Thursday, December 30, 2010

CompuTrainer Class: Aerobic Training I

Today's class was a repeat of Tuesday's. I am going twice a week now so that I get on my bike more and continue improving. Both days will be great, but if today was any indication, I will be stronger the second day. There are great people in both classes too: teammates Anna, Lisa, Parri, Shelly, and Cali on Tuesday's along with other strong people; and Anna (and Lee today), Chatty, Vickie, Michael, and more strong people again on Thursdays. Today was especially great with Lee and David in the class--they are both super strong, and stronger people definitely make me stronger!

During the 10-minute warm up, Todd explained a little about how to move your ankle correctly while pedaling. Then we did 13 minutes of aerobic work with two 1-minute sections of higher-intensity work thrown in; rest; 1-leg drills (30, 45, 30 sec); 3 spin ups; rest; 2x2 minutes at 110, 1x3 minutes at 105, 2x1minute at 110, each with 1 minute at 100 between; rest. I had to finish before the final set of spin ups, which means that I missed the second set of 1-leg drills as well. But it was a good hard workout, I felt great, I upped my watts 3 from where I'd been on Tuesday, and rode well. Even Todd said I looked strong. My HR was up pretty high according to my HRM, but it really wasn't hard at all and I definitely had no trouble talking during the entire workout. It must be the lunge that I've been doing daily, working toward 5 minutes on each leg (currently at 4:33 and 3:10 R/L, which means I still have a long way to go!).

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

EDIs

I headed to DHY at lunch today to do a quick workout: 1 set of 10-6-3 EDI. I was supposed to have done 2 sets, but I wanted to get through all exercises. Will says to cut out exercises if you don't have time for everything, but I didn't today. I wanted to work hard at all of them and do them all well since I don't have to lift this afternoon, so 1 hard set was it.


  • Lunge with RL
  • Squat with stick
  • GHR to arm's length
  • Curl with 30-lb bar
  • Bench with 45-lb bar
  • Plate front delt with 10-lb plate
  • Crate crunch

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

CompuTrainer Class: Aerobic Training I

This morning's class was the start of a new series: Aerobic training. We did a 10-or-so minute warmup while Todd explained where (or how?) we were supposed to put force on the pedal. I didn't get it at all—maybe he'll do so again on Thursday and it will make more sense. After that was 13 minutes of aerobic work with two 1-minute sections of higher-intensity work thrown in; rest; 3 spin ups; rest; 3 times 1 minute at 100, 2 minutes at 110; rest; then 3 spin ups again. I had to finish before the final set of spin ups, which means that I missed 1-leg drills as well. But it was a good hard workout, rewarded with birthday cake for Anna made by Parri. She is a great baker!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas


My Christmas weekend was wonderful—full of celebrating with family, remembering Jesus birth and His reason for coming, relaxing, and enjoying my new presents.

Robin cutting "flowers" for her new vase napkin holders

I made a birthday cake that I took in to work Thursday before I left

Jason wrapping presents on the ping pong table—it's something of an Acheson tradition

The stockings, overflowing, ready to be opened

All the presents, also ready to be opened, and Robin's well-decorated tree and the kissing ball

One of my new presents—a bike rack for my car!

I did ride my bike once while at Robin's, 30 minutes on the trainer, doing some 1-leg drills to Christmas music. But we played a lot of ping pong, round-robin style, so we definitely weren't idle all weekend.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

CompuTrainer Class: 1-Leg Drills IV

Today's workout was exactly the same as two weeks ago, though today I'm pretty sure I had my watts down 10. I've been upping the wattage because I just don't want to be below 200 (and shouldn't be), but I also didn't want to be up too high since I was already frustrated from yesterday:

