Yoga

Slight sinus infection - nothing major (and not surprising given how hard I've been working plus missed night of sleep + plane flight Thursday), but I think I will not try and run later.

1.5hr yoga

Yoga!

1.25hr yoga

Call it 4:20 for the week - short of my promised goal, but I think it was genuinely unavoidable this time.  Henceforth all will be better, at least until September...

Run!

It was pouring rain earlier, and I hoped it would continue, as that is my best shot at running outdoors as opposed to on the treadmill!  In fact it was ideal, I was set on going out c. 4pm and by that point it was overcast and with a light spritz of drizzle, temperature in the mid-70s.  My pace was slow and I was slightly boiled regardless (it's not the heat, it's the humidity!), with very squelchy feet from puddles, but it makes me much happier to run outdoors than in.  Ran in 10-minute segments, walking every tenth minute, which is a mental trick I often use to persuade myself to do the full hour rather than 40 minutes - by the end of the second segment I am almost invariably keen to complete a third segment, and indeed it was so today.  Then the willpower is taken out of the matter as one is 30 minutes away from home and pretty much must keep up same pace for homeward leg if there is not a lot of slack at the other end on timing!

1hr very slow pleasant run (c. 5 miles)

Yoga!

Gloriously good yoga class this morning.  I have been craving yoga but truly have been too busy over the last few weeks for it to be feasible.  Made my big deadline by the end of the day yesterday, and was magically unfettered for Saturday-morning yoga.  All the classes I've taken at this studio
have been excellent, but this teacher, Mark, is particularly good.  Will hope to go to his class again tomorrow morning unless I am so sore that I deem 2pm beginner's flow yoga the wiser choice!

1.25hr yoga

Exercise!

My non-negotiable six hours a week of exercise had to give way to the force majeure of truly intense work pressures both at school and with regard to novel revision. Only got about 1.5hr sleep last night as I was working till late and had to leave by 5:45am to get to the airport (I never can sleep when I have to get such an early flight) - but arrived safely here at lunchtime and accompanied B. to the new World Gym, which is amazingly conveniently only five minutes' walk away.  If I meet big deadline by mid-afternoon tomorrow, might be I can squeeze out six hours by end of day Sunday, but it may just be unrealistic!

40min treadmill (10min jog warmup, 3min transition as I tried to figure out whether treadmill offered some convenient way of toggling between two speeds - it did not - then 9 x 3:00 as 90 seconds fast, 90 seconds recovery

10min misc. strength

Spin!

Horribly cold and rainy evening out there, and I am swamped with work, but I had a date to meet L. in the spin studio at Chelsea Piers at 5:15.  Good class; hadn't tried that teacher before, but I will go to that one again happily. 

:55 spin (various intervals)

Week's total: 7:04 (I did end up logging Friday's long walk).  This coming week will be a bit dodgy but I should be able to make the six-hour minimum...

Spin!

I had to take yesterday off after slightly overdoing it on Wednesday and Thursday (sore muscles along the back of my left leg, especially the top of the calf behind the knee).  Had a 1.5hr walk for work-related purpose but will not log that as exercise I think (only do so when I have a cold or other ailment and truly can't do anything else).  Today I was set on making it down to Chelsea Piers for 1.5hr novel revision time and then 10am spin class; felt dreadful when I got up around 7:15 (didn't fall asleep till around 2 and slept lightly and badly, inevitable consequence of this very demanding time of the school year), lay back down for a few minutes to see if I could fall back asleep but remembered my "non-negotiable six hours a week" exercise commitment and also that a couple out-of-town friends will be around this afternoon and evening, i.e. early morning work an absolute priority.  Was very glad I made it downtown, especially as I won't be able to get to one of Joanna's spin classes for another couple of weeks.  She teaches three at Chelsea Piers (Monday, Friday, Saturday) and I think I am going to make it a priority to get to all three this summer when I am in town.

Another Tabata class!  I have to try and do some of these on my own next week while I'm away, though I think it's easier to work that hard when you're surrounded by others than on your own.  6 x 4min Tabata (20 seconds all out, 10 seconds recovery), with 3min rest between (2min recovery, 1min settle back into work gear).

1hr spin

Long run!

Beautiful running weather, though I grew subjectively rather warm.  Also left it a little late (am going to have to scurry to shower and make it back to my office in time for 5:30 appointment), so I couldn't go quite as long as I'd hoped (and run back includes a couple half-minutes of walking).  Good, though - felt slow but strong.

1:23 (c. 7.5mi.?)

Massive midday exercise splurge of decadent proportions!  (Semester not yet quite over, nor is novel done - but next week is going to be crazy workwise finishing those two things off, so I thought I had better seize the moment.)  Really I just had an irrationally good day - it was nothing special, it is a day like I could or should often have (novel revision, exercise, lecture, office hours), but it just seemed perfect in its particulars.  Still have an evening of theater and dinner to look forward to - have eaten small first dinner to tide me over till we eat properly at 10:30...

