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.

Stitch Fug

A non-workout entry...

Unless you live under a rock, you've heard of Stitchfix. You pay a $20 styling fee and fill out an extensive questionnaire based on your clothes preferences and personal style. The company then ships you a box full of goodies to try on. You pay for what you want to keep (minus your $20 fee), and send back what you don't. Or, you get shipped a bunch of clothes that are laughably overpriced for their quality, and send the whole shebang back and eat the $20.

I'm legitimately the last person on Earth to try this service, so I thought I'd treat myself and just give it a shot. April has reviewed her Fixes with pretty good success, and seemed to have some good experience getting cute pieces to add to her wardrobe. I used her referral code, (use hers! She has better luck with this than me!) which gives her a $20 to her account for future goodies, and set off on my clothing adventure.

My first (spoiler alert: and last) Fix arrived last Thursday evening. I asked for some staple sundresses I could dress up  for work, but still dress down for weekend-wearing. I also requested a yellow cardigan, simply because that's a random staple I always forget I want.

I was sent the following...

-Color-blocked maxi dress. I actually really liked this. It was long enough (sometimes a struggle for me) and the fit was flattering. However, this bad boy clocked in at $88. I would have had to shell out $68 more to keep it. Give me a break.

-Purple shirt. I thought this was cute, but the material was pretty uncomfortable. My stylist said I could pair it with the skirt also enclosed in my package...

-This was actually pretty comfortable. The shirt is the only thing I could wear this with, because there is literally nothing else to pair with it in my closet.

-This is my exasperated look. This dress is the only thing I really thought about keeping. But once I kept it on for a while, I thought it fit weird around my stomach (food baby, I'm sure) and it was $64. $64. For viscose and spandex. In the end...no.

I was also send a simple white 3/4 sleeve cardigan, since they didn't have a yellow one in stock. $38 for Old Navy quality (NOT bashing ON...am bashing something I could get for $10.)

All in all, I get why Stitchfix is popular. (Kind of...) But the quality and pricing, in my experience, did NOT make sense. I just don't think these subscription services are for me!

Upside-Down

A short update...

A few weekends ago I signed up for an arm balance/inversion workshop at the DCR Village. (Led by Gracie--if you are in the area and get a chance to take one of her classes, do it. She is sparkle and sunshine in human form. So warm and welcoming, and such a great teacher.) It ended up be mostly a focus on inversions, which introduced me to a new discomfort zone I didn't even know I had in me.

I was not one of those kids who could throw themselves around into cartwheels and back handsprings. I never made the dance or cheerleading team and I remember one ill-fated gymnastics class where I think my cousin Drew and I mostly screwed around and didn't listen to instructions. So, I've reached the ripe old age of 31 without ever really getting used to the sensation of flinging my head and feet up in the air and propping myself up by my hands or arms. And even with the knowledge that there's a wall right behind me, it makes me terrified to try.

We warmed up in an inverted L-shape handstand and...I could barely hold that bad boy. A little embarrassing, to say the least.

(Picture me doing this, but falling after 3 seconds. Also, I was wearing a shirt.)

The rest of the workshop made me realize inverting isn't just throwing myself into the air and praying something sticks. I've had to really start working on my upper-body training and core strengthening. Which I HATE. I have always hated core exercises, but now I'm regretting putting them on the back-burner for all these years. These poses use that strength so much, and I'm so dang weak.

One thing Gracie told us that has helped me was to visualize ourselves mastering our inversions in the middle of an empty room. No wall to balance off of, but perfectly holding a headstand or handstand. And to mentally feel what we'd feel once we accomplish getting there. Just holding that feeling in my mind has helped tremendously. 

So, I recruited a personal trainer to help me out a few times a week. We've been really focusing on pushing myself to the point of exhaustion using pushups, core exercises, and different upper-body moves he's learned in his years of being a professional strong-man

 (It's not Easter until someone takes a sneak-pic of you)

He's one of the most VIP trainers in the Valley. I repay him back in breakfasts out in exchange for him working me to not be able to lift up my arms.

AND...in the few weeks I've been focusing on these areas, I've seen progress! This morning I mastered tripod headstand on my own in the middle of the floor during class! And yes, held it there for more than half a second. I just need to keep up with it. "Nothing changes if nothing changes."

