Tuesday and Wednesday Recap--runnin' and spinnin'

Tuesday- I ran 2.2 miles on the treadmill today and it still felt good. I only had 20 minutes to get some cardio on. I need to make a small goal of mileage per week. This week I will be smart and set it at 10 miles total. I hope to make it outdoors at least once as well.

I participated in the 90 minute spin class later. It was great. It's the endurance class so it taps into your fat stores as fuel. Good to know. My stomach was actually rumbling towards the end of class. I was starving by the time I was done. I hope to be able to do this class every Tuesday night!! According to the instructors bike computer we went almost 37 miles! Woah!!

Gotta go--off to teach Spin!

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.

Spinning and more spinning.....

Tuesday~
I did some high intensity cardio on the elliptical for 20 minutes before I met with my New Mom's class-- Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies. I took them on the treadmills and had then do some tough intervals. After that we went to the group exercise studio and lifted some weights. They are a fun group--one lady got so hot that she took her wig off to cool down! I had to do a double take of the pile of hair laying on the counter.... ha ha!
Since I don't run anymore (arrgh!) I took the 6PM spin class; I am pretty much a regular here now since I have gone for the past 3 weeks in a row. It was a great class though. Marnie is a seasoned instructor that really knows how to motivate and puts on a great class every time. I am picking up some great tips from her too.

Wednesday~ I taught spin today. The class was OK. I was not too excited about how it went, but it's OK to have those days every so often--just not too much!
I might lift something heavy later on... not counting on it, but maybe!

Tuesday and Wednesday Recap--runnin' and spinnin'

Tuesday- I got up and ran my running club workout early! It was a beautiful morning too. No humidity and low temps. What more could I ask for?!?!?! I got in 5 miles. It was a speed workout on the track that went something like this:
12oo meter run with a .25 recovery.
I did this 5 times.
It was supposed to be a 1:1 ratio. It mostly was I think. I did not do the 1200 meters as fast as I hoped, but I am just happy I did all 5! As always, I did a warm up and cool down jog.

Wednesday~Spin instruction. Interval style. I need to get my true heart rate zones. Something just is not right! That will be a goal of mine this week.
I also subbed a kickboxing class and it had 15 minutes of core at the end. I am not a fan of doing core work--so mine are on fire today!

A kind of maybe sort of Tuesday and Wednesday....

Tuesday~ What the heck did I do on Tuesday anyway? It was such a long time ago.........
Oh yes, I taught a Cardio Sculpt class. I had one person show up!! ( Thanks Kristy!-- she is my die-hard athlete mom of 3!) She had her very own personal training session of sorts. She's tough and proved it!
After class I headed over to the E. side ( of Grand Rapids) for running club. On tonight's torture: after the standard 2 mile warm up the advanced group's workout included (12) 200 meter sprints with a walk/jog recover of 200 meters. Yup, 12!! It actually went by a lot faster than I expected and it was actually fun ( kind of). I really enjoy running with my buddy that is faster than I am. She pushes me just enough to where I did not think I could go. I am not sure why I enjoy that, but I do! After the workout is the 2 mile cool down and then that's all! It was a good Tuesday!

Wednesday~ Spin class instruction. I actually had a request to repeat Monday's Race Day format--nope! I stuck to the plan and did an interval ride. I stayed at the gym to welcome a new instructor as she taught Turbo Kick! I am trying to motivate myself so I can get back into Turbo Kick. I plan on taking this class as often as I can until I am comfortable teaching it again...maybe.
I failed to get up early today and do a lower body workout. I did do my own version at home while watching The Young and the Restless though. I did everything with 10 lb. weights.
Just a very simple workout before I get back into lifting heavy.
3x10:
1 leg dead lifts
Plie squats
Lunges

My day was jam packed today with stuff, but that's that way I like it...kind of.

Race Day that never was, tempo run and NO breathing issues. Yahoo.

