Deadlifts!

And other associated stuff. Very fun. Session ran longer than usual, then I dashed home to meet B., who had just got in from the airport. I hardly slept last night, and was fairly dreadfully tired for a lot of the day, but really it was a good one: very fun seminar, very good lifting session. Woo-hoo!

1.5hr strength

Weights!

Yesterday's session was rescheduled for today. We tested for max bench press and did a bunch of other upper-body stuff; lower body tomorrow. Current 1-rep max: 85. Much room for improvement! Next goal: 100....

Hot yoga!

Incomparably better than yesterday - I was in a better frame of mind, the room was perhaps slightly less hot, or else I am just getting better acclimated. Where yesterday I felt like the whole standing sequence was just on the wrong side of intolerable (HOT!), today it flowed smoothly and seemed to me something that gives you a mental boost rather than exacting a toll...

Really lovely dinner afterwards downtown with G. We had wine and cheese at the loft first (I am not a wine person, really I only drink a very narrow band of whites, but G. knows exactly what I like and broke out a Vouvray of SUPREME DELICIOUSNESS), then a sublimely good dinner at Lure: possibly the best cocktail I have ever had, the (tastelessly?) named Red Sea (vodka, pomegranate seeds, hibiscus, fresh lemon juice and "local honey" [! - but I am a SUCKER for local honey, it's one of my favorite things]), then the sushi combination platter and a very delicious dessert, butterscotch pot de creme (the dessert menu is made up by someone who sees chocolate as more central to the realm of sweets than I do - there was an ice-cream sandwich option I was very tempted to try too).

1.5hr hot yoga

Hot yoga...

I was very grumpy earlier about powerlifting being canceled, though really it is idiotic that I imagined there was the least chance it wouldn't be! (Tomorrow ditto obviously.) Grumbled to myself as I struggled to concentrate and write these two letter/report things - mood turned better when I finally made myself to it, and I did make it to 4:30 hot yoga. The trains going uptown were so crowded that I actually almost bolted home (I had backpack and yoga mat), but I am glad I didn't: the class was slightly horrible (as hot yoga always is when you go back to it after a layoff), but I am sure it is beneficial....

1.5hr hot yoga

Run!

Very slow but awfully nice. Jog-walk based on terrain and subjective desire rather than time as such. Jogged over to Central Park and did the upper 5 loop. Finished at the bottom of Harlem Hill, turned off the clock and walked the remaining stretch home (rather chilly by that point).

1:15 misc. jog-walk (c. 6mi)

Spin!

Made it downtown for 10am spin.  That was good.  Snowy day.

(Yesterday was inadvertent rest day. So tired when I got home mid afternoon that I fell into bed for dreaded 3hr nap. Then couldn't sleep till 2:30 or so...)

1hr spin

Strength!

Yesterday and today have been an interesting but pretty overwhelming return to full-on school mode! I slept so little Tuesday night that I really couldn't do anything yesterday in the afternoon window I had available but SLEEP; today was a complicated day with lots of moving parts and I realized I wasn't going to get up early enough to run. However really a great 1hr strength session is quite sufficient, especially given obvious fatigue. This class is so great! Basically like having an extremely high-quality personal trainer only much much more affordable. I am taken with the idea of pursuing the sport seriously....

1hr strength (squats!)

Strength!

I really just love this class, it's my favorite thing right now....

Busy school life starts tomorrow with a vengeance. Unfortunately my concentration hasn't been good these last few days - it's entirely my own fault, but I seem to have many hours of work to do between now and 10:30 tomorrow morning! Better get down to it....

1hr strength (upper body focus)

Run of bliss!

Gosh, that was a nice one - almost inexplicably so, as I am running at a snail's pace and there was nothing dramatic about it whatsoever - but I guess I'm fairly well-rested, and the weather is (IN CONTEXT) amazing - quite sunny, mid-30s and not a breath of wind - first time in what seems like ages that I felt like it was a good idea to leave my sheltered little bit of the part and run down along the Hudson!

