I don't know about you, but I am *so* glad it's Friday!!
Dallas
weather is looking absolutely beautiful! We are officially in "summer
lite" (not quite summer heat; also called spring in
most places).
Here are five things that made my week!
Remember this from last week?
It's finished! I *LoVe* it!!
More detail:
2. I'm
sure everyone is sick of hearing about tutugate, but I think these
women freaking rock! This lame article from a magazine I will now be
sending back (it was a free subscription thank goodness) makes me want
to wear my tutu daily. Like my friend Lisa pointed out, women already have enough self esteem related issues. Now your going to make fun of something we wear, while bettering ourselves? Shame on you.
3. These. A picture speaks a thousand words of delicious.
4. I signed my life away
up for a HUGE challenge this winter. The New Year's Double. I have
done parts of this race the past two years, but the big draw is the
double aspect. You can double up on a 5k, 1/2 marathon or full.
Well...this year the 5k was bumped up so runners can double double
down! Somehow I was cheerfully coerced into a 5k/26.2 on NYE followed
by 5k/26.2 on NYD. "It'll be fun!" they said....gets me every time!
This really is a great race...great friends, great swag, awesome (HUGE) bling. Especially if you complete one of the double aspects. Can't. Wait.
5. I definitely saved the best for last...
This boy.
One
of the love's of my life. He was honored at his school's assembly
today for exhibiting extraordinary forgiveness. He is a "Bear of the
Month"! I am so proud of him!!
I love him being 7
(almost 8). While I look forward to what the future brings for him,
part of me wishes I could keep him this age forever. He is so funny.
So loving. Adores his mama.
For those of you who know me well, you know this is an absolute ungodly hour for me to get up, yet I was wide awake and ready to run!
I met my MRTT girls at the train station and we were on our way into the city.
These are some of the *bestest* frunners every!
Side note: This was Ampy's (the beauty in the middle) first half marathon! She *crushed* it. Sub 2 on her first try! Luisa (the beauty next to me) also killed it with her first "official" (it's a long story) sub 2! Marissa & Heather (the beauties on the right side) ran great races as well!
Luisa, Ampy & I made our way to corral 4. Before we knew it, we were up! Time to run!
Over the years, I have moved up a little bit in corral placement. Progress! Year one (2010) I was all the way back in corral 10. While I may have overestimated my finish time by just a few minutes, I was keeping up with the rest of the corral and managed to stay ahead of the 2 hour pacer for a little while. A sub two has been my goal for this race the past two years. I knew it wouldn't happen that day, so I ran this one purely for fun.
I managed to stay below a 9:40min/mile pace for a lot of the first half and only slowed down slightly over the split. This is good news for me. Progress and pacing are taking shape. I have a bad habit, like a lot of runners on fresh legs, of going out to fast. Rocking a fast first mile of two and then falling apart. Not this day. I made sure to stay steady throughout, especially the first 2-3 miles and it paid off. I finished strong and probably ran more during this race than any in the past six months or so. It was cold. It was windy. But it was fun!
My A goal was 2:10 and to stay <10min/mile. I hit it. On the dot.
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I had a lot of fun and saw a ton of friends along the way.
Two of the Bakers. They jumped on the same train with us & ran this race as a family. How cool is that?! Wife Amy, finished just a few moments later.
The signs are always a fave!
Overall this is one of the funnest (that's a word, right?) races I do all year. It was my very first half back in 2010 and my introduction to a long road of distance running. I've had my ups and down throughout, but such is life. We are always learning; finding ways to improve and better ourselves.
I can't wait to see how long I can keep this particular race streak going.
I'll leave you with this.
My attempt at the hottie selfie. I have true respect for the original poster. This is a difficult task!
It was my very first "big time" expo back in 2010.
I am, as always, amazed at how much my son has grown!
2010 (that boy cracks. me. up.)
2014
Louis wanted to ride the train downtown, and who was I to argue...no parking fees, no parking problems and he got to ride the train.
Brooks, as always, had a huge set up.
Happy Island was their theme...Louis and I were both issued our "passport".
There were three areas to stamp our passports and they were all super fun (at least the two we did....the gait analysis line was L O N G). The more stamps, the better the prizes!
