My First Yoga Experience

1 Mar

I’ve been saying that I was going to try yoga for quite a long time. But the thing about me is, I’m scared of new things. So I kept putting it off… And putting it off… to the point that it was starting to get ridiculous.

Earlier this year I made it a goal to get my butt in gear and make it to a class. Lucky for me, Carolina from Peas in a Blog let me tag along to a yoga class with her last night.

Two very important things:

  1. I didn’t fall flat on my face, though there was a point when the instructor thought I would break my arm if I didn’t correct my posture stat.
  2. I loved it!

The Huffington Post recently published this post about what to expect during your first yoga class. It was a perfect read before my first class.

Carolina also suggested I wear “wear clothes that won’t show anything when you’re upside down.” Easy enough, I wore a pair of Lululemon tights and one of their tops that I use for running. They were perfect for yoga too!

Lululemon... perfect for running AND yoga!

I brought a mat, a towel and water and met Carolina around 7:15 PM at Full Circle Yoga in Winter Park. They have an intro rate of 3 classes for $25 (must be used in one month) so I went with that option. Our class was a Hatha level 1 class, which was really great for a beginner like me. Our instructor Suzie, was really great at explaining the different positions and kept me from breaking my arm. Bonus points for her!

The class really was more than I expected. It was challenging, yet somehow relaxing. It required strength and balance, but stretched my entire body. And believe you me, this runner’s body was in need of some serious stretching!

The only drawback is that I somehow tweaked my back so I had to skip this AM’s run. With a really long run (16-18 miles) planned for this weekend, I decided it would be best if I let it rest. I’m sure that with time my back will get stronger and I’ll be more mindful of my poses, so I won’t let this deter me.

Final verdict: I’ll be at the Hatha 1 class next Wednesday night. 🙂

What’s your favorite type of yoga and why? I have so much to learn!

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I Heart Doritos

28 Feb

In a recent post, I admitted my love for slipping Doritos into my food.

Here are some of my favorite uses for my beloved Doritos:

  • Doritos make a delicious salad topper. Must use ranch or bleu cheese dressing.
  • Out of cheese? That’s okay, just slip some Doritos into your sandwich. Wait, you already have cheese on your sandwich? That’s okay, add Doritos anyways!
  • Want to spice up that cheap 99-cent frozen dinner chicken alfredo? Just add Doritos!

I think you get the point.

I like the good old original nacho cheese flavored. Sure, the ranch and pizza flavored ones are yummy too, but why try to mess with cheesy tortilla perfection?

As I got older I cleaned up my diet I started to top my salads with (gasp) veggies and stopped purchasing those cheap pasta frozen dinners. And subs are fewer and further between these days. And I purposely avoid the chip aisle at the grocery store. It’s really quite sad.

In reading of my love for Doritos, Jill from JoggingJeans.com shared the most fantastic news with me:

Naturally, I had to Google what this was about. Lo and behold, it’s true! On March 8, 2012 Taco Bell is introducing a taco served within a giant Dorito shell! I haven’t had Taco Bell in over a year,  but I think I might have to break the hiatus for this special occasion. Thanks, Jill, for the best news ever (I’m easy to please). I cannot wait to try this cheesy, deliciously bad for me treat!

With that, I leave you with my most favorite commercial. Having two pugs and a boyfriend that is forever teasing them might have made me biased.

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A Foggy Tuesday

28 Feb

20120228-140827.jpgThis morning I decided to run solo around my end of town. We run so much in Winter Park that I tend to forget how nice it is to run in my own ‘hood. Plus, this would let me sleep in a couple of hours because I was running on my own schedule.

I dragged myself out of bed around 6:25 and was out the door twenty minutes later. As soon as I stepped outside I noticed the fog. It engulfed everything around me. It blurred the end of the street, so that looked like I was running to no where. Let’s say that this morning’s four-mile run featured fog.

I love running through a sleepy city, especially when fog is hugging its buildings and trees. The world was extra quiet this morning and I was very aware of my breathing and the sound of my every step hitting the pavement. When I got to Lake Eola, I stopped to take in the view. The setting of the lake and fountain with the buildings in the background blurred by the fog looked like one of those pictures where the edges are blurred, the birds disappearing into the mist. It was beautiful.

I ran home feeling ready to take on my day.

I don’t have my borrowed Garmin near me, so I’ll update this post with the real stats later.

