Weekend Update – Workout in the Park

All of that going out I did on Wednesday and Thursday turned out to be only a precursor to what was to come – what a busy weekend!

Friday, after that insanely ridiculous workshop on getting ahead in my career by turning myself into a secretary from the 50s, I went out with some understanding coworkers for a “Cinco de Mayo + 1” celebration. None of them had been in the workshop, but they were just as appalled as I had been when I told them what had happened and read them some of the quotes. That made me feel a heck of a lot better to hear from them and also from all of you on the blog and in Twitter – sometimes the corporate workshops where you’re expected to conform just make you wonder if you’re crazy when you don’t agree with what’s going on.

After two drinks, while the rest of my coworkers headed out for dinner and then more fun with tequila (and let’s be honest, what better kind of fun is there?), I headed home to try to rest up for the rest of the weekend. I made it home at a decent hour and fixed a light (Mexican caesar) salad for dinner to make up for the alcohol calories I had consumed. While I was in bed by 9pm, I didn’t actually go to sleep until midnight, consumed as I was by the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy. That was one of my favorites of the season!

The next morning, I got up at 8:30am sans alarm (that was late for me though!), and dutifully did my Insanity workout for the day. While there was nothing particularly spectacular to share about the workout itself, the notable part was that I was doing the workout just before heading out for 5 hours of additional workouts (I’ll be doing Insanity pre-marathon yet!): it was the day of Self Magazine’s annual Workout in the Park!

Longtime readers may remember two years ago, when went to Workout in the Park and got to meet Jillian Michaels in person, and even got an ass-kicking from her when it came to my diet and what I needed to do at restaurants. (Going back and rereading that old blog post was also really helpful for me as I go back to my travel routine). This time, there were no celebrities in attendance, but I again went with some great friends and we had a blast going through the different fitness classes.

This year, we got there right on time, but skipped the first class, “Sexy Stretch”, in favor of collecting swag (maybe I’m just hypersensitive now, but why does a stretch class for women have to be sexy, instead of just healthy?) and getting a free minifacial from Garnier. As a bonus, it contained SPF 15, which we were going to need, as it was a gorgeous sunny day!

I remembered my poor experience in the past with trying to squeeze into an area that didn’t have a ton of spots, so instead of attempting that, we headed over to a side area that seemed mostly set aside for people to visit the vendors over there. However, the organizers overestimated how few people would be interested in checking out a demonstration of Self’s iPad app – they only got a bit of foot traffic, and mostly from people wanting to know if it was a giveaway for a free iPad. As a result, there was a big area of open space for us to workout, and we quickly claimed it. Ahhhh, the joy of working out at such a big event but having tons of room! The extra bonus of being in the corner by the vendors was that we were able to keep grabbing Hint water and Luna bars whenever we got hungry or thirsty. Convenient, too!

After about four workouts, I was spent… so I kept taking “bathroom breaks” where I would also come back with another 50 calorie pack of Pop Chips. Yum! I used the Pop Chips and Luna Bars as my lunch for the day – which perhaps wasn’t the smartest choice, but it was definitely tasty – and it worked out okay, calorie-wise. While I only had about 300 cals of the goodies, I was working out hard enough (and had also kicked my butt in Insanity before even arriving) that it definitely made up for the difference. In fact, as the day continued, I started feeling like I had extremely low energy and needed more to eat. I refrained from snacking too much, recognizing that the junk food calories of Pop Chips and chocolate bars wouldn’t do much for me, but I wished like crazy that I had stopped for Starbucks before heading over. Coffee would have worked wonders!

By the time we hit the last workout (Glee Workout, reminiscent of my Wednesday night), all of us were exhausted, and it was showing in our workouts. While we had been determined to make it to this particular workout, all being big Glee fans, we were totally half-assing it as we went, which was really unfortunate. Finally, I turned to the other girls and asked if anyone wanted to go home. They were immediately like “YES!”, so we all got to feel better that we weren’t the only ones to wuss out. We headed for the west side, surprised at just how exhausted we were – but realizing in retrospect that we did about eight twenty minute classes, and in the sun to boot! That was definitely a workout.

But my day wasn’t over yet. While lucky Sasha got to head home and take a nap, my friend Meg and I had committed to attending another friend’s birthday scavenger hunt at the Met. We fortified with coffee and sandwiches at Le Pain, then headed over for another few hours of running around on our feet. However, as a reward for our perserverance, we ended up winning the hunt! We were proud of our accomplishment, and the prize was… another scavenger hunt. Next time, we’re picking “Munch Around Chinatown” or the “Taste of Chocolate” so we can fuel up as we go 🙂

As soon as the winner was announced, I dashed home for a quick change into a cocktail dress and heels, and then headed back out yet again to meet another group of girlfriends for dinner and drinks. My old college friend Caitlin is getting married this summer, and she and her fiancee were going on a cruise from NYC as a pre-wedding honeymoon, since immediately after the wedding, they’re moving to Colorado (!) and won’t have time then to do it. We had a blast reminiscing and catching up over pineapple margaritas at Citrus and then wine on Sasha’s roofdeck… and it was a shock when I looked at my phone and saw that it was 2am. What a day I had!

Is it any surprise that on Sunday, I spent a quiet day doing laundry, cleaning the apartment, and getting ready for my new project in Dallas? A girl deserves a break ONCE in a while 🙂 (Though apparently not too much of one, as I had to get up at 4am this morning for my flight, after going to bed at 11pm. Oops! This is going to be a tough schedule to adjust to).

Here’s to a good week!