Member blogger Kathleen Hermann talks about ways for families to engage in fun fitness activities during the holiday season.

We all have holiday traditions, from Aunt Linda’s green bean casserole to fireside carols to the annual donning of the matching sweaters.

However, a lot of our traditions around the holidays focus on heavy, fat-laden foods. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Traditions are important, and the holidays are a good time to indulge as long as we do not indulge to excess.

Still, it is a good time to assess whether your family has any healthy holiday traditions, namely involving physical activity. If not, then why not consider starting one?

Growing up, we watched my father every Thanksgiving morning amble through a Turkey Trot 5k. A former college basketball star measuring 6’8″ in height, he was by no means a runner and it was often humorous to watch him lurching down the final stretch. Nevertheless, he loved how running that race (which was, in fact, the only race he ever ran each year) made him feel on Thanksgiving Day.

As soon as we were old enough, us kids joined him, engaging in a friendly competiton with eachother for place and time. There was something special about knowing no matter the weather — and we had our share of unseasonably warm days as well as days with a foot of snow — we knew where we would be Thanksgiving morning. After an endorphin high of running a race like a Turkey Trot in a huge crowd of like-minded runners, the rest of the day was gravy (pun intended).

There are, in fact, many different ideas for holiday traditions involving fitness, with  new opportunities forming each year. It’s not important what you do as long as you do your best to mix the holiday, family and friends (or even pets) with fitness. Here are some ideas for healthy traditions you may not yet have tried:

1. Run a Turkey Trot Next Year
Did you know that the first “Turkey Trot” was started right near us in Buffalo during Thanksgiving of 1896? Back then it had only six runners, but today that same Buffalo race regularly has over 10,000 participants. Now there are Turkey Trots all over the country, of differing lengths and terrains. If running bores you, look for a Turkey Day challenge obstacle-like race. The feeling of having accomplished something will make the food taste that much better.

2. Backyard Touch Football
This is a fun, special tradition that many families have already incorporated into their holidays for generations. Instead of sitting on the couch in a food-induced coma, head out for your own friendly-family or neighborhood competition. Children especially will cherish watching adults take part in a fun family game with them.

3. Take a Holiday Walk
There’s no sweeter image to me on holidays than when I see entire generations of a family out walking down the road in a big pack. The sight of an elderly grandmother pushing a stroller, uncles and aunts engaging in jesting banter, and mixed-age children running ahead just seems to be one of the best ways to unite as a family. Even if it is only you and your dog celebrating this year, take a special walk -perhaps on a nature trail- and enjoy the time to reflect on the holiday and giving thanks.

4. Engage in a Seasonal Activity
The holidays are a great time to let your inner child run free. Whether there are young ones with you or not, there’s no reason you can’t go tobogganing, ice skating, or build a large snowman. All of these activities will  have you sweating off enough calories for that pumpkin pie you ate.

Holiday traditions don’t have to be focused only on sugar cookies and stuffing. Embrace a tradition involving physical activity and your holiday will combat stress, lift your mood, and make the time richer and brighter. More importantly, you may not end the holiday season five pounds heavier and feeling like a sloth. It is never too late to start a new tradition!

Does your family have a healthy holiday tradition or story?

We tend to loosen our belts this time of year, figuratively, and sometimes literally.

Maybe we skip a planned workout. Maybe we indulge too heavily at a holiday party. Maybe we have three calorie-laden drinks when we really should have one.

These practices are common. We’re only human. But if you’re looking to kick off the official holiday season on Thanksgiving Day with some pre-caloric burn, there’s no better place to be than Midtown. The club is open from 7am until 2pm. Kidtown is open from 8:30am to 2pm.

Here’s our action-packed schedule for Turkey Day:

Group Exercise Studio

7:30-8:30am    

Bootcamp with Steve: Mr. Early Morning Bootcamp will lead you through a hardcore workout before the afternoon feast.  

9 -10:30am     

Thanks for Giving Power Vinyasa Yoga with Randi and Karyn: A hot and sweaty class of giving and gratitude.  Held each year to benefit Bivona Child Advocacy Center, we would greatly appreciate monetary donations.

