They’re Red Hot

After all my big talk about mandatory rest and giving my body a break, I pretty much sucked at that last week. The one night I was home (Wednesday), I ended up staying up until 1 AM watching the Rangers game go into triple overtime (and then, admittedly, the postgame), and then woke up the next morning at 5:30 for my last training session with Mike (more on this to come in a later post). I am terrible.

And I would have been better, but sometimes fun unexpected plans pop up, like chasing Tuesday’s spin class with bar food and the Celtics game at a neighborhood bar. Sometimes dragging yourself to make an appearance at a happy hour turns into happy hours and girl talk over grilled cheese at the diner. Sometimes, you’ve had tickets to see one of your favorite all-time bands absolutely kill it at the Prudential Center. And when the Red Hot Chili Peppers come into town, no matter how tired you are, you don’t give up those tickets for anything.

(via wikipedia)

So Friday night, after a quick power nap, Meghan, Kerry, Brian and I boarded New Jersey Transit out to Newark for what we were sure would be an amazing show. And the boys did NOT disappoint.

They played a ton of my favorites, including some total classics (if you’ve never heard them play “Under the Bridge” live, you haven’t experienced music the way it was meant to be experienced) and a good mix of old and newer stuff. They dedicated the show to Adam Yauch, who died that day (RIP, MCA).

It was an incredible show — Anthony Kiedis and the rest of the band are pushing 50 and have been together since the 80s, and they still know how to completely captivate an entire arena.

I kind of love the way the crowd looks in this shot.

As any good rock’n'roll band should, they know how to fill you up with their music and take you away to another place — where nothing matters but lyrics, guitar chords, and having the time of your life with thousands of other people, all completely united by nothing except a pure, honestly love for the music. And that is awesome, and worth the sleep deprivation every time.

Musical Interlude

Today was one of those days where from having to snooze a half hour to drag myself to the elliptical (did I need to sprint from spinning last night to a bar to watch the Celtics game with friends and eat chicken fingers? No. But was it an unexpected fun end to a Tuesday? Yes), to stepping on a dead mouse en route to the gym, to knowing I don’t think of the elliptical as a “real” workout, to disgusting weather (and the ensuing bad hair day), to a busy day at work, to looking at my non-work calendar and realizing just how busy the next week is going to be, I felt accomplished, but also drained.

Everyone has their coping strategies for these types of days, but my favorite is usually to find one or two songs that allow me to tune out the exhaustion, focus my energy, and lift my spirits a little. And today, I needed LP’s “Into the Wild” and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ “Home.” Nothing super original, but they did the trick. Check them out below, courtesy of YouTube:

Mandatory Rest

It’s no secret that I push myself pretty hard — I work, pack my calendar with activities, work out 5-6 days a week, and also need to cram in all the random things required to make life actually work (read: laundry). There are definitely people out there that are busier than me and work out more than I do, but compared to how my life used to be just over a year ago before I started this blog and shook myself out of my rut, life is busy, and I like it that way.

But sometimes, I push it a little too hard — cutting out too many hours of sleep, cramming in one more activity, and neglecting the all-too-important time to just sit around and watch TV and turn my brain and body off. Naturally, my body never fails to remind me of that by getting sick and forcing me to slow down. And when I woke up this morning feeling feverish and achy after one of the worst night’s sleeps I’ve ever had, I knew that my body was begging for rest.

So I called out sick from work and have spent the last 12 hours on the couch, alternating between napping, watching television, and doing a little bit of work so as not to totally screw myself for the rest of the week, and I already feel worlds better. Throw in some ibuprofen, a visit from Mom (complete with chicken soup, a tomato/mozzarella panini, and Diet Coke), and my favorite sick-day-comfort meal of macaroni and cheese with mixed chopped frozen veggies, and I am already feeling practically good-as-new and ready to tackle the rest of the week.

Oldie, but a goodie.

