Tag Archives: winter park

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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A 10-Mile Run and a Boat Tour Kinda Day

23 Jan

Saturday marked the official start of Marathonfest Spring Training. It only being two weeks since my marathon, I was unsure of how Saturday’s 10-miler would go. Lucky for me it was a great run:

  • Body parts felt good: check
  • Easy breathing: check
  • Maintained pace: check
  • Completed 10 miles: umm… does almost count?

Technically we ran 9.86 miles or something like that. However, I didn’t feel like running up and down the street just to hit that 10-mile mark (though I have done this plenty in the past) so I counted it as a run complete and called it a day. Don’t ask me how long it took because I didn’t charge my Garmin so I ran with a naked wrist. Hmm… I wonder if that’s why the 10 miles went so quickly…

Afterwards I skipped our group’s usual breakfast outing to rush home and shower and prep for the day. D and I had talked about taking a day trip and I had to get home to get ready.

In the end we dilly-dallied until noonish, making it too late to head to St. Augustine or St. Pete, so instead we decided to do some sight-seeing in our own town.

Since my Saturday runs having us winding through the streets of Winter Park, I’ve noticed canals that I never knew existed. My running group seemed surprised to find out I’d never taken the Scenic Boat Tour in Winter Park and suggested I go on it. Since Saturday was a gorgeous day, this is exactly what we decided to do.

The dock for the tour is only a couple of blocks from Park Avenue. Tickets were $12 per adult and the tour was approximately one hour. The boat captain also doubles up as your tour guide, serving up cheesy jokes and a plethora of Winter Park history bits for your enjoyment. On several occasions we commented on how we felt like we were on the Jungle Cruise Disney ride.

When we got on our half-filled boat, we were surprised to find that no one had taken the front seats. I can see how the front seats would be bad during muggy or hot weather because of the bugs, but with weather like Saturday’s I jumped on the chance to sit up front. Because of our front-row seats we got lots of great pics and video.

My favorite part of the tour were the canals. I’ve only first noticed the canals this past year during our long runs, and riding through them made me feel like we were somewhere else in the world.

I took two videos in the canals. If you listen closely you can hear our tour guide.

Afterwards we walked over to Park Avenue and tried out a new restaurant that I’ve been wanting to try: Prato.

It was around 3:30 pm when we stopped in. Their kitchen closes down from three to five, so you can only order pizza between lunch and dinner. That’s okay, we had the most delicious pizza: the Widow Maker.

Last year after reading about adding an egg to my frozen pizza on a blog, I decided to try it for myself (I blogged about it here) and have been enjoying it ever since. Well, this pizza kicked my frozen pizza’s butt! With toscano, fennel sausage, kale, farm egg, romesco and a perfect crust, I would have to say this is the best pizza I’ve had in a while. I also discovered my new favorite stout: Southern Tier Mokah. The stout has an amazing chocolate aroma, and the mocha taste is amazingly smooth. If you love stouts and mocha, I suggest strongly suggest this!

Next week is a 12-mile run. I sure do hope it’s as fun.

Do you have any suggestions on hidden gems to visit in Central Florida? 

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