Saturday, December 5, 2020

Spin!



This one deserves a real post, though I've mostly abandoned blogging - I log exercise in my coach's spreadsheet (we are on day 2384 of working together, isn't that amazing?) and also in a Facebook PT accountability group, this is surplus to requirements.  I've also always had qualms about it (same with Light Reading) that when I am having a hard time staying on top of work, I don't want students and colleagues to be thinking "how come she hasn't graded our papers, she had time to read two novels yesterday and have an hour run and an hour yoga!"

I haven't been riding since I did the Princeton 70.3 in 2015 or so, and when my back got really bad over winter 2016-2017 it turned out that spinning was really painful - the sciatica through glute and along back of leg was acutely triggered by it.  And I ended up giving up my Chelsea Piers membership because if I couldn't ride my bike comfortably down to spin/lift/do yoga there, it was too much of a pain getting there on public transit during a teaching semester.  (An hour each way basically if things went smoothly, sometimes longer.)

So in fall 2019 I was chugging away with very painful running with walk intervals (it wasn't till February 2020 that I realized I needed a lift in the left shoe as well as orthotics in both) and swimming a couple times a week when I could.  Swim logistics for me as for many are always much much tougher than other things, and when NYC pools all shut down in March, that was it for a while.

So my back was really getting better from February or so, still problems and still needs walk intervals or tension builds up painfully, and I started doing minimum of about four yoga classes/week once I realized I could stream sessions with Susanne (I met Susanne during my time at Oxford in 2016, she taught at YogaVenue Oxford.  And yoga is a good substitute for swimming, it stretches you out rather than compressing everything.  And in the summer I really did finally get the 2x week upper body lifting going - got the adjustable dumbbells and am really enjoying it, sharing a Monday 7am Zoom with Lauren and a Thursday 8am Zoom with Brent.  So I've got 5x run, 4-5x yoga (mix of flow and yin) and 2 strength.

But it's dawning on me that I really probably am not going to be able to run a lot more than I am now - I mean, I wouldn't rule out a tactical build for some event, and when the pandemic recedes I hope my Saturday long run will be longer than it is now, but for the medium and long term I need the other forms of aerobic exercise to supplement.  And who knows when the Columbia pool is going to open again.  (Chelsea Piers pool is calling to me again - they have 30 minute individual slots and it's also an extremely well-ventilated space, whereas the Columbia pool is in the basement of an underground gym that is probably the single worst-ventilated university building I have ever set foot in).

I took the plunge on ordering the bike in September, my only pair of spin shoes are in Cayman and I had to get shoes and cleats and literally the shoes and cleats have sat there waiting for me to deal with them for 2 months.

But my old original favorite spin teacher, the person who got me to really like spin classes at Chelsea Piers c. 2010, is starting a winter training session! Joanna did the first session this morning at 9:30 as a trial to see if there's interest, I think it will be regular and I am really excited about that.  And it turns out our Cayman friend Jerome is streaming classes at Revolutions.

BACK ON THE BIKE!

(I need to take my road bike for a tuneup and to have clipless pedals replaced with double-platform ones, flat on one side and clip on the other.  I'm never going to be riding a lot as I think riding in traffic in NYC is unacceptably dangerous, I don't have the nerve for it, but it's a good option for riding down the west side path to meet up perhaps with friends outside.)

2020 has been a very rough year for me as for almost everybody else, but it has been a strangely good year of exercise.  I should write a yoga post soon too - I have extraordinarily enjoyed doing yoga very very consistently over a sustained period and do not intend to let that go when the pandemic is no longer affecting us in such extreme ways.

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Wednesday update

70 with 20 as 1:1 to warm up and cool down, work set at 6 x 3min faster, 2min walking recovery.

I've been gradually figuring out my yoga schedule, adding more as I get acclimated (but lot of yin so that I don't overdo it with muscle work).  This week's schedule looks like this:

Monday: 7am Modo flow class; walk
Tuesday: 7am core strength flow with Susanne; 40 as 1:1
Wednesday: 70 as noted above; 2pm Bliss flow + nidra (Rachel)
Thursday: walk; 8:30 private session with Susanne (flow); 4pm Modo yin
Friday: 40 as 1:1; 8:30 private session with Susanne (yin)
Saturday: 80 as 3:1 with 40 as 4:1 in the middle; 3pm Bliss yin (Iliana)
Sunday: 40 as 1:1: 3pm Bliss flow (Chantelle); 6pm Modo yin

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Streak!

So I have been doing at least 3 yoga classes a week since the beginning of April, but it took 2 things (Bliss starting to livestream classes - it's just not the same doing a recorded class - and my semester coming to more or less of a close) to go to the daily mode. Now I am very excited as I think that there is NO REASON I shouldn't be able to build the longest yoga streak in my life! First day was Monday, May 11. So today is day 13. Got my week's template down.

