therunnerwithin

A few weeks ago I escaped the brutal rising temps of Florida to the lands of the Pacific Northwest to visit one of my sisters for a much needed vacation. Seriously if you have not been to Portland, OR, GO! A recent article published on ACTIVE.com, “The 10 Fittest U.S. Cities in 2015,” lists Portland in the Top 10, coming in at #7.

While I was up there I definitely got my fitness on. The first part of my vacation was definitely on the more relaxing side and trying to get over the jet lag. By day three I was ready for the fun to begin!

I attended two HIIT classes with my sister at the gym she is a member of. I have only ever attended one HIIT class previously and couldn’t complete the class due to my asthma. Having seen what my sister posts on her instagram account, I was a little nervous about attending. The workouts are more involved that the basic strength training I’ve done.

The first class I attended was on Memorial Day Monday. I think the instructor was punishing us for the holiday weekend, seriously even my sister said that class was one of the hardest workouts she ever completed. I struggled with my stamina to keep up and on pace but my sister came up with the idea for me to do each exercise and rather than follow the reps, to just do as many reps as I could and move on to the next set when she did.

Tuesday was my birthday and since it was my day I opted to sleep in and just enjoy the day!

Monday’s class must not have scared me too much as I returned for another session on Wednesday. Wednesday class was much more bearable. It was an AMRAP class and it may have only taken me one round to complete the ENTIRE workout but I did it!

Following the workout, in the afternoon we went to The Circuit Gym and climbed or as it is know “bouldering.” Let me just tell you me and heights are not the best of friends, so this was a big step out of my comfort zone. Once I got acclimated, I was having a blast and actually climbed to the tops of two separate walls twice!

By the end of it, I enjoyed myself and the experience. I will definitely be looking into some rock climbing gyms in my area.

Thursday we spent the day volunteering at what is called the “Discovery Run” hosted by the local runner store, Road Runner Sports, and then in the evening we actually got to participate in the run…more details to follow on that in a separate post, so be sure to check back in.

The great thing about the west coast in general, is the many options for outdoor activities and exercise, like hiking. Friday kicked off with a trip down to Silver Falls State Park. We hiked for about two hours and got some amazing views of waterfalls. Have I mentioned how perfect the weather is?! It warmed up during the day but humidity was half the percent of Florida’s. 

While it didn’t sound like much of a relaxing vacation, I quite enjoyed my escape from reality for several days. Portland is the a complete 180 of Florida, and I am falling more in love with the city each time I visit.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Like The Runner Within on Facebook

Follow The Runner Within on Twitter

Follow The Runner Within on Instagram