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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Ailments

I woke up this morning feeling stiff and sore and achy from a killer workout.  Thing is, I didn't do a killer workout.  In fact, I didn't even make it to the gym last night (thanks again condo).

The past two mornings, I've woken up in pain.  It's primarily my legs/feet, but also my back.  There's no sugarcoating this, it sucks.

Maybe it's stress, or maybe it is due to skipping the gym.  But regardless, it needs to end.

I will be back at the gym tonight.  Thankfully teaching a class means that I have to be there, so no condo details can derail me.  I'm really hoping a good workout can get me back to normal.

So obviously my gym schedule is already a fail, but I had said that that was possible.  I'm going to try to get to the gym tomorrow morning, so we'll see how that goes.

What is hard for me in the morning is waking up to just do my own thing.  Waking up for a class is much easier, but unfortunately the gym closest to work doesn't have many morning classes besides spin.  Hopefully when Crunch opens it will help me by offering some good morning classes.  Speaking of which, I need to call them (again) and find out when they're opening  (originally it was mid-February).

Anyway...

EATS...
I'm going through a weird food phase.  I'm disenchanted or turned off by cold cuts and just eh on other foods.  yesterday for breakfast I had oatmeal, which used to be my love, and didn't even finish it because it just didn't do it for me.  Cereal (sans milk) has had better luck but never keeps me full.  So today I opted for Cinnamon Life and then about 2 hours later, an apple.  So far so good.

Since tonight is spin, I'm limited in what I can eat.  I don't think I've ever gone in to detail about the oddity that is my stomach.  On days where I spin in the evening, I can't even think about eating something that has peppers (of any sort).  Thing is, if I eat them, and then spin (even hours later), I get stomach cramps that range from painful to unbearable.  Other foods have caused this as well, so lunch on a spin day needs to be pretty basic and something that I've eaten before and successfully spun after.

During one class I got pains so horrible I didn't know what to do.  They'll usually subside shortly after class, but this time they lasted the whole car ride home (45 minutes) and I actually thought that maybe I needed to take myself to the hospital.  Thankfully once I got home and laid flat, they passed.

I blame the bending over position.  Whether or not this is true, I don't know, but it seems to me that the hunching over that is required in cycling must mess with my digestion.

Apples are bad too, so the fact that I'm eating one now is a risk.  However I'm hoping that by eating it a good 7.5 hours before class I should be OK.  Fingers crossed.

Anything similar ever happen to you???  Foods you have to avoid for certain activities?

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

5K or bust

My 5K is exactly one month away.

What have I done to train?  Nothing.  But that is going to change.  I need to make this more or a priority.

Having never done any sort of race before, I'm pretty clueless about proper training.  I took a quick look online but all plans require at least 6 weeks and lump runners in to beginner or intermediate and I think I fall somewhere between the two (maybe).  I just haven't run in a while.

Knowing my abilities, I've attempted to put together my own plan.

Here it is:
Some comments:
I didn't want to schedule set days, so I'm just aiming for 3x a week on non-consecutive days.  I spin on Monday/Thursday/Saturday so I'm going to aim to run on Wednesday/Friday/Sunday, but this may vary based upon my schedule.
I may add an occasional 1 mile run in at times.
Intervals mean speed intervals.
I know a 5K is 3.2 miles, but the most I'm going to run is 3, I hope that's OK!

Sidenote:
I know that the general rule with running is to increase your distance by about 10% a week.  Unfortunately I don't have time for that.  I'm hoping that since these are relatively shorter distances and I have run them before, that I should be OK.

Any readers with running experience should feel free to comment since I essentially have no clue what i'm doing. :)

Is this my day?

Good morning!

I woke up this morning, took a shower, made some coffee, and got ready for work.  Right before leaving the house I filled up my travel mug with coffee, stirred it up and noticed grinds.  Ugh.  Took a closer look to try and fish the big ones out and noticed that it wasn't grinds, but rather, an ANT!  Ewwwww!

Coffee right down the drain.  I'm just glad I noticed prior to putting the cover on.  Yes, consuming an ant isn't going to kill me, but still.  Yuck.

Strike one.

