Random Friday Facts

1. I haven’t run a half marathon yet but decided to go ahead and register for my first marathon. I’ll be running 26.2 miles on October 28th in Washington, DC and I’m SO freakin’ excited.

2. People (especially coworkers) usually think I’m the most patient person in the world but I do get really frustrated when others do not learn things quickly. I’m very good at hiding my frustration.

3. I usually get more compliments on my hair after I’ve had a good sweat session and thrown some hairspray on top of it than when I actually put effort into styling it. It’s pretty rare that I style my hair nowadays.

4. The running related nightmares have already started. I had a dream where my coach was screaming “faster..faster..FASTER! FASTER!@#*@*$” at me. Yikes.

5. I have zero artistic ability. So much so that I’m probably going to hire a designer to create a new blog header for me since my previous attempts have failed.

6. Sometimes I talk about working out too much with my friends and family. I feel bad but since my workouts now take up a more significant portion of my life, it’s hard not to talk about it. I guess I need to blog more often ๐Ÿ™‚

7. My nose runs a lot during an intense workout. I won’t go into the graphic details but let’s just say that I had some issues during spinning on Wednesday and it wasn’t pretty. I’m thankful I had easy access to two towels from my bike.

8. My legs are starting to look more muscular which is a first for me. I wore shorts to the gym the other day and got a “hot damn” from my husband.

9. I can’t decide if I like hot yoga or Barre3 better for cross-training (1x/week). Any thoughts on this one?

10. My job is super glamorous and I get to fly to exciting places like Minneapolis (and miss two workouts). Woo.

Hey Seattle runners…

After seeing how many of us love Cactus on Skipping in Seattle’s blog, I’m thinking that we should all get together in April or May for a run around Alki/West Seattle followed by drinks/food at Cactus. Hello post-run Sangria (and chips and salsa and navajo bread… and fajitas and maybe a margarita or three).

Let me know if you’re in by commenting on this blog post and the dates you’re available. The more, the merrier ๐Ÿ™‚ Once we decide on a date, I’ll determine a meeting point for our run and will make reservations for our group at Cactus.

I did it! I registered for my first marathon!

I feel very lucky that I was able to snag 1 of the 30,000 available spots for the Marine Corps Marathon on October 28th. Last year the race sold out in 28 hours and this year, it sold out in 2 hours and 41 minutes.

I’m really nervous about registering for a full marathon considering that I haven’t even run a half yet but I’ve heard wonderful things about this race and think it will be a good one for my first marathon. I did have a fleeting ‘WTF have you just done?’ thought running through my head after I clicked submit but I’m really excited about training and hopefully meeting up with some high school friends and twitter/blogger peeps in DC.

Have any of you ever run the Marine Corps Marathon?

Weekend Workout Recap

Yesterday, I tried out a class at Knotty Yogaย with the Sweaty Betties. I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect going into the class but I had a wonderful time and the class kicked my butt much more than I expected. Let’s just say that I could barely move this morning.

The studio was opened 3 weeks ago by Mason, a 10-year Microsoft veteran, and he’s been teaching aerial acrobatics and yoga for 7 years. Knotty Yoga is a mixture of yoga, aerial acrobatics conditioning, strength training and Thai massage. There was a lot of core and strength work included in the class which I appreciated given that I don’t work those areas enough. The hardest part of class was the aerial acrobatics portion. I had a hard time turning myself upside down and needed a lot of assistance. I was amazed so many women in the group were able to lift themselves upside down. Again, more proof that I need to do some serious strength training.

Once we finished with the strength/acrobatics portion of class, we moved on to Thai massage which required getting very intimate with your partner. Let’s just say that I’m glad I shaved my legs and showered before class. Also very glad that there weren’t random dudes in our class since that would’ve been awkward. The Thai massage portion of class was so relaxing and Mason offers classes specifically on Thai massage which would be great to do with your significant other.

I highly recommend trying some classes at Knotty Yoga. Mason often offers free workshops and intro classes on the weekend so make sure to check out their Facebook page if you’re in the Seattle area.

Even though I could barely push myself out of bed, I went to a Barre3 class this morning. I used to do Barre3 classes 3-4 times a week a year and a half ago and after going for 3 months, I was in pretty good shape. This morning’s class made me realize how much strength I’ve lost since I stopped going. Unfortunately I don’t have any cool pictures from this morning’s session.

If I manage to get my butt off the couch, I’m going to head out for a 6-mile run. What did you do this weekend?

This is way harder than it looks

"Seriously? We're doing THAT?! I don't think my body bends that way"