I only have a few birthday traditions that I do every year, and one that I’ve been doing for years now is my dinner at Truxton’s with my friend (and birthday twin) Joanna. We’ve been doing this dinner for over a decade now, and even though things have changed over time, we still celebrate with their birthday deal.
The deal was a free entree and dessert when we started doing our birthday dinners. That allowed us to have a totally free dinner and we basically tipped what the cost of the dinner would have been. After a few years, the deal changed to $20 off your meal, which was $40 for us since we both had $20 to spend. We have tried to do a free dinner with that deal, but it became more of a hassle to try to figure it out. So now, we just get an appetizer to share, an entree for each of us, and a dessert to share. It’s not free, but it’s pretty cheap. And we can both tip $20 (which is almost the amount of the cost of the dinner) and feel like we are getting a great deal.
The original restaurant is over by LAX, so that’s where we started going for the birthday deal. But once they opened a location in Santa Monica, we switched to there because it was easier for both of us to get to. And that was our plan again this year. For whatever reason, I felt the need to look at the menu the day we were supposed to go and I’m so glad that I did. Because there was an issue with the lease for the Santa Monica location and it had to close shortly after we were there last year. If I hadn’t looked, we would have driven there for dinner and had no idea that wasn’t an option anymore. So I let Joanna know that we would have to switch back to the location by LAX. And going forward, we might adjust our tradition to be a lunch or brunch because it was crazy for both of us to get there with traffic.
But the traffic was worth it so we could have our birthday meal. And even though I know we both try to meet up more often than our birthday and cheesecake traditions, we are both busy and never seem to be able to plan a lot of other hangouts. So having these traditions something we make sure we do our best to keep up really helps us have regular hangouts/check-ins with each other.
We both knew what we wanted to eat quickly, so we were able to put in our order and focus more on our catch-up. And as it’s been the last several times, most of what we discussed was about our dating lives and our condos. And Joanna gave me some great ideas for the closet in my bedroom which I have been wanting to change up, so I’m glad we had our random chat as always.
And since the focus was on catching up, I also didn’t think too much about taking photos of our food. But I did get a photo of the dessert we split. We had this apple tart in the past and it’s always been good. And the waiter knew that it was both of our birthdays because we let him know in advance about us using the birthday deal, so he put 2 candles in it for us! I think this was the only birthday thing I had with a candle in it this year. It was really the perfect way to end the meal.
Because we went to a different location this time, our dinner was a bit later than normal so we were done later than I was planning. But we did this dinner on a night when I didn’t have to be up too early the next morning so it was ok. And it was worth it to get our birthday dinner. I think both of us would do whatever we can in order to make this dinner happen. Even during the height of the pandemic, we still found a way to have our dinner together even if we were eating in a park instead of the restaurant.
I’m seriously so lucky that we’ve kept this tradition going for as long as we have and that we both see it as such a great way for us to maintain our friendship even with our crazy schedules!
Posted onAugust 14, 2023|Comments Off on Birthday Week Workouts (or Celebrating Each Class)
This past week of workouts was another good one for me. Not only was it my birthday week, but I was feeling really great. I’ve said several times that I really think it’s awesome that I turned 40, but I think seeing how strong I am in my workouts really has helped with that feeling. I can see how different my body and my strength are compared to when I turned 30. And I got to experience that feeling several times in this past week of workouts.
Monday’s workout was a lot of strength and endurance. I tried to push myself where I could, but I’m still balancing out how much I can push myself without making my hips hurt too much from also going out to walk and picket. But I’m getting pretty good and sensing when I’m pushing just a bit too much.
For cardio, each block focused on push paces and base paces. The push paces started longer without incline and as they got shorter, we added incline and resistance levels. And the all-outs for each block also used incline/resistance. None of the resistance levels got too high, but I was still using higher levels than I normally do for my push paces, so I tried to keep pedaling as fast as I do without the extra resistance level.
For rowing, we had 2 blocks that both started with a 400-meter row that decreased by 100 meters each round. And between each round, we had a medicine ball exercise. In the first block, we had lunges with rotations. And in the second block, we had halos. Because of my balance issues, I really can’t do rotations with lunges. So I alternated doing lunges between one set of rows and then rotations with the medicine ball between the next rows. I figured that was the best solution for me.
And on the floor, we also had 2 blocks. The first block had single-leg deadlifts, single-arm reach to rotations on the straps, and tricep extensions. The second block had rows on the straps, squat to presses, and plank low rows. I was happy that I was able to do these exercises with very few modifications so I could maximize my time on the floor. As hard as it is for me to see progress on the floor because I don’t change the weights I use too often, I do like to see how much easier some exercises become for me to do over time.
Tuesday’s workout was the last workout of my 30s and I felt like that was something to celebrate. I don’t usually get really sentimental around birthdays, but this time I did. And I really was reflecting on how much I accomplished with my workouts in my 30s and what that really did to make me the person I am today. It sounds a bit cheesy, but that’s how I was feeling during the workout.
