Runs, Squats and Cookies

How is it Thursday already? This week is flying by! I've been MIA on the blog since Monday, but there has been a lot going on!

As usual, I've been running. I've been doing my usual 5 mile loop in the mornings except for yesterday when I met a friend out at Discovery Park for a trail loop. It felt good to get my lungs burning going up the billion stairs there! I always find it to be a miracle when I can get up all of them without stopping. Although it does seem to keep getting easier =)

We ended up with about 4 slower miles. We kept a super relaxed pace, which was nice since I was feeling pretty beat up!

And because I am a crazy person, I got up super early on my day off yesterday to fit in a yoga class at my favorite studio.

I was feeling pretty lethargic for most of the class, so I just took the flows nice and easy. I am still feeling sore from sprinting last Friday (I think sprinting was what did it), and I can't begin to tell you how great pigeon pose felt. Sure, it hurt while I was in it, but wooof! Once I got out, my hips were finally feeling back to normal!

Backtracking a little, Monday afternoon, I did my usual squatting session with my Crossfit coaches. For my 3 sets of 5 backsquats, I went up to 62 kilos, up 2 from the 60 I squatted last week. Since I am training a linear progression, I get to go up by 2 kilos every week. It's going to be fun to have a new PR each week, but I just hope I can hang on and keep squatting heavier!

We did a nice, shorter workout at CrossFit last night. Thank goodness, because I was TIRED!

We went through this twice, and tried to keep the same time for both rounds. I suspected I was going to have a tough time hitting the same pace for the second round through, but I ended up being faster than I was for the first round. Typical. I feel like it usually takes me awhile to warm up, so I need to remember I'm better at 2nd and 3rd rounds than firsts. Such an endurance athlete. Intensity is not my strength. But I suppose I'll keep working at it =)

And finally, I baked some chocolate chip cookies for a co-worker for his birthday. I used to bake ALL THE TIME. I even had a baking blog. But, when I switched it to blogger from self-hosting, all my photos disappeared. Which, of course, ticked me off, so I stopped posting.

Chocolate Chip Cookies for the win!

I loved baking, though, and for whatever reason, when I moved back to Seattle, I stopped. I forgot how much I enjoy it. And seeing people's faces when I bring them goodies is always priceless! =)

Yoga Buzz

Yesterday, for the third time in two weeks, I made my way to my yoga mat.

One thing I've noticed recently about myself is that I have a hard time just sitting. I think on the surface, that is pretty obvious, but it's difficult for me to sit and notice how I'm feeling, what I'm thinking, etc. My love of running I think stems from a way to escape and usually my best runs are when I can just be out on the trail, leaving behind my concerns.

Lately yoga has been another outlet for me to do that. Except that instead of focusing on my surroundings and the beauty of the trail, I am concentrating on myself and inwardly focusing.

Yesterday's class was perfect. I am still sore sore from Monday's arm insanity workout (yes, that's what I've officially named it), so I went in to class ready to surrender and go into child's pose if I had to.

The class started out perfectly, with the teacher having us focus on our breathing. Throughout the class, she encouraged us to stay in the moment. Multiple times, she said,

"Just stay here, on your mat, in this room. If your mind wanders, direct your attention back to your breath".

I made this my intention for my practice. I was determined not to think about work, bills, running, lunch, appointments etc. Every time I found myself thinking outside of the room, I shifted my attention back to my breathing and the room.

This was such a great exercise for me, and was surprisingly just as challenging as a 50k or marathon!

Of course, within the first 30 minutes after class ended, several stressful situations popped up. I made the effort to breath and stay present, though, taking my yoga lessons with me to the real world! =)

Am I growing up or what?! Haha!

I got a fun new pose on my mat yesterday too! It's called 8 Angle, and I surprised myself by just going for it!

Source

I watched our instructor made her way into the pose and thought "no way am I going to be able to do that". I went through her sequence to get into the pose, however, and when I managed to actually lift my legs off the floor, I was ecstatic! I wish I could have gotten a picture of it!

Lesson of the day: You are more capable than you think you are!

Switching gears, we had a nice, long workout at Crossfit last night. Most people groan about long workouts, but these are the easiest kind for me. Once I get into a grove I just go!

