Epic FAIL. Lessons Learned ( I think).

Today's plan for my "new" training. Epic FAIL! I had very good intentions of doing my 120 minutes of straight cardio. Yup, 2 hours. The plan was to have a heart rate of 148-154 for 2 minutes and 1 minute of 167-168 for 2 hours! I am not sure if I am not used to the 5 am workouts anymore (horrible excuse), or that I could not work hard enough on the elliptical to get my HR up in time. I think I figured this out on Monday, but I just had to be sure.
First up: elliptical. I lasted 15 minutes.
Next up: Step Mill. I lasted 6 minutes.
3rd round: Treadmill. I lasted 8 minutes.
4th try: Elliptical (different model than the first) 15 -20 minutes ish.
5th try: Spin Bike! FINALLY. The last 45 ish mintues I kind of did the right workout.

So frustrating. I now know that:
#1 if the Spin room is occupied- I have to push myself on a different machine--no matter what.
#2 2 hours of this workout on the spin bike is going to suck.
#3 I will do it next week. Whatever it takes. That's how I roll.
I figured that this week and this new training will be me figuring stuff out and that next week will be the real deal. I like to make my own rules as you can see. I also plan on getting my eats in gear next week as well. If I want this HR thing to work I also have to fuel appropriately. I am burning a minimum of 500 cals ( that's my low estimation) a day through exercise. Today for example it was about 900 give or take a few. That's a lot and not normal for me. So I need to fuel the right way ( cookies = not the right way--dangit). I have not felt too hungry, but I can already see some changes in my body and it's only been since Monday. It's mostly water I know that, but still. I don't want to be a skinny chick with no energy. Not good.
Sooooo, after that lesson on HR and pushing myself I had to venture back to the gym to teach my Spin class. It went well, and I was not as pooped out as I thought I would be. Probably mental. I am pooped now. I am also very sore from my first personal training session. I hope to do it again on Monday. I am on my own for weights tomorrow though.....hope I am not as sore and tired. Off to FUEL ( homemade pizza night). Yum. * picture of Miles--he must be pooped too......or he just likes to sleep in the hallway at night.

Monday-Spin, Weights, elliptical. Tuesday-Active recovery and yoga-yup, yoga!

Monday- Race Day Spin today...... I used a repeat class and revamped it a bit. New music and a few new moves and viola. New class. I used my new HR parameters as well. I like having something that makes sense finally!

Totally Toned was next on the list. I usually sit it out after race day and today was no exception! It was a fun class to instruct, I was able to incorporate the exercise stability balls in today's class for some variety. I hope to do this more often this session. Lots of laughs were had!

So that was my classes for the day. With my new training I am not to count my class instruction as a true workout. Awesome.

I headed back to the gym after getting the girl from school to weight train with Ryan. It was a lot of fun. Not overly difficult, but I am not complaining. I have not lifted in months (regularly).

He had me throwing an 8 lb. medicine ball overhead--let it bounce no more than 1 time and then do it again for about 8 passes. Walking lunges with medicine ball rotation, 1 leg squats, 1 leg hamstring curls with the stability ball, push ups, pull-ups, jumping lunges, BOSU push ups + burpee, TRX rows and, and, and. Whew. Oh, we ended with core. I loathe working my core, but I know it will only make running as well as cycling and just about every physical activity easier!

After that torture, it was time to torture myself with my first prescribed workout- It was called Threshold 3. I had 5 minutes of intervals for 60 minutes total. I thought for sure I would stop at 15 minutes in. By minute 25 I found my groove and there was no stopping me now until that darn elliptical said 60:00complete! Ugh. It was pretty hard. Thankfully, I only have to have my heart rate up super high ( 167-168) for 1 minute. It took me about 35 seconds to get it up that high ( I was at 154 at the time). So I need to work on that next time- I was not working hard enough apparently. Gah!

That brings me to today (Tuesday!). My active recovery day! Yay! I got up at dark thirty to hit the elliptical again. My goal was to keep my heart rate between 132-142 for 60 minutes. Mission complete! I averaged 137 beats per minute for the duration. I don't get bored surprisingly. I think it's because I am constantly looking at my Heart Rate monitor --time pretty much flies by that way.

