The title of this post is what Laura said to me tonight. I replied, " Right now, sitting in my apartment, I actually have NO idea. It's 90 degrees outside." Somehow, though, she convinced me that we should go for a swim and a hot tub because, "we'd be cold after swimming."
Laura had asked me yesterday if I'd be willing to swim with her today after work. I have to say that I was secretly hoping one of is would get stuck working late, and even though we had some guest pass issues, we both got to the pool.
Laura was dead set on going to a hot tub, which I thought was a little weird since it's 90 degrees outside and is going to be staying that way for at least the next couple days, but I didn't put up much of a protest at the idea of a good hot tub.
We settled on the 92nd Street Y, for their hot tub and decent pool. I was surprised when we got there at 8:15 how busy it was at night. It was probably almost busier than it has been in the mornings.
I still hate that this pool doesn't have anything to hold onto at either end. It's not that I need to stop at one end or the other to hold on, it's more that I need something to hold onto while I pull my legs around so that I can turn around. I'm not big on flip turns, although this would be a good pool for them. My solution today was to grab onto the small (unused) lane line anchor points in the tiling. I'm guessing that's not the normal use.
I swam in the fast lane today. When I first got in the pool, there was another guy in that lane. He wasn't so fast, so I suggested that we split the lane, which he agreed to. Luckily even after he got out, I was able to keep splitting the lane so it was never an issue for me.
Which is probably why I actually had a really nice swim tonight. I was trying to focus a lot on form, especially while doing the pulling and kicking. This was my swim tonight:
500 swim
400 pull
300 kick
100 swim
Nothing fancy, but it got the job done. The nicest thing was that I felt great in the water. Maybe not super fast, but it was nice to be swimming instead of running. I did have a contact issue while swimming, so I had to take them out, get out of the water and throw them away (luckily, I wear dailies), so that didn't help matters any, but it was a tiny fluke.
We finished up the swim with a good old-fashioned gab fest in the hot tub. I have to admit, it actually was nice in the hot tub, even though I wasn't cold after swimming. It was nice to catch up with Laura and just chat a bit. We got out when we were getting too hot and prune-like, hit the showers and headed home. Even though Mondays are for resting normally, this was a good change in plans!
Swimming
Time: 29:10
Distance: 1300 yards (0.74 miles)
Pace: 39:27/mile
Calories: 204
Maximum HR: 163 (77%)
Average HR: 144 (68%)
Showing posts with label Hot Tub. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hot Tub. Show all posts
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
You're Both Wearing Black Swimsuits
This morning Laura and I met for a swim at Manhattan Plaza Health Club because what we were really interested in was getting in the hot tub after the swimming was done. I had even planned out what I would do in the pool last night. This is what I was supposed to do:
Warm-Up
8 x 75 (swim/drill/kick)
300 kick (alternate 50 on stomach / 50 on back)
Main Set
300 (every 3rd length backstroke) / Rest 0:30
200 (odds fisting drill / evens swim) / Rest 0:20
200 (middle 100 catch-up drill) / Rest 0:20
10 x 25 on the 0:45 (adjust so there is no more than 0:15 rest)
Warm-Down
2 x 100
Total: 2050 yards / 1.16 miles
Except that's not what I did. I'm always forgetting how crazy crowded this pool is, so when I first got in, all I could do was just some straight swimming. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it just wasn't quite what I was planning on. This is what I ended up doing:
800 swim
200 kick
200 drill (odds fisting drill / even swim)
200 kick
100 swim (50 fast in 0:41)
Total: 1500 yards / 0.85 miles
After doing the 800 in the Fast Lane, I moved over to the Slow Lane because instead of having to share the lane with 4 other people, moving to the slow lane meant sharing with one other person. Which is why I decided to use the kick board and do some drills. Eventually, the other person in the Slow Lane got out of the pool and Laura moved over so we were able to share the lane, which was nice.
I'm not exactly sure when this happened, but it must have been while I was doing the 200 drill, a guy in the Fast Lane stopped at the end of the pool to talk to us. He said that since we were both wearing black bathing suits, he wasn't sure which one of us it was that was doing things wrong, but one of us wasn't finishing our stroke all the way. Frankly, I'm not sure it wasn't me, but it certainly made me think about it for the rest of the morning.
So, I'm not really sure how I felt about this guy giving us unsolicited advice like that. It's like a lot of athletic things. I know that there are people out there who could give me pointers, but I'm not sure I want them if they're not solicited. I should mention that this guy is a really awesome puller. I remember him from the other times we were there and he's quite fast, but he never ever kicks and I'm not sure that makes him an expert on swimming overall if he doesn't ever do the whole shebang.
The hot tub at the end was really hot. Shouldn't they adjust that for summer? I think I could have stayed in longer if it had only been a couple of degrees cooler, but as it was, I felt a little gypped on the whole thing. We've now used up our two passes to this Club this year, so we'll have to find other pools if we're in need of a hot tub fix later this year!
Swimming
Time: 34:36
Distance: 1500 yards / 0.85 miles
Pace: 40:54/mile
Warm-Up
8 x 75 (swim/drill/kick)
300 kick (alternate 50 on stomach / 50 on back)
Main Set
300 (every 3rd length backstroke) / Rest 0:30
200 (odds fisting drill / evens swim) / Rest 0:20
200 (middle 100 catch-up drill) / Rest 0:20
10 x 25 on the 0:45 (adjust so there is no more than 0:15 rest)
Warm-Down
2 x 100
Total: 2050 yards / 1.16 miles
Except that's not what I did. I'm always forgetting how crazy crowded this pool is, so when I first got in, all I could do was just some straight swimming. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it just wasn't quite what I was planning on. This is what I ended up doing:
800 swim
200 kick
200 drill (odds fisting drill / even swim)
200 kick
100 swim (50 fast in 0:41)
Total: 1500 yards / 0.85 miles
After doing the 800 in the Fast Lane, I moved over to the Slow Lane because instead of having to share the lane with 4 other people, moving to the slow lane meant sharing with one other person. Which is why I decided to use the kick board and do some drills. Eventually, the other person in the Slow Lane got out of the pool and Laura moved over so we were able to share the lane, which was nice.
