Tag Archives: tradition

One Of My Favorite Workout Weeks Of The Year (or Another Family Workout)

This past week of workouts, I had 3 of my regular workouts at my normal studio. I usually go Monday-Thursday, but this week I was there Monday-Wednesday. Those workouts were pretty good for the most part. I struggled a bit more than normal on Monday because I was still dealing with pain and nausea, but it was a lot less than what I had dealt with the week before. And I was feeling almost back to normal by Tuesday, so my workouts weren’t affected that much after the first day.

Even though I love those challenges, it was nice to be done with Hell Week. I don’t feel like I can push myself as much during Hell Week by using heavier weights or doing new things on the bike or rower because I’m just trying to get through those workouts. They do challenge me, but because I have had goals to see improvements in my workouts, my goals and how I push myself are different. That meant I was able to get back to trying to improve in normal workouts. I’m still testing out if I can increase the bike resistance level and I think I might start trying to change one of the levels I use instead of trying to change them all at once. And I have noticed my rowing continues to get stronger and faster, so that’s awesome. I still have some issues on the rower because of my foot, but I’ve been adapting more to what I need to do and I’m glad that’s not setting me back too much. I still have a lot of work to do on my rowing endurance, but it’s baby steps towards what I want to do.

But the best workout of this past week was the one workout not at my normal studio. My family had our Fake Thanksgiving this past week, so I did a workout on Friday at the studio in Santa Barbara since that’s where our Fake Thanksgiving was held this year! This was the second time we worked out at that studio, so it was fun to have another repeat studio for our tradition. And this was the 10th time our family had a workout before Thanksgiving or Fake Thanksgiving! Our first family workout was in 2014! And now we’ve gone to 4 different Orangetheory studios and had 1 year with each of us doing a workout at home. I love that this tradition has continued for 10 years now and that my family still joins in for a workout. Sometimes it’s a bigger group and sometimes it’s a small group, but it always happens!

This time, my dad and aunt joined me for the workout. It was a 2 group class, which is something I don’t usually get to take. And it was also a run/row, which is even more rare for me since those only happen in some 2 group classes. I do like that the run/row workouts almost feel like a 3 group class to me a bit since there is a lot of rowing, so I was happy that was the workout we happened to go to.

My dad and aunt kicked butt in class. I know it’s not easy for them since they don’t normally go to Orangetheory so they aren’t used to the pattern and rhythm of class. But the coach was really good about helping to guide them to the right things and I also checked in with them to make sure they knew what to do next. Sometimes in these workouts, my dad and I challenge each other a bit, but this time we were both just focused on getting in a good workout. And I thought it was a really good class with a nice mix of upper and lower body work. I also was able to challenge myself by using heavier weights for chest flys. I felt sore after doing that, but it was a good sore feeling.

And of course, after class, we had to take a family photo with the coach so I could add it to our collage!

There have been a lot of things that I have celebrated about working out at Orangetheory, but this is one of the things I celebrate that involves others. My family doesn’t have to join me for these workouts and I would go on my own if nobody else wanted to go. But for 10 years (technically 9 since one year we all worked out at home on our own), at least some of my family has decided to keep up this tradition and that’s something I’m so happy about and proud of!

Now I just have to figure out how to be the host of my family’s Thanksgiving (or Fake Thanksgiving) so that we can do our family workout at the Culver City studio and my family can see how awesome my coaches at my home studio are!

A Pretty Traditional Holiday Celebration (or Still Pretending To Run Through Sprinklers)

Normally on the 4th of July, I go to the same party each year. The party isn’t always on the 4th, depending on what day of the week it is, but it’s always around that day. This year, it was a few days before so the party was on the weekend. And since the pandemic, things have been a little different, but they have been getting closer to normal.

Last year and this year, there was still a party, but it was a much smaller group than it used to be because of the risk of getting sick. Obviously, any gathering can be a risk, but keeping the numbers lower and making sure everyone is vaccinated and not sick helps. And I think knowing everyone at the party I go to helps because I can feel like everyone is taking all the precautions that they can. Some people still wore masks, but not everyone did. And nobody made a big deal out of anyone who did wear a mask, which was nice to see that it was normalized. I can see wearing a mask in the future if I’m about to see people who are immunocompromised or if I felt like the risk was higher. And I’m glad that I’m friends with people who don’t mind that or think someone is overreacting.

