Day 313: Lost in Bliss

Day 313:  Today is the day that 100 of my closest friends and family start making their way to town to celebrate our wedding tomorrow.  Up until this point I have primarily focused on the planning details, not the love that will be surrounding us.  This morning I decided to go for a run around my fiance’s neighborhood and allow my running brain to get lost in the gratuitous thoughts of having such great friends and family.

Unfortunately, I ended up more along the lines of just plain lost.  I spent 40 minutes trying to make connections to roads that I might have seen when I was in high school.  I also realized that I had a lot of firsts in this neighborhood…first real crush, first kiss, first sip of alcohol (it was a Mike’s Hard Lemonade, does that even count?) and add this to the list- first time getting seriously lost on a run.  Luckily I decided to turn off the head phones and listen for the closest major road, which eventually led me back to my fiance’s house.

What was intended to be a blissful run with my head in the clouds turned into something else and that is okay.  It’s what it was meant to be on this rainy Ohio morning that felt sunny to me.

***I am also incredibly grateful for Ken Gordon, a reporter from the Columbus Dispatch, that wrote this awesome article:  http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2012/08/17/wedding-worked-into-her-daily-workout.html

Days 310-312: Home Sweet Home

Day 310:  Yesterday I flew from Denver to Columbus, Ohio for some early wedding week prep.  When I landed I went straight to my final dress fitting and then to meet two high school friends at Pai Yoga in my hometown of Dublin.  We were trying out a 75 minute flow class in a hot studio, that proved to be challenging and soul-drenching.

My old pal, Kathy Powell, is a seasoned yogi with a personality that can light up an entire yoga studio.  My other friend, Paco Ribot, has never tried yoga before but was stoked to try something different.  Together we all sweat enough to fill a baby pool and laughed so many times that it made me question whether what I had just done could be considered a workout.  Fortunately my incredibly sore body was telling me all day today that it definitely was.

Day 311:  Yesterday morning I stopped by my alma mater, Dublin Scioto, to see one of my favorite teachers of all time.  We hugged for a few minutes and caught up on our lives before I headed out for a 40 minute run.  I left from the high school and ran up and down the surrounding neighborhoods, allowing myself to get lost in pre-wedding nostalgia.

Day 312:  This morning I went on a quick 20 minute jog and then setup my yoga mat for my own version of a 20 minute yoga sculpt/bootcamp/jumping around in one spot and sweating like a monkey- type of workout.  It’s still unclear what I did, but I consider all of it to be a workout.  I think the picture really captures that!

Days 257-262: Listen Up, You Have The Answer

First off, I apologize for the lack of posts that I have had lately.  If you have ever planned a wedding and decided to build a house at the same time, then you understand!  I just got back from a week-long trip of wedding planning and shower having in Columbus, Ohio and have been really spent.  My body is telling me to slow down before I launch into the six-week before our wedding/work your ass off workout/diet plan.  So, here is my easy breezy last week of sweating.

Day 257:   Saturday was the day of my bridal shower and I was STOKED!  I went down to the trusty hotel gym treadmill and went to town.  I ran four miles in 35 minutes (which is fast for this tortoise).  I quickly went back to the room to prep for the family fun that was about to happen.

Day 258:  Saturday night two of my bridesmaids went to the Counting Crows concert with me in downtown Columbus.  We eventually met up with my cousins and stayed out until 2 a.m.  It made me realize that I am so happy to be growing up and crossing over into the married world/leaving the bar world behind.  Staying out late really took it out of me.  After some sleeping in, my friend Sara and I walked around downtown for 30 minutes before heading back to the hotel.  Next, my Mom and I went out for some retail therapy.  We walked up and down Polaris Mall for an hour.   I am counting these walks as my sweating.  Totally acceptable after showers and concerts 🙂

Day 259:  Monday afternoon I had my final dress fitting and met with the caterer/wedding coordinator to get all of our ducks in a row.  After that, I came home and hit the treadmill for an hour.  I walked/ran and talked on my phone.  I tried to make it as enjoyable as possible since the heat outside was making it next to impossible to run outdoors.

Day 260:  I got home in the late afternoon on Tuesday and setup my home yoga flow station.  It was very much-needed.

Day 261:  Yesterday I went for three different 30-45 minute walks while catching up on emails and work.  I could feel my body telling me to relax and it’s the only thing that sounded okay.

Day 262:  Today is the last day I am giving myself the permission to rest from intense workouts.  Tomorrow the bridal ramp up is on!   If you know of a great workout in Denver that I have not tried, please send it my way and I’ll try it out. So what did I do on my last day of easiness?  I walked again for an hour.  I truly believe that if you learn how to listen to your body, it will give you all the answers that you need.  Craving protein?  Eat eggs.  Need a break?  Take a walk.  Listen, listen, listen.  Your body will thank you and work better than ever.

