Spinning and running. 8 miles to go!

Wednesday~ Is it Friday yet??
I am tired. Not the too much exercise kind of tired either- for real! I can't sleep kind of tired. It stinks.

I ran today! 3 whole miles on the treadmill before spin class. It was a 9:45 pace. 8 more miles to go for the week!

Spin was an oldie but a goodie. It was a repeating interval, only it got longer every time we started it. The first one was 3 minutes long, then 6, 9 and 13 for the last interval. The moves were:
flat road with resistance
climb
jumps
recover (always 1 minute long today)
I think the class went by fairly quickly and I got a few claps and "thank you's" today- I usually take that as a good sign.

I have a personal training client tonight and that's it.

On tap for tomorrow:
Spin class at 5:30 am (subbing)
Extreme HIT spin class at 7:15 PM -- 90 minutes of fun is what I like to call it.

Busy Tuesday.....

Today I met with my "trainer" from the YMCA. We talked a lot about my metabolic testing on the bike and about on the treadmill ( future test). I got a lot of questions answered and am very excited for what's to come. I hope to retest the bike on Sunday afternoon-I only have to fast 3 hours for this one. YES! After I do the treadmill test ( hopefully next week), Ryan will come up with lots of useful info for me to use for training. I will have new HR parameters for the bike ( most likely--he thinks I was nervous/anxious during the first test/TOM/ allergies) lots of factors might have swayed my results and he expects ( knock on wood), that my new results will be improved. We talked a lot longer than I expected so I was unable to get any running miles in. Booo! I have 0 miles for the week thus far. With that being said ( or written) I cannot believe it's only Tuesday! I have plenty of time to get in 11 miles. I better.

Today was also the last meeting for my new moms group! They were a fun group ( they grew on me!) and they will be missed!

I taught Cardio Sculpt at 4:15 today. It was good.
Dumbbell swings
plank + knee in's
squat thrusts
jumping jacks with body bar
abs on the ball
and a whole bunch of other stuff!

90 minute spin endurance was the last stop of the day.
I lent out my HR monitor to a fear friend so I felt lost during class! haha...I still survived and I would bet that I actually stayed in my Zone........

Now it's 11:45 PM and I am wide awake. The Spin class is over at 8:45 PM. I am wired.

Sunday- active recovery and pain (yoga), Monday Spin...

Sunday!
was able to get in about 40 minutes of cardio in my recovery zone on the elliptical. I did this while watching Kendra. Don't judge! The show cracks me up-she is CRAZY. After the elliptical I headed on over to Sun Salutations Yoga class....ugh. It was harder than last week ( which was hard, by the way). It was good though. I only took one break this week. I assume it's helping me-right?!?! This makes 3 weeks in a row that I have made this class. I am still hoping to keep it up.
My goal for running this week is 11 miles.

Monday- Spin at 10. I did a strength interval class today. Lots of flat roads with resistance, a few big hills (1) eight minute hill and 5 mins worth of sprinting today. Woah. It was good though. The class only had one empty bike today too! It's that time of year! The weather is turning colder -again.

Thursday and Friday spins of course...and hydration!

Thursday- My plan was to run 2-4 miles in my recovery zone in the morning and teach my 90 minute spin at night.
What actually went down was just teaching, which was fine by me! My daughter had a half day on Thursday and was actually dismissed a full hour sooner that I thought. That did not leave me enough time to get to the gym ( booo hooo).
My 90 minute high intensity spin was a lot of fun. Last week I guess I was just getting my feet wet. I actually stopped sweating last week whilst teaching...not good.
I learned my lesson this time. I was a sweating fool- sweatin' like a dude for the entire class. Whew and gross. It was a good session though so that is all that really matters.
After class ( it ends at 8:45 PM) I am too wired and hungry and awake to sleep. But I have to, since I have to get right back up at 4:15 AM to teach my 5:30 AM spin. Well, being hydrated helped me out again. Last Friday upon waking up I felt DRY and tired(exhausted is more like it). Today I just felt tired. Success!
Friday- Spin at 5:30 AM-strength intervals. Nice and deceptively difficult ( so I was told). I planned on hopping on the elliptical for 15 minutes, but that quickly turned into 35 after my buddy spotted me and we gabbed for a little too long. Ooops!
I went back to the gym with intentions of running 4 miles since my goal is to do 10 miles before Sunday! Well....I ran 2 and then walked about 15 minutes on the treadmill. My previous workouts caught up to me. But, I was still hydrated. Take that!
I have an idea in my head at this moment ( 11:10 PM) that I might run 6 miles tomorrow--outside! Stay tuned.....