And it was a pretty standard summer party. A few of us discussed how weird it felt celebrating when so much is happening in this country. But I think all of us also were just glad to be hanging out together and didn’t think too much about it being the 4th of July. It is always nice to be together and able to catch up. And of course, enjoying a bunch of food. I have made drunk watermelon in the past, but this year I didn’t get the ingredients in time and I couldn’t make it the day of. But I hope that there will be another summer party so I can make it for that one.

And as it seems to be at parties, I didn’t take a ton of photos. I was more focused on being present with my friends. But there was one photo that I knew we would need to take. In 2014, it was really hot and a few of us ran through the sprinklers. We took a really funny photo and it’s become a tradition to take the same photo again each year. We’ve never had the sprinklers on except for that first year and the photos always come out awesome. And this year’s photo didn’t disappoint.

And I love how all the photos look together.

When I was putting together the collage, we were looking at all the past photos. We knew why we didn’t have a photo for 2020, but we were all confused about why we were missing one for 2019. We couldn’t figure it out and I thought maybe I missed the party that year. But I then realized I should look at my past posts and that’s when we realized they didn’t have a party that year since they had just gotten their dog. But considering we’ve done this since 2014, only missing 2 years isn’t that bad! I did think this year about how I should have asked everyone in 2020 to take a photo alone pretending to run so I could combine them. Too bad I didn’t think about that back then, but missing the photo will always remind us of going through the pandemic.

Even though the party was a few days before the 4th, there were still people setting off fireworks in the area. Some of them were right on the other side of the fence and the sparks were coming toward us. I had one get my arm, which stung, but it wasn’t too bad and didn’t even leave much of a red mark. And it was nice to see some fireworks since I wasn’t sure if we would.

I always try to stay at these parties as late as I can, but I’m also always mindful of my drive back home and how other people driving might not be the safest. So I usually leave before it’s too late. This time, I left around 10, which was later than I was planning but I was just having a good time with my friends and lost track of time.

I felt like this was the perfect way to celebrate the 4th. I didn’t really feel like celebrating, and doing something a few days earlier felt better. On the 4th, I didn’t really do much, which was fine with me. I had some errands to run and I took advantage of having a day off and being able to do them. And even though I didn’t do much on the 4th, I still got all my traditional 4th of July things in a bit earlier and I didn’t miss out.

A More Normal Cheesecake Outing (or Still Savoring In-Person Hangouts)

It’s been a tradition for a long time for me to go out to dinner with my friend Joanna to Cheesecake Factory around the new year. Some years we are closer to January 1st and other years it can take us a bit of time to plan when we can meet up. But just like our birthday dinner tradition, this is one that we have been able to keep up for quite a while.

But for our cheesecake outing at the beginning of 2021, we knew we couldn’t go in person. It just wasn’t safe for either of us, especially since neither of us were vaccinated at that point. So we decided to each order delivery food and we ate together over Zoom. It wasn’t the same as our normal dinners, but it was a way for us to keep our tradition going.

This year, it’s debatable if things are better or worse. And as I’ve said before, it can be tough to know which risks are acceptable and which ones are just too much to do. So we tried to find a way to make our cheesecake dinner happen but be as safe as possible.

Instead of going to dinner, we went for lunch. We knew it might still be crowded, but we thought lunch would hopefully be better. We also agreed we would only be willing to eat outside. We normally sit outside, but we were going to let the host know when arriving that we would be willing to wait for an outside table instead of being seated inside. And of course, both of us are vaccinated and boosted plus we had our masks for when we weren’t eating. I also had forgotten until we showed up that you also have to now show proof of vaccination in order to eat there, so we know the others there were vaccinated as well.

And I think we made some smart choices. Normally, we do have to wait a bit to be seated when we go, but this time we were able to be seated immediately. And even though it was right as lunchtime started, the patio didn’t have too many people on it. I also think they reduced the seating on the patio so the tables weren’t as close as they normally are. While these are all good things, I also know I was a bit more on edge than I normally am when we’ve gone to get cheesecake. I have rarely gone out to eat in the past 2 years, and it has gotten a bit easier each time. But it’s still something that makes me nervous and I know that feeling will probably last for a while.

