The best spin class I ever experienced

With training for the NYC 1/2 marathon, it's easy to let my cross training fall by the wayside, so by putting my goals on my blog I hoped that I'd somewhat force myself to go by put it out there for all the world to see.
The gym that I belong to offers spin on Monday's and Wednesday's, but I can't ever go on Wednesday's because of Cheer NY and it's difficult for me on Monday's. There are a couple of spin studios around the NYC area that I've been wanting to try (SoulCycle and Flywheel), but with a $30+ per class price tag, I just can't justify going when I can pay $20 for 4 classes at my gym. Very recently, brand new studio named Revolve, just popped up next to where I go tanning, and ever since, I've been wanting to go in, just to check it out, but was concerned it would likely be as expensive as its competitors so I always kept on walking.
Luckily, one day I was reading Missy Maintains, as I do almost every other day, when I saw that she posted a review of Revolve! I was eager to read what she thought of their studio, but what really got me excited was at the end of her post when she left a coupon code for a free ride with Dyan!
I wasted no time trying to find someone to come with me (though, I would have had no problems going alone) and started by poaching my teammates. Being on an athletic team of cheerleaders who are required to wear crop top, spandex uniforms, you'd think I'd have half the team coming with me! But alas, I was only able to recruit my friend Jessica.
After a morning of dealing with the oh-so-dependable NYC subway system, Jessica and I made it to the Revolve studio just in the nick of time to rent our shoes and hop on our reserved bikes. This studio requires that you wear shoes that clip into the pedals, which I had never done before, and Jessica had never, ever taken a spin class before! Dyan and the rest of the staff at Revolve were SO helpful getting our bikes adjusted and our shoes clipped in.
The class started promptly. The lights went down, the music went up, and we were off! For me, music can really be a deal breaker when it comes to a workout class, with this class, it's a lot of what sealed the deal. Dyan's play list was SO great. Dyan's energy and encouragement was so helpful throughout the class with constant reminders of "I can! I will! I am!" keeping me going, even through the weight section in the middle, all the way through to the end. I felt the class had the perfect balance between hills, sprints, and resting intervals. I decided to use the 3lb weights since I hadn't taken the class before- and so glad I did. She definitely had me using muscles I haven't used in a while!

Jessica, Dyan and me after our kick-ass class!

The 45 minute class ended before I knew it and even though I had just finished an intense class, I loved it all so much, I had wished I could stay for the class immediately after.
I really do think that having a friend come with me made a big difference, but I know that even if Jessica hadn't been there, I would have enjoyed it just as much. Although the price tag on their classes are just as much as the other spin studios in NYC, I may just have to hunker down, suck it up, and pay for it.
Dyan- thanks again for giving me the greatest spin experience! I can't say that I'm a "spin expert" but I've taken enough classes to know that I hope every one I take in the future was just like that one!

March Goals

Posting my goals for February had a significant impact on me. I did a lot of what I laid out for myself and had such a huge sense of accomplishment when the month ended. I will continue to post my monthly goals for the foreseeable future.

March 2013

• Eat sweets (in general, not just the S&S peaches) at work no more than 2 times/week
• Finish the NYC ½ marathon with a smile on my face :D
• Foam roll at least once/week
• Try at least 2 brand new recipes for dinner
• Finish editing and print cruise pictures
• Go to at least one “NYC only” restaurant that I’ve never been to before
• Go to the public library
• Go to yoga at least once (I was not so good at this for Feb. and I hate yoga in general, but I know it’s good for me-   so I’m trying….)
• Go to spin at least once
• Add vegetables to my meals at least twice/day

Thank you to everyone that continues to read about my silly life. I love the encouragement that you give me! Do you have any goals you wish to achieve during the month of March?!

February in review

February 2013: Results

• Run at least 75 miles This did not work out as planned, but only because I got bronchitis the last week of Feb :( I ended up completing 67.42 miles. Had I completed all of the runs I had mapped out for myself, I would have ended up over my goal. This really bummed me out, but I guess it's better that I get sick now, than the week before the race!

• Go to yoga at least twice Nope! Didn't even go once :(
• Take my scheduled cross training days seriously: actually do a full set of weights Frankly, I do not do well with creating my own workouts. I love working out, but I love it more when someone else is telling me what to do. I still did cross training about 2 days/week, I just know I didn't workout to my full abilities, for a number of different excuses: my gym is always packed and mostly full of men who stare at me (I'm also usually the only white/blond woman/person in my gym); I love cardio and have a hard time jumping off the machines to move on to the weights; etc. etc. etc....
• Eat sweet & sour candy peaches from work no more than twice/week I did alright with this, except for the week of Valentine’s Day… there was ridiculous amount of treats in the office and once I start, I can’t stop!