Basketball Court

8:30-10:30am

“It’s a Party” Group Power &  Zumba: Rev up your Thanksgiving morning with 50 minutes of  Group Power to various party theme songs, followed by Zumba with our awesome instructors.

Studio A

8-9am              

Feeling Grateful Vinyasa Yoga with Susan S: Cultivate thankfulness and experience the sweetness gratitude brings.

9:30-10:30am   

Turkey Burn Pilates Mat with Kathy: Strengthen your core and feel the pre-turkey burn.

Cycle Room

9-10:30am        

Pre -Turkey Burn with Missy: 90 minutes on the Keiser bikes increasing watts (or power) by combining  resistance (gears) and speed (RPMs).  Missy created the playlist for this class entirely from member requests. Work hard and have a blast doing it.   

11-12pm

Thanksgiving Ride with Doug H.: An all-terrain cycle class guaranteed to make you sweat.

Tennis Courts

8-9:00am

Turkey Cardio Tennis: Our tennis pros will bring on the burn as you enjoy the fast-paced drills and games of Cardio Tennis before the big feast. All skill levels are welcome. 100% of your $20 donation will benefit The Open Door Mission, and as our way of saying “thank you” for giving, we’ll provide you with a free Cardio Tennis Class.

Pool Deck

8-8:45am          

Tough Turkey Team Obstacle Course with Tim and Vinny: Join us this Thanksgiving for an extreme obstacle course unlike any other. It will be tough. It will be cold. You will get wet. You’ll earn your Turkey before your in-laws wake up, without a doubt. Our Facebook page has all the details. Limited to the first 30 signups, so register soon!

Want to know what to wear? You won’t be able to pick up or abandon clothing during the race. So, if you want goggles in the pool, you should be wearing them at the start. If you want sneakers on the mud course, they’re going with you into the pool. Stay lightweight but prepare for some cooler weather (mid-40s). Compression tops and bottoms, light sneakers, and maybe some gloves will serve you well.

What are your Thanksgiving fitness plans?

Member Kathleen Hermann takes over the blog today to talk about how you can use your Midtown membership to give your kids the gift of health and wellness.

Take it away, Kathleen!

Imagine that you could purchase the gift of lifelong health or endow it in a will.

What parents wouldn’t sacrifice to secure such a valuable asset for their children?  

Unfortunately, we cannot acquire health with cash alone; however, we CAN armor our children against a host of chronic diseases and set them on the right track for a flourishing, balanced life. We don’t have to wait to give this gift – we can start right now!

Of course, there is no lack of obstacles to raising healthy kids. Recent statistics show 1 out of every 3 children in America is overweight. We are reminded of this with every McDonald’s arch we pass, every cartoon character encouraging the consumption of sugary snacks, and every child we pass tapping away on his portable Nintendo.

Now, more than ever, just as we protect our children from tetanus and diphtheria, it is of equal importance to immunize them against the growing childhood disease of obesity.

Here are four ways you can use your Midtown membership to help your children on their lifelong path of health:

1. Midtown Varsity Programs

The fall session of Midtown Varsity children’s programming is under way. Offered in addition to the excellent sports camps that Midtown offers over summer and school breaks, these classes have many benefits:

• They are designed not only for exercise, but also to show our children how to have fun in their physical pursuits and develop confidence in their abilities.
• The age-appropriate yoga classes teach body awareness and coordination in combination with giving kids the relaxation skills needed to counter the pressures of modern life
• Parents are not just delegated to a tiny waiting room or the sidelines. Rather, we are able to simultaneously recharge ourselves in Midtown’s facilities, making great use of limited time and ensuring both parent and child head home recharged.
• Other than a nominal family sign-up fee, these classes are free to Midtown members.

2. The Gift of a Lifelong Sport

Our Midtown Junior Tennis Program is nationally recognized and our Midtown Currents Swim Team excels at local competitions. If you want the best place in the greater Rochester area to get your children hooked with the confidence and skills they need to enjoy these sports, look no further than Midtown.

