Daily Loaf

It was 7 a.m. on a Saturday when my alarm sounded. The pounding headache, the unsteady vision, and the smeared mascara under my eyes confirms that I, Caitlin Reagan, had lived my Friday night to its fullest potential.  After one cup of coffee, two aspirin, one bowl of cereal, four glasses of water and a quick drive across Gandy Bridge, I found myself standing in the group fitness room of the YMCA beginning a 90-minute cardio-strength conditioning class.

“Up, down, up, down, alright everyone! Go! Go! Push it!” the instructor yelled to everyone.  Her motivation was unusual — the demeanor of a pyramid-schemer.  She was sly, steadfast, and domineering all while maintaining her smile and composure.

With my flushed cheeks and Sir-Mix-A-Lot thumping through the speakers, I fist-pumped one dumbbell back and forth in a squat all while trying to ignore the water fountain in the back of the room.

Humorously, I thought how oddly similar a group fitness class reminded me of the night before — a Friday evening full of friends, booze, and bars. Read the rest of this entry »

On Halloween, I was hopelessly spending most of the day huddled in my apartment researching the United States’ media coverage on Iran. I had purposely not made plans to celebrate the evening dressed as media sensation Balloon Boy, a firefighter with red-hot lipstick and heels, or even a cat. Instead, six weeks prior, I’d committed myself to the Hob Gobl’n 5K Race, hosted by the Dunedin House of Beer.

For about 30 bucks, I agreed to run 3.1 miles in exchange for three beers of my choice, a t-shirt, and a wonderful spaghetti and meatball dinner. Oh, and a portion of my $30 went to the Dunedin Doggie Rescue — but that wasn’t the best part. The best part was that runners were not required to wear a costume.

I suckered my classmate Manny into running in the event, too. While the purpose of my participation was to avoid the annual Halloween costume stress, Manny signed up because — well, I don’t know exactly why he participated, especially since he treated the entire event as though it were a brisk walk down a scenic trail. Read the rest of this entry »

520+ – Miles Ran
16+ – Weeks of Training
10+ – lbs lost
8 – Toenails Lost
2 – Pairs of Shoes
1 - Bra Size
1 – Officially diagnosed reoccurring injury (ITB)

All this to run 26.2.

Leaving my hotel race morning, I stepped out onto an all but deserted street and began my lone pilgrimage to Grant Park, my heart all aflutter. Turning onto Michigan Ave I beheld the most amazing view of the city all aglow in the early morning, the street lined with runners, looks of determination, anticipation and a healthy dose of fear across their faces.

Start Corral - Upon arriving, I quickly found the open start corral and fell into the mid-nine-minute mile section. It was a balmy 33 degrees and this Florida girl was not prepared for the temps. I shivered and tried in vain to stay warm by chatting up the other runners. As the gun went off the crowd surged forward and “throw away” clothes exploded into the air and rained down around us. It was GO time.

Start – Mile 5 – As I crossed the start line I couldn’t help but get caught up in the moment; I screamed, I jumped up and down and I waved my hands up in the air like I just didn’t care. 26.2 lay before me and I was awestruck by the sights and the sounds of the city before me, the spectators all around. It was sensory overload and I relished in every moment of it! As we entered a tunnel, the sound of runners screaming and feet pounding the pavement was deafening. You could power the world over for days with the energy bouncing off those walls. By chance alone I managed to see my cousin Michelle and Beth around the two mile mark and it fired me up 10 times more than I already was; I was really doing this, I was running the Chicago Marathon. In that moment I realized Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s get one thing straight: I don’t like spin classes. Five years ago, when I was in college, a sorority sister of mine was a spinning instructor. She suggested I attend her class one afternoon. Being the naïve individual I was at the time, I took my young, skinny body to this class thinking it would be great and I would surely be the fastest spinner. Thirty minutes later, I had a cramp in my side, my foot kept slipping out of the pedal, I was cursing my sorority sister instructor under my breath each time she instructed us all to turn the knob up, and I jumped off the bike and quit. I walked away red-faced with my towel on my shoulder never to look back again… until last Thursday evening.

Upon moving to Tampa, I’ve joined the YMCA. So far, it has been great — especially if you are a single female under the age of 35. But that’s a whole other topic that I’ll explore later, maybe. With a little coaxing and shoving from my brother, Jib and his fiancé, Kristin, I joined the two of them for a spin class. After a lot of fiddling with the seat, disinfecting the handlebars, and tightening the shoe straps on the pedals, I began to feel my stomach twisting. Read the rest of this entry »

Lately, I haven’t been sleeping very well. Friends and family tell me that it is because I am living alone for the first time in my life. Perhaps this is true, but what I’ve discovered from my newly-poor sleeping habits is my appreciation of dawn.

On the few nights when I get tired, I’ll rise to the occasion by wearing the most comfortable pajamas I own, fix myself some chamomile tea and hop into bed as soon as possible. This usually occurs at about 7:30 p.m. Tragically, I’ll wake up at about 5:30 in the morning, bright-eyed, rested and smiling, but with no one to talk to. After lying in bed for about 30 to 45 minutes deciding what to do with myself, I decide to take the opportunity to use my subdivision’s gym. The best part about this: I will be the only one there.

I know I’ve made myself pretty clear on the fact that I like to workout, I enjoy the adrenaline rushes, and fitness is slowly taking over my life, but when it comes to gyms, I have a lot of hang-ups about to gym personalities. Read the rest of this entry »

“This was such a terrible idea,” I thought to myself as I gasped for air while jogging in the sweltering August heat.

“Please rain, please rain, please rain,” I repeated over and over in my head.

“Oh my god! I feel like my legs are going to fall off.”

I am only 9 minutes into my jog (which is just over a mile) and the heat is getting to my head.

