Circuit Training

I have a new favorite lunch time activity - circuit training. I have been going to the Boise State rec center on my lunch break a few times a week for just over a year now. I really enjoy the group exercise classes that are offered - step aerobics, lift, cycle, etc. because I am much more motivated to work out with others and I like the structure the classes provide. Well the rec center recently started a group exercise circuit training class. We rotate between 1.5 minutes of cardio and 1.5 minutes of strength training. Each person is given a card with the order they should follow for the strength machines and each person picks their own cardio (treadmill, jumprope, elliptical, etc.). Anyway, I feel like I get a great workout, and it's exciting because we're always changing, and you get a new routine every week :-) I really look forward to my Tuesday/Thursday lunch time workout!

Motorcycle Musings

As you probably know by now, I love riding my motorcycle. I especially love riding now when I see the gas prices creep closer and closer to $4.00 a gallon (our cheapest gas in Boise is about $3.20 a gallon but I've seen it here up to $3.63 a gallon, and it's on the rise). I get over 75 miles to the gallon on my bike... compared to about 17 miles to the gallon with my Blazer. When you figure that I have a 20 mile round-trip commute everyday, I can save quite a bit of $$$ by riding. I have, however, up to this point made it sound like riding is always incredible. I've realized over the past year or so that there are sometimes I'd rather be in a car!

• Riding behind a garbage truck inhaling other people's rotting garbage really stinks. And there's no rolling up a window to shut out the smell.
• It is possible for a bug to somehow splat underneath your sunglasses when riding a motorcycle. And when it sticks to your eyelashes, it can be really annoying and hard to see.
• When it's 104 degrees outside and you're in full gear, you'd better expect to have to take a shower when you get home. No matter how fast you ride, the wind is still HOT wind. Oh, and stopping at lights when it's that hot really isn't fun.
• And when it's 40 degrees or colder, your hands freeze (unless you have really excellent gloves). The bummer part is that you need your hands to shift, break, and apply gas. And I've yet to find a heater on my motorcycle (although I know there are special hand grips that are heated).

Really, though, I ride as much and as often as I can. I often go on rides just for the fun of it - to explore new roads in the town that I've lived in my entire life. It's amazing how many streets I had no idea existed. Like the other day, we found a street just a few miles down the road from where I live. We turned on it, and there were no other roads off of it for over 10 miles! I was wondering if we'd ever hit civilization again :-) Anyway, just some random ramblings of my life as a motorcyclist!

A Post-Worthy Game

So a few weeks ago I bragged about my first softball practice... Well, I spoke a little too quickly - I had WAY better hits in practice than I've had in any game up to this point (we've had four). Right now, our team is 2 and 2. We lost last week, but only by one point, and we were all pretty bummed (in fact, I had a pretty rotten game last week). I know we're supposed to just be playing to have fun, but it still stinks to lose. Well, tonight we were all smiles. Our team played awesome offense AND defense. And I even scored a couple times :-) I did get out once - I hit the ball and got thrown out at first, but I played pretty good the rest of the game... and so did my entire team. The game was called at the bottom of the 5th inning because of the 12 Run Rule. My team won 22-4!!! Great job team! Now we're all pumped up for our game next Monday. Wahoo!

Race for the Cure

I love days like today. It's another beautiful sunny day in Boise, and I got to spend the morning with my sister Beki participating in Race for the Cure. We initially planned on running the 5k, but Beki tore her MCL last Friday and isn't able to run with her huge knee brace on. We were joined by over 12,000 other people (or so I heard). With that many people, we were pretty clumped up the entire time, so we weren't able to walk very quickly, but we still had a good time together. Thanks Beki!

Ladies Day Out

I got an email yesterday from my former boss Evelyn inviting me to join a Ladies Day Out today. A realtor friend of hers organized a very fun day and had a couple of ladies cancel, so I got to join in (all expenses paid), and I'm so glad I was able to! :-) The day consisted of riding around in a stretch hummer limo to 8 different houses in the Parade of Homes. The homes were so beautiful, and I got some great ideas for my house! We also got a boxed lunch from Heavenly Ham (yummy!) and each person won a gift from a raffle (I won a pedicure and a gift certificate to a local restaurant). I've never been in a limo before, let alone a hummer stretch limo - what a blast! Did I mention all this was free? The picture above isn't the greatest (it was SUPER windy today), but at least you get the point :-)