The positives of peer pressure

Writing to you again from beautiful Colorado. Took a day of rest today given the unexpected 9 miler yesterday and used my energy to lounge by the pool instead. I did walk the whole half mile to the pool instead of driving...does that count as something? Ha. Vacation is so tough. 85 and sunny every day is also so tough...not. Minus my chronically sunburned nose [I think it extudes  more than the average nose or something] it is absolutely perfect here. 


Every year my dad participates in the annual 'Extravaganza' with a dozen or so male friends, the 'mutants'. Essentially it is a weekend filled with crazy physical challenges...and booze. An active man's dream. Ok I will admit I want a female version. Anyone else game? The mutants take turns planning the Extravaganza weekends and the activities range from climbing 14ers to hunting wild pigs with spears. He just returned from the 2011 Extravaganza this past weekend and as always had plenty of great stories to share. This time around was pretty tame, consisted of lots of climbing, camping under the stars, personal water bottles of rum [gross] and whiffle ball games. The mutants mounted a peak which they dedicated to three members of the group that have passed in recent years. They placed a plaque at the top of the peak to memorialize their beloved passed mutants. Sounded pretty epic. 


In the dozen stories my dad had to offer about the weekend, two really stuck out to me. Both, coincidentally, deal with the topic of peer pressure and cast it in a positive light. I thought that everyone would appreciate the anecdotes I am about the share:


For the first time since 1993, the mutant Dreamer [they all go by nicknames. in a very serious way] attended the annual Extravaganza. This is very special because about a year ago he left the drug and alcohol abuse center he had been at for quite a long time. Due to drug and alcohol abuse, Dreamer lost his family, his job, and his friends. He made the brave decision to enter a recovery facility and spent many grueling years trying to overcome his life-ruining habits. I am happy to report that he has been sober since he left the facility, and it was really special to all the mutants to share this year's Extravaganza with Dreamer. In conversation over the weekend, he discussed the role the mutants played in his motivation to become and remain sober. Losing your friends, and your life, because of substance abuse is preventable. Being able to participate in the annual event with his best friends was, and continues to be, an important motivation to maintain his sober lifestyle. Sometimes peer pressure is exactly what you need to make healthy decisions. His 'rum' water bottle was filled with a non-alcoholic alternative. Good for him. My thoughts and prayers remain with Dreamer and I hope he continues in his new lifestyle with all the support he needs. 


Another mutant [I'm spacing on his name] attends every year, and every year he has been 40 pounds overweight. The mutants are a VERY special group. They are all between the ages of 45 and 75 and are in phenomenal shape. In fact, Pops, the oldest mutant, continues to kick everyone's ass on a consistent basis. If you can't hang physically, you won't enjoy this trip. Unfortunately, the extra 40 lbs really hindered the mutant this time around, as he wasn't physically able to mount the peak and partake in the memorialization ceremony for their passed friends. It was really hard for him to sit back and wait for the group as they finished the climb and had the ceremony, but he had no other option. After they descended the mountain later that day, he made a verbal commitment to the other mutants to lose the extra weight by next year's extravaganza. Never again does he want to be left behind. 


Peer pressure can be a really wonderful motivation to kick ass, stay in shape, and make healthy positive life decisions. Obviously the first challenge is to surround yourself with amazing peers, but once you do so, you can ride on your relationships for motivation and positivity. Don't back down to peer pressure...ride it to better yourself!

When you make a wrong turn...literally.

Colorado. Is. Amazing. Just wanted to put that out there first thing. Since I have been home I have done open water swimming, trail running, hours of tennis, and canal running. On the to-do list is cycling and Red Rocks stairs, in addition to anything else we can come up with during my visit. I forgot how amazing this state is...Boston warps your mind into thinking anything but Colorado is acceptable. The outdoor, healthy culture of this state is out of control awesome. Unless you are someone that NEEDS ocean, I can't think of a single downfall of Colorado. Obviously I am in love with my home state. It is hard not to be when every day is 90, dry, sunny and perfect. And within like 30 minutes there is access to every possible physical activity you can dream of. Sigh. I never want to leave. Can't my life in Boston just move here...?