I'm not exactly sure when this happened, but it must have been while I was doing the 200 drill, a guy in the Fast Lane stopped at the end of the pool to talk to us. He said that since we were both wearing black bathing suits, he wasn't sure which one of us it was that was doing things wrong, but one of us wasn't finishing our stroke all the way. Frankly, I'm not sure it wasn't me, but it certainly made me think about it for the rest of the morning.
So, I'm not really sure how I felt about this guy giving us unsolicited advice like that. It's like a lot of athletic things. I know that there are people out there who could give me pointers, but I'm not sure I want them if they're not solicited. I should mention that this guy is a really awesome puller. I remember him from the other times we were there and he's quite fast, but he never ever kicks and I'm not sure that makes him an expert on swimming overall if he doesn't ever do the whole shebang.
The hot tub at the end was really hot. Shouldn't they adjust that for summer? I think I could have stayed in longer if it had only been a couple of degrees cooler, but as it was, I felt a little gypped on the whole thing. We've now used up our two passes to this Club this year, so we'll have to find other pools if we're in need of a hot tub fix later this year!
Swimming
Time: 34:36
Distance: 1500 yards / 0.85 miles
Pace: 40:54/mile
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Healing Hot Tub
Since I'm still waiting for my doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, I feel like I shouldn't workout until I get some sort of diagnosis from the doctor. I somehow managed to talk Laura into meeting me at Battery Park to have a hot tub session this morning!
Even though it is not convenient at all to get there (really, it's crossing the Westside Highway that's the pain in the neck), I think that it was totally worth it. We met at 8 and ended up sitting in the hot tub for about a half an hour. I think that's definitely something I'm supposed to be doing to make my arm feel better, right?
Even if it's not, I felt better by getting up and doing something before work this morning. Kinda like my old routine. The thing is that I have really been wishing this week that I could get outside and do some working out. Even though I know I have to wait for the doctor to give his okay...
Even though it is not convenient at all to get there (really, it's crossing the Westside Highway that's the pain in the neck), I think that it was totally worth it. We met at 8 and ended up sitting in the hot tub for about a half an hour. I think that's definitely something I'm supposed to be doing to make my arm feel better, right?
Even if it's not, I felt better by getting up and doing something before work this morning. Kinda like my old routine. The thing is that I have really been wishing this week that I could get outside and do some working out. Even though I know I have to wait for the doctor to give his okay...
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Wait, I Need Those Flags!
First, Vegas was a ton of fun! We did some shopping, saw a show, gambled very little, ate a lot and generally had a good time. The only negative thing I can say is that on Monday morning, I woke up with a very weird pain in my left leg. The best way to describe where it is would be if you placed your fingertips on your ankle, it's about where the end of your palm is on the outside of my leg. I'm convinced it's some sort of muscular thing, but it's just a weird spot and it's a little troubling that this happened while I was taking 3 rest days in a row!
Yesterday I really had planned on going running with Terrier. However, when I woke up to snow falling and continuing leg pain (it hurts when I take a step walking, so running seems like not the greatest idea), I decided to make it 4 rest days instead of 3. I think that's probably for the best. Plus, I had yesterday off of work, so I was mostly a lazy bum all day long and didn't leave the apartment (I blame the snow).
This morning, I've still got the leg pain and the good news is that it doesn't feel any worse. I'm not really sure that it feels better, but I'm glad it isn't any worse. I had made plans to swim with Laura this morning at Manhattan Plaza Health Club, so today is yet another running rest day. Interestingly enough, I'm not at all freaking out about this hiatus from running (yet). I think it's doing me good and I'm hoping to test out the leg tomorrow and see what happens.
Laura and I met at the pool at 6:45 as we wanted to get in a long swim and still have time for the hot tub after we were done with our swim. When we got changed and on the pool deck, one of the guys swimming yelled out to us that they'd be done at 7:00 (must have been some sort of Masters group). I got in the pool in a side area (it's about 10 yards long, I'd guess) and the lifeguard blew his whistle and told me that I couldn't move over to a real lane until everyone else got out at 7. At exactly 7:00, I tapped my watch and asked what the deal was. I didn't understand why I couldn't share a lane with ONE other person as I had assessed her swimming and knew I wouldn't be in her way at all.
At 7:02, we were able to start swimming. I had printed out a SwimPlan.com workout because I find that I'm much better at swimming when I have an actual workout to do and follow as opposed to just swimming about aimlessly. I was really excited because I think this was one of the first programs that I had gotten printed out for me that included a stroke other than freestyle!
This was the plan:
Warm Up (repeat 2 times)
1 x 100 Backstroke Easy, rest 0:15
2 x 50 Breaststroke Easy, rest 0:15
Build Up (repeat 6 times)
1 x 50 Backstroke Push & Glide, rest 0:15
1 x 50 Double Arm Backstroke, rest 0:15
Core
5 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:25
4 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:20
3 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:15
2 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:05
Warm Down (repeat 2 times)
1 x 50 Freestyle Push & Glide, rest 0:15
1 x 50 Freestyle Easy
Total: 2600 yards
So, the really fun part of this workout was that I got to do backstroke! The really bad part of this workout was that as soon as the swim team was done and I was doing my very first length of backstroke, the lifeguard took down the backstroke flags. What? Why on Earth would he have thought that was a good idea at the swimming pool? I really don't understand that at all. Are only the special people who swim from 6 am to 7 am allowed to use the flags?
Anyway, I made the most of it and went ahead and did the backstroke anyway, just counting strokes very carefully and I managed not to hit my head on the wall at all, which was a good thing. I swam most of the plan according to the plan. In the core portion, I'd say that there were a couple times I managed to finish on the 1:35, but the majority of the 100s were done on the 1:40. And sometimes that was just a result of the fact that I was sharing a lane. Not much you can do in those situations. I did end up cutting out the end of the Core portion that was 3 x 100 and 2 x 100 in order to get out and head to the hot tub with Laura. So, instead of doing 2600 yards, I ended up only doing 2100. Still, not a bad workout for the day.
After doing the Warm Down, Laura and I hit the hot tub. It was really hot. In fact, when we got out, I felt really woozy and lightheaded for a while and had to sit down and have some of my Muscle Milk before showering. I still felt a little light headed while showering (even though I used fairly cool water), so when I was done with the shower, I finished my Muscle Milk and then was like an old lady sitting down on a stool to blow dry my hair and put on my makeup. I finally felt more normal by the time I got to work, but I'm sort-of disappointed by the hot tub experience today!
