GYMPRESSIONS

The night before Self Magazine's Workout In The Park, I didn't have much hope.  I had been really excited for a fun day of trying different Crunch workouts in Central Park, but the weather forecast was terrible.  So, when my friend who was visiting from London insisted on one more glass of champagne, I figured I might as well; I'd be sleeping in anyway. 

Saturday morning, it really did pour.  Just as I was settling in to watch some rainy day cartoons, though, the sun came out.  It quickly turned into a hot, sunny day.  So, off to the park I went.

By the time I got there, the event was well underway and it was packed.  I had missed all the sign-ups for the Urban Rebounding classes, and the only yoga class left was a Breathwork Meditation class.  I signed up for that and then joined the crowd at the main stage area, which didn't require sign-ups. 

When I got there, a Masala Bhangra class was wrapping up.  Masala Bhangra combines a traditional form of Indian dance with Bollywood moves.  It looked really fun, and I was sorry I'd missed it.

I jumped in for Ab Attack, Cardio Tai Box and Retro-Robics.   It was crazy working out with that many other women.  Ab Attack was a good class, but I have to admit that I really didn't feel much in my abs.  Cardio Tai Box was awesome.  I love kickboxing classes, and the class made me very nostalgic for my Powerstrike days.  My favorite class, though, was Retro-Robics.

Retro-Robics was sheer cheese in the best possible way - like a Bat Mitzvah crammed into a twenty minute workout.  We did the running man, the cabbage patch, the electric slide, YMCA and a bunch of other old-school dances and steps.  The music was awesome.  (Get into the Groove, Maniac etc.)  Everyone got really into it.

After all the dancing, I was ready for Breathwork Meditation in the Quiet Zone.  During that class, we lay down on our backs on yoga mats, closed our eyes and breathed.  You were supposed to inhale deeply in your stomach, then in your chest and then exhale, and all of the breathing was supposed to be done through the mouth.  It sounds simple, but it actually took a decent amount of concentration, and at the end of it, I was pretty mellow.

Before I called it a day, I took a quick look at some of the sponsors' booths.  Asics had a tent where they had set up treadmills to evaluate people's gaits and recommend shoes.  Soy Joy and Silk were there providing snacks and drinks, and Maybelline was doing mini makeovers in its tent.  There were pretty long lines at a lot of the booths, but I did snag some Garnier samples and Livestrong bracelets on my way out. 

I wished I could have stayed longer, but it was time to head to midtown to pick up my number for Sunday's Mother's Day race.  There's always next year, though!

-Gym Belle-

Ok, the weather kinda sucks lately. I get that. But we only get one summer a year and I practically lived at work through June and July, so I'm making the most out of this August, come rain, shine or ridiculous humidity.

I was away for the first Saturday of Summer Streets, but made it to the last two. If you didn't get to check it out this year, mark your calendars for next year. Park Ave. gets closed off to traffic from 72nd street down to the Brooklyn Bridge. You can walk, run, bike, blade, skateboard ... or whatever. There are free bike and rollerblade rentals available. Along the route there are little tents with water (kudos to the Kitano hotel for the excellent, very cold water and to Equinox for the little water bottles), coffee, cheese (seriously) and silly photo ops. This weekend I may have been out too early, but last weekend there were dance and musical performances. Apparently, Crunch was offering aerobics classes along the way, too.

For my first Summer Streets experience, I went rollerblading with a friend. It turns out that Park Ave. is not so flat. I'm a big fan of going uphill, but downhill scares me. I know that speed and momentum give you greater control, but my brain and my body seem to have a disconnect on the issue. The spookiest part was heading uptown around Grand Central. You go past that Hyatt and then you're in a curvy tunnel going downhill. I rode my break pretty hard.

That was the first day of the heat wave, so I was very impressed by the number of people running and biking. I was even more impressed by the very perky people telling you when to stop for traffic. I don't know how they did that for 5 hours.

Yesterday, I wanted to run Summer Streets, and my sister and cousin invited me to run with them. While neither is actively training for a race right now, both are marathoners. Until yesterday, I don't think I'd ever run more than 7.5ish miles (from my apartment to the park, around the loop and back). They were talking about an 8 mile run. That sounded good. I'll be doing my first half in March, and while it's too early to train, it can't hurt to push it a bit.

It wasn't quite as hot as the previous weekend (it was pretty early in the day) but it was raining. The rain actually felt pretty good until I stepped in a puddle and my sneakers got all wet. Oops!

We ended up running from 72nd and Park down to more or less the Brooklyn Bridge and back. According to mapmyrun.com, that's about 9.2 miles. Go me! I more or less kept up with the fam for the first few, but after a while, I fell behind. I'm slow. I also have little legs.

Those little legs are a tad sore today, but survived an advanced Physique class, so I've got no complaints.  What will the rest of the week bring?  I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-