Once at home I actually did some yoga/stretching for a whole 45 minutes! Let's see if I can continue this. Twice a week would be ideal, but I will shoot for once a week for now.

I will be instructing my New Mom's class in a few hours, but I think it will be mostly a cardio day for them on the machines and track and core work and stretching is the plan so far. Well, that depends on if we have a tornado!

Saturday-taking it easy!

Saturday- It was a very easy day. 45 minutes or so on the elliptical-not letting my HR get past 150. I read a lot. It was nice! I had to take it easy because I am taking a metabolic test on Sunday (today) and was not to push myself the day before the test. I am kind of nervous and excited. The test will be hard! I have to go all out on the bike so I can get my true HR biking parameters! Yahoo..finally. I hope I don't suck! I have not eaten anything since 11 pm last night and can't eat until after my test (noon today) T-minus 2.5 hours. Please hurry up. I love to eat. I miss food.....
I will be teaching a 90 minute High Intensity Spin class that starts in a few weeks and it will be all HR based--very interested to see my results.

I also have a Race Day planned for tomorrow's spin class where I can do my first "test" using my heart rate numbers.

Tuesday and Wednesday Recap-- Elliptical sessions and Spinning....

Tuesday- The elliptical and me are attached at the hip lately. Nothing else in the gym seems appealing at this time. SO that's what I did...about 30 minutes on the elliptical before I met with my new mom's group. I put their butts on the elliptical this time for 20 minutes and then 2 laps around the track. We moved it to the studio after that for some weights and core work.
I try to do something different each session- we use the Body Bars this time. I made them ( OK, suggested) use heavier bars and dumbbells this time. A few of them mentioned that they want arms like me...I assured them 1-2 lbs weights is not how to accomplish that......
We went through 2 sets of 12 reps:
Squat/lunge sequence
1 arm rows
----------------------
front squat
lat pull downs
---------------------
triceps exts.
and about 5 minutes of straight abs/core
--------------------------------------------
I can see a lot of improvements each week (attitudes and effort)-whew!

Wednesday- 30 minutes on the elliptical with a HR between 150-159.
Spin class after that. Strength workout today--long hill intervals and new music = successful and happy class. One girl mentioned that she thought she was gonna hurl--not my mission, but she was either working at her max HR for a while or is coming down with something!
That's it for today-I have a PT client this evening.

Thursday

Thursday~
Some elliptical, some weights and a spin class was on the agenda today. 20 minutes on the elliptical and about 6 upper body exercises to be exact ( chest press, shoulder press, bicep curls, triceps ext. and up right wows) I guess that's only 5--close enough!
Spin class was good. I decided to keep my heart rate in the 150 beats per minute range, because my body was kind of tired. I think it's more because I have gotten broken sleep all.week.long. (thanks Miles). I really need a nap or a massage or a nap after my massage! (I like to dream big-what can I say?)
Feeling a little less sorry for myself after my vent/rant post yesterday. It's healthy to do those posts sometimes. I swear. It's proven! I hope I don't do that too much though..I am sure it's proven that that is not helpful!

Tuesday- nice and easy!

Wednesday- I took it fairly easy today. I am sure the 1300 cals I burned on Sunday have something to do with it! I did a nice easy 35 minutes on the elliptical.
I had my new moms class after that. They did a treadmill hill climb for 15 minutes and then we headed to the studio for some weights. I did not let anyone use less than 5 lbs today. Those 1 and 2 lbs were not doing anything! I was not so easy on them today being that it is week 5 and they noticed! They pushed themselves today and they noticed! I was pretty much non-stop with the weights, planks, mountain climbers, squats...you name it we did it. I told them to expect to be challenged even more next Tuesday!
Amara is well on her way to getting in her 25 miles before the 1.2 mile "marathon" race this Saturday. She hit mile 20 today-- the map is hilarious to me. Its her running up and down the streets over and over. I was on the corner so I could watch her and Miles at the same time. Miles was not feeling going all the way around the block today! She is a trooper.

Saturday!

Saturday~
Kind of a hurried workout today.......

