Triaspirational

Short run!

2012-02-19T17:09:00.003-05:00

Scaled back expectations considerably - clearly there just wasn't space in my week this week for a long run. I finally got a decent night's sleep last night, which did a good deal to soothe jangly nerves; then had a marathon paper-grading session at the library earlier, but found myself at home mid-afternoon feeling exceptionally lazy. Beautiful running weather, but I couldn't persuade myself to go more than 40 minutes - in fact, at the 15-minute mark I was very tempted to turn around, though geography aided me in eking it out to 20 on the basis that that takes me to the far side of the boat basin, a scenic turnaround...

(I have at least 4 hours of work still to do this evening, and an unusually taxing week and a half of work stuff coming up, so really it was better not to dig too deep!)

40 min. (c. 4 miles)

Run!

2012-02-18T17:19:00.001-05:00

Beautiful weather, too: I felt a bit lackluster for the first fifteen minutes or so, but really it was good.

1:01:30, c. 6 mi.

Abs/spin

2012-02-17T19:11:00.000-05:00

I've just been fiendishly busy, with no time to make it down to Chelsea Piers, but it was a priority to get there today so as to catch up with the trainer who leads the Beast class: he was hospitalized with a heart problem recently and I had promised some consultation about the possibility of organizing a fitness fundraiser. Really he's doing well now and it was more pressing just to catch up! But it reminded me of how much I love Chelsea Piers - not having been there much recently, I found it truly just an oasis of quiet, and I got a ton of work done in the cafe (with a minor distraction when two police detectives came and arrested a man sitting one table over - couldn't figure out what it was for, though another onlooker and I agreed afterwards that the obvious possibilities were that he sold somebody drugs, beat somebody up or stole something...). Anyway, abs and spin, very good.

.5hr abs
.75hr spin

#10/20

2012-02-15T11:13:00.001-05:00

Another truly dreadful night of sleep, which is frustrating and unenjoyable. Session this morning wasn't till 9:30 so I had time to eat a bit of oatmeal to try and settle my stomach. We had a decent workout, all things told: focused more on straight strength stuff and less on the insane things that Mark usually makes me do. (His current favorite - all NYC trainers have a variant of this, it is the boot-camp-style personal-training session! - is a compound exercise where you hold five-pound weights: pushup, right-hand row, pushup, left-hand row, jump squat, stand to fly, front press and shoulder press, jump squat and jump feet back out to start position.) Next week and the following week we'll do adjacent sessions on Tues. and Wed. rather than Mon. and Wed. due to mutual scheduling constraints; this works fine when so much of the stuff is really the sort of thing you could do every day, I guess we'll do upper-body one day and lower the other but a lot of the stuff is repeatable consecutively...

1hr strength

Run!

2012-02-14T11:10:00.003-05:00

Got up early to work on a book review I need to submit by the end of the day; it's not yet done, but it needed to sit and 'gel,' so I did get out for my projected morning run. It was lovely, actually: the day is rather overcast and damp, but the sun was coming out a little and the air was very calm and still. It's back up to about 40F so that is civilized also. I was too tired to stretch calves last night, and I did notice the difference; I stopped my watch at the turnaround for a quick stretch, which is what I have now had the luxury of not doing in the last couple weeks, and it was fine from there, but I will be very scrupulous about daily stretching from here on out...

40:30 (c. 4 miles)

#9/20

2012-02-13T09:58:00.002-05:00

I didn't fall asleep till about 2:30, and though really in theory five hours of sleep is entirely adequate, I was in horror when the alarm went off at 7:15. Felt vaguely queasy and conspicuously lacking in vim, but it was a solid workout regardless (though I now wish I could go back to bed instead of to campus for my heavy teaching day!).

1hr strength

Yoga!

2012-02-12T18:45:00.000-05:00

Slightly odd class, not as much what I like as most others I've been to recently, but doubtless beneficial (more stretchy than strengthy). 1.5hr

Total hours for the week: a rather meager 6:23. On the other hand, there were a number of good quality workouts (especially Wednesday's session with Mark and Thursday and Saturday runs). Really I temperamentally fall down on the side of quantity rather than quality, but I will have to satisfy myself with quality over the next few weeks, as I'm coming up on a very busy spell of work stuff right through to the beginning of March....

Run!

2012-02-11T15:45:00.000-05:00

A good one, really. Lungs still feeling beat up from last week's ailment, and the weather isn't beautiful; the southward leg felt like I was going at a really good clip, in fact I added a hair onto my 30-minute turnaround and actually made it to the sanitation pier at 59th St., which means I'm definitely running faster than I was a month ago. Then I turned around and realized that I was running, discouragingly, directly into a headwind! Toiled all the way home, but really it was fine, it's not that cold.

(Woke up this morning an hour before my alarm was due to go off with high anxiety about volume and intensity of work to be done, so canceled plan to spend entire morning exercising - had to get more work under my belt first... Also, it was snowing, and the idea of an epic run-to-Chelsea-Piers-with-spin-shoes-and-change-of-clothes-in-backpack just seemed perverse...)

1:02 run (c. 6 miles)

Best run ever!

2012-02-09T13:29:00.000-05:00

This calf stretching regimen is amazing - really since the end of the summer I've been hampered by that stiff calf, it was luxurious not to have to stop and stretch while running. The regimen is slightly arduous and I have definitely missed it a couple days due to leaving it too late and not having vim for it, but I will make it a priority for the foreseeable future.

Beautiful day for a run - about 40, sunny and mild, virtually no wind. Broke the run into 10-minute segments and walked every tenth minute, more for mental than physical respite, but I don't think it was strictly necessary: I feel like I'm getting my running groove back, and that is good.

Next three weeks are intensely and extremely busy, so I'm not sure that I'll really be able to maintain a weekly long run, but if I can squeeze one in I will. I also basically promised Mark that I would not overdo Sunday exercise and compromise quality of our Monday-morning workouts, so that's the other factor that makes me want to have the long run happen Wed.-Fri. (if I am intending to do double spin on Saturday morning).

1.5hr run (c. 8 miles)

#8/20

2012-02-08T12:46:00.002-05:00

Great workout today - I took yesterday off out of a combination of (a) raw lungs in morning (contraindicated running) and (b) arrival of cousin and her boyfriend a day early, leading to modified evening schedule. Slept better last night. Noticeable effect on quality of workout, though really Monday's wasn't bad either...

1.5mi run warmup, 1hr strength

#7/20

2012-02-06T09:25:00.001-05:00

I slept very little and very badly, and I'm still slightly under the weather: all of which is just to say I was toiling in this morning's session with Mark! I always use my rescue inhaler before a workout to fend off asthma (about 30 minutes pre-workout - it lasts for about 1hr45), but I had to use it again partway through - lungs just felt very raw and wheezy still. Wednesday will be better - Monday is my big teaching day, and I was up pretty late working last night, it won't be so bad later in the week.

