fitness Archives - Page 3 of 4

Work It Out 5/7-5/13

May 15, 2012 · by Ari ·

Well…kind of. It was actually less coming off of a big race that made last week hard, and more just the fact that my life was crazy. I had a rough tech week, and then we were in shows all weekend. I don’t necessarily feel great about the fact that I only worked out 4 days last week, but I’m not going to waste time beating myself up about it. Sometimes other things come first, and that just has to be okay. My body probably needed the break as much as my brain did, and I’m definitely one of those “The universe knows better than me, and everything happens for a reason” types, so it happened, and this week it won’t. Tada.

Here’s how I worked it out last week

Monday: 3 miles with Jason. My legs were still pretty sore, but an easy paced run was actually nice and felt really good! We picked up the pace in the last mile, then after our 3, we walked for a while as our cool down.

Tuesday: Off. I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Monday evening. I was stressed out, frustrated, and in general in pretty bad spirits. I’d like to say that was just Tuesday, but it continued throughout most of the week. Oh well, I’m better now! Anyway, I skipped the gym and went shopping.

Wednesday: 22 mi bike ride with Steve. I felt good by Wednesday, and I really enjoyed the long ride. I would have loved to go faster, but poor Steve is stuck with his single speed until he buys his rode bike, so it’s kind of limiting. We still averaged about a 14 mph pace.

Thursday: Linda’s Spin. Awesome as always. I talked myself out of going no less than 11 times before finally getting to the gym, and compromised with myself that instead of doing strength training before like I usually do, I could take some time to stretch and foam roll which felt really good, and by the time class was over, I was like a whole new person!

Friday: 12 mile long run. Oy, This run was tough. Ridiculously tough. The only thing that got my through was having Stacey out there with me! We were both coming off of big races, and by the time we were finishing up, it was already 86 degrees out with no shade in sight! My pace was much slower than usual, but I really felt proud of myself for just getting it done. 6 days after a half marathon. In the heat. I’ll take it.

Saturday: Off.

Sunday: Off.

Sometimes, there are just other things that need to be done. And you know what? It left me motivated and ready to make this week count! Sometimes you just need a little break. Also, long runs now need to start at ridiculous hours if they are going to happen. I’m fine with that. 4am here I come!

How did you work it out last week?

Work It Out 4/30-5/06

May 10, 2012 · by Ari ·

Ummm, it’s Thursday. Whoops. You guys, I have been in the worst mood this week. Seriously, like I feel bad for everyone around me. The other night, I got a text message that annoyed me, and I literally threw my phone on the floor of the car and started screaming obscenities while Nikki drove us home. It was really awesome, and I’m sure she loved the fact that she realized she is working with a grade A nut job.

This morning I was reminded how much working out keeps me sane, and I figured it was finally time to get my act together and recap last week. So, this is how I worked it out last week…

Monday: 6 miles with Jason. Super easy pace, fun, chatty best friend running time. New PDR for Jas!

Tuesday: Bike rid with Steve. I had to miss spin on Tuesday, and no I don’t want to talk about it. I’ve already cried, gone through withdrawals, and I’m dealing with it, okay??? Okay, I’ll stop being so dramatic. For the moment. Steve and I did just under 8 miles to Dutch Bros and back with an average speed of 15.7 average speed.

Wednesday: 4 miles with speedy Ashley. We took it easy for taper week, and covered 4 miles with an average pace of about 9:30. I realized how hard that pace used to feel, and just how far I’ve come!

Thursday: Linda’s Spin. This was my favorite workout of the week!! We’ve been doing this thing where the class is divided into groups and we compete for the most miles. First I asked for my mileage not to count because I was planning to take it easy, and I didn’t want to bring my team down. Linda told me to just use lower resistance. So I lowered my flat road from 10 to 9, then I got super competitive and not only did my group win, but I won for the most miles in the entire class with 22.8 in 49 minutes. Sure, I “forgot” to take it easy, but it was so worth it. I love to win, and I was on a super spinning high all day long!

Friday: Bike ride with Steve. He kept yelling at me to ride slower, and reminding me that I was supposed to be taking it easy. We went suuuuuper slow and covered just under 8 miles to coffee and back, then I met up with Nicole and walked around the duck pond.

