Windy City!

The weather today was a high of 53 and sunny. Just beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. I knew I HAD to run outside today since a winter storm is approaching for the weekend. This meaning I have at least one treadmill run in my near future.

I headed over to the local park. Since I now have the proper apparel to run in I really don't mind the cooler temperatures. The wind however, I mind. Holy balls was it windy! The weatherman didn't mention this little tid bit. My mojo was squashed by this whipping wind and I decided to cut my work-out in half but run only in the grass and deep gravel then follow up with an hour of yoga at home. I don't know if my soreness is from the grassy knolls or the Dhanurasana(bow) pose. Either way, my hamstrings are tight baby!

p.s: I decided to add my local weather to my blog so that my whining about the weather will be justified.hehehe

Gloria Estefan? You gotta be kidding me

I've attended three spin classes at my new gym and I've yet to be impressed. In FL I took and taught spin often and I can say that it makes a huge difference when the instructors are actually cyclists.

Class was supposed to start at 6:30. The instructor didn't show up until 6:40 and when she arrived she told us to warm up. Warm up?! What do you think we've been doing. I figured since we started more than 15min late she'd just have class go to 7:45. I was wrong.

After the instructor talks to the newbies, gets all her stuff organized, shoes on and eventually mounts the bike she finally cranks the tunes. song #1 Gloria Estefan! I almost jumped off my bike right then. I knew right away I was going to have to make the most of this on my own.

It wasn't ALL bad. The music did improve, a little something for everyone. The instructor was really sweet and had a great personality but the ride was all over the place. We did tons of jumps and when I tried to stay in sync with the instructor she had more rotations in the saddle than out. Explain that one to me?? I just pushed as hard a gear as I could the entire time, took 1/2 as much recovery time as most of the class and made the most out of the climbs. I can say with 100% certainty that as tri season gets closer and I get in better shape classes like this will not be in my schedule. We will have a workout room in our new house with a treadmill, trainer, etc and I will most likely cancel my gym membership.

As I've said before. I miss the Y!!!

She wears short shorts

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in southern MD. Sunny, high 40's and perfect for running. The best part was that for the first time in months it was warm enough to wear SHORTS!!!! Whoohoooo!

Obviously, I'm adapting to my new surroundings. If I were still in FL and it was in the 40's I probably would of been wearing a snowsuit. Anywho, it felt great to leave the running tights at home and finally get some sun on my pasty legs. I also threw on a light sweatshirt but that wasn't worn for long.

My schedule called for a 45 min run. My Garmin is still out of commission so I'm not sure of my distance. I ran loops around the county park near my house. It's a beautiful area and the gravel parking lots add a bit of a challenge but it's still better than running on concrete. I can feel it in my calves today!

I've decided to give spin class a second chance today. Hopefully this time I'll break a sweat. If not, I'll come home and let my bike on the trainer kick my butt.

Myth Buster

There is a myth in the exercise world that running makes you lose weight. It does not. Running alone will NOT make you lose weight and in fact adding miles causes a increase in appetite, which can actually make you gain weight! I agree that this is unfair and a total injustice. The truth hurts people.

After years of working out, running and triathlon training I know that in order to slim down a bit I'm going to have to watch what I eat and increase my cardio. As obnoxious as it sounds my problem is that I often don't eat enough. I'm not a big eater by nature and even though this probably doesn't sound like a problem to you it is most definitely a problem when it comes to training. Food equals fuel and fuel equals energy. To help improve my eating habits as well as consume my alloted daily calories I've decided to follow the Flat Belly Diet.

This diet includes a 4-day "cleanse". I am omitting that from my plan. Drinking nothing but ginger water is not only unrealistic but let's face it, that's not exactly optimum fuel for runners. I am also starting the intermediate 5k program from my "Run Less, Run Faster" book, at least one spin class or tour on the trainer and two kettle bell/weight lifting work-outs for my weekly work-outs.

Don't be fooled by the color pink...

Santa brought me a kettle bell set for Christmas. Even though they are nowhere near as impressive as Devlin's 45lb bell these little devil's pack a punch! Turkish get ups, swing squats, swing-switch front raises. Basically, a masochists version of heaven!

I've been doing a series of the above mentioned kettle exercises with :30 of jump rope between sets. Trust me, this is a great way to work up a sweat or vomit. Whichever comes first!