Props to Spinners!

Wow.

I went to my first spinning class today.  Let me say--I have complete respect for spinners.  I'm sure that riding a real bike on a real road is much harder.  But we road "up" and "down" about 12 hills whereas if I were riding a real bike I would have picked a relatively flat route--especially for my first time.

I should have known it was going to be hard when I walked into the room and the temperature was about 60 degrees.  Even still, everyone there had a towel!!  One woman had her arms in her shirt it was so cold--but they all told me not to worry, I would be grateful for the air as soon as we got started.  They were so right!  It didn't take 5 minutes for us to want the 3rd and 4th fans on--and that was with all the lights off!!  (There's like a little spotlight on the instructor.)

From the moment I sat on that rock they want to call a bike seat, I realized what this thing is for in the all bike shorts I've seen.  Yes, I "knew" but there's a big difference in knowing something intellectually and knowing it personally.  My legs felt the work out...my heart rate certainly felt the work out....but the real test of my will happened where my body parts met the leather.  Thin running shorts do NOTHING in the way of padding.  My butt is wide, but trust me-there is NOT enough to pad a bike seat in the places that matter.  I will be investing in either a gel seat or a super expensive (meaning super thick and padded) chamois before my next class!  Without going into any more unnecessary detail--I'm sure my husband will appreciate the investment.    ((BTW, for you experienced spinners out there, my calf injury prevented me from standing up.))

As if an hour of bike hell wasn't bad enough, I went straight from there to Body Pump.  That class makes me feel strong.  When I'm "pumping iron" I feel like THIS, although I probably look a little more like THIS!  I don't want to get all buffed up or anything, but I would like to be stronger and have some muscle definition.  I want to believe this class will help me get closer to that goal.

While I was straining to lift those weights pumping all that iron, I noticed the instructor still had the timing tag on her shoe from Cotton Row.  After class I asked her what her time was--54 minutes.  Then she had to go and tell me she just started running in January!!  Now, I'm not going to go beating myself up because she's been a trainer for 8 years.  She had a considerable head start on me in the fitness department.  She had a solid base of strength and cardio that I'm going to say gave her a huge head start.  But...she also just ran the Country Music 1/2 Marathon a few weeks ago!  (From what I've heard this is a seriously difficult race---and she did it in just over 2:10.)  Impressive.  But, again, she's a professional physical fitness trainer.  I refuse to compare myself --an arthritic, slightly overweight, out of shape 40 year old-- to her (I'll skip the adjectives).  Kudos to her.  That's what I say (even if I did call her a bad name in my head at first).

After I finished wiping up my sweat, and picking up my jaw from talking to Miss Fasty-Pants, I felt GREAT.  I'm so glad I went.  I'm even more glad I did both classes.  There really is something to the endorphins that exercise provides.  I feel like a new person.  I still want to run and I can't wait until I can hit the trails again...but spinning and weight lifting are pretty darn good substitutes in the interim.

Thanks for stopping in.   Come again soon!
:D

Week 9 & 10 Recaps

WHAT I DID

WEEK 9--Monday-Body Pump.  Tuesday I ran with my group.  It was horribly painful.  Thankfully I had a coach who ran with me or I know I wouldn't have made it.  I ran a little bit faster, but ended up at the end having to walk some.  I was in pain the rest of the week so I "worked on" recovery.  Then, Saturday I ran the SteepleChase 8k.  

WEEK 10--Monday I had to get blood work done so I just "ran" on the elliptical for 30 minutes.  Tuesday I knew I wasn't going to be able to meet up with my running group so I went out that morning to run on the mountain we did the hill repeats the other week.  I felt a little sore, and VERY tired, but I decided running would be a good way to get past that.  WRONG.  I was supposed to do 4.5 miles, I made it (not on the hill, just on the more flat part of the road) just over 2 miles, including my warm up and cool down.  I ended up limping the whole time, and I felt like I was moving through molasses.  I decided to "listen to my body" and just rest for the day and tried to regroup the next day.  Wednesday I went back to Body Pump.  It was horrible.  I tried to push past feeling so weak and tired, but after it was over, I barely made it home without falling asleep at the wheel!!  I came home and collapsed on the bed.  Friday I pretty much stayed in bed or on the couch all day long.  Saturday was the only redeeming day of the whole week.  (Yes, I did do something Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday...and what I did would have "counted" in January.  In fact I would have been tickled to death in January with those days---but I'm not happy with my performance now.)  I got up early and went with my darling husband to run on a beautiful hiking trail.  I'm going to write up a whole post about it later on.  I'm not happy with how little I ran, or how much I "had to" walk, but it was a fantastic run if I shut off my internal critic!!  After the mountain run, I went out and cheered my buddies on in their second 10K--they did GREAT.

WHAT I LEARNED

I think now that the week is over, I might have gotten a little too hot at the race...and I might have overdone it just a little bit.  It didn't seem like it at the time, but that's the only thing I can think of that would have made me feel so incredibly bad all week.  (It wasn't hormonal, that should have been the week before....but who knows.)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE running with my husband.  He was a running beast back in the day.  He had a couple of injuries that set him back, and he's been out of running for many years so I can almost keep up with him for a few minutes!!  I would just love it if he would slow his pace down to my speed and train with me.  I'm doing my best to talk him into it because Saturday's run was probably the best one ever.  Like I said earlier, I'll devote a whole post to it later on.