For cardio, we had long push paces and shorter base paces. This was a lot of endurance work to fit in with this month being marathon month so those participating in it could get as much distance as they could in the workout. I was using my usual push pace and base pace resistance levels and was just enjoying how normal and chill that felt. It was still a challenge for me, but it was also nice to realize that my body could do that and I wasn’t struggling all the time.
On the rower, we had one long rowing block. We started with a 600-meter row followed by 20 high knees. I had to do the high knees as marching in place, but I did them. Then we did a 400-meter and 200-meter row with high knees before going back up the pattern and switching the exercise to butt kicks. I did all the rows with high knees and the 200-meter row with butt kicks. I was working on the 400-meter row when the block ended, but that was further in the block than I thought I would get.
And on the floor, we had back-to-back sets. We had 2 exercises we were supposed to do without resting between each one. And we did each set twice before moving on to the next one. We had chest presses and split squats (which are more like lunges for me), hammer curls and single-arm hip hinge swings, and chest flys and speed skaters. Besides modifying the split squats, I was able to do the rest of the exercises without modifications. Because of the weights that were available after others picked what they used, I did go a bit lighter with the hammer curls, but I added a few extra reps to make up for that.
Wednesday’s workout was my birthday class, and my coach said happy birthday to me as soon as I walked inside the lobby. They also wrote happy birthday on the brag board, and I took a photo with my coach before class started so I could get a non-sweaty photo to remember spending a milestone birthday at Orangetheory.
I’m also excited to see when we have rowing benchmarks how I do because I am in a new age group. For cardio benchmarks, this won’t really be a factor since my benchmarks are listed in the bike section and that’s not split by age group. But it would be cool if I could make the leaderboard a few times for rowing now that I’m in the 40-49 group instead of the 30-39 group!
For cardio, we had 3 blocks that each had 4 different 1-minute push paces and all the push paces used inclines. In the first block, the inclines increased by 2% each minute. In the second block, the inclines increased by 1% every minute. And in the last block, the inclines increased by 0.5% each minute. For the first 2 blocks, I did change the resistance level to the correct amount each minute. But the resistance levels are in whole numbers, so I can’t increase by 0.5%. So for that block, I repeated the second block and increased them by 1 every minute.
On the rower, we also had 3 blocks. Each block started with a distance row. Then we had lunges off the rower before rowing for distance until the block ended. The goal was to get at least the same distance for each block. The first block started with a 200-meter row, the second block started with a 150-meter row, and the last block started with a 150-meter row. I was pretty close to the same distance for each block, so I was pretty happy with that.
And on the floor, we also had 3 blocks but they were different from what we normally do. Each block focused on a single exercise. We had a minute to do a specific number of reps and any time at the end of that minute could be used to rest. We repeated that 4 times in each block to make the blocks 4 minutes long. The first block was 12 reps of a goblet squat each time, the second block was 12 reps of a reverse grip low row each time, and the last block was 8 reps of a deadlift each time. We also had the option to do more reps if we felt like it wasn’t enough or to do a plank hold at the end of the last minute. I did the plank hold for the extra time in the last minute for each block which was tough enough for me. It was a challenge, but I felt like it was a great way to start things as a 40-year-old.
Thursday’s class had a bit more of a focus on power, which felt different from the other workouts we’ve had so far this month. It still had a lot of opportunities for people to get mileage for the marathon challenge, but it was all about all-outs for cardio.
For cardio, we had one long block. We started with 2 rounds of a 1-minute all-out followed by a 1-minute recovery. Then we continued the pattern of an all-out with a 1-minute recovery after, but the all-outs got shorter every other time. So we had 2 rounds of 50-second all-outs, 2 rounds of 40-second all-outs, 2 rounds of 30-second all-outs, and we ended with just one 20-second all-out. I used my normal resistance level for all-outs on the bike, but I tried to pedal faster for the second time we had a certain all-out time. I didn’t get that much faster, but it was a little extra which I think counts a lot.
We also had 1 block for rowing. It was similar to what we had on Tuesday, but there were a few differences. This time, the rows were 400 meters, 300 meters, 200 meters, 200 meters, 300 meters, and 400 meters. After the first 3 rows, we were supposed to do a squat hold bicep curl with a medicine ball, but I was having a tough morning with my hips so I just did the bicep curl with the medicine ball. And for the last 3 rows, we were supposed to do a squat hold tricep extension, and again I just did the exercise without the squat. I was working on the last 400-meter row went the block ended, so again I got pretty far in the exercises which I was happy about.
And on the floor, again it was a single block. We had drop sets this time, which is always a good challenge. But we also had single-side exercises this time which added to the drop set challenge. So we did a heavy weight on the right side, light weight on the right side, heavy weight on the left side, and light weight for the left side for each exercise. The exercises we had were goblet lunges, single-arm low rows, and single-arm shoulder presses. I can’t do goblet lunges, so I did regular lunges with no weight and goblet squats separately. It was like the lunges counted as one weight and the squats as another. It’s not exactly what we were supposed to do, but it was the best thing I could do with modifying things the way I needed them to be. And I did make an effort to try to use heavier weights than normal for the heavy weights to make sure I pushed myself. It was hard and I was pretty low with the rep count, but that’s how things should be for drop sets since I got a lot more reps done with the lighter weight.