My mom and I have been workout buddies since I arrived home. We are like two peas in a pod exercising together. She has a big tennis match this evening [I'm totally cheering her on with huge obnoxious signs] and has been trying to conserve energy all day, which left me to my own devices for today's workout. I decided to take a drive and do a nice morning run along the High Line Canal, which is essentially a dirt/gravel path that twists and turns and has beautiful, cool tree cover for the majority of the mileage. I used mapmyrun.com [which is awesome if you want to check it out] to map out a couple of run options last night. If I felt ambitious post-coffee in the morning, I had mapped out a 6.5 mile run with a shorter 5 mile option if I decided I was tired mid run. 


I felt really good when I started the run. My legs were fresh, it was a cool 65 degrees outside, and I was wearing my new Nike Frees 3.0 so I was super excited to get the party started. I was running at a really good pace and decided 3ish miles in that 5 miles was probably enough for me. Between all the hours of exercise over the weekend and the fact I am running at a mile high, 5 felt good. I got to the point in the run where I could take a turn for the shorter mapped run, and decided to head back to the car. Blonde moment of the day: I turned the wrong direction. 


Because the High Line Canal twists and turns, I approached the main road from the opposite direction that I thought I was approaching. I haven't run this route before but I seriously should have realized I was running the wrong direction. Something called the ROCKY MOUNTAINS are in the west, and I was running away from them. My car was west. My legs were moving east. Finally I saw the tennis courts of my old health club and thought to myself 'holy SHIT these are not anywhere close to where I parked'. To be exact, it took me 2 miles in the wrong direction to realize I was going the wrong way. This is the story of how my 5 mile mapped run became 9 miles. 2 miles the wrong way means you have to run those 2 miles back in the correct direction. 5 miles + 4 corrective miles = 9 miles. When I meant to run 5 miles.


It was sort of funny...except that I was super thirsty, and I had been running a 5 mile run pace the whole time. I think I set a new personal record by a TON for a 9 mile run. Funny how you run faster when you aren't planning on running 9 miles. Maybe I need to start playing mental games like this with myself when I start training for my half marathon. Despite the logistical..umm..issues of the morning run, it was really awesome. Perfect weather, legs felt great, some accidental hill work, and I broke in my new shoes! I was really proud of myself for killing a 9 mile run at altitude with zero training. I feel great about the half I am running in Denver with my mom in October! 


Conclusion of the day: just roll with the punches. Directionally challenged? Might turn out better than you think! 

Welcome summer! And with it comes summer activities...

First day of summer! It feels like real summer here today, gorgeous warm sunny weather. I hope everyone is having a great start to the most wonderful season of the year. Growing up, summer meant, first and foremost, no school, and along with the treasured free time came endless soccer tournaments, track meets, and outdoor games [...and popsicles]. We were never inside during the summer, even through the night we were out playing basketball and running around. Simply, summer meant endless hours of physical activity. My first summer working was difficult, I felt confined to my office and deprived of the glorious aspects of the season. Now I have learned to understand that you just have to condense all the great summer activities to before and after work, and go really hard on the weekends.

I have started to take advantage of the weather by walking the 3 miles to and from work whenever possible. The only disadvantage? A little something called sweating in work clothes. Regardless, the 60 minutes to and from work enjoying the fresh air and clearing my head more than make up for the umm...perspiration effect. I do the strategic 'stop for iced coffee' midway through the walk to break things up if its warm outside. I love nothing more than strutting along to some good music, letting my thoughts wander as I watch the poor souls in their cars sitting in traffic. I feel empowered, healthy and fit. I challenge everyone to walk or bike to work in the next week or so. Logistically it can be a bit of a pain to figure out, but once you get it down it is really wonderful. Give it a shot!