Got to work, settled in, waited till after 9a to call the store where I bought my appliances and reschedule my delivery.  Called them up, gave my order number, only to be told that my delivery had never been scheduled.  So what was that phone call I saw my sales rep make? Fake?  Thanks a bunch Mark!  It actually worked out fine since I wanted to delay delivery, but it would have been nice to know I wasn't going to need to be available from 7a-7p on Saturday. 

Strike two.

I hope that this is not indicative of the rest of the day.  I've only got one strike left.  Haha.

Will post a more fit-related topic shortly.  Happy morning!!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Blog reading

Once a day (sometimes more), I skim my usual suspect blogs.  Most of them are listed down the right hand side of this page, although sometimes I find others.

Today, two of them made a mark.

The first one (shout out to Darcy), shared this endearing story from the New York Times. It's about spinning, but not totally, but either way, it made me smile.  And here's the cute graphic that goes along with it.


The second was from Fit Chick in the City where she talked about being accountable for your workouts by making them public.  She wrote on FB that she was going to do hot yoga, then didn't want to go, but did because she had told people she was.  I get that.

Unfortunately my workouts have been suffering due to all the condo stuff.  I'd like to think the end of that problem is near, but figured in the mean time maybe making these statements for my (two) readers would help. :)

My plan for the rest of the week:
Tuesday:  Was hoping to go to boxing but now will be meeting with a contractor and plumber instead (if I can still manage to get to the gym, I will)
Wednesday:  Run, strength train
Thursday: Spin (teaching makes it non negotiable)
Friday: Run, or maybe Insanity, but only if I can manage to squeeze it in before work or my evening plans change
Saturday:  Spin
Sunday: something...tbd

OK, so now I just have to MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Just another manic monday....

I apologize if I have used this subject line before.  Please forgive my lack of creativity on a Monday morning in the winter spring.

How were your weekends??  Mine was good, chaotic, busy, stressful, and productive.  Nice combo, right?


So let's talk today about stress. I am super stressed.  So stressed that I feel a bit like I have a rain cloud hanging over my head and it's not even possible for me to be excited about anything.  It sucks, but I will continue to push through.

To blame is the condo renovation.  Having never done anything like this before, I wasn't sure what to expect.  Let's just say it's a huge undertaking involving lots of big decisions and money.  Lovely.

So yeah, I'm stressed.  Stress effects everyone in different ways.  In the past, stress has caused insomnia for me, has made me clumsy, emotional, and short tempered.  This time, I think it's taking itself out on my skin and my scalp.  Yes, you read right, my scalp.  Dandruff can be made worse by stress and let's just say that it seems to be rearing it's ugly head.  Apparently most people have some level of dandruff since it's really just the shedding of dead skin cells.  Sorry if this is TMI, but it's worth addressing.

According to LiveStrong.com
Stress can affect dandruff even though it does not cause the condition. People under stress often have an impaired immune system. Because of this, they may not be able to effectively fight pityrosporum ovale. This makes it harder to get rid of dandruff if you already have it.

Dandruff itself may even raise a person's stress level because it is an embarrassing condition. The flakes are often visible in the hair and on dark-colored clothing, making the problem readily apparent.

So yeah, I'm just lovely right now.  It's not that bad, I'm just hypersensitive (another lovely stress reaction).

How does your body react when under stress?





Thursday, March 24, 2011

Don't say it if you don't mean it

Do you think I'm intimidating?  I don't, but maybe some people do.  It's really the only explanation I can come up with.

A certain instructor seems to make a habit of saying to me "Oh yeah, I'm going on vacation in (insert month) and will needs subs.  I'll definitely get in touch so you can cover."

That's cool.  I like to sub, especially when it's convenient.  Do I need to sub?  No.  Do I really care that much?  No.

But don't say it if you have zero intention of following up.

What I know about this instructor is that he's rarely on the bike, and instead walks around and harasses people a bit.  That's fine.  What I find interesting is that the one day I took his class, he was on the bike almost the entire time.  Maybe I'm just being an ego-maniac, but did you change your style because I was there?  I will admit that it can be a little nerve wracking to teach to another instructor, but if you're confident in your style, just own it.

So do you not ask me to sub because you're afraid people might actually like me, maybe even more than they like you?

