Pizza, Pasta, Gellato. Oh My! Great Reasons To Exercise While On Vacation...

I feel so lucky to have the chance to sneak away for Thanksgiving abroad this year, but for a girl with a past history of overeating sugary pastry and delivery pizza, 12 days in Italy might be a challenge!



The counter attack? Exercise, and lot's of it. With Rome as our first city stop, and my favorite place on earth, exercising has been easy. We scored a cheap hotel in the center of the city next door to Piazza di Spagna, walking miles everyday to many of the sights, rewarding our mileage with incredible dinners in Trastevere, a neighborhood that is a brisk 45 minute walk from our hotel. If you're gonna eat eat it, you gotta earn it!



Then there are the bonus workouts, like climbing the 500+ steps to the top of the Cupola at St. Peters Basilica. The dizzyingly narrow, circular staircases freaked me out with sudden virtigo, but the quad burn and gorgeous view from the top was worth it.



Like many citizens of European cities, Romans stay up late, and sleep late, leaving the city streets free of trafffic and pedestrians in the early morning hours- ideal for a quiet run through various, gorgoeus piazzas. Back home I am a trail runner, so here in Roma the cobbled narrow streets are a perfect match for the agility work and sense of dodge-and-go that I love out on the trail. Need a cheering section along the way? There was no shortage of "Ciao, Bella!" as I wound my way through the city. Friendly smiles and kind encouragement coming from Romes many restaurant delivery guys who get an early start each morning unloading fruits, vegetables, and fresh cheeses for the days business.



Most mornings in Rome, I took full advantage of our toursity location near Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps) and set a 30 minute triangle course through the areas glamourous shopping district. Starting from our hotel at Via due Macelli, I ran along Via Condotti, past the sleepy store fronts of Armani and Prada, up the Corso to the huge Piazza del Popolo and then down Via del Babuino into the Piazza di Spagna, breaking my pace to climb the Spanish Steps. Usually the steps are covered with tourists and local teenagers, but at 7am on a weekday, I had the climb to myself. Once at the top, I took a moment to enjoy the languid sunrise view of an awakening Rome, then took off down the side stairs into Piazza Mignanelli, walking the last block back to our hotel, just in time to arrive for a doppio caffe and fresh morning croissants with chocolate spread. Maybe in a few days I'll be craving my usual morning protein smoothie, but right now, mmmmm...

Our next stop is Florence, and while it is a smaller city than Roma, in Florence it is just a short distance to the edge of town and the outlying Tuscan country side, making for easily accessible bike rides through famous gardens and the lush properties of the once wealthy Medici family. Can't wait!

Yoga and Booty Camp? The Perfect Match!

Hey there Booty Campers!

As we're now officially offering free indoor yoga classes on Friday mornings, Kimae and I thought it was time that I "formally" introduce myself. So hello! My name is Jennifer (Jenn) Abel and I teach an all-levels yoga class in conjunction with Kimae's four days of hardcore outdoor play.

I am, first and foremost, a SWL Boot Camp participant. In May 2008, having just moved to Seattle from south India, I needed to jump-start my fitness level. I'd been living abroad for over a year, and let's just say that I might have enjoyed a bit too much rice and curry while away. I joined the 5:50am session (unable to believe I'd ever be able to get up that early!) and was amazed at how quickly I improved my physical fitness and overall health. But there were other benefits - I soon found a new strength in my seven-year-long yoga practice. I was a better "yogi" thanks to all that I was cultivating in boot camp. And my yoga practice was helping me to stretch out all of the muscle groups that Kimae's workouts target (hamstrings, hip flexors, shoulders, abs, quads, etc.) I've been teaching yoga since 2005, and together with my experiences at Booty Camp, I am able to truly realize both mind and body wellness!

So it wasn't too long before Kimae and I began to brainstorm about the idea of free yoga classes. We found a studio space in Wallingford where women can safely learn and practice yoga together. I craft the Friday classes around the work we do in camp (you'll see me there, sweating alongside of you, several days a week). If Kimae emphasizes core power in Week 1, you can bet we'll explore and compliment this power in our yoga class. Once we've built up serious stamina in Week 4, we'll challenge our bodies with a more vigorous yoga practice that builds on the previous sessions.

I'm incredibly excited to share yoga with my fellow Booty Campers. I think yoga is one of the most accessible ways to cultivate strength, flexibility and balance (all you need is your own body - although we'll play with props in class from time to time). I also try to remind people that, like Booty Camp, yoga can be playful - we're doing poses called "Downward Facing Dog" and "Cow Face" and "Camel" - how serious can it be? In fact, if you'd like to see one artist's rendition of yoga's sillier, imaginative side, check out Metamorphosis: An Artist Envisions the Asanas of Yoga. I wrote this book with Emanuele Scanziani, who creatively depicts some of the more popular yoga poses. We've included his vision of plank pose below, a move we do often in camp!
In any event, I can't wait to see you in the play, both out on Trail and down on our mats!

Jenn

What's Your Reason?

Today, during a conversation with a fellow Bootcamper who hadn't been to class in a while, I was reminded of the many reason's women come to Camp, and I've heard a wide variety. From the young girl last spring who wanted a bigger booty ("Is that possible in just 4 weeks? Should I keep my bottom clenched at all times?"), to the future conscious women who come to shape-up in anticipation of a healthy pregnancy, there are a zillion reasons in between.

Speaking today with "T", she told me about her short term Bootcamp goal for the holiday season: to beat the boys in her family at a push-up contest come Christmas.

Now let me tell you, T's push-ups rock the Camp. She is a full-on champ of the powerhouse toe push-up, but after 4 weeks away from class, she was challenged out of the blue last weekend to a push-up contest by the guys in her family. She did good, they were impressed, SHE was impressed! Yet, T knows she can bring more, More , MORE (clenching fists in excitement). The rematch is coming up in a few weeks, scheduled around family carols and hot cider. Oh yeah, don't be fooled by the lovely lady nibbling a Christmas cookie by the fire- those boys better watch out!

And so, we discover that T comes to Camp in order to open up a can of surprise whoop a** on those pesky (God love 'em) older brother's. A real life goal worth playing for!

What would be your reason, your motivation, your INSPIRATION for joining us in the play?

Whatever your reason, whatever your goal, we hope to see you here :)

Kimae