Energia Magica, upcoming audio PROfile

I just posted this in the comments section of the “Top 100 Songs” post because I have two awesome songs I wanted to add to that list. I used them this morning and they really exemplified the theme of my ride. I decided to repost my comment here so no one misses it. I did this particular profile for the first time this morning and I am very excited about, I’ve decided to make it my next Audio PROfile (for ICI members) so I can share with you some inspirational and emotional climbing coaching techniques. The music choice in the profile should inspire you to use  your music selection, just like a soundtrack in a movie, to reflect your objective by using the feeling, emotion and power in a song.

I’ve been planning to do a “long grind” for awhile, a term for one long hill that has few if any breaks. I do this about once every 4-6 weeks. This particular ride has been incubating in my mind for a few weeks, the music I was going to use, the coaching,the visuals, the words I would use to inspire my students through the tough parts. And it has a lot of tough parts, as you can see by the profile below.

I call the ride “Energia Magica”. It is one long climb up the Col de la Forclaz in France, a “category 1″ climb in the Tour de France, with 10-15% grade segments – represented by the red sections in the profile. Yellow is the next hardest, so you can see that the middle is the toughest part, with a challenging finale as well. Ouch. A cyclist would look at the profile and grimace, recognizing the sufferfest that lies ahead, while also relishing the thought of the physical, emotional, and mental benefits that one gains from accomplishing an ascent such as this. This is one of those climbs that becomes a rite of passage for cyclists. There’s no reason why it can’t also be so in your indoor cycling classroom.

In the ride I talk about tapping into the energy from your surroundings and environment, such as the trees and the rocks and the road on a long climb, to help you get to the top. This is what I call the “magical energy”.  Read More…Every climb has a different feel, a different personality that is reflected by the surroundings; the different kinds of trees (Pines? Aspens? Eucalyptus?), the rocks (Red sandstone? Granite? Alluvial? Cliffs?), the way the road moves upwards, whether it twists and turns, or perhaps it is dead straight, and the views as you climb. You as the instructor provide that personality and energy via your musical selections.

In the audio profile, for ICI/PRO members, I’ll expand on that in far more detail, and give you the  special cues I use to motivate my riders. It’s a really cool profile, reminiscent of Moving Mountains and other inspiring climbs. I can honestly say it’s one of my new favorite rides and I hope to have the opportunity to do it at a conference or a Master Ride somewhere. (Darn, too bad I can’t do it at WSSC!)

The adjectives emotional and spiritual are often used when describing the feelings after you’ve accomplished a long, hard climb. A cyclist who has faced a wall of road that seems to never end will understand those terms immediately. If you aren’t an outdoor cyclist, simply think of any other daunting challenge you’ve been faced with, one that caused anxiety prior to taking it on – it’s really no different. This ride is about tapping into the spiritual, even magical aspect of climbing and of overcoming a challenge that at times even seems impossible.

I want to share with you two of the songs that I use that perfectly define the theme and personality of the climb. Energia Magica (my title song) is a song by S.U.N. Project, from the Macrophage album (available on eMusic), as well as the compilation CD Global Psychedelic Trance Vol 4. The song has a mysterious, magical feeling. As you ride, you are able to “borrow” the energy from the song, and make it your own rhythm, just as the trees and the rocks lend you their energy as you ride by.

Another one is Aeternal by Clint Mansell (Paul Oakenfold remix), from the Requiem for a Dream EP. This represents the steepest, hardest part of the climb, the “sufferfest” in the middle. It’s slow, it’s very emotional, even chilling at times. It represents your greatest challenge - you can feel that in the rhythm of the song and the instruments. In fact, you can feel pain in the song. Every cyclist knows that pain goes hand in hand with long steep climbs. When you accept that, it makes the climb easier to deal with. Not “easier”, mind you; the mountain is the same steepness for everyone. The difference between one rider and the next? All else being equal, it’s their ability to deal with the pain. It’s a mental game, and the winner of that game is the one that uses the mind effectively to meet and overcome the challenge. I find that this song, like no other in my iTunes library, reveals that quality about the athlete.

