Social Boston Sports – Final Run in the 30 Day Fitness Challenge

I had a bittersweet ending to the Social Boston Sports – 30 Day Fitness Challenge on Monday, 1/27.

Congrats to my friend Alan who won “Most Improved Male” for racking up the most points through his January work outs. (He’s crazy in shape, a November Project devote, and an inspiration for me. I’m looking forward to his upcoming blog post on the Social Boston Sports blog.)

Jess L. & I headed out for a 3 mile run, but we may or may not have gotten lost (OK we did, and it was my lack of directional sense to blame) but the run ended up being over 4 miles. That was OK though. We got in some pretty new views, like Charles Street. Boston at night is just beautiful!

Jess invited her friend Festus to join us on the run, and he tried to coach me not to walk as long as I did on my breaks between running. I did OK with my pacing though, because when I uploaded my run info from my GPS watch that night, it informed me that I had a new PR for 5K and it was the longest run I’ve logged.

After the run, I grabbed dinner & celebratory drinks with Jess, Festus, Alan, Daniella, and Mary.

SBS has a free community running club on Monday nights. I plan to head to those runs, once I’m able to get through running 3 miles without walking breaks.

Mary, Daniella, Jess, and me at dinner after the run

Intro to Box-Fit with George Foreman III

On Saturday, I took a free “Intro to Box-Fit with George Foreman III” class thanks to Sweet Green Passport program. It took place at his new gym in South Boston, The Club.

The gym was nice, with a beautiful locker room and plenty of room for different types of activities for working out.

Our Intro to Box-Fit class was mostly circuit training. We started with some stretches and then jumped right in. I began at the speed bag (picture below). Then, I moved to doing squats with ropes. (That felt like being on the Biggest Loser.) Following that, I moved to suspension, hanging my body weight backwards by 1 arm on a band hanging from the ceiling. (I wasn’t a fan of that one, because I was very afraid my sweaty hand would slip and I’d fall.) Then, it was lots of strength training with weighted bars and kettle bells. Followed by rowing machines, mats to do crunches where your whole body folded in half (crazy!), and then spin bikes were we had to stand and spin. (My legs were still sore from spin class on Thursday, so that was painful.) Finally, I was back at the boxing area, taking on the heavy bags.

Don’t worry, I did raise my arms when I actually punched the bag.

I enjoy boxing on Wii Fit, so I’m glad I got out and tried a real boxing work out. I think I’d really enjoy it (on a day when my muscles were fresh).

Here’s a picture of the whole SweetGreen group after the work out:

A huge “Thank You!” to SweetGreen for hosting another fun free work out, and to Rachel (front row, center in the picture) for managing the SweetGreen passport program in Boston!

Looking So Fly(wheel) – Yelp Boston night at spin class

Some of you may remember how much I hated the 1st spin class I attended. After writing my post about the experience, many friends who are spin fans urged me to try again.

When  Yelp Boston offered a free spin class, I knew this was the perfect time to try spin again.

Boy am I glad I did!

Flywheel sports is a great cycling studio! They have gel cushion bike seats available (at no extra charge) so I took one for my bike. It made the pain issues I had with my 1st cycling experience non-existent.

The bikes are arranged in a stadium configuration so seeing the instructor is no problem. Also, you pick the bike you want to ride at check in, so there’s no jostling with other class attendees to get to bikes when the doors open.

Originally, the class was supposed to be Tuesday night, but a snow storm caused a re-schedule for Thursday. The only problem with the re-schedule for me was, now the class was the night after I attended Beantown Bootcamp. I’d been limping around my office with sore legs from BB, but I wasn’t going to miss the Flywheel class with my Yelp Boston friends.

I don’t recommend taking a spin class when your legs are already so sore going in, but I listened to my body and didn’t push myself with as much resistance on the bike or movement off the seat as I would have if my legs felt fine.

The spin equipment at Flywheel was actually comfortable! I wasn’t scared being clipped into my bike this time. I liked the electronic board on your bike that showed the resistance level, your Revolutions Per Minute, and how much current you’ve generated.

The instructor for our class, Melinda Sarkis, was very motivating! She kept the class fun, and the throwback music pumping (Toto & MC Hammer played!).

I’m glad I attended. It was enjoyable to spin while knowing so many people in the room from other Yelp Boston events. (I made sure to give thumbs up to 2 friends who were spin newbies before the class started.)

I may actually return to try Flywheel again!

Thank you to Yelp Boston for planning the event (and for the sweet water bottle), Flywheel for hosting, and Fruitata for giving us delicious smoothies following the class.

Here’s a picture of (part of) the group after the class:

I’m on the front left, showing off my Yelp sweatband.

Beantown Bootcamp

Beantown Bootcamp made an awesome offer to participants in Social Boston Sports 30 Day Fitness Challenge – a free week of boot camp classes!

On Wednesday night, I joined Beantown Bootcamp for strength training. It was a tough work out, but fun.

John, the instructor for Beantown Bootcamp, was great. He took the time to show me and other 1st time attendee how to do all the exercises, and what the repetitions should be.

I rocked my Topo Athletic shirt (from trying out their shoes on SBS runs) and was amused to see 2 other people in the class wearing a Topo Athletic shirt as well. (They demoed their shoes at previous Beantown Bootcamp sessions, but I couldn’t attend due to date conflicts.)

There was a lot of leg and arm work. I definitely felt sore in the hours/days after the work out, but it was still worth it.

Unfortunately, my schedule is a bit nutty, so I can only fit in one class this week, but I’m glad I attended.

