Is it raining? Nope, just sweat.

TGIF! Or, like Katy Perry likes to chant, T - G - I - F, T - G - I - F! [love that song, can't hide it]. I hope everyone had a wonderful week and is ready for an action packed, beach filled, active weekend. Forecast points to a pretty perfect weekend so live it up. My good friend from college will be in town all the way from Australia so I look forward to some quality social time with my besties. Little sun, little beach, little exercise, little beverage. Life is good.

Since I have only been making it to the gym 3 or 4 days a week for the past couple of weeks, I have really focused on getting in good lifts. When it comes down to it, cardio makes you feel great but it has no sustainable effect on muscle growth and metabolism boosting. On the days I lift lower body, I have no problem getting a sweat going by the second set of whatever I'm doing. On upper body days...it may or may not happen. There is nothing worse than leaving the gym without being super sweaty. I would feel like a failure. Solution? I always make sure to do like 15 mins of cardio to get a good sweat going before I start my lifting routine.

As the queen of efficiency, the obvious answer to my cardio warmup is to choose the exercise that makes you the sweatiest the fastest. There is one, and only one, answer: the stairmaster. 10 minutes on that baby and I'm fully 'glistening' [because that is what girls do, right?]. This brings me to Tuesday evening. I was about to get my lift on, and hopped on the stairmaster to warm up. Usually I pick a program but I decided to just do 'quick start' to get the party started. The quick start program automatically sets you up for a 20 minute workout, so I got all competitive with myself and wanted to do the whole 20 minutes, increasing speed every couple of minutes. Who competes with themselves on the stairmaster? As a warmup? I'm weird. 

Regardless, 20 minutes later I was panting and INCREDIBLY sweaty. Record setting I'm pretty sure. I got off the machine and made my way to the weights area and said hi to one of the trainers who was using a bench next to me. He looks at me and goes, completely seriously, "ooo did it start pouring outside?". My response: "Uh no. I was on the stairmaster." He gave me a pretty serious look, chuckled, and just turned around. I'm almost impressed with myself that someone assumed I was caught in a downpour rain storm. New high. Sweat all your toxins away this weekend - it does the body good!

Happy hour workouts - get CRUNK

Happy Thursday! It is THE perfect morning today in Beantown. Sunny, relatively warm but not hot, no humidity. How lovely. Thank you for starting off my day in the best way possible. I'm looking forward to a beautiful summer weekend, keep the sun coming! After the July 2011 heatwave [which I will admit...I actually enjoyed], it is nice to sleep without the hum of the air conditioner. There is something about fresh air that totally does it for me. Don't get me wrong, I feel blessed that air conditioners exist, but I would prefer to never have to use them.

My new job is totally awesome. I love it. I love the people, the spectrum of projects, the office, the stimulation. On a 'second week of work' high. I hope this honeymoon phase lasts awhile. I've had to make a small adjustment in terms of timing since the office 'opens' at 8:30am daily. I had gotten used to strolling into work at 9:15am, which worked great since I could wake up at 6 and get a good workout in, and miss rush hour on the T. Routine had been fixed. Getting into work at 8:30 changes things up a bit, I have to be out of my house at 8am. I get up at 6:30 as is to have time to make breakfast, shower, prep food for work, etc... so I would have to be up around 5am to get a workout in. It hasn't happened yet...oops.

Enter: getting crunk on happy hour workouts. I have joined the rest of the 20-something mass in my gym going at 6/7pm. Not going to lie...I sort of love it. I feel like part of the 'in' crowd. Obviously the machines and weights are pretty packed compared to the morning crowd, but it is fun to be around your peers getting your sweat on. It also feels SO good to get my blood and endorphins pumping after a day in the office. As I walked to the gym a couple nights this week, I saw loads of people sipping on brews on outdoor patios. This is when the 'evil' Shannon snickered and patted herself on the back for making the healthier decision. Not that I wouldn't [often] rather be sitting on a patio sipping a manhattan, but life is short and your body needs some loving.

I am now officially in love with both morning AND evening workouts. What is a girl to do?!? I'm glad I am digging the happy hour workouts, because it gives me more flexibility to be social at night and not worry about 9pm bedtimes. A good thing for all involved. I am giving you full authority to binge at the gym during happy hour - you will feel like a million bucks.

Everyone needs a little life balance.

Welcome to the July 2011 heat wave! A little excessive heat advisory? Bring it on! I have gone through complete psychological preparation for 3 days of non-stop sweating. I have never in my life been so happy to ride the T into work...a little thing called air conditioning goes a long way. I'm trying not to gross my new coworkers out too much by keeping the whole 'sweating in biz casual dress' thing under control. So far so good. I sort of think it is funny that the local governments get so serious about the heat. I understand it is dangerous for the elderly and children etc...but we are in Mass. We aren't in the deep south [or apparently Minneapolis] where the heat indices are out of control. We will all be ok. In case you aren't, there are 'cooling centers' that are being set up. I need a cooling center in my life. What a fabulous idea. Air conditioning, cool beverages, why are we waiting for a heat wave to make this happen?!

