So You Want to Try Hot Yoga?

I’d always been curious about hot yoga.  When I came across a studio located next to the building where my father and I were taking dance lessons for our father-daughter dance, it seemed serendipitous.  Here is your chance- try it out!  I walked past the door and was instantly intimidated.  The people inside looked like serious yogis- that wasn’t me and I couldn’t see it ever becoming me. 

I pushed aside my insecurities (dude, I don’t know what I’m doing!) and signed up for my first class.  And was instantly hooked.  That was eight months ago.  I am so glad that I overcame my initial hesitation and tried something outside of my comfort zone.  If you have any curiosity about hot yoga- TRY IT! Here are some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned over the past eight months:

• Drink a lot of water during the day prior to class.    On days when I have a hot yoga class, I typically take in at least 100 ounces of water, 64 of which I drink during the day before class.   Yes, I make a lot of bathrooms trips.  It’s okay.  If you show up to class hydrated, you are more likely to be able to stay strong and power through all of the moves.
• Be prepared to sweat.  A lot.  Seriously.  Like you never have before!  I had heard that hot yoga was a sweat sesh but until you experience it, you can’t really comprehend it.  I walked into my first class with a hand towel and my mat, leaving a bath towel in the car.  When I asked the instructor if I should grab the bath towel, she smiled at me knowingly and just said yes.   Then I took my first class.  Well.  I was prepared to sweat.  I was NOT prepared to have sweat dripping off of my body in buckets, soaking the towel and the mat.  It was weird.  And awesome and cleansing. 
• Wear as little clothing as possible.  It is HOT in the room.  Traditional Bikram classes are heated to 105 degrees.  Couple that with a full classroom of people working hard and it is going to be hot hot hot.  With that being said;
• (Try to) Leave body issues at the door.  The hot room is no place to be insecure.  The heat will have even the most modest of women stripping down to their sports bras.  My yoga studio has students of all shapes, sizes and skill levels.  Everyone is focused on their own workout and there is no room for judgment.   
• Your body will adapt to the heat.  The first class is always the hardest.  It is a shock to the system and may even seem like a form of torture (okay, I’m exaggerating.  It is intense though!).  My instructor urges students to try the classes for a week.  After the first few classes the heat becomes addicting!  It is amazing how well the human body adapts. 
• Be prepared for some interesting bodily happenings.   Not necessarily of your own.  The worst is when someone next to you has had garlic or onions with their lunch.  Just yesterday a young kid was blowing his nose into his hand after ever pose and wiping it on his towel.  Yick.  You see all sorts of craziness in the hot room!
• Invest in a hot yoga towel, like yogitoes.  When I first started practicing, I used a traditional bath towel.  It soon became clear that this would not cut it.  The towel didn’t cover my whole mat and I was slipping and sliding everywhere.  My yogitoes towel is awesome.  It covers the whole length of my mat and stays in place.  It is essential!
• Bring lots of water to class.  You will drink all of it.
• Coconut water is awesome.  After class, there is nothing more satisfying than drinking coconut water.  Well, except for showering, of course.  Anyway.  Coconut water is an awesome, natural way to rehydrate and replace the electrolytes you sweat out during the class.
• It is addicting.  Even if the first class is tough, you WILL be back and you will become addicted 🙂

 

 Have you ever tried hot yoga?  If not, you really should!  It will enhance your athletic abilities, make you more at ease with your body, increase your flexibility, reduce stress… the list goes on and on!  Go ahead and try it- you have nothing to lose 🙂

*Disclaimer- I am not a yoga instructor nor a fitness instructor or health professional.  These statements are just what I have learned in my own experiences.  

A Productive Day and a Delicious Recipe

Hello everyone!  I hope that you enjoyed Veteran’s Day and took some time to reflect on those who served and are currently serving.  I know I have 😉  Today has been incredibly productive- I wish I could have every Thursday off!  The day started with a vet appointment for Mr. B- he had his annual checkup.  The poor little guy is such a champ.  I held him when he got a shot and he didn’t even whimper!  I had to stop and get him special treats afterwards, of course! 

