I need to do a long ride this weekend, so I am once again a slave to the weather. Today calls for thunderstorms on and off all day, which I really don't care to get caught in on my bike. My training plan called for 60 minutes of spinning, and 30 minutes of running for Sunday, so I flip flopped. The YMCA had an 8am spin class and a 9am Body Pump class, both of which perfectly align with my "please don't die" goal during my Half Ironman.
One problem - my motivation completely and totally sucks on the weekends. I have no idea why I was able to wake up at 4:30 Friday morning and work out for 90 minutes before teaching all day, yet on Saturday I can't drag myself to an 8am spin class before sitting on my whooty all day, but I can't.
So I requested backup, and convinced Lily to join me, so I'd be forced to go. I really highly suggest that anyone who has any motivation problems (which seems to be 0% of my blog readers, at least the ones who have their own blogs that I read) find a workout buddy. Problem solved.
We got on the treadmills at about 7:15 am and I did 3.5 miles in 30 minutes for an average 8:49 pace. I didn't play my music and we only talked a little (not awake yet) so I consider it further LPM training. I don't know if I'm doing it wrong or what, but the treadmill feels so much easier than outdoor running to me. This felt like a comfortable pace, while outside, I have to push it to get there.
After the run, it was time for spin class. I've been to a few Friday morning classes, and those are pretty ho-hum. A decent workout, but not that "OMG this crazy bitch is trying to kill me" feeling that, in my opinion, spin classes are supposed to provide. Well, this one had a different teacher, and she clearly had that goal in mind. The theme of the class was 80s hair bands, so I was nearly deafened by Motley Crew, and I'm saying that as a positive thing.
Right away, she ripped someone a new one because the girl had the audacity to sit down (spin classes have you "stand" on the bike a lot) before being given permission, and I knew this was going to be good.
I've heard about "Tabata" workouts on blogs, and got to try my first one about halfway through this killer spin class. The instructor said you were supposed to turn up the resistance as high as you could, and then we would sprint as hard as we could for 20 second intervals, for a total of 4 minutes. She described it as "sprint to the point of failure, like if I said we were going to sprint for 21 seconds, you physically could not do it".
It sounded hard, but I figured I could handle 20 second intervals.
It pretty much destroyed my will to live. I did the first interval and was ok, but then we only got ten seconds to "recover", which was spinning at a slower pace but still at a really high resistance, so I didn't feel even remotely "recovered" when the next interval started, which was when I started to doubt I could make it through four minutes. I made it, but barely.
The best part of the morning was Body Pump. The spin teacher taught, and she was merciless. I was loving how she was totally calling people out for cheating or taking breaks. There was a large man next to me who was at least 6'4", and I couldn't help but notice that he was using less weight than me to squat. His facial expressions were what made this the best part of my morning. I couldn't quite recreate them, so imagine the ones I'm showing you to be about 200% more dramatic.
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| Yes, I wear tank tops in winter, because when you live in a small apartment the benefit is it's cheap to keep it feeling tropical. |
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| I really didn't think he'd make it through the class without crying, despite the fact that he was taking breaks every other second. |
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| THE PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm not trying to diminish anyone's accomplishment or anything, but when a 5'1" girl that barely does strength training is next to you lifting more weight, the least you could do is try to hold yourself together.
I love not setting an alarm and laying around drinking coffee when I wake up on weekend mornings, but now I'm doing just that AND I already have a 2+ hour hardcore workout under my belt. My arms hurt when I lift my coffee cup, though.
Do you nosily check out strangers and mock them in your mind during group exercise? Hopefully that's not just me.
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I love dudes who make the workouts seem SO much harder than they really should be stand next to me in a class.
ReplyDeleteYour morning sounds even crazier than a simple 15 mile run. 20 second sprints for 4 minutes? Yikes! Also, you're going to be so buff.
This post was made by your facial expression recreation pictures. Well done.
This cracked me up because Allan makes terrible faces and noises but also lifts over 100 lbs more than what I would so I try not to laugh at him.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy your books this weekend!
i'm sure my face looks like that in barre class 90% of the time.
ReplyDeletei check out people all the time, especially in yoga where you can do it so easily.
I totally look at other people during classes and make fun of their faces. If I was only as creative as you in recreation!
ReplyDeleteOh, and that was a shitload of workouts today.
Hahaha, your faces remind me of my race pictures. I always look like I'm dying.
ReplyDelete"I don't know if I'm doing it wrong or what, but the treadmill feels so much easier than outdoor running to me" <---me. Can't wait until treadmill running makes it to the Olympics.
ReplyDeleteI've never taken an actual spin class but you make me scared of it.
When I did pump, I absolutely loved when I lifted more than the men in the class.
ReplyDeleteYour workout totally dominated my short trail run and speedy run this afternoon. You're an animal. I'm jealous. Also, don't worry, I barely made it to my group run this weekend because I couldn't get myself out of bed at 7.