IDEA HEALTH AND FITNESS ASSOCIATION FITNESS INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD 2006

I am extremely proud to announce that I was a finalist for the prestigious IDEA Fitness Instructor of the Year Award. I was so honored to have been selected as one of the three finalists for this award. The competition was tough though, and I congratulate the winner, my colleague and friend Maureen Hagan for all of her accomplishments and hard work in the fitness industry. Mo, you deserve this! And congratulations also to my ‘co-finalist' Chalene Johnson, who was also recognized for all of her contributions and innovations. Here is a great photo of the three of us from the awards ceremony that took place in July during the IDEA World Convention in Las Vegas.

ACE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2006

I am also proud to announce that I was a finalist for the ACE Achievement Award, Group Fitness Instructor of the Year for the fourth year in a row. Congratulations to Shannon Griffiths-Fable who got top honors, and to Lisa Druxman who was also a finalist in this category.

NEWS FROM THE FITNESS FRONT

I am pleased to announce that I will be serving on the IDEA Group Fitness Membership Committee for the next three years. The committee met this summer during IDEA World in Las Vegas to discuss various topics as IDEA approaches their 25th Anniversary. World IDEA 2007 will be held in San Diego in July and promises to be a memorable event. Don't miss it! Click here for more information concerning IDEA.

I will also be serving on the Education/Scholarship committee for the Fit-For-Me Foundation based in Houston, Texas for the next two years. You can read more about the great things that they are doing here.

I am looking forward to working more closely with Body Bar and Gliding next year, and I have a few other projects that I am currently working on, that should help to make 2007 an interesting and busy year. I'll keep you up to date on those, as they progress.

LA PARISIENNE 10th EDITION

This is the 5th year that I had the pleasure to conduct the warm-up for this women's only run. Reebok France is a primary sponsor of the event, and we offer group fitness classes that are open to the public on the 2 days leading up to the run. As well, there is nutritional counseling, free massage, and a sports podiatrist is available to give short consultations. This year the event teamed up with a women's only run that takes place in Casablanca, Morocco. The combined efforts resulted in the largest number of participants ever for La Parisienne. More than +10,000 women participated in the 6 km. run which starts at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and continues along the Seine River in a loop.
Click here to share a few photos from this fun event!

REEBOK UNIVERSITY RESOLUTIONS IN ASIA

I had a fantastic trip this year when I went back to South Korea and Thailand to present at their Reebok University Resolution Conventions.

I was asked by Reebok South Korea to officially launch the Deck Reebok during the event, and the response was great. My hosts were gracious, and I couldn't get enough of Korean barbecue! I did a large amount of press while I was there, and was lucky to have 2 pages in Men's Health.

Thailand was one of the first countries in Asia where I presented in the early 90's, and I hadn't been back there in many years. Reebok Thailand hosted a great event, and I had a memorable experience. And those Thai massages….

Photos South Korea
Photos Thailand

BUDDHA-BAR SPA

It is just one year now since I accepted the position of the Fitness and Lifestyle Director for Buddha Bar Spa. The first Spa will be opening at the end of the year in a Hilton Hotel in Evian-les-Bains, France. The project been a challenging one, full of surprises, but has also been enriching and educative on all levels. And I had the great opportunity of working on the first spa CD of the Buddha-bar collection entitled Buddhattitude, Freedom, released in August of this year and available in stores now. And congratulations to Buddha-bar Paris on their 10th anniversary!

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

While surfing the net I found this article about my Core-ography workshop that I presented at IDEA WORLD this summer. You never know what you'll find on the net, and thank you Lisa Ryckman!

Click here