Well, thanks to the wonderful community at Bikram Yoga Harlem and all you donation class yogis, Team Happy Hippo has officially raised $1,025 to help fight cancer, bringing our grand total to $1051.20! With 6 months to go before the race, we're already over half way there. That makes the hippo very happy!
It even makes the hippo wear a cowboy hat! You could make the hippo even happier by making a small donation here. :)
In other news, I cannot lift my arms. I was bragging about how I could still move after my personal training session, well the non-movement was just delayed. Every time I try and lift my arms higher than my chest, like when I sip my tea (which I do all day long), I have to move in super slow motion. At least I'm going to be super buff!
My pre training training continues. Last night I went back to the gym for another date with the treadmill. This time I ran for a little more than 15 minutes. I’m just trying to build myself a base right now and I gotta say that 15 minutes felt like FOREVER, and I couldn’t catch my breath. That was a tough 15 minutes. Hoping it starts to get easier soon.
I also had another date with the personal trainer. This time was a little better. We didn’t do so many damn squats so I can actually move my legs today. We actually did more upper body work, which was a little bit embarrassing. My lack of arm strength is just silly. Laughable really. We were doing pushups with my arms more in, to isolate the triceps. I could get down low, but when it came to actual pushing up, I would sort of just collapse onto my face. I’ve known for a while that I have a total lack of upper body strength and I always tell myself I should do more pushups. Sometimes I go on a pushup kick, where I’ll do them daily for about a week, but I usually get discouraged and stop trying. If I don’t attempt pushups, I can’t tell how much I suck at them, right? I know. That’s not an actual solution, but it’s worked for a while.
On another note, anyone catch the Mad Men premiere? I’m so glad it’s back! Sunday nights haven’t been the same.
Friday was an interesting day. My stomach was very angry at me all day and I didn’t have much of an appetite. So what do I do about that? I go to the gym! I figured either one of two things would happen: 1. I would double over in pain and curse myself for attempting something so stupid. 2. I would feel better and pay myself on the back for such a brilliant idea. Sometimes when I feel icky, getting my blood flowing actually helps, plus I didn’t want to delay the running again. It was starting to sound like I was making excuses. So off to the gym I went.
In the end, it turned out to be a brilliant idea. I did a short run (10 minutes walking and 10 minutes running) to ease myself back into it. My legs were still a bit sore from the workout with the trainer, but I felt strong. After that, I did 10 minutes of arms, then stretching. One thing I’ve noticed from all my time away from running, I’m extra stretchy now. I did my usual post-run stretches and had to push myself more to feel the stretch. Hopefully that will help during my training.
What did I do post-run? Eat of course. Now after a day of feeling totally sick to my stomach, I’m sure going to a tapas bar isn’t exactly the best idea, but I can’t say no to tapas. I’m SO GLAD I went. This place was amazing. We went to Boqueria in Flat Iron and for large parties, they have a tasting menu that’s $40 per person (plus tax, tip and beverages). You don’t have to order anything. You tell them if you have any dietary restrictions then they bring you plate after plate of delicious tasty bites. I liked eating just what I was served. No agonizing over what to choose and no regret if someone else’s food looks better. It was actually a lot of food for the money too. If anyone wants to gather a large party and go back, you can count me in. It was wonderful.
Saturday was spent at Home Depot. I think you can tell you’re an adult when you suddenly love looking at bath fixtures and lighting. Since it’s officially Spring, Josh and I are ready to get our farmer on. We bought lettuce, spinach, and pea seeds, plus we have a little rose bush too. They’re all very happy in our window. Last year I started these too late, so hopefully things will work out this year.
Sunday was Spring cleaning, ie reorganizing the pantry while watching the Muppets. The Muppets make any task more exciting. Then I went to the last Sunday donation class for Team Happy Hippo. It was another great class. I'm feeling so strong and ready to take on this marathon training...I think.
Phew. That was a busy weekend.
The running got postponed for two reasons.
1. I didn't go to work yesterday. I felt kinda yucky, but not really sick. I just didn't want to get dressed and go to work, so I stayed home. And since the gym is right next to work, it didn't make much sense to go all the way there.
