Yesterday's heat made me skip the Terrier run and made me question whether or not I really should be doing this triathlon in 11 days. When I woke up this morning and it was still in the record-breaking heat category, I still wasn't sure about doing the triathlon. I figured that if I stayed in bed today, that would be the sign of whether or not I would actually do the triathlon. I decided not to go outside, but to go to the gym instead. Might be wimpy, but I figured an indoor workout is better than no workout at all.
I started out by running 2 miles on the treadmill. Nothing earth shattering and sort-of boring, like most treadmill runs. But, I felt good while I was doing it and I watched some Sports Center on ESPN. I figured I'd do a bit of a duathlon today, just to see how I'd feel running/biking/running. I knew that if I could have a good workout today, I could talk myself back into doing the NYC triathlon.
After running 2 miles, I went and hopped on the spin bike. Which takes a lot longer than hopping on my real bike in a triathlon since there is a lot of adjusting that needs to be done. I will say that I know I didn't push myself as much as I could have on the bike. I was more concerned with reading my book than having a super awesome spin workout. Instead, I read my book and had a decent spin workout. After 10 miles on the spin bike, I headed back over to the treadmill.
Here is where I wasn't sure how much I should do. After a half-mile, my legs did feel a tiny bit tired, so I decided to just run quick mile and call it a day. I think it ended up being a really great workout today. I did about half the distances of the triathlon and I felt great at the end. Lots of gas left in the tank, which makes me think that I shouldn't have any issues getting to the finish line on July 18!
After today's workout, I think it's funny that I even had doubts. I'm not really sure why I did. I've been working out about the same number of hours per week that I did before Westchester last year and Alcatraz earlier this year. I actually don't have any doubts about my ability to finish the race, so I'm sure sure what the reasoning was behind my doubt. Probably just nerves.
Running
Time: 19:32
Distance: 2.00 miles
Pace: 9:46/mile
Calories: 183
Maximum HR: 184 (87%)
Average HR: 171 (81%)
Spin Bike
Time: 30:08
Distance: 10.00 miles
Pace: 19.91 MPH
Calories: 226
Maximum HR: 171 (81%)
Average HR: 150 (71%)
Running
Time: 8:39
Distance: 1.00 mile
Pace: 8:39/mile
Calories: 74
Maximum HR: 186 (88%)
Average HR: 164 (77%)
Showing posts with label Spin Bike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spin Bike. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The Other Kind Of Brick
First, I should mention that after my run on Sunday with Drew, we got into a big discussion about heart rates and since my 202 max heart rate that I reached on our run was 105% of the max on my watch, he said that I should really adjust it since I didn't keel over and die. We settled on upping my max heart rate to 212. I'm going to see how that works percentage wise from now on. Hopefully it'll be more realistic to how fast my heart is actually beating.
Yesterday, I spent as I spend most Mondays -- sleeping in! Something about facing the work week just makes my body want to stay in bed. It's hard to argue with such good logic. This morning, however, was a different story. Drew had made reservations for both of us at the gym so that we could go swimming. I think that you get a little bit cheated if you make a reservation for 6:00. The gym opens its doors at 6:00, then you have to go drop off your stuff in a locker, rinse off and then get in the pool. By that point, 5-7 minutes have elapsed. Not a huge deal for me at the moment to get a full 30 minutes in the pool, but an annoyance nonetheless.
I tried to swim mostly at my own pace. I did stop a couple of times to check on Drew and he also asked me to watch him a few times and give him some pointers, but I was timing myself fairly roughly on the 200s (technically its 198 yards since the pool is so funny) and each one ended up with the 100s on the 1:50, which isn't awesome for me, but it's not too bad. I was pleasantly surprised that I was still swimming about the same pace without pushing myself at all. This was more my relax and swim pace.
Drew looks perfect for the first two strokes that he takes off the wall. And then he sort-of just does whatever he wants, it sort-of looks like to me. I know that swimming is fairly overwhelming with all the things to think about, but I've been trying to remind him to just slow down. Speed can come later. And he'll never make the distance if he can't slow down and relax in the water. I ended up doing 1080 yards (900 swimming and 180 kicking). Finally, over half a mile in the pool! Now we're getting back to business.
After a quick towel dry and changing into tri shorts (the entire time I was wishing I had just worn them in the pool!), I headed downstairs in the gym to ride the spin bike. I haven't done that at all recently and I wasn't sure how it would go. I got my bike shoes on, adjusted the bike, sat down and set-up the program I wanted to do. I decided on something between 35 and 40 minutes and did the Endurance program, Level 7. I chose Endurance because it doesn't have you up and out of the saddle a lot.
I started out like normal, but that didn't last long. I still can't really lean on my arm, which makes me think that my chances for real bike riding aren't that great at the moment. I ended up leaning mostly on my right arm and just having my left arm down for stability, but not putting any weight on it. I'm still hopeful that by next Sunday (the 6 week mark) I'll be magically healed. I kind-of doubt it though.
I think after about 7 minutes, my arm was ready for me to get off the bike. My legs, however, were willing to hang in there and my brain made my body stay on the bike. I think it was good for me in the long run to stay there and stick it out for the full time, even though I wanted to call it quits more than once.
Swimming
Time: 25:23
Distance: 1080 yards / 0.61 miles
Pace: 41:36/mile
Calories: 151
Maximum HR: 155
Average HR: 131
Biking
Time: 35:35
Distance: 13.10 miles
Pace: 22.09 MPH
Calories: 280
Maximum HR: 166
Average HR: 152
Yesterday, I spent as I spend most Mondays -- sleeping in! Something about facing the work week just makes my body want to stay in bed. It's hard to argue with such good logic. This morning, however, was a different story. Drew had made reservations for both of us at the gym so that we could go swimming. I think that you get a little bit cheated if you make a reservation for 6:00. The gym opens its doors at 6:00, then you have to go drop off your stuff in a locker, rinse off and then get in the pool. By that point, 5-7 minutes have elapsed. Not a huge deal for me at the moment to get a full 30 minutes in the pool, but an annoyance nonetheless.
I tried to swim mostly at my own pace. I did stop a couple of times to check on Drew and he also asked me to watch him a few times and give him some pointers, but I was timing myself fairly roughly on the 200s (technically its 198 yards since the pool is so funny) and each one ended up with the 100s on the 1:50, which isn't awesome for me, but it's not too bad. I was pleasantly surprised that I was still swimming about the same pace without pushing myself at all. This was more my relax and swim pace.
Drew looks perfect for the first two strokes that he takes off the wall. And then he sort-of just does whatever he wants, it sort-of looks like to me. I know that swimming is fairly overwhelming with all the things to think about, but I've been trying to remind him to just slow down. Speed can come later. And he'll never make the distance if he can't slow down and relax in the water. I ended up doing 1080 yards (900 swimming and 180 kicking). Finally, over half a mile in the pool! Now we're getting back to business.
After a quick towel dry and changing into tri shorts (the entire time I was wishing I had just worn them in the pool!), I headed downstairs in the gym to ride the spin bike. I haven't done that at all recently and I wasn't sure how it would go. I got my bike shoes on, adjusted the bike, sat down and set-up the program I wanted to do. I decided on something between 35 and 40 minutes and did the Endurance program, Level 7. I chose Endurance because it doesn't have you up and out of the saddle a lot.
I started out like normal, but that didn't last long. I still can't really lean on my arm, which makes me think that my chances for real bike riding aren't that great at the moment. I ended up leaning mostly on my right arm and just having my left arm down for stability, but not putting any weight on it. I'm still hopeful that by next Sunday (the 6 week mark) I'll be magically healed. I kind-of doubt it though.
I think after about 7 minutes, my arm was ready for me to get off the bike. My legs, however, were willing to hang in there and my brain made my body stay on the bike. I think it was good for me in the long run to stay there and stick it out for the full time, even though I wanted to call it quits more than once.
Swimming
Time: 25:23
Distance: 1080 yards / 0.61 miles
Pace: 41:36/mile
Calories: 151
Maximum HR: 155
Average HR: 131
Biking
Time: 35:35
Distance: 13.10 miles
Pace: 22.09 MPH
Calories: 280
Maximum HR: 166
Average HR: 152
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Two Down
It's now been two weeks since I broke my elbow and that means that hopefully I've only got 4-6 weeks more to go! Not that I'm obsessively counting down or anything! This morning Drew and I headed to the gym together. I will say that I really do not love the gym. I don't know why. It's not even that I dislike working out. I think most of it is that now that the weather seems to be settling into being nicer all the time, all I really want to do is be outside.
However, I know that if I only walk outside for the next 4 to 6 weeks, I won't have done enough to have a chance at doing these upcoming triathlons, so I'm going to have to head to the gym - like it or not. Drew offered to show me his Arc Trainer routine today. I have never been a super big fan of the Arc Trainer, but he said that his normal routine was no joke and it would be better than before.
He was right. We did 2:00 at 20 incline (the highest it can go) and 50 resistance. Then we did the next 26 minutes at 20 incline and 100 resistance (the highest it can go). That was not easy, but it was nice and sweaty, so that was good. Then we finished up with another 2:00 at 20 incline, 50 resistance. I'll say that I'm still not in love with the Arc Trainer, but it was better than I expected. I realized right away that going to the gym isn't going to be easy. I'm not supposed to lean on the equipment or put weight on my arm, so I can't really hold onto the equipment with my left arm. Which makes me feel a little off-kilter on everything. Here are my final stats:
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After the Arc Trainer, I said that we should do 4 leg lifts. I chose two and Drew chose two.
We started off with Leg Presses, followed by Drew's Torture Non-Lift (the technical term, I'm sure), then my choice of Prone Leg Curls and Drew's choice where I quit (again, technical terms).
Leg Press: 3 set of 10 reps @ 180 lbs
Drew's Torture Non-Lift:
(Right Leg) 15 reps / 10 reps plus 5 pulses / 10 reps
(Left Leg) 15 reps / 10 reps plus 7 pulses / 10 reps
Prone Leg Curl: 12 reps @ 50 lbs / 10 reps @ 60 lbs / 8 reps @ 70 lbs
The leg presses are pretty self explanatory, I'm sure. Drew's Torture Non-Lift was basically like doing lunges, except your back foot is elevated on a weight bench and then you do a lunge forward. That pretty much sucked. I also wasn't so keen on doing something where I had to balance. Mainly because I'm extremely afraid of falling and hurting my arm further. The leg curls were also fairly sucky. That machine is just not our favorite.
And then Drew's lift where I quit? It again wasn't really a lift. It was more of a body weight thing. We had to stand on this piece of foam and reach out with one arm and lift the same leg behind us. Ok, so, I can't really reach out my left arm and I felt really insecure balancing because I'm sooooo afraid of falling again at this point that I just quit. I don't even feel bad about it. Well, that's not true. I was upset at the time because I had mentioned before that I didn't want to have to do anything that required balancing. And I was upset because I wanted to do 4 leg lifts and we only did three. But, I don't feel bad about not completing that particular lift. I think it was a good choice in the interest of my arm.
After that we headed over to the spin bikes. I was able to nab one of the computerized ones (the other one was taken, so Drew just used a regular one). I chose the Endurance Ride, Level 8, since it's mostly flat and doesn't require a lot of out of the saddle stuff. I gotta tell you, it's not easy to ride a stationary bike with one arm. And it's almost impossible to try to reach to get your water bottle with only one arm and nothing else to stabilize you. But, somehow I managed to ride for a little over a half an hour. Not too shabby - here are the stats:
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I think I could get used to this sort of workout routine, maybe alternating with 2-3 walks a week. I'll probably try to coordinate the walking with the weather forecasts and head to the gym on the cooler/rainy days. Hopefully it'll keep me in good cardio shape!
Arc Trainer
Time: 30:00
Distance: 0.82 miles
Pace: 36:35/mile
Calories: 348
Maximum HR: 181
Average HR: 173
Weight Training
Time: 37:13
Calories: 282
Maximum HR: 165
Average HR: 135
Spin Bike
Time: 32:26
Distance: 12.50 miles
Pace: 23.12 MPH
Calories: 327
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 159
However, I know that if I only walk outside for the next 4 to 6 weeks, I won't have done enough to have a chance at doing these upcoming triathlons, so I'm going to have to head to the gym - like it or not. Drew offered to show me his Arc Trainer routine today. I have never been a super big fan of the Arc Trainer, but he said that his normal routine was no joke and it would be better than before.
He was right. We did 2:00 at 20 incline (the highest it can go) and 50 resistance. Then we did the next 26 minutes at 20 incline and 100 resistance (the highest it can go). That was not easy, but it was nice and sweaty, so that was good. Then we finished up with another 2:00 at 20 incline, 50 resistance. I'll say that I'm still not in love with the Arc Trainer, but it was better than I expected. I realized right away that going to the gym isn't going to be easy. I'm not supposed to lean on the equipment or put weight on my arm, so I can't really hold onto the equipment with my left arm. Which makes me feel a little off-kilter on everything. Here are my final stats:
.jpg)
After the Arc Trainer, I said that we should do 4 leg lifts. I chose two and Drew chose two.
We started off with Leg Presses, followed by Drew's Torture Non-Lift (the technical term, I'm sure), then my choice of Prone Leg Curls and Drew's choice where I quit (again, technical terms).
Leg Press: 3 set of 10 reps @ 180 lbs
Drew's Torture Non-Lift:
(Right Leg) 15 reps / 10 reps plus 5 pulses / 10 reps
(Left Leg) 15 reps / 10 reps plus 7 pulses / 10 reps
Prone Leg Curl: 12 reps @ 50 lbs / 10 reps @ 60 lbs / 8 reps @ 70 lbs
The leg presses are pretty self explanatory, I'm sure. Drew's Torture Non-Lift was basically like doing lunges, except your back foot is elevated on a weight bench and then you do a lunge forward. That pretty much sucked. I also wasn't so keen on doing something where I had to balance. Mainly because I'm extremely afraid of falling and hurting my arm further. The leg curls were also fairly sucky. That machine is just not our favorite.