1.5mi warmup (16 mins.)
1hr boot camp
1hr spin

L. is back in town and joined me for spin class and a quick slice of pizza after.  Good to see her!

Short run

I have been remiss with the stretching regimen, and hereby swear that I will hew to it religiously for the next six weeks on a daily basis!  Right lower calf stiff enough to be uncomfortable; that plus allergy season, lurking asthma and anxieties about work persuaded me I should really just run short today.  Will try to get to late-afternoon local yoga too, I think...

44min run (c. 4 miles)

Spin/yoga

Got down to Chelsea Piers cafe for an early morning session of book work, then went to an amazing 10am spin class: 5 x 4:00 Tabata intervals (8 x 20 seconds all out, 10 seconds rest), with varying rest between sets.  Then I went to a restorative yoga class; hadn't registered terminological distinction between this and the "gentle" yoga I've attended sometimes there, it's really just 3-4 long extended poses with no movement, with relaxation as primary goal.  Not sure I would do it instead of my regular kinds of yoga (aside from everything else, you get freezing if you go in sweaty spin clothes!), but I would have to say that for today - for this time of the school year, when I am explosively stressed out about everything - it was highly beneficial.

1hr spin
1hr restorative yoga

'Long' run!

Most beautiful run ever!  Easier to do it on a day when no willpower is particularly required for anything else.  When I got up, it was 44F which seemed notionally a bit cold, but by the time I unglued myself from the computer it was more like 50, and truly the most perfect running weather imaginable, barring a bit of a headwind on the way home.  Biggish day for me today: now I must scamper to shower, dress in 'grown-up clothes,' pack a few things up and get myself to the train station!

1.25hr run (c. 6.8 miles?)

#20/20

Such a good workout with Mark!  I am sad that it is our last one, but my semester's almost over and there are all sorts of other more cost-effective workout options once I'm not so busy with school stuff.  Two more weeks of teaching, then a visit to B.'s (I will do a lot of yoga that week, plus some running ,and perhaps I will finally try the Crossfit workouts they've added at the gym where I have a membership there).  I'm hoping to get to Gerald's 11am boot camp class on Wednesday and Friday next week; the week after will be frenetic as I teach my last classes, go to tons of meetings and finish up my final novel draft....

1hr strength

#19/20

Great workout with Mark.  I really see the benefit of having just basically cleared four days in my schedule; all I did from Thursday through Sunday evening was work on novel revisions, exercise, read a bit and stream a goodly number of TV episodes.  It was very quiet and highly beneficial; it makes a noticeable difference to the quality of workout I can get.

1hr strength

'Long' run!

Barely over an hour, as allergies are killing me and I found I just didn't have vim, but the weather is beautiful.

1:05 run (c. 6 miles)

Week's total hours: 6:30

Spin!

53min spin (3 x 10min climb)

Mammoth workout!

It's been so long since I've made it down to Chelsea Piers that I was starting to wonder whether I should let my membership lapse - but really it's the other way round.  I love it here and need to make it a priority to get here much more often!

Gerald is doing an 11am weekday Beast class that I will opt in on more consistently once I finish next week's sessions with Mark.  The sand volleyball court is where we do the first 2/3 of class - it is very challenging...

Delightful to be back at Joanna's spin class also!

1.5mi warmup jog (17 min.)
1hr boot camp
1hr spin (3 x 8 min. climb)

2:17 total exercise

#18/20

Great workout with Mark this morning - much better than Monday's!

1hr strength

Super-short run

Today gets my vote for most beautiful running weather ever, anywhere... it's sunny, 63F with 15% humidity and a light breeze.  I was determined to get out at least briefly, but really everything else was against it: I was very wheezy by the end of my race Saturday, and have been afflicted over last couple days with minor sinus infection, sleeplessness, allergies and the other woes that lungs are heir to!  Definitely felt wheezy today still, and when I hit the ten-minute mark and found my lungs still feeling raw and sore, I figured I'd better play it safe.  However it still was a highly enjoyable and worthwhile run - have to have good attitude even when I can only run short.

20 minutes easy run

#17/20

Ugh, it's the point in the school year when I have absolutely nothing extra to give!  Barely keeping my head above water.  Solid session with Mark - body is working fine, but mind is doing a poor job dominating it, I really didn't have the mental focus I can usually muster.  The rest of April is demanding!

1hr strength

Yoga!

Really I prefer vinyasa, but soreness from Friday's yoga and Saturday's trail race meant that hatha (more stretch than strength!) was wiser, as well as the class time suiting my schedule better today.  Yesterday evening I was feeling extremely stiff, but it's much better this morning.

1.25hr yoga

Total for week: 6:39:30 (six hours = non-negotiable!)