Run is five days and I walk the other two (I have missed a couple of those walks since we started sheltering place - maybe 2 or 3? not sure exactly - but in general I have been very faithful to it.

My COFFEEWRITING group starts on Tuesday so at that point I really am in a good routine: one that recognizes the fact that currently my good hours are between 6am and noon or so, and that if I use them wisely, it doesn't matter if I flop for the rest of the day!

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Popping in

to say that my week's template is suiting me really well; I continue to do 5 run-walk and 2 walk each week, and this past week was the first week I was able to do yoga every day as well! The yoga rota is looking like this (Bliss is now streaming live classes, which was the last piece of the puzzle):

Monday: 7am grounding flow class with Susanne (in Sweden!) + brisk exercise walk immediately afterwards (30-50 mins)
Tuesday: 40 as 1:1 early and Heidi's therapeutic yoga at 9am (Cayman)
Wednesday: harder run intervals of some description four 75-85 mins total and Rachel's 2pm flow-restorative class (Cayman)
Thursday: 30-50 mins brisk exercise walk + 9am private session with Susanne
Friday: 40 as 1:1 + 8:30am private session (yin) with Susanne
Saturday: 80 min longer run intervals (lots of 3:1 recently) + 3pm yin class with Iliana (Cayman)
Sunday: 40 as 1:1 and 3pm flow with Chantelle (Cayman)

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Current week's template

Clearly I don't have the vim to log here right now! I am exercising daily just as I usually do, it's going well. Here's the current week's template (I will probably add a couple more things in May once I'm done teaching for the semester).

Monday: 50 minutes exercise walk, 1hr Susanne's grounding flow yoga class
Tuesday: 40 as 1:1 jog-walk
Wednesday: 75 with some longer faster intervals
Thursday: 50 minutes exercise walk, 1hr private session yoga
Friday: 40 as 1:1 jog-walk, 1hr private yoga
Saturday: 70-80 as something like 3:1 or 4:1
Sunday: 1hr as 1:1

Keeping me sane and reasonably happy!

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Catch-up!

Yeah, the other two places I log just feel like a higher priority right now....

good week of exercise. Just now: 70 as 3:1 easy, felt great. This week was totally as usual (on lighter side): 5 run, 2 walk (I'm making sure to get outdoor exercise every morning before my day really gets going, I know how important it is for mood and mental health). And 2 yoga! The exciting innovation as of Thursday is private Zoom yoga sessions with Susanne (my Oxford yoga teacher, now in Sweden) on Thursdays and Fridays and her class on Monday morning first thing. This is going to be really good!

Friday, April 3, 2020

Friday

Day started very early, I had a nice hour as 1:1 once it was light, and proceeded to have a really good and stimulating work day in which I was thoroughly immersed.

Thursday, April 2, 2020

Wednesday-Thursday

Wednesday: a really great run (beautiful cold sunny weather too), 1:10 total with work as 6 x 3min faster, 2min walking recovery.
Today: 50 mins exercise walk.

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Monday-Tuesday

Both seminars have now been taught online, both went well, breathing a sigh of relief!

Monday: non-run day, 50 mins brisk exercise walk.
Tuesday: 30 as 1:1 (didn't get out till afternoon).

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Sunday run!

1hr as 1:1, misty and mild, very nice.

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Friday, March 27, 2020

Friday run

1hr as 1:1, really lovely. Looking forward to the longer one tomorrow.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

March 21-26 update

Really I have been exercising every day - no, really!....

Saturday: 40 easy as 1:1
Sunday: 1hr as 1:1, 1.25hr fascial flow yoga streamed with Heidi (now have access to that class again and am hoping to get it in frequent rotation)
Monday: 50 mins brisk exercise walk
Tuesday: 1hr as 1:1
Wednesday: Really great 1:10 with work as 4 x 5min faster, 2min walking recovery.
Thursday: 50 mins brisk exercise walk

Need to get back on stretching - I am spending too much time on the computer (and actually have had a lot of work stuff to wrangle this week).

Friday, March 20, 2020

Thursday-Friday update

Thursday: 40 as 1:1, very nice
Friday: 1hr lunchtime flow yoga with Lynsy, streamed from Bliss Cayman.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Monday-Wednesday update

Don't seem to have blogged here - I've been online a lot but have two other places where I log exercise (coach spreadsheet, FB ladies' PT accountability group) and this one tends to feel lower priority these days, though I like to have it as a record.

Monday: 1hr home hot yoga on balcony
Tuesday: very good run, 1:25 or so with ladder as 10/8/6/4/2 (2min walking recovery). Then a streaming yoga with Alex Auder!
Wednesday: 1hr as 1:1 easy and early

Travel plans have changed and I'll be flying back to NYC later today.