1hr strength

Yoga!

2012-02-05T18:46:00.003-05:00

1.5hr - very beneficial (still a bit congested, but it's OK)

(Unfortunately I fell deeply asleep this afternoon when I should have been reading - I just couldn't keep my eyes open - which will put paid to any notion of falling asleep at a reasonable hour tonight. On the other hand, I also have a minimum of four more hours of reading to do this evening, so perhaps it is just as well....)

Week summary: 6.25hr total (2 strength, 1 yoga, 1 double spin, 1 run). Not what I would have liked, but unavoidable due to illness. I'll try and post good hours the coming two weeks as the two weeks following that both include out-of-town trips and won't be ideal from an exercise standpoint.

Woo-hoo!

2012-02-05T12:05:00.001-05:00

Mood hugely lightened by just having had a really lovely run. It seemed not warm when I started out, though also not windy, but the sun came out partway through and I had decided by the end that it was really the most beautiful imaginable February running weather excluding the truly unseasonably warm weather we've had recently (it's 35F - no runner would plausibly say no to 55F, which really is perfect running weather, but this is more than good enough).

- Lungs and sinuses still full of some gunk, but not so as to affect running appreciably

- Had a happy realization yesterday afternoon re: back-of-the-knee pain, that advil completely relieved it: this means in Davidsonian parlance that it is merely twanged rather than pronged and that I can exercise on it as long as it doesn't hurt...

- Have been diligently stretching calves all week after a regimen suggested by Brent - 2min each of straight leg, bent leg on each side (8min total), plus 30 heel drops on each side - and it has made a near-magical difference: I'd better keep that up, I could feel tightness in lower right calf but I didn't have to stop and stretch a single time

Will go to late-afternoon yoga, I think, too...

1hr very nice run (c. 5.5mi.)

Ailment-related grumpiness

2012-02-04T15:40:00.002-05:00

Down with a cold for the last couple days; it was clear that there was no point even thinking about exercise, and I canceled exercise meet-up plans for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I have also slightly pronged something at the back of my left knee (Brent suggests that it may be the popliteus), and though my cold is enough better that I was intending to go to yoga at 4 this afternoon, I thought as I was getting changed about how this bit of the knee feels when leg is fully or hyper-extended and realized that yoga is exactly not what is needed. Very frustrating! Hopefully it will be better tomorrow: what I'd really like to do is run in the morning and go to yoga in the evening. I first noticed the knee thing on Wednesday morning before my workout with Mark; it's stiff when I get up from sitting or get up in the morning, not sore once I'm actually moving around. May have been related to double spin class the previous night; it seems like the sort of thing that might result from a strong pull on the upstroke against a heavy gear.

#6/20

2012-02-01T11:59:00.001-05:00

I definitely do have a slight cold, but am happy to say that it did not stop me from having a full hour of high-quality workout: I was sure I wasn't sick enough to cancel, but feared I might need to modify or otherwise curtail, so that is very good.

1hr strength

Double spin!

2012-01-31T21:17:00.002-05:00

Just did it as easy endurance effort (zones 1 and 2); alas, I fear I am coming down with a slight cold, I had a runny nose last night that I thought was allergies but it occurred to me mid-afternoon that it was really a sort of postnasal drip centered on the right sinus. Hoping if I take a sleeping pill and shoot for ten hours in bed tonight that I may fend it off; I have also followed B.'s advice and sucked on zinc lozenges...

1:35 spin

#5/20

2012-01-30T10:03:00.003-05:00

Fatigue from many hours of exercise over the weekend and several nights of poor sleep. Saturday really was the disaster no-sleep night, and I felt devastatingly knackered all day yesterday; around 7:30pm, I still had at least 3 hours of reading to do but I literally couldn't keep my eyes open, so I lay down for an undesirably timed but necessary nap (set the alarm for 4:30am just in case I could sleep through and needed to carve out the reading time for early morning hours). Woke up around 9:45pm feeling much better, read hard till 1am, fell asleep around 1:30 and slept till about 5, awake for a while, then one more chunk of a couple more hours of sleep - it was actually better than it sounds, all three stints of sleep were of reasonable quality, but I did not have as much vim as I should have for my 8am workout. I think it's undesirable to do double spin Saturday, long run Sunday and hard workout Monday morning; I need to try and move the run earlier in the week, and use Sunday for a yoga session and perhaps a short spin or run. Otherwise I lose quality on the Monday morning session...

20min warmup, 1hr strength

Week in review

2012-01-29T17:10:00.003-05:00

8:37 total hours exercise for the week. Short one yoga and 2 spins, but really it was a function of my work schedule - I had evening things on Tuesday and Friday, and I went to a play with an early curtain time on Thursday night, so it just wasn't realistic to squeeze in more. This coming week should be easier: I'll do double spin Tuesday night, midday spin Thursday and double spin Saturday morning...

Long slow run!

2012-01-29T17:07:00.002-05:00

I had bad insomnia last night - at 3:30 I changed the alarm from 8 to 9 and gave up idea of running first thing in the morning. (I'm not complaining, I like my job, but Monday's my big teaching day and that means I usually have at least 8 hours of work to do on Sunday - double spin yesterday morning was not conducive to a particularly productive afternoon, and I knew that if I were really underslept I'd be wise to get at lest 4-5 hours of work under my belt before embarking on exercise.) Got out the door around 3:30 and rapidly realized that it was going to be one of those runs where you sort of wonder what the hell you're doing out there: very sunny and rather beautiful, but coolish (low 40s) and windy as well. I was running straight into the wind on the way out, and my right Achilles was extremely sore and stiff; but once I turned around, it was much better, suddenly felt like a much calmer day and by that point the lower calf was more thoroughly warmed up. I wanted to go quite long but did not make it, due to prudence mostly (got to get this lower calf working more smoothly); very slow, with walk intervals to make it mentally easy as I start to build mileage back up...

1:17 total run-walk (4min run, 1min walk), c. 6.5 miles?

(Garmin is frustrating me, it gives wacky HR numbers for long stretches and takes so long to capture a satellite that I can't be bothered to hang around waiting for it to locate itself, so distance is only approximate - I might need to get a new device, for the HR consistency/accuracy more than the GPS question)

Yoga!

2012-01-28T19:42:00.005-05:00

That was extremely beneficial: I really have been missing yoga in the last week and a half, going from doing quite a bit to virtually none is not enjoyable. Need to make it more of a priority. (This week was bad for exercise, as I had two evening work things and one other evening out that knocked out all of those days for anything useful! Coming week should be significantly better.

1.5hr yoga

Double spin!

2012-01-28T12:44:00.001-05:00

1:55 spin

Run!

