Peanut pretzel bark

Before I get to the most amazing snack in the history of snacks, I want to re-cap a really speedy interval workout!

Speedy Interval Run

I saw this on Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life a few weeks ago and it intimidated me. I mean, running at a 10.0 pace....twice? Bonkers. But I saw it again in her post yesterday and I figured, what the hell. If it sucks, I can always slow down. I am so glad I attempted it because, not to toot my own horn, but I rocked it. Toot toot mo fos. Although I didn't have any incline on the running portion, I was still able to complete this bad boy with flying colors. Endorphin overload.

Not only was my workout on point today, but I made the most amazing snack ever to pass my lips. It isn't exactly healthy but it is exactly delish. Brittany calls her version salted chocolate pretzel bars but I changed the name to peanut pretzel bark because that describes my version better.

Peanut Pretzel Bark
adapted from Itty Bits of Balance

1 16 oz package chocolate candy coating
2 cups smashed salted pretzels
1 cup dry roasted peanuts (I used lightly salted)
wax paper
sea salt (optional)

Melt chocolate according to package directions. Mix smashed pretzel pieces and peanuts in a large bowl. Mix in melted chocolate until fully coated. Press into a cooking sheet lined with wax paper. Sprinkle sea salt over chocolate mixture (if preferred.) Place cookie sheet in fridge for about an hour. Once the bark is cooled and firm, break into pieces.

chocolate candy coating

peanuts and smashed pretzels (in my heart bowl!)

nom nom nom

I have so many ideas for this bad boy. Dark chocolate, white chocolate mixed with food coloring for a holiday, colored m&m's for a holiday...the possibilities are endless.

Cheers to a fabulous weekend!

Humbling Friday

I had such a good weekend! What made it so good? I didn't eat like an animal! I actually stuck to my usual diet, only straying (but not much) for dinner on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I also got in a nice, long workout on Saturday which made me feel so much better about going out both Friday and Saturday nights. I'm hoping I can remember this feeling and stick with it so I won't feel like such a fatty on Mondays.

too much pizza

I missed a post on Friday because I was busy visiting schools who are collecting money for my campaign, Pennies for Patients. I do kick-off assemblies where I get to teach students at participating schools about blood cancers and tell them how important it is for them to bring in their spare change. At one of my assemblies, I got to chat with an 11 year old who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL, the most common form of childhood leukemia) when he was just 8 years old. He is in the "maintenance phase" of treatment, meaning he's in remission but must still travel from Chauncey to Columbus (1.5 hours) once every three months for treatment for the next two years. If everything looks good after that, he'll switch to less frequent visits. He was such a cool dude and was so positive; I left the school feeling very blessed that I never had to go through that and said a little prayer thanking God for keeping Thomas, Evan, Avery, Andrew, and Ella healthy. I can't even imagine what it's like to hear that your child (or niece/nephew) has cancer at the young age of 8, let alone younger than that. Meeting young cancer survivors, as I often do in my profession, is very humbling.

Anyway, since I didn't post on Friday, I didn't get to tell you about the newest treadmill interval I did: the 5k treadmill challenge.

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Challenge is right; this one was quite tough. I've never ran faster than 8.0 for 1 minute on the treadmill and this one had me running 8.5, 8.7 and 9.0 for a certain distance, not time (like all the other ones.) It was about 3.5 minutes of running before taking a break to walk for .1 mile. The workout went by in a flash so I walked a little bit afterward, but it is a great workout for anyone looking to pick it up a notch!

Julie posted the questions James Lipton asks every actor at the end of their interview on Inside the Actor's Studio. Every time I watch that show, I wonder how I would answer them. Welp, it looks like today's the day!

1. What is your favorite word?
2. What is your least favorite word?
3. What turns you on?
4. What turns you off?
5. What sound or noise do you love?
6. What sound or noise do you hate?
7. What is your favorite curse word?
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
9. What profession would you not like to do?
10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

My answers:

1. "F***" (I know it's not appropriate but it is my favorite word...)
2. "Disappointed"
3. Tattoos
4. Rudeness
5. The sound of my dad's voice
6. The sound of someone I love crying
7. F***
8. Playing the tambourine/banjo/drums in a band
9. Tax accountant
10. "I'm proud of you."

