Raising the Bar(re) With Ragnar.

So a few months ago I was so totally bored with my running routine that I sought out something fresh and new. I think that is a huge step for me, the person who hates change and who would rather not pay a dime for physical activity. My close friends encouraged me and cheered me on to find a new sport. A new fitness thing. I'd keep running, of course, but something new would be good for me!

My sister-in-law said she was taking Barre classes. I invited myself along. Barre is a combo of Pilate's, yoga(hardly at all), ballet and cardio. First off, I had heard about barre about two years ago and I was super excited about it. Like running had been, it was one of those activities I knew I'd love if I tried it. I could never find anybody to go with me, though! For being the unadventurous one in my circle of friends, I was surprised so many of them were just plain not interested. For a while, I didn't think about going at all because I had nobody to go with. Then, this opportunity arose and I leaped on it. The class was SO FUN. I am not a dancer. I took tap once when I was like 3 or 4 and that's it. We didn't even dance at our wedding. I mean, we did but it was awkward and ugh, I'm dying inside just thinking of it. I. Don't. Dance. So, I was a bit intrigued and worried about the ballet portion of the class.

Well, needless to say, I have since paid twice for a monthly membership. I love it so much. It's a challenging workout and it is sacred time alone and away from the family. As a Stay At Home Mom, you need time away. Every day. At least 30 minutes. It is not being selfish when you care 24/7 for little people and the household and your husband. So, I enjoyed the classes as personal Me Time. Plus, my awkward self can live the ballet dream that I never got to realize as a kid because I was so uncoordinated and....awkward. Have I mentioned I'm awkward?

Anyway, while at barre classes I started meeting more and more women who did other activities as well. Some ran and we would chat about that. A few told me about something called a Ragnar Relay to which I was like, "Huh?" It's a 200-mile relay race and you join a group of 12 people to run it. Each person takes three legs of the race anywhere from 3 miles to 9 miles a piece. The catch is that it's done over 24-48 hours. I guess it's a Viking thing? The whole Ragnar thing? Anyway, there's one in So Cal next April and I did the crazy and SIGNED UP with the ladies who invited me to do it. I'm just going into this thing blind! We'll see....the girls I'm running with are super cool so I'm glad about that, but other than knowing that fact, I'm pretty clueless about the whole thing.

I am hoping to just kind of avoid thinking about this crazy event I just signed up for until the absolute last minute I possibly can. I wanted to go forth with training for a marathon but this sounds like so much more FUN than a marathon. Plus, my training won't have to be so extensive.

I'll be laying off of posting about running, etc, too as we head into Fall. Too many other exciting things to talk about, like Halloween, the holidays and such, and updates on my first year homeschooling Henry. So far, so good, but a formal update will come soon. I'm hoping to get back to using this blog for the family updates instead of just personal updates. I'm pretty boring.

So,until then....