Fitness Recap: I swore during yoga class

Yeah, during Power Yoga last Thursday, with our intense Russian instructor, with an accent so thick she’s hard to understand. So I’m there looking around to see what everyone else is doing, then copy.

Does anyone else get their left and right’s mixed up during a yoga class? I really have to think about what I’m doing, to make sure I’m following along correctly.

At one point she had us doing handstands, which was fun for me, as I’m used to doing them (against a wall) at CrossFit. We did that for a bit, but then we switched for a forearm/headstand. It killed my brain, and felt like it was getting smooshed. I might have let out the f-word when I was falling down after a few attempts. I did manage to get up though, and was much more stable in that position, than the handstand. Score.

I feel like a lot of bloggers are getting into yoga lately. It’s a good thing! For any sport really. I remember thinking it was for hippies a few years ago, but man — I almost crave going.

I’ve only been doing yoga regularly since late May, and I’ve been noticing tremendous amount of change in my flexibility. I’m enjoying it! I usually go to a yoga class, and immediately follow through with an hour or so of bouldering. Which I feel makes me a stronger climber.

Boulder V4 greenSo much so, I’ve been working on this green V4 pinchy problem. Some of the holds suck, especially towards the bottom, but once you get to the top-ish, it’s okay. I cannot get the second last green hold. Your left foot is not stable at all on the under-hanging pinches. It’s awesome, and frustrating.

One more thing before I jump into the fitness recap. The Guy and I bought a family membership to a pool!

Let’s get to it:

Monday June 16: 90 minutes of bouldering, and 30 minute pool lane swim!

Tuesday June 17: 75 minutes of yin yoga, 90 minutes bouldering

Wednesday June 18: Off

Thursday June 19: 75 minutes of power yoga, 45 minutes bouldering, 35 minute lane swim

Friday June 20: 75 minutes of yin yoga, 3 hours of top rope climbing with Ellen

Saturday June 21: 3.6 mile run (outside) with The Guy

Sunday June 22: Off

swim selfieSwimming pool selfie. Had to. Like I said earlier, I hadn’t been lane swimming since I was a teenager, training to be a lifeguard – which I failed. I can finally swim one length (25m) of the pool without stopping. Now I have to work on the breathing.

climbing shoe selfieIt’s going to sound cheesy, but I love it when Ellen and I go climbing together. For the most part, I do yoga and bouldering on my own. But about once a week, we get together and climb for hours. Literally, we are there for 3+ hours together, and while most of it is climbing, sometimes we just sit down on the cushiony carpet and just chat about anything and everything. I had to take a climbing shoe selfie of our feet the last time we were climbing together. Ha.

Tone It Up Gym bagMy Tone It Up gym bag is $24 off if any of you were interested in purchasing it. Gah. It’s still expensive.

When is the last time you went swimming?

How many times a week do you normally work out?

Are you watching any of the World Cup soccer games?
I honestly think world cup soccer players fall down easily because they want to catch their effing breath! No I’m not even joking!

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Fitness recap: Ten K’s, yoga and bouldering

I thought yesterday was June 17, but it’s today. Which means it’s mine and The Guy’s 9 year dating anniversary!

Scott nancy 2005I’m so glad he kept bugging me to date him, look at us now — down here in California almost a decade later, still happy as ever.

My hip flexor (or muscle around that area) seems to hate it when I run “long distances”, so I’ve been taking it easy ever since I noticed pain when lifting my right leg up the stairs. I wasn’t sure whether or not yoga aggravated it, or doing more running than usual. I have never in my entire life ran a double digit run before last week, and hello two 10km runs? After my second 10k in two weeks, I’ve decided to stop running half way through last week to heal it, and do more yoga and bouldering. We’ll see how it goes—I better not lose my rhythm when I get back into running, I hate starting over.

yoga selfieI posted this yoga selfie on Thursday. Apparently it’s winner winner chicken dinner, not wiener wiener. ;)

Monday June 9: 75 minutes of “noon” yoga, and three hours of top roping (climbing) with Ellen

Tuesday June 10: 6.12 mile run in 1:05:36, I thought I was at the 10km mark but that’s 6.21. Gah!

Wednesday June 11:  2.5 mile run in 23:47

Thursday June 12: 75 minutes of power yoga, and 1 hour of bouldering

Friday June 13: Off

Saturday June 14: Off

Sunday June 15: 2 hour walk with The Guy & Alfie

Tone It Up, Flamingo DuffleI bought this gym bag on a whim after a late night YouTube watching session with the Tone It Up girls (I’m not a member). But I loved Katrina’s pink bag better than my reusable grocery bag. I spent way too much money on it, but I bought it anyway. Hope it arrives soon.

I’ve been eating clean for the last 3 weeks, mainly due to the fact that I was pigging out, and not working out frequently which made my clothes ill fitting. If you’ve been following me on instagram, you know that I’ve been making The Guy and I morning smoothies every single day. Skoop must have noticed my #smoothie pictures and contacted me asking me if I’d like to try out their product.

skoopSure why not. I’m brand new on taking superfoods, or even powdered drinks after a workout. I normally come home and grab a handful of nuts or fruit, after a workout and be set.