In an effort to show my immune system (and my still-cranky knee…and Mom) that I have somewhat learned my lesson, I’m going to back off the workouts a bit amidst a week that promises to be busy at both work and at play. If I can hit 4 days this week, it’ll be a good one. Now is the time to get my body in peak shape to get back to running and start marathon training (!!!) in a few short months. Oh, and to watch hockey. Lots and lots of hockey.

Sunday, plus the Fan Cave.

After an amazing but exhausting Saturday night (dinner at Alta followed by dancing at De Santos for Rebecca’s birthday, all in four-inch heels), today involved a few of the things that should be mandatory for any perfect Sunday:

• A late wakeup, followed by consuming coffee from the neighborhood independent (read: REALLY EXPENSIVE) coffee shop outside in the sun.

• Just enough productivity to fill my quota for the day.

• Brunch with friends at Jane for another birthday celebration, where I feasted on the Benedict Johnny (basically, Eggs Benedict but with corn cakes instead of an english muffin and maple sausage instead of ham) and a bloody mary.

• A little shopping and a looooong (5+ miles…who needs the gym?) walk home with a friend, complete with an impulse stop at the MLB Fan Cave, where her friend is competing to get to stay in the cave and watch baseball for a living from now until the World Series. He gave us the grand tour and the low-down on how awesome his experience has been, and while it’s not something I think really needs to be included in any perfect Sunday, a stop at the Fan Cave definitely adds an “interesting” twist to an otherwise routine, but excellent Sunday.

Somehow, this weekend managed to pass in a blur of various birthday celebrations, probably-too-indulgent meals, another football game (and VICTORY. Undefeated, thank you very much), and probably still not enough sleep. Maybe I’ll finally catch up this week, but with work, a trip to Brooklyn Bowl, and a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert already on the calendar this week, I’m not sure that’s at all likely. But I definitely wouldn’t have it any other way (that is, right now. Talk to me next Sunday after Rebecca and I have thrown our very-first Flywheel class into this mix with all of the above, and if I have the energy left, I’ll let you know how I’m feeling).

THIS, you guys.

…and it’s officially real. HOLY SHIT.

Also, OH MY GOD the Rangers won (oh, and I died) and OH MY GOD I’m going to have to hope that Game 1, which will be at MSG this weekend, somehow magically falls NOT during any of the two birthday parties/meals + football game + planned workout + much-needed laundry session I already have scheduled for Saturday/Sunday, because poor me, Dad and I have tickets. #firstworldproblems

Really not sure if I have the constitution for another round of playoffs. It might actually just kill me. (via blueshirtsunited.com)

Mixing Things Up with Two-A-Days

Ever since watching this show (which was kind of awesome, I promise), the idea of working out twice in one day sounded horrible. And honestly, it still kind of does. When I read about Ali‘s “run in the morning, spin at night” days, I want to crawl into bed and collapse from sympathy exhaustion. I read about Page‘s twice-daily workouts as she trains for an Ironman and I want to park on the couch.

via tvshowsondvd.com

But, weirdly enough, as my half-marathon training cycle wrapped up and my knee got all crunchy, mostly sidelining me from running while it recovers, I found myself looking for new ways to challenge myself…and for some weird reason, every other week or so, I have started to find myself actually ENJOYING a two-a-day workout. Being interesting definitely applies to finding new torturous ways to sweat, right?

Looking mega attractive yesterday morning, about to sort-of-happily embark on workout #1.

(Side note #1: if the 2010 me read the previous paragraph, she would burst out laughing and then vomit. Just throwing that out there.)

As is the case with any new exercise/fitness endeavor, there are two things at play here — first, how can you take on a new challenge safely? And second, how the hell can you actually get yourself to be willing to do a two-a-day workout?

(Side note #2: standard disclaimer…all the stuff I’m about to write is what WORKS FOR ME. I am not a personal trainer or a fitness expert. It’s entirely possible I’m destroying some vital bodily function here, so please do your own research before starting any kind of new fitness anything.)