Just a thought.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

How far have I come?

I'm eating lunch at my desk (Panera Thai Chicken salad, holy spicy!) and figured I'd browse a bit on the Internet and stay (far) away from Facebook.

I was actually reading my own blog.  I went to the oldest possible entry (2009) and started from there.

I have to say I made numerous mentions of running a half marathon.  And here I am, almost two years later, and definitely haven't done it.  I think I felt the blog would hold me accountable but then no one read it, so it didn't matter.

So let's revise that goal and take baby steps and say that maybe I'll get there one day.

My sister has run quite a few half marathons.  Last year they were significant, I think my parents might have even gone to one or two.  This year, they don't get much thought.  She now runs them like I'd run a 5K.  She ran the NY Half this past weekend and pretty much just mentioned it in passing.  For her, things have changed.

For me, not so much.  Or rather, not so much on the running front.

But that's OK.  I have a 5K in front of me, then if that goes well I'll do another, or maybe even a 10K.  Baby steps.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Help...

I can't stop eating these things...


Trader Joe's (of course).  They're the perfect mix of slightly salty and crunchy.  Plus they're not terrible for you.

Nutrition facts:
1 serving is 35 crackers
110 calories
1.5g fat
200mg sodium
1g dietary fiber
1g sugars
2g protein


When life gets in the way

Good morning!

Going to the gym is a priority for me.  It keeps me grounded, it helps me feel better about myself, and it's "me" time.  However, sometimes life gets in the way and makes it harder to squeeze those gym trips in.

I used to say that it was either go to the gym or have a social life.  Obviously that's a bit extreme, but it is something I've struggled with in the past.  Do I take that class I love or meet my friends out?  In all honesty, usually the gym wins, but not always.

With the purchase of a new home comes ALL sorts of tasks and to-do lists, which I recognize.  However apparently my sense of urgency is off as I still want to put the gym first.  The friend strongly disagrees with this.  He's told me that I have way too much to do and that home-related stuff needs to be a priority.  I agree and disagree at the same time.

If I don't go to the gym I'll be stressed from the home stuff and feeling gross.  Two bad feelings.  However if I can manage to squeeze some workouts in, I'll be OK.  Unfortunately the best answer means going to the gym in the morning, which while ideal in theory, isn't always so easy to put in to practice.

So I struggle.  I want to go to my boxing class tonight, but in the end I might end up at Home Depot instead.

How do you deal with these sort of conflicts?  Is it worth getting stressed about or is it OK because it's just temporary?

Monday, March 21, 2011

Husks in my oatmeal

Well, Friday it was near 70 and today it's snowing.  Nice, right?

Happy Monday!  You're now reading the writing of a homeowner.  Yup, a homeowner.  My condo purchase successfully closed on Friday.  It's a bit scary.

This weekend was a blur of eating.

Friday night, my parents were visiting.  We ended up at an Italian restaurant and I rolled with the Chicken Scarpiello.  I informed them of my garlic allergy and hoped for the best.  The dish was awesome (and garlic free!) but SPICY!!!

Saturday after class I was hungry, yet short on time.  I picked up a wrap at a chain.  It had lots of healthy fats (walnuts, avocado) plus some veggies, sprouts and some sort of dressing.  Later in the day my friend tried it and said it tasted like a backyard.  Ha!

Saturday night some friends were visiting so we went to a nice seafood restaurant.  I had mussels and fried lobster.  Yum!

Sunday ended up being an early lunch at Frank Pepe's in New Haven, which is a famous pizza place.  We overate (of course).  Then Sunday night we hit up an all you can eat Asian/sushi place.  I was actually still full from the pizza so thankfully I didn't stuff myself too silly.

Let's just say it felt good to get on the bike this morning and sweat things out.

And now to the title of this post.  This morning I had my usual oatmeal.  I love oatmeal but I always have the same problem.  I seem to find husks in my oatmeal and when I bite down on them they're hard and crunchy and it grosses me out.  I then have to fish around in my mouth to find the culprit and get rid of it.  Does anyone else ever have a problem like this or is it just me?


Friday, March 18, 2011

Part amphibian

Did you know I was part amphibian?