Swimming
Time: 50:02
Distance: 1.19 miles (2100 yards)
Pace: 42:53/mile
Calories: 526
Maximum HR: 178
Average HR: 155
Yesterday I really had planned on going running with Terrier. However, when I woke up to snow falling and continuing leg pain (it hurts when I take a step walking, so running seems like not the greatest idea), I decided to make it 4 rest days instead of 3. I think that's probably for the best. Plus, I had yesterday off of work, so I was mostly a lazy bum all day long and didn't leave the apartment (I blame the snow).
This morning, I've still got the leg pain and the good news is that it doesn't feel any worse. I'm not really sure that it feels better, but I'm glad it isn't any worse. I had made plans to swim with Laura this morning at Manhattan Plaza Health Club, so today is yet another running rest day. Interestingly enough, I'm not at all freaking out about this hiatus from running (yet). I think it's doing me good and I'm hoping to test out the leg tomorrow and see what happens.
Laura and I met at the pool at 6:45 as we wanted to get in a long swim and still have time for the hot tub after we were done with our swim. When we got changed and on the pool deck, one of the guys swimming yelled out to us that they'd be done at 7:00 (must have been some sort of Masters group). I got in the pool in a side area (it's about 10 yards long, I'd guess) and the lifeguard blew his whistle and told me that I couldn't move over to a real lane until everyone else got out at 7. At exactly 7:00, I tapped my watch and asked what the deal was. I didn't understand why I couldn't share a lane with ONE other person as I had assessed her swimming and knew I wouldn't be in her way at all.
At 7:02, we were able to start swimming. I had printed out a SwimPlan.com workout because I find that I'm much better at swimming when I have an actual workout to do and follow as opposed to just swimming about aimlessly. I was really excited because I think this was one of the first programs that I had gotten printed out for me that included a stroke other than freestyle!
This was the plan:
Warm Up (repeat 2 times)
1 x 100 Backstroke Easy, rest 0:15
2 x 50 Breaststroke Easy, rest 0:15
Build Up (repeat 6 times)
1 x 50 Backstroke Push & Glide, rest 0:15
1 x 50 Double Arm Backstroke, rest 0:15
Core
5 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:25
4 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:20
3 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:15
2 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:05
Warm Down (repeat 2 times)
1 x 50 Freestyle Push & Glide, rest 0:15
1 x 50 Freestyle Easy
Total: 2600 yards
So, the really fun part of this workout was that I got to do backstroke! The really bad part of this workout was that as soon as the swim team was done and I was doing my very first length of backstroke, the lifeguard took down the backstroke flags. What? Why on Earth would he have thought that was a good idea at the swimming pool? I really don't understand that at all. Are only the special people who swim from 6 am to 7 am allowed to use the flags?
Anyway, I made the most of it and went ahead and did the backstroke anyway, just counting strokes very carefully and I managed not to hit my head on the wall at all, which was a good thing. I swam most of the plan according to the plan. In the core portion, I'd say that there were a couple times I managed to finish on the 1:35, but the majority of the 100s were done on the 1:40. And sometimes that was just a result of the fact that I was sharing a lane. Not much you can do in those situations. I did end up cutting out the end of the Core portion that was 3 x 100 and 2 x 100 in order to get out and head to the hot tub with Laura. So, instead of doing 2600 yards, I ended up only doing 2100. Still, not a bad workout for the day.
After doing the Warm Down, Laura and I hit the hot tub. It was really hot. In fact, when we got out, I felt really woozy and lightheaded for a while and had to sit down and have some of my Muscle Milk before showering. I still felt a little light headed while showering (even though I used fairly cool water), so when I was done with the shower, I finished my Muscle Milk and then was like an old lady sitting down on a stool to blow dry my hair and put on my makeup. I finally felt more normal by the time I got to work, but I'm sort-of disappointed by the hot tub experience today!
Swimming
Time: 50:02
Distance: 1.19 miles (2100 yards)
Pace: 42:53/mile
Calories: 526
Maximum HR: 178
Average HR: 155
Friday, February 5, 2010
A Short Slow Swim
This morning I met Laura for a swim. Not surprisingly, we wanted to go to a pool with a hot tub, so we agreed to meet at the 92nd Street Y for a swim. I'll just say right off the bat that I wasn't really in the mood to be awake or to be swimming. And my feelings didn't really change when I got in the pool (which was quite cool!).
I was really mostly pretty lazy while swimming, so this is what I did:
200 swim
200 kick
200 pull
200 breast
200 back
200 swim
1200 yards
Yup. I did 1200 yards. Lazy, lazy, lazy! And I did it really slowly. I thought after doing the first 200 of swimming that maybe I'd get into it once I warmed up, but I really didn't. I also didn't bring a plan with me, which probably didn't help matters any. Instead, I just tried to look at this as a nice recovery from running and giving my muscles a chance to recover a bit.
Of course, we cut our swim a little bit short to spend a couple extra minutes in the hot tub. Always worth it, in my opinion. I'm really not going to get down on myself for my lazy swim today. It probably was a good recovery for me and this weekend is most likely going to be my longest run to date, so I'll hopefully have lots of energy for that!
Swimming
Time: 33:59
Distance: 0.68 miles (1200 yards)
Pace: 49:58/mile
Calories: 284
Maximum HR: 164
Average HR: 138
I was really mostly pretty lazy while swimming, so this is what I did:
200 swim
200 kick
200 pull
200 breast
200 back
200 swim
1200 yards
Yup. I did 1200 yards. Lazy, lazy, lazy! And I did it really slowly. I thought after doing the first 200 of swimming that maybe I'd get into it once I warmed up, but I really didn't. I also didn't bring a plan with me, which probably didn't help matters any. Instead, I just tried to look at this as a nice recovery from running and giving my muscles a chance to recover a bit.
Of course, we cut our swim a little bit short to spend a couple extra minutes in the hot tub. Always worth it, in my opinion. I'm really not going to get down on myself for my lazy swim today. It probably was a good recovery for me and this weekend is most likely going to be my longest run to date, so I'll hopefully have lots of energy for that!
