Workout Wednesday

Another Wednesday workout. If you go straight through this one without any breaks, it will be 30 minutes. Make sure you warm up first, though!

Each 4 exercises comprise a circuit here. Go through each circuit twice, one minute for each exercise.

Workout Wednesday

Another workout for you on a Wednesday! This one is composed of 5 minute intervals. Each five minutes features two exercises to superset (rotate between). Begin with 5 of each exercise and each time you go through them, add one repetition. 

So, for your first 5 minute interval, complete 5 burpees and 5 spiderman planks (left + right = 1), then 6 burpees and 6 spiderman planks, etc.

Without any rest, the workout should take 25 minutes. Although I encourage rest between intervals so you can work your butt off on the next one =)

Spiderman planks
Straight arm pulldown
Supermans

Workout Wednesday

Here's a quick little circuit today to get the blood flowing. I did a version of this in both my classes yesterday and it's left me pretty sore!

With a short warm-up and cool-down this should take about 20 minutes.

Runners lunge to jump
One arm thruster
Shoulder jacks
One arm high pull
Scissor kicks
Flutter kicks

Early Saturday Leg Session

Happy Saturday!

Things have been pretty mellow this week. I've been struggling SO hard to keep up the running. It just isn't fun right now, which is so weird for me. Maybe I'm just super burnt out and need a break? Or maybe it's the weather? In either case, I've been getting to work early to get a short cardio workout in so that I just get it over with for the day.

Things have been really busy at work the past few days, which is expected at a gym. By the end of my shift I am SO done with talking to people. This has been my theme when people come to compain:

Yesterday, I did manage to get out for a short (maybe 3 or 4 miles) run with a friend, which was nice. Hard to get out the door, but once I did I was glad! It started sprinkling on us which wasn't fun, but there WAS a beautiful rainbow that popped up. I really wish I'd had my camera with me!

This morning I woke up early again (although not as early as during the week! Yes!) and came in to lift. I'm trying to lift heavy at least a few times a month and usually it's squats. After warming up I did the following back squats:

10 @45 lbs
10 @65 lbs
10 @85 lbs
8 @105 lbs
6 @125 lbs
3 @145 lbs

Far cry from my heavy squatting days last year, but this feels comfortable for now!

The rest of my workout was filled with lunges, ring rows and handstand wall walks. I finished up with some core work of roll outs and hollow rocks.

I've been thinking lately about how I'm having a hard time finding my fitness nitch at the moment. And I think I miss working on skills. I miss dance and working on specific things like pirouettes, kicks, and I miss gymnastics and having to train skills. So I'm thinking I may be headed down that road for a bit. We will see, more on this later.

Happy weekend!

Christmas in Pictures

I started Christmas Eve teaching class, which was just perfect. We did a '12 Days of Christmas' workout. I typed it up below. You do it just like the song. 

1 30 second plank

2 star jumps and a 30 second plank

3 bent over rows, 2 star jumps and a 30 second plank

etc.

It was a lot of fun! It ended up taking my class about 30 minutes. We stuck together through the whole thing. I let some people go ahead and told them to just meet us in a plank each round. 

Afterwards, Milo and I got on the ferry to head over to the Peninsula. There was hardly a ferry line at all and we got on the ferry within 30 minutes! Woop!

Milo and I on the ferry. Poor little dude still hates the car. We did make it within 10 minutes of my parents' house before he threw up though! Progress!

My parents don't do a real Christmas tree anymore. This was a tiny guy with some lights and LOTS of presents!

Milo was very happy with lots of room to roam in a big house. We actually ended up tying him and my parents' dogs on opposite ends of the room because they are both puppies and play so rambunctiously!

Hey, Dad, can you get any closer to the TV?

Christmas morning was great! We ended up going out to get coffee and then came back to open gifts. I got a new Vitamix! And some stuff for Milo including some personal training and a Gentle Leader harness.

I went for a short run on Christmas and was wearing the most ridiculous outfit ever, so I asked my Stepmom to take a picture. Please note the green and black striped socks and pink shoes.

The rest of trip was spent hanging out with family, taking lots of walks with the pups and soaking in some relaxing time.

 I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

All Over The Place

Finally! It's Friday!

