The Pilates principles came into play a lot during this class, which I, of course, loved. Each move was carefully cued and performed slow and controlled. During certain exercises, we increased tempo, yet never to a point where you felt out of control or might get injured.

I love the classical Pilates method. I like that there's structure, purpose, focus on alignment, meaningful transitions, and a multitude of benefi ts. When I got invited to Forward and Up NYC 2025 's media day, I was thrilled - to the point where I confirmed with the publicist three times that I was all set. I haven't taken any continuing education classes in a while, let alone attended a Pilates-specific conference. My training manual from 2016! And, my lineage from my COR

For 2025, I knew I wanted to add another sprint, which I raced in the Adirondacks, and even snagged a second-place age group award! I was also already signed up for Challenge NJ Olympic in July [recaps on Tinman and Challenge to come]. Earlier in the year, I toyed with Musselman, but timing just didn’t work. Then, on a whim in early July, I pulled the trigger for Jones Beach.

Now that I've hopped on [and off] a plane to LAX (sorry) for the Nike LA After Dark Half Marathon, here’s some of what I used during training, from tried-and-true staples to new products I tested along the way.