Hot yoga...

GRUESOMELY hot! I was OK for a while, then just felt overwhelmed. TOO DARN HOT! Felt distinctly wobbly in the legs as I walked home, possibly a bit underfueled as well - have just eaten some yogurt and feel a lot more normal. I forgot that the other really bad thing about the 1.25hr class isn't just that it's longer but since there's another hot class in there fifteen minutes following, they don't open the doors towards the end of class, just turn on a dehumidifier....

1.25hr hot yoga

Spin!

Last-minute choice to go to 6am spin class instead of masters swim - partly I just don't like riding my bike over there (a turn across traffic and a stressful roundabout!), but also it dawned on me that this close to race day I don't really need a hard hour-long swim workout; it is more likely I would prong something in a shoulder or generally tire muscles out excessively than get mental benefits (I have enough swim confidence already!). Will go to hot yoga later in the morning for the heat adaptation benefits - the timing of this has been just right (blood plasma volume!)...

1hr spin

Hot yoga!

I had a feeling of mild dread when I saw that there was a humidifier pumping out extra steam in the studio - not sure why anybody thought this was necessary! This teacher is less good at time management than the others also; her verbal cues aren't as sharply aligned with when you really should be doing things, and she's got a bad habit of telling you to put your arms up and THEN digressing onto some instructions as muscles rapidly fade...

Anyway it is a good class regardless, and to my HUGE relief she opened the doors after the first camel pose. Only a few more hot yoga on this trip, that makes me sad!

1hr hot yoga

Run!

One thing I won't miss about SPA WEEK is the early mornings .... but it's nice getting out there and getting it done. (I decided not to wait and run later with the Wednesday Night Run Club folks, it's just too likely that by then I don't feel like it.)

Anyway:

:50 as 4:1, two for warmup and then with last :30 of each run interval HARD

Lift!

I really like this gym - the people there are extremely nice and it's a genuine weight-lifters' gym, everyone on the floor (pretty much) was doing things what I would call properly! Anyway just did same upper body workout from last week - my legs felt REALLY tired after this morning's spin class, and I think that though on the whole I am "training through" and conceptualizing Sunday as another long training day, it will behoove me to let legs recover a bit between now and then.

.5hr upper body

(1) bench 5 x 6 @ 85
(2) circuit x 4: (a) incline dumbbell bench x 8 @ 25 (that's heavy!) (b) single-arm row x 10 @ 25 (that's not!)
(3) front raise 4 x 10 @ 5
(4) lat pulldown 3 x 10
(5) rope triceps pushdown 5 x 10

I am torn between feeling the love for hot yoga and experiencing an extremely strong desire to be at home again with my powerlifting teammates! Looking forward to this next training cycle - the fall one was great but the November-December felt unfocused due to too many holidays and breaks, this one really should be better....

Gear test

Just a very short swim to make sure it's OK to wear these pants on Sunday. Zoot is a triathlon brand but you never quite know until you tested 'em swimming whether any given pair of shorts is really suitable for the swim as well as the bike. These are the best tri pants ("knickers"!) I have ever had, I am going to order another pair while they are still available....

(It is too late for me to develop swim fitness, I will just have to fall back on the threefold facts that (a) I am strong (b) I have good aerobic fitness just now and (c) I really like swimming!)

Spin!

That is a very good class. I need to get in the water now for a bit (to test whether these long triathlon pants are really OK for swimming or not - they are marketed as such, but I think it will be a good idea to test that), but drinking a "green machine" smoothie while sitting at the computer in air-conditioning has made me so chilly I might need to have a cup of hot tea first!

1hr spin!

Hot yoga!

Spa week #2 now off to a resoundingly enjoyable start (it is really the hot yoga that is the constitutive element, otherwise it would just be a big training week!). I love the studio here so much - if I could find comparable one-hour hot yoga close to home in NYC, I would do it more often, and I'm even thinking about starting up with the full-on Bikram (I am keen on the Bikram Yoga Harlem studio near where I live too, but I do prefer the 1hr class, less of a commitment, and the Bikram-approved carpet makes things much smellier - that said, they have a dachshund as their mascot which is a huge plus - he has been known to run in and out of the women's locker room looking for treats in people's bags). Anyway, very good class today.

