Social Boston Sports – New Year New You Bootcamp

I’ve signed up for a Social Boston Sports bootcamp in Jan & Feb.

I’m on a team with my former Fit League teammate (in 2012) Desirée, called “On Wednesday’s We Do Burpees”. Side note – how is that 4 years ago?!

The classes are Yoga on Mondays and Boot Camp on Wednesdays – both at 7 PM.

The 1st class was last night, but I was feeling under the weather so I just showed up to check in & pick up my shirt…only to find out they didn’t make shirts for this league. I grumpily headed home.

Hopefully I’ll feel better on Wednesday night & will be able to attend the 1st boot camp session – and meet my teammates.

Edit 1/7:

Due to a scheduling mix up with the gym the SBS league is hosted at, classes were pushed back an hour to 8 PM. Sadly, that hour was too much of a difference for me, so I dropped the league.

I’ve been suffering from insomnia lately, and I don’t think exercising so close to bedtime would to help with my sleep. (I wouldn’t get home till 9:30 PM & I usually go to bed at 10 PM.)

Last SBS Soccer Game for Team Uno Mas

Indoor Soccer

Team Uno Mas – picture from our 1st game

Sunday night was our last soccer game for this league.

We lost, 10-4, but came back in the 2nd half to at least keep it from being a shut out.

Maggie & Jess are planning to use their Chipotle winnings to treat us to a “team banquet” in a few weeks. I’m looking forward to that, because our team members just rock.

After the game, we discussed creating another team in a future league. I said, “I’m still not a fan of playing soccer, but I like all of you, so I’d join a future team if you make one.”

Here’s hoping we can make a future team work.

SBS Soccer 4/12

We had another indoor soccer game Sunday night at 6 PM. We were actually competitive in the 1st half, ending only 1 goal behind 5-4. But we couldn’t score in the 2nd half and the game ended with a score of 10-4.

Oh well! We still had fun.

We’ve had bad luck this season though with the sponsor bar in the gym we play at being closed after our games. So, I’m missing the “social” that I’ve had with other SBS teams, but that’s not SBS’s fault. Next Sunday is our last game.

I’m taking my Dad to an afternoon Red Sox game that day, so wish me luck that it isn’t like Monday’s game that went 19 innings, so I can get to South Boston by our 7 PM game start time.

SBS Soccer 3/29

Indoor Soccer

We faced a team last night that should have been in the intermediate, not novice league, but they joined the novice league because there was space in it when intermediate filled. (Bad form other team!)

We were crushed, 13- 4, but at least it wasn’t a shut out.

I actually did my job playing defense. I felt good out there and wasn’t afraid to go after the ball (like I normally am).

When I got home, I found my teammate Jess had messaged me “I just wanted to tell you how amazing you were out there today!!! You made great contact with the ball on multiple occasions, and player fantastic defense! Way to go!!!”

Now, I definitely wasn’t “amazing” but it felt good to contribute to the team instead of fearing I’ll be a liability that does something to mess us up.

Next week there’s no soccer, since it’s Easter. I’ll be back playing 4/12, for our 2nd to last game of the season.

It feels like the season flew by.

Thanks to my awesome teammates for making me feel so welcome & encouraging my improvement.

Social Boston Sports Soccer

Indoor Soccer

The SBS soccer team I’m on has changed it’s name to “Uno Mas”.

We had a late game Sunday night, starting at 9 PM.

We lost, 3-6, but were much more competitive this time.

My teammates & I definitely had fun!

I’m looking forward to earlier soccer games the next few Sundays.

Social Boston Sports – Soccer

Coniferous Kickers

Tonight was the first game for the Social Boston Sports spring indoor soccer league.

Because this is the never ending winter, I had to drive in a small snow storm to get to & from the game. (Took it really slow & was fine.)

It was a fun night – playing mostly with former SBS teammates from the last time I played soccer.

We lost 5 -0 but had a good time.

Boston Talks: Fitness 2.0

On Thursday night, I attended the inaugural “Boston Talks” at WGBH’s Boston headquarters.

The topic was “Fitness 2.0” and the speakers were:

Jeff Garabedian from New Balance

Melissa Malamut health writer at Boston Magazine

Matt Rubin from Social Boston Sports

The host was Edgar Herwick reporter at WGBH

I’m the woman in the back left watching the speakers answer final questions

It was a fun night!

Jeff Garabedian talked about the inspiration for the New Balance new spring line (Rio Olympics) & how fitness clothing has evolved to actually have products designed for women, instead of the old way of just changing the color on a mens design for women to buy. He also said their target market was “Metropolitan millennials” – to which someone standing near me whispered to me “that’s you!”. I replied, “yes, and I’m a New Balance customer.”

Melissa Malamut talked a little bit about fitness tech and where she sees it going. She was actually a bit anti fitness trackers because the only people who seem to keep wearing them are already fit millennials. (I wear my Fitbit every day & I have different bands to wear for working out vs. fashion occasions. I think paying $100+ for a Tory Burch wristband for a Fitbit is ridiculous though.) She also talked about trusting the health research that comes from hospitals & colleges right in our backyard in MA.

