Puppy Love, Pole Dancing, and WNYATA

This week found me mostly stepping off of the struggle bus. Health wise I am starting to feel much better.  My one downfall was a fall on my way into work this past Monday morning. I was still on a high from my 11 mile run and was walking down the parking lot hill and WHAM! I hit some black ice and fell on my right knee pretty darn hard.  I was more concerned that I had my ipad and laptop with me and hanging on the side I fell on.  I said a few not so nice works and limped the rest of my way into work. I had a large lump and bruising but nothing broken so overall I fared out well. The worst part ended up being that I had a 4 pack of yogurt in my purse and landed on it when I fell. You guessed it...2 of the yogurts burst inside of my purse all over everything. What a way start my week!

On the positive end here are some highlights to my week:

1.  I made it to candlelight yoga this week and got in a 4.5 mile run right before it.

2. I read the following books this week:
Allegiant by Veronica Roth ****
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin  **
Night Road by Kristin Hannah ****.5

3.  I ran in the Puppy Love Virtual 10K through the Humane Society.  I ran a multi-level course on the treadmill trying to mimic a slightly hilly run outside minus the freezing cold and bitter wind.  I tend to run faster in real races but did okay.  My time was 53.46 for 6.2 miles.  I continued on to run a total of 8 miles in 67.30.  I had been looking for the perfect t-shirt to wear for the race (just for the fun of it). I ended up finding it on amazon;  It was a pink Punky Brewster puppy love t-shirt. You'd have to know my history with Punky Brewster to appreciate it.

When I was wee little girl I was obsessed with Punky Brewster. I loved her since of style and the character.  When I started Kindergarten my mother told me I would attempt to dress like Punky Brewster wearing layers upon layers such as sweatpants, a skirt, leg warmers, a long sleeve shirt and sweater.  She soon tired of trying to make me change and let me wear my desired outfit to school (thinking that I would get picked on enough and give up the style). I can't remember if I ever got picked on. I think I just eventually grew out of the phase.

Anyway, I really wanted the t-shirt but didn't want to spend 20+ dollars on a shirt that no one but me was going to see. You could post pics of you on Facebook for this race but I don't do Facebook so no one was going to see the awesome T.  Instead I pulled out an old white faded t-shirt that was in the throw away pile and using some fabric markers I made my own puppy love t-shirt. I had fun knowing I was wearing it race day! :)

I don't take selfies so this is what you get from this race.

4.  I had coffee with a very good friend of mine. Or rather she had coffee and I had a large hot chocolate with a giant peanut butter cookie (this was my breakfast and lunch). Yummy!  We hadn't touched base in a while and it was great to spend time with an awesome friend.

Starry Nights Cafe one of my favorite coffee venues in the city.

5. I felt a bit like a college student but I went with some friends to a house party where there was a band performing. It's my friend's friend's band.  It was great time catching up with my friends, meeting some new people and listening to a pretty good band. As a perk we were all given one of their CD's.  Their called The Red Lion and perform around Rochester at different venues.

6.  The WNYATA hosted it's first large community event of the year today. The Welcome was shown at The Little today with a music performance by Jason Moon prior to the film screening.  It was a fairly successful turnout and the musical performance, film and panel discussion was very moving and powerful.

7.  My friend and I were adventurous and checked out the Pole Fitness class at Ariel Arts Saturday. Oh my...what an adventure. Let's just say neither of us will be taking the class again.  I was annoyed from the get go because the teacher was late in getting there and very late starting (18min. and I had been there 15min. prior to make sure I got a spot). I thought the whole point of getting there early to ensure a spot was because the class fills up quickly and max's out at 10 but they allowed 20 people in and you had to double up on the poles which meant less practice time.  They also never shared on the website under Pole Class Level 1 that there was specific attire you should wear. Apparently this is spanks and a tank top which frankly even if I knew I wouldn't be caught in spanks in public. However, my friend and I would have at least worn shorts.  Apparently you need a lot of skin showing so that it sticks to the pole. We had on our running/workout clothes.

The moves were pretty difficult and the instructor although very nice and friendly was all over the place. The other women in the class were very nice and those that had been going for a bit took the time to help my friend and I out so we didn't hurt ourselves doing a move wrong.  My friend and I realized we have virtually no arm or stomach muscles. We also found it painful because you whacked into the pole all of the time. We both reported via text that we had bruises and were sore the next day.

So was it a workout? Yes without a doubt! Will I be doing it again? That's a firm no! I'll stick to the Trampoline fitness class.

Can I tell you how hard it is to make it look this easy. I really was holding back a grunt a painful face look.

8. Below are some pics from the Sketchbook Project that I completed this week.

Trampoline Fitness, Races, Potluck Dinners and Art: What a combo

My friends and I checked out Ariel Arts of Rochester trampoline fitness class this week as a new adventure.  It was a full body workout and a hilariously good time.  I like that you can just do drop in classes that fit whatever your schedule is that given week. This workout was way different from running and I enjoyed that it worked different muscles. I was less excited about being sore for the next couple of days.  All of us are going back this week!  We took a couple of group photos but unfortunately I forgot to have them take one of just me so I could post.  In order to respect my friends privacy I won't post the group photo. However; since this exercise class just started being offered they asked us if they could video tape a small portion of it for advertising. The class said yes, but little did we know we would be a main advertisement on the Ariel Arts site now!  So, if you want/need a laugh for the day check out our exercise class video at http://aerialartsrochester.com/classes/trampoline-fitness/. **Note there were others in the class that were regulars and been taking the class.

Other news; I registered for the Mess a Dress run and so far have about 4 friends also running with me in the race.  I have two dresses to pick from as a co-worker and my intern both donated dresses to me. Both have to be altered to fit me and make it so I can run in the dress, but I'm excited to kind of make my own dress. One is shades of pink so if I choose that one I'll be Molly Ringwald from Pretty in Pink and if I choose the red lace dress I'll be Julie Roberts in Pretty Woman. Stay tuned to see which dress I end up choosing. I'll take a before and after pic with the alterations and of course before and after pics at the race.

I'm excited to report that my friend found a Night Glow run for us to possibly travel to this summer. There is one in Baltimore and my friend has a friend we can stay with in D.C.. I believe the date for that run is July 9th. This was a run I had on my list of races to participate in and is one of the top 20 fun runs to partake in.

Oh, the faculty/staff Arts and Crafts Exhibit at work was just announced. It will take place through the month of March. I already submitted by piece. Aren't you surprised. :)

I started back to work and classes full time this week. It's been an adventure in and of itself. Adjusting has been a bit difficult but by the end of this coming week things should settle out.  One of things I was excited about with the semester starting was that it meant Candlelight Yoga would restart.  My institution is awesome in that it offers 5 different yoga classes each week (2 during lunch breaks and 3 at night) for free to all faculty, students, staff and alumni.  I was able to talk one of my classmates into trying out the candlelight yoga which I did last semester and loved.  I go on Thursday nights because I especially love the instructor Laura.  I feel she incorporates what yoga should be instead of what the western world has turned it into.  At the end of class I leave there feeling very much at peace with myself and the world.  As an added bonus I sleep like a rock those nights. It felt good to back in the class. I also found yoga makes me a stronger and faster runner.

A positive end to my week was a get together with my friends for a potluck dinner and game night. The food was amazing (chicken and dumplings, homemade mac and cheese, apple and walnut salad, desserts, risotto and more). In addition there was great beverages to choose from.  After dinner our games were Cranium and some wager game that we've played before. Last game night included Humanity and Pictionary.  Now if only I wasn't the only single person with 6 couples! ;)

Stay tuned for more art, races and other adventures...