Boo-Ya!:A New Personal Best

   This past Saturday I ran a 10k race in Oka national park.  The trail was beautiful and luckily the weather was perfect, not too cold and nice and sunny (although I could not keep my sunglasses on because my face was so sweaty).  All I wanted was to beat my last 10k race time of an hour and eight minutes and guess what!?  I did it in 1:05:07 THREE WHOLE MINUTES FASTER!  WOOHOO!  I was so excited.  This Saturday and I am doing another 10K race and I am aiming to get the same time or better. 
     In hot yoga news, today I am on day 7 and I have been going everyday (yes, even after the 10K race on Saturday).  I am noticing improvements in my possess and I am able to hold posses that I was not able to do a few months ago.  I am also noticing that I am not finding the room as hot as I used to.


I hope that everyone is having a great week and take care!

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Fit To Fat To Fit

   On my way home from work yesterday, I was listening to the radio and they were doing an interview with a guy who was a personal trainer and was aiming to gain 100 pounds and then lose it again.  This guy (I am sure that you can Google to find his name) was about 190 pounds and a personal trainer.  He decided that he wanted to gain weight so that he could see what it was like for his clients who were struggling to get healthy and lose weight.  In the last 6 months he has gained almost 80 pounds.  He stopped exercising and ate like the "average American"; macaroni and cheese, white bread and pasta, fast food once a week and soft drinks two or three times day.  Now he is going to start to lose the weight, first by watching his diet and then incorporate exercise.

What do you think about the notion of gaining weight just to lose it again?

In 30 Day hot yoga challenge news, last night was day 3 and it went well.  I went for a 3k run before hand.  I am excited about my Half Marathon clinic and there are some familiar faces in my group.  Tomorrow is my 10K race, I better get a good night sleep tonight!

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30 Day Hot Yoga Challenge: Day 1 and 2

I have been participating in the 30 Day hot yoga challenge for 2 days now and things are going well, but I am tired.  I am still running and yesterday we were suppose to do 4k but we ended up doing 5K and then I went to hot yoga so I was exhausted.  The same thing is going to happen tonight, since I am starting my Half Marathon Clinic tonight, thankfully we are only running 3K. 

So far, I am seeing weight loss, but I am not going to report until next Tuesday.

My big race is on Saturday, wish me luck!

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Ready...Set...Go!

   
     Today I am going to begin my 30 day hot yoga challenge.  I am so excited, I am heading to a  moksha flow class tonight.  Moksha flow focuses more on breathing during the class.  Here is the excerpt from the website on the class:

Emphasis will be on the synergy between breath and movement to help you deepen your practice. This class is always moving.  It is great for upper body strengthening and improving cardiovascular health.

  I am really excited.  I am starting the challenge at 219, in 30 days I would like to be at 209 or lower.


I am also starting to train for another half marathon in February.  I am not sure if I am going to actually do the race in Feb., but I am definitely going to run the Ottawa half next May.  I really like the teacher than is leading the training clinic at the Running Room and I know that we are going to have a great time.  In other running news I am going to be running a 10K on Saturday.  I am hoping to beat my time from last winter of 1 hour and 8 minutes.  I have been training and I feel really confident about what I can do.  Nevertheless, it all depends on the day and since they are calling for snow here on Friday, the trail may be a bit slippery, which can be really dangerous.  Also since it is a trail run I know that here are a lot of roots sticking out of the ground and people have tripped on the roots in the past and gotten hurt, so I am really going to have to be careful.


I now challenge all of YOU to be active for the next 30 days!  It doesn't have to be yoga it can be anything, zumba, walking, whatever.  Also if you really can't for 30 consecutive days try to beat what you usually do.  If you exercise 3 times a week try to exercise 5 times for this month!  LET'S GO!


I love this quote from Arthur Ashe:

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

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30 Days Of Hot Yoga Challenge: Let the Games Begin!

      Friday night I went to Karma hot yoga class (the studio gives the class on a donation basis and donates the proceeds to a local charity, so you can pay 5$ instead of 17$).  Even though I only do hot yoga about once a week, I see a difference in my flexibility and balance compared to when I first started in May.  My balance has improved in many poses (there is still a way to go, but my dancer is much better) and I am more comfortable in the heat.  The studio is hosting a 30 day challenge for the month of November.  30 Days of hot yoga at the studio for 30 consecutive days and improve your yoga practice.  You know me and challenges they had me at hello!  If you miss a day you can double up on another day.  I think that this will be a great challenge and further help my weight loss.  I start tomorrow!


On a happier note.  The NYC pounds are gone!  Now lets us work on getting back to 209.  Have a great day!

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10 Pounds in 4 Days

      I wish that I could say that this was loss, but it was a gain.  I have 2 words for you NEW YORK! **Sorry, I actually wasn't done this post when i posted it yesterday and was shocked when I started to receive comments.  I was going to attach pictures (hope you like Tim).

In front of the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art

Fun times in Central Park

Ahh yes, so it begins, 5$ Godiva chocolate covered strawberries on 5th Ave.  SO WORTH IT!  At least I had dark chocolate...

Yes, I had a cupcake from here also (located outside the Met)

Amazing vegan/vegetarian restaurant in Greenwich Village

I think it is called Red Bamboo
 (tempura veggies)

My fav, coconut covered "chicken" with chili sauce

Peanut Heaven cake, was like heaven

Yes, ANOTHER cupcake (from a food truck in SOHO)

I had steak quesedillas from a delicious food truck on Broadway.  The burritos were also great (according to my fellow teacher)

Oh look! A food fair in Time Square, I guess I have to eat chocolate covered stawberries AND chocolate covered OREOS.


This is just a sample of what i ate in the four days and I do not regret it because I am in NYC only once or twice a year.  I am detoxing (fruit, veggies and water) until I get back to where I wanna be.

Happy Thursday!



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Feeling Good

     Yesterday was a great day.  I got in my 30 minutes on the step mill (this machine is so hard, but I love it).  I then did 100 leg raises and headed to meet my group for a 5K run.  The run went well, the weather was cool but pleasant and I can really see that I have made improvements in the last year as far as running goes, I have more stamina and I am not as tired when I am done.  The only problem is that after I do all this exercise I am famished.  I am trying to choose healthy snack options and I had a almond, sunflower seed, dried cranberry mix (about a handful of eat in a bowl) and that satisfied my hunger.  Today my legs are in pain from the Athletic Training class that I did on Tuesday, I am not going to complain too much though, I welcome that pain it means that I am working hard.


     Winter is fast approaching and one of the things that I love to do in winter is take a long hot bath after a long day.  I was reading an article about adding essential oils to your bath.   By adding essential oils to your bath you can awaken your senses and the smells can help relax you and the oils can have contact with your skin and help sooth your body.  Here is a list of a few oils and what they can do.


Juniper berry: great to use if you are feeling low on energy, helps to reduce anxiety and emotional overload.


Rosemary: helps relieve muscular pain


Cedar wood: helps to focus the mind, helps reduce stress and nervous tension


Roman chamomile:  helps to reduce headaches, insomnia and can treat dry skin.


Apart from oils, salts can also be great in the bath.  I am a big believer in Epson salt baths.  If you have sore muscles, run a bath with 2-3 cups of Epson salts (I like the ones infused with eucalyptus) and just relax.  If you want you can light a few candles and play some Boys II Men  soft music.  I guarantee that you will feel like a new person once you are done.


Tonight, I have a few errands to run, since I am leaving for NYC tomorrow, but I am going to try and do those before and then head to the gym to get in my workout; 1 hour cardio, core training class, easy yoga class.


Have a great day! 

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