snow day fun

Bob has a snow day from work, so I insisted we go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. Yes, we are "those people" who show up during a damn blizzard and buy pineapple juice, a giant baguette, and cheese... then head out on our merry way.

I took my camera with me, because I am totally obnoxious. And then I made Bob take pictures of me jumping and pretending to do yoga. Yep.

   

SNO-GA!

my one-sixths birthday!

I didn't have a party on my actual birthday in December, so my beautiful friends indulged me A LOT and let me celebrate a "1/6ths Birthday Party" this past weekend! And they let me wear yoga pants, too! Good times were had - lots of (maybe too much?) alcohol, lots of dancing and foosball, and lots of laughter. Thank you for coming out and celebrating with me! I love you all! 

I... don't know...

We ended up shutting down the bar at Mass Ave Tavern, like a bunch of crazy college kids. Woot woot!

a trip to the handle bar

My friend Jess recently invited me to go to a spin class with her at a new studio in South Boston. I actually met Jess through Pure Barre (and Twitter)! She has a fantastic fitness/lifestyle blog called Little Miss Runshine. I rather creepily stalked her on Twitter and through her blog before I worked up the nerve to talk to her in person. Yes, I can be very strange and creepy.

She's training for the Pan Mass Challenge - a 192-mile bike ride through Massachusetts over the course of two days! Whew! I was just getting over a pretty nasty summer cold, and was in desperate need of a good, hard workout after being practically bed-ridden for a few days. And that's how I found myself at The Handle Bar for the first time! Our class was led by the super-energetic owner, Jess (not my friend Jess, a different Jess - and yes, it was a little confusing at first)!

Shoes that are not designer shoes... WTF?!

I don't spin (Spin? Is it a proper noun...?) all that often, so this was the first time I experienced real, hardcore spinning shoes. Y'know, the kind that locks into the pedal? And this is how you know I'm a spinning amateur... haha. Initially I felt a little uncomfortable having my feet stuck in place, but the shoes helped keep me on the pedals when we shifted positions. I've had experiences in the past when my foot would slip off, and then I'd completely lose momentum or almost fall off the bike.  

I like working out to up-tempo jaaaaams, and the playlist definitely kept me moving. Some folks said the music was a little too loud, but it didn't bother me at all. Although... I like to run with my iPod blasting at max volume, so that take that as you will. I'm really tempted to buy one of the class packages, so I can go on days I'm supposed to cross-train for my upcoming races. I say "supposed to", because I haven't been running at all, even though I'm registered for a 10K AND a half-marathon at the end of August. Whoops...

Photo from Jess! :) I'm being a complete clown on the far right...

I got so distracted after taking photos of my feet, that I completely forgot to take other photos. Thanks so much to The Handle Bar for a kick-ass time! I'll definitely be coming back! 

the pure barre life

Image source

Is it possible to be in love with (and possibly addicted to) an exercise class?

Because I am.

I started attending Pure Barre classes this past December right when the Pure Barre Boston studio opened, and I've been completely hooked ever since then. And I recently reached one of my major fitness goals for the summer - hitting my 100th Pure Barre class and being officially "inducted" into the 100 Club. And most importantly, getting those special socks!

My official 100 Club photo with the amazing Angela! :)

I LOVE celebrating milestones. It makes each class so much more engaging, and you really feel as though you're part of a tight-knit little community. It's great seeing all of the lovely people at Pure Barre Boston cheering each other on as we reach these goals together! The studio has such a positive, supportive environment, and it makes me look forward to going to class each day. And it also helps that all of the instructors are totally awesome and funny, yet still completely approachable.

Now you're probably thinking, Good grief, Esther, did you drink the Pure Barre Kool-Aid or what...?  and that's okay. I have been singing Pure Barre's praises to anyone who will stop long enough to listen to me. Pure Barre has really helped me overcome some of my own mental barriers. Every class I feel myself getting stronger, and it makes me feel that much more confident. There's something almost therapeutic about going to class. It helps me clear my head. It's an hour I get to spend just to myself, working towards my own goals.

Even my boyfriend remarks on how much more relaxed I am on days I get to class compared to the days I don't go. So obviously, he fully supports anything that means I won't be a grouchy, cranky b*tch to him throughout the entire day. My next goal is to get to 200 classes by the end of the year... I think I'll be able to do it!

OMG SOCKS! BIG ASS PHOTO OF MY SOCKS!

On a tangent: y'know, I always blame "life" on being an inconsistent blogger, but it's mostly just because I'm lazy. And I get distracted very easily. Every time I tell myself I'll blog more often - because I actually do enjoy writing and sharing funny things about my life - I always end up pushing it way way waaay down my list of things to do. So, this time I won't promise to blog 'x' times per week. I'll just post a little more frequently than once every few months. Under-promise, over-deliver... hehe.

boston

I don't really have any poignant or wise words to share with you.  

Yesterday morning, I posted about Marathon Monday and how fun it is to be in Boston during this particular weekend. In light of the shocking events on Monday, I seriously thought about taking that post down. It seemed so flippant, given the tragedy that struck the city just a few hours later.   

But I won't be doing that. 

If we are too afraid to enjoy the many good and wonderful things in life, then evil has won. 

There really is nothing like running that final stretch towards the marathon finish line. I only ran 3 miles before I got to cross that storied finish line. I can't begin to imagine how emotional it must be for someone who has run over 26 miles to reach that point. 

On a personal level, I pledge to run in next year's Boston Marathon. I feel as though I need to run in this race. I won't just be running for myself - I'll be running for all those who didn't get to cross the finish line this year. And I'll be running for my beautiful city. 

I'm so proud to be able to call myself a Bostonian. 

marathon weekend!

Today is Marathon Monday in Boston! There are 29,000 PEOPLE attempting to run 26.2 miles in this fair city of ours this year. That's a lot of runners! The city basically shuts down to accommodate for the race - most businesses in the areas around the race course close, too.

Before the main event, the Boston Athletic Association hosted a 5K. B and I signed up for the BAA Distance Medley - it's a race series (a 5K, 10K, and half-marathon) spread out over 6 months. "Only" 6,500 runners -including me! - participated in the 5K on Sunday. I've been attempting to run more over the last year as a way to challenge myself. The fun part of the 5K is that it ends on the marathon finish line! It was pretty cool running towards that big banner in the last little stretch.

This is me NOT running the Boston Marathon dressed as a ninja...

I'm not a fast runner... well, no, that's a lie. I'm a fair sprinter, but I'm not good at keeping a steady pace over longer distances. I run fast for short spurts, but then I have to "rest" for a while between spurts; this doesn't really work for running marathons because I burn out quickly. Maybe one day I'll be able to run the full marathon in Boston. It's on my before-I-turn-30 bucket list! For now, I'll stick to training for the rest of the races in the Distance Medley, and also a couple of runDisney events I'm signed up for in the fall and winter.

There was also a huge fitness expo the entire weekend with all kinds of running gear and accessories. Since I'm not actually running the marathon, I didn't think it was appropriate for me to buy one of the cool jackets. You can see (parts of) the jacket on the women standing behind me! So no jacket for me, but I couldn't resist picking up this little guy!

Spike the Unicorn!

The BAA logo is a unicorn, and I can't resist fuzzy stuffed animals. He's going to sit on my desk and remind me to keep working towards Boston 2014 (or 2015... I'm in no rush). 

Good luck to everyone running today!