Friday and Saturday ( Spin class #8 and #9 for the week) DONE!

Friday~ Spin in the AM-what else?!??! I had an almost full class. According to the bike computer we rode almost 13.5 miles To be honest, I have no idea what style of class I taught--being that it was class #8 for the week--they all seemed to get lumped together. I do remember feeling extremely dry and exhausted when I woke up. I was so dehydrated from the night before. I drank lots before bed too, but apparently it was not enough. My legs were pretty much shot too.
Totally Toned at noon. I had 2 new people and I usually join in when this happens- not today though. I was too tired and sore for that! They both did perfectly well too. I was able to demonstrate the moves and help them when necessary. I was too pooped for much else.

Saturday~ Power Spin at 7:45am.....or make that 7:30am! Great. I had a FULL class and the instructor I was subbing for ALWAYS ( so I was told) starts class at 7:30--even though the schedule clearly states 7:45. So I waltz in at 7:28am....they are already on the bikes ( my friend opened the door as she was getting nervous that I was not going to show up). I started the music and they were off. I excused myself of my tardiness and they were fine with it ( to my face anyways). Class was pretty darn awesome. I "borrowed" the workout from an online site to get the idea. I changed it slightly but not much. The borrowed profile was a tad more difficult than what I was looking for ( maybe if this was class #2 of the week and not #9 I would have done the tougher version). On a good note- I taught off the bike for a moment...it was breif, but I did it! It will get easier the more I do it I am sure. It was a nice little break. I was able to coach the class and walk around and look at form from a different angle. Did I mention that it was a nice little break?? We road about 25 miles in class today. So glad to be done with my craaaazy week!
I know my butt should take a full day of rest tomorrow, but so far I plan to do very light cardio ( my only excuse is that I have not been able to do my own thing at all this week, so tomorrow is my chance!) I got a new library book and I can read that or a magazine or watch TV while keeping my HR in Zone 1 ( recovery baby!!). There is the yoga that I NEED to do weekly as well. Hopefully I get to do something though.

The rest of the week!

Thursday~ Active Recovery and weight training. I needed the recovery. I was pooped!!! I tried to lift weights before the cardio session. It did not go so well. I got though this circuit:

3 x10
Lat pull down
Biceps Curls

(3) 30 second planks with 15 second rest between.

3x10

Shoulder press
Squats

planks again.

So as you can see, this was not much of a full body routine, but I am glad I just did something. My legs were so fatigued!

I did my cardio on the elliptical (duh) and walked on an incline for about 15 minutes to finish it off. Whew. That's all for Thursday!

Friday~
Zone 3 Heart Rate for 1 hour. My Zone is 154-167. I averaged 158 for the duration. I started on the treadmill and ran 2 miles! It's been awhile. I then hopped on the elliptical and then finished off on the treadmill again and ran 1.5 miles. It was hard in the beginning and then the feeling past and I was in my groove. It felt pretty awesome--especially when I was done!

Late that night I had to teach Spin- I kept my HR in Zone 3 ( 142-154) with a 149 average knowing I had a nice long recovery on tap for Saturday.

Saturday- Active Recovery for 80 minutes! Mission Accomplished! 80 minutes on the spin bike with an average Heart Rate of 138. Aaaaah! I am sure my body needed this. I am not good at taking a whole day off without doing anything so active recovery is right up my alley!

Sunday is to by my day off from activity..and it might be. Or I will try to go to a yoga class to help this aching body.
All in all this has been a great week. I can't wait to see how next week goes.

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.

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!

Saturday- Recovery Spin

Shhhh! Don't tell the instructor! The name of the class was Power Spin. That means POWER for 90 minutes! My average heart rate was 140 bpm. Power? Not so much. I am totally fine with that too. I needed to move today, but I also needed to be smart about it. It has been a long week for me and this morning was really just what I needed. I still knocked out 600 calories- not too bad for a recovery day. The class itself was a very good endurance profile. Those are tough classes and to make it 90 minutes is torture! The kind I usually embrace. Not today though. That is what makes Spinning such a great class. You can make each and every class your own and get out of if what you want. No pressure!
After Spin class I actually stretched in the warm pool area for at least 10 straight minutes! It felt really good. I think a massage and a nap would fit in nicely today too. It's not going to happen, but it would be nice nonetheless!
Happy Saturday!