Swimming
Time: 33:59
Distance: 0.68 miles (1200 yards)
Pace: 49:58/mile
Calories: 284
Maximum HR: 164
Average HR: 138
Monday, November 23, 2009
I Guess I Should Have Listened Today
I ended up taking a rest day yesterday. After working out every day last week, I just needed a break. I think it was well earned and much needed. Today, Laura and I planned to use our last day of our 5-day pass to the Fancy Gym! We had to head there after work instead of our normal morning workouts.
I left work and walked home with Drew (who had to go to some fancy fund raising dinner). I was changing clothes and getting ready to head off to the gymnasium and happened to comment on how hungry I was. I was making myself some Muscle Milk to take with me to the gym, but Drew suggested that I should take a bar or at least half of a bar to carry me through. For some reason, I thought the Muscle Milk would be enough, especially since I had just had a snack before leaving work.
Laura and I got to the gym about the same time, but I had to do my weight lifting and she headed straight for the pool. I'm on Week 8 of my 12 Week program, so I can't believe how fast this has gone and how little is left! This actually worked out really well for this week because Week 8 is one workout of total body drop sets. The book explains that approximately every two months, your body needs a short break from weight training in order for your muscles to fully recover. I'm just glad that it worked out to be this week because with the holiday on Thursday, I think I'll have trouble working out that day. This was today's weight lifting:
Barbell Shoulder Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 25 lbs
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 10 reps @ 70 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs
Dumbbell Squats: 1 set of 15 reps @ 30 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 25 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm)
Dumbbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm)
Tricep Pushdowns: 1 set of 7 reps @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 25 lbs
Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
I really rushed through this and my arms were not happy about it. I really was just trying to hurry up and get to the pool. The squats were supposed to be with a barbell, but they didn't really seem like they had all of the equipment I was looking for, so I just went with dumbbells since it was easier. The tricep pushdowns were impossible. I'll say that they didn't have the regular lat pulldown machine that I like to use at my regular gym, so I had to use the cable machine and I don't think it was the best set-up. But boy, were my arms exhausted! The crunches were supposed to be with weight added, but there aren't a lot of weight plates at this fancy gym and they certainly aren't anywhere close to where I was going to be doing crunches, so I just went ahead and did them regularly. This was the first time I can remember recently where I wasn't wincing with pain while doing crunches, so I'm hoping my abs are back to normal.
The biggest bummer about the weight lifting today was the fact that I bought myself something new to use while weight lifting and I forgot it in my locker! I'll tell you more about it when I remember to actually use it. I drank my Muscle Milk as soon as I got to the gym, I couldn't wait and save it until after the weight lifting, so as soon as that happened, I knew my stomach might be in trouble.
I realized that while I had printed out a swimplan.com workout, I had left it at home, so it was of no use to me. I figured I'd just do whatever I felt like. Terrier is having a swim meet in a couple of weeks and I signed up for the 50-meter backstroke and the 50-meter freestyle, so I figured I should probably practice my backstroke and tonight seemed like a pretty good opportunity.
When I got to the pool, Laura was in a lane by herself, so we just decided to split that lane unless the lifeguard came over and told us to circle swim. It went really well for a while - I'd guess at least 20 or 25 minutes where we were able to split the lane and just do our own thing. Laura was working on a bunch of drills and I sort-of aimlessly did a really random workout. All I can really tell you is that there was lots of kicking, a fair amount of backstroke, a fair amount of freestyle and a little bit of breaststroke thrown in for good measure. At some point towards the end we did have to start circle swimming and sharing our lane with a third person, which wasn't ideal.
Part of my aimlessness definitely stemmed from the fact that I was really hungry once I started swimming. I'll admit it, I should have listened to Drew. He was right about taking a bar with me. Next time, I'll realize that swimming makes me really hungry and that he's right about stuff like this!
The best thing was that once we got out of the pool, we could head straight to the hot tub! We stayed in for longer than the recommended 15 minutes, but we also had to milk it for all that we could as I'm not sure when we'll next be at a pool with a hot tub. It was actually really nice to not have to worry about getting out and going off to work and it's always such a nice way to end a workout!
Weight Lifting
Time: 20:37
Calories: 157
Maximum HR: 160
Average HR: 128
Swimming
Time: 33:30
Distance: 1250 yards = 0.71 miles
Pace: 47:10/mile
Calories: 317
Maximum HR: 167
Average HR: 144
I left work and walked home with Drew (who had to go to some fancy fund raising dinner). I was changing clothes and getting ready to head off to the gymnasium and happened to comment on how hungry I was. I was making myself some Muscle Milk to take with me to the gym, but Drew suggested that I should take a bar or at least half of a bar to carry me through. For some reason, I thought the Muscle Milk would be enough, especially since I had just had a snack before leaving work.
Laura and I got to the gym about the same time, but I had to do my weight lifting and she headed straight for the pool. I'm on Week 8 of my 12 Week program, so I can't believe how fast this has gone and how little is left! This actually worked out really well for this week because Week 8 is one workout of total body drop sets. The book explains that approximately every two months, your body needs a short break from weight training in order for your muscles to fully recover. I'm just glad that it worked out to be this week because with the holiday on Thursday, I think I'll have trouble working out that day. This was today's weight lifting:
Barbell Shoulder Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 25 lbs
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 10 reps @ 70 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs
Dumbbell Squats: 1 set of 15 reps @ 30 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 25 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm)
Dumbbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm)
Tricep Pushdowns: 1 set of 7 reps @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 25 lbs
Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
I really rushed through this and my arms were not happy about it. I really was just trying to hurry up and get to the pool. The squats were supposed to be with a barbell, but they didn't really seem like they had all of the equipment I was looking for, so I just went with dumbbells since it was easier. The tricep pushdowns were impossible. I'll say that they didn't have the regular lat pulldown machine that I like to use at my regular gym, so I had to use the cable machine and I don't think it was the best set-up. But boy, were my arms exhausted! The crunches were supposed to be with weight added, but there aren't a lot of weight plates at this fancy gym and they certainly aren't anywhere close to where I was going to be doing crunches, so I just went ahead and did them regularly. This was the first time I can remember recently where I wasn't wincing with pain while doing crunches, so I'm hoping my abs are back to normal.
