Reston Perfect 10 Miler - When high school kids organize a race (September 27, 2015)

I am not going to say this race was bad.  As a person who is such a fan of a very particular, and not often available race distance, I don't want to bad mouth a ten-miler. An truly, it wasn't bad.  It was just boring.  They shouldn't play fast and loose with the term perfect because in my mind a perfect course is pretty, or exciting, or something.  This was just a solid ten mile course beginning at a high school and ending at a high school with a tour of the Fairfax suburbs in between.  See the link with the course map: http://www.prraces.com/perfect10/files/2011/02/PRR-Reston-10-Miler-Course-Map1.pdf

There were some notable highlights that did offer some entertainment, or a change of pace.  I fell down twice.  That changed the pace.

The race seemed mostly organized by high school kids, and high school kids were the bulk of the volunteers.  As a result, there were a lot of kids in charge of directing race participants with flags.  It turns out that teenagers like to dance with flags.  Sometimes, in hilarious ways.  The sassy ways I was directed to turn did give me a chuckle. 

I was allowed to listen to music on the run, which isn't always allowed, so that made me happy. 

There was also a lot of high-fiving, and if you don't like high-fiving, I don't understand you.

There was one woman running backwards as a way to encourage her friend who was struggling to run.  I am torn on whether I would find this encouraging.  I have a lot of fast friends.  I prefer them to carry on their way and meet me at the end of the race.  The end of the race cheering is enough support for me.  I would probably find it a bit disheartening if my friend ran the entire ten miles backwards and was still in front of me. Kind of like how I've seen people juggling while they are running a race, or wearing a cumbersome costume.  We get it, you have motor skills.  Some of us are still trying to master lifting our feet off the ground without falling (and are not succeeding).

Now, I will say that high school kids know how to throw a race after party. The baked goods and candy game were on point.  They weren't going to have you just walk away with a banana and some peanut butter and call it a day. They also had good music playing, and the race ended on the high school track, which provided a dance floor for the teens and tweens of Fairfax.

Overall, not a bad race, but the high light was definitely when the race was over and I could meet my friend dear Joanna over at the Reston Town Center for brunch and shopping.  Nothing cures falling on your face twice in front of teenagers (and the immediate high school flashback) like a mimosa and a trip to Sephora.

Other than including a picture of myself and Joanna, I didn't have any other pictures. I decided a good solution to that problem would be to do a Google images search of "what do teenagers like."  I have copied and pasted a random sampling of the results in case you ever asked yourself that same question.

Bootybarre Plus - Plus what? (an overlooked early September class)

Sometimes the names of Classpass classes surprise me.  For example, the other day I saw a class entitled "Erotic Witchcraft."  That two-hour class seems like one I will avoid unless I can get a large group to participate with me. I digress.  Bootybarre Plus was kind of a sassy name.  Plus what?


The plus appeared to be a washer, dryer, country time decorations and some physical therapy equipment.  I should have anticipated the physical therapy aspect after my trusty Google Maps directed me to what looked like a medical park.  You know those dark brick strip malls with lots of offices?  They don't scream gym, but it is amazing how many workout studios are tucked away in those spaces.  Not flashy, but probably economical. 

I walked into the class and there were five girls who obviously all knew each other.  They were having a loud and detailed discussion about one girl's love life. I was not invited into the conversation. Perhaps they require more vetting before they directly tell a new person all the intimate details of their relationships.  That makes sense.  I'm sure they cherish the privacy gained by discussing it loudly in a tiny room where strangers can hear everything. 

The class started, and I looked around the room.  There was a washer and a dry stacked behind some free-standing medical curtains.  There were also some balls that looked like they were used for physical therapy (a physical therapist's office appeared to be attached), and a free-standing ballet barre, which we would eventually move to the middle of the room after the warm-up.

This place took the ballet aspect of barre more seriously than some other places.  A lot of barre places integrate yoga, Pilates and ballet, but this place was ballet heavy.  The instructor was using a lot of ballet terms.  And she wasn't using terms like plié, or other terms I heard in barre classes.  The words were totally foreign to me.

I struggled, and I don't say that as if I struggled in a subtle way.  I didn't even know what I was supposed to be doing with my legs at times.   I guess I also must have struggled with the terms "right" and "left." At one point, the instructor actually said, "well, since Kelly used the wrong leg, we are going to have to turn around the ballet barre in order for everyone to correctly work the next leg."  Okay, way to call me out lady.  Its not like I accidentally high kicked someone in the face (although that is probably because I cannot kick higher than my shins - it is actually embarrassing). 

The class was a good workout, but I won't return.  One, I live no where near the studio.  Two, I guess I am getting spoiled with Classpass because I like pretty studios now, not ones that vaguely remind me of my elementary school's nurse's office.  Three, I was obviously harshing everyones' barre buzz by not knowing my left leg from my right leg. 

The instructor  seemed alarmed at the end of class because she was running a few minutes over.  She asked everyone if that was okay.  That question was obviously directed at me as she knew the other five girls in the class very well (or so it appeared).  I am totally fine with an instructor running a few minutes over in order for me to complete a workout.  I understand that I am an adult with free will, and I am free to leave the class whenever I need to do so, even if they are not done instructing the class.  Except in Bikram Yoga.  I left one of those classes to pee once, and the instructor was livid.

Anyhow, the Bootybarre instructor proceeded to tell the class how she read a horror story on Facebook about an instructor who went five minutes over on a 75 minute class and she got screamed at by her participants.  There are a few things that I find suspicious about this story. One, a 75 minute class sounds like a yoga class.  I can't imagine a yogi screaming, especially because their zen time ran over.  Two, my instructor did not know the instructor that got screamed at.  To me, it sounds like an urban legend that got passed along.  Obviously, a fitness instructor urban legend.  Participants going nuts on you in front of everyone for running a few minutes over on a class must be fitness instructor equivalent of Bloody Mary.

More importantly, please let me know if you've ever been to Erotic Witchcraft class because I am dying of curiosity.

The flamingos were added because flamingos are neat to look at, pictures of them were in my cell phone, and I don't have any other pictures of the Bootybarre studio.  The end.