Reboot Weekend

Since I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in April, I've been playing things safe, which means my workouts have been on the easy side. While we were really good about eating healthfully (most of the time) and getting regular workouts in (plus the occasional trek up a mountain) whenever vacations come in to play, regular schedules are thrown far out the window. All this leads to one major fitness funk and the need for a reboot!


Thursday on the way to work I had the grand idea of creating a weekend focused on fitness and health so I got to work and this is what I came up with.


Saturday morning I started with a 3 mile run (per my half-marathon training schedule). I got up at 7:15 and was out a little before 8am. It was going to be a hot day; high 70's and a bit humid at that time. I felt good as I started off and didn't think it was too hot. There were a lot of people out and I was thinking of everyone over in Queens running the half-marathon hoping they were all doing well. My legs felt great until....they didn't. Out of nowhere I could hardly run another step. It was the strangest thing I've ever experienced and my run ended up being one of the worst I've ever experienced. It was absolutely demoralizing. When I got home I was hot, frustrated and confused. Not a great way to start my weekend. But, I had to put it behind me and move on because I had plans.


Next up was Yoga at Yoga to the People. The classes at the East Village location are supposed to be Power Vinyasa Flow, but Saturday morning it was more like a hot yoga class. The 2nd floor studio was full when I arrived but there was room in the bigger studio on the 3rd floor so I took a spot and laid down for a few minutes before class started trying to put my head back in the right space.

This was my first yoga class in since before my injury. The instructor was great, the music was great, the class was full of everyone from very experienced yogis to newbies. I fall somewhere in between. If you didn't know better, by the looks of the guy on the mat behind me you would have thought we were in a Bikram yoga class! Yes, it was pretty hot in there but it felt great to move and stretch. My head was falling back into place and I was getting centered.


After class I picked up a smoothie from Liquiteria (which I've been wanting to try for a while now) as I headed to Union Square to meet up with Woody for the farmer's market and our weekly trip to Trader Joe's.

cold deliciousness + protein!

By the time we got home I was still feeling a bit dejected and annoyed by my earlier disaster run, so after we unloaded everything I grabbed my headphones, keys and water and headed to the gym. The place was empty so I jumped on an elliptical to make amends. This workout was much better. Only 35minutes, but they were pretty solid and strong minutes alternating resistance and speed. I only found it slightly odd that the new hot dog vendor on the corner thought he could make a sale to my sweaty self only seconds after I left the gym by offering me a "sweet hot dog" in 89' heat!


After I showered and ate, we headed out to cross something off our 'summer to do list.' Even though I had a lock and we took very little with us, we weren't quite prepared as we should have been! The Downtown Boathouse on Pier 40 (Houston St) has kayaks that you can use for free and I've been wanting to check it out! When we were in Seattle we kayaked from West Seattle and now that the water was cleared by the DEP after the major sewage spill (yes, seriously. It was gross) we were going to kayak in the Hudson! 


So, it turns out these kayaks aren't very waterproof. They use sit-on-top kayaks, which I've never seen, and have holes in the bottom of them so water sloshes in and out the entire time! I'm pretty certain that the volunteers who work there know from 100 ft away who the newbies are, because they're wearing khaki shorts instead of bathing suits! Still, we had come all the way there, we were going to do it! Thankfully I had worn running shorts that dry quickly. Woody, on the other hand, was one of those khaki-short-wearing-newbies! Poor guy. You have to stay in the bay, so there's not a lot of exploring to do, but we stayed in for a little more than a half hour (when it's really busy there's a 20min time limit) paddling around the boats and contending with the big waves that seemingly came from nowhere! Even though it took a while for us to dry off, we had a great time!

I spent the next hour or so at home cooking up some of the great food we got at the market then called it a day. I had a big day ahead of me on Sunday.


Sunday morning my alarm went off at 6:35am. My training plan called for a 5mile run and I was going to get this done. I was not going to let Saturday's run get the better of me but since it was much more humid out, I opted to run on the treadmill in the gym in our building. It opens earlier than our usual gym and the a/c is better! I finished my five miles and felt better about my running. Must have been a weird fluke, right?

Run. Done.

I headed back to our apartment, put on some dry clothes and headed out for my first Physique 57 class. I've been interested in this since they opened several years ago but for one reason or another (mostly cost) I had always put it off. The 9:30am class was the perfect time and they're running a deal for newbies - buy one class, get a second free! I couldn't pass that up. My shoulders were already hurting a bit due to the downward dogs of Saturday's yoga class, but I was ready to tackle this with an unsuspecting eagerness. I had no idea what I was really in for. 

Alex, the instructor, introduced herself to me and asked if I had any injuries she needed to know about and tipped me off that I needed to set up with the weights in the middle of the room rather than at the bar. Less than 10 minutes into class my arm muscles were burning. Then my quads, calfs, and abs. There were only 6 people in the class, which was great because she was able to work with us and correct my posture and positions throughout the hour. (the class after seemed much bigger) I didn't do it all perfectly, but I worked hard, got a lot of it and my muscles are better for it. Definitely different than any other class I've taken and I hope to incorporate a few of the moves into my regular workouts. And I'll be better prepared next time!

A VitaCoco was very much needed on my walk home (about a mile and a half?) and the rest of the day was spent going to the New Amsterdam Market, cleaning, making granola and dinner, reading and blogging. My weekend was not just about running around and sweating, it also needed some relaxation, healthy eating and a mental boost as well.


Next weekend, my parents will be in town, so it'll be pretty active as well, but in other ways!

• What were you up to over the weekend?
• What are your goals for the week?
• How are you doing on checking off you 'summer to-do items'?

************

Saturday's workout -

3mile run

35min elliptical

1hr yoga class

30min kayaking

stretching

Sunday's workout -

5mile run

1hr Physique 57class

stretching

Today's workout -

35min elliptical
2x15 upright row
2x16 leg curl
2x20 leg extension
stretching
100 ab exercises