Weekly Workouts- A really great week of workouts

August 12, 2013August 11, 20134 Comments

Good morning! Phew! What a weekend:) Christy and Jamie’s wedding was an absolute BLAST- I’ll post a full recap later this week!

Last week was an awesome week of workouts. I got in some of my workouts in the morning, went to a UXF Burn training, subbed a class and did LOTS of dancing at the wedding. I was really happy for my long-overdue rest day yesterday 🙂

Last Week’s Workouts

Monday- I got up and ran 3.5 fairly speedy miles. I’m usually much slower when I run in the morning (10-20 seconds/mile slower), but on Monday I ran a 5K just 4 seconds slower than my 5K PR time. Weird, but I’ll take it! Per usual, after my run, I did some core strength.

Tuesday- I got up to workout before work again- loved it! I did this workout, which seemed much harder than it did when I taught it. I think it’s because I’m never fully awake when I workout in the morning so I don’t have the energy I do when I workout after work.
Wednesday- I ran a nice 5K before teaching. The view of the Charles never gets old! Map My Run said I ran it in less than 26 minutes, but my watch said around 26:15, so I’m not sure if I PR’d or not. After I ran, I taught an awful UXF Burn class. I say awful because it was really not fun… the moves were hard and I was struggling! haha I hope I wasn’t the only one who felt that way 😉

Thursday- I taught a fun SHRED workout (I’ll post it Wednesday!) and then kickboxing. We worked so hard in kickboxing- holy high intensity cardio class!
Friday- I went to a UXF Burn training- we are releasing a new format and I’m SO excited about it 🙂 We went through and did workouts of the original versions and then we did the new 3-2-1 format workout and core workout. Working out with instructors is SO different- we all push ourselves much more than we would normally. I was pretty sore on Saturday!

Saturday- I subbed a SHRED class at the Central Square BSC. Before teaching, I did 30 minutes on the elliptical to loosen up my tight muscles. The class was SO FUN! So much energy. Loved it! My second workout of the day was most certainly dancing at Christy and Jamie’s wedding… you know it’s a good wedding when you start dancing BEFORE dinner is served 😉
Sunday- Rest day! I hadn’t taken a full rest day in 8 or 9 days which is really bad 😦

This Week’s Workouts

Monday- I will have hopefully run by the time this post goes up! If I don’t get up to workout, I’ll do something after work.
Tuesday- I’m going to try and workout in the morning again. I want to start moving stuff to my new apartment this week so it would be nice to have a free night.
Wednesday- Probably a run then teaching UXF Burn. I am introducing the new format this week- can’t wait to see the faces of the members when I tell them to do 3 minutes of jump squats 😉
Thursday- The usual! SHRED and Cardio Kickboxing.
Friday- I think I’ll rest on Friday since I have to teach on Saturday and I’ll be moving all weekend… that will be a workout!
Saturday- It’s my Saturday to teach kickboxing at the Y! Can’t wait! My parents are coming down after to help me move… yuck!
Sunday- Moving!

Questions for you: What’s the best workout you did last week? Do you feel like your energy is lower in the morning? Have you made any new PR’s (personal records) lately?

10 Things To Do Before Summer Is Over

August 9, 20134 Comments

Hey Friends! Happy Friday! I hope you’ve all had a good week. Mine was relatively uneventful, but I worked out before work on Monday and Tuesday and it was SO NICE to have some extra time after work to do, well, whatever I wanted! My Tuesday workout wasn’t terrific (I did one of my recent UXF workouts and it is really hard to do those first thing when I don’t have the energy I do at the end of the day!), but it was something so that’s all that matters!

Anyway, I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but ever since August 1st came around, it seems like everyone is officially doing a “summer countdown”. I don’t know about you, but I am NOT ready to even think about summer being over! I know I’m probably not alone when I say this, but I cannot believe how fast the summer has FLOWN by. But! Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time to do fun summer things before we officially step into fall.

10 Things To Do Before Summer Is Over

1. Go to a local produce stand and buy fresh summer veggies! Or, visit a friend who has a garden; I’m sure they would love to share the fruits (err, veggies) of their labor. You’ll be amazed at how fresh your salads and meals taste when you eat freshly and locally grown veggies.

2. Go out on an ice cream adventure! There’s something about going to an ice cream store just to get an ice cream cone. And when I say “ice cream cone”, I mean just that: get real, full fat ice cream. None of that “fro-yo” crap (ok, jk, it’s not crap, but get the good stuff!).

