As One Fitness Review

Thanks to my partnership with Fitmapped, I had the opportunity to try a new to me studio last night, As One. Located in Columbus Circle, right down the block from the Time Warner Center, As One squeezes a tough workout into a short time by using functional, compound weighted movements with cardio bursts.

I honestly had no idea what to expect and tweeted yesterday that I was nervous – hoping someone would calm my fears. Just two days after the half marathon my legs were still a bit weary. What I discovered upon entering the studio, located 3 floors above Broadway, was an environment that was somewhere between CrossFit and personal training. 2013-03-20 19.19.38

The studio and machines were very no frill, a far cry from some of the other studios I’ve visited in New York. But, what the studio lacked in frills, it made up for in workout style and personality.

The six of us were told that we’d experience many of their more common workout moves in a 65 minute long class that would mix cardio and strength. In addition, the trainers ensured that they’d watch us for form, correcting us along the way because form is more important than repetition. I loved hearing this as Lauren, my previous personal trainer, often preached the importance of proper form.

Our warm up got each of hearts beating quickly while warming up our joints and muscles: 5 rounds of 20 jumping jacks followed by 5 burpees.

Divided into 2 groups of 3 we started to tackle the core of the class, weight and cardio. They explained that we’d go through a circuit of exercises five times, rotating to stations along the way. The stations included the following:

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Cardio: Airdyne bike and StepMill

Floor moves: lunges, squats, mountain climbers, pushups, ab roll downs, dead lifts and rows with sand bags

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I really liked mixing it up with the StepMill and Airdyne bike. While the bike was definitely a bit retro, using both arms and legs to keep the pace high was an added challenge. By the time we finished the first round I knew I’d be sweating at the end! In addition, having a small group atmosphere allowed us to gain energy from each other and instilled a bit of competition. I was happy that I could still complete all the pushups in regular style though I did slow on the last round to ensure good form.

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True to their promise, the instructors did correct form the entire time and didn’t let anyone slack. This is definitely not a class for you if you like to take it easy or chill. Since the classes don’t allow for more than 15 participants, they can easily adjust and push you harder if they think it’s needed. I like having that level of accountability in a class.

One of the things that set As One apart from other fitness classes I’ve taken in the city that make me sweat and push me such as Barry’s or Uplift was the finale. Each class ends with 10 minutes of foam rolling and stretching. We did a few new to me moves with the foam roller, each of which targeted a different part of the leg! My fatigued legs were very thankful and I felt the buildup start to move as soon as the roller moved over the knots in my quads!

Would I go back: I’m spoiled considering that there are so many fitness options within walking distance of our apartment. If Columbus Circle was more convenient to my office or home, I’d definitely sprinkle this in when I’m looking for a good kick in the pants or with a friend. Their classes range from $20-$35 depending on the class and package purchased. If you want to try it out for yourself, they have such pride in what they do that the first class is ALWAYS FREE! Grab a friend and head uptown to try out one of their 3 different classes (As One Afterburn, As One Strength, or As One Cardio) and let me know what you think!

Want to read more? Check out the rest of the As One reviews on FitMapped!

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Candice Kumai’s Tips for a Healthier Life

You guys are amazing! You know how to make a girl smile, that’s for sure! Thank you so much for the kind tweets, comments, messages, and texts regarding Sunday’s NYC Half Marathon! My hamstrings are craving some time on the foam roller and after a long day of work on Monday my mind and body appreciated 2 days off. Tomorrow I’m going to jump back into it with an evening workout at As1 with fellow FitMapped Ambassadors. Based on the RateYourBurn reviews and the images on Google, I’m scared!

But, back to tonight’s post! There is nothing I love more than hearing about a person’s health journey or the way they weave their health beliefs into their everyday life. I think you can learn a great deal about a person, their priorities, and personality just from hearing them speak about health. Tonight, thanks to the New York Junior League, I was able to listen to Candice Kumai speak for an hour on her philosophies, favorite New York City restaurants, and some of her favorite workouts. The small group setting presentation was casual enough that the true person came out but formal enough for a slide show and Q&A portion.