• It was the USTA that coined the phrase, “Tennis, the Sport for a Lifetime.” And it’s true. Because the level of play is controlled by the person playing, children can start tennis in the preschool years and still play competitive singles past their 80s. 
• In truth, although you should encourage your children to try any sport they show interest in, certain sports have a much earlier “retirement age” after the scholastic years of organized leagues. It’s difficult to find ten people, equipment, and two goals for a lacrosse scrimmage, and rounding up volunteers for a cheerleading pyramid in your 40s will likely be near impossible. However, tennis and swimming will always be available, often for free, in countless parks nationwide. They are not only competitive sports but also lifetime skills you can enjoy through the years.

3. Kidtown and the Café

In most gyms, your snack choices are limited to the five rows in a standard vending machine.

Luckily, Midtown isn’t most gyms.

• At Midtown, in addition to myriad healthful choices offered on the full Bon Marche and Gould Street cafe menus, there are choices catered expressly to the tastes, needs and portion sizes of children.
• It’s much less tempting to stop for a Happy Meal to appease a hungry whining child on the way to the gym when you know he or she can enjoy a nourishing, appetizing meal right in Kidtown.
• The children’s meals are offered with sides such as carrot sticks, fruit, and applesauce; soda is not even listed as a beverage option. There are few eateries that offer a healthy salad as a kids meal option or which serve their kids meal sandwiches on whole wheat bread. Of course, we should expect nothing less from Midtown.
•  Kidtown is more than accommodating of bagged lunches brought from home and also offers the children fresh water while they play.  And play they do. With a kid-sized basketball court, tumbling mats, riding toys, bouncing balls, and access to the gym, my kids often leave Kidtown in a good sweat.

4.  Leading by Example

The first step in encouraging a certain lifestyle for your children is believing that it matters.

Your family will sense you are passionate about staying fit and eating right by witnessing your own commitment to these values. When they are young, children accept our convictions without question, but even older children and teens are influenced by what their parents believe and do. That is why the best tool that we have in fighting childhood obesity is staring us right in the mirror. Much more than a celebrity spokesperson or clever cartoon, we have the power to encourage healthy habits in our children simply by our own demonstration.  

When I pick up my kids in Kidtown, they often ask me how many miles I ran that day, or if I took a class with one of their friend’s mommies. To them, physical activity is as typical a part of daily living as brushing their teeth.

I can’t help but feel proud to see my example rubbing off when my three-year-old packs her doll in the play stroller and announces  that she is taking her  baby for a jog, before trotting up and down the sidewalk. I got the same feeling watching my five-year-old challenging herself to swim “laps” like the “grown-ups” in Midtown’s pool this summer. 

Watching how they are forming habits at a young age further reminds me of the importance of introducing fitness and healthy living in their lives now. I know that the example I set will be the key to enforcing these values.

Luckily, most days setting that example is as simple as going to Midtown.

How do you encourage your kids to lead healthy, active lives?

It’s Psyclewrx 2.0 time again at the club. If you take group cycle classes, you’ll love Psyclewrx, which utilizes the latest technology of power measurement to greatly enhance fitness.

Psyclewrx creator, personal trainer, and cycling instructor Doug Rushowants to see you in class beginning this Saturday, October 8th

Take it away, Doug.

Hello Midtowners. It has been a busy summer with my two girls (Hannah is 2.5 years old and Brynn is 9 months old), but I am very excited to start up Psyclewrx (Pwrx) classes again. Psyclewrx graduates are averaging a 15% improvement rate!

This past weekend I attended the Indoor Cycle Instructor Pro Conference in Boston. I was invited back this time as a presenter, and I delivered a lecture and led a ride based off my Pwrx 2.0 program.  I met a lot of unique people: Trisha who just returned from Iraq, Eugene, who found my Hollywood look a like (Ish Kabibble), and many others with interesting stories.