  • 1:22 total, 153 HR (177 max), 26 miles (plus whatever I did in the first 10 minutes)
  • 10 min warm up, 146
  • 13 min aerobic work, 161 HR
  • 2 min break, then 9 minutes of 1-leg drills, 30 sec each leg, 60 sec each leg, 30 sec each leg, then 45, then 30, then 30
  • 2 min break, then 6 spin-ups where we started at 85 RPM for 30 sec, worked our way to 110 for 30 sec, then stayed at 110 for 2 min (HR 169)
  • 3 min break, then 1 min at 95 RPM (149), 2 min at 105 RPM (168), 1 min at 100 (169), 3 min at 110 (173), 1 min at 95 (166), 3 min at 105 (169), 1 min at 100 (169), 2 min at 110 (175), 1 min at 100 (170)
  • No cool down

I didn't count pedal strokes and I'm sure I didn't make it to 40 every time, but I was able to continue pedaling at a close-to-normal cadence and I stayed at or above all the high-cadence intervals. So even with all my frustration yesterday, I did well in class today. Afterward, Todd showed me the files from the 2-mile time trials we did last week and back in November. My left leg is dominant and my right leg is lagging, especially between 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock. So to try to make them both the same, I should do lots of right-leg 1-leg drills to strengthen that leg. I know my left leg is stronger and more consistent in the 1-leg drills, but this showed it in the stats.

Also, I was 13 seconds slower, all of it coming from the climb over the second mile. I didn't have Parri's stats to look at, which meant I wasn't looking at the screen and was focusing only on riding. My legs were working better together, and my watts for each leg were much closer to each other. Interestingly, my average overall watts in November was 223, whereas my average overall watts last week was 208 but I was only 13 seconds slower. Todd surmised that, rather than racing, I'd given a true 7 out of 10 effort.

After class, Parri and Anna had treats for us all. Yum!

Monday, December 20, 2010

In the Pool

I did get in the pool today, as has been my Monday habit (I also ran 1mi at BFY this morning; for whatever reason, I can't seem to manage any long workouts lately, though this morning was definitely time-related rather than energy-related). Short swim, not real fast, actually pretty slow. So far that's all I've done today that's been OK-good. The lunge was frustrating. I don't know why my legs are so tired—I haven't been doing anything!

Jonell, Valerie, Anna, and I met to lift at MFY in the afternoon. 25 minutes on the step mill, lunge, squats (115 lb), glute stuff with Anna, arms, core, and stretching. I wasn't really into it, which means physically it didn't go well. It was fun to be with the girls, though!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Tired!

Today I tried to get a workout in. I'd aimed for my 5-minute lunge in the morning and made it 3:53 on my right leg. My left leg was over 2 minutes behind, and then I just felt worthless the rest of the day. I managed to run a mile around the track at MFY and do a little bit of another workout, but it wasn't a complete workout and it wasn't pretty. I was definitely wishing for Will or another training partner to push me even though I was super tired.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Outside

Today's ride was outside and freezing. At least I had company in Valerie, Jeremy, Cali, and Anna, and we picked up Max along the way. Somehow I managed 2:15, but I couldn't feel my fingers by the time I finished, and I couldn't even unbuckle my helmet!



After church, I headed to Cozymel's in Franklin for the BEAT Christmas party. I knew Anna and Lisa would be there, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Angela and Charles as well. I hadn't talked to Angela in quite a while, so I definitely enjoyed the evening. Janet handed out some fun awards (for things like the most races during the season, the slowest marathon, and the most people in a hotel room) while we ate, and then we had a white-elephant gift exchange. My first gift was this sweet shower cap, but someone stole it from me and I ended up with some good race nutrition—sport beans and gu. Definitely a fun night.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Light Rest Day

Today has been a nice, needed rest day (well, light rest, that is). No lunch time workout, no evening lifting, just a quick post-work run, relaxing, and getting to bed early. Wonderful!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Long Day

Today at work seemed like the longest day ever. I don't know what it was about it. We did have a few meetings (abnormal for a Wednesday; well, for any day, really) and I even came in a little late, but when I looked at the clock and realized that it was 11am, not the 3pm that it felt like, I knew the day was going to continue to crawl. It did, unfortunately. It's not that we didn't have things to do, it's that the day just dragged.