I'm interested to see how other people would answer these questions as well so let it rip if you'd like.

Most viewed posts

You wanna know the most awkward/unattractive thing to look at when you're running? Yourself. The treadmills in my new gym are directly in front of a wall of mirrors (and by directly, I mean the front of the treadmill basically touches the mirror.) It's really uncomfortable. I try to look at my legs because they don't jiggle as much as the rest of me. There are about 4 TVs above the treadmills so I'm going to try to always be on a treadmill near a TV so I have something to look at other than my red, salty face. Ew. Seriously? So gross.

I gave a preview of last night's workout in yesterday's post but I ended up changing it up to look like this:

Time                          Speed
0-5 minutes               4.0
5-8 minutes               6.5
8-9 minutes               7.0
9-10 minutes             4.0
10-13 minutes           7.0
13-14 minutes           8.0
14-15 minutes           4.0
15-18 minutes           7.0  
18-19 minutes           6.5
19-20 minutes           4.0
20-23 minutes           6.5
23-24 minutes           7.0
24-25 minutes           4.0
25-28 minutes           7.0
28-29 minutes           8.0
29-30 minutes           4.0
30-33 minutes           7.0
33-34 minutes           6.5
34-35 minutes           4.0

I ran an additional 5 minutes at 6.5 just because I had the time. I came home and did the abs I shared but skipped the wall sits and jumping jacks. My floors are awfully creaky and I get really self-conscious that my neighbors are going to think I'm doing some freaky stuff in here when I'm really just jumping around (jump, jump, jump around.)

So here's a fun fact: I looked back through my past posts to see which ones have been viewed the most. Below are my top 5 most-viewed posts to date:

5. The New Digs with 95 views (apparently people wanna know where I hang my hat)

4. In a Glass Case of Emotion with 100 views

3. Update on the Dadster with 103 views (he's a very popular guy)

2. New Ink with 165 views

and the number one most-viewed post, with 186 views, is....

You can stand under my umbr-Ella Ella Ella (hey hey hey hey hey hey)

She's my fave too! What a coincidence! :)

Have a great Thursday, ya'll!

New gym

I was feeling sickly yesterday so I skipped a post. My bad. I'm feeling better today but I just have zero energy. I feel so tired all the time. I don't know what the deal is because I get 8-10 hours of sleep a night so maybe I need to start taking vitamins? I take a multi-vitamin but apparently that's not helping so I guess some experimentation is in order to get more pep in my step!

Friday was my last workout with Demi at That Gym :( I simply can't afford it right now. I'm super bummed; I loved her workouts and I loved the people at That Gym. They made my workouts go by so much faster. But I have to cut back on my expenses and this one, since it's optional unlike, you know, heat, is the first to go. Hopefully I'll be back with her in a few months but right now, I'm on my own.

In order to stay on track, I joined the gym that is literally 5 doors down from my apartment so I can still walk there and get a workout in before work. I went this morning and ran on the treadmill then came home and did about 10 minutes of abs. They don't have a great space for ab work so I'm going to have to use trial and error on that one. I also need to figure out which days I'm going to lift and put a plan in place (how you like dem "p"s.) I still belong to Premier (thanks Daddio) and plan on participating in some of their exercise classes but this new gym is way smaller than Premier and is absolutely no frills. I honestly don't mind it since all I really need are free weights and a treadmill for the mornings. There were a total of 2 other people in the whole place today too which is also the complete opposite of Premier where people illegally hold treadmills for their puffy coated friends. It's nice to have a place so close if I'm bored and just want to walk or do the elliptical without having to drive 20 minutes (uphill each way, in the snow, with no coat...get it? I'm complaining like an elderly person.)

The workout:

30 minute interval workout



Abs:
30 crunches (first set: high school sit-ups, second set: toe touches, third set: heel touches)
10 push-ups
1 minute plank
Repeat 3 times.


Skipping a beat, I read the blog Life of Blyss on the regular and was startled to read her most recent post from yesterday. Alyssa, the author, is about a year younger than me and she is usually absolutely hilarious; her blog has me laughing out loud. However, yesterday's post was a more serious one where she announced that she has skin cancer. She asked that we share this video which I encourage you to watch in its entirety.
Prayers for Alyssa!