2012-01-27T14:36:00.003-05:00

I was very grumpy with myself for not getting out yesterday (miscalculation of times needed for various work and errand-type things and fueling issues). However this was a good one - very very slow, and tight right calf and both feet sore, but I did the full hour. This morning it was what seemed as though it must have been the rainiest day ever witnessed in the city of New York, but it has now largely stopped raining: it's almost sixty degrees, insanely foggy but really very good running weather! Will aim to run slow and long on Sunday, double spin tomorrow; and now I gotta get some food in me, shower and get my show on the road, I let everything drift a little late, I am giving a talk at 4 in midtown!

1hr slow run

#4/20

2012-01-25T10:54:00.002-05:00

Such a great workout - I was certainly working as hard as I reasonably could...

1hr strength

Run!

2012-01-24T11:37:00.000-05:00

It is the most outrageously beautiful day for a run: almost 50 degrees, incredibly bright and sunny, with that springlike feeling of thaw in the air (the snow is by now almost entirely gone after a day of warmish rain yesterday). Saw a cormorant bobbing with gulls in the water just north of the boat basin.

Only went 45 mins., not a full hour, as (a) I was a little late getting out and (b) my right lower calf was ridiculously tight and stiff. Stopped to stretch it out a few times, and it was much better by the end of the run, but it is noticeable that a week without much yoga makes that area feel as though a block of wood has been taped to it when I run! NB do 20-30min. yoga on mat at home if I can't get to more classes: I never have been in the habit of doing this, but it would surely be beneficial.

45min run (c. 4 miles)

#3/20

2012-01-23T09:57:00.004-05:00

It's so good - the hour just flew by, it was ridiculous! More core stuff today.

1hr strength

Week 1 summary

2012-01-22T16:40:00.001-05:00

I am one yoga course short of my stated goal for the week (I am still tempted to go to 6pm local yoga this evening, but I have a lot of work to do both for tomorrow and in general and I think it will relieve more anxiety for me to make headway with some of that than to go out again this evening)! I am one hour short of the ten-hour goal (that's where I'm hoping to set base weekly level of exercise), but the workouts with Mark are strenuous and it's better to give them some time to get absorbed than to overdo it right at the start of the program. I've got ten weeks' worth of sessions with Mark, if I see him only twice a week, so that's what I'm counting off, I guess...

Summary:

2 strength sessions (1:00 each)
1 yoga class (1:30)
3 spins (:50, :45, 1:50)
3 runs (1:00, :11, :43)

Run!

2012-01-22T16:30:00.001-05:00

Very nice 4-mile run with Liz. I was dreading cold and snow on ground, but really it was absolutely fine - temperature in mid-20s, but with very damp air, so it's not too bad on the lungs.

4 miles (43 mins., c. 10:45 pace)

Double spin!

2012-01-21T13:51:00.000-05:00

Woke up to unexpectedly snowy morning; the spin studio at Chelsea Piers looks out over the river, and it is mesmerizing to watch the snow fall into the water. Very good double spin - muscles noticeably less fatigued than they were yesterday when I tried to do things...

2hr spin

Yoga!

2012-01-20T21:43:00.002-05:00

It was an 'easy' class (really yoga classes aren't easy or not easy, there is always something challenging to learn or contemplate in a pose, but let's just say it didn't involve a lot of strenuous muscular exertion and sweatiness), which is just as well - very beneficial. It was over in a flash! I only ran one mile beforehand, as I slightly lost track of time and didn't have a ton of vim - in general I think it fair to count runs of 2 miles upward as runs as opposed to warmup activities, but I think in this case as it's first week of arduous new fitness regimen that we will let it 'count'...

1 mile run
1.5hr yoga

Spin!

2012-01-20T13:52:00.003-05:00

45min spin at Chelsea Piers. I'm going to stick around here and get some work done, then go to 6:30 yoga (hopefully with a 40-minute run beforehand, if I can muster the vim). I'm sorta shooting for a basic week of 2 sessions with Mark, 2 yoga classes, 3 runs and 3 spins - will go to double spin tomorrow (J. is teaching both, that's good) and run 4 or so miles with Liz on Sunday, so if I go to one yoga class over the weekend as well, I will have just about made it for this week...

45min spin

Belated post

2012-01-19T21:47:00.001-05:00

to say that I had a very nice run earlier: possibly the slowest hour-long run I have ever done, it was at near-shuffle pace (all muscles esp. in upper body ridiculously sore from yesterday's workout), but it was good to get out. Had meant to do it in the morning, but it was in the low 20s & that is not good for wheezing; late afternoon was chilly and damp and overcast, but more like low 30s, which is fine...

1hr very slow run

Session 2/20

2012-01-18T11:36:00.001-05:00

In retrospect Monday's session was just child's play, to ease me back into it...

1 strenuous hr workout with Mark

Spin!

2012-01-17T21:19:00.001-05:00

50min spin class @ Chelsea Piers

Session #1 of 20

2012-01-16T09:41:00.001-05:00

Flew back to JFK last night and wintry weather; got home around 10:15pm, I guess, and was very glad I had set up this morning's appointment, otherwise I would pretty certainly be only just getting up! My fitness splurge for 2012: a three-month membership at Body Strength Fitness (the full membership, which comes with unlimited yoga at what I usually just call the local yoga studio), and twenty sessions with friend and former trainer Mark. I'm keeping my Chelsea Piers membership, but I need the jump-start and these are the months when it's hardest to get down to CP on cold winter days/evenings...

1hr strength

Run!

2012-01-15T08:53:00.004-05:00

OK, that was good. I wasn't sure I was really going to get out the door for a proper run - it would be better if I could get up earlier, as even leaving at 7:30 puts you in a situation where the run back is noticeably warmer than the run out. But it's not as hot and humid at this time of year, really, and perhaps I got some heat acclimation by dint of yoga: the newspaper says 79F right now, with relative humidity of 73%, and I am certainly pretty darn hot by the end of it, but there was a good breeze and the sidewalk hadn't yet trapped the heat of the day.

1hr slow warm run

Yoga!

2012-01-14T10:07:00.003-05:00

This class is particularly challenging - the teacher is very good. The studio is doing a 30-day challenge that is just at the end of its first week, and it is having a devastating effect on attendance - it was mat on mat, the room was packed to its max, it got insanely hot!

1.25hr yoga

Yoga

2012-01-13T12:16:00.001-05:00

1.5hr yoga

Misc. cardio

2012-01-12T11:45:00.001-05:00

1hr elliptical

Run-walk intervals

2012-01-11T19:39:00.004-05:00

I was slightly dreading Wednesday night run club, as it is warm and humid here (not as hot as at the hot time of year, but high 70s and high relative humidity) and the runners in that group are fast - I don't mind being slow, but I get nervous when I am running along the side of road about to be mashed by traffic! However it was all good - B.'s friend L. was there and wanted to do run-walk intervals, so we did some laps around the playing fields at the Cayman International School rather than trekking out along the highway. It was nice enough that I might have to have another run in the early AM tomorrow, since it is a no-yoga day...

47 min. run-walk, plus 2 x 15 min. walk to and from start

Yoga!

