Post-Class Update

Why is a few hours after doing abdominal work that my ab soreness almost makes me feel sick to my stomach? This is NOT the good sore feeling that I get when I do all my other training stuff. No wonder I hardly ever do core work. Blech.

Getting back on track. Again.

So, after my weekend of socializing, eating off plan, and not exercising, I had to make sure that I got right back on track today. It was helpful that I already had a personal training session scheduled for this afternoon. I knew that it was going to be the rougher session of the two training sessions I do each week (at least it was last week) so a part of me really dreaded it. I warmed up for about 12 minutes on the elliptical and then started with "Nice Mike". He had me doing weight enhanced squats and lunges and step ups and a whole bunch of other stuff. I actually feel like I pulled it off better than I did last week -- of course last week I had warmed up with 1.5 miles of running intervals, so that might have had something to do with it.

Anyway, with that under my belt, I went to "Core / Spin" class tonight. We started with 20-30 minutes of mat work that included (all on that half-ball thingie) squats, kicks, knee lifts and a bunch of other balance kicking or squatting stuff and then various pushups against the half ball thingie (flipped upside down) and then (my favorite), crunches and leg scissoring & lifts and all that wonderful abdominal work that's always such a total killer. I couldn't wait for the Spinning part. Spinning was about 40 minutes or so of hills and jumps and such. I felt pretty wiped out when it was all finished. One thing I noticed in the Spinning class part though was that I was the only participant (barring the instructor) who had a towel to mop up my sweat during the class. All the other women got through this entire class without flinging sweat around? WTF? I guess I'm just a beast.

Busy Weekend

This ended up being a pretty busy social weekend for me. Probably a drop in the bucket for people who are used to lots of social plans or entertaining, but for me it was pretty active. Also, with all the visiting and such, my eating and workout routine was pretty much out the window for a few days which kind of has me feeling a little anxious today.

As I mentioned last week, my friends Carolina & Janos were up in New Hampshire for the weekend staying with Luminita & Paul. I had last seen them about 2.5 years ago, just after I had left NYC, when I was back in Queens to pack up my apartment for the last time (they still live down the road from my old place). We all had a great time getting together for dinner at Luminita & Paul’s both Friday & Saturday nights. It was so much fun to be back with the old crowd again and we all enjoyed telling all the old stories of the days when we were bar hopping maniacs. Of course nowadays they all have children and I had a twenty minute drive home, so the drinking certainly was not up to our old standards. But we had a great time anyway.

On Sunday Ellen & Ken (more friends of mine from NYC) came by to hang out as they were up in New Hampshire to run a half marathon. We spent a good part of the afternoon just sitting out on my deck and drinking beer and gabbing, and then cooking out some steak and veggies and corn. It was a great time and it was wonderful to be able to hang out with them again.

Anyway, with all this visiting and cooking out and beer and whatever, I did not workout all weekend. I also wasn’t too careful about what I was eating. Although, for the most part it was all grilled lean meats and vegetables, there may have been a slice of apple pie and maybe some chips thrown in there too at some stage. So it’s back on the program for me today. I’ve got “Nice Mike’s” scary workout session today and tonight I have my Core / Spin class.

Last Workout of the Week

Today I had my second personal training session of the week and again "Nice Mike" had some new stuff for me to try, among them pushups (against a stabilizing "half ball" thingie) and tricep dips. The dips in particular were killer! I managed to make it through the workout okay though and with enough enegry left to go for a bit of a run.

I ran partially up the fire road, up the Beaver Path trail, along the access road and then up the long hill "short-cut" to the top of my hilly trail ("Northeast Loop" trail). Then down the lovely backside of Northeast Loop, and back down the fire road. I tacked on the "Swan Path" and then the cinder path beside the little duck pond behind the company building to round out the run. All together about 3 miles.

Workout Recap for the Week:

This has probably been the best workout week that I've had in many years, so I'm particularly proud of it, so I must recap!

Sunday:
3-mile run in Mine Falls park.
Monday:
1.5 miles running intervals (treadmill)
Intense personal training session.
Spinning class
Tuesday:
3-mile trail run
"Core / Spin" class
Wednesday:
Spinning class
Thursday:
3.5 mile trail run
Friday:
Personal training session
3-mile trail run
Saturday:
Rest Day!

