Tag Archives: spin class

Getting Fly (or Spinning With Bloggers)

Posted on May 13, 2014 | 1 comment

As part of being more in the blogging community, I’m trying to get more involved with blogger events. Fortunately, one of the Facebook groups I joined is just for blogger events in Southern California.

One of the first events I saw posted was for a spin class with Biggest Loser trainer Brett Hoebel. Even though I have issues with the show “The Biggest Loser“, I’m still a fan and totally wanted to work out with one of the trainers from the show (he was on season 11).

I signed up for the class and did some more research into it.

The class was held at Flywheel, which is a SoulCycle competitor. Flywheel was created by someone who used to work for SoulCycle, so there is a bit of a rivalry there. When I did some google research, there were some pretty nasty posts saying how much SoulCycle stunk and how amazing Flywheel is. That made me a little weary about going to a new studio, but I was totally willing to give it a try.

According to the Flywheel website, all classes include free shoes, towel, and water. So I didn’t bring anything with me (it felt pretty weird!). The class was held in Larchmont, which was a bit of a drive for me.

Once I walked inside, the first thing I noticed was how nice and open the lobby was.

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I signed my release form and got my Flywheel shoes.

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It did feel weird using spin shoes other than my own. I like my shoes and the clip on the shoes is in a different place (my legs felt weird while spinning because the clip was on the ball of my foot instead of the toe like on my shoes).

I asked at the front desk for the free water, but they explained to me that the free water was in the form of a drinking fountain. The bottles of water were $2. I explained to the person at the desk how on the website they promote the fact that they have free water for every class (and say how bad it is that SoulCycle charges $2 for a bottle if you need one), so she gave me a free bottle of water. I think that that was kind of misleading advertising, but it was my fault for not thinking to bring my own water.

Before the class started, Brett came out to greet us all. It was very cool to meet him, and of course I had to get a picture with him.

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We also took a big group picture with all the bloggers and Brett.

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Brett explained how the class would work and we headed inside.

The setup inside the studio is different from SoulCycle. The bikes are done stadium seating. Everyone is supposed to have a great view of the instructor. I had a great view of Brett’s upper body, but his legs were blocked by the laptop doing the soundtrack (I used the mirror to see how fast his legs were going so I could try to keep up).

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Another thing that was different was in SoulCycle, we focus on riding as a pack and staying on the beat of the music. Flywheel is very competitive. Every bike has a computer on it and it takes your RPM and the torque being used and gives you a score. And every so often, the top ten scores for the class are shown on a flatscreen tv.

I tried really hard to keep up, but between the clips on the shoes being in a different spot and the fact that this was my first spin class where I didn’t get a cushioned bike seat, I was hurting. I did my best, but I never came close to ranking in the top ten on the tv.

I also kept almost laughing at how similar things were to SoulCycle. There were a lot of the same moves (but they had different names). And the stretching segment was done in the exact same order as my SoulCycle class. But I guess that’s what you get when the creator of this studio used to work for the other.

Overall, I’d say this class was a bit harder than SoulCycle. It was a much faster class and there is very little focus on upper body work. Also, it felt more like a competition than a dance party.

I had a great time in the class, but it did reinforce that SoulCycle is the place for me. There’s nothing wrong with Flywheel. I’d totally recommend it, especially to my very competitive friends. But it’s just not for me.

After class was done, we were all given a gift bag full of awesome goodies by Kind Snacks, Vega, and Quest.

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I actually ate my Quest bar on the drive home and it was amazing! I usually don’t like protein bars, but this was really yummy! I’m looking into ordering some to keep on hand.

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I’m so glad that I joined in for this event. I got to try another amazing spin class, meet an awesome trainer, and connected with a ton of new bloggers!

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Health

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I’ve Got Some Follow Through (or I Said I’d Do It So I Did)

Posted on April 11, 2014 | Comments Off on I’ve Got Some Follow Through (or I Said I’d Do It So I Did)

Yesterday, I mentioned that I needed to start scheduling things to do after my work day so I would get out of my house. I also mentioned that I needed to get back to SoulCycle.

Want to take a wild guess what my after work thing was yesterday evening?

Yup, I went to an after work spin class.

I’ve actually never taking a spin class after working. I’ve done one in the middle of a split shift once. But other than that, every spin class I’ve gone to was either before work or on a non-work day. And I’ll say, an early evening class is very different from a morning class.

I had to be pretty careful with how I ate during the day. I wanted to have enough energy for class, but I don’t like to work out if I feel full. I thought that I had planned a decent meal day for me, but I learned that I need to eat something a little closer to class time. Yesterday, I had a serving of chocolate milk about 90 minutes before class. That’s what I normally have before going to a morning class as well. But I was starving during the class.