The biggest bummer about the weight lifting today was the fact that I bought myself something new to use while weight lifting and I forgot it in my locker! I'll tell you more about it when I remember to actually use it. I drank my Muscle Milk as soon as I got to the gym, I couldn't wait and save it until after the weight lifting, so as soon as that happened, I knew my stomach might be in trouble.
I realized that while I had printed out a swimplan.com workout, I had left it at home, so it was of no use to me. I figured I'd just do whatever I felt like. Terrier is having a swim meet in a couple of weeks and I signed up for the 50-meter backstroke and the 50-meter freestyle, so I figured I should probably practice my backstroke and tonight seemed like a pretty good opportunity.
When I got to the pool, Laura was in a lane by herself, so we just decided to split that lane unless the lifeguard came over and told us to circle swim. It went really well for a while - I'd guess at least 20 or 25 minutes where we were able to split the lane and just do our own thing. Laura was working on a bunch of drills and I sort-of aimlessly did a really random workout. All I can really tell you is that there was lots of kicking, a fair amount of backstroke, a fair amount of freestyle and a little bit of breaststroke thrown in for good measure. At some point towards the end we did have to start circle swimming and sharing our lane with a third person, which wasn't ideal.
Part of my aimlessness definitely stemmed from the fact that I was really hungry once I started swimming. I'll admit it, I should have listened to Drew. He was right about taking a bar with me. Next time, I'll realize that swimming makes me really hungry and that he's right about stuff like this!
The best thing was that once we got out of the pool, we could head straight to the hot tub! We stayed in for longer than the recommended 15 minutes, but we also had to milk it for all that we could as I'm not sure when we'll next be at a pool with a hot tub. It was actually really nice to not have to worry about getting out and going off to work and it's always such a nice way to end a workout!
Weight Lifting
Time: 20:37
Calories: 157
Maximum HR: 160
Average HR: 128
Swimming
Time: 33:30
Distance: 1250 yards = 0.71 miles
Pace: 47:10/mile
Calories: 317
Maximum HR: 167
Average HR: 144
Friday, November 20, 2009
How Fancy Is Too Fancy?
This morning I met Laura again at the fancy gymnasium, although I got there first because Laura wanted to meet to ride bikes but I also needed to finish up Week 7 of my Weight Lifting book. Since we hadn't checked out any of the cardio or weight lifting equipment yesterday while we were there, I wasn't really sure what we were in for, but I figured that it was such a fancy gym that they'd at least have what my regular gym had.
After checking in and getting all my stuff settled into a locker I headed to the weight lifting/cardio area to check out the equipment. And I honestly wasn't that impressed. For as big as the gym is, I thought that they really crammed a bunch of weight lifting machines into a fairly small area. And while there were a lot of dumbbells (plus over my regular gym), there were not a lot of free weight machines (minus).
This was today's workout, which is still Drop Sets:
Leg Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 120 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 100 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 80 lbs
Leg Curls: 1 set of 10 reps @ 65 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 40 lbs
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 1 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 50 lbs
Dumbbell Squats: 1 set of 15 reps @ 25 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm)
Calf Raises: 1 set of 10 reps @ 105 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 80 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 60 lbs
The leg press machine I had to do on a not-plate loaded machine, instead it was one where you move the pin up and down on the stacked weights. I didn't really love it because the weight increments weren't exactly what I wanted and it's not something you can customize. On the leg extensions, I realized that I forgot to move the pin for the third set of lifting. No wonder my legs were so tired! The dumbbell squats were a lot nicer here than at my regular gym because there were so many dumbbells available, which was a big bonus in my mind.
I normally do calf raises on the leg press machine, but that wasn't an option today since it wasn't the normal leg press machine. Instead, I did them on the plate loaded calf press machine, which I normally don't use. The last time that I did calf raises with Drew, he was using the machine I used today and was lifting 150 pounds. However, he can apparently lift over 300 pounds doing calf raises using the leg press machine. I think he's somehow cheating. I don't know how you can double your weight like that with the different machines. We're going to have a "Pepsi Challenge" soon to see if he can in fact do what he claims to be able to do as I think there is something a little bit fishy about the whole situation.
After doing my weight lifting, I looked around and tried to find the cardio or spin bikes. I didn't see any spin bikes out in the cardio area, which is unlike my gym (minus). Then it was time to meet Laura. We met up and went in search of spin bikes that weren't in the spinning classroom as there was a class going on at that time. We asked a rather unhelpful woman who was working at a information-type desk in the cardio area and she wasn't able to answer any questions about whether or not they had spin bikes not in the spinning classroom or really anything at all.
My gym has one regular and two fancy computerized spin bikes out in the regular area and I guess I just assumed that this fancy gym would have something similar. Wrong. We did find one spin bike that Laura tried out but the seat wouldn't move up or down, so we both hit the cardio bikes instead. I thought that their cardio bike was a lot fancier than the one at my regular gymnasium, but I'll be honest, I mostly concentrated on watching the E! Kardashian Wedding special instead of anything else.
I think also that because my legs were tired from the weight lifting and I was really hoping for better equipment in the cardio area, my heart just wasn't in it. I did a random setting on the bike and switched around between levels 8 and 15 (the highest level was 25). It actually was pretty tough and I do appreciate how cardio bikes automatically adjust the resistance for you, but it wasn't exactly the workout I was looking for.
However, what I was looking for was the hot tub at the end of our workout! It was just such a nice end to the workout and a really nice way to start my Friday before heading to work.
Weight Lifting
Time: 18:40
Calories: 160
Maximum HR: 158
Average HR: 136
Cardio Bike
Time: 40:00
Distance: 8.94 miles
Pace: 13.41 MPH (average)
Calories: 374
Maximum HR: 158
Average HR: 143
After checking in and getting all my stuff settled into a locker I headed to the weight lifting/cardio area to check out the equipment. And I honestly wasn't that impressed. For as big as the gym is, I thought that they really crammed a bunch of weight lifting machines into a fairly small area. And while there were a lot of dumbbells (plus over my regular gym), there were not a lot of free weight machines (minus).
