This week the focus is on exercise. Some of you "old timers" are stalling out on your moving. For you new swimmers, one of the best things about the Pool is that you have a personal trainer available to you regarding your exercise routine.
She will answer questions and offer suggestions on your overall health plan.
I'm reposting her introductory post so you can get a little background. If you do have any questions, you can make a comment (so everyone can see it, then also send an email to the Pool email and we'll get it sent to Lesleh so she can answer any specific questions you might have. It may not be a same day response, be patient.
Without further ado...
Lesleh
Member Canadian National Rowing Team
1977-1987
Position - Coxswain
Olympic Team Member 1980 and 1984
It is very difficult to ramble on about being a National Team Athlete. It was something that while I was in High School, you just kind of did and shut up about. Kind of like the celebrity kid who goes and makes movies then tries to fit back into this bizarre world of peers and clothes and school work. It wasn't easy but it was the road I travelled. The benefits were enormous, I travelled the world, I raced at the highest level of competition. I made the Olympic Team. When I first saw the Olympics on tv, it was the 1968 games in Mexico. I was 7. I looked at my Dad and said "I'm going there some day." My goal was set. I am pretty much a point A to Point B kind of gal. Skip the details, get to the point. Which in itself made rowing a great sport for me. While in high school, I actually rowed in an eight and a single. The Single event, allowed me to participate as a coxswain on the National Team. I actually came in 2nd in Canada at the Nationals in the Women's Single but I was just way too small to actually row internationally at the time. I came second to a world champion and member of the crew I was coxswain for. Now there is lightweight rowing, but back then the sport required you to be 5'10 and 175 pounds or more. As a coxswain (essentially the coach in the boat) I had a weight requirement of 88 pounds and it was my job to keep the crew together and get them to the finish line straight, and successfully. I was actually pretty good at it. I had been a rower, so I understoon what it took to push yourself hard. I also understood the sport better than most other coxswains. Truthfully, I think I was exactly where I was supposed to be when I was in a rowing shell (boat) telling a bunch of bigger people where to go and what to do to get there. To this day I am still blessed with the opportunity to take part in the sport. Because of years of weight management issues, I miraculously still fit in the seat (pretty good after 5 kids). Last year I raced in one of the largest regatta's in the world in Boston Mass. The Head of the Charles. Fun 'cause I got to race with old friends, former National Team Members and best of all my older brother Scott who also rowed for Canada on the National Team. I can't tell you how stoked I was when Chris Cookson said "That was the best race I have ever had at the Head of the Charles". Chris is also a former World Champion. So - after 18 years of not racing very seriously it was pretty cool to see that I could still get the job done. This year we are making a return appearance...and I can't tell you how excited I still get at the opportunity to get into a boat and race. Last year, I sat drinking beer with some former U.S. Team members and one of the U.S. coaches who is a good friend. To sit with Christine Wilson, Carrie Graves (now head coach of the Texas Longhorn Crew) and former U.S. National Team coxswain Holly Hattin and just talk about life, and kids and rowing's evolution was such a treat.
I kind of get that same joy out of fitness training these days. I love the women and their willingness to work hard and sweat. I love how funny some are and how serious others. We are so incredibly blessed to be female. Blessed to have these phenominal bodies that can produce babies and feed them, and then bounce back into these beautiful mature bodies that come with that transformation from child to adulthood. I heard a great line the other day, Jane Fonda said - it is time for all of us women to own our faces. Relish in the lines and the life we have lived to get to this point. I agree. I am empowered by the mere fact that I am alive.
I teach four classes on Monday and Wednesday, one on Thursday and one on Friday. A total of 10 classes through the week. I am 45 years old - I say that so that you understand that you can work hard no matter what the age. I teach a Pilates class with a good friend of mine. We call it Pilates to the Core. It is an hour long class, and the focus is primarily pilates based. I teach a class at a facility for adults with learning disabilites. I have a number of people in the class with Down's Syndrome. The group that I teach are such a blessing to me. It is a 45 minute class, we use weights and we dance and laugh and work hard all at the same time. I always get a hug when I leave from just about everyone. I would call that class cardio/dance fun. I teach a Men's Class at the Rec Center, it focuses on the core muscle groups, as well as about 15 minutes of lower body conditioning. My favorite class at the moment is a Cardio Mix class. I teach it 3 days a week. It is 1/2 hour of grueling work. The class has grown considerably over the past 6 months or so, we kind of got into a good groove so word of mouth is working to increase the class size.
My toughest workout is being a mother of 5: Eric 19, Kendall 15, Eden 14, Rae 12, and Delaney 10.
By the way, I love to eat, I learned a long time ago that if I wanted to eat everything that I like...I needed to work it off. So......step one. Put your body in motion.
I went to the Cornell University Training Camp last January and assisted in coaching their women's crews. The gal beside me is Christine Wilson, former Yale University Head Coach, U.S. Olympic Team Coach and now the head of the women's program at Cornell which is an Ivy League University in New York State. (Lesleh is the short one in the center, red jacket)
She will answer questions and offer suggestions on your overall health plan.
