BEDA (Day 28) - Substitute

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sub an Aqua Fit class at a different LA Fitness than the one I typically work at.  It was my first time ever going to that particular LA Fitness and, in fact, my first time ever subbing an Aqua Fit class!  I've only ever taught my own.  And I was subbing for "The Queen of Aqua Fit" herself.  No pressure or anything.

It turned out to be quite an adventure.  Thankfully Corky was off work.  Actually I would never have agreed to sub it if he wasn't.  The class was at 9:00am in a section of downtown Portland called the Pearl District.  From where I live it would have easily taken me well over an hour to get down there if I drove.  The traffic is horrendous out here and that's all before I get to a freeway!  Then I'd need to take THREE freeways to get to the Pearl.  I decided to take the MAX (the light rail commuter train).

Well, of course that couldn't be easy either.  It took me twenty minutes to drive 3 miles to the MAX station and I missed the 7:47am train that I was supposed to take.  Mind you I left at 7:25am!  I caught the 7:56am instead.  Then once I got downtown, I had to transfer to the Portland Streetcar.  The MAX and Streetcar lines cross perpendicularly.  Well, that's the simplified explanation.  They kind of go all over the place but generally they make like a plus sign.  The Streetcar dropped me off 1/3 mile from LA Fitness.  Staring at the clock on my phone, I rushed there on foot.  The weather was nice, thank goodness.  That wouldn't have been fun in the pouring rain!

Once I got there, I immediately realized I was in trouble.  Not only is the pool a totally different shape (long and skinny as opposed to the more typical rectangle pool I'm used to in Tualatin) but it was deep at one end and shallow at the other.  By "deep" I mean almost 5 feet, but that's deep when your class is mostly made up of older ladies who aren't much taller than 5 feet themselves!  And the class was BIG! 26 people is a lot in a pool that size.

The reason the shape of the pool was a problem was because it meant I couldn't do a lot of the exercises I normally do at my LA Fitness.  The whirlpool was out because the pool was just too long.  I asked one of the ladies and she said their regular teacher usually has them stay in place and do stuff until the very end when they move.  I just couldn't do that, so we moved the whole time.

Class went fine until about 45 minutes in (the class is only 50 minutes long, or so I was trained).  At that point, a lady got out of the pool and slipped and fell over by the towel racks.  I have to admit that when I heard the sound and saw her on the ground my first thought was, "are you serious?"  Of course I was worried and hoped she was okay, but I was thinking, "really?  This had to happen TODAY?"  It's every sub's worst nightmare.  So I went over to her and helped her up.  She insisted she was fine and that she didn't hit her head, just her shoulder.  I offered to help her to a chair or out to the locker room but she refused.  I told her I'd be back to check on her and get her information so I could file an incident report but when she left before I could.

As I tried to end the class at the 50 minute mark (as we're taught to do) the ladies said, "No, we go until 10! We go a whole hour!"  The problem is, I only have a 50 minute class prepared.  Almost to the minute!  So I had to come up with 10 minutes worth of stuff to do at the drop of a hat.  We did end up doing the whirlpool for a bit but people were pretty tired so they kind of petered out.  Then I had them stretch for several minutes and that was it.  After class, one lady talked my ear off about how there needs to be traction mats on the pool deck.  I wholeheartedly agree with her but I can't do anything about it!  I'm just a sub!  Sigh.

After I signed out, I realized I had no idea how to get back to the Streetcar!  I'd been in such a rush to get out there that I hadn't paid attention!  I stared at the map on my phone and finally figured it out.  Hopped on the Streetcar (or Molly the Trolley as some Portlanders call it) and hit up my bestie's Starbucks for caffeine.  Did I mention I'd been up since 5:15am??  Lol.  He gave me extra steamed nonfat in my Americano.  The sweetie.

Caught the MAX back to Beaverton but it only went as far as Beaverton Transit Center so I had to get off there and wait 10 minutes for a train that went all the way to Hillsboro.  That was a long, hot wait in the direct sunlight since there was no shade.I finally made it home right around noon - just in time to nurse Mara and send her off with her daddy for her swimming lesson.

Substitute teaching is hard no matter what kind of class it is.  It's even harder when you're subbing for someone who is really well-liked and really good at their job.  They leave big shoes to fill and it's hard to please people who have their hearts set on taking a class from this person.  But I have to say, everyone at the Pearl LA Fitness was really welcoming and many of them thanked me for the class.  So that was nice.

I would definitely sub there again. :)