This was today's workout, which is still Drop Sets:
Leg Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 120 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 100 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 80 lbs
Leg Curls: 1 set of 10 reps @ 65 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 40 lbs
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 1 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 50 lbs
Dumbbell Squats: 1 set of 15 reps @ 25 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm)
Calf Raises: 1 set of 10 reps @ 105 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 80 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 60 lbs
The leg press machine I had to do on a not-plate loaded machine, instead it was one where you move the pin up and down on the stacked weights. I didn't really love it because the weight increments weren't exactly what I wanted and it's not something you can customize. On the leg extensions, I realized that I forgot to move the pin for the third set of lifting. No wonder my legs were so tired! The dumbbell squats were a lot nicer here than at my regular gym because there were so many dumbbells available, which was a big bonus in my mind.
I normally do calf raises on the leg press machine, but that wasn't an option today since it wasn't the normal leg press machine. Instead, I did them on the plate loaded calf press machine, which I normally don't use. The last time that I did calf raises with Drew, he was using the machine I used today and was lifting 150 pounds. However, he can apparently lift over 300 pounds doing calf raises using the leg press machine. I think he's somehow cheating. I don't know how you can double your weight like that with the different machines. We're going to have a "Pepsi Challenge" soon to see if he can in fact do what he claims to be able to do as I think there is something a little bit fishy about the whole situation.
After doing my weight lifting, I looked around and tried to find the cardio or spin bikes. I didn't see any spin bikes out in the cardio area, which is unlike my gym (minus). Then it was time to meet Laura. We met up and went in search of spin bikes that weren't in the spinning classroom as there was a class going on at that time. We asked a rather unhelpful woman who was working at a information-type desk in the cardio area and she wasn't able to answer any questions about whether or not they had spin bikes not in the spinning classroom or really anything at all.
My gym has one regular and two fancy computerized spin bikes out in the regular area and I guess I just assumed that this fancy gym would have something similar. Wrong. We did find one spin bike that Laura tried out but the seat wouldn't move up or down, so we both hit the cardio bikes instead. I thought that their cardio bike was a lot fancier than the one at my regular gymnasium, but I'll be honest, I mostly concentrated on watching the E! Kardashian Wedding special instead of anything else.
I think also that because my legs were tired from the weight lifting and I was really hoping for better equipment in the cardio area, my heart just wasn't in it. I did a random setting on the bike and switched around between levels 8 and 15 (the highest level was 25). It actually was pretty tough and I do appreciate how cardio bikes automatically adjust the resistance for you, but it wasn't exactly the workout I was looking for.
However, what I was looking for was the hot tub at the end of our workout! It was just such a nice end to the workout and a really nice way to start my Friday before heading to work.
Weight Lifting
Time: 18:40
Calories: 160
Maximum HR: 158
Average HR: 136
Cardio Bike
Time: 40:00
Distance: 8.94 miles
Pace: 13.41 MPH (average)
Calories: 374
Maximum HR: 158
Average HR: 143
Thursday, November 19, 2009
A Really Fancy Gymnasium
This morning I met Laura for a swim at the really fancy gymnasium. Drew got an invitation in the mail for you and a guest to go try out the Reebok Sports Club NY for 5 days and he was gracious enough to let me & Laura use it. This morning Laura and I met for a swim at the fancy gym.
Once we were all checked in, we headed to the locker room. I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of their locker room facilities because you swap your ID card for a key to a locker. I guess I didn't love having to worry about a key the whole time, since I'm used to using a combination lock on my gym locker everywhere else. Before we headed off to the pool, I needed to use the restroom and when I was trying to find it, I found a hot tub!
I immediately reported back to Laura and we agreed to cut our swim short in order to test out their hot tub. Since we had been planning on swimming for an hour, I had printed out a swimplan.com to keep me focused in the pool. Because we cut the swim short, I had to cut out a little less than half of it.
This is the original workout and the portion in blue is what I actually did:
Warm-Up
4 x 100 Freestyle Swim
Build Up (repeat 4 times)
1 x 50 Freestyle Breath Left, rest 0:15
1 x 50 Freestyle Breath Right, rest 0:15
Core
4 x 100 Freestyle Swim, leave on 1:55
4 x 100 Freestyle Swim, leave on 1:50
8 x 50 Freestyle Swim, leave on 0:58
Warm-Down
1 x 100 Freestyle Push & Glide, rest 0:20
1 x 100 Freestyle Easy, rest 0:20
I actually ended up doing 150 as a warm-down, so my total was 1350 yards instead of 2200 yards. I actually think that it ended up being a really good (and fast-paced) swim for me. The last time I went swimming with Laura I didn't have a plan and I'm realizing that I do much better when I have one. Even if it's not as fancy as this.
The pool itself was fine. For as large as the entire facility is, I would have expected a larger pool. I mean, there are two full-sized basketball courts, I would have thought they could have an 8-lane pool! I swam in the fast lane, which wasn't really that fast. At one point a guy with flippers came into the lane and I was still faster, so that just goes to show what "fast" meant at that pool. The lifeguard actually said that the people swimming in the morning were the fast crowd. My swim workout actually worked really well because it gave my lane a chance to spread out a little bit while I was waiting during the "core" portion of the workout. I had no trouble finishing the distances in the times allotted, so that was a good feeling.
After the swim, Laura and I headed to the hot tub. Soooooo nice! It was hot, but not too hot and it was bubbly and nice and relaxing. It really should be a requirement to have hot tubs at all swimming pools. Because the gym was so humongous, we didn't have a chance to look around, but we're planning on going again tomorrow and using the bikes and I'm going to lift, so I think we'll have a much better idea of how the rest of the gym looks. I'm really interested to see the rest of their facilities! And use the hot tub again, of course!
Time: 28:51
Distance: 0.77 miles (1350 yards)
Pace: 37:28/mile
Calories: 323
Maximum HR: 171
Average HR: 160
Once we were all checked in, we headed to the locker room. I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of their locker room facilities because you swap your ID card for a key to a locker. I guess I didn't love having to worry about a key the whole time, since I'm used to using a combination lock on my gym locker everywhere else. Before we headed off to the pool, I needed to use the restroom and when I was trying to find it, I found a hot tub!