2012-01-11T13:05:00.002-05:00

Also very hot (door opened to outside partway through to allow 'cool' air to enter, but it remained super-warm!). Think I will take tomorrow off from yoga, as I can feel little spots in neck and shoulders that will benefit from recovery. Tonight is Wednesday Night Run Club...

1.5hr yoga

Hot yoga

2012-01-10T17:49:00.002-05:00

Not "hot yoga," just hot yoga. Hot enough that the sweat was pouring off me even in corpse pose at the end of the class: someone said afterwards that the thermometer read 93 degrees. Class was packed (body heat raises temperature). Yoga is beneficial...

1.5hr yoga

Misc. cardio

2012-01-09T16:08:00.001-05:00

This is the last week for a while when my time is truly my own (school starts up again next week, and the beginning of the semester is usually very busy), so I'm trying to get as much exercise in as I can. However I was thwarted by raw asthma-feeling lungs as I segued from treadmill to elliptical, so I figured I should call it a day.

30 min. treadmill intervals (10 min. warmup, 10 x 1 min. hard, 1 min. easy)
10 min. elliptical
15 min. walk home

55 min. total

Yoga!

2012-01-09T12:24:00.001-05:00

A very good class that left me feeling much better than I did all weekend. (I flew to Brent's Saturday morning, but the flight leaves early enough from JFK that I literally didn't sleep a wink the night before, I've been going to bed pretty late and when I did lie down around 1:30 and try and sleep a little, I was anxious that I wouldn't wake up when the alarm went off at 5:15.) Weekday plan for this week: I get a ride to the cafe with Brent around 7:20, work on book revisions for a couple of hours and then go to 10am yoga. It is good - I do best with a very regular routine...

1.5hr yoga

Blissful run

2012-01-06T15:39:00.001-05:00

OK, that was good, it was right that I took yesterday off. My nose is still runny and chest not quite back to normal, but it was a most beautiful afternoon for a run (52 degrees, sunny, calm!) and I was determined to take advantage of it. It has been extremely to my chagrin that I haven't been able to run over the last couple weeks (I was really looking forward to a lot of running, and I could have used the mental boost), but runners amongst you know that one cannot always run when one wants to...

1hr easy run

Yoga

2012-01-04T23:06:00.001-05:00

A very good class at Chelsea Piers, I think my favorite of the three I've gone to in the past three days. I am holding out hope that if I keep doing yoga 3-4 times per week for many months, I may actually get somewhat more flexible... I had intended to run for 40 mins. on the track beforehand, but in fact the cold air on the walk from the subway made me too wheezy for it to seem advisable, so I went to the 30min abs class beforehand instead. It is a very demanding class, with some Pilates-type stuff in it - I should do that stuff more regularly... Now my muscles need a day off from yoga...

.5hr abs
1.5hr yoga

Spin, yoga

2012-01-03T21:36:00.002-05:00

Nose still very runny, but really I can't wait forever for it to stop! Had a good spin workout on my own at Chelsea Piers, then yoga with Lauren (last time before she leaves town). Have some good plans (good, but slightly expensive!) for getting back to peak fitness, about which more anon. I'm going to Cayman on Saturday for a week, during which I'll mostly just do much yoga and some treadmill running, but hit things hard once I'm back here from Jan. 17 going forward.

1hr spin (5 x 5min zone 3, 3min easy)
1.25hr yoga

Yoga!

2012-01-02T20:14:00.002-05:00

1.5hr local yoga (also very beneficial)

Highly beneficial short run

2012-01-02T15:48:00.003-05:00

Ugh, I'm still sick, and I was feeling very grumpy indeed about having to cancel the projected mid-afternoon run with L.: it would have been 5-6 miles at a moderate to hard pace on hills, and it was clear that this would not be at all a good idea. But after moping a bit I pretty much just decided that I had to get out for 30 mins. at easy/moderate effort: mental health benefits outweigh cost to lungs! Felt particularly un-fleet of foot, with very stiff and slightly sore feet and lower calves, but it was highly worthwhile regardless...

30min slow run

Brisk walk

2012-01-01T17:09:00.002-05:00

Lungs still wheezy/gummed up, and sinuses are in terrible shape, so I figured I'd better not run, though I really wanted to! 1:05 brisk walk (down to just north of boat basin and back).

#25/26 of 30

2011-12-31T16:12:00.000-05:00

And that's it for the year, folks!

Still have some lingering cold symptoms, but am feeling much happier today than yesterday. Took my book revision stuff down to the cafe at Chelsea Piers and spent a fruitful hour on that before meeting up with Liz for 11am spin; then Liz went and ran a couple miles and swam while I went to yoga. And we had a very good lunch afterwards, too, at La Lunchonette. An old friend is having a party this evening, so though while I often prefer to stay home on New Year's Eve, really it will be worthwhile going out (it's near to my subway train, too, so it shouldn't be an impossible trek home), and already today has been a nice end to an unsettled week. Not too far off the 30 workouts in 30 days goal, all things told; sickness and travel made it a tricky month, but I am really hoping that January will be a month of huge and excellent exercise!

Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year...

1hr spin (#25/30)
1.5hr yoga (#26/30)

24/30

2011-12-30T19:22:00.001-05:00

30 mins walk across the park (to get somewhere). Beautiful day, but I was grumpy not to be running - my cold has had a second resurgence! Am going to spin class and yoga tomorrow COME WHAT MAY, will modify intensity if needed...

#22/23 of 30

2011-12-29T11:27:00.001-05:00

Still pretty grumpy, lungs full of junk, but I met up with out-of-town friend B. for local yoga and it was beneficial. Don't think I will hit 30 workouts for the month, though, as I had still better take it easy for the next couple days (will probably do body sculpt class at the gym tomorrow - yoga and strength seems wiser than demanding cardio, the latter is harder on the lungs).

#22: 1.5hr yoga
#23: 35 mins walk

#21 of 30

2011-12-27T14:20:00.001-05:00

30 min brisk walk (scouting neighborhood locations for novel revisions).

Update

2011-12-27T09:45:00.002-05:00

Am feeling very grumpy, as I woke up on Dec. 24 with a distinct sore throat. Nothing major, but I still have slight congestion and soreness. Had hoped yoga later would seem a good idea, but I think I have to take one more day off. It is very frustrating though perhaps inevitable that as soon as my very busy schedule actually quietens down enough that I could do what I like, I am stricken with a minor ailment!

Don't usually log walks as exercise, but I did have a couple brisk point-to-point walks in Philadelphia for purpose of actually getting somewhere: so let's say Dec. 24, 30 mins. walk, #19 of 30; and Dec. 26, 35 mins. walk, #20 of 30.

