Tale of the Tape/Thank you

The tale of the tape of the 30 Days of Hot:

• 30 classes, 30 consecutive days, no doubles
• 45 hours of class time in the hot room
• 10 hours of pre- and post-class time in the hot room (20 minutes per class)
• Cumulative 2.3 days spent in the hot room
• 150 liters of water consumed—go to your local grocery store, hit the water aisle, and count the gallon jugs until you reach 40. That should paint the picture quite nicely. This is a conservative estimate, by the way. And I needed very drop of it.
• 90 towels used—60 from the studio, 30 from home
• 30,000 calories burned (1,000 per day)
• 10 pounds of calories burned (3,000 per pound)
• Estimated 30 miles of walking to get to the studio (1.5 miles per weekday; the weekends were the van or the T or a combination of the two)
• Roughly 1,400 reps of poses—each rep generally being one iteration of the pose, or two iterations if it needs to be done for each side of the body
• 13 different teachers
• 3 teachers I’d never had before
• 24 classes at Back Bay (15 in the big room upstairs, 9 in the small room); 4 classes at Harvard Square; 2 classes at Lincoln Street
• “Lock the knee” spoken by teachers an estimated 1,800 times (60 per class)
• Beginning weight: 176.5
• End weight: 170.5
• Blog posts: 35
• Estimated word count: 9,500

The numbers aren’t the whole story, but they say a lot.

Let’s end with some overdue thank yous:

First and foremost, extreme gratitude, thanks and love to my wife, Margo. She was hitting the hot room for two years before I tried it. She’s still the toughest cookie in the hot box. I aspire to her toughness and determination every day. Thanks, little missy.

Thanks to the excellent teachers at the Boston studios, encompassing Back Bay, Chinatown, and Harvard Square, in order of appearance: Dan, Meredith, Reba (from Tempe AZ), Danielle, Tomo, Courtney, Jackie, Michelle, Elizabeth, Rich, Brad, Jill and Derek. My job was to show up every day; their job was to push us beyond our limitations. They knew when to open a window, close a door, or lighten the mood with a quick quip. A more kind, knowledgeable and compassionate group you’d be hard pressed to find.

Thanks to my fellow practitioners, and especially my fellow 30 day challengers. Some days we rode the wave, some days the wave rode us. Thanks for your energy and your company in the face of extreme heat and borderline masochism.

Big thanks to the many people who urged me on, gave encouragement, or shook their heads in disbelief. It’s good to know that people were rooting for me. For those who shook your heads, trust me when I tell you: there were times when I questioned my own sanity.

Last but not least, many thanks to everyone who contributed to the Franciscan Food Bank as a result of my doing the challenge. I can only guess how much your generosity benefited the Food Bank. Because of your donations, my 30 days in the hot room had a greater purpose than achieving some vaguely defined notion of progress or accomplishment. For those who haven’t contributed but would like to, please do so and support the Friars’ fine work, particularly during a difficult economic time. I had the privilege of practicing with one of the Friars during many days of the challenge and getting to know him a little, so for me, the cause moved from an abstract act of charity to something a little more tangible by being in his company.

It was real, it was fun. It wasn’t always real fun, but I feel relieved, proud, and humbled by the experience. Namaste.