Flaking out

It's official: Winter has arrived.

After flirting with us, with its chilly temperatures and dusting of snow, Old Man Winter dropped 4 or so inches of snow on Fort Wayne.

It was quite a beautiful sight ... until I realized that the snow could very much bury my plans.

L and I were all set to go for our weekly Body Pump class, with a side of Zumba because we're crazy like that, but I wasn't so sure about the gym. I had seen cancellation after cancellation scroll across the bottom of the TV the night before and it would be just my luck that my baby-free workout would be snowed out.

"What are you going to do?" Mark asjed as I fretted about the living room.

I ran through my options - go to the grocery and hope for a run later, lie on the couch or pull one of my exercise DVDs and head down to the basement.

Let's see ... You know as much as I LOVE the grocery, I figured that I could at least do something for a half  hour. Before I had to convince myself that yes, I could do Bob Harper's "Total Body Transformation" for the second time this week (it kicks my butt every time), I realized that nothing was canceled this morning.

Body Pump and Zumba it would be after all.

The classes were a bit smaller than usual, no doubt because the neighborhood roads were still yucky, but they were fun nonetheless. Lunge track killed me, I remembered not to go crazy on the weights during biceps and I managed to do one real push-up.

Oh, I even think I had the hang of Zumba ... for about 5 minutes.

How is your weekend shaping up?

Weekend warrior

It all started with a missed workout. Actually, it started with a blog challenge. Wait. No. It started with an email. Or the discovery that the gym where I took boot camp.

Shit. I don’t know where it started. All I know is I showed up at the gym at 8:30 Saturday morning and didn’t leave till 11.



After boot camp finished up in December, L and I were excited to learn that the gym was going to offer Body Pump in the new year. I know this class isn’t new to about 90 percent of the world but Tumble X is only the second gym in the area to offer the class and the other one is about a half-hour drive. Arg.



This week was our second class and let me tell you – I was excited. It’s challenging and fun all at the same time, and I find that my competitive spirit helps me push a bit harder than I would at home.



It’s just hard not to feel hardcore and not want to work when you are lifting a barbell and weights. Of course, sometimes like my stomach, my eyes were bigger than my muscles.



There were a couple tracks where I had to stop in the middle and reduce the weight. Just gotta give myself a place to work up to!



After class, it was time for Zumba.

Now let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am not really a dancer. Sure, I move on the floor but I usually reserve such activities for times when I can consume alcoholic beverages. L had wanted to try it, though, and I’m all about giving things a whirl.



And I’m glad I did. It was a lot of fun though it was clearly evident that I’m no Zumba superstar. I spent a good part of the class following L’s advice: when in doubt, move your hips. Of course, that’s how I got myself into trouble …



Anyway … 45 minutes of Zumba later, and we had finished two classes.

While two fitness classes in one weekend is more than enough exercise, I still had a run to fit in.



I am training for a yet-to-be determined spring race, and I’m following a run less, run faster approach. As the runs are about quality not quantity, it’s important not to skip one.

Even if it’s 7 degrees.

The weather Sunday morning was against my principles (aka the 10-degree rule) but there was no wind and a lot of sun.



And Denali was on my last nerve. God, that dog gives me a reason to run even if I don't want one.

We logged  6 snow-covered miles, and I felt surprisingly good. I had tried to keep the pace on the slow side as it was a "long" run but Denali kept it honest. (I think I watched too much of the Olympic Trials yesterday.) Thankfully (and surprisingly) my body responded, managing a 9:38 average - a pace that hasn't been seen much, if at all, since I had Miles.

It was a perfect way to wrap up such a movement-filled weekend.

Wait.

Scratch that.

Shopping at the mall and getting two pairs of sweats and a new workout tank ... for $24 total ... was the perfect way to end my weekend.

How did your weekend shape up?