Here’s my best guess:

  • Distance: 4 miles
  • Time: 46 minutes
  • Avg Pace: 11:30/mile

What workout has left you in awe of your city?

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Twelve and Long

26 Feb

Yesterday’s training run for the Flying Pig Marathon was supposed to be an 18-miler. However, one of my running mates had prior engagements so we swapped out our long run this week for next week and only did 12 miles this week. I was totally onboard with this decision since I’m still feeling a little wiped out from last week’s double hill run.

I met my group at 5:30 am for a quick two miles, before we swung back around to get the rest of the ladies for 10 more miles. I thought I started my watch for the first two, but I didn’t (one of the hazards of running before coffee) so I only have stats for the final 10 miles. Here they are:

  • Distance: 10 miles
  • Time: 02:11:14
  • Avg Pace: 13:07/mile

Afterwards I came home, did my slacker minimalist strength training and then Donnie and I headed out to enjoy a delicious breakfast from Brian’s Restuarant in Ivanhoe Village. I had my usual one egg, bacon and cheese sandwich on an everything bagel:

It was delicious, as always.

Only ten weeks until the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, OH!

Do you have any recommendations on where to visit while in Cinci? 

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I Sweat Pretty

23 Feb

I hate humidity. Growing up in Florida, you would think that I built up a tolerance for humidity, or at least a mutual understanding.

I haven’t. I despise it. Every time humidity rears its ugly head (which is more often than not here in the Sunshine State) my hands get clammy, my hair instantly goes from straight to crazy and my very carefully applied eye makeup starts to make it’s way down my cheeks. My sweaty cheeks.

When I started to run a couple of years ago, I found all new reasons to dislike humidity even more. I sweat more. Breathing becomes difficult. Running gets harder.

Since it was raining this morning, I opted to wait until tonight to run my four miles. Lucky for me, Rox joined me so I had lovely company. Unlucky for both of us, we ran in 75% humidity.

Rox had super sore legs from strength-training, and my legs were still recovering from my weekend of hill runs so already we were dragging a little. Toss in hellish humidity and our 4-mile run became the longest run ever.

Here are the stats:

  • Distance: 4.07 miles
  • Time: 46:58.05
  • Avg Page: 11:31/mile

We did the first two miles without intervals. But it felt like we were running soooooo fast, so I started to take random walk breaks to catch my breath. Turns out my Garmin said we were not running fast, but we determined my watch had to be wrong. Surely we weren’t out of breathe running 11:31 miles!? Oh wait, yes… the humidity…

When I came home I noticed I had a heart-shaped sweat mark on my lower back, but Donnie wasn’t home to get a pic for me. Don’t worry, I didn’t let that stop me. Here’s me capturing my sweat in all its glory in my bathroom:

Awkward bathroom self-portrait. I sweat pretty!

This picture doesn’t do my pretty heart-shaped sweat justice, but you get the point.

How do you fare when it comes to working out in humid weather? 

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12 Random Facts.

22 Feb

Carolina recently tagged me and I’m game. Here we go!

Here are the rules:

  • Post these rules.
  • You must post 12 random things about yourself.
  • Answer the questions set for you in their post.
  • Create 12 new questions for the people you tag to answer.

Here’s my randomness:

  1. Every single member in my family pronounces my name differently.
  2. The pronunciation I use when introducing myself is “Hey-marie.” This is how my preschool teacher pronounced my first name on my first day of school. I didn’t speak any English, and assumed this was the ‘American’ way of saying my name.
  3. My pugs, Rex and Tank, are named after Chicago Bears football players Rex Grossman and Tank Johnson.

    Rex and Tank

  4. I, however, am not a Bears fan.
  5. I learned to speak English by watching Sesame Street and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.
  6. My parents never bothered to point out to me that there should be an accent mark in my last name. I didn’t realize this until last year and asked my dad about it. He said they never told me because they didn’t think it was relevant now that we were living on the mainland.
  7. I was born in Puerto Rico.
  8. I used to be addicted to Dr. Pepper. I broke my Dr. Pepper addiction when I moved to New York City, and it was harder to come by.
  9. I replaced my Dr. Pepper addiction with sugar-free Red Bull. I’ve been able to get this under control. Not having a bodega under my apartment helps.
  10. I lived above a bodega and a bakery when I lived in Astoria, Queens. For the first month I lived there I couldn’t figure out why I kept dreaming about donuts…
  11. I have some of the best friends a girl could ask for, both new and old. I’ve known one of my childhood best friends, Boothe, since preschool but I don’t think she liked me until we were in middle school. Lucky for me, she liked me by the time I broke her arm when I dropped her right before our 8th grade cheerleading competition. I’m super lucky she’s the forgiving kind. 😉
  12. Running was my least favorite P.E. activity growing up. Oh, and those tests they give you to show how physically inept you are… you know… like doing a pull-up.

