Painful Spinning

Tuesday was a train on our own - bike. So I signed up for a popular spin class at the gym I belong to. I had only done spin once before and was not a fan but thought with my new found motivation it might not be so bad. Oh, how I was WRONG!!!!!

I entered the room of bikes and made my way to a corner where I was fairly close to an overhead fan. I started riding to warm up, so far so good! The instructor comes in, turns on the music and we start our ride.

Within 15 minutes, I am absolutely miserable but I keep going.... as the class goes on the instructor starts shouting numbers, 80, 85, 90, 95....100! This is I guess what the "cadence" number was supposed to be but not totally sure. The first round of this, I stay with the instructors instructions making to 120 and then back down. Randomly thrown in are quarter turns and half turns of level difficulty.

30 minutes into this class all I could think about was if I was going to throw up or pass out first.... while the instructor is still shouting out numbers 85.....90....95....100....105.....110 - I can barely keep mine above 70 (which I don't think is good). I was absolutely miserable, my face was beat red, I had a throbbing headache, numbers being shouted and not sure if I was gonna throw up or pass out.....

When class was close to ending I had an epiphany! This is how we should torture prisoners at Guantanomo Bay! As far as I'm confirmed this is the worst torture to endure and I will not be attending any spin classes in the near future.

My cycle training will consist of riding outside or doing a program in one of the cardio rooms.

A Good Swim

Originally, last nights swim practice was supposed to be a non-coached swim but last week it was switched to an optional coached swim. So with few teammates showing up it was AWESOME! There was only two us in a lane for swimming and I got a chance to really focus on speed and form. Which BTW.... I think they have changed "proper form" since I was kid.

Thankfully, my parents started me in swim lessons when I was six months old and started summer swim team at age 6. It was a good seven summers of swim meets, lessons and ribbons but alas I became a teenager and my rebellion began.

But now... my stroke is to narrow, I don't pull enough and I tend to role slightly... good thing I have some time to get my stroke updated!

Run in the Rain

Today was my first workout in a week and I'm fairly proud! I managed to rally on a crappy day, it was pouring rain outside and the easy thing to do was jump on the treadmill but NOOOO, I crabbed both dogs and off to Greenlake we went. We were lucky that it stopped raining and ran the lake in 30 minutes. I should have run longer but I started having a weird pain in my shin/calf area.... Oh well, some is better than none.

I also got play with my heart rate monitor too but need to figure it more cuz It shows me being over my target heart rate for most of my workout.

Tomorrow is swimming!

A Little Boys Battle

This week’s mission moment comes from a past participant who has a nephew battling leukemia. Below are a few words from Gavin’s mom. Keep Gavin in your thoughts as you train and work to raise money for the cause.

“It's difficult to write into words what has happened over the past few weeks. The leukemia seems to have invaded Gavin's body yet again. On Friday, October 30, after a bone marrow aspiration and lumbar puncture, we were told that there appears to be Leukemic cells in Gavin's body. Sure enough after some additional testing, it was confirmed. On Monday, November 2, Dr. Cooper sat us down and told us that Gavin had indeed relapsed. Kenny and I were completely numb. This was our greatest fear and it was coming true and there was nothing we could do to stop it.

Gavin's doctors suggested a bone marrow transplant (pretty much as our only option). They have already begun the process of looking for a donor from the registry. Gavin's treatment will start out at Kaiser with chemotherapy to put the Leukemia back into remission, then we will move on to City of Hope for a transplant. We are trying to keep Gavin's body as healthy and as strong as possible in preparation for his transplant. Kenny and I don't have much more information than that. We will find out more as we go along. There seem to be many "potential" matches for Gavin through the registry. Unfortunately Kenny, Emma and I are not a match.

Gavin will not be able to continue with school because of all this but we have explained to both Emma and Gavin what is going on and that Gavin is sick and needs to go back to the hospital and doctor to get better”.

Back At It Tomorrow

The PDC Conference has officially ended with much success! Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to workout since my last post on Sunday but I did manage to stay constantly moving from the moment my peepers opened to the second they closed for the few hours of sleep I got.

Tomorrow will be a more relaxing day with limited work so I will definitely get a good workout in. I'm excited to use my heart rate monitor again to see what kind of numbers I pull. Stay tuned for tomorrow's workout results......

LA Run

Yesterday, I arrived in LA for work. I will be here for a week and needed to push myself to ensure I get my workouts in. Upon my arrival, I threw on my workout gear and hit the streets of Downtown LA with my new heart rate monitor!

Right before I left the hotel room, I got a call about some needed art files for work... of course the phone starts ringing 10 minutes into my run. So, I have a new skill! I can solve challenges while talking on the phone participating in a run on the streets of LA WHILE dodging pedestrians trying to get to the basketball game. If this doesn't scream talent, I don't know what does?

My heart rate monitor beeped at me the entire run.... I guess my heart rate was too high for my age/weight/height category... I call BS!

After my run, I stopped into the hotel gym to ride the bike but only lasted 10 minutes because I wasn't feelinging it so I jumped on the treadmill to play with my heart rate to see how much beeping my watch would do. End result.... I worked out for 50 minutes, yay me!!!

We shall see what kind of workout Monday will bring....

*I reserve the right to spell things incorrectly and leave out words :-)

Saturday's Run

I woke up at 7am and was greeted by a chill in the air. I put on my new running clothes and out the door I went to meet the team at Marymoor Park for our coached run. Of course I was running a few minutes late, had a fight with a sharp corner on the back of my leg (I showed that keyboard shelf who was boss as I shoved it with all my might back into the desk... needless to say, I broke it).

Finally, out the door get to the park and join the group for announements. Today was the first time someone had spoken about their experience with Leukemia and it brought tears to my eyes. This woman told us about her son who was diagnosed when he was three years old, survived 38 months of chemotherapy (not consecutively) and then had a stroke at age 5. No child should have to endure one of these things let alone all of them! Thankfully, her son is a survivor who is 24 years old and a deep sea diver. That story gave me purpose for training for Lava Man and raising funds.

Then we hit the trail, it was 32 degrees when we started our run a little after 8am. I'm proud to say I ran for 45 minutes consistantly! Yay ME!!!

Since I'm new to this whole deal I asked my two team mentors to review my purchases the day before. Guess what... I returned both pairs of cycling gloves and a pair shorts.

Tomorrow I'm off to LA for a week so my workouts are all on me!
Stayed tune for LA adventures....