 

Days 253-256: Home Sweet Home

Day 253: On Wednesday I went back to Bonza Bodies for a quick “kick my butt and make me feel as good as possible before I go to my bridal shower” workout.  Not only were the circuits really intense, but I was paired with the human form of She-Ra, which made me feel like I had to keep up.  In my mind, I was, from the glances I caught in the mirror of us, I was not.  Sometimes I prefer my mind, it’s a nicer place than the mirror 🙂

Day 254: Thursday morning I had to be up at 3:30 to catch my flight back to Ohio.  Once I landed in Columbus I had family picking me up and a schedule packed so tight that I was not sure I’d remember to breathe.  So I decided on a rather strange workout for the day- speed walking through the Chicago Midway airport for an hour during my layover.  With a coffee in one hand, my phone in the other, I dodged hundreds of people while trying my best to look as though I was running late for a flight.  Sometimes ya just have to fit it in where you can…

Day 255:  Yesterday I woke up, grabbed my sneaks and headed down to the hotel gym.  Sidenote: have you ever noticed how big hotel gyms look in pictures?  Then you get there and they are the size of a large bathroom.  Well regardless of size, our hotel has the coolest treadmill I have ever seen.  I took advantage of it by running two quick miles and then planking, pushup’ing and doing situps until it was time to meet our wedding DJ.

Day 256:  My Mom and I had a great plan of going to my old high school and having her walk the track while I ran and did a bleacher workout.  Unfortunately, my old stomping grounds locks the track up now if it’s not being used.  So our quick backup plan was to walk up and down Hard Road for an hour while talking about our old lives here.  It’s amazing what comes up when you’re back home.  Now, onto the bridal shower with lots of awesome family and friends.  #homeiswheretheheartis

Days 98 & 99: Buckeye Memories

Day 98:  After three straight days in a gym my body had a serious hankering for some good yoga.  I could not remember a yoga studio anywhere in my hometown, so I headed to google for support. I found a studio called Pai Yoga that is located in my old ballet studio from when I was a tiny tot-  point for nostalgic purposes!

I was putting my things away in the locker room area when I ran into an adolescent friend that I have not seen in almost ten years.  We partook in the girly “NO WAY!” and then hugged for a little too long while anxious yogi’s waited to get by us.  To make it even better, her never aging Mother was also going to practice with us.  For the first time since I left Dublin eleven years ago, I was sad to have not stayed in Buckeye country.  I found my mind wandering during my practice to a place of hometown bliss.   I love my life in Colorado, but practicing sweaty yoga next to two of the finest women in Dublin made me think twice about someday moving back.

Thank you Powell women for opening my eyes to the awesomeness that hosts the famous cement cornfields.

Day 99:  Ohio has strange weather.  This morning I woke up to 40 degree thunderstorms which later turned into a sunny 55 degrees.  Mike and I took advantage of the break in bleakness and headed out for a run.  Since we are staying in his old stomping grounds he led the way to a “surprise” destination.  I was so excited that I wanted to bring my camera with me, thinking it was going to be romantic.  Silly me.  We ran two miles to the elementary school that I broke my two front teeth in at age eight.  Thanks for the romantic memories Mike!

Now it’s 28 degrees, windy and snowing.  I suppose the weather is helping the nostalgia wear off a smidge bit.  I can almost hear the sunny days of Colorado beckoning us home.

Days 95 & 96: Gymmin’

Day 95:  Yesterday it was 1 degree in Columbus, OH.  To say that it was cold is an understatement.  Every single time I walked outside I annoyed myself by saying “BBBBBRRRRR, IT’S FREEZING OUT HERE.”   After nine hours of errand running all over town, that line got old quickly.  Needless to say, we would not be using the outdoors as our gym.  We started calling the local gyms to check on reasonable drop-in rates and stumbled upon the gem called the “YMCA.”  Have you heard of it?   Seriously, those places get overlooked and given a bad-wrap.

The one we went to gave us a free three-day trial, free sweat towels and an endless amount of grunting coming from the nearby highschool power lifters.  Besides the occasional startled feeling from the aforementioned grunting, it was a great experience.  I ran my first 8 minute mile (maybe ever?) and got in some lifting time.  Oh and the sweat was complimentary too!  I am a sucker for anything that’s on the house…

Day 96:  It has been snowing in Ohio for 48 hours straight with only an inch of  accumulation.  I am still confused about how that can even happen, but leave it to the high-winds in corn country to make that possible.

I have a darling cousin, Ellen, who works at a uber nice gym called Urban Active.  We dropped in for a workout today to squeeze in some family sweatin’ time.  I did about 45 minutes of mixed up cardio and ended my workout with 10 minutes of ab work.  Between the family, friends, wedding planning, moving, welcoming home and hugs, this week has proved to be the most difficult week of the challenge so far.  However, by continuing to put my health first (amidst the craziness) I have been able to calm my nerves, eat out meals with the family without stress of weight gain and carve out some me/us time.  All of which, I know I would not have done if I was not committed to this challenge.