This week has felt like it's been all over the place for me. We have 2 people sick at work and one on vacation, so I've been covering a lot. I had to work in the evening last night and it just about killed me. I get SO tired! And when I get tired, watch out!

Wednesday I was feeling really sore from teaching on Tuesday, so I took a desperate Milo to Discovery Park for a quick loop.

It was a nice day for it! The weather was starting to warm up just a bit, and the sun was peaking out from the clouds.

I was feeling extra winded and I'm not sure if my body was just exhausted or if it was the fact that I haven't been running much this week.

So Thursday I planned to go to hot yoga again to make use of my free week, but I ended up having to go back into work (almost a 10 hour workday!). I ended up doing a quick workout at the gym before I had to be on the clock.

My workout looked as follows:

1.5 mile treadmill warm up

3 rounds of the following: (I used 55 lbs and, sadly, that was really hard!)

• 7 deadlifts
• 7 power cleans
• 7 front squats
• 7 push press

3 sets:

• 8 jumping pull ups
• 12 ab roller

All of that took me about an hour to get through and I was so high off endorphins when I finished!

I am hoping I don't have to go back to work this evening so I can get Milo outside to the park and then go to a hot yoga class. I definitely need a rest day, but I want to get one more hot yoga class in today since tomorrow is my last day on the free week and I can't make any of the classes.

On the agenda for the weekend: 

• Certification exam
• Making holiday cookies for friends and coworkers
• Milo time (he's been pretty neglected this week!)

Yippee for 2 days off from work!

90/60/30 Workout

This week is slowly slinking by, it feels like. I actually get 2 days off this weekend, so I'm pretty excited and can't wait!

I attended another yoga class at Core Power Yoga in Ballard on Monday night. It was like pulling teeth to get myself there (the couch + Milo is a recipe for workout disaster!), but once I did I was so glad. This time I went to a "Yoga 2 Heated Power Yoga" class, which I liked a million times more than the sculpt class I went to on Sunday.

I situated myself near the thermostat this time because I wanted to see how hot the classroom was during class (talk about focus...whoops). For most of it, I was shocked to see it was 100 degrees! When I told my co-worker about it the next day, he didn't seem to think that was all that hot, so maybe I'm just being a temperature wuss. Yet again, however, I was dripping sweat by the end! I swear it felt like my skin was on fire at some points.

We did a few new-to-me poses including the "low lunge cat", which was basically a low lunge with your hands on the floor and then arching your back. It felt wonderful! Not sure why I didn't think of that before!

Like this only arching your back and looking up.
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Tuesday I taught my normal classes, and they were killer! I got in two good workouts and am definitely feeling the aftermath today. I had my class go through a 90/60/30 workout. The following is a version of what we did:

Three rounds through the entire circuit. First round, do each exercise for 90 seconds. Second round, 60 seconds for each and the final round 30 seconds. Try it out! Don't say I didn't warn ya! =)

Marathon Aftermath

As expected, after the marathon my body was a little tight. I actually wasn't as sore as I thought I would be though! My calves were the only thing super sore on me, and other than that my feet were just a little tender.

I took Monday off completely and only walked Milo. I think the bottoms of my feet were slightly bruised because they were really the only thing that hurt.

I never get tired of that cute little face! 

Tuesday I knew was going to be tough because I had to teach my own classes. I knew my body still wasn't roaring to go, so I thought up a workout that I wouldn't have to demonstrate much of. I had everyone do stations. There were 10 stations, and I had everyone work at each station for 3 sets of 40 seconds work, 20 seconds rest.

So I did parts of that workout twice on Tuesday. As you can tell, there was hardly any leg work. Sneaky! The classes were great and worked up a nice sweat while I yelled and dinked around with some of the arm exercises. Haha!

Yesterday I randomly went swimming! I trained a client this week who mentioned lap swimming and I decided swimming was a great activity for me this week.

My relationships with the swimming pool is lengthy. I grew up as a competitive swimmer, and jumped into a cold pool twice a day for too many years. I ended up hating the sport when I quit so I tend to still feel a love/hate relationship with swimming. I also taught swim lessons when I lived in New York and can't even begin to explain how difficult it was throwing kids around in a freezing cold pool for 4 hours a day. Needless to say, it's pretty tough to get me into a cap and goggles again. I can't deny it's great cross-training though!