Well, I'm NOT.  And that's why I will never wear these horrific looking things.

But that is my foot in them to the right.

I kind of won them.  I won a credit for their value, but actually took possession of these in the mean time.  Since they were almost my size, I had to try them on before returning them.

They're super ugly and rather uncomfortable.  My toes did not like being apart from each other, plus it took me a good five minutes to get them in to their respective sleeves.

I'm anti natural running (or whatever the heck it's called).  If you grew up like this, fine, but to try to change things decades in to life, not worth it to me.

Plus the company that makes my $500 orthotics would be so disappointed!

Yay or nay?

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Class review, kind of

Hello again!

So last night I was a guest at another gym and took a class called Spintensity.

Here's the description on the website:
A mix of spinning, weights, plyometrics, and core work. A full body workout with high intensity moves for an extreme calorie burn!

I knew it was something like 45 minutes on the bike and then 15 off.  My friend took it last week.  He told me the instructor was nuts, so I was intrigued.

What I liked...
The class was fast paced, the instructor was super high energy.  I worked hard and am a little sore today.  I did like mixing a quick strength training routine in with spin and not having to do it on my own.

What I wasn't such a fan of...
There was no warm up and the class pretty much consisted of heavy resistance (9/10 or 10/10) most of the time.  There were a ton of super fast jumps which if you go by the Spinning guidelines, are not recommended.  There was zero recovery.  Resistance never came down to less than an 7/10.
My lower back actually started hurting from the moving around with the really high resistance.  But I pushed through it and got a good workout, I guess her style just isn't my style.
The 15 minute strength workout was good.  We did squats, side squats, squat jumps, triceps extensions, bicep curls, rear flys, triceps dips, and then more leg work on the step.  I personally would have liked more upper body, but I know most people don't usually agree.

Overall I'm glad I took the class.  I got a good workout and am a bit sore today.  Would I take the class again, maybe.  :)

The luck of the (non) Irish


The picture above is a .gif and is animated, so I really hope it shows that way on the site since I haven't had the best luck with these files in the past.

Regardless, HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!  I hope the luck of the Irish or non-Irish is with you all day!

In years past, I've loved St. Pat's as an excuse to go out with friends and imbibe.  Last year we celebrated the weekend before (which coincided with the crazy wind storm of 2010).

         

It was insane.  Schools here were closed for a whole week and people were without power for days.  Thankfully I never even lost power for a moment.  We actually left the bar at the end of the night because the power went out.  But I digress...

This year I will not be celebrating :(   I'm teaching at 6:30, so by the time I'm finished and showered it will be after 8pm and at that point the bars will be full of beligerant, obnoxious, drunks.  However I kind of like the fact that while most will be consuming tons of beer, I'll be busting my butt at the gym.  Holier than though for sure!  :)

But back to the LUCK.  I could use some.  Operation Condo Closing continues.  We're hoping for a Friday close date, but if the lender wants to be a stickler about details, it won't happen until Monday.  Please Friday!  Think good thoughts for me if you have a spare moment. :)  Although I guess next week isn't the end of the world either.

Have a fabulous day and be safe, whatever you do!  I'll be back later today to talk about a class I took last night.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

One day closer

Good morning!  It's rainy and gray here in CT, but that's OK.  It's easier to be at work on a day like today.  But spring is getting closer, so that's encouraging.

As a follow up to my heart rate monitor/calorie question yesterday I did a little comparison.  I had a meeting last night at 6:30 but made it to the gym for a quick workout on the elliptical.  I figured I'd test out the machine's calorie burn and heart rate and compare it with that of my monitor.  Things started out well.

The heart rate on the machine was pretty close to that on my monitor, so that was encouraging.  However, there was some disparity between the calories.  At the end of the workout, my HRM said 397 and the machine said 337, so that's a difference of 60 calories, or about 20%.

This got me thinking.  All along I have thought that my HRM was WAY high.
On the elliptical, I input my weight and my age.  Then it determines my calorie burn based off my incline, resistance, and speed.  The machine has no clue how heavy my heart is beating unless I grab on to the sensors (which I did only a few times to test the accuracy).
Therefore I'm now thinking that maybe my HRM is accurate since it's basing the calories off of my age, weight, and actual exertion.