I would like to keep up this schedule, however, this week may be a little off between Labor Day (the spinning studio is closed) and people visiting, and a dentist appointment mid-week, so some of the workouts might end up cut or changed. However, I did sign up for a spinning class for next Saturday, so hopefully that will help make up for other stuff I might miss. I would like to keep my momentum up as much as possible.

Trail Run

About 3.5 miles of trails today. For the most part it was relatively flat and so I was able to run most of it. I was happy that my legs weren't too dead, probably because I didn't run yesterday, even though I did Spin. It was stickier than it had been earlier in the week and so the mosquitoes and the gnats were out in force, ick. Anyway, another workout done. I keep waiting for this to get easier, but it never seems to. I know it'll probably be a good, long while before I have an "effortless" run, but I still keep hoping for it.

I'm so excited!

My friends, Carolina & Janos, are coming up from NYC for this weekend. I haven't seen them in about 2.5 years! I can't believe it's been so long. It will be lovely to just hang out with them and dish.

Simple Pleasures

I had my third Spinning class of the week tonight and I am exhausted. Of course the fact that I had restless sleep all night, until about 4 AM when I was basically up for the day because sleep just wasn't happening certainly isn't helping my levels of exhaustion either. UGH. Anyway, the class was really good -- lots of heavy hill work, I had my water bottle completely drained only halfway through the class. But I made it through, so I have to be happy about that and I feel really great now, of course.

As I was driving home some good music came on the radio and there I was feeling pretty good about myself and I realized how much I used to enjoy driving in my car and liking myself, when some great song would come on -- I had totally forgotten that feeling, years of living in the city I had not felt in that particular way in a very long time. There are plenty of wonderful things about living in the city, and I certainly enjoyed my time there for years, but I had forgotten this one simple, silly pleasure and it was very nice to experience it again.

Another Double Workout Day

Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you're rushing all day long? That's the way I felt today. Running to get to work, to get to the ladies room and to get another cup of coffee before the first meeting, running to grab a yogurt or something to choke down quickly before my noon meeting. Noon meeting goes half an hour over, so rushing to get out and run before I have to be back and ready for yet the NEXT meeting. Rush from that last meeting to an appointment I was almost late for and from there home to take care of the dogs before I finally had to rush to the Spinning studio for tonight's class. Sheesh!

Anyway, so I went out in the afternoon for my run. It was another one of those brilliant, Fall-like days. A day you just have to try and get outside for a little while to enjoy somehow. Oh, also? You know that it is a low humidity day when your running shorts actually stick to your legs with static electricity. I decided to do my hilly trail route today because I don't think I did it at all last week (just the "shortcut" a couple of times). I enjoyed the run up the "Beaver Path" and I ran down the asphalt road, which wasn't as enjoyable, and then onto the "Northeast Loop" trail. I ran the first, very steep hill that I've previously almost always just walked. From there, I ran as many of the hills as I could. During all this hill running it occurred to me that maybe I should try to run hills more because they pretty much kicked my ass. Completely. But I did it. The second part of this trail was delightful, as always, and I was again able to run it completely to the wooden bridge at the end (no walk breaks). After this trail it was a jog down the fire road and back to the company road. Today I also took a detour down a short trail off the company road that had been mired in muck with all the rain we've had all Summer. It finally has dried up enough to use. Anyway, the total mileage was around 3 miles, not one of my better or more exhilarating runs, but I got it done and it was very nice to be able to get out for a little while on such a lovely day.

