Dear fitness folks,

I have finally landed home for a few weeks.  I spent 10 days in Jamaica right after the IDEA conference in Las Vegas and plan to sit at my desk, go for a run with my friends, and roll around the floor with my dogs for the next few weeks. 

I have been going to fitness conferences for 20 years.  Way before Fit Bodies Inc. Traveling Incentives even existed.  I LOVE FITNESS CONFERENCES!  Back in the early years, we got fed by Nike and Reebok.  We were entertained by Ellen Degeneres.  We bounced around for hours – never taking a seminar where we could actually sit down.  I would come home to my studio and my members would cringe.  They were always afraid of the new and sometimes crazy things I would bring back.  My favorite was the short shorts.  In Kentucky we were wearing the long bike shorts (with a thong brief over it of course)  I came back from San Diego one time sporting pants that were about 6 inches shorter than anything they had seen before.  Of course it only took a few weeks and everyone in the studio had a pair of Moda shorts.

 

My good friend Missy Hawthorne and I have hit almost every IDEA and a few others in those years and we are still traveling together today.  We start off the day with either a gym workout or a spin class at the conference and workout a few more times during the day.  We do manage a few seminars now and try to squeeze in some pool time as well.  We spend lots of time talking to old friends and laughing until we hurt.  Life is good.

 

IDEA was a great experience.  First of all, it was a FitBeach presenter reunion.  Many of the wonderful staff who travel to Jamaica each fall to help me put on this unique event, were there.  Tom Bomar, the guy everyone is just now meeting through emails and his blog, and his wife Amy, one of the fitness pros, helped me out at the booth.  Check out Tom’s blog to see a short video filmed there. 

Marianne Wells, our yoga teacher and her husband Ron shared the booth with me to help promote FitBeach and her company Barefoot Bodies.  Tom ran into Doug Briggs at the NSCA conference and he joined us for dinner one night.  Doug does personal training and nutrition programs at FitBeach.  Missy also leads workshops at Fitbeach and we ran into a few other people who have staffed past FitBeach conferences, Abbie Appel, David Mesirow, Linda Freeman and Stacy Lei Krauss.  

Missy,Tom and Marianne at FitBeach

 

Hey, if you want to complete your cec’s, get another certification or just workout in Jamaica with a great bunch of people, come join us this year.  November 4-8 in Negril at Hedonism II and Grand Lido Negril.  Check it out at www.fit-beach.com

 

At the expo, I met many of the pros that have traveled with my company and many people who never heard of our program.  It is always a treat to see the faces on those who feel it is too good to be true, when they finally realize it IS TRUE.  You CAN teach classes, inspire others and enjoy a fabulous holiday on beautiful sandy beaches in paradise. 

I took some great classes while I was there too.  Karaoke Cycle was a hoot.  Wow we were sure sweating while we were singing!  Then I had the opportunity to try out my good friend David Mesirow’s new product – the BEAM. 
It is an amazing creation and as I said to David – you cant cheat!  If you don’t use your core and neutralize your spine, you fall off!   

Missy and I plan to introduce BEAMFIT at FitBeach this year.

 

I have to tell you that one of my favorite things about Las Vegas this year had nothing to do with the strip, the conference or indoor fitness classes.  I went hiking up Mt. Charleston with my good friend Mia Quinn.  This place is also a ski resort. YES you can ski in Las Vegas in the winter.  Mia’s husband is Jason Quinn, sommelier at the Prime restaurant at the Bellagio.  He was on our outstanding team at the Epicurean Escape I spoke about in my last blog that was held at Grand Lido Negril in Jamaica.   Mia picked me up at the hotel and the car was reading outside temps at 112 degrees.  When we got to our starting point in about 30 minutes, we were at 8,500 feet above sea level and the car said it was 74 degrees.  We had her two border collie puppies, Trapper and Hawkeye with us.  They are 8 months old and veteran hikers already. 

Just for a quick background, I run trail ultra races but have been nursing a sprained knee so I was so excited to be on the trails again.  This trail was very rocky, narrow, winding and I was in heaven.  It is high desert so there are cactus and pine trees.  There is one pine tree called Bristol Cone which is the name of the trail we were on.  These trees are hundreds of years old.  They grow one inch a year.  They look like old grape vines.  We climbed to 11,000 feet and then headed back down to a field where we threw out our yoga mats and did some ashtanga yoga to complete a wonderful morning. 

 

So that was some of the highlights of my Vegas trip.

Thanks for taking time to read this.   Look for reports from my last trip to Jamaica in my next blog and watch for an email soon with some exciting news.

 

Love,

 

Suzelle at FitBeach

 

Suzelle