After the vet I headed out to get a 4 3.3 mile run in. It was a gorgeous day out today!  The weather has been a little schizo, seeing as how it was snowing buckets on Monday and I had to go back inside today to change out of my cold gear and into a long sleeved tech tee and shorts without gloves!  Although, taking off the gloves was a bad idea since I had to cut the run short- my hands were FREEZING and I was back at my house 😉  It was a great day to run though- it is cheesy but the cold air really made me feel alive! 

After the run I got to making one of the most delicious recipes I think I’ve ever made, courtesy of my friend Nicole.  I’m kind of obsessed.  Then I accompanied my dad to Fleet Feet to get him fitted for a pair of running shoes.  I am running his first 5k with him in two weeks, yippee!  I should have known better than to think I would come out of Fleet Feet empty-handed.  Nope, I walked out with this:

A Brooks running jacket!  She is gorgeous.  I justified it because I had a $25 gift card from the store (love the loyalty points) and it fit like a glove .

Look, it even has a special spot inside for your ipod! 

Okay, I’ll be honest.  What really sold me was the thumbhole!

Yes, I’m obsessed!  I can’t wait to run in it!!

After coming home from the store I hurried over to a glorious hot yoga class.  Today’s class was much better than yesterday’s if only for the fact that the creepy guy wearing only tiny shorts that gyrates his hips in circles while staring at himself in the mirror to “warm up” before class  (seriously.  I wish I was joking) wasn’t present.  It was awkward last night, to say the least!   Did you have today off?  If so, what’d ya do? 😀

Okay, so on to one of the best recipes ever.  It is a little intensive but I promise you it is worth it, especially if you like risotto and cheese.  I had it for dinner tonight and it is one of the best risotto dishes I’ve ever had, if I do say so myself 😉

Risotto Caprese

Ingredients:

• 7-8 cups vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
• 3 cups arborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 pound fresh mozzarella
• 3 heirloom tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the stock to a gentle simmer and maintain over low heat
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and sautee until soft, approximately two minutes.  Add the arborio rice and stir until each grain is well-coated, approximately three minutes.  Add the wine and stir until completely absorbed.
3. Add the simmering stock to the rice a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly.  Once the liquid is completely absorbed (but never completely dry on top), add the next ladleful and stir, repeating until only 1/4 cup of stock is left.  Reserve the stock.
4. Cut the fresh mozzarella into 1/2 inch pieces.  When the rice is tender to the bite but slightly firm in the center and creamy looking, remove from heat and stir in reserved stock, the mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.  Season with salt and pepper and enjoy.

This is so cheesy and delicious.  This recipe is definitely a keeper (even if your arm is sore from all of that stirring) ;).  Do you like risotto?  Have you ever made it?

Have a great evening friends- it’s almost the weekend! 😀

Miscellany

Good morning friends!  Another Monday morning is upon us!  Did y’all enjoy the extra hour we got from setting our clocks back?  I think it messed with my system a little; I went to sleep at 8 PM last night and didn’t wake up until 7:30 AM this morning.  Ahh, at least I can say I am well-rested now! 

This past weekend was a blast!  On Friday night I headed to the gym for the first time in MONTHS to make use of the treadmill, since it was already uber dark at 6 PM.  I did a speed/interval workout that I think is called “quarters.”  Anyway, here is what it looks like, Katie style:

• Warm up for half a mile at desired warm up pace (for me this is 5.8 on the treadmill
• Sprint for a quarter mile (6.9-7.1 on treadmill)
• Recovery jog for a quarter mile (5.3 on treadmill)
• Repeat until you reach your desired mileage- for me, I repeated five times to reach three miles.

I was a sweaty beast when all was said and done!  I usually resort to these sort of interval workouts while on the treadmill because it is so dang boring!  I am also thinking I should just purchase a treadmill.  I used to use my gym membership for classes and the like but no longer- hot yoga rules my life!  I am essentially paying $44 a month to use a treadmill a few times.  Kind of silly, eh?  Do you own a treadmill?  If so, any brands you can recommend?

