It was a very chance encounter that I was given the pleasure of meeting an amazing person like Aphroditi. Its not often someone in as great a shape as her comes to a pizza shop for a snack on the way home from a workout, but I am glad she did. I was managing that very pizza shop when she happened to walk up to the window for a slice, and the first thing I noticed was her energy. She seems to have a presence that would want to make anyone stand up and take notice. The second thing I noticed was her incredible upper body. Extremely well toned, and tanned.
We started to speak of the very sunny day, while I recommended on of our fresher, better tasting pizza slices. We finished our transaction and she walked out of my life. Feeling slightly impacted by the presence of this woman, I wondered if I would ever see her again. Was not sure at the time what it was, but something drew me to her. I carried on with my day and to my surprise, she was back about 5 minutes later. She had returned to tell me how amazing the pizza was and just how good a job I was doing. This of course was a huge compliment because I am very much a man that takes serious pride in his craft, whatever it may be. I thanked her blushingly, and shook her hand. We introduced ourselves to one another, and wished each other a good day.
I think it may have been about another month or so later, I was graced with her presence once again at the pizza window. I recognized her immediately and who could forget a name like Aphroditi. When I said hello and called her by name, she was shocked I remembered her. Following my best instincts, I asked her if she felt like doing something fun together sometime, like going for a bike ride along the seawall, (cycling being a very very serious passion of mine). This is when I found out she was a personal trainer and that she loves to do a lot of it outside. I was sold right away. Everyone needs a little excuse to get the hell outside and sweat out some stress, not to mention, do something to increase their physical well being. We made some plans to start with some running and stretching exercises on the seawall a few weeks later.
The timing of this could not be more perfect. Work had been so busy in the previous months, not only did I not have the time to ride my bike, I felt I didn't have time for just about anything. I got a text from Aphroditi then I expressed just how little time I had, she would not let me use this as an excuse. "You have to make the time. If you don't, who will?" She was right. Right away, we made plans for that Sunday. We met near English bay for our first run. I had no idea what to expect. All I knew is that I wanted to be in better shape than I was, and that she had the skills and experience to get me there. I am no stranger to running. I ran a Rickshaw for many years in Toronto, and did the same during the Olympics for a major global shoe company. It had been a year and a half since my last actual run. I was very excited.
We got to the beach, and she wasted no time at all. We jumped right into a perfect runners stretch routine, all the while her correcting my technique to maximize the work I was doing. She has a gift for being blunt. If your doing it wrong, she has no problem telling you so, and why its not working. I could tell right away that she knew what she was talking about. I followed instructions to the letter and felt super energized by the amazing stretch. We proceeded to start along the seawall, with a planned route around Stanley Park at a pace that she would determine along the way. Being the somewhat cocky runner I thought I was, I started at a pace that I thought i could sustain. Right away, she was on the job. In her tough love kind of tone, and Polish/Greek accent, she said "Slow down Ryan, or you won't last the day". Right there I realized that she was watching me, staying very in tune to my breathing, and pace. Right away, I slowed down a bit.
As we jogged, we got to know one another a little bit. Aphroditi is an incredibly interesting person. Always something fun to talk about with her along the way. This coupled with the epic scenery of the pacific ocean and seawall, it was just a perfect day. We slowed down and walked to sip water when necessary, and also did some fun and random exercises on benches around the park to aid strength on my stabilizing muscles, and keep the routine from becoming mundane. The attention to detail in every aspect of the technique was impressive. She actually cares that you do it right so as not to hurt yourself, and so that your not cheating the workout. If I did something incorrectly, she made me do it right until I got it with patience and grace.
14 km, 2.5 hours, 4 liters of water and a sore set of legs later, we parted ways for the day. She had left a serious passion in me to continue doing this for myself. We have been running together now quite a few times, and this last long weekend was no exception. I was lucky enough to book her for 3 runs in 3 days totaling 46 km. I started to realize that she likes doing this as much as I do. Passion like this is contagious. Its really a co-operative relationship in a case like a personal trainer like her, because she really is fueled by your progress and the need to excel at what she does. With Aphroditi, she really focuses on you as a whole. Body, mind, spirit, and soul. She lets me talk about things on my mind while we sweat it out together. To be honest, I have friends I've had for years that I don't respect and hold in as high regard as this amazing woman. She has enriched my life immensely and I always look forward to the next session.
Thank you so much Aphroditi, you've turned me into a fitness fanatic once again.
You rock!
Ryan LaVictoire
