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This morning, despite the fact that I over slept and had to hustle to eat (enough so that I wouldn’t bonk, but not so much I’d barf), drink and get geared up for Spin (OK, at the “Y” it’s called “Group Cycling” for legal reasons)
I’ve been nervous about going back to Spin class due to how out of shape I am right now (yeah, I know, no one knows what the tension is set to on your bike but you and you don’t have to do the standing work if you’re not up to it)
It was a good, hour long, hard climbing workout and I did just fine. I’m apparently not is a bad a shape as I though I was, as I was fine on the standing work and didn’t reach my target heart rate until late in the workout on the big hill sections.
It was hard, and my quads are a tiny bit cranky, but it felt GREAT!
If I keep this up, I might not make an ass out of myself on Chilly Hilly (it just doesn’t look good for a ride ref to bonk or walk a bike up one of the hills)
This has nothing to do with “resolutions” (which I don’t do), and everything to do with the fact that I look and feel GROSS.
Last year was not a good workout year. I had all the “escrow from hell” stress, packing, moving, working on the yard and house (which was at least some exercise) and broken foot/big toe. I didn’t do ANY triathlons last year. (I did volunteer as a swim angel for Danskin and Trek and did coach some women in open water swimming) By the time I had the big projects done around the house it was holiday prep time and I had that lovely fall down the attic stairs. As soon as the holidays were over, I got this nasty upper respiratory/sinus crud that totally knocked me on my butt.
When I’m not working out and in shape, I don’t sleep well, and my immune system is not what it should be.
It was NOT a good year for fitness, working out, discipline nor keeping to any sort of schedule, and I’m paying the price for it now. The only thing that saved me was some early season hiking in the spring, and a bunch of good hard hikes in the fall.
Last night, I sat down and put my workout schedule on paper (OK, pixels) because having it printed up on my fridge and at work “keeps me honest”. I’m more likely to follow through with a written plan than random neurons firing in my head.
I also log what I actually log everything I do on a spreadsheet which tracks my time spent, mileage and calories burned by activities, and provides monthly totals.
The other thing that “keeps me honest” is putting it out where OTHER people can see it.
So here it is.
Some things to note…
Everyone needs rest days scheduled. Our bodies get stronger when we rest and they rebuild. I have seven days a week scheduled because my body doesn’t usually want/need the rest day when it is scheduled. One day I way up, feeling exhausted and my resting heart rate is higher than normal and that tells me I need to rest. Whatever day of the week my body feels burnt out, will be the rest day. (I’m going for one rest day a week)
This may look “extreme” to some, but it’s not (as a matter of fact, it will get harder later in the season when I add long runs and bricks). I’m a triathelte. One who competes in three disciplines in one event, can’t just do one type of workout a day; it’s impossible to get enough training in each event. It’s also important to do “bricks” where you transition from one event to the next to train your body to be used to it. (running, after a hard, quad burning bike ride is disorienting and painful; the first time I did it in a duathlon, I was so wobbly and disorientated, I nearly ran into a tree)
Any day that I have the option of biking OUTSIDE, or skiing or snowshoeing or hiking is a day that I won’t be doing these, mostly inside at this time of year workouts.
I am super lucky to have TWO “Y” locations in Tacoma, so I have more options/time slots for spin classes and master swim. It’s not easy to schedule workouts around work and other areas of my life.
So there it is.
It’s printed and hanging on my fridge (and will be in my cube at work) and out there for the “world” to see.
~L
Mood: Tired 
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