Saturday: Whiskey Row 1/2 Marathon. Oh you know, just like any other run up the side of a mountain 😉

Sunday: Bike ride with Steve. My legs and hips were pretty sore, so we went on an easy ride to loosen things up. It started off at little kid training wheel speed, but my legs loosened up pretty quickly, and I actually felt a lot better by the end.

YOUR TURN!! How did you work it out last week? Give me some motivation, because I am having a rough time making it happen this week!

Work It Out 4/23-4/29

April 30, 2012 · by Ari ·

I can’t believe how quickly the last few months have gone by. This was my last real training week before I brave the Whiskey Row half marathon, and the 1700 foot climb over the first 6.5 miles. Shit. Sorry for cursing, but honestly, shit. Not to mention this course starts at 5300 ft and Phoenix is what like 2 ft? I’m excited, though. Totally nervous, but excited. I’ve been training hard, and this is not my goal race. Not for time, anyway. It’s my goal to take on a new challenge and finish strong. Only race day will be able to show what that will mean.

I’m most looking forward to running with Lisa again. And margaritas, naturally. So here’s how I worked it out this week.

Monday: 5 miles with Jason. We ran. Jason PDR’d. We breakfast’d. It was awesome.
Tuesday: Linda’s Spin. This class wasridiculous. Linda came in, and told us we were going to do something different. We all did warm up like normal, cleared our bikes then started over together. She split the class into 4 groups based off where we were sitting and told us we were competing to see which team could complete the most miles while maintaining our individual “flat roads” and keeping up with all of the hills. She even walked around to make sure people weren’t cheating. Once the term competition was involved, I spun my little heart out faster than I knew possible. I was a hot mess. Unfortunately, my group came in third, but I had the highest mileage in my group, and was in the top 5 in the class with 19.7 miles in 43 minutes, with a flat road of 10.
Wednesday: Tempo run. 6 miles with 4 tempo miles @ 9:07. Ran with speed Ashley and ended up with 1 mile warm up, then 9:05, 9:05, 9:07, 8:49, 1 mile cool down. This run was tough, but good.
Thursday: Rest. Welllll, I did walk 2 miles around the duck pond with Kara. Does that count?
Friday: “Long” run. Ran just over 6 miles with Stacey. This run felt great, but my legs are definitely happy for the break they’re getting right now.
Saturday: Bike ride. Not the most ideal circumstances, but my legs felt great, and honestly I felt like if I had brought food along (I got super hungry at the end!), I could have just kept going. Also, if I hadn’t gotten a flat and had to stop, but you know…
Sunday: Rest. That’s two in one week friends. And it was lovely.

Let the taper ~~begin~~ continue!!

How did you work it out this week?

Work It Out 4/16-4/22

April 23, 2012 · by Ari ·

First of all, perhaps you notice something different about the way the blog looks today?? For all like 4 of you who read this through google reader, you should head on over to the site and see what the amazing Liz of Sweet Simplicity Designs set up for me! There’s still a few things I need to do, but I have lots of new pages and fun things for you guys to look at. It’s not all ready just yet, but soon…! I’m so excited to have a custom design that is so me!

Anyway, in work out land, lots of great things happened last week!

I set a new record for miles I’ve run in one week. Last week I ran 25 miles, which may not sound like a lot to you marathoners, but as a 3x a week trying not to avoid injury at all costs runner, it was a new milestone, with my previous highest mileage at 22.

I ran the fastest mile I have ever run without stopping. I used to stop a lot to “stretch” during hard miles when I wanted to run faster. I didn’t really get speed work, I just knew that I wanted times like I saw on other blogs. It wasn’t helpful, and I felt like a big cheater. This week I ran a mile in 8:23, and it was the 3rd mile of my speed work session. I feel great about that. My 7:59 is on the horizon.

I got all of my workouts in. It wasn’t easy. Sometimes it’s hard to juggle things like races, and spin class that aren’t exactly a part of my training plan, but I made it work.

Some not so great things happened, but I’ll get to that.

