Race day!

Ok, before I get to the details of my first official 5k, lemme just get this out of the way:

29:26!!!!!

Are you shitting me? I'm still in awe right now. Despite the weather (foggy, cold, drizzly) and all of those damn hills, I (me!), managed to finish in under 30 minutes. Absolutely incredible.

I had my alarm set for 7, but was out of bed a little before 6:30. I wanted to eat a little something as soon as I could so I had plenty of time to digest. Had a scoop of Chocolate Superfood with water, half a banana and half a slice of Great Harvest Cinnamon Chip, toasted.

Started getting ready and got increasingly nervous and excited. Took a pic of myself (or my number, rather):



That's all the hot picture action I have for now, sorry! My mom took some shots about a minute into the race and then a couple of post-race shots. As soon as I get them from her, I'll post 'em here.

SO. I got off to a pretty good start. But after about the first 5 minutes, I started having all of those nonsense thoughts: "Shit, I wanna walk already but we just started! Who am I kidding- I can't keep up with these people! Ugh, I'm going so slow. Fuck, hill coming up. Should I walk?"

But I didn't walk. And I finished another hill. And another. And another. And I kept up with those around me which made me feel really good. They all seemed to be going at a reasonable pace (especially one guy in particular who remained my unofficial running buddy most of the time), so I stopped all of the nonsense talk and just did my best to keep up with them. Ended up being a good plan of action.

No real cramps. Had to be careful clearing the spit out of my throat a few times though. And, even though I thought it would suck, having a light drizzle actually made breathing easier and kept me from feeling dehydrated. Blessing in disguise, I suppose.

The best part about races? People cheering for you along the way! I wish I had people cheering me on all the time, haha.

Making it to the half-way mark was bittersweet because immediately after that was just one long, never-ending hill. I thought I would give myself a walking break, but then I remembered how I tackled the same hill the week before during my practice run without walking. I pushed through, kept looking down and before I knew it, the top was there. A few small hills followed, but the worst was over and I was in the home stretch, more or less.

I approached the finish line and saw my mom and Doug, cheering me on. The director guy was rooting for me as well, and said "That a girl!" when I started sprinting toward the last cone. I was a bit frazzled and happy and then Doug signaled to me to look at my time. When I saw a 2 in front, I couldn't believe it. I remember looking at my watch at 9:24 and figured it would take me another 10 minutes from where I was, but I overestimated, apparently.

Such a great first race experience! It really exposed me to a deeper psychological aspect of running; despite what I thought earlier this week, my body was totally capable of running that course in the time that it did. Running with a group of people just brought out a natural competitive edge. It wasn't so much that I was trying to compete with everyone around me, but their presence made me want to compete with myself, more so than I ever had on previous solo/treadmill runs.

I placed #48 out of an estimated 150 people, so I'm pretty pleased. My final time is what's really making me smile though. I'm genuinely proud of myself.

Another week down.

A check-in post, of sorts. Nothing too exciting to report these days. Unless my new Green Monster addiction counts as exciting. I've been whippin' these babies up every morning before heading to work. My mix of choice:

- 3/4 cup almond milk (I reserve the remaining 1/4 cup for coffee)
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 4 or 5 strawberries
- 1 scoop Chocolate Green Superfood
- 2 whoppin' handfuls (or more) of fresh spinach

I started out using just the plain Superfood powder, but the chocolate flavored one took the taste to a whole new level of awesomeness (bananas and chocolate? Hellooo?!). I've also tried adding blueberries, peaches and/or chia seeds and they've all turned out great. I can't wait until my friggin' PB2 shipment finally gets delivered (it's been backordered since early February!) so I can start experimenting with some PB-flavored goodness. I suppose I can use the regular PB I have now, but I think the powdered version would just mix a lot better.

I wasn't a huge smoothie person before (mostly because I was too lazy to use/clean the blender), but these babies taste so good and just leave me feeling so great that I can't stop making them! I'm getting a good chunk of veggies, fruit & calcium all at once. And because they turn out sweet and creamy, it's like having a milkshake in the morning. Plus, it's the perfect vehicle for the crapload of Superfood powder I bought a couple of months back. Love them so much!

Fitness

In fitness news, things have been chuggin' along, but this week was a struggle at times, thanks to SMLT (Stupid Monthly Lady Time). Yesterday was probably my most bloated and miserable day all week, and of course it had to be the day we learned new stuff at Zumba. I just couldn't get into it at all because all I could think about was how miserable and fat I was feeling. I almost left at a couple of different points, but I was determined to see the new moves. I know exercise is supposed to help, but last night? Not so much.