Elliptical for 35 minutes..I tried to keep my HR steady ad not to drop below 150 bpm.......I pretty much did that.
I then hopped on the treadmill and did a 30:30 interval...The mile ended up being in 8:30 which is not too bad for interval style- I guess. I then walked for about 8 minutes or so on an incline still trying to keep my HR at 150. My Garmin says my avg. HR for my whole workout was 147....close enough!
I have a big road bike ride planned for tomorrow...the weather should be AWESOME...high of 77*!!! We hope to get in 50 miles..probably tack on a few more for good measure--maybe!

Tomorrow is the Chicago Marathon. Good luck to everyone and I am looking forward to reading all of your race recaps!

Tuesday -intervals and NO Spinning ( I ran) ( what?!?!)

Tuesday~ Well on Monday night I did do the isometrics workout. It's no joke folks. It was a killer and it only took me 15 minutes (not including my 3 minute mini warm up). I did this while watching my recording of Desperate Housewives ( love this stupid show). SO I do recommend this workout especially if you are always crunched for time or need something different to challenge your body.

Ok so I made it to the gym on Tuesday. I did some pretty intense intervals on the elliptical. 2:1 ratio with a 4 minute warm up. 2 minutes hard and 1 minute to recover for 25 minutes.
I then moved to the treadmill with no plan in mind. I walked for about .25 miles and then I ran for a full mile. Woohoo. I think you know you officially miss running when it felt good to run on the treadmill ( in beautiful weather). I need to figure out how to get my butt in the great outdoors again and RUN. There are a few smaller 5ks and 10K's this fall that I am looking into doing--well 1 or 2 hopefully if they are close to home.

After cardio on Tuesday I had my New Moms class. They ( most) came ready to work. I had them complete 1 mile on the track and was happy to see that most of the group Incorporated bouts of running/jogging. We then hit the weights --walking lunges anyone?? ( 1 participant asked me if I hated them as we started set #2---ha. )
No spin for me today- I missed it a little, but it's good to change it up-right?!?! Yes, it is!

Great start to the week!

Sunday~ I asked my dad to come over so I could get a workout in. I am so glad he lives down the way ( 10 mins) and said YES!

I went in without a real plan. All I knew was that I wanted to lift upper body and do cardio.
I got on the elliptical for 15 minutes and then did 4 sets of 10 reps:

Lat pull down
Push ups
Up right rows

Cross/Arch Trainer cardio for 15 minutes
and then 4x10:

Shoulder Press
Bent over Rows
Biceps Curls

I ended with an incline walk on the tread for 15 minutes.

This was actually a fun workout and very different from what I have ever done before.
It made the lifting portion go by super fast! That is why I added a 4th set. Even the cardio went by fast. I was able to push myself a bit harder knowing I only had 15 minutes to do it.
With the weights I went from exercise to exercise with no breaks--I then took a 30 to 45 second break before beginning the next set. Whew! I might try this on Thursday when I plan on lifting legs....we will see though!

Crazy for Cardio and Core!

Tuesday~ I ventured on the elliptical for some easy cardio for 35 minutes. Long and short intervals for the most part.
I am kind of over lifting weights. I am not sure why. I did a made up core workout though and I am sore today. It took me about 20 minutes to do 3 sets.

Walking alt. lunges + med. ball rotation
side bends (pilates ball) 10x
dumbbell swings ( 2 styles all in a row) 20x
plank hold 1 minute
jump rope 150 revolutions.

It was kind of fun.

Running club was later. We were to do a 2 mile warm-up : http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34662706
3 mile tempo run. My attempt at 8 minute mile pace. FAIL. Ugh. Well...I did an 8:05 for the first mile. I also got to practice my panic breathing during the run. I am very frustrated, but I know I have to practice it do learn how to get through it. Saturday's 10k WILL be interesting fo sho: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34662699
1 mile cool down: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34662692
Oh, after class...I bought a running skort/skirt thing. Ha! I will test it out tomorrow morning.

Wednesday: Spin class. Endurance day. It was rough!

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.

Saturday-- should have stayed in bed today!