Although it still seems high to me.  Can I really burn over 800 calories in an hour without going all out?  And if so, maybe the reason I can't lose weight is that i'm not eating enough?

Looks like someone just opened a can of worms.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

makeover!

I gave the blog a little makeover.  I was bored with the other design and craving something cleaner.

I hope you like it!  I think I do.  :)

Lady in waiting

And waiting...and waiting...

Have I mentioned that I hate waiting?  I'm a take action kind of person and I like being in control.  Waiting puts the control in someone else's hands, which can be very frustrating!

Waiting on emails and information at work.  Waiting on my final mortgage clear to close.  Waiting on my attorney.  Waiting on the bank attorney.  Waiting waiting waiting.  Argh!

OK, find my composure, get zen.  Vacation is in 60 days.  Beach, sand, warmth.....

OK, I'm back.  Slightly better.

So let's do some fit talking.  A few random thoughts on which i'd love your feedback.
  • Calorie burns on heart rate monitors.  I'm still VERY skeptical about what my HRM says.  On Monday I did an hour class and apparently burnt over 800 calories, with a cold and a cough and not giving my all.  This just seems way high.
  • Upbeat cardio songs.  I need some new tuneage.
  • Favorite upper body exercise.  My routine needs some refreshing.
  • Facials - yay or nay?  OK, not really Fit related, but well-being related.  I feel dull.
Thanks in advance for any input.  Have a wonderful Waitingday!  (I mean Tuesday)

Monday, March 14, 2011

Another confession

Where do I even start with this one?

First confession, I was away, at a hotel with a gym, last Monday through Thursday and did not work out once.  Yes, there were distractions and a cold to deal with, but if I really wanted to, I could have made it happen.

Second, my friend Emily made the most delicious fudgy brownies for our Spin Odyssey dinner and I've been eating them ever since, even after seeing that the recipe contains an entire pound of butter and six eggs!  However I finally put them to bed last night, so that's done with.

(Here's the recipe if you're feeling indulgent.)

Friday, March 11, 2011

Hrumph

In my head, that's the noise that I make when I'm sitting on the couch like a lump.  Which is kind of what I'm doing right now.

I'm back home after a painfully long drive yesterday.  Unfortunately my cold decided to make the trip back with me too.  It's changed a bit though and now involves an ugly sounding cough.  No me gusta.

So between travelling and getting sick, this waste of space has done nothing active since Sunday.  I feel gross.  The motivation is there, but unfortunately the cold has other plans.

However I am teaching tomorrow morning no matter what so hopefully that will kick things back in to gear for me and I can say good bye to this sedentary life.

I booked a vacation so now is the time to get things together and work on my physique :)  Just over two months to go, totally do-able.

Enough complaining here, have a great Friday and I'll catch you on Monday.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

You just never know...

Marathoner Sally Meyerhoff came across my radar today.

I had never heard of her.  But then again, I don't know much about the marathon world.  Sadly, she was killed in a bike accident yesterday.  A little digging told me that she was quite the impressive runner, breaking records and doing great things.

I came across her blog and a post that she wrote on Feb 3rd, which is totally true, but kind of gave me the chills given what has happened.

Anyway, thank goodness nothing drastic has happened in my life (knock on wood), but lately I've been forcing myself to think about what really matters to me in my life right now. I have so many goals and dreams for myself and I'm not a very patient person, so I tend to analyze and stress about how I am going to make them all happen, ASAP! I don't like to make the excuse "Oh I'm still pretty young. I have time"...because we don't know how much time we will have in life, and I want to live every day with no regrets.

Things like this always remind me to be appreciative and not take things forgranted.

Cold

Two meanings to this post...
First, it's cold.  I'm away for work and it's cold/rainy/windy/icy here.
Second, I have a cold.  I felt fine yesterday and woke up this AM with a little nagging sore/tickley throat and runny nose.

My philosophy on that came from my sister.  She wasn't feeling well last week and said that she felt if she just kept going she'd be fine, but once she gave in and relaxed, then she'd only get sicker.

