Schedule-less and Sore

Disclaimer: There may be a lot of Les Mills jargon here. I’m not apologizing, just stating the facts. Also, the pic above is from a Les Mills Quarterly last December at CityAthletix in DTLA, not on the East Coast.

I have absolutely no schedule at the moment, and yet somehow time still passes so quickly. We’re only a week away from leaving the country!

As it is, I miss my old group fitness routine. Thankfully, I’m less than 3 miles away from the 24 Hour Fitness in Falls Church. And if that were to fail, I have a brand new iPod with Les Mills music (thanks Jon!) and have space downstairs where I can work out without leaving the house or getting in anyone’s way. What am I going to do when we’re outta here? It’ll be kinda weird to Combat in a public park. We shall see…

Even so, it’s not the same to train alone. The group effect is a real thing! I could tell there was a difference in my own level of exertion when I did combat by myself and when I did it on launch day with the rest of the local members at 24, even as I told myself in my head to push harder. I missed the loud, pulsing music and even more than that, being surrounded by a room full of people who were just as excited to kick and punch as I was.

Despite the snow and ice that wrecked havoc on the city (it’s not just me who doesn’t know how to drive in blizzard aftermath), I’m attempting to take advantage of as many gym and Group X classes as I can before we leave, especially since many classes were cancelled last week. Yesterday I took a 45 min BodyCombat class. Today it was Pump express and CX (a killer combo). As always, the new releases have pushed me. It’s been a strange sensation, not having to practice for launch or worry about scripting and fine tuning coaching or delivery. I miss teaching very much though. I also just miss the regularity of a schedule. The nice thing is that I get to just enjoy the workout as a participant, with fresh eyes again.

I’m a little worried about my fitness level suffering when we start to move around abroad. Will I be able to continue teaching when we get back?

Sigh, must remember: this year+ is about new experiences, exploration, and TRAVEL!

About other realms of life.

The other day I had a hankering for Thai food, so we ordered from a local restaurant. It was pretty disappointing. It just lacked flavor entirely. It seemed as if they tried to make up for the blandness with sheer volume. Jon’s pad thai was mostly just noodles, carrots, bean sprouts, and a sorta-sauce. I asked for a green curry with eggplant. They told me they didn’t have any eggplant, so I (mistakenly) decided that was fine and received a pile of assorted vegetables with a meager amount of coconut milk that was lightly flavored in green curry paste. Sad times.

In order to try to assuage that same craving a week later, I made my first attempt at chicken pad thai today with what we had on hand: linguini-ish rice noodles, ingredients for a homemade pad thai sauce, chicken, and cilantro. No peanuts, bean sprouts, or carrots, which I would have liked, but I was too lazy to go to the market knowing a trip to Costco was happening in the afternoon. It didn’t turn out half bad. Will need to try this again soon.

About that trip to Costco…you might think I’m obsessed (and maybe I am a little). But seriously, there’s no place better to buy lots and lots of groceries than Costco. My current favorite Costco discovery: edamame noodles! Made with just organic edamame and water, they have an impressive texture when cooked, along with protein and fiber regular noodles do not. These stand up to a sauce and have a savory nutty flavor. The noodles are a bit brittle when raw though, so just handle carefully.

We’re prepping for a trip to a cabin out by Luray Caverns for Jon’s 30th birthday (and Jon R.’s 30th*). For 10ish people, we left Costco with 36 eggs, 4 lbs of flank steak, 4 lbs of bacon, 3 lbs of tortilla chips, 8 cans of black beans, 7 liters of orange juice, and the biggest bag of Pirates Booty on the market. That’s not all the food we’re bringing either, tomorrow I’m going to look for some quality tortillas and makings for salsa. I wonder what we’ll have leftovers of, if any.

* Jon has a best friend named Jon who was born 1 day before him. No, their mothers did not plan this. In this blog, my Jon (Crowe) will continue to be known as “Jon” and his best friend, Jon Rochefort, will be known as “Jon R.”