Social Workout

Crocs Scutes vs. The Rest

People, you must wear flip flops at the gym. Even in the shower. Definitely walking to the yoga or dance studio! Two words: plantar warts. More on that later, but let's just say barefoot-and-fancy-free is no longer me. Right, but what to get, you ask? Lucky for you, I've done your homework....

Dance Like Sienna, and Edie

FitSugar reports that actress Sienna Miller is partial to dance workouts. In particular, a class called Cardio Boogie at a chic L.A. gym called Studio Soma. Said class is "designed for non-dancers, with a mix of hip-hop, disco, belly dancing and more." The item prompts two thoughts: Yes! Dance workouts rock! Affluent West Hollywooders take note. Second, I think of Edie.

Miller played Edie Sedgwick in the 2006 film Factory Girl. Edie was an ephemera, a manic girl from an ancient New England family, raised on a vast Californian ranch by a deeply narcisstic father. Does parenting make a difference? Two of her seven siblings killed themselves early. Edie made it to 28. But, for a fleeting moment, in a world before US Weekly, she was the muse of a generation, a kind of cross between Audrey Hepburn and a much more soulful Paris Hilton.

Lehman CEO Taken Down on Treadmill

Just hours after Lehman Brothers announced to the world it was going down, CEO Dick Fuld strapped on his heart-rate monitor and headed to the gym. Certainly, the man needed to unwind. But, oh, to have seen the readout from that monitor.

Meg Saw Me Spin

Lunch time spin class today with the always strong Nadia Zaki at Greenwich Avenue Equinox. Arriving on bike #24, I'm greeted by Meg Hourihan who happens to be on bike #25. Meg is the co-founder of Blogger.com (snapped up by Google in '03) and a genuine new media pioneer. Turns out she's also an ex crew jock and marathoner turned gym regular. We're friends, and this made for a Potentially Awkward Moment: Am I really going to sweat profusely and endure psychic torment twelve inches from a woman I normally see at cocktail parties?

Summon the Will: SoHo Mom Claws Her Way Back to Gym

It has been at least three months since my last visit to the gym. It's sad really, because I was on a roll. The kind of roll where you actually want to go to the gym: You can increase the weight you're lifting, or the distance you're running, or the speed, or the number of squats.... Well, maybe not the number of squats.

Last spring, six months after the birth of my first baby, I hired a trainer at my local Equinox to help me find a way back into my old pants. And she did. Towards the end of the summer, I actually had definition in my legs and my arms...but then I got drunk on my own fitness. When the training sessions ran out, I simply basked in the glory of my in-shape self. It was August, and I was on vacation, so I put on my bikini, picked up an ice cream cone, and enjoyed myself. Fine idea, but then a week turned into two, two into a month, and, well, here I am, in mid-October, back to square one. In August, I actually could wear spandex with a tank to the gym. Now I will have to dig for the long, big t-shirts to cover up the shame. Oh the shame.

SoHo Mom Crashes and Burns

I don’t want to talk about it…. I didn’t go. I was pretty much prepared, but I had certain excuses:

• It was not sunny.
• I woke up 15 minutes late, throwing off the entire gym-shower-work schedule.
• I had two very distracting dreams. One featured me lost on a highway in Philadelphia. The other one involved me unable to speak French working in a Parisian Louis Vuitton store for Anna Wintour.
• My husband did not give me a hard time about getting out of bed.
• It seemed cold outside.
• I had a big day at work, a REALLY big day. (Ok, not that big.)
• I did not pre-fill my water bottle.

Moral: I need to email my trainer. I clearly have no self-discipline. Apparently, unless I pay someone to wait for me at the gym and then make me do stuff, I will not go. I haven’t totally given up on myself, but I don’t have high hopes.

Lululemon Rising

We danced around at the launch party on October 8th, but somehow neglected to mention that Lululemon Athletica has opened a new store in Soho. Please file under Belated-But-Important Retail Report. For those counting, that's three Lululemons in Manhattan thusfar, with at least one more on the way.

Fishing

Gentlemen and Yogis

At dusk, the Hudson River Park quiets down. Last night there was a slight breeze, and the air was damp, and you could smell the woodchips and fresh plantings along the new pathways. I had gone for a bike ride, and rolled past the lone runners, evening strollers, and the stray commuters, down to the very bottom of the island.

New Alarm Clock Setting

All else equal, life is better when you get up early. I struggle to do so. Mightily. My advice if you do too? Find a wake up buddy. And figure out some way to program your alarm clock to play vintage Nike commercials like this one, from the 2006 launch of the Air Max.

Jump roping gals prefer Title Nine bras...

Here's a sports bra tip from the Punk Rope crowd: check online at Title Nine. We've got absolutely no first hand experience on this, but we figure they should know.