Interview with a Fitness Professional - Stephanie Creaturo

Stephanie Creaturo is one of those people who you want to bottle up and take with you everywhere you go. From her wise words on yoga, life, business and relationships to her fun, realistic personality, Steph is a rare human and the Brooklyn community is lukcy to have her. Catch her amazing yoga classes (and runners - YOU NEED to go to her Yoga for Runners class) at Mala Yoga in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. She's running the NYC Marathon in November and we are so excited to cheer her on! We took a slightly different format for today's interview. Enjoy!

Hi, I'm Steph, one of the owners of Mala Yoga, a community-based yoga studio in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. I'm a yoga teacher, business owner, a mom, and life-long runner!

Let's see, I started running as a kid, like 8 years old or so. I hated (and still do!) team sports and I'm kinda uncoordinated, so running was the thing that made gym bearable for years.  Since I was shy and a bit of a bookworm,  I liked the solitary nature of running. Even though there have been times when I fell away from running (uh, college), I have always returned to it.  As I grew older, running became the default thing to do to clear my head and hit reset on everything in my life.  

Best piece of running advice? From the Hot Birds - Put one foot in front of the other.  There is something so profound in that basic statement - well, we sorta miss the wisdom in it.

One piece of advice to new runners? You are your own point of reference, both in body and mind. Running is amazing that way. Sure, you can compete with other runners, but your running emerges when you connect with where you are in your health, your life, and your body.  Only by knowing where you are in body, mind, and spirit  will you get stronger, faster, wiser. Or whatever your goals are - they won't be met by using joe dude over there as your starting point.  Oh, and the race won’t run itself - training is essential and transformative - you may be surprised at how much in your life shifts when you’re on a training plan.

Inspired me to run? My aunt. She ran in the 1970s and 1980s when there were not a lot of women running. She was the coolest person I knew and always did her own thing, which included running. I watched her run the NYC Marathon in the early 1980s and remember thinking “I want to do that one day.”

Who do I want to run with? This was hard! I love music and, along with running, it has been a mainstay in my life. I thought about this and I think someone like Blondie or Joan Jett or the Go-Go’s.  What those gals did for music gets a bit lost these days - but their sound back then was really revolutionary. I'd love to hear their stories.

One of my fave things is to work with runners. Their discipline is Inspiring and they love to work hard. And they tend to intrinsically understand the value of process.

Fave way to sweat? Always running. I do love yoga, but for different reasons.

Fave post-workout meal? While I love smoothies, I need real food after I run. Here’s my marathon training go-to: a salad of quiona, kale, roasted chili chickpeas, lots of seasonal veggies, homemade cumin & lemon dressing, and some roasted nuts.  And a huge green juice!

Interview with a Fitness Professional - Kelvin Gary

This week we interviewed, Kelvin Gary, owner of Body Space Fitness in NYC and a personal trainer and performance enhancement coach. He's a cyclist and has 2 engineering degrees and an MBA! We are thrilled to be partners with Body Space Fitness and learn so much from Kelvin and Kado. We learned a few new facts about Kelvin in the interview: he loves to play jokes on people and if he had not become a trainer, he would have become a competitive BBQ pit master!

Why do you like working with runners?

Two big reasons: 1) they are usually highly motivated, self-starters which are the best clients to have and 2) they are usually in touch with what’s going on in their body and can quickly adapt to most new routines and movements.

If you could tell a runner only one piece of advice, what would it be?

Be fit to run don’t run to be fit - meaning, making sure that you are mechanically and structurally sound is as important as the miles you put in and the results you see.

What's your go-to fitness activity and why?

Kettlebell work.  It’s a great way to get a totally body workout.  It allows me to work on power and cardio while maintaining muscle mass.  It also allows me to focus on hip dominate movements which are key for both cyclist and runners.

Whats your favorite post workout meal?

 Salmon, Brocolli and Sweet potatoes.

When did you start running and why?

I would say 4 years ago.  Mostly because I wasn't good at it which made me mad :-)  and I wanted to do a triathlon.  I've done several Duathlon's but i'm still getting the swimming down :-)