I immediately reported back to Laura and we agreed to cut our swim short in order to test out their hot tub. Since we had been planning on swimming for an hour, I had printed out a swimplan.com to keep me focused in the pool. Because we cut the swim short, I had to cut out a little less than half of it.
This is the original workout and the portion in blue is what I actually did:
Warm-Up
4 x 100 Freestyle Swim
Build Up (repeat 4 times)
1 x 50 Freestyle Breath Left, rest 0:15
1 x 50 Freestyle Breath Right, rest 0:15
Core
4 x 100 Freestyle Swim, leave on 1:55
4 x 100 Freestyle Swim, leave on 1:50
8 x 50 Freestyle Swim, leave on 0:58
Warm-Down
1 x 100 Freestyle Push & Glide, rest 0:20
1 x 100 Freestyle Easy, rest 0:20
I actually ended up doing 150 as a warm-down, so my total was 1350 yards instead of 2200 yards. I actually think that it ended up being a really good (and fast-paced) swim for me. The last time I went swimming with Laura I didn't have a plan and I'm realizing that I do much better when I have one. Even if it's not as fancy as this.
The pool itself was fine. For as large as the entire facility is, I would have expected a larger pool. I mean, there are two full-sized basketball courts, I would have thought they could have an 8-lane pool! I swam in the fast lane, which wasn't really that fast. At one point a guy with flippers came into the lane and I was still faster, so that just goes to show what "fast" meant at that pool. The lifeguard actually said that the people swimming in the morning were the fast crowd. My swim workout actually worked really well because it gave my lane a chance to spread out a little bit while I was waiting during the "core" portion of the workout. I had no trouble finishing the distances in the times allotted, so that was a good feeling.
After the swim, Laura and I headed to the hot tub. Soooooo nice! It was hot, but not too hot and it was bubbly and nice and relaxing. It really should be a requirement to have hot tubs at all swimming pools. Because the gym was so humongous, we didn't have a chance to look around, but we're planning on going again tomorrow and using the bikes and I'm going to lift, so I think we'll have a much better idea of how the rest of the gym looks. I'm really interested to see the rest of their facilities! And use the hot tub again, of course!
Time: 28:51
Distance: 0.77 miles (1350 yards)
Pace: 37:28/mile
Calories: 323
Maximum HR: 171
Average HR: 160
Friday, October 16, 2009
You're Wearing Those?
This morning I met Laura for a workout. Originally we were going to swim together, but she has some sort of swimming thing tonight, so she asked if we could ride cardio bikes instead. As an added incentive, we thought that we'd go back to the Battery Park City gym and cap off the workout with a session in their hot tub. In theory, this did not sound like the worst plan we've ever made. When I was getting ready this morning and putting on my biking shorts, Drew looked at me and asked, "You're wearing those?" I was so confused. Why wouldn't I wear biking shorts to ride a bike? Then he remembered that I was riding bikes instead of swimming and then it didn't seem so silly to him.
In actuality, it was 38 degrees when I left the house and it was raining. I walked to the subway, rode the subway for 20 minutes downtown and then walked 15 minutes to the gym (of course, it's still raining). I got there and Laura said that she'd meet me in the cardio area. I headed to see what we were dealing with since we hadn't checked out the cardio equipment during our last visit. Now, the reason for this biking session is because Laura has stress fractures in both her legs and can't run right now. So, because the bike was a critical part of this workout, I had called the gym yesterday to ask if they had bikes. They said yes. Then they told me that we couldn't take a class, but we could ride bikes. I assumed that meant that we couldn't take a spinning class, but I wasn't really sure what kind of bikes that meant that they had.
Um, it meant that they had a laughable selection of bikes. By selection, I mean that there were two. One was upright, more like a regular bicycle and the other was where you're seated (in an actual seat), where your legs are out in front of you. And the second bike, where your legs are in front of you had no foot straps for the pedals. I took one look at that bike and knew that I wasn't in the mood for that, so instead I decided to do the elliptical machine.
Now might be a good time to mention the tickers to the right of my blog. I definitely stole them from Kathy because I think that they're a really good way to keep track of mileage. Of course, Drew pointed out to me the other day that there is something wrong with the bike ticker because it seems to be stuck on zero. That's because I'm lame and haven't ridden my bike since the triathlon. It's also because right after the triathlon, Mother Nature decided that it would now be winter on the East Coast, and I'm too chicken to ride outside. Of course, that number could have gone up this morning, but it was not to be.
But, I killed it on the elliptical. Made me wonder what happened the last time I did it that I was going so slowly. I did the "variety" setting, so every minute or so it would change resistance on me. It went to easy as 2 and as high as 18. I gotta tell you, anything over 12 really slowed me down, but I think it was a good workout overall. I was definitely sweaty by the end of it.
When we were done with our cardiovascular activity, we headed down to the locker room to get ready for the hot tub. Laura wondered if we shouldn't take a cool shower, but we decided just to go and get in. The hot tub was not very hot. That might be a bit of an understatement. It was 92 degrees. That is NOT hot tub hot. After doing some Google research, it appears as though 102 degrees is the accepted temperature for hot tubs. I'd think anything warmer than your body temperature would be best. The last time we were there, it was really hot and wonderful and this time, not so great.
Even though we didn't have the best ending to our workout and we had to walk the 15 minutes back to the subway in 38 degree weather, at least it wasn't raining on the way back. I'm not sure I'd want to trek all the way down there again just to do cardio and have the hot tub ending be disappointing again, but we do have one more visit, so I might be willing to give it one more shot as long as we called first to make sure the hot tub was hot enough!!
Elliptical
Distance: 4.00 miles
Time: 42:58
Pace: 10:44/mile
Calories: 525
Maximum HR: 176
Average HR: 161
In actuality, it was 38 degrees when I left the house and it was raining. I walked to the subway, rode the subway for 20 minutes downtown and then walked 15 minutes to the gym (of course, it's still raining). I got there and Laura said that she'd meet me in the cardio area. I headed to see what we were dealing with since we hadn't checked out the cardio equipment during our last visit. Now, the reason for this biking session is because Laura has stress fractures in both her legs and can't run right now. So, because the bike was a critical part of this workout, I had called the gym yesterday to ask if they had bikes. They said yes. Then they told me that we couldn't take a class, but we could ride bikes. I assumed that meant that we couldn't take a spinning class, but I wasn't really sure what kind of bikes that meant that they had.