And then Drew's lift where I quit? It again wasn't really a lift. It was more of a body weight thing. We had to stand on this piece of foam and reach out with one arm and lift the same leg behind us. Ok, so, I can't really reach out my left arm and I felt really insecure balancing because I'm sooooo afraid of falling again at this point that I just quit. I don't even feel bad about it. Well, that's not true. I was upset at the time because I had mentioned before that I didn't want to have to do anything that required balancing. And I was upset because I wanted to do 4 leg lifts and we only did three. But, I don't feel bad about not completing that particular lift. I think it was a good choice in the interest of my arm.
After that we headed over to the spin bikes. I was able to nab one of the computerized ones (the other one was taken, so Drew just used a regular one). I chose the Endurance Ride, Level 8, since it's mostly flat and doesn't require a lot of out of the saddle stuff. I gotta tell you, it's not easy to ride a stationary bike with one arm. And it's almost impossible to try to reach to get your water bottle with only one arm and nothing else to stabilize you. But, somehow I managed to ride for a little over a half an hour. Not too shabby - here are the stats:
.jpg)
I think I could get used to this sort of workout routine, maybe alternating with 2-3 walks a week. I'll probably try to coordinate the walking with the weather forecasts and head to the gym on the cooler/rainy days. Hopefully it'll keep me in good cardio shape!
Arc Trainer
Time: 30:00
Distance: 0.82 miles
Pace: 36:35/mile
Calories: 348
Maximum HR: 181
Average HR: 173
Weight Training
Time: 37:13
Calories: 282
Maximum HR: 165
Average HR: 135
Spin Bike
Time: 32:26
Distance: 12.50 miles
Pace: 23.12 MPH
Calories: 327
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 159
Friday, April 23, 2010
Refuse To Lose
So, I took an unplanned rest day on Thursday. All I can say is that life got in the way. We were out really late on Thursday and I had gotten too little sleep to get up and go to the gym at 6 AM (as it was, I only got 4 hours of sleep before going to work). Except I just couldn't let myself go two days in a row without a workout, so all day at work today I convinced myself that I would head to the gym right after work.
I went home, changed clothes and went to the gym right away. I hopped on a computerized spin bike and spun my heart out as hard as I could. I did the Endurance Program, Level 10. I really pushed the resistance as hard as I could while keeping it in the cadence range that the program tells you. It wasn't easy, that's for sure.
While I was biking, a girl got on the computerized spin bike next to me and set up a program for 20 minutes. Except that she got off after only 8 minutes. I have to say that I was a little disappointed that she didn't stick around for the entire program, since I had told myself that once she got off I'd only have 15 more minutes to go. Her leaving early threw me all off!
When I was walking home from the gym, I saw a girl wearing a Nike "Refuse to Lose" shirt:
I see now after some quick Google research that this seems to be some sort of University of Kentucky thing, but at the time, I was thinking that the slogan was probably for a game or a race, but on this particular girl, it looked like she meant "refuse to lose the weight". I realize that this sounds pretty harsh, but sometimes I wonder what people are thinking when they get dressed!
Spin Bike
Time: 57:04
Distance: 17.00 miles
Pace: 17.87 MPH
Calories: 547
Maximum HR: 171
Average HR: 155
I went home, changed clothes and went to the gym right away. I hopped on a computerized spin bike and spun my heart out as hard as I could. I did the Endurance Program, Level 10. I really pushed the resistance as hard as I could while keeping it in the cadence range that the program tells you. It wasn't easy, that's for sure.
While I was biking, a girl got on the computerized spin bike next to me and set up a program for 20 minutes. Except that she got off after only 8 minutes. I have to say that I was a little disappointed that she didn't stick around for the entire program, since I had told myself that once she got off I'd only have 15 more minutes to go. Her leaving early threw me all off!
When I was walking home from the gym, I saw a girl wearing a Nike "Refuse to Lose" shirt:
I see now after some quick Google research that this seems to be some sort of University of Kentucky thing, but at the time, I was thinking that the slogan was probably for a game or a race, but on this particular girl, it looked like she meant "refuse to lose the weight". I realize that this sounds pretty harsh, but sometimes I wonder what people are thinking when they get dressed!
Spin Bike
Time: 57:04
Distance: 17.00 miles
Pace: 17.87 MPH
Calories: 547
Maximum HR: 171
Average HR: 155
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
I Want To Play Outside!
Last night I was too lazy to walk downstairs to get my telephone to set the alarm so I told Drew that he was responsible for making sure I woke up. He woke me up at the appointed time and I didn't want to get up and go. I snoozed for another 25 minutes or so (and at some point, Drew left for the gym). I couldn't figure out why I didn't want to get up and go to the gym. And then I realized that was the issue. It wasn't that I didn't want to get up and work out. I just didn't want to have to do it at the gym.
I don't even particularly love my bicycle. I don't have a pet name for it or anything. I just call it my bicycle (and lots of times I simply refer to it as my bike). But, I miss it! I'm sad that it's already on a truck on its way to California! I want to ride outside and not in the sweaty gymnasium!
Since I didn't have the motivation to get up and go at the crack of dawn this morning, I was running a little bit late to the gym. In my haste to get out the door, I realized that I forgot to eat anything. I grabbed a water bottle, but I forgot to eat. Oh well. It's only the spin bike, how bad could it be?
I got to the gym and hopped on a computerized spin bike and started spinning away. I chose the Interval Program, Level 8. I was also sporting some new tri shorts that I picked up after work on Monday. I just started realizing that there was no way that I was going to make it through this season of triathlon with my sanity intact if I only had two pairs of tri shorts. So, I got two more! One is a pair of Zoot shorts and the other is Pearl Izumi. Nothing too fancy - just basic black shorts, but desperately needed.
I am happy to report that after a couple weeks where it was a bit touch and go, my rear end seems to have re-acclimated itself to sitting on a bicycle seat. Of course, the spin bikes aren't as comfortable as my real bicycle, but sitting down doesn't make me want to yell out in pain anymore, so I think we're on the right track.
I pedaled my little heart out for slightly shorter time today than I would have hoped for, but it was still a good and sweaty workout and I managed to actually do it instead of just griping about missing my bike. Okay, technically, I did still do the complaining, but I worked out too! That's gotta count for something.
Towards the end of my ride, Drew hopped on the (regular) spin bike next to me and he insisted on taking these pictures. So, here I am, hair unbrushed and all sweaty post-spin. And Drew's in the middle of his spin (and also quite sweaty!).
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I also took this picture for posterity's sake for my ride stats today:
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Again, I'm still so shocked by how high the calories are! Especially compared to what my HR monitor says I'm burning. I don't think any of this is an exact science, but since I usually go off my HR monitor, that's what I'm going to use as reference, even if it's not perfect.
Spin Bike Biking
Time: 52:04
Distance: 16.10 miles
Pace: 18.55 MPH
Calories: 441
Maximum HR: 160
Average HR: 143
I don't even particularly love my bicycle. I don't have a pet name for it or anything. I just call it my bicycle (and lots of times I simply refer to it as my bike). But, I miss it! I'm sad that it's already on a truck on its way to California! I want to ride outside and not in the sweaty gymnasium!
Since I didn't have the motivation to get up and go at the crack of dawn this morning, I was running a little bit late to the gym. In my haste to get out the door, I realized that I forgot to eat anything. I grabbed a water bottle, but I forgot to eat. Oh well. It's only the spin bike, how bad could it be?
I got to the gym and hopped on a computerized spin bike and started spinning away. I chose the Interval Program, Level 8. I was also sporting some new tri shorts that I picked up after work on Monday. I just started realizing that there was no way that I was going to make it through this season of triathlon with my sanity intact if I only had two pairs of tri shorts. So, I got two more! One is a pair of Zoot shorts and the other is Pearl Izumi. Nothing too fancy - just basic black shorts, but desperately needed.
I am happy to report that after a couple weeks where it was a bit touch and go, my rear end seems to have re-acclimated itself to sitting on a bicycle seat. Of course, the spin bikes aren't as comfortable as my real bicycle, but sitting down doesn't make me want to yell out in pain anymore, so I think we're on the right track.
I pedaled my little heart out for slightly shorter time today than I would have hoped for, but it was still a good and sweaty workout and I managed to actually do it instead of just griping about missing my bike. Okay, technically, I did still do the complaining, but I worked out too! That's gotta count for something.
Towards the end of my ride, Drew hopped on the (regular) spin bike next to me and he insisted on taking these pictures. So, here I am, hair unbrushed and all sweaty post-spin. And Drew's in the middle of his spin (and also quite sweaty!).
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I also took this picture for posterity's sake for my ride stats today:
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Again, I'm still so shocked by how high the calories are! Especially compared to what my HR monitor says I'm burning. I don't think any of this is an exact science, but since I usually go off my HR monitor, that's what I'm going to use as reference, even if it's not perfect.
Spin Bike Biking
Time: 52:04
Distance: 16.10 miles
Pace: 18.55 MPH
Calories: 441
Maximum HR: 160
Average HR: 143
Friday, April 9, 2010
Only 10 More Seconds
This morning there was a chance that I was going to go swimming with Laura, which would have been great as a second chance to test out my wetsuit, but she ended up being up late doing work, so we canceled our swimming date. I had actually really wanted to go swimming because they were forecasting that the weather this morning would be rainy. And they were right.
I woke up to rain and decided that could only mean one thing - heading to the gymnasium. Again, I'm grateful that I decided to renew my gym membership! I guess I probably could have swam there this morning, but it's really better if you make a reservation, otherwise you can get stuck waiting for quite a while, so I didn't really feel like taking my chances and waiting around forever this morning. Instead, I decided to go for a quick spin.
On the computer spin bike, of course. I decided to do the "Race Day" program, Level 8. I've done the Race Day program before and I remembered that it's not just all sitting down, so I wasn't quite sure what was in store for me, but it ended up being a really good workout, I think. There were lots of seated flats (on high resistance) as well as a lot of standing climbs, so all in all, I think it was pretty representative of what my race day will be like.
Here are my stats for the ride (I'd just like to mention that these calories were WAY off, which is a little weird to me):
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After the bike ride, I still had a few minutes before I had to head home, so I decided to head over to the stair mill. San Francisco's run course has a Sand Ladder, which is basically some old railroad ties covered in sand that you have to climb up. In the newsletter I was e-mailed yesterday, they recommend practicing climbing stairs, so I figured what the heck and climbed some stairs.
I did the Fat Burner program on the stair mill for 15 minutes on Level 12. The nicest thing about this was that each segment was only 10 seconds long. I mostly spent that 15 minutes staring at the monitor on the machine thinking "only 10 more seconds" over and over again. I haven't done the stair mill in quite a while and I forgot how sweaty it is!
I checked the results from the Sand Ladder from 2008 and it looks like most people complete it somewhere between 2 and 3 minutes, so it seems like 15 minutes of constant stair climbing was good practice! I'll definitely have to do it again as I really noticed that my calves were a little bit sore while climbing.
Biking
Time: 55:06
Distance: 17.10 miles
Pace: 18.62 MPH
Calories: 468
Maximum HR: 157
Average HR: 142
Stair Mill
Time: 15:27
Distance: 1.70 miles
Pace: 9:05/mile
Calories: 143
Maximum HR: 163
Average HR: 153
I woke up to rain and decided that could only mean one thing - heading to the gymnasium. Again, I'm grateful that I decided to renew my gym membership! I guess I probably could have swam there this morning, but it's really better if you make a reservation, otherwise you can get stuck waiting for quite a while, so I didn't really feel like taking my chances and waiting around forever this morning. Instead, I decided to go for a quick spin.
On the computer spin bike, of course. I decided to do the "Race Day" program, Level 8. I've done the Race Day program before and I remembered that it's not just all sitting down, so I wasn't quite sure what was in store for me, but it ended up being a really good workout, I think. There were lots of seated flats (on high resistance) as well as a lot of standing climbs, so all in all, I think it was pretty representative of what my race day will be like.
Here are my stats for the ride (I'd just like to mention that these calories were WAY off, which is a little weird to me):
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After the bike ride, I still had a few minutes before I had to head home, so I decided to head over to the stair mill. San Francisco's run course has a Sand Ladder, which is basically some old railroad ties covered in sand that you have to climb up. In the newsletter I was e-mailed yesterday, they recommend practicing climbing stairs, so I figured what the heck and climbed some stairs.
I did the Fat Burner program on the stair mill for 15 minutes on Level 12. The nicest thing about this was that each segment was only 10 seconds long. I mostly spent that 15 minutes staring at the monitor on the machine thinking "only 10 more seconds" over and over again. I haven't done the stair mill in quite a while and I forgot how sweaty it is!
I checked the results from the Sand Ladder from 2008 and it looks like most people complete it somewhere between 2 and 3 minutes, so it seems like 15 minutes of constant stair climbing was good practice! I'll definitely have to do it again as I really noticed that my calves were a little bit sore while climbing.
Biking
Time: 55:06
Distance: 17.10 miles
Pace: 18.62 MPH
Calories: 468
Maximum HR: 157
Average HR: 142
Stair Mill
Time: 15:27
Distance: 1.70 miles
Pace: 9:05/mile
Calories: 143
Maximum HR: 163
Average HR: 153
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Where's Your Sweat?
I was really hoping the weather forecasters were just going to be wrong with today's forecast. When we woke up this morning, it was 29 degrees. I know that I'm supposed to be training for this triathlon in San Francisco regardless of the weather, but below freezing sounded too cold for a bike ride. So, instead I went to the gym and spun my little heart out on the spin bike.