Monday~ I made up my mind and drove about 20 minutes to do a 5k. I intended on pushing myself to the brink and hopefully (eeek!!) making myself have an "episode". I was determined. So was the thunder and lightening. The race was canceled. BUMMER DUDE!!! I paid my entry fee and everything! At least it all goes to charity. Whateva.
SO I was pretty P.O.d' to say the least. I drove home and picked up the family and we all headed to the gym. I did a 30 minute "buffet" workout. A bit of running on the tread/elliptical/step-mill and track running. Done.
Tuesday~ Cardio and weights. More elliptical intervals. When in doubt I grab a magazine and do one of their workouts. The elliptical one was pretty good actually. I followed it up with a weight circuit from the same magazine (www.oxygenmag.net). It was the bikini ready by July or something crazy like that. Good enough!
Since running club is off for 2 weeks I emailed the coach for a workout to prepare for June 12th half marathon. My running workout was to be 3-4 miles at tempo pace. For me, this means 8:00- 8:10 miles being my goal for the half. Tuesday was HOT, but not as hot as it has been. I started my run a little after 6pm. I actually did the usual 2 mile warm up first. A 9:10 pace: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35477885
I then did 3 miles at tempo: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35477879
1st mile: 8:05
2nd: 8:08
3rd: 7:46
No breathing issues either!!! SCORE!
Hopefully this is a breakthrough...I am getting about tired of writing about it!
I did a mile cool down after that.
I did not stretch. Oops and ouch.

Wednesday~ Spinning today. Hill intervals. Hot.

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!

Tuesday and Wednesday Recap--runnin' and spinnin'

Tuesday~
I met my girlfriend at the other YMCA to take a class together. My fave kickboxing class. I love this class!! It was great-the instructor did one of my most favorite routines to Lady Marmalade- the updated version with Lil' Kim and Christina Aguilera. Love it. Anyway.... I might be taking this class again every Tuesday again! Amara starts soccer next week so it just might work! YAY!
After class ( and before class, and at home) I lifted weights. Back and biceps. 3x8

Before class:
1 arm rows
preacher curl on the ball
After class:
Bent over flyes
hammer curls
At home:
Chin ups
3 sets of 5
I had to fit in my weight training when and where I could. I got it done!
Later on was running club. Although I still don't know how to breath...I attempted to run 4 miles at tempo speed. The warm up was about 18 minutes for 2 miles. I felt great at this pace. On to the tempo-- I think I did really well for the first 1.75 ish miles maybe more. I honestly do not know my pace-sometimes this is way better for ones ego! My vocal cords were kind of happy and then mad at me for the rest of the run. I did not walk though. I felt like it a few times, but I kept running. I was really glad to be done though. I am calling the doc today to see what the hold up is. my big race is approaching fast and I want to know the verdict!

Wednesday~ Spin day! Intervals again. It was a basic style with increasing resistance and length. After the warm up I had us do a standing jog, seated climb, flat road and finally a standing climb. The first set was 1 minute( ie: every move was 1 minute), second time around was 2 minutes and the 3rd time was 3 minutes. It went over well. I also busted out some very old spin cd's ( I have been teaching for about 8 years now) and was rockin' to John Cougar Mellencamp. Or whatever he is called nowadays! I love music so much-- I know my tastes are all over the place so my classes pretty much don't know what to expect from me. I saw a lot of lips singing though!
Totally Toned was at noon. Apparently, Monday's session was tough as a lot of the participants upper body was still sore.
That's all!

Who needs to breath anyway?? This chick.

Tuesday~I went to the gym and did the elliptical for about 20 minutes I think...I can't remember! (it's been a long week...)
I later went to running club and was prepared and mildly excited to run some 800's! The weather was too good to be true. It was in the 70's--aaaahh!!
I did the regular warm up which consists of a 2 mile easy paced run-it's slightly uphill ( of course!). I felt my lungs collapsing constricting at the top of the hill. I thought this to be normal right?!? I did just crest a nice sized hill at an 8:10 (ooops) pace right?!? RIGHT?!?! So we turned around to complete the rest of the warm up and when I stopped and recovered I could still "feel it" in my chest. Fab. I tried not to worry because I know that I medicated myself correctly (Singular and Advair to the rescue). I still decided to use my emergency inhaler ( Abuterol) before starting the 800's. I got my 2 puffs of that and went into the first 800 rearing to go! I ran it at 3:20 something I think. This was about 10-11 seconds too fast according to my pace. And it was about 3 minutes too fast according to my asthma! Oh boy. I could not breath at the end. As I "recovered" my breathing got worse- I walked a lap but that did not help at all. I decided to be done for the night. I hung out on the track with my wheezy self and cheered for my non-wheezing team. I was also hanging out to make sure I did not pass out or anything. I also hung out because Tuesday is MY TIME and I was not ready to go home to my kids and Matt (whom I love with all by heart by the way!).
So that was my Tuesday. I am very frustrated by all of this of course. I am going to see the allergist on the 13th for a 2 hour appointment. I think I will get the lovely skin prick test. Super fun! I am supposed to attempt 16 miles on my own on Sunday. I will try. I won't die trying so don't worry. :)

