Flow/hot double!

That was fantastic today. Yesterday I was sort of criminally thirsty/underhydrated in the hot class, and also perhaps rather short on sleep; last night I took a sleeping pill to make sure I got a full eight hours, and I felt totally great today. There were only four of us in class, and all of us have been attending the hot class daily or near-daily; we were absorbed and focused, it was excellent!

1hr flow
1.5hr hot

Commando!

I will miss this class when I am back in NYC! Thrusters, squats, overhead press, all with kettlebells (first 35 or so reps with two until my muscles rebelled and I had to switch to one only!) - 100 of each, 20-minute time limit.

c. 20min strength
2 x 2.2mi run

Flow/hot double

Grew impossibly thirsty during the second class - downed huge amounts of water - must make sure to stay hydrated for the rest of the day...

1hr flow
1.5hr hot

Flow!

I am suffering hot yoga deprivation - couldn't go today because of a pending midday obligation. It will be good to get back to it tomorrow....

1hr flow yoga

Run/commando/run

That was good - only one more of these classes before I go back to NYC. Hard one today: instructor scaled it back once he realized that none of us were getting through the required number of reps!

Four exercises, four times each; twenty rounds on 1:00 apiece. Dragon walk (actually a kind of pushup), a thing where you jump legs from side to side whose name I can't remember, hanging toe-touch, crunch pushups.

c. 2.25mi x 2
c. .5hr boot camp

Skype spin

OK, that was good - I really really didn't feel like doing it beforehand, but it's always good once the blood actually gets pumping. Zone 3 intervals, with :30 hard (tipping into Z4) at the end of each.

6:00 (3:00 rest)/5:00 (2:30 rest)/4:00 (2:00 rest)/3:00 (1:30 rest)/2:00 (1:00 rest)/1:00 (:30 rest)/:30 all out

:55 total

Workshop!

Highly worthwhile yoga workshop. With the (excellent) teacher's help, I actually got up into full wheel, usually I just do bridge and can't even think about how I would make the progression to the full pose...

2.5hr yoga workshop

Run/yoga

This morning it was the Stride Against Cancer event. B. and I just did the so-called "quarter marathon" (I think it was a bit shorter than 10K); very nice day out there, though warm. 10am hot yoga was subsequently rather overwhelming!

5.93mi, 57:49, 9:46/mi. avg pace
1:30 hot yoga

Hot yoga

I think I'm at 22/30 - one tomorrow, double Monday (it's a workshop that counts for two classes), double Tuesday and Wednesday, then I only have one more class required and four-and-a-half days, so I should be able to hit 33 or 34....

1.5hr hot yoga

Spin!

It's fair enough that this has been pretty much a recovery week, with yoga as priority, but it seems clear that really I should do a chunk of aerobic triathlon stuff first thing in the morning and then have 10am hot yoga as my second thing rather than tending to let it become the one and only! Tomorrow morning is the Stride Against Cancer (10K run), so that will work. I might also run Monday morning if I can get up early enough, though I have an afternoon Skype date with Lauren, so that locks me in on something at least. Commando fitness Tues. and Thurs., do a spin workout first thing Wednesday morning maybe...

4 x 6min Z3, 2min recovery (50min total)

Hot yoga

It is addictive. It is amazing how much progress I have made over the past three weeks - but also, the meditation component seems much stronger in this kind of yoga than in some others...

1.5hr hot yoga

HOT yoga

Good focus today. Warmer, too, though perhaps still not quite where it is supposed to be...

1.5hr hot yoga

Commando!

I really like this class, and it's working out well to run over there and back again - haven't really been running enough miles...

10 exercises for time, with choice of 25 (beginner), 40 (intermediate), 50 (advanced). I cautiously chose 25, but finished quickly enough that I did another round through of 15. Next time I will try 40 off the bat.

"Shunting" principle, i.e. 5 lower-body in succession and then five upper: not sure this is exactly right, but let's say squats, lunges, squat thrusters, burpees, squat jumps, pushups, plank/slide pushups, incline pushups, bounce pressups, alternate pushups

c. .5hr with warmup
+ 4.4mi/44min run

Spin!