This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous. 80 and sunny both days. Boston finally gave its habitants something to celebrate on Saturday and Sunday! Even beyond the Bruins parade. I took full advantage of the [pre]summer weekend by filling it with as many activities as I could possibly schedule. I spent Saturday doing 3 hours of rock climbing and playing a soccer game, and Sunday I woke up bright and early to tackle the Harvard Stadium, followed by a game of tennis. Then I took a nice leisurely walk to the other end of Cambridge to meet a friend for a BBQ dinner. Essentially, I enjoyed the summer weather in the best way I know how - ACTIVITY!

I occasionally think I am superwoman with no limits. This weekend was one of those times. Reality struck hard on Monday morning as my alarm went off at 5:30am and I tried to get out of bed and head to the gym for a lift. My legs barely made it to the bathroom, much less the gym. I ended up right back in bed for another hour of sleep. It felt great to work myself to such physical exhaustion this weekend that I needed a day off! I love pushing the limits when it comes to my fitness level. I felt good skipping the gym, and decided to walk to and from work to loosen things up, which worked like a charm.

Use this gorgeous weather to GET MOVING! The more you move, the happier you are, I promise you that. Fresh air does wonders for the soul, so get outside and do something fun and new. Welcome summer by greeting it head on with a new physical challenge!!! Happy trails!

Back to basics: Lifting programs

Happy Friday! This week went really fast for me, between busy work days, Mavs winning, Bruins winning, ya know, just greatness in general. I leave for Denver next Friday for a mini summer vacation and couldn't possibly be more excited. I miss home so much, and I only get a chance to go back a couple times a year, so I am thrilled it is coming up soon! Yesterday was absolutely beautiful here in Boston, high 80's and sunny with low humidity. One of my good friends from college took the MCAT yesterday so we celebrated with a drink on the patio of one of my favorite places in Cambridge. Nothing like enjoying a nice cold beer outside on a warm summery evening. Can't help but smile!

I woke up this morning knowing that the next couple of days would bring clouds and rain, but luckily the morning was clear. I did a nice 6 mile loop along the Charles River, it was a beautiful warm morning [although windy] and it is always great to get outside and breath in the fresh air during a morning run. I have been doing 4 mile runs pretty easily lately so I thought I would challenge myself a bit. My body felt great through 6 miles! 13.1 miles on October 9th is my longer term goal. My first couple of half marathons were paced around 8:40 miles so my goal for the Denver Rock & Roll Half Marathon is something closer to 8:00 miles. Time to do work.

I wanted to take this opportunity to touch on some lifting basics. A friend forwarded a lifting program that him and his buddy have been following for the past several weeks. As I went through it, I saw some aspects of the program that I really liked, and some that I would do differently. While everyone has differing opinions on the optimal lifting program, I thought I would share some of my thoughts that came up as I was looking through the program.

1. Full body vs. upper/lower body focus. My general rule is if you lift at least 3 days a week, you should focus on either upper OR lower body each day. I lift 3 to 4 times a week, and do 2 days upper body, 2 days lower body. The more you exhaust any given muscle group, the more it tears down and rebuilds which leads to better muscle growth and development. If you only touch on each muscle group for one lift during your routine, the process of tearing and regenerating is much less intense. If you can only get to the gym to lift 1 or 2 times a week, you are stuck with total body lifts so you can get it all in.

2. Stay away from machines [generally]. Whenever you have the options to use free weights, meaning barbells, dumbells, kettlebells etc... USE THEM. Free weights engage loads of muscle groups that machines do not. Particularly, you engage core muscles and gain balance by choosing to use free weights over a stationary machine. I only use two machines at the gym: the cable machines, and the leg press. Cable machines are arguably more of a free weight exercise than a standard machine. Leg press allows you to load on weight and exhaust your glutes/quads without putting too much pressure on your knees, but if I had to choose between free weight squats and leg press, it would be no question. I only use leg press as an accompanying exercise to free weight squats. Machines are simply the lazier option and engage fewer muscle groups, stay away if you have a free weight equivalent as an option.

