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Kru Kelly recently asked long time Level 1 student, Jen Rosner, if she would be interested in taking part in 50 days of conditioning MuayThai. Never one to back down from a challenge, Jen agreed right away, and so last week marked the first of 10 weeks of training five days per week. This challenge will be a regular feature on our blog for the next while, as Jen delivers regular posts about how things are going, the aches and pains, the triumphs and how the journey changes her in the end. See below for her feedback on Week 1 and click through for Jen’s full bio. If you see Jen around the gym, say hi and give her a high five and some words of some encouragement. Who knows….maybe next time, the Kwest Challenger will be YOU.

Week 1: I was sore the first couple days but I ran on Sunday (which I haven’t done in months) so that was a bad way to start this week. By Wednesday I wasn’t sore anymore but my muscles are feeling tired (Quickly). Today I was walking up the stairs to my upstairs office and my butt started burning (it was only 20 stairs – crazy).

I have been drinking A LOT of water, more than usual and I can’t seem to shake dehydration this week. Green veggies and more water… I’m on it!

Click “read more” below for Jen’s bio and her road to this 50 day challenge.

Name: Jen Rosner

Age: 27

Occupation: Agents’ Assistant – Paquin Entertainment

Started at Kwest: September 2007

Favorite Quote: “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” — Buddha

Biggest Fear: Having regrets

Favorite Food: Sushi

I have been a Kwest member since September 2007. Kelly recently asked me if I would be interested in taking on a kickboxing challenge that would consist of 50 days of training, more intense than my regular level 1 participation has been and that we blog about it. I’ve accepted and here I am to keep track of my progress, as well as keep you all posted on the good and the bad I experience throughout the next 10 weeks of my challenge.

So a bit of background on me: I live in the Corydon area – I LOVE this part of the city! I do yoga, kickboxing and running (fair-weather runner) regularly, I try to spend as much time as I can with the people I love, I’m a TV junkie, I like to read and play sports and I love my kitty (Abner). I love watching live music and I go to shows often. I work and play hard.

I’ve always been active and high energy, so I participated in a lot of school activities and sports as a kid and teenager.  My favorite was softball. I still play now on a slo-pitch team through the Kildonan Co-ed league and this is where I met my two best girls, Carlyn and Lindsay (also Kwesters). Prior to my starting with Kwest, Carlyn and I had been going to the gym for a few months together every morning before work. We decided to start training for a Marathon relay team. I had never been a long distance runner so I had to start slow. My first week I ran 5 minutes every day, 6 minutes the next, 7 minutes the week after and it gradually grew week by week for a couple months until race day. Carlyn and I were on separate relay teams but were both finishing the last leg (5.7 miles) for our teams. Our teammates made it to the relay station about 30 seconds apart to pass off the relay chip, so we were able to run the whole leg together. Finishing the race felt amazing and I was so proud of us for finishing it and finishing it well. This was my very first fitness goal ever set, and little did I know that this was just the beginning of more to come…

The race was the push I needed to become the fit person I wanted to be. Carlyn had recently started at Kwest and would talk about it all the time and teach me things she had been learning in the workouts. It sounded tough but fun and I was intrigued to try it for myself so I convinced our other bestie Lindsay to take the beginner course with me. We signed up, and so kickboxing began…  Neither of us had ever even thrown a punch prior to this so trying to remember all the steps, and the combos was very confusing and exhausting. For me the hardest part in the beginning stage was just holding the pads up for minutes on end, the burn was intense. Although it was challenging it was fun and I quickly fell in love with the sport. After 3 months of the beginner training we moved up to meet Carlyn in the Level 1 conditioning classes. I’ve been coming to class as much as I can ever since.

While continuing with kickboxing I also got more serious about running and signed up for my first half marathon taking place in 2009 (13.1 miles).  I now have two half marathons under my belt and I’m planning to do my third this spring, with the goal of one day soon becoming part of the Full Marathon club. (Full marathon = a grueling 26.2 miles)

Favorite Running Quote: ” If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.” Emil Zatopek

Another more recent passion of mine has become Bikram Yoga. I am a yoga geek, I know it and I feel it’s important that you all know this side of me too. I started practicing in April 2009 to give myself a break from kickboxing and time to heal some back pain I had developed. Honestly I was not on the yoga train right away but I couldn’t kickbox for a while so I embraced it. I went almost every day, for a couple months and soon I started to see some very big changes in myself both physically and mentally. As my flexibility increased my back pain decreased, I became strong and balanced in body and mind, and at risk of sounding like a yoga cliché, it’s so good for my soul. I had heard that practicing yoga everyday had changing effects that an individual wouldn’t necessarily experience if they weren’t practicing every day. So last fall I challenged myself to do 50 yoga classes in 50 days. There were days I would have rather been at home, in dry clothes watching the tube and really struggled to get my mat on the line, but once I was there my body would take over and work hard in the class. The heat can be overwhelming at times and it can feel like its suffocating you, you’ve just sweat out an entire person, trying to stay in the hot room for 90 minutes, you’re detoxing and healing your body, its normal to feel sick and scared. This is progress. And then there are the other times when I’d have a solid class, experience a break though in a posture and feel empowered, rejuvenated and energized. There is an excuse I could have used every day not to go to class but an even bigger reason why I should, and so I made it to all my classes and December 25th was my day 50!

Favorite Yoga Quote: “The most important thing in your life is… you!” Bikram Choudhury

I’ve committed myself to another 50 day challenge, and I will push myself the hardest I ever have in the next 10 weeks of classes. As a result I’m hoping to see much improvement in my kickboxing skills, cardio/stamina, and my mental endurance when this challenge is complete. I know it’s gonna be hard work, but as they say “nothing easy is worth doing”. I’m both excited and scared about the challenge ahead, but I feel grateful Kelly offered me the opportunity to do this. Thanks for the support in and out of the gym and for taking time to get to know me a little better.

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