Meh

Yesterday, I was all jazzed up and ready to do this workout...

Time                Speed       Incline

0:00-5:00          4.0          2.5

5:00-6:00          5.0          1.0

6:00-7:00          6.0          1.0

7:00-8:00          5.0          1.0

8:00-9:00          6.5           1.0

9:00-10:00        4.0           1.0

10:00-11:00      6.5           1.0

11:00-12:00      5.0           1.0

12:00-13:00      7.0           1.0

13:00-14:00      5.0           1.0

14:00-15:00      7.5           1.0

15:00-16:00      4.0           1.0

16:00-17:00      6.5           1.0

17:00-18:00      5.5           1.0

18:00-19:00      7.0           1.0

19:00-20:00      5.5           1.0

20:00-21:00      8.0           1.0

21:00-22:00      5.5           1.0

22:00-23:00      7.0           1.0

23:00-24:00      5.5           1.0

24:00-25:00      6.5           1.0

25:00-30:00      4.0           2.0

...until I was heading in to the bathroom to change and realized I wore my glasses to work instead of my contacts. Whomp whomp. I've worked out in glasses before, like a gazillion years ago, and it is probably the worst thing in the whole wide world. So I decided to forgo the glasses workout and just went home instead. I'm hoping to rock it out on Saturday; it looks like a challenge.

I was feeling very emotional and discouraged yesterday, Basically, I wanted to burst in to tears every second. So it's probably a good thing I didn't go to the gym where I would have either ripped someone's head off or cried all over a machine. When I get in to my funky mood, all I want to do is hide under the covers and stay away from people. I have my monthly book club meeting tonight (CKBC is what we call ourselves because we're cool like that) and am excited for that so that is helping brighten my mood. My hormones are all out of whack and need to get their act together stat! I'm tired of the emotional roller coaster!

I know, Dawson. I can relate.

I haven't been cooking much lately either because I really don't feel like it. All I want to make is mac and cheese...so yeah, not doing that. I'm hoping my motivation and determination will come back with the new month starting next week. I guess we'll see....


Why the treadmill

Hey you guys, guess what??!! Yesterday was National Peanut Butter Day! I confessed my addiction to the stuff on the day I should be honoring it! A legit coincidence because I had no idea about the sacred holiday until my friend Lindsey texted me and my boo Kathleen posted this article to my Facebook wall. Good lookin' out ladies. Peanut butter for all!

(By the way, take a look at that list of food holidays when you get a chance. Did you know that November 12 is National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day? Pretty specific...and discriminatory. What, anchovies aren't good enough to have a day when all the other toppings get one? Outrageous.)

I was so busy ranting in my last post about my arch nemeses (real word) Backpack and Puffy Coat that I forgot to mention the treadmill workout I did:

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Lemme tell ya, this one is tough. I was in a pissy mood so that didn't help, and my music kept cutting out (AGAIN) so I'm sure that made it seem harder, but it is definitely a challenge. I ended up taking 30 second breaks after each 7.5/5 interval. Even though it's probably the most challenging treadmill interval workout I've tried so far, I did like that it is shorter than my usual workouts.

You might have noticed I've been sharing a lot of treadmill interval workouts lately. The reasons for this are as follows:

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1. I have decided not to run the Capital City Half Marathon this spring. My heart is just not in it this year and I'd rather continue to enjoy running instead of resent it. This is a tough decision because the race itself is so fun and I really could use a new medal...but I'm just not mentally excited for it. I may change my mind as the race gets closer but for right now, I'm not planning on running it.

2. Since it's dark, cold and deary when I get off work, I'd rather run on a treadmill than outdoors. And I cannot think of anything more boring than running on a treadmill. It takes a lot of mental toughness for me. I need to keep my mind occupied or else I'll stop running altogether. The treadmill workouts keep me excited, interested, and motivated.

3. I want to try different things to push myself. It's easy for me to run 5 miles at a steady pace. What is not so easy is intervals, sprinting, inclines...all that fun stuff. These treadmill workouts challenge me to do things I wouldn't normally do on my own.