When I finally left the office, I was so happy to be heading to the Y to meet Valerie and Anna and getting in a good workout. And good it was! My workout, which I really wanted to do, was 10x30sec. I mostly did those exercises and interspersed one of the exercises Anna and Val were doing.


  • Wall squat
  • Crate crunch (with A and V in place of their planks)
  • Squats: 105 lb
  • GHR, reps to the top
  • Lunge
  • Altitude drop curl

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

CompuTrainer Class: 2-Mile Hard Effort II

Today's class involved only 45 minutes of work followed by the 2-mile hard effort. It seemed pretty short compared to the 1:30 we usually work, but with warm up and cool down I still got in a good 1:15 ride.

When we did the same effort on November 16, we had a significantly shorter and easier warm up and the hard part of the class followed the effort. I pulled out a 6:04 effort then and was hoping to better that today. Unfortunately that didn't happen. I'm pretty sure I went out easier on the downhill 1.2 miles (took me 2:30), which means I had less time to make it up the 0.8 miles (took me 3:45). I also know that I was affected by being on a different screen than Parri and Anna, which meant that I couldn't see what either of them was doing, nor could I race or keep pace with them. Will said I need a bunny in front of me at every race so that I have something to chase after; either that or I need to know that someone is chasing me, which will make me work harder to keep them away from me for longer.

My time today was 6:16 and my HR was a ridiculous 193 bpm. Yikes!

On the plus side, the spin-ups were easier than they have been, and we did only half as many this week as we did last week so it was even easier!

The majority of the class looked like this: 1:15, 165 HR

  • Warm up: 6:24 (definitely got to class a little late), then 10:00
  • Aerobic work: 8:00
  • 2 min break, then 8 minutes of 1-leg drills
  • 3 min break, then 3 spin-ups (85 RPM for 30 sec, increase to 110 over the next minute, hold 110 for the next 1:30, repeat)
  • 4 min break, then 2-mile hard effort, 6:16
  • 16 min cool down

The afternoon workout was a 3-mile run on the treadmill (first time running in two weeks according to my logs—this cycling thing is really cramping my run style, but I don't mind much at all!) to warm up, iso lunge (2:41 L and 3:05 R—a big milestone!) and standing ham, and then a little relaxing time in the steam room. Then we had our company Christmas party at Ellendale's in Donelson. Kelly took lots of pictures, so I'm hoping to grab a few to put up here. I was pleasantly surprised at the food choices and taste, and we'll get to enjoy the desserts today as well. Yum!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Snow Day

Today has been kind of a strange day. Normally I'd be at work, but with the snow we received yesterday, most of us stayed home instead of driving to Nashville. I was one of them, which meant I got a lot more flexibility to train, too. So already today, I've done a cardio/sculpt/aerobics/weight/circuit class with Kellie (not sure what it's really called, but it involved all that), attempted my 5-minute lunge, and lifted 3×30sec isos:

  • (skipped lunge)
  • GHR at 60* (25lb because it's the easiest to hold)
  • GHR at bottom (no weight)
  • Standing ham (45lb)
  • Push up (no weight, on feet)
  • (postponed scap pull up until later at home)
  • Preacher curl (20lb dumbbells)
  • Crate crunch (25lb)

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Memory

My teeny-tiny Christmas tree--just big enough to remind me of Jesus' birth!

I am going to try to remember everything I did this weekend:

  • 2h trainer ride with Lisa Friday
  • Isos, 10×10 sec, 2 sets, altitude drop curl (manual hold) and glute ham
  • 1h spin class with Parri, Jonell, and Valerie Saturday
  • Lifting with Jonell and Val Saturday
    • Actually I did 10×10 sec, 2 sets, push up, crate crunch, and lunge (iso)
  • 30min step mill Sunday
  • Iso lunge

Not a bad weekend work-wise, actually. Far too much time on the trainer, since I took my own bike to spin class, but I'd much rather use my own bike than a spin bike that doesn't fit me. But more hours on the bike this weekend than normal, so that's good.