Monday: 4 miles with Jason. Fun friend running time. Love.
Tuesday: Linda’s Spin. Sweaty love.
Wednesday: 3x1600s @ 8:35 with 800 recovery jogs. I ran with Speedy Ashley. 1 mile warm up, then I ran the 1600s in 8:32, 8:30, 8:23, then cool down to total 6 miles. I kind of thought I was going to die, but every time I go into speed work, I doubt myself and think I can’t do it, then end up exceeding my expectations. It’s difficult to get used to being that uncomfortable, but it’s helping, and it’s probably my favorite type of training run right now.
Thursday: 13 mile bike ride with Steve. Rode to coffee, nice and easy.
Friday: Long Run. 11 super not fun miles. If you want the details, you can link back, but really I was just proud of myself for finishing with some pretty crappy circumstances.
Saturday: Pat’s Run. Way more unpleasant than Friday. Miserable, stomach flu feeling filled race. But I didn’t give up, and that’s what I need to focus on. This weekend taught me a lot about how persistent I am. Sometimes making it through a bad race is so much harder than setting a PR or having a great race.
Sunday: Total rest. Like actual rest. I called in sick. To my own rehearsal. Ummm, I don’t do that. But I was so sick on Saturday, and I knew that if I wanted to actually get better, rest was not only a good idea, but necessary. It’s amazing, if you actually do rest and take care of yourself, that you feel mostly better pretty quickly! Who knew, right? So even though today I still don’t feel 100%, I feel a whole lot better than Friday and Saturday, and I don’t regret taking the time to myself one bit. I came back today feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the week.

How did you work it out last week?? Learn anything life changing? How did you take care of yourself?

No Excuses

April 20, 2012 · by Ari ·

A few years ago I was the *queen* of excuses.

“Everyone else just eats what they want. My body just sucks. Wahhh.”

“I can’t run. I have really short achilles. Waaahhh.”

“I can’t, I can’t, I can’t…”

This morning I had every single excuse to bail on my long run. Some of them were even legit.

I have a race tomorrow
Pretty legit reason right? Tomorrow, I’m running Pat’s run with some of my favorite ladies, and I really want to kick ass and run fast. Scheduling a long run the day before was not my brightest move, but there wasn’t really an other time.

My body feels…off.
I don’t know if that makes sense, but yesterday I woke up with every single muscle in my body feeling tired and sore. Chances are, that just means I’ve worked hard this week, but I just kinda felt like I needed a break, even though all I did yesterday was an easy bike ride.

But many of them were BS, and I knew it.

I have no one to go with.
Suck it up.

I’m tired.
Again, suck it up. Try not staying up til midnight all week when you know you have your alarm set for 6am.

I have a long day ahead of me.
Which will only seem longer if I spend the entire time regretting my laziness.

It’s 5:45am and already 70 degrees.
It will only get hotter later.

I’ve stopped for the bathroom 4 times in the last hour and my stomach is still tied in knots.
Okay, this was almost legit. I woke up with my stomach feeling off, and then proceeded to have the most unpleasant first hour of a run ever.

The first five miles of this run were ridiculously mentally challenging. I came back home after the first half a mile for a good 20 minutes (sorry, I’m trying to keep this not toooo descriptive) before heading back out, had to stop at Cindy and Jacob’s (because stopping at someone’s house and begging to use their bathroom because it’s an emergency isn’t at all embarrassing), then again not even half a mile later. I came up with every reason I should just go home, or ways I could cut my run short, or the minimum amount of mileage I was okay with for that day. The truth is, the minimum amount I was okay with, was the amount freaking scheduled.

11 miles done. No excuses.

The thing is, it came down to 2 things.

This is my last long training run before Whiskey Row. As much as I want to keep up with Nicole tomorrow and run super fast, training for my half marathon is more important and has to come first. I’m feeling a little under trained. I took like a month off from long runs after the Lost Dutchman, and this is only my 3rd double digit run this training cycle.
I needed to run for my sanity. That’s dramatic. But seriously. If I skipped on a planned workout, especially an important one, I would feel guilty and bad about myself. And maybe that’s not the world’s healthiest mindset. I can accept that. However, it’s where I personally am at right now, and I would rather feel good mentally.

All that being said, please know that if I felt injured or like running was really going to cause more harm than good, I wouldn’t have done it. Maybe I’m overly confident, but I feel like I know my body. I’m proud of myself for getting to the point where no excuse can bring me down, and knowing what I need in order to feel good. A lot has changed.

After my run, I was thrilled to be back at home and have some time to stretch everything out.

To the man who found my blog by searching "hot wife stretching legs", perhaps that lead you to something like this? I am very sweaty and I am stretching, but somehow I don't get the feeling this is quite what you were looking for....