I ended up doing the following workout:

The pool was actually nice, and was a full 25 yards. I was in for about 45 minutes before I just wanted to shoot myself in the foot out of boredom. So, I got out and spent about 5 minutes in the hot tub before showering.

I will not be swimming again anytime soon, but it was nice to cut through the water again. A very familiar feeling for me.

As everyone is saying: it is FREEZING here in Seattle. Actually, compared to New York, this is nothing. And I'm still planning to run today in shorts. =)

I hope to get Milo and myself over to Discovery Park for a slow, easy 5 miler this afternoon. Hope you are staying warm this weekend! Have a good one!

Where Did the Week Go?

Whew! What a week! And there are less than two weeks until Thanksgiving!

Last I left off was Monday, the day after running 18 miles. Ouch. It took me awhile to recover from that one. I took Monday off, except for a walk with Milo. Our bodies are so crazy! I assume the only way I could run 18 miles with no build up mileage-wise was muscle memory. My body has done it before, so it just did it. My body was definitely not ready for it though, and it let me know! Oh well, it was worth it!

I was still feeling rough on Monday night (My knees! Ouch!), and knew teaching two classes Tuesday was going to be challenging on my poor body. I was right, but as usual, I loved teaching. We did some short, 3 minute intervals. I had smaller classes this week and it's always a little more challenging to keep the energy up when that happens. But I left with a big smile on my face after each class.

Our classroom!

Wednesday I was planning to take it easy, but one of our instructors had a family emergency and couldn't come in. Allison to the rescue! I actually ended up doing a great strength class. We did 45 second intervals, 15 seconds rest, and superset two exercises. The class ate it up! Here's what went down:

Wednesday evening I ran with a friend. I hadn't run with someone else in awhile and it was a refreshing change. It was super dark when we headed out and we had a long talk about safety gear, especially since we were on a trail with a lot of bikers. My friend was sporting an awesome light that I am now incredibly jealous of. I'll have to ask her where it is from!

Thursday I took Milo over to Discovery Park for a short run.

Milo ready to RUN!

I didn't wear my watch, but think we went right about 3 miles. And the little guy didn't get sick in the car! Yippee!

Hoping for a 20 miler on Sunday, but again, I'm going to go with how I feel. I know I can finish the marathon with the training I have now, so no pressure! =)

Happy weekend!

Exhausting Myself

This is exactly how I feel most days. I feel like exercise, particularly running, is the part of the day when I can be myself the most. I feel free from judgement and expectations. And I'm free to think. 

I taught two classes on Tuesday. I used the same workout for both. After teaching the first class early in the day and then working a shift at the gym, I didn't really feel like coming back at night. I was already starting to get sore from the class earlier and I didn't want to leave the comfort of home. By the time I got to class, however, I was totally ready! I had a record number of people who showed up and I loved every second. Even though I was beyond completely exhausted at the end of the class, I was in such a great mood.

I have come to LOVE teaching. I get such a great high from it. Sometimes it's the last thing I feel like doing because it takes so much energy, but once I'm done, I feel on top of the world!

Below is a version of the workout I gave my classes. After talking to someone about Body Pump classes, I was inspired to work on some tempo with my classes. We typically do things at a high intensity, and I wanted them to feel the difference between the all out and the slow burn feeling. We ended up doing a third round as well where we did a fast concentric movement and slow eccentric movement. It was tough to cue the class for the last round! So next time I do tempo work I will probably keep it easier with slow and vast variations.

Two days later I am still sore from this guy. Of course, I did it twice during the day and used the heaviest weights in the classroom (12 lbs). Let me know if you try it!

If you're in the Seattle area, you must know it's going to be a rainy, windy day. I'm hoping to brave it for an 8 miler this afternoon, but I may opt for an indoor workout and save the miles for tomorrow. Who's running in this weather that I can get some motivation from????

EMOM

EMOM...what the heck does that mean??

It stands for "Every Minute on the Minute". Which, in workout terms, means at the top of each minute you do work.

I did this in my classes yesterday, and it definitely gave everyone a good sweat!

Starting with the first couplet, dumbbell thrusters and push ups, complete 5 of each exercise at the start of the first minute. At the start of the second minute, complete 6 of each. Continue adding one exercise each minute until you hit 10 minutes. Then move on to the next couplet and begin again!

