The Ultimate Instructor Class Profile contest winner Allison Santoro
Here's the Grand Prize winning entry to our Ultimate Instructor Class Profile Contest from Instructor Allison Santoro!
Profile Description
Today we will test the law of gravity…what goes up, must come down. Whiteface Mountain is a very challenging 8-mile climb up to a castle at the summit of the mountain. As you approach a toll-house at the three-mile mark, you will be mentally preparing for the most challenging part of this ride with 8% to 10% gradients for several miles. As you ascend to the summit, two switchbacks and an ease in grade will provide you with the perfect opportunity to enjoy the rush of powering-through your threshold to the summit. At the summit, you will surrender to gravity…and be rewarded with an exhilarating 10-minute down-hill recovery.
Instructor Profile – Allison Santoro
I became a certified indoor cycling instructor, after spinning for fitness and leisure since the early 1990s.
As a student, I noticed that there were a wide range of teaching practices and styles, and many instructors were quite obviously not qualified to be teaching an indoor cycling class. Frankly, some classes were so bad, it’s a miracle that I still have my knees and back intact.
Anyway, I decided to take my Spinning® certification so that I could establish myself as a knowledgeable instructor that could provide constructive coaching on performance, technique and safety.
I currently teach a lunchtime indoor cycling class at Fitcorp at the Prudential Center in Boston. I also teach the occasional weekend class in New Hampshire, where I live.
I met my husband and best friend Al, over 20 years ago, and we’ve been married for 7 years. We live in New Hampshire on the seacoast, which is about 50 miles north of Boston, where I work.
Funnily enough, it was my husband’s love of cycling that prompted me to buy a road-bike and venture outdoors. I was quickly hooked on cycling outdoors, and before I knew it, Al and I were signing up for century rides, and I even did the Boston to New York aids ride a couple of times.
When I’m not cycling, instructing, or working, I like all things outdoors — especially golf. I started playing golf a couple of years ago, and like cycling, I was immediately hooked. Allison@AllAboutAlly.com
Congratulations Allison – your class profile is truly the Ultimate!
Note: We'll be running this contest again, between September 15th and ending on October 31st. I've already secured a number of fabulous prizes (think: teaching somewhere warm) so you may want to start thinking about what you will submitting this Fall 🙂
His, Hers & Ours – Epic Red Wing is an Endurance profile where you and your Tandem partner are leading a group of cyclists over the next 60 minutes. The two of you are committed to pulling your group at a fast, yet maintainable pace – with your primary objective being to demonstrate your fitness to those behind you. To do this you will want to keep your intensity at the level where you are challenged, yet confident, all the way to the end.
This video features yours truly and my faithful Stoker (it’s not Stroker) Amy Macgowan riding our Tandem (we call it the Bus) along the Mississippi river, which is the east west boundary of Minnesota and Wisconsin.The title of this Audio PROfile; His, Hers & Ours, comes from how Amy and I have very different preferred cadences and yet our pedals are locked together, forcing us to pedal at the same speed. As a considerate Tandem Captain I will make continuously gearing changes in the attempt to satisfy both of us. In our case I switch between:
His — 80ish RPM 15 years as a cyclist has me preferring to spin a small gear in the high 80’s.
Hers — 70ish RPM Amy is very strong and after 18 years as the Senior Group Fitness Instructor in our family she’s very aerobically fit. She prefers to push a big gear at a cadence around 70 RPM.
Ours — 60ish RPM Riding a Tandem has you seated for long periods of time and a saddle break on level ground requires some additional coordination to smoothly get up and out. We’ve found that a very big gear @ ~60 RPM will give us something to stand on and have us looking like we are the matched pair that we truly are when we come up and out.
The challenge of this ride is in maintaining a consistent ground speed – which is an indication of Power Output, while making the frequent changes to your cadence. If your pedal speed slows your load has to increase and visa versa.
PROFILE DESCRIPTION
This is a fun profile to allow your class to enjoy a sample of what riders experience during the Tour de France (TDF). There are many aspects of a grand tour like the Tour de France, but we will focus on 4 common efforts:
The Breakaway
The Chase
Attacks on a Climb
The Final Sprint.
OBJECTIVE AND INTENSITY
This profile will not only give your riders a taste of the intensities of racing in an event like the Tour de France, but will help them discover their strengths and limitations. Each of the efforts we are going to experience during this profile represent a type of fitness a cyclist may possess.
Riders will get an opportunity to assess which aspect of this type of cycling/racing they enjoy and have the aptitude for. The target intensities will hover at Zone 3 (70% Perceived Effort), with numerous efforts pushing riders into Zone 4 (80% Perceived Effort) and the opportunity to extend into Zone 5 (90+% Perceived Effort). Since we are only doing a sampling and not a complete stage (day) of
the Tour de France, time to recover will be provided between efforts. I’ve tried to provide the target intensity described in both the percentage of their perceived effort (not maximum heart rate) and training zone. This is just for reference as I know there are many
different ways we can guide our class to the desired effort level. These intensity guidelines will hopefully enable you to translate the level of effort to specific heart rate and power training zones if needed.
Here's your Spotify PRO/Playlist! Deezer.We have made every attempt to replicate the original playlist. In some instances the tracks specified were unavailable in Spotify. When necessary we have substituted individual songs of similar length and tried to maintain the Instructor's intent.
This is a fun ride that simulates leading your class out to a specific point and then turning around and leading them back home. It gives you an opportunity to creatively engage your class with the types of terrain, possible obstacles, or sites that your riders might encounter along the way. I coach it much like I am telling the class a story. I add the challenge of a negative split (riding the second half faster than the first) which is something I often incorporate in my classes. For more information on the term “negative split”, you can listen to Audio PROfile Podcast #120 and/or read what Joe Friel has to say about negative splits on his blog.
Here's your Spotify PRO/Playlist! Deezer. We have made every attempt to replicate the original playlist. In some instances the tracks specified were unavailable in Spotify. When necessary we have substituted individual songs of similar length and tried to maintain the Instructor's intent.