I also hit up Target this weekend.  I went in to purchase the final installment in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) and came out with the book plus a pair of jeggings and a cute pair of black shoes:

I couldn’t resist!  They were only $20 and I have been on the lookout for a pair of low black flats/heels/whatever.  They only had a few sizes left but mine was one of them.  I figured it was fate 😀  Do you get sucked into impulse purchases at Target?  I know I’m not the only one 😉

On Saturday and Sunday I attended my bikram yoga classes, bringing my total to four for the week.  I’m on track with my November goal of attending class at least 4-5 times a week!  The classes always kill me but I feel so awesome afterwards.  I cannot rave enough about it!  Before class on Sunday, I manged to get in three miles outside- it was a gorgeous, chilly fall day!  I listened to one song on repeat for the entire run- OAR “City on Down” live at Madison Square Garden.  It’s an awesome song to run to!  Do you have any songs that you can listen to over and over again?

Lastly, I hosted a fun jewelry party on Saturday night.  My sis in law is a Lia Sophia consultant so she came by with her yorkie, Bella.  The cat kept staring at Bailey and Bella.  You could tell she was bitter that Bailey somehow managed to multiply 😉  Some of my fave bloggies even stopped by!  A good time was had by all.  I made guacamole (3 avocados, diced onion, diced tomato, fresh lime juice, salt and pepper) and homemade macaroni and cheese.  The mac n cheese was to die for!  Definitely a worthwhile splurge 🙂  You can find the recipe I used here.

A final question for everyone- I am spectating the Philly Marathon in two weeks to cheer on my running buddy Melissa (yippee!!)  For those of you that have spectated before, any fun tips to share?  I am excited! 

How was your weekend?  Enjoy your Monday, friends!

Easing Back Into It

Hi friends!  Happy Saturday to you 😀  Mine’s been relatively low-key.  I’ve been spending a bit of time with this little bumblebee:

Bailey is a bit ashamed about his halloween costume so he refuses to look at the camera.

Look at the little white stinger on his little butt!  heh.  He is too cute. 

Anyway, like the title of the post suggests, I’ve been easing back into a workout routine.  The first time I worked out since the half was this past Thursday.  I attended a bikram hot yoga class (which I’ve done many times before) and it damn near killed me!  I have never sweat so much and I barely had the energy to drive home.  Granted, the class is difficult on a normal day but it just showed me that my body is still in recovery mode. 

This morning I ran for the first time since the half.  It was a standard 3.25 mile run.  I felt fine, albeit a little bored.  When I returned my toenail had reverted back to purple (it had faded since Sunday!) but overall my body feels good. 

So what now?  I have to admit, I’ve been feeling a little lost fitness-wise this past week.  I’ve read about the post-race blues on a lot of blogs, but this is the first time I’ve really felt it myself!  The half was amazing and I can’t believe that it is over and I have nothing to train for!  I’ve learned that I am a girl that likes a plan.  It is weird to look at my google calendar and not see all of my workouts planned out.  Being that I seemingly had ants in my pants from not working out this week, I developed a new plan of attack, workout wise:

Until I start training for my next race, I am going to attend hot yoga 3x a week, body sculpt 1x a week, and run 2-3x a week.  With two rest days because that’s how I like to roll.  Bri is also going to develop some sort of program for me to get me on the way to completing a pullup!  That is definitely on my list of things to achieve.  Are you a planner when it comes to fitness?

As for racing, Bri and I plan on running the Marine Corps Marathon together next October 🙂  I’ll start training for that in mid-June.  Since I want to run another half, I’m looking for one that occurs in late April/early May.  I’ll start training for that at the end of February. Other than that the only races I have going on are a six mile trail run on Halloween and possibly a 15k the following weekend.  We’ll see how I feel!

Alright peeps, I’m off to a girls night with one of my besties.  She is moving to South Carolina in less than a month, boo 😦  Don’t leave me Christina!

Oh, before I go- notice a new link at the top of the page?  I purchased a domain name!  I’m now the proud owner of legallyfitblog.com.  Woohoo! 

Have a good one y’all!