Wednesday- Thanks for reading about today if you actually made it through Tuesday's blabbering.
Spin today. I did a nice, but challenging interval loop. Plenty of hills with short segments of pure speed and endurance. Lots of hootin' and hollerin' going on! The class was not very full. I hope due in part to the almost 80 degree weather we had. Nice.
Totally Toned was 2 hours later. I can't remember what I did, but the girls came back today saying their abs were mighty sore. Mission Accomplished.

Tuesday and Wednesday Recap..

I can't believe it's Thursday already!!! I have been a busy lady. My daughter has been out of school since Tuesday even though today officially starts her Mid-Winter break. Tuesday her school had electrical issues and yesterday was a snow-day. She was not a happy camper. The girl loves her some school!

Let's see if I can remember my workouts from earlier this week.
Tuesday: Oh yes. I had a 5 AM client so of course I slept like crap Monday night. After training her I went to the gym to do my full body circuit with about a little more than 60% effort. UGH. Hate that feeling. I plowed through it anyway. I also played on this punching/kicking game between sets. 1 whole minute seemed to take forever! It was a lot of fun and made me in a bit of a better mood. We played 3 rounds...I won every time ( just sayin').
I got on the elliptical for about 15 minutes of varying hard paced intervals. The plan later that night was to run hills with the running club. It was snowing like crazy on Tuesday. Less than half way through the warm up I was sure I was not going to be doing hills. It was waaay to slippery/dangerous. I did 1 hill and almost twisted my ankle. Yup. Scratch hills. A few of us(5) took off to run around the lake and also added some miles on. We did 6.5 hard miles ( in the snow, it felt like I was flying) in 59 minutes. That's not slow, but it sure felt as if I was running at least an 8:15 ish pace. For real! I actually felt really good out there. It was freezing and blowing snow and I STILL don't have my face protector. Duh.
Moving on to Wednesday. Spin day. Fast paced intervals with a 4 minute hill added to the end. That was the basic concept of class. I added 3 sprints on at the tale end since we had a few minutes to spare. It was a simple format that really tested the classes fitness level. It was a sweat fest. Fun stuff. Totally Toned at Noon went well too. I joined in on more of the fun than I usually do (mostly a space issue), and my hips were on fire after a wonderful round of hip circles. Ouch. In a good way. Really.
I had an experienced cyclist at Spin, but a spin newcomer. At the end of class he thanked me for "popping his cherry". Ummm..yea dude. Oh, and he called me dude and gave me a high five as well. He warned me that he will be back. Eeeeek.

Tuesday and Wednesday Recap

My days have gotten so busy!!!
Tuesday- full body circuit training went well. 4x8. ugh.

Split Squat
BB Row

Incline chest press
Chin ups

Dead lifts
Up Right Row

A little bit or core and stretching.


Running:
1.6 mile warm up

1 mile fast....1 mile slow x8.
Felt a lot different then doing it on the treadmill!!
Coach had a whistle that he blew every minute...kind of felt like cattle being herded.

Wednesday~
Spin class. I was once again out of breath early on in class. I think it is a direct effect from not being recovered from the running speed workout the night before. Hmmm. Not liking that. at. all. I will wear my HR monitor next Wednesday to test my theory.
Totally Toned was good. Lots of sore abs from Monday's class!

That is all!!

Tuesday and Wednesday Recap

Tuesday- tonight's workout at running club was a good one for me. We had the usual 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down. In between that we had to run 4 miles at tempo pace. My tempo pace is 7:45. I averaged 7:05 ish minute miles tonight! Woohoo! This was way too fast, but I felt great and also felt I was not pushing myself overboard. A great feeling to have--finally! I think besides my fitness level being where it is, the weather played a HUGE part in how I ran tonight. It was in the 50's today. I should have wore gloves ( for real). It was perfect running weather. I love the fall! I also think I did well because I skipped kickboxing class today. My legs were fresh and ready to run.
Wednesday- I taught the Y Power X at 6am. Lots of core work. LOTS. After that I did about 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. At noon I taught Totally Toned. So today was actually a light day for me..ha! I needed it though. Overall, today was a pretty great day!