Bring a friend.



This is my friend Ana and I at my 30th birthday party in 2009. The two of us have done some crazy things together over the years, and this Saturday we added one more thing to that list. A few weeks ago, Ana mentioned that she wanted to get back into an exercise routine and asked if she could accompany me to a class at my gym. I was happy to oblige, and so was the gym, which gave her a couple of guest passes.

My crazy early-morning weekday classes don't fit Ana's schedule, so we decided to meet on a Saturday. Since neither of us would have to rush off to work, I suggested that we make the most of Ana's guest pass and do two classes back-to-back: spinnning followed by Group Power. This is a really tough combo, even for a regular exerciser, and Ana hadn't worked out in about 3 years. I never would have suggested it if Ana weren't a landscape architect, who gets plenty of physical activity as part of her job. Still, as the day grew closer, I got a little worried that I was suggesting too much. I had Ana over Friday night to go through all of the GP exercises, and I lost track of the number of times I told her to take it easy, particularly in the first hour, so that she would have enough stamina to get through everything.

Bright and early Saturday morning, Ana and I headed for our first class at the spin studio. I told her about my own first spin class, during which I never got the gear above 7 and could only stand up for 10 seconds at a time. An hour after that class, I still had such bad jelly-legs that I fell off the bottom step of my parents' front porch. Ana did much better. I could tell she was struggling, but she pushed herself and even got the gear to 14! Afterward, she told me that she kept thinking "I'm going to start eating better because I would rather diet than do this."

We left spin a few minutes early so that we could stretch and get a good spot in GP. When we arrived at the GP room, we learned that the regular instructor was out, meaning that we had a sub who planned to do a different routine than our current release. This meant that a good bit of what I had shown Ana the night before no longer applied. It also meant that I would be a bit lost myself and have a lot less available brain power to help Ana. D'oh! Ana, to her credit, rolled with it. She even took it in stride when the slightly overzealous sub tried to push her to increase her weights and used her to demo proper form for the rest of the class.

By the end of our two hours of insanity, I was swelling with pride for my friend. She really did an amazing job and I hope she got the kickstart that she wanted!

And while we're on the subject of birthdays and bringing friends- I launched a little campaign yesterday to recruit friends for a race/wine-tasting weekend to celebrate my 32nd birthday in June. As many of you know, I really love celebrating my birthday (see above) and I put a lot of time and effort into each year's event. Last year, I organized things around the Zooma women's 10K and half-marathon in Annapolis, and I wasn't so thrilled with the results. By the time I learned about the event, it was really too late for any but my more experienced running friends to train for it. Also, the race itself was crowded, a bit disorganized, and so hot that many of the half-marathoners dropped to the 10K and many other runners dropped to the ground and had to be rescued. This year's Zooma race is on my birthday (June 5th), so I thought about doing it again, but really hoped to find a better option.

Enter the January Runner's World, which arrived in my mailbox Saturday. While flipping through, I saw an ad for the inaugural Virginia Wine Country Half-Marathon, happening on June 4th in Loudon County, VA. I quickly checked out the website (http://www.run4virginiawine.com/) and realized that I had my birthday plans. This is a weekend-long event, including stops at four different wineries: a pre-race dinner on Friday at Bluemont Vineyards, the race on Saturday which starts at Breaux Vineyards and finishes at Doukenie Winery, and a finisher's party and wine-tasting Saturday evening at Tarara Winery. When they register, runners are able to buy extra dinner and tasting tickets for family and friends.

I am already signed up and I hope that some of you will join me! The race is limited to 2,200, so I encourage you to sign up soon. Also, committing to the race really helps you commit to training. You have 6 months, which is plenty of time train for a half, even for beginners. Please share this info with your friends and family too- the more the merrier!