Enjoyable Skype date with Lauren. Nothing too strenuous - I am having delayed-onset muscle soreness from Sunday's ride....

3 x (5 x :15 sprint, 1:45 recovery), 5:00 set rest

1hr spin

FLOW/HOT

Studio was not heated to quite the degree it should have been (teacher afterwards said three degrees cooler, i.e. 102F rather than 105F) - the difference is noticeable.

Soon I have to start doing less yoga and more triathlon training! Skype date for 3pm with Lauren, so that's good...

1hr flow
1.5hr hot yoga

Swim start

Sunday's race - beautiful! (I am in the white/green/gray shirt near the front of the picture.)

HOT/HOT

It wasn't as intense as I expected; the second class on weekdays is only an hour...

1.5hr hot yoga
1hr hot yoga

Commando fitness

Five exercises (squats, thrusters, twists, quad hops, lunges), 3 rounds, 1min on and decreasing rest intervals, match reps on last set. Hard work!

c. .5hr boot camp
c. 4.4mi/c. 47min

FLOW/HOT double

It is amazing how quickly the body acclimates - I really never thought I would be able to do hot yoga comfortably. (I think the dehumidifier is working better again today.) Tomorrow I am going to do something bold and try the HOT-HOT double!

1hr flow yoga
1.5hr hot yoga

Day of bliss!

Results aren't up on the website yet, but it can only be described as a most lovely day. I spent the whole swim thinking "Gosh, I love swimming so much, this is amazing!"; more unusually, I felt something similar on the bike as well! Much less oppressively humid at this time of year than during the summer months - not at all bad for cycling, though as I looked at the runners afterwards, I was extremely glad that I had decided just to do the "Aquabike" option...

1.2mi swim
56mi bike

Hot yoga!

Very humid in the studio today. I think the dehumidifier still isn't working quite right - condensation dripping from the ceiling!

1.5hr hot yoga

Hot yoga!

I must say that I am enjoying this streak. Had various minor aches and pains yesterday evening (right ankle slightly swollen, must have twisted it at the commando fitness class, and left knee sore), but they are much better now. Will go to hot yoga tomorrow, then skip Sunday because we'll be out on the East End. Need to take out bike for a test ride early tomorrow morning - seat will need adjustment and I want to make sure it's actually functional!

1.5hr hot yoga

FLOW/HOT double

It was good...

1hr flow yoga
1.5hr hot yoga

Commando fitness

As far as I am concerned, that was the PERFECT workout! I like the ones where we do each round on the minute - they are easier for me mentally than when you're trying to max out rounds for time.

5 exercises: standing twists, corkscrew pushups, alternate-leg get-up, sit-ups with extended arms, quad hop. 20 rounds of a minute, four reps of each per round (first ten top-to-bottom, second ten bottom-to-top).

c. .5hr boot camp
c. 4.2 miles run

WNRC!

Wednesday Night Run Club. 5.1mi, approx. 51:00, high zone 2/zone 3. Not excessively hot, but mighty humid! Good day of exercise....

Spin!

Highly satisfactory Skype session with Lauren. Nothing too crazy - the first workout in the book!

warmup
6 x 2min Z2 (cadence around 70), 1min recovery (cadence 100)
3min set rest
6 x 3min Z2 (70), 1min recovery (100)
cooldown

1hr total

Yoga double!

I was looking to do a FLOW-HOT double - I was one down on the yoga challenge, and as I'll miss class this Sunday because of the race, I wanted to get back on track before the weekend. But unfortunately the heater in Studio B was not working properly, so we switched back to the smaller studio for another flow class. It was good regardless!

2.5hr yoga

Hot yoga!

Really I should know better - the human body will adapt to almost anything! - but I am amazed at the degree of heat acclimation I have been able to achieve in a week of hot yoga. The couple times I did Bikram yoga in NYC, I really thought that I just didn't have it in me to tolerate that degree of heat! Interesting....

