Easter Egg Hunt Playgroup

Photos courtesy of Rainey, Stroller Strides mom at Ocean Pointe. To see more of her work, click here. Rainey can be reached at raineychase[at]cox.net

Class at Kapolei ONLY on March 31

Class has been cancelled at OP on Wednesday, March 31 to allow all instructors and members a chance to attend Buffy's final scheduled class. OP will have its first Thursday class April 1, so there will still be 3 classes in the neighborhood this week. (What good timing!)

Don't forget, Ocean Pointe start time has moved to 8:15 beginning in April.

Book Club Tomorrow!

UPDATE: March was the final Book Club meeting. It had a great run and a big thank-you to Rosy who organized and hosted these evenings!

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Just a reminder that Book Club is at Rosy's house tomorrow, Monday the 29th, at 6:45 PM. The book is Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult.

Even if you haven't had a chance to read the book, the discussion at Book Club always ranges far beyond the book. I hope you can make it! Check your evite for directions to Rosy's home in Makakilo or email Joni.

Final Friday Class!

How cool is this logo? Kapolei Park is a giant square, so it's doubly appropriate!

We're settling into the routine of Final Friday class and I hope you are seeing improvement and proof that all your time at class is paying off. (And if it's been hard to come regularly, let this be your motivation!) As I glance through the cards, I can definitely see that you are getting faster and stronger.

Congratulations to Catherine, Michele, Angela S., Kim G., Rosy, Laurie, Stephanie C., and Heather who have been at all 3 Final Friday classes. Keep it up, ladies!

Final Friday is a huge team effort -- first of all, thank you to all 36 moms who attended class today. That is almost half the members in the franchise. You rock! Big thanks to Kim, my co-instructor today, who brought her vastly superior music player to class and has me converted -- music is a must on Final Friday!

Playgroup is its own post and I'll be posting photos soon from Rainey, who generously offered to take photos for us today. But for now, HUGE mahalo to Beth and Sharon. They organized everything, stuffed eggs, brought craft, and helped out with Furlough Friday kids during the mile run. Final Friday is all about Playgroup and they do an awesome job.

Have a great weekend!

Who's That Girl?

We have a fitness model in our midst!

Hint, Ocean Pointe knows her best. Picture is from the Summer 2010 catalog for Title Nine clothing.

Beach Day!

Just a reminder, we will be having a Beach Day get-together at Ko Olina's Lagoon 2 on Wednesday, March 24 at 10:30 AM. Give Joni a call at 258-0402 if you have any trouble locating our group. We had a great turnout last month with a real mix of moms from all 3 locations. I hope you'll come and join us!

Easter Egg Hunt Playgroup

Bring an Easter Egg basket to this Friday's Easter Egg Hunt! Class will be held at Kapolei only this Friday, 8:45 AM. Playgroup will begin at 10 AM.

We want to have enough eggs for all the children, so RSVP here if you haven't via your email. Playgroup is open to everyone and you do not need to be at class to drop in later for the Easter Egg Hunt.

March of Dimes "March for Babies"

Mark your calendars for the March For Babies 5K!

Saturday, April 24
Kapiolani Park, Honolulu
Start Time 7 AM

While Stroller Strides has always participated in March for Babies, we have a personal connection to this year's March. Angela is a member in Ocean Pointe and the mother of Scarlett. Here's her story:

Scarlett, now nearly 9 months and doing great, was born at 29 weeks. She was 1 lb and 14 oz and 13 inches in length, the size of a 26 weeker. Scarlett spent 50 days in the NICU. She is strong and healthy and has continued to do incredibly well. We did not know it until a week after Scarlett was born, but I had preeclampsia, resulting in Scarlett's growth restriction and early birth.

Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. We feel blessed to have Scarlett in our lives and thankful that her journey has been such an inspirational one! We are very excited to be a part of March for Babies this year and hope you will join our team!

The money we raise will support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.

I hope you will join us this year at the March for Babies walk. In lieu of donating to the Stroller Strides team, we will joining forces with Team Scarlett. Join the team by clicking here.

If you can't make it to the March, I hope you'll still support our team with a donation. This is the only fundraiser of 2010 for Stroller Strides moms, and it doesn't take much for a little support from all of us to really add up. If everyone in Stroller Strides at Leeward donated just $5, we could raise $350!

Last year's event was great fun and my kids had a total blast at the Kid Zone following the walk. Let me know if you'll be participating so that we can be sure to walk together.

Thanks!
Joni

Don't Forget to Register for Ford Island 10K!

Packet pick-up is next weekend and regular registration ($20 military/$25 non-military) ends this Monday. All entries must be postmarked by Monday the 22nd for the regular price, or by April 2 for the increased price of $30. (No Internet registration or entries accepted on race day.)