I'm reposting her introductory post so you can get a little background. If you do have any questions, you can make a comment (so everyone can see it, then also send an email to the Pool email and we'll get it sent to Lesleh so she can answer any specific questions you might have. It may not be a same day response, be patient.
Without further ado...
Lesleh
Member Canadian National Rowing Team
1977-1987
Position - Coxswain
Olympic Team Member 1980 and 1984
It is very difficult to ramble on about being a National Team Athlete. It was something that while I was in High School, you just kind of did and shut up about. Kind of like the celebrity kid who goes and makes movies then tries to fit back into this bizarre world of peers and clothes and school work. It wasn't easy but it was the road I travelled. The benefits were enormous, I travelled the world, I raced at the highest level of competition. I made the Olympic Team. When I first saw the Olympics on tv, it was the 1968 games in Mexico. I was 7. I looked at my Dad and said "I'm going there some day." My goal was set. I am pretty much a point A to Point B kind of gal. Skip the details, get to the point. Which in itself made rowing a great sport for me. While in high school, I actually rowed in an eight and a single. The Single event, allowed me to participate as a coxswain on the National Team. I actually came in 2nd in Canada at the Nationals in the Women's Single but I was just way too small to actually row internationally at the time. I came second to a world champion and member of the crew I was coxswain for. Now there is lightweight rowing, but back then the sport required you to be 5'10 and 175 pounds or more. As a coxswain (essentially the coach in the boat) I had a weight requirement of 88 pounds and it was my job to keep the crew together and get them to the finish line straight, and successfully. I was actually pretty good at it. I had been a rower, so I understoon what it took to push yourself hard. I also understood the sport better than most other coxswains. Truthfully, I think I was exactly where I was supposed to be when I was in a rowing shell (boat) telling a bunch of bigger people where to go and what to do to get there. To this day I am still blessed with the opportunity to take part in the sport. Because of years of weight management issues, I miraculously still fit in the seat (pretty good after 5 kids). Last year I raced in one of the largest regatta's in the world in Boston Mass. The Head of the Charles. Fun 'cause I got to race with old friends, former National Team Members and best of all my older brother Scott who also rowed for Canada on the National Team. I can't tell you how stoked I was when Chris Cookson said "That was the best race I have ever had at the Head of the Charles". Chris is also a former World Champion. So - after 18 years of not racing very seriously it was pretty cool to see that I could still get the job done. This year we are making a return appearance...and I can't tell you how excited I still get at the opportunity to get into a boat and race. Last year, I sat drinking beer with some former U.S. Team members and one of the U.S. coaches who is a good friend. To sit with Christine Wilson, Carrie Graves (now head coach of the Texas Longhorn Crew) and former U.S. National Team coxswain Holly Hattin and just talk about life, and kids and rowing's evolution was such a treat.
I kind of get that same joy out of fitness training these days. I love the women and their willingness to work hard and sweat. I love how funny some are and how serious others. We are so incredibly blessed to be female. Blessed to have these phenominal bodies that can produce babies and feed them, and then bounce back into these beautiful mature bodies that come with that transformation from child to adulthood. I heard a great line the other day, Jane Fonda said - it is time for all of us women to own our faces. Relish in the lines and the life we have lived to get to this point. I agree. I am empowered by the mere fact that I am alive.
I teach four classes on Monday and Wednesday, one on Thursday and one on Friday. A total of 10 classes through the week. I am 45 years old - I say that so that you understand that you can work hard no matter what the age. I teach a Pilates class with a good friend of mine. We call it Pilates to the Core. It is an hour long class, and the focus is primarily pilates based. I teach a class at a facility for adults with learning disabilites. I have a number of people in the class with Down's Syndrome. The group that I teach are such a blessing to me. It is a 45 minute class, we use weights and we dance and laugh and work hard all at the same time. I always get a hug when I leave from just about everyone. I would call that class cardio/dance fun. I teach a Men's Class at the Rec Center, it focuses on the core muscle groups, as well as about 15 minutes of lower body conditioning. My favorite class at the moment is a Cardio Mix class. I teach it 3 days a week. It is 1/2 hour of grueling work. The class has grown considerably over the past 6 months or so, we kind of got into a good groove so word of mouth is working to increase the class size.My toughest workout is being a mother of 5: Eric 19, Kendall 15, Eden 14, Rae 12, and Delaney 10.
By the way, I love to eat, I learned a long time ago that if I wanted to eat everything that I like...I needed to work it off. So......step one. Put your body in motion.
I went to the Cornell University Training Camp last January and assisted in coaching their women's crews. The gal beside me is Christine Wilson, former Yale University Head Coach, U.S. Olympic Team Coach and now the head of the women's program at Cornell which is an Ivy League University in New York State. (Lesleh is the short one in the center, red jacket)
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