#18 of 30

2011-12-23T15:51:00.003-05:00

Abs and body sculpt class at the gym: no spin, as L. was underfueled, I was lazy and we both had things that needed to get done over the rest of the afternoon! It is a good workout notwithstanding. I think I might do a spin on the stationary bike here tomorrow morning before I leave for Philadelphia c. 10:30am - then I can run Sunday morning from my mom's house in Phila. Monday will almost inevitably be a day off from exercise unless I decide I want to run on adjacent days (probably fine if I only do half an hour).

1.5hr strength

#17 of 30

2011-12-22T23:40:00.004-05:00

Friend and former student J. treated me to a very enjoyable vinyasa class and a mini-feast afterwards at her gracious Riverside Drive apartment (pate, shrimp cocktail and lobster, the cake known as buche de noel - diacritical marks have been lost as they interfere with HTML - which is our mutual obsession at this time of year). Luxurious!

Partial run intervals

2011-12-21T23:24:00.000-05:00

Really I am gnashing my teeth at myself, I knew when I ran yesterday that I had serious soreness in the left thigh muscle and should not go and try to do run intervals today! However I was unwilling to abandon previous plan. It was quite uncomfortable immediately and grew more painful as I continued to run, so I stopped before the end of the 2nd of 4 sets, alas. Coach is wiser than I, I wanted to run the rest of the workout at slower speed but he pointed out that if it is actively painful, better to stop now and not end up having to take weeks off for an injury!

1 mile warmup + 400m additional warmup

4 x 200 on 1 min rest, 4 mins set rest, 3 x 200 on 1 min rest, bit of further walking

(It certainly was enough of a workout to give me the endorphins! But I won't try to run again for another couple days - this is not as painful as a grade 1 hamstring tear I had a few years ago, but it's definitely enough of something wrong that I shouldn't do things that exacerbate it!)

#15 of 30

2011-12-20T13:13:00.000-05:00

Very nice little 40min. run, as I submitted the second set of grades last night and finished my Bookforum review in the late morning. Just down to the boat basin and back - air felt a bit raw on my lungs, but it's back up to the mid-40s, so not bad. Various thigh muscles still pronged from last week's high-intensity workout - have to be careful with that speedwork!

40min. run (c. 3.8mi.)

#14 of 30

2011-12-19T16:28:00.000-05:00

Sunday was a write-off: I had a lot of work to do, and a family engagement in the afternoon, and by the end of that I was just too tired to get to the gym, I went straight home on the subway and collapsed! Good midday workout today, though: 30 min. abs class, 45 min. spin.

1:15 abs/spin

Spin!

2011-12-17T13:27:00.003-05:00

I was ridiculously tired yesterday and did no exercise, alas - but the semester is effectively over (I still have one set of papers to grade), and I think I should be able to do a good bit of exercise this coming week. Joanna's Saturday 11am spin class was great as always, and I should be able to go to her Monday daytime class this week also (usually I am teaching).

1hr spin
#13 of 30

#12 of 30

2011-12-15T21:30:00.004-05:00

It was fortuitous: last week at our mutual friend I.'s talk, I saw graduate student H. and learned that she is teaching a class at the local gym I used to belong to. It is NIA, non-impact aerobics (dance-based, incorporating martial arts and other movements), and not at all the sort of thing I usually do, but I like to support people I know in their endeavors and I said I'd come to the Thursday 4:30 class. I was particularly glad of having made that commitment as it was a day of meetings, with work obligations before and after, and I am not sure I would have used the time particularly well if I had not actually said I'd be there to exercise!

1hr light aerobic exercise with good stretching benefits

#11 of 30

2011-12-13T21:57:00.002-05:00

1.25hr vinyasa yoga

"Warp Speed"

2011-12-12T21:27:00.001-05:00

Whoa, that was amazing! I have been to this class a handful of times in the past (times when I was running quite a bit more and faster), I knew I really liked it, but in this case am just happy to say that I could execute the entire workout. The group are mostly faster than I am (the only two who were comparable or slower both left halfway through!), but they are supportive and the coach is fantastic.

I think one problem for me this year has been that I do very well with a coach who is also a bit of a guru in one of the triathlon disciplines and who I want to learn from and please by working hard, and I've had a bit of a gap in that respect. I'm definitely going to go to this class regularly for the next couple months, as I am not in fact training for any endurance races and I think the higher-intensity workouts do me good. This is the course description and the coach was nationally ranked in the 200m distance throughout the 80s (he ran a 20 point something, couldn't tell you the exact number): I always get really good form coaching from him, too, causing me to observe that I don't know how it is that just a few words called across from the other side of the track can create such great improvement!

Anyway, it was pretty much a killer workout for someone who hasn't been sprinting at all, and I was pleased I was able to hang on to the end. Ran the first set too fast, but settled in for the final set on a pace I could manage and descended the last couple. Legs will be very sore over next few days, I am guessing...

4 x 200m (1 min. rest) (fastest was :53, but I certainly couldn't hold that right now!)
4 min. rest
6 x 200m (1 min. rest)
4 min. rest
8 x 200m (1 min. rest) (:58s and :59s, with final one at :57)

#10 of 30

#9 of 30

2011-12-11T15:30:00.001-05:00

Very nice run with Liz along the river - just down to the boat basin and back, 40 mins. total. Wintry but gorgeous day, very still: though cold enough that going to brunch afterwards in sweaty lightweight running clothes has left me much in need of a hot shower!

#8 of 30

2011-12-10T13:39:00.001-05:00

Late getting up, late getting out of the house, and as I neared the gym, I had the horrible realization that I hadn't packed my cycling shoes! But the teacher is good-natured and didn't seem irked that I was ten minutes late, and sneakers are OK too. Double spin is a good workout - unfortunately this teacher I like is back only in the 11am slot next week, so I think I'll just do 11am next Saturday and then either run or go to yoga immediately following.

1:40 spin

#7 of 30

2011-12-09T16:22:00.001-05:00

I feel a bit sheepish that I only ran for 30 minutes, but am taking approach this month that if I am feeling fatigued and 30 seems desirable, then 30 it is. I was later getting out the door than I should have been given early sunset at this time of year, and also I was detained just a few minutes into my run by the most amazing sight - a large hawk (I am pretty certain it was a red-tailed hawk) devouring a substantial piece of prey, probably a pigeon! It was in the upper branches of one of the trees in the lower-elevation bit of Riverside Park, so that from the path along the edge of the park (which is substantially higher than the park itself) you were only about 20 feet away from the sight itself. Mighty, majestic, violent!

30 minutes run (easy zone 2)

#6 of 30

2011-12-08T22:48:00.001-05:00

Vinyasa yoga at Chelsea Piers - same teacher/class as Tuesday, very good.

1.25hr yoga

Run!

2011-12-08T11:37:00.001-05:00

Just got back from a run that made me ridiculously happy: it was nothing special from an athletic standpoint, but after three days (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) of fog and rain and unseasonable warmth and excessively hard work, the temperature dropped overnight: I am over the worst hump of my work week and it is the most beautiful running weather, 40 degrees and as clear and sunny and bright as you could possibly wish for. Ran down to the boat basin and back, no Garmin as the strap for the heartrate monitor has left a spot of chafing and I want to let it clear up. Beautiful!

