What have I been doing?

I'm sure there are scores of rabid fans wanting the answer to that question...well, here we are! Sorry to take a four month hiatus. Oops.

In June I purchased a $100 30 day introductory package from Pure Barre. I've taken (and loved) barre classes before; my first experience was a few months of Go Figure in the summer of 2013. This style of workout is intense, hard and gives results. It's also pretty stupid expensive. I ended up stopping Go Figure classes because my membership at the Village Clubs offered barre classes and I decided I didn't need to pay extra, but those group ex classes were definitely more "dance-y/ballet-y" than stereotypical "barre-y." Picture me reacting to order of "Plie! Tendu! Battement!" and then pick yourself off the floor from laughing.

Anyway, Pure Barre is freaking hard. I can't really decide which technique I like better between the two. PB just works better for my schedule because they have early (5:45 a.m.) classes and are a little closer to where I live. I haven't purchased another package because they are freaking expensive, but I DID sign up for a free class this past Saturday in celebration of their 5 years in AZ. I entered a raffle to win 6 months of classes for free because, why not?! I'm sure I didn't win, but you can't really pass the chance up.

I've also incorporated at least one hot yoga classes into each week. If I said barre classes are tough, hot yoga classes are like going into battle. But the drenched feeling of getting completely detoxed after each session is enough to keep me reeled in. I've been attending Lauren's Village Hot Yoga 5:30 a.m. classes (waking up at 4:45 a.m is rough, just in case you weren't sure.) on Wednesdays. I love her. VHY is a set list of poses throughout each session, which I hear is like Bikram, but without a creepy guy in a man-diapy leading the class, apparently. I also like to see how many towels I can accumulate throughout each class. My record is two full-length body towels and 5 hand towels. A fun game!

I can't believe last year at this time I was training for my second half marathon. Was I huffing glue or what?

(She is my #1 Intervention fave.)

It is DISGUSTING lately. It's hot and muggy. I was running about 7 miles at this time last year. No thank you.

What else? Not much. I may attempt to keep up with this. Oh! Just a little aside/FYI/oopsie-daisy: I eat meat again now. I've been having some stomach issues for about the past year and a half now and started reading up on the Low FODMAPS diet.

Yes, all the things on that list are the ones to be avoided/used sparingly on Low FODMAPS. Kill me now, right? Luckily, I got tested for Celiac and don't have any gluten sensitivity. There are other foods on that list I know don't effect me, but I ended up cutting out ones who have straight up wrecked havoc on my insides. (See: Apples. *insert crying emoji with angry fist to god*) In taking out a lot of my protein sources (beans/lentils), I really didn't see much of a choice. And I have noticed an improvement, for sure. Right now I'm sticking with just chicken/turkey a few times a week. Still dicey on red meat (if AV offers me a bite of something he says I simply CANNOT miss out on, like the tri-tip sandwich from Twisted Grove, then I will try it), and still a no on pork. 

That's all for now. I leave you with a line of poetry after seeing Straight Outta Compton this weekend. Incorporate it into your daily life: When you diss Dre you diss yourself.

Week of Workouts

Happy Friday! How cute to think that at this time last week I had no idea the death and destruction I was about to face the next morning. (Hyperbole is one of my strengths.)

In the past 6 days I've gone to yoga 4 times and this morning I actually laced up for a run. And it was not the worst!

Wednesday morning I took the 6 a.m. flow class at Gainey. The instructor is the same for the Monday 6 a.m. class over there and we always start with "breath of fire." Will I ever make it through that warmup without feeling like an asthmatic dragon? Maybe. She talked about yesterday's solar eclipse (which I missed because I didn't have welding glasses to look with!) and a bunch of other spacey/astrological stuff. She's kind of a kook. I love her.

Yesterday our instructor (my favorite) said she was thinking about me and another guy who had been traveling out of the country while she planned up what we were doing that morning. A short flow warmup and then lots of looooong holds in Warrior B, Triangle and hip openers/glute stretches. That class is my favorite way to start my Thursdays.

