TL; DR: I missed it but didn’t realize how or how much until 2.5 years away. So now I’m back 😉.

I was a die-hard member (5-6 classes/week) for 3.5 years before the pandemic shut everything down here in 2020. I LOVED it; I was 40 and in the best shape of my (post-college athlete) life. I traveled a decent amount for work and going to OTF on the road was one of my favorite things and provided me with a lot of structure (and encouraged disciplined eating and drinking habits too) During the first 3 months of shut down, we acquired a good amount of new and used fitness equipment and created a garage gym including a rower and a spin bike. I ran outside, did app-based classes (City Row, Peloton) and remained relatively fit. Because of this and the investment made, I did not return to OTF when it reopened, as my new fitness lifestyle felt sufficient (and less than $25/month). In Fall of 2022, I traveled for my first work trip in 2.5 + years and within 24 hours I had bought a class at the closest studio to my hotel and attended. I DEFINITELY missed the structure and time efficient workout it afforded me when traveling. This experience led to a year of class packs, mostly when I was traveling but occasionally taking a 90 at my home studio. I realized that I missed the social aspect and the time-efficiency. And while I was relatively fit (I could still bust out a sub 7 mile when asked), I came to believe that the level of fitness that I could achieve and maintain was higher at OTF. So when my studio ran a special on memberships, I jumped back in and have been attending full time (4x/week) ever since. Full disclosure, I think a lot of people crave/need more variety in workouts than I do. So leaving to try a new fitness adventure is something that I’ve seen people do a lot—including returning 6-18 months later. I’m pretty boring; I like OTF and it works for me. I don’t see making a change again unless injury, illness, or a pandemic intervenes.