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!

Monday! Back to the grind....

Monday~ Spin at 10 am! I repeated the same class I taught last Thursday. The one called Calorie Burner. It was a hit so I thought it would be again. It was. Whew. It felt good to get back at it today. My week was very hectic last week, but I won't complain-I love that organized chaos stuff.

Later at home I did 6 rounds of this weightless circuit:
15 lunges per leg
10 jumping lunges per leg
5 push ups to squat

it was hard! It took me 9:08 seconds to do this. I am going to try to do this again this week, but will shoot for 10 rounds. Ugh. It was tough.

I might try to run a few miles tomorrow on the treadmill before my new moms class.
It was a good day.

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.

Spinning and more spinning.....(sounds like a repeat post, but it's NOT)

Thursday part II-


Is it Saturday ( 8:46 am to be exact) yet??? That will be the last class i have to teach this week, and then I will be able to collapse from exhaustion.
90 minute class last night. I had all intentions of teaching off the bike again, BUT---- the bike has a new computer that shows mileage ( we rode 30.4 by the way), so if I got off my bike, the class would have no idea how far they rode!! That would be very unfair now wouldn't it?!?! Yes.
I had a guy i class that appears to be very fit, and he said he had never been so tired or hungry right after a class before. My work here is done. Ha.
Gotta go---off to teach! ( for reals!)

Spinning and more spinning.....

Wednesday~ All I did today was teach 1 spin class! Ha....it seems like a low-key day since I only did one thing. I needed it though-busy, active days ahead of me. It was a tough interval class that I planned on taking it easy in. I just can't hold back sometimes.
On my training schedule I had 2 hours of cardio. No tanks! I actually have plans to meet with my "trainer" next week to possibly modify my training schedule. I think I might have to cut it down to 3 or 4 training days---6 days on top of what I do for a living is kinda killing me. Even though this week is not the norm for me. So, until I meet with him I will not be adhering to my training. I don't feel like a quitter of failure either-- it was just not working for me.

Thursday- So far I have taught one Spin class today. Later this evening I will teach my 90 minute ride! It was fun on Tuesday, so I hope it's fun today as well.
This mornings class was packed-every bike (24) was occupied. I am so glad I planned a killer strength ride too. The class was very vocal during the climbs--lots of whopping and hollering this morning!
I am thinking about doing some yoga here at home......but I am so tired. I might just close my eyes for 30 minutes while Miles sits next to me watching " My favorite show", which is basically any kid show on TV!

Sun Salutations and I ran again.

My PC has a virus and I should not even be on it..but I am.

Sunday~ Yoga class for 45 while minutes!! YAY! Finally........ It was a Sun Salutations class....it basically went like this:
down dog
plank
forward fold
monkey
mountain pose
swan dive
plank
crocodile
plank
repeat for 45 minutes!

She threw in a few shoulder stretches for good measure
this was freakin; hard! I am sure I have mentioned once or twice ( or a million times), how much I need to take yoga regularly?? Well, I do. I really, really hope to be able to add this in on Sunday (my "off" day from exercise).