3. Get outside and enjoy the weather! Go for a run along the water or a pretty trail, grab a friend and go for a power walk to catch up, get an iced coffee and stroll through your city or town. Soak up the nice weather while we still have it!

4. Find a new beach, grab a good book or magazine and a cooler and take an afternoon for yourself to relax and chill out.

5. Go shopping! Stores are FULL of summer sales right now, but summer isn’t over yet so everything that’s on sale is still great to wear for the rest of the season. And, getting a good deal is a great feeling 😉

6. Check out a farmers market and talk with the vendors. They always have loads of information to share! If you’re in the Boston area, you have to check out the SOWA Open Market in the South End. I have only been once, but I’m dying to get back!

7. Find an outdoor workout class or boot camp to take. My friend, Athena recently went to an outdoor CrossFit Class that looked like SO MUCH fun!

8. Find a fun roof deck or outside bar to go to and spend an afternoon there! Day drink and push all your other “to-do’s” aside! Take advantage of nice weather and the great mood it puts people in.

9. “Summer clean”. Go through your closet and bureau and clean out everything you haven’t worn in the past year. I recently did this and couldn’t believe how much I could donate!

10. Make a fun summer cocktail. Sangria is always a good choice and Rachel provided a delicious recipe in her Guest Post a few weeks ago!

Focus on the now and stop your “days left of summer” countdown. That little trip you’ve been putting on? Plan it! That recipe you’ve wanted to try? Make it! The new restaurant you’ve been wanting to go to? Go! Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Questions for you: What’s something on your “summer list” that you still want to do? Favorite roof deck bar? Have you been to any outdoor fitness classes? What’s something I missed?

Gym Friends, Russell Tavern, Poolside, Tia’s

July 30, 2013July 28, 20132 Comments

I feel like the month of July has been so incredibly busy for me between work, travel, teaching, babysitting, etc. that this past weekend felt almost weird because of my lack of plans and the fact that I had, gasp!, free time! What a concept, right? On Saturday, I even felt, dare I say, bored. I know, I know. I should relish in the times where I don’t have much going on, but when I go from being SO busy to being SO NOT busy, it’s hard to know how to flip the switch and be ok with having free time.

Let’s back up, though, shall we? My gym friends, Athena and Ashley and I have been trying to get together for months and this past Friday we were finally able to align our schedules and make plans. I love hanging out with these girls because they “get” me and my love of the gym and teaching and blog blogging so we always have loads to talk about and I always leave feeling like I have more clarity about whatever little issue I might have.

We decided to go to Russell House Tavern in Harvard Square. I’ve eaten there before, but this time was more fun because it turns out I know the manager! He is my old boss, Mr. Shaw’s (I talk about summers at Shaw’s Ridge Farm with Meredith and the rest of the crew) nephew and he used to manage Red Line, which was another favorite of mine in Harvard Square. Anyway! The 3 of us girls grabbed drinks at the bar while we waited for our table to be ready. We all got cocktails instead of wine, what a shocker!

Delish! Friday had been a stressful day at work so this was juuuust what I needed to relax! Tyler came to grab us shortly after we finished our cocktails and brought us to our table. He walked us through the menu and said that sharing small plates was the best option. Um, sharing plates? Duh, that’s my favorite thing to do! Lucky for us, he sent out 3 absolutely delicious appetizers for us to try before we placed any of our own orders.

We tried the Smoked Pigs Tail Pierogi, Crispy Poached Farm Eggs and Fiore Di Nonno Burrata. Holy.Yum. The pierogi was my favorite, but the fried poached egg was a close second. Many thanks to Tyler for sending these out to us!!

Food blogger in action! Loved that I wasn’t the only weird one taking pictures of my food 😉

After we finished those, we decided to order a couple more things: Braised Beef Tongue Meatballs and the crab cakes. Again, both of these were outstanding! I never thought I would eat a beef tongue meatball and enjoy it, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it!

I could have finished there, but since we still had wine and more conversation topics to cover, we placed an order for a flatbread pizza. I forget what we ordered, but it was awesome!

All in all, it was a really great night! Good drinks, great food and even better company! Can we get the next girls night on the calendar soon, please?!

On Saturday, I got up early (like 6:45am early, which is really early for a Saturday!) and headed to Brockton for the Color Me Rad run. I’ll do a full recap on that later- it was a blast!

