Sure, Koss and FitFluential LLC compensated me for this experience; but all thoughts are my own.
The
Koss Corporation, headquartered right here in Milwaukee, launched an exciting new product today with the help of Dara Torres. The smart men and women over at
Koss, many of whom I met today-including the original Michael and John C. Koss, realized that women were a frequently overlooked demographic in headphone industry. So they teamed up with Dara Torres to create "The Fit Series," new headphones designed for women by women.
I was invited to join in the launch today, along with some influential FitFluential ladies who came in from
Chicago,
Boston,
Orange County and
Madison. These women are seriously successful bloggers. Check out there sites.
The event started with a press release where Mr. Koss and Dara described the new products and some adorable high school aged models showed off the new looks. We each received 3 #Fit4Life clothing items as well.
Then we moved on to an exclusive spin class with Dara Torres. Each of us were given FitClips, one of the two new earphones available, to plug into the speaker on our spin bike. I strategically picked a bike with yellow FitClips since it's my favorite color but there are five colors available. I'll blog more about the two earphones later in the week after I've tried them a few more times.
The spin class was no joke. I joined
Apples and Arteries from Madison, WI and
Margauxonline in the front row. It was crazy working up a huge sweat right there with Dara.
After the spin class we each had an opportunity to interview Dara Torres over some pizza.
Here is what I asked her and her answers paraphrased (hey, this is from memory):
Me: I love the title of your book, "Age is Just a Number." I agree, but as that number is getting higher I'm noticing my body isn't recovering from long/hard workouts the way it used to. Have you noticed this and do you have any tips for how to deal with it?
Dara: Yeah. My body definitely takes longer to recover. In my last Olympics when all the kids (referring to the younger Team USA members) were doing two-a-days, I only did one. I take more recovery days than I used to. You just have to listen to your body. I get body work done every day that I work out and stretch. That helps.
Me: body work?
Dara: Like massages, which isn't so bad!
Me: You're a mom, a full time professional and in great shape at 46. How do you make time for to stay fit now that you are no longer swimming?
Dara: I think no matter what you do there are always ways to fit in exercise. Whether you are working full time and take the stairs all the time at work, or if you're a full time mom making time to do arm exercising during the day. You don't have to have a dedicated workout to stay fit and active.
Me: Would you consider doing a triathlon?
Dara: No. That's way to long for me. I'm a sprinter. I swam the 50M.
Me: As a mom, what do you do to make sure your daughter has self-confidence and a good body image?
Dara: Since she was little she has always been in some after school activity. She is on a swim team, just started lacrosse, tennis and dance. The activities are only like 45 minutes. It's nice they can go do something. I don't put emphasis on body image because I had an eating disorder in college so I am very leery of that.
Me: I've been this height since the 7th grade
Dara: me too
Me: My mom always made it seem like a contest to get to 6'0'' and that it would be so cool. I think that really helped me be comfortable with my height.
Dara: She likes to be tall. We have a thing on the door where we measure her and she wants to know every week if she grew. So that's cool
AND THEN I WENT THERE
Me: I'm a gastroenterologist. Many people, especially runners, have GI problems during or before events.
Dara: Oh yeah. I have diarrhea before every race, from nerves. It's really bad. It's to the point where I have to drink a ton of water or gatorade the day before I'm going to race because.....
Me: Otherwise you'd get too dehydrated?
Dara: That's a nice way of putting it (laughs)
Other Bloggers Questions:
Do you follow a special diet?
Dara: I just watch portion control. I'll eat a bite of cake, just not the whole thing. When I'm training I can eat like a guy. Now that I'm not I eat the same food but in moderation.
What about alcohol
Dara: I don't drink. I think it's because in college when people develop a taste for it, I was too busy swimming. I just never developed a taste for it. I don't even like wine.
Now that you are not swimming what is your favorite workout?
Dara: Probably spinning. I have a two spin bikes in my woman cave. I have an elliptical. I have a machine you can do 50-75 different exercises. I have a bosu ball and body blades. I have a lot in there so I don't have to leave my house. Living in Mass you want to stay home because it's so cold. I try to run once a week. Maybe twice depending on how my knee feels.
What was your favorite Olympic moment?
Dara: Probably 2008. You see things different as an older person. You appreciate everything more. You say thank you to everyone and really take everything in. Medals are great, but really overcoming obstacles to get there is what it's about, not necessarily the medal on your neck. Although that's great too.
On missing the Olympics in 2012.
Dara: I did the best I could do. The girls just got faster.
How has swimming changed?
Dara: Technology. When I was in the Olympics at 17 the suits looked like what we'd train in now. The material is faster and goes all the way to the nee. They were seriously like floating devices for awhile but now things are scaling back. More like old school now.
Advice for a beginner swimmer?
Dara: Listen to your body. Go with a plan or a master team. Masters is more fun and you meet people. The coach can give you tips.
Would you compete at Masters level?
Dara: Maybe down the line. I'm enjoying a mental break. Maybe in Florida. In Mass the pools are all indoor and smaller and you have to get all bundled up to get there.
On Doping
Dara:I told the USADA to test me anyway you want. Especially being older people are always talking about 'how is she still doing this?' So myself and some others like Michael Phelps volunteered to give over 36 vials of blood to create a baseline and then they can test for spikes after that. I tested all the time. Even when not training they'd come to my house at 6am to test me. I was neurotic about it. I'd never put my water bottle down at the pool.
What a cool experience to be a part of today's event.
Here aer a few more awesome blogs out of Chicago:
MizFitOnline and
Kelly Oxela
If you want to try Koss Fit Series, they are on sale now at
Koss.com
You can use discount code Fit4Life for $5 off.
They'll also be doing some giveaways.
I'll blog about FitClips and FitBuds after I've tried them out.
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