My second workout for today was a "Core / Spin" class that was meant to be half of a Pilates mat class and half a Spinning class. What it really was, was about 20 mins or so of core work and then a FULL Spinning class -- bonus! I'm very pleased with that because I really was more interested in the Spinning anyway, but having the core element forces me to do that work, which I normally avoid. And even though the class description said that the Spinning was the first part of the class, it was the other way around, which I found preferable. Get the core stuff out of the way and over with, and then you can use up the rest of your energy on the spinning bike. No holding back for something that's coming afterwards. Anyway, so that worked out pretty well. The core stuff also wasn't as overwhelming as I had feared. I was able to do everything (even the 16 pushups -- I did the "girl" kind though, everyone did). And there were even a couple of exercises that the instructor warned were hard to do that I had absolutely no problem with. So I was relieved. The toughest stuff for me was during the abs part when we did a few exercises where legs and arms/upper chest are off the mat (you're on your back) and you're kicking or scissoring your legs in the air in some manner or another. But I think after I take a few of these classes I'll get better at everything. So, I think this one is a keeper and I'm a definite for the class too, no fooling around with waiting lists or whatever, so that makes me happy.

There was a point in the spinning section of the class, near the end when I felt really relaxed and satisfied and pleased with myself and I realized that I was ... happy. Maybe the happiest that I've felt in years & years. It was a good feeling.

O.M.G.

Hell must have frozen over because I am actually wearing a skirt at work today. Of course, it would have been nice had I thought to shave my legs, but you can't have everything.

Rant:

Speaking of work, I am not a big fan of people bringing their kids to work. Especially when said kid is walking around the company cafeteria coughing with an open mouth all over everything, particularly the open fruit bar! GAH! Of course the mother didn't say or do anything at all about it, because after all, it IS all about her and her spawn. Sheesh.

What a (Workout) Day!

Well, I think that I would say that "Nice Mike" is still pretty nice, but he DID try to kill me. There was one point during the workout where I had such jelly legs, that they were almost buckling under me. Anyway, I digress. I started the workout before my training session on the treadmill with 1.5 miles of running intervals. I alternated either 2 minutes of running at a 10 min mile pace or 1.5 mins of running at a 9:13 min mile pace with 1 minute walking at a 16 min mile pace. In hindsight, I'm not sure if maybe the running was a mistake as I continued to fling sweat all over the gym for my entire training session. Still, I'd have to say that I felt pretty great after it was all over. I happened to run into Mike in the cafeteria again after our session, right when I was checking out the pizza selection for today -- oops! That was enough to send me scurrying over to the deli and the salad section. (Hey, I was just looking!) After it all I was pretty much just a wet noodle for a while.

After work I had my first official spinning class of my new membership. There was a little confusion at the start as it turns out that I was the first alternate (#1 on the waiting list) where I thought that I was a definite for the class. But there ended up being some no-shows so I was able to do the class after all. Apparently, they are just starting a new session, so things are a little hectic, but they told me that it should all sort out after the dust settles. I am going to double-check with the reservations person, but they told me tonight that I am a definite for Tuesday & Wednesday classes this week though, so I'm committed to do those. Anyway, so the class was great! It kicked my butt as expected, but I was able to keep up, even though there were a few moments in the class where I had my doubts about my ability to continue to do so. After class I introduced myself to the instructor (as an aside, I'm glad that the different days have different instructors. I'll get a more well-rounded program that way). Anyway, she told me that I did extremely well and especially for this class as it was apparently one of her harder ones. Call me immature, but I feel a very childish satisfaction & pleasure from receiving such praise. heh. So a double (or even triple, if you want to separate the running intervals from the training session) workout day. I feel pretty great now, not even overly tired, at least not yet. I guess I probably got enough sleep over the weekend, going forward maybe Mondays are going to be good double workout days in general.

Oh Boy

I just ran into "Nice Mike" in the company cafeteria and he wanted to know if I was ready for the torture that he's prepared for me. God help me.

A Trail in Nashua

I'm so lazy on the weekends. I have the hardest time motivating myself to get out and exercise. I've kind of had it in my head to take my rest days on Saturdays, since I really have trouble getting myself to do anything then anyway. So, I figure that way I don't have to feel too badly about myself for slacking off. Of course, last week I ended up with an unscheduled rest day on Thursday, so I logged two rest days for the week, rather than just the one that I had planned. I mean, I could have worked out yesterday to make up for Thursday, but as anticipated, that just wasn't happening.