Don’t miss this audio PROfile coming soon to your Super Secret Feed!

6 Responses to “Energia Magica, upcoming audio PROfile”

1. LE says:

   November 6, 2009 at 2:40 pm

   Hi Jennifer,
   I don’t believe it but it happened! Without reading your post first, this morning I taught your Resistance Re-Loading profile and one of my cuing in the 3-minute STC was: “Life is energy and the energy is exchanging between you and everything around you. So breath in the energy of the the mountain, the earth, the sun, and breath out in return your energy to them. FEEL IT and just climb!”
   And now you post make me feel I am really on the right track after being on this path for the last 10 years and many more! Thank you.
   Requiem for A Dream is lifting my spirit to the highest. WOW!
   Salute,
   Le
2. Anonymous says:

   November 6, 2009 at 6:05 pm

   Oh my spelling after re-read my comment! Please ignore it, readers. I was so excited to write to Jennifer and gotta get to work…
   One more thought to you Jennifer: the similarity of our coaching today remind me of one closing I use in my yoga class: “I honour the place in your heart where the universe dwells, the place of lights–energy, truth, love, and peace. Whenever you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me; WE ARE ONE” How true it is, right?
   Namaste,
   Le
3. Jennifer Sage says:

   November 7, 2009 at 6:56 pm

   As usual Le you make me smile!
   I’ve used those cues in the past in various ways, but on Friday when I taught this Energia Magica class, the words (very similar to what you wrote) just flowed without conscious thought, from somewhere inside of me. I think it was partially inspiration from the music. I wanted to “capture” what I had said so on my drive home I tried to recall everything and record it onto my iPhone (just downloaded a new Voice Recorder App just for this purpose!)

   Hey, maybe we should team teach somewhere!!
4. LE says:

   November 7, 2009 at 10:42 pm

   “Hey, maybe we should team teach somewhere!!” That would be an honour for me. I will keep that dream alive.

   I keep thinking about the riders in your classes and how lucky they are! They always have the very first “taste” of your teaching, even before the ICI/PRO members. Hmmmm, I envy them.

   I am preparing for few stages of TDF which I will teach in Jan, before leaving on my 6-wk trip back to my homeland-VN and visit Thailand in Feb. Right now, I am reading alot of your posts and watching Youtube clips to build some inspiration from within in order to coach…I wish I know how to use some PowerPoint presentation like you do, any suggestions or tips for me, please? I am OK with doing posters and pictures.

   Or does anybody know how to save Youtube clips? Please help!

   Ride on!
   Le
5. Lacey says:

   November 11, 2009 at 11:22 am

   I used this last night – I even made a poster for it. My class was loving to hate it. They were fussing most of the time, but at the end I got ALOT of “that sure was a fun class!”

   Fun? Yeah, I always try to make my classes fun. But that was what you call a “sufferfest” for sure! I was having a hard time trying to do what I was telling them and talk at the same time!

   I used “Last Train to Lhasa” during the big red and yellow part in the middle with lots of Prodigy and Chemical Brothers tunes before and after. Usually my class doesn’t like “techno” music, even though I regularly sneak it in. But they weren’t paying one bit of attention to what music was being played last night. Almost every single head was looking down and focusing Big Time. I had no chit chat (and that is usually a problem with me because in my class everybody knows everybody….)
   We had such a great class.

   Thanks for posting, Jennifer!
   ~Lacey
6. Jennifer Sage says:

   November 11, 2009 at 9:36 pm

   Lacey, I love how you sneak in the “techno” – I think a song like Last Train to Lhasa really does help people focus (although I think of BdG more as electronic/world, not techno).

   So glad you enjoyed it. Wait until the actual audio PROfile comes out – it will give you even more material to use.