I don’t think I could have asked for a better week of workouts for my birthday week. I was feeling good and strong, which is always a sign of a good week for me. I had the chance to challenge myself but I wasn’t struggling or getting frustrated. And I felt like a badass as always, which is the best way to turn 40!
I’m 40 today! I’ve said it before, but I’m not that worried about being 40. I know it’s something everyone says, but age really is just a number. Nothing has changed about me because yesterday I was 39 and today I’m 40. I also think that where past generations were at 40 is very different from where my generation is at 40. And a lot of my friends are older than me, so I have a lot of examples of what a 40-year-old could be like. Some of them at 40 were married with kids and others had similar lifestyles to what I have right now. And I’m lucky that none of my friends or family pressured me to feel like I had to be at a certain phase of life at any age.
I also have said before that my 30s were so much better than my 20s, and I think that things will just continue to get better. A lot of this feeling is not caring as much to fit certain stereotypes or what others may think about me. If I want to enjoy my life a certain way and it’s not hurting anyone else, I should be able to do that without shame. If I want to spend a day reading, that’s fine and I shouldn’t feel embarrassed that others might see that as a wasted day. And the sense of freedom I’ve had as I have gotten more confident about not caring has been amazing.
I’m not really doing much to celebrate my birthday today. I have my workout, going to the picket line, and working my day job. I might end up doing something after work, but I have a feeling I won’t be up for much since I tend to be tired after work. But that’s ok because I had a small birthday party thing this past weekend!
I haven’t celebrated my birthday with friends for a while, but I figured I should do it this year for a milestone birthday. I didn’t want anything too crazy, so I organized a hangout at a lounge attached to a bar near my place. I invited a lot of friends because there are so many people I hadn’t seen in a while and about 15 people were able to come.
I didn’t take any photos because I was busy talking with everyone, so I’m grateful for a friend who was there that took these candid ones. And it was such a great birthday hangout!
I had friends that were there from different friend groups, and it’s always crazy to see how people know each other when I had no idea. For example, one friend I have known since I was in college knew another friend I know through union service from an acting class they were in 20 years ago! And another friend from one friend group knew another friend from a different group but they hadn’t seen each other in about 15 years. There were several moments when I just sat back and watched my friends talking to each other. It was so awesome just seeing new friendships being created and old friendships catching up. I didn’t need or want to be the center of attention, I just wanted everyone to have a good time. And I think everyone who was there did.
I didn’t think to tell people to not bring presents because I honestly wasn’t expecting them. And I was surprised how many people brought me a card or a gift. I felt so loved, and a little embarrassed that I didn’t think I deserved so much fuss. But I also know how much I love to give my friends gifts, so I appreciated the time and money others spent on me and finding the right gift to get me.
I don’t really have any other big plans for my birthday. There are some birthday traditions that I need to schedule still, so I will still be celebrating turning 40 for at least a few more weeks. And I think being 40 is something I will be celebrating for a while because I really am excited about this next decade and I really can’t wait to see what will be coming my way and what my future has in store. I know that I have built a life that I really enjoy and have surrounded myself with people I love. And whatever happens for me in my 40s will just be adding upon that. I know it won’t all be amazing and positive, but I have a feeling there are some incredible things ahead for me!
Posted onAugust 7, 2023|Comments Off on Last Full Workout Week Of My 30s (or Continuing The Good Workout Weeks)
This past week of workouts was another good one for me. I feel like I’ve been spoiled lately with the good workout weeks. They aren’t all perfect workouts and I still have struggles, but they haven’t been as bad as they could have been. Of course, in the back of my mind, I wonder if my next cycle will be extra brutal since this one wasn’t bad, but I’m trying to focus on the positives, not the negatives. And this past week of workouts was the last full workout week of my 30s, so that was something to be excited about. Even if I’m not the thinnest or lightest I’ve been as an adult, I know that my 30s were my fittest decade. Health is more than a number on a scale, and I have gotten so much healthier over this past decade.
Monday’s workout had a lot of endurance focus to it. It was a good and tough class and I tried to push myself where I could. But I was also mindful of how my body might feel after pushing myself since I knew I would be going to the picket lines after my workout.
For cardio, we had one long block. We alternated a push pace with an incline and a base pace without an incline. I did try to increase my resistance levels a bit more for the push paces with inclines since I already use extra resistance for a push pace. I wasn’t exactly able to do the increases we were supposed to, but all of my push paces with incline were at a higher resistance level than my normal push pace level. So that was good for me.
On the rower, we also had one long block. We started with a 15-stroke drill, 12-stroke drill, and 10-stroke drill with a shoulder press with a medicine ball between each row. Then we repeated the same stroke drills with a bicep curl with a medicine ball between each row. And we ended with the same stroke drills with a tricep extension with a medicine ball between each row. I didn’t get through all the rowing, but I did get to the middle row of the last section where we were doing the tricep extensions so I was close to getting all of them done.