None of the instructors that I usually go to teach at the studio during the times I was looking (I went to a 5:30pm class), so I had to try someone new. This instructor’s name was David, and it really was a great class.

It was super hard, but I’m wondering if part of that was my crazy hunger and my hip pain. I did managed to stand up on the bike for about 90 seconds during a hill section, but besides that I stayed seated for the class. I did also do all the arm work with 2 pound weights. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but trust me, they get heavy! I started with 1 pound weights and doubling the weight has made things tougher (but I think I’m getting stronger too).

The best thing about SoulCycle for me is since it’s only 45 minutes, time seems to fly by (and I’m aware that if you hate working out that sounds crazy but it’s true). And I got a pretty good calorie burn for my workout as well.

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I have a bunch of stuff going on this weekend (including returning to my old job) so I’m not too sure if I’ll make it to spin class this weekend. If I do, it will be another odd time for me. I like my usual Saturday afternoon class with Heather, but this Saturday I’m working during that time.

But at least I have another instructor that I’m comfortable with and if I’m not working evenings back at my old job, I can probably fit this class in more regularly.

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health

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Gaining Confidence (or How Spin And My New Job Are Going Along The Same Path)

Posted on April 1, 2014 | Comments Off on Gaining Confidence (or How Spin And My New Job Are Going Along The Same Path)

Things are continuing to go well with the new job. I’m getting more and more work done each day and my work continues to get better. I’m getting more information from each lawyer that I’m speaking to and I’m getting more comfortable talking to them as well.

I’m super excited about this progress. I’m not where I need to be yet, but my boss is extremely happy about how much better I’m getting each day. On our phone call at the end of my shift yesterday, he even told me that I earned my first bonus. I get a bonus if a person I talk to meets the qualifications for the job I’m searching for. I have to get each piece of information to confirm that. And yesterday, I did it! This doesn’t mean the person is going to interview for the job opening. But I found a perfect candidate. In the future, my bonus might be something more like a percentage of the salary if we get someone in a new job. But since that can take up to a year, right now I just get a little bonus for each exact candidate I find. The amount of the bonus hasn’t been decided on yet (I don’t think my boss expected me to earn one already), but it will be something similar to an extra hour of pay.

While I’m making good progress at work, I’m also making good progress in spin class. You may remember that I just tried doing some of the standing on the bike work recently and discovered that I could do it for a portion of a song. I’m still building on that progress, but I took another big step this past weekend.

Not only did I stand on the bike during the hill portion (like I did the past time), I did it multiple times in class and was able to do several of the dance moves on the bike. Even the instructor, Heather, seemed to notice that I was doing more standing than I had before.

The best part about that particular class was in the morning, I didn’t feel like working out (I slept really badly and was dealing with weird hip pain). But since it was too late to cancel the class without being charged for it, I went anyway. And it ended up being such a great thing for me.

I also burned a lot of calories in 45 minutes.

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All this good stuff happening to me is really helping me stay more positive and keep looking forward to more progress in my life. The next step is to go back to my old work and work in the box office. That will be on the same days that I do my recruiting work. I’ll just do one in the morning and one in the afternoon/evening.

But that hustle will get me to a point where I’m making enough to pay all my bills again. And I need that because my taxes were just done and I owe a little bit!

Guess I’m back to the grind in more ways than one.

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Work

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Baby Steps Progress (or Surprising Myself)

Posted on March 17, 2014 | Comments Off on Baby Steps Progress (or Surprising Myself)

I don’t feel like I’ve made a ton of progress in spin class lately. I’m still sitting down for the entire class. I had previously discussed trying to stand up (or ride out of the saddle) with my hip surgeon, and his advice was simple. If it hurts after the workout, that’s good. If it hurts while I’m doing the workout, that’s bad.

And since day 1, it has hurt whenever I tried to ride out of the saddle in class. Every so often, I’ll try to ride out of the saddle to see if somehow it doesn’t hurt (at least in the bad way). And it never seems to be only good pain.

This past Saturday I went to Heather’s class (I love that since I’m not at my old job anymore I can go to her lunchtime class on Saturday!). It was a great class and I was sweating like crazy. It was exactly what I needed.

In the past, I’ve always tried to ride out of the saddle when there is very little resistance on the bike. I’m not sure why, but that’s always what I’ve done. And every time I’ve tried, I can stay up for a couple of seconds before I feel the bad pain (which is basically my hip locking up and feeling like the bones are grinding).

