I had gotten a pair of Blake Brody’s a while ago but since I haven’t been going to barre a lot lately, I haven’t been using them.  I also didn’t use them during my Pure Barre Challenge because I had noticed that they were a little slippery on the Pure Barre carpet.  I thought it might just be that carpet because when I first started to wear them at Exhale, they were fine.  But Jennifer looked surprised when I had told her this.  She had asked if I wiped them down with a wet paper towel after using them. I didn’t!  She said that should fix the problem! I don’t know why I didn’t think to clean them, but now I will!  I’m excited to try my Blake Brody’s out again at my next class at Exhale Spa Core Fusion Fest tomorrow.  Did you sign up yet?! If not…you should!

Jenn was showcasing a few of the new cute designs.  I wanted to splurge and get another pair but I resisted.  I am kind of boring and was eyeing the black “Taylor” pair because I’m a dork and like if my shoes match my outfit!  Hey…gotta look cute while working out too!

Blake Brody now also has a rollover studio bag to put your shoes in.  Jenn was saying she was glad to have this now because she had her nice shoes but just threw them into her gym bag.  With this little bag, she can keep them safely tucked away.  The clasp is actually a hair tie in case you forget yours!  How clever!

(Image Source)

I going to resist as long as I can on buying a second pair of Blake Brody’s, but if I get into Pilates even more, I might have to splurge.  I am going to give it some time though since my life will be consumed with biking for the Pan-Mass Challenge up until August!

The spin-a-thon was the event that I was in charge of, so as you can imagine, I was a bit stressed leading up to it.  I’m not an event planner or do this often so I was afraid I would forget something major.  Thankfully, everything went smoothly!

We hosted the event at Healthworks Back Bay which has a nice, new spin studio with 34 brand spanking new bikes to go along with it.  A few of us brought some treats for the riders and for gym-goers that would like to take a baked good for a donation.  The yellow and blue BAA themed cupcakes and the to-die for chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips were made by our rider Jen (in the green shirt on the way right).  Jen just started a bakery business called Blue Goose Bakery.  Check her out and go “like” her on Facebook!  It will definitely make her day!  The pink frosted cupcakes were made by me…I wanted to bring extra goods just in case and I didn’t have a lot of time so I made box mix funfetti cupcakes!  I also made some no-bake energy bites and Pam made some granola so that our spin-a-thon participants had some healthy options for food too.

Though the baked goods were great, this event wouldn’t have been able to happen without Elise Peterson from Eat.Sweat.Balance and Ali Baldassare from Move Sweat Love.  These lovely ladies graciously donated their time to teach a spin session for my PMC team.  They also both put in the extra effort to help me recruit people to attend the class!  Elise and I even got our boyfriends to spin in her class.  Let’s just say it was hilarious when her boyfriend THOUGHT he knew how to get to the spin studio but in reality he was heading into the women’s locker room!  I called out “I think that’s the wrong way….” but he was too far gone.

Even though I felt a little frantic at times, I kind of loved checking in everyone because I pretty much knew everyone who was attending.  If I didn’t know the person, I was excited to meet them!  I was also pumped to meet some people in real life that I only had communication via social media-like fellow runner Kate who knows my friend Sarah and Sara who works for Eventbrite and has been helping me out with planning this event.  Tori, Jennifer Phelan’s assistant, made an appearance and brought a friend.  My friend Ariel showed up for her FIRST ever spin class!  And I was slightly giddy to realize that Jacqui Mimno who attended is also a Pilates instructor.  I am falling in love with Pilates workouts and love finding new instructors to take classes with!

Can we also just say that my friend Sara who is prego took the class?!  She arrived a little late and apparently when she walked into the spin room, everyone pretty much gasped.  She rocked the class and I’m SUPER impressed.  I hope that when my day comes and I’m pregnant that I can get my exercise on like her!  (Don’t worry folks-she got approval by her doc to take the class!)

