Category Archives: Fitness

Barre Ride

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It’s felt great hitting the spin studio a ton this month, and Sunday I finally tried out my first Barre Ride class up at Revolve in Clarendon. What an awesome combination of cardio and strength in an hour workout. I put in a fast-paced 4 miler right before heading up to the studio, so my legs were already feeling it a little, but they were full-on shaking by the end of class.

It started out like one of their usual rides. We did 36 minutes of heart-pumping riding and using the weights for an upper body workout before hopping off the bikes and ditching our bike shoes. We started out with calf raises and then stood in different ballet positions – first and second position – doing squats and pulses while holding onto the bikes for balance. We did more of these going into a plié, while up on the balls of our feet in relevé. (For any ballet dancers out there I’m likely using these terms wrong, but I’m trying!)

The toughest portion for me came when we were up on the balls of our feet, went down to a 90 degree chair position, pulsed further down before coming back to chair position, and stood all the way up before starting again. I was seriously trembling by the end. We wrapped up with a few more exercises before ending class with some stretches. I can’t even remember them all now, but my sore muscles over the past couple days have reminded me what we worked on!

If you’re looking to get in some intense cardio and strength in one workout I highly recommend the barre ride. It was great!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Training is going great. I tallied 20.5 miles this week. I’m still working on my base, but added a second speed workout this week with a tempo run on Thursday. Here’s the training breakdown by day:

Monday: I had a track workout and spin class on tap for today, but a broken down car derailed my morning plans. I still managed to get to the gym later in the day for an hour on the elliptical and a strength workout.

Tuesday: Boy was it cold out this morning. I so don’t know how I used to survive the Syracuse winters growing up. Track Workout – 2.5 mile warm-up; 6X600m repeats with a 200m jog recovery; 2.5 mile cool down

Wednesday: 1.25 mile easy warm-up on the treadmill followed by a 30-minute boot camp style tabata workout.

Thursday: I hit the treadmill for my first tempo run in months and it felt great! 4.5 miles total – warming up and cooling down at an 8 minute pace and reaching a 7:41 pace throughout the middle.

Friday: Spin Class – Body Ride

Saturday: 3.5 miles easy through Arlington. I started out on the Custis Trail, but it was a bit slick so I hopped off and ran the side streets going up and down some killer hills. I followed up the run with spin class.

Sunday: 4 miles through Georgetown and Arlington ending near the Iwo Jima Memorial. I pushed the pace a little on this run and felt awesome! I headed up to Revolve after my run for my first barre ride spin class – hear more about this in a later post.

Officially Done with Physical Therapy!!

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Last night I headed out to Fast Track Physical Therapy in Falls Church for what I was hoping would be my last PT session. Liz, my physical therapist there, gave me the great news that I have in fact officially “graduated” and am done with PT.

It’s not easy for me to admit injury (main reason things got so bad in the first place!), and it’s even harder for me to stop running, so starting PT and being told I needed to give my body a break was a bit hard to swallow at first. Turns out this whole injury thing might have been one of the best things for me. I’ve become so much more aware of my running form and what muscles need to be working when. Thanks to run analysis my form is getting better and more efficient. I learned the hard way just how important strength training and flexibility are for runners. This seems obvious, but I love to run so much I wasn’t always making time for the other stuff. That’s changed.

Liz did a final video run analysis last night and my form has improved a ton from the first time we did this. I’m still dropping my hip a little bit, but it’s getting better and I’ll keep working on it. My feet are landing in a very neutral position and I’m doing a better job of pulling my legs underneath me. We did a quick run through of my home exercises and stretches that have helped me get so much better over the last few months, and she gave me a few more to add to the arsenal to make sure I don’t end up hurting myself again.

I’m amazed at how much more flexible I’ve become. There’s still work to do, but I always just assumed I wasn’t very flexible and didn’t realize I just needed to put the time and effort in to work on it. It has been so amazing to run pain free these last couple weeks. Seriously, I think it’s been a couple years since running felt like this. Liz and Fast Track are the best! If you live in the NoVa/DC area and need to see a physical therapist – I highly, highly recommend them.

I’ve never been so excited for a race season, and can’t wait to go after some new PRs and a Boston Qualifier!

So excited, I can't stop smiling!

So excited, I can’t stop smiling!

Keeping It Light!

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Winter running brings with it all sorts of obstacles. It seems like a lot of my runner friends would rather be too chilly than too hot on a run, but I’m the oddball who loves nothing more than getting out on the roads on those 100 degree hot and humid D.C. summer days. I’ve made a big effort over the last couple years to not listen to my inner cold weather wimp, and keep running outside as much as possible during the winter. I’ve already shared some posts on my favorite cold weather gear and getting out there even in sub-zero temps, and having spent the first two-plus decades of my life growing up in Syracuse I have to admit getting out on the roads down here in the winter is much easier than they have it up north.