I didn't want the whole weekend to get away from me however, so this afternoon I finally decided to venture to Mine Falls Park in Nashua, something that I've been meaning to do for a few weeks. It ended up being a nice change from my usual trails. I actually missed the official trail head since I right away veered off onto a more trail-y type trail. This was a single track that wound through the woods alongside this river or pond. There were some people out boating, mostly just drifting or fishing, but otherwise I didn't really encounter people on this part of the trail. It was relatively tame and would be a nice introduction to someone new to trail running, who would like to try it out. Anyway, I followed this trail along for about 1.5 - 2 miles until I found a bridge to cross that put me on the more main trail that most people seem to use. This is more equivalent to a cinder track and is about as wide as a road. I encountered a few people, most just walking, a couple riding bikes, but surprisingly, no other runners. At one point I passed this guy wearing a bright orange "Mine Falls Park" t-shirt and so I stopped and asked him if he was a member of the Gate City Striders (a local running club who hold a series of races on these trails). He said no, that he was a volunteer for the park. He asked me if I was a runner and I said, "well, I'm trying to be." He responded, "at least you're trying." Yeah, well.

So, the second part of my route was flatter and less trail-like than the first, but very pleasant. Soft cinder or dirt surface, completely shaded by trees, alongside the river and even over a little falls area at one point. It was pretty hot today, in the 80s and bright sunshine, I was running at 2:something yet it was still pretty comfortable because of all the shade.

Overall I was pretty pleased with the place and will definitely use it as a running option again. There are some other forks and trails that shoot off the main one that can be explored, so it might be nice to see what else is there. All-in-all I think I did about 3 miles today.

Well-Rounded Work-Out Program

While I was working out with "Nice Mike" yesterday, I told him about my new spinning classes and my plans for the classes that I'm going to be fitting into my week, in addition to my running and the sessions with him. I also told him about the Pilates Reformer classes that I was thinking of looking into and asked him how he thought that would fit with the work I do with him and the other stuff I'm doing. He seemed to think that all of these things put together will give me a very well-rounded program that will put me into excellent shape. I'm still not sure about how I'm going to fit the Pilates stuff in, I was thinking that it might be a something to target for the Winter when maybe I won't be able to run as much as I want, on the other hand my eagerness and impatience to becoming fit may not allow me to wait that long. Anyway, his confirmation that this program that seems to be evolving for me will be a good solid road towards achieving my goals has me pretty excited and enthusiastic to try and do everything now, now, now. (Maybe I need to take a chill pill.) I also commented to him about how all of these things can get pretty expensive and I have to figure out how to pay for it all. But, on the other hand, in all my years in NYC, I constantly seemed to always come up with money for happy hours throughout the week, something that I don't do now at all. So I suppose if I'm going to make an investment in anything, my health & fitness is worth the sum. It's certainly a more worthy outlay for my money than partying ever was.

Personal Training ... and I'm an idiot

I had my second personal training session of the week today. I got to the gym a little early and warmed up on the Elliptical. When I was done with that, it suddenly occured to me that my appointment wasn't until 1 PM and not 11:30 AM like I had thought. We usually meet at 11:30, but Mike the Trainer was on a different shift today, so we had made a different appointment. Of course I would have realized this had I thought to look at my actual calendar, sheesh. Anyway, since I was working from home today, I went back home and then came back again later for my "real" appointment. What an idiot.

Today we did back, chest, triceps and abs. And Mike reminded me that we were going to be changing things up next week, so I asked him, "should I be scared?" and he said, "YES"! I was sort of kidding when I asked that, but I don't think that he was at all kidding when he answered. Apparently, all that we've been doing up until now has been a warm-up to get me to the place from where the REAL work can start. WHAT??? I think perhaps Nice Mike is suddenly not going to be so nice anymore.

Rest Day

I was so tired today that I just couldn't do any kind of a workout, so I ended up with an unplanned rest day. Oh well, I know that I have the trainer tomorrow, so I'll at least be getting that in. Not sure what else I'll do, the jury is still out on how my legs will feel tomorrow. Today they're pretty damn sore.

Exhausted

Basically, I did NOT have the blissful and sound sleep that I had anticipated and instead seemed to be up every hour. Finally getting up for good around 5:30 AM. I have an early meeting today anyway and so had to be at the office pretty early. This is going to be one long day though.