On the way to meeting my goals.....(progress so far)

*Sunday-Saturday

**Actual:
Miles: 12.26
Yoga: 0 minutes total

Weight Training: 2 sessions

Road bike mileage: 21.44 (goal attained!)

Goals:
Miles : 20

Yoga: 60 minutes total

Weight Training: 3 sessions

Road bike mileage: 20

Ok, so I did meet all my goals. I actually did worse than I thought I would do. Maybe I was too ambitious? Too tired? Or maybe the goals were just too steep since this was not a typical week for me? I think it was a mixture of all of those choices!

I am not even sure I can make goals for this week ( lame) since I have no clue if I am doing the duathlon this coming Sunday. So that in itself makes it hard for me to plan ( lame). So I will post some maybe goals I guess? ( lame). I will call them tentative goals I suppose- I may or may not revise them as plans come about. Good enough. I can adapt. It's like my middle name.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday - OFF. I kind of feel weird about that. We did walk a little bit during the the trip, but not as much activity as I am used to.

Goals:
Running Miles : 15?

Yoga: 60 minutes total

Weight Training: 3 sessions?

Road bike mileage: 15?

Saturday spin and that is ALL.

Well the weight training from yesterday settled in nicely today. OUCH! I am a sucker for pain.
I got up early to teach Power Spin- this time I taught Stage 16 of the Tour de France. It was basically one ginormous hill climb. It was a beast. It was tough, hard and fun. It was a 75 minute long class. I had big plans for myself today too--I had planned to run in the 8k this evening. After waiting around all day ( not literally--I mean I have a husband and 2 kids here), I decided at around 3 pm or so that I was not going to do the race. Letting the weeks workouts settle in after teaching spin so early- racing about 10 hours later did not seem like a great idea. I was slightly bummed, but I felt I best rest since my body is tired and so am I. I don't think I will regret my decision in the morning. I know that this week's training (class, workouts, running and hopefully getting the bike on the road) will be jam packed. I also need to make sure my nutrition and sleep are on the up and up this week as well.

Weekly wrap up:
Miles ran: 6
Road bike: 0
Yoga: 0
Spin classes: 4
Cardio machines: 90 minutes
weight training sessions: 3
-----------------------------------------
I am still not making much progress on the biking mileage or yoga. Dangit!
And my mileage this week for running is pretty piss poor to say the least. It's a good thing I got up and ran the little 3 miles on Monday morning or it would have been even worse!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals for upcoming Sunday to Saturday.
I have to be realistic here. My husband and I are planning to be out of town Friday to Saturday evening. That means I will be skipping another long run with the group and somehow need to do it on my own.

Miles to run: 20

Yoga: 60 minutes total

Weight Training: 3

Road bike mileage: 20

I hope I am not getting too cocky with these goals! I think it will help me to get it done though.

Spin, spin and more spin!

Friday~ Early Spin class. That was all I did! (well Totally Toned was at noon and all I did was bark orders and I did the side planks-slacker!)


Saturday~ No running for me today. I was able to sub the Power Spin today. I was sad to miss the run until I woke up...to rain! I was GLAD to be indoors working hard instead of outside in the rain. It was a race day too. 1:15 minutes to be exact. I did a Spin class rendition of The Tour De France Stage 15. It was bananas. So very hard. I get caught up in the excitement of some of the yelpers in class and really pushed myself to utter wooziness on the bike. Good thing I did not fall off. One Stage 5 hill was about 12 minutes long. Ugh. The class did awesome though!! It can be intimidating subbing a class that everybody loves. I will say it was nice to know that they requested me as the sub--I guess they like my music! I'll take it!
I was so hungry after class. I am still doing the cleanse and wanted so badly to veer from the specifics of the diet, but I held strong and followed the rules. I feel good!
*If I am lucky, I hope to get in some running miles on Sunday....I sometimes forget that is why I am here! ;-)

Weekend wrap-up

Saturday~ What a great day!! I made it to Power Spin in the early morning. 60 minute class of powerful strength intervals. I will be borrowing this idea for one of my classes this week. Fun stuff!!
After that, my friends and I headed outside in the beautiful weather for a nice and easy 6 miler. I would post a link, but it's taking too long to load for some reason. I know...how sad. haha!
I was pretty much tired after all this! It was fun though. The good weather always rejuvenates me.