But this past Saturday, I decided to try riding out of the saddle while we were in the hill portion of class. This meant that there was a lot of resistance on the wheel and that we were not pedaling as fast.

And I was actually able to stay up for about half a song! It was tough, but it didn’t start hurting until about half way through the hill section. I was able to stay up and even do some of the moves (we were sitting down for 2 counts and then standing up for 2 counts).

After half of the song, the bad pain started again, so I sat down. But this was still the most that I’ve ridden out of the saddle for any spin class I’ve taken!

It’s tough to be super excited over this since I only rode out of the saddle for about 90 seconds and a majority of the 45 minute class is supposed to be out of the saddle, but I’m trying to be happy. Maybe the next class I take I can ride out of the saddle for a majority of the hill section. And one day, I’ll be able to ride out of the saddle for 45 seconds when there is no resistance on the bike.

These are baby steps. And they will take a while to add up to what seems like progress. But I’m trying to stay optimistic that this will snowball into faster and faster progress and one day I will look back at the time that I had to sit down for an entire spin class as something in the past.

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff

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Trying A New Spin (or Knowing When A Place Does Feel Like Home)

Posted on February 19, 2014 | Comments Off on Trying A New Spin (or Knowing When A Place Does Feel Like Home)

On my last day at my parents’ house, my dad and I decided to go to a spin class. We actually wanted to try a spin class when I was home at Christmas, but other things ended up happening.

The spin class was at the Courtside Club, the gym that my parents have belonged to for forever. And I do mean forever. My mom has been a member there for 34 years and my dad joined when he and my mom were dating. In fact, their wedding reception was held at the Club (back then it was more of a hotel and tennis club than a gym).

While home at Christmas, my dad and I did a little investigating into the spin classes. We found out that most classes were an hour (compared to 45 minutes at SoulCycle) and that the bikes had both clips and cages so you could either wear bike shoes or sneakers. My dad had found out between my trips home that the clips for spin class were different than what I have on my fancy bike shoes, so I had to use the cages and my sneakers.

When my dad and I got to the class, we managed to find bikes off to the side (almost in a similar place to where I ride at SoulCycle). I tried to set up my bike on my own based on the guidelines that I’ve learned at SoulCycle, but my dad still called the instructor over to help us. He was actually pretty impressed with how well I set up my bike. The instructor (whose name I can’t remember, sorry!) was very friendly and asked if my dad and I had ever been to spin before. We both said that we had, just not at Courtside. He told us to take things at our own pace and to try our best.

Right before the class started, the instructor announced that I was joining the class for the first time and everyone gave me a round of applause (I have no idea why my dad wasn’t acknowledged too). Then the class started.

It was totally different to what I’m used to. There was a little computer on each bike and you were supposed to get to a certain RPM at different points in the class. I’m not used to that at all. At SoulCycle, we ride to the beat. That’s what I’ve focused on. The RPMs weren’t too hard, but I still found myself riding to the beat even though it was the wrong speed.

There were also some technical difficulties with the stereo and microphone so I know that the instructor was a bit flustered and the class was affected a bit by that. But I survived the class.

Even though I had an ok time (if I do that class next time I’m visiting my parents, I’m buying the proper clips because using the cages sucked), I still got in a good workout. And it has reassured me once again that being at SoulCycle is the place for me and that that is the perfect workout for what I’m looking for.

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Posted in Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Travel

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A Weekend Catchup Post (or Maybe The Craziness Made Me Get Sick)

Posted on January 15, 2014 | Comments Off on A Weekend Catchup Post (or Maybe The Craziness Made Me Get Sick)

After 2 days of posts about me being sick, I’m sure you are all wanting to read something different. So this is about my crazy Saturday (which now looking back at it might have made my immune system a bit low and made me catch this cold).

Saturday is normally a short shift day for me. I work from 10-2 and have the rest of the day free. This past Saturday I had to open up because my boss was too sick to be there. Plus, I had previously volunteered to work at the show on Saturday night because I knew I would be asking for the upcoming Saturday off. So I knew that I had to be back at work at 6pm for the show shift.

I’ve done split shifts in the past. They aren’t my favorite thing, but they are a necessary evil at my job. Normally, I’d go home between the shifts to get some work done at home and get dressed (regular shifts are very casual but show shifts are dressy business). But since this past Saturday was SoulCycle’s anniversary, I decided to spend my time between the shifts in Santa Monica.

The first shift I worked was a little crazy. There were some projects that we had to work on and the phone kept ringing off the hook, preventing us from finishing the projects in a timely manner. Everything got done, but it was a little stressful. I had some free time between the shift and my spin class, so I hung out in my car and read a book.

