The Bar Method

I'm so excited! Bright and early tomorrow morning I take my first of two "Bar Method" classes that I bought via Groupon. I'll let you know how it goes, right back here in this post. In the interim, here's one review of the method.

UPDATE
Ok, so strengthening, toning, stretching...that's how I'd describe the class. It's that kind of hard that when you're in there, you're like HOLY CANNOLI, THIS HURTS. But now an hour outta class, I'm all like, "I could do that again."

Body check
Arms/Shoulders=jello. I have the upper body strength of an old woman. With osteoporosis.
Thighs/Hamstrings/Hips=okay. Right now, they just feel a little tight.
Calves=they feel sad. That's the only way I can describe it. They're angry at me.
Abs=My abs are a trooper, I can go all day with abs exercises. You won't break me that easily.

Teacher/Facility
My teacher Sarah seemed knowledgable, helpful and made me feel right at home. She talked to me and one other new person after class for a few minutes, also, about how we did, what to expect if we continue, etc... The Lakeview facility is nice, and on a not to busy street (at least in the early morning when probably 2/3 of working people aren't even up because they took the week off...or something.) I liked that you keep your socks ON (ew, feet...Bikram Yoga....shudder.) I also liked that since the class is not cheap anyway, they don't continue to try and squeeze money outta you, lockers (with LOCKS) are free, and parking is validated, should you need it. And I also like that the new member special can start AFTER you've taken your first class, or in my case, used both of my groupon classes. I've been to some places (ahem-Bikram) where they're all like "MAKE A DECISION TODAY, NOW, OR YOUR CHANCE IS FOREVER LOST AND YOU'LL BE FORCED TO PAY EXORBITANT FEES LIKE THE REST OF US!!!" That's not fair. Hate that.

Others in the Class
Bad side: I felt like a bloated moose. Everybody there looked good, like they'd been doing the method for years. Or at least they weren't as big as me. Ah well. I guess that's better than going in there and seeing a bunch of huge people and wondering if this stuff even works. right? But on the flip side, more people than just the teacher were helpful. In fact, one chick next to me, turns out she's also a teacher there, helped me a few times with getting the position just so. That was cool. People seemed genuinely nice and helpful. THe other new girl had on a Big 10 shirt like I did (mine: Illinois, hers: Indiana-boo) so we chatted for a bit about that and the class, etc... I'm rambling. Overall, the people were nice and didn't make me feel like I shouldn't be there.

Miscellaneous
1. I liked that I left class and could still maybe run an errand or something if I wanted, unlike Bikram, when upon leaving I look like I just ran 5 miles in the Sahara. With a heart condition. And no water.

2. I stretched my back and shoulders just so, that my old raggedy sports bra unhooked! ACK! Nobody knew why I left the room for a minute, but how embarrassing. Time to toss that one. :) Shhhh, don't tell anyone, that was kinda embarrassing. (Please note: Moving Comfort sports bras are awesome. But this one might possibly be about 4 years old, which is shameful. With as much running as I've done since I discovered them in late 2006, there's just no excuse. They do have a lifetime expectancy, you know. One human year is like 4 decades in the life of a sports bra.

Anyway, that's my assessment. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. (insert evil grin here.)

Bike to Work Week - Chicago Style

UPDATE: 5 things

1. Waited out the rain/lightning/thunder, started around 9am
2. 16.26 miles, house to lakefront to work (no bus.)
3. About 6.25 miles of that was city biking (stop, go, avoid being sideswiped)
4. 1:46:17, an average of 9.18 miles per hour (so says the Garmin)
5. I'm not cut out for biking AT ALL. I kept thinking about Lou's "ass pants" that she bought for her triathlon training and wished I had a pair on. Yikes! I'm taking the train and bus home!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Guess what pals? In Chicago, the City of Big Shoulders, the Second City, the City by the Lake (oh wait, I think that's Milwaukee), it's Bike to Work Week. Quick! Everybody! Grab a bike!

Here at my job, we participate in the Bike Commuter Challenge along with a load of other like-minded people who halfway care about the environment, and we are the reigning champs for FIVE YEARS IN A ROW in the "Business/NonProfit" Category, 25-99 Employees Division. In years past, the winning groups get 3 monstrous Eli Cheesecakes (a Chicago brand), and you get to go to their factory to pick them out and everything...kinda cool, um, except it's sooooo far out, completely un-bikeable (especially if you're carrying 3 big 20-serving size cheesecakes on the return trip), and nowhere near transit...but I digress.

Last year I think we had 96% participation, with me being one of two people who didn't at least bike once to work. But tomorrow (Thursday)...my bike ride to work will be my crosstraining as I travel from the South Side (69th/Woodlawn) to the fabulous Center for Neighborhood Technology near Damen and North Avenue. (Now this means nothing to some of you.) Trust me when I say it's no small feat. I will wear my Garmin, which actually has a cycling mode, and tell you exactly how far I travel, ok?

I plan to take as much of the lakefront path as I can, and then either hop on Armitage with a semi-friendly bike lane (versus North Avenue and no bike Lane), OR take the bus from the North Avenue and the Lake over to my job, since we have these handy-dandy bike racks on buses now...and since technically, I have to ride a portion of my commute, it doesn't have to be the whole commute.

