quick fact

You may not notice that your bum is sore from your first spin class until you take your second one.  Ow.

spin class

I just took my first spin class.  Yowza.  That was challenging and I am drenched.  Next time I'm wearing my heart rate monitor - I'm pretty sure I reached my max heart rate!  But it was an excellent guide for working with the trainer at home and I am certain I will go back.  

And no, despite the nice weather yesterday, I did not make it outside on the bike.  (Sorry Carlos.)  I slept in.   Again.  And then I worked both shows at AVENUE Q.  Which is why I took the spinning class today instead of a rest day.  Now I'm going to disassemble my bike from the trainer and take it and the pedals to the bike shop.  I need to buy a water holder and some tire tubes, investigate new tires and have them show me how to adjust the seat back and change the pedals.  

I should probably shower first.

Oh, and another important thing happened today - I reached 10% of my fundraising goal.  Thanks everyone!  Only $4405 more to go! (Or more if you guys are up to it ;)  Spread the trikimtri.com word!

Happy Holidays!

So the holidays got the better of me and I only managed to run once and swim once last week. But I made it to GTS this morning - along with only about 10 other people - and had a sluggish yet helpful run.  50 minutes total and almost 5 miles.  Definitely slow but I had a nice chat with Coach Jay who reassured me that the training schedule is plenty long and accounts for weeks like these where everyone falls a little short.  

I'm taking him at his word.  Now if I could just get outside on that bike!

another week without a bike ride

Foiled by the weather again!  No bike training session today.  They even cancelled the run session and the bike gear clinic!  So I'm struggling to get myself on the treadmill tonight so as not to waste yet another training day. Wish me luck.  Only 3 hours left in the day....

the kindness of strangers and a week without running

Okay, she's not really a stranger and I did run once, I just didn't get nike+ credit for it because I wore the wrong shoes.  I already explained the whole shoe thing, but I have gotten another generous offer of equipment and I missed running the NYRR Holiday 4 miler due to a little fever. (Not to mention also missing the injury prevention clinic Saturday morning after the race.  Foiled again.)

So last week I ran once, swam twice and hit the stairmaster once.  Not my ideal training week.  But I've moved on and did a run in the balmy weather yesterday and hit the pool today.

And as for the kindness of strangers, at the AEA Holiday Party Friday night, a biker and very generous staff member offered to loan me a trainer so I can ride my actual bike inside my apartment!  That is huge and I am incredibly grateful.  She's going to bring it over on Sunday and has promised not to judge me based on the state of my apartment. 

I'm missing tomorrow's GTS due to theatre tickets (Dividing the Estate) but am super excited at the possibility of a bike session on Saturday.  Let's hope the weather holds out!

wrong shoes

Tonight's GTS was a little wet and a lot hot.  What happened to winter?  But really, the most frustrating thing was that I wore the wrong shoes.  I accidentally wore an old pair.  A pair without insoles.  A pair without a lot of cushioning.  And most devastating - a pair without a nike+ sensor!!!  If you don't know, I'm obsessed with logging my miles using the nike+ system.  I have logged over 2000 miles since I first started using it (and no, there are not too many zeros :)

So when I started my sportband and it kept saying "walk" and never getting to the all important "0.00" I was cursing my inability to work the sportband in the dark.  What the heck was I doing wrong?!!!  And then I looked down at my feet.  There was no emergency tag - a tag supplied by TNT with all of your emergency information.  I had on old shoes.  There was no sensor for the sportband to sync with. Duh.

So I lost about 4 miles.  I still ran them, I just don't get credit for them.  I the cherish credit for all of my miles.  It keeps me going.  Oh, well.  Just add it to the infamous "9 miles of spring '08."  Long story....

2nd group training session

Tonight was the first weekday run GTS (Group Training Session).  It was appropriately cold for December and I was happy to only have to go to Columbus Circle (marathon training takes place on the upper east side.)  There are tons of coaches, whose names I am still learning, and there was a pretty big turnout.  We did a quick warmup to Bethesda Terrace and then Coach Scott went over more strength training exercises and split us into three groups - basic, intermediate and advanced.  I stuck with the intermediate group since the "8 minute miles for 5 miles" qualification for the advanced group is a little out of my speed bracket.  

And I'm pretty happy with how I did - I stuck close to Coach Scott at the front of the pack since he seems to talk and run at the same time - lots of tips and advice.  We did 3-10 minute out and backs (squats and the like in between) and cadence checks with a goal of over 45 strides per 30 seconds.  My three checks were 43, 45 and 44.  I thought, "Terrific, I'm pretty darn close!" but Coach Scott didn't seem entirely satisfied.  Something about keeping our feet on the ground too long.  I guess there is work to be done!  

Maggie has promised me a bike ride on Friday.  It would be my first.  Uh, yeah, I know....

swimming

I have a membership at the Manhattan Plaza Health Club and am happy that I do - because there's a pool!  Last night my training pal Maggie joined me for a solo swim workout laid out by the coaches.  Lesson number one - 6pm is crowded at the MPHC pool!  There are 4 lap lanes - one of them was taken up by a private lesson and the other 3 had 2 or more people already swimming.  I'll admit to not being able to figure out the speed labels for the lanes: Slow, Fast, Intermediate Slow, Intermediate Fast.  They aren't in that or any other obvious order so I can't quite decide if Intermediate Slow is faster than slow or vice versa.  Let's just say I usually pick the lane with the least people.  So we swam, dodging the super fast and carefully passing the super slow.  Over the course of 35 minutes in the water I'm pretty sure there were at least 5 different people rotating out of the lane I chose.  

The good news is I can already swim.  I was a lifeguard for several summers in my youth - indoors and out - and also taught swim lessons for little kids and adults.  And Maggie very kindly assured me that I am already ahead of many of the TNT tri participants in terms of my skill level in the water.  That made me feel good.  She also challenged me to choose the Advanced training sessions.  It's under consideration :)

It was a good workout and I can't wait for January when the Group Training Sessions at the pool start!

PS - If anyone finds a pair of purple flip flops - somebody stole Maggie's from the edge of the pool. Nothing is safe!