But even though I was a bit nervous, going out to hang out with a friend made me so happy! I know Joanna and I try to see each other more often, but it usually doesn’t happen (even in non-pandemic times). So having our traditions twice a year are really special for us. And I also just enjoy any time I get to see someone in real life instead of on a screen.

We both ordered a lunch special (instead of me getting my usual salad) and then we had a lot of time to catch up on life. Both of us are going through renovation stuff with our places (although hers is due to a leak at her building), so we shared stories of what we’ve both been going through. And this was the first time we had hung out since I bought the condo, so she wanted to know all about it! And because we were seated outside and the Grove had quite a few people there, we also had a great time people watching and noticing all the interesting things happening around us. I never realized how much I could miss something as simple as people watching, but it’s something I haven’t gotten to do much in the last 2 years.

And of course, any outing to Cheesecake Factory has to include cheesecake. Normally we get 2 slices and split them in half so we each get half a slice of both flavors. But we were both full after lunch so we only got one piece to split (which honestly is more than enough).

I know I’ve said this almost any time I’ve seen a friend in real life, but I needed this time. I want to try to be better about seeing my friends, but it’s not easy. It’s not easy in normal times when I’m tired after work, but it’s that much harder when we have to consider how safe certain things may be to do. But I am trying to be better about it and I’m glad Joanna and I were able to schedule our cheesecake outing so we got to have this time together.

A Virtual Cheesecake Dinner (or Not Letting Anything Stop A Tradition)

As I’ve written about for several years, I have 2 traditions with my friend and birthday twin, Joanna. The first is our birthday dinner at Truxton’s. And the second is our cheesecake dinner around the new year. We turned our birthday dinner into a picnic, but we still got food from Truxton’s. While it didn’t feel exactly the same as what we normally do for our birthday, it was still fitting into our tradition and it made me happy.

When we were together for our birthday, I think we both thought by now things would be a bit more normal. So we assumed we would be having our cheesecake dinner the way that we are used to doing it. But as we all know, we are still very far from normal and it’s even more dangerous to be out with others now. We had decided to order from Cheesecake Factory to have our dinner, but we decided to not have a picnic. It was just safer for us both to be eating at our own homes. But we could still video chat so we could be together.

So we set it up so our food should arrive around the same time. It didn’t quite work out like that, but it wasn’t too bad. My food was to me sooner than Joanna’s food, but I ordered a salad so it was ok to wait a bit. And her food arrived at her house soon after.

It was a little weird to be eating on Zoom, but we both found it easier if we turned off the self-view on our screens. I don’t think I could have eaten while watching myself eat. I knew that Joanna could still see me eat, but somehow that’s different. We both also tried to do a little bit of nicer lighting so we could see each other, but it was nice to be a bit more casual than we normally are when we go out to dinner (for example, neither of us dressed up).

And while it wasn’t the same as being at dinner together, I’m so glad we did it. It was so nice to get to see Joanna and catch up like we normally do. And even though it was a bit odd to eat while on camera, it’s been a while since I’ve had a meal with someone else. So even virtually eating with someone so I wasn’t alone was nice and felt like I wasn’t as alone as I am.

Our conversation was like it always is. We both had a lot of random stuff to catch up on with our lives. And I love getting to catch up and hear all the crazy stories she has and I’m sure she loves my crazy stories too. And because we weren’t at a restaurant and felt like they needed our table or something, our virtual dinner was much longer than our dinners normally are! We were on Zoom together for over 3 hours! But I think we both needed the social time and I’m glad that neither of us needed to rush to something else.

Normally, I take a photo of our cheesecakes because we split cheesecake. We order 2 different slices and have them cut each slice in half so we each get half of each type. But that wasn’t possible for our virtual dinner. We both joked that we should order 2 slices to make it almost the same, but neither of us did (we didn’t need to spend the money or eat 2 pieces of cheesecake). We didn’t discuss our cheesecake choices before we ordered, but we both ended up getting tiramisu cheesecake. And we took a photo over Zoom to be our photo for the dinner.

Even though having a virtual dinner is better than skipping our dinner (we never would have skipped our tradition!), I still wish we could have had dinner together. We both are trying to be hopeful that by our birthday, we will be able to be having a meal in the same place. I don’t know if restaurants will be open (and safe) by then, but at least feeling safe going for a picnic with our food or maybe eating at my house. Just something so we can be in the same space.

