Yoga

Went to the local studio for what was probably the first time since I got my Chelsea Piers membership.  It was a good class - strenuous and yet relaxing.  My legs told me I had already done boot camp...

1.5hr yoga

Final Beast

Great class - it seemed to pass by in a flash...

1:15 boot camp

A minor complaint

I was hoping to run today, but my left hamstring is slightly sore (not the top part, more like the round part a few inches above the knee). I must have overdone it yesterday, that is not surprising. Will take today off so as to allow for a bit of rest before the final BEAST class tomorrow morning...

Spin-swim!

Showered (those Chelsea Piers showers are so great!), breakfasted and did some work in the cafe, then had an excellent hour-long spin workout and a short swim to follow. Yesterday I was so shatteringly tired I was incapable of doing any exercise at all, but hopefully I can do quite a bit over the next few days: I'm thinking I'll run 6 tomorrow, swim after the Beast is done on Friday and then do double spin Saturday morning? Sunday I am going to Philadelphia for my sister-in-law and her twin's 40th birthday party, so that will be a day 'off'...

15 mins. warmup
4 x 5 mins. gear 14, cadence 80, 2 mins. rest
4 x 2 mins. standing gear 16, 1 min. rest
cooldown

1:00:02, av HR 132, max HR 149

1000 yards swim as 5 x 200 with evens free, odds IM (fly drill)

Beast week 8 class 2

Too early!  A good class, though...

1:15 boot camp

Beast week 8 class 1

It was good, but I am looking at the clock to see if there's any chance I can catch half an hour's nap before I teach at 11 - I feel extraordinarily under-slept! This is the final week of this cycle of the class - I've gained a lot of fitness, and it's an enjoyable class too, but it is too early in the morning, it will be a great relief when it's over...

1:15 boot camp

Bike-spin-swim!

Arghhh, I can't say how it's crept on me except that I've really been very busy - but I am doing a triathlon in two weeks! What I do at this short distance out probably doesn't make a huge amount of difference fitness-wise, but I will have as many 1hr. spins and short swims as I can in the next ten days, for mental preparedness at least. My only strategy (it's the olympic-distance race in Cayman - first time I've done it, usually it's over US Thanksgiving weekend when neither Brent nor I is there): swim very very easy and if at all possible on someone else's feet, bike in zone 3 because the run will be horrible anyway due to lack of heat acclimation, then do some mix of run-walk and keep covering ground as fast as is reasonable once I get to the run. As far as heat acclimation goes, I might try for a few sauna or steam room sessions at Chelsea Piers this week, but I didn't have time today and I won't tomorrow either, so that may be a bit impractical...

Horrible ride down - it was such a beautiful day, the path was way too crowded, and when I don't ride my bike for a week it gives the anxiety time to build up! However I have finally pumped my front tire up properly - not sure if it was problem with valve or with pump itself, but it takes a bit of fiddling. A relief to be going 'normal' speeds again.

Had a great workout once I was actually at the gym - I did an hour spin along lines that I took from the Spinervals site the other day:

10 mins. warmup with 3 x 30 sec. hard, 30 sec. easy
1 min. soft-pedal
8 x 20 sec. high cadence (100-120), 20 sec. easy
1 min. soft-pedal
4 x 7 min. aerobic temp (cadence 80-90rpm, zone 2-3)
1 min. soft-pedal
6 x 20 sec. high cadence (110-130), 20 sec. easy
cool down

1:00, avg HR 135, max HR 152 - Garmin Connect seems to have updated itself in a way that means I no longer know how to see segments in different HR zones...

Then I just swam 1000 yards fairly easy: 4 x 100 free, 50 stroke (breast, back, free, fly drill), then 4 x 100 as odds free, evens IM

And had a 'popeye' smoothie (pineapple, mango, banana, spinach and water) and 2 HB eggs at the cafe, then rode my bike home - it was gorgeous, 1-2 slightly congested spots but it had cooled down and was close to dusk and it really was a lovely one...

10 miles bike in the world
1hr spin
1000 yards swim

Saturday run

Beautiful day for it: sunny, clear, high fifties. I was feeling lazy but am very glad I got out (again with the injunction that I only had to do 30 minutes - but really 40 is what makes sense, there is a natural beautiful turnaround at the 79th St. Boat Basin, where I stop and stretch my calves and contemplate watercraft and ducks).

40:14, 3.82mi., 10:32/mi.

Beast week 7 class 2

Excellent class - there were only three of us, it was like a small-group training session. It is very noticeable how much my fitness has improved over these seven weeks - I feel like I am now in a position to work really hard and consistently through the whole of class (it helped that today we were doing more what I think of as strength stuff and less of the things that require agility and flexibility at the same time as cardiovascular fitness and strength - my bete noir is these things we do like the "low bear crawl" where you are basically putting strain on about four different systems at once - I like it better when I can concentrate on just two or at most three different aspects!).

1:15 boot camp

Beast week 7 class 1

Very good class, too - the first half felt just plain arduous, but the second half became enjoyable.

Terribly rainy and windy morning - I got drenched on my way to the subway (no way I was riding my bike in that!). I'm experimenting with transportation - I think I can take the subway as opposed to a taxi without getting up any earlier, so long as I get myself really expeditiously out of the house and use the near-mile trip from subway at other end to Chelsea Piers for my warm-up run. Feet went ankle-deep in an unavoidable puddle, soaked, but otherwise it worked very well - my cycling backpack, which is what I always use to take stuff to the gym, is surprisingly comfortable for running in (I mean, I don't know that I'd take it on a two-hour run, but for ten minutes of warm-up jog, it's very comfortable).