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This very talented 30 year old attributes much of her beliefs and practices to her Japanese heritage. In just a short time, the model turned food writer has been a Top Chef competitor, judge on Iron Chef America, authored multiple books, and is now in the new E! Television show, Playing with Fire. This new reality series marks the first time E! has tapped into food. She promises it includes tears, drama, insanity in the kitchen, and a bit of restaurant reality!

The train of thought hour long conversation allowed attendees to catch a glimpse into her daily health practices while she shared some of her top tips with us.

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  • Drink 10 cups of water per day to flush out toxins and negative energy.
  • Avoid highly acidic coffee, soda, or diet soda. Instead, enjoy plenty of kombucha, tea, or lemon water. Her favorite teas include Tazo green ginger and Yogi Detox.
  • Start each day with a positive mantra that allows you to start with a clean slate. Her favorite is to live each day as it is.
  • Eliminate processed foods as much as possible.
  • Practice the 75% rule. Only eat until you’re 75% full and eat a plate filled with 57% produce.
  • She absolutely loves to use coconut oil for cooking and as a moisturizer.
  • Sleep is key for a healthy life.
  • Make your bedroom a sanctuary by bringing candles, relaxing music, soft pillows, and magazines into the space.
  • Her favorite NYC fitness spots include Soul Cycle and Pure Barre.
  • Her favorite NYC restaurants are ABC Kitchen, Hearth, Marc Forgione, Perry Street, Marrow, Catch, Five Leaves in Brooklyn, Soba Totto, and Terroir Wine Bar.

Overall it was a great night and I left with a few great tips and a restaurant or two that we need to add to our list!

How about you? What are your tips for a healthier life?

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2013 NYC Half Marathon Recap

Last night, Bo and I prepared for the half like we do any long run or race: lots of time on the couch, plenty of carbs, water instead of wine, and an early (for us) bed time.

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We kept things very simple last night due to the fact that we were both working and/or on work conference calls most of the day. Boxed pasta, all-natural chicken sausage, jarred marinara sauce, and lots of parmesan makes for a pretty good dinner when you’re in a pinch.

Before going to bed last night, I spent some time reviewing an email Gia sent me with my race plan. Originally, when we started putting together the training plan for this half our goal for me was a 2:10 half as I haven’t run a half faster than 2:13:09 (SunTrust National Half Marathon 2011) since 2007. Back in 2007 I ran the Thunder Road Half down in Charlotte in 2:12 and before that my half PR was 2:07 (Jefferson Hospital Philadelphia Distance Run 2007). Therefore, a 2:10 would still be an age group PR for me and the fastest half I’ve run while in a healthy place. (I weighed 125 when I ran the Thunder Road and Jefferson half marathons – more details here.)

But, as we started training, she felt I had more in me and pushed me a bit harder towards the end of the training plan. Even though this round of training really only lasted 6 weeks due to lots of travel in January and early February, I’ve focused on quality workouts and have spent a lot of hours pushing myself at Barry’s Bootcamp and during my runs.

Her words were simple:

You so have this, draw upon what you have gained in Barry’s … go to the place that you go to when the treadmill is on a 10%incline and you are sprinting.

Our game plan was for me to start out slower than I wanted and once I finished the hills in the park I could cover my Garmin with fun star covered masking tape and let my body do the work. This would keep me from going out too fast since I had explicit directions to check my watch each mile in the park. I’ve killed myself too many times by going out too fast to do that again this time around. I also told myself that I’d practice the tips I preached to Liz which helped her succeed and enjoy her first half yesterday.

Since Theodora attributed her PR yesterday to sparkles, in addition to her hard work, I made a last minute decision to sport the same sparkly skirt that led to a was a PR accessory in Philadelphia this November. (Thanks Shannon for the skirt – it’s clean and ready to be returned now!)