This morning I contemplated just sleeping...then I contemplated just going out for a walk...then I hauled myself out of bed and set out on a run with no expectations or intentions. Scenes on my 5K route included the gross towney bar right down the street that now has a sign set out on the greenbelt train: 20% off for all runners and bikers! (Hey I just ran 5 miles, hook me up with a discounted bucket of Miller Lites!) There was also  "FUCK JOGGERS" spray painted onto the sidewalk under one of the bridges...well good morning to you, too!

All in all? It felt great to just run and no worry about hitting a time or goal or anything. Pace? 10:33, 10:14 and 10:00. 

Also, this morning I signed up for tomorrow morning's barre. I looked will be my first class since the middle of March. Save me.

I leave you with...

(GO ROYALS)

9 Miles? Check. Hula Hoop? Check.

The weekend went by in approximately 38 seconds. Seems about right.

The forecast for Saturday morning seemed dismal. 60% humidity, mid-80's at 5:00 a.m., etc. etc. Pair that with a terrible stuffy nose on Friday night (and waking up during the night ON FIRE thinking I'd caught the flu or something. I hadn't, so who knows what that was.), and I cautiously set out for my scheduled 9 miles with no goal or or expectations. I just wanted to survive.

To be honest, I ended up feeling pretty dang good. It was the first long run I'd ever attempted with Nuun and I'm officially a disciple and fangirl. I do think I probably should have brought 9 ShotBloks rather than 6, as mile 8 felt pretty disastrous and weak, but overall this run went much better than I ever thought it would.

Not sure on my splits, but I think they were close to:

11:04
10:44
10:45
10:30
10:37
10:50
10:55
11:18 (crash and burn)
11:01

I finished 9.05 miles in 1:38:17 for a 10:52/mi pace. Was it fast enough for my 2:20 goal? No. Did it restore some of my confidence? Yes.

After brizza (obviously not my pic, but it's what I ordered and it was glorious) and nap one of the day, we set out to Sur La Table for the James Beard Taste America event that I'd RSVP'd to forever ago. We watched a cooking demo by Chris Bianco and got to sample some amazing homemade pasta, made right in front of our eyeballs.

(I spy tiny James Beard. Do you?)

(Cavatelli with Sweet 100 tomatoes, garlic, and basil. Topped with chive-mixed ricotta. This was amazing.)

I loved this presentation and what he had to say about working with locally-sourced food and cooking for other people. We also sampled some local crusty bread with olive oil made at St. Anthony's Monastery in Florence, AZ. I will now be planning a road trip up there and buying enough olive oil to last me a lifetime. It was outstanding.

After eating lunch at the ol' standby we came home and I took nap two for the day. I'm an infant.

Yesterday morning I tried to new-to-me class because I knew I wasn't going to make it to my regular 2:45 Sunday afternoon yoga. (Why, you ask? Well, the Chiefs game was actually being shown on TV here for once. Let's not talk about it.) 

I saw that the Gainey Village location of my gym was offering an 8:00 a.m. class of something called "FXP Coreflow," which I thought might be similar to a power yoga class:

"Fun, Xcessible, Portable! Meet us for the FXP CoreFlow Pilates/Yoga fusion class that will keep you challenged and motivated utilizing small props and your own body weight. The FXP CoreFlow class will provide a calorie burning, total body workout with a high energy, low impact, flowing sequence of moves set to music. The props utilized will deepen your core engagement, improve strength and coordination and increase flexibility. All levels welcome! Bring your yoga mat. Towels and small props will be provided."

It was more of a barre/core-strengthening class, which I'm fine with, but it had a huge emphasis on hula hoops! Holy crap. Have you ever hula hooped for two songs straight? I feel weirdly sore all around my waist in a way I've never felt before. To be honest, this was a great workout. It helped with my current desire to start barre classes again, which is how I know I've gotten a little bored with running. I just never really thought I'd use a hula hoop as part of a (decent) workout. The instructor was great and said they hooping for an hour can burn 600+ calories. What! I just might put this class in the ol' rotation. 

10 miles next Saturday. Already tired.