Cookies!! & Wardrobe Challenge Day 3

Hey y’all!  I’m not Southern but I really wish I was, just so I could get away with saying y’all.  Anyway.  I’m so stoked that tomorrow is Friday!  I have a busy weekend planned, with lots of running, yoga and friend time.  Good stuff 😀  Yesterday I got in a two mile training run in 18:39.  That is REALLY fast for me!  Granted it is two miles but if I can keep up that pace I should be able to shatter my 5k PR (30:35 I think) next Tuesday.  Woop! 

Hot yoga challenge last night was bombtastic, as always.  I think I’m really getting used to bikram (room is heated to 105 degrees) versus the hot yoga challenge (95 degrees) because yesterday the temperature of the room was quite bearable.  I’ll take it!

Today marks day three of the challenge.  Oy.  It is going to be a lonnnng month.  On the bright side, I am wearing shoes and jewelery that has just been sitting there unused.  Today’s clothing and accessories:

Closeup of the detailing on the top/pearls:

Let’s be honest though- I don’t wear my suit jacket around the office.  Unless I have a meeting or something.  In the mix:

• Wool blend suit jacket- Banana Republic (purchased 2005)
• Black wool blend suit pants- Express (purchased 2004)- yes, the same ones as yesterday.  Repeat!
• Teal-ish cotton dressy tee- Banana Republic (purchased Spring 2010)
• Pearls- gift from my mother and grandmother
• Black pearl bracelet- gift from Brian
• Peep toe pumps- Aldo (purchased sometime in 2006?)- I love these shoes.  Unlike the other peep toes, they are actually quite comfortable.  I’m still not sold on peep toes with long pants but hey, that’s what the challenge is for, right?  Mixing it up yo!

Okay, on to more delicious items.  Specifically, Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cookies, courtesy of Sweet Tooth Court! Seriously, this girl is my go-to recipe person for sweets.  I’ve met her in real life and she’s just as “sweet” (ha) in person as she is on her blog.   I’ve been sending Bri care packages but hadn’t yet baked him anything.  After perusing Courtney’s recipes, I settled on her Chocolate Butterscotch Cheesecake Cookie recipe, which I adjusted to Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cookies (I didn’t want the chocolate to melt when being shipped!)  Don’t worry, I altered the recipe on Tuesday to make chocolate chip cheesecake cookies too 😉  The beauty of this recipe is that you can alter it to make tons of flavors!  Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 + 1/2 sticks of butter
• 1/4 apple sauce
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup regular sugar
• 1 package of jello cheesecake pie filling (or any other flavor- customize to your heart’s content!)
• 1 t vanilla
• 4 egg whites
• 2 & 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 12 oz peanut butter chips (or chocolate chips, or butterscotch chips…)

• Preheat the oven to 375
• In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugars, dry pudding mix and vanilla with an electric mixer until well blended
• Add the egg whites and applesauce, mix until well blended.
• Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder.  Mix until completely blended.
• Stir in chips!
• Using an ice cream scooper, place on baking sheet and bake for around fifteen minutes (I like my cookies large!) or until they turn a goldish brown. 
• Let cool, and enjoy!

These are the finished peanut butter cheesecake cookies.  Note that I individually wrapped some of them- my friend Melissa sent me a link on how to keep cookies for soldiers overseas fresh, and apparently the key is individually wrapping them.  I placed the individually wrapped cookies into a larger tupperware container.  Here’s to hoping they arrive in Afghanistan fresh and delicious!

The reason I love this recipe is that there are so many combinations of cookies you could come up with.  Why not combine lemon jello pie filling mix with white chocolate chips?  I made chocolate chip cheesecake cookies for my family and they were huge fans.  So, Courtney, thanks for the recipe! 😀

Have a great Thursday!

