Monday- Spinning Race Day and a stolen workout.

Monday in spin class was the monthly race day.
It was a good one. I had a hard time talking/coaching my class. Was it the asthma stuff or was it because I was working oh so hard? Probably both !
Hill climbs, short standing run and flat roads was today's themes. The object of a race day is to keep a high heart rate after the warm up. The "rules" are to keep it between 80 and 92% of your maximum heart rate. Easier said then done my class ( the ones with HR monitors) found out. It was a good lesson for them though. I love to teach!
Totally Toned. I TOTALLY took a workout out of a magazine--either SELF or SHAPE I can't recall- and did the whole thing in class. I never do that....I am interested in the feedback I get on Wednesday. I did tell them ahead of time that I "borrowed" the workout. I am sore and I only partially did it!
Monday was a good day even though i was majorly tired all day long.

Sunday stuff!

If you are planning any races this year here is a training guide to follow:

5k( 3.1 miles) -10k (6.2 miles)= 8 to 10 weeks

Half marathon (13.1 miles) = 12 to 14 weeks

Full marathon (26.2 miles) = 16 to 18 weeks

Of course the number of weeks you need can vary from person to person depending on your current fitness level, how many miles you are currently running and whether or not you are a newbie or veteran. At any rate, ease into your training, recover and enjoy the experience!

Next on my racing agenda:

25k- May 8 ( Goal- under 2 hours. last year I did it in 2:00:39)

10k- May 29 ( PR is I am not sure of a goal yet!

half marathon trail race OR 5k - June 12

10k- June 26

Duathlon- July 11 ( IF I have a bike..haha)

Duathlon- July 17 ( See above!)

That's what I have so far. I hope to remain healthy so I can do all these races and then some!

What are your plans for the upcoming race season?

Thursday, Friday, Saturday- 2 squirts a day!

Thursday- 3*2*1 class. I was so sore and still am after teaching this one! My inner thighs?!?! No clue what the heck I did!
Friday- Spin at 5:30 AM. Interval with some heavy hills. Totally Toned. I only demonstrated today. I was pooped! Stretched for 15-20 minutes after class. I so needed it.
Saturday-10 mile progressive run. That means the 2nd half should be at race pace or something like that!
Sooo...The first 5 was around 9 minute pace I think. I can't remember! The second half was right around 8 minute pace. Not too far off from my 7:45 goal pace of the race. I had no idea what my pace was until I completed the run. It's one of the biggest annoyances I face. Ha. But today was different. I was so glad to not have a frickin' asthma attack while running this HILLY course that I did not give a rats behind about my pace. Well, not that much! Who am I trying to kid?? (I really like to know my pace-get off my back) I felt as if I had some left too, so that is an awesome feeling. I had basically figured I would be running the 5k with Matt and my daughter this year( which would not be a bad thing-don't get me wrong!). I think I just might be ok with this asthma stuff as long as I keep doing as I am told! One puff in the morning, one at night and one Singular a day = Marcia can run!

Wednesday

Wednesday-Spin day. It seems everyday is spin day around here!
It was a nice interval class today. Some longer paced standing runs and some heavy climbs.
I emphasized heart rates again today and urged the class to actually recover during the recoveries!
Totally Toned was at noon. Threw in some new stuff. Some pilates for core and some other stuff too! How's that for an explanation?!?!

I went to the docs today. Looks like I most likely have asthma! I am going to see an allergy/asthma specialist ASAP to confirm what my doc found out. I am bummed, but glad to find something out.
I have to teach 3*2*1 in a few hours...I must go and plan that NOW!
Peace out!

Tempo Run and Circuit Training.

I got to the gym late for my weight training session. i was not feeling it, so I opted to just do a circuit on the machines. It was a full body of 8 different exercises. 3 sets of 10. I have been so tired lately! I am happy that I pushed through it though.

Next on the agenda: 4 mile tempo run at running club. EEEEK!! The last time we did tempo run was when I had an "episode". No major episodes tonight, but I plan on calling the doc tomorrow just to ease my mind.

The first 2 miles was at warm up pace- 9 minute miles. The next 4 was to be at tempo. My group of 3 ladies decided to run between 7:45 and 8 minute miles. This is how it went.