(I was thwarted in my desire to work out yesterday - I packed up run gear so that I could go straight from office to gym to Lower East Side dinner meet-up, but didn't realize until I was on the subway platform that I didn't have my inhaler with me. As I was intending to go to the run intervals class, and as run intervals are about the most wheeze-inducing thing the asthmatic person could possibly do, it was clear that I'd better just skip it - it got me early rather than late to dinner, which was probably better in any case. Tendency to try and squeeze too many things into the day!)

I should be able to go to yoga later, though, in spite of another dinner meet-up obligation afterwards...

40 mins. (zone 2)

#5 of 30

#4 of 30

2011-12-06T21:31:00.001-05:00

Like Tristram Shandy, I am getting ever further behind myself! Monday was hopeless, my schedule this semester leaves me pretty much totally wiped out at the end of the day - it was simply not possible to get back out the door, even for local yoga. But I did get down to Chelsea Piers this evening for a very good yoga class (though I gather the teacher is leaving soon, alas), and then worked in the cafe afterwards for an hour and a half. I think I have to call it a night as far as work goes, I am too tired now for the one important job I still need to do and I will just have to fit it into the window between 12 and 4 tomorrow - I hate leaving something important quite so last-minute, but it should only take about two hours and that is how it will have to be...

1.25hr vinyasa yoga (puddles of sweat!)

Sunday run!

2011-12-04T12:56:00.001-05:00

Beautiful run with Liz in Central Park. It was surprisingly warm and sunny (NYT site now says 53, but I would have guessed high 50s - I took off jacket and gloves and ran in short sleeves!). We only did 55 minutes, not the full hour/full loop, as there are better breakfast options if we leave the park at 72nd than if we run all the way down to 59th where we started, and at my behest we power-walked Harlem Hill rather than running it (more efficient use of energy!), but it was a highly satisfactory run.

55 mins., 5-and-a-bit miles

(Oh, that's #3 of 30...)

December workout #2/30

2011-12-03T13:31:00.001-05:00

I could NOT get out of bed this morning - snoozed the alarm for an hour and a half, which is foolish - but I did get up in time to get things together to go downtown for the 11am spin class at Chelsea Piers. Beautiful sunny day, mid 40s, and I probably could have ridden my bike down, but I didn't want to risk any frazzle; and in fact I have purchased a 30-day metrocard, unlimited use (usually I get a per-trip card, but this is an incentive to get down there for early evening classes without thinking about per-trip cost). I forgot how relaxing I find the walk from the subway and the gym itself - the spin studio is on the second floor and has floor-to-ceiling glass looking out onto barges coming to and fro on the Hudson, it is very pleasant to be spinning (as it were) on the water. It is the teacher I particularly like: the workout is built around long climbs, and there is a soothing lack of chatter and noise (as opposed to certain other classes that offer a good workout but grate on my nerves!). Feeling much better now that I have had a quiet evening at home and the prospect of a day or two to myself.

1hr spin, including quite a bit of zone 4 time

December workout #1/30

2011-12-02T16:28:00.001-05:00

It was very hard to get myself out the door, as I am basically still in condition of deathly fatigue from travels and large amounts of human contact (but I don't have to see anybody now till Monday, which will be highly beneficial!); but it was a beautiful afternoon, and I told myself I only had to run for 30 minutes, and that was exactly what I did.

I am in a Facebook group that is aiming for 30 mins. cardio workout every day in December, for a sort of "30 in 30" approach - I have regrettably missed day #1, but better start late than never...

The next two weeks are basically insanely busy, so I don't want to set any unreasonable workout goals, but I think I am adding a couple other commitments to the 30 in 30. The first is that I will go to the Monday and Wednesday evening running classes at Chelsea Piers for the next 5 weeks unless I actually have a schedule conflict (will try and avoid such, but it is not always possible); I really like the teacher, and it's a fun way of having some higher-intensity intervals with external prompting to work hard. And once school obligations start winding down as of Dec. 16, I will also add back in as much yoga as I can (it's possible that I'll hit a few classes before that, but I will have to see how it goes) - I find it highly beneficial.

.5hr run

Hotel treadmill!

2011-11-29T09:07:00.001-05:00

Well, Thanksgiving was a bust as far as exercise goes - I got home on Sunday evening so tired I could have cried, and yesterday was a day of insane frazzle as I had to teach my two classes and then hustle to the airport to fly to Boston, where I am giving a lecture today (a lecture that I got up at 6am yesterday to write, having not been able to fit it in during complex Thanksgiving travels).

Didn't get up early enough this morning to do an hour, but just had a very nice half-hour of treadmill intervals - I feel much better. Today's fairly busy, and tomorrow I've got plans to see a few friends in Cambridge before going to the airport in the late afternoon to fly home, but I should be able to do another workout of some sort in the fitness center here tomorrow morning - better than nothing!

.5hr treadmill: 10min warmup, then 4 x (3min hard, 2min easy)

Turkey Trot!

2011-11-24T10:28:00.001-05:00

There is no actual turkey to trot after, of course, but it is a very nice little event in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. Five miles (a two-loop course), very pretty area (this will give the flavor of the location). Had hoped to run sub-10-minute miles, but really it was not meant to be: finished in more like 52:00, about 10:30 pace, but felt strong at the end and passed 10-15 people in the last five minutes (with a strong burst of asthmatic wheezing in accompaniment!).

Happy Thanksgiving!

5mi. Turkey Trot (52:00)

Rainy run!

2011-11-22T21:39:00.001-05:00

A very nice one this afternoon - have to keep on getting out there for a mid-afternoon run like that, it works well with my schedule and it is so enjoyable. Will run a 5-mile Turkey Trot on Thursday and an hour regular morning run on Saturday, that will probably be about it for me for exercise during Thanksgiving travels - it is a complex holiday, with multiple stops on the itinerary!

1hr run (c. 5.5mi.)

Beautiful run

2011-11-19T16:09:00.001-05:00

It's been a bad week for exercise, and this coming week won't be much better, but I did get out just now for an absolutely beautiful one-hour run: gorgeous running weather, sixty and sunny, with that fall crispness in the air. Feet still slightly stiff and sore, as they seem to have been recently, but I had a pleasant surprise: two weeks of little running and much yoga seem to have returned my lower calf muscles more or less to normal, I didn't have to stop and stretch at all - it's been many months since I could say the same.

1hr run (zone 2), c. 5.5mi.

In which hot yoga was very hot

2011-11-16T12:25:00.001-05:00

Went to Bikram yoga again today with C. Had imagined that 5 x warm yoga last week would prepare me for hot yoga today - I was quite wrong! Light rain in NYC, which means 100% humidity, and it really was overwhelmingly hot in there (I think the teacher opened the window more times last time because she knew it was my first Bikram class). I am guessing you would have to go 3-4 times a week to be really acclimated - I might do a month sometime where I go every day and really get used to it, but I think I will do better in the meantime with regular-temperature yoga at 105th St. (walking distance) or Chelsea Piers (included with my gym membership)...