A Refreshing Summer Dinner + Weekend o’ Concerts

Hey y’all!  Happy Monday 🙂  Thanks for all of the comments on my last post.  I’m still getting used to my hair but it is a nice change.  It hasn’t been this short in years!  This weekend went by waaay too quickly.  Mine was jam-packed with a lot of fun stuff but yeah- I need a weekend from my weekend!  Friday night brought the Maroon 5 concert, which straight rocked.  Hate all you want but I really love Maroon 5.   Their first album was basically my law school soundtrack.  There were two opening acts- Ry Cuming, a new artist who is quite talented.  And British.  That automatically adds a few rock star points, right?  After Ry Cuming finished Guster rocked the place.  I’ve never heard them before and they were so fun and energetic.  The quote of the night was when the lead singer addressed the crowd saying “Yeah, Adam (lead singer of Maroon 5) is going to come out and sing all high and awesome at your asses.”  Too funny.  And that he did.  We were third row so the band was literally five feet away.  I was definitely starstruck!  The photos are on my camera so I’ll have to upload them at a later point.  So yeah- awesome Friday night!

After the concert I came home and finished reading The Help.  I loved this book.  It is set in Mississippi (I definitely just had to sing the song in my head to spell that out) in the 1960s, from the point of view of two maids and young woman looking to be a writer.  The young woman sees the inequities (putting it mildly) the maids face on a daily basis and sets out to write a book (anonymously) depicting their troubles.  I highly recommend this book!   Have you read The Help?  If so, what are your thoughts on it?

Saturday morning brought my “long” run of week one of half mary training- a five miler.  The weather was incredibly gorgeous and I have to say I’m relieved that my mileage has decreased slightly.  I could probably have started the program at a later point (week four maybe) but I have the time to build up and don’t need to risk injury, so it is working for me.  I ran at the park and saw so many pups with their owners that after the run, I went home, picked up BB and took him for his own little 1.75 mile walk.  I tried to snap a photo of him but he is quite camera shy:

He is such a cutie!

Sunday morning brought Bikram yoga with Kristin.  The instructor reminded me of an auctioneer or one of the dudes announcing the horse races.  Kind of intense but it was a great class.  Kristin and I then had breakfast on Broadway- it was such gorgeous weather!  After that I went to a family bbq and then had some time to go to the grocery store and plan my meals for the week.  After perusing my favorite site for recipes, I decided on making a pear, walnut & goat cheese sandwich.   The original recipe called for sprouts, cream cheese and cinnamon raisin bread.  I subbed in baby romaine, goat cheese and organic oat nut bread- it was delicious!  If you want to try this, make sure you toast the bread- it’s essential! 

The original recipe paired the sandwich with a ginger carrot soup.  I was not feeling that but the sandwich definitely needed a little somethin’ somethin’ extra.  I remembered the mouth-watering soup Courtney recently blogged about and got to work making a minty chilled cantaloupe soup.  I modified her recipe slightly by only using cantaloupe, lime juice, greek yogurt, agave nectar and fresh mint.  To serve one, you need:

• ~3 ounces plain greek yogurt
• dash of agave nectar
• juice from half a lime
• 1-2 chopped mint leaves
• a quarter of a cantaloupe, diced
• 2-3 ice cubes

I placed all of the ingredients into a blender and voila- a delicious, refreshing summer soup!  I even paired it with a few Food Should Taste Good lime chips, per Courtney’s recommendation.  To die for!  It paired well with the sandwich- I even dipped it in the soup- bombtastic.  I have leftovers so I’ll let you know how the soup is the second day around.   I would post a photo of it but it isn’t uploading properly, hmph.  Check out Courtney’s blog for what the finished product should look like!  Thanks for the inspiration girl!  😀

The weekend wrapped up with the OAR concert.  I remember seeing them in college back in the day (2003 but who’s counting).  They are so incredibly talented.  My bestie Kristin is obsessed with them (for reals) so of course we had to go.  They put on a great show and even played War Song, which they wrote after visiting troops in Iraq.  I was a huge fan of that.  My favorite member has to be the saxophonist- he can really rock and was also playing the drums (some sort of drum) and guitar at some point.  Talk about talent!  The best was at the end of the show- he did a little tour of the walkway and literally walked right by us (we scored second row aisle seats- not sure how we finagled that one). 

Cool, right?

Alright friends, have a fantastic Monday.  Check back soon because I have a super exciting challenge coming up!  See ya! 🙂

Chopped(!) & A Day of Eats

Hi!  How is everyone doing on this ridiculously hot and humid lovely Thursday?  Yesterday was great.  I started out fairly tired because I stayed up late reading The Help.  Then I kept myself up thinking about it.  Which repeated again last night.  The book is that good!  I’m about halfway through and I love it. 