And on the floor, we had reverse drop sets. So for the exercises, we did 6 reps with a heavy weight and then as many reps as possible with a heavier weight after that. Normally, for a drop set, you drop down in weight instead of increasing. So this made this extra tough. The reverse drop sets were with squats and chest presses. After doing the squats we had knee drives to leg lifts, which I had to do as separate exercises. And after the chest presses we had knee tucks. Knee tucks are always hard on my hips, but I was able to do them this time by going slowly and allowing myself extra breaks during the reps.
Tuesday’s workout was another one that felt very endurance-focused. August is Marathon Month at Orangetheory, so I think there will be a lot of endurance work with cardio throughout the month. I’m not doing Marathon Month this time, but it’s mainly because I don’t want to stress about how far I’m getting on the bike if I’m not feeling well. But I’m still trying to get a lot of distance in each workout. I was able to push myself a bit more since I knew I wouldn’t be going to the picket lines after my workout (right now, I’m going on Mondays and Wednesdays instead of trying every day). So I was able to push a bit more and allow myself to prove what I could do.
For cardio, we had another long block. We had 2 long runs/bikes for distance and 2 surges in the middle of them when we were supposed to go a bit faster. I knew that I couldn’t do my push pace resistance level for the entire block, so I used a resistance level between my base and push to be a bit harder. And for the surges, I didn’t increase my resistance level but instead focused more on pedaling faster since that’s something I know I could do a lot better with. And at the end, we had an all-out where I did use my normal all-out resistance level.
On the rower, we had 4 blocks. Blocks 1 and 3 were the same and blocks 2 and 4 were the same. In blocks 1 and 3, we started with a 30-second row and then did 10 lateral hops. I did side-to-side steps instead of the hops. We then did another 30-second row and then had 20 hops. We continued the pattern of a 30-second row and increased the hops by 10 every time. These weren’t my best blocks since the steps and getting on and off the rower took some time. And for blocks 2 and 4, we had a 90-second row for distance and we were supposed to try to make it an all-out row for the last 30 seconds. These blocks were better for me and I was able to get further in block 4 than I did in block 2.
And on the floor, we had one block. It was a mix of upper and lower body work and we were supposed to try to challenge ourselves by increasing the weight if possible after each round. We had sumo deadlifts, kneeling wood choppers, single-arm high row to low row, and tricep kickbacks. I did have to modify the high row to low rows to be separate exercises because I was struggling to switch my hand position that frequently. But I was able to go a bit heavier with the weights after the first round for a few of the exercises. And the floor block ended with a 30-second plank hold, which was a bit harder than normal because I think I worked that much harder during the workout.
Wednesday was another day where I wanted to push myself but not too hard since I would be picketing. But I’m finding the balance between those things the more I go on the picket lines so I’m hoping it will be less of an issue as time goes on (or the strike ends before I have a chance to do that).
For cardio, we had a few blocks but they all had similar formats. We had rounds of a 30-second push pace and 45-second base pace and a 30-second all-out at the end. Even though the base paces were longer than the push paces, it still seemed like we never really got a chance to catch our breath or recover. But I did make sure I was using the normal resistance levels I use on the bike for all the blocks.
On the rower, we had 2 blocks. In the first block, we focused on doing a 200-meter row with a halo using a medicine ball between each row. And in the second block, we focused on doing a 10-stroke drill with front presses with a medicine ball between each row. I really like these rowing blocks. Even though it will probably always be hard for me to get on and off the rower, this went a lot smoother than other similar row blocks have gone for me.
On the floor, we had one long block. We had 6 exercises to do the first round and then after completing them, we could pick any of the exercises to take off so we did 5 exercises for the second round and so on. The exercises we had were lunges, shoulder presses, good mornings, hammer curls, squats, and plank low rows. After the first round, I took the lunges off. After the second round, I took the squats off. I was working on my third round when the block ended and I was going to take the plank off but I hadn’t gotten that far.
I was a bit sore on Thursday, likely a combination of my few days on the picket line and how I was pushing myself in my workouts at the beginning of the week. But I still was feeling pretty good, even with some extra soreness, so I was ready for another challenging workout.
For cardio, we had 3 blocks. Each block had 1-minute intervals followed by 30-second intervals. In the first block, the 1-minute intervals were push paces and the 30-second intervals were base paces with a 1-minute all-out at the end. In the second block, it was similar to the first block but the push paces had increasing inclines. And in the last block, the 1-minute intervals were all-outs and the 30-second intervals were walking recoveries. These were tough since the harder intervals were twice as long as the easier ones, but they were all short blocks so that helped a bit.
On the rower, we had one long block. We started with an 800-meter row. After that row, we had tricep extensions, halos, and squat jumps (which I did as squats to calf raise) with a medicine ball. Then we had a 600-meter row with the same exercises after the row. I was working on the 400-meter row when the block ended, but I was happy with how far I got.
