Lebanon
Mavis Murray, 77, took up an initiative to save the class in 2013 after learning it would need to start drawing a minimum of three pre-registered participants per week in order to remain on the schedule.
“A lot of people who came work in an office, and they don’t want to sign up in advance because they don’t know if they’ll be get a long enough lunch break,” said Murray, a retired schoolteacher and former competitive runner. “A lot of people preferred to walk in, so I said, ‘This class can’t be cancelled.’ I got certified, and I’ve been leading it ever since.”
At this week’s class, Murray’s pupils clearly relished her presence. About 20 indoor cyclists, ranging in age from about 35 to 72, pedaled and puffed their way through her expertly choreographed “endurance” session, a series of longer, sustained intervals.
With one of Murray’s trademark classic rock playlists providing the soundtrack — the Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and Lynyrd Skynyrd among its featured artists — students were encouraged to dial up effort and intensity to achieve desired “training zones,” levels of difficulty based on reaching percentages of the maximum heart rate. The maximum heart rates of individuals vary based on a formula incorporating age and fitness level.
“It’s an endurance day, so we’re going to spend quite a bit of time in the ‘hard zone.’ We want to get up to 80 percent and stay there,” Murray said as the sprightly synth notes of Dire Straits’ Walk of Life kicked off the class. “The goal is to maintain a certain aerobic level, to utilize our oxygen and breath as we get closer to the hard zone.”
No two Murray classes are the same, though they always follow progressions she designs prior to meeting. Sometimes, the pupils are instructed to adjust the resistance on their bikes to mimic pedaling uphill, perhaps for two full minutes, before finally reaching its apex and scaling back.
“Now we’re nice and calm, like being on a (horse) saddle in the flats,” said Murray, who also practices yoga. “Let’s bring down the RPMs and sit back.”
Saurabh Ranjan, of Lebanon, has been working with Murray since nearly the time she began instructing the class. The 35-year-old software engineer has grown to appreciate her broader knowledge of cardiovascular activity and its impact on physiology.
“She’s really helped me understand important concepts, like burning long-term fat versus short-term glucose,” Ranjan said. “Today we’re burning long-term fat. It’s a little slower and a little longer (between breaks). When we pedal faster is when we’re burning the short-term glucose, which has different benefits.”
An Ontario native whose husband, David, is a retired schoolmaster, Murray taught in various capacities at schools in her home province and throughout the Northeast before settling in Lebanon in the late 1980s.
“It pretty much ran the gamut (of teaching subjects),” Murray said. “I was in a K-9 elementary school for a long time where we taught everything from algebra to English to music.”
Perhaps Murray’s teaching background has helped her indoor cycling classes become so organized. She enhances the environment with posterboard signs describing the philosophies of her classes — “Our cycling program utilizes a variety of heart rate training zones to create balanced fitness,” reads one — and students will never catch her in search of instructional material.
“What she does isn’t easy. She’s always keeping us engaged,” said Gloria Stevens, of Orange. “She always has the class choreographed and knows what she wants us to accomplish. That makes us want to come back.”
Stevens, 72, was inspired to commit to Murray’s classes after viewing Murray’s fitness level in her 70s. “Four years ago I told her, ‘I’m 68; I’m not sure if I can do this,’ ” Stevens recalled. “She said, ‘Yes, you can, I’m 73!’ and I knew I had no excuse.”
While Murray’s classes are structured and even grueling at times, they’re also a lot of fun. She’s been known to invest in themes for the class, such as bringing in decorations and props inspired by tropical islands to help lift spirits in the dead of winter, or last month’s St. Patrick’s Day class featuring plenty of green color and Irish music.
“They’re just little creative gestures to keep things light,” she said. “(Participants) keep me going, so I like to return the favor.”
On Wednesday, Murray asked students to sign a get-well card to be given to a regular participant who was absent because of recent back surgery.
“She really cares about the people in this class,” said Stevens, the septuagenarian from Orange. “She’s more than a Spinning instructor. She’s a mentor and a friend.”
Murray had her own health scare in 2014, learning she had colon cancer after noticing a drop-off in her energy levels while instructing. She had removal surgery and has been cancer-free for nearly three years, never needing to undergo radiation or chemotherapy.
“It was Spinning that allowed me to figure out that there was something wrong with my body. I noticed I couldn’t get my heart rate up. All of the monitoring we do in here is probably the reason I caught it so early.” Murray said. “That’s just one of the many wonderful things this sport and this class has done for me.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.