I used the computerized spin bike so I could have a program to do and not just fumble around on my own. For my first ride (I wanted to ride more than an hour and to do that, I'd have to do two separate rides), I chose the "Interval" program, Level 8.
I think that I spent about 80% of the time out of the saddle. The hardest part was actually when we switched from all the time out of the saddle to a seated climb on hard resistance. I took a photo of the fellow who gives you your instructions - he actually looks like someone I know, which is a little bit weird:
The screen is all red in this shot because as a result of my picture taking, I let my cadence slip a little bit. It's pretty good at telling you what cadence you should have and yelling at you (okay, there isn't really any yelling, but there is a lot of flashing red) when you don't keep up with what they expect.
These were the stats for my first ride:
After I was done with my first ride, I stared up the bike again, but this time chose Endurance, Level 10. Drew had just hopped on the bike next to me when I was finishing up the first ride and starting the second one. I had been dripping sweat like crazy during the first ride, but there is a cool-down and a warm-up on each ride, so I had cooled off and wasn't sweating as much when he was there.
He was pretty sweaty and was dripping sweat all over the floor. Apparently I wasn't sweaty enough for him and he asked me where all my sweat was. The truth was that I did work up a sweat again on the Endurance ride, but not as much as on the Interval ride. I'm okay with that. Since part of this is learning how to get my rear end reacquainted with the bike saddle, I needed to spend some time sitting down.
Here are my stats for the second ride:
The computer spin bikes at our gym are located next to a machine called a "Cardio Wave". This is what it looks like:
I have no idea what this machine does or if it's any good or not, but apparently it only requires you to work out for about 15 minutes (or less) and not get sweaty at all, because several people came over and worked out on it for a very short period of time while I was biking away.
When I was done with the bike and was stretching, Drew came over and said that he was going to run a mile really quickly on the treadmill. I said I would do that too. Well, technically, I said I didn't know about all that running fast business, but I'd go ahead and do some running. We both started off doing some walking (I did 0.25 miles and he did 0.20). He told me that he was going to run 1.50 miles, but I knew that I should just stick with the initial plan of one mile.
I started at 6.0 and just kept bumping up the speed little by little, until at the end I was running at 9.5 speed. It wasn't easy, but knowing that it was only one mile definitely helped! Drew actually only ended up doing one mile too. He was faster than I was. We finished up with some stretching and then headed home. I had been thinking about not renewing my gym membership, but the past two days have pretty much shown that even though I might not go there all the time, it's definitely a good investment to have it available when I want/need it!
I don't have any fancy heart rate stats today since I let Drew wear my heart rate monitor and watch since he accidentally left his watch at work on Friday!
Bike #1
Time: 51:53
Distance: 18.70 miles
Pace: 21.63 MPH
Calories: 719 (from machine)
Bike #2
Time: 41:54
Distance: 15.60 miles
Pace: 22.34 MPH
Calories: 504 (from machine)
Running
Time: 8:46
Distance: 1.00 mile
Pace: 8:46/mile
I used the computerized spin bike so I could have a program to do and not just fumble around on my own. For my first ride (I wanted to ride more than an hour and to do that, I'd have to do two separate rides), I chose the "Interval" program, Level 8.
I think that I spent about 80% of the time out of the saddle. The hardest part was actually when we switched from all the time out of the saddle to a seated climb on hard resistance. I took a photo of the fellow who gives you your instructions - he actually looks like someone I know, which is a little bit weird:
The screen is all red in this shot because as a result of my picture taking, I let my cadence slip a little bit. It's pretty good at telling you what cadence you should have and yelling at you (okay, there isn't really any yelling, but there is a lot of flashing red) when you don't keep up with what they expect.
These were the stats for my first ride:
After I was done with my first ride, I stared up the bike again, but this time chose Endurance, Level 10. Drew had just hopped on the bike next to me when I was finishing up the first ride and starting the second one. I had been dripping sweat like crazy during the first ride, but there is a cool-down and a warm-up on each ride, so I had cooled off and wasn't sweating as much when he was there.
He was pretty sweaty and was dripping sweat all over the floor. Apparently I wasn't sweaty enough for him and he asked me where all my sweat was. The truth was that I did work up a sweat again on the Endurance ride, but not as much as on the Interval ride. I'm okay with that. Since part of this is learning how to get my rear end reacquainted with the bike saddle, I needed to spend some time sitting down.
Here are my stats for the second ride:
The computer spin bikes at our gym are located next to a machine called a "Cardio Wave". This is what it looks like:
I have no idea what this machine does or if it's any good or not, but apparently it only requires you to work out for about 15 minutes (or less) and not get sweaty at all, because several people came over and worked out on it for a very short period of time while I was biking away.
When I was done with the bike and was stretching, Drew came over and said that he was going to run a mile really quickly on the treadmill. I said I would do that too. Well, technically, I said I didn't know about all that running fast business, but I'd go ahead and do some running. We both started off doing some walking (I did 0.25 miles and he did 0.20). He told me that he was going to run 1.50 miles, but I knew that I should just stick with the initial plan of one mile.
I started at 6.0 and just kept bumping up the speed little by little, until at the end I was running at 9.5 speed. It wasn't easy, but knowing that it was only one mile definitely helped! Drew actually only ended up doing one mile too. He was faster than I was. We finished up with some stretching and then headed home. I had been thinking about not renewing my gym membership, but the past two days have pretty much shown that even though I might not go there all the time, it's definitely a good investment to have it available when I want/need it!
I don't have any fancy heart rate stats today since I let Drew wear my heart rate monitor and watch since he accidentally left his watch at work on Friday!
Bike #1
Time: 51:53
Distance: 18.70 miles
Pace: 21.63 MPH
Calories: 719 (from machine)
Bike #2
Time: 41:54
Distance: 15.60 miles
Pace: 22.34 MPH
Calories: 504 (from machine)
Running
Time: 8:46
Distance: 1.00 mile
Pace: 8:46/mile
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
A St. Patty's Day Pinch
I spent last night finishing my half-Ironman plan. I've decided that I'll post the plan each week at the beginning of the week and then at the end of the week I'll post what I actually did so that I can keep myself accountable. But that's not for another couple weeks, so my plan for this morning was to get up early and go for a short bike ride. That's kind-of what I did.
Drew and I got up around 6, which is a bit on the later side. He asked if I wanted to go to the gym with him and after seeing that it was in the low 40s, I decided I'd be a lot happier if I went and rode the spin bike instead of riding my real bike. I just don't know if I'm tough enough to go biking in those temperatures. I suspect that I probably am and if I do it once that'll be enough. But maybe next week ...
We got dressed to go to the gym and I was wearing a green shirt in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I came downstairs and saw Drew's gym outfit (he'll probably object to the fact that I used the word outfit to describe what he was wearing). He was not wearing green, so I pinched him. Twice, I think. That's what happens when you don't wear green! Apparently, he'd never heard that before. He went back upstairs and I thought he was brushing his teeth, but he came back down with a green shirt on. And then he had the nerve to pinch me even though I was already wearing green!
So, off to the gym we went. Frankly, I was hoping I'd remember how to clip in and out of the pedals. It's been a month and a half since I rode the spin bike. I don't even want to talk about how long it's been since I've ridden my actual bicycle. I got to the gym, put my (bike) shoes on, adjusted the seat and started riding. It only took one other tiny adjustment before I settled in for my ride. I chose the "endurance" ride because I didn't really feel like getting out of the saddle a whole lot. I think there were two standing flats on the program I chose. I did Level 5 (out of 10) so that I wouldn't burn out my legs too much.
Yesterday at the Terrier run, Spencer had us do some side and diagonal lunges and I sort-of cheated on them because I knew if I did them for real I'd be in a world of hurt today and that seemed like a bad idea before the half-marathon. Instead, my inner thighs are a little tired today. I can handle that. About half-way through my ride today, I realized that biking uses some different muscles than running! My legs noticed the difference!
I wouldn't say that today was particularly hard, but it felt good to get back on the bike (even if it wasn't a real bike). We definitely were not the only people at the gym wearing green shirts - there were lots and lots of them. I am really glad that I went and biked today. I even went really far, see:
I think the guy on the bike next to me thought I was a little bit crazy when I was taking this picture with my phone, but that's okay. I came home and capped off my green gym going experience with a green monster. And I fully intend on wearing a green sweater to work. Oh, and did I mention that I'm not even Irish and the fact that all those tourists from the parade that inevitably end up in my neighborhood make me irritated? But I'll wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day nonetheless!
Biking
Time: 51:52
Distance: 18.10 miles
Pace: 20.94 MPH
Calories: 410
Maximum HR: 150
Average HR: 133
Drew and I got up around 6, which is a bit on the later side. He asked if I wanted to go to the gym with him and after seeing that it was in the low 40s, I decided I'd be a lot happier if I went and rode the spin bike instead of riding my real bike. I just don't know if I'm tough enough to go biking in those temperatures. I suspect that I probably am and if I do it once that'll be enough. But maybe next week ...
We got dressed to go to the gym and I was wearing a green shirt in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I came downstairs and saw Drew's gym outfit (he'll probably object to the fact that I used the word outfit to describe what he was wearing). He was not wearing green, so I pinched him. Twice, I think. That's what happens when you don't wear green! Apparently, he'd never heard that before. He went back upstairs and I thought he was brushing his teeth, but he came back down with a green shirt on. And then he had the nerve to pinch me even though I was already wearing green!
So, off to the gym we went. Frankly, I was hoping I'd remember how to clip in and out of the pedals. It's been a month and a half since I rode the spin bike. I don't even want to talk about how long it's been since I've ridden my actual bicycle. I got to the gym, put my (bike) shoes on, adjusted the seat and started riding. It only took one other tiny adjustment before I settled in for my ride. I chose the "endurance" ride because I didn't really feel like getting out of the saddle a whole lot. I think there were two standing flats on the program I chose. I did Level 5 (out of 10) so that I wouldn't burn out my legs too much.
Yesterday at the Terrier run, Spencer had us do some side and diagonal lunges and I sort-of cheated on them because I knew if I did them for real I'd be in a world of hurt today and that seemed like a bad idea before the half-marathon. Instead, my inner thighs are a little tired today. I can handle that. About half-way through my ride today, I realized that biking uses some different muscles than running! My legs noticed the difference!
I wouldn't say that today was particularly hard, but it felt good to get back on the bike (even if it wasn't a real bike). We definitely were not the only people at the gym wearing green shirts - there were lots and lots of them. I am really glad that I went and biked today. I even went really far, see:
I think the guy on the bike next to me thought I was a little bit crazy when I was taking this picture with my phone, but that's okay. I came home and capped off my green gym going experience with a green monster. And I fully intend on wearing a green sweater to work. Oh, and did I mention that I'm not even Irish and the fact that all those tourists from the parade that inevitably end up in my neighborhood make me irritated? But I'll wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day nonetheless!
Biking
Time: 51:52
Distance: 18.10 miles
Pace: 20.94 MPH
Calories: 410
Maximum HR: 150
Average HR: 133
Monday, February 1, 2010
Green Shirt Day
Welcome to February! I'm trying to start the month off on the right foot, so I actually got up and went to the gym to do something other than running today. I got some new workout clothes over the weekend (on sale, of course) and when I got to the gym, I realized that both Drew and I were wearing green shirts. We'll have to be sure to coordinate again on March 17.
I did something that I haven't done in a really long time. Rode a bicycle. Okay, not a real bike, a computerized spin bike. I have to say, I wasn't 100% comfortable sitting in that saddle, but it wasn't too bad. Thank goodness for bike shorts!
Last night I started working on laying out my half-Ironman training plan and I started realizing just how much of a time commitment this is going to be and I figured that I should have some sort of biking base to grow on once my training starts in earnest. The plan as it stands now is going to have to have some tweaking to fit into my life and hopefully along with the Terrier workouts, but it's good to have an idea of the time that I'll be spending each week.
Nothing about today's ride was particularly eventful or noteworthy. I pretty much just picked a resistance and kept my cadence up around 80 the whole time while I read my book. Not a horrible start to the morning as it wasn't too difficult (but it was still really sweaty!). I'm really glad that I got up today and went to the gym, especially since I won't be making it Wednesday morning due to an eye doctor appointment before work, so this seems like a really good way to try to fulfill some of my goals for the month.
Spin Bike
Time: 48:11
Distance: 17.20 miles
Pace: 21.42 MPH (average)
Calories: 435
Maximum HR: 157
Average HR: 143
17.2 miles biking
I did something that I haven't done in a really long time. Rode a bicycle. Okay, not a real bike, a computerized spin bike. I have to say, I wasn't 100% comfortable sitting in that saddle, but it wasn't too bad. Thank goodness for bike shorts!
Last night I started working on laying out my half-Ironman training plan and I started realizing just how much of a time commitment this is going to be and I figured that I should have some sort of biking base to grow on once my training starts in earnest. The plan as it stands now is going to have to have some tweaking to fit into my life and hopefully along with the Terrier workouts, but it's good to have an idea of the time that I'll be spending each week.
Nothing about today's ride was particularly eventful or noteworthy. I pretty much just picked a resistance and kept my cadence up around 80 the whole time while I read my book. Not a horrible start to the morning as it wasn't too difficult (but it was still really sweaty!). I'm really glad that I got up today and went to the gym, especially since I won't be making it Wednesday morning due to an eye doctor appointment before work, so this seems like a really good way to try to fulfill some of my goals for the month.
