Fitness NYC

I had an awesome weekend! I’m not even sad it’s Monday because I’m still in such a good mood.

The weekend kicked off with an urban picnic.  After work, I made a stop and Whole Foods Bowery and Luke’s Lobster to create a Cape Cod-style picnic for Frank and I.

On the menu:

• Berries
• Salads (goat cheese cranberry for me, cesar for him)
• Potato salad
• Lobster rolls
• Crab claws with the best cocktail sauce ever
• Seltzer+diet coke
• Chips (which came with the lobster rolls but weren’t consumed)

Delicious.

On Saturday, I had all kinds of bachelorette party fun lined up.  You might know the bride:

 Dori!

We started out with a great workout class at Refine.  The 90s playlist was seriously baller. Plus, we all wore tiaras through the entire workout.  Tiaras might be the new headband.  The tiara stayed on my head better than any headband ever has!!!

Next up DryBar:

It was my first blow out ever!  I selected the Cosmopolitan.

While my hair was styled, I sat back while they served me wine and fruit.  Crazy, stupid, love was on, so the experience was all the more enjoyable.

Life is good.

Viola, all blown out:

Sadly, my baby fine hair doesn’t hold curl and the look above lasted all of 45 minutes before flopping. But it didn’t matter because I was with these lovely ladies…

Next up, Beauty and Essex, a place I love!

Dinner was great and the company was better. I can’t wait for your wedding, Dori!

Other highlights of the weekend included, an awesome Uplifting Strength class with Michelle.  Bridesmaid dress shopping and chatting with Liz!  I owe you all a wedding update.  :) And last but not least, dinner at Sushi Samba with Bo and Ashley.

Yes, it was a good weekend!  Next weekend should be great too!  We just booked (literally today) a trip to Newport, Rhode Island for Memorial Day.  Neither of us have ever been there, so if anyone has recommendations, send them my way!

I never know where the days go!  But boy was I happy to login in to wordpress and see a much improved drag drop photo option! Major score.

Saturday I went to Self Workout in the Park! If there are any Chicago readers out there, SWITP hits Chi-town on June 1st!

I actually spent almost the entire time doing the workouts and didn’t spend much time grabbing freebies from the sponsors.  The lines were just too long!  I did grab some delicious Smart Food popcorn selects.  That stuff is good, check out the Honey Cinnamon Pecan Granola-Coated version.

I also grabbed plenty of this:

I really only like Mango flavored coconut water, but as long as there is mango, I’m a happy camper.

The classes were good, I was exhausted by the end.  As always, Masala Bhangra was my favorite!

I went to Chopt to refuel after the workout.  I decided to try the Melrose seasonal salad: Romaine, mesclun, avocado, broccoli, quinoa, peas, cucumber and goat cheese (subbed) with yogurt dressing.

I find it’s a little cheaper to order a salad from the menu rather than create my own.  This was an okay combo–lots of green veggies, but I discovered that I really don’t like the texture of quinoa in salad. Is that weird?

The next morning, I kind of decided to run the Japan Day 4 miler on a whim.  I am way behind on my 9+1, so I just hopped into a cab up to the park and registered.  There was way more security than I have ever experienced before and I didn’t realize that when I checked my jacket, I had to put my number in my clear plastic bag rather than just pin on the little tear off from my bib. After showing me the new bag check requirements,  the security guy was like, “you know you have to pin that on you, right?”  He was pointing to the bib in my hand. I blushed and assured him that I was aware that I had to wear my race bib during the race.

I was pretty sore, but I took the first mile real easy, around 10 minute mile, which was all I was hoping for really.  The next mile I felt okay, so I pushed a bit more.  The third mile I was just trying to get through the hills.  The fourth and final miles, I was just ready to be done. I love how familiar every step of the 4 mile loop is for me. It’s like an old friend.  While I didn’t really push that hard at all, I ended up with a pace not too far off from my PR, which was shocking.  However, I also realized that I really have no business running the Brooklyn Half on Saturday. My endurance is just not there yet.  Not sure what I am going to do about that one!  Please excuse me while I mull it over…

Have a wonderful night, ya’ll.

It’s official, I am sore!  I’ve had three great workout in three days and they kicked my booty!

After last week was filled with fun, parties, events and weddings, it was great to sweat out some of that celebrating.

I started my Cinco de Mayo with a 7 mile run down the east river to the Brooklyn Bridge. I forgot how great the people watching on long runs can be.  Last week, I watched many couples strolling across the Williamsburg Bridge with their La Columbe. This past weekend, I literally ran right into a movie set, until I was chased out my some assistants.  It may not be the prettiest path, but you just never know what you are going to run into on the east river.

The Brooklyn Half is only two weeks away, so it’s nose to the grindstone with training.  I don’t think I am going to taper, as I really need to get in some milage this weekend.

Speaking of running, on Monday, I hit up Barry’s Bootcamp with Meri.

It kills me every time.  It’s a workout you could do on your own at any gym, and yet, I almost don’t mind paying to have an instructor kick my butt into oblivion.  It was Barry’s Classic:  two treadmill sets and two strength sets. Here is one of our treadmill workouts that is easy to incorporate into your gym routine:

• Warm up: 2 minutes jog
• 1 minute of each:
• 7.0 (or starting at 8.0 if you are fast!)
• 7.2
• 7.4
• 7.6
• 7.8
• 8.0
• 7.8
• 7.6
• 7.4
• 7.2
• 7.0
• 2 minute cool down

Yesterday morning I met Ashley at Uplift for a 6:30AM workout. I went from Barry’s to Uplift with only dinner and sleep in between.  The cardio class is really growing on me.  It’s one song of cardio (6 total throughout the class) and then a set of strength focusing on one muscle set.  There was lots of arm work yesterday. This explains why I can barely lift my arms this morning.  Fortunately, there’s no heavy lifting on the schedule.