The attendees left the classes saying how tough the workouts were and how much they loved the amazing the playlists.  Kristina who has been to spin classes before said that Elise taught her the proper form for spinning which she wasn’t taught in other classes.  Dave said that it was a great workout for his legs and he thought Elise was very motivating (this was his first spin class too!).  He said that he felt a little funny when Elise got them to sing BSB-which made me crack up laughing.  I wish she had told me because I totally would have gotten that on tape!  And Elise wasn’t the only one who had people loving her class.  My friend Stacey pretty much had a heart attack when she found out Ali was teaching.  Actually her response was, “SHUT UP! Ali is teaching?! Just TAKE all my money!!”  Best reaction ever!

After all the spin class sales, baked good donations and raffle ticket sales, we rang in with a total of $1463!!!  Woohoo!  A special thanks goes out to those whose who donated prizes!  The attendees were raving about how awesome the prizes were and we had multiple people buying additional raffle tickets.  I have to be honest, it took a lot of will power for me to NOT enter the raffles!

• BTone Fitness
• C2Pilates
• ETC Juicery
• Exhale Spa
• The Handle Bar Indoor Cycling Studio
• Healthworks Fitness Centers
• Pure Barre Boston
• Redline Fight Sports
• Reebok Cross Fit Back Bay

And lastly-a BIG thanks to all of the people who came to SPIN!  The event really wouldn’t have been such a huge success if you weren’t there!

Other events we have coming up are an auction June 26th and also a Spa Night July 10th with Mary Kay products.  If you have any donations you would like to make for our auction or if you would like to attend the Spa Day, please email me at littlemissrunshine@gmail.com!

Lolita is located near the Copley T stop off the Green Line. You walk in and have leather couches to lounge on either to enjoy a drink or wait on the others in your dinner party (or both!).  There is a nice bar where the mood is set with a red hue of lights.  And there seems to be a lot seating and areas where both big parties could sit.  Some of the table seems close but not too bad.  I’ve been seated in areas where you have been in much more close quarters with your neighbors.

Jen and I were seated and greeted with a complementary shaved ice with tequila.  I remember reading that Tina from Carrots ‘n Cake said that the shaved ice was like a tequila snow cone and I completely agree.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) Lolita has now tainted my view on snow cones because I’m pretty sure that from now on I expect all snow cones to come that way!

In addition to the complementary tequila snow cone, we were served chips with 3 different salsas and a bottle of habanero sauce.  I always love when Mexican restaurant gives you chips and salsa.  I feel like it is a pretty affordable item to serve for free that will keep your customers really happy.

For my beverage, I got the strawberry basil mojito with bacardi superior rum, mint, fresh strawberries, cucumber, basil infused cane syrup and lime.  It was so delicious and brought back memories of my friend Morgan’s bachelorette party.  The drink itself wasn’t super strong, but that is probably a good thing because I’m a light weight!  I will have to resist getting this drink again so that I can try to give another drink a try.  Next time, I’m going to go for a margarita.  Perhaps the diablo?  Spicy cucumber?  Who knows where my taste buds will bring me next time!

I am a huge fan of tacos so when it came down to ordering, I went for the bacon tacos that a friend of mine had suggested. It might have been that yesterday was my day off from working out or maybe that  I ate too many chips, but I could only get through two of the tacos!  They were good but I still think that I like Painted Burro’s tacos are my favorite.  I’m pretty sure Painted burro puts drugs in those tacos because I can’t stop thinking about them.

Maybe it was a good thing that I didn’t eat my last taco because it meant I had a little room for the complementary cotton candy served at the end of dinner with the check.  But who am I kidding?  Even if I were stuffed, I would have made room for that cotton candy!  It made me feel like a little kid again and was very tasty.

Even though I like Painted Burro’s tacos better, I am definitely bringing Dave and my friends to Lolita.  The environment is really fun and a great night scene.  The food is good and it seems like it might be a little more affordable than Painted Burro if you get certain items.  The tacos at Painted Burro range from $6-8 per taco where you can get 3 tacos at Lolita from $10-15!  Plus-who wouldn’t want a tequila snow cone and cotton candy?  I really enjoy that you get some extra goodies with you experience at Lolita.

I was the first one in the studio and told Emily that my hips have been giving me a ton of problems lately so if I stopped in the middle of class-that was why. Emily said she would help me with modifications and see what we could do I make sure my hips didn’t experience any bad pain.  To all you injured out there who are shy-don’t be!  Letting the instructor know you are injured benefits both you and the instructor.  No instructor or other students are going to judge you!  If they do…then they are the ones with a problem!  What if you realized mid class that you have an injury?  That’s okay!  Our bodies are unpredictable.  You might have to stop and tell the instructor that something is wrong.