Shortly after I got back, though, I found myself feeling bored! I had showered and cleaned and it was only 11am. I decided to go to the Somerville Pool, and while it’s not necessarily the nicest place to be, it beat packing up and heading to the beach.

Laying by the pool for the afternoon helped to not only pass some time, but helped to force me to relax! But, just as I was starting to get antsy, I texted my friend, Jessi, she said she was around and would love to get drinks. Perfect! While I waited for Jessi and her friend, Kathleen, to pick me up, I poured myself a glass of wine that my friend, JP had sent me! Last week, he sent me the sweetest “Moe Care Package”, equipped with some of my favorite things!

J.Lohr is one of my favorite Chardonnays so I couldn’t wait to open it!

Shortly after I poured this glass, the girls arrived. We headed to Jessi’s apartment in Charlestown and had another glass of wine while we figured out where we should go. She got these adorable Kate Spade wine glasses for her birthday and all I have to say, is I am very glad I didn’t break it!

We decided to go to Tia’s since they have the best outdoor bar area. The food isn’t great and I think it’s overpriced, but if you’re looking to just get drinks outside on a nice evening, it’s definitely the place to be! I ended up running into an old friend, so I caught up with him for a while- I love how Boston is small enough where you can run into people you know in random places! All in all, it was a really great “spur of the moment” night out!

Questions for you: Have you ever been to Russell House Tavern or Tia’s? What’s your favorite outdoor bar in Boston? Do you tend to order drinks/cocktails or wine/beer when you go out?

Weekly Workouts: On the road & back at the gym

July 29, 2013July 28, 20134 Comments

Good morning! How’s everyone doing today? Even though I was on the road for part of the week last week, I still had a really great week of workouts AND I was able to teach all my classes- win, win! I’m traveling to Atlanta today and tomorrow and am hoping that after that, my work travel will slow down a bit. Don’t worry, I won’t try to run outside like I did the last time I was in Atlanta! I will go to the gym and that’s about it!

Last Week’s Workouts

Monday- I ran 3.25 miles before work and travel. I was having technical difficulties which frustrates me more than it should. My watch battery light was flashing so I used that and then also used Map My Run as backup in case my watch died before my run was over. I accidentally ended my Map My Run workout .25 miles into my run and had to restart it, so that distance was always behind my watch, but then my watch died 2.75 miles into my run so that didn’t matter anyway. Clearly, these are not life altering issues, but they annoy me!
Tuesday- I did a 30 minute hotel room workout that I will post on Wednesday! I know I usually post my class workouts in my Wednesday Workout posts, but I feel like people might like to see more workouts that can be done anywhere, and without any equipment- am I right?
Wednesday- All went well with my flight and I got to the gym super early so I ran 3.5 miles through Cambridge (along the Charles- the view just doesn’t get old) and then taught a new type of format in my UXF Burn class, which I think everyone liked! My hamstrings were REALLY tight the next day!

Thursday- I taught the same format in my SHRED class that I had taught in my UXF Burn class on Wednesday, just with different moves and then I taught kickboxing. It was the same routine I did last week when I nearly drowned in my own sweat, only this time I didn’t sweat so much!
Friday- REST DAY 🙂 Besides lifting my wine glass when I went to dinner with Athena and Ashley 😉
Saturday- I ran the Color Me Rad run with my friend, Lauren, and her friend, Amy. I’ll recap that race later this week!

Sunday- I went to the Wellington BSC and did 30 minutes of cardio on a machine (sometimes doing mindless cardio is exactly what I need/want) and then went to BodyPump. I wish I could have that workout in my schedule once a week- such a good way for me to take time to solely focus on strength training!!

This Week’s Workouts

Monday- I hope to have completed a nice 3-4 mile run by the time this post goes up! I will also do some abs to complete the workout.
Tuesday- I’ll be in Atlanta and will stick to just going to the gym or doing a hotel room workout this week! No running outside for me; I learned my lesson!
Wednesday- Probably some cardio before teaching UXF Burn. Any suggestions from anyone on what type of format you’d like to see or specific exercises/burpees??
Thursday- Teaching SHRED and kickboxing. I want to make a new kickboxing routine and download new music; I’m sick of all my current mixes!
Friday- This might be a rest day again. I have been enjoying Friday’s as rest days!
Saturday- Teaching kickboxing at the YMCA and then heading up to Maine for little Emma’s first birthday!!
Sunday- If I rest on Friday, I’ll probably do something when I’m home in Maine, but I may end up taking another rest day.