3. Variety is your best friend. Doing the same set of exercises week after week does little to challenge your body. You are doing yourself no favor by repeating the same routine for weeks on end. Even if you vary up the weight and repetitions, changing the exercise will do wonders for you body. For example, if you want to integrate lunges into your Wednesday lower body lift, you can switch between forward lunges, reverse lunges, side lunges, split squat lunges, etc... Try to vary your lift up as much as possible to optimally challenge your muscle groups. If you are putting the time in, don't you want the most out of your effort? Changing up your routine is one of the best ways to see results.

4. Rest time. I have always been a believer in short rest. It challenges you cardiovascularly and optimizes your time usage. You can get a great sweat going with lifting [no cardio required] if you take short rest between sets. Even better, if you do circuits or supersets, your 'rest' is an accompanying exercise. If you are maxing out on squats, bench or something similar, you will want a couple of minutes between sets [I actually superset and do pushups, core or something similar in between maxing sets to minimize rest]. However, any other lifting routine can utilize short rest to increase cardiovascular fitness and challenge your muscles even further. Short rest = harder. Again, if you are putting the effort into going to the gym, you want optimal results. Short rest it is, my friend!

There are so many basics when it comes to lifting routines, but these four points came into my head as I was critically analyzing the lifting routine sent along by my friend. Thought I would share in hope that it might help! Have a fabulous Friday!

Barefoot Lifting: Tested and Approved!

Happy Hump Day/Bruins Game 7 Day/1st sunny day in 5 days Day! Tis a wonderful day. I'm so nervous for tonight it isn't even funny. The tragedy of tonight is that the Bruins have been unable to win when I watch the games in a social setting. So I will be taking one for the team and watching by myself, in my apartment, with no company. One of the biggest sporting events in my lifetime in Boston and I'll be alone. As long as my solitude results in a Bruins victory I will be happy. I'll make sure my imaginary friends keep me company. GO Bs!!!! Beat the dirty Canucks! DO ITTTTTT!

I wanted to report back on the barefoot lifting post from last week. Rainy weekends mean a lot of gym time, play time outdoors will have to commence this weekend. I decided to test the barefoot lifting technique on Sunday when I pulled together a lower body lift. It was AWESOME. I peeled my shoes off when it was time for squats and deadlifts and continued in socks only. Definitely check with your gym before you do this, but I felt comfortable since a trainer [who works at the gym] encouraged me to give it a try. The results are amazing. Every muscle in your body is so much more engaged. You feel your calves, hamstrings, glutes and lower back all work together as a system with the deadlifts more so than I have ever felt doing the lift in shoes. Squats felt a lot different as well, you really have to focus on driving up through the heels to maintain balance. Overall I highly recommend giving barefoot lifting a shot, if you can't do it in socks then buy the dorky Vibrams [that I not so secretly love] and wear them while lifting. The additional muscle engagement you feel starting in your feet, and traveling up through your calves, hamstrings, quads, glutes and back is really remarkable.

I'm starting to feel like I should pretty much live barefoot. There is nothing that is better done in shoes than without shoes. Your body adjusts to its natural posture, walking gait, running stride, and lifting technique. It shows you your physical weaknesses, and then organically builds from the ground up. The only thing I wouldn't want to try barefoot is cycling...it could tear the soles of your feet up pretty badly. Beyond that...try something barefoot! It can't be beat.

The wonderful world of walking

Good morning to all! I hope everyone had a great weekend. For those of us on the east coast, that was a pretty miserable attempt at a June weekend, but what can ya do. I for one got massive amounts of spring cleaning, laundry, cooking and reading done. If you are looking for an awesome read, check out Cutting For Stone. I am 500 pages in and have a hard time putting it down. In more important news, BRUINS WIN TO FORCE A GAME 7! This has to be one of the top Stanley Cup Playoff finals in history. Seriously. I am so jazzed for tomorrow night, but also a little anxious because the Bruins have completely sucked in Vancouver during the series. Like...how do you win by 5 goals in Boston and then go scoreless on the road and manage to lose every game by a last minute defensive fail? They need to pretend that Vancouver is Boston, but I realize the challenge because Canadians suck. [kidding. sort of ]

Also, I couldn't be happier with the NBA title going to the Mavs. I am SO tired of egotistical Lebron walking around like he owns the world. The King? I'm pretty sure any sort of "king" wouldn't dog the 4th quarter like he did game after game in the series. I was like...grinning from ear to ear watching him lose. It is exactly what he deserves after the public embarassment of 'the decision' [which is a great example of what is wrong with this country]. It is time that he learns a little class, if that is possible at this point. Anyway, I was so happy for the Mavs and what an awesome series to watch. Sports have given us a pretty stellar past month.

