First Bikram Yoga Class Tomorrow

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Having discovered a previously unsuspected addiction to purchasing deals through Groupon, I am now the proud owner of thirty days worth of unlimited bikram yoga classes. I start tomorrow. 

Bikram yoga is more commonly known as "hot yoga." The class ia an hour and a half and the room is heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

Seriously.

A few people have told me how much they love bikram and how it's great for releasing all the toxins in the body. Of course, a few other people chimed in, namely:

  •  Christie, who told me she threw up after her one and only attempt at the class
  • Ben, who felt fine during class but ended up with nausea and diarrhea later that night
  • And Christopher, who today informed me the room smells like a foot locker and his friend got ringworm from one of the mats. 

 I've drank 78 oz of water today and will do the same tomorrow before class.

Stay tuned. The next post promises to be doozie. 

Great Race, But I Still Hate 5K's

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Today I ran a 5K as part of the Human Race. 

The optimist sees... I set a PR! New time of 22:03. 

The pessimist sees... I walked for about 5 seconds coming up the last hill. If I hadn't, I would have bagged my first ever 21-something 5k time.

 

The optimist thinks... 5k's are a great way to build speed and spend time with friends. 

The pessimist thinks... 5k's *%@#ing HURT.

 

The optimist says... The only way to improve at 5k's is to run more of them!

The pessimist says... Wake me up for the next marathon...

 

So am I an optimist or pessimist? I'll quote the little girl I spoke with in Starbucks this last Halloween. She was dressed as a witch and I asked her if she was a good witch, or a bad witch. She cocked her head, thought about it, then answered, "I'm a little bit of both." 

Cheers,

Dena

Switching Up the Workouts

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I am a creature of habit. I eat at the same restaurants, watch the same programs, drive the same route, and the first thing I do every morning when I get out of bed is brush my teeth. NO EXCEPTIONS. 

The creature of habit thing serves me well in exercise, at least with marathon training. I've used the exact same program, no deviations, to train for my last 3 marathons, and I've PR'd in each of them. Lately, however, I've felt the need to mix up my routine. 

Why? For one thing, I'm bored. My routine for over two years now has been run 3 days, bike 2 days, weight train 2 days. If I get a wild hair, I throw in a day of yoga. More than that, the days I do each of these exercises has been set in stone. Run T-TH-Sat, bike MW, weight train MW. Can you say "rigid," boys and girls?

So, thanks to marathon training being over (until July) and the magic of groupons, I'm branching out.

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Update on 7 lb Weight Loss

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if you'll recall, on March 1st I posted that I was gunning to lose 7 pounds. I am pleased to report that 14 days in, I am down 3.5 pounds.

I've gotten better (but not great) at portion control and within just the last week I am making a push to eliminate all most sugar from my diet. At first I thought I'd go so far as to even eliminate fruit, but I nixed that idea because a) I don't think it's healthy and b) I was snacking non-stop on bread, which can only lead to evil. Instead, moderate fruit, but I have eliminated sugars such as honey, maple syrup, and CHOCOLATE.

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