Identical Weekend

Ohhhhh can we go back to Sunday, please?!?!?! I really feel like I could use another day off this week! Oh well...just looking forward to next Sunday now!

This weekend was pretty identical to last weekend. Saturday started with an early morning lifting session.

Ivonne deadlifting/talking.

This time around, my friend Ivonne came to lift with me. I was deadlifting this week, so she did the same.

Allison's guide to lazy weightlifting. 

 My workout looked as follows:

Deadlifts:
10 @45 lbs
10 @65 lbs
10 @85 lbs
8 @105 lbs
6 @115 lbs

3 rounds:
8 jumping pull ups
10 goblet squats (35lb kettlebell)
12 ball slams (20 lb)

3 rounds:
10 ab wheel roll outs
10 hollow rocks
20 spiderman planks

The rest of Saturday was fine, but boy was I GLAD to be out of work at 1pm!

I took the rest of the day pretty easy, except for a long walk with Milo and then I still felt like moving so I did some hill repeats on a steep hill near my apartment. The heavy breathing felt wonderful on a cold, rainy evening!

Milo's Sunday morning position.

Sunday mornings are by far my favorites! For one, I get to sleep in! Which feels so nice after 6 days of early get-ups. Second, it is the only morning that Milo and I get to just hang out. I usually let him up on the couch for some cuddles.

After a few hours of Milo cuddles and Netflix watching, I headed out into the mist to another complimentary yoga class at Lululemon University Village.

Always have to remind myself to breathe. Good thing it says to on my mat. 

My hips were SO TIGHT after deadlifting the day before. I could barely get my hip to the floor in half pigeon.

This class was very different from last week. The instructor did A LOT of talking. Especially to start the class, and even during savasanah. Sometimes I like a guided meditation of sorts, but I was just not having it. I needed the quiet apparently.

I still really enjoyed the class and was really glad I went. My legs were so happy for some stretching!

Later in the day I took Milo to the park where he found a good gaggle of pups to play with.

Poppin' sticks.

He ran around with the other dogs for a good 10 minutes before he pooped out on the ground with a stick. My little baby weirdo. I can only imagine how parents feel, but I get so much joy from watching Milo run around and have fun. I swear he has a smile on his face and it just makes my heart happy!

Aaaaannndddd on to another week! Hope you are having a good Monday.

Walking and Yoga

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! Mine was pretty nice! It was cold here in Seattle (cold for us), so I froze my butt off!

As usual, my weekend got started after work on Saturday. After eating lunch, Milo and I ventured out to Golden Gardens for a little romp. It was SUCH a gorgeous afternoon. COLD, but beautiful. Lots of sailboats out and, of course lots of people.

We walked around the beach for a bit, but Milo got attacked by a dog AGAIN! This happened a few months ago at the park. Luckily, this time he was on a leash so I just pulled him away. We were just walking by this boxer, who suddenly lunged at Milo! The owner hardly said anything, and I was just so irritated! If your dog is aggressive you should be paying attention rather than on your phone and should have them on a short leash! I don't understand why Milo keeps getting attacked! Maybe he needs to be taught how to stand up for himself?

After that, we walked down the marina and back. I was SO cold by the end, but it was a good walk!

Sunday, I was planning to hit up the morning yoga class at my gym.

Love this!

I saw on the University Village Lululemon facebook page, however, that they were having a complimentary Sunday morning yoga session! I guess this happens ever Sunday and they change studios each month. New info to me! I was floored!

It was crowded, but they moved aside all their floor stuff and we did yoga in the middle of the store! Despite the crowd, it was a good class and felt great to move. I think the studio this week was I Love Hot Yoga from Greenlake. The instructor's name was Elvis and I just LOVED his music. Lots of peppy instrumentals from current hits. And some oldies...I think I even heard Somewhere Over the Rainbow. We did a pretty standard flow and the class was only an hour, so we didn't hit everything. Still, I left happy!

Kale, berries, banana, greek yogurt, orange concoction.

In case I didn't mention it, I got a Vitamix blender for Christmas and I have gone a little bonkers with it. Mostly lots of smoothies, but yesterday I even made a cookie dough dip that had beans in it! It was actually super duper yummy!

Here's to a good week! I think most people are getting back into the swing of things today from a long break, but I'm just glad it's going back to normal hours for me!

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.
Source

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! =)

Sweaty Sweaty at Core Power Yoga

I went to hot yoga this weekend and holy cow did I sweat more than ever! Let's start on Friday, though.

Milo and I headed out to run some of the trails at Discovery Park. It's been a few weeks since I took Milo out to really run, so we were due for an adventure. It was cold, but I layered up and the only thing that was chilly on me was my fingers!

We ended up running about 4 slow miles and I felt great until the end, when my calves started telling me to chill. They have been tight since the marathon so I'm working to loosen them up.