Spin Bike
Time: 48:11
Distance: 17.20 miles
Pace: 21.42 MPH (average)
Calories: 435
Maximum HR: 157
Average HR: 143
17.2 miles biking
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Back On The Upper East Side
Earlier this week, Drew had asked me if I'd like to come along with him when he met with his personal trainer. The original plan was to meet Friday morning. When I got home from the gym last night, I found out that the plan had changed and that we'd actually be meeting with the trainer, Billy, this morning. The only bummer about this plan (regardless of what day it was) is that we had to meet Billy at Drew's old gym on the Upper East Side. Since we had to meet Billy at 6 AM this morning, I said that we weren't getting up any earlier than we had to and we'd be taking a cab to get to the gym.
We got to the gym and stuffed our stuff into the locker room and when we met upstairs to do a little cardio before Billy got there, Drew told me that he had just gotten a text from Billy, who had a "minor catastrophe" at home and was running late. So, that meant that we had some time to kill. Luckily, we had brought our work clothes with us, so it didn't really matter if Billy was on time or not since we could just go straight from the gym to work.
Drew said we had about a half an hour to kill, so he jumped on the arc trainer. I really wanted to use the stair mill, but Drew said he didn't want to be exhausted from them, so I listened to what he had to say and did the elliptical machine. Except that really wasn't what I wanted to do. And I wasn't putting any effort into the whole thing. So, after 14 minutes of lack-luster elliptical, Nature was calling. I took care of that and decided to spend the next 16 minutes on the stairs. So much better! I was sweaty and happy!
Billy got there around 6:30 and rounded us up and took us to the weight room. Right away he had us grab some dumbbells. I got a 15 pounder and a 20 pounder. He had me start by setting both on the ground and then picking one up and lifting it over my head, setting it down and switching to the other dumbbell and doing the same thing. I did 15 of those with each arm.
Then I switched to the cable machine (which I hate). This exercise wasn't so bad though. All I had to do was pull the handle that was attached to the cable, while rotating my torso (similar to punching someone). I did 15 of those with each arm at 27.5 lbs.
Then I went back to the dumbbells for round two, but Billy bumped up the weight to 15 lbs and 25 lbs. Let me tell you, it makes a lot of difference those extra 5 pounds on the heavier dumbbell. I did 15 more of those with each arm. And then went back to the cable machine for round two at 32 lbs (15 reps per arm).
Then he had us lift up the Squat Machine with our arms (feet on the floor) 15 times. I did it with no weight, but Drew had to do it with weight, which just seemed mean. I also wasn't able to keep my feet on the floor the whole time. I had to jump up onto the platform to make it easier on myself (and keep my arms from failing).
We alternated that exercise with some modified pull-ups. We used the Smith Machine. Our feet were up on a workout bench at the end of the machine and we had to lift ourselves up 15 times. My arms were pretty much screaming at me already by this point. Then, of course, we had to do the Squat Machine thing again 15 times and the Smith Machine pull-ups 15 times. On the second round of Smith Machine pull-ups, I had to put my feet on the floor at the end in order to complete my 15 reps.
Then there was a quick breather while we walked from one area of the gym to another. We went into more of a stretching area and Billy had us get into plank position and just hold it for a few seconds. Then he had us alternate between plank position on our hands and plank position on our elbows. Ugh. That pretty much sucks. I couldn't even tell you how many times we did that. I think it was about 15 times the first time, but then we had to do some more later on, so I'd guess that we did that 20 times in total.
This is where things get a little fuzzy for me because I wasn't really in a position where I could write things down. I know that we did 25 real sit-ups. Turns out that I'm not very good at those. Billy had to hold my feet down. I am really good at crunches, though! We also did 5 push-ups.
And then we had to do this horrible thing involving a ball. I got really frustrated during this part. The point of it was that we were in plank position and we had to get our hands up onto the ball and then back off the ball. I thought that we were supposed to be able to get our hands up at the same time, which just wasn't working for me. I sort-of wanted to lean back and "jump" onto the ball with my hands, but that didn't seem very smart. I had a really hard time doing this right. After I had gotten it down a couple of times, Billy said that we couldn't leave until I had done it two more times properly.
So, I did the first one and rolled the ball to Drew. Then I put my knee down on the ground for a second. Billy asked Drew if I was doing it right and Drew said that I did put my leg down. Of course, that meant that we had to do even more of these dumb ball exercises. Even though I put my leg down after I was done with my part and had rolled the ball back! Ugh! I wasn't a very happy camper at that point.
Luckily, that was it. Billy had another client at 7, so we only had him for a short while. Of course, I forgot to press start on my watch right when we started training with Billy, so that's why my stats are a little off below.
After that, we still had about an hour until we had to hit the showers, so Drew asked if I wanted to do a fartlek run with him on the treadmill. The answer was really no, but instead I said yes.
But, on the way there, we saw the computerized bikes that they had at that gym and decided that we really needed to try them out. They were Expresso bikes. Um, can you just say awesome bikes? I'm pretty sure I've seen these before on Brie's blog and was super jealous when I saw them there.
They're really nice. They have gears that you have to change, the handle bars move, the seat isn't horrible, you can clip in (although I didn't have my bike shoes with me). I'd give it an A+ as far as bike equipment at a gymnasium and I fully intend on asking my regular gymnasium why they don't have one (or two!).
I chose a "Challenging" workout for us that was called "Wicked Workout". That should have been a dead giveaway right there. There were some serious hills in that baby! The highest % grade that we saw was 49%! Try climbing that in real life. Drew said he didn't really know anything about % grade or why it's done as a percentage, but I think that this article does a good job explaining it.
The riding was really fun (despite the fact that I spent a good deal of time muttering under my breath about the hills). It was fun because you had to try to stay on the road and I could see Drew ahead of me. I also really liked it because I tried to catch up to the other riders and then crash into them. It didn't really seem to have any effect on my riding or theirs, but it was a great source of entertainment for me!
The only really negative thing that I'd have to say about this bike is that the downhills were nothing like real life. You had no credit for the momentum you'd have if you were really going down a steep hill. But, I guess if I wanted it to be real, I'd don a bunch of cold-weather gear and ride my bike outside. The other negative thing was that Drew was way faster than me. He finished about 13 minutes before I did. I wasn't overly excited that he was that much faster than me, but I still had a really good time riding bikes with him.
In total this morning, I burned exactly 1000 recorded calories at the gym! I'm pretty sure that might be a new record for the gymnasium! I also think that it was probably more than that since I cheated myself out of a few minutes of working out with Billy, but I'm really happy with that total and all the effort that I put in this morning. I'm going to be out of town this weekend and I have almost no expectation that I'll be working out (in fact, I'll be making Christmas cookies, and lots of them), so I'm trying to compensate for that now. This was a really good start!
Elliptical & Stair Mill
Time: 30:00
Distance: 2.75 miles
Pace: 10:54/mile
Calories: 272
Maximum HR: 165
Average HR: 144
Training with Billy
Time: 22:10
Calories: 215
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 149
Expresso Spin Bike
Time: 47:10
Distance: 7.93 miles
Pace: 10.1 MPH (average)
Calories: 513
Maximum HR: 204*
Average HR: 160
*This heart rate is 100% wrong. When I was starting my watch for the bike riding, I looked down and it flashed on 204 and then immediately went to 118. So something was wrong for a second there (or I have some sort of heart flutter/murmur). But, since it says it on my watch and I don't have the actual number, I'm just going to record it anyway.
We got to the gym and stuffed our stuff into the locker room and when we met upstairs to do a little cardio before Billy got there, Drew told me that he had just gotten a text from Billy, who had a "minor catastrophe" at home and was running late. So, that meant that we had some time to kill. Luckily, we had brought our work clothes with us, so it didn't really matter if Billy was on time or not since we could just go straight from the gym to work.
Drew said we had about a half an hour to kill, so he jumped on the arc trainer. I really wanted to use the stair mill, but Drew said he didn't want to be exhausted from them, so I listened to what he had to say and did the elliptical machine. Except that really wasn't what I wanted to do. And I wasn't putting any effort into the whole thing. So, after 14 minutes of lack-luster elliptical, Nature was calling. I took care of that and decided to spend the next 16 minutes on the stairs. So much better! I was sweaty and happy!
Billy got there around 6:30 and rounded us up and took us to the weight room. Right away he had us grab some dumbbells. I got a 15 pounder and a 20 pounder. He had me start by setting both on the ground and then picking one up and lifting it over my head, setting it down and switching to the other dumbbell and doing the same thing. I did 15 of those with each arm.
Then I switched to the cable machine (which I hate). This exercise wasn't so bad though. All I had to do was pull the handle that was attached to the cable, while rotating my torso (similar to punching someone). I did 15 of those with each arm at 27.5 lbs.
Then I went back to the dumbbells for round two, but Billy bumped up the weight to 15 lbs and 25 lbs. Let me tell you, it makes a lot of difference those extra 5 pounds on the heavier dumbbell. I did 15 more of those with each arm. And then went back to the cable machine for round two at 32 lbs (15 reps per arm).
Then he had us lift up the Squat Machine with our arms (feet on the floor) 15 times. I did it with no weight, but Drew had to do it with weight, which just seemed mean. I also wasn't able to keep my feet on the floor the whole time. I had to jump up onto the platform to make it easier on myself (and keep my arms from failing).
We alternated that exercise with some modified pull-ups. We used the Smith Machine. Our feet were up on a workout bench at the end of the machine and we had to lift ourselves up 15 times. My arms were pretty much screaming at me already by this point. Then, of course, we had to do the Squat Machine thing again 15 times and the Smith Machine pull-ups 15 times. On the second round of Smith Machine pull-ups, I had to put my feet on the floor at the end in order to complete my 15 reps.
Then there was a quick breather while we walked from one area of the gym to another. We went into more of a stretching area and Billy had us get into plank position and just hold it for a few seconds. Then he had us alternate between plank position on our hands and plank position on our elbows. Ugh. That pretty much sucks. I couldn't even tell you how many times we did that. I think it was about 15 times the first time, but then we had to do some more later on, so I'd guess that we did that 20 times in total.
This is where things get a little fuzzy for me because I wasn't really in a position where I could write things down. I know that we did 25 real sit-ups. Turns out that I'm not very good at those. Billy had to hold my feet down. I am really good at crunches, though! We also did 5 push-ups.
And then we had to do this horrible thing involving a ball. I got really frustrated during this part. The point of it was that we were in plank position and we had to get our hands up onto the ball and then back off the ball. I thought that we were supposed to be able to get our hands up at the same time, which just wasn't working for me. I sort-of wanted to lean back and "jump" onto the ball with my hands, but that didn't seem very smart. I had a really hard time doing this right. After I had gotten it down a couple of times, Billy said that we couldn't leave until I had done it two more times properly.
So, I did the first one and rolled the ball to Drew. Then I put my knee down on the ground for a second. Billy asked Drew if I was doing it right and Drew said that I did put my leg down. Of course, that meant that we had to do even more of these dumb ball exercises. Even though I put my leg down after I was done with my part and had rolled the ball back! Ugh! I wasn't a very happy camper at that point.
Luckily, that was it. Billy had another client at 7, so we only had him for a short while. Of course, I forgot to press start on my watch right when we started training with Billy, so that's why my stats are a little off below.
After that, we still had about an hour until we had to hit the showers, so Drew asked if I wanted to do a fartlek run with him on the treadmill. The answer was really no, but instead I said yes.
But, on the way there, we saw the computerized bikes that they had at that gym and decided that we really needed to try them out. They were Expresso bikes. Um, can you just say awesome bikes? I'm pretty sure I've seen these before on Brie's blog and was super jealous when I saw them there.
They're really nice. They have gears that you have to change, the handle bars move, the seat isn't horrible, you can clip in (although I didn't have my bike shoes with me). I'd give it an A+ as far as bike equipment at a gymnasium and I fully intend on asking my regular gymnasium why they don't have one (or two!).
I chose a "Challenging" workout for us that was called "Wicked Workout". That should have been a dead giveaway right there. There were some serious hills in that baby! The highest % grade that we saw was 49%! Try climbing that in real life. Drew said he didn't really know anything about % grade or why it's done as a percentage, but I think that this article does a good job explaining it.
The riding was really fun (despite the fact that I spent a good deal of time muttering under my breath about the hills). It was fun because you had to try to stay on the road and I could see Drew ahead of me. I also really liked it because I tried to catch up to the other riders and then crash into them. It didn't really seem to have any effect on my riding or theirs, but it was a great source of entertainment for me!
The only really negative thing that I'd have to say about this bike is that the downhills were nothing like real life. You had no credit for the momentum you'd have if you were really going down a steep hill. But, I guess if I wanted it to be real, I'd don a bunch of cold-weather gear and ride my bike outside. The other negative thing was that Drew was way faster than me. He finished about 13 minutes before I did. I wasn't overly excited that he was that much faster than me, but I still had a really good time riding bikes with him.
In total this morning, I burned exactly 1000 recorded calories at the gym! I'm pretty sure that might be a new record for the gymnasium! I also think that it was probably more than that since I cheated myself out of a few minutes of working out with Billy, but I'm really happy with that total and all the effort that I put in this morning. I'm going to be out of town this weekend and I have almost no expectation that I'll be working out (in fact, I'll be making Christmas cookies, and lots of them), so I'm trying to compensate for that now. This was a really good start!
Elliptical & Stair Mill
Time: 30:00
Distance: 2.75 miles
Pace: 10:54/mile
Calories: 272
Maximum HR: 165
Average HR: 144
Training with Billy
Time: 22:10
Calories: 215
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 149
Expresso Spin Bike
Time: 47:10
Distance: 7.93 miles
Pace: 10.1 MPH (average)
Calories: 513
Maximum HR: 204*
Average HR: 160
*This heart rate is 100% wrong. When I was starting my watch for the bike riding, I looked down and it flashed on 204 and then immediately went to 118. So something was wrong for a second there (or I have some sort of heart flutter/murmur). But, since it says it on my watch and I don't have the actual number, I'm just going to record it anyway.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Resting, Weight Lifting & A Swim Meet
Well, I somehow managed to do it again ... take three whole days off from working out. Of course, once again, this was not my intention, it just happened. To be a little bit more fair to myself, Thursday was a planned rest day. Friday, I was too tired to wake up early enough to make it to the gym and Friday night we had things to do around the apartment. Saturday, we had stayed up too late Friday night and it was really cold out, so Drew and I skipped our planned run. We had our friends over for a holiday brunch on Saturday and since people ended up staying until after 5:00 (a sign of a good party, I hope!) we didn't make it to work out on Saturday either.