Social Boston Sports – 3 Mile Run on 1/20

I’ve been busy this week, so a few posts are in the pipeline.

On Monday, my husband Dave joined me for the Social Boston Sports evening run, as part of the SBS 30 Day Fitness Challenge. Normally, he can’t attend due to time to commute from his office to Boston, but Monday was a holiday off from work, so we took the T over together.

Dave is not a runner, but the other day he said “I guess if I want to join you, I should now, since you’ll only get faster.” I held him to his word and asked him to join me for the Monday 3 mile run.

Jess was awesome and coached me & Dave through the run! I was having a good running night, until my right calf started burning for the last 1/2 mile and slowed me to a walk. Dave was having some shin pain, but he still finished the route with us!

I don’t think he’ll be back to run with me, since he was hurting afterwards. But that’s OK! I appreciate that he comes to my races to take photos of me at the start & finish.

On the T ride home, he said something that made me cry. “You know, I’m really proud of you that you’re doing this!”

For the 1st time in my life, I felt like an athlete. (I was the kid who would do anything to avoid gym class, so actually enjoying athletic activities is a revelation for me.)

Here is a picture post run of Daniella, Jess, Dave, and me:

The SBS 30 day fitness challenge ends when January does, but Jess has offered to keep running with me on Mondays. I really appreciate that, and hope to take her up on the offer. She’s a a great coach (and friend)!

Weight Loss

The last few weeks have been very frustrating weight loss wise. I feel like I’ve been gaining & losing the same 2 pounds, and not making any progress.

Yesterday, I weighed in at Weight Watchers and I’d lost 2.2 pounds, bringing me back to 26.2 pounds loss since I joined Weight Watchers Points Plus program (Christmas week 2012).

I credit the progress to Social Boston Sports running challenge, and BABEfit for helping me keep my fitness goals.

Monday night, I got another 4 mile run in with SBS, and according to my GPS watch, I set a personal record with my split times.

I’ll be attending BABE fit on Thursday, and this time I’m bringing 2 friends along.

BABEfit

The reason to keep trying different types of work out classes, is sometimes you stumble upon something you really enjoy.

The BABEfit class I attended last night was the most fun fitness class I’ve ever taken!

It was taught by my friend Lucie.

The first half hour was cardio dancing with some burlesque style moves (but no stripping). The 2nd half hour was floor work of things like crunches and leg stretches, with a 10 minute cool down.

Now, I’m pretty uncoordinated, but it’s totally OK if you don’t pick up the dance moves right away. Lucie was very good at explaining slowly what the moves were, and they repeat, so sometimes the repetition helps you figure the moves out. I was smiling even if I stepped off on the wrong foot for a move.

I’m hoping to convince some friends to join me for the class next week. The class price is very reasonable, $12 in advance or $15 at the door.

If you’re looking for a fun way to get out of your comfort zone and have a great work out, check out BABEfit!

Fitfluential

I’ve joined the FitFluential community.

They’re a welcoming group for people at all fitness levels (even those starting out, like me). I get inspired by other bloggers and their fitness journeys.

It’s free to join FitFluential, so check them out at the link above.

I’m planning to apply for their Ambassador program when the application process opens again in Spring 2014.

Frozen 5K Results

Time 44:10 Pace 14:15

I actually surprised myself and set a personal record with the Frozen 5K, beating my Jingle Bell Run time by 12 seconds. (I’ll take progress, however small!)

Social Boston Sports 30 Day Fitness Challenge

As you may have noticed, I really like group fitness activity. It keeps me accountable to show up at a certain date/time.

Social Boston Sports has social down to a science. I’ve participated in 2 “Fit Leagues” (a boot camp type program), Softball league, and a “Saved by the Boat” 90s themed cruise, all through SBS.

I’ve also made some great friends through SBS, including Jess, who showed up to help me get through the running challenge on Monday.

The SBS 30 Day Fitness Challenge is for the month of January.

“The goal of the 30-Day Challenge is to inspire. We want to inspire YOU. We want YOU to inspire your friends.  It’s all about our community living healthier lives and choosing to be better! To do this, we’ve come up with a unique challenge where you can earn points by completing various workouts. In the process of bettering yourself, you’re also competing to win a pair of Topo Athletic Shoes from their February 2014 collection!”

You earn points towards prizes for running every Monday on group runs, running on your own during the week, & attending Beantown Bootcamp workout sessions.

Last night, Jess & Alan joined me for the SBS group run and coached us through 4 miles. (We intended to run the 3 mile route, but the leader got too far ahead, so we made our own 4 mile route.) Jess & Alan are the same friends who were waiting for me near the finish line of the Frozen 5K on Sunday.

My 2 friends coached me, and 2 other slow female runners.  Jess had me running intervals. They also made sure we didn’t get lost despite losing the leader due to our walk/run pace.

It was a cold, but beautiful night for running. We started on Boylston Street, took the Mass Ave bridge, headed to the Longfellow Bridge, then took a footbridge near Charles MGH – that lead towards the Hatch Shell, Fiedler Footbridge, and passed the entrance to the public garden on our way back to Boylston Street.

Here’s a picture taken by another runner of the view over the icy Charles river from the run.

 

I wish my GPS watch were working, but it couldn’t find a signal while I was running, so I don’t have a record for my pace. Hopefully it will find a signal next week without problems.

I’m looking forward to future group runs with SBS and the Beantown Bootcamp sessions. There’s no fee to join the Monday night group runs (3, 5, or 7 mile routes) so let me know if you want to join us. I’ll even get points for bringing in a new runner!