4. Not gonna lie, you look way cool doing intervals in my opinion. Your treadmill neighbors think you're hardcore and intimidating. Might as well get in a killer workout while looking like a complete badass.

[source]

I try to do a different workout each time so I can share it with you fine people. Each of the treadmill exercises can be tailored to your specific needs and abilities. I'd love to hear feedback from any and all treadmill workouts others are doing. I cannot get enough of them!

Now, I'm off to partake in today's National holiday: Irish Coffee Day. Unless, of course, I work with you. Then I will just be drinking regular coffee ;)

Cheers!

Sucking it up

So remember yesterday when I had a big decision to make by 5pm? Well, all day yesterday I was telling myself it would be ok to skip my run. I was tired, my back was in constant pain, and I was hungry for most of the day. I kept telling myself  "don't worry about running today. You worked hard this morning with Demi, you should take tonight off." My mind was made up: I was going to skip my run. Or so I thought. At 4:40pm, I was working hard perusing one of the blogs I read regularly and found a treadmill workout that included a walking option. At 4:45pm, I said "Suck it up and run. You have 135 (now 134) days until the wedding. NO EXCUSES." (Yes, I talk to myself in caps.)

It was like the universe was telling me I made the right choice: traffic on the way to the gym was less bonkers than usual, I got a parking spot right away, hopped on a treadmill right away, and once I started running, I forgot how tired, hungry, and sore I was. I had to take 2 30-second breaks near the end of the pyramid, but other than that, it was a great workout! I was exhausted last night and could barely keep my eyes open for one of my favorite shows, Happy Endings, but this morning, I'm feeling really good and I'm so glad I got that run in! Especially since I won't be able to run again until next week, it felt good pushing through my mental block and getting my ass in gear!

Here's the workout:


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This morning I desperately needed caffeine. I try not to drink coffee because I have to add boatloads of sugar and cream but I knew I couldn't get through today without it. I have some diet hot chocolate packets left over from 4D so I added one of those to my cup o' joe and it was mighty tasty! Still not as sweet as I usually prefer but it definitely added some flavor so I could suck it down like nobody's business. Consider it the poor (wo)man's mocha.

I also have some exciting news that I'll share tomorrow...I haven't decided 100% about it so I don't want to say anything yet. Once I make a decision either way, I'll be sure to share it with you fine people.

Adios, amigos!

Long weekend

Happy birthday MLK Jr! I am so thankful for this day off! My apartment was a complete pig sty this morning. I knew I would have all day today to clean up so I didn't stress about it last night. Instead, I spent the evening watching the Golden Globes. I just watched to see what everyone was wearing; I didn't even know what/who half the winners were. Ever heard of The Artist? Yeah, me neither but it won like a zillion awards. And apparently everyone who worked on the film is French, so that's cool.

I started today off with the same treadmill workout from Saturday. I didn't really feel like thinking today and just wanted to get it over with. My music kept cutting out so the run/walk combo kept me occupied enough that I didn't throw my phone across the room with frustration. I did make some loud grunts and sighs when the music would stop for no reason whatsoever so I apologize to my treadmill neighbors for my salty 'tude.

I went to the doctor with my dad this afternoon too. He had a two-month check-up with his blood oncologist last week and Dr. Blair saw some "suspicious lesions" on his liver and lungs in a CT scan. I was a little bit alarmed when my dad said Dr. Blair sent him to get an MRI about it right away. They don't usually send you that day to get a test unless they want to know something immediately. Since I didn't have to work today anyway, I figured I would go with him for moral support. I'm happy to report very good news: nothing serious! The supposed lesions were just the CT scan "juice" he had to drink that hadn't made its way through his system yet because of an area in his liver with poor circulation. The MRI didn't show anything because the liquid had made its way through by that time. He still has lymph nodes but nothing that needs treatment right now. He's scheduled to go back for a maintenance appointment in two months. Phew! With my dad, you never know what you're going to hear so good news is a relief!