Sunday~ Road cycling!!! First time out on my borrowed bike. It's a nice bike too! It's a touch too long, but I can't complain! My friend and I made it 22 + miles in under 1.5 hours which is about 15/mph. Not speed lightening at all, but I will get there!! It was a great day for a ride. This Michigan weather is finally shaping up!
Today is my birthday-woohoo!

Off day and The Day of The Taper!

Friday- OFF! Sick boy! :-(
I won't go into too much detail..but it was my poor kid throwing up snot. Once in Target. I don't think anyone even noticed.....

Saturday- 8 miles!! I love to taper. Today was half the miles I ran last Saturday!! The race is one week from today. Eeeek! This is the first time in a looong time that I am not totally excited to to it. It's the largest 25k in the country for Pete's Sake! I will get excited sooner or later..... I guess I am going to bite the bullet and just run it and play it by ear. I will try my best. Today's run was in a down pour for most of it. It was a nice warm morning though so the rain felt pretty good. My pace was a steady 8:44/mile. It felt good; no vocal cord issues (knocking on wood).
I was relaxed and talked the whole run. It was weird to run 4 miles and then get to turn around to head back because we were done! Felt so good. And today was the opening day of our local farmer's market. Today was a pretty darned great day. Miles is better too. We had a good time today.
I am really trying to stretch more. So far so good. Two days in a row of stretching on my own, plus today I did a yoga/core/abs session for 15 minutes. I am so bad at it!

I hope to pick up the road bike on Monday and get it fitted and any necessary maintenance done so I am good to go by next week. SWEET!! Very excited to be able to do some duathlons this summer.
I plan on going to the gym for weights and also cardio on Sunday. We will see how that plays out though.

I almost forgot: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31860529

Friday and Saturday recap

Friday~ Early morning spin was a good class. I did not have any breathing issues-BONUS!
After spin I was able to lift legs-Quads to be specific. They were actually still a bit sore from the week too. I did 4x10:
Leg Press
Split Squats
Leg Ext
That is all. I planned on squatting in the rack, but gossiping time took me away from that. Maybe next time. I also want to add that my triceps are still on fire from whenever the heck I did chest and triceps...Thursday maybe?? It's Sunday. I get it. Stop being sore. You know I love it. Whateva.

Saturday~ 16 miler in the books. It was a GORGEOUS morning for a run. I was really happy with how my run went. It was around a 9 minute mile pace. I felt that I most certainly could have stepped it up a bit and gone faster, but my running buddy was a having some issues. I am sure it was a blessing in disguise though. I did not want to get all cocky and then have problems breathing. We talked practically the whole 16 miles. It was a friend of a friend that I did not really know that well.... so now we know each other better. I love making new friends!
This will be the last 16 miler before the Big Show (25k). I am still not sure if I am going to do the Big Show yet. I want to see my speech pathologist first and get an idea of how realistic that would be for me and my goals. I hope they call me soon!!!

The VIRUS is gone and other STUFF!

My computer had a virus! Now it's gone. Whew! Life is hard without a computer. I am so happy I GET to use a computer!!!
I don't even know where to begin. I will make the recaps short.

Saturday~ 14 miler. I made a wrong turn-I was supposed to run 12! It was a hilly run. I walked up some of them with a fellow runner-she was getting over a cold. I was having trouble breathing too. All is good though. I was able to run!

Sunday~ OFF.
Monday~ Spin and Totally Toned. I also lifted weights -hamstrings and shoulders. 4x10. 3 super sets = pain. Love it.

Tuesday~ I took the day off. I had my allergy appointment. To make a long story short: I do not have severe asthma. I like to be unique....so I have a weird vocal cord(s) that does not want to relax and cause me trouble. Awesome. On to the speech pathologist I go. Awesome.

Wednesday~ Spin at 10am. Totally Toned at 12 noon. Spin at 4:30pm. It was just one of those days. In my head I was not "making up" for not working out on Tuesday. Really. I just needed to workout for my mind. It was a good class too!

I think I am all caught up now.