Clementine is the best helper. If you need help stretching, or foam rolling, or licking sweat off your face, she is your girl.

And lastly, because I need some positive quote-age today, I leave you with this.

source

What excuses have you kicked to the curb lately?? What motivates you when your brain is full of reasons why not??

Work It Out 4/9-4/15

April 16, 2012 · by Ari ·

For a while there, every run was new and exciting and every day I would write about it. Well, now that pretty much every work out I do (except my new favorite speed ones!!) are things I’ve do often or at least have done before, I’ve decided that, unless something is super exciting, to write about workin’ it out for the week as a whole and share my thoughts at the end of the training week. So without further adieu, this is how I worked it out last week

Monday: 3 miles with Jason
I love Monday mornings these days! Jason is just really getting into running, so I meet him for some easy paced miles and it gives us time to chat just the two of us. Not that I don’t love the men in our lives, but it is so nice to have the one on one time to just talk. Every week Jason gets faster and better, and I’m so proud of him!
Tuesday: Quick upper body strength training & Linda’s Spin
Got to the gym early to do a short, but tough upper body work out. Bis, tris, shoulders, and chest. Then went into spin for happy sweat drippy time. Linda’s been working on building us all up to a higher flat road. Mine has been 10 for a few months and the thought of going up to 11 is a little intimidating, but the more we test it out, the more I realize that I’ll be able to hang.
Wednesday: Tempo Run & Core/leg strength at PT
5 miles including 1 mile warm up and cool down. The goal for the tempo miles was 9:09, and I did them in 9:06, 9:06, 8:46. I was so exhausted by the end of the third one that I had to walk the first few seconds of my cool down, but then brought it back to a jog to finish it out. This run was tough, but luckily I ran with my speedy friend Ashley who kept me going when I wanted to die. After our run, I did my exercised at PT which I always forget to count, but they make me sweat and sometimes even get me out of breath, so I guess they should count 😉
Thursday: Easy bike ride
Rode to coffee and back with Steve. 9.15 miles @ 14.6 (I think?? Around there) pace. It was nice and I love getting some morning time with Steve before we both get too busy.
Friday: Long Run
This was without a doubt my favorite run this week! I had 10 miles scheduled, and I was not feeling like doing it solo. Luckily Stacey agreed to run with me for 8.5 of it, so I got to our meeting spot a little early, ran a 1.5 mile loop and then met up with her. She wrote this really awesome post about it that you should read! I love it because she says really nice things about me 😉 But seriously, she was an awesome running partner! It felt like our pace was perfect (I hope I didn’t slow you down, girl!!), we chatted the entire time, and then at the end I pushed her to finish up 9 miles which is now her PDR!! So I ended with 10.5 for the day, felt great almost the entire time and ended up with an average pace of 10:26.
Saturday: Firefly Run 5K
Race recap coming soon! But long story short, this race was super fun, and I ran it with my two best friends. It was Bethany’s first race and she rocked it! I’m super proud of her!
Sunday: ZZzzzzzz
I had actually been planning on spin class, then woke up and asked Steve to go for a bike ride instead, then by the time I did some blogging, I knew I’d be pressed for time before rehearsal, and decided I deserved a day of rest, so I took full advantage of it.

And that my friends, is how I worked it out last week. Fascinating, right?

How did you work it out? Any super awesome training runs? Races? Headstands?

2012 Goals

December 31, 2011 · by Ari ·

If you know me at all, you know how I feel about New Years resolutions. Every time I hear the words “After the first of the year…” it’s like nails on a chalkboard to me! I am a firm believer that if you want to change something, you don’t wait for the first of the year, or month, or Monday, or even the next day. If you really want to change something, don’t waste any time. Start now. This second. I would love to say that my New Years resolutions are to clean more, do my laundry, and stop procrastinating, but let’s get real and say if I reaaaalllllly care enough about those things (I want to care enough!!!), then I will fix them when I’m ready and a different ending on the date stamp doesn’t necessarily inspire me.

However, I am big on setting goals for myself. I read a lot of blogs where they set monthly goals. I love that and I want to steal it! I definitely have a few goals that I really want to accomplish in the next year. Some are running/fitness related:

Cross the PF Chang’s finish line with a big ass grin on my face. Yes, Big.Ass.Grin.
26.2
Run a 7:59 min mile.
Try crossfit.
Try hot yoga.
Keep strength training consistent.