Matt Rubin gave a great talk about the importance of social as a motivation to workout. (I love Social Boston Sports & I’ve played in Fit, Soccer, and Baseball leagues through them. My next SBS league is soccer and it starts up March 1st.) I agree with him that a social aspect is definitely what motivated me. I won’t go to a gym alone, but I’ll meet friends for a run, November Project workout, or fitness class.

Thanks to WGBH for hosting a great event!

Back Up Plan Time – Which Workouts Do You Recommend?

I’m a little disappointed to announce that Social Boston Sports canceled it’s summer “Fit League” (boot camp) program due to low registration.

I was registered for Tuesday & Thursday night sessions that would have started tonight and run until early August.

I’ve participated in two other sessions of SBS Fit League – in 2012 & 2013. In fact – that’s where I met Jess L. – who’s turned into a great friend and fitness coach.

So, I’m trying to look at this cancellation as an opportunity to try new workouts in my new found free time.

What workouts do you recommend I try?
The only requirement for me is that sessions be available post my work day. I can get to sessions in Boston by 6:30 PM – but anything earlier than that could be a problem. (Darn rush hour traffic vortex & working till 5:30 PM in Natick, MA.)

I’m definitely looking at the schedule of Ultimate Bootcamp to see if that’s possible for me to attend now, and I’ll be heading to more Bolly X dance classes with my Bolly X obsessed friends. (I’m wicked happy to see friends that I brought to their 1st Bolly X class love it so much that they’re now training to be instructors!)

Social Boston Sports – Fit League at Brooklyn Boulders

Last night, I was back at Brooklyn Boulders Somerville for Social Boston Sports Fit League.

This time, the class was broken into 3 sections – working out on the pull up bars/weight room, auto belay climbing, and cardio on treadmills/rowing machine/elliptical.

One of my team members, Jess, wasn’t able to attend last night, so my husband Dave subbed in.

I’m still not comfortable climbing but I got further up the rock wall than I’ve ever been before.

Dave rocked it and got to the top of another wall. (But coming back down on the auto belay shook him up a little. It’s a weird feeling of a few second free fall.)

I was OK with the session and actually kinda happy that it’s resembling more of the bootcamp type style SBS Fit League has taken in the past. It seems everyone else in the league wants more time climbing though.

As Dave & I were leaving, once of the instructors – Nicole – stopped me to say that “maybe you 2 should go out for a nice dinner when we work on belaying”. I was glad my husband heard her too, because I totally had a moment of “did she just say what I think she said?!” with Dave when she walked away.

We don’t think Nicole meant to be mean or discouraging but that’s how it came out. It was just random of her. She didn’t even see me climbing that night because the auto belay wall had a different instructor! She just saw me not hold well off the workout room wall.

It was discouraging and not what I expected from an SBS league.

2 Nights of Climbing at Brooklyn Boulders in Somerville

I took my 1st & second trip to the rock climbing gym Brooklyn Boulders in Somerville this week.

The trip Wednesday night was part of Social Boston Sports Fit League at Brooklyn Boulders. Honestly, I was a little disappointed Wednesday night that it was only rock climbing. I was afraid that when Fit League changed it’s location from Boston Athletic Club it would no longer be like the other boot camp type trainings SBS Fit Leagues were in the past. So far, that seems to be the case, but I’m hoping next week things get changed up a little. We’ll see.

I’m afraid of heights. That’s a big reason why I didn’t sign up for SBS Fit League at Brooklyn Boulders when it was announced. I actually ended up winning a spot in the group through a Facebook contest.

So, Wednesday night on the rock wall was pretty scary for me, but I stuck with it. I was working on the auto belay wall, which meant I was clipped in to a cord attached to the top of the wall, not being held on a rope by a person.

The Spiderman mural on the wall of the gym made me smile.

My arms and legs were sore by Thursday morning, and I was annoyed that my Weight Watchers active link didn’t record a point for rock climbing. At the boot camp style SBS Fit Leagues I’d earn at least 2 WW activity points a night.

Thursday night was Yelp Boston’s Learn the Ropes class.

My husband Dave joined me for the class and we worked on top roping. That means one person had a rope tied into their harness and the other person held the rope to take up slack as they climbed, catch them if they fall, and lower them off the wall when they’re finished climbing.

I had much more fun with Dave with me and our instructor – Kevin – was great! He was wonderful at explaining exactly what we need to do and hands on if you needed it. (Like when I couldn’t figure out why my rope knots weren’t right, he guided my hand to tie it correctly – which made me actually learn!) He also dealt with my fear of heights like a champ.

I climbed a little, but still didn’t feel comfortable going too far up the rock wall. Dave on the other hand made it all the way to the top of a rock wall downstairs. He’s colorblind, so he didn’t even have help from the tape on the wall suggesting routes, because the tape colors were too close, so he couldn’t tell the difference. I was so proud of him!

He’s a sweet guy and he insists on saying “We made it all the way to the top!” since I was holding his rope to keep him safe and lowered him when he was done.

I got 2 WW activity points for last night. (Before the class, I had to staff a volunteer fair for my work, so standing at that booth was probably what earned me 1 of the points.)

I’m still not comfortable rock climbing, but I’ll be back at Brooklyn Boulders on Monday.

Here’s a photo of the Yelp Boston group:

Yelp Boston Learn the Ropes