My 2nd Place 5K Race Medal, Spotify Gripes, VSL3/Doctor Rant, Andy Took My Class

Happy Tuesday, friends. Here are a few random things going on in my life right now.

Andy In My Class

Andy took the spin class I taught last night! He hasn’t taken my class before because I usually teach at absurdly early times in the morning. Last night was my first evening class.

I was so happy he came because I wanted some real feedback from someone who doesn’t feel like they have to be nice to me. I also wanted to kick his ass. I succeeded at that and I loved going over the specifics of the class with him after and hearing how my class seems to someone who (1) has taken FlyWheel before and (2) does not usually spin.

He got to hear a variation of the playlist I’ve been using (I haven’t had any of the same students twice yet, so I’ve been playing off mostly the same canvas). I loved hearing how each song in particular was for him in terms of intensity, placement, emotional response and enjoyment. Tomorrow night I will debut an entirely new playlist that I will also dip into for my Saturday and Monday morning classes.

I do find it interesting how the three gyms I know in Jersey City don’t provide mics for instructors. I lost my voice during the class because I had to yell so loud.

VSL3

I’ve been sick since August, 2007. Almost six years, which is crazy to me because it still feels so new. It seems like yesterday I was eating delicious salads with eight free toppings for lunch – NYC living at its finest. I miss it. Anyway, if you’ve been reading for awhile you know that I’ve gone to many doctors, including the best GI specialists in New York City. After nothing helped me feel better, I continued going from doctor to doctor, hoping someone would have some idea that might help me – other than surgery. No one did.

And then last week, a friend of mine told me a friend of hers raved about this crazy strong probiotic called VSL3. It’s recommended for people with Crohn’s, Colitis, IBS and other digestive illnesses. It’s very expensive and lives in the refrigerator at certain pharmacies. It must keep it cold at all times because IT’S ALIVE.  After doing some research and reading tons of reviews, I learned that many people in similar situations to me have found a lot of relief from VSL3.

Learning about this made me really angry. I’ve seen so many doctors, top experts in their field. They say they’ve tried everything there is to try with me and the only option left is surgery to remove my colon. They’ve recommended other brands of probiotics – far lesser brands according to my research. So why did NO DOCTOR ever once mention VSL3 to me? How dare they recommend I remove my entire colon and potentially destroy my life without trying something so basic, something that worked for others, something that any decent GI doctor should know about??

End rant.

Do any of you take VSL3? How do you like it?

Medal

I finally got my medal from placing 2nd in my age group in the Read, Write, Run 5K last June! I didn’t get it on race day because it didn’t even cross my mind I would place, so I just ran home as soon as the race ended. I can’t recommend small, local races enough. Placing in a race is something I can brag about for the rest of my life, and even though I know many of you can run 5K much faster that my 24:27, this is a tremendous confidence booster and running validator  for me.

I wish I could run the 5K again this year but it conflicts with my honeymoon.

Spotify Gripes

I signed up for a Spotify  Premium membership now that I need to make so many playlists and listen to so much more music to teach indoor cycling classes.  I figured I’d save a lot of money on iTunes and once my indoor cycling tab is set up here I could link you to all my playlists, but I’m having some issues with Spotify that make me question the value of the $10/month service.

• Inability to tell me playlist length – Apparently this used to be a feature and Spotify removed it. To know how long a playlist is, I need enter all my songs into this time calculator. It’s tedious and leaves room for error. It also makes it extremely annoying to remove songs and add new ones. iTunes shows you the duration of your playlist, making it a much simpler choice and making me wonder if I should continue buying music and setting up playlists there.
• Inability to change song order in a playlist on the iPhone app – Another thing that drives me crazy. I usually put a bunch of songs on my playlist, add and remove as I listen to decide what will make the best possible spin class. Once I figure out what will be a hill, I usually need to rearrange some songs. If I add a new song, it needs to be before the cool down. But in the Spotify iPhone app, you can’t change the order of the list. Your songs appear in the order you added them. I’m rarely at my home computer and I can’t use Spotify at work, so this makes it difficult for me to get my playlists organized. Another reason I am tempted to cancel my Premium membership and just use iTunes.

I don’t get why Spotify would offer a paid service without some very basic functionality. Do these things irritate you, too?

Tell me something random in your life right now.