Some are food related:

Drink 9-10 cups of water per day. (I either do really well or really awful on this one, not usually in between.)
Try at least one new recipe per week.
Only eat out 1-2x per week. (I get so stuck in the “Let’s go out!” mentality.)

Some are more life related things I have been trying to focus on in the last year that I don’t feel like I’ve fully accomplished yet:

Give others the benefit of the doubt, and don’t take every action personally.
Chill the F out! Umm, this has been a goal since JULY. Clearly, it’s a work in progress.
Have patience. With others, with myself, with life.
Focus on career goals and choose work accordingly.
Continue working towards balance in all areas of life (I have come a long way, but I still have a long way to go).
Sing and dance. Every day.
Be me, no matter who else is around (again, still working on it).
For the love of all things holy, TAKE A FREAKING HONEYMOON!!!!!

I hope this is just the beginning of things I work towards and accomplish in the next year, but I feel like it’s a good place to start, and I feel like the first set is 100% achievable, the secpnd set can and will happen most weeks of the year, and the third set is 100% work-towards-able–is that a word? Is now. I will not become the pillar of patience in 2012 just because it is a goal, I guarantee it, but I will become more patient.I can’t wait to spend the year checking back in with my goals and check things off the first list as they happen! 🙂

What do you want to achieve next year? Next month? Today?

Oooooohhh Cut Footloose!

December 13, 2011 · by Ari ·

Is there anything better than doing jumps in spin class while singing along to Footloose?

What about moving through lots of different positions and paces to this song?

Both in one class? Let me just say there were lots of people turning their heads while pedaling to see who the freak was that was singing along. It was me!!! Sorry. I have no shame. The right music totally pumps me up in a work out, especially in spin class. I mean, we’re all just in that same room with nothing to look at other than the puddles of sweat (or maybe it’s just by my bike that there is a puddle of sweat), and the music is played loud (at least it should be), so when a good song comes on, no matter how tired I am, I get a burst of energy and can’t help but sing along. I know what you’re thinking, but I really can’t help it. I’ve heard rumors of karaoke spin classes. I honestly can’t think of a way to work out that would be more fun!

First you've got to turn it arrroooouunndd. Then put your feet on the groo-ooouu--uuund.

Oh spin class. I really love you.

For me, this just reiterates the important of choosing work outs you love. Believe it or not, I wake up most days with a list of excuses running through my mind as to why I could skip my work out. Still. I was telling Steve last night that I think I am actually kind of a lazy person. That sucks. I wish I was the kind of person who got things done with a big smile on my face while singing a Happy Little Working Song.

I wonder how many songs I can fit into one post 😉

But anyway, it really can be a challenge for me to get my butt out the door, and I know that if I was trying to get to the gym to sit on the rowing machine for an hour, the excuses would win. I hate the rowing machine. Hate. But I love running. And I love spinning. And I love Zumba. And I love bodyworks. I feel like sometimes people get too caught up in there being a “right” or a “wrong” way to work out. Or people have said to me in the past that my work outs “count” more or are “better” and I have caught myself thinking the same thing as I read other blogs.

The only right way to work out is the way that is right for you.

You don’t have to figure it out right away. Try different things until something sticks. And honestly, isn’t that true of all things in life?

Where Have I Been?

December 6, 2011 · by Ari ·

It is the busiest time of year for us youth performing arts folks. This week I am gearing up for 2 shows, while being at all of my Bravo! performances. Busy busy bee. In the time I haven’t been at work I’ve been enjoying the number of calories burned in an 11 mile run by eating delicious food, including celebrating Yogurtland’s 12 days of holiday flavors!

Nicole has been helping me enjoy the festivities.

And of course I convinced my family to take part as well

"Grandma, don't leave me for the fro yo!"

"Do I get to go for a ride to Yogurtland? I think they should have a bacon flavor for dogs. But I also like peanut butter."

And I’ve also been enjoying the change in weather.

How often does one really get to wear rain boots in Phoenix? I put them on at the slightest drizzle, because I have horrible fashion and consider a cute winter outfit anything including rain boots or leg warmers.

And then there was also a good amount of time spent on cookie baking…

Dear cookies, please stay fresh for your recipients! Please please please do not go stale because you tasted amazing right out of the oven!

Yesterday I was so busy I didn’t even get a work out in and I had to cancel my physical therapy appt. But today started out on the right ~~foot~~ pedal!