And here are my answers to Carolina’s questions:

  1. LOST. The best or bestest show of all time? I kid (not really)! What’s your favorite show of all time? Me and LOST never really got along. I watched a couple of episodes and decided I wasn’t ready to commit. As for my favorite show, my main squeeze is currently How I Met Your Mother. But there’s been other notables during this life of mine: Grey’s Anatomy, Felicity, Dawson’s Creek, My So-Called Life, Full House ...
  2. If you could take your celebrity crush on a date who would it be? Where would you take him/do? There are lots of pretty men to look at on the TV, but I’ll stick with my current leading man.

    My Crush

  3. Favorite ingredient to cook with and why. Doritos. I used to put them on everything (e.g. salads, pasta, sandwiches). I still dream of starting a cookbook one day. Sadly, I had to put this unhealthy habit to rest alongside my Dr. Pepper habit.
  4. What song are you most embarrassed to have in your iPod? I should be embarrassed by 85% of the songs on my iPod, but I’m not. However, there is a voice memo of me singing somewhere in there and I will DIE if it ever plays during a party.
  5. If you could go anywhere in the world right now where would you go & why? Right now? Anywhere that’s sunny, with clear blue waters, fine sand and that runneth over with pina coladas. Why? Because I miss beach season.

    Everything tastes better on the beach

  6. What’s your favorite way to work out? Running and laughing, preferably both at the same time.
  7. Favorite nail polish color. Go! It’s a toss up between OPI You Don’t Know Jacques! and OPI We’ll Always Have Paris.
  8. Best movie you’ve seen this year? 2012 just started, but I know what will be my favorite movie: The Hunger Games.
  9. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry & why? My rose gold nose ring. I was hesitant about spending the money until Donnie pointed out that it’s the only piece of jewelry that everyone absolutely sees. Wise man.

    Pretty nose ring.

  10. What’s the best gift you’ve ever received? Love.
  11. If you could do the same thing every day what would you do? Ummm… I already drink coffee every day.
  12. What’s the first blog you started reading? PerezHilton.com… I love style and this used to be the best way to see daily style pics.

Now, here are my questions:

  1. What’s your favorite childhood memory?
  2. Are you a morning or night person?
  3. If you HAD to change your first name, what would you change it to?
  4. Do you have any tattoos?
  5. Which movie, if playing on TV, are you unable to walk away from?
  6. What was the last thing you had to drink?
  7. If you could take a year off an go travelling, where would it be?
  8. What goal have you recently accomplished?
  9. Name one thing you worry about running out of.
  10. What top 5 blogs do you visit weekly?
  11. What was your childhood nickname?
  12. If you had to sing karaoke, which song would you choose?

Tag, you’re it!

What’s your random fact? Post one in the comments section!

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What Day is Today?

21 Feb

Since I had off from work yesterday in honor of President’s Day, I will likely spend the remainder of today thinking it’s Monday.

My alarm went off this morning at 4:15 sharp, and I begrudgingly rolled out of bed. There were only two reasons I was going to run this morning:

  1. I did not want a repeat of last week’s episode where I accidentally left one of my running partners stranded to run by herself.
  2. The tiramisu I ate yesterday.

It was either said tiramisu or the two days of running hills back to back this weekend that made it feel like I was running on tree trunks this morning. Regardless of the cause, this morning’s six miler was run slooooowly and carefully (we run on brick roads). Here are our stats from the run:

  • Distance: 5.99 miles
  • Time: 1:16:04
  • Avg Pace: 12:42/mile
  • 5:1 intervals

Afterwards I came home and did my slacker minimalist strength workout. My goal previously had been to do the workout twice a week, which I’ve done successfully the last two weeks. For these next two weeks my goal is to do the workout three times a week. After that I’ll switch up the plan.

I’ll leave you with photos of my Monday Funday meal yesterday, so you too can see why I dragged myself out of bed this morning.