1.5hr hot yoga

Postscript

2011-11-13T15:36:00.001-05:00

Garmin is found! That is good - it was tucked into an unusual compartment, I guess I was just frazzled before when I looked...

Spin!

2011-11-13T14:59:00.001-05:00

Actually the class itself was fairly dreadful: my bike fitness is negligible right now and also and more immediately to the point that class is just WAY TOO LOUD FOR ME! Had a nice ride down, beautiful day - ride back was horrible due to TOO MANY PEOPLE being out there, the weather is too nice! Little kids on bikes and scooters dangerously shooting across the path, tourists with no helmets riding three abreast (i.e. one person riding in the wrong direction in the left-hand lane), etc. etc. IT IS A HORROR!

Also, I think I left my Garmin at the gym. At any rate, I can't find it in my backpack. Arghhhh! I called just now, and front desk manager has looked and failed to find it in the locker room but will put it on the email to managers - I'll check back in lost and found in another day or two if I don't hear anything. Slightly frazzled due to fatigue (got home around 10:30 last night, didn't sleep at all well on Friday or Saturday) and need to buckle down and do the rest of my work for tomorrow.

The really good thing, though, besides the mere fact of exercise, was catching up with Lauren, who is back in town for the weekend from Atlanta. Good to see her!

1hr spin
10 miles bike

Yoga!

2011-11-12T10:01:00.001-05:00

This class might be the best yet - very demanding athletically, but also very precise in terms of adjustments to postures etc. Surrounded by a huge puddle of sweat at the end of class...

1.25hr yoga

Warm run!

2011-11-11T08:11:00.001-05:00

It was good - I still have a bit of congestion, but fortunately my lungs never got involved in this minor ailment.

40min slow warm run

Yoga!

2011-11-10T15:23:00.001-05:00

Yoga is addictive, I couldn't stay away! (Really I was finishing up a big work thing in the morning and couldn't detach from the computer to go to the gym.) It is a class that is specific for marathon preparation: I was afraid I would feel like I was there under false pretences, but in fact nobody else seemed to be doing the marathon either. Less demanding in terms of strength and balance than the other classes I've done there this week, but very useful indeed in terms of stretching hamstrings, quads, psoas, IT band, etc.

1hr yoga

Yoga!

2011-11-09T10:21:00.000-05:00

OK, that was good - I feel much better than I did beforehand! (Slept very badly - too much work...) Legs and back muscles both seemed quite fatigued, so I think tomorrow is a day off from yoga - maybe I will go to the core strength class at the gym instead.

1hr yoga

Yoga!

2011-11-08T15:27:00.003-05:00

Hmmm, that was beneficial: the flow class was a little less intense than the "power" class, and only 60 minutes instead of 90, but still very good. I have a slight sinus infection/head cold, I am going to wait another couple days before I do any cardio...

1hr yoga

Yoga!

2011-11-07T12:49:00.001-05:00

My only real exercise plan for the week is to go to a yoga class every day - there's a good yoga studio nearby that I hadn't yet made it into, so I got the week-long introductory rate and will get in there for a morning class in upcoming days also. (Will probably do some other stuff also, but that's the main target.)

1.5hr yoga

Triathlon!

2011-11-06T13:08:00.003-05:00

The sport of triathlon just puts me in a good mood. Being currently overweight and undertrained, my only goal was to finish - I had checked last year's times and was fairly sure I would be the last finisher, and my guess was correct (a lot of the less fit participants do the sprint rather than the Olympic distance or race as a team).

The course volunteers were fantastic - they really make even the slowest finishers feel very well taken care of. Bike course really well marshaled, including lots of police on motorcycles - it felt extremely safe and well organized. Thanks to volunteers for their time and efforts!

Don't have my exact time, but something like 3:40 total (1500m swim/40K bike/10K run) - I have no heat acclimation, it's pretty darn hot out there but mercifully it was not as humid as it might have been. (Currently it's 84F with relative humidity of 61%.) Fun!

Swim: around 40min
Bike: 1:34:49 (15.7mph, avg HR 146, max HR 156)
Run: 1:19:35 (4.7mph, avg HR 157, max HR 169)

c. 3:40 total

Nice bike!

2011-11-03T11:26:00.000-04:00

Hmmm, that was one of the nicest bike rides I've had all year. Will strive to get out more now the weather's cooler - the west side path is intolerably crowded at the really balmy times of year, much more tolerable once you hit November! Strong headwind going down, and there are quite a few spots where you need to slow or stop for pedestrians, thus slow speed...

(Rode down to Chambers St. and back; with a little bit more time, which I didn't have today, I can add on another 7 miles or so by riding up all the way to the Little Red Lighthouse and then turning south and heading home.)

52F and sunny - perfect cycling weather!

13.98mi., 1:03:26, avg speed 13.2mph, avg HR 135, max HR 144

Hot yoga!

2011-11-02T13:41:00.001-04:00

I went with C. to the studio he likes - I was full of trepidation, as though I have done quite a bit of most other kinds of yoga, I have never done Bikram before, and I am not someone who thrives in heat! It wasn't as overwhelming as I feared, though it must be said that is extremely (at times verging on intolerably) hot. Felt good afterwards, though, with a smoothie in hand and a seat on a Central Park bench on a sunny cool day...

1.5hr yoga

Short run

2011-11-01T17:33:00.004-04:00

I wanted to do an hour (not very happy about not having exercised Saturday, Sunday or Monday!), but I had an unpleasant surprise when a cyclist came down very hard off his bike just ahead of me on the path - he ran into one of the posts/bollards that divide various segments of the bike path.

I stayed with him and his partner while another cyclist called 911 and went to try and show ambulance people where they could get into the park - it was probably almost half an hour later by the time she came back and said they were near but not yet here. By that time the fellow had re-oriented himself and it was clear that they would be OK to make their way home in a cab: it is almost always more sensible to schedule an MRI or other relevant scans for the next morning rather than waiting around for many hours in the emergency room! And I am pretty certain he will be fine (the foam inside his helmet was split, but not the hard shell, and though he was scraped up quite a bit it didn't seem that he'd have more than bruises), but I remain fairly rattled - my cycling nerves are fragile at the best of times!

Anyway, I just turned and headed home at that point - my lungs felt very wheezy and I'd been out longer than I'd anticipated in any case. Some days the longer run just isn't meant to be!

(Gorgeous day, though - sunny and calm and in the mid-50s.)

Ride safe out there!

38:27, 3.4mi., 11:10 pace

Yoga

2011-10-28T17:16:00.003-04:00

Went to the local studio for what was probably the first time since I got my Chelsea Piers membership. It was a good class - strenuous and yet relaxing. My legs told me I had already done boot camp...