After talking about the intensity of hockey and basketball playoff series, I want to bring us back to the topic of the day...walking! Walking has always been an interesting activity to me. As a child and young adult, I thought walking was the worst activity known to man. Walking for fun? Why would you ever do that? My life revolved around a couple hours of intense organized sporting activity, followed by a lot of sitting. I always joke that high level athletes are the laziest creatures on this planet. They focus all their physical energy into 3 hours a day, and then feel victimized if they are required to move for the duration of the day. I 100% lump my [former] self into that category. Throughout college, I maintained that the 1 mile walk to and from the track was the worst part of the day. Why should I have to walk 1 mile so that I can work my ass off at the track and in the weightroom? LIFE IS SO UNFAIR!

I would spend my time at home in the summer and over the holidays, constantly being asked by my father to go on a walk, go hiking, just get moving. I would bitch and moan that I ALREADY did my workout. Wahhhhhh. Call the wahhhhmbulence [dad's personal favorite phrase for my wimpy attitude]. It took me 23 years...but I finally get it. I finally understand why walking is an incredible activity. You can walk for hours and hours, you really digest your surroundings, you enjoy the outdoors, and you get from place to place on your own two legs. One of my good friends enjoys walking home from work during the nice part of the year [so appx 2 months in Boston]. It takes her about 2 hours from start to finish. I figured if she could do it...I could do it.

I live a measly 3.2 miles from work, which takes about 55 minutes at a good pace. I started a couple weeks ago by walking home from work, with no schedule, no deadline, just enjoying the walk.  Now that I have walked home a handful of times, I figure, why not walk TO work also? As a result of a couple exciting life changes in the past week, I have a lot of energy in this body of mine. Good anxiety I like to call it. Whatever you want to call it, I am having a hard time sitting still. So fastforward to yesterday morning, I hop on the T and I make it approximately 30 seconds before I needed to get the f*** off that train. First of all, MBTA, do you KNOW WHAT AIR CONDITIONING IS? It was like 80 and humid on this train. I don't understand how no one else is sweating. Regardless, I just couldn't stand still. Even if it was a perfect 68 and nice cool air blowing on my face, I knew I wasn't going to make it past my first stop. So I got off at my first opportunity and just started walking. I arrived at work 45 minutes later, a much happier person. The ability to move my legs, enjoy the fresh morning air, and get myself to work is a wonderful feeling. So today I skipped the nasty T experience all together and walked from my apartment. Glorious. A little spin class to start the day following by a nice hour long walk to work.

You can walk ANYWHERE! While I don't necessarily consider it excercise, I think of walking as a form of transportation, it is a great activity for your health. Why sit on a train when you can move your own caboose? Get walking!!!

Barefoot...lifting?

Hump daaaaaay! Looks like there is a heat wave sweeping across pretty much the whole country, so I hope everyone enjoys this beautiful summer-esque Wednesday. And for those of you that don't work in an office, enjoy it for the rest of us.  BRUINS GAME TONIGHT. Totally psyched. The combo of hump day, hot sunny weather, and Bruins equate to a pretty awesome day. Glad to see the Mavs pulled it out last night [I was clearly asleep through the second half...9pm tip off, yeah right].

I had an awesome night last night playing tennis with a coworker. We were both a bit mentally and physically exhausted and sore, but went for it anyway. It is amazing how physical activity can actually energize you when you are feeling tired and groggy, sitting on the couch just tends to exacerbate those blah feelings. It was a beautiful summery night and we were able to grab a court and hit balls for an hour. A great way to unwind after a day in the office, and a fun FREE healthy social activity. Yay us!

