Hello and happy Friday! We’re rapidly closing in on Christmas week – can you guys believe it? Matt and I got the last of our gift shopping done last night in preparation. I just need to finish up his gifts and then we should be all set!
Earlier this week, on Wednesday night, we had a fun urban adventure: another special holiday edition of Roam Fitness’s OutRun program! You guys will remember that I hit up their OutRun Zoo Lights adventure on Monday night; this time, the workout incorporated the National Christmas Tree near the White House, and Matt came along, too!
I’ve been talking up OutRun to Matt for awhile now so I was really excited to have him along with us on Wednesday night to see what it was all about!
We all met up in Dupont Circle area in DC at 6:30 p.m. We had a smaller group than Monday night but as always, everyone was very friendly and welcoming, and our fearless leader, Chris, was ready to show us DC’s holiday best!
This OutRun covered about a 5k and was scheduled for an hour. We set off through the city, incorporating burpees and squats anytime we hit a red light and enjoying the Christmas music blasting out of Chris’s backpack. (Matt volunteered to carry the heavy water bottle-filled backpack – added challenge!)
We did some stretching and a push up drill in Dupont Circle…
And then our next big stop was in Farrugut Square for a fun partner drill. First: wheelbarrow walks! I love these – they’re hard but they make me feel like a kid again. 🙂
When we reached the other side of the grass, we did 10 box jumps onto the benches before switching and having the other partner wheelbarrow walk back to the other side. Then repeat! I think we did this for 6 minutes?
Then it was back on the run! We did some partner stretchy band resistance running in front of the White House (I think Mrs. O would have been impressed), and then our next stop was a surprise from Chris: a quick visit to the lobby of the Willard Hotel to see their beautiful holiday decorations and hear a snippet of the choir that was performing!
Beautiful, right? There were all sorts of people around enjoying the decorations and the music – apparently they have free live holiday music performances taking place nightly (except Sundays, from December 2 through 23, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.) in the lobby. Love that!
After a quick photo opp, it was back on the run! This time, to our main destination: the National Christmas Tree!
In addition to the main tree, each state also has its own little tree. Cute!
From there, we found a grassy spot to do another mini boot camp, this time involving alternating bicycle crunches and squats + rows with the stretchy bands.
From there, we headed back off on the run towards Dupont, alternating between jogging and high knees. Whew!! Then, we stopped for one last mini boot camp: one person did burpees + bench jumps and the other did either jumping lunges or mountain climbers, and we switched twice. Why are burpees SO hard?! 🙂
From there, we sprinted back to our original meeting spot, did a little stretching, and said our sweaty goodbyes. Such a fun night and a great workout – thanks for making exercise a fun adventure instead of a chore, Roam Fitness! Matt loved it as much as I knew he would. 🙂 Also, thank you to them for generously waiving my fee for this event in exchange for the review (we paid Matt’s way).
Have you ever seen the National Christmas Tree in person? It’s beautiful! One of these days I need to get to the lighting ceremony!
Also, a few of you have asked to see a more comprehensive view of my workouts each week, since I usually just highlight a couple of them. Here’s what I did this week, if you’re interested:
- Monday: OutRun Zoo Lights (10k + boot camp stuff, 1.5 hours)
- Tuesday: 1 hour kickboxing class @ NOVA MMA
- Wednesday: this National Christmas Tree OutRun! (5k + boot camp stuff, 1 hour-ish)
- Thursday: 1 hour lunchtime power yoga class @ Edge Yoga (if you’re one of those people that thinks yoga isn’t a workout, try Mark’s classes. I’ve been doing them consistently for 1.5 years and they still kick my butt)
- Friday: a.m. 30 minute swim (alternating breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke)
Let me know if you guys are interested and I can continue to share this weekly workout quick recap on Fridays. And in case you’re wondering: yes, tomorrow is a rest day. 🙂 I’m sore! Great week of workouts!
Have a wonderful weekend! I’m taking the train up to Philly tomorrow for the day to see my college BFFs Turner & Kris (in town for the holidays from Paris, where she works <— rough life, right?!)!