Barbara Hoots, a presenter from Georgia, just recently taught cycling to former President Jimmy Carter to prepare him for knee replacement surgery. She looked up all of the musicians who performed while he was president and burned him a playlist.  She wheeled a bike into his office and set it right on the Presidential seal!  He laughed when a Willie Nelson song came on and asked for the phone.  He dialed the digits and then said, “Hey Willie, you will never guess what I am doing right now!” 

I also embarked on a new certification, Stages Indoor Cycling.  Stages is also looking to the future with cycling programming based on power, periodization, and most importantly, measurable, tangible results. We talked a lot through the weekend as they were impressed with my Pwrx program. I was even invited to join them on stage (no pun intended) for their Saturday night main event ride.

I learned about a few new pieces of training research but most importantly I observed and listened to many different instructors to “get a beat” on what we can do to improve the indoor cycle experience.  The question arose, “How can we help indoor cycling survive?”

Up until this point, it has survived based on the mind/body connection, great music, and motivating instructors.  Without a doubt this entertainment needs to continue.  But, we need the other half; we cannot just keep pedaling on thin air. People want results, they want to see and feel improvement. With power-based bikes like those we have at Midtown and an organized program like Pwrx 2.0 we can find the perfect blend of entertainment and training. 

Psyclewrx 2.0 session 1 starts this Saturday, October 8^th.  Check out the poster in front of the group cycling room for more info, or give me a call at 461-2301, ext. 261.

I look forward to the opportunity to help everyone improve and have a great time while doing it!

Thanks, Doug!

Want more information on the program? Check out Doug’s Psyclewrx journal on our blog from last fall.  

Are you a Pwrx graduate? What did you think of the program?

Much as Rochestarians may try to deny it, summer is well and truly over.  The mornings are cool, and the evenings are colder still. Sweaters have begun to replace tshirts, and the heat may have even switched on in your house once or twice.

Of course, fall in the ROC isn’t all bad. Mother Nature has begun to work her magic on the leaves. Fall produce is plentiful in area farmers’ markets. And of course, our incredible outdoor pool is still open for Extended Season Hours.

Autumn also means it’s time for the Annual Lap Swimmers’ Breakfast. Lap swimmers are a vital part of the Midtown community, and Aquatics Director Tim Auerhahn is once again extending an invitation to join him for food and feedback this week.

Here’s his message.

Lap Swimmers,

On behalf of Midtown Athletic Club, thank you for being an active participant in our Aquatics Program. Without your commitment to an active lifestyle, the quality and success of our program would not be possible.

I would like to extend an invitation for you to join me on Wednesday, October 5th from 6:30am-9:30am or 11:00am-1:00pm (whatever time is more convenient for you) in the Adirondack Lodge for a light breakfast or lunch. This is Midtown’s way of saying ‘thank you’ for a wonderful third season.

I’ll be on hand during those times to gather your feedback on what we did well, items we can improve upon, and most importantly what you’d like to see from us next year.

Below are some potential discussion items for Wednesday:

• Hours of Operation
• Season Schedule
• Programming
• Facility Operations
• Aquatic Personnel, Lifeguards, Coaches and Instructors
• Aquatic Equipment

Once again we appreciate your loyal patronage and it’s is my hope we learn how to better serve you and that together, we will continue to make this aquatic facility the best in Rochester. Please feel free to e-mail me your feedback at tim.auerhahn@midtown.com, if for some reason you are unable to make it.

See you Wednesday (rain or shine)!

What did you think of our third aquatics season?

You battled hard.

You put your muscle where your mouth is.

And you gave generously to help a fund dedicated to fighting pediatric cancer, which claimed the life of a young Midtowner.

Thank you for your time, your sweat, your next-day aches and pains, and most especially, for your donations to Crosby’s Fund through The Wish List Society.

We are forever thankful.

And now, the results.

A big congratulations of Monica Bays, our overall Female Winner, and to Ryan Pettinella, our overall Male Winner.

Monica Bays, The Female Division Winner, with Trainer Joe Dietrich

Here are the rankings.

Female Division

Male Division

And some special award winners:

Five years ago, Randi Lattimore was working as a substitute yoga instructor when she entered General Manager Glenn William’s office to introduce herself. On his desk were the blueprints for the Mind/Body Studio renovation project.

