A Snowy Reston 10 Miler

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Coco

My first race of 2015 is in the books, and it was quite an adventure!

Reston 10 Miler
First, the weather. When I signed up for this race in December, I thought of it as an early spring race. Little did I know I’d be stalking Weather.com and checking the race website for a possible cancellation.  Continue reading →

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Living On Mountain Time

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Coco

The very day that I was sucked in by the ads for Park City, Utah, my friend invited us to go skiing with her family, promising that there was plenty of room in the condo they had rented in … Park City! We checked our work calendars which were miraculously clear, made our plane reservations without balking at the last-minute fares, bought ski pants at end-of-season sales, and packed our bags. 

mountain time
 

While I was schussing down the slopes on our last day, I starting thinking about what I learned about myself while living on mountain time.

Continue reading →

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Hearty Tomato Soup Recipe

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Coco

I love the recipes that Deb shares on the Meatless Monday link-up she does with Tina Muir, but I don’t usually make them myself because my husband is not a big fan of vegetables. A few weeks ago, though, she shared this Creamy Chick Pea and Tomato Soup recipe that looked like something my husband would like, so I decided to make it. It was so delicious–and so easy– that I have made it a few times now. Since I am loving it so much, I thought I would share my own variations.

Tomato Soup

Deb’s tomato soup recipe is very simple, but it calls for jalapeno peppers to add a bit of bite, and jalapeno peppers are one ingredient that I am just afraid to cook with. The first time I made her recipe, I improvised with hot sauce instead, but the hot sauce overwhelmed the other flavors. So, the next time I used flavored tomatoes and that worked out well.  Continue reading →

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The Process Of Knitting

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Coco

I’ve wanted to dig out my knitting needles and dust off my knitting skills for a few years now, but I’ve finally done it. Between getting to know Tamara and seeing people in my MRTT group knitting their own hats, my vague desire turned into a definite intention which eventually had me standing in the knitting aisle of WalMart–yes, there is such a thing.

the process of knitting
I bought a “kit” with a how-to book, two sets of knitting needles, and other gadgets. As I started a simple scarf pattern, I was surprised at how quickly many of the techniques came back to me. While I did some crocheting when my kids were little, I haven’t really done any knitting since college, when I made afghans following a simple pattern my friend’s mom taught me.  Continue reading →

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My Solidcore Review

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Coco

Have you heard of Solidcore? According to this article, it is one way that Michelle Obama stays fit. Believe me, if she can do their workouts, she is as strong as she looks!

solidcore

A few weeks ago Deb invited me to join her, and the people at Solidcore gave me a free session so I could try it out. I had seen Deb’s review, so I knew it would be tough, but when friends started warning me on Twitter, I began to worry about what I had gotten myself into! 

Solidcore has a great motto:

Create the strongest version of yourself.

But how do they help you do that? According to their website:

We use slow and controlled full-body movements with constant tension to work your muscle fibers to failure – yep, failure. This low-impact process forces your muscles to rebuild a more sculpted, stronger and [solid] you.

The 50 minute classes use machines called “megaformers” that include a platform on a spring that provides constant tension and makes the simplest exercises extremely difficult.

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The plank is real, but I’m posing after class! 

I was expecting a lot of core moves, but we started off with glute bridges that were incredibly hard on megaformer. My muscles were burning instantly! After that, we did a series of side plank pike moves that showed me that my 60-second side planks haven’t really made my obliques that strong. Surprisingly, we also did a lot of lunges.

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I’m facing the wrong way for this picture, but doing lunges on the megaformer really makes you dig deep into your muscles to work against the spring. 

The Solidcore website warns that Solidcore is not for everyone. It is hard. But, I like that we were encouraged to go at our own pace (most exercises were done for a set period of time rather than a set number of reps), reminded that even a small range of motion would target your muscles, and not mocked when we collapsed in exhaustion. (OK, maybe I was the only one who had to take a minute in corpse pose ….) 

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Our coach (Jacob) ws very knowledgeable, energetic and encouraging! 

Solidcore

 I could still smile when class was over, but my legs were quivering an hour later! 

Solidcore has one location in Minneapolis, four locations in D.C., and currently one location in Virginia (Ballston). One reason I was invited to try Solidcore is because in March they are opening a new studio in Alexandria–right around the corner from my favorite pizza place! In May, they will open a third location in the Mosaic District. Like most small studio classes, Solidcore is not cheap. A single class is $35 per class, but by buying a package the rate can be as low as $27/class. 

[Tweet “Pushing my hardcore @SolidcoreVa”] 

I don’t think I can fit another class into my schedule during my spring race season, but this would be fantastic cross-training in the summer. If you decide to try Solidcore let me know so I can put your name down in their referral program. 😉 

Do you do any studio classes?

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