And on the floor, we had 3 blocks and they had a lot of focus on balance. I tried to do each exercise the best I could, but I knew that balance things would be tough for me. The first block had push-ups and kneeling lateral raises and both exercises were with the Bosu. I did manage to do both exercises using the Bosu by doing the push-ups on my knees and taking some breaks during the reps for the lateral raises. The second block had split squats and kneeling tricep extensions, and again they were both supposed to be on the Bosu. I did the split squats as lunges and didn’t use the Bosu, but I did do the tricep extensions on it so that was an extra challenge. And the last block had jack presses without the Bosu and kneeling bicep curls using the Bosu. I did the jack presses as shoulder presses, but I did use the Bosu again for the bicep curls.
I think that this past week really was another great week for me and an awesome way to start closing out my 30s. I love how positive I’ve been feeling with my workouts recently, and I’m so happy that it looks like I’ll be starting my 40s feeling great about myself and ready to see what I can accomplish with my fitness in a new decade.
Posted onAugust 2, 2023|Comments Off on A Few Months Of Celebrating (or Enjoying Each Age)
I set my monthly challenge for July to be to celebrate the last full month of my 30s. I know that’s not really a challenge like some of the ones I’ve done in the past, but I did want to make an effort to celebrate my age because I think it’s important to do so. Age is such a weird thing and I hate the stigma that seems to come with certain ages.
I didn’t stress as much as I thought I would 10 years ago about turning 30. I think turning 29 was almost a harder birthdate. For some reason, there was a block in my mind about what I was supposed to accomplish before 30 and I saw my 29th birthday as the cutoff to get those things accomplished. I don’t know why 29 was as tough for me as it was, but I was grateful that turning 30 wasn’t as bad as I feared.
I haven’t had a big issue in my mind about turning 40. I find it a bit tough to believe because I don’t feel like I’m 40. I think the pandemic made a few years feel like they didn’t happen, but also there was an idea in my mind when I was a kid about what 40 meant. I remember seeing all those over-the-hill gag gift things for someone turning 40, and I don’t feel like I’m headed toward the end of my life. I actually think that my life has been so much better in my 30s than in my 20s had been. I think I really stopped caring about some things that don’t really matter, and that made things a lot better for me. I also had some really great steps with improving both my mental and physical health and that helped this past decade a lot too.
I think every age is important, and it was extra important to acknowledge all the things that happened to me in my 30s. I had so much growth and celebrating that felt like the right thing to do. I didn’t do anything in particular, but I did make sure that I got out and spent time doing fun things with my friends to enjoy the last full month of my 30s.
And my challenge this month is kind of the same as what I did last month. Turning 40 is a milestone birthday, even if it doesn’t have the same feeling now as I thought it might when I was younger. I think it’s awesome that I’m turning 40 and I think that this coming decade will be even better than my 30s. I never knew how amazing my 30s could be, and I am so excited to see how my 40s surprise me. I don’t fear growing older or a specific age, so I want to celebrate how cool it is that I will be 40!
I am planning a casual birthday gathering since I haven’t really celebrated my birthday in the past few years. And I have the usual birthday traditions that I’m planning on doing again this year. I want to start off this decade by trying to spend time doing things I want to do, which I don’t do often enough. I’ve been doing better about getting out of my house and seeing friends, and I want to keep doing that. I want to make sure I take advantage of this month and enjoy as much time as I can. I know that I won’t be able to do that all the time, but making the effort to celebrate my birthday and my new decade is important to me.
I know this is another easy challenge to do, but I think it’s the perfect one for me this month. I haven’t had other life milestones yet that a lot of other people have that they celebrate (like a wedding), so celebrating a big birthday is an important one for me and I want to make sure I start off this decade in the best way possible!
Posted onJuly 26, 2023|Comments Off on The End To Another Awesome Season (or A Preview Of Things To Come)
I just had the last show of my most recent season set of tickets at the Pantages. I believe this was my 7th season of having tickets there, but things are split up a little funny because the 2019-2020 season wasn’t really a single season the way things had to be split up. But I think calling it my 7th season makes sense in my head, and I am so happy I have continued to see shows.
This past season was the first time I was the ticket holder because my friend Dani used to be that for our group. But now that she moved away and I’m seeing the shows with my friend Jodi, it made sense for me to run things since I am a bit more familiar with the process. And Jodi and I have been having so much fun so it was a pretty easy decision for us to get ourselves signed up for the next season.
The next season doesn’t start until the new year, so there’s a chance we will go 6 months without a show. It’s not the first time this has happened, so I know it will be fine. And when this happened in the past, the time seemed to go by quickly. So I feel like our first show of the next season will be here before we know it. There are also some musicals happening before the new season starts that I’m considering getting tickets to, so I might be back sooner than the new year.
But I wasn’t focused on the possibility of several months without a show when we went to our final show of the season. I was excited to see the show because I had seen a few clips of it and it looked amazing! The final show for us in this season was “Beetlejuice”.