Mile 1- 7:45 ( felt good-it actually felt closer to an 8 minute pace)

Mile 2- 7:45 ( I fell back a bit, but caught up half way into this mile)

Mile 3- 7:50 ( We had one big hill that seemed to slow us just a bit)

Mile 4- 7:30 ( made up for mile 3! 1 minute left to go and my breathing got labored--calling Doc!)

2.2 mile cool down at a 9 minute mile pace. All in all the workout was great. I know my tempo pace is about a 7:35, but I feel at this point in the game I would be setting myself up for failure! Maybe next week when the tempo run is 5 miles I will have more confidence. I hope to see the Doc before then too.

My husband asked me if Amara could run a 5k in May....any opinions on that?? She has participated in a 1 mile fun run last year and ran the whole thing-I think she stopped once for about 10 seconds. She also did a 200 meter race last year-she was upset it was not longer! Just wondering any opinions on the matter of her running 3.1 miles!

Monday -One HUGE hill ride

Monday. Lovely Monday.
I made up a spin profile last night intended to wake me up. It worked. It was a huge hill climb with the option of taking a recovery 25 minutes into the ride. Only a few peeps took the break-they are so hardcore-love it!
So the challenge of the class was to keep a consistent heart rate of 80-85 percent of your max heart rate no matter what the resistance was. It was a challenge, but a welcoming one I think. I had many people come to me afterwards to let me know they appreciated today's class and my coaching skillz! ( haha). This is when I explained to them how Spinning and heart rate training go hand in hand when taught correctly. What an eye opener it was for some of the participants that thought they were working to their potential, and then to have the monitor tell them otherwise. I can't wait to get my heart rate monitor again! I miss it so.....
Totally Toned was today as well. It was a good mix of things-planks, shoulders, squats, biceps, lunges and a bunch of other stuff!
It was a good day--even for a Monday!

Easy run....

I don't normally run on Sunday's. Last week and this week was the exception though. I put in 7 miles today. At a 9 minute mile pace. I was tired and sore and did I mention tired?
I watched New Moon last night. Yes, it' s teeny bopper movie. I will say that the books are so much better in every way. I found myself explaining so many book parts to Matt along the way. I am now reading Breaking Dawn-the last installment of this 4 book series.
Is this a running blog? Oh right.
I ran in Cascade today. Cascade has some treacherous hills that should not be considered a recovery run by any means. Ugh. We train on plenty of hills, but these are one of the worst ones around. Not THE WORST, but close. Most of the snow was melted by the time the run started, but not all of it. It was actually a beautiful morning. The poor birds were out and singing--they are very confused. It was in the 60's 3 days ago and then it snowed yesterday! So typical for here.
I ran with friends up until mile 3.5 and then I headed back. They all have an April marathon and were getting in 12. I thought about it. For about a minute and I might have joined them if it was a flatter course. Just being honest! My legs were pretty much toast from last weeks teachings, running and life in general. I need to be good to my body so it performs well!
I came across a sports nutrition 1 hour seminar being putting on this week. I am thinking about going. I hope I learn something new( cuz you know I know it all-LOL) and useful that will pertain to me. I have the hardest time knowing what to eat while training. I do a lot of stuff and it's difficult to figure out my best options that will help my performance etc. I hope to find some answers and I am not afraid to ask questions!

Getting Jiggy Wit' It! 5k style.

I am glad I can still be in such a great mood after my less then stellar race on Saturday!

I know that all races cannot be a PR or even close to one for that matter. But still, I want to have a good race all.the.time.

Since that is not a reality for all human beings ( yes, I will go out on a limb and make such a BOLD statement! ha) I will chalk yesterday up as my crappiest race of the season(hopefully!). For starters The Irish Jig is deemed " The kickoff to 2010 Race Season" in my area. So that just means I have a lot of races to do better in-right?!?!

Sometimes I wish not doing better affected me more-kind of. It might secretly though, my next 5k ( I hate you 5k) is not even for a few months-and I think I might be busy that day (washing my hair or something).