First day of classes today, though I don't teach till Thursday, and I expect that has lifted my spirits too - like all professors, I complain about teaching sometimes, but really it is one of the best things in my life, I am often in a better frame of mind when I am doing it than when I am not (pain of not having writing time notwithstanding!).

:40 as 3:1 very easy jog-walk

Strength!

Gosh, I really like those deadlifts: obviously it's too soon for me to be lifting much weight at all, making sure form's OK etc. for now, but - what fun!

1hr

Spin!

Gym unexpectedly crowded (because of the holiday), but that was good. Looks like I had a 10hr training week last week, that is very good - if I could maintain that, it would be amazing, but really the semester will make it more erratic. Shooting for six-hour non-negotiable minimum and HOPING NOT TO GET SICK!

:50 spin

Hot yoga!

Haven't been there for WAY too long. I would like to get it into the weekly routine - a Sunday-evening class seems like a very good idea.

1.5hr hot yoga

Double spin!

Just hanging on at the end there. Tired legs. It was good.   

2hr spin

Short run

Wait, did I never write a post last night when I got home after strength training? Hmmmm, I was even more tired than I thought.

(Thursday: squats!)

Slept for twelve hours, deeply and well, only then when I finally got up, I really only felt like going back to bed! However it is 40F and sunny (though rather windy) and after some huddling reflex and general heel-dragging, I got myself out the door for an easy 30min in "my" bit of the park (4:1). Very very slow, legs tired from lifting (in a good way), but I feel incomparably better now, as though I can actually face the day....

:30 (4:1)

Spin!

Substitute spin instructor today, not bad. Then met a student for lunch to talk about planning for a campus visit - rather full of omelette now and wondering whether I should find a quiet lounge chair in the pool area for a nap before my second workout!

:50 spin

Short easy run

So slow that it hardly even counts as jogging, but it was very nice! Temperature crawled up over the edge into the thirties, so I was able to get outside. After a heavy exercise load on Monday and Tuesday, today was really a good time for a rest day, so I did just a very short easy one.

:23 as 4:1 jog-walk

Strength!

Ah, should have written this post earlier - am only just now home at 10:40pm after a rather draining day (good dinner after at Delicatessen - beef and brocooli and a shared & DELICIOUS "lemon meringue bombe" for dessert), and have lost the glow of enthusiasm I had right after class! Tuesday = bench press and associated exercises. I really, really love this class!

1hr strength

Spin!

A spell of wakefulness in the night, too much snoozing in bed, train delays - ashamed to say I was a few minutes late for class! But it was very good. Didn't do a lot of heavy-gear work as my legs are in need of some recovery. Beautiful sunny day in the cafe at Chelsea Piers.

:40 spin

Strength!

I may have slightly overdone it today, but what fun I had.... I love this!

1hr deadlifts and other misc. strength

Epic week?

Ah, there's something hubristic about announcing it in advance, and also I'm not really in shape to do a TRULY epic week - call it a pocket epic! This is my last week to myself before school starts, and I'm determined to use it to get a really solid fitness foundation that will survive the chaotic opening weeks of the new semester.

Was a little later getting downtown than I intended, but made it in time for 12:30 spin class with Joanna and then a short run workout (keeping in mind Coach's advice not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good!). The sand court was occupied, so I just did a small workout on the track. Powerlifting class later so it seemed important not to overdo it....

:45 spin
:20 run as 2 x (3:1 jog-walk warmup), then 6 x (:30 jog, :30 hard, 1:00 walking recovery)

Spin!

Yesterday was a wash - I was able to talk my way out of having to travel physically to Vancouver for the MLA, but I still needed to be on a search committee via Skype for 4 hours on Thursday evening and two more four-hour sessions yesterday, not over till nine or so, with a lot of frantic rereading of materials in between. Then couldn't sleep till about 3am, too wired and anxious after having participated in interviews for such a long stretch in front of the computer! Slept badly, felt slightly dreadful when I woke up, took a taxi down to Chelsea Piers and realized on the basis of general lowness (raw lungs and coughing because it's been so cold this week, tired legs) that I did NOT need to do an additional run bit afterwards. Heading back to bed now for a nap!