I was back in the gym this morning for a lower body lift. Warmed up with a split squat and plie squat superset circuit, and then it was on to heavy squats, deadlifts, and glute isolations. Overall great lower body lift. When I was finishing up the glute exercises, one of the female trainers came over to me and goes, "I was watching you deadlift, which I shouldn't have been because I was with my client [hehe], but regardless you have great form EXCEPT you tend to get too much onto your toes and your knees go in a bit as you pick up the bar." She encouraged me to take off my shoes the next time I deadlift, as that forces you to keep your heels on the ground for the duration of the lift or you would topple over. The same holds true with squatting, performing the exercise barefoot requires greater form discipline or you would fall forward.

To be honest, I have never thought about lifting barefoot before. After having spoken with the trainer this morning, I think I will start incorporating barefoot lifting into my routine. The problem with lifting in shoes is that the heel 'support' changes your body posture to an unnatural position [which is honestly the problem with wearing any shoe while running or exercising, it actually just screws up your natural gait/movement/etc...]. The heel of a shoe puts you more on your toes than is natural, instead of concentrating your lifting motion through your heel as it should properly be done. Thus, you have less engagement of the back, glutes and hamstrings than you should if lifting form was perfect. Conclusion: pretty much everything should be done as barefoot as possible. I was even wearing my Nike Frees this morning, and they STILL changed my form enough to screw it up. I'm excited to start squatting, lunging and deadlifting barefoot, I imagine it will make quite a big difference in my muscle engagement.

Give it a shot! Don't be afraid to look dumb, when you end up healthy and balanced I promise you won't care.

Why feel pleasure when you can feel pain?

Happy Tuesday! It is perfect beach weather outside, I vote we exchange a weekend day for today and all head to the coast. Who is with me??? If only deadlines didn't exist. I hope everyone watched, and enjoyed, the Bruins' slashing last night. I was screaming alone in my apartment. Oh yes, yes I was. The Canucks are such rotten dirty scoundrels, between the biting incident and the nasty hit on Horton, it was all I could do to not run to the rink and join in on the fight. The Bruins NEED to win this series, I am so disgusted with Vancouver. So excited for game 4 tomorrow night. Sidenote: I wish Boston cared more about hockey, it is one of the most exciting sports in existance and their freaking team is in the Stanley Cup Finals. GET WITH THE PROGRAM, BOSTON.

So I have a confession to make. The title of this blog has zero implied sarcasm. I quite literally mean that I enjoy feeling pain more than pleasure...when it comes to my muscules. And of course I mean the good kind of pain. There is nothing better [to me, and maybe me only] than to wake up, get out of bed, and feel USED. If I am not sore or fatigued from yesterday's workout, I did something wrong. I didn't push myself hard enough, not enough speed or intensity, too light of weight, something went wrong. I derive great pleasure from physical fatigue, maybe it is some screwed up biochemical reaction in my body, but I recognize that it is there 100%. Which brings me to this weekend...

There is nothing that excites me more [in terms of small pleasures in life] than seeing a 70 and sunny forecast for the weekend. My train of thought naturally goes to ... "YES I can do endless activities outdoors in my SPORTS BRA!". Being a tanning goddess while kicking my own ass? My two perfect worlds collide. This was one of those absolutely perfect weekends. I woke up at 7am on Saturday ready to take on the world! I pumped my bike tires, put my running clothes on, and headed to the Harvard Stadium for my second full stadium experience. It was even better than the first! Totally didn't hurt that the Boston Cannons [pro lax team] were practicing so I had some...distraction and motivation as I tacked the 37 sections. Nothing like a little shaky leg to get your weekend started! [If you have done stadiums you totally know the shaky leg I reference]

After watching the Bruins lose on Saturday night [tragic but awful defensive play, fault is all theirs], I woke up Sunday morning ready to take on the world...again! My legs were super tired from lower body lift on Friday and stadiums on Saturday but pain ain't gonna stop me now. I headed to the track for a daily dose of intervals. I brought my vibrams along so I could test them out for the first time since the self-induced stress fracture...and it went GREAT! I did 2 x 1 mile intervals in them, more conservative the first mile, and everything felt wonderful. Barefoot running is really the most amazing feeling if you are a runner, so free and natural. I put the Nike Frees back on for the third 1 mile interval, and then finished up with a 400m, a couple 200m and 150m intervals. Felt awesome to be on the track and try out barefoot running again.