Now if my bicycle trailer hadn't been stolen from our garage last year, I could even bike the girls over to their summer daycare program, but now everything is complicated.

I hope the weather holds out. Unless there's lightning, I will be out there.

What a week!

This is starting to sound like a broken record, but last week I was due for another rough week. Big deadline for a project at work, complicated with the matters of my older daughter being done with Pre-K but her summer program not having started. What did that mean? 2 days at Grandma's, 1 day with the hubby, and 2 days of trying to work from home. ARGH!!! But I knew that even as hard as it would be to run, it would do my mind and body good. ESPECIALLY given my 8 miles I'd be running on Saturday.

And so I made time for myself and I DID IT. I ran twice during the week, 40 minutes each. You all KNOW I love to run in the mornings, and tend to think of a million excuses in the evening if I put it off til then...well on Thursday evening I forced myself to get on that treadmill and just DO IT, since I decided to work early in the morning instead, since I'd be home all day. On top of that, two other days I managed to fit in a whole-body strength training session and 30+ minutes on the elliptical each time.

I capped off this great week with a fabulous 8-miler along the lakefront with my training group. This is the longest run since the Indy Mini, and since I took my "I have a soar calf muscle" hiatus, so I was a bit nervous. But all went well.

Our group consisted of me, Lou & Meg (who are BOTH pace leaders now), and two newbies, Sal and Jenny (not to be confused with Coach Jenny.) We knocked it out pretty efficiently. There were occasional moments, only fleeting, where I was worried I might not make it....is that my calf tightening up? Are you crazy to go from 5 miles last week to 8 miles this week? (I missed our 6 and 7 mile runs due to said calf.) The conversation drifted from whether or not there are a lot of dead bodies in Lake Michigan (don't ask), to Oprah's former abode and whether or not Tom Cruise lived in the same building too, to Sal's bragging about drinking and dancing the night before (eyes rolling)...we had a nice route, heading south first along the lakefront, then going back up north past our starting point for another 2 miles, before heading back for the final two.

During the last mile or so, we got the chance to run with "running royalty," as Coach Jenny rode along next to us on her bike, chatting us up for a good while. (For those of you not privy to Coach Jenny, you can find her here, or you may have seen her coaching one of the runners in the Spirit of the Marathon, or read her Ask Coach Jenny column in Runners' World. (Dude, I'm so mad at that magazine right now, but I will save that rant for another post.) Anyway, I really appreciated her rolling along side of us, because sometimes as the slowest pace group, you sort of get the feeling that people are just putting up with you. So we chatted about past races, the importance of strength-training, etc... it was really cool.

So 8 miles down. My legs were super-sore last night, but feeling good today...and ready to hit the road tomorrow morning for a full 45 minutes! I think. :-O

Thanks for reading my completely self-serving, self-congratulatory post!

Have a great week, friends!

The Week that Kicked Butt (or more appropriately titled "The Week that Was")

AWESOME WEEK! I bounced back from a terrible Shamrock Shuffle and living on the fringe of lethargicness for quite some time now. So here is my weekly wrap up:

Tuesday:
-Up at 4:45, out the door at 5am, at the gym by 5:15!
-Ran 3 miles on the treadmill at the gym. They have some NICE treadmills!
-Lower body weight training. I like the idea of splitting up lower/upper body, because then I have more time to add extra machines in that I might not have time for if trying to fit it all in during one session.

Wednesday:
-same up-and-at-em moves
-Ran 3 miles on the treddy again. 2 days in a row?! Wow, that hasn't happened in a long time!
-Upper body weight training. HATE IT, my arms are weak. WEAK.

Thursday:
-up nice-n-early again, this time waking up before my friendly alarm
-Elliptical for some cross training of sorts. A nice change of pace.
-Lower body weights. LOVE IT. My legs are very strong, and I always feel like Superwoman when I get done. I plan on no knee injuries like last year, or at least due to a lac of strength training.

Friday:
-2 miles easy breezy
-Upper body weights. Chest and arms still soar from Wednesday.

Saturday:
-7 miles! This is my farthest distance this season, HOORAY. I was very nervous, and my poor sweet Garmin was not working, so I had to gauge time by my cell phone. My finish time of 1:26 puts me just over pace at 12:18. That finish time doesn't include the 5-minute coughing fit I had when pausing for some Gatorade. UGH!

Anyway, I'm just happy I met every goal this week. I hope to string many similar weeks together like this and achieve some good results come the end of the summer. WOO HOO!!!

Well it's late and I'm tired, sorry my writing isn't any more entertaining.

You'll NEVER BELIEVE what I did today!!!!!

1) Strength training earlier this evening! (at home, b/c I may never be able to go to the gym again until my girls go off to college, and then I might be too broke for a membership.)

2) I wanted something warm and toasty that would bring me some comfort while watching a sad new episode of L&O SVU about mental illness. Anyhoo, I had already told myself that I could have my favorite soup (which is full of sodium and 6 WW points, even though I only have 1 point left for today. BUT I HAD SOME PLAIN HOT TEA INSTEAD.

I am as amazed as you.