Battling the cold or slippery snowy streets aren’t the only obstacles winter brings, however. There’s so much less daylight! I hate leaving work and having it already be dark out, and I can totally understand how people can suffer from seasonal affect disorder…it’s really depressing! Running in the dark brings out a whole bunch of safety issues. As a female runner, I try to never run in the dark alone. Obviously running in a group is safer for anyone who is running in the dark (or anytime for that matter), but I definitely think it’s something we women runners think about a lot more.

AllLitUpOn occasion that I want to do an early morning run before daylight this time of year, I get myself up at an ungodly hour to meet up with a Pacers Fun Run Group for a 5 a.m. run. If you can’t tell, I’m not much of a morning person! The route is mostly well lit, but at that time of the morning, it’s dark for the whole run even in the summer. I also like to run or bike home from work a lot, which takes me along a well-populated mostly well lit route. There’s one stretch though without street lights where the trail runs facing a busy road, so you have to battle the headlights coming at you to still see the road you’re running on. I got a headlamp for Christmas that has completely solved this problem. It’s amazing how a little light can provide so much power and light up my line of sight. I have no problems spotting the paved trail, staying on my side of the yellow line and seeing any bumps in the road I need to avoid.

The headlamp helps me stick out too so other runners, bikers and drivers can easily see me. I don’t think runners always realize how hard it is for drivers to spot them once dusk hits, and knowing that you’re battling with so many other distractions (put your phones down in the car people!!) for their attention, I want to make sure I’m as visible as possible. In addition to the headlamp (which makes  me look oh, so cool!), I rock a Nathan reflective vest that has two built in bright red solid or blinking lights. Just to ensure I look as much like a Christmas tree as possible on my early morning or evening runs, I like to set it to the blinking setting. I also have a couple reflective snap bracelets that help as well. I might get made fun of for looking like such a dork, but I’ll take that over ending up as a newspaper headline for runner hit by car any day!

Stay safe out there and remember to keep it light!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Going strong! I ran a total of 14.25 miles this week and spent a lot of time at the spin studio.

Here’s the training breakdown by day:

Monday: Spin Class

Tuesday: Track Workout – 2 mile warm-up; 6X400m repeats with a 100m jog recovery; 1.5 mile cool down

Wednesday: Spin Class

Thursday: 4 miles easy – I ran home from work Thursday night completely overdressed since I was expecting freezing temps and snow, but instead it was completely dry and over 40 degrees.

Friday: Spin Class – Body Ride

Saturday: 4 miles easy – Great weather for a Saturday morning run through Georgetown along Rock Creek Parkway and back over the Memorial Bridge past the Iwo Jima Memorial. All was great except for a spill I took near the end ripping up my favorite winter running gloves…better them than my hands though.

Sunday: 1.25 miles easy on the treadmill to warm up for a lower body workout. Spin Class – Body Ride

Spin Class: High Energy + High Intensity = Great Workout

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I’ve jumped head first (or more accurately, bike shoes first) back into spinning this past week, taking classes at Revolve’s spin studio in Clarendon. I took a break from spinning while doing the physical therapy thing, and while I was able to ride my regular bike as long as I didn’t clip into  the pedals, it definitely feels good to be back in the spin studio for my favorite kind of cross training.

I joined the Washington Sports Club in Clarendon about a year ago primarily for their group classes. I already have free access to gyms at home and at work for the basics, but I missed spinning and was interested in trying out other classes like body pump. Unfortunately, their class times don’t fit well into my schedule anymore, so I’m considering ending my membership there after my year commitment is up.

I took advantage of a free pass to try out the relatively new Revolve Fitness studio in Clarendon last week. I’ve seen rave reviews about their studios in NYC as well as the one here. It’s not a gym, but rather is a dedicated spin studio. The class was awesome and really kicked my butt – a great way to start the week off. I bought their discounted intro package for one month of unlimited rides at $60. It gets a bit pricey, at least for me, after the first month is up, (although I have no doubts about the quality they provide) so I don’t think I’ll continue with the monthly unlimited memberships going forward, but you can also buy packs of individual rides to spread out over several months as well.