So back to the race- I am not sure what my deal was. Could have been lots of things or nothing. I hate making excuses as to why I had a craptastic time, but I just wish knew the real reason.

My buddies and I did a nice 3 mile warm up and strides up until the race started. I was nice and warm and ready to rumble! My first mile was under 7 minutes-I clocked it at 6:54. I was feeling kinda crappy already BUT I always feel crappy during a 5k. Nothing new here, so I noticeably slowed down, but not that much (or so I thought). I wanted to try and actually keep a consistent pace (ha! Good one Marcia). Mile 2 was an 8:04. What the what?? I was hoping for a 7:04 or something. Dang. I might have felt defeated inside. I think my race was more of a mental game then physical-maybe. My last mile I know was pretty slow. My chip time was 23:08 or something like that. Ugh. My times should be getting better NOT worse.

I would like to add that a bunch of my running club friends got PR's during this race and I am truly so happy for them. The volunteers and fans and the awards ceremony were also top notch. They had the best cake. I am not much of a cake girl, but this stuff was really good. And it's all about the cake-right?!?! Not to mention lunch out with friends afterwards! I still took away good memories and experiences from this race even though the actual racing was not the best. That's OK though. I run for the fun of it! I should want to do well for myself of course, but not let it get to my head in a negative way. All in all. Saturday was a great day!

Kind of Tired......

Kind of tired. Yep, that's me these days. My sleep has not been going so well.
Thursday- I made it to the gym somehow. I did a running specific ( click on it to see what I did!) workout the required no weights at all. Thanks Krys ( check out her blog)! It went by super fast too! Love that, especially since I was DOG tired. I might do this again next week if I feel pressed for time or just tired in general. I will keep on the look-out for more runner specific workouts and share.
I taught my 3*2*1 class later in the day and almost went for my prescribed 6 mile run...but I decided to head home and take a much needed HOT shower instead. I think it was a wise decision to skip the run. That was my Thursday. I will admit that I felt like a total slacker ( only for about 5 minutes though) because of my short workouts. I then realized I exercised for over an hour--just not as HARDCORE as I think I need to be. So this was a nice change of pace and I was soo over it before it got to be a problem.
Friday- Spin. I am kinda spun out this week. It's my own fault. I did one ride 3 times this week because it received good feedback! Lesson learned. I will tuck it away and bring it out next month for one lucky class-not all 3! After spin this morning I stretched and gossiped with a friend-mostly gossiped, but I did get in some good hip flexor stretches at some point.
Ok. So the 5k that I have not signed up for yet is tomorrow. It is causing me much anxiety too--I wonder if that's why my sleep has been craptastic all week....... Wish me luck!

Wonderful, Wednesday--I got my cardio fix and then some!

What a day. It was jam packed with cardio overload. Spin crazy today.
I am not used to this anymore. It's one thing to do a long run of 2 hours plus. I think it's because my long runs are not at a constant fast pace and there are only a few breaks of 5 minutes or less. 90 minutes of Spin--separated by 6.5 hours is a different story. I used to teach back-to-back spin classes. One started at 10 am and the other at 11:30 am. I used to do that pregnant. Why do I feel worse now??! Glad the day is over. I am thirsty and can't seem to eat enough. I guess it could be worse!
My first spin was an interval class with a few steep hills mixed in with the fast pace stuff. It was fun. My second class was a repeat of Monday's class--which I will also be teaching this Friday.
In between Spin classes I taught Totally Toned. I totally observed a lot of this class today. I was tired! It was from those darn 1000 meter repeats I did on Tuesday night--I was not recovered yet and then made it even better with the spin class.!
I am supposed to run 6 easy miles tomorrow, but we will see. If I do I will have to get to the gym by 6 AM the latest. I hope to at least make it to the gym to lift as well. What a busy week on it is not slowing down anytime soon!
Friday is morning spin class. Saturday is the race and Sunday is my long run. OY.

Tuesday --Speedy Sprints on the Track.