Monday morning I decided that my legs needed a break, so I did a muscle beach bicep/tricep workout, which was great. I'm repping 35 lbs for my bicep curls, which gives me a lot of meathead pride. Don't judge. Ok, you can judge, I would too. I decided that one day of rest was plenty for these legs, they are tough! I woke up at 5:30 this morning to get a gorgeous summer morning run in, and .5 miles into it, I realized my legs were completely dead. I'm talking the sort of numb dead feeling you get when you are exhausted. Is that going to stop me? Uhh no! I managed to complete the other 3.5 miles, resulting in what I would call a character building experience. It hurt. Every step of the way. Did I enjoy the pain? Absolutely.

Call me crazy, but I enjoy finding pleasure in pain! The ability to thrive on physical challenges is something you can take with you at every age, in every location, with every activity. My mom kicked some SERIOUS ass in her sprint triathlon this weekend, placing FIRST in her age class! What a STUD! Push yourself into pain, you will be amazed at your capabilities!

New goals!

Happy happy happy FRIDAY! I woke up dancing and singing today, I hope everyone is sharing some of that happiness. Loving short weeks, sunshine, spring time, friends, family, life in general.  The weekend forecast is glorious for outdoor exercise, so I'm planning on a combination of running, stadiums, track intervals, and biking. The more the better! If anyone is around Boston and wants to join for any of the aformentioned activities, holler at your girl.

I am slightly devastated that I have grandma sleeping habits on occasion, last night was one of those times. I stayed up LATE for me, until 11pm, and then couldn't keep my eyes open so I went to sleep. The Heat were up by 9 at this point. I never would have predicted the amazing comeback by the Mavs to ensure the Heat didn't roll over them in 4. Thank the LORD. My favorite blogger [El Pres on barstoolsports.com] discussed if he would rather the Bruins win OR the Heat lose. He is a Boston sports blogger and chose the latter. I am not upset with that. I hate the Heat. I want the Mavs to win so badly. Difference is I will shed a few tears if the Bruins don't win, I feel so emotionally invested at this point, especially after that completely insane game 1. I am PSYCHED that game 2 is tomorrow night, no better way to spend a Saturday!

Last night was the annual JP Morgan Corporate Challenge. It is such a cool event, 12,000 nerdy finance/consulting/corporate Bostonians come together to run 3.5 miles up and down Comm Ave. Pretty awesome people watching. I was psyched to see so many runners pursuing barefoot running! Vibrams were all over that joint, it was great. I felt all weak and wimpy in my Nike Frees, but still giving my foot a bit of time before I whip those babies out again. [I'm still afraid.] It is just so great to get everyone outside doing something active when a normal day is spent inside an office, behind a computer. I wish more of this happened!

I ran the Corporate Challenge for the first time last year, and it is complete madness. 12,000 people rushing through the narrow streets of downtown feels like cattle being coralled, and I made the mistake of being middle of the pack as a first timer. I completed the race in 30 minutes last year, and I swear I actually ran like 5 miles due to horizontal dodging of slower runners. So...this year, I put myself up in the front with the 5-6 minute mile runners [uhhhh haha] and that was a great decision. I ran with one of my coworkers who is a great runner. She pulled me through the first 2.5 miles a lot faster than I have ever run any sort of distance. At 2.5 miles she sprinted away and I tried to survive, my stomach hurt, my right foot was going numb, overall physical pain. I managed to finish in 26 minutes, splitting 7:25 miles! Whoa! I had no idea I could run that fast for more than like... one mile. Goes to show, all you need is a friend to help you realize your potential! I plan to rope my coworker into more runs, it is a great challenge and a fun way to socialize. Now that I have experienced running at a faster pace than I though I could, I have a new goal of pushing myself to new limits with running!

