I love long weekends. There’s something about having just that one extra day that makes such a big difference. I had no particular plans for Labor Day weekend and I wasn’t traveling anywhere, so that meant plenty of time to get workouts in! Between Friday and Monday I got two double-digit runs in, a hot yoga class, a short run, a track workout and a spin class in and loved every second of it. OK, well maybe not every second of it, but I sure felt great after finishing each workout!

One of the best things about making Oiselle’s Volée team has been the instant support from everyone on Twitter. It’s so cool to see everyone come together online and root each other on. Even better, I’ve already gotten together for a couple group runs with some fellow birds. I teamed up with Stephanie who I met on a group run a couple weeks ago for our 18 mile long run this weekend and it definitely made the miles fly by! One of my 30 before 30 goals was to do more group and partner runs since I love that aspect of running, but often find myself running alone. I think being a part of the Oiselle team will definitely help make me a more social runner!

Enjoying some Starbucks post 18 miles!

I am constantly saying I need to do more yoga, but rarely follow up on it. I got a Facebook invite for a community class at Dancing Mind Yoga over the weekend though. The studio isn’t too far from me and for just a $5 donation to a very good cause I was able to check out the class from new instructor, Alexis. Alexis was an amazing instructor and I never would have guessed it was her first class. She kept us moving right along through all 75 minutes from one pose to the next. It was a hot yoga class so the room was about 90 degrees and I really had to push myself.

Nervously awaiting the start of class in my new Oiselle flyte tank and lesley knickers!

The more I go to yoga classes, the more I’m learning that it’s OK that I’m not super flexible. There were some poses I struggled with, but there was always a modification I could do to start with. I also loved how much this class worked on strength moves – my arms were shaking during some of those side planks and my core got one heck of a workout. I got a card to test out one week of yoga there so I’ll definitely be back! If their regular classes are anything like that one I know I’ll come away feeling good, and it will definitely help to make me a stronger runner and stay injury free!

Dancing Mind Yoga Studio

I was pretty nervous for my track workout this week. Track workouts are my favorite kind of run training, but for some reason I always get super nervous before them. I second guess myself and worry I’m not going to be able to make the split times I want or complete the number of reps I’ve planned on. This rarely ever happens, but I still get the nerves like it’s race day. I’d probably be more worried if they didn’t come. I got up fairly early, but not early enough as the sun was already pounding down on the track as I got there ready to do 6X800s at interval pace (as defined by my coach as a bit quicker than tempo pace w/ a longer recovery, but done while jogging instead of standing still) in the hot and humid mid-morning. My first rep was a second slower than my goal and my legs felt like lead. During my recovery jog though I could tell the next one would be better, and it was. I took 5 seconds off and beat my goal for each rep after that only getting stronger as I went along.

I left the track feeling so energized and excited. It’s always fun to test out my speed. I was quickly glad I got the track workout done early after getting to my spin class. Just five minutes into spin and I knew there was no way I’d be able to get a quality run in after I was done. I did a body ride at Revolve with Dorothy, one of my favorite instructors there. I’ve done mostly real rides lately, so it was fun to mix it up with some mid-class weights. Dorothy had us pushing ourselves to the max, all-out sprinting and working our way up hills. It was great and left me wishing that I could have every Monday off for track workouts and spin classes!

Just in case you think I only did healthy things over my long weekend, I should probably share that that isn’t entirely the case. I also tried out a new recipe for some peanut butter-filled chocolate cupcakes with buttercream icing. Umm, delicious. Enough said!

PB Filled Choco Cupcakes