I was as reared up to go as I could force myself to be this morining. I knew what i had in store. 5-6 1 mile tempo runs on the treadmill with a 60 seconds rest in between. I also had a time limit as Matt has to work today.
I did a mile warm up at an 8:30 pace. After that I stretched for about 3 minutes or so and then I was off. My first tempo mile was at 7:35 pace. I felt pretty crappy at the half way mark, but I finished. I took the minute rest and did the next mile at a 7:30 pace. I figured I wanted to get done already. Now on to mile 3. This is where it went sour. I did it in maybe a 8 minute pace. It felt like I was going way slower. It was a total struggle too. I think I did a whole mile, maybe it was a bit short. I took my 1 minute break...and turned it into a 5 minute walk break! yikes. I was done. FAIL! Oh well. I was ticked off then, but now I realize I should have probably taken the day off or done a low-key type of cardio and saved the speed nonsense for Sunday! Too late. I will (most likely) take tomorrow off completely. I almost went home after my pitiful attempt at speed, but of course I did not. I only did 20 minutes on the elliptical though. What a day. We all have our bad days from time to time and today was my day!
Hopefully the rest of my day goes well....(Miles is potty training, and so far..we are batting 0!)

Friday!

All done for the day!
Spin was this morning at 5:30 AM. Small crowd of 10 only today. Mid winter break is on so I hope this is why the "regulars" sat this one out!
I repeated my Wednesday class with a few changes in music selection and I also changed a few of the intervals in the ride. It went over well. I basically took out the jumps and made them 15 second standing/seated runs. Which is essentially a jump, but a little different! Ha. I don't particularly care of having jumps in my classes, but I add them in for variety. I took them out for today's ride, because I had another participant express her dislike of jumps! Of course she did not show up today! That's cool though, it made it a brand new ride for me. I did my best to take it easy because I have my 5k tomorrow morning. My heart rate did get up to 166 at some point, but the average was a cool 144. I did it! Well..this avg. was also from my 20 minute elliptical ride I did after class....but still. Not too shabby! If I would have to guess, my HR avg. for spin was at least 150.
The elliptical ride was nice and easy. I just did not feel like heading home yet. I wanted to watch some TV! I have big plans of perhaps stretching or even doing some REAL yoga. We shall see though!
OK...race day tomorrow. 5k baby! We might even go to IHOP ( I loooove me some pancakes) after the race!!!

Recap of Sunday and Monday

Sunday and Monday.
Pretty much standard I think.
Sunday I did long intervals on the elliptical for 45 minutes and walked on an incline for 10 minutes. Nice and easy. I stretched for about 10 minutes.
Monday was Spin. I taught a strength interval today. There were no given recoveries today. I told the class to take them as needed! I let them make today their own. Some people love that, some hate it! Those that hate it feel they need more direction etc. I totally understand that. I am the instructor. I am there to tell them what to do! Or every once in a while I can guide them on their own and take their workout to where they want to go. It can be based on what their bodies are able to handle that day--or not handle for that matter. So anyway--like to hold a class like that every now and then. It's fun to see someslackers participants taking it way easy ( it's easy to spot at times) vs. the ones that are pushing to their max ( at times PAST their max). It was fun. People clapped. I was fine. Ha!
Totally Toned was at noon. We did a lot of giant sets of biceps and some fun things with the exercise bands today. Lots of frowns ( the good kind) today.
It was a good day.

Thursday's( repost) and Friday Spin!

So yea...not sure what happened to my post yesterday. Strange.....

Anyhow......

I did the circuit from Tuesday only 3x8 this time and we threw in some bi's and tri's too.

I decided to take the day off from cardio--so for me that meant I only did 15 minutes of the elliptical while pushing pretty hard! Ha! I can't help myself. I had time to spare might as well get the heart beating--right?!?!?!

This morning ( FRIDAY) was the first time I taught the 5:30 AM Spin class. It's new to the schedule. There were a few empty bikes, but lots of new faces. I decided to teach my Wednesday class again because there was a spinner from my Monday class. Did not want to make her repeat the same class again.

It went over well. Lots of jumps. The last set was 6 minutes. Whew! I have to teach Totally Toned at noon as well.

I made an impulse purchase yesterday. My GPS is on the fritz and I REALLY want need one!! I went to the sporting goods store and found the Garmin FR 60. To make a long story short..it's not actually a real GPS. It does track time/pace/distance etc. but it does not need a signal to do so. I have to calibrate it. If you are a runner then you KNOW that we are anal beings. I want the exact pace/dist. etc. Soooooo....I will try it out on my long run on Saturday. I love everything else about it though. The heart Rate monitor capabilities as well as the millions of other bells and whistles--are awesome. The owners manual is 48 pages long for Pete's Sake!