If you are the type of person who enjoys having an extra slice of pizza on a Friday night, buttery nipple shots on a Saturday night, and an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet on a Sunday morning, then I’m sure you’ve uttered these negative thoughts to yourself on a Monday evening during your workout. Read the rest of this entry »

In my attempt to join the athletic world, I attended a Rays’ game during the recent Red Sox series. I was joined by about six of my friends from college. We all collectively agreed to get the cheapest seats possible which was, of course, in outfield. During the fifth inning, I think, I decided to visit the concessions to buy a few beers for myself and friends.

Twenty-four dollars later, I found myself carefully shuffling along my row of strangers to get to my seat when suddenly I felt an energy in the crowd that I can’t describe. My inexperience with spectator sports is quite embarrassing, and what happens in the next moment is even more embarrassing. I looked up at my friends, who were now standing, facing me, with their arms in the air, shouting something I couldn’t understand. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo by Ebyabe

My first experience on Bayshore Boulevard was nearly a year ago, on a gorgeous day in the fall — sunny and breezy. My brother Phil had suggested we spend the day walking along Bayshore. This was the day I was introduced to Bayshore Etiquette.

“First, you should know that there is absolutely no stopping on the sidewalk. If you need to stop, just move over to the grass but not in the grass lane,” he said as he pointed to the half-dead line of grass that stretched along the sidewalk.

“Oh, and always travel on the right side of the sidewalk, Caitlin,” he told me while waving his arms back and forth in front of him to show me an imaginary lane in front of us.

“Often, a group of women will travel in a group and block the whole sidewalk,” he said as we continued to walk down Bayshore. “It’s very annoying.” Read the rest of this entry »

“I hate running,” my friend Carolyn said to me as we sat sipping a glass of Sauvignon Blanc on an idle Tuesday evening. “In fact, I hate people who run. It seems masochistic in so many ways.”

“Maybe it is,” I said. “I run for the after-effects, not the process.”

My name is Caitlin Reagan. I’m a 23-year old Florida native who enjoys running and all things fitness. Please keep in mind that I said I enjoy these activities; therefore I am not a professional trainer nor am I one to pass up a Five Guys burger on a Sunday afternoon to cure my hangover.

I have just recently moved to St. Petersburg to attend graduate school at the University of South Florida and I’ll spend my time away from school discovering the various fitness programs offered in the St. Pete and Tampa area. I plan to give you all a “real person” perspective. In other words, I’ll tell you when I experienced a bout of flatulence and blamed it on the machine during a spin class.

Catch me next week when I discuss my introduction to the Bayshore Drive etiquette and my experience with following these unspoken rules.

Hello, race fans!  Stinky Drinker Holley here with an update on the progress we’ve made in training for the Women’s Running Magazine Women’s Half-Marathon coming up November 22nd!  We’re a small but mighty running team, none of whom has ever run a “half” before, motivated by sheer will and the promise of a cold beer at the end of our journey.

I have another introduction to make, but first, here’s a quick update regarding membership and training.  We’ve officially welcomed a new member, Angela, to the team, and she is rockin’ and rollin’!  On Sun. July 26 we planned to run 7 miles, but the weather and downtown St. Pete’s Warped Tour had other plans for us.  Narrowly avoiding lightning strikes (note: NEVER run if there is lightning – if you can see it, it can strike you, no matter how far away it seems), we somehow managed to log 5 miles, soaked to the bone and surrounded by equally drenched teenagers.  We did what we’re calling our “urban” route by running up and down Central Ave., window shopping along the way. For future runs, we’ve set ourselves the task of developing interesting dance moves to perform at crosswalks while waiting for the light to change.  One must keep moving, and running in place looks pretty ridiculous….might as well look flat out, stark-raving mad performing the “cabbage patch kid” instead.

So…moving on: it’s time to meet SD Liz!  To learn more about the race we’re training for, log on to www.womenshalfmarathon.com! Read the rest of this entry »

Each month Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Maxim, Men’s Health, and Playboy come out with rehashed articles recounting the health benefits of sex. I don’t need “fitness experts” to tell me that most any type of moderate physical exertion has health benefits (see declaimer below). This is not one of those articles. This blog is an open letter to adult entertainment companies, urging them to produce a sex-tape workout series.

Sure, everyone knows regular sex can be like a workout, what with the shortness of breath and the need for a towel afterwards, but few people know how to get the most of this workout. It’s an untapped market. Most everyone needs guidance on how to use the equipment(sex swings, sex ramps, restraints) and which positions burn the most calories. Pop and Peep culture have created an obsession with sex and body image, which have in turn caused a boom in the sex and health industries. It’s time to combine and capitalize on these markets.

Will it sell? Exhibit A: Carmen Electra’s Aerobic Striptease-fifteen minutes of hot, steaming Read the rest of this entry »

One month of Crossfit workouts under the tutelage of Steve Ashton at Anytime Fitness on Central and MLK in St. Pete. Time to take some stock, evaluate results. Sorry, I don’t have before-and-after pictures. I don’t because, well, I have some self-respect. But let me start by saying that this program, while very challenging, works. Fast

Crossfit is all based on multiple movements and short, high-intensity workouts. It’s essentially the opposite of station-to-station weight-lifting — y’know, three sets of bench, curls, triceps, etc.

I started Crossfit because I wanted to get back in shape (click here for my first Crossfit post) after shoulder surgery (in March) and not go back to the outmoded model of multiple sets on machines and free weights that I had done for years.

The longest workout I’ve had, and I’ve only done six proper Crossfit routines, has been just short of 30 minutes. Because there is very little rest involved in the exercise sequences, you get a lot of cardio. Kind of like lifting and getting sprint training at the same time. Man, do I get gassed.

Read the rest of this entry »