I’ve always been a solo act when it comes to exercise and fitness. I never played team sports and for years I told myself that I wasn’t an athlete, wasn’t competitive and was just too busy to exercise consistently. Frankly, working out with a trainer or committing to trying something out of my comfort zone at a gym was too intimidating. But about two years ago I happened across an introductory deal on Groupon for NWPT and I thought what the heck. From my first meeting with Jenna I felt the joy that everyone at NWPT has for what they do and for the clients they work with every day. And the clients are amazing! I feel like I have a whole cheering section every time I come in for a class. In my work I spend a large part of my day developing people in the practices of leading from a mission and working in teams to create something extraordinary in our communities. Little did I know when I walked in to NWPT I would have this experience every day with this team. I am so grateful for what I’ve been able to accomplish in the past few years…Before I started working out here, my longest run had been a 5K and I was definitely not a runner. I made a goal to run a 1/2 marathon as an experiment to see what it would take to really practice something I wasn’t very good at consistently for six months and see what would happen. I ended up finishing that first 1/2 marathon about 15 minutes faster than I expected. Since then I’ve run 6 more 1/2 marathons and I’ve competed in the Girlfriends and Dudes triathlon twice, placing in the top three for my age group both years. While Sherri may have blasted past me on the run to steal my first place age group finish this year, I know where I’m going to work for 2014. Watch out! All kidding aside, what I have discovered at NWPT is that this is a community of people committed to bringing out the best in everyone. It isn’t difficult to access joy the minute you walk through the door, knowing that everyone is rooting for me just as much as I’m rooting for them. It is the best part of my day sometimes and the place I can count on letting my hair down and having some fun while working hard. Since the theme this month is joy, I thought I would share my top ten joyful things about my NWPT family: 1. Ted’s tidbits, jokes and chatter. It really is the only thing that makes an hour of yoga bearable to me. 2 All the crazy “are you kidding me?” workouts. Hopping on the treadmill really was at the top of that list. 3. Participating in every event that I can drag my family to throughout the year. My 7 year old is still talking about March Muddy Madness and she is perfecting her gear for an even better race this year (she was the one that lost her shoes in the first 100 yards). 4. Hearing Barb shouting encouragement to everyone during Shockwave. 5. Kristen’s hair–I can’t hold back a smile when I see all those red curls. 6. The community giving that Sherri, the team and the clients all support throughout the year. 7. Keeping it local! Working for a local, downtown business myself, I love that I can support other local businesses too. 8. Feeling stronger and fitter than I have in a long time and sustaining it. 9. All the different trainers’ playlists that accompany the group classes. 10. The witty repartee between Sherri and Ted during Wednesday night cycling class. I think you could probably syndicate that and make it big on network TV. Think of the future business opportunities! |