I did pretty well until we got to one of the moves where you were on the back of the reformer doing lunges. The only way the reformer carriage would stay near the back was if your leg held it there and I was taking the lunge all in my hip which hurt. Emily told me to try to activate my hamstrings and butt muscle in this move.  I could also lean forward to relieve some of my hip discomfort. It definitely helped but I could tell I am still so weak.  Throughout the class, Emily was sure to keep checking in with me on how my hips were feeling.  She also went around adjusting springs for the class so that we didn’t have to disrupt our flow.  The class is so quick and she didn’t want us to miss out on any second of the move.

Just like my last class, I left with some motivation to go back again to keep working.  The only way to get stronger is to keep doing the workouts that really challenge you. BTone really is a whole body workout that I can feel.  Yesterday my abs were so sore that it hurt to laugh.  I love it when that happens because it means my body is changing and I don’t need to go everyday to see change.

In the beginning of class, some of the ladies and I were talking to Emily how we try to go to BTone frequently, but we would never try to go to BTone every day.  The ideal number of classes would be about 3-4 per week if you are only doing the Tone classes.  You also want to try to avoid doing back-to-back classes, meaning one night class then a morning class.  Your body needs enough rest time to get the most out of the workout.  This is kind of nice because I can still incorporate some running and yoga without feeling overwhelmed.  You can of course go more if you switch it up between Tone, Barre Blast, the combo Tone ‘n Blast, Ryde, and Tone ‘n Ryde classes.

I’m sad that Monday was my last class on my account! I’m hoping I win some from the contest BTone is hosting! They are having a contest where if you check-in on Facebook, Twitter, etc. you can get a raffle ticket.  Every Friday night of each week, they draw a name of someone for a FREE month’s pass!  A WHOLE MONTH?! EEP!  I would be ridiculously excited for that!  If I don’t win, I’ll be looking into investing in a class pack in the near future.  My work friends and I are pretty much in love with BTone.  I also am looking forward to the “Bro”-tone classes they will be hosting where you can bring a guy for free!  I already talked to Dave and he said he would be willing to try it out!

Are you good about telling your instructors about injuries?

Do you have some workouts you can do everyday and some that you can only do a few times a week?

We were all starving so we ordered a full order of naan. There was A LOT of naan in that basket! But we powered through and ate all but 3 or 4 pieces! Good thing I like carbs so much!

For my meal, I got the mango curry chicken. Ashley has gotten this meal a few times so I trusted her recommendation. It was tasty and the chicken was tender. I couldn’t eat all of the dish either so it was a decent sized portion. Dave got the chicken Vindaloo that was super spicy-and if it was spicy for Dave that means it was really spicy! Dave said it was pretty much like a workout to eat it but still really good. For a beverage, I went with Ashley’s suggestion of a sangria, and it was very good. Next time we go, maybe we will get a pitcher of it and we can celebrate Ashley drinking again (she’s prego and due in August!). Dave and Derek both got a beer from the tap and Dave said it was one freshest he’s had. Sometimes beer from the tap don’t taste fresh either because of the tap not being cleaned out or just the beer doesn’t get a good turn around rate. But this was not the case here.

In addition to the food, they have some entertainment on the weekends. There was a henna tattoo artist and belly dancers! They had some outdoor seating that you could even bring your dog for dinner because they have a little doggie menu!

When dinner finished, Derek grabbed the bill and said we couldn’t pay. He and Ashley wanted to cover it in celebration of Dave passing his PhD qualification exams. Both Dave and I felt so special that our friends wanted to do such a nice thing for Dave. They know how much work Dave had put into this and they are both excited for Dave to make it into the next step of his life. So I’m not surprised that they did such a nice thing!

After dinner, I had a little craving for froyo (surprise, surprise!). When Ashley heard me say this, she mentioned a new place called Yogurt City that opened up. Derek had mentioned that he had never had froyo so that was when I knew we just had to go to get some with him. It also gave Dave and I a chance to at least cover dessert since they got our dinner.

