was intimidated, impressed and out of my league!  But I took a leap of faith and started Pole Dance Fitness at City Fitness, the gym I currently co-own in Washington, DC.

Many women my age ask why I pole dance, saying ‘nobody wants to see a 50-year old stripper!’  This comment makes me laugh – pole dancing classes have nothing to do with stripping. They are a celebration of feminine energy and power. It is difficult for women and men of all ages to break through the stereotype of a pole dancer. I tell them I love pole dance fitness because it combines everything I expect from a well-rounded workout.  I am empowered when I lift my bodyweight and execute a trick that requires all of my strength, endurance and flexibility.  I enjoy the creative expression of the feminine dance movements or making the S curve!  After every class I thank my amazing teacher Sarah for helping me bring my “Sexy” back.  Yes, it’s OK to be sexy at 50!  As I say, ‘Silver is the new blonde, fit is the new thin and strong is the new young!’  I have lost 12 of the 20 pounds gained, and put on some serious muscle weight and body confidence!  My body has never looked better!  Who can argue with that!

Washington, DC is the perfect example of a city full of women who end up embracing their masculine energy instead of their feminine, as that is what is often required to be taken seriously in the business and political world. They feel that they have to hide and play down their womanhood. It saddens me to see the average woman on the Metro or walking on the street stressed out, hunched over her smart phone looking like an old woman!

In the ‘70s, Gloria Steinem promised we could have it all. For me “all” means claiming all parts of being a woman: the six-figure salary, the six-pack abs and the S-curve of the female form. I want to own my own business, my home and most of all, I want to own my own body, my curves, my sexuality and my sensuality. I don’t think I need to be like a man to be a good woman.  “I’m just a girl” as 40-something pop singer Gwen Stefani with her awesome six-pack abs sings, “I’ve had it up to Here!”

As I see it, 50 is the new 40. Jane Fonda became our workout guru when she was 40.  Gretta Pontarelli, a 60-year old pole dance competitor along with beautiful Cindy Joseph, the silver-haired super model who was discovered in her late 40s, can be our new role models along with the forever fit and amazing Jane. When I teach yoga classes at City Fitness I feel blessed to be surrounded by so many women over 50 who are smart, beautiful, strong, healthy, vibrant and socially aware. It’s not about hiding our age. It’s about being “Pro-age” as Cindy Joseph says, celebrating our wisdom and grace and making the most of our life. We, the Jane Fonda Generation!

A Small Village in the Big City - By Lucinda LaRee

I am so excited and grateful to be celebrating a special anniversary with my business partner, Dega Schembri. 2013 marks 20 years for our gym, City Fitness, and 30 years for Fit Physique, Inc., our parent company.   Little did I know that when I showed up at 1500 Mass. Ave., Washington, DC, with only my O’Neil surf bag to my name to audition to teach classes for Dega that this was one of those life-changing moments.

As a child my father moved every six months.  My grandfather, Otis worked on a road crew, known for his excellent eye for leveling.  He paved many of the roads through the High Sierra in California, Nevada and the deserts of Arizona. Because of this, my father was committed to raising his children in one place.  He said it was difficult on him to move every 3-6 months as a child because he never had a chance to bond to a place, make lasting friendships or participate in sports. My father went into the Air Force and when he got out in 1964 he was stationed in Clovis, New Mexico, where I was born. He moved our family to Round Valley, near Bishop California and got a job working for Union Carbide, a tungsten mine or as some called it “The Mine In The Sky.”

He kept his word, raising his three daughters at the base of the 13, 470’ Mt. Tom, on the Eastern Side of the Sierra, in a small mining village called Rovana.  This was in company housing provided by Union Carbide.   Here we had the freedom to run wild.  We never meet a fence we would not cross or a yard we would not play in.  At the heart of this small, isolated, rural community was the gym.  It was here the fathers played on the company basketball team as the kids ran around playing hide and seek under the bleachers.  Some of my earliest memories are of my handsome, six foot three father who was strong and lean looking like Elvis as he shot hoops, trained with old leather medicine balls and shadow boxed with old leather boxing mitts.  Our TV reception was poor so many nights were spent watching old black and white film of Causuis Clay and George Forman fights when we were not planet and star gazing.

As I grew, the gym and the baseball field became the place to explore my own athletic abilities.  We considered ourselves “tomboys” and played every sport the boys did; baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, track and field & skiing on Mammoth Mountain. When we were not playing sports we rode horses, swam in the creeks, climbed the mountains and chased the coyotes and mule deer through the sagebrush.  At 11 years old, I became a cheerleader and my love of dance and movement began.

As a teen, growing up in one of the most isolated communities, I had a dream to travel the world. Inspired by my love of Jane Fonda and Jazzercise I announced at my high school graduation that I wanted to be a Diet and Fitness Consultant for the Rich and Famous.  This got quite the laugh, as this was unheard of in my small town and not a career path in 1981.

My professional fitness path started out at The Total Workout 1983 in North County San Diego.  It was here I was introduced to the person who was instrumental in getting me a job at the exclusive spa Cal A Vie where I trained such celebrities as Gary Busey, Stockard Channing, Leslie Ann Warren - my childhood Cinderella - and fitness star Kathy Smith.  Meeting the rich and famous at this job opened doors to working as a trainer on the east coast at the Norwich Inn and Spa which lead to me to the opportunity to audition and become the trainer for the Sports Illustrated Super Shape Up Video Series with Cheryl Tiegs, Elle McPherson and Rachel Hunter.

Riding the wave of the release of this popular video set, and being a bit of a gypsy for a few years, I moved to DC.  Soon, I found myself pregnant, a single mom to be, and I realized in order to make it work I needed to settle down.  Having done what I said I wanted to do traveling to some amazing places in the world and training the rich and famous I was ready to see a long held vision of my own fitness business come to a reality. My son was born in 1992 at Georgetown Hospital, and like my father before me, I wanted to raise him in a close-knit community.

I was hired by the Forsheimers to design and open City Fitness Gym on October 1^, 1993, and became business partners with Dega Schembri October 1, 1996. Together we purchased City Fitness Gym. We have built a wonderful community here in Cleveland Park.  This neighborhood has been a support network to our families. My son went to the neighborhood public schools, he has many friends that he met here in kindergarten and has an extended family made up of the gym staff and members.  He is now 21, with a son of his own, and I get the grand adventure of a grandmother with a growing family! 

I want to share my gratitude to my family of origin and their encouragement of my physical activities and dreams.  My childhood community and friends were always up for an adventure and my DC family made up of friends, staff, fitness instructors and gym members make my amazing world go round everyday.  I want to thank my son for giving me a reason to get my act together 20 years ago.  Last but not least I want to thank Dega for her commitment to our life as business partners as we work together creating this amazing space where I can “Be Lucinda” and offer up my unique talents and serve with her to help make the residents of DC happier, healthier and fit!

A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play: his labor and his leisure: his mind and his body: his education and his recreation.  He hardly knows which is which He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing.  To himself, he always appears to be doing both. 

Francoise Rene Auguste Chateaubriand