1.5hr hot yoga

RCR

Run - Commando Fitness - Run! Worked well. The gym is set up in a temporary location in an empty warehouse near the airport - nice industrial landscape, very cool atmosphere inside - a rogue chicken seems to be living there and has laid a nest of three eggs underneath one piece of equipment!

Workout was ten exercises (mini-lunges and crossover lunges, bounce squats, a couple different pushup-twist combinations, a couple different crunch and sit-up variants), X reps of each (30, 40 or 50 depending on where you were - I did 50 for the first four, then realized I wasn't going to complete the whole set in time and switched to 30!), to be completed in 20 minutes.

c. .5hr boot camp
:44 run (c. 4.3mi.)

Swim!

Mostly to reassure myself that though I have not trained for this weekend's swim at all, I have not forgotten how to swim! Really I like swimming in open water, it will be fine...

:18:00, c. 800 yards

Hot yoga!

To my amazement, hot yoga today actually felt manageable throughout - I didn't sit out a single posture to rest, which is a first. I am hoping this means I have built up some mighty heat adaption - I am in other respects rather undertrained for Sunday's aquabike....

1.5hr hot yoga

Week in review

12:47 total, which given that I was still battling lingering ailment is not at all bad. Revealed preferences confirm my impression that as far as Ironman is concerned, I should hope to be "one and done" - I can definitely envision a future that has mainly running, yoga, boxing or other boot camp-type stuff and spinning mostly for cross-training....

6 x hot yoga
2 x run
2 x spin
1 x boot camp

Spin!

Now I can't remember exactly where I got this workout (I thought I saw it at Gale Bernhardt's blog, but I can't find it there), but I have been eyeing it longingly all week! It is a good one - more challenging than it seems at first, and I definitely caught myself trying to talk myself out of finishing it (shorts snagging on trainer seat, sticky gears, tender Achilles, lungs not at 100% etc. etc.)! However I did complete the whole thing as written...

warmup: 5min Z1 spin, 5min alternating :30 left leg only, :30 right leg only (Z1-2)

work: 7 x 3:00 work, 1:00 recovery, with work intervals split between seated Z2/3 and standing Z4-5b - start at 3:00 seated, then moving through 2:30 seated/:30 standing, 2:00 seated/1:00 standing, 1:30 seated/1:30 standing, 1:00 seated/2:00 standing, :30 seated/2:30 standing, 3:00 standing

3min recovery

:45 total

avg HR 141, max HR 160

Took a very short dip in the jellybean-shaped pool after - it was raining, and I didn't feel like doing more exercise, but I thought it would increase the chances that I would swim tomorrow if I got in at least for a brief time today. Thought I would do some drill work, but some others got in the water and it didn't seem worth bothering.

Hot yoga

Today hot yoga was very hot...

1.5hr

Hot yoga!

OK, that was good. Hot!

1.25hr hot yoga

The puddle club

I got this new Spinervals DVD a little while ago but for one reason or another have not had the wherewithal to try it out! It is good, though I had to lower intensity levels at every stage (basically, at least one HR zone lower than suggested - the effort levels in theory are what an elite athlete would use for half-ironman, 40K time trial and sprint-distance rides):

2 x 12min ((1) z2, (2) z2-3), 2:00 rest
2 x 8min ((1) z2-3, (2) z3), 1:30 rest
2 x 6min ((1) z3-4, (2) z4), 1:00 rest
3 x 1min hard (z4), 1min easy

1:25 spin

Hot yoga!

Turned out yesterday that I needed a mid-morning nap more than I needed hot yoga; I was going to go to a restorative class in the evening, only when I realized it wouldn't count for my 30-day challenge, I sensibly decided I'd rather stay at home hanging out with B.! Class this morning was great, though. I think I am finally somewhat acclimating.

1.5hr hot yoga

Commando fitness!

OK, take two - I did get slightly lost again (not as lost as last time), and was a few minutes late - but it was highly worthwhile, very good workout! 10 exercises (push-up variants of one kind or another, twists, etc.), 25 each for time after we'd worked through twice to figure out what they were. I will go Tuesdays and Thursdays this month, I think.