1hr hot yoga

Run!

I could feel yesterday's ride in my legs, and also a good deal of tenderness in that right glute-hamstring attachment (which was twanging whenever I rode in aero). However, the only important thing in this case (I am not training for anything endurance-sport-related, other than wanting to be adequately prepared for this weekend's race) is getting out and getting it done! Next up is hot yoga at 8:45. SPA WEEK #2 (this one will end more excitingly with a "staycation" at the Reef Resort and Sunday's Mercuryman aquabike! I am leading a fortunate life indeed....

1hr as 20:00 easy, 10 x (1:00 hard, 2:00 walk), 10:00 easy

Long ride!

Hahahahaha, strange to say that was a GLORIOUSLY enjoyable ride! I am laughing at myself, I am an idiot - I was CONSUMED with dread again beforehand, but really it's good as soon as I'm actually riding, and this was subjectively more enjoyable than last week. Got to rendezvous point about 20 minutes early, got off bike and took off shoes to give feet some relief from pain and ate a granola bar, then found I did have fortitude to get back on for one more little out and back. (It helped that miles were at 38 point something and I thought I would like it better if I could see a number starting with a four!)

Best sight: a small flock of Cayman parrots flying across the road in front of me....

2:44 (2 breaks off the clock), 42.31mi, 15.4mph avg (windier today I think than last week), 135 HR avg (155 max)

Upper body/spin!

Upper body workout, just slightly curtailed due to time pressure:

(1) narrow grip bench 10 x 3 @ 65 (:30 rest)
(2) dumbbell floor press 3 x 10 @ 30
(3) 100 face pulls (skipped)
(4) circuit x 4: (a) lateral raise 10 @ 5 (b) shrugs 20 @ 50
(5) 200 125 abs
(6) dumbbell skull-crushers 5 x 10 x ? (did as 2 x 25 x 10s - no medium-weight dumbbells in sight)

1hr spin!

Swim!

I like masters swim so much! It wasn't perfect, I found the ride over stressful (need to think about whether it is really worth keeping this bike for that purpose or whether I would be better off just hoofing it) and the coach was pretty late - but - glorious! We did mostly drill so I am not sure this is exactly right (sets were assigned as fours but I am slow):

Warmup: 400 swim, 200 kick

Drill set:

3 x 25

3 x 50

3 x 75

50 slow-motion swim in spirit of drill

The kids start practice at 7am sharp so I couldn't stay in for longer. I will definitely go next Thursday morning too, but I might try and get in for Monday or Tuesday evening as well - it felt good to be back in the water properly. More swimming in 2016! (It makes me super-wheezy though! Swimming pool chemicals I think....)

Hot yoga!

Best one yet! It was very hot but I tolerated it better - maybe I am actually getting some heat adaptation....

1hr hot yoga!

Run!

Wasn't feeling a lot of vim for it this morning. Very homesick - especially missing the cats and my powerlifting teammates! But I feel OK now it's done.

55min as

15:00 warmup

10 x (:40 hard, :20 walk)
10 x (:30 hard, :30 walk)
10 x (:20 hard, :20 walk)

10:00 cooldown jog

Sea swim!

Bit of a strange day involving WAY too much napping! However it is the purpose of SPA WEEK(S) to get in good shape for the coming semester, so really that's fine...

... and I did just get out for a short sea swim. It's a particularly beautiful day - often I find it rather too warm and humid here even in January, but it's absolutely gorgeous just now, cooler than usual and with less moisture in the air. (So as to say, 82F and 70% relative humidity rather than mid- to high 80s for both numbers.)

Got a belated but warm email back from the masters swim coach confirming details, so I think I will try and get there on Saturday morning at 6. Could use a few of those sessions as mental preparation for Mercuryman swim (fitness is immaterial as it's not enough time to make much of a difference!).

:25 sea swim!