Donnie and I spent our Monday afternoon in Winter Park. First, we had lunch at Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine on Park Avenue. I had the  Doner Kebap served over a bed of jasmine rice with pickled beets, onions and carrots. It was incredible. And it was enough for two, so I shall be enjoying my leftovers for lunch today. Donnie ordered the Lamb Sis Kebab, also served over jasmine rice with pickeled beets, onions and carrots. His was also incredible. But he ate it all in one sitting, so no leftovers for him!

Here’s a pic of my plate:

Afterwards we walked down to Sweet Traditions French Bakery & Cafe (also on Park Ave.) and enjoyed a nice afternoon caffeine fix and sugar rush. Donnie had some espresso, while I opted for a latte with cinnamon sprinkled on top and we split a slice of tiramisu. They make it with angel food cake instead of lady fingers, but I didn’t mind the swap… it was delicious:

Afterwards we did a little window shopping in a lame attempt to walk off our lunch. Needless to say, we had salad for dinner. 🙂

Do you ever run because of tiramisu (or similarly delicious desserts)?

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Whose Idea Was This?

19 Feb

Me, at the top of a Clermont hill.

That’s mainly what I was asking myself at the top of the hill in this photo.

You see, our training schedule for the Flying Pig Marathon called for a 10-mile long run yesterday on hills, which our group ran in semi-hilly Apopka. But then someone suggested we also run seven or so miles in much more hillier Clermont this morning. I’m not sure whose idea this was, but I know it wasn’t mine and I think it was a horrible idea.

Our Apopka hill run yesterday morning ended up being just under nine miles, which was fine by me. It was a muggy morning and I spent most of it thinking about coffee and breakfast.

Our group has started to name our runs. One of our group leaders, Sue, is particularly talented at this and I think she hit it right on the nail when she dubbed our run The Apopka Run featuring Ganja. This was prompted from an impromptu turn down a new street at the end of our run, which resulted in us catching a whiff of some pot being smoked in the wee hours of the morning. This likely did not help my munchies.

Here are stats from the run:

  • Distance: 8.74 miles
  • Time: 1:51:55
  • Avg Pace: 12:48/mile
  • 5:1 intervals

Fast forward to this morning. I had contemplated skipping the Clermont hill run, mainly because I thought it was ludicrous to run two days of hills in a row. However, after last week’s Fail Hill run, I wanted a second chance at it. So, I begrudgingly dragged myself out of bed this morning, threw on some running clothes and drove out to Clermont. Let’s just say that my disposition this morning was not quite as sunny as yesterday’s.

I have no official stats to share because I forgot my watch. But I can tell you this:

  • Distance: somewhere over 7 miles
  • Time: forever
  • Avg Pace: snail-like
  • 5:1 intervals plus extra walk breaks thrown in for good measure (and survival)

Clermont apparently did not get the memo that Florida does not have hills. And to my dismay, the Clermont hills were brutal. At least it gave us a nice change of scenery and I got to get some fun pics along the way:

Going downhill

BP water break

My view when I turned around going uphill

Had to get a pic of the lake

Because every front yard should have a lion statue

I'm not scurred

I skipped breakfast at Cracker Barrel after our run, opting for a Starbucks breakfast on the rode and a long shower instead. And then I napped, which I rarely do mid-day. It’s been hours and I’m still wiped out.

What’s your favorite (or least favorite) hill run?

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Tempo Thursday

16 Feb

This morning’s workout was a tempo run:

  • Run an 800 at 10k pace around track
  • Run 2 miles out at tempo pace (30 seconds per mile faster than goal race pace)
  • Drink water
  • Run 2 miles back at tempo pace
  • Run a 400 at 5k pace around track

My personal goal for this run was to run it without walk intervals, which I managed to accomplish. Though it did take some mind trickery along the way:

Naysay Hey: I can’t do this. I have to walk. I feel like I’ve run one million miles.

Happy Hey: You’re almost done. You can do this.

Naysay Hey: What? But we haven’t even gotten to the 2-mile turnaround point! I need to walk.

Happy Hey: You ran 3 miles on Sunday without stopping. You can do 4.

Naysay Hey: But…

Happy Hey: But nothing. Keep running. This is fun! Weeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Yes, sometimes I talk to myself while running.

I wish I had stats but I forgot to charge my borrowed Garmin. It died after the first 400 on the track. I do know that my second half of the run was slower than the first. It was hard, but I felt great afterwards (once I caught my breath, of course).

Do you ever talk to yourself while running? 

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

14 Feb

Rex explores a future career as a pin-up pug.

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