2.13mi (22:02, 11:32/mi), plus some further minutes of confused jogging off the clock
c. 30:00 strength

Hot yoga!

Hotter than ever today, I think....

1.5hr

HOT yoga!

Why am I doing all this hot yoga? It is a good question.

1. I like the idea of the 30-day yoga challenge (it's a thing at the studio here every January - you tick off on a list on the wall each class you attend), and it's a good thing to do while I'm in Cayman and to get my semester of sabbatical off to a really positive start.

2. But why HOT?

3. Partly it's scheduling: 10am weekday class is hot yoga these days, and it's also a 90-minute class, which I like.

4. Partly it's curiosity. Several friends whose judgment I trust have found hot yoga transformative.

5. Also at the studio here it's non-branded, i.e. basically you're getting all the benefits of Bikram yoga without the cult-like atmosphere.

6. It still does seem mighty hot!

I think I will do it M-F and do other yoga on the weekends. I have to be careful not to let it displace the spin bike hours I should be logging - I'm cutting myself slack due to recent travels and illness, but I need to get on that.

1.5hr hot yoga

Run!

I am laughing at myself, I am a COMPLETE idiot - when I was a Young Person, my lack of a sense of direction often sent me into a complete tizzy (I well remember the dread of having to find my way on public transportation to temp jobs in suburban Boston that really were only properly reachable by car). Now I am acclimated to it...

The Bootcamp Cayman gym I love here has done so explosively well that it's moving to a new expanded location, but unfortunately for me the new building is not nearly as accessible on foot. B. of course WOULD drive me to a couple morning classes every week, but it seems to me important when it's something optional for me to get there on my own steam, so instead he helpfully drove me along the route the other day so that I could identify turns for myself; it was my plan to run over, odometer told me it was under three miles and probably more like 2 and a bit.

(It is what anybody normal would find an idiot-proof route, but long and chagrined experience told me that I would not find it at all self-evident even though I have driven with B. along there dozens, maybe even hundreds of times!)

Hmmm, somehow it all looked different in the dark this morning....

I totally overshot, found myself all the way at the airport, turned back and asked someone in a car for directions to the Fosters Distribution Center, followed them and instead found myself at the Progressive Distribution Center (it's all that sort of airport industrial area where everything looks the same and there aren't really street addresses), set back in what I thought was the right direction - finally came to the corner where I had in retrospect initially gone astray (missed a turnoff), but by this point it was 6:45, and class had started at 6:30, so I figured I'd just run home and call it a day. Take two on Thursday - I think I can get there this time, and if not, I will just have to try again next week!

1hr fairly high-quality though warm and rather anxious run (c. 5.5mi.? Garmin battery was dead, so I don't have an exact distance)

HOT yoga!

Lack of sleep plus airline travel made me relapse ailment-wise, and I felt pretty bad again yesterday morning when I got up, with vast amounts of congestion and postnasal drip! However this morning I felt much better. Experimentally went to hot yoga (it is the first day of the 30-day challenge at Bliss); it is good, it is TOO HOT but I think it is beneficial. Will spin this afternoon also now that my lungs have withstood the test of exercise.

1.5hr hot yoga
#1/30

Run/spin

It was a very satisfactory workout, only a work-related email I read when I got home has spiked my adrenaline so high that I am not at all sure how I am going to calm myself down!

Ran down to Chelsea Piers, very blustery and wintery; in retrospect I should have thrown on another layer over my tri shorts, it was not a day for running with bare legs. Then spin class - J. was absent due to illness, I'm sorry not to see her before I leave tomorrow. The run felt arduous but once I warmed up in the spin studio, bliss ensued - and subsequent bicycle pickup went smoothly. Alas, feelings of tranquillity are often extremely short-lived!

:54 run
:55 spin

Short run

That was probably the shortest and best cold I have ever had! Not quite back to 100%, but felt well enough to head out for a short run - it is frigidly cold here, which also bespeaks caution of tender lungs, but I feel very happy to have gotten out there at least for a few miles. Just ran over to Central Park and did 1 x the Harlem Hill loop.

36:11, 3.45mi, 10.28/mi.