I'm not going to lie. I did feel really bad about missing these workouts. I know it's not imperative right now that I workout every single day, but I like it. It makes me feel better in general when I've got it done and over with for the day. But, I'm not going to wallow in this. I'm only going to try to do better in the future.
Sunday we slept in a little bit and then headed to the gym. I desperately needed to do some weight lifting in order to keep up with my 12-Week plan and I thought I should do some cardio too and try to burn off some of the homemade donuts I consumed on Saturday! Drew left for the gym before I did, so when I met him there, he was finishing up some cardio on the Arc Trainer, so I decided to just do a few minutes with him there as a warm-up. Then we headed to the weight room.
This was today's workout:
Barbell Squats: 1 set of 12 reps @ 65 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 95 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 115 lbs
Leg Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 180 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 225 lbs / 1 set of 6 reps @ 270 lbs
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 12 reps @ 80 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 95 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 110 lbs
Calf Raises: 1 set of 20 reps @ 180 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 225 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 270 lbs
Holy cow, my legs are getting strong! I took last week's numbers and tried to start with the middle set as the first set today so that I could keep bumping up the weight. Drew was there to help spot me. I yelled at him on my last set of squats because I thought that he was touching the bar and making it heavier, but he said he wasn't doing anything. I'm not 100% convinced, but I also realize that it was probably mostly in my head. On the calf raises, I did ask him to help hold the weight up while I switched from pushing with my legs to getting my toes set-up (I used the leg press machine for my calf raises) and while I can hold 270 pounds with two legs, it's not quite as easy with one leg, while moving your other foot around.
Once we were done with the weight lifting, I said that I wanted to ride spin bikes. When we walked over to the computerized spin bikes, they were being used, so I suggested that we ride in the spin classroom since there wasn't a class scheduled for Sunday. I wasn't thrilled with the fact that I wouldn't know my mileage, but I've decided just to guess based on past performances on the (computerized) spin bike).
I gotta tell you, after lifting legs, there isn't really anything that my legs want to do other than turn to jelly. Needless to say, biking wasn't fun. I was ready to quit after 5 minutes. After about 10 minutes, I said to Drew that I was done. Of course, I hung in there. Part of my problem was that I didn't think to wear biking/tri shorts and sitting on the spin bike seat in just some running shorts was not fun! Mental note to never make that mistake again! When I'm on the computerized spin bike, it will often tell you to feel free to get up out of the saddle for "saddle relief". I definitely had to do that today.
After riding for 10 minutes, I decided that I would spend the next song on my iPod out of the saddle for a change of pace. That went so well that I decided to do it a second time after 20 minutes of riding. The second time I just happened to be listening to "Don't Fight The Moonlight" by LeAnn Rimes (go ahead and hate on my music all you want, but Drew had recently asked for some country music and this was on the playlist!). The really good thing about that song for the spin bike is that the chorus is faster than the rest of the song, so I did some really fast sprints during that part and recovered a little bit during the rest of verses. All in all, I actually really ended up liking the workout. I definitely like it more when I know my mileage, but I liked jamming along with my silly tunes.
After we were done with the biking, we headed over for some stretching and Drew suggested doing some throw-downs. I was thinking that maybe we'd get to fight, but it really wasn't that much fun. Instead it was an ab exercise we've done before. The throw down part happens when Drew throws my legs back down once I've raised them up. The first set we did 15 and the second set 25. I think at that point Drew was done with them, but I said we had to do 20 more for an even 60. He said that 60 seemed like a random number, but I had been thinking of doing my normal 60 crunches, so it didn't seem quite so random to me.
After all the stretching and ab work, we headed home for some breakfast. I had some brunch left-overs of eggs and potatoes and Drew had his normal smoothie. I putzed around a little bit (mostly watching TV) and finally had to get ready for my big Terrier Swim Meet!
I had signed up for two events - the 50 M free and the 50 M backstroke. I only really entered the backstroke to see if I could have a chance at winning something. The other day they posted the events and the heats and there were supposed to only be two of us competing in backstroke, so I thought I had a fairly good chance of winning!
When we got to the pool (Drew came along with me to cheer), I hopped in and did a couple warm-up laps and practiced diving off the blocks. I had to tighten up my goggles, so I was glad I practiced. The 50 meter free was the second event, so I didn't have to wait around long. I ended up doing the 50 meter free in 35.97 seconds. I don't really know if that's good or bad in the scheme of things, but it was definitely not good enough to win (winner finished in 28.72).
The 50 meter backstroke was the 10th event and it turned out that someone else entered the competition, so there were three of us. I thought maybe I'd have an okay chance and was talking about it with another teammate before the race. And then we were in the water and I was off:
So, the funny thing about these photos is that it looks like I was just kicking on my back and didn't ever take a stroke. Maybe that's why I came in third place (out of three, which basically means I lost)? Either way, I finished in 42.37 seconds. Again, not sure how that stacks up in the world of swimming. When I got out of the water, our head coach (Robert) came up to me and said that even though I lost, I did a fantastic job, so that was nice. And then the teammate that I had been talking to before the race came up and said that normally I would have had a 50/50 chance of winning, but I was going against one of the fastest swimmers on the team. Oh well. It was still a fantastically fun time and it was nice to have a fun event and not really have to practice.
Weight Lifting
Time: 44:58
Calories: 328
Maximum HR: 165
Average HR: 128
Spin Bike
Time: 30:00
Distance: ~10.00 miles
Pace: ~20 MPH (average)
Calories: 355
Maximum HR: 184
Average HR: 168
50 Meter Freestyle
Time: 35.97 seconds
Distance: 50 meters
Calories: 10
Maximum HR: 184
Average HR: 150
50 Meter Backstroke
Time: 42.37 seconds
Distance: 50 meters
Calories: 13
Maximum HR: 179
Average HR: 164
I'm not going to lie. I did feel really bad about missing these workouts. I know it's not imperative right now that I workout every single day, but I like it. It makes me feel better in general when I've got it done and over with for the day. But, I'm not going to wallow in this. I'm only going to try to do better in the future.
Sunday we slept in a little bit and then headed to the gym. I desperately needed to do some weight lifting in order to keep up with my 12-Week plan and I thought I should do some cardio too and try to burn off some of the homemade donuts I consumed on Saturday! Drew left for the gym before I did, so when I met him there, he was finishing up some cardio on the Arc Trainer, so I decided to just do a few minutes with him there as a warm-up. Then we headed to the weight room.
This was today's workout:
Barbell Squats: 1 set of 12 reps @ 65 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 95 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 115 lbs
Leg Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 180 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 225 lbs / 1 set of 6 reps @ 270 lbs
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 12 reps @ 80 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 95 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 110 lbs
Calf Raises: 1 set of 20 reps @ 180 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 225 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 270 lbs
Holy cow, my legs are getting strong! I took last week's numbers and tried to start with the middle set as the first set today so that I could keep bumping up the weight. Drew was there to help spot me. I yelled at him on my last set of squats because I thought that he was touching the bar and making it heavier, but he said he wasn't doing anything. I'm not 100% convinced, but I also realize that it was probably mostly in my head. On the calf raises, I did ask him to help hold the weight up while I switched from pushing with my legs to getting my toes set-up (I used the leg press machine for my calf raises) and while I can hold 270 pounds with two legs, it's not quite as easy with one leg, while moving your other foot around.
Once we were done with the weight lifting, I said that I wanted to ride spin bikes. When we walked over to the computerized spin bikes, they were being used, so I suggested that we ride in the spin classroom since there wasn't a class scheduled for Sunday. I wasn't thrilled with the fact that I wouldn't know my mileage, but I've decided just to guess based on past performances on the (computerized) spin bike).
I gotta tell you, after lifting legs, there isn't really anything that my legs want to do other than turn to jelly. Needless to say, biking wasn't fun. I was ready to quit after 5 minutes. After about 10 minutes, I said to Drew that I was done. Of course, I hung in there. Part of my problem was that I didn't think to wear biking/tri shorts and sitting on the spin bike seat in just some running shorts was not fun! Mental note to never make that mistake again! When I'm on the computerized spin bike, it will often tell you to feel free to get up out of the saddle for "saddle relief". I definitely had to do that today.
After riding for 10 minutes, I decided that I would spend the next song on my iPod out of the saddle for a change of pace. That went so well that I decided to do it a second time after 20 minutes of riding. The second time I just happened to be listening to "Don't Fight The Moonlight" by LeAnn Rimes (go ahead and hate on my music all you want, but Drew had recently asked for some country music and this was on the playlist!). The really good thing about that song for the spin bike is that the chorus is faster than the rest of the song, so I did some really fast sprints during that part and recovered a little bit during the rest of verses. All in all, I actually really ended up liking the workout. I definitely like it more when I know my mileage, but I liked jamming along with my silly tunes.
After we were done with the biking, we headed over for some stretching and Drew suggested doing some throw-downs. I was thinking that maybe we'd get to fight, but it really wasn't that much fun. Instead it was an ab exercise we've done before. The throw down part happens when Drew throws my legs back down once I've raised them up. The first set we did 15 and the second set 25. I think at that point Drew was done with them, but I said we had to do 20 more for an even 60. He said that 60 seemed like a random number, but I had been thinking of doing my normal 60 crunches, so it didn't seem quite so random to me.
After all the stretching and ab work, we headed home for some breakfast. I had some brunch left-overs of eggs and potatoes and Drew had his normal smoothie. I putzed around a little bit (mostly watching TV) and finally had to get ready for my big Terrier Swim Meet!
I had signed up for two events - the 50 M free and the 50 M backstroke. I only really entered the backstroke to see if I could have a chance at winning something. The other day they posted the events and the heats and there were supposed to only be two of us competing in backstroke, so I thought I had a fairly good chance of winning!
When we got to the pool (Drew came along with me to cheer), I hopped in and did a couple warm-up laps and practiced diving off the blocks. I had to tighten up my goggles, so I was glad I practiced. The 50 meter free was the second event, so I didn't have to wait around long. I ended up doing the 50 meter free in 35.97 seconds. I don't really know if that's good or bad in the scheme of things, but it was definitely not good enough to win (winner finished in 28.72).
The 50 meter backstroke was the 10th event and it turned out that someone else entered the competition, so there were three of us. I thought maybe I'd have an okay chance and was talking about it with another teammate before the race. And then we were in the water and I was off:
So, the funny thing about these photos is that it looks like I was just kicking on my back and didn't ever take a stroke. Maybe that's why I came in third place (out of three, which basically means I lost)? Either way, I finished in 42.37 seconds. Again, not sure how that stacks up in the world of swimming. When I got out of the water, our head coach (Robert) came up to me and said that even though I lost, I did a fantastic job, so that was nice. And then the teammate that I had been talking to before the race came up and said that normally I would have had a 50/50 chance of winning, but I was going against one of the fastest swimmers on the team. Oh well. It was still a fantastically fun time and it was nice to have a fun event and not really have to practice.
Weight Lifting
Time: 44:58
Calories: 328
Maximum HR: 165
Average HR: 128
Spin Bike
Time: 30:00
Distance: ~10.00 miles
Pace: ~20 MPH (average)
Calories: 355
Maximum HR: 184
Average HR: 168
50 Meter Freestyle
Time: 35.97 seconds
Distance: 50 meters
Calories: 10
Maximum HR: 184
Average HR: 150
50 Meter Backstroke
Time: 42.37 seconds
Distance: 50 meters
Calories: 13
Maximum HR: 179
Average HR: 164
Saturday, November 28, 2009
A Mini Triathlon
This morning I got up and went off to the gymnasium. I was meeting Drew at the gym and he reserved a swim lane for us at 11 and I wanted to get a workout in before the swim. When I got there I hopped on the computerized spin bike and decided to try the strength program.
I'm not sure if I've done that one before. I was thinking that it was going to be similar to the endurance program and be a lot of seated flats and seated climbs. However, it turned out to be the opposite. I was up out of the saddle more than I was seated, but it was definitely a good and sweaty workout.
I had about an hour to workout and wanted to give myself some time to stretch before the pool. That meant that after my 40+ minute bike ride, I still had about 15 minutes to kill.
So, what I decided to do was a mini brick. I hopped of the bike, switched shoes, and ran to the treadmill. I set the treadmill on 1% incline at 6.0 (10-minute mile pace). I actually ended up only running for a mile and then walked for a few more minutes as a cool down. It was actually a really easy mile and my legs felt fine, which was nice.
After biking and running, I went off to stretch and also do some foam rolling on my shins. While we were both stretching, we were discussing the ab machine that neither of us has ever used before. Of course, that meant that we had to try it out. I did 30 crunches (not sure that's the right terminology or not).
Finally, it was time for the pool. Drew fell down our stairs last night and has quite the bruise on his toe! That meant that when he went to kick today while swimming, it didn't feel so great. So, instead of doing some kicking (which is what he really should be concentrating on) we did a lot with the pull buoy.
He's definitely improving overall. He still says that he's having trouble breathing, so he was trying to exhale more by breathing every 4th stroke instead of every 2nd stroke. I also really tried to emphasize to him that if he slows his arm stroke down, he'll feel more comfortable hanging out on his side before rolling back over and putting his head back into the water again. I think it's all starting to come together a little bit more than before.