The temperature this morning was colder than I imagined and I have never been more thankful to have a husband who runs. I convinced him to come to my corral versus his speedier group so we could keep each other warm with body warmth since New York Road Runners required us to be in corrals by 7am, though they never collapsed them as promised.

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It felt like 23 according to Weather Channel iPhone ap when we lined up but I swear it cooled down as we started running. I was definitely thankful for my good ol’ Sugoi lined tights and making a last minute decision to toss this Champion quarter zip over my Lululemon long sleeve shirt.

At 7:45 the two of us crossed the start line together and gave each other one last positive cheer. We both had goals in our mind: sub 2 for Bo and sub 2:07 for me.

As predicted, the start was pretty crowded and my body was pretty numb. I feared that I’d not feel pain due to the cold and therefore I checked my watch almost ever half mile to make sure I wasn’t going too fast. I also decided that I wanted some pump up jams for this race. With headphones in and cold wind blowing at my face I put my head down, did my best to relax my shoulders, chanted some positive mantras to myself, and decided to break this race into 2 10Ks.

  • 10K #1: Focus on my music, breathing, maintaining a steady pace, skip water stations, keep pace over Cat Hill and Harlem Hills, and stay relaxed.
  • 10K #2: Focus on finding my friends along the route (Laura and Beth), start taking water at every stop and walk through quickly if needed, remember to take a GU, cover my watch, and zone out but remember that at this point it should start to hurt.

Never ever has a plan worked so well!

Splits for reference:

10K #1:

Mile 1: 9:33
Mile 2: 9:35
Mile 3: 9:14
Mile 4: 9:22
Mile 5: 9:35 – Covered Garmin at this point
Mile 6: 9:04

I took a Vanilla Gu at mile 6.1, took a piece of starred masking tape from my band and covered the Garmin face, found my favorite pump up jam (Everday Birthday) and moved to the right side of the road in hopes of seeing Laura and Beth.

10K #2:

Mile 7: 8:52 (Saw Beth and friends)
Mile 8: 8:40
Mile 9: 9:11
Mile 10: 9:45
Mile 11: 9:28
Mile 12: 9:21
Mile 13: 9:23
Mile 13-13.4: 8:50

Clearly covering the watch worked as I let my pace drop into the low 9 and high 8 minute range. Running through Times Square was even better than I remembered and seeing both Laura and Beth was a great treat. I threw Beth my gloves as I ran past her and gave a huge wave hello. As I hit mile 10 my quads really started to scream. I feared that I was dropping too fast and after some quick math based on the time clock at mile 10 I realized that even if I used mile 10 as a rest mile to gather my breath and take a slower water walk through the station, I could still break 2:10. I did this and then as I crossed the marker to 11 started dropping the pace back to an uncomfortable yet sustainable pace. While I hoped to drop down the last mile a bit more than I did per the above, I gave these 13.4 miles every single thing I had. I fear there will be horrific pictures of me from the last quarter mile, exiting the tunnel, as I know I was making some horrible faces. I was breathing hard and pushing through just ready to be done at this point. It was so great to see some friendly faces (Jen and Liz) during the last push but after running faster than ever before I was ready to be done. 2013-03-17 09.52.38

I peeled the tape off after crossing the line and when I saw the 2:05 time I think I almost started crying.

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Damn half marathon PR you’ve alluded me for 5 years and now that I have you I’m more hungry than ever before. Who knows whether I have a sub 2 in me, especially during late Spring and Summer months, but we’ll see!

Within minutes I reunited with Bo and our friends Geoff and Elizabeth. We all had great runs to celebrate including a sub 1:57 run for Bo and a great comeback race for Liz who has been sick for the past week!

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In addition, congratulations around to everyone who threw down amazing races this weekend – there are way too many to name but it was such a great weekend for everyone whether it was a PR or a return from injury!

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