2. I still couldn't move my legs. I appreciate that the trainer gave me a good workout, but I might mention to him that I'd like to be able to walk the next day. Maybe we can modify something next time.
Today I'm feeling almost normal, so even though it's a Friday night and I should be raging at a bar, I'm going to the gym. And I'm going to run. I'm such a good Lisa. Then I'm going to the bar :)
In other news, I went to the dentist today and no cavities! Plus, this was the first dentist I've been to in a long time that didn't come off as a total (pardon my French) douchebag. She actually explained to me what she was doing and why she recommended certain things. So that's a plus.
One last note, this Sunday is the last Sunday for donation classes at Bikram Yoga Harlem to help support Team Happy Hippo and our fundraising efforts. If you haven't tried it yet, you should! I promise you won't die. You might even enjoy it :)
Ok. This just got real. Yesterday was my first session with a personal trainer. And guess what? I ran! Ok. I only ran for 5 minutes as a warm up, and I was planning on running more after my workout with the trainer, but my legs were DEAD. Yes, we worked HARD. We did hip flexors, lunges, lots of squats. Too many squats. Then abs. Too much abs. Stairs are not my friend today.
One of things I really liked was pretty much everything we did was without weights, meaning I could do the workouts at home. Not sure that I WOULD, but I could if I wanted to. The trainer also gave me one of the best compliments I've ever had. He said that even though there were times that it was hard and I had to take a breather, I always jumped back in. I was not a quitter. It's nice that someone else noticed.
The one thing I didn't like had nothing to do with the trainer. It was the dreaded gym manager. He was trying to sell me a membership and more sessions, and being a little pushy about it. Hey, dude. Let me try it out more than once before I decide, will ya? Anyhoo, I'm going back to the gym on Thursday, and I'm planning on running for more than 5 minutes.
Last I left you, I said I was on my way to pilates for the upper body. No, I didn't die, I just got really busy. Ok, so I almost died. I have no upper body strength. My arms are strong enough, but my shoulders are very weak. I guess that explains a lot. Good to know at least.
Next week is going to be a BIG WEEK. Next week, I'm hitting the gym, and I'm going to actually start running again. I'm a little scared. I've enjoyed all the stretching and doing nice things for my body. Now I have to get back into the running routine. I'm headed there on Tuesday, so I'll let you know how it goes.
Last but not least, for those of you around this weekend, don't forget about donation yoga classes Sunday at 4:30 at Bikram Yoga Harlem. Proceeds go towards our fundraising effort to help the American Cancer Society! It's a great change to sweat out all that green beer!
Ok. I’ve been doing Bikram yoga let’s say an average of 4 days a week for the last 2 years. It’s surprising to me that I still learn things. Especially something like how to stretch. I don’t think I was doing it right all this time.
We do a pose called locust where you put your arms under your body. You’re supposed to move the weight to your arms and shoulders and stretch your leg back. It’s not very comfortable, and I hate this pose mostly because I can’t do it. I’ve been trying all this time to move the weight to my arms, THEN stretch my legs back. It ends up with me just getting stuck. Turns out I have to do them both simultaneously. Then things just sort of fall into place. I had so much success in this pose, that I decided to apply this discovery to other poses. I was able to get deeper, and even lock my knee! A huge accomplishment for me. I just find it so odd that I can do the same thing week after week and still learn new things. We’ll see if I can remember this in my next class.
Tonight, pilates part 2. We’re focusing on the upper body. This could be bad. Yikes.
Good news. The babysitting was a success. The baby survived and everything.
More good news. Danielle actually came to visit! It was a bit of a whirlwind. We went to Central Park, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, had a hot dog, split some fancy tea, and hung out at an Irish pub with some friends. It was exhausting but on fun. On Sunday Danielle got to experience the madness that is Penn Station.
The weekend left me pretty tired and I'm not feeling quite myself today, so I can't think of anything funny or witty to add. Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon!
Good news. I can move today! I tried out a new pilates class yesterday and was very worried that I would be completely immobilized today. I tried out a new place near work called IMX Pilates. Here's a quick list of pros and cons:
Pros
- It was fast-paced. In a lot of pilates classes I feel like you spend a lot of time messing with equipment. All of our equipment messing was very brief.
