Building Stamina – Gaining Momentum! (22-Jul-2023)

Submitted by the intrepid Carol, Karina, and JD

We all giggle when we hear it …. it’s only one night a week! No question, that one night a week is our foundation, but it takes extra time between rehearsals by each individual to achieve the heights we all strive for. Ours is a sport and like all great athletes, we need to exercise every part of our being - our voices, our vocal instruments and our bodies to build enough stamina to effortlessly sustain us through a performance! 

In June, Canadian Showtime Chorus started “walking”” to Louisville! We are banding together in the east and west end of the city and forming walking groups. Some of us are swimming pool lengths and converting our activity into steps and others are cycling their way there! We are split into teams by the season we were born in and recording our steps weekly. We are building stamina, forming, strengthening and growing friendships and motivating one another to get up and move! 

Louisville is a mere 1,334 kms away so we’d be there and back many times over already so Nora McEwen, who is blogging our journey for inspirational purposes, has us taking the long route there via Northern Ontario, Québec and even East Coast Canada! It is fun and we are learning about great places in our own backyard to boot!

One duo decided gym workouts were their go to as they both had memberships at Planet Fitness. Carol Dubue and Karina Hébert started meeting at 5:30 am 3 mornings a week – Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This early start was to accommodate work, grand parenting and other commitments! 

JD: I saw their daily posts on Facebook and thought they were a wee bit crazy for putting themselves through such a start to their day, but pictures made me giggle and I thought – “why the heck not! I could do this”! So, I went and got myself a membership and joined them 2 weeks into their disciplined adventure! What was I thinking! Day 1 just about did me in – day 2 almost saw me drinking my coffee from a straw for the pain in my forearms and day 3 – well, let’s just say that getting myself out of bed at 4:45 am was not a pretty sight! But I’d made it through week one and I loved the camaraderie, the encouragement from my chums and the gentle – somewhat gentle – push from Carol who is our leader and expertly puts us through our paces. I missed some mornings as I was away camping but I am here to tell you that being away is the only thing that keeps me away from this ritual with Carol and Karina. I am JD Crowe – building stamina, gaining momentum and loving my gym buddies! 

Carol: Being retired I thought to myself, who needs to get up at 0500 to an alarm of all things and hit the gym? Turns out I did! It puts me in the right frame of mind and puts pep in my step. My days are filled to the brim and having to fit in gym time was near impossible. Luckily JD and Karina are troopers and meeting at 0530 works best for all! I am Carol Dubue - gym enthusiast, building my stamina and team building my way to Louisville! 

Karina: I never, not in a million years, thought that I’d be the kind of person who’d wake up at 4:30 a.m. to go anywhere, much less a gym! Yet, that’s exactly what I did! The trick, for me, is that I didn’t do it alone – Carol, JD, and I are there for each other and when I start thinking about hitting that snooze button, I immediately think of them waiting for me and that keeps me accountable. The added bonus of meeting Carol and JD for a workout is that we have fun!! Not exactly the first ‘F’ word that would come to mind that early in the morning, but it’s true. We laugh, a lot! Muscles aren’t the only things that have grown in this process; as it turns out, the gym helped us to grow a stronger bond, and no snooze button can beat that! I am Karina Hébert.  Fit and fierce! Louisville, here we come!!!