1.5hr yoga

Final Beast

2011-10-28T08:20:00.001-04:00

Great class - it seemed to pass by in a flash...

1:15 boot camp

A minor complaint

2011-10-27T14:38:00.001-04:00

I was hoping to run today, but my left hamstring is slightly sore (not the top part, more like the round part a few inches above the knee). I must have overdone it yesterday, that is not surprising. Will take today off so as to allow for a bit of rest before the final BEAST class tomorrow morning...

Spin-swim!

2011-10-26T13:48:00.001-04:00

Showered (those Chelsea Piers showers are so great!), breakfasted and did some work in the cafe, then had an excellent hour-long spin workout and a short swim to follow. Yesterday I was so shatteringly tired I was incapable of doing any exercise at all, but hopefully I can do quite a bit over the next few days: I'm thinking I'll run 6 tomorrow, swim after the Beast is done on Friday and then do double spin Saturday morning? Sunday I am going to Philadelphia for my sister-in-law and her twin's 40th birthday party, so that will be a day 'off'...

15 mins. warmup
4 x 5 mins. gear 14, cadence 80, 2 mins. rest
4 x 2 mins. standing gear 16, 1 min. rest
cooldown

1:00:02, av HR 132, max HR 149

1000 yards swim as 5 x 200 with evens free, odds IM (fly drill)

Beast week 8 class 2

2011-10-26T08:48:00.001-04:00

Too early! A good class, though...

1:15 boot camp

Beast week 8 class 1

2011-10-24T09:28:00.000-04:00

It was good, but I am looking at the clock to see if there's any chance I can catch half an hour's nap before I teach at 11 - I feel extraordinarily under-slept! This is the final week of this cycle of the class - I've gained a lot of fitness, and it's an enjoyable class too, but it is too early in the morning, it will be a great relief when it's over...

1:15 boot camp

Bike-spin-swim!

2011-10-23T18:46:00.003-04:00

Arghhh, I can't say how it's crept on me except that I've really been very busy - but I am doing a triathlon in two weeks! What I do at this short distance out probably doesn't make a huge amount of difference fitness-wise, but I will have as many 1hr. spins and short swims as I can in the next ten days, for mental preparedness at least. My only strategy (it's the olympic-distance race in Cayman - first time I've done it, usually it's over US Thanksgiving weekend when neither Brent nor I is there): swim very very easy and if at all possible on someone else's feet, bike in zone 3 because the run will be horrible anyway due to lack of heat acclimation, then do some mix of run-walk and keep covering ground as fast as is reasonable once I get to the run. As far as heat acclimation goes, I might try for a few sauna or steam room sessions at Chelsea Piers this week, but I didn't have time today and I won't tomorrow either, so that may be a bit impractical...

Horrible ride down - it was such a beautiful day, the path was way too crowded, and when I don't ride my bike for a week it gives the anxiety time to build up! However I have finally pumped my front tire up properly - not sure if it was problem with valve or with pump itself, but it takes a bit of fiddling. A relief to be going 'normal' speeds again.

Had a great workout once I was actually at the gym - I did an hour spin along lines that I took from the Spinervals site the other day:

10 mins. warmup with 3 x 30 sec. hard, 30 sec. easy
1 min. soft-pedal
8 x 20 sec. high cadence (100-120), 20 sec. easy
1 min. soft-pedal
4 x 7 min. aerobic temp (cadence 80-90rpm, zone 2-3)
1 min. soft-pedal
6 x 20 sec. high cadence (110-130), 20 sec. easy
cool down

1:00, avg HR 135, max HR 152 - Garmin Connect seems to have updated itself in a way that means I no longer know how to see segments in different HR zones...

Then I just swam 1000 yards fairly easy: 4 x 100 free, 50 stroke (breast, back, free, fly drill), then 4 x 100 as odds free, evens IM

And had a 'popeye' smoothie (pineapple, mango, banana, spinach and water) and 2 HB eggs at the cafe, then rode my bike home - it was gorgeous, 1-2 slightly congested spots but it had cooled down and was close to dusk and it really was a lovely one...

10 miles bike in the world
1hr spin
1000 yards swim

Saturday run

2011-10-22T17:20:00.000-04:00

Beautiful day for it: sunny, clear, high fifties. I was feeling lazy but am very glad I got out (again with the injunction that I only had to do 30 minutes - but really 40 is what makes sense, there is a natural beautiful turnaround at the 79th St. Boat Basin, where I stop and stretch my calves and contemplate watercraft and ducks).

40:14, 3.82mi., 10:32/mi.

Beast week 7 class 2

2011-10-21T09:14:00.001-04:00

Excellent class - there were only three of us, it was like a small-group training session. It is very noticeable how much my fitness has improved over these seven weeks - I feel like I am now in a position to work really hard and consistently through the whole of class (it helped that today we were doing more what I think of as strength stuff and less of the things that require agility and flexibility at the same time as cardiovascular fitness and strength - my bete noir is these things we do like the "low bear crawl" where you are basically putting strain on about four different systems at once - I like it better when I can concentrate on just two or at most three different aspects!).

1:15 boot camp

Beast week 7 class 1

2011-10-19T09:42:00.001-04:00

Very good class, too - the first half felt just plain arduous, but the second half became enjoyable.

Terribly rainy and windy morning - I got drenched on my way to the subway (no way I was riding my bike in that!). I'm experimenting with transportation - I think I can take the subway as opposed to a taxi without getting up any earlier, so long as I get myself really expeditiously out of the house and use the near-mile trip from subway at other end to Chelsea Piers for my warm-up run. Feet went ankle-deep in an unavoidable puddle, soaked, but otherwise it worked very well - my cycling backpack, which is what I always use to take stuff to the gym, is surprisingly comfortable for running in (I mean, I don't know that I'd take it on a two-hour run, but for ten minutes of warm-up jog, it's very comfortable).

1:15 boot camp

Short afternoon run

2011-10-18T17:24:00.002-04:00

I am going to make it a priority for the next few months to have more short runs - I seem to have done terribly over the last six weeks in getting out at all, and I think I need to make the mental hurdle easier by pulling the notional time back to 30-40 mins. unless I am feeling inspired. I had to skip boot camp yesterday - I woke up very thoroughly around 3:30, shatteringly tired but unable to go back to sleep, and around 5:30 I turned the alarm off and stayed in bed. (I had a long day of too many complex things ahead of me, that was clearly the problem!) However it is possible that skipping boot camp yesterday is related to the fact that today's the first Tuesday afternoon this whole semester (I think) that I've actually been able to get out the door for a run...

This week and next week and then this cycle of the Beast class is over - I really like it, but it's terrible for me to have to get up so early those days, so I won't do the next cycle.

39:31, 3.56mi., 11:06/mi. (Garmin was giving wildly inaccurate HR numbers, but let's call it easy zone 2)