Professional Dancer Turned Reluctant Runner…

...How did that Happen?

People are always mentioning what an impressive runner I am when they spy a Facebook pic/post documenting my participation in the latest Fun Run, 5k, 10k, or ½ Marathon.

Do I consider myself a runner?

No, I just dabble in it.

So how did a former Professional Dancer (who had sustained a severe knee injury due to a fall), now Personal Trainer/Owner of the Controlled Burn Fitness Studio in Glendale, CA become so well known in the running community; excited about her next running event; and so involved and passionate about helping runners attain, and maintain healthy, pain and injury-free bodies?

Answer: On a bet.

Yes, I was lured into it by the promise of amazing food, music, and wine, but what really motivated me was the chance to prove the point I had been trying to make to a particular client for 6 months:

We must learn to walk before we rum.

We must train to the point of discomfort, sometimes pushing past that edge, all the while maintaining dignity, grace, and respect for the process as much as for the goal.

The process and the goal are one in the same

Go for the intensity while avoiding injury.

We must set a foundation for fitness by creating a body that is beautifully balanced; strong yet supple, pushed to its limits yet nurtured in order to thrive;

No cutting corners.

 

Here’s the story

One of my especially entertaining Personal Training clients had bet me that I couldn’t help him shave some time off of his next 5k and 10k runs.

I told him I would take at least a minute off his time in 3 months as long as he did exactly as I said.

He didn’t think it was possible since I had informed him that he wouldn’t be allowed to run for at least 6 weeks while he was training with me. He even sweetened the pot from just a bottle of wine to accompanying him and his wife to dinner at one of the finest restaurants in LA prior to going to the Disney Concert Hall, and the bottle of wine could be my choice of any White Burgundy from Silverlake Wine.

It was on!

I couldn’t help but jump on this opportunity to prove to him once and for all that he needed to step back from the neglectful training style that he had grown accustomed to over the years prior to my “inheriting” him from another trainer who had moved out of state.

Halfway through our 3 month 5k training, his progress was so impressive, I was certain that there was no way I wouldn’t win. I knew this would be an excellent time to also use myself as an example of the training techniques and philosophy that I have created to build The Controlled Burn Fitness Studio into a fitness destination for those who seek Personal Training that does not rely on fancy PR and Marketing gimmicks, but thrives on focused intensity and attention to detail.

I suggested sweetening the pot some more by betting that if I could improve my time from my first 5k (Chinatown Firecracker 5k on Feb 10th 2008. Pace: 9:56 which was the first day I had run in my life-no joke) he would not be allowed to complain while training for at least one month.

It was on!

The Outcome

I enjoyed a wonderful meal at Patina with he and his wife before heading to concert hall to see Solonen conduct his last show with LA Phil and the next week after one of our Personal Training Sessions we scampered over to Silverlake wine to pick up my bottle of wine…oh how I wish I could remember what I chose, all I know is that it was delicious!

Want to find out about the training program?

Stay tuned for the next post…