The froyo was delicious but the best part of the night was post-froyo. We headed back to Ashley and Derek’s house to talk a little more and play with their dog Monty. There was a moment of silence where Ashley took the opportunity to tell Dave and I that her and Derek had a question for us. I had no idea what she was going to ask and I actually felt a little nervous for some reason. She asked us if we wanted to be their son’s godparents! We of course said yes! Dave and I were happy to see our friends that we haven’t seen in a while, but even more ecstatic about us being able to be a special part of their child’s future! It definitely was a good weekend!

After I complete a challenge of any sort, I like to look at what my goals were, what I actually accomplished, and what I learned from the experience.  If I do this, I can become a better person and also get more out of my next challenge.  For this challenge my goals were to:

1. Become STRONGER!
2. Get TONE!
3. Increase flexibility
4. Build a COMMUNITY!

I have successfully accomplished every single one of these goals even before I completed the 20 classes (see my Pure Barre Spring Challenge Check In).  Let’s just say that…

• I can do two pull ups.
• My arms and core are more tone.
• Though I can’t do a full split, I was getting close!
• I met SO many great people that I am still tweeting and keeping in touch with.  One of my Pure Barre ladies is organizing a PB ladies dinner/drink date night!  I’m so pumped!

But it didn’t just stop there.  The Pure Barre Challenge helped me in other ways:

• Creating a healthy habit.  Without being signed up for a marathon or road race, I was having difficulty getting motivation to get up early to get my workout done.  Pure Barre forced me to work out consistently in the morning.  
• Work areas I never had the patients or discipline to before.  I always wanted stronger arms and a nice core, but I guess that I never wanted them THAT bad because I never had the motivation to work them hard enough.  Pure Barre helped me consistently work my arms and core in a way that I was starting to see some results.
• Push your physical and mental limits to see change. In order to get the most out of Pure Barre, you really have to push yourself-both in the workout move and also to go frequently.  Through my experience at Pure Barre, I realized that I need to push myself harder than I think I do.  Even though I was feeling the shake and burn during class, I could actually do more.  The best thing is that I can apply this lesson to more than just Pure Barre but also other workouts, work, and life in general.
• Form is more important than weight or reps.  Just as in any sport or activity you do, it is important to take the time to learn the proper form so that you can prevent injury and get the most out of your workouts.  If you don’t have the proper form in Pure Barre, you could potentially not feel the workout at all.  Why spend money on a workout that isn’t doing anything?! So instead of rushing into anything, it is important to take the time and effort to learn the proper form and technique.

As you can tell, I was happy with my experience during the Pure Barre Challenge.  However, I am taking a break from Pure Barre.  Stay tuned and read why.  I will also post later about what you should expect as a newbie to Pure Barre so that you can try to figure out if it is a workout for you!

Question for you:

If you participated in the challenge, did you accomplish the goals you set out to meet?

It was getting later in the afternoon last Sunday and I hadn’t had a cup of coffee yet.  I was getting a bit grumpy so Dave decided to find a new place to try.  He found something online that said Barismo in Arlington had some good coffee.

We entered the small shop to find some shelves of their coffee and some equipment for making your coffee at home.  Dave and I both agreed that this little shop seemed like we were in the middle of a science experiment.  Behind the shelving you can see the roaster that they use to roast the beans.

Dave and I each got the 9 ounce V60 coffee.  We watched as the barista got the water to the perfect temperature (between 88°C and 92°C)and then poured it over the coffee for us. Barismo has a guide on how to make the coffees just right.  It really is a science!  Seeing how much work can be put into coffee kind of inspired us to take a class sometime on how to rate and be more aware of the differences in coffees.  We both know what we like and don’t like, but it would be great to be able to have a little more appreciation for the time and effort gone into making a good cup of coffee.

Speaking of which…now that I am done with my Saturday morning long ride-I’m going to go enjoy a nice cup of coffee to get my weekend started!

Initially I had the intention of getting up early and running before I attended Ali Baldassare’s Hard Core Cuts class and then Barre Burn.  After talking with Kristina, I realized it might be better to run after strength versus before.  In yesterday’s case, I decided to skip the running all together.  I wasn’t too sore immediately after Spring Breakthru on Tuesday, but let me tell you..my butt and thighs were dying!  Running probably wasn’t the best idea.