I was not able to make it to the gym this morning (again) for weights! My son was up quite a bit last night and was not up at his usual 7:30 AM time--that and Daylight Savings Time I am sure. I thought about doing a quick circuit while he napped ( oh right..he DID NOT nap today--lil' stinker). I was way tired anyway from hanging out with him all night. I was not sure how my 1000 meter repeats would go either. I was/am very tired. It was a beautiful day here in West Michigan. It was in the 60's at 6 PM today. Ahhhh!!! I love it.
I went anyway to see how I would do. After the 2 mile warm up I looked up my expected pacer for the 1000 meters ( 2.5 times around a standard track). It said 4:26. I decided to have that in the back of my mind and try and run a 4:36 at least. The first one seemed fairly doable...well until we had one more time left around the track. I was pooped. I should have been-- I ran that one in under 4 minutes! Oooops! I learned my lesson. We took a 3 minute rest in between intervals. Here is how the rest of the 1000's went.
4:36
4:32
4:22
4:19
4:10
I should add that my pacer was absent tonight! She actually is running a half marathon this weekend and decided to run an easy 6 miles tonight. Tuesday night speed work should be practice, but it seems it usually turns into a competition.. I can't help myself. I try to hold back, but if somebody is deliberately trying to race me--ugh. It's healthy, but I would sure be mad if I hurt myself!! The last (3) 1000's were fun and somehow easier then the first 3. I am not sure why, but I won't ask any questions. I used my inhaler tonight 30 minutes before practice. I am not sure if I needed it or if it did anything to help me, but it might have given me a bit of confidence. I did not freak out or hyperventilate at all. I had a few moments where I thought I could have, but I just thought happy things and I guess it worked! Whew. I think it's safe to sign up for the 5k now. I think I mentioned a time or 2 that procrastination is my middle name.....

Monday-Spin and a few miles on the tread.

Spinning Monday. I got my inspiration for today's class from the Power Spin class I took on Saturday. It's a good thing because the class loved it. Whew! It was a muscle tension ride. LOADS of endurance today. 1 minute steep hill followed by 1 minute of endurance-3 times total-recover and repeat!! I added a 4 minute endurance segment to the end with added resistance every minute. Talk about hard. It was good though. I enjoyed it and so did my class. I think it will be one of those love/hate classes ( it was for me anyway).
Totally Toned was at noon. Lots of abs today and core in general.
I made a hasty decision and went back to the gym later today too. I felt I had to "make up" some of the miles I did not do yesterday. I was not feeling guilty about the missed miles. I just feel I NEED to get my mileage up if I think I have a chance at meeting my goal. As I stated before I just don't feel as in shape this time around and that STINKS!! I ended up warming up for a half mile with a 9MM pace and then I did my goal pace of 7:45 for 2.5 miles. It felt good. I tried to pay attention to my breathing and it did get a bit erratic for a minute or 5..BUT I am still not convinced it's not all in my head. I plan on taking a puff on my inhaler ( for allergies) before tomorrows speed session ( 1000 meter repeats-kill me now) and see if that makes any difference at all. I hope so. I also have the OK for the race this Saturday. I still need to sign up! Procastination. Love it.

Sunday.....long run ( made into a short run)

I ran in the rain today. It was just a light drizzle and I only made it 6 miles out of my planned 10. I am not sure how fast my miles were, but a guess would be around 8:30 ish or so. I was kind of bummed that I did not get in my 10, but it is what it is!My breathing was fair. It was not perfect and that concerns me slightly. I guess I will see how Tuesday's speed session goes before I make a doctors appointment. I like to live in denial.
Not only did I not get take a much needed day off from workouts I picked up a spin class for this week. So I will be teaching spin twice on Wednesday. It's nothing i have not done before, but that was a long time ago! I used to teach 2 back to back spins twice a week. I do not miss that. I at least get a slight break in between classes ( 10am and 4:30 pm to be exact). This should be an interesting week, with no days off. I have a possible race this weekend- The Irish Jig 5k, if I can get my dad to watch the kids! I should probably ask him already.........

Giveaway WInners, Thursday, Friday and Saturday recap

It's been a while!