Monday~ 5 am here I am. Ugh. I could not sleep, so why not head to the gym ( sounds like a problem to me). I am glad I got up though. I had 61 minutes to do for my HR training and I did it all on the treadmill. Almost 6 miles worth of intervals. My avg. HR was 157. It went well. I miss running. Officially.

After that I did a short and sweet weight circuit:
3x8
plank to shoulder press
bent over rows
front squats
biceps curls
( I almost puked after set 2, but could not stop..too many witnesses)

Core for 15 minutes straight
3x15
crunches
toe dips
plank hold( 30 seconds)
My abs were on fire. I know I was engaging all the right things and taking my time this morning...I hate working abs directly. That's probably why it burns so much cuz I don't do it enough. Lesson learned? Probably not.

Spin class was at 10 am-- intervals today. I think they went well. I need to start trying to teach off the bike. I do a lot of activity and find myself kind of fatigued all week. The only time I taught off the bike was when I was 8 months preggo and my belly touched the handle bars ( true story). I know I am still an effective instructor off the bike-I just need to get used to doing that again.
That's it.

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!

Friday!!!!

Friday!
Early Spin. My class numbers are still good-whew!
I taught the same giant hill/strength class as I taught on Wednesday. I rearranged the music and all went well. After that, my friend and I headed to the Human Performance Lab to fiddle with the TRX contraptions again. I was pretty much tired and sore from Cardio Sculpt last night, but I was able to bang out a few (4) pull ups for 4 sets. I also did 3 sets of TRX rows. I did a few planks and stretched a bit and that was enough for me.

Totally Toned looked fun ( from where I sat). They used the exercise ball for ball lunges, abs, back and wall sits today. TGIF!

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.

Monday, Monday......

Monday~ I think I am done with my pity party- until race day! Just keepin' it real up in here! The Boston Marathon made history when it sold out in 7 hours! That is amazing!!!! I knew I was not going, but it made me feel a little bit better knowing there was no chance now! Ha..whatever it takes. UNTIL my friend texted me saying a woman in our running group can't use her confirmed entry to Boston for some reason and I might want to see if I can get hers. I didn't ask any questions, but I am doubtful she would just donate it to me cuz that's the only way I would get to race in Boston- if someone else paid for me! My lovely friends that are going there let me in on all the ways to save $$-drive and stay with strangers for free! I would be fine with that! No need to dwell on the shoulda/coulda/woulda-it just gives me a headache.

So on to Monday's Spin class. I did a repeating interval class. I have not taught one in a very long time. I always get frustrated trying to come up with the timing that works....well I figured it out and I think the class went very well! It was 6 minutes of fast intervals ( runs, jumps etc) followed by a 5 minute progressive hill. I let the class decide what type of hill they wanted to do, as long as it was different every time. Some people like that they get to choose, and some freak out and just do what I do! I am fine with that. Sometimes you just don't feel like thinking too much and rely on the instructor (me) to tell you what to do- that's what it's all about!
Totally Toned- I had every intention of participating, but I guess I changed my mind. There were 3 ladies that showed up today. We had a great time scaring the non-mother in class with our birth stories! Ahhhh! We let her in on things we wished our so called friends had told us! I hope we did not scare her too much...it was all in good fun though.

Spin and hanging from the ceiling.....

Friday~

Early Spin. I am liking how packed my Friday class has been for the past 3 weeks! It's very motivating, especially when I am as tired as I was (Miles strikes again). I did a repeat of Monday's tough strength interval. I just changed the music and it seemed like a brand new ride. I was able to push myself more today-- most likely because I did not ride 60 miles the day before.

After class I was able to try out the TRX System we have at our gym. You can do so much cool stuff with these..the bands hang from the ceiling and you are more or less using your body weight and balance at the same time. It is tricky, but I am sure very effective once you get the hang of it. I did abs, rows, biceps, triceps, chest and deltoids on this contraption! Hopefully I will be able to incorporate this system in my workout--which I plan on revamping next month! Story of my life.....

