Cross Training Fun

Hey everyone! Sorry I was not able to post on Wednesday, unfortunately I got a bit of food poisoning and was basically sick or sleeping all of Wednesday. I’m feeling much better than on Wednesday, but still not feeling 100% so I’ve decided to take a few days off of running until I feel completely better again. (Hopefully by Sunday, in time for my 14 mile run).

I thought I would share with all of you two of the exercise classes I took at the beginning of the week. One of my best friends, Phu, was here this past weekend for a few days. We ended up eating at a lot of delicious restaurants, but we also did plenty of exercising! She will also be doing the Nike Half, so we knew that some of our time together would have to be spent training. So aside from our training runs, we also did a couple cross-training exercises.

On Sunday, we went to an indoor trampoline park. It was so much fun! I felt like a kid again bouncing around on the trampoline, and oh yeah, it is also a GREAT workout. We jumped for 30 minutes and both of us were exhausted by the end. On the day we went it was just an open jump session, but on some days there is specific exercise classes on the trampolines, so I will definitely have to go back to try those out.

Then, on Monday we went to a barre class at barre3. I had never taken a class like this before, but Phu belongs to a studio and told me I needed to try it out to see what it was all about. Before we went I checked on their Facebook page to make sure they would be open, and luckily I went on there and looked around because I found a special offer for a free class (normal $20/class).

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but basically barre is a mix of ballet, pilates, and yoga. Phu thought that this studio focused more heavily on yoga while her studio at home is a little more upbeat. But, it was still so much fun and definitely a great workout because not only did my legs burn the next day, but they were shaking during the class because they were being worked out so much. I almost liked it more than the yoga classes that I have gone to, because there was a lot of variety from going to the bar, to the mat, or to the floor. Unfortunately this studio is about 30 minutes away, so I don’t think it would be worth it to join since I’m not sure how often I would go. But, I did just sign up for a similar class at the YMCA I go to, so hopefully I will have a great experience there as well.

It was fun to try some new kinds of exercises, and I will definitely try to do this more in the future. It makes me much more excited and motivated to exercise when it is something fresh and different. I will update you all again when I find a new fun cross-training exercise!

Lauren