Anyway, yesterday I dragged myself out of bed for a slooooow two mile run.  It was a beautiful morning; cool, slightly breezy, with the sun shining but not all up in your grill, know what I mean?  For whatever reason I just couldn’t get going.  I suppose I’m used to running in the afternoon but still, it was a little disconcerting.  I have a three-miler on tap today with my running buddy Melissa (not at our normal shady route, gulp) so I’m hoping it will go a little smoother. 

Then, I chopped 6-7 inches of hair after work.  I had been meaning to do so since the wedding (which was oh, four months ago) and just never got around to it. 

It’s a lot shorter but I like it.  Aside from the fact that it isn’t really wash and go- I’m going to have to start using a blow dryer again 😉  Do any of you have any product recommendations for short-ish hair- pomade/texture type stuff?  I’m not even really sure what I’m looking for- I’m a little out of my element. 

Last night brought hot yoga.  Our regular instructor was back.  Thank the high heavens.  He is British, and instructions coming from a British accent just sound easier.  Orrr it’s just in my head.  In any event, it was a fantastic class and I felt myself going deeper into the poses.  I even attempted toe stand for the first time in that class (I’ve tried it in Bikram once, but never in last night’s class- he is too strict!) 

So, this isn’t a food blog, but I wanted to share with you guys what I typically eat/drink on any given day.  Wednesdays are fun days because I always have sushi after yoga- I don’t get home until 9:30 so I need something quick and light.  So, here is what I take in on a typical Wednesday:

My day starts with a mug of coffee on my hour-long commute into work.  It makes the commute a lot more bearable.  I use organic half and half and either two teaspoons of REAL sugar or one tablespoon of agave nectar.  It varies depending on the type of coffee I make. 

Then it’s time for breakfast:

Raspberry chobani greek yogurt (my favorite flavor, although the flavor and brand varies based upon what is available) and a cup of organic granola (flavor varies as well, yesterday’s was maple brown sugar.  I usually eat this around 9:00 A.M.

Around 10:00 A.M. I am hungry again. 

Luna bar to the rescue!  My favorite flavor is chocolate peppermint stick.  Yum.  At this point I also take my fish oil tablet:

Then at 11 it’s lunch time!  Normally I’ll have leftovers if I’ve cooked but I was out of town this past weekend so it was one of my favorite Amy’s meals:

Margherita pizza!  Love this lunch.   All day long I’m guzzling water from this bottle:

My lululemon sigg I love running water bottle!  It’s 32 ounces and yesterday I had three of those plus 10 oz from my handheld during my run plus a bit from a fourth fill.  I typically drink at least 100 ounces a day 🙂  I also tried some coconut water yesterday during yoga (unphotographed), but I didn’t like the flavor (mango-peach) so I didn’t finish it. 

Around 1:30 it was snack time. 

Organic granny smith apple with a tablespoon of mighty mapes peanut butter.  Love that stuff!

Snack numero 2 was around 4:30:

 I had this amount times 2.  I love cashews.  They may be my favorite nut (TWSS!)

And then after yoga I had a delicious dinner:

A salad with Annie’s raspberry dressing, little bit of feta and some walnuts (sometimes I throw blueberries on there if I have them), edamame with a bit of salt and tempura shrimp sushi.  Deeee-ricious!

Lastly, before bed, I make sure to have some dark chocolate.  Oh yes.  Sometimes red wine accompanies it (okay, most times) but not last night. 

And that, my friends, is what I eat on any given day.  Probably more than you ever wanted to know about my eating habits.  I don’t count calories and I try to include fruits and veggies, but I’m a work in progress.  I almost feel like I’m constantly eating and I’m never hungry (except when it’s time to eat, of course :p )  What do you typically eat on any given day?

Enjoy the rest of your Thursday!