After doing this workout twice yesterday, I am SORE this morning! I've begun to really LOVE teaching classes. I used to get so nervous and have such anxiety over it. Now, I really look forward to it and it's pretty much a huge mood lifter for me! Hopefully I can find time to add more classes in the future!

Hoping for a short, speedy run today so that tomorrow I can take Milo out to Cougar Mountain for a trail run. Have a great Wednesday all!

Kick Butt Circuit Workout

Yesterday was slightly nuts. I opened the gym at 5:30am and then worked the desk until I taught class at 6:30, then it was training and desk work until 1:45pm. My dad was actually in town for a dentist appointment and he popped by to say hello! It was nice to see him right as I got off work.

We visited for a bit before I ran home, walked the pup and then headed back to work to teach class in the evening. Woof! I was pooped after that!

I gave my classes a nice little circuit workout that they loved. I thought I'd share part of it:

One minute for each exercise, 2 rounds of each circuit and a rest between them. Let me know if you try it!

I think another run with Milo at Discovery Park is going to be on the agenda today. Can't wait!

Weekend Workouts

Happy Monday to all! I hope everyone had a great weekend. 

I enjoyed some running, per usual. Sunday I even managed to average at 7:59 pace for 4 miles. That's pretty speedy for me! I think Sundays tend to be my speediest day of the week because I tend to run later in the morning, so I'm all woken up and fed, etc. If only I could manage that for every run instead of the 4am slug fest currently happening! 

I didn't make it to Crossfit on Friday (because I wanted to go Sunday), but I did my own shoulder workout. I made a ladder of push ups and shoulder presses and went through it as fast as I could.

I enjoyed this workout, and my shoulders were certainly burning by the end of it! Once you get past the reps of 10, it's all downhill!

My Crossfit class on Sunday was fun. We ended up working on split jerks. Odd name, but it is essentially a shoulder press where you come into a lunge at the end of the movement. We worked sets of 3. My last set was 32 kilograms. 

Our workout was short, but sweet. 

5 rounds of 5 pull ups, 7 burpees, 9 kettlebell swings. I did all the pull ups without a band, and they kept getting better as I went through each round. 

I finished in 5.35. Short and sweet!

Another fun thing this weekend was this quote on one of my tea bags. I am obsessed with tea and have a cup after lunch and dinner almost every day.

I loved this simple phrase. Our entire being working in harmony. 

Ignore my ugly thumbnail and focus on the quote =)

Have a great Monday!

Zercher Carry and a Friday Workout

It's back to rain in Seattle! But at least it's a little warmer. I'm not sure if I prefer the rain or the freezing cold. But I've found that people complain either way!

We did some new (to me) things at Crossfit last night.

The first one that kind of blew my mind was called the Zercher Carry.

This obviously isn't me, but you get the general idea. We started with the barbells in a racked position, instead of on the ground. It's just about as hard as you think it is! This was something totally new to just about everyone in the class, which I always enjoy. We all have different strength levels, but no one is more "skilled" than another and we are all sort of figuring it out together.

We also did weighted box jumps last night. Yup, you read that right. We held dumbbells while we jumped on boxes. Um, who does that?! Isn't jumping on the box tough enough?! Haha.

After I got over my initial fear of falling on my face (Coach: Allison, jump on the damn box!), I used 10 pound weights and was able to do sets of 5 fairly easily. Talk about having to be extra explosive. Tough for a white girl who cant jump!

Our workout included the Zercher carry, 5 weighted box jumps and 7 kettlebell goblet squats. We did as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes. I can't say I pushed myself very hard, but I enjoyed working on some of the new exercises.

Before the workout, we did back squats. Since my legs are still toasty from Monday, this was pretty tough for me. We did 5 sets of 8. I made it up to 65 kilos for my final set, but only made it to 6 reps. I am probably going to do legs again next Monday, so hopefully I'll recover fast!

I taught my H.I.I.T. class last night, and really enjoyed the workout.

The workout is 3 different AMRAPS (as many rounds as possible), 6 minutes each. We got through all of them with a 1-2 minute break between.

When I pulled out the white boad with this workout written on it, everyone stood looking at me with their mouths open and shaking their heads. But by the time they finished, they were all smiles and thanking me for kicking their butts. That's what I love about teaching fitness. Showing others how to push themselves past what they thought was possible.

