Zumba, Yoga, PiYo, and P.D.F

I wouldn't consider myself a person who is a "hardcore" fitness junky, but more of a well-rounded fun fitness fan (see what i did there-alliteration at its best!). I am a runner and love it, but there are times where you need to spice things up! Make your workouts more exciting and above all, more challenging. Wasn't' it Albert Einstein who defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

So in the past I have tried Zumba, where I thought it was a blast, but it just didn't have the right fitness level for me.  I have tried Yoga or as they called it "yoga smoga" and i failed at it. Now many of you might say " you can't fail at yoga, you just have to work up to it and listen to your body". Trust me, I listened to my body and it said " WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!". My body is pretty resilient and I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but during my session of yoga, my body hit a level of pain that I have never felt before (and i have hand 1st & 2nd degree burns, blown out my knee and still ran on it-- at the same time!). I honestly think the only thing that could be at the same level of pain I felt would be child labor, at least in child labor you get a baby out of it, all you get with yoga a sweaty yoga mat and maybe piece of mind of the rest of the day (I might add that after yoga i was not at all calm or felt serene- I was frustrated, sore, and grumpy). Clearly my body is not into yoga and i do not plan on forcing it to do it ever again. It has spoken.

PiYo was my next class I tried. and i have to say, I love it!. its a mix of Yoga, Pilates, Cardio, Plyometrics, and Free weight training. It the perfect class for me! Its an intense workout where you do mulituple workouts during high energy songs. Some may say the PiYo class I attend isn't real PiYo and honestly I dont care. It could be called " Super Girl class" and I still would go. People are too focused on labels at times and dont appreciate the important thing, which is the experience. All i know is that i love this class, I have been going for months, and it is packed every time I go!

As far and expanding my running I have registered for different "themed" races. The Color Run was great, I attended the one in NYC. I would definitely do that again in a different area ( im a country girl and cities just dont do it for me). I also did many local races and did my 10th Boilermaker this last year! This year is lucky number 11! ( my favorite number!- and my friends from college are running it with me- woohooo!). I recently signed Robbie and I up for the Mighty Run, which is a adventure 5K where you have to work in partners to complete obstacles. Of course there is fire and mud involved. I cant wait!

Tonight however, I will be trying out a new fitness class...call Pole Dance Fitness. I am a little wary of it because all I can think about is the idea of pole dancing. But I have been told this class is an intense workout and have been assured that everyone keeps their cloths on and it just there to work out!  I will let everyone know how it goes. Wish me luck and no judging!

Update**  I went to the class and it was good. The fitness was a little lacking in my taste to be considered a workout, but it was a lot of fun learning the different moves. Even thought it wasn't a workout for me I do think I would enjoy going to a couple classes on a raining day!**

First run this Spring!

Today was my first real session of spring running. Kuya and I both had big bowls of wishing thinking for breakfast and decided to tackle our 4.8 mi loop today. I like this loop because it has just enough hills for you to feel the burn but doesn't give the impression that your scaling Mount Everest (come-on fellow runners you know what im talking about--when you feel like your going backgrounds down the hill during those milliseconds where both feet are off the ground in your stride--is it just me?).

After tackling the huge amount of clean laundry i had piled ( yes- it was all clean but was sitting there for a week because i absolutely HATE putting away laundry)  I got all my running gear together and put on my layers ( lets be serious people, its spring, you still need layers in upstate new york till about July). laced up my Nikes, zipped my reflective vest and was ready to go! My running partner Kuya, got up from her dog bed and was ready......if it was only that easy for the rest of us, ha-ha.

It was a great run, we passed another runner earlier in the run which was a pleasant surprise as I dont see other runners very often in my parts of the boonies. I normal see a lot of cyclists. We did the typical running head node with the "beautiful day" comment. There were a lot of people outside doing lawn work which was nice to see. I found myself looking up through the trees frequently because the sky was such a nice color blue today. Kuya made a new friend who was a sweetest little black lab. So we stood and chatted with her owner for about 5 minutes, turns out i went to school with their daughter. It was a nice little break and the 3 mi mark so i dont feel too bad about stopping during the run-- it was our first run after all--its allowed--right?

Below are some photos from the run!

at the 2.5 mi marker

Kuya waiting to start the run!

Kuya at the 2.5 mi mark- she wasn't breaking
a sweat!

Last stretch till home (1 mi long straightaway)
LOOK AT THE SKY! NO FILTER!

Kuya at the end of the run! ( right after this
photo she ran and grab a stick to play
fetch- she never runs of batteries!!

Tonight i wil be enjoying a new sweet wine i had to buy: LAB moscato

Saturn Saga

For those who know me, you understand my troubles with vehicles. But for those who don't, lets just say I am Murphy's law when it comes to owning a car. Now do not mistake bad luck with bad driving. I am a good driver (my boyfriend agrees when I'm not driving his manual 2012 focus-- I have traffic light anxiety--totally normal). 

