I was at The Weight Club doing circuit training with Don Belote on October 30, 2010, the day of The Weight Club's Fall Fitness Challenge in Blacksburg, Virginia.  I had spoken with Vaughn Twigger prior to the start of the Challenge and learned that his personal record for tire flips was 7.  I will admit that I have given one of those giant tractor tires a tug, contemplating whether or not I could flip it.  That would be a no.

I watched the Fall Fitness Challenge as if in an arena while doing run intervals on the Weight Club's elevated track.  When it was Vaughn's turn to flip tires, I stopped to watch.  That really loud whistle at an exciting point in the video?  That's mine! 

I am a fan of The Weight Club - what few realize is a non-profit organization - and of the Humane Society from which my cat was adopted in Tampa.  The Weight Club's Fall Fitness Challenge benefited the Humane Society of Montgomery County, Virginia.

And I am a huge fan of a weight-lifting feat. Watch these deadlifts by Kurt Weidner!

Here's more from the organizers of The Weight Club's Fall Fitness Challenge:

The Weight Club Fall Fitness Challenge raised over $4500 for the Humane Society of Montgomery County, Virginia.  Participants received pledges of support and trained toward a maximum effort that was put to the test and showcased on Saturday, October 30, 2010 at Blacksburg Health and Fitness at the Weight Club.  Organizer Kurt Weidner, WNBF Professional Bodybuilder and personal trainer, combined his passion for health and fitness with his interest in animal welfare to create this exciting event. Weidner explained, "My goal for the Fall Fitness Challenge was to provide gym members an opportunity to challenge themselves, to inspire other members toward greater personal goals, and to raise money for an important cause using economic incentives to push our limits."  The participants are thankful to the many generous sponsors who made this donation possible.  Accomplishments from the event included:

JoungHyun Choi- 22 pull-ups
Ellen Cianelli - ran 30 laps
David Clark - 86 push-ups
Matthew Gonzalez - deadlift 315 for 16 reps
Juliet Gotthardt - squat 155 lbs for 13 reps
Cortney Martin - max bench press of 130 lbs
Liz Ruckman - deadlift 90 lbs for 40 reps, squats 95 lbs for 15 reps
Linda Srygley - 209 sit-ups
Mario Travis - 36 pull-ups
Vaughan Twigger - 850 lb tire flip 11 times
Kurt Weidner - deadlift 405 for 32 reps, 850 lb tire flip 14 times

When Katelyn Polantz of the Roanoke Times completed her interview with me, she requested a photo session, candids required.  Handshake 2.0 Headquarters is a home office that tends to remain in a state of dishevelment. My virtual residence, VT KnowledgeWorks, was nixed because it's my meeting place, not my work place.    

I am grateful to Justin Cook, Roanoke Times Staff Photographer, for capturing this image of a moment among the many treasured moments I have spent among countless visits to my "other" office:  The Weight Club.

"The endurance athletes who ran up two mountains in Roanoke's [Virginia] first marathon in 24 years brought with them $350,000 in economic activity, event organizers said...The marathon 'is drawing attention to the world about our valley having this great outdoors'...Organizers said they expect twice as many participants to register for next year's event...'it exposes us to other people outside of the region who will come back to visit or - even better - come live here or open a business here."
- The Roanoke Times

Hosting a New River Valley Triathlon in Virginia has been a dream since 2007.  While the event has yet to occur, and it will be very nice when it does happen, the contribution of a single triathlon to regional economic development is only the beginning of revenue generation.  A local triathlon creates a local triathlon economy.

As we mentioned in Doing Business with Triathletes, Set Up Events, a major triathlon production company, describes the business value of "The Coveted Triathlete Demographic."  While I don't meet all the criteria, as a business owner, I would covet me. I spend.

Much of my triathlon spending is public knowledge.  As of the writing of this post, I am the Mayor of The Weight Club and the Blacksburg Aquatic Center in Blacksburg, Virginia on Foursquare, a gelocation application, sort of like Facebook with places.  This is no surprise.  I'm in training for a 2010 sprint triathlon season so I frequent both places regularly to improve my swimming, biking, running and overall strength.   (You're invited to read about Foursquare on Handshake 2.0 if you'd like to know more about our Foursquare experiences.) 

I pay $419 for a yearly membership as an individual at The Weight Club. That's over a $1 a day I contribute to the revenue of The Weight Club, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with 70 employees.

We have a family membership at the Blacksburg Aquatic Center which is more, but I would pay $230 for a yearly membership as an individual.  That's 63 cents per day I contribute to the revenue of the Blacksburg Aquatic Center, a municipal facility funded by tax dollars with 40 employees.

As a triathlete, I create jobs. 

And that's just through athletic facilities memberships.

Don't get me started on how much I spend on triathlon gear.