The star of the show was the power clean. In power cleans, you start with the barbell hanging just above your knees. With a slight bend in the knees and hips back, you jerk yourself forward and throw the barbell up to your shoulders. This is actually one of my favorite barbell movements, and I stuck with 25 kilos for the workout, which was as follows:

40 cleans
40 burpees
40 cleans
40 toes to bar
40 cleans
40 wall ball
40 cleans
40 kettlebell swings
40 cleans
40 candlesticks
40 cleans
400 meter run

We worked with a partner and had to split up the reps into sets of 5 for each exercise. I got to work with my buddy Beth and we rocked it. She actually used 35 kilos for her cleans! We were the second group to finish, well before the 25 minute time cut-off!

No Resolutions but a Fun-Filled Weekend

While the rest of the blog world today (and the past week) has been going on and on about New Years Resolutions, I am taking a different stance.

I will not be doing a resolution-oriented post. This isn't to say that I don't have goals for the year. Actually, I have some very specific goals. However, as a Type-A perfectionist and grade-A over-achiever, I am hesitant to throw too many goals out there. When I give myself a specific target, I tend to go above and beyond to make it happen, which isn't always healthy. Therefore, my goals will be mine, and I will be throwing them out into the universe as I see fit.

Haha, I sound like a crazy person. Which I probably am, but that's ok!

In other news, I had a great weekend!

I got to puppy-sit for one of my favorite puppies this weekend.

Her name is Daisy and I am always so happy to get to hang out with her. I have to admit, dog-sitting is a pretty selfish activity for me, as I get my dog fix in! Daisy and I had a lot of fun hanging out together. She is a pretty goofy puppy! She will actually sleep under the covers like a human. It cracks me up! Growing up, our dogs weren't allowed on the bed, let alone under the covers!

Saturday, I gave myself my own workout after I got out of work.

I did 21-18-15-12-9 reps of kettlebell swings, pull-ups and rowing (for calories). It's odd. When I start a workout, especially when I'm on my own, I tend to just go through the motions. It usually takes me about 5 minutes to actually get some fire under my *ss and really start powering through. I think this is the endurance athlete in me, but maybe I'm just a little lazy?

I also went to see Les Miserables this weekend. So, I used to be the biggest theater person ever. It was my passion for many years. When I lived in New York, I worked in theater and went to lots of open calls for musicals. All of my friends worked in the theater industry as well, so I was always in the thick of it. Les Miserables is one of my all-time favorite musicals. I have been listening to the London cast album since before I can remember, and have had it memorized for almost my entire life. All this to say I was so excited for the Les Miserables movie, I could barely hold my *hit together!

'Miserables'. Sounds like a good one!

My thoughts?

LOVED IT!

The only thing I really hated was Russel Crow as Javert. I am not going to bash him for an entire paragraph, but jeepers! Ugh!

The film really was phenomenal, and the acting was amazing. Both Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman blew me away with their emotional range during song. It was everything I could have hoped for in the movie!

Some other workout happenings:

Obviously I ran. Not far, but enjoyable nonetheless.

CrossFit Sunday was maybe one of my least favorite we have ever done. Not because it was hard, but it was all skills that I detest.

After doing 5 sets of 8 deadlifts, we moved on to the partner WOD.

We started by breaking up 800 meters of rowing with your partner. 200 meters each, twice through.

Then we had to carry a barbell loaded with 80 kilograms across the gym.

Then we broke up 50 hanging leg raises between partners and finished by carrying the barbell back across the gym.

And we did that whole thing 4 times through.

Rowing? Hate.
Carrying heavy things? Hate.
Hanging leg raises? Hate in high numbers.

Basically, I was counting the minutes until we finished. And we didn't even get through 4 rounds before our coach cut us off!

At least I was working on things that are weaknesses, right? Silver lining.

In more relaxing news, I made a triumphant return to my yoga mat!

I headed over to Shakti Vinyasa Yoga for an hour and a half flow class. Man oh man did I need this! I'm not sure what made me suddenly crave yoga after months of neglect, but maybe my body was trying to tell me something.

Excited and awkward! Go yoga!

Admittedly, I have a hard time turning off the chatter in my head. For this reason, yoga can be a huge challenge for me. There are many times that I go to class and end up flowing through 90 minutes of yoga with my brain going a million miles a minute. Obviously this isn't ideal. Yesterday I really made the effort to shut off and just be present on my mat.

The class was everything I could have hoped for! I had a great sweat going and was able to find some solace and release in some drawn-out poses.

I was a pretty regular yoga attendee at Shakti this past summer, and am definitely planning a more regular practice.

I really can't say enough good things about Shakti. The teachers are great, the actual studio is well-maintained and nice without being pretentious and I always get a great class when I go. They have studios in Ballad and Redmond, I believe, so head over if you are in the Seattle area and in need of a good class!

I hope everyone has a safe New Years Eve today! On to 2013!