4 Days of recaps.

Thursday~ I actually forgot to update my Thursday when I was updating the previous days ( on Thursday) D'OH!
Thursday I went to the gym ( without puffing on my inhaler- it was a brain-fart) and did the elliptical for 30 minutes and that was it. My breathing was OK. It was a bit labored, but nothing to be afraid of. I then taught 3*2*1 a few hours later. I could totally feel my lungs during class. My lungs were not happy with me, but at least the cardio segments were only 3 minutes long at a time. Ugh.
Friday.~ I taught spinning in the early morning and could feel my lungs sucking in air HARD. Ugh. After class I did some core and plyometrics. I felt fine during this.
Saturday~ OFF! We were out of town and I had every intention of taking a walk before breakfast--nope. Oh well. A day off was needed.
Sunday~ 16 miles!! I did the first 6 with 2 friends from my running group. Thank goodness....16 miles would be pretty tough to do by myself. We hoofed those miles in about an 8:40 minute mile average. They both were coming off of running 10 miles the previous day at about an 8 minute mile pace so they were kind of tired! The next 10 I did by myself at about the same pace or a bit slower. I had a few bouts of tightness in my lungs but nothing major. I also had my rescue inhaler on me just in case. I was super excited that my old Polar GPS did not cut off and my iPod stayed on! Woohoo!
The weather was beautiful which is why my asthma was probably acting up! Lots of new growth and wonderful allergy/asthma inducing stuff! Love it though.
I pretty much feel like garbage now. It might be all the goodies I inhaled ate on Saturday at a family Easter gathering. So much yumminess! Time to get it back together.....(tomorrow)

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!

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).

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!

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 and Saturday...all spun out!!

Friday- early morning spin class. 5:30 AM sure comes fast! Interval class recycled from Monday's class. It was fun-again!
Saturday was Power Spin. I was a participant today. I think I get such a different kind of workout when I am not the instructor. Not necessarily better-just different. It was a strength interval class. Hard climbs-8 minutes worth followed up with a very short recovery and then a brief endurance section. We repeated that for a total of 4 intervals plus some nonsense fun stuff at the end! It was actually a 70 minute class this morning because the instructor is fun crazy like that! I will admit that I missed my long run today, but I am glad that I was able to get it in earlier this week. And I am in the midst of potty training the little man, so I wanted to be home doing the work and not making my babysitter ( big brother or my dad do the work!) Click for a good laugh!
I have a race on the 20th. My first 5k of the season. Why am I nervous?? I think the shorter distance races are more painful then the longer ones. That's why! I want to do well!!!
Today was a great day!

Saturday Long Run-Rocked It!

I am back! I think. It was frigid today. Freezing cold, windy, windchill of 6 or something stupid like that. This early in the season I might have skipped out or at least been really pissed off about it. Not this morning with my new improved attitude!! I was ready to go. Partly because I have decided to just suck it up and work and partly because I was excited to test out my new GPS Garmin!!

Another long story short. I am taking it back to the store. So sad about this. It has soooo many positives. But the biggest negative trumps all the positives. So sad. I NEED the real GPS capabilities. I calibrated it again for almost 3 miles. After running less than a half mile it was already "off" by over .1 of a mile. Ugh. That is a lot for a non-recreational runner I think ( that would be me).

I did not let that ruin my run though. I was still able to see my pace and faux mileage. There was even a pacer dude on my watch. I was over 5 minutes ahead of him too. It was motivating to see that even though it was not a real person! Call me crazy.

Here are my splits for 10 miles: http://connect.garmin.com/splits/24056231

My avg. was 8:47 a mile I think. That is NOT normal for this girl on her "easy" long run days. It won't happen a lot ( I save it for actual racing! haha), but it sure felt great today.

I even stretched because my carpool buddy is training for a spring marathon and ran 14 miles today, so I had the time. It was MUCH needed. I think I am going to go and stretch some more!

Saturday---

My legs are TIRED!! I made it to the 60 minute spin today. Before that started I did a quick warm up on the bike and then did about 10-15 minutes of core work ( go me!). I did some pilates roll ups, hip circles, leg lifts and plank holds. I did about 3 sets I think.
I also took my time getting into the spin ride today. I extended the warm up on my own to make sure I was actually ready! It was a good endurance ride, but I still took it down a notch. I was still a sweaty mess, but only half as usual.
I stretched for a good 10 minutes afterwards. It feels good to have it all done. It was 4* this morning and a windchill of something stupid. I am now feeling really good that I was unable to find a sitter so I could do the long run outside. Whew.
Tomorrow is my first race of the season! EEEEK!