1hr spin

Spin/run

Yesterday was an unavoidable day off, but I was happy with today's workout. Went straight from allergy doctor to Chelsea Piers in time for 12:30 spin - good class taught by A., then just did a short/curtailed version of the run workout on my schedule on the indoor track: 10min warmup, then 6 x :30 hard, 1:00 walking recovery, 20min total. Very good! Lungs not appreciating this cold weather - tomorrow is going to be tricky....

Strength!

Today is upper body. Unfortunately I can't go Thursday, which is making me slightly grumpy, but I should be able to hit all three next week. This is fun....

1hr strength

Strength!

For realz as they say. 1.25hr warmup, strength, stretch (Monday is deadlift day).

Run!

Very nice mild damp run (my lungs like this). 40min as 4:1.

Spin!

I had a complete failure of willpower as far as running down to Chelsea Piers: I got up and took my asthma medicine and got dressed in running clothes, but my heart wasn't in it, and in the end I decided it was OK to lie down for a little more and take a taxi instead. My lungs are absolutely full of junk and I think it was probably wiser just to have a single workout in any case. Lauren met me for spin and then she and I and G. went to the Half King for brunch. Nice catch-up!

1hr spin (3 long climbs)

Spin and NO run, alas!

Yesterday's run now has to go down as "5/5," which is not very impressive as run streaks go. I think all I can really do is try and run 5-6 days a week for the rest of the month, the rest of the semester, the rest of the year: I had some schedule uncertainties and complexities today that ate up the pre- and post-spin bit where I might have run (I still did have the 15 minutes beforehand, but people were using the sand volleyball court, running shoes were back in my locker and I decided it was more to the point to go up to the spin studio and have a longer warmup and start class properly on time).

Long day out of the house has now almost erased my memory of what I thought and felt earlier, but: legs had NOTHING after yesterday's workout! I was toiling but could barely get HR up to top of Friel zone 2 (did manage to do it later in the workout with high-cadence moderate gear workout, but couldn't push heavy gears hard enough to get out of zone 2). Yesterday's workout was demanding, both the spin and the sand intervals! I felt very good by the end of the workout today, but a couple hours later was subjectively feeling so tired that I was almost ready to sit down and WEEP - I still have some restorative work to do before I am in real work mode, alas. (For fitness and for writing.)

Did manage to get a change of clothes and winter coat into my locker so that I can run down to Chelsea Piers tomorrow with only small trail-running pack with Kindle, wallet, keys. Will prob. then only do 1hr spin as I do not need more than 2hr exercise and ALSO they have converted 11am (and a lot of other slots on the schedule) to the dreaded "Rhythm Ride" - non-cyclists' workout, with pushups and the dreaded "running on the pedals"!

1hr spin!

Spin/run #5/?

I felt incredibly lucky to be heading down to Chelsea Piers for a midday workout: my lungs still aren't quite right, but I am feeling cautiously optimistic. Joanna was teaching today, it was a very demanding class! (Hit the so-called red zone a bunch of times, a.k.a. Friel zone 5a.) Wasn't sure temperatures would rise enough to run outside and also thought it wiser to consolidate workouts, so I went down to the sand volleyball court and did a short but intense 20-minute run workout, a modified version of the one from Coach Dave which involved hills but comparable numbers to celebrate the arrival of 2015: 5min warmup, then 15 x (:20 hard, :40 walking recovery). Did the first one as :30/:30 but it was too hard that way, I didn't have enough recovery to do a good job with the next interval! (Running on sand is the most amazing exercise.)

40min spin
20min run with 15 x :20 hard, :40 recovery

As a postscript, I will add that I thought this piece about the decline of the "third place" in recent years was singularly shortsighted. First of all, women in the 1960s and 1970s never had recourse to bars as viable "third place" in anything like the quantities men did. Also, how does he not think at all of exercise-related places? Yoga studio, spin class, gym are all places that really confirm to that original vision....