Another new goal? Complete the Rock & Roll Half Marathon in Denver with my mom to celebrate my 24th birthday in October. I brought up the idea to my mom a couple of days ago, and after some thought, we are both on board. I am SO excited to share this experience with my mom! She is such an incredible role model, and we really share the passion of fitness. She has driven my interest in running, so this is a great opportunity for us to share a special experience together. The race is October 9th, a day after my birthday, and what better way to celebrate a new year of life than a physical challenge?!?

What are YOUR new goals???

Workouts on the go!

Happy Hump Day! I love short weeks, Hump Day comes up before you know it. I can't believe it has been a full week since my last post - oops! I spent the long weekend [extended to include Thursday and Friday] in Chicago to celebrate my sister's graduation from medical school. I couldn't possibly be more proud and excited that my very own sister is an MD! WHOA! I'm pretty sure I was more emotional than her for the duration of the weekend. I'm ok with that. Crying at dinner? The new black. The whole family clan was back together for the weekend which was great, it is really hard to get all 5 [6 including bro-in-law] people in the same place at the same time now that we are all adults with independent lives, so I really enjoyed the weekend. Of course, as part of a celebratory weekend we consumed many many meals of amazing [calorie ridden, salty, fatty] food. I'm sure I was not alone in my eating habits for the Memorial Day weekend, it tends to be a weekend of barbeque, beer and ice cream.

Which leads to the topic of the day...working out on the GO! Vacation and travel tend to lend themselves to poor eating and exercise habits. My body can't physically handle more than 2 days without some form of exercise, so I tend to get creative and thought I would share with you my top three ideas:

1. RUN! The single best thing about running is it can happen anywhere, any time, with any weather, as long as your have your shoes [or no shoes if you prefer barefoot!]. Just look at a map or go exploring without one. It is an amazing way to see any city and it is a great workout. If you are staying at a hotel, you can ask the concierge about the best places to go for a run, there are usually some running paths and/or trails nearby.

2. Use whatever equipment is available. You've gotta love when you look at a hotel website and they describe their fitness room as 'state of the art, completely updated' and on and on. That is the same sort of marketing method as the descriptor 'charming' when looking for apartments, which means shitty, old, and overpriced. I walked into the hotel gym this weekend and there were two treadmills, a reclining bike [why do those even exist...?], a rack of dumbells from 5 to 50lbs, a cable machine, and medicine balls. All in a very small room. My reaction? This is PLENTY to get a great workout in! After a warmup on the treadmill, I used the dumbells for lunges, jump squats, squats, RDLs, moved to the cable machine for glute isolations, and to the medballs for core. I was sore for 3 days! Lesson? You don't need anything fancy to get a kickass workout in, just a bit of imagination and drive.

3. Explore the city. You can explore the city running, as mentioned above, or by walking, biking, rollerblading, scootering, really the options are endless. Please never ride a segway. Those are embarassing and I've never even been on one. Use your LEGS! My sister had the great idea of scheduling a bike tour of Chicago. The tour was put on by a boutique company and it was wonderful, so fun and adventurous with a funny tour guide. My bike's name was Brutus, we were a perfect pair. A recreational bike tour is something I never would have scheduled, I really enjoy intense exercise and have a hard time relaxing and doing something like cycling for fun. But I am SO glad we did it! The tour covered 7 miles in 3 hours [yes, I mean that, and yes, I can run 7 miles in 1 hour, but it wasn't about speed] and we saw all the great historical sites of downtown Chicago. Most of all, we laughed the whole time, and we spent 3 hours doing something active instead of sitting on our butts. Conclusion: just MOVE! It doesn't matter in what fashion or how fast, but just move and explore the city.

Next time you travel, realize there are endless options for staying active outside of your normal fitness routine. In fact, use it as an opportunity to get out of the norm and try something new!