I’ve seen the movie before, but it’s been a really long time and I wouldn’t say I’m too familiar with it. Jodi has seen it a lot and loves the movie. But we were both equally excited for this show and how fun it should be.
And it was an amazing show! I loved the songs and the sets and I didn’t feel lost even though I didn’t know the movie that well. It’s hard to say if a show is the best show I’ve seen because there have been quite a few of those. But it was one of the better show I’ve seen and I would say it’s totally in my top favorite shows. Yes, it’s a bit morbid because it’s about death, but it’s such a funny show. I was laughing throughout it and it was such a fun show to experience.
And this show gave us a bit of a preview for what next season will be like. This past season, we moved our tickets around for almost every show. I never really did that before, but it was easy for me to do it and it’s nice when you can get really close seats randomly for a show. And the seats we moved to for “Beetlejuice” were basically the seats we have for our season seats next season. The only difference will be that we will be seated on the other side of the theater. But it’s the same row and still next to the aisle. So it was a great way for us to test out what the new season seats will be like. I might still move our tickets around if I can get us closer to the stage, but it was great to see that we got great tickets for next season with a good view and not obstructed like some of the cheap seats can be.
It was a great way to end this past season for us. We had a fun show and we are looking forward even more to the next season now that we know we have great seats for all of the shows even if we don’t switch them around. Now I just need the next 6 months to go by so we can kick off the new season!
Posted onJuly 17, 2023|Comments Off on Another Good Workout Week (or It’s So Nice When Things Work Out Well For Me)
I was able to enjoy another good workout week this past week. I was feeling pretty good throughout the week, I was getting a bit more sleep most days, and I really was able to push myself. I couldn’t have asked for a better week with my workouts and I know I will need this as a reminder when I’m feeling awful because I know I will be down on myself. But I am just celebrating having a good week this time.
On Monday, we had an interesting challenge with cardio. It wasn’t the usual hills we have from time to time, but like rounds of different hills. For each block, we started with a flat base pace. Then we had a base pace with some added incline/resistance. Then we kept that same incline/resistance but increased the speed. And we alternated between increasing incline and increasing speed. I don’t usually do speed increases on the bike, but I did this time since that was half of the challenge.
On the rower, we started with medicine ball exercises. We had 2 rounds of squats with front presses, tricep extensions, and low rows. After completing those exercises, we rowed until the block was done. For the second block, we started with the row distance we got in the first block and then did the exercises. And in the last block, we got to pick if we wanted to start with the exercises or the row. I decided to start with the exercises and end with the row because I knew we would have an all-out row at the very end.
And on the floor, we had one longer block and one shorter block. For the longer block, we started with lunges and squats and then moved on to single-arm clean to press and sumo goblet squats. I was having a weird twinge in my elbow (I think I slept on it funny), so I wasn’t able to go too heavy with the weights. But I still did a good job with what I could. And the short block was a core blast with a bicycle crunch and a toe reach. The core blast was about 4 minutes long, and my core was dead by the time we were done!
Tuesday was a bit more of a power day, so it was a pretty high-energy class. I was grateful that I had gotten a good night’s sleep so I could maximize my time in class.
For cardio, we had 3 blocks and the first 2 blocks were the same. We had rounds of a 30-second interval followed by a 75-second interval. For the 30-second intervals, we were supposed to be between our push and all-out paces. And for the 75-second intervals, we had a regular base pace. For the last block, the intervals changed to 20 seconds and 90 seconds. For the shorter intervals, I used the resistance level between my push and all-out, so it was exactly what it was supposed to be.
We also had 3 blocks on the rower. The first block had rounds of a 200-meter row and lunges between each row. The second block had rounds of a 150-meter row with side-to-side hops. And the last block had rounds of a 100-meter row with squats between each row. It was a pretty straightforward row plan and I loved that none of the rows were that long.
On the floor, we had some Bosu work. On the Bosu, we had crunches, back extensions, and hip bridges. We also had squats, low rows on the straps, and alternating shoulder presses. It wasn’t a lot of work with weights, so I didn’t have to worry about going heavy or not and just focused on form.
Wednesday’s workout was a good mix of endurance, strength, and power. And each section of the floor had one block that focused on each one. The first block was endurance, the second block was strength, and the last block was power.
For cardio, the first block was rounds of a 45-second push pace with a 45-second or 1-minute base pace. The second block had 30-second inclines with 1-minute flat bases. And we got to choose if we wanted to go up the hill or down the hill. I picked going up since that’s more of a challenge and I wanted to challenge myself. And the last block was rounds of a 30-second all-out and a 30-second recovery.
On the rower, the first block had 250-meter rows with good mornings and low rows with a medicine ball. The second block had 250-meter rows, but we were supposed to keep the stroke rate lower to be more strength focused. And we had rainbows with a medicine ball between each row. And the last block was rounds of a 100-meter row so it was more like an all-out.
On the floor, each block kind of built upon each other. The first block had cross-back lunges and bicep curls using the straps. The second block cross-back lunges without the steps and weighted bicep curls. And the last block had lateral hops and clean to press using weights.