Skoop mixingGotta say, I didn’t have high expectations for this as I’ve never been one to put added powdered stuff to my drinks after a workout. Mainly because I’m lazy and the fact they all leave a funky after-taste. I was definitely skeptical of running my morning smoothie with Skoop. I tried out the Chocofresh and definitely was surprised. Typically I use Trader Joe’s pure unsweetened cocoa in the smoothie, which leaves a bitter after-taste. But this one left a fruity chocolate taste to the smoothie. I made one for the both of us, and have been adding a scoop of skoop (ha!) to the smoothies every morning. Unfortunately though, the bag costs $65! As much as it says the product is good for you, I definitely cannot afford that. Too bad, as it’s absolutely delicious.

Skoop smoothieI should start drinking this moreso after my yoga and bouldering sessions rather than first thing in the morning. But it’s honestly so good, I can’t wait til the afternoon to have one.

Here’s a bit more information that was shared with me in the initial e-mail:

Skoop is an organic non-GMO superfoods powdered formula, rich in antioxidants, adaptogens and probiotics. It’s non-allergen (no dairy, soy, gluten) and great for fighting inflammation, stress and bad gut bacteria. It’s a wonderful post workout drink because it’s so alkalizing in the body and helps promote a quick recovery.

There are no mysterious fillers or “potion” like concoctions hidden within. It’s clean, organic and all non-GMO. Plus 10% of every bag is donated to a national non-profit that provides fresh produce to children in schools. It’s basically buy one, give one. It’s a great mission and we’re looking to really do some good here!

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Fitness Recap: Crushin V2’s and 3’s

climbing selfieFor the past 2 weeks it doesn’t seem that I like to blog on Friday’s and Monday’s anymore. Oops.

Yin yoga last Tuesday focused primarily on the lower half of the body, holding deep poses for an unlimited amount of time. It felt uncomfortable, and what I thought was painful. However the yoga teacher talked us through the deep stretches, saying pain, and sensation are two completely different things. The mind gets busy, starts analysing the sensation you’re feeling and overcomplicates it. She said we needed to calm our minds, and embrace the sensation.

The sensation is your body telling you something — warmth, cooling, pain. Your thoughts convert the sensations into feelings of perhaps, pain. You think you need to “get out” but perception is how you view it. You have to quieten your busy mind. Which is easy for me to do if I’m hanging out in savasana mode (aka adult nap time), but when you’re in a deep ass stretch and your hips are angry, your mind clearly perceives it as pain. It wasn’t overbearing but I did need to take a lot of deep breaths. When the class was over, I felt incredible. If I dare say so, it was the best yoga class I have attended. Ever.

Little hippy-ish, but I went with it. Even though my mind kept telling me to get my legs the eff out of that pose. I’ve been enjoying yoga before I head into a bouldering session. It just elongates the body and loosens up the joints, muscles and especially my hips (my right one isn’t so flexible).

Monday June 2: 75 minutes of “noon” yoga, then 2 mile run in the evening in 19:11

Tuesday June 3: 75 minutes of yin yoga, 1 hour bouldering, where I finally conquered that orange V2 route!!!

Wednesday June 4:  National Running Day!

Thursday June 5: 75 minute power yoga & 30 minutes bouldering

Friday June 6: Off

Saturday June 7: 3.6 mile run with The Guy! (outdoors!)

Sunday June 8: Off

Sheena asked me what I was doing for National Running Day which happened on Wednesday June 4. Since I’m getting more into running again, I thought I’d challenge myself and go for my longest run of my entire life. I did a trail run back in 2010/2011 that was 9km long, and I knew I wanted to get into the double digits eventually (ahem a few years later). I didn’t care that I needed to stop 53 times, nor did I care how long the dang run took me. But I wanted to do it. So I did.

 A few #SpiffykermsStyle outfits that I thought I’d include in here too:

A running at the gym sort of attire, primarily to wick sweat away from my body and keep me as content as possible. Lululemon run swiftly tech tank, gap sports bra, MPG leggings, Ironman Canada socks, and some Mizuno sneakers.

workout gearWhat I wear to yoga and bouldering. Since I don’t sweat like a beast as when I run, I can wear regular cotton bottoms (from Lululemon) and a racerback, also from lululemon. Bra is… same gap one. Recycle-cycle!

Isn’t it funny when your boulder problem is now a warm up? Last week I posted about an orange V2, and I hop on it no problem and complete it. Then I worked on this yellow one, which didn’t take much effort (a few tries in back-to-back days and I got it). I need something harder :) Maybe I’ll hop on a V4 this week.bouldering, climbing, climb, V2, V3

Let me know what you’ve accomplished last week, or what your goals are for the upcoming week.

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