Recovering, Katie Style

Hi friends!  Thanks for all of the congrats on the boilermaker.  I am still reveling in the afterglow of it and cannot wait to run it next year!   I am in full recovery mode now, although I still have to have my game face on because I have the Down and Dirty Run this Sunday!  Is it weird that I’m excited to run and get covered in mud?  Have you or would you ever participate in such an event?

On another note, what do you think of Legally Fit’s new header?  I’m very excited about it.  Ashley over at Edible Perspective is quite talented and created the header after I sent her a few photos and gave her a very vague idea of what I was looking for.  From the vagueness she made it work!   If you are looking for someone to design a header for you, I highly recommend her!  She provided me with a lot of different options to choose from and is super sweet. 

So, after the Boilermaker you could say I could hardly walk was feeling the burn a bit.  My hips were incredibly tight and my legs were quite sore, so I knew I needed to do more than just my traditional icing.  I checked out my yoga studio’s schedule and was stoked to see that they were offering a “warm candlelight flow yoga.”

According to the schedule, the class is designed to “End your Monday with a warm, easy vinyasa flow class – lit by candlelight!  Center your body on your breath, increase suppleness of your joints with warm-up, strengthen the connection of your body, mind and spirit with a 30-minute vinyasa flow, and finish practice by exploring any tension in the body with longer held, deep, yin (restorative) yoga poses, relaxing/meditating in savasana.  Music accompanies this practice.”

Tension?  Restorative?  Easy?  I was sold.  I headed over to the studio for an invigorating yet challenging class.  I definitely was not as flexible as usual.  Nor would I call the class easy.  This instructor’s classes are always incredibly packed because she is that good and works you hard!  So, it was a little more difficult than I anticipated BUT on the plus side I could almost walk like a normal person! 

Also assisting me in my ability to walk normally is this guy: 

The foam roller!   I swear, without the foam roller I don’t think I could be a runner.  My IT Band would hate me too much.  As I was foam rolling, I remembered a little torture device tip my husband shared with me:

Sure, it looks innocent enough.  It’s just a tennis ball, right?  WRONG!  Use it like you would a foam roller for an even more concentrated release on any area that is hurting.  Wow.  If you wanted to get really ambitious you could tape two balls together (TWSS) and go to town. 

The last item in my recovery arsenal was a gift from Bri that I received for Christmas: 

Zensah recovery sleeves!  According to the site, “the sleeves can be worn during training or for recovery to increase oxygen blood flow to the muscles of the lower leg. The more oxygen the muscles receive the faster they recover, allowing athletes to push the envelope in their training.”

I think they are pretty cool and they seem do be doing the job.  Heck, I can even wear them to work underneath my suit:

Yup, definitely rocked the zensahs at work today.  It was fun.  😀

Have you ever tried the tennis ball torture tip?  What do you do to recover from an endurance event?

Have a good one y’all!  🙂

Achieved a Goal, Kinda

Hi everyone and welcome to the new blog!  Can I tell you how much I love wordpress.  Love.  It is so much easier to comment on other blogs/upload pictures/use different fonts… the list goes on.  I was able to switch from blogger to wordpress with the simple push of an import button.  For anyone considering transitioning, do it!  It’s sooo easy and simple.  🙂

It’s been a long week.  I had a fantastic weekend with Bri.  Saying goodbye was terribly sad, of course.  I am very thankful for Skype 😀  We went on a couple of hot, hilly and humid runs together.  I think it may have helped me speedwise because on Monday I ran 5k (not A 5k, rather just 3.1 miles) in:  28:33.   Woohoo!  I know I will reach my goal of running a 5k in under thirty minutes!   Do you count your running goals as achieved if they don’t occur during a race?  My thoughts are that it doesn’t count if it is a racing goal- it just shows that the capability is there.   However, if your goal is to run 5 miles, no race is necessary. 

Yesterday was hot yoga and it was fantastic.  I have seriously come to crave it.  I am going to deactivate my gym membership for the summer months and just focus on yoga, running and strength training with my body weight.  I seriously haven’t been to the gym in months.   Once the cold weather hits I will likely reactivate it so I can hit the treadmill or track and start hitting up my favorite body sculpt class (my instructor is out on maternity leave). 