She had found yoga years earlier and immediately loved everything about it: how it made her feel, the way it changed her body, the inner strength and peace she felt at the completion of each class. She quickly transitioned from practicing yoga to studying it, visiting studios across the country, absorbing what worked and what didn’t.

On that day in 2006, she sold her vision for the club’s Mind/Body Studio to Glenn. She then came up with her job title of Mind/Body Director. She hired dear friends as instructors. She expanded the offerings to encompass varied forms of yoga.

And she quickly created a culture of genuine connections and care amongst instructors and students that has flourished over the past five years and has made Midtown’s yoga program the best in Rochester.

Roots and Rhythm

A former event planner, Randi is originally from the West Coast. She then lived in Chicago for a number of years, and hand-picked Rochester as her new hometown over ten years ago when her husband’s job required them to move East. As a transplant to the ROC, Randi’s Midtown coworkers quickly became her family, a relationship that helps foster the warm community atmosphere and philosophy that permeates every yoga class.

While she feels teaching yoga is what she was meant to do with her life, Randi has big dreams to both appear and act as a guest judge on ”So You Think You Can Dance.” If she couldn’t teach yoga, Randi would love to dance professionally.

Teacher Training

Randi recently worked to certify Midtown as a Yoga School through Yoga Alliance.

Yoga Immersion and Teacher Training* begins on October 28th. The Immersion section, for those interested in become more well-rounded, informed practitioners of yoga, runs for eight weekends (a total of 80 hours) until February 5th of next year.

The Certification Option, for those wishing to pursue the Yoga Alliance standard of a 200-hour training program, includes an additional 40 hours, and extends until May of 2012.

Following the completion of 80 hours of Immersion, 40 hours of certification, and homework, practice time, and reading, graduates will receive Registered Yoga Teacher Certification, a degree many yoga studios, including Midtown’s, look for when hiring instructors.

Says Randi, “Our club has always offered a breadth of yoga workshops and special events, so it’s a natural progression for us to become a Yoga School. Our students are ready for this. Our yoga instructors are ready for this. And the training is diversified, so the instructors will teach to the strength of their students. I am so excited about this program.”

Inside Randi’s Fridge

When she’s not running the Mind/Body studio, Randi enjoys spending time with her husband of 16 years, her 15-year-old daughter, and 13-year-old son.

When I ask her about the three food items she keeps in her fridge at all times, Randi says, “Greek yogurt, almonds, and fruit. Always, lots of fruit.” 

What’s one thing most people don’t know about her?

“I would rather eat chocolate cake-with chocolate frosting-than just about anything else in the world,” says Randi. “Love it!”

Midtown Pride

Randi is to Midtown’s Mind/Body studio as Bill Gates is to Microsoft, so she has experienced many proud moments in her tenure at the club.

“When members approach me and say how they couldn’t get through their divorces, their cancer battles, or their other difficult times without yoga, it’s incredibly gratifying,” says Randi. “It’s one of the best parts of my job.”

Her most memorable moment, though, took place at the club’s first-ever “Thanks for Giving” yoga class, a donation-based class benefitting Bivona Child Advocacy Center  held annually near Thanksgiving.

Randi has visited the center, which helps child victims of physical or sexual abuse, and in the one hour she was there, she watched three children walk in needing assistance, something that had a profound effect on her.

The class was in shivasana, Hallelujah was playing, and Randi looked at fellow yoga instructor and friend Karen Lederman and began to cry. There were 90 people in the class, and Randi was full of joy at the contribution the club would be able to make to Bivona to help abused children like those she saw during her visit.

Yoga is for Everyone

Think yoga isn’t for you?

Randi hears this all the time. And to the yoga naysayers, she says, “Give it a try. Yoga is for everyone, for those who think they’re not flexible enough, or not relaxed enough, or who don’t think it’s a good workout. As I like to ask the doubters, ‘When you’re dirty, are you too dirty to take a shower?’ Of course not!”