2nd Workout of the Day

This morning I had an email from the Spinning & Pilates studio place telling me that they didn't have room in their class for tonight, so I went ahead and did my run this afternoon (as I posted about earlier). Well, when I got back from my run, I had another email from them stating that they had had some cancellations and had some room after all! Okay then. I decided to go ahead and try the class, after all, I've done the double workout thing (spinning & running) before. Of course, in those days I was in a helluva better shape, but whatever. Anyway, so I went to the studio, had my tour and took the class. It was great, of course, just as I knew it would be. And it pretty much kicked my ass, but I was able to keep up, so I was happy with my effort. I feel completely wiped out now though. Just a limp noodle really. But it feels good too. And hopefully this also means that I'll have a great nights sleep.

So I decided to sign up for the studio. It's a little expensive, but the nice thing about this place is that you only commit to it at 12 weeks at a time. You select the class or classes that you're signing up for for your duration and those are your default classes. So I signed up for Spinning on Mondays & Wednesdays and something that is called "Core/Spin" for Tuesdays. The Wednesday class is already full however, so I'm not guaranteed a spot in that one, however she told me that they almost always have cancellations as they did tonight. The Core/Spin class is a combination of a mat core/Pilates class and spinning (basically half the class is devoted to each). So, I'll try these out and see what works and what I like and when it's time to re-up, I can decide whether it's worth it and which of those classes are going to work with my schedule and with my training. Additionally, they offer Pilates Reformer classes. It's kind of expensive, so I'm going to have to think about those, I'm not quite ready to make that financial commitment just yet. Anyway, I'm hoping that the introduction of these spinning classes will kick my weight loss off of this plateau it's been on and into high gear where I want it. I am also hoping that the cardio exertion of spinning will improve my running too. Maybe it will help get me in shape enough where I'm not gasping so early and easily on my runs. One can hope anyway.

So, that's my workout story for today. Here I sit just a shadow of the person that I was this morning when I woke up. I'll probably be a little sore tomorrow, but as usual, it will be a "good" sore. I wish I had the time and energy to do 2-a-day workouts more often.

“Easy” Run Day

Today was another day where I really didn’t feel like getting out there to run. But I knew that I would be happy that I did and it’s also another cool, almost Fall-like day, only we had brilliant sunshine to go with it too. These kinds of days always seem so rare, so it’s wonderful to be able to take advantage of them when they happen.

I decided that I was going to try and run as “easy” as I could, since the last three days have had me doing some intervals, some sprints and some hills. Not that any of that has been too aggressive, but still I think I was due for a bit of a recovery run. I walked the asphalt company road, down the offshoot that leads to the set of trails that I wanted to start with. I usually walk these asphalt parts as a warm-up or cool-down and to save my legs for the trails. But today as I was passing by the basketball court, I happened to glance over and see a bunch of guys playing a game. And wouldn’t you know it but a colleague of mine was one of the players and he was … SHIRTLESS! Trust me, this is not the male specimen that you want to see bouncing around without a shirt on ( I wouldn’t care so much had it been a stranger, but someone I work with and have to see and deal with in professional capacity every day? Yikes!). My immediate reaction was, ‘My eyes! My eyes!’ And I picked it up and had to sprint out of there. By the time I made it to the start of the trail, I was already gasping for breath (as well as gasping in horror).

I took a few seconds to compose myself at the start of the trail and then ran into the woods. I decided to take the “Rookery Trail” which I enjoy and took the fork that turns into the trail that takes me to the “Duck Pond Trail”. I was able to run most of the Rookery part and most of the little forgotten fire road after that. I ran in on the Duck Pond Trail and then started the loop that I did last week that takes me around the two ponds. It was so much more pleasant today than it had been last week. Being cool, but bright, the mosquitoes weren’t really the problem they were then and the ponds did not seem at all stagnant & murky. I guess that day that I ran past them was just stagnant & murky (and humid), which colored my impression of the water I was running past. I even saw a bunch of ducks, noticed that the ponds had lots of lily pads (with flowers!) and I even saw a frog and some dragon flies. Today when I got to the North side of the set of ponds, I took a fork in the trail that brought me down between the two, and over a little wooden bridge. Which was a nice variation from last week’s route. I followed the path back out of the woods and back to the fire road and to the Rookery Trail. I felt that I had much more energy on the return trip today and I was able to run much more. I’m sure the cooler weather was a big factor.