My experience is similar.  As you know, I've been running around like a CRAZY person for the past few months.  It was great, but really chaotic, however I had no choice other than to keep going.  This past Monday, I'm away for work, not much to do in this small town, so I get excited to just rest, relax, and go to bed early.  So really, what seems to have happened, is that I stopped running around and got sick.  The good news is that I'll be back to running around in no time and hopefully then this cold will disappear.  Wishful thinking?

Another thing I did yesterday was book a (much needed) vacation.  Jamaica is in store for me in the future and I can't wait!  So again, finally go and do something just for me, and boom, sick.  I'm not liking this pattern.

Right now I'm just anxious for 5pm so I can go rest.  There's not much else to do in this town besides eat bad-for-you food.

Happy hump day!!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Spin Odyssey recap

Wow, what a weekend!

It started out a bit busy and stressful, but of course it was all for a good cause so I pushed through it.

Saturday night I hosted a pasta dinner.  My friend cooked, as he always does, and we of course feasted.

Sunday was the day I've been waiting for since last March.  Finally it arrived.  It was gray and threatening to rain any minute.  We arrived early and started to set up our bikes.  We were in the front row, right in front of the stage, which I loved.  Things kicked off at 9a and then we went straight through to 3pm.

I was so happy to be there, plus totally enthused by my awesome teammates on the Cycle Paths (the best team ever!).  A bunch of the riders on my team were first timers, so I was also excited to see their reactions to the event.  I think they're all hooked, and those who didn't do the six hours, wished they had.  There's just something about being at the event from the start to the finish.

So I'll stop talking and share some photos...

The venue and the bikes before things get started
The owner of the venue, a co-chair, and riders of honor
Two of the "instructors"

The CyclePaths minus two :( 
the band DNR plays for an hour
Yup, that's my team!
Final hour, 3 instructors, 2 of whom are survivors (tears were shed)
the man on the left is a researcher at MIT, we fully funded him, and while not a spinner, for the past two years he has rode for an hour on stage
Final song...na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye (cancer)
the damage (not sure i believe it, but still...)
If any of you do live in the area, please consider participating next year.  I assure you that you will not regret your decision.

Needless to say, I was exhausted last night (still am).  So i'm off to catch some zzzzzz's.

Friday, March 4, 2011

I love today

My mood today seems to be better than it has been in a while.  I can't say why, but I am positive that the fact that it is Friday is helping.  Maybe it was getting my "confession" off my back.

Last night was a good night.  Class was great.  I've only been teaching the class for a short time and due to schedule conflicts, I haven't been able to consistently teach it, which I know isn't a good thing.  I have to sub it out next week but will then be there for four weeks in a row, so hopefully that will help.  The most interesting thing about last night was that there were a bunch of young (25-35ish) men.  If you spin regularly, you've probably seen that the classes are mainly female, with the occasional male (usually older) mixed in.  It must be that they've heard all about the HOT spin instructor.  Hahahahaha.  I always manage to make myself laugh.

After class I met up with a friend for dinner and a drink.  Dinner was yum.  We went to a tapas type restaurant so we shared three dishes.  A Mediterranean spread with eggplant spread, hummus, and a feta spread, served with pita slices.  Seared scallops over polenta. Friend zucchini.  Yum!  The scallops were the best!  I haven't yet gotten to the point of taking pictures of my food at restaurants, sorry.

Between tonight and tomorrow I need to do some (dreaded) cleaning since I'm hosting the Spin Odyssey team pasta dinner tomorrow night.  I'm excited!  Our team has exceeded $10K and I couldn't be happier!

So let's just get through the rest of the work day and then bring on the weekend!!!!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Confession

I thought it might be interesting to have a confession once a week.  No, not the religious kind, silly.

While I love food and fitness, I am nowhere near being good all the time.  This weekly post will confirm that and maybe on occasion even make you smile/laugh.

Confession #1

On Tuesday night I sat on the couch and ate chocolate icing right out of the container.

+= :)

I know it's bad, but it tasted soooo good.

Anything YOU want to share?

Spin with me...

I've noticed that on this blog, whenever I say I'm going to do something within a certain time frame, I pretty much never do.  Sorry about that.

In an attempt to make good, here's the spin ride I used on Saturday and Monday.