I ran 3.5 miles this morning and feel a little better. Trying to get psyched for the 5k tomorrow, but the weather is supposed to be cold and rainy. Great. Cold I can handle (sorta), but rain? Buh. I have zero rain/waterproof gear, so it'll be interesting. I don't necessarily want it to get canceled either because I've been working pretty hard this week to keep my endurance and speed up, despite feeling like a hot, bloated, crampy mess most of the time. Whatevs.

I suppose that's all for now. I'll post some follow up notes about the 5k tomorrow. Happy weekend!

Fish burritos!

Man, I'm posting way more than I intended to this weekend! Oh well.

After roasting green chiles, we moved on to making some fish burritos. I bought a bunch of cod fillets on sale a few weeks ago, so we used some of those. Doug seasoned the fish (garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper) dusted it in flour (well, technically I did the flouring, heh) and then pan-fried it with a wee bit of oil. Then burritos were assembled:





Santa Fe Tortilla Company wheat tortilla with f.f. cheddar, one roasted anaheim chile, the last of my black bean/salsa mix, fish and topped with guacamole and light sour cream.





Deeee-lish! It was the first time either of us tried fish with green chile, but it worked pretty well. Looking forward to trying that combo with other types of seafood in the future.

Ok. I think I'm done posting for the rest of the night- promise.

The best things in life are green.

One of my favorite things in whole world: Green Chile. And more specifically, roasted Anaheim Green Chiles. It's pretty easy to find for sale in the fall 'round these parts... People roast it and sell it either at local farmer's markets or random parking lots. It's a flavor and smell that I've grown up with, thanks to my mom's New Mexican heritage.

Aside from fall, it can be tricky to find. It's available frozen year round, but the price and flavor isn't always that great. And the prices on fresh chiles in the supermarkets vary depending on the year. Well, this week, Rancho Liborio has a rockin' sale on these babies for $0.67/pound. We picked up 6 pounds and Doug is roasting the last of it as we speak. Some visuals for ya:











After roasting the chiles, we toss 'em in a plastic bag, let them rest in their own moisture and from there either freeze them or peel & chop them for immediate use. We're making fish burritos tonight for dinner, so we'll be sure to sneak some of this roasted awesomeness in somewhere. Don't ask me what else you can do with it. So many delicious options. Google if you must. Or just take a trip to New Mexico for a few days. (The latter is most recommended.)

Oh, and to make this officially "Green Chile Day," I totally found Green Chile hummus at Whole Foods earlier today. Be still, my heart.

I enjoy a lot of different foods. But there are few foods that I can say I've grown up with that not only taste awesome, but also play an important role in my family's culture and lifestyle. Green chile is one of those foods. Let's take a moment silence, yeah? .....................

...................................

[bites knuckle]

...................................

Ok. Thank you. Now I must depart and refuel my soul with one of the best variety of peppers of all time. Good night!

Take 2.

Since we had leftover awesome BBQ Bleu Cheese Burgers for dinner last night, I decided to take more pictures since the first set sucked so bad. These aren't the best, but definitely an improvement:







This time, we added sautéed mushrooms/onions and some tomato. On the side, I made some roasted brussel sprouts. I made a lot more than what's pictured, but ate about half while waiting for the onions and mushrooms to finish cooking, heh. When they're warm and crispy like that, I just eat them like popcorn. Kinda scary.

Haven't worked out yet today and having a hard time getting motivated because I'm still dealing with a blistered toe. It's been bothering me all week and I probably should've taken more breaks earlier in the week in terms of exercise, but I got stubborn and didn't. Today Doug and I were walking around the mall and I pretty much limped the whole time. Buh. It's wrapped in Curad blister pads already, so I'm not sure what else to do. I'm feeling restless, lazy, in pain, bored and wanting to sweat all at once. I guess I could ride my exercise bike and lift some weights. Or I could watch cartoons on the couch... I hate the Sunday Blues. They leave me so indecisive and depressed.

Bash the Bluffs, Breakfast and Boi-gers.

Quick note: This post has pics! Side note: they're not very good. But that's no surprise, right? Right. But before we get to pics, let's talk some fitness first...