Click here for more information and to access the Registration Form. I hope you'll join us -- it's a great race!

March Restaurant Club

For March's Restaurant Club, we met for dinner at Longhi's in the Ala Moana mall after a quick shopping trip to Lululemon. It was such a good night! Thanks to everyone who came, and to Liz for organizing our evening.

From left to right: Tania, Stephanie, Kim, Angie, Joni, Lauren, Lisa, Gwen, Shelley, Allison, Jessica, Liz, Joanne, and Patti.

New Class at Schofield Barracks!

I am thrilled to announce that we are opening a new location at Schofield Barracks! Class will begin on Monday, April 5 and will be held at Stoneman Stadium. Kim and Michaela are the primary instructors for this location.

This will be a Monday/Wednesday class and it will run from 8:30 to 9:45 AM. All current SS members will be able to attend class on base (see Joni if you are not military, however, for guidelines on how to gain base access as a non-military visitor).

All new Schofield members will have membership privileges at our current classes at Central Oahu Regional Park, Kapolei Regional Park, and Ewa Beach.

Fit Moms Rock! (At Schofield!)

New Class

Stroller Strides is adding Thursday class at Ocean Pointe starting April 1. There were 22 moms at class on Wednesday, so we are ready and excited to expand this location.

See you at class!

Ford Island 10K

Come run with us at the Ford Island 10K Bridge Run, held on Saturday, April 3 at 7 AM.




This is a great preparatory run if you plan on training for the Hibiscus Half-Marathon. It's also a good race if you are looking to push yourself beyond a 5K. Last year several of us ran and even placed in our age groups. Let me know if you plan on being there!

Restaurant Club this Tuesday!

It's time for Stroller Strides Restaurant Club and this time we are adding a little shopping to our night! On Tuesday, March 9, we will meet at Lululemon in the Ala Moana mall at 5:45 to peruse their fabulous athletic wear and then head to Longhi's for dinner at 6:30. Lululemon is located in the Nordstom wing on the second floor. You can find Longhi's close to Sears above Morton's Steakhouse.

RSVP via Evite and we'll see you there!

Meet the Trainers: Rayna

Hi! My name is Rayna and I have a wonderful husband in the Coast Guard. We have one son named Kai and he will be 2 years old in May. I met my husband, Mike, here on beautiful Oahu. I will have lived here for 6 years in July.

I have been an active person since junior high. I did not like competing in school but I ran the country roads of Iowa to keep in shape and to stay focused. I did compete in Olympic weightlifting for a couple of years as a young teenager and gained a lot of knowledge about strength training. I was the first female lifter to lift at the Junior Nationals. I took up road racing in my 20’s and really enjoyed it because it isn’t as competitive and people from all walks of life are usually there. It didn’t matter how fast or slow I was. We were all there together.

I worked as a surgical technologist until I delivered and made the decision to stay home. While I was pregnant I continued to run up until the day I delivered. After delivery, I did some running to get the baby weight off while breastfeeding. I started to do workout videos but it was not cutting it because I couldn’t stay disciplined to do it every other day. I got into Stroller Strides about one year ago to get back into shape.

I wanted something that would encourage me to do a challenging workout while being with my baby. Stroller Strides was my answer. I wanted my body back and Stroller Strides has helped me toward that goal but it has also led me to some great moms and friendships.

I am so excited to be teaching Stroller Strides and look forward to meeting new members and getting to know everyone a little better. I am also working on my Bachelor’s in Healthcare Management. Now that I am an instructor I want to remain one since it is such a great portable job that I can take anywhere!

Meet the Trainers: Michaela

As most of you know, I am originally from the United Kingdom. I met my husband in the U.K. and we were married on the London Eye (a huge ferris wheel). I moved to the U.S. in 2005 and we moved to Hawaii in July 2008. I have one daughter, Saskia, who was born in Kansas City in September 2007.

As a child I hated exercise and always dreaded P.E. classes at school. I would do anything to sit on the sidelines and just watch. I started judo when I was twelve years old and eventually earned my black belt when I was seventeen. I continued with judo while at university and also took up rowing. Since then I have exercised on and off and finally took up running and mountain biking in my mid-20s. I actually met my husband at a local mountain bike club. My most recent fitness achievements were completing a triathlon this summer and training for and completing my first marathon.

I have been a member of Stroller Strides since September 2008 and I love it. I am in the best shape of my life and have made some wonderful friends. One of the greatest things about Stroller Strides is that the instructors really motivate me to push myself and provide advice and support along the way. I also love that I can workout with Saskia and am excited to see that she is learning about fitness as well. I am really looking forward to teaching Stroller Strides and helping other moms to reach their fitness goals and I can't wait to get to know more of you in class.