But "getting started" is an important topic.  How did I get started doing my first sprint triathlon at age 50?  I was inspired by others.  Was I a member of The Weight Club before I was a triathlete?  You bet.  I'm a Foursquare-certified gym rat.  Was I a member of the Blacksburg Aquatic Center? No. Did I join when I became interested in triathlon and then pay an instructor for my first swimming lesson since 1969? Yes.  And did I have a bike? No.  Did I buy one at East Coasters? Yes...

Triathlon has an appeal that gets people started, regardless of age or in what condition they begin.  People training for triathlons, often their first, find each other, call themselves triathletes, and create a triathlon community.  They join athletic facilities and buy bikes... 

Hosting a triathlon in a locale can speed the evolution of a region-enriching local triathlon economy.

***

Triathlon is one of many athletic endeavors that falls under the category of "multisport." I envsion the New River Valley of Virginia with a multisport destiny.

"We want the New River Valley Triathlon HERE!" That's what organizers and sponsors of the New River Valley Triathlon would welcome hearing from a venue with a pool in the New River Valley.  If you're that venue, please contact the New River Valley Triathlon.

When I read about the expected explosion in the use of video content and extrapolated from that the need for companies to communicate via video, I opted to get this YouTube party started ASAP.

While I'm a fan of a good elevator pitch, and certainly a YouTube video can be used to convey a corporate message or to describe products and services, I was hoping to try something new.  We've experimented with videos (here is our Handshake 2.0 YouTube channel) and I like our results, but I'm no expert on video production and find the process tedious. Like other members of the Fem Den, I'm into intuitive and am not "less tolerant of complicated interfaces" - I'm not at all tolerant.  These days, if I take a video using my camera, I no longer even download it into Movie Maker to add an introductory slide or some other gizmo.  I suck it straight from my camera into YouTube and click "Save."

While I appreciate Lindsey Eversole taking this video for me, I think I look tense.  About my company and its products and services, I feel a complex coexistence of confidence and peace. I asked myself in what setting I most often felt both confident and peaceful...

Jarred Foresman of Blacksburg Media - who is creating a forthcoming corporate video for Handshake 2.0 because he is known for innovation - heard me when we met at The Weight Club:  "Help me say what I most want to say with my truest, best self."

He did.  Even with my sweaty self.  And that's still a very cool splash screen.

Handshake Media, Incorporated, the parent company of Handshake 2.0, is a sponsor of the New River Valley Triathlon.

Cecile Newcomb of Energy Check shakes hands with Anne Clelland of Handshake 2.0 at cycling spin class at The Weight Club.  Cecile Newcomb is a candidate for Town Council, Blacksburg, Virginia.

Donna Brillhart and Angel shake hands at The Weight Club.

Don Belote, personal trainer at The Weight Club, shares a very strong Handshake 1.0 with his client Anne Clelland, founder of Handshake 2.0.

From Anne Clelland:

As I mentioned in my post on Handshake 2.0's business model, when I'm a fan, I'm a fan.

I'm a fan of The Weight Club.  I do strength training two to three times per week at the University City Boulevard location in Blacksburg, Virginia.

The Weight Club has its quirks.

Taking inspiration from Barry Welch's Ten Truths in Ten Years at Internet Databases, and Davd Letterman's Top Ten Lists, I offer you a top ten list of observations and insights from attending The Weight Club for about 2 1/2 years.

10. When you're running on the elevated track on the side with the medicine balls, the flooring pops just like someone is about to sprint past you, so you pour on the speed and end up competing with your lonesome.  You're gasping by the time you get to the dumbbell side of the track.  You jog, recover, then forget by the time you're on the other side, and fly solo by the medicine balls.

9. The second stall in the women's locker room also contains strength and agility training equipment, requiring an athletic series of vigorous maneuvers to flush.

8. I don't know what your cycling spin class is like, but at The Weight Club we do it in the dark to throbbing music in a black room painted with tiny white stars and apples missing a bite.  Strings of white Christmas tree lights twinkle higher in the "sky."

7. After exerting oneself to song lyrics via satellite radio at least 100 times, Who are you? becomes existentially uplifting, and Damn thing gone wild, bam-ba-lam, a line of poetry.

6. Personal trainer Don Belote, at age 52, did a single, partial dead lift of 1045 lbs.

5. It's highly recommended not to leave your weights on the machines.  Don is watching.

4.  The regulars have spent years in each other's company and witnessed the vulnerability of partially clothed bodies, blood, sweat, tears - or sweat that looks like tears - and have never uttered a word to each other.  The communication medium that speaks volumes about respect is The Nod.

3.  I've seen people on crutches come off of them, people destined forever to crutches work their upper bodies like Olympians, frames made skeletal by chemotherapy become bold with vitality, youth with challenges learn to play catch, and pound-after-pound, 50 or more, leave a body, releasing the inhabitant to live a life unburdened. 

2.  The Weight Club is a non-profit organization.

1.  Miracles happen there.