I know I always say spin class is hard, and today was the same ride as Thursday, but is felt sooooo hard. And the room felt like it was about a million degrees. I was very happy to be spinning, but even happier to be done!

Now, I've just gotta work my way up to running that far...

Today I have a run of the show at school, the final performance for one of my acting classes, a Bravo! performance and tech. Whew. I need to shower and eat before I never have time to ever again.

Jello Arms

November 29, 2011 · by Ari ·

Hello friends! I woke up this morning with some angry achilles tendons. Normally, I don’t run consecutive days in a row, and this week, I ran 3 in a row, and didn’t ice as much as I should have. I woke up wanting to run so that I could avoid strength training (which used to be my fav, but now I would rather do just about anything else…except row!), but as I hobbled out of bed, I knew that I needed to do something else. Okay tendons, I get it. I will not run 3 days in a row anymore, now can you chill the heck out please and not f up my program? That’d be great, thanks.

I know some people can run way more often than me and be fine. I also know that I will take myself out of commission if I don’t do what is best for my body, so I am listening. So after an hour of sitting around lazily, I finally made it over to the gym for an upper body strength training session which I will now attempt to actually put into words. Don’t judge my lack of terminology, or my wimpy arms. I’m hoping posting the weight amounts will motivate me to work a little harder and get strong again! 😉

Superset 1 (3 sets): Pushups (body weight) and incline chest press (30 lbs)

Superset 2 (3 sets): Skull crushers (20 lb bar) and bicep concentration curl (15 lb dumbell)

Circuit (3 sets): 3 point shoulder press (5 lbs dumbells), bicep curls (10 lb dumbells), and overhead tricep press (20 lb dumbell)

Lat pull (3 sets) @ 65 lbs

Reverse V up on exercise ball (3 sets)

By the time I left, my arms felt like jello. I am recommitting myself to AT LEAST 1 day of serious strength training per week. My body needs it. After my work out, I walked over to the Bux for my coffee

And then I got so excited when I saw this!!!

I LOVE the Starbucks holiday cookies and this one comes on a stick! Isn't he cute??

Well, I quickly changed my tune, because you know what is not cute? A 400 calorie cookie.

Sorry snowman, you are just not worth it.

As I sipped my coffee, I got to chat with Kara about our final weeks of training for PF Chang’s. Can you believe we are already mapping out the end of training??? I seriously can’t. But, I feel ready for it. I kind of wish I was doing the Vegas 1/2 on the strip this weekend. I think I could do it now if I had to, but deep down I am grateful for the extra time and ability to up my mileage a bit before the actual race. I know I will feel more comfortable knowing I’ve run 12 miles, than if I did it after 10. I need to go in with no doubts. And of course my original goal was just to finish, and now I have a time goal in my brain. Arg. It’s not a fast one by any means, but it’s there and I do NOT plan on sharing because I don’t want it to be my focus. I really do just want to finish my first big race.

Kara and I also had a chance to map out our work outs for the rest of the week and I am happy to say that my week is looking pretty legit.

Sunday: short run

Monday: speed run

Tuesday: strength training

Wednesday: run…we shall see how long and how fast it ends up–it’s Kara’s first run back from injury! Hooray!!

Thursday: spin

Fri: off

Sat: long run

I like having a plan. I like even more planning with someone else because it holds me accountable. Okay, I’m off to work. Have a great day friends!

Free Always Tastes Better

October 25, 2011 · by Ari ·

Hi friends. It’s funny, today was not a crazy work day, but it’s 8:30 pm and I feel totally wiped. I started this morning by doing some upper body weights with Kara before heading into spin class. I did 2 supersets

Bicep concentration curl (15 lbs, 3 sets of 12)

3 point shoulder lift–I don’t remember the exact name, just that it was for shoulders and my trainer at the time said something about 3 point. I remember that because I smartly remakrd “Oh then I should just use 3 lb weights!” (5 lb each hand, 3 sets of 10)

and

Pushups (3 sets of 15)

Dips (3 sets of 15)

It looks like so little all typed out, but I have sucked big time at my strength training lately and I was feeling it! Then of course spin almost killed me. It seems like every single time I am a good little spin student and push myself to up my flat road, the next class she is telling us whatever we did last time, we need to push it up one higher. The forever student in me wants to raise my hand and ask “But excuse me, what if I raised my flat road last week? Do I raise it again already? ~~Please hold my hand every step of the way and give me all of the answers.~~” Instead I gave myself a little pep talk that went something like this

“Look, quit b****ing out, and raise your flat road whether you just raised it or not! You want to look good naked!”