1:15 boot camp

Short afternoon run

I am going to make it a priority for the next few months to have more short runs - I seem to have done terribly over the last six weeks in getting out at all, and I think I need to make the mental hurdle easier by pulling the notional time back to 30-40 mins. unless I am feeling inspired. I had to skip boot camp yesterday - I woke up very thoroughly around 3:30, shatteringly tired but unable to go back to sleep, and around 5:30 I turned the alarm off and stayed in bed. (I had a long day of too many complex things ahead of me, that was clearly the problem!) However it is possible that skipping boot camp yesterday is related to the fact that today's the first Tuesday afternoon this whole semester (I think) that I've actually been able to get out the door for a run...

This week and next week and then this cycle of the Beast class is over - I really like it, but it's terrible for me to have to get up so early those days, so I won't do the next cycle.

39:31, 3.56mi., 11:06/mi. (Garmin was giving wildly inaccurate HR numbers, but let's call it easy zone 2)

Beast week 6 class 3

Rode my bike down - it is a most beautiful fall day! - and did the best I could with a challenging BEAST. There were only four of us in class today, which puts one under more of a spotlight than is strictly speaking desirable! I had intended to go to at least one and possibly double spin class subsequently, but I could tell I'd used up most of my vim for the morning, and I also have a lot of work to do today, so instead I rode home (that path and park are too crowded when weather is good!) and will try and get some midday work hours in before heading out to meet my dad at 4:30 for early dinner and a show.

Happy day at Chelsea Piers

Triathlete Lauren is back in town for the weekend, and she and Loren and I all met up at Chelsea Piers to go to the midday block of classes: abs, body sculpt and spinning. Sushi and other fish-related products for lunch afterwards at Chelsea Market - it was excellent.

1:30 strength
:40 spin

Yoga

+1hr gentle yoga

(Now I am going to take a short nap - slept much too little and too lightly!)

Beast week 6 class 2

A particularly good one.  Sandbox-  strenuous...

1:15 boot camp

Beast week 6 class 1

Almost didn't make it down there - just so tired! I was afraid I was going to burst into tears as I rode my bike down, deep levels of fatigue and I don't like riding in the dark (obviously I should start wearing my glasses - path is very poorly lit, I don't have good visibility!). However a lap or two around the track for warmup put me in a better frame of mind, and it was a good class - I'm glad I went. Ride home very nice, beautiful weather, only both of my tires seemed a bit squishy - I was going very slowly....

10 miles bike
1:15 boot camp

Ottawa run interlude

Wednesday and Thursday were incredibly demanding in terms of family responsibilities (yesterday early evening I thought I was about to explode from stress!), and so I acted on my earlier-in-the-week intuition that I would be wise to claim one morning for myself, and that this should be Friday. I waited for 9am so that I could do half an hour or so of business on behalf of B.'s parents (mostly setting up various doctor's appointments, ordering the hearing aid that B.'s dad was fitted for at yesterday's appointment, etc.), then kitted myself out in running gear, walked over to the canal and had 20 minutes out and back. It is the most beautiful fall weather here; I was running very slowly (my feet/calf muscles are stiff and sore, and I'm not in fast shape), but it was extremely good for mental health Now a quick shower & an expedition to find the bus that will take me out to B.'s parents' place for lunch...

41:18, 3.68mi., 11:13/mi., easy zone 2

Beast week 5 class 1 and only

It's really dark riding down there! Glad of fall temperatures, though: finally...

I feel that my fitness is definitely improving - I did an honest-to-god proper "low bear crawl" the other day for instance, without having to stand up to stretch out my legs halfway through...

Not looking forward to traveling this week, but will bring running stuff and good intentions, and not have too much self-reproach if it just doesn't happen.

1:15 boot camp, 10 miles bike

Run

I'm not very happy about how little I ran in September, but the weather's finally turned cooler and I am hoping this will be beneficial. Really I shouldn't be so self-critical: I had a very busy month at work, and I did two longish races (Survival of the Shawangunks, 5+ hrs, and Little Red Lighthouse 10K swim, close to 3 hrs) that necessitated downtime. The Beast morning boot camp was my main exercise commitment (3 x week), and I did pretty well with attendance there, but it has cost me in terms of building up any regular training week of triathlon-type stuff.

Anyway, I had a good run this afternoon with Liz. Calf muscles very stiff for first half hour or so, I need to stretch them more faithfully, and I'm not saying I wasn't glad when we were finished, but it was certainly better than the last one we had, and if I run so infrequently, I can't expect to be either quick or really comfortable! Saw another running friend of mine earlier for brunch, and she says she has been having a good time recently running five times per week for only 25-30 mins. at a time (she has a demanding schedule at home and work): I resolved to take a page out of her book and make sure to get out just for 30 mins. even if I don't have vim for longer. I'm in Ottawa Tues.-Sun. this week and don't have great confidence that I'm going to get much exercise if any (I might take Friday morning 'off' from responsibilities there and go for a run, though), but once I'm back, I'm determined to put more running back onto my weekly schedule.

It started pouring halfway through our run this evening, but cooler temperatures are such a boon, I am definitely not going to complain about a little rain!

Central Park lower loop (we had an easy consensus as we reached 102nd St. that really we did not need to go round the upper loop and trudge up Harlem Hill!)

5.16mi.
55:56 (avg pace 10:50)
avg HR 144, max HR 162

Beast

I had intended to do an hour of spin after, but though my stomach's fine today, I didn't eat right/enough yesterday for super-long workout.

5mi. bike, 1mi. warmup, 1hr. boot camp