First the winners of the Stuffitts giveaway were contacted already: comment 5 and 3! Thanks for entering!
I have still been feeling a little bit off since my Hyper Tuesday run. It might be all in my head, but I think tomorrow will tell me for sure. I have not run since that incident. I have done 3 Spinning classes though and I felt fine-for the most past. A little tightness in my chest for a little bit, but nothing major.
Thursday: I thought it was my day off, but I remember that I taught my newest class at 4:15.
I won't have any real days off this week either. Booo! It's my own doing. I could have taken today off....but Nooo!
Friday: Spin instruction. I repeated the class I taught on Wednesday. It was still hard! I stretched for 25 full minutes after class too--ahhhh!
Saturday: Spin class participant. The class is 60 minutes, but the crazy instructor was able to start early and class ended up being 80 minutes long. It was HARD. It was great. Really. I pushed myself after the first 15-20 minutes. I had a hard time getting going for some reason, but after I did..I really got going!

Sun: 50 minutes cardio (easy)

Mon: Spin instruction/Totally Toned instruction/ easy weight circuit @ home

Tue: Run 3.5 miles/Power Yoga

Wed: Spin instruction/Totally Toned instruction

Thur: 3*2*1 class instruction

Fri: Spin instruction/25 minutes of stretching

Sat: Power Spin- 80 minutes

I hope to get back into my weights next week. I might change my program after I do some research on running and weight training. I know it's good for running (even if it was not--I would NOT give it up), but I glanced at an article that stated lifting 1 set of 20 reps?!?! Eeek. Ha. I will try and research it this weekend with all the time I have ( yea right).

Goals for the Week has a Giveaway! An awesome running outfit!

CLICK HERE if you want to win a running outfit!!!

It's super cute and I hope I win--not you! :)

Just being honset.... it's that cute.

"Hyper" Tuesday Tempo and Wednesday Spin

I would fist like to post that I did 30 minutes of power yoga on Tuesday afternoon! Who cares that the workout was 45 minutes long... ha! It was no joke. It was very difficult--in a good way of course. I am so glad it was all in the comfort of my living room. Nobody could see me--just the dog and I am sure he would have laughed if he had not been sleeping.

On to Tuesday night. Running! On tap was a 2 mile warm up with a 4 mile tempo and then a 2 mile cool down. It was the first constant tempo run of the season. I planned on running between 7:50 and 8:00 mile pace. The first 2 miles felt pretty darned great. I had 2 running buddies with me. Katie is the pacer. She is so good at it. We were averaging a 7:53 pace. I was at mile 2.25 or something and I had to stop. I am still not sure what made me stop. I took a few steps (walking) and started to immediately hyperventilate! It was ( still is) the strangest thing! I could not catch my breath. So naturally I started to panic more which led to more hyper ventilation. Awesome. I walked about .25 miles with everyone passing me wondering what the heck was wrong with me. I said I was fine to everyone though. I probably finished the tempo ( with a few walk breaks again) at an 8:30 ish or better pace. I have no idea what happened. I still felt some tightness in my chest at the end of the run and when I got home. I told the coach about it and he seemed a bit concerned. I told him I always hyperventilate during the 25k....it never fails. I get all emotional with about 2 miles left or so and can't breath ( it's all metal!!). I assured him I have no emotional ties/connections to the 4 mile tempo we run around Reed's Lake!
I wish I knew why it happened and it makes me a bit worried for the race I want to do on the 20th. If it's mental I need to figure out why and NOT do whatever it is I am doing again! If it's physical (I am sure it's not--haha) I would like to remedy it fast. I skipped the cool down and went home!