I didn't really do much swimming myself, although I do have a big Terrier Swim Meet coming up and for some reason I decided to sign up for the 50 meter backstroke. I practiced backstroke a little bit. Mostly what I need to make sure I've got down is my stroke count from the flags so that I can do my flip-turn at the right time. I think with a few more times concentrating on it, I'll have it down in no time.
Once we were done swimming, we went and sat in the sauna for a few minutes. It's no hot tub, but it's certainly better than nothing! All in all, I had a really mini triathlon today with my biking, running and swimming. And of course, it was all out of order! It's not very often that I do all three disciplines in the same day, so it was just a little bit funny to me.
Biking
Time: 41:00
Distance: 12.50 miles
Pace: 18.29 MPH average
Calories: 415
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 150
Running
Time: 10:00
Distance: 1.00 mile
Pace: 10:00/mile
Calories: 190
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 158
Swimming
Time: 25:13
Calories: 111
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 105
I'm not sure if I've done that one before. I was thinking that it was going to be similar to the endurance program and be a lot of seated flats and seated climbs. However, it turned out to be the opposite. I was up out of the saddle more than I was seated, but it was definitely a good and sweaty workout.
I had about an hour to workout and wanted to give myself some time to stretch before the pool. That meant that after my 40+ minute bike ride, I still had about 15 minutes to kill.
So, what I decided to do was a mini brick. I hopped of the bike, switched shoes, and ran to the treadmill. I set the treadmill on 1% incline at 6.0 (10-minute mile pace). I actually ended up only running for a mile and then walked for a few more minutes as a cool down. It was actually a really easy mile and my legs felt fine, which was nice.
After biking and running, I went off to stretch and also do some foam rolling on my shins. While we were both stretching, we were discussing the ab machine that neither of us has ever used before. Of course, that meant that we had to try it out. I did 30 crunches (not sure that's the right terminology or not).
Finally, it was time for the pool. Drew fell down our stairs last night and has quite the bruise on his toe! That meant that when he went to kick today while swimming, it didn't feel so great. So, instead of doing some kicking (which is what he really should be concentrating on) we did a lot with the pull buoy.
He's definitely improving overall. He still says that he's having trouble breathing, so he was trying to exhale more by breathing every 4th stroke instead of every 2nd stroke. I also really tried to emphasize to him that if he slows his arm stroke down, he'll feel more comfortable hanging out on his side before rolling back over and putting his head back into the water again. I think it's all starting to come together a little bit more than before.
I didn't really do much swimming myself, although I do have a big Terrier Swim Meet coming up and for some reason I decided to sign up for the 50 meter backstroke. I practiced backstroke a little bit. Mostly what I need to make sure I've got down is my stroke count from the flags so that I can do my flip-turn at the right time. I think with a few more times concentrating on it, I'll have it down in no time.
Once we were done swimming, we went and sat in the sauna for a few minutes. It's no hot tub, but it's certainly better than nothing! All in all, I had a really mini triathlon today with my biking, running and swimming. And of course, it was all out of order! It's not very often that I do all three disciplines in the same day, so it was just a little bit funny to me.
Biking
Time: 41:00
Distance: 12.50 miles
Pace: 18.29 MPH average
Calories: 415
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 150
Running
Time: 10:00
Distance: 1.00 mile
Pace: 10:00/mile
Calories: 190
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 158
Swimming
Time: 25:13
Calories: 111
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 105
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Max
This morning I headed off to the gymnasium with Drew and I really wanted to try to figure out what my max bench press would be. I had been looking at this site and trying to guess what I thought I could get to. I was really hoping that I could do 100, even though I thought it might be a little bit ambitious.
We got to the gym and loaded up the bar so that I'd try lifting 100 pounds. Um, it was a no go. I lowered the bar, but I couldn't push it back up. Of course, when I told that to Drew, I expected him to pick it up right away, but he didn't really help me all that much at first even though I felt a little frantic that it was going to crash down and smoosh my chest in. So, then we decided to try again at 95 pounds. Still the same situation where I could lower the bar but not push it back up.
So, then we decided to go about it from the other direction. We took lots more weight off and then started adding it back on. I was able to lift 65 pounds just fine. I was able to lift 75 pounds with a bit of a struggle. I was able to lift 80 pounds and thought I had reached my max. Drew says he's not convinced that it was my max because even though my arms were a little shaky pushing it up, he said that it was still relatively quick. I decided that I had maxed out at 80. I guess I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't more, especially since I've been doing so much weight lifting, but I guess I know where I am now and can only hope to maintain this level and hopefully improve.
After that, I went over and spun my little heart out on the computerized spin bike. I did the race day program which gets you up out of the saddle about 50% of the time. Nothing too noteworthy to report here. It definitely is a lot better now that I realized that I can clip in with my regular bike shoes, although I wonder if I'll be more likely to forget to clip out when stopping on my regular bike now that I'm getting used to the stationary bike!
Biking
Time: 37:44
Distance: 12.80 miles
Pace: 20.35 MPH average
Calories: 363
Maximum HR: 163
Average HR: 146
We got to the gym and loaded up the bar so that I'd try lifting 100 pounds. Um, it was a no go. I lowered the bar, but I couldn't push it back up. Of course, when I told that to Drew, I expected him to pick it up right away, but he didn't really help me all that much at first even though I felt a little frantic that it was going to crash down and smoosh my chest in. So, then we decided to try again at 95 pounds. Still the same situation where I could lower the bar but not push it back up.
So, then we decided to go about it from the other direction. We took lots more weight off and then started adding it back on. I was able to lift 65 pounds just fine. I was able to lift 75 pounds with a bit of a struggle. I was able to lift 80 pounds and thought I had reached my max. Drew says he's not convinced that it was my max because even though my arms were a little shaky pushing it up, he said that it was still relatively quick. I decided that I had maxed out at 80. I guess I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't more, especially since I've been doing so much weight lifting, but I guess I know where I am now and can only hope to maintain this level and hopefully improve.
After that, I went over and spun my little heart out on the computerized spin bike. I did the race day program which gets you up out of the saddle about 50% of the time. Nothing too noteworthy to report here. It definitely is a lot better now that I realized that I can clip in with my regular bike shoes, although I wonder if I'll be more likely to forget to clip out when stopping on my regular bike now that I'm getting used to the stationary bike!
Biking
Time: 37:44
Distance: 12.80 miles
Pace: 20.35 MPH average
Calories: 363
Maximum HR: 163
Average HR: 146
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Just The Regular Gymnasium
This morning Laura and I had been planning on going to check out a new and really fancy gymnasium, but things didn't go quite as planned, so I ended up just going to the regular gymnasium with Drew. Today I had my second set of Drop Set weight lifting to do and Drew wanted to ride spin bikes, so that was my plan for the day.
This was the weight lifting:
Dumbbell Rows (Right Arm): 1 set of 10 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 15 lbs
Dumbbell Rows (Left Arm): 1 set of 10 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 15 lbs
Lat Pulldown (Triangle Bar): 1 set of 10 reps @ 70 lbs/ 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 30 lbs
Barbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 45 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs
Dumbbell Pullovers: 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 20 lbs
Dumbbell Curls: 1 set of 10 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm)
This Drop Set thing sure is tricky. I really tried to lift heavy on the first set so that I could then decrease to something more reasonable for the second set. I would say that I was definitely struggling on most of the second sets. It's weird because your muscles think "Oh wow! This is so light," but after doing a couple of reps, you realize that it's still a decent amount of weight that you're lifting with zero rest between sets.
On the lat pulldowns, the third set was definitely too light. I probably should have been lifting 40 pounds instead of 30, but I think that there is a bit of a learning curve here and I'm doing my best. On the flip side, 30 pounds is the most I've lifted for the dumbbell pullovers. It was not easy, but I did it. The part that I actually really didn't like was the fact that once you get to 30 pounds, the dumbbells at the gym change sizes, and I didn't like holding onto the bigger dumbbell for that exercise. On the dumbbell curls, 20 lbs per arm was the most I've ever lifted and it was really challenging. I started out doing the curls at the same time, but I ended up having to stagger that set so I would just do right arm-left arm, etc.
I was really happy that there were no crunches in today's workout! After the weight lifting was done, Drew and I hit the spin bikes. We both used the computerized spin bikes, but Drew told me that he really just wanted to read his book and not be in and out of the saddle all the time, so I said that we should do the endurance program as that's mostly seated flats with just one or two standing flats thrown into the mix. I think he set his for about 30 minutes, but I set mine for 55-60. When I said endurance, I meant endurance.
Except that after 30 minutes, I wanted to get off the bike too! Oof. It was hard riding a bike for an hour. But, I hung in there and didn't give up. And I felt much better about completing my ride at the end and not giving up on myself or my workout. The best part about getting off the bike was seeing that my average cadence was 86, which I thought was pretty awesome.
Weight Lifting
Time: 27:44
Calories: 181
Maximum HR: 145
Average HR: 119
Spin Bike
Time: 57:45
Distance: 21.70 miles
Pace: 22.55 MPH (average)
Calories: 545
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 144
This was the weight lifting:
Dumbbell Rows (Right Arm): 1 set of 10 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 15 lbs
Dumbbell Rows (Left Arm): 1 set of 10 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 15 lbs
Lat Pulldown (Triangle Bar): 1 set of 10 reps @ 70 lbs/ 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 30 lbs
Barbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 45 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs
Dumbbell Pullovers: 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 20 lbs
Dumbbell Curls: 1 set of 10 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm)
This Drop Set thing sure is tricky. I really tried to lift heavy on the first set so that I could then decrease to something more reasonable for the second set. I would say that I was definitely struggling on most of the second sets. It's weird because your muscles think "Oh wow! This is so light," but after doing a couple of reps, you realize that it's still a decent amount of weight that you're lifting with zero rest between sets.
On the lat pulldowns, the third set was definitely too light. I probably should have been lifting 40 pounds instead of 30, but I think that there is a bit of a learning curve here and I'm doing my best. On the flip side, 30 pounds is the most I've lifted for the dumbbell pullovers. It was not easy, but I did it. The part that I actually really didn't like was the fact that once you get to 30 pounds, the dumbbells at the gym change sizes, and I didn't like holding onto the bigger dumbbell for that exercise. On the dumbbell curls, 20 lbs per arm was the most I've ever lifted and it was really challenging. I started out doing the curls at the same time, but I ended up having to stagger that set so I would just do right arm-left arm, etc.
I was really happy that there were no crunches in today's workout! After the weight lifting was done, Drew and I hit the spin bikes. We both used the computerized spin bikes, but Drew told me that he really just wanted to read his book and not be in and out of the saddle all the time, so I said that we should do the endurance program as that's mostly seated flats with just one or two standing flats thrown into the mix. I think he set his for about 30 minutes, but I set mine for 55-60. When I said endurance, I meant endurance.
Except that after 30 minutes, I wanted to get off the bike too! Oof. It was hard riding a bike for an hour. But, I hung in there and didn't give up. And I felt much better about completing my ride at the end and not giving up on myself or my workout. The best part about getting off the bike was seeing that my average cadence was 86, which I thought was pretty awesome.
Weight Lifting
Time: 27:44
Calories: 181
Maximum HR: 145
Average HR: 119
Spin Bike
Time: 57:45
Distance: 21.70 miles
Pace: 22.55 MPH (average)
Calories: 545
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 144
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Drop It Like It's Hot
Today I had to skip my normal Sunday routine of Terrier swim practice because we were going with Drew's sister for lunch at Per Se. If there ever was a reason to skip swim practice, this seems like the best reason yet! It didn't mean that I skipped working out all together, though. Instead, I headed to the gymnasium with Drew this morning in order to start on Week 7 of my weight lifting book.
This week starts Drop Sets - where you do one set of weight lifting at a high weight, drop to a lower weight (about 30% less) for a second set, and finish up with an even lighter weight (30% less again) for the final set. Oh, and there is no rest in between sets.
This was today's workout:
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 15 reps @ 65 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 35 lbs
Leg Curls (Double Leg): 1 set of 10 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 45 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs
Calf Raises: 1 set of 15 reps @ 125 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 100 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 75 lbs
Leg Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 125 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 100 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 75 lbs
Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
Legs and abs. Oof. The legs weren't so bad. The book had different goal reps for each exercise, so I really concentrated on meeting the goal reps, which I was able to do every time. It wasn't easy, but I did it. I'm pretty sure that 125 is my highest weight to date on the leg presses/calf raises, so that was exciting! I also suffered through the crunches, which was painful. I did rest for 5 seconds in between each set of crunches. I thought that was fair as it'd be similar to adjusting the weight on any of the other machines. This weight lifting is really fast compared to a lot of the other ones where you can rest for 1-2 minutes between sets. I couldn't believe how quickly I was done and I even had to wait for about 2 minutes for a guy to be done with the leg press machine.
After I was done with the weight lifting, I headed over to the computer spin bikes. I tried out a new program today, the endurance program. Mainly, that meant a lot of seated spinning instead of more in and out of the saddle. I think that I liked this program a little bit better because even though it might have been a little bit more boring than the ones where you get out of the saddle a lot, it was more true to the type of biking I'm trying to practice. I really tried to keep my cadence up above 80, even at the higher resistances, which I guess I was successful at because when I got off, it said that my average cadence was 81. When I had about 10 minutes left of my bike ride, Drew came over to find out that the second computer spin bike is broken. They're ordering a part and expect it to be fixed by Friday, but he was really hoping that I could show him the ropes on how to use it.
