fly day friday [wordless]

from the canyon to the sea

Los Angeles and I are having a fabulous love/hate relationship. At moments I love love love love love it here. Like want to transplant my boyfriend, family and Broadway shows here so I can live in California forever.

Other times it is hate. Usually those are the moments when I am stuck in traffic or can’t find parking. At that moment I miss my subways in Manhattan and the epic parking lots of suburbia.

There’s lots of thinking for me to do… where do I want to be this spring? New York or Los Angeles? What do I want to be doing? I change my mind approximately every hour, depending on if I am loving or hating LA at that moment. Decision making is not my strongest suit….

So this week in LA: Santa Monica Pier & Runyon Canyon. Obsessed with both.

Santa Monica Pier

while it was hella hot in West Hollywood earlier this week, it was the perfect breezy weather for  trapeze by the beach!

It was only my third class back after 5 months of injury. While my body is arguably stronger than it has ever been, my right shoulder is still not 100%. When in the air part of me is still a bit worried that one wrong move and I will be back to injuryland

I have a habit of comparing myself then to now. “Well in March I had a better force out”.” In March I caught this trick no problem”.
But this isn’t March, this is 7 months later. I have to keep reminding myself that I am where I am today. 

there is something a million times cooler and more terrifying about flying into the ocean.

I was a giddy child. Between being at the beach and getting to take a trapeze class I was the happiest gal in the world. Whoever decided to put a trapeze rig next to the ocean is my hero.

Runyon Canyon: Hiking

I’ve been dying to go to Runyon Canyon since the first time I visited my friend in California 2 years ago. I finally got the chance this week.

My first Runyon Canyon experience was a sweaty 2 mile hike.

 

 

I can’t even begin to explain how much I loved hiking Runyon, even if trying to run down hill terrified the bejesus outta me. I’ve honestly never seen anything like Runyon, hiking in Westchester is definitely not the same experience. If you ever have the chance to hike Runyon I highly recommend it, the views are absolutely worth it. It is also quite the work out climbing that mountain….

Runyon Canyon: Yoga

Today was my second Runyon Canyon experience– YOGA! This might be the California deal breaker for why it is a million times better than New York: they have donation based (pay what you can) yoga, outside, by the canyon. Um what better place is there to do yoga? No where my friends, no where.

I’ve never done yoga outside. It was distracting, hearing the birds chirping and people walking by on the their too and from Runyon, yet it felt like white noise at the same time. I loved being tickled by wet dewy grass whenever my hand crept off the mat. I loved that the ground was uneven which helped some poses that usually  challenge me, yet totally messed up my balance on other poses.

It reminded my why I fell in love with boot camp and running this summer– there is something amazing about working out outside, it feels so much better to breathe fresh air instead of the BO of the person running on the treadmill next to you.

Runyon Canyon, I’m sold. You are my new favorite place.

Has anyone else done outdoor yoga? Love it or hate it?

What’s your favorite way to work out outside?

weekend warrior

hope everyone had as lovely of a weekend! Despite the bipolar weather of NYC, the boy and I had a great weekend

nothin’ like enjoying a bagel with my boy, on the roof deck, on a perfect sunny sunday

Before the boy arrived Friday night I took a flying trapeze class. For those new to my blog for about 2 1/2 years I was a “frequent flyer” taking trapeze classes religiously every single week. Unfortunately that came to a halting stop when I got tendonitis in my right rotator cuff. After 5 months of physical therapy and whining I returned to the sky last week.

The second class back in action went incredibly well– still no shoulder pain and I definitely didn’t forget everything I know. I worked on my layout, a slightly advanced trick that I had been working on back in March. I didn’t think I would be back to working on layouts in my second class after injury, so it was a pleasant surprise to feel like I was back where I left off.

(catching my layout in March)

the instructors gave me some incredible advice about connecting my breath to my action while flying. A lot of people have the tendency to hold their breath while flying (or any strenuous activity– weight lifting? dancing? I sing until my face turns red from not breathing….). Up in the air there is a lot going on and a lot of thing to remember when executing a complicated trick. Focusing on breathing during the “set” (the part where I lift my legs up and hold it before the flip) gave me the power to slow down the frantic thinking in my mind, the “HOLY CRAP I’M GONNA DO A LAYOUT, THIS TRICK IS HARDDDD!” inner monologue, and take control of my trick… yogatrapeze much?

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after trapeze I was hella hot, sweaty and sunburnt and needed something to quench my thirst and fill me up. Enter all the Vega Protein I bought!

I ended up mixing the berry flavored packet in the blender with some almond milk, a banana and ice.

I really enjoyed the protein smoothie (with a side of kettlecorn…) and definitely like the texture and flavor more than when I’ve used vanilla whey protein. I also liked that it was easy to digest and treated my belly kindly.

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Saturday morning I left my sleeping boyfriend to head to the gym for an early morning sweat sesh. I was shocked and a bit angry to find out the 9:30AM ultimate conditioning class was already full at 9AM. Damn, these weekend warriors don’t kid around. Being the group fitness addict that I am I was a bit freaked, but I was already at the gym ready to workout so I couldn’t turn around and head home without breaking a sweat.

So, I sat in the locker room, looking up workouts on my iPhone and made up a plan of attack.

Exercise Glossary:

-turkish getups
-plank with movement: tightening the core and releasing
-tabata: alternating between working (20 seconds) and resting (10 seconds) 8 times. I used a tabata app on my iphone.
– renegade row
– hand release push ups

It was the perfect workout for me— I get bored and discouraged very easily so I like doing workouts that are constantly changing. To make the workout longer repeat a section or add cardio in between the circuits.

I ended up doing the upper body part minus the tabata rows a second time and ended the workout with a quick ab workout.

So hey, I tried to make the best of a bad situation and ended up with a pretty good, sweat inducing workout!

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having a guest all weekend distracted me from Fitness Cheerleader’s Blogger Challenge!

Day 8 How many pairs of workout shoes do you own?

Oof, at the moment I rotate between four (YIKES) pairs of shoes, depending on the activity

1. shoes for running and outdoor bootcamping, a pair of Brooks Defyance which I loveeeeee

2. “I only wear them indoors!!!!!” Asic gym shoes for all my group fitness needs

(you know I only bought them because they are obnoxious colored….)

3. a pair of old asic nimbuses that used to be my indoor only shoes. I use them for day camp and other muddy conditions

4. a pair of Nike Frees that I use on days that I wear my sneakers to the gym to conserve space. They are also my every day walking around the city sneakers….

It’s okay, my whole wardrobe is basically workout clothing nowadays…

Day 9 Do you workout with others or by yourself? Why?

As stated early I am a group fitness junkie. I like working out in a class with others. I generally don’t workout with friends with the exception of my two fabulous gym buddies I have in my hometown. Going to the gym is my “me time” so I like to go alone and do my own thing, even if it’s being in a class full of people I don’t know.

As far as running goes I’ve only ever had 1 running buddy– my boyfriend joined me one day for 5K training. It was fun to have him there for motivation and conversation, but I don’t know if I could run with someone else on a regular basis. Running for me is good “thinking” time.

how about you? do you workout on your own or with others? do you own an excessive amount of sneakers? do you freak out when group fitness classes fill up and you have to workout on your own? (or is that just me :)?)