Flights are booked!

The big news of this week is that WE BOOKED OUR FLIGHTS TO PARIS!!! Whee! Dan and I will be spending 10 days in Paris, with the potential for a day trip or two out of Paris. The booking of flights has absolutely lit a fire under me and gotten me suuuper excited about this race. Unfortunately, that didn't really translate into much running this week...

This week I was supposed to:
Monday: Run OFF
Tuesday: TBD Ran 4 treadmill miles
Wednesday: Run OFF
Thursday: Signature FHIX at the Fhitting Room - check!
Friday: OFF - check! :)
Saturday: Reinvention Chair at Chaise 23 Walked all around the park with Dan
Sunday: Full body workout at Barry's Bootcamp - check!

Dan and me taking advantage of the fall foliage in CP!

Even though I didn't get in the two runs I'd had planned, I'm glad I got in four "workout" days (even if one of the "workout" days was just walking aimlessly through the park!). Still, on Saturday, I know I walked almost 14,500 steps thanks to my trusty little Fitbit. 

Tracking steps, miles, floors, and more!

I got the Fitbit One after I went to Rancho La Puerta for (the best) week (ever) in October with my mom. In addition to zillions of fitness and wellness classes, delicious vegetarian meals, and countless ways to relax and work out, they also supply you with a pedometer to borrow for the week. I was often surprised at the number of steps I took per day, and for someone who's more or less glued to a screen throughout the day, I thought it would be a great reminder to get up and move throughout the day. I thought about how I mostly sit throughout the workday, getting up pretty infrequently, and thought this would be a good motivator - and it totally is! Upon hearing about this, my very kind grandmother offered to get my mom and me one, and we took her up on that sweet gesture! I love being able to check in on my progress throughout the day and enjoy the motivating messages my little Fitbit delivers (including "SMOOCHES MARGARET" (also, smooches?) and "UCANDOIT MARGARET"). I can also sync it with other apps, like RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal. All in all, it's been an excellent gift!

Back in September, I signed up for a Classtivity Passport (not a referral link), and they sucked me into purchasing a three-month ClassPass with the promise of a $100 Lululemon gift card if I completed three months (a promotion that was not specific to me, but to anyone who wanted a ClassPass). Because of this ClassPass, I've been able to go to some awesome classes, including Refine Method (no longer accepting the ClassPass, but still awesome), Revolve, Fhitting Room, and Barry's Bootcamp. The ClassPass lets you go to up to three classes at one venue, compared to the Passport which makes you go to 10 different venues. And for $99? Definitely a great deal for these boutique spots out there!

This past week I had an awesome class at the Fhitting Room with Daury and Julia (her awesome blog!) on Thursday, and was delivered a serious butt-kicking at Barry's Bootcamp by Noah on Sunday. 

The Fhitting Room, via

I'd been to the Fhitting Room once before and really loved the class. I'd had Daury as an instructor, but was new to Julia. Julia is small but very mighty - she has some serious muscle and is a STRONG lady. I really liked this Fhitting Room class, but I do not like how much time they take to demo each move before each new section of class. Maybe it's just me being used to Refine where you go from move to move with absolutely NO breaks, but I found myself getting antsy and ready to GO while they were showing us how NOT to do a move. I'd rather see it performed correctly multiple times than be left with an image of how I should NOT do the move. But aside from that, I do like how we use a ton of different equipment and used every muscle group. I also really liked doing the rounds for time - we did one of 7 reps each of squat/overhead press, kettle bell swings, and burpees for 7 minutes, and I nearly completed I was definitely sore the next day!

Barry's - treadmills and steps, which really serve as benches, via

Barry's was another GREAT workout. I've only been three times, but I've started on the treadmill every time - and I don't think I ever want to try starting on the floor! We did "Seven Minutes in Heaven" - 1 minute at 6.5, 1 minute at 7.5, 1 minute at 8.5, 1 minute at 6.5, 1 minute at 8.5, 1 minute at 9.5, 1 minute at 6.5. We followed that up with a floor workout including chest presses, squats, and lunges. There were only 15 lb dumbbells sitting around so I used those, even though I wanted to use something a little lighter. The next treadmill workout involved running for 3 mins, then doing all sorts of tricky things at various inclines and speeds. I was glad Noah just called out what we should do so I didn't have to think, but it was tough! On the 15% incline, I think I got to about a 6.7 on the speed and it was not easy! In the last floor workout, we did plank/row/knee, bicep curls, squat presses and more. I was a (happy) sweaty mess by the end!

This week I am winging it a bit since I will be home for Thanksgiving, but thanks to a very fitness-focused dad, we have a treadmill, bike, P90X DVDs, and weights at home - everything I might need for a good workout!

Here's the plan:
Monday: Cardio Boxing at Exceed
Tuesday: RIP Ride at Revolve (this will cap off my 10 classes in November!)
Wednesday: Most likely OFF
Thursday: Pre-turkey run
Friday: Post-turkey run
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: Pre-bus run (?)

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

2013 Running Recap

After a long blogging hiatus, I'm coming back to it - I'm running the Paris marathon in April and want to make sure I can stay on track with training!

Here's a quick rundown of the past while of running:

Ran the NYC Half Marathon in March in 1:50:02. It was a freezing cold race the whole time. I can't say I had the best time during this race, though the smile below says otherwise! Not only was it cold, but the second half of the race was just kind of boring for me. Yet I have still registered for the lottery to run it in 2014...we shall see!

Blurry and cold!

Obviously I had to run another half to get that below 1:50, and I'd actually registered for the Long Branch Half before I got into the NYC Half - so off to New Jersey I went with my friend Christine! This was actually a really fun race - pretty good crowds, had fun, generally enjoyed myself - and ran it in 1:49:25!

Loved this race!

Around this time I wasn't running a lot, but was going to Refine a lot! I think it helped a lot with my strength and endurance. But as you know, it's sort of important to run if you want to run well/fast. When I don't really have a goal, it's hard for me to focus. And for whatever reason, I was just not that into running this year - which made me really glad that I hadn't registered for a marathon this year! I did have one more half marathon to run in September, the Zooma Cape Cod Half! It was a small race, really fun, flat in the first half and loads of hills in the second half. I finished it in 1:51:59, which I was really happy with!

Even happier that there was champagne at the finish line!

Colleen came in 3rd in our age group in the half, Christine powered through despite not feeling the best, and Amanda rocked her first race in the 10k! It was a beautiful day and we had a great time hanging out in Cape Cod afterward.

If that wasn't enough running for the year, I also ran the Army 10 Miler in October. I ran that in 1:26:04 - no music, ran with a friend, and had run 4 fast miles the day before, so I will take it!

So much for not being that into running this year. I'm glad I got these races in, but it's definitely shown me how important it is to train! Tempo, speed, and long runs really do make a difference! Paris training will absolutely incorporate those!

Hoping to blog more regularly from now on - here are my workouts from the week:
Monday: Candlelit Flow at Sacred Sounds
Tuesday: RIP Ride at Revolve
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Refine Method
Friday: OFF
Saturday: 4 mile run
Sunday: Full body workout at Barry's Bootcamp

Next week's workout plan:
Monday: Run
Tuesday: TBD
Wednesday: Run
Thursday: Signature FHIX at the Fhitting Room
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Reinvention Chair at Chaise 23 (might cancel/change, not sure)
Sunday: Full body workout at Barry's Bootcamp

See you next week!