But even if we have to do another virtual dinner together, I know we will not let anything stop us from our traditions and this proved that we are both as dedicated to make them happen as possible!

Time For Traditional Cheesecake (or It Can Still Count As Celebrating The New Year)

I don’t have a ton of traditions that I do every year, but the few that I do have are very special to me. And one of the few traditions I have are dinners with my birthday twin. We have our (almost) free birthday dinner and we have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory around the new year. The birthday dinner is usually done very close to our birthday since we have to go during our birthday month to get our discounts. But our cheesecake dinner is a bit more flexible. Sometimes we go before the holidays and sometimes we go after the new year. But whenever we go, we have been pretty good about making sure we have our dinner even if it’s a month or so late.

This year, I decided to be proactive in making sure we got our dinner in as close to the new year as possible. I knew both of us are busy so it might be tough to figure out when we could make dinner plans. So I reached out Joanna right around the 1st to say we needed to plan our dinner. And we were able to find some time this week that worked for both of us after work. Since the restaurant we go to is closer to my side of town than it is for Joanna, I let her decide the best time for her to meet. We had to be a bit flexible with each other because our schedules ended up being a bit busier than we expected, but we managed to arrive within minutes of each other and we were quickly seated for dinner (which was a miracle since there is usually a 30-minute wait).

We actually had decided on our cheesecake choices before we decided on our dinners, but we wanted to get the food ordering out of the way first so we could eat and get to our catch up talk.

We usually talk about the same few topics whenever we meet up. We catch each other up on what’s happening with our families and acting careers. But the main thing we usually talk about is the craziness about the dating world. We both have had a lot of random stories to share over the years and I love that we both have stories so it’s not just me sharing them. And as always, we both had lots of dating updates to give each other. And since both of us take screenshots of the profiles of the guys we meet (it’s a safety thing), we could show each other who we’ve had dates with. I’m waiting for the day that she and I (or any friend I know who is dating) discover that we have gone out with the same guy. That hasn’t happened yet, but I bet one day it will happen.

Both of us have had some good and bad dating stories to share, so it wasn’t all crazy stories. And I think hearing a friend is going through the same ups and downs that I am helps me feel like I’m not alone in my random journey with dating. And we can also support each other which is another positive. We both have recently had situations that hurt a bit, so it was nice to get some in-person support. And even though I know dissecting what happened on dates doesn’t necessarily do any good, sometimes it’s nice to go over things and have someone else confirm that the situation was weird or that I didn’t do anything wrong.

And of course, being at the Cheesecake Factory we had to have cheesecake! We did our usual tradition of ordering 2 different types and each getting half of a slice. Things are so much easier now that we know we can ask them to cut each slice in half. 2 halves of a slice are so much cheesecake, but it’s so good!

After our dinner and cheesecake, we were both very full. Since the restaurant wasn’t crowded we didn’t feel too bad about hanging around there for a while. And also, our service was a bit slow so we had to wait a very long time to get our dessert and the check. We ended up being there much longer than I expected, but we had a great time being able to hang out and catch up. And it was nice not feeling rushed that we had to get out of there. But since we both had to work the next morning, we didn’t stay out too late because we both wanted to get home to get to bed at a decent hour.

Every time Joanna and I meet up, we say that we need to hang out more often than our 2 traditions. But our schedules don’t always work that way and before we know it it’s time to have one of our traditional meals again. We do make efforts to see each other more than twice a year, but at least I know we will have our birthday dinner in August for our next catch up if we don’t have one sooner.

My Short Workout Week (or 6 Years Of Family Workouts)

This past week of workouts ended up being a 3 workout week. I was thinking about trying to make it 4, but it was destined to be just 3. But it’s ok because one workout was my family pre-Thanksgiving workout and that should count for more than one! Not only was my family workout awesome, but this past week was also just a great week for me and that’s what I really needed.