Re: question #1, Fitsugar has some great advice. While two-a-days can burn more calories and keep your muscles working (fairly obvious benefits), it’s crucial to avoid fatigue. The best way to do this, according to them, is to think about every workout in one of three categories: cardio, strength, and flexibility. If you’re going to do two workouts in one day, they shouldn’t be in the same category. For me, yesterday’s plan was a hilly elliptical session in the AM (cardio) and a Pilates mat class after work (strength/flexibility). A few weeks ago, I chased a morning strength session (strength. Duh.) with an evening spin class (cardio). Perfect!

Question #2 is a little harder. I love working out, but I’d still rather always not be working out (preferably watching TV and eating pizza). I have a full-time job to do, friends to see, and television shows and hockey games to watch. How can I motivate myself to spend that much time in the gym, change clothes twice, (potentially, if I’m feeling hygienic) shower twice? Not fun. Some tricks (some mental, some actual) that I’m a fan of:

• Start small! Pick workouts that aren’t too hard/long (at least at first) and that you enjoy. While I definitely felt the burn on the elliptical and in Pilates, those are both lower-key workouts (the strength session/spin class day was a little more intense, but still enjoyable). I’m not sure I’m in shape yet to run sprint intervals in the morning and take a muscle-busting strength class in the evening. But maybe one day!
• Eat a lot that day. Honestly, part of the reason I work out as much as I do is because I don’t want to be fat, but I love eating. If you’re working out twice in one day, your body needs extra (healthy) fuel, so give it what it wants (in my case yesterday, my body wanted tons of leftover Easter candy. I was happy to oblige).

If this were sitting in your apartment right now, you'd need to work out twice a day, too.

• Put the workouts in your calendar, and make at least one a class that starts at a certain time. It’s easier to avoid skipping workout #2 (or sleeping through workout #1) when you schedule them more officially, and especially when one is a class that can’t be procrastinated. And if you skip it, you will remember all the other people who are just as busy as you are that managed to drag themselves to class while you sat on the couch. And none of them care that this was only 1 workout of 2 for you.

And the granddaddy of them all: constantly remind yourself how badass you are. It might sound dumb, but this is how I get through ANY tough workout or training cycle. Remind yourself that you’re doing something that you once thought sounded insane. That most people still think is insane. It’s a new challenge, and getting through it feels awesome. Yeah, some people do two-a-days all the time, but most people struggle to get themselves to work out once, let alone twice. You’re conquering something new and tough, and that is awesome.

Prioritizing

Today, I got this email from my Dad:

And he’s right — the Stanley Cup playoffs (watching, not playing, clearly) are taking up a fair amount of both time: games to watch, recaps and commentary to read (or actively avoid)…no one ever said the life of a hockey fan is easy. But that isn’t all I’ve been doing!

The past week has been filled with work, workouts, friends’ birthdays (ok, seriously. Was everyone in the world born in April and May? I have three events for two birthdays this weekend), getting my 2012 +1 volunteer credit out of the way, a football game (my ZogSports team is undefeated!), a party at the Museum of Natural History (which, sadly, wasn’t as cool as it sounded), a much-needed lazy rainy Sunday afternoon on the couch, some other random life projects, and trying to make some progress on the whole “Hmm…what am I doing with the rest of my life?” thing. And blogging has not been a priority. But on that note, two random things I have enjoyed this week that I think are worth sharing:

This article. I came across it via Emily’s tumblr, and I think it’s brilliant. Everyone, including me, should read it multiple times, and then stop whining about how busy we all are. See the previous paragraph? All I had to say was that over the past week, I’ve put a lot of other things ahead of blogging. It’s not that I couldn’t have found the time to write — I just didn’t make the time to write — a subtle but crucial difference. The point of this blog has somewhat strayed from its “interesting year” focus, but I think my message and subsequent struggles have been mostly consistent — figuring out what’s important to me and making the effort and time to do those things. But it can definitely be easy to use being busy as a crutch for not doing the “right” things — eating junk, not exercising, and falling into a rut. But we all need to stop whining, and just figure shit out. The end.

This picture. I took it yesterday morning around 6 AM, during a rainy walk to the gym. I think it looks cool. Thanks, Hipstamatic.