I think I shared my Spin class activity too. Love that!

I hope to have a good report back on this handy gadget tomorrow or else I will have to take it back and be heart rate monitorless and GPSless again! Booo!

Sunday Slacker....Monday cardio session( NOT Spin)

Sunday was a forced day off. There was just not enough hours in the day to get my butt to the gym.
Monday I was up early with cardio on my mind. I used the rower again for about 15 minutes and then did the elliptical for about 45 minutes. It was a steady state kind of thing and I only really pushed the pace for the last 10 minutes.
There was no spin for me today. My son had yellow boogers and the daycare at the gym frowns on that. Soooo , I had to find a sub. It was a nice break though. I will be back at it on Wednesday when his boogs will be clear! HA!
I taught Totally Toned and kept the class on the floor the whole class. Core was on my mind today. It will be on theirs tomorrow and the day after--I worked those hips like mad today! They were complaining and moaning and begging me to stop! They loved it.

Tuesday-weights-cardio and core

I met a friend and we did a quick full body circuit training today. It was fun.

3x10

Squats
Pull ups

Step ups
DB Chest press

DB Shoulder Press
DB Bent over flyes

Core:
Roll ups 4 sets of 10
Planks with bosu 30s x4
Hip stuff 3 sets of 15

Cardio:
Elliptical
30 minutes steady state

That's all!!

Friday and Saturday recap

Friday~
I don't think Christmas is an excuse not to workout! If you can fit it in your day without making anybody mad..then do it! I was able to fit in a sweat session while Miles FINALLY napped and Amara was busy with everything!
I was at my in-laws house and they have a nice little gym area set up in their basement. I chose to spend my time on the elliptical doing a nice steady state cardio session with a few hard hills thrown in there every few minutes. I stayed on that thing for an hour. Ugh. I could not go out and run due to the freezing rain! This was the next best thing I guess. It was not so bad.... I had my new iPod and am still trying to figure things out....... I don't like to read instructions!
I figure I burned off calories to equal 7 of the 30 cookies I inhaled--better than nothing!!
Saturday~ So far I am making this my day off. The day is not over, but I am not seeing a workout in my future for today. That's cool though....

Tuesday-weights-cardio and core

Today I totally had no clue what to do, but sometimes those days I crank out my best workouts!
I started with my weight workout to make sure I got that in without feeling rushed.

3x8 including a warm up set of 10-12 reps

Lat pull down 75#
Leg Ext. machine 65 and 75#
Chest Press machine --??
Glute machine-- 75 and 85#
DB seated shoulder press-- 20#
DB step ups-- 20#

Arch Trainer- 8 minutes
( had to go a meet a client quick to give her something!)
Elliptical- 10 minutes increasing resistance

CORE-
2 sets
Hip Circles Right leg( both directions)
Fire Hydrant lifts
Plank Hold
Repeat on left side

2 sets
5 roll ups
lower body ext.
upper body ext.
full superman's
15 each
5 roll ups

Stretching for about 5 full minutes! ( that's good for me!)
I still plan on running later and will report back after the run.

Sunday.....weights and cardio!

Sunday is usually hit or miss with me and the gym. Today it was a hit. I needed it too.
I ran on the treadmill and i did not hate it entirely! I planned on going for 6 miles, but am happy with the 4 I put it. I have to get used to running on it again I guess. The good news is I had my new iPod Shuffle to use today!! Merry Christmas to me! Matt usually gives me my gift early. I am not complaining! It's sweet! After the 4 miles I did a funky weight workout. No rhyme or reason, just needed to lift something!
3 sets of 10:
Bent over flyes
DB Incline chest press
Squats
Lunges
Elliptical intervals for 20 minutes. Hard ones too. I was whooped!

pull ups at home: 5x1 ( yahoo...finally!!) 4x2, 3x1
I was pretty pumped since this was after lifting at the gym.
10 minute pilates abs. It always kills me.
Stretch.
Not too shabby today.