So I'm totally bailing on the Biggest Loser Boot Camp workout at 24 Hour Fitness today. Mostly because I didn't feel like waiting around until 10 am to workout. I also wasn't feeling the idea of 24 S.E.T. at 9 am either, so I decided to do a practice run of the Bash the Bluffs 5K race that I'm participating in next weekend. I wanted to do an early outdoor run and figured doing a loop on campus would be the best option. Of course, it had to be 35 degrees and windy as hell, but I stuck it out, runny nose, watery eyes, cold hands and all. This is why I can't be a dedicated outdoor runner year-round; I'm such a wuss when it comes to less-than-desirable weather conditions. And I'm too cheap to buy the proper outdoor gear. Buh.

Even though it sucked running directly against huge gusts on inclines and not being able to see, I'm glad I suffered through it because now there won't be any surprises at the actual race. Do I want to run in those conditions again? Hell no. But am I better prepared in case I have to? Sure, why not.

Here's my plan for the next few days:

• Some strength training at home, á la Jari Love tomorrow morning. 
• Some sprint intervals at the gym on Monday.
• 24 Cycle on Tuesday (got me some super comfy padded cycling shorts yesterday! They were 29.99 at the actual store here in town, plus I snagged a 25% off coupon for a grand total of $24.15. Super-sweet deal!)
• Possible 2-3 mile run on Wednesday? Strength training? Rest Day? Not sure yet.
• 2-3 mile run Thursday morning, Zumba in the evening.
• Strength training on Friday?
• Race on Saturday.

This is my first time actively training for an official event, so I'm trying to use my amateur fitness knowledge to my advantage. While I want to keep up with my running most days, I also know that strength training improves my endurance during runs, so I need to make time for that as well.

ANYWHO. After this morning's run, I had one thing on my mind for breakfast: Fiesta Flapjacks.(Served with extra bean mixture on the side.)





This time around, I sprinkled on some fat-free cheddar and slathered on some Dancing Iguana Guacamole, in addition to some light sour cream. I made my own salsa to mix with the beans as well. Just a basic mix of fresh tomatoes, onions, minced garlic, diced jalepeños, cayenne, cumin (for the beans), salt, pepper and cilantro. I got heavy-handed with the cayenne and jalepeños though. Man, it was spicy. But still delicious of course.

I actually made these for dinner Thursday night but had plenty of the bean mix leftover, so I figured a filling, spicy breakfast was in order. When you add guacamole and cheese to this dish, it pretty much feels/tastes like eating at a Mexican restaurant, minus all of the extra grease. I was in heaven. If it wasn't before noon, I might have even considered a margarita on the side instead of iced coffee.

And now, a recap of last night's dinner. These pics are especially bad, but please believe me when I say this was one of the best at-home burgers I've ever had:



BBQ Bleu Cheese burgers with asparagus "fries" on the side.



Doug grilled some 93/7 patties, brushed them with some Famous Dave's Rich & Sassy BBQ sauce and topped them with some reduced-fat bleu cheese crumbles. We served them on some bleu-cheese foccacia rolls (toasted on the grill), spreading one side with light mayo and the other side with guacamole. Oh. My. God. As Guy Fieri would say, we totally caught the bus to Flavor Town.

The only things that were missing were some grilled onions and some tomato slices. But hey, guess what? We have leftovers, so perfection is on the way tonight! We were basically trying to do our version of Red Robin's Bleu Ribbon Burger and while not quite identical in terms of ingredients, it was still hands down the best burger I've had cooked at home. Doug is an amazing grill master. (Ignore the review of RR's burger on that blog. Or don't. I just happen to love RR's burgers and am of the opinion that the person who wrote that post doesn't know what they're talking about. So there.)



Another shot of the asparagus. Tossed in a simple mix of olive oil, kosher salt and cracked black pepper. Grilled to a delicious crisp and drizzled with lemon juice.

I LOVE FOOD! Off to run some errands. Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!

Spinning!

Survived my first 24Cycle/Spin class this morning! And surprise, surprise, I loved it! Out of all of the classes I've taken so far, I think this one had the lowest learning curve, yet yielded the most challenge and SWEAT! I was pretty soaked by the time it was over, but I also felt so invigorated. In fact, I'm still feeling the high from that class, almost 3 hours later.

I got there early so I could introduce myself to the instructor and also have her help me adjust my bike. I was indeed the only newbie in this particular class, so I did feel a little apprehensive beforehand. But there was still a wide variety of ages and fitness levels, so I relaxed a bit more as we got into the warm-up.