Thursday’s class was a benchmark day. This time it was the 12-minute cardio challenge. I do this on the bike, and I think it’s one of the hardest benchmarks because it takes the longest to get done. No matter how fast or slow you are, you are doing it for 12 minutes.
The benchmark was the main focus of the cardio block. We did have a 1-minute push to get a pace figured out before we reset the treadmills and bike to officially start the benchmark. And all we do is go for 12 minutes and see how far we can go. I knew what my last PR was for this benchmark and while I wanted to try to beat it, I also just wanted to try to match it. I hadn’t slept as much the night before so I knew I didn’t have as much energy as I could have. I set the resistance on the bike to be just above my base pace level and tried to pedal as fast as I could. And I just matched my last PR when the 12 minutes were done, so I was happy enough with that.
On the rower, we had a pretty simple row since the focus was on cardio. We started with a 400-meter row and then we had high knees. We repeated this pattern but decreased the row by 50 meters each time. I didn’t get all the way down to 50 meters, but I was able to do my rows without having to take breaks so that was a win for me.
And on the floor, we had one long block with 2 mini-blocks. The first mini-block had alligators on the straps and good mornings using weights. And the second mini-block had reciprocating rows with weights, hip bridges, and sit-ups. I did go really heavy with my weight for the hip bridges because I have noticed I’m a lot stronger than I thought for those. The hardest part is trying to get the weight onto my hips because my arms aren’t as strong.
It was a great way to end a great week, and I was really happy with each of my workouts. This week might be a tougher week for me, but I won’t know until each day. I might be starting to have some pain and nausea, and I’m going out on the picket lines so I’m walking a lot more and that can make my hips hurt. But as always, I plan on trying my best and maybe this week will surprise me!
Posted onJuly 12, 2023|Comments Off on 4th of July Fun (or Continuing The Traditions)
I think many people felt like having a holiday in the middle of the week was a bit odd. I have to agree. I only had the 4th off, so I worked Monday and Wednesday. Some people had an extra day off, but I was just happy to have an extra day off in the middle of the week. But that made things a bit harder to plan to celebrate the 4th, but fortunately, I could still have some fun.
The party that I go to most years for the 4th was the weekend before the holiday. But that was perfect for me since I didn’t want to stress about how early I might have to be up the next day. And that gave me some time to prepare something to bring with me. I don’t always have the time to make something, but I was grateful I did this year because I was able to bring drunk fruit again with me. This is something that I like to make since it’s easy, and it’s also something that people seem to love. And I had time the day before the party to get everything together.
I usually make it more than a day in advance, so this time they weren’t quite as potent as they have been in the past. Maybe since I was making them later, I should have added a little extra tequila, but normally the pre-made one is perfect for this. I still think everyone enjoyed them and I liked the combination of strawberries and watermelon.
The party was pretty low-key as they have been lately. It was a nice time to hang out with friends and have some good food. It wasn’t too hot, so we were all mostly outside during the party. And of course, my friends and I had to get our traditional photo done. We were missing one member of our group this year, but we still took a photo to add to the collection.
We’ve been doing this for almost 10 years now and only missed 2 years (one year due to the pandemic and one year due to my friends having a new puppy and not having a party). It’s so silly and ridiculous, but we also love it! And I think our other friends who are not in the photo but at the party get a laugh out of us acting a little crazy to get the photos done. But it’s such a fun thing to have to remember my friend group over the years. Also, considering how long we’ve been doing this, I don’t think any of us look like we’ve aged about 10 years!
I was at that party a bit later than I planned, but that was ok since I was able to sleep in the next day. And then I started my normal work week with work on Monday.
On the 4th, I slept in a bit and then went to a workout. I was debating about trying to make some plans to go watch fireworks or something else, but I ended up just hanging out at home and enjoying a day without work. I think a lot of my friends did the same since nobody really went out and did much. Maybe that’s a sign of us getting older or maybe that’s because it wasn’t a weekend and a few of my friends had a regular work day the next day like I did. But just having time to relax and not worry about doing much was nice and a luxury. On my days off, I’m usually trying to get errands done or other things I can’t do during the week. As much as I try to do all of those things on Saturdays so I can relax on Sundays, it doesn’t always work out that way for me. So I took advantage of this free time and didn’t stress about doing anything. It might not have been the most social holiday, but it was perfect for me.
I’m glad that I had the party the weekend before, so I had some nice social time and got to feel like I celebrated a holiday a bit. And I was able to take the day off work to make sure I was ready for the rest of the work week and feel a bit more refreshed when I have been a bit exhausted lately.
As I wrote last month, I seem to pick monthly challenges at the perfect time. I pick things that end up being exactly what I need at that time and it really has benefitted me. And sometimes, those benefits have been just to focus on something that I know will be taking up a lot of my time. And that was the case for June.