It's Alive

Why yes, I am here. Here's a little rundown of things that have happened since my last entry (October 24...whoops):

-I turned 31. I celebrated with a spa day, and then AV made me a birthday mac and cheese that I still dream about. And my dad paid for our Pomo the weekend before!

-Then the next month, AV got me a sweet gift!

(Every time I come around yo' city, blang blang)

-We spent Christmas in KC and I met my NEW BEST FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...and saw some of my OG besties as well :) (but not nearly enough people--sorry, coming back for the holidays and trying to balance family/friend time is hard.)

-We hiked Camelback for the first time and I am obsessed! I hope everyone who comes to visit me in the future is ready to get up at the crack of dawn to experience it. Cannot wait to conquer it again!

 

-We spent another year at the Open. Unfortunately, ol' Tiger didn't stick around long enough for us to see him on Sunday morning.

(Speef)

 

(Gross weather)

-Running has been put on the back-burner indefinitely. While I am proud that I've finished 2 half mary's, it's just time to focus on what makes me happy and makes me feel my best, which is YOGA. I still run here and there, but I haven't gone more than 4 miles since October. I've also been going to a Tuesday morning "body strength" class, which is like a mix of BodyPump but with more cardio, and basically a gazillion squats interspersed throughout. Not the worst. And if anyone in the valley stumbles upon this blog and has a chance to take yoga classes led by Beri Golding: DO IT. Her Saturday morning flow class is a reason to live.

I'll try to get my crap together and update more than once every four months or so. I suppose that's doable.

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)

Done!

First, I want everyone to know that I drafted a post on Friday and had absolutely no time to edit it and post it (I had to work through lunch) that contained the above graphic. I absolutely couldn't let it go to waste, so there you go.

Well! Saturday morning came and went in a blaze (and I do mean a gigantic, hot, fiery sun-ball blaze) and I lived to tell about it...barely.

First things first, I did not meet my 2:20 goal. There. I knew I wasn't going to at the 5K mark. Why? Not because I wasn't prepared or didn't train enough or didn't fuel enough or didn't get enough rest. If I hadn't done any of those things, I might be disappointed. No friends, it is because the Y Race was multiple gigantic uphill loops in the side of a mountain that took off at 7:00 a.m. when it had already reached 70 degrees with zero wind. So, I guess you could say I was disappointed for a little while. But when I factored in the things that were simply out of my control...I guess I'm pretty proud to have finished that beast.

Friday night we continued the carb-load (PESTO PENNE BAKED IN A BREAD BOWL!) and went to sleep early. I woke up feeling pretty dang good. I dropped a Nuun in a water bottle and drank it throughout getting ready and eating breakfast. We got to South Mountain (emphasis on MOUNTAIN) Park in enough time to go to the bathroom and stretch before the 7:00 gun.

I have to say, the first half of the race felt pretty good. I had enough gas in the tank to take on the hills and the temperature hadn't started to factor in yet. I took water at every stop to conserve my hand-held reserves--although I realized I had forgotten to drop a Nuun in it. Rookie mistake. Remember how I said I think 10K's are my new official running time? Well I felt awesome until the turnaround halfway through!

Then. THEN. I stared back up the hill I had just happily descended and knew it was going to be a long ride on the struggle-bus to finish. I took my first walking break at mile 7 and knew I was done for. It got hot. The hills seemed steeper and longer. I trained exclusively on the Scottsdale Greenbelt and running down Shea and in neighborhoods around there. There are "hills" along those routes, but nothing like these monstrosities. 

The sun started to factor in and I started pouring water on myself. I stopped to walk through water stations and had them refill my bottle as well. I knew 2:20 was out the window and beating my previous time of 2:28 was gone too. I just had. to. finish. it.

It sucked. I was dripping from a combination of water and sweat (have you ever blinded yourself by sweating into both your eyeballs? It's amazing.) and wanted to die. I wanted to take my phone out and send AV a crying text about not making it. But I didn't. I finally, FINALLY crossed the finished line at 13.15 miles in 2:34:27. And I was just happy to have survived that sucker.

I immediately chugged 3 cold water bottles and ate half a banana, part of a blueberry oat bar and part of an apple. We came home and AV made gourmet breakfast burritos while I showered before passing out for a few hours. I woke up and felt like a new person. And then I completely annihilated the eggplant parm at Il Capo.