I know I have been a little MIA in this whole blogging business lately, I hope no one has been missing me too much. I had 11 glorious days home in Denver, followed by 2 days of wrapping things up at my old job, another 10 awesome days off [this time in Boston], and now I am in my first week of work at my new gig! I spent the 10 days off in Boston being outside pretty much 8 hours a day. Biking, running, stadiums, walking, everything you could possibly imagine that takes place outdoors. During that time, I realized that blogging is my outdoors/exercise outlet when I work in an office for that 8 hours of day instead. If I can't experience it, I want to write about it and share my passion with others.

Which brings me to this week! I was very excited to start my new job. I crave routine and by the end of my break I began to miss having an intellectual/business purpose to my day. I decided to take a job in which I have zero experience. I switched from investment consulting to internal operational financial strategy. Mostly that is just a bunch of nerd terms in one sentence, but in reality the two roles have very little to do with each other. Read: I have a LOT of learning to do. I have been in training each day this week which is helping me get an understanding as to what I will actually be doing on a day to day basis. My goal for the week? Absorption. As much as possible.

Starting this new job has taken complete priority over my life for the week. I am spending all my time and energy trying to learn as much as possible, and in the meantime, trying not to get too lost along the way. Exercise, for the first time in awhile, has taken a back seat. I have managed to squeeze in a lift and a run, but I have removed the pressure I usually put on myself to get 6 weekly workouts in. Sometimes [but only sometimes], exercise just can't be my number 1 priority. If you are starting a new job, moving into a new place, or experiencing another significant life change, it is okay to give yourself a little break. Make sure not to use it as an excuse, and I would put the emphasis on 'LITTLE' break, but take a load off for a few days.

I look forward to the next couple weeks of making my work life and my fitness life merge into a new happy lifestyle. A life change is the perfect time to switch up your routine, so I am likely going to implement a couple days of a combo biking to work/gym workout close to the office in the mornings, a couple of evening workouts with friends who live close by, and who knows what else! Change is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Have a fabulous Thurday...almost TGIF! Don't get heat stroke...

Bicycle oh bicycle!

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike, I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I liiiiiike. Thanks to Queen for a perfect prelude to today's post. I would like to take a second to thank the inventor of the bicycle [which is actually a difficult subject, many theories/individuals] for creating a pretty perfect form of transportation. Growing up, I looked at bicycles as a method of exercise, probably because my dad has always been a huge cyclist. He does 100 mile rides on a regular basis, pretty incredible. Biking was never my thing as a kid, I didn't have the patience to be on the saddle for hours at a time. Running exhausted you much more quickly and I liked being on my own two feet.

As I've gotten older, I have learned to appreciate the bicycle as a great form of transportation. Through college, a ton of my friends got around campus on old beater bikes. Most of the time I just made fun of the whole bicycle culture, since our campus was at MOST 2 miles from end to end. But there were other times that I was jealous that they got to their destination like 4 times faster than my legs would take me. Recently, the hour walk to and from work is amazing, but I am also very tempted to do the 15 minute bike ride instead. On my to-do list when I start my new job! Just need to figure out the whole showering situation.

I was fortunate enough to go on two European bike tours with my family in 2004 and 2008. The first go around, we toured back country France and Switzerland at the same time the Tour de France was happening, it was really cool. The second trip, we landed in Frankfurt and biked through Germany, Austria and northern Italy. It is amazing to explore countries on bike, it gives you the opportunity to really experience the culture and environment, and it is active and fun. If you ever have the opportunity to tour globally on bicycle, I highly recommend it. Kudos to my father for amazing trip planning.

Enter: my week off. I have been thoroughly enjoying being able to bike everywhere I want to go. The limiting factor to doing this all the time is a little something called perspiration. When I have nowhere important to go and I'm in sports clothes, sweating all day is just great. Being able to get from point A to point B using my own two legs [and the help of two wheels...] is something I really appreciate. I look forward to riding my hot little purple Trek mountain bicycle everywhere I possibly can during the summer months!

Hop on and ride that bike!

Under arm jiggle? BE GONE!

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone survived Monday with flying colors. After such a perfect sunny weekend it is always hard to get back into real life. Lucky for yours truly, I have the week off before starting my new work gig next Monday, so real life can be suspended for now. Being [temporarily] unemployed feels pretty amazing to be honest, my time is 100% under my control and I can eat, workout, nap, and play as I see fit! Sort of the life...if it wasn't for the fact that all my friends work normal jobs and I have no one to play with during the day. Boston is pretty dead during working hours. I was out on the river tanning/reading yesterday and I was legit the only person in sight. Apparently week day tanning isn't a big extracurricular around here. Whatever, I totally enjoyed myself. Trying to get as tan as humanly possible before I assume office job round 2.

I was thrilled to see the August issue of Oxygen in my mailbox this week. Seriously it is like the best mail EVER [except cards from my mom...I love those]. I saved it for my river tanning session yesterday, at which point I settled into my cozy towel and sweated my ass off while reading about buff women working out [it was like 95 and humid, awkward]. Each issue has 3 or 4 new workouts that focus on particular body parts of even specific muscles. This issue focuses on cable exercises for thighs and glutes, fitness testing, and, a personal favorite, how to combat UNDER ARM JIGGLE!