Questions for you: What type of workouts would you like to see more/less of? Ones I’ve taught? Hotel room workouts? No weights required? What’s your favorite burpee? Has anyone done the newest BodyPump release? I LOVED it.

Weekend Catch-Up: Babysitting, Lunch at Cafeteria, Lulu Shopping, Sushi, Beach

July 16, 2013July 14, 20131 Comment

All last week I kept looking ahead to my weekend and felt great that it was literally wide open! However, by the time Friday rolled around, pretty much my entire weekend was booked; does this happen to anyone else? Since I am a planner, this isn’t uncommon for me, but it still made me laugh to see how quickly I turned an open, no plan weekend into a relatively busy weekend!

After I taught on Friday, I headed to Newton to babysit Trent and Lila. I met their mom, Renee, back when we used to take yoga every Monday together. I have been babysitting for them for over 3 years at this point; crazy to think it’s been that long! I always have a blast babysitting because the kids are great, it’s fun to catch up with Renee, and because they always have the best snacks and trashy mags for me to read after the kids go to bed 😉

Not a bad way to spend the night! Plus, babysitting money is my Lulu money, so you wanna know shopping was on the agenda for Saturday.

I let myself stay in bed until 9am on Saturday since I didn’t get home until 1am. I originally had plans to go to BodyPump, but realized that my body was exhausted and could use the rest. After I got up, I went to the Christmas Tree Shop and then Target to stock up on things for my trip this week. While I was at Target, I ended up getting a bathing suit for $22!! Love a good deal!

After errands, I showered and then my sister and my friend Lauren and I went into the city and had lunch at Cafeteria. Weekend lunches out require cocktails, right? And, it’s only fitting for me to have a glass of bubbly 😉

To eat, we ordered 3 sandwiches and shared amongst ourselves.

I got the black bean burger, but I’ll spare you the picture since it wasn’t very pretty. Everything tasted great, though!

After lunch, we walked over to the Lululemon. I went with the mission to get a colored pair of spandex shorts, but they only had black ones in my size. Boring 😦 I ended up finding a pair of HOT PINK capris (on sale!) and a bright lime green top instead. I can’t say I was disappointed about my purchases.

Don’t worry, I won’t wear them together 😉

In addition to my new outfit (I am SO excited to workout and wear them now- such a great motivator!), I finally got a new gym bag. I have been on a hunt for a new gym bag for MONTHS, so I’m stoked that I finally found one that I like. It’s really big so it’s perfect for my “work to gym” days (aka, every day).

I love it so much already!!

After shopping, Lauren and I got much-needed pedicures. It’s the little things!

Once we got home, I was absolutely beat and did something I NEVER do: napped! I had dinner plans at 7, but knew I had about an hour that I could allot to napping, or at the very least, resting. It felt great!!

Dinner was at Yoki, which I’ve blogged about on here once or twice before! The sushi is amazing and the Celtics roll is literally the best roll I have ever had!!

Mmmm 🙂

We were finally graced with a really sunny day on Sunday, so Lauren and Danielle and I decided to go to the beach! We went to Nahant, and it was already jam packed at 10am. Even though it was a beautiful sunny beach day, it was almost TOO hot.

Nonetheless, we lasted about 3 hours and then grabbed lunch at Tides, which is right at the start of the beach.

I got a Teriyaki Grilled Chicken Wrap on a whole wheat tortilla with a side of steamed broccoli. I loved that they had healthy, yet yummy, food options!

To counteract my healthy meal, I enjoyed a Blueberry beer!

There’s just something about an ice cold beer that quenches thirst unlike no other. Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels this way!

Once we got home from the beach, I did some pre-blogging for the week (have a few guest blogs for you- get excited!), cleaned up the apartment, did laundry and went to the grocery store. Since I will be away most of the week, I just grabbed some fruit and a salad to eat with the other half of my wrap that I got at Tides. Danielle and I did walk to get an ice cream. I was craving one bad! We ended up sharing one since they didn’t have kiddie sizes.

Phew! That was a long weekend recap; if you made it this far, thank you!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite hot weather treat? What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? Ever been to Nahant beach? What is a MA beach that I have to try?

PS!! Check out the size of this summer squash that I picked from my garden!!!