Spin was awesome! It was Patrick’s class, which I always enjoy. It really helped get the stress from my shift out of my body and get me ready to go back to work again. I also almost broke a personal record for the most calories burned in spin class (I was 14 calories short of my all time best).

Then I quickly showered and got ready at SoulCycle to go back to work. I ate a quick dinner as soon as I got back in my office and then headed into the theater to work.

My show shift went pretty smoothly. I’ve done plenty of show shifts so I’m familiar with what needs to get done. And while the show was going on I get to read my book (which is awesome because technically during that time I’m getting paid to read!).

I was finally done with work and got everything cleaned up. By the time I left, it had been 12 hours since I arrived at work.

I’m wondering if all the craziness and stress from the day contributed to me getting sick. I was doing well with all of my co-workers being sick around me and then right after my shift is when I started to feel a bit off.

If this crazy day made me sick, that’s ok. It was worth it. I got a lot of work done and did an awesome spin class! I consider that a win even if getting sick is not.

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Posted in Fitness, Health, Work

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Starting The Year Off Right (or Spinning Away)

Posted on January 3, 2014 | Comments Off on Starting The Year Off Right (or Spinning Away)

I was very lucky to have New Year’s Day off from work. Again, nobody wants to be making phone calls on a holiday. So I tried to make the most of my day.

I did sleep in pretty late. I had gotten home just around 1am but I stayed up a bit later trying to get some work done while I felt awake.

I knew that I wanted to go to spin class on New Year’s Day, I just wasn’t sure exactly when I wanted to go. There were some special classes that day that were 90 minutes long (double the length of a normal class), but I didn’t think my body would be up for that.

Fortunately, Patrick was teaching one of the regular length classes in the early afternoon. That gave me time to get some food in my stomach and relax before sweating out all the fun I had the night before.

The class was great and exactly what I needed. I got in a great workout and according to my heart rate monitor, I burned more calories in this spin class than I had in any previous class! Part of that may be due to the fact that during the weights portion of class, I got heavier weights than I’ve ever used. But I’d also like to think that is has something to do with me getting fitter, stronger, and able to push myself harder.

I left the class super sweaty, but I look at the sweat marks on my clothes as something to be proud of. I don’t even mind walking back to my car in my sweaty clothes without covering up. If people think I look weird all sweaty, who cares? I did an amazing workout.

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I got home and ended up taking a nap after class. I was still pretty tired from the day before and the class wiped me out. The rest of the day was spent hanging out at home and reading a book, which helped to make the day a perfect day off from my day job.

But I did do some of my goals for 2014. I got in my spin class and I tracked every single calorie that I consumed that day. I was under my calorie goal and made lots of good choices for the day. It’s tougher for me to plan my meals when I don’t do spin class first thing in the morning, but I’m proud of the job that I did with my food choices that day.

I’m definitely off to a good start this year.

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Weight Loss

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Happy Thanksgiving (or My Top 10 Things That I Am Thankful For)

Posted on November 28, 2013 | Comments Off on Happy Thanksgiving (or My Top 10 Things That I Am Thankful For)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’m spending today with my mom’s side of the family in San Diego this year. I’ll be doing a recap of my Thanksgiving (and my Grandma’s birthday dinner) soon. But I wanted to take today to share some things that I am thankful for. I’ve been noticing people posting one thing they are thankful for every day on Facebook. I haven’t been doing that this year, but I’ve decided to do a top 10 list of things that I am thankful for this year.

1. I am thankful that I have a family that loves me and supports me.

2. I am thankful that even though my mom is going through chemo right now, she is doing amazing and I am every reason to believe that at the end of her treatments that she will be cancer-free.

3. I am thankful that even though I might not love my day job, it pays my bills and allows me to do what I love.

4. I am thankful that I have acting in my life, something that I am so passionate about and couldn’t imagine not doing.

5. I am thankful that I have amazing agents who submit me for great parts and believe that I am going to book something big in the near future.

6. I am thankful for the traveling that I got to do this year (and that my parents could pay for it because I would never be able to afford Maui on my own right now).

7. I am thankful that I am healthy enough to do the 5Ks that I’ve done so far (I’ve got one more in a week).

8. I am thankful that I found a workout that I love and that there are instructors there who truly care about me and want me to get in the best physical shape that I can be.

9. I am thankful that I have amazing friends who support me in what I do and are there to cheer me up when I need it.

10. I am thankful for this blog. It has been like therapy for me. I get out things that sometimes are too hard to say out loud. And I feel like by sharing these things, I have been able to get closer to my friends and family and not feel like I am hiding a part of myself.

