Michigan Basketball is love

I have never been a big basketball fan. I don't really understand basketball, none of my siblings ever played basketball....

But after this season of Michigan basketball, I'm hooked.

After last night when Trey Burke and Mitch McGary gave us the most amazing win I've ever seen.

source

I am a college basketball fan.

GO BLUE

Fitness Classes Queen

I am like the queen of fitness classes as a running supplement.

I went to hot yoga this week for the first time probably since the summer when i had my unlimited month of yoga in DC.

The fanciest bathroom. pre-sweat sess

I totally forgot how much you sweat.

I was planning on taking before/after pictures, but my hair/face/etc. was just so sweaty and disgusting that I realized that could not be shared with the internet.

I also totally forgot how much i love  the mental aspect. the focus on the breath, the pay attention to the movements even when we sit still (the beat in your heart, the blood flowing through your veins, endocrine releases, neurons firing), the total relaxation and satisfaction of shavasana.

Last week I finished up a 10-day new student trial at my local Pure Barre.

It's definitely not running in terms of cardio burn, but it definitely works my arms/abs/legs in ways that running definitely does not.

The studio has a ton of class offerings. with a class limit of 18 people, you get a pretty hands-on class from the instructor who will make adjustments as necessary (and for me, the poor new girl, those are definitely necessary). I've had a different instructor every time, but all of them have been great thus far.

The class incorporates upbeat music, a warm up to get that heart rate up, an arms section, a legs section, and an abs section. It's all pretty fast paced, not a lot of time in between, except for stretching between each section.

suprisingly, my calves were sore- you think running would get rid of any possibility for calf soreness, but that is apparently false. Also my butt has been more sore than I thought possible. Gah.

And finally, the constant for the second year of law school - spinning

spin is pretty much the only kind of cardio I will do because its the only one that compares to running. Love the cardio burn, love pushing myself, love the seriousness of the cardio. Plus there's the fast-paced music that I love.

I spin at Vie and i LOVE it. Def. recc for those of you who would ever end up in Ann Arbor.

The Week of 3 runs in a row

Post-broken foot incident of 2011, I haven't really ran consecutive days at all.

That all changed last week when I ran three days a run.

We're the throughs of half-marathon training over here, and so when it was Thursday and I hadn't done a single one of my 3 runs for the week, it was time to get serious. So I ran on Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday.

whoa-ness.

My legs were sore, I struggled to breathe on Saturday. But I got in 13 miles. Which is not very much. But whatever. I still worked out 6 days/week. So I'm calling it good.

Monday - 7:45 AM Pure Barre. Post-st. paddys. This is an acomplishment. 55 minutes

Tuesday - The usual tuesday spin. hard and awesome. love it. 55 minutes

Wednesday - Another day of Pure Barre. 55 minutes

Thursday - Run 4 miles. snowy, snowy. but done!

Friday - Run 2-3 miles - garmin died. dont know how fancy this got, but we'll call it good.

Saturday - Run 7 miles. Aimed for 9. Oh well.

General notes on running lately:

• all runs are full of mud and puddles. The ground is thawing, snow is melting, and everyone I want to run is full of mud. I'm surviving, but getting dirty in the process.
• I just need some sunshine. although it is nice to still be almost light out when i do evening runs. Thanks daylight savings!
• I forgot how much I love cliff shotblocks. It's pretty much my only incentive for long runs. Candy. oh yes. 

The juice/travel/unintentional 9 miler week

WEEK RECAP

Monday - day one of the juice cleanse, therefore I was feeling like crap. I took a juice right before I went on my run and felt pretty energized in my muscles but my head was just not there. Ran an easy .8 to meet up with a friend and then another easy 3 loop. Total = 3.8 miles

Tuesday - day two of the juice cleanse. Feeling better, pretty energized, take it to spin class for another easy work out. Don't push as hard, but feel good overall. Total = 55 min spin

Wednesday - day 3 of juice cleanse and I'm taking it easy even more with yoga for runners on demand. Pretty decent yoga - ill take it. Worth noting - a single camel pose is killer for my feet. Poor running feet. Total= 35 min yoga

Thursday - day trip day. The boo and I headed to the west side of the state to spend some time with good ole Lake Michigan. Ran along the shoreline, early evening, sunsetting. Bliss. An interrupted for pictures 3 miler. Total: 3 miles

Friday - OFF. Celebrated with fried fish and the largest Greek salad (not together).

Saturday - the unintentional 9 miler. Went out with the running buddy without a plan intending to rock 8 miles. We were prepared. I had my water bottle full of nuun, she had a caffeinated gu. Side note: this is also my virtual run for heather's team gab virtual race, so there will surely be a more detailed tale of this adventure to come. We figured the lack of a plan would be no big deal. I have a garmin. It tells me when I'm at 4 miles and then I can turn around. Wrong wrong wrong. You suck at life lauren. Short story: we end up about 3 miles away from her house at 7 miles. And the gu has wrecked havoc on running buddy's stomach. Oh and the temp has dropped precipitously. awesome awesome awesome.