Since my schedule changed anyways, instead of heading to Barre Burn I decided to go to Ali’s Cardio Pilates class that was earlier.  The class alternated cardio and strength sequences.  The cardio portion was always the same with the option to modify to make more difficult or easier depending on how your body felt.  Throughout the class, Ali always was encouraging you to try the more difficult move if we were feeling up to it, even if it wasn’t for the entire time.  Unlike the cardio section, each strength session had a different focus, arms, legs, core, etc.  We didn’t use a lot of equipment-just a set of light weights and the Pilates circle-but Ali made you work.  I was proud of all the progress I made with my push ups through the Pure Barre challenge.  The push ups were still really difficult, but I could do more full push ups vs. on my knees than I could ever do!

I really liked Cardio Pilates because it was pretty much non-stop movement and I could feel the burn. There was a time we were working on our hips that was so tough for me and I kept thinking, “I am stronger than this move.”  Unfortunately, I had to rest a few times because my hips weren’t feeling pain in a good way.  I hate getting these reminders that my hips had an overuse injury.  They have been pretty good lately, but as I introduce new workouts they can get irritated at times.  These reminders, though frustrating, inspire me to go to these types of classes even more so that I can work my hips.  I am excited for the day that I can say, “I used to have to stop during this move because my hips hurt so much but now they are SO strong that I don’t need to!”

After Cardio Pilates was finished, I stayed for Ali’s Hard Core Cuts class, an intense 15 minute class focusing on your core.  I have such a hard time consistently doing core work so it is nice that they offer this class and right after and before a class that I would go to if I were a member.  The class didn’t disappoint and I was so tempted to stay for her Barre Burn class that was immediately after but my body might hate me if I did.  I am dying to try Barre Burn, so I’ll have to find a way to do that sometime!

If I did attend Ali’s Barre Burn, I would have completed a Ali Baldassare Challenge…similar to a Tori, JJPilates Assistant Extraordinaire, who completed a JPPilates challenge of THREE Jennifer Phelan classes in a day!  Tori was at Ali’s classes with me.  I didn’t know why she looked so familiar until we were tweeting yesterday and she told me she was Jennifer’s assistant!  Tori seems like my kind of gal!  She is intense, a runner, loves Pilates AND is a mechanical engineer as well.  Fate put us in Ali’s class that morning!  Though I probably shouldn’t be so surprised, because as you get more involved in the fitness community it becomes a smaller world!

We warmed up by jogging in place, jumping jacks and a few other moves like high knees and butt kicks. Then we moved into strength that included arm exercises, squats, burpees, and core moves-all very dynamic to include that cardio factor. The music selection (which I loved working out to) and a few of the moves actually reminded me of Pure Barre.  For example, the bridging and some of the core exercises were similar but were a bit more dynamic.  The bridging moves made my hips scream, “See!! I’m not strong enough yet!!”  I am glad I am doing some different exercises to help strengthen them.  I NEED to get back to my first love-marathoning.

The class made me sweat and kind of reminded me of one of Jillian Michaels workout videos.  The only thing I wasn’t used to was there was no cool down and stretch incorporated into the workout.  I don’t mind that it is not included-I just have to be more disciplined to do my own cool down and stretching…which…not going to lie…I didn’t do!  In my defense, I might have skipped the cooldown because I wanted to try to beat traffic to the showers.  I wasn’t sure how busy they would be but there were actually quite a few open.  The shower itself is nicer than my shower at my apartment! They also have Kiehl products which makes the experience even better.

I wonder if it always is that easy to get a shower.  The class after mine (Shockwave) seemed to have quite the crowd waiting. Shockwave includes “extreme” cross training through different circuits.  Some of the girls in the class with me said it is a really tough but great class. It made me almost want to stay or a double workout session but I knew that probably wouldn’t be the best idea-I needed my second breakfast ASAP!  Maybe some other day I can drop into that one and give it a try.

Unfortunately, today is my last day of the trial period of Equinox, but I’m going to make the most of it!  My work’s PMC happy hour is tonight which means that I need to do an early workout again.  Even though my arms and glutes are super sore today, I am off to Ali’s Hard Core Cuts and Barre Burn class! Making it count!