• Bring (healthy) lunch to work at least 4 times/week This is something I was already doing, but I wanted to make sure I stuck with it, and I did!! There were a couple of days that I just stuffed my face with unhealthy snacks from our kitchen, but I would say for the most part, I did well with this and will continue to do so :)

• Get checked for skin cancer This is something I’ve had on my mental to-do list for a very long time. I love the sun, and I love going tanning. Yes, I am aware of how bad this is for me. No, I do not plan to change my tanning ways anytime soon. (sorry I'm not sorry) Thankfully, my skin checked out good! I do plan to continue going back once a year to get checked.

• Hold at least a 1 minute plank no less than twice/week I actually did better with this than I anticipated! If I'm being honest, I probably only averaged once/week; but I did notice them getting slightly easier by the end of the month. But I put a huge emphasis on "slightly"...
• Go to at least 1 spin class CHECK!!! Not only that, but it was theeeeeee best spin class I have EVER taken! Come back in a few days to read my review of this amazing class!
• Find someone to run at least 1/2 of my long runs with me I didn't even bother asking anyone (other than my friend Rachael, who is running the half marathon with me). Last year, I needed the help towards the end of my training. This year? Not so much! I'm trying my hardest, to run in new areas of the city that I've never been to before, which is really keeping me entertained throughout my runs :)
• Do at least 1 thing I could only do in NYC CHECK!! I went to the Museum of the City of New York! It wasn’t the best museum I’ve ever been to. I also didn’t realize that there was a 3rd floor and ended up having to rush through it because I had somewhere to be. I think I’ll go back sometime, to see if the exhibits change, and to look longer on the 3rd floor.

I really enjoyed doing this for myself and would like to continue to keep posting my goals for each month. I mean, who says that goals should only be something we have January 1st?! That being said, check back March 1st, for a new list of goals I've set for myself.

*** Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that has taken the time to read this blog lately. It's definitely keeping me inspired to write and post more often! ***

 

NYC dating anecdotes 1

I'm going to go out on a limb here and talk about something I haven't done (this publically) before... Take it for what you will, and enjoy the trials and tid bits from my dating life....

So I went on an OKcupid date (as all of my dates are these days) some time ago with John (name has been changed).
I messaged the him first.
Our messages were just so-so. Nothing too exciting.

Then John asked me if I wanted to go to a movie for our first date. Ugh. Why do guys do this? What makes them think that I would want to sit in a dark theater with them if we've never met before??

I never that was excited to meet him. So that can't be a good sign... But then as I was thinking as I was walking to the restaurant, maybe I've just gone on too many damn OKCupid dates, that go nowhere to get nervous at this point?

John picked a restaurant in the Village. I was excited and irritated at the same time by this because I had to be up so early the next morning (which we had discussed), but rarely go down to that part of the city so I was looking forward to exploring a new spot.

John more or less ordered for the both of us which, kind of annoyed me. Also because he asked me what looked good, I gave him my opinion, and then he ordered something completely different. He ordered veggies... which I'm not a fan of and never would have ordered, but they ended up being tasty, so OK, I'll cut him some slack there.

To drink, he ordered four of what the restaurant called the "Recession Special"- a PBR, a shot of whisky with a pickle back. By the end of the night, he was visibly tipsy. I had 3 glasses of prosecco, so I wasn't exactly Sober Sally, but not near on his level.

Our banter was witty and rarely left much of a pause in between subjects... until the end of the night when it felt like we had asked all of the questions there was to ask.

I was looking forward to going home.
Then I find out, he's riding the same train as me... almost the entire way. Ugh.

As we waited on the platform for the train, I stood with my arms crossed... my typical/comfortable stance and he told me I should stop doing that because it made me look very closed off. Ouch.

Then when we were on the train, I twirled my hair and John asked if I always do that... I asked if I had done it a lot throughout the night, and he said yes. The way he asked made it seem like it annoyed him. Um, sorry?

I was shocked when the next day, and days following he continued to text me, asking when we could see each other again. As I'm sure you can tell from the above story, I wasn't really feeling it, so needless to say, I never did see him again.

Goals (continued)

As promised, here is a list of the goals I have set for myself for the next month. I will do an update after the month is over to let you know how I did (and to keep myself accountable)!

February 2013

• Run at least 75 miles
• Go to yoga at least twice
• Take my scheduled cross training days seriously: actually do a full set of weights
• Eat sweet & sour candy peaches from work no more than twice/week
• Bring (healthy) lunch to work at least 4 times/week
• Get checked for skin cancer
• Hold at least a 1 minute plank no less than twice/week
• Go to at least 1 spin class
• Find someone to run at least 1/2 of my long runs with me
• Do at least 1 thing I could only do in NYC

So there you have it folks! Some of these things have already been mapped out for me to do for a while now, or I've already been doing them, I just want to make sure that I keep up with them. I'm a very competitive person, and hold myself at a higher standard than probably anyone else does- so I'm really hoping that by having this in writing, and ONLINE, I'll actually stick to it!