Winter. Go Away.

It's been a while... My March is not looking so full...Bleh.

Last weekend, I had a project derail my chance to run 8 miles again. This week has been better, and I'm focusing on running and biking more. Swimming will come around again. I'm just not that worried about it right now.

I've done a couple rides on my bike on the trainer recently. I want to be able to hit the roads feeling pretty good whenever this stupid weather decides to be better. Spinning classes are great, but it's quite different from the bike.

Tonight I did a ride to music and it was pretty great. I pushed and it was rough, but it felt good. My heart rate was up and never really came down, which I have a hard time preventing in spinning classes. Too much fly wheel nonsense–I look at my watch and I'm all the way back to 134 or something. Anyway, good quality 45 minutes. Short and purposeful.

This morning I ran 3.5 miles. I tried to just run strong. I managed a 9:44 pace, which I suppose isn't too shabby (for me) given how little I've been running. So that's encouraging.

I registered for the Heart Mini and have decided it's just going to be an awesome training day. No pressure, no goals. Just run and enjoy it. I haven't had the best month, so there's no sense in keeping the same goals. It's all about having fun anyway, so that's what I'll do.

Friday it's going to be 54º.  I WANT TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE.

Music Makes the Spin Wheel Go Round

Last week I tried a new spinning class on a Wednesday night. It was pretty great! Challenging, basic, and seemed like a great workout. I think there's always a slight learning curve I have with each individual instructor to understand how they pace things and label things. This instructor had us always turning "big huge turns" on the bike...while if you did as many times as she called out, you'd be at a standstill eventually. So once I understood she was making small turns, things got better.

This is the first class I've had in a long time that actually uses the music to help the ride, vs just having upbeat poppy songs playing. Last night's class was full of strange mixes and upbeat music that I didn't recognize. It wasn't anything on the radio, but I guess some sort of endurance/workout mix kind of music that has been made? It worked well for spinning. Many times we pushed to the beat, and sometimes the beat sped up and we were to keep up with it. For example, one of the last songs was 7 minutes of a weird remixed Madonna song "Like a Prayer". But other things were mixed in and it really fit for cycling.

I've always used music myself to drive me when I do my own cycling workouts, but it is music that is not only driving to me, but I like to listen to already (i.e. Foo Fighters). The music tracks she used definitely weren't anything I would choose to listen to on my own for things like driving in the car or while working. But it was perfect for spinning.

Spinning + an eventual run

The end of the week again got difficult. I think for a while I'm just going to roll with this. I have no problem swimming on Friday mornings, but getting a run in has been challenging for some reason. I've changed things up by moving the run to Saturday instead (when I also bike).

The first time I did that, it was a true "brick," where I changed as fast as I could after an hour on my trainer and started running on weird after-biking legs. This past Saturday it was more of just a bike....(doobie-doooooo)....then a run. I went to the gym for a spinning class. I cooled down in the class, stretched with everyone, etc. Then after I cleaned off my bike, I went down to my locker and changed into my running shoes, walked back upstairs, and ran on the indoor track for 20 minutes. It was interesting how much the time break made a difference with how my legs felt. I was a little tired from the class, but I didn't feel so disconnected with my legs. I guess this is just proof for how important the brick exercise is to get yourself used to pushing right after the bike.

The class Saturday morning was a good one...and crowded! I counted 35 people in the mirror. It was like a big Saturday morning group ride, except stinky. We did a "running" class, where all of our intervals involved a lot of running and pushing in position 2. I liked how short the intervals were. It wasn't easy, but it was nice to change what we were doing so often.

As mentioned above, I ran after the class. The indoor track is, I don't know, a tenth of a mile per lap? It can get pretty mind-numbing, but I still prefer it to the treadmill. It was a few laps before I settled in to a pace. Half of the track was cool (the part around the climbing wall and big atrium area) and the other half back by the basketball courts was HOT. It felt like I was running by a heater blasting hot air, and maybe that was the case since the track is up high near the court ceilings. It was a strange sensation.

This morning I haven't done anything yet because I'm getting some invoicing done. I'm going to brave the pool crowd at 11. And then I suppose I will go shopping for Thanksgiving! Running today is going to be really chilly and I'm dreading it.

Still Settling In

The end of last week got busy. Instead of running at Kingswood, I ended up riding inside on the new bike setup in the garage. I watched some Colbert Report and fit in 50 minutes of riding.