I'm really hoping this week goes by quickly because my friends and I are going to a cabin in the Hocking Hills on Friday! You know what they say: what happens in Hocking Hills, stays in Hocking Hills...unless I blog about it :)

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Popcorn popper

Hey all, second post of the weekend! I hope people are still reading after my quarter-life crisis post last night. I just have a lot of feelings...but I'm feeling a lot better now that I got all that stuff off my chest! So I appreciate those of you continuing to read :)

I usually never even get on my computer on the weekends so two posts in one weekend is pretty epic (I'm using that word ironically because I hate when people say "epic.") I just had to share my newest appliance: popcorn maker!

I bought it because of this article I've read before but was reminded of by my friend Kathleen when she posted it to Facebook. I love popcorn but the article states that microwavable popcorn may cause infertility in humans. Since I would like to have kids at some point in the future, I figure staying away from the microwavable stuff couldn't hurt. Tiff suggested I get the air popper so I don't have to make popcorn with oil.

Do you love my bowl as much as I do? It's brand new from Target. I love that freaking store.

This morning I jumped out of bed, ate a clif kid z bar, and drove straight to the gym for a treadmill workout. Since I didn't go out last night, I didn't have any excuses. Usually, Premier on the weekend is like a whole different gym than during the work week. I usually don't feel as rushed as I do on week nights and everyone else seems so much more relaxed as well. Well, this morning it was packed. Apparently people are still holding strong to their resolutions...

The workout I brought to the gym looked like this:

Time	Speed	Incline
00:00-5:00	3.5	1.0
5:00-10:00	4.0	2.0
10:00-12:00	6.5	1.0
12:00-13:00	3.5	1.0
13:00-15:00	6.6	1.0
15:00-16:00	3.5	1.0
16:00-18:00	6.7	1.0
18:00-19:00	3.5	1.0
19:00-21:00	6.8	1.0
21:00-22:00	3.5	1.0
22:00-24:00	6.9	1.0
24:00-25:00	3.5	1.0
25:00-27:00	7.0	1.0
27:00-28:00	3.5	1.0
28:00-30:00	7.1	1.0
30:00-40:00	3.5	2.0

 [source]

I altered it slightly to look like this:

Time	Speed	Incline
00:00-5:00	3.5	1.0
5:00-10:00	4.0	2.0
10:00-12:00	6.5	1.0
12:00-13:00	3.5	1.0
13:00-15:00	6.6	1.0
15:00-16:00	3.5	1.0
16:00-18:00	6.7	1.0
18:00-19:00	3.5	1.0
19:00-21:00	6.8	1.0
21:00-22:00	3.5	1.0
22:00-24:00	7.0	1.0
24:00-25:00	3.5	1.0
25:00-27:00	7.2	1.0
27:00-28:00	3.5	1.0
28:00-30:00	7.4	1.0
30:00-31:00	3.5	1.0
31:00-33:00	7.6	1.0
33:00-34:00	3.5	1.0
34:00-36:00	7.8	1.0
36:00-37:00	3.5	1.0
37:00-39:00	8.0	1.0
39:00-40:00	3.5	2.0

 

My alterations made this a better workout for me and I felt really good when I was done. Usually I run for a certain amount of miles but this morning I was just focusing on time. In 40 minutes, I went 3.62 miles.

Now that my workout is out of the way, I can focus on tonight’s fun activity: Beerfest at the Columbus Convention Center with my bestie Katie and her fiance Steve. Anything that includes the words "beer" and "fest" might as well be called "Laine Dupler." Enjoy your Saturday, salty sweaters!

 

 

Treadmill workout and clean trail mix

It was raining and yucky last night (much like it is this morning) so I took to the treadmill for my 4 mile run. I know I just wrote a post about running in the elements but I’m just not ready to run in the rain yet. Lay off! Also, I saw a treadmill workout I wanted to try on Peanut Butter Fingers and figured yesterday was as good a day as any to try it out.

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I knew the middle of this workout would get sketch for me. When I sprint for 1 minute during my personal training sessions, I usually sprint at level 8 and it really gets my heart a racin'. So when I saw this was level 6.5, then 7, then 8, then 6, then 8 (again?!) then 7 (really?!), and then finally 6.5, I was prepared to alter it. However, I only had to take two 30-second breaks, so I only stopped for a total of 1 minute for the whole thing. And I made up for it at the end when I ran a final quarter mile at 6.5 to round out 4 miles. My time was about 42 minutes so not too bad for a pretty challenging workout.