I set my monthly challenge to be as involved in union service as I could be. There were some limitations that didn’t allow me to do everything I wanted to do, but I was getting a lot done last month. I was continuing to support the strike against the AMPTP as much as I could. I didn’t get out to any picket lines, but that’s just because of my job and not really having the chance to take time off while things are a bit crazy at work. But I was still supporting things as much virtually and sharing information so others could make it to the picket lines.
But the bigger thing I was working on was mainly behind the scenes because it wasn’t announced until the end of the month. Normally during union elections, there are 2 major slates that both have candidates running for various positions. This year, there has been a big sense of unity among union members and that has also changed what will be happening in the elections this summer. Instead of the 2 major slates running their own candidates, we will be having a unity slate with some candidates from each of the major slates. This is a big deal and it took a lot of work to make it happen, but I think this is something that will really benefit the union and could be a refresh for elections that we all need. There are still other candidates that will be running outside of the unity slate and there might be another slate created since there have been talks about some independents doing that in the past, but having the 2 main slates combined is going to make things very different this year. And I’m so grateful I have been a part of the work behind this (although a small part compared to others) and that I will be running on the unity slate.
I will still be doing a lot with union service this month, and likely more than normal since it is still election season. But I have picked another monthly challenge for July that I think will be perfect for me.
July is the last full month of my 30s. I turn 40 at the beginning of August and I’m pretty excited about that. I haven’t really been scared of aging, but I think that I was a bit more fearful of turning 30 than I am now about turning 40. I think my 30s have been the best decade of my life so far and significantly better than my 20s. And I want to celebrate how great my 30s were before I celebrate turning 40. So my challenge for this month is just that simple. I want to spend July celebrating and enjoying the last full month of my 30s. I know that aging is something that some people don’t look forward to, but I think more people now are enjoying aging. And age really is just a number and I believe that there is no guideline of where you need to be in life at certain ages. When I was younger, I believed in that idea more. But now, I am just enjoying my life and I don’t really care about the number attached to my age.
I don’t have anything in particular that I want to do to celebrate the end of my 30s, but I will be making sure that I appreciate what I accomplished in the last 10 years and how I have been setting things up to be even better in my 40s. And I’m thinking I should be doing something bigger for my birthday this year since it is a milestone, so planning my birthday will also be a way to celebrate what my 30s meant to me. I’m excited about this birthday and about being in a new decade of life soon, but I also don’t want to forget everything I was able to do in my 30s and remembering how that time turned me into the person that I have become and will be going into my 40s.
Posted onJune 28, 2023|Comments Off on Almost The End Of The Musical Season (or A Musical For A Legend)
This current season of musicals has had a lot of variety with the types of shows we’ve been seeing. I don’t think the past seasons have necessarily had themes for the full season, but I also don’t think the variety has been as big as it has been. Maybe that’s because one of the shows wasn’t a musical and it seems like some have been less traditional. But I don’t mind the variety at all since I usually enjoy any show that we see.
One type of show we hadn’t had in this season until now was a biographical jukebox musical. It feels like most seasons have at least one of those. We did have a jukebox musical earlier, but it wasn’t the story of that musical artist so it felt different. But as we come toward the end of this current season, the second to last show was a biographical musical. And this time it was the Tina Turner musical.
When this was announced to be a part of the season, I was curious. I know a few Tina Turner songs, but not that many of them. And I wasn’t sure if this would be a case of me not knowing I didn’t know a lot of her songs or if I just wouldn’t know them. I know some of the jukebox musicals I’ve seen before surprised me when I realized I knew almost all of the songs. I figured that I would find out which it was when we got to see the show.
I knew the musical was written before Tina Turner passed away since she only passed about a month ago, but I also had heard that it was a show that honored her life. And I feel that is an accurate description. I didn’t know her story about how she was raised and I only knew the most basic details about some of her personal life and how her first husband was abusive. But I didn’t know the full extent of the abuse such as him controlling her music and how she struggled to become a solo artist. Since her struggles were before I was born, it makes sense that I didn’t know about a lot of her story. And this show did a good job covering a lot of what happened over the course of her career.
And the actress who played Tina was incredible! She was dancing and running around in heels for the entire show. And almost all the songs were crazy high-energy ones so she had a lot she had to do. At the end of the show, we were saying how the show was like multiple cardio workouts, and then we realized this was their second show of the day which made it even crazier! Everyone in the cast had amazing energy throughout the show, which I know can be tough when you do the same show multiple times a week.
I did enjoy the show even if it might not be my favorite jukebox musical I’ve seen. I think not knowing many of the songs hurt my enjoyment since I was paying a lot of attention to the songs to see if I recognized them. And for other shows, as soon as I recognize the song I seem to relax while watching since it’s something familiar. There were a few songs that I did recognize that surprised me, but a majority of the songs were ones I didn’t know. But it was still very fun to get out and see a show.
We’ve got one more show this season in a few weeks and then the next season doesn’t start until January! Maybe there will be a random show or two I end up seeing in the long break between seasons, but I also know that right now it feels like January is far away but it will be here before we know it!
Almost Free Birthday Dinner (or Spending My Birthday With My Birthday Twin)