I also went to opening night of CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia movie The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. We bought the tickets early anticipating a sellout, but the theater wasn't sold out, not even half-full. However, that was the highest-grossing movie for the weekend, so it was a valid anticipation.

Saturday was baking day at Farkases', and Lauren was dancing so I went to church with them to watch. Sunday was a snow day and I enjoyed it. I also put up all my Christmas decorations and decorated a gingerbread house.

Gingerbread house

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

5 Minutes of Work

I go back and forth among workouts deciding which one is the hardest. They pretty much all are hard, each in its own way. Today's was hard because of the mental aspect: You have to do some hard, physical work for 5 minutes without a break. Just doing it to do it, that's not so hard. But when you add the work part in, that's where it gets hard.


  • Push up
  • Lunge R (1:46), L (1:36)
  • Curl
  • Standing ham

That was all I got in at lunch, and then I met Valerie at MFY to do her workout, 10 or 12 reps, 2 sets:

  • Squat (105lb, up 5lb and 2 reps from Monday)
  • Lunge (25lb)
  • Step up (20lb)
  • Step over
  • Alphabet
  • 1-arm row (25lb)
  • Push up
  • Triceps push up

And, since I had to finish my workout, instead of doing the planks and other core stuff with her, I did the following, 5 minutes, finishing everything on my list except scap pull up (and 1-leg squat, which I don't even write on the list):

  • Crate crunch
  • Wall squat

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

CompuTrainer Class: 1-Leg Drills III

Similar to last week, we practiced 1-leg drills and high-cadence drills, but today I felt so much better than last week. Partly because I knew exactly what was coming (Valerie had told me everything yesterday), partly because of my sweet new socks,


and partly because I had a great mindset about the high-cadence drills: If I can spin at a higher cadence but the same gear as my competition, I'll out-ride them in general and pass them when I shift gears. I still had to get off the bike a little early (which is OK because then it leaves me time to chat when we're done and I'm not worried about being late to work) but managed 1:30 with a warmup before the workout started.

  • 1:30 total, 153 HR (181 max), 26 miles (plus whatever I did in the first 17 minutes)
  • 10 min warm up, 148 HR
  • 13 min aerobic work, 156 HR
  • 2 min break, then 9 minutes of 1-leg drills, 30 sec each leg, 60 sec each leg, 30 sec each leg, then 45, then 30, then 30
  • 2 min break, then 6 spin-ups where we started at 85 RPM for 30 sec, worked our way to 110 for 30 sec, then stayed at 110 for 2 min (HR 169, 172, 171, 171, 174, 176)
  • 3 min break, then 1 min at 95 RPM (149), 2 min at 105 RPM (168), 1 min at 100 (169), 3 min at 110 (173), 1 min at 95 (166), 3 min at 105 (169), 1 min at 100 (169), 2 min at 110 (175), 1 min at 100 (170)
  • 4 min cool down (well, my cool down)

My HR was a lot higher today than last week, but I also performed way better today. Instead of only 25 pedal strokes at a strong cadence for all the 1-leg drills, I was able to do at least 40 pedal strokes for each interval—a huge improvement over last week!

The afternoon workout was 5 on, 5 off thru 40 (which seems short compared to through 60). The lunge was by far the hardest.

  • Lunge on crates
  • 1-leg squat
  • GHR
  • Squat with stick
  • Push up
  • Scap pull up
  • Preacher curl
  • Crate crunch

Monday, December 6, 2010

Swim-day

Monday's seem to be the days that I'm the mostly likely to get in the pool, and today was no exception. I swam 500, my typical swim of late (just enough to get wet and remind myself how to swim), 8 minutes (slow, I know).