Work It Wednesday Circuit

My legs are finally feeling recovered from my squat extravaganza Monday. And I'm still super excited to workout again with the dudes. Who knew this former ballet dancer and run-lover would become a lifter? Not me!

There is something to be said for my new found love of weight training. While I still love the endurance high I get from running, I am addicted to the toasty muscles after a good weight session now! I love that shaky feeling, knowing I have tested my muscles and ready to heal them and make them even stronger!

I took it pretty easy yesterday, but I did give my evening H.I.I.T. class a good workout!

Essentially this workout is three separate intervals. So, you could just do one, or do all three! I definitely had some eye rolls in class. Especially the first 2 minutes of long jumps. But everyone finished just fine, and, as usual, were happy to have been pushed.

My agenda today involves a run around Lake Union this morning with Ultra Marathoner Jess.

It has been awhile we've run together, so it'll be good to be back with my running bud! Have a great Wednesday!

Filling In

Holy exhaustion, what a week!

Every week since New Year's I think I have been complaining about the weeks feeling long, but this week feels like insanity! Everyone at work is sick, so we have been scrounging for covering desk and training shifts and to get fitness classes covered.

Our group fitness classroom. Bring the pain!

I have taught several extra classes this week, which has me feeling fairly run down. I honestly admire instructors who just teach multiple classes every single day. It really takes a lot out of you! Even when you're tired you have to turn on the pep and the cheerleader attitude. Most days that is easy for me, but I have been so tired this week that the extra class hours really felt like a struggle.

Since I have been in teaching mode this week, I thought I'd share the workout I gave to one of my classes this week. I think people enjoyed this because it has the obvious cardio component (box jumps), but mixes in high-rep strength training as well.

Filling you in on the rest of my week:

Wednesday morning, before going in to work to teach a bootcamp class, I managed to get in a 10 mile run. I have some changes on the horizon regarding my running, but I'm sorting through them in my head and will let you know my plans soon! The 10 miles was great until about mile 8, where I started just feeling tired. I made it through, though!

I ran along the Burke Gilman Trail, so it was nice a flat the entire time. I didn't have a pace in mind, so I just ran.

I've had some interesting Crossfit workouts the past few days. Wednesday we did rowing intervals for a variety of time, distance, calories, etc. Essentially we rowed about 250 meters, did 10 thrusters, then rowed again 250 meters. My goal for most of them was to keep the same pace for both rowing segments. I was semi-successful, but I still suffered from positive splits for most rounds. Oh well! Next time!

Thursday at Crossfit was really fun. We got to do some skills that we don't work on everyday. We started with overhead squats, which are a nice change of pace from the usual back squats.

This person looks way to happy doing overhead squats!
Source

Our workout was a 15 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible):

3 snatches
6 toes to bar
9 kettlebell swings

Instead of doing toes to bar (which I generally dislike), I decided to work on "skin the cat". For this move, you hang from the bar and bring your body through your arms, and then back through. After a few tries, I was able to get through by myself, but still needed my coaches help to get myself back over. It was fun trying to get a new skill and not worrying about time or weight. I want more of these workouts!

I hope your Friday goes by quickly and that you have a great weekend!

Weekend Arm Burner

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

I did some working, per usual. On Saturday, I got to train a really awesome client. She is 60+ years old, but such a bada**! She does back squats, kettlebell swings, etc. You name it and she can probably do it! On top of getting to show her things like kettlebell snatches and thrusters, her enthusiasm for fitness was what got me most excited! She emphasized before we started that she wanted me to be hard on her and really challenge her. Sometimes people will say that, but not really mean it. She actually meant it and it was a pleasure to train someone who loves fitness!

That took care of my personal training high for the week, that's for sure!

I got in some running this weekend, as if there was any doubt. I was hoping to get in a long run, but it didn't really happen. Oh well!

It's been very sunny here, but very cold as well! It's actually my favorite kind of weather. I love crisp, clean days.

Saturday after work, I decided to give myself a little arm workout inspired by GPP Fitness.

And my arms are still sore today! I hardly ever do specialized muscle groups like this. Crossfit has got me doing mostly compound movements that work a variety of muscles. I think my soreness is a sign that I need to incorporate more specificity, too. Although I'm not too worried about it, we'll see if I actually start mixing it up.

Here's to a good Monday!

