Health – Page 4 – Tracy Tran

Health, Life

Bikram 30 Day Challenge: Day 21

Today was another class with more than 60 people. Similar to Day # 7, I almost lost it mentally and was tempted to storm out due to claustraphobia and frustration. Again I held it together. Oh how I wish this were over!

My last eight classes of the challenge are scheduled as follows:

Tuesday 6:30 pm class + 8:15 pm class with Jill
Wednesday 6:15 am class <– yes that is 6:15 AM.
Vacation in Austin Wednesday-Saturday
Sunday 2 classes 4:30pm and 6:30 pm
Monday 6:30pm class
Tuesday 6:30pm class
Wednesday 6:30pm class

The end is near, but oh my goodness these next couple of days are gonna be rough. I am a fucking mess. Legs ache terribly. I wake up, open my eyes, and feel the soreness instantly. I am no good at any of the standing series due to pain. Riding my bike, even getting up from my seat at work I am in pain. My knees are shot. My foot pain is back.

What to do? Ugh.

Health, Life

Bikram 30 Day Challenge: Day 14

Yesterday was awful and wet, so I skipped yoga. To make up for it full force today I did a double back to back (6:30-8:00pm) + (8:15-9:45pm). I thought that I was going to be tore up, but I feel fine. All I have to say is HALFWAY BITCHES. I’ve gone 15 times in the last 14 days. It’s all money from here-15 more to go! I wish I had made a bet with someone so that I could win it, but hey, just the accomplishment will be reward enough.

Tracy’s Tips for surviving a back to back:
1. Eat a light meal 2+ hours before class one. I had leftover risotto.
2. Hydrate all day (duh). I had a tiny bit of coffee around 4 to pep myself up.
3. Don’t ride your bicycle. You will end up worrying about if it is being stolen.
4. Take it easy in both sets. Sit out as often as you need to. Don’t feel the need to keep up with others. You are on a whole ‘nother plane!
5. In between classes eat a banana, take a bathroom break, and refill your water bottle.

Mostly the pains from being involved in yoga for 4 straight hours (travel, changing, etc) were mental, not physical. Feels good now! I would do it again.

Health, Work

Another Day, Another Bikram Deal on Another Social Coupon Site…

Well you know how I feel about social coupon deals for bikram yoga classes… It’s a great idea for both customer and the studio in theory (Cheap classes! Allows the studio to attract people outside their average customer base!) but the studio has to be able to handle the increase in yogis.

Here’s an example of how crazy it gets. Look at the number of people that have bought that Groupon with an hour left to go. 1,624 people. I would hate to be a Funky Door customer, because all hell is gonna break loose in that studio. That is too many damn people! Limits people, limits!

Health, Life

I Went to Sausalito and Didn’t Even Eat the Cookie

If you think physical activity and social interactions are key components of happiness, then by all means this weekend was a success for me. I took Friday off again, so I did another yoga double. It was fine, but afterwards I was toast. Saturday was beautiful, so Ryan and I rode to Ocean Beach, then made it back in time for yoga (en espanol!), followed by a blow-out housewarming party. Sunday we had planned to do a bike ride with my friend Tristan, and even though the skies were gloomy, we set out for Sausalito. The summary, in crappy phone pics:

Having a short break in the Presidio. Things were pretty smooth up to the Golden Gate Bridge. By the time we crossed over, it started getting miserable. Rainy, cold, windy, yuk! We huddled under the trees with the wet tourists, ate some fruit leather, then vowed to plow on.

I was happy that Sausalito pulled out all the stops, including providing me with my own street! Yes, that is a bike seat in my hand. Yes, I’m paranoid about bike theft!

Things were pretty dead, what with the tourist-unfriendly weather. We decided to duck into a bar and wait out the next ferry with irish coffees. There was a horrible waitress and a cantankerous jazz band in the bar, but all in all it was a great way to pass an afternoon.

On the way back we had to stop for burgers.

Because hello, it has a rotating grill thing! Look at it! Look at it! In the words of Alexis K. Tylor “It’s on fire!”

Things continued to be quiet.

Ferry ride back. Goodbye Sausalito!

Hi GGB.

We were still wet, but who can be upset with an awesome burger?

Also magical- there were gulls that basically kept circling the boat, then lagging behind, but never truly losing us. It’s like the boat had spirit animals.

Blahblahblah Alcatraz blahblahblah

HOME!

The adventure didn’t end after we made it back to SF. Ryan fell over on Market St. and Tristan got half his bike stuck in a BART toll booth. By the time we made it to 16th St, it was raining harder than ever… Whew! What a day!

Health, Life

Bikram 30 Day Challenge: Day 7

Well, they broke me. I finally had my breakdown. This one was different from all of the other yoga freakouts I’ve had in the past.

In my class today there were so many people. More than I’d ever seen before. I tried to count and it looked like 60-ish to me, but you can’t be sure. All I knew was that this was a big class. My mat was an oasis in the a sea of skin and sweat.

The things that went through my mind during my freak out:

1. This teacher is phoning it in. Her voice is killing me. I wonder if she’s having a bad day… Who cares, she should fake it. How am I going to make it another hour and 15 minutes?

2. I wonder if someone is stealing shit from Ryan’s bicycle right now. This studio really needs to get a security camera or figure that shit out. It’s in their best interest to create a safe environment.

3. Why did they raise their prices from $14 to $18 a class? That’s 29%! This overcrowded class is not worth $18. Or maybe they raised the prices so less people would come…?

4. If you’re going to do a promo on Living Social or Town Hog, you need to have the capacity to handle it. Shoving extra people into the room does not solve the problem.

5. They need to set a cap on class size. What is the fire code? Is this against the law?

6. Why are we doing this to ourselves?

And on. And on. And on. While these things were going on inside my head I sat on my mat and stared at myself.

Somehow I got over my panic attack and back to it, but the facts remain: classes have been too crowded for the last month, bikram is going to be expensive after my challenge special pricing is over, and it’s not safe to leave my bike locked up down there. Is it time to find another studio?