Sunday - OFF. Per us

PRE LAW PROM WEEKLY PLAN:

Monday - pure barre. Run 4
Tuesday - cardio cross for 60 min
Wednesday - barre
Thursday - run 4. Barre (?)
Friday - OFF
Saturday - 5
Sunday - OFF

Juice Cleanse Recap

So the last juice has been drank.

empty 

And I'm overall super glad that I did the cleanse!

As I mentioned in my previous post, It was a combo of good timing, a decent price, and Leslie's cleanse that made me make the commitment.

I purchased the kit through babo market, a local health food store curated by Sava Lelcaj, who also owns and awesome restaurant in Ann Arbor. It came with the following 6 drinks:

Wake up Elixer: green tea, agave, cayenne
      i was scared of this one at first, but it ended up being a great day starter. the cayenne just added its signature spicy-ness without a lot of flavor. I might keep these up!
Breakfast Smoothie: apple, celery, chia, spinach, avocado
     LOVED this one. super yummy -- the apple shined, and i love anything with chia.
Power Shot: wheatgrass, ginger, probiotic, agave
    this one was a struggle. I actually haven't even taken it from day 3 yet (whoops!). wheatgrass is just not very appetizing and the ginger and agave dont really help to get rid of the dirt/sludge taste/texture.
Lunch: carrot, sweet potato, beet, tumeric, coconut water
    this baby was featured on my instagram and previous post. It's just so gorgeous in color! and also delicious. sweet and refreshing.
Happy Hour: OJ, green bell pepper, kale, chard, parsley, tomato, ginger
    the ginger really shined in this one, but i LOVE that it included so many greens! also an enjoyable one.
Dinner: Strawberry, banana, almond butter, almond milk, hemp protein
   This was a smoothie in a bottle - quite similar to the smoothies I make at home. So i enjoyed it. sweet and filling -- a great dinner.


Positives: generally feeling well days 2 and 3, controlled hunger, commitment to a plan which meant I wasn't snacking, losing bloat (I really noticed this at spin on tuesday - no tummy bulge when spinning = yay!), finding out what kind of weight loss I need, and I think my sugar cravings have subsided a bit. YAY! was pleasantly surprised i had normal energy to run, spin, and yoga as planned.

Negatives: feeling crappy on day 1, price point is a little high for a poor law student, a little bit of scatterbrained-ness, but nothing unreasonable.

Total weight lost: 4 pounds! probably water weight but i'll take it.

With our law school formal coming up (space prom), and heavier half marathon training, I think this was a great idea for me, and I def. feel refreshed and energized.

YAY JUICE CLEANSE!

first post cleanse meal:

the greenest omelet with a whole grain tortilla

Juice Cleanse

Reading Leslie's posts about her juice cleanse and some good timing prompted me to try the juice cleanse route.

Babo Market here in Ann Arbor offered a 3-day cleanse for $90, and I thought this wasn't the most unreasonable price and it's spring break, and I was in for a detox.

food for the next 3 days

So I'm finishing up my last juice of the day and wanted to give an update.

I woke up a little hungover and a little dehydrated thanks to a late night at karaoke, and started the cleanse a little late, with my first juice around 11AM. 

All the juices were great. It includes 4 juices, a wheatgrass shot, and a cayenne green tea.

lunch - beet, carrot, sweet potato, tumeric, coconut water

I drank water and green tea through most of the day as additional hydration.

I felt a little off all day - a little lightheaded, a little nauseous, but not super hungry all day. so that was good.

I went for a super easy run that felt okay as I was going, but I was so tired after.

I think all of this is to be expected for day one, but hopefully my energy will pick up for day 2 and 3 as I have lots on the agenda.

So we'll see! More updates to come!

Chicago marathon here I come

So I did it...

I signed up for the Chicago Marathon.

Forked over my $175, dealt with the drama of the active.com server overload that was signing up and committed to 26.2 miles.

The marathon is an idea I've toyed with for a long time, and I figured with a summer in Chicago coming up, and a summer of working and not studying for the bar, there's no better time than now to train and run 26.2 miles.

And it's been good so far. Not that training has really happened yet. But I am half-marathon training right now and that's going well.

I'm in a clinic this semester that really focuses on goals and written reflection. And its made me miss this space. So I'll try and come back.

I'm still doing the same interesting things- running, baking, baby-lawyering.

I just would like to do a little more writing.

So recap for the week:

Sunday - REST DAY
Monday - 4 super easy with a friend. Early morning run in the sunshine. Love it
Tuesday - 55 min spin class
Wednesday - 3 miles treadmill watching HOMELAND (just started. Pretty obsessed already)
Thursday - Rest day #2
Friday - 30 min arc trainer cross (more homeland watching)
Saturday - 7 miles, 29*, race-ish pace.

And the plan:
MON - 4 miles outside easy
TUES - spin
WED - yoga
THURS - run 3
FRI - barre
SAT - 8 outside in the (fingers crossed) gorgeous weather