So those are the top 10 things I am thankful for. I’m definitely thankful for more than that, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you all! I hope that you get to spend today with people who you love and you have a chance to reflect on the things that you are thankful for this year (feel free to share some in the comments if you’d like to!).

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff

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Sharing My Soul (or My Dad’s First Spin Class)

Posted on November 19, 2013 | 1 comment

One of the things that I had been wanting to take my dad to for a while was spin class at SoulCycle. First of all, I wanted to see if my dad agreed with me that it was a good workout (I like to prove to him that I don’t do easy or weak workouts). But the second reason I wanted to take him was because he has been riding a bike almost every day since before I was born and I wanted to see how he would do in an inside bike ride. My dad used to ride his bike to work almost every single day. Now that he’s retired, he either goes out on his road bike or on an adventure on his mountain bike most days of the week. But spinning is different from outside bike riding so I was curious to see how he would do.

We scheduled our spin class to be on Saturday morning. I wanted to make sure that we got one of my favorite instructors for his class, and I saw that Heather was teaching at 9am on the Saturday that my dad would be here! So we signed up for that class right away.

My dad wasn’t too nervous for the class since I had shown him some videos of what the class would be like before we got there. And obviously he did a great job pedaling the spin bike the entire time. Where my dad had some trouble was the coordinator of the different moves on the bike. But I don’t blame him for that. It took me a couple of classes to get the rhythm of everything down. And since I still can’t do all the standing up stuff, I don’t do all the moves on the bike yet.

After the class, my dad agreed with me that it is a tough class and a great workout! And I got to say hi to Heather really quickly and she invited me to be her guest at one of her 7am classes one day (I have to try to start getting up earlier to make it to that class)!

Overall, I’m pretty sure that my dad enjoyed the class. We got a good workout in and I think he’s starting to understand why I love spinning so much! There isn’t a SoulCycle studio that close to my parents’ house, but there is one about 4 blocks away from my brother and sister-in-law’s house so I told my dad that he should take them to a class sometime! I don’t know if it will happen (I don’t think spinning is my brother’s thing), but maybe one day it will!

I’m just glad that I’m starting to share my love of SoulCycle with members of my family. Maybe my dad will come to a class with me again the next time he and my mom are in town…

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Posted in Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health

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The Tale Of Two Fitness Studios (or Knowing Where Your Home Is)

Posted on November 15, 2013 | Comments Off on The Tale Of Two Fitness Studios (or Knowing Where Your Home Is)

Yesterday I had adventures at two different fitness studios.

First, I went to SoulCycle for my spin class. I seriously love being there. I walked it and people know who I am. They ask me how I’m doing and how my job situation is. They really do know me there.

My class was with an instructor who hasn’t taught at my spin studio in a while (she teaches at Beverly Hills but was subbing for another instructor yesterday). Even though she hasn’t seen me in months, she remembered me. She asked me how I was and mentioned that I had looked good in class.

When I was leaving class, another instructor who’s class I’ve taken was there. I had talked with her a few months ago about my hip issues, and as soon as she saw me she had asked me about it and if I had my next hip surgery scheduled.

Then as I was leaving, one of the front desk people who I know was outside and we chatted for a minute. I mentioned how my dad is coming to town this weekend (as you are reading this I’m probably getting him at the airport) and how he is coming with me to SoulCycle on Saturday. She got so excited and told me that she would be working on Saturday and was looking forward to meeting my dad.

It feels amazing to work out somewhere where people know you and care about you.

On the somewhat opposite end of the spectrum, I went to a grand opening of another fitness studio last night. I’m not going to mention the name of it because I’m sure what happened last night is not representative of what it will be like there and I want to give them another chance.

But I went to the opening night event, and there was nothing there for me to do. There was no information about the studio and the classes. No schedule to look at. And even in the swag bag, no free pass (I’m sure that was an oversight and I tweeted at the owner to see if I could come check out a class for free sometime).

I didn’t feel like I belonged there at all. I think most of the people who were there were friends and family of the owner and instructors and for the first 30 minutes that I was there I didn’t talk to a single person!

Finally, another blogger who was there came up to me and we started chatting. Turns out, she felt just as left out and alone as me! And she’s also a SoulCycle person! She and I both ended up leaving early because there wasn’t really anything to do there except drink and have the appetizers that were being served.

It was just such a funny contrast between the two places. I don’t know if the second studio will feel more comfortable to me one day after I take a class or two.  But what I do know is that SoulCycle feels like home to me and I’m so unbelievably grateful for that!

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