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Health - Injuries.
Thank you.
That is how Robin Arzon, Peloton head instructor and vice president of fitness programming, starts many of her intense, sweat-dripping rides. I should know, since she kicks my butt on a daily basis.
Its a source of strength and an example of how someone can be a change agent in their life @robinNYC, Arzon wears many hats under the Peloton umbrella. As a sought-after cycling and treadmill instructor in New York City and author of We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back, she has inspired runners and cyclists across the city—and all over the world—to better their own lives by reaching physical goals they never thought possible.
For Arzon, that’s something she incorporates into her everyday life, too, putting in countless hours to prep for next race. She’s run more than 50, including shorter distances to half marathons to ultras.
But while running is definitely a passion that fuels her now, it isn’t something she grew up with: Arzon started running when she was 23, shortly after a harrowing experience in college that has empowered her to live each day to the fullest.
That is how, when a gunman took her and 40 other patrons hostage. Arzon was chosen by the gunman to be the voice to the outside world, communicating with police. As a junior in college at New York University, Arzon suddenly found herself facing death. The situation lasted about three hours, during which, the gunman doused the hostages with kerosene and threatened to light them on fire.
While Arzon was trying to communicate with the outside world, two hostages jumped the gunman. This gave law enforcement the opportunity to enter the bar and take over. All of the patrons in the bar survived.
Being held hostage at gunpoint has shaped a lot of who she is and how she faces each day.
“For me, it’s a source of strength and an example of how someone can really be a change agent in their life,” Arzon told Runner’s World.
That’s something that Arzon took to heart. After the hostage situation, she went on to graduate magna cum laude from New York University and Villanova University School of Law, and practiced for seven years.
But she realized something was missing: She felt like she wasn’t following her passion. Thinking about being her own agent of change in life, she began exploring the possibility of switching careers.
Immediately, something in the fitness world stuck out. While working long hours as a corporate lawyer, Arzon found herself running whenever she could fit it in. Eventually, she found that the freedom she experienced with running could fuel a career in fitness.
“It happened very slowly,” Arzon said of her transition to the world of fitness. “I ended up just really falling in love with athletics and running and wanted to determine if there was a possibility of having a job in this area.”
That possibility motivated her to reach out to John Foley, CEO of Peloton about becoming an instructor. “That was the beginning of the partnership.”
Through all of these changes, Arzon found running as a way to cope, heal, and deal with whatever life sent her way. She ran her first marathon in 2010, the New York City Marathon, which she says is by far, her favorite run.
“It’s an immensely gratifying race to run because the energy in NY is so powerful,” she said.
And that energy showed up yet once again when Arzon ran the New York City Marathon just last week. In an Instagram post, she wrote,“Today was for me. Sometimes snatching power back is about a time, but for me it was a feeling.”
With this marathon, and the others she’s trained for, she typically runs at least four to five days a week. “I have long runs, tempo runs, hill workouts, and speed workouts,” she explained.
But unlike most people who are training for marathons, fitness is her job. “I work out two to three hours a day, six days a week, for 12 months out of the year,” Arzon added. This includes leading several classes on the bike and treadmill each week.
She typically runs three to five races a year—a schedule she’s kept even after getting diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2014. But rather than let this slow her down, Arzon embraced the diagnosis and continued training
“I was an ultramarathoner before I was diagnosed, and that kind of mindfulness and self-care really is part and parcel of any healthy athlete,” she explained. “Of course, there are many things I need to be aware of when running with type 1, but it actually hasn’t changed my training at all; I’m stronger now than I ever was.”
To help get her through the grueling hours of training, she uses the mantra “I am.”
Running’s helped her get through many of the trying times in her life, so introducing the sport to others so they can also reap those benefits is something that’s been important to Arzon throughout her fitness journey—it’s also what prompted her to write We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back.
“I really wanted to demystify and unpack running,” she said “It can be very intimidating for people who are new to running; even those who are runners, we also hit plateaus and training can be frustrating at times. As long as we’re putting one foot in front of the other, that’s progress.”
The benefits are great, she believes, but the process is difficult—and that’s where much of the strength gains comes from: the struggle.
“We often find that we live in a culture where people are looking for shortcuts, and sometimes there is no shortcut, and there shouldn’t be,” she said.