New Goal: Press to Handstand

I have a new goal and it is to be able to do a press to handstand. What the heck is a press to handstand, you may ask?

Basically, it is straddling your legs from the floor, up to a full handstand. Little known fact: I was a gymnast in high school, actually the captain of the team my senior year, and this was always a skill I wanted to have but never took the time to get.

Handstands have become the new thing to practice at my Crossfit gym. Seriously, everyone has started working on them. Luckily, I am pretty good at handstands already, so I decided to take it one step further and learn the press to handstand.

I've been talking to a handstand "pro" at the gym (seriously, this guy is amazing!), and he has given me some ideas on how to work towards my goal.

Source

First, practice my press to headstand. I can do this fairly easily, but I am now working to do several strung together, barely touching my feet to the ground after each press up.

Second, L-sit leg lifts. I'll start by sitting with my legs straight out in front of me.

Engaging and pulling in my abs, I lift my straight legs off the ground and lower. It may sound easy, but it's definitely a lower ab killer!

Third, the stability ball jackknife.

Source

I start in a plank with my feet and shins on a stability ball. I slowly pull my hips up over my head, ending straight above my shoulders, and then slowly lower back to the plank. These are one of my favorite exercises in general. Such an ab killer!

Lastly, I do a handstand straddle down against a wall. I will do this one trying not to touch the wall, and going as slow as possible.

Source

So, what did I do with all this?

I made a circuit, of course!

I did this through 4 times and was definitely sweaty by the end! I added the jump rope in just for a little ab rest. I really enjoyed working through this circuit because the strength is so specific! I'm hoping to do this twice a week and hopefully add in some more exercises targeted for press to handstands.

Ready for Tiger and Some Workouts

So, tomorrow I will be running up Tiger Mountain for 15.5 miles. It's not the 50k I was planning on, but I think in my current mental state about running, 4 hours is going to be plenty!

Since I have already run this trail before, I know what to expect. Basically I am ready to run up, and down, and up and down the entire time. I used to shy away from hills. Even a small hill was a huge obstacle for me. Now, I crave them and most of my longer runs, if I'm not trail running, are spent searching for hills!

I am also expecting it to be cold and snowy up there. I've got a plan for my outfit, which is the more layers the better. Although I tend to warm up during the first hour, I also know I can start to get cold again and that there will be cold pockets on the mountain as well. I'm going to wear 2 layers plus a jacket, so hopefully I'll be good to go!

I also got a new hydration pack awhile ago, that is ready to rock tomorrow morning!

I love this one for several reasons. First, front pockets! My other pack had pockets on the actual pack, but I always had to take it off to access them, which was annoying if I didn't want to stop. Now, I can carry things right on the straps, so I will have easy access. The hydration bladder on this pack is also larger, coming in at 70 oz, which is 20 more than my other pack. In true idiotic fashion, I haven't had the chance to test the new pack it on a long run yet, but I have done several shorter runs with it. So I have faith it'll hold up just fine!

I'll be running with Ultra Marathon Jess, and several other friends as well. I'm super excited and am just hoping that my stomach wants to cooperate because 4 hours on a snowy mountain, fighting stomach problems is not going to make me very happy!

Although it's been a short week, I sure feel like it's dragged on forever! I've had some good runs, mostly thanks to the beautiful weather we had for a few days.

Beautiful sunrise at Discovery Park.

It's been very cold, but perfectly clear and sunny. I love those kinds of days! They always manage to put me in a good mood.

I've had some rough Crossfit workouts this week. Lots of rowing, which I always dread. I remember worrying last summer that I was going to dread Crossfit when the weather was bad and we didn't run much anymore. I was right. But at least I'm getting better at rowing!

Yesterday topped the cake when we had to do a 2000 meter row followed by a dumbbell complex. Ouch! My butt was so sore!

We did a workout that I really enjoyed on Wednesday evening. It was 5 rounds of the following:

300 meter row
7 deadlifts
10 pushups

Although I hated the rowing, I love it when there are so many rounds. While it always takes longer, the longer the workout is, the more I can reach the endurance level and just go at a steady pace. For me that is so much easier than short, super intense workouts.

And, lastly, here is a workout I gave to my HIIT class last night. If you give it a try, let me know! I did a version of this on my own this weekend and really enjoyed the variation.