In keeping with the boring and often times illogical names, this one is...

November 10-5 (i'm posting it as an image file, so hopefully this works)

The only songs i'm not loving at the moment are "Don't Stop Believin" and that might just be because I'm sick of it, and "Sexy Chick" for the same reason.  Maybe for November 10-6 I'll replace them.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The final countdown...

First it was 4 months...
Then 4 weeks...
Now 4 days to go....

To what????

SPIN ODYSSEY!!! (6 hours on a spin bike folks)

As a recap, it's a spin-a-thon (although lately more of a fitness-a-thon) to raise funds for breast cancer research.  Participants spin for 2-6 hours.  This is my second year doing it and last year blew me away.  This year I've been active on the planning committee, and am a Team Captain (go Cycle Paths!!).

My team is amazing!  We're lean (only 9 people), but so far we've raised over $9,300!!!!
Want to help us raise more?  Click here. (sorry, shameless plug)

Aside from the 3 hour ride 2 weeks ago, I haven't done a ton to prepare, but I think I should be OK.

Just now I purchased a new heart rate monitor.  I LOVE my current one to pieces but it doesn't have calories burned and I am SO curious as to how many I'll burn (and need to replace) on Sunday.

I actually purchased a different one yesterday at Walmart.  I took it to the gym with me, put on the chest strap, and the darn thing kept saying my heart rate was between 185 and 200.  I got a kick out of that especially since I was sitting completely still.  Needless to say, that one is going back to the store pronto.

Here's the new one.

I'm kind of excited about it.  :)  My current one is also a Timex and it's been really reliable and tough.  Plus what I love is that (unlike Polar) you don't have to send it back when it needs a new battery.

It doesn't have a stop watch, but that's OK.  Either I'll use my other watch for the timer or just pick up a handy dandy stop watch.  I think I'll get by.

So fingers crossed that this one doesn't tell me I'm in cardiac arrest.

My sister has a fancy Garmin one, but I think it was over $100 and I'm cheap frugal.

Do you have a favorite piece of workout technology?  Please share.


Hungry hungry...


Oh my goodness, that's totally me today.  A hungry hungry hippo!!
Remember that game?  Oh the memories.  Speaking of which, how great were older games?


Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Tuesday lunch

Motivation was lacking this morning, so I decided that I'd just run out at lunch and pick up something quick for lunch.

I picked up this salad (ignore how gross it looks, this was after I'd shaken it up and eaten it).


I flipped it over and took a look at the nutrition facts.


I took note of the pretty large discrepancy between with dressing and without (220 calories).  This salad comes with honey mustard dressing and I'm always amazed at how such a basic dressing can end up being so bad for you.

So I moseyed (yup) over to the salad dressing section and figured there just had to be a better choice.

Enter the savior.


This bad boy (or rather, good girl) has only 35 calories in 2 tablespoons.  Notice the old dressing to the right of it.  I should measure it to see how much they give you, but since I'm at work, I can't.

The Sesame Soy Ginger Vinaigrette was awesome.  It was the perfect compliment to the salad and would also be great with a protein, or as a marinade.

I heart Trader Joe's!

I stink...

at racquetball. 

Suck is probably a more accurate description, stink sounds only minor-ly bad.

Racquetball finally happened and if nothing else, it was entertaining.  I looked super cool in my goggles.

Let me just say that I have a background in tennis.  While I was never any good, I played for years and the rules are ingrained in my brain.  Well, besides being a racquet sport, racquetball is nothing like tennis.

Where do I even start?
You can use all the walls in the court.  Never in tennis did you have to worry about spinning around because a ball could be coming from behind you.
You have no "territory".  When you play doubles, you share the work, if one person is near the ball, they usually hit it.  Here you're running all over and it doesn't matter if your opponent is standing in your way, you still need to get there.
I have a traditional two handed backhand and was completely ridiculed for that.
Plus I asked if it was an overhand serve.  More laughter.

I spent most of the game either serving (because I'm OK at that) or running around chasing the ball (notice I said chasing, not hitting).

Plus, I got hit in the head.

I may be down, but I'm not out.  Stay tuned as I train to make my way to the Olympics.