Happy Christmas Eve y’all!!! Woot! Woot!
I can’t believe the holidays are here; I swear this year has just totally flown by. I have to say, the holidays are typically a time when I let it all slip. I usually sleep in late, eat a ton of junk food, drink too much wine (and just about anything else I can get my hands on) and all that…I mean I workout, sure, but usually with a hangover or food coma. 😉 And while I still have time to slip, thus far this year has been a different story. Just this week, I’ve managed to fit in the gym, a 15 mile run, and a few yoga classes.
I don’t know if its because my 100 miler at the end of February is looming or if its solely because I have been participating in this year’s Holiday Sweat Challenge. Or maybe it’s a little of both – something has helped me stay accountable to my workouts, my nutrition and of course my water intake – so I’ll take it!
Today, on Christmas freaking eve, I woke up again around 5:15am and got my butt to the barre.
I’m not a huge barre person. I do it once in awhile. Ok, maybe like once every three months. But while we were tooling around town the other day looking for stocking stuffers and last minute gifts I saw a barre place, Ten Point 5Â and it stuck with me. When I looked up the schedule, I felt like it was fate. They had a 6 am class (the earliest class I could find within a 7 mile radius!) which would mean I could get back, showered and ready for the day along with everyone else and not screw up any plans.
The studio itself is gorgeous and the instructor (Corrine) was absolutely adorable. When I walked in around 5:45 she was already full of pep….but little did I know, she was also ready to  just completely crush us. And crush us she did. My legs (which I always consider to be pretty strong) were shaking and burning so bad during the leg portion of the workout – especially when we started lifting our leg out to the side (helllllo, hip flexors) – that I almost gave up a couple of times. I was so tempted just to put my leg down and call it a day. Her playlist and encouragement was the only thing keeping me going. That and her long legs on the barre next to me. 😉
We also did a pretty tough arm and ab workout. By the end of class, I was feeling pretty spent all over (pretty good for just one hour!).
After barre, I decided to go for round two. This is when I start to realize that maybe, just maybe people are right: I’m a sick person. I ended up going to a 7:30 am Hot Yoga class (so at least I gave myself 30 minutes of rest…) at Hot Yoga Ahwatukee. Â Another beautiful studio and super friendly people. I was a little nervous that I would be walking into a Bikram class. And while I have nothing against Bikram, I don’t think I was quite in the mood for so much structure. Thankfully, it wasn’t Bikram at all, just a hot yoga flow class. Phewwww.
Our instructor, Laurie Trigillo was awesome. She’s a recovering long distance runner who found a love for yoga after an injury. 😉 She led us through a tough flow class – a lot of balance and strength work – and of course some good core. I walked out feeling really good –  my body was worked over but also felt really good and stretched out. Barre and hot yoga — might be a winning combo! 😉
Tomorrow we take off for Sacramento (goin back, back to Cali, Cali…) to see my fam and then to TAHOE for New Year’s…WOOT WOOT!
Holiday Sweat Points this week: 40 (BOOM!)
Stay Sweaty friends!
XOXO,
Jamie
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