Weekend Update: Nov 5-7

It was a big first weekend of November for Northern Colorado Outdoors! Not only have we started the process of kicking off our Health and Wellness program, but we have also started to incorporate some of the activities and discussions into the group. You can look for more to come in 2011 with this Health and Wellness Program, and we are excited to be motivating changes for folks across Northern Colorado!

November 5: Beginning the day, we had a quick lunch swim at The Mulberry Pool, where we did 30 minutes of laps. Then, taking to bicycles, we commuted to Old Town where we started off the weekend on Friday with a Happy Hour Social at Coopersmith's in Old Town Fort collins. It was good to see old friends and for some of our new friends to meet our current members! With loads of laughs over delicious food, we took the conversation and the evening out to the streets where we strolled to various galleries around town gaining inspiration from local artists along the way. We started our journey at The Gallery Underground, where we saw Chelsea Glanz, Andi Rose, and others. Moving on for the evening, we visited Coco's gallery, The Illustrated Light Gallery, and Trible Court Artisans.

November 6: After waking up to a chilly morning, we postponed our morning run to later in the day. So, off we went to REI for the Team in Training Seminar. The Seminar provided good information on the program and all of the benefits for the spring 2011 season. Some of the programs included that we are considering are a Marathon in Paris and a Triathlon in Hawaii. They both look like great goals to work toward and a wonderful cause to be a part of. It turned out to be a lovely day for a run, so we met at Rolland Moore Park at 12:00pm for our longer four mile run. We made it an out and back run at a comfortable pace so that we could talk along the way. Everyone made it, and we will be upping the mileage to five miles next week! Finally, Breathe Yoga was offering free yoga classes to the public for their Teacher Training program, and we went to the 3pm class. It was a good hot yoga, flow mix class in a warm room and perfect for the end of the day. Ending the day with some Core Challenge rounded everything out. (More information on the Core Challenge is below).

November 7: Sunday turned out to be almost as nice as Saturday, but the wind blew in a small front that cooled things off and clouded the skies. It didn't stop us from meeting at the pool for another lunch swim! (BTW: Sundays at The Mulberry Pool are $2!). We got in 30 minutes of lap swimming practicing strokes and enjoying some exercise with friends. Afterward, we treated ourselves to a walk to Old Town for Buttercream Cupcakery's Gingerbread Cupcake Day. (I truly believe that part of health and wellness is not depriving yourself of things that you enjoy. Moderation is key in the success of any wellness program.) Following our visit to the Cupcakery, we headed for the first presentation by Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain. An amazing, engaging, and charismatic speaker, we were all inspired by his words and uplifted by his humor. We were all reminded about the preciousness of life and the importance of taking a light-hearted approach to it as well. It was well worth the small ticket cost and the proceeds for the event went to the Fort Collins Reads program, which supports local libraries and bookstores.

Thanks to everyone who came out this weekend and made it such a fun and active time. We are excited about the changes coming up and keep checking the calendar for more fun and healthful events!

CORE CHALLENGE (5 days per week for 30 days):
Front Plank (start w/ 10 seconds)
Side Plank - Right then Left (start w/ 10 seconds)
Torso Twists - Using Weights or Medicine Ball (as many as you can)
Plank-Ups - Starting in plan on your right side move slowly down to your elbows and then back up to plank - switch sides and do as many as you can
Boat (hold as long as possible)
Side Plank Rotation Twists (as many as you can)
Bicycle Crunches (as many as you can)

Always increasing your numbers every other time you do them.