Um, it meant that they had a laughable selection of bikes. By selection, I mean that there were two. One was upright, more like a regular bicycle and the other was where you're seated (in an actual seat), where your legs are out in front of you. And the second bike, where your legs are in front of you had no foot straps for the pedals. I took one look at that bike and knew that I wasn't in the mood for that, so instead I decided to do the elliptical machine.
Now might be a good time to mention the tickers to the right of my blog. I definitely stole them from Kathy because I think that they're a really good way to keep track of mileage. Of course, Drew pointed out to me the other day that there is something wrong with the bike ticker because it seems to be stuck on zero. That's because I'm lame and haven't ridden my bike since the triathlon. It's also because right after the triathlon, Mother Nature decided that it would now be winter on the East Coast, and I'm too chicken to ride outside. Of course, that number could have gone up this morning, but it was not to be.
But, I killed it on the elliptical. Made me wonder what happened the last time I did it that I was going so slowly. I did the "variety" setting, so every minute or so it would change resistance on me. It went to easy as 2 and as high as 18. I gotta tell you, anything over 12 really slowed me down, but I think it was a good workout overall. I was definitely sweaty by the end of it.
When we were done with our cardiovascular activity, we headed down to the locker room to get ready for the hot tub. Laura wondered if we shouldn't take a cool shower, but we decided just to go and get in. The hot tub was not very hot. That might be a bit of an understatement. It was 92 degrees. That is NOT hot tub hot. After doing some Google research, it appears as though 102 degrees is the accepted temperature for hot tubs. I'd think anything warmer than your body temperature would be best. The last time we were there, it was really hot and wonderful and this time, not so great.
Even though we didn't have the best ending to our workout and we had to walk the 15 minutes back to the subway in 38 degree weather, at least it wasn't raining on the way back. I'm not sure I'd want to trek all the way down there again just to do cardio and have the hot tub ending be disappointing again, but we do have one more visit, so I might be willing to give it one more shot as long as we called first to make sure the hot tub was hot enough!!
Elliptical
Distance: 4.00 miles
Time: 42:58
Pace: 10:44/mile
Calories: 525
Maximum HR: 176
Average HR: 161
Friday, October 9, 2009
To Swim Or Not To Swim?
This morning I met Laura for a swim at Battery Park Swim & Fitness Center. This was our first time trying out their facilities. The description on the fitness passes that we have sounded really nice with a "glass enclosed pool," and I guess that I missed the part about how long the pool was, even though I'm generally quite good about that.
It was also a little tricky to find the Fitness Center itself, but we did. I think that Battery Park is its own little world downtown and they've made it confusing on purpose to keep outsiders out. The guy at the front desk seemed more concerned with checking his Facebook page than he was with us. He didn't even bother to tell us where to locker rooms were. We headed down the hall, which turned out to be a bit of elaborate labyrinth. But, one of the first things we found was a hot tub!
We finally figured out where the locker room was and got into our suits and went off looking for the pool. We eventually found it behind the door marked "Swimming Pool." Right before we walked in, Laura said, "this is going to be really small, it's only 50 feet." We walked in and looked at the pool. It was decent looking, but it was really short. There were four lanes and three were occupied by people who were moving at about a snail's pace. The lane that was remaining wasn't ideal since it also had the pool steps (that's right, steps, not a ladder).
I just looked at Laura and asked her if she would want to go in the hot tub. She said yes. Then I asked her if she wanted to go in for a half an hour (the time we were going to spend swimming). I think that she felt a lot guiltier about skipping the workout than I did. But, I think we both knew we weren't going to have a great workout in that short little pool, so in my mind that makes it okay.
We then spent the next half an hour in the hot tub talking and relaxing. I will say, it's not the worst way to spend the morning, even if it did involve going all the way downtown. We can go back to this facility two more times with our passes, which I might be able to be talked into for another morning of relaxing. Or maybe even some cardio and then a hot tub session. I'm just a sucker for hot tubs!
I think the most exercise either of us got was on our walk from the Fitness Center to the subway. Most of that was my fault, because I just was following Laura instead of just going the way I knew to get back to the subway I needed to ride. We did get a nice 0.75 mile walk into our morning, which isn't so bad! At least we did something!
At this point, I'm hoping that I'll be able to go to the gym after work today and at least do my 3rd day of weight lifting for this week.
It was also a little tricky to find the Fitness Center itself, but we did. I think that Battery Park is its own little world downtown and they've made it confusing on purpose to keep outsiders out. The guy at the front desk seemed more concerned with checking his Facebook page than he was with us. He didn't even bother to tell us where to locker rooms were. We headed down the hall, which turned out to be a bit of elaborate labyrinth. But, one of the first things we found was a hot tub!
We finally figured out where the locker room was and got into our suits and went off looking for the pool. We eventually found it behind the door marked "Swimming Pool." Right before we walked in, Laura said, "this is going to be really small, it's only 50 feet." We walked in and looked at the pool. It was decent looking, but it was really short. There were four lanes and three were occupied by people who were moving at about a snail's pace. The lane that was remaining wasn't ideal since it also had the pool steps (that's right, steps, not a ladder).
I just looked at Laura and asked her if she would want to go in the hot tub. She said yes. Then I asked her if she wanted to go in for a half an hour (the time we were going to spend swimming). I think that she felt a lot guiltier about skipping the workout than I did. But, I think we both knew we weren't going to have a great workout in that short little pool, so in my mind that makes it okay.
We then spent the next half an hour in the hot tub talking and relaxing. I will say, it's not the worst way to spend the morning, even if it did involve going all the way downtown. We can go back to this facility two more times with our passes, which I might be able to be talked into for another morning of relaxing. Or maybe even some cardio and then a hot tub session. I'm just a sucker for hot tubs!
I think the most exercise either of us got was on our walk from the Fitness Center to the subway. Most of that was my fault, because I just was following Laura instead of just going the way I knew to get back to the subway I needed to ride. We did get a nice 0.75 mile walk into our morning, which isn't so bad! At least we did something!
At this point, I'm hoping that I'll be able to go to the gym after work today and at least do my 3rd day of weight lifting for this week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