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!

Wednesday spin..I forgot something important today.

Wednesday- Spin day today. But first I was able to get to the gym by 9 AM. I normally leave my house at 9:15 ish......so I hopped on the elliptical for a bit to get some intervals in while leaving my heart rate under 160 for the duration. I must have been in la la land when I left my house today. I cleaned out my bag-- that just means I took out a few CD's and 2 notebook since I did not need them at 10 am spin. Or did I? Yep, My spin profile and music were at home. Not in my bag. Ooooops! It was 9 :40 when I noticed so I panicked. Long ( not really) story short; I was able to borrow a fellow spin instructor's iPod--luckily we pretty much have the same taste in music so it worked! The spare CD's in the spin room are 70's rock and the Glee soundtrack--umm, not so much thanks! I learned my lesson!
Today's ride was an endurance one...it went over well I think/hope!

**On a personal note-kind of a pity party rant thing--or however you want to look at it.
The Grand Rapids Marathon and half are this weekend! I won't be running, but plan to spectate and snap some pics of my teammates. The day after the race is the first day to sign up for The Boston Marathon. I won't be doing this race either ( boo sniff--no really. It SUCKS!). I am tired of people asking me why I am not running it; and that I had a whole year to plan/save/prepare etc. Duh. Tell me something I don't know people!!! I had plans of taking a month or so off from running and then really training hard for this marathon ( u know the Boston one?!?). I have a lot of fast(er) friends and I hoped that their speediness would rub off on me this winter! Boston would have been my 3rd and most likely final marathon ever. It's not my favorite distance to train for or run, but wanted to go out with a bang. I was contemplating running really well there OR running with a camera and snapping pictures along the way--guess that does not matter much now ( boo sniff again.) Ok, I think I got most of it out of my system. Happy , happy, happy!

Monday

Monday~ I was pretty sore from the ride, but I think I did not feel as sore as normal. If that makes any sense. Half way through the ride I took a break and stretched and had some whey protein. They say that the protein will help with recovery. I'm not saying I felt super today, but I felt better then I felt after riding 40 miles. I did not do the protein then. So who knows. I might have to ride 60 miles next week and experiment again!
Spin was good. The first 10 minutes was not so fun. My legs were pretty stiff, but after the blood got flowing I was able to put in a good effort. Lots of steep hills today (what was I thinking!?!?!) It was actually an old workout. I made a few modifications and added more recoveries as well as a new play list and voila! A brand new class. Nobody knew--until I told them.

Totally Toned. I went in with few expectations from myself. Good thing too. After I performed 4-5 squats I knew it was best I not join in!
I know I keep saying it over and over, but I really need to find a yoga class. One that holds my attention and is also beneficial! I need that.

Thursday and Friday spins of course...and other stuff.

Thursday~ Spin again! I went early to warm up for a good 12 minutes before class started. I wish I could do this before I taught...it really seems to help me have a more productive ride!
Today was a Race Day too. It was a 6 mile loop around Central Park. Really fun!

Friday- Spin! I used the same class I taught on Wednesday, but changed the 12 minute flat road. I added some standing climb power climbs to the mix to change it up. I think it was a hit. I had about 20 peeps in class today again. I am loving the bigger classes now that the weather is cooler ( never mind that the high is 74 today!)
After spin I did a weird workout..don't even know if I can remember it all.

3 pull ups ( doing some everyday all week!)
plank to shoulder press (8)
lunges off step (8)
punches w. exertubes ( 8)
2x

pull- ups (3)
TRX bands squats (8)
box jumps (8)
plank hold ( 20 sec)
2x

I am trying to get back up to doing 5 pull ups...they are hard!
I went on the elliptical and did a 15 minute quick interval workout.
Easy walk on treadmill for 10 mins.

I was killing time. Heaven forbid I get home too early and mess up Amara's plan to pour her own cereal and milk! Such a big girl!!!