Sunday night I started to feel a little defeated/upset about how everything shook out this weekend. The early mornings of running before the sun came up, pushing myself to more diligently follow my training plan than last year, money spent on new shoes, etc. all seemed "for nothing." But I talked it out with AV and if I HADN'T done those things, then maybe I could be upset. But I really did do everything I could and as someone who doesn't run very naturally, who picked easily one of the hardest races in the area to tackle, I'm OK with it. I'm actually pretty proud of it.

Sunday afternoon I forced myself to the 2:45 afternoon "power" class and it was painful/necessary/amazing. I had Monday off for comp time from working the weekend before and took a 75 minute flow class at the Gainey location that also helped stretch me out. I also rewarded myself by finally drinking the kool-aid yesterday and am really excited to continue my practice more in-depth for a while. But I don't hate the idea of running and I know I will always have that to fall back on as a workout. So I can officially say I'm OK with not hitting 2:20, because I gained more out of it than a finishing time.

...As an aside, AV ran the 5K in 28 minutes. WHAT!

Talking It Out

I knew the entire month of October was going to be crazyville, and it's staying true to that:

-Last weekend of September: Trip to Austin
-First weekend of October: Trip to KC
-Last weekend: work Saturday and Sunday for Tour de Scottsdale
-This weekend: RACE
-Next weekend: work Saturday for SpoooooOoOoOooooOooOky Carnival: Pirate Edition (I wish I had a peg leg)

So, the light at the tunnel is in sight, but I have to finish 13.1 miles to get there.

Saturday's 11 miler brought a mix of emotions. I am officially the weirdo who kind of likes setting out before the sun rises to spend a few hours running. Not that I do it fast or with any grace, but I do it. It's a nice time before the weekend really begins. I felt a little sluggish in the beginning. My first 4 miles clocked in at the 11:00+ mark which made me mad. (More mad at myself--perhaps I shouldn't have pushed myself to a fast-for-me 4 miles the morning before: 4.16 miles at a 10:07/mi pace) The ensuing few miles were an up and down roller coaster of times. I felt pretty OK with everything until the very end. Mile 10.5 came with a ton of bricks hitting me in the face. I have solace in the fact that I'll have more fuel on me for the race on Saturday and that I'll know to eat more before I set off.

I ended 11 miles by running in a circle around my gate box because I just didn't want to go any further away. I'm sure I looked deranged. 11 miles in 2:01:16 for a 11:01 min/mi pace.

Now, here's where I have to have a come to Jesus conversation with myself. I will need a 20 seconds/mile pace to hit my goal on Saturday. Can I do it? I've had some amazing long-"ish" runs where I've gone faster than that. I'm not going to be doing any sort of physical activity the day before the race and I'm making friends with the foam roller this week.But, 20 seconds is kind of a lot. If I'm being honest with myself, I know it's going to be close, and I'm erring on the side of "Welp, I'm probably not going to hit sub-2:20." There are all kinds of factors. All my long runs have started out bright and early. The race doesn't start until 7:00 a.m., putting me at finishing after 9:00 a.m. When I was working the Tour on Sunday I noted the brightness/temp around 9:30 and it was WARM. That doesn't bode well.

But weirder things have happened. I think the greatest achievement of this training season is that I don't hate running like last year. Don't get me wrong: I am READY to do a week straight of yoga and nothing else after this weekend. But the idea of continuing to run and keep myself in better running shape doesn't make me want to die like it did before. But I think any future races will aim for the 10K mark. That seems much more sustainable for my life and abilities.

In other news...

• AV is signed up for the 5K on Saturday! If anything, it will give him something to do besides just wait for me. Plus, snacks after the race.
• We finished House of Cards last night. MOAR PLZ. I heard they're filming season 3 right now. It makes me want to get into politics and secretly murder people. Next I think we will move onto OITNB.
• Speaking of politics, this guy's write-in signs are everywhere. FIVE F'S O' FREEDOM! My Five F's of Freedom are: Fireworks, Frosting, Frangelico, Falafel, Fazoli's (I'm hungry)
• These have been made twice and they are really glorious. Last night I followed the recipe to the letter (although halving it) and mixed in some diced green onions before cooking. I topped them with sharp white cheddar and an avocado mash. DO IT.