I have never owed a "new car" because I cannot seem to part with the money to purchase such a luxury. I apparently would rather spend many days and nights stranded, or battling some sort of mechanical malfunction than spend the money needed to live (and drive) like a normal person.  So I am going to tell you about my last two months with my 2000 Saturn wagon.

The 2013 year started with a bang! Well not literally but I picked up a piece of glass from a accident down the road from work. It was a slow leak and I didn't notice the flat tire till leaving for work the next morning from my boyfriend Robbie's house. So I whip out my AAA plus membership card and call where a "air guy" will give me roadside assistance. (Huh? I live in the boonies, we barely have pizza delivery let alone air delivery). Anyways, the air guy comes and fills my tire nice and quick and I'm ready to go ( at this point I did not realize I had pick up a piece of glass). A mere four hours later I am left stranded again. Luckily my friend had a air compresser and helped me out. I got the tire plugged it and was all fix (did I mention those were brand new studded tires I bought a week before for $400+).

Three days later I bring the car to be inspected....doesn't pass. Evap system is setting the check engine light off. So the mechanic resets it and gives me strick instructions to keep it no lower than 3/4 a tank and drive the car 70miles. So I drive the car about 65mi and I am pulling into the shop to get inspected...and the light turns on as soon as I put the car in park! No joke. He resets it again I drive it and I am finally able to get to pass the following day.

No joke, 20min after passing inspection I am driving to my PiYo fitness class and I loose brakes. Luckily we live in a rural area so I could coast to my PiYo class. I get the car towed to the mechanic where we states I broke a brake line and he will replace it.  After getting the car back I go to babysitting were Robbie (having a "man moment" as he calls it-- i call it a tantrum) jams my car keys into the ignition in a ridiculous angle were it wouldn't turn or give the keys back....luckily I was babysitting for a mechanic and he helped is out. (talk about roadside assistance!)

A week after I loose my brakes again and almost crash into a Escalade at a stop light. I merge into the turning lane and coast to the nearest parking lot were I am left stranded and have to wait for a ride from my sister.

(at this point of this story I am just laughing a shaking my head because honestly, what more can you do. You can't let stuff like this get you down. It makes awesome story material! You really can't make this stuff up)

So the car gets "fixed" and new brake pads were put on my car. When I get in my car to drive the brakes sounded like I was trying to grind nails to make into glitter. Either they are brand new at this "fixing brakes routine" or someone forgot to put the brake pads on my car. No joke I told them the issue and they insisted the car the was fine and they put on new brake pads. Three days later I walk up the the mechanic and shove the keys in his hand and told him to drive it....5min later he said to bring it in the next day and he will fix them.

So the brakes are fixed (last Tuesday March 25th) and the car is working fine. Today (April 2nd) I am driving down the road in the city and of course I loose brakes again....I pull the e-brake and coast into the nearest Walgreens. Park the car and walk the three blocks to my doctors apt. That was around 3:45pm today-- it is now 11pm and i am home and that car is still there.

Ladies and gentleman. I have thrown in the towel. I am buying a new car! ( how many signs does one person need!!?!?! Most be the blonde hair)

No wine tonight. This girl needs to save her pennies for some new wheels!

Eggbert & Peter Cotton tail

Spring is here! And it's time to coloring eggs, sing some of our favorite Easter songs! It is a known fact that my family has a tendency to break out in song at any given time! At the work place, at the grocery store, the doctors office,you name it.  I once was working at a bagel shop  4 hours away from any family member. It was 6am in the morning and I was in the back making cream cheese and I hear " here come Peter cotton tail...".Now my family members have very distinct voices so I immediately knew it was my uncle. Out of all the bagel shops in New York and my uncle happens to find the one where I worked (without any idea that I did work there I might add). That is just the magic of my family. We love to spread the cheer...alot. For example, for St. Patrick's day alone we walked in 3 different parades singing our family song and other Irish tones while my grandpa ( the well known leprechaun of Utica) threw out his "Irish happiness". Our Christmas schedule would add to anyone holiday stress level. But for my family--it's the importance of spreading happiness and cheer!!

Easter 2013 was no different! Full of surprises, family, and of course food! This Easter the weather was not too cold (unless you were hunting for baskets and eggs like the Corrigans). Our Easter bunny is a little stinker. It took no less than two hours for four of us ( ages 18-27) to find our baskets. my brothers was underneath our porch outside, my sisters was in her gutted house that she is building, brother -in-laws was in a canoe suspended about 8 feet in the air. Last but not least, my basket up in the rafters of our pull barn approximatly 20ft in the air. Yes, I had to climb to get it. Baskets were not our only hunt! The Bunny Bucks hunt was intense this year. We had to army crawl through mud and snow to collect our winnings! And the rain that joined just made the hunting more memorable! In addition to great memories , and even better food, I was able to add a large some of money to my vacation fund!

Can't wait to see what we do next year!

Tonights wine choice is: RELAX pink with frozen berries to keep it chilled.