- The class was small and intimate. And there was fun music!
- It was HARD. Squeezing something in your arms while doing something completely different with your legs. I was pretty close to quitting that one.
- I tried the Barre class. So we did some pilates then we got up and did lots of ballerina type stuff. I've always wanted to be a ballerina, so that was fun
Cons
- While the class was fun and fast, I felt like I wanted a little more help with my alignment. There wasn't a whole lot of that. Maybe no one was making any mistakes, or maybe that's not covered as much since it's an intermediate class, but either way, a little adjustment would have been nice.
- I COULD NOT find the door. I could see the studio above me, but it took me about 5 minutes to figure out how to get there. The address is on one street, but the entrance is on another. One of those weird New York things that I'll never understand.
- The layout of the studio was a little weird. Maybe I have to get used to it, but the locker room and the waiting area were weird.
So all in all, I say it was a pretty good experience. I have another class focussing on only the upper body. That should be....interesting...
Tonight's adventure- BABYSITTING...
Yesterday was very exciting. I bought new yoga shorts. I know that doesn't SOUND exciting, but I guess I'm easy to please. I was going to take a picture in them, but the term "shorts" is misleading since they're more like underwear. They're multi colored zigzags and they're awesome.
Tonight I'm going to this new pilates class. It's supposed to be a reformer and Ballet Barre class. We'll see how this goes. I've heard how hard most barre classes are. I'll let you know if I can stand up straight tomorrow.
Well I’m a doofus. I’ve been doing this thing lately where I get so excited about something coming up, that I just assume that it’s happening sooner than it really is. So long story short, Danielle will be in town NEXT weekend. But I didn’t get the wrong date on the opera. So my friends and I had a classy time Friday night at Madame Butterfly.
Amy was getting her coat, so we might have to photoshop her in :)
I will be completely honest with you. The first half was beautiful to look at, but I didn’t see most of it because I was fighting to stay awake. I guess the whole falling in love stuff wasn’t very exciting to me. But the second act, where she was totally in anguish waiting for him to come back, was riveting. Her cries of “He has forgotten me!” sounded like an operatic punch in the stomach. It was pretty awesome. SPOILER ALERT At the end, she dies. (Someone dies in an opera? SHOCK!) It was sad, but very beautiful. The set had this hill where they would create a sunrise and sunset affect, and there was a mirror above the hill, so everything was reflected. Hard to explain, but very nice to look at.
Saturday was uneventful. I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and made dinner. (I know. I live such an exciting life.) Sunday was the very first donation class for Team Happy Hippo in March, and I’m happy to report it was a totally packed class. That being said, there’s always room for more! So don’t forget to make time to come by either Wednesdays at 12:30 or Sundays at 4:30 in March. Classes are taught by the lovely Erik. I like his classes because he always knows when I’m holding back and he makes me try harder.
Up this week, I will continue my pre-marathon-training training. Finally getting to those pilates classes. I promise to report back.
Tonight, I'm going to be fancy. I'm going to go to the opera tonight. We're going to dress up, drink champagne and go see Madame Butterfly.
And if that's not awesome enough, my friend, Danielle is coming into town Saturday and we're going to galavant about town and have a jolly good time. I think it's going to be a classy weekend.
Ok people. This is happening. I know I said April, but I lied. In the month of March, take donation classes at Bikram Yoga Harlem and all proceeds go to the American Cancer Society, via Team Happy Hippo. The suggested donation is $10, but you can pay whatever you like.
Now I know there are some of you out there thinking, "I don't do yoga" or "I'm not flexible." And I know there are some that are thinking, "Gee, I just don't feel comfortable being sweaty in front of a group of strangers." Well let me just tell you. Bikram Yoga Harlem is practically my second home. It's a very welcoming environment to anyone and everyone, no matter your flexibility, shape, athleticism, orientation, whatever. We have a little bit of everything up in Harlem. No judgement. Really. I seriously recommend trying it at least once. Even if you can't do any of the poses, it doesn't matter. They always say the only bad yoga class is the one you don't go to. So you have no excuse. Go and be amazing!
And if you're thinking of going, MiMi and I will be there this Sunday at 4:30pm. We can all be sexy and sweaty together.