Learning how to adjust my resistance was of course a little tricky at first, but I think I got the hang of it pretty quick, once the instructor (Vanessa) started giving numerical cues (i.e., "you should be at about a 6 right now," etc.). I probably took some intervals a little easier than I should have, but that was only because I didn't know what to expect and didn't want to crap out early. But during the second half, I made sure to keep pushing and paid close attention to the number cues, as well as how some of the advanced people in the class were performing. That's when the dripping sweat and muscle fatigue started to kick in. It hurt so good!

I was worried I would experience a lot of discomfort from the seat, but it wasn't too bad. I definitely looked forward to the intervals where we lifted off of the seat though. I only had cotton shorts, which, as I read the night before, you're totally supposed to avoid, but oh well. Now that I made it through the first class and want to keep going in the future, I'll be on the hunt for some proper padded cycling shorts in the next few days. You'd think my own natural built-in padding would be enough, but not so much, haha.

Vanessa's a great instructor too. She's tough, has a sense of humor and has some pretty bitchin' abs, which I found motivating. I didn't realize how much of an ab workout that can be! No complaints in that regard. The music was mostly older rock (Van Halen, circa David Lee Roth, Black Sabbath, quite a bit of AC/DC and even some Warrant, which made me chuckle). I personally enjoy the older stuff, so I hope she keeps up that selection in the future.

Great class. And, as sick as it sounds, love that it's offered at 5:30 am. I like mixing in some of the evening classes, but I still want to keep up with my early morning workouts too, so the cycling class is a perfect fit. In fact, after class was over, Vanessa and I chatted a bit and she asked if I liked the time of the class. I said that I did and out of nowhere, casually blurted out "I'm a morning person!"

On the drive home, I gave it some more thought and y'know what? I think I am a morning person now. I certainly wasn't in the past, but because I've gone out of my way to pursue fitness in the morning, I'm to the point now where getting an early start on my day just feels best. On the weekends, I find myself "sleeping in" til only about 6 or so. And if I don't get out of bed by 7:30, it's usually because I just want some extra cuddle time with the man. But if I try to stay in bed too long after I'm awake, I just feel like I'm wasting time and losing productivity. Yesterday I was up at about 4:25 (wanted to grab a lane in the pool) and this morning, 4:36. I guess I'll just roll with it. Trying to fight it and saying "I'm not a morning person, I swear!" just makes it feel like a drag. Anywho.

After work today, I'm supposed to do a practice 5k run with my boss. (I'm running my first official 5k race on the 17th.) I suppose it's a good opportunity for a second workout, but I'm also kinda hoping she changes her mind and/or the weather gets super crappy so I can go home, haha. I do need to keep up with my running though. I'm still feeling confident (er, cocky?) enough to treat 5k as pretty easy for me, but I also haven't ran much in the past week and a half since I've been going to all of these classes. In fact, even though I'm going to classes the next two evenings, I think I'll work in some quick 2 mile runs in the morning, just to keep me fresh. I should probably work out a schedule for the next few days while I'm thinking about it:

Tuesday:
-AM 24Cycle class
-PM 5k practice

Wednesday:
-AM 2 mile run @ home
-PM TurboKick class

Thursday:
-AM 2 mile run @ home
-PM Zumba class

Friday: (taking off from work)
-AM 24 S.E.T. class?

Saturday:
-Mid-AM Biggest Loser Boot Camp class

Sunday:
-4-5 mile run @ gym

Alright, that's enough for today. I'm out!

Exercising your demons.

One of the regular health sites I follow is That's Fit, as they have a lot of great articles and success stories. Today's story was about a young man named Leon and I just got all happy and inspired reading about his experience.

The first thing that hooked me was learning that his father died at age 29 and that that was the main thing that finally got him to lose weight. I guess knowing your family has a low life expectancy due to heart disease and weight problems is one thing, but actually taking action and fighting it is what makes a difference. I guess I related to this on a personal level because diabetes is highly prevalent on both sides of my family. But the thing that drives me insane is how some (well most, really) of my relatives just accept diabetes as "running in the family" and therefore make little to no attempt to change their diet, exercise more and maintain a healthy weight. They'd rather just eat the wrongs foods, shoot up insulin and hope for the best. It doesn't have to be that way! I get so angry (and sad) thinking about how much control people have over their own lives (and health!), but how they'd rather just put things on auto-pilot and go down unhealthy paths that they don't necessarily have to go down. Sigh. But I digress...