So apparently my new flat road is gear 11. That simultaneously sucks and is awesome. I mean I feel awesome that my flat road was 7 and now supposedly it’s 11, but let’s be honest–11 might as well be a hill!!!! It is freaking hard!! And when we go up from there?!?! At the top of the steepest hill today, the last time Linda told us to add a gear, I just looked at Kara and said “Are you Fing kidding me?!” But I love it. Every second. When sweat drips into my eyes and I feel like my legs can pedal no more, I am so happy to be there in the class and not completely suck.

After class I got an other delicious pepperminty iced coffee from The Bux. Grande iced coffee, 3 pumps SF vanilla, 1 pump SF peppermint, soy milk, light ice. Perfection. Then I came home and made some cinnamon apple oats. Steve mentioned the other day about eating one of those oatmeal packets (gross) in the cinnamon apple flavor and ever since I have had it on the brain! I used

1/3 cup slow cooking oats
2/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
gaala apple, cored and diced
1 tsp vanilla extract
lots of cinnamon
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tbs raisins
1 tbs ish PB & Co cinnamon raisin swirl

I cooked it all together on the stove over medium heat, except the raisins (which I added in almost at the end) and the PB which went right on top. It was so yummmmmy,

Tonight, we had plans to go to the state fair. We were supposed to go Saturday, but things came up and our plans changed to today. Well, we drove all the way there in rush hour only to discover the fair is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Fail. Booooooo. We figured we were all together (my dad, Hermano, Steve and me) so we might as well do something and headed for dinner at True Foods. I love love love True Foods. Steve took more pictures of the crazy fam

Then asked me to pose for a picture, but I was not looking cute so I definitely was not in the mood. He made a puppy dog face so I acted like a 5 year old, stood where he told me and scowled at him. Karma. I ended up looking crazy evil in the photo!

Scarrrrrrryyyy!!! But perfect for Halloween! PS: My shirt says “Coffee makes me happy.” So fitting.

After dinner, we went to Yogurtology for some fro yo. Seriously, if you live in Phoenix, you must go there. They have the best yogurt, hands down. Get the oatmeal cookie flavor and you will not be disappointed. I got 6 oz of oatmeal cookie with about 1/2 tbs of nutella on top. Best combo ever. Except…..

They were out of spoons. I had to use a big metal topping spoon haha. But I got my yogurt for free, so I don’t mind! Free always tastes better! I would eat it with a spatula as long as I don’t have to pay! Wow–is it politically incorrect to make fun of my Jewishness on the internet? In person it always seems so harmless because every just knows I’m Jewish so I’m allowed to make fun of myself. Here it feels so taboo, like someone will get the wrong idea and think I’m an anti Semite! I love my people, and all of our quirks and stereotypes!

Now I’m watching some Biggest Loser and gonna head to bed early because I have an early training run with Kara tomorrow am! Goodnight all!

Summit Trail

October 24, 2011 · by Ari ·

Hi friends! This week is like the week of perfect scheduling when it comes to work outs. Kara and I have completely matching schedules conducive to stress free morning work outs! We left my house at 6:15 this morning and headed to Squaw Peak which they are I guess now calling Piestewa Peak? Weird. I dunno. Anyway, we went there for a morning hike! I haven’t done a ton of hiking, but I really enjoy it as a nice change to my normal work outs. We took the Summit Trail which is about 1.2 miles up and moderately steep. At the beginning it felt like cake, but very quickly turned into a challenge as I started huffing and puffing and felt my heart rate climbing.

Luckily, it was perfect weather and the trail was the perfect amount of challenging to push us and still be enjoyable! There were also some nice views along the way

It definitely got hardest towards the top!

It ended up taking us about 40 minutes to get up and we were glad to hang out up there for a little bit! “Yeah, I’m the badass that just conquered that mountain.”

“Hooray!! I climbed a mountain! Photos from above, please. There ain’t nothing cute about below angles.”

We made some friends at the top and asked them to take our picture together. I told them the rules, no double chins. They didn’t seem to judge me too much for my vanity.