Monday’s workout was a power day, and it was a really great day for me. I only get to take a 2 group class on Mondays (unless I take a class during a time I normally don’t), and this one was a perfect 2 group workout. Because it was a power day, things were short and that was perfect when we were at each section of the room for 30 minutes.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks. Each block had the same pattern with a push pace, a pace pace, and then 3 rounds of all outs with recoveries after. The first block had a 90 second push pace, the second block had a 1 minute push pace, and the last block had a 30 second push pace. The base paces and recoveries changed between the blocks too. And all the all outs in the first block were 1 minute, all the all outs in the second block were 45 seconds, and all the all outs in the last block were 30 seconds. These were great little sprints for me on the bike and I was able to get some high numbers with my wattage and cadence. I kept the resistance level at my base level the entire time, but I think that was almost necessary with how often we were changing up what we were doing. I got one of my furthest distances on the bike that I’ve ever done and I felt awesome when we switched to the floor.

The floor was an interesting plan. It was one long block and we started with 3 rounds of bench hopovers to burpees and a 100-meter row. Then we had 3 rounds of push-ups to plank jacks, squats with hammer curls, and a 150-meter row. The last section was supposed to be shoulder presses to stands, plank work, and sit-ups with rotations with 200-meter rows, but I only got through the exercises once in that section so I didn’t make it to the row. I wasn’t going too heavy with the weights because we were moving around so much and I did have to modify things by using the bench, but it was still a great floor block for me. I know it was a lot of work, but because things were switching up so often it didn’t feel like that and the 30 minutes really flew by. I think it was the perfect workout to have right before traveling and to get me ready for my family workout on Thanksgiving.

My next workout was on Thursday for the family workout. We had 5 of us this year at the workout, so it wasn’t our biggest group and it wasn’t our smallest group. This year my dad, brother, aunt, and cousin joined me (next year or the year after my cousin’s oldest kid will be joining us and then we’ll have 3 generations at the workout!). We were at the Folsom studio again, which is where we were last year. And as always it was a partner workout.

The first half of the class was just 6 minutes in each section of the room without partners. We had 6 minutes of cardio with push and base paces, a 6-minute row for distance, and pull-ups on the straps, squats to bicep curls, and pushups on the floor. My family doesn’t row normally, so I think the 6 minutes of rowing was a bit tough on them but they all did great! Nobody stopped the entire time and that was so impressive!

The rest of the class was partnered in groups of 3. I worked with my dad and brother and the person on cardio set the switching. My dad and brother on the treadmills had a .4 mile run and I had 1.6 miles on the bike. The person on the rower just rowed the entire time they were there. And the person on the floor had squats, single-arm snatches, and sit-ups. We weren’t supposed to reset the rower the entire time, but my dad accidentally did it once so we were missing a bit of our distance at the end of class. But it was a fast-moving partner block and we were switching every 3-4 minutes.

And as always, we had to take a family photo with our coach after we finished the class.

We’ve now had this tradition for 6 years and every year our photos make me smile!

I was back to my regular studio for my Saturday workout. This class was a strength-based one and I continued my streak of having awesome workouts! There were 2 blocks in each section of the room and we switched between each block.

Both of the cardio blocks had the same pattern. We started with a 90-second push pace. After a base pace, we had 45 seconds at an incline and 45 seconds at a flat incline at a push pace followed by 30 seconds at an incline and our push pace. We had a walking recovery and then a 30-second push pace and 30-second all out at an incline. The difference between the 2 blocks was the incline we were supposed to use. I used the resistance levels when we were doing incline work, but for the flat road pushes, I just focused on pedaling faster.

On the rower, the first block started with a 250-meter row and 25 pulsing squats. We decreased the row by 50 meters and the squats by 5 until the block ended. The second block started with a 100-meter row and 10 pulsing squats with increasing the row by 50 meters and the squats by 5 each round.

And on the floor, we had the same exercises for both blocks. We had deadlifts, chest presses, single-arm rows with weights, lunges, and seated shoulder presses to stands. I tried to go heavy with the weights, but I think I wasn’t feeling 100% myself and was a bit tired from traveling so I had to go a bit lower than I would have liked.

This week and next week at Orangetheory are the 12 Days Of Fitness and they are supposed to be harder workouts than normal. If you do 7 of the 12 workouts, you get a pair of OTF socks. But only the first 100 people who complete it will get them. I can adjust my schedule to do 7 workouts (and I’m going to see about trying to do that), but I don’t think I’ll be one of the first 100 to do it so I’m not expecting to be able to get the socks. But I’m excited either way about seeing what these workouts will bring and what I’ll be able to do!