The four-week Yoga School for Beginners, which will teach you yoga fundamentals and prepare you for taking one of the awesome yoga classes offered at the club, starts on October 17. Check out our Facebook Events page for more information.

Yoga is an Experience and Not “Just a Class”

It’s a practice that enables you to connect with people, to interact, to touch, to laugh, and to share. It helps you to center yourself and strengthens your muscles at the same time.

Randi has made our Mind/Body Studio not just a physical space for members to practice, but has also embodied it with a spirit that carries yogis throughout their daily lives.

And thanks to my interview with Randi, this Type A, tightly wound, former yoga-doubter will be trying it very soon.

*Contact Randi at randi.lattimore@midtown.com with any questions about Midtown Yoga Immersion and Teacher Training. If you have at least one year of yoga practice, you can pick up an application at the front desk.

You’ve seen the in-club poster. You’ve read about the event on Facebook.  You’ve seen the YouTube video.

This post is not about the buzz surrounding our Ultimate Xtreme Challenge on Saturday, September 17th.

It’s about the little boy whose memory we’re honoring. It’s about the Midtown family coming together to help the foundation created by one of our own. It’s about directing the love of a good challenge toward something wonderful.

Member Kathleen Hermann talks about giving back, pushing hard, and making a difference.  

Studies have shown that people who give –whether in the form of time, money, or support – are more satisfied with their lives. In fact, one of the best ways to overcome stress is to do something that helps someone else.

This is why I am so excited to participate in the club’s Ultimate Xtreme Challenge on Saturday. To have the chance to give back to a very worthy cause (and knowing that 100% of the proceeds go directly to that cause) while doing something that provides a hefty mental and physical challenge is a win/win situation.

We all like to make a difference. Giving feels good – especially when you are able to give back to yourself along with it. Proceeds from this event will benefit “Crosby’s Fund.” Crosby was a courageous toddler who fought through a disease no child should ever have to experience – a rare form of childhood cancer called Neuroblastoma, which affects the sympathetic nervous system. All who knew Crosby were touched by his life and inspired by the bravery and strength demonstrated by someone so young.

Crosby’s family has belonged to the club for many years.

This event is about the Midtown community, and Crosby’s community of family and friends, coming together to support a cause greater than ourselves.

Crosby’s Fund was created through The Wish List Society, a group of young professionals who support the Wilmot Cancer Center. The Wish List Society’s new mission is to create a research grant for pediatric cancer research, which they’ve named Crosby’s fund.

The challenge itself is a training course where members and guests push our limits at different stations to accomplish as many reps as possible in a set period of time. Although there are awards for the top three males and females (calculated by points earned at each station), everyone truly wins, as the challenge is a personal one.

Fun and food will follow the event. However, those with busy schedules, take note. The challenge will not take you four hours to complete. The hours are set between 8:45am and 12:45pm, which is really just a window of time during which, at any time you choose, you can complete all the stations. The harder you push, the sooner you’ll complete the challenge.

Marathon great Hal Higdon once said, “Even when you have gone as far as you can, and everything hurts, and you are staring at the specter of self-doubt, you can find a bit more strength deep inside you, if you look closely enough.”

His words apply to this challenge in many ways.

They apply to Crosby, who endured with bravery and spirit a disease that waged war on his young body. His words apply to Crosby’s family and friends, who grieve their loss of Crosby’s time on Earth and are using their pain to raise funds that help all childhood cancer patients.

And they apply to many of us, who on our personal journeys to fitness often need to test our limits to remember how strong we really are.

It’s not too late to sign up for this exciting event by calling the front desk at 461-2300.

Hope to see you there!

With 17 marathons (including 10 Bostons) under his belt, and 15 years of personal training experience, Bruce Hedlund, the Rochester club’s resident running expert, is the trainer you want to work with if you’re preparing for a race.

Bruce also runs the club’s Ramp Up Your Run program, as well as S.E.A.L. Training.

He graduated from SUNY Cortland with a B.S. in Exercise Science, and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Bruce also works as Penfield High School’s Strength and Conditioning coach, and did the same for the Rochester Americans for the 2009-2010 season.MORE

She loves paddle tennis with a fierce passion, but her first love is swimming.