Then, after work, it was back to MFY for a workout with Valerie preceded by a warm up on the step mill (not the one you just step on, but the one with the rolling stairs so you actually have to work to step). That's a much tougher machine than I realized! We added another 10 together and then did the following, 2 sets of 10 or 12:

  • Single-arm row: 25-lb dumbbell
  • Push ups
  • Triceps push ups 
  • Squat: 100lb 
  • Lunge: 25lb, quick-style 
  • Step up: 25lb 
  • Step over 
  • Alphabet
  • Planks
  • Crunches
  • Take-aways
  • Reverse something
  • Some hamstring thing

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Sunday with Team B

Before meeting the rest of the team not for our typical Sunday afternoon ride (thankfully, since it was snowing all morning!) but for team pictures, I made it to BFY for a short treadmill run (not my fave, for sure) and some isos. I did 1:23 iso lunge R, 1:20 iso lunge L, and 5:00 iso standing ham. I am hoping to increase that 1:23 and 1:20 to 5:00 by the end of March with Will's help. He's doing this 90-day fitness challenge that he wants us to make goals for, and that's one of mine. So we'll see where Iron Will can help me go!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Two Days and Two Parades

I have never had so many people say something about a hat before—everyone loved these hats, which we wore all day (to Home Depot, the mall, and more!)

Yesterday Josh, Anna, and I went to downtown Nashville to enjoy their annual Christmas Parade.

The loot from Friday night; Saturday we got pocketfuls of candy that Lauren took home

Today Lauren and I went to downtown Franklin to enjoy their annual Christmas Parade. I have pics from today's and not yesterday's (though I did get pics on my phone of the fireworks), but you wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference between the two since both parades contained pretty much the same floats.

Mini semis and cars 

The Ashbusters--my favorite float, and they were playing Mary Poppins songs both days

Yesterday was also a beautiful day for a ride, which I did with Anna M, Lisa C, and Alli. We got in a good 28 miles. I didn't mind the ride through the city with cars around, I never do, but the others were a little less excited about the traffic, so we'll probably try another route next time. It was great to have company, and I don't mind changing routes if it means we'll have a bigger group! I ran about 2.5 before the parade and it was still nice then.

Today I headed to BFY after church for 3×30sec heavy. It's been almost a month since last time, but weights were pretty close and I skipped only 1-leg squat (that's normal for me since I don't like it and it only frustrates me):

  • Scap pull up: body weight
  • Push up on feet: body weight
  • Preacher curl: 15-lb dumbbells
  • Crate crunch: 45lb plate
  • Lunge: 45lb bar + 15lb on each side = 75lb
  • GHR: at 60*, 25lb (only I wasn't even close to 60*)
  • GHR: at bottom, no weight
  • Standing ham: 35lb plate

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Good Deals at Publix!

I haven't even looked at this week's ad but had to go get some veggies, so I wandered the store to see what I could find. I found some good deals!

Not the best pic—apologies!

For $24 at Publix and $7.25 at Walgreens I got the following:

  • $6.00: Stouffer's Family sized meals, 2, $6.99 each, on sale for $3.99 – two $1/1 Qs
  • $8.00: Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chips, 8, $2.99 each, on sale for $1.49 – 4 $1/2 Qs
  • $0.02: Publix American Cheese Singles, 2, $2.79 each, on sale for $0.01 if you buy $10 worth of groceries and I did two transactions
  • $5.00: Vegetables
  • $2.43: Publix eggs, $1.49 each – $0.55/2 Q 
  • $2.55 tax
  • $6.48: M&Ms, holiday, 4 bags, 2.91 each (on sale for 2.50) – 15% friends and family discount – 2 $0.50/1 and 1 $1/2 Qs
  • $0.78 tax

It should have cost me $70 total, which means that I saved 53%. Usually I can save more but don't always get real food, so this was a good shop! 

But, before I could have fun at the grocery store, I had to get in a good workout. It's always fun with Valerie! I beat her to MFY and got 30 minutes on the elliptical before we added another 15 and then did the following, 2 sets of 10 or 12:

  • Squat: 80lb 
  • Lunge: 15lb, quick-style 
  • Step up: 15lb 
  • Step over 
  • Alphabet 
  • Single-arm row: 15-lb dumbbell
  • Push ups
  • Triceps push ups 
  • Inverted pull ups (palms facing) 
  • Bicycle crunches
  • Take-aways

Boson Holiday Promo



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