Moving Life

Fun fact: I have never had to try to make friends before and it is a bit terrifying!

I lived in the same house my entire life until I went to college.  I had known many of my friends since kindergarten. I went to a really small school so nobody really knew anybody so it was easy to make friends quickly.  Since college I have never moved to a place where I didn't know anyone. I made friends, of course, but there was never a lot of pressure to meet new people because I knew at least a few people already.

Moving to Florida has been like hitting a big "reset" button on my life and I am at a bit of a loss.  Of course Charlie is here (aka the majority of the reason I moved) but between his work and school schedule we only see each other at night usually.  I have been interviewing for jobs but mostly playing the waiting game.  This leaves me with a whole lot of "me time" to fill.  Don't get me wrong, I love me time.  But I really want my running buddy back and I really want to text a friend to go see Pitch Perfect 2.

It's probably bad that I am already going stir crazy after just three days!  This week Pure Barre has really been my saving grace.  If I hadn't already signed up for the class this afternoon I probably would have laid in bed all day being a total bum.  I know once I find a job I will miss all this free time, but now I am ready to get into some sort of work routine!

Speaking of Pure Barre, today was my third class (three days in a row! woot woot!) and it was probably the worst my legs have shaken ever.  I am loving it, but I am wondering if/when I am supposed to take a day off.  I am signed up for a class tomorrow and Saturday, but not Friday so I am thinking maybe that will be a good day to rest my poor little muscles.  I can already see a difference in my body and I can feel it even more than I see it!  I am so impressed but not all that surprised since I can feel all my muscles working their hardest in class. 

One perk of alone time is that I get to sit and type this in Panera without worrying that I am keeping someone waiting or that I will stay up too late and regret it in the morning.

The new strawberry poppyseed chicken salad at Panera is also pretty life changing.

In the last bit of my rambling news, I am still impatiently waiting for our engagement pictures to be done. We took them last Thursday and should have them back this week...sometime.  Between waiting for those and waiting to hear back after interviews I might lose my mind.  I think this is why I have no patience for things right now.

If you stuck around through all that, thank you.  I am working on getting my mojo back and will be spending Friday getting my blogging act together :)

Trail to High Adventure 5k

This race was actually a few weeks ago but I have been failing at normal life things for a little while and I am just now getting into a routine and writing this recap.

This will be my personal recap of the race; for the more technical review check out my review on BibRave!

This race was a very small event hosted by a local Boy Scout troop as a fundraiser.  I think they are planning to host more events in the future and I really really hope they do because it was such an enjoyable experience!

Before

I ran this race with two friends.  We were going to run a different (larger) race in the area but picked this one because it was a trail race.  We were apparently not in the majority because it was a very tiny race with less than 20 runners.  We were actually very glad that we picked this event because the hosts were so grateful to everyone that was there and it was just a really laid back event along a great course with all kinds of terrain (we started off on loose sand…not my favorite but it was over quickly).  There was one aid station that you passed twice.  They even had Oreos! 

We kept a steady pace and just enjoyed the scenery as we went. The race started and ended at a horse farm then looped out through a nature preserve.  Despite the rain, the volunteers at the water stop were enthusiastic and cheerful.  We were the last three to finish, but all troop members and their families were there cheering us through the finish.  It was a really great experience!

After

At the race we got cotton t-shirts (which I have actually worn since then!) which I prefer to tech shirts 99% of the time.  With it being a little race I was shocked when I got a package in the mail from them a couple days later with a medal for being the first female finisher! It is a super cute wood medal and I was so excited.

Overall: great race, great experience. I hope they do it again and that they get bigger and bigger turn outs! They deserve it :)

Try It Tuesday: Pure Barre

Since I moved to a new area with tons of things to do, I am going to challenge myself to try at least one new thing every week and post about it on Tuesdays!  I tend to get in the habit of going for the same run, eating the same thing at Panera, and taking the same yoga class with the same teacher.  While routine can be comforting, it isn’t all that exciting.  This is my plan to break out of my slump J

This week I finally got the opportunity to try Pure Barre!  Because you couldn’t guess that from the title right? I have been wanting to take a barre class for a very long time but they are not exactly easy to find in super rural North Carolina.  Yesterday I found myself with some free time and a way too busy mind and needed to do some sort of workout.  Florida mid-day is not exactly ideal for a run, so I hopped in to one of the two (TWO!) Pure Barre studios in town for a class.  The manager at the Dr. Phillips location was fantastic and made sure I was all situated and at least had a little bit of an idea of what I was doing.  She also let me do the class for the drop in price then I had the option to sign up for a month unlimited with the class price deducted if I signed up after class was over. (Spoiler alert: I signed up for the month)

The manager made sure the instructor knew I was new to barre classes so she took the time to make sure I understood some of the key lingo and gave me a few demonstrations.  She made it look so easy…I had no idea what I was in for.  I had read that is was a challenging workout and the “embrace the shake” term was not foreign to me.  But I honestly did not know my legs could shake that badly!  In yoga I can usually make it to at least the middle of the class before I start to feel a burn.  I think I made it 3 whole minutes in Pure Barre before I started to wonder if I had lost my mind completely. They use double tubes (which are apparently new?) that you put around your thighs and immediately cause your legs to work about three times harder than you thought possible to do something that is usually a piece of cake. Planking while tapping your toes should not be exhausting, but with the band it is insane.

Throughout the class the instructor would come over and make gentle corrections to form or check in to make sure I was feeling the move.  The whole idea is little tiny movements so it can be hard to know if you are getting it right until you do it once and it “clicks.”  I was told that it usually takes about 10 classes to feel like you really get it. 

After the class I felt completely destroyed but also fantastic! I could not wait to go do it all again J I might only be one class in, but I have my eye on the 100 club already!

Do you do Pure Barre? Did you try something new his week? Do you live near Orlando and have a recommendation for what I should try next? Let me know!