I finished up my bike ride and headed over to do lots and lots of stretching. Being at yoga yesterday reminded me how important it is to stretch after working out. I also did a lot of foam rolling. My shins are feeling so much better now that I've been foam rolling them. They don't hurt when you touch them anymore, which seems like a really good sign. I must say that foam rolling my shins is also one heck of an ab workout and by the time I finished, I was shaking from the effort of doing it. I also decided to foam roll my IT band for the first time. I see a guy doing it all the time at the gym, so I thought I'd jump on the band wagon. It was definitely painful, but that's probably a reason to keep doing it.
All in all, a very successful workout. Not enough to burn off the 2000+ calories that this lunch will be, but a good start!
Weight Lifting
Time: 19:33
Calories: 124
Maximum HR: 150
Average HR: 119
Spin Bike
Time: 47:00
Distance: 16.9 miles
Pace: 21.52 MPH
Calories: 501
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 155
This week starts Drop Sets - where you do one set of weight lifting at a high weight, drop to a lower weight (about 30% less) for a second set, and finish up with an even lighter weight (30% less again) for the final set. Oh, and there is no rest in between sets.
This was today's workout:
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 15 reps @ 65 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 35 lbs
Leg Curls (Double Leg): 1 set of 10 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 45 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs
Calf Raises: 1 set of 15 reps @ 125 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 100 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 75 lbs
Leg Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 125 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 100 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 75 lbs
Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
Legs and abs. Oof. The legs weren't so bad. The book had different goal reps for each exercise, so I really concentrated on meeting the goal reps, which I was able to do every time. It wasn't easy, but I did it. I'm pretty sure that 125 is my highest weight to date on the leg presses/calf raises, so that was exciting! I also suffered through the crunches, which was painful. I did rest for 5 seconds in between each set of crunches. I thought that was fair as it'd be similar to adjusting the weight on any of the other machines. This weight lifting is really fast compared to a lot of the other ones where you can rest for 1-2 minutes between sets. I couldn't believe how quickly I was done and I even had to wait for about 2 minutes for a guy to be done with the leg press machine.
After I was done with the weight lifting, I headed over to the computer spin bikes. I tried out a new program today, the endurance program. Mainly, that meant a lot of seated spinning instead of more in and out of the saddle. I think that I liked this program a little bit better because even though it might have been a little bit more boring than the ones where you get out of the saddle a lot, it was more true to the type of biking I'm trying to practice. I really tried to keep my cadence up above 80, even at the higher resistances, which I guess I was successful at because when I got off, it said that my average cadence was 81. When I had about 10 minutes left of my bike ride, Drew came over to find out that the second computer spin bike is broken. They're ordering a part and expect it to be fixed by Friday, but he was really hoping that I could show him the ropes on how to use it.
I finished up my bike ride and headed over to do lots and lots of stretching. Being at yoga yesterday reminded me how important it is to stretch after working out. I also did a lot of foam rolling. My shins are feeling so much better now that I've been foam rolling them. They don't hurt when you touch them anymore, which seems like a really good sign. I must say that foam rolling my shins is also one heck of an ab workout and by the time I finished, I was shaking from the effort of doing it. I also decided to foam roll my IT band for the first time. I see a guy doing it all the time at the gym, so I thought I'd jump on the band wagon. It was definitely painful, but that's probably a reason to keep doing it.
All in all, a very successful workout. Not enough to burn off the 2000+ calories that this lunch will be, but a good start!
Weight Lifting
Time: 19:33
Calories: 124
Maximum HR: 150
Average HR: 119
Spin Bike
Time: 47:00
Distance: 16.9 miles
Pace: 21.52 MPH
Calories: 501
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 155
Monday, November 9, 2009
Up Before The Alarm
This morning I had agreed to meet our friend Eric at the gymnasium. When I asked him last night if he wanted to meet, I was a little bit upset that he said yes, but I knew that it'd be really good motivation to get up and out of bed! Apparently it was because I had set my alarm for 5:30 and I woke up at 5:20 on my own. I almost never wake up early like that, so it was a big surprise to me. Of course, I didn't get up then, I snoozed for a few more minutes, but I left for the gym at 5:57, so it was still an early morning.
I was actually sort-of looking forward to this morning because I really wanted to try out my brand new bike shorts that I got yesterday. And, since I had it, I also wore one of my new workout tops. Oh, and new socks too. Somehow having new stuff makes it all more fun.
So, I headed off to the gym and got myself a computerized spin bike. I was really excited to try out my new shorts. I have to say that they made the ride a lot more enjoyable, even though I was sweating buckets. The funny thing is that I was wearing the new UnderArmour shirt that I got yesterday (the pink one) and I wasn't sure if I would really like it or not while I was at the store. Drew told me that he really likes all of his stuff by them (I didn't have any of their stuff) and today when Eric got to the gym, he said I looked really cute! So, I guess it was a good purchase in the end!
The ride itself today was fine. I did a different setting than I had been doing, but I think it's all pretty much the same stuff. Today I used "Intervals" instead of "Race Day" and I still did it on Level 7. I'm not sure I really noticed a difference from one to the other, but I also wasn't listening to the guy who talks to you on the computer. I was just reading the instructions on the screen.
I think that I'll be really happy with these new shorts, but I'm just hoping that I don't spoil myself by wearing them and then will be unhappy when I go back to tri shorts on my regular bike!
Time: 48:03
Distance: 15.4 miles
Pace: 19.23 MPH (average)
Calories: 477
Maximum HR: 163
Average HR: 149
I was actually sort-of looking forward to this morning because I really wanted to try out my brand new bike shorts that I got yesterday. And, since I had it, I also wore one of my new workout tops. Oh, and new socks too. Somehow having new stuff makes it all more fun.
So, I headed off to the gym and got myself a computerized spin bike. I was really excited to try out my new shorts. I have to say that they made the ride a lot more enjoyable, even though I was sweating buckets. The funny thing is that I was wearing the new UnderArmour shirt that I got yesterday (the pink one) and I wasn't sure if I would really like it or not while I was at the store. Drew told me that he really likes all of his stuff by them (I didn't have any of their stuff) and today when Eric got to the gym, he said I looked really cute! So, I guess it was a good purchase in the end!
The ride itself today was fine. I did a different setting than I had been doing, but I think it's all pretty much the same stuff. Today I used "Intervals" instead of "Race Day" and I still did it on Level 7. I'm not sure I really noticed a difference from one to the other, but I also wasn't listening to the guy who talks to you on the computer. I was just reading the instructions on the screen.
I think that I'll be really happy with these new shorts, but I'm just hoping that I don't spoil myself by wearing them and then will be unhappy when I go back to tri shorts on my regular bike!
Time: 48:03
Distance: 15.4 miles
Pace: 19.23 MPH (average)
Calories: 477
Maximum HR: 163
Average HR: 149
Friday, November 6, 2009
Excuse Me? Can You See The Hills?
Drew left for Washington, D.C. on Thursday night, which meant that I was left to my own devices to wake up this morning. Needless to say, that didn't go so well. The only good thing about that is that the gym really isn't too crowded on Friday evenings. I'm not sure what that says about my social life, but I certainly appreciated the fact that it wasn't too busy.
I came home after work, changed clothes, grabbed my gear (including bike shoes), and was off to the gymnasium. I was hoping to use the computerized spin bike again. There are two bikes, but up until yesterday, only one was operational (the computer portion, I should say). When I got there, there was a girl on the one bike that had been working and she wasn't even using the computer program. Luckily for her, the other bike's computer was now working, otherwise I wouldn't have had any qualms about asking her to switch over to a regular spin bike. I don't think I would have been out of line. If all you're doing is riding a spin bike, there are 30 regular spin bikes and only two with computers. If you're not using the computer, what is the point of getting on that particular bike?
So, instead I tried out computerized spin bike #2. It's exactly like computerized spin bike #1. Not a big surprise. I decided that I would do about 50 minutes on the bike and once again ended up on Level 7. I must not ever see where you change levels in the set-up. Oh well. I guess 7 seems like a nice enough number.
I was about half-way through my ride when the girl next to me vacated computerized spin bike #1. Her spot was quickly taken by a very smelly guy. I tried not to notice too much, but I wonder why boys are always so stinky at the gym. Do they just forget to wash their clothes? Do they not use soap when they shower in the morning? What is it? Anyhow, smelly guy messed around with the computer for a while and then said, "Excuse me? Can you set this so that you can see the hills?" The short answer was no, which was what I said to him. The long answer is that using resistance and cadence, you can tell whether or not you're going up a hill. I didn't explain all of that to him. I just kept it short and sweet, at which point he got off the bike and took his smell with him. Whew!
I will say that I felt a little bit smug or like I was a "real" cyclist because I knew how to tell whether or not I was simulating a hill without a graph telling me that I was going up a hill. Not that I think I am a real cyclist, it was just a momentary feeling.
All in all, it was a pretty good ride. The only thing that I don't love about the bike is that when you select a time range (I believe I chose 50-55 minutes), it automatically factors in the cool-down in that time range. I guess that's okay once you know it, but I generally tack on an extra couple of minutes in my head to cool-down. It also stops recording once you reach your time limit. Not the worst thing, but not my most favorite either. Perhaps I should just over-estimate my times from now on.
Time: 52:56
Distance:17.9 miles
Pace: 20.3 MPH average
Calories: 586
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 158
I came home after work, changed clothes, grabbed my gear (including bike shoes), and was off to the gymnasium. I was hoping to use the computerized spin bike again. There are two bikes, but up until yesterday, only one was operational (the computer portion, I should say). When I got there, there was a girl on the one bike that had been working and she wasn't even using the computer program. Luckily for her, the other bike's computer was now working, otherwise I wouldn't have had any qualms about asking her to switch over to a regular spin bike. I don't think I would have been out of line. If all you're doing is riding a spin bike, there are 30 regular spin bikes and only two with computers. If you're not using the computer, what is the point of getting on that particular bike?
So, instead I tried out computerized spin bike #2. It's exactly like computerized spin bike #1. Not a big surprise. I decided that I would do about 50 minutes on the bike and once again ended up on Level 7. I must not ever see where you change levels in the set-up. Oh well. I guess 7 seems like a nice enough number.
I was about half-way through my ride when the girl next to me vacated computerized spin bike #1. Her spot was quickly taken by a very smelly guy. I tried not to notice too much, but I wonder why boys are always so stinky at the gym. Do they just forget to wash their clothes? Do they not use soap when they shower in the morning? What is it? Anyhow, smelly guy messed around with the computer for a while and then said, "Excuse me? Can you set this so that you can see the hills?" The short answer was no, which was what I said to him. The long answer is that using resistance and cadence, you can tell whether or not you're going up a hill. I didn't explain all of that to him. I just kept it short and sweet, at which point he got off the bike and took his smell with him. Whew!
I will say that I felt a little bit smug or like I was a "real" cyclist because I knew how to tell whether or not I was simulating a hill without a graph telling me that I was going up a hill. Not that I think I am a real cyclist, it was just a momentary feeling.
All in all, it was a pretty good ride. The only thing that I don't love about the bike is that when you select a time range (I believe I chose 50-55 minutes), it automatically factors in the cool-down in that time range. I guess that's okay once you know it, but I generally tack on an extra couple of minutes in my head to cool-down. It also stops recording once you reach your time limit. Not the worst thing, but not my most favorite either. Perhaps I should just over-estimate my times from now on.
Time: 52:56
Distance:17.9 miles
Pace: 20.3 MPH average
Calories: 586
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 158
Sunday, November 1, 2009
New Shirt, New Shoes, New Service?
This morning was a bit of a repeat of yesterday. We slept in again and then headed to the gym for another long session of working out. This probably makes up for the fact that we skipped out on the gym on both Thursday and Friday! Plus, it's just a really great way to start off the week. I know I'm going to have to get into the habit sooner than I'd like of getting in longer workouts, so I figure I might as well squeeze them in whenever I can.
I do need to back up for a minute. Yesterday afternoon Drew and I went to the NYC Marathon Expo in the hopes of scoring some free samples of energy bars, drinks, etc. However, all we did was spend money. There were hardly any free samples, which was pretty much the exact opposite of the NYC Triathlon Expo that we went to over the summer. I guess we now know not to waste our time with the Marathon. So, we left with some new socks for Drew (I got one pair too), running gloves for both of us, two new technical shirts for me, and one free coconut water each. Here's our booty:
I colored in the "M" in Mizuno on my running gloves so that we could tell them apart easily. The gloves were originally $20 and we got them for $5 each. I got both shirts for 50% off, so even though we were hoping for a bunch of free stuff, we still got great deals on the stuff that we did get. I had really been wanting some new running gloves and Drew asked if we really needed fancy ones or if we could just get by with cheap ones. However, reading Brie's blog about her recent run with the cheapie gloves, I think I'm hoping that these will be a bit more breathable and worth the extra couple of bucks.
So, long story short, of course I had to try out one of my new shirts at the gymnasium today! I chose the one on the left. I actually really liked it although the sides are completely see-through, which is sort-of funny to me. Kind of like a sexy workout top!
I also took my bike shoes to the gym with me for the first time today. Obviously the shoes aren't new, but taking them to the gym was a new thing for me. I have been wanting to see for some time if they would clip into the spin bike clips. And they do! That meant that I had to give the computerized spin bike another shot today.
For the new service, I decided to do one of the spin class programs and see how that went. I put in all the relevant data (weight, age, etc.) and started. The only thing I apparently forgot to set was the level. I realized that I was on Level 7 (out of 10). Yesterday when I was messing around I did Level 4, which I thought was a bit of a challenge, so I really wasn't sure I was going to make it through 30 minutes on Level 7.
I did the "Race Day" program, which I actually really liked. There were lots of hills to climb (some seated and some standing). I just pedaled as hard as I could. The one thing that I still don't love about this machine is that when I'm standing it will pick up my heart rate monitor but when I'm seated it must be too far from the sensor, so it doesn't. When I looked at my stats, it looked a bit like I had been shocked by a defibrulator since my heart rate was at zero for quite a while and then would jump up once I was standing.