In the past, I would bring my fluid trainer and bike out into the living room. I'd set it up and pick something to watch on Netflix or Hulu+...or just listen to some music. And from the street, this is what you'd see:

I'd bring a fan out, grab a cup of water and ride. It's not a terrible amount of setup, but it does kind of take over the living room in our small house. Now everything is set up out in the garage (which is heated to some degree and carpeted with carpet tiles). I have a roku to stream Netflix and Hulu+. That is all hooked up to an old monitor and receiver. I can also plug my phone in and listen to music. It's a pretty fantastic setup for the winter, and makes it easy to just hop on my bike, since it's already on the trainer. I just pump up the tire(s), get some water, pick my media and turn on the fan. No excuses. I don't take over the house, and I can easily get a ride going in a couple minutes rather than 10.

Right now, I'm just going with the flow of things and trying not to worry about missing a workout here or there as I learn what is going to work with my schedule. I am prioritizing swimming and going from there. It's been hard to adjust to colder running weather. I love the warm afternoons we've been having, but they also tease me into thinking it's not going to get too cold. I'll be better when it's just always cold. 

I took Sunday off and did a bunch of yard work. Monday I got back to things with a 1400 yard swim in the morning and a 40 minute run in the afternoon. It started raining right as I was beginning the run. It wasn't that warm and I thought I'd have to bag it, but I stayed out there, running close to home in case it started raining cats and dogs. It never did, so I wasn't too wet by the end. Hot shower immediately!

Last night it snowed, and it was 27º this morning when I scraped the car off and drove to the gym for a cycling class. It was a really tough class! We did two sets of hill intervals and tabata. The hill intervals were 2:00, 1:30, and :30-30 where we'd increase every so often, then push the last :30. Then we'd bump it back down to one gear above where we started the previous interval and go again. I think there were 5 in each set...2:00, 1:30, then :30-:30. Then right after that, we went straight into a tabata that had about 6 sessions I think? I was toast after this entire first set...and then we did it all again. Except this time the intervals were done out in 3rd (instead of seated). My legs were getting jelly-like.

My average hr was 145, but I forgot to stop the monitor until some time during cool down. I maxed out at 170 during the second tabata (which was also when I thought my legs were going to fall off). The instructor said this ride was designed to make our heart rates go up and then back down over and over, and as I watched mine that is indeed what happened.

I'm pretty tired and need to recover well today in order to get up and swim sprints and run my 2.5 mile weekly time push route in the afternoon. Yikes! Like I said, still settling in....

Spinning intervals

This morning I went to what is now my new regularly scheduled spinning class: Tuesdays at 8:15 with Heather. And when things step up more...there is a class at 9:30 I can go to also - eek! That's not for a long time though.

I really like the instructor. She's easy to follow and I know what to expect and how much to push. Today she really focused on heart rate training, and I of course forgot my monitor. I have a really hard time remembering that thing for some reason. I still feel it was ok though, just went by perceived effort.

My legs were a little burny, which I assume is just the swimming and running yesterday, after a pretty relaxed end of last week (i.e. missed workouts). I'm estimating about two more weeks to adjust to this training load.

My achilles tendons hurt a little bit. I think this is my newer shoes. I haven't really liked them since I started wearing them. Maybe they make me strike differently? I don't know. Keeping my eye on those guys.

It's supposed to be a pretty nice day, so I might try to squeeze in some yard work. Leaves everywhere!

Spinning and Coffee and Pecans

Work is getting a bit busy right now, which is fine, but adds a challenge to the workout schedule. Luckily spinning class on Wednesdays is early...easy to fit in before work!

I was going to swim after spinning; had all my stuff packed and everything. But during class I began thinking about work and decided I'd be better off doing the workout later when I didn't feel it was so pressing. And honestly, I think the workout will be better having a break. We'll see how it goes today. I am not thrilled with the idea of heading to the gym twice in a day, which is why I have been planning to do the swim on Wednesday after spinning. But, really, I think I'll have to break it up.

I may or may not be able to get to the gym because my car died last night (something wrong with the battery connection). While G was going to work on it this morning, heading over to the lot we left it in, his car had problems: his clutch pedal lost pressure. Soooo thank goodness for our truck Big Blue (aka Dodge Dakota Fanning, Money Maker, Snot Nose and Rust Bucket). Some of those nicknames I just made up. G has that, but I'm stranded for the day...unless he gets my car running.

Anyway, the morning has been good. I made coffee when I returned from the gym, though after a spinning class, it definitely isn't necessary. I thought it would be since I was up 'til midnight working...but elevated heart rate trumps caffeine any day!