The second thing about Leon's story that really resonated with me was his new attitude toward exercise. It just put a smile on my face. Even though he still has a lot of weight to lose, he's totally embracing the benefits of exercise with open arms (I know I wouldn't walk the Brooklyn Bridge in 15 degree weather!). My favorite thing he said in the interview:

"My emotional eating has turned into emotional exercising."

Reading that particular line really made me pause and re-focus on my own food and fitness goals. Although I've been working out regularly and haven't emotionally ate in quite sometime, I still needed to be reminded that it's important to keep up exercise and a healthy diet for the right reasons (i.e., disease prevention, emotional balance, physical endurance, etc.), not just to fit in smaller clothes.

I know there are probably a lot of weight-loss stories out there that are almost identical to Leon's, but I guess I'm just glad I read his when I did because it ended up being quite poignant this particular morning.

Z-Z-Z-Zumba!

Fitness

Last night, I tried my first Zumba class and. I. Friggin'. LOVE IT! Omg. I've had quite a few people tell me over the past few months that I should give it a try, including the owner at my [now] old gym. For no good reason, I just took everyone's excitement with a grain of salt.

I like to dance for fun, but never gave much thought to dance-based workouts. And in all honesty, I threw most of them into the "Lame" and/or "To Be Ignored" categories when it came to trying new fitness routines. Don't ask me why I thought this because I have absolutely no good reason, other than maybe I thought they wouldn't be challenging or worth my time... Yeah, I can be a jerk sometimes.

Well, I had previously made plans to go grocery shopping, but I also hadn't worked out yet and was on the fence about whether or not I wanted to. I was feeling pretty restless but not in the mood for treadmill or step mill stuff, or DVDs or magazine routines... So, I looked at the 24 Hour class schedule and whaddya know, a Zumba class was on for 5:30. Needless to say, my curiosity (and boredom) got the better of me, so after work I went home to change and made my way to the gym.

Once I figured out who the instructor was, I immediately thought that yes, maybe I could indeed benefit from this class. Why? Her ass was amazing. There was some old-school Michael Jackson playing while we waited for class to start, so that put me in a good mood while I did some stretching. As expected, the mic system was still out, but whatevs.

Unlike TurboKick, I think there was maybe only one other person besides me who was completely new to Zumba. That made me a little nervous, but again, whatevs. All nervousness quickly vanished as we got into the warm-up because I was totally workin' it! Within seconds, I thought "Omg! I can do this! This is actually fun! OMG!"

Definitely a small learning curve. And our instructor (Larissa) did a good job of giving us rundowns of each routine beforehand. Plus, the moves themselves were pretty basic, so it all felt really natural. That's not to say that I didn't completely f-up from time to time... I still can't comprehend Salsa. I've tried it a couple times before and the stepping just seems so difficult to me. Maybe I'm putting too much effort into it? I don't know.

Love, love, loved the whole workout (minus Salsa, haha). The soundtrack made it easy and fun. And the tempo helped me break out a respectable sweat.

The only downside is that I am completely sore and busted today. I still had some lingering soreness from TurboKick on Wednesday, so all of the extra squatting, hip-shaking and booty-rumping (yeah, I made that up) from Zumba has left me in pathetic shape today. At one point during last night's session, I felt the most miserable cramp in my right side that I actually said "Owwww!" out loud. Had to slow down a bit at that point. It's mostly my back and sides that are bothering me, but I think between walking around the grocery store tonight and taking some advil later, I should still be up for 24 S.E.T. tomorrow morning.

So now, not only am I a Group Fitness Class convert, I'm totally a Zumba convert. I'm already looking forward to next week's class! Still debating on doing it again on Tuesday, but I also want to try the 24 Cycle class too, so I need to pace myself! If I wasn't so sore and didn't have plans tonight, I would probably try Zumba again at 5:30, heh. It was so much fun! AHHH!

Anywho. So it would seem that I'm already getting my money's worth on my new membership just based on classes alone. I'm so glad I made the switch and finally decided to break my group-class prejudice. They aren't lame and the are fun and challenging. See what you've been missing all of these months, Stuffy Old Tam?

Food/Mindful Eating Progress

On the food front, I've made some progress this week as well. I only "discovered" it a couple of days ago, but instead of fighting my hunger or giving into it too much, I've finally put the following Mindful Moment tip from Eat What You Love into practice: If you're only a little bit hungry, you only need a little bit of food.