I woke up Wednesday very, very tired. I am sure it had something to do with going to bed around 12 midnight (again!!) and then being woken up by a certain 5 year old with a headache and a cough! Poor girl. So I was up worrying about her ( she was fast asleep) for almost an hour. I was up by 7 AM to finish planning my Spin class. Oh and that certain 5 year old was awake already.
Spin class went well. I had coffee. I have been "off" of my morning coffee for months. Literally. It tasted so damn good too. I had to find the coffee maker and dust it off. I had 1 filter left! WHEW!!! I would have been so mad if I didn't. So needless to say I was hyper again. Not hyperventilation this time. Just hyper-caffeinated. It was a great interval style class. I made it up while watching The Biggest Loser last night.
I did 2 minute intervals (each move was 2 minutes..so maybe 6-8 minutes of work) with 1 minute rest. There was a 2.5 minute sprint/recovery segment ( sprints were 15 seconds, recovery was 25 seconds and repeat until the 2.5 minutes was up) I think the class enjoyed that. I am not one to have loads of sprints in a row--not realistic-but oh so FUN!
Totally Toned was at noon. I made the workout up on the spot. Sometimes those turn out to be my best work. Sometimes not so much! I think today's off the cuffness (is that a word?)went over well. I hope.
So that was my day. So far my plan is to get up early and run 5-6 miles on the tread and maybe lift weights. I am not sure I want to bring my girl to the gym day care. We will see how tonight goes--we both might not get to the gym. That's OK. Her health is more important than a workout!
I guess my Stuffitts Giveaway was not a good one??? I really like it. Your odds of winning are HUGE!! It ends in about 2.5 hours!!!!

Monday-- Spin endurance and other fun stuff.

Spin day and Totally Toned.
Spin was quite the workout today. It was a kind of-- get out of your comfort zone kind of thing today. Longer endurance segments followed by a very quick but steep hill. Whew! It was all good though.
Totally Toned. I used an oldie, but apparently a goodie and added one more set of goodness to the mix. It was a packed house today ( 14 I think..the room is not that big). The ladies ( + one non-lady) were stuffed in like sardines! It's not a problem though. They all come for the workout and we make due with what we have!
I did a very low key quick circuit at home today.
I had 8 lbs weights and did ths circuit 4 times. 12 reps. It was short and sweet. I am glad I did it! It's good to change things up. This is super light for me. It was still hard!
pull ups
squats
bicep curls
wall sit
pushups
I don't feel like getting the kids ready in the morning to haul them to the gym. I knew this by 4 PM today! I also had big plans to get up at 5 AM and get my stiff butt to the gym for a 6 AM yoga class. Matt had plans of his own. Spring has sprung and fishing is on his mind. He wins this time ( life is a competition right!??!). I can easily yea right get up and do yoga on my own if I really feel the need.
I get to run on Tuesday!

Sunday..easy cardio day.

My legs were sore and tight this morning. Lack of stretching and hydration is my guess. I went to the gym with no real plan in mind. I hopped on the elliptical and did some very low key intervals as I read a magazine. Those 30 minutes flew by! I got on the rower for 10 minutes. I did my own from of intervals on here too. I then did a very easy incline walk on the treadmill for 15 minutes while I watched The Food Network. My most favorite channel. I am not sure how Brian Boitano got his own cooking show, but he is a pretty good cook and kind of funny too.
I stretched my IT Bands and hamstrings really well after my workout in hopes of feeling a bit looser as the day went on. Not so much. Monday will be here in 25 minutes. I better get to bed. Night.

14 Mile Day.

The weather was almost perfect ( for March that is) . I was actually a bit warm towards the end. I like that better than being too cold though. Even my hands were only mildly frostbitten today.
I really don't know my splits for today. It's very annoying too. I just like to know these things. I do know that the first 7 miles were slower than the last 7. I ran the first 7 with 2 nice ladies from my running club. One is training for Boston and had to run 16 so I turned around after that, turned on my iPod and was gone.
The route we ran today was most of the 25k race that I am training for. Flash backs baby! It was this race that I tried to run a sub 2 hours in. I did it in 2:00:39. Yep. So close yet so far away! My goal of course this year is to get under 2 hours, but I am feeling as if I am not in as good of shape as last year at this point in the game. Either I need to get my act together and step up my game or I will not get my goal. I don't like meeting goals if I know that I could have done better! OK. It's decided. My goal will be attained come May 8th!

Friday--a day of complete REST!

Ahhhh! I love my complete rest days!
What a busy training/teaching/mommying/wifing week for me.
All that was missing today was a nap and a massage to make it an awesome rest day! Oh well..maybe next time!
That's all I have for today. Don't forget my Stuffitts Giveaway!!
It ends on the 10th..... :)

Thursdays--Jam Packed!