Under arm jiggle scares me. I will be completely honest. There is nothing more uncomfortable than when a woman raises her arm and waves to get someone's attention and your eyes are automatically drawn to the flap of skin/fat that is wiggling in your face. You don't want to stare. But you can't help it. Does she notice it? Are you a bitch for noticing? Unclear across the board. One thing I DO know, is I will never have under arm jiggle. It is a definitely no-go zone for this upper body. The editor of Oxygen, Robert Kennedy, provided a simple 4 move workout to ensure you are never that woman with the impossible-to-ignore under arm jiggle. Robert points out that under arm jiggle is not simply an overweight thing, it can happen to any woman at any weight. It is simply a result of too much body fat. 

Try this workout to tone up those under arms, after all, it IS tank top season! Take no rest between exercises 1 and 2, and 3 and 4. Even 30 seconds of rest decreases the effectiveness of the exhaustion effect, which is the driving factor of this workout. Do exercises 1 and 2, rest 60 seconds, and repeat for 3 sets. Take 2 minutes rest, perform exercises 3 and 4, rest 60 seconds, and repeat for 3 sets. I did this workout yesterday and my tris are on fire, woohoo!

Exercise 1: Cable pressdown x 12

Exercise 2: Bench dip [weighted if you are a beast] x 15

Exercise 3: Flat bench dumbbell extension x 12

Exercise 4: Close-grip bench press [narrow grip between 8 and 10 inches] x 15

Kiss that under arm flab goodbye! Paired with a clean diet, you will be golden. Enjoy!

Summer holidays are the best!

Last day of Colorado vacation. Sigh. I never want it to end! I feel so blessed that my home feels like a vacation destination regardless of the season. Colorado gave me 11 perfect hot, dry, sunny days. Couldn't ask for anything more. I hope everyone had an amazing Fourth of July yesterday, it is great to have the chance to celebrate this country in true summer fashion. I love the 4th because the celebrations generally include close family and friends, and everything happens outside! Any holiday that can be celebrated with fun outdoor games and grilling is good by me. 


This past weekend was glorious on the activity front. On Saturday, I found myself back at my high school track to do some nostalgic interval running. It felt a bit different than it did with my coach and team back in 2004 and 2005, as it was just me and a construction worker on the track. Apparently I am the only psycho that voluntarily goes to a high school track at 9am on Saturdays. It was strangely nice to be back though, and I did some speed work which was fun. I'm pretty sure the track hasn't been resurfaced since I graduated [tough...] but you have to work with what you have. I sort of felt like I was getting back to my roots! 


On Sunday we had the second annual family rafting excursion at Echo Canyon Rafting with my brother as our guide. This is his second summer as a rafting guide up in Canon City. We had a BLAST. First of all, rafting is just awesome. The water level is really high which makes for bigger rapids and a faster flowing river = more intense. Perfect 90 degree day, so the water crashing into the raft felt really good. It was such a good time and reminded me what being one with nature feels like. You can get warped sitting in an office 5 days a week. Always make the time to remind yourselves that humans are simply part of nature and experience it in any way you can! Rafting is an awesome activity of choice if you can find something local. If you are in Colorado and want to have a kick ass rafting experience, check out Echo Canyon Rafting, it is the best of the best of the Arkansas River. Request my brother as your guide and I promise you a killer time.  


Yesterday, I celebrated the independence of this country with a little 6 mile run first thing in the morning. I went back to the High Line Canal and didn't make a wrong turn this time! Go me! It was already 90 degrees when I started at 9am so needless to say it was a pretty scorching 6 miles. I never need water at that distance and I was approximately 2 seconds away from stopping a random passer-by and asking for a sip of agua. Cotton mouth like I have never experienced, probably due to the heat and the fact I was running on a dirt path. It was a beautiful morning and there were tons of people out and about, so great choice to start off the day.


After a quick dip in the pool, I headed over to Washington Park in Denver to meet up with my best friend from high school and a bunch of her med school friends. Wash Park is a very social young active scene in Denver. I showed up and there were dozens of volleyball nets, corn hole games, badminton nets etc... set up for the enjoyment of all. All of course coupled with coolers of beer and snacks. Our group set up a volleyball net and we spent the next three hours playing game after game of volleyball. It was a total blast! I have a swollen, bruised knee from diving for a serve [diving on hard ground sort of hurts] and broken blood vessels along my forearms from the ball, I feel so hardcore. It hit 100 yesterday so no better way to enjoy the heat than to sweat playing games with your close friends. I need more volleyball in my life! 


Finished off the holiday by grilling with close family friends at our house. It was a perfect night outside and nothing better than the company of loved ones. We had a serious meat picnic with salmon, deer and elk. Yum! 


I hope everyone had an amazing long weekend and I am excited for more beautiful active summer weekends in the coming weeks!