We played a race up the volcano game, which of course Louis won and then he rode a shoe (like a mechanical bull)! We laughed....a lot.
We spent nearly two hours perusing all of the booths picking up free swag & playing games.
Louis scored a new pair of shades and we both made out like bandits with all of the prizes & the couple of items I had purchased.
We signed up for an autographed Dallas Stars hockey stick & Louis scored an autographed puck (I think it's because he is such a sweet boy)! Lucky!
We both played a WII bobsledding game & this time this mama won....
This was my prize!
I thought I had myself a new pj shirt....instead I got a tent. 3XL? Really? We all got some good laughs out of it that is for certain!
I picked up my *legacy* gift, which I thought was totally awesome. I have ran every year since the inaugural race back in 2010. I almost missed 2011, but looking back, I'm glad I didn't bow out of that one (even though I had bronchitis).
Before we headed out, we stopped to see Deena Kastor, bronze medalist in the marathon and co-star of "Spirit of the Marathon". She was adorable and we both thought it was cool to see a real "celebrity".
Tuesday – Barre Fusion at Lifetime and 3.1 miles after that - check!
Wednesday – 6 miles easy - Barre AND 6 miles
Thursday – 3 miles at my wishful pace + light strength - I did Barre instead
Friday – Rest
Saturday – Rest
Sunday – Rock and Roll Dallas Half Marathon Goal Time: 2:00-2:20 - smack dab in the middle 2:10 (more on that later this week)
Total miles: 22.3
My friend Alicia *KILLED* her 50 miler on Saturday!
Read about her amazing journey here. This girl is in her word "amazeballs"!
I can't even fathom the thought of doing basically another marathon after just running a marathon (which is pretty much what this is), except that a) this was a difficult trail run and b) the "trail" was actually a lot of sand per Alicia's report. I didn't get a chance to go out to the course, but saw lots of smiles & saw lots of updates from my friends that were out there with her.
Our entire group is SO proud of her!!
What's up for this week?
Monday - Barre
Tuesday - Barre Fusion & 3 miles
Wednesday - 4 miles and strength train
Thursday - rest
Friday - Barre
Saturday - group run with MRTT (6ish?) and strength
Sunday - Barre (I am still really loving this Barre thing!)
Total milage: 13 miles
I can't remember the last time I ran so little in one week. I'll let you all in on my plans later...(i'll see if it works first!)
I absolutely am in *love* with barre. All of the classes I have taken over the past week or so were uniquely different, yet a freaking crazy awesome workout.
So far, I have gone to two classes at Lifetime Fitness and
two at a barre studio.
Let me tell you a little bit about my trips to the barre…
Barre Fusion at Lifetime was more of a barre/pilates/yoga
mix. My new friend, Elaine, from MRTT
had invited me and I am *so* happy she did!
Since there was no actual barre, we used body bars, planted vertically
on the ground, for balance and performed what seemed to be hundreds of
plies. I think my legs are pretty strong
and in relatively good shape, but DANG, they were nothing but shaky jello when
I was through. I did my second class at
LTF this past Tuesday and had the same experience. Shaking legs. You are instructed to “embrace the shake”. Easier said than done!
I ran three miles after class and felt I had some trouble
finding my groove. I liken it to the
brick workouts all my tri friends do.
Difficult!
While it would seem like it is all about the legs &
bootie, there is a good deal of ab and arm work as well. With all those plies and leg lifts, you start
to feel very graceful and like a *real* ballerina!
Cue “Tiny Dancer” in my head.
My favorite version can be seen here:
The class even ends with a super cute curtsy at the end!
The instructor is the same each week. She is adorable and spunky & knows her stuff. This made the class even more enjoyable.
This past Sunday, I tried another barre class, with my
friend Rene from work. It was
INTENSE. Non-stop from the minute it
started until the minute it ended, yet the hour flew by. The class was held at a barre only studio
called Pure Barre. It was a very new,
cozy studio in a neighboring city, about a thirty minute drive from my house,
but well worth it. I was sore the next
day (a sign of a good workout!).
Only a few items of equipment were needed for both workouts. Grippy socks are a bonus to help stay in position (they really help with plank!).
It was for real.
Their catch phrase is LTB.
Lift. Tone. Burn.