I LOVE running trails.  My husband has told me since before I started that he knew I would, and I do.  I loved everything about it.  It was unbelievably peaceful.  I was worried I would trip, or twist an ankle, but surprisingly, I didn't!

I love running with my husband!!

This running thing will not be something that will continually move forward every single week.  I feel like I had a major set back this week, but the truth is I'm still running and I want to keep on running, so it wasn't a bad week after all.  I'm going back to the doctor after the Cotton Row 10K (which might be a mistake to wait, but that's the plan I'm sticking with right now)...and then after that I'm going to have to re-evaluate my plan to train for the marathon in December.  It's frustrating, but I'm learning that I might just have to slow down the plan.  I am NOT happy about it.

Did I mention ... I LOVE running with my husband???

WHAT I'M GOING TO DO

I'm going back to the doctor after Memorial Day (after the 10K).  In the mean time I'm just going to take it easy and realize this 10K might just SUCK.

I'm going to keep trying to beg my husband to run with me.

I'm going to incorporate more trail running into my plan.

I'm going to keep using the TriggerPoint massage thingy.

I'm going to rest when I think I need to rest.

I'm going to keep strength training.

FOOD

I'm going back to a 30-40-30 plan (zone) because I really do think I had more energy with that ratio of food.  I'm going to stick to less processed food, more fresh fruits and veggies and more fish.  

I'm considering going to a DO to have allergy and hormone tests done.  I've read so much lately about gluten intolerance and what it does to hormone levels, I think it's worth checking into anyway.

Thanks for stopping in, come again soon!

:D

Body Pump

Man, am I sore!!

I won a six month membership to Riviera Fitness Tuesday night.  So, yesterday after checking the schedules for all three local clubs, I drove about 25 minutes to the one that had a class I wanted to try out--BODY PUMP.  Wow.  Those ladies are tough. 

The location I went to was all female.  The class was basically lifting weights to music.  I used the baby weights, and on the lunges I didn't use any weights at all.  Wow.  I didn't realize just how weak I am.  No wonder I haven't been losing weight-I have NO MUSCLE in my body! 

I stayed after that torture class to take a look at the Zumba class.  It's like Latin dance aerobics. I more-or-less stood in the back of the room and watched.  After Body Pump, and knowing I was going to run 3.5 that night, I didn't want to push my calf any more than I had already....(maybe it sounds like an excuse, but it's true nonetheless).

One of the ways I evaluate a potential exercise class is by looking at the instructor.  One time my daughter and I checked out a local Jazzercise.  The instructor looked like she had stepped freshly out of 1982, from her BIG hair all the way to her leg warmers....and she was overweight.  Now, I'm sure she was fit.  She could do those moves like they were nothing--moves that were killing me at the time.  But she said she'd been teaching Jazzercise for like over 20 years (and was probably wearing the same outfit!).  I knew right then that was NOT the class for me (for more than one reason).

The instructor for Body Pump and Zumba (the same woman usually teaches both classes at that location) was out this week, so I didn't get to take a look at her.  The owner of all three local clubs taught the Body Pump class.  THAT'S what I look like in my dreams!!  She's probably about my age (maybe a few years younger).  She doesn't have that "I live at the gym" look about her, she just looks completely toned--every body part I could see was firm.  She's very healthy looking.  Not skinny, not ripped, not buff, not cut....I wouldn't even describe her as "thin" (although she is).  I would say normal...but after seeing the weight she was lifting, I can say she's NOT normal.  WOW.  Im-pres-sive.

The other way I evaluate a potential exercise class is by looking at the participants.  It was very interesting to compare these two classes.  The gals in the strength class were almost all very fit looking.  The Zumba class was FULL of overweight women (obviously not all of them...but an overwhelming majority).  They were clearly pros at this class because it's a tough dance based workout as far as choreography goes and these women had the moves down pat.  The Zumba class was also a lot more full than the Body Pump class.  ((I'm taking that as a sign that it's an easier class, but it could also have something to do with the fact that it's an hour later than the other one....))

Now, I know you can't judge a workout class solely by it's participants...but at the same time, don't you look at the people coming out of a hair salon and the stylist's hair for an indication of what kind of place it is??  And, when you're trying to decide if a restaurant is a good place to eat....SOMETIMES getting right in is not a good sign....and don't you look at the people going into the restaurant to see what kind of place it is??  I remember this buffet place we liked to go to in northwest Arkansas.  We called it "the hog trough" because we ALWAYS over ate when we went there and were sick afterwards.  The place was also ALWAYS filled with obese people.  Not just overweight, I'm talking clinically, morbidly, obese.  I'd venture to say that a minimum of 75% of the tables had at least one person in the group who was quite a bit heavier than 300 pounds (many most likely were over 500 pounds!!).  The food was good....too good. 

Just like I stopped going to "The Hog Trough", I won't be going back to Zumba.  Not because of the class make up...it's just not my cup of tea.  I want to get my cardio from running not dancing.

Speaking of running...last night I went with my group-3.5 miles.  I forgot my Garmin.  I felt completely NAKED without it so I "had to" run with someone who could keep up with stats.  I started out with a girl from my group and one of my coaches.  We started out a little fast (about 10:30 or 11) compared to what we usually start at.  At our walk break I was worried that I might not be able to get started up again so I kept going....until a little after a mile.  Long story short, we finished with a pace of 11:52!!!!  I was hurting (only my left calf)...but man that felt really good!!  I'm ready for the 5K this weekend.

Thanks for stopping in, come again soon!
:D