Thursday~

I went to the gym to do my speed workout. It was to be (8) 400m at 1:37.
This is how it went:

1. 1:49

2. 1:39

3. 1:37

4. 1:37

5. 1:36

6. 138

7. 136

8. 1:34

I was able to recover fully between sprints. It's not the same doing this on the treadmill vs. going outside, but at 5 AM, by myself I had no other choice.

I did an abbreviated warm up and cool down. I then hopped on the elliptical for 30 minutes so I could read an atricle or 2 in the latest's Runner's World.

I went back to the gym to get my weight workout in with my friend.

3x8:

Negative Pull-Ups

Walking Lunges

Push ups

Plank Rows

Leg Press

I just stated teaching a new group exercise class on Thursdays as well. 3*2*1 is the name. After the 6 minute warm up: 3 minutes of cardio, 2 minutes of "toning"with weights/bars/body-weight, and 1 minute of core and then you repeat it all! I am a stickler for time, so when said minutes are up- we move it on to the next thing. I explain the exercises as we jump right into them. It was a good group. There were some familiar faces and some new ones too. I was a bit nervous myself. It has been over a year I think since I have had a regular (non-Spin!) cardio class. I guess it's just like riding a bike. I did fine. I did not trip or anything and my rhythm has not left me. Whew!

Wednesday Spin Day....

What a busy day!
I will spare you the details..but it was a long night that included my daughter with an upset tummy, and a very gassy dog. Girl is ok..dog, well let's just say my husband had a special something to clean up in the wee hours of the night (day really!)
Spin went well today. I did another loop style class, but it was a long loop that was only repeated 1 time for a total of 2 loops! Lots of hills and resistance today. Besides a minor song glitch ( the 2 cool down songs did not play so I grabbed a CD somebody left behind- Songs from Glee!)
Totally Toned went well too.
Short and sweet day today. I plan on getting up early tomorrow and running on the dreadmill. Ugh. :)

Speed work--800's.

Speed work day.
It went well. I owe it to my pacing buddy Katie! Thanks girl!
Today's workout was to do (6-8) 800 repeats at repetition pace( whatever that means) my pace should have been between 3:28-3:32 area. This is how my 6 went:
3:32
3:20
3:25
3:20
3:20
3:17

Not too shabby! I know I try not to push it harder than I need to, but sometimes you just do what comes naturally I think. Today I felt nice and strong and having Katie to run with helped me immensely!
We were to take an equal recovery time in between the intervals. It seemed like a long time to recover, but I am thankful for it as it let me recover fully..I was able to push that much harder.
I was still a bit sore from lifting weights Monday night. I am still trying to figure out from what exactly. It might be the fact that I took a week off from lifting?? Who knows. I like to be sore usually.
Great day today!

Monday-- at least the sun came out!

Yup, it's a Monday. My alarm clock went off late. Miles is my alarm on most day's. He decided to get up almost 45 minutes later than normal. It is probably because he was up twice last night, but that's another story.
I had spin class this morning. The good news is that I planned the class last night. The bad news is I did not have the music set yet. I assumed I would be up at 7:30 AM and would have plenty of time to plan the music. Not the case! Sooooo, after getting both kids in their chairs for breakfast I was able to find some worthy music! We left a bit later than I prefer, but all turned out well. Today's class was an interval style one. It was a loop--we did did 4 loops total. I had them try to make each loop a little more challenging then the last. The first 4.5 minutes was all standing runs...30 second standing run, 30 second rest, 45, and 60 seconds with equal rest. We then did a 20 second sprint with a 40 second rest. Last up was a 2.5 minutes climb. Repeat!
My timing actually worked out and I did not have to add any special "flair" to the end of the last loop. That almost never happens!
Totally Toned was at noon. Today started a new session, but there were no newbies today. I normally start off a bit easier for the newbs, but seeing as there were none today--not so easy! It was fun though. I think. I hope.
I went back to the gym to lift since won't be able to tomorrow-my usual day to lift.
It took all of 20 minutes at the most. Love that!

4x8:

Circuit A
Squat Jumps
Lateral raises
Plan Jacks
Circuit B
Walk out push ups
Lateral Raises
Box Jumps
Short, sweet and effective!