I haven’t cooked much lately because I’m pissed about my lack of weight loss and have lost my will to cook. No really, I’m legit pissed and ready to rumble. However, I still want to share a recipe I found for clean trail mix. I haven't made it yet but I will just as soon as I have enough money to buy groceries. Sad, but true.

Healthy, Hearty Trail Mix

serving size: 1/4 cup

Choose 1/4 cup of 8 of the below ingredients. Use unsweetened dried fruit and unsalted, unroasted nuts.

mini pretzels

sunflower seeds

dried cranberries

dried apricots

raisins

dried pineapple

Kashi Go-Lean cereal or other high-protein, no-fat, no-sugar-added cereal

dried cherries

almonds

walnuts

cashews

mini dark chocolate chips

Coating

1 1/2 tbsp melted do-it-yourself olive-butter spread (see below)

1 tsp / 5 ml Worcestershire sauce
dash of seasoning salt (optional)
dash of garlic powder
dash hot pepper sauce

If using the coating:

1. Preheat oven to 250°F. 

2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 

3. In a large bowl, combine ¼ cup each of eight ingredients of your choice. 

4. In a small bowl, whisk melted olive butter spread and seasonings. Pour the liquid mixture over the ingredients in the large bowl. Toss until all ingredients are well coated. 

5. Bake for 25 minutes, tossing every 8 minutes to ensure your trail mix is toasted evenly.

If not using the coating:

Combine 1/4 cup each of the 8 ingredients of your choice.

Do-it-yourself olive-butter spread

Ingredients
½ cup low-salt butter at room temperature
 ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Preparation
1. Place both ingredients in a food processor. Process until well combined. The mixture should resemble thick yogurt.



I can't wait to make multiple varieties of this stuff and eat it with my daily Greek yogurt.

Treadmill workout

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The worst thing that could possibly happen on a treadmill happened to me last night. No, I did not fly off the back of the machine. My iPod died 20 minutes into my workout. NOOOOOOO is what my brain screamed. I can handle an outside run sans iPod (I ran all three of my half marathons without any music) but I didn't think I could ever run on a treadmill without music. I cannot think of anything more boring. I was doing a sprint workout and the music helps me keep my pace. Without it, I thought I was done for. Luckily though, it wasn’t bad! My sprint workout actually kept me focused on something other than the miles I had ran or the amount of time I’d been running, so it actually wasn't as horrible as I was anticipating. However, I will make sure from now on my iPod is charged before heading to the gym because I have some pretty sweet tunes.

　

I kind of created this sprint workout while training for my first half marathon last winter. My runs during the week would only be 4-5 miles and to keep it interesting, I developed a four mile-ish sprint workout so I wouldn't get so bored running 4 miles twice a week for 5 months. It looks like this:

　

• mile one: 10 minute pace (6.0)
• mile two: 8:30 minute pace (7.0)
• set incline to 2 and jog at 5.0 pace for three minutes, sprint at 8.0 for one minute, jog for three at 5.0, sprint for one at 8.0, etc until you reach 4 miles.

　

I like to end on a sprint so mine end up being around 4.25 miles. However, it's really up to your personal preference on speed, incline, miles, etc. It's a great way to get your heart rate going and challenge yourself. The first time I did it, I totally forgot I had the incline on, so I was super proud of myself for doing it with that incline the whole time (once I realized my happy accident.) Since I'm in better shape now, I want to try new sprint/interval workouts that are fun and a little more of a challenge so I'll post them once I try them.
　

I go to That Gym for personal training but since it's not an open gym, I also belong to Premier at Sawmill. I've been going to Premier since the beginning of time. Seriously. My dad taught me how to swim in its pools (back in the day, it was called Sawmill Athletic Club.) I left last night noticing a LOT of hot guys. Now, I know every gym has some eye candy but it was like everywhere I turned, a hot guy caught my eye. Not to mention, all the women at Premier are hot too! It's a pretty intimidating gym, and it reminded me why I was so embarrassed to work out there before: I felt really self-conscious. I know no one even notices who I am and what I'm doing, but it really made working out depressing. Now that I have some confidence back, I’m glad to be back at Premier sprinting and soaking up all the hotness J