Training for the Boilermaker is going well!  I am building up my mileage to 15-18 miles per week.  For whatever reason I feel less regimented than I did while training for the Virginia is for Lovers 14k, maybe because it doesn’t feel new?  I am excited to meet fellow blogger Lindsey!  She is wicked fast so I likely won’t see her until after the race 😉  Are you running the Boilermaker?  If so, want to meet up?   

At the beginning of the month I set some June Goals, which I am failing at majorly steadily working on.  These are my personal goals:

• Goal: Blowdry hair at least once a week.  Purpose:  Look more polished.  So far:  Yeah, not so much.  My hair is very fine and pin straight.  This is great for wash and go but it is boring boring boring.  I’ll get there. 
• Goal: Wake up early enough to run outdoors in the morning at least once a week.  Purpose:  Enjoy the fresh spring mornings!  So far:  Again, not yet.  I have been getting my runs in, just typically after work. 
• Goal:  Make two new recipes and one old fave.  Purpose: Expand my eating repertoire!  So far:  Kinda.  I’ve been making my favorite eggplant/roasted red pepper (I roast my own peppers- super easy!) sandwich to bring to work for lunch, but I haven’t tried any new recipes yet. 
• Goal:  Follow a pescetarian diet aside from free range/grass fed beef.  Purpose:  Transition away from awful industry practices.  So far:  I’ve done fairly well with this one.  I did eat meat once this past weekend during the going away barbecue for Bri.  Other than that I’ve been successful! 
• Goal:  Chat on the phone with at least one friend that I don’t see very often per week.  Purpose:  Maintaining connections.  So far:  I’m going to call one of my out-of-town friends tonight, so I’ll say success. 

What are your goals for the month of June?  I have some fitness goals as well that I’ll get into next time.  Have a great Thursday and thank you for reading! 😀

Yoga Pose May- Staff Pose & Giveaway Winner!

Hi everyone! I’m super excited to be participating in Tina and Kate‘s Yoga Pose May challenge, as yoga has become one of my favorite physical activities (aside from running, of course!). The pose of the day today is “staff” pose, which is a strength pose. There are a few variations of the pose, but after perusing Yoga Journal online my interest was piqued by the four-limbed staff pose, or chatarunga dandasana. According to the site, staff actually refers to the spine, or strength of the body, which makes sense, as this pose definitely requires a lot of strength! I still have a little lower to go on my chatarunga but I’m getting there!**

To start, come into downward facing dog by placing your feet about six to eight inches apart, your booty in the air and your hands on the ground (pants on the ground?) out in front of you. Your weight should be evenly distributed in your hands and feet. Make sure that all five fingers are pressing into the ground, and really try to extend your shoulders so that your back is long. Your tailbone should be pressing back towards the wall behind you. I’m working on being able to get my feet flat on the ground. Almost.

Then, shift your weight forward so that your shoulders are in line with your hands. This brings you into plank position. Your core should be tight (and feelin‘ the burn!) and your booty should be flat. If it is in the air it makes the pose easier and you’re not really getting the full benefits of the pose.

Now comes the really fun part. Slowly lower yourself towards the ground, with your elbows IN next to your rib cage. Your back should be as flat as possible. It’s essentially a sloooow burning close grip pushup.

Then, continue towards the ground and sort of push through and up into upward facing dog or cobra pose. I always go with upward facing dog.

Hands directly below shoulders, slight arch in back, legs slightly lifted, tops of feet flat on the ground.

Optional- take a picture with your yoga assistant afterwards. Bailey does a mean downward dog but I can never catch him in action!

So there you have my interpretation of the staff pose. Thanks for coordinating this, Tina and Kate!

And now for the winner of my Yoga Journal Subscription/Luna Bar Giveaway: Comment number 5, Danielle of Coffee Run! Danielle, email me your mailing info (fittowed@gmail.com) and I’ll get the package sent your way! Also, are Luna Bars vegan? If not, I will grab some other type of fun bar for you. Thank you to everyone for participating in the giveaway and thanks for reading!

**Disclaimer- I’m not a yoga instructor nor am I a certified personal instructor. This post is merely a demonstration of how I interpret the staff pose. 🙂