Saturday I did another slow run, only about 3 miles this time. Still felt fine, although a little sluggish. One of the things I strongly dislike about marathons is the recovery time afterwards! So annoying! I just want to get back to my normal routine again!

Sunday I took my frost-bitten self to Core Power Yoga in Ballard to try their yoga-sculpt class.

This studio offers a free week trail before you sing up for a membership, so I took advantage of that awesome deal. I now declare this week: Yoga Week!

The studio is beautiful and the people seem to be very nice. One of the yoga instructors where I work said the studio is more about getting a workout than a good yoga practice. That sure didn't deter me, though. Sometimes I really enjoy a more meditative yoga experience, but, more often than not, I want to get in, do my thing, and get out.

I was really curious as to how the yoga sculpt was going to work. I grabbed some weights (3 lb, 5 lb, and 10 lb) and set up my mat in the super duper warm studio. It seriously felt like a sauna! Talk about defrost!

Then we got started. And I have NEVER sweat more in my life. Literally sweat was dripping off of me!

We warmed up with some flow and then we would get into different poses with our weights to lift. I didn't find most of the class very challenging other than the fact that I was sweating so much, which really made my heart rate skyrocket! The instructor was great, I think his name was Jaime. In the middle of class, we even did some cardio work, and there were burpees! Burpees in a yoga class...definitely not something I thought I would ever say! We ended with some traditional yoga flows and seated poses. I definitely appreciated the half pigeon we held on each leg.

I had a lot of fun, and can't wait to utilize the rest of my week pass! I'm hoping to try out a regular hot yoga class this afternoon. This time I WILL be bringing a water bottle with me!

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!

Tuesday Adventures

Yesterday was a day full of new or revisited things for me! I started the day dusting off my yoga mat and getting myself to class! (I didn't run first thing. Shocking, I know).

For awhile I was going to yoga very regularly and was happy with where my practice was heading. Before leaving New York, I joined Pure Yoga and was practicing Vinyasa 2-3 times a week. When I moved here, I was lucky enough to find a studio near me and a few great teachers. Unfortunately, it got a bit expensive and it was hard to find the time to get to class. There are apparently some great teachers at my gym and I have been waiting to find a time that would fit so I could get myself into class again. Today was the day!

The class was a very gently flow, which was probably good for me after not having practiced in a good month or two. I didn't break a sweat, but it was nice to stretch out my hips, since I have been pretty lazy about stretching lately.

One of the intentions the teacher set for the class was to go 80% instead of pushing yourself to 100% during each of the poses. At first when she said this I was like, "Heck no! Pushing myself to 100% is what I do best!". After her 3rd time mentioning it, though, I really started thinking about how important that message is. If we push ourselves to our limit all the time, there are so many consequences and sometimes its more about the journey than hitting a certain goal. I tried to follow this mindset the rest of the class, but it was certainly a challenge!

After refueling and enjoying a good cup of coffee, I headed over to the Crossfit noon class. I usually go to Crossfit in the afternoons, but today I had made a date with one of the gym's trainers to do the noon class and then head out for a trail run. I'm actually going to have to go to the noon classes several days a week soon because they are changing my work schedule, but until then, I'll hang with my afternoon Crossfit friends!

Our WOD wasn't too hard today, but I did do my box jumps on our highest box, which I have never done before. When my partner drug out that red box, I told my coach to hold my hand so I could try to jump up. It's so weird that box jumps are such a mental block for me! After a few jumps holding his hand for support, I finally jumped up by myself and was able to do the workout with the high box!

Our circuit for the day was 3 thrusters, 6 box jumps and 9 kettlebell swings. We did it as a partner workout where one partner would go through the circuit for one minute and then the other would start where they left off for one minute. We did that for 8 minutes each, not too bad!

After CrossFit, one of the coaches took me out to the trails at Cougar Mountain so we could practice trail running for the Tough Mudder. I was a little nervous because I have only trail run once before and the coach I was running with is an ultra marathoner. She is getting over an injury, but usually does multiple 100 mile races per year! She is so badass!

Didn't run with my phone so all you get is a pic of the entrance.

Anyway, my nerves quickly went away as soon as we started. The scenery was so gorgeous and my coach gave me a few pointers to get started with. One tip was to follow far enough behind that if I fell forward, I wouldn't knock her down as well. I thought I was going to have a rough time with the uphills since I don't train hills at all, but I was so much more comfortable with the uphills than the downhills. We kept such an easy pace that I felt like I could run forever. We ended up running for about an hour and twenty minutes and we estimated we ran between six and seven miles.

I loved trail running so much more this time! Despite the downhills, I really enjoyed running through different scenery and just being out in the forest instead of on the same roads I'm always on. I can't wait to go back!