Thankfully, when passing by the basketball court on my way back to the gym, there were no shirtless wonders left to scare me. All-in-all, I did about 3 – 3.5 miles. Probably closer to 3. I have to say that it was a great run that I enjoyed very much, I should always run on the days when I most don’t feel like it, those always seem to end up being the days when I have the best runs. During this run, I made a big effort to run as lightly and easily as I could, and as a result, I feel like I didn’t need to take nearly as many walk breaks as I usually need to. So I think I was successful in making this a relatively easy run.

And yet another trail run ...

Lately I've gotten so that I actually have to start scheduling my running into my Outlook calendar, such is the daily list of meetings and other work stuff that I have on my plate. In a way, I actually kind of like having it firmly on my calendar like this, it somehow legitimizes my workout time, even if it’s really only in my own mind. So far this seems to be working out for me, even if it is technically just a mental game that I’m playing with myself.

Today my schedule called for a run at 2 PM, which is later in the day than I usually go, but it was the only time I could fit it in. The later the day got, the less I really wanted to run, but it was on the schedule and I knew that if I didn’t go then, it was relatively unlikely that I would get anything in tonight. So I went, and as soon as I stepped outside, I was immediately glad that I had talked myself into it. It was so cool! Almost Fall-like cool (early Fall anyway). Perfect. I decided to start with the same route that I did yesterday, up the Beaver Path, and then up the long hill “short-cut” to the very top of my hilly trail. This time I tried to run farther up the hill than I did yesterday, and I think I accomplished that, but I still feel like I had to walk far too much. I’m actually pretty disappointed at how slowly my cardio fitness is improving. I feel like I should be farther along at this point. I mean, I know that excess weight is a contributing factor to this struggle to run, but I still feel like I shouldn’t be literally gasping for breath only a third of the way up this hill. I was careful to keep it slow & steady, so I really don’t think that I was pushing it too hard or fast, I’m just not capable of running as much as I want to. I think I maybe need to do more hills, maybe I HAVE been taking it too easy on myself. Something to think about anyway.

Anyway, so I struggled to the top of that long hill. Once I reached the top, I caught my breath and then started the long, wonderful back part of the trail. This I was able to do without walking once, well, all the way to the little wooden bridge that you have to cross near the end anyway. I’m not brave enough to run over this at the best of times, but everything is so saturated with moisture right now, all these wooden ramps throughout some of the trails are very slippery, even walking over them can be a little treacherous. That’s all I need is to end up taking an unplanned swim in a swampy river or something. But anyway, I think that is the longest stretch that I’ve run on that trail to date, so that felt pretty good.

After that trail, I ran down the fire road like I did yesterday (no sprints today however) and instead of heading back “home”, I turned into the “Swamp Trail” (it’s actually called the “Wetlands Trail” but there is significant swampage on this one, so I have my own name for it). The first part of the trail going in this direction has a lot of wooden bridges, big gookey patches of black mud and other messy bits. It was all negotiable however, and once I got past that first section, there was a good long stretch of runable trail that wound through the woods, so I found that pretty satisfying. This trail comes out in a meadow and from there I followed the dirt lanes and roads back to the company road. Overall I did about 3.5 miles. I felt pretty good about that, especially considering that I hadn’t even wanted to run in the first place. I’m still frustrated and disappointed with how much and how often I have to walk, how easily and quickly I get out of breath. I know that I have made some progress, but the progress sure isn’t happening very quickly at all.

Spinning

I'm thinking of trying a Spinning class tomorrow at this Spin & Pilates studio in the town beside mine. God help me, but I'm actually a little bit scared. If I do decide to do this, I'll have to work from home for part of the afternoon. I'll have to figure out if that works with my schedule, so I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do. I suppose that I could have tried to go to the 6:15 class they held this morning, but ... no.