Before this year, she had never tasted coffee, but her 5am Midtown shift-starts made it a necessity.

And you’ll never see her without pearls.

Keegan Brown is the club’s Swim Lesson Coordinator and a Swimming Instructor, a competitive paddle tennis player, and a big-time Zumba enthusiast. She credits Midtown’s Zumba classes for her 30-pound weight loss.

A few weeks ago, I sat down with Keegan and we talked paddle, swimming, and why she has exactly three colored Sharpie markers in her possession at all times.

Sporting Roots

“Growing up in West Irondequoit, my sports-oriented parents taught both my sister and me that girls could do anything that boys could do,” says Keegan. So she played volleyball, kickball, and of course, she swam. Mike Cahill, the Head Swimming Coach at RIT, was Keegan’s swimming coach for over 15 years.

After graduating first from MCC and then from St. John Fisher, she worked in the non-profit industry for a few years, but then returned to her sporting roots when she started working for the club in 2009.

Midtown allows her to both fulfill her professional goals and her personal ones.

Paddle Prowess

As a paddle tennis player for the past four years (three years competitively), Keegan participates in five paddle leagues during the season, and plays in tournaments across the Northeast once or twice a month. She comes from a paddle family (both her mom and her aunts play as well), and Keegan plays against her mom each Wednesday.

As a board member of SIS (Sustain, Inspire, Survive), an organization offering financial assistance to those battling breast cancer, Keegan hopes the 5th Annual Ladies Paddle Tournament for which Midtown is donating its courts next January will climb from 122 players in 2011 to 130 in 2012 to make it the biggest paddle tournament in the country.

On Deck and in the Pool

Paddle is a fall and winter sport, so when not on the courts, you’ll find Keegan on the pool deck coordinating group swimming lessons or in the pool teaching both young and not-so-young Midtowners to love the water. Keegan says, “I love watching the kids I taught to kick and breathe under water at two- and three-years-old now swimming laps at five- and -six-years-old. It’s incredibly fulfilling.”

She speaks fondly of her proudest moment at Midtown. A senior member of the club, Walter Fendley, approached Keegan about taking swimming lessons. He had not learned to swim as a child, and as a senior, was still intimidated by the deep end of the pool. His wife, an avid lap swimmer, encouraged Walter to take lessons so he could exercise with her. Walter started private lessons with Keegan in the shallow end of the pool, and eventually progressed to deeper water. Walter is now swimming laps with his wife, and the couple formed a lasting friendship with Keegan.

“All three of us took TNT together last year!” says Keegan.

Pearls and the Purse

When she’s not in the pool or on the paddle courts, Keegan enjoys baking and decorating cakes for her friends. She participated in the Sprint Mini-Triathlon at the club this past May, and loves taking group exercise classes with her friends.

She also told me that in addition to sunscreen, her handbag is never missing her daily planner and three colored Sharpie markers. “I have to stay organized and the markers help me plan my schedule,” says Keegan. “I’m absolutely lost without them.” And speaking of never being without, you’ll be hard-pressed to find Keegan sans pearls. “My sister and I are Irish twins-we’re 14 months apart. My sister wears diamonds, and I wear pearls,” she says. “They’ve been our signature accessory for years.”

A team player both on and off the paddle courts, Keegan firmly believes that as a Midtown associate, she would never ask anyone to do something that she herself wouldn’t do. She credits club manager Bob McKernan for demonstrating this ideal with the way he conducts himself in the club, pitching in to help whenever and wherever he’s needed.

“I truly believe in working hard in order to succeed,” says Keegan, “and sometimes that means working outside your job description.”

Keegan’s hard work on the paddle courts are taking her and her paddle partner to the APTA (American Platform Tennis Association) Nationals on Long Island for the first time this coming March.

Are the pearls coming too?

“Absolutely,” says Keegan.

Next up on our Staff Profile docket: Mind/Body Director Randi Lattimore. Stay tuned!