Ahhhh, Friday. I have class on Thursday, so I have one marker of what day of the week it is. I typically study through the weekend, so I give myself Friday afternoon to take some time for self-care. Right now that means writing here! And I wanted to do a little Peloton review—of both the bike and the app.

I’ve written a lot here about the heavy emotions I’ve felt during the pandemic, but I want to write more about how I’m managing them (outside of processing them with my saint of a therapist.)

WORKOUTS! My OG coping skill, before all the ones I learned in therapy.

Y’all, I caved. I bought a Peloton. (If you are thinking of it, this code gets you $100 off: 8P95DZ)

An Aquarius at heart, I am reluctant to join most bandwagons, at least at first. Everyone loving something is a good reason for me to not.

But then there was a global pandemic that locked me in my house, and a chunk of change that appeared back in my bank account after my canceled school trip to Japan.

I’d been kind of thinking of buying the bike even before this, though. I’d noticed that my legs still had muscle memory for running but my cardio just wasn’t there, and I wanted another source of cardio. WELL I GOT IT NOW.

And I’m so glad I did. During these days when virtual connection is all we’ve got, it’s PERFECT. I love high-fiving randoms on the leaderboard, I love the ability to ride with friends. (Charlie and I did a ride “together” the other day and even video chatted at the end! It blows my mind I can work out “together” with a friend 5,000 miles away.)

Fun fact: I first tried Peloton years and years ago before they even opened. I have always loved the bikes and have always said they ride like butter, and this has not changed. (Fun fact #2: they aggressively tried to recruit me at one point to run their social media but they were still tiny and I was afraid to take a risk on a smaller startup than DailyBurn. Oops.)

But!! Even if you don’t have the Peloton bike, if you have another spin bike at home, you can still just get a digital subscription (and they are doing a free 90 days right now!) and watch on a phone or tablet. I did this when I was in treatment.

Some of my fave instructors: Robin, Ally, Hannah, Cody (omg he’s so adorable).

My username is theodorable211 if you want to follow me!

And speaking of the app, I’ve been doing a virtual run club with my friends!! At the beginning of the week, we pick about four running workouts—typically a 20-minute fun run, a 30-minute fun run, some kind of 30-minute intervals and a 45-minute longer run for the weekend. My running motivation has been low for a while, so knowing that my friends are doing this workout—and that we’ll talk about it afterwards!—is excellent motivation for me. Some fave running instructors: Robin (I just love anything she does, really), Becs (cutest English accent), Rebecca, Matty. AND I can feel my running getting easier—both because I’m doing it more and because I’m pushing my cardio more on the bike.

I said this the other day on my IG, but for so long my workout mindset has been: I can’t. I’m not in good shape, etc. Which is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Of COURSE your workout is going to suck if you think that way. But having my workout already picked out gives me less time to think and get in my head. I feel like I’m getting stronger and have moved into an “I can” mindset, and it feels good.

A lot of people are picking up new hobbies right now, but running feels new to me right now—I’m excited about it all over again—and that feels really good. It is so good to have as an outlet right now.

As long as I’m waxing poetic over Peloton and their app: they also have great strength, foam rolling and yoga classes. For yoga, I adore Kristin McGee. I’ve known her since way back in the day (she used to have a blog!) and she is just the sweetest, and she’s a very smart yoga teacher.

Speaking of yoga, I honestly don’t have more free workouts to share right now that I’ve done (but here’s a good list), except for my fave yoga teacher, Danielle Zuccarelli. I love her for her New Yorker-in-California vibe. If you follow her on IG (linked at her name), she does free IG Live classes sometimes.

What about you? How have you been coping? What kind of workouts are you doing right now?