I was hoping to get in 5 miles outside today, but the crazy rain means I might be treadmill bound this afternoon! Fingers crossed for evening sun!

A few weeks ago, Fitmapped held an event at the Fitness Cell Collective.  I’ve heard some buzz about the collective, so I was eager to check it out.

The studio is set up with a nice lobby area with a snack bar.  The workout area is pretty much a gym with many different types of equipment from rowers to suspension systems to weights and steps.

The Cell aims to provide full mind/body conditioning for an overall well-balanced lifestyle. The classes are taught in a small group, semi-private or private setting.

I definitely like the Cell’s mission and I was excited to get to try a KettleX class with Lorna.  

The class was a great balance of cardio and strength. We moved from standing kettle bell swing variations to toe touches on the step to push ups and planks with and without the bell.  I liked that we didn’t do the same thing more than twice, so there was a lot of variation.  It was a challenging class even with a light bell.  Lorna was great about checking form and pushing us harder throughout the workout.

While I worked up a good sweat, I have never been the biggest fan of kettle bells. As in other Kettlebell classes I have taken, I got a decent workout, but I didn’t actually enjoy the class all that much.  The Fitness Cell offers plenty of non-kettleball classes, the Barre Drill class looks right up my alley.

The studio is located at 328 East 61st Street.  Individual classes are $50 each (pretty steep) and a 21 day trial membership is $300.

On a side note, there was a cute article in the Post about people meeting at Fitness Studios. The article gives Flywheel credit for Jake Gyllenhaal meeting Emily DiDonata.  Apparently workout first dates are becoming really popular on sites like match and Howaboutwe, up 15% for last year.

What do you think about a sweaty first date at Flywheel?

This whole week went by so fast!  It was go, go, go, work, work, work, but definitely lots of fun too.  I just wish the weekend wasn’t almost over! I need another day. But before I forget, I should announce the winner of the Self Workout in the Park Giveaway.

Thanks for all the entries!  I used RIG to pick a winner:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

14

Timestamp: 2013-04-28 21:41:44 UTC

And the winner is Margaret of Have a Good Run!

Congrats Margaret, you are going to LOVE Masala Bhangra.

If you didn’t win, you can still register online! I hope to see you all there!

In other news, I joined Sarah Fit’s Diet Bet yesterday!!  I hope that this will help kickstart the weight I’d like to lose before my wedding.  My strategy is just to make one or two better food decisions each day and then work on cutting portions a little bit!  For example, limiting snacks to fruit, veggies and raw almonds or having avocado or cheese in my salad, not both.

On the workout front, this week was a good one with lots of variety!

•  Revolve Real Ride
•  Pure Barre Class
• Barry’s Bootcamp.  It was my first class with Harvey, who is awesome.
• 45 minute cardio gym sessions x 2
• 6 mile run

I have to say, this is my favorite Athleta collection so far!  The muted colors feel very urban and easy to wear.  

I like the little details, like the paisley on the waistband and leg of the pants!

Lots of seamless bras, tops and pants!

While I hope I don’t need a vest this warm for a while, it looks so cozy.

Happy Sunday!

Self Workout in the Park is always one of my favorite fitness events to the year! I’ve been almost every year since I moved to the city 11 years ago–you can read my recaps from 2012 and 2010, not sure where all the other recaps are hiding

I love the full day of mini workouts, fun sponsor tents and the great energy of begin surrounded by women on a healthy mission!

This year, I have two tickets to giveaway!  One reader will win a pass for herself and a friend to attend the annual Self Workout in the Park  on Saturday, May 11^th, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Central Park. 

This year, in addition to full day of classes from crunch, beauty and nutritional consultations and lots of freebies, the celebrity host will be Shay Mitchell (of ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars) and there will be a special guest appearance by Skinnygirl Daily founder Bethenny Frankel!

It should be an AWESOME day!  To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on why you want to attend Self Workout in the Park by Thursday, April 25th at 11:59PM!

This morning I went on a nice run along the East River, and I have to say, it felt good.  On my way south, I was one of the few people who were out. It was a strange solitude. It reminded me of the famous book, The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner.  I wasn’t lonely though. It was more of a serene feeling where thoughts could float through my head with abandon.  I lovc those runs.

As I said, the run felt great. It wasn’t fast or particularly strong, but I was so happy to be running and enjoying it.  I’ve been away for so long that I am happy to finally be recommitting. I remember why I love training for a race so much.  The sense of accomplishment is indescribable. I’m not going to say that I am ready for the Brooklyn Half. I’m scared out of my mind still.  But at least, I’ll know that I’ve tried!

I’ve stopped making excuses and started getting out there. I’ve worked out in one way or another everyday this week.  That used to be the norm, but lately I’ve been letting my 3 mile commute count as my workout.  However, between spinning, a Fitmapped event at the Fitness Collective and running, I’m back on track .

That’s all for now, but as a teaser, I’ve got a fun fitness giveaway coming up on Friday, make sure to check back!