They aren’t joking.
After a very short warm up, Kendra “fab” (the instructor)
took us straight into ab work. We worked
through a series of some arm work with very light weights (which sounds easy,
but becomes incredibly HARD) and then moved to the actual barre. Leg work, bootie work and more ab work
ensued.
The class moves by fast and so did the time; not a minute
wasted.
I went to a second class last night the Pure Barre closer to
my home, which has only been there for three weeks. I was greeted by the owner, who is
also a teacher (just not that night).
I found that after attending one class already, a lot of the
moves were much more familiar and it was easier to follow the flow.
I have also come to the solid realization that there is another
way to get a great booty without doing hundreds of squats. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it
does not come without hard work.
While both barre workouts focused mainly on lower body
exercises, each of them provided a great full body workout. They were slightly different in some ways and
alike in others. I am really enjoying
them both.
I think this is a great way to improve balance, flexibility,
strength and core stability. It
definitely will increase foot and ankle stability as you spend a lot of time on
pointy toes…feeling that *burn* in the calf muscles. Hip flexor strength and flexibility is also a
target during the workout (*great* for runners).
Barre is also a great workout for all fitness levels. It is not jarring to the joints,
modifications can easily be made and it is not high impact by any means. The method has proven results.
It is my intention to make a 30 day focused commitment to
barre to see how it can improve my running (all in the name of research of
course!). I’ll let you in on the results
next month! Until then, I'll be LTB'ing at the barre!
So…have you ever done a barre workout? What did you think?
I am *SO* looking forward to tomorrow, when this boy gets to
come back home!
I can’t wait until he gets home from school and we can spend
some long awaited QT together.
What I did last week:
I followed through and cut back on miles (yay!) & I went
to not one, but two, barre classes. One
much different than the other (that story is for another post).
Monday - 10 mile interval run – check!
Tuesday - Barre Fusion with a new MRTT friend, Elaine! –
yep!
Wednesday - 8 and strength training – check!
Thursday - Easy 8 or rest and strength train – 2 mile walk
Friday – rest - check
Saturday - Easy 10 – swamp air and all, done and done
Sunday – rest – another barre class
Weekly total: 36
28
Best run of the week:
My Moms Run This Town group met up for a Saturday morning
run. The air was damp and swampy, but we
had a *huge* turnout! Biggest group run
yet! I am so happy for our awesome group. We keep getting more and more *awesome*
mother runners. I ran six miles with
the girls, powered up with one of Nicole’s delicious banana cupcakes (that counts as
a muffin as there is technically a fruit in it, right?), then went to my gym and cranked
out four more miles PLUS a strength workout.
In my promise to cut back on miles this week, this is what I have planned...
Monday - 10 mile interval run
Tuesday - Barre Fusion with a new MRTT friend, Elaine!
Wednesday - 8 and strength training
Thursday - Easy 8 or rest and strength train
Friday - rest
Saturday - Easy 10
Sunday - rest
Weekly total: 36
While 36 miles doesn't sound like I'm backing off, there are 2 easy runs in there. Easy runs are, well, EASY! They are effortless. I plan to do the 10 miler with my MRTT frunners, so they are guaranteed to be fun and easy (and may or may not include cupcakes muffins with frosting at the end).
So what is barre fusion?
Spark people writer and barre instructor, Andrea Rogers, states that while all barre workouts differ slightly in structure, most methods incorporate exercises done at a ballet barre combined with the elements of ballet, Pilates, and yoga. Barre exercises rely mainly upon one's own body weight for resistance, and the moves challenge core stability and balance. Barre workouts are designed to help an individual achieve a "dancer's body" - strong, sleek, and streamlined. Typically, classes are just under an hour long and include a
5-10 minute warm up, 10-15 minutes of light weights (upper body), 20-30 minutes
of barre exercises (mostly lower body), 10 minutes of floor work that includes
abdominal and lower body exercises.
Most classes end with a cool down and final stretches (Spark People, 2014).
Barre isn't that fancy that it has to be done in a studio. Your "barre" can be as simple as the back of a chair. I found several interesting sounding workouts of Pinterest.
Unfortunately, no tutu's are required.
What is your goal this week?
What is your favorite "out of the box" fitness class?
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