I will say that I think the shoes actually made it more enjoyable. Wearing the cages over my feet just isn't that great once you've been wearing cycling shoes and I'd 100% recommend wearing these shoes instead. Even though I was a little nervous that I'd forget one of my pairs of shoes at the gym, it's probably worth the worrying.
After the bike, I did some stretching and foam rolling. I tried to roll out my hamstring and I'm still working on foam rolling my shins. It is interesting to me how much easier it is on my shins. It is still not comfortable, but it's not painful like it was before when it made me want to yell out curse words. Then I decided that I would do some more cardio and I hit the elliptical machine.
While I was at the gym today, I was watching the NYC Marathon, which was sort-of inspirational. I decided to do an hour on the elliptical but after about 40 minutes I had really had enough. But I figured if I could watch all of those people on TV running 26.2 miles, I could hang in there for another 20. So, I did. I'm really glad that I did. The thing about working out is that it's not always 100% enjoyable, but I'm always really happy that I got up and did it. Although I do believe in listening to my body, but sometimes when I'm still half alseep, I'm not really recognizing that I'll feel better in the end.
I finished up with some more streching before heading home to start my day. Drew and I had some errands we wanted to run and we also decided to go and get lunch downtown on our way to the errands. I decided that I wanted to wear my heart rate monitor and just see how many calories I burned while not working out. I know that this isn't a perfect test and I do plan on wearing it again on a work day where I'm mostly sitting throughout the day, but I thought this would be a good weekend estimate.
It turns out that I burned 230.4 calories per hour, which I actually think is pretty good, given that I didn't do any cardio. The spike in my heart rate came right at the end of the test period when I was carrying about 20 cans of fruit up the steps from the subway. I'm not going to lie, I definitely slowed down when I reached the top of the steps. I think my legs were a little tired from earlier today! I'm now really curious to see what a regular work day looks like in terms of calorie burning, so stay tuned for that!
Computerized Spin Bike
Time: 33:08
Distance: 11.50 miles
Pace: 20.82 MPH
Calories: 393
Maximum HR: 176
Average HR: 163
Elliptical
Time: 1:00:00
Distance: 5.50 miles
Pace: 10:54/mile
Calories: 635
Maximum HR: 170
Average HR: 155
5 Hours Non-Workout Calorie Counting
Time: 5:00:02
Calories: 1152
Average Calories: 230.4/hour
Maximum HR: 153
Average HR: 101
I do need to back up for a minute. Yesterday afternoon Drew and I went to the NYC Marathon Expo in the hopes of scoring some free samples of energy bars, drinks, etc. However, all we did was spend money. There were hardly any free samples, which was pretty much the exact opposite of the NYC Triathlon Expo that we went to over the summer. I guess we now know not to waste our time with the Marathon. So, we left with some new socks for Drew (I got one pair too), running gloves for both of us, two new technical shirts for me, and one free coconut water each. Here's our booty:
I colored in the "M" in Mizuno on my running gloves so that we could tell them apart easily. The gloves were originally $20 and we got them for $5 each. I got both shirts for 50% off, so even though we were hoping for a bunch of free stuff, we still got great deals on the stuff that we did get. I had really been wanting some new running gloves and Drew asked if we really needed fancy ones or if we could just get by with cheap ones. However, reading Brie's blog about her recent run with the cheapie gloves, I think I'm hoping that these will be a bit more breathable and worth the extra couple of bucks.
So, long story short, of course I had to try out one of my new shirts at the gymnasium today! I chose the one on the left. I actually really liked it although the sides are completely see-through, which is sort-of funny to me. Kind of like a sexy workout top!
I also took my bike shoes to the gym with me for the first time today. Obviously the shoes aren't new, but taking them to the gym was a new thing for me. I have been wanting to see for some time if they would clip into the spin bike clips. And they do! That meant that I had to give the computerized spin bike another shot today.
For the new service, I decided to do one of the spin class programs and see how that went. I put in all the relevant data (weight, age, etc.) and started. The only thing I apparently forgot to set was the level. I realized that I was on Level 7 (out of 10). Yesterday when I was messing around I did Level 4, which I thought was a bit of a challenge, so I really wasn't sure I was going to make it through 30 minutes on Level 7.
I did the "Race Day" program, which I actually really liked. There were lots of hills to climb (some seated and some standing). I just pedaled as hard as I could. The one thing that I still don't love about this machine is that when I'm standing it will pick up my heart rate monitor but when I'm seated it must be too far from the sensor, so it doesn't. When I looked at my stats, it looked a bit like I had been shocked by a defibrulator since my heart rate was at zero for quite a while and then would jump up once I was standing.
I will say that I think the shoes actually made it more enjoyable. Wearing the cages over my feet just isn't that great once you've been wearing cycling shoes and I'd 100% recommend wearing these shoes instead. Even though I was a little nervous that I'd forget one of my pairs of shoes at the gym, it's probably worth the worrying.
After the bike, I did some stretching and foam rolling. I tried to roll out my hamstring and I'm still working on foam rolling my shins. It is interesting to me how much easier it is on my shins. It is still not comfortable, but it's not painful like it was before when it made me want to yell out curse words. Then I decided that I would do some more cardio and I hit the elliptical machine.
While I was at the gym today, I was watching the NYC Marathon, which was sort-of inspirational. I decided to do an hour on the elliptical but after about 40 minutes I had really had enough. But I figured if I could watch all of those people on TV running 26.2 miles, I could hang in there for another 20. So, I did. I'm really glad that I did. The thing about working out is that it's not always 100% enjoyable, but I'm always really happy that I got up and did it. Although I do believe in listening to my body, but sometimes when I'm still half alseep, I'm not really recognizing that I'll feel better in the end.
I finished up with some more streching before heading home to start my day. Drew and I had some errands we wanted to run and we also decided to go and get lunch downtown on our way to the errands. I decided that I wanted to wear my heart rate monitor and just see how many calories I burned while not working out. I know that this isn't a perfect test and I do plan on wearing it again on a work day where I'm mostly sitting throughout the day, but I thought this would be a good weekend estimate.
It turns out that I burned 230.4 calories per hour, which I actually think is pretty good, given that I didn't do any cardio. The spike in my heart rate came right at the end of the test period when I was carrying about 20 cans of fruit up the steps from the subway. I'm not going to lie, I definitely slowed down when I reached the top of the steps. I think my legs were a little tired from earlier today! I'm now really curious to see what a regular work day looks like in terms of calorie burning, so stay tuned for that!
Computerized Spin Bike
Time: 33:08
Distance: 11.50 miles
Pace: 20.82 MPH
Calories: 393
Maximum HR: 176
Average HR: 163
Elliptical
Time: 1:00:00
Distance: 5.50 miles
Pace: 10:54/mile
Calories: 635
Maximum HR: 170
Average HR: 155
5 Hours Non-Workout Calorie Counting
Time: 5:00:02
Calories: 1152
Average Calories: 230.4/hour
Maximum HR: 153
Average HR: 101
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Super Set Me!
This morning Drew and I slept in a little bit, had breakfast in bed, and then headed off to the gymnasium. We had a big day of workouts planned, so it was good that we had breakfast beforehand.
I started a new week of Weight Lifting (Week 5 already!). This week is all about Super Sets. That means that you should perform 1 set of the first exercise (Exercise A) and immediately perform a set of the second exercise (Exercise B). Then you can take a rest interval. The book explains that, "Your body can adapt to a certain training routine in approximately 2 weeks. This means that you will get little or no results if you do the same workout longer than 2 weeks in a row." So, as a result, you have to switch things up a little bit.
Here is the workout from today:
A) Leg Extensions: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 13 reps @ 60 lbs
B) Leg Press: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 115 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 115 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Pullovers: 3 sets of 15 reps @ 20 lbs
B) Lat Pulldown (triangle bar): 3 sets of 15 reps @ 60 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Flys: 1 set of 15 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 10 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 10 lbs
B) Dumbbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 8 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 6 reps @ 20 lbs
*****
A) Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
B) Ab Bench Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
On my first leg press, I realized that my left hamstring still hasn't recovered from last week. I'm thinking that maybe next time I'll lower the weight slightly on the leg curls in order to have a shorter recovery period. I think I'll still get a good benefit even if I lift 5 pounds less each time.
Everything went pretty well. Luckily, the weight room was pretty quiet so it wasn't a big deal to be using two pieces of equipment at essentially the same time. I was always a little worried that someone would sneak in and take the machines that I was using, but it all worked out.
After the weight lifting, I headed over to do some cardio. I happened to spy a new piece of equipment that I hadn't seen at the gym before! It was a computerized spin bike. As soon as I saw it, I felt like my entire winter just got a lot better. I know that the spin bikes are better than the cardio bikes, but I never really wanted to use them because I really like to know how far I've gone and I also like the fact that you can program the cardio bikes. Well, everything I liked in a cardio bike has now been delivered in a spin bike!
So, I hopped on. I didn't love it. I played around with a lot of the settings and tried to figure out which settings I thought I would like best. There are spin class programs that you can do or you can do a more customizable program. The internet says that there are about a million combinations you can do, so it seems like perhaps if I mess around with it a little bit more, I can find something that I like.
The thing that I don't really like is the part where you get out of the saddle (in the spin class program). Somehow that seems really unrealistic to me in my regular bike riding, but I can understand that it is making my legs stronger for training purposes. I also always feel like I should keep a 90+ cadence and having a lower cadence makes me feel weird too, like I'm cheating somehow.
After testing out the bike for a bit, Drew and I hit the pool again for another of our swimming lessons. Although this isn't much of a workout for me, I'm really enjoying it. Drew is definitely improving, but he definitely still has a long way to go. He gets tired really easily after swimming one length of the pool (18 yards). We did work a lot on kicking today, which I think was really helpful. It's definitely the case that he has a lot better form kicking or swimming when he's taking it a little bit slower than when he's racing and rushing.
We did a couple of races where I would give him a (huge) head start and then try and beat him down the pool. I beat him in the kicking races, but didn't quite make it (I was one stroke short) in the swimming competition. It's things like that that make it really fun to get in the pool with him. And I hope that he likes it too.
Weight Lifting
Time: 37:15
Calories: 299
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 132
Spin Bike
Time: 29:24
Distance: ~8.5 miles
Pace: 17.35 MPH
Calories: 357
Maximum HR: 180
Average HR: 167
Swimming
Time: 28:00
Calories: 181
Maximum HR: 159
Average HR: 119
I started a new week of Weight Lifting (Week 5 already!). This week is all about Super Sets. That means that you should perform 1 set of the first exercise (Exercise A) and immediately perform a set of the second exercise (Exercise B). Then you can take a rest interval. The book explains that, "Your body can adapt to a certain training routine in approximately 2 weeks. This means that you will get little or no results if you do the same workout longer than 2 weeks in a row." So, as a result, you have to switch things up a little bit.
Here is the workout from today:
A) Leg Extensions: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 13 reps @ 60 lbs
B) Leg Press: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 115 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 115 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Pullovers: 3 sets of 15 reps @ 20 lbs
B) Lat Pulldown (triangle bar): 3 sets of 15 reps @ 60 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Flys: 1 set of 15 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 10 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 10 lbs
B) Dumbbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 8 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 6 reps @ 20 lbs
*****
A) Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
B) Ab Bench Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
On my first leg press, I realized that my left hamstring still hasn't recovered from last week. I'm thinking that maybe next time I'll lower the weight slightly on the leg curls in order to have a shorter recovery period. I think I'll still get a good benefit even if I lift 5 pounds less each time.
Everything went pretty well. Luckily, the weight room was pretty quiet so it wasn't a big deal to be using two pieces of equipment at essentially the same time. I was always a little worried that someone would sneak in and take the machines that I was using, but it all worked out.
After the weight lifting, I headed over to do some cardio. I happened to spy a new piece of equipment that I hadn't seen at the gym before! It was a computerized spin bike. As soon as I saw it, I felt like my entire winter just got a lot better. I know that the spin bikes are better than the cardio bikes, but I never really wanted to use them because I really like to know how far I've gone and I also like the fact that you can program the cardio bikes. Well, everything I liked in a cardio bike has now been delivered in a spin bike!
So, I hopped on. I didn't love it. I played around with a lot of the settings and tried to figure out which settings I thought I would like best. There are spin class programs that you can do or you can do a more customizable program. The internet says that there are about a million combinations you can do, so it seems like perhaps if I mess around with it a little bit more, I can find something that I like.
The thing that I don't really like is the part where you get out of the saddle (in the spin class program). Somehow that seems really unrealistic to me in my regular bike riding, but I can understand that it is making my legs stronger for training purposes. I also always feel like I should keep a 90+ cadence and having a lower cadence makes me feel weird too, like I'm cheating somehow.
After testing out the bike for a bit, Drew and I hit the pool again for another of our swimming lessons. Although this isn't much of a workout for me, I'm really enjoying it. Drew is definitely improving, but he definitely still has a long way to go. He gets tired really easily after swimming one length of the pool (18 yards). We did work a lot on kicking today, which I think was really helpful. It's definitely the case that he has a lot better form kicking or swimming when he's taking it a little bit slower than when he's racing and rushing.
We did a couple of races where I would give him a (huge) head start and then try and beat him down the pool. I beat him in the kicking races, but didn't quite make it (I was one stroke short) in the swimming competition. It's things like that that make it really fun to get in the pool with him. And I hope that he likes it too.
Weight Lifting
Time: 37:15
Calories: 299
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 132
Spin Bike
Time: 29:24
Distance: ~8.5 miles
Pace: 17.35 MPH
Calories: 357
Maximum HR: 180
Average HR: 167
Swimming
Time: 28:00
Calories: 181
Maximum HR: 159
Average HR: 119
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