For so long (even up through the beginning of this weeK), I've fought with how many meals/snacks I should have throughout the day and when. Well, this week I decided to throw the idea of snacks and meals out the window, in a sense. My hunger patterns throughout the day vary slightly, but remain pretty consistent for the most part since my schedule rarely changes. That said, the past couple of days, I've found that breaking up my meals (particularly breakfast and lunch) into 2 parts seems to work pretty swell. Because when I do get hungry, I'm usually only a *little* bit hungry, not full-fledged starving. I think I got used to the idea of packing a lunch and eating all of that lunch at whatever time I designated as lunch time. It's not like I pack a ton of food, but by eating my entire lunch at once, I noticed I was full, but within the next couple of hours, I was kinda hungry or just feeling needy for some type of extra food.

By breaking my first two "meals" into two "parts" (or snacks, or mini-meals or whatever the heck you want to call them) I not only get the appropriate amount of fullness satisfaction, but also quite a bit of psychological satisfaction because I'm enjoying "more" foods over the course of the day ("more" being in quotes because I'm not actually adding more food at all and in some cases, am eliminating mindless and/or unnecessary snacks and nibbles).

For example, today I had a corn tortilla with 1/4 cup of egg whites and some diced tomato at around 7 am. I was indeed hungry, but still not quite ready for a full-fledged breakfast. And instead of forcing myself to not eat anything at all and going hungry for another couple of hours and having a full-fledged/complete breakfast around 9 am (like I had practiced the previous 2 weeks), I figured something small and light was fine for now and I would have something else later. A little after 9 am, my stomach started growling, as expected, so I finished "breakfast" with some Greek yogurt, Kashi cereal and some chia seeds.

At around 12, a little hungry again. Instead of having all of my lunch, I just had a slice of Flax Oatbran bread with berry jam. That's held me over so far, and in about another hour or so, I'll have the tuna/hummus/feta salad I also packed.

I know it probably sounds simple enough and probably not worth mentioning, but it's made quite a difference for me this week and has taken a lot of the guesswork (and stress) out of figuring out when I "should" or "shouldn't" eat. I can eat whenever I want, as long as I eat the appropriate amount of food for the level of hunger I'm feeling. I feel so much more in tune with my body this week, it's amazing.

Feels good to end the week on some positive notes. May/may not check-in over the next couple of days, so enjoy the weekend ladies & gents!

TurboKick

Tried my first TurboKick class at 24 Hour Fitness last night. It was... Ok. Not the best first class experience, but I'll be taking our instructor's advice and trying it out a few more times before forming a solid opinion.

Apparently, they're still having mic troubles in the classroom. This was the case last Saturday at my 24 S.E.T. class, but it wasn't a big deal because Debbie turned down the music and has a naturally loud voice anyway.

Well, for the TurboKick class, it was an issue. Our instructor (can't remember her name) didn't turn the music down and doesn't have a naturally loud voice, so I essentially couldn't hear shit, with regards to her cues.

I was expecting the class to move fast, but there was also a significant number of new people, so I thought our instructor would slow down a *tiny* bit, or at least stick to simpler combinations. Not so much. And while she definitely knew what she was doing, she got super-fancy with her arms and legs, so it was hard to tell if I was supposed to be doing a simple hook or some other advanced move. I don't know.

I did break out a good sweat and am sore all over today though, so I can't complain. And I can't expect to be a master on the first day, especially in a class where a lot of hand-eye-leg coordination is required.

I'm definitely going to go again next week. Despite not being nearly as thrilled as I was after my first S.E.T. class, it was still fun and I want to get better at it. I just hope they fix the damn mic set by then! I think that was the most annoying part.

So that was TurboKick! I didn't sign up for tonight's 24Cycle class because a) I forgot to sign up and b) I'd rather hit up the grocery store after work and get that out of the way before the weekend. Plus, I'll have some extra recovery time for my sore muscles. Planning on doing something tomorrow morning, but I'm torn between sprint intervals and swimming. We'll see.

I'd like to give the cycle class a shot next week though; they have an early 5:30 am class, which I'd rather do than a 6pm class. I don't mind mixing up early morning/late afternoon workouts, but I also don't like to wait too long after work because it throws off my dinner schedule (I know, I'm such an 80 year old woman sometimes, I swear).