Bike Shoes

Bike Shoes

In the meantime, I plan to get as much use as possible out of my intro month. I took classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday of this week, and already have spots reserved for weekend classes. They offer three types of classes: Real Ride, Body Ride and Barre Ride. The Real Ride is similar to what I’m used to having taken classes at other gyms, and it simulates an outdoor ride with challenging sprint intervals and hills. I took my first Body Ride class this morning, which combines light weights to work on your upper body while riding and still getting the cardio impact. We did the weights for one longer song and I loved it – very cool change of pace.

I’m not sure how I feel about the Barre Ride. You spend the first half of class riding your way to a great cardio workout then hop off the bikes for a series of barre-based exercises using the bike’s handle bars as a bar. I’ve never done this type of exercise, but will try to fit it in sometime during my intro month, and will let you know how it goes.

I love the high intensity, energetic atmosphere at spin classes. It can leave you exhausted and provides the best cardio benefits of the cross training activities that I do. I’m never bored, as can often happen on the elliptical at the gym, and both the 45-minute and one-hour classes are over in a flash.

Stretch!

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Last week I shared my favorite core workout. One other thing I’ve been really focusing on since starting physical therapy in October is my flexibility. I was unbelievably tight at my first session, which really limited my mobility and was causing a lot of the pain I was feeling. I was given a series of stretches to do 2 to 3 times per day at first, and was told that it can take 10 to 12 weeks to really see the benefits.

I’ve been diligent about keeping with my stretching routine and am really starting to notice a difference. I’m down to going through the routine once a day and usually do an abbreviated version of the stretches again later or after working out, especially if I’m feeling tight muscles. I know it’s really important for me to keep this up if I want to keep running healthy. Check out my stretching routine below. I hold all stretches for 3 minutes each with the exception of the last two, which I do 3 sets of 10.

Speed Session

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One of my favorite parts of running is hitting the track for a speed workout. Some think I’m crazy for this, but I love the feeling of pushing myself as hard and fast as I can around the track. I’m always exhausted at the end of a track session, but I also get a rush that’s not usually matched by my other runs.

I stopped speed workouts even before starting physical therapy so I can’t even remember when my last trip up to the track was, but I started back up today. It was cold, dark and rainy when I pulled up to the track before 6 this morning, but I was excited to be there. I’ve only started adding speed workouts to my training in recent years and noticed huge gains when sticking to them regularly. Today’s track session came after three weeks of easy running, and will be my only speed session this week since I don’t want to do too much too soon. Next week I plan to start adding in a weekly tempo run as well to help pick up my pace and get back to where I was at…or even faster!

On tap for today was a 2 mile warm-up, 6 400 meter repeats with a 100 meter jog recovery and a 1.5 mile cool down. It wasn’t anything too hard or intense, but it felt great to be cranking up the pace again and pushing myself to new levels.

Do you like speed workouts or just endure them because you know they make you better? What’s the toughest track workout you’ve completed? Let me know in the comments!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Last week was another good week of training. I’m still high on motivation and excitement from getting back into things after time off for an injury. I took my first spin class since before physical therapy last Monday and it felt great. Spinning is my favorite form of cross training. It’s high-energy, fun and blasts away calories while boosting my cardio fitness.

For the week I ran 18 miles. Here’s the training breakdown by day:

Monday: Spin class in the morning and 20 minutes on the elliptical at the office gym in the afternoon.

Tuesday: An early morning run took me 3 easy miles up Wilson Blvd. to a session with one of my personal training clients.

Wednesday: I got in 50 minutes on the elliptical at the office gym.

Thursday: A very early run with the Pacers Fun Run group took me 5 easy miles through Georgetown and back over the Memorial Bridge.

Friday: I hit the gym at my building before work for 45 minutes on the elliptical.

Saturday: I got to run in shorts and a tank in mid January on the sunny streets of St. Pete in Florida for 6 easy miles.

Sunday: 4 miles easy once again in sunny Florida before my quick weekend trip to visit my grandparents came to an end. Looks like temps will be a bit cooler to run in back in D.C. this week.

Core Strength

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In my New Year’s Resolutions post I talked about wanting to work on building up my core strength. I made it my main focus for the month of January, so I thought I’d share my favorite core workout with you. I LOVE the P90X Ab Ripper workout. It’s tough and hurts like heck the first couple days, but that goes away and the results are amazing. It includes ins and outs, bicycles, cross-leg sit-ups, leg climbs, mason twists and more. It only takes about 15 minutes a day, so I try to think of it in terms of how little of my time that requires each day and there is really no excuse.

Here’s a link to the Ab Ripper workout. I do 30 reps of each exercise, and have also added 30 back extensions and a 2-minute barrel roll plank on to the end. I’m always looking for new ideas, so tell me about your favorite core exercises in comments.