Tuesday, January 29, 2008

A part of the triathlon community...

Yesterday I attended a meeting for people who are training for NYC Tri. It was held at anonymous high end health club in Manhattan. Anyhow- it always feel good to be adressed as an athlete & get to be surrounded by other triathletes. I ran into an acquaintance & it's good to know that I'm not the only one attempting this for the first time. Hooray for good training & July 20th & post July 20th parties celebrating this goal!!!

Full time athlete...Help me with my research:

That's one of the things I dream of being...

Anyhow on a more serious note...

Feb. 17th, I'm flying to Vancouver, BC. Just for a few days, but I'd like to check out their high end health clubs/training facilities & I'm looking for suggestions.

More importantly, I'm also researching high end health clubs/training facilities in Toronto.

Most importantly, I'd like to complete a few tris in Canada this year- any suggestions of good events would be welcome.

I am desperately seeking advice on all of the above.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Day 12 of the madness & food updates...Also my first real yoga class...

I'm flying!!! I feel fabulous. I had two rest days during this past week. I have been eating fabulously & living still. I ate wonderful food at my friend's dinner party-:) Yay home-made cookies & sorbet. I went out for dinner on Friday nite at the Republic. I was happy to find delicious options that felt good to eat...I am still eating massive amounts, which is good. I eat tons of veggies, lots & lots of chicken, beans,nuts, raisins etc... I'm also eating a lot of fruit- blueberries, peaches, nectarines. Today I treated myself to a J.mba Juice smoothie. Delish.

I feel fit. My pushups show a slight improvement, but still need a lot of work. The past two days, swimming has been ridiculously easy & pleasant. I felt like a fish. I'm adding 10 more laps to my routine & also now working on drills. I feel like I can swim. I just don't know how to tread water- how ridiculous is that....I can tread, but only for a minute(barely)- I can't imagine treading for longer than that...I'm staying away from back stroke & breaststroke for a while. My freestyle is rocking & I need to hone that & be efficient. I keep wondering- how does one swim in a straight line in the ocean? With hundreds of other people in the water???

Speaking of firsts- I took my first real yoga class yesterday!! Vinyasa Yoga. About 10 minutes into the class I realized I had signed up for 90 minutes of madness- plus it was an advanced class. I am still hung up on the foreign names used for the postures & the ommm chanting, but I will try to be open minded & overlook that. I can pretend to be an ignorant closeminded person at times. I just need a really positive introduction to yoga. This class wasn't a positive introduction to yoga. It was advanced- everyone could do head stands except me- everyone knew what do to & the instructor barely demonstrated anything. The good thing is that because I'd taken Bikram & because a lot of my friends are yogis, I'm familiar with a few postures- enough to get me by. I know how to get in & out of the asanas. However, I know I know nothing & that I have much to learn. I am looking to hire two people:

1) Wanted: Someone to teach me how to do a head stand safely & effortlessly & other cool postures like lotus. This is a 6 month job. I'll pay in food/kindness. Bonus pay in 5 yrs. Payable at Ironman Kona 2013.

2) Wanted: Someone to turn me into a fish that can swim backstroke & tread water effortlessly & swim for miles & miles & miles. This is a 6 month contract also. I'll pay in hugs. Bonus pay in 5 yrs. Payable at Ironman Kona 2013.

The bonus pay for both occupations will come in the form of fame for you when I become an ironwoman in 5 years!!! I'll attribute my success to you (part of it anyway), dear imaginary trainer.

Am I kidding? Way too much adrenaline & endorphin in me!

My dream is to be a full time athlete. I'm looking for a soccer league for the summer. I hate my present occupation. The funniest thing- last week I was reading my horoscope & it talked about the perfect profession for my zodiac sign- Leo as being a personal trainer! It was exciting to read that because I already figured out last year that working in some shape or form in the fitness & health industry is my calling. I already have my certification. But I'm not ready to make a career switch yet- many obstacles. I'm not ready to be there yet & I'm working on me. I don't want to do it for money- just because I enjoy it...I want to teach group excercise classes mostly & get my spinning cert...Need to take the CanFitPro test. Today I took a sports conditioning class & I used to take this class once a week during the summer till I fell off the bandwagon. Anyhow, it was great because after 5 months of absence, I show up to the class & it's still the same students taking it- they all look the same & all, but the instructor was someone new- it turned out to be a trainer that I used to work with at the gym. So there was definitely no slacking off for me in that class! It was good though to see someone who knew me. Will definitely go back next week. I haven't excercised at the gym I used to work at in 6 months - I definitely need to go back. It's hard to work out there because it just becomes a huge social scene of people wanting to talk to me & telling me that they miss me & that I should come back to work & bla bla bla.

Otherwise I'm soaring. I pray that I keep up this momentum through Feb 16th. Or should I say...forever.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Week 2 report & update on my 30 day Challenge

Today is Day 7 of my 30 day challenge.

The 30 Day challenge is a countdown until Feb 15th, my next week vacation from work. Here is what I have to accomplish in 30 days:

-30 hot hatha yoga classes aka, the dreaded word...Bikram
-20 Spinning Classes
-12 Strength Training sessions
-20 Swimming sessions
-4 Books Read
-4 Chapters/poems written
-4 Rest days (at least)
-Continue to eat well

If I accomplish all this, here is my reward:
1. A new bathing suit
2. A new hairdo
3. Tattoo
4. Brazilian Wax, Total body wax & Brow threading

So far I have 3 Spins, 3 Strength training sessions, 5 swims, 6 yoga sessions.

Hooray!!!!!

C'mon a little encouragement from you won't hurt!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Help- the chlorine ate up my bathing suit:(:(:(

To be honest I haven't been that good with looking after my bathing suit.

But I just want to scream, I'm annoyed about this!! It's deteriorating really fast lately. Probably a combination of the chlorine & the fact that my room is 100 degrees warm.

Now I'm on the hunt for a really good swim suit brand that won't get eaten up quickly. I'll pay whatever & I promise to look after it better. My last suit was/is N.ike. Please offer suggestions of good brands & good places to shop. Don't say Mac.ys. or Mo's. Until then I might just be caught indoor skinny dipping. Save me. Thank you.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Week 1 Report!

I raise a glass of water to the past week! I'm soarin & flyin!

Here are the good things about the past week:
Consistent excercise
close to 90 laps total
Sweated every day!!
Ate well!

The great thing about this week was the fact that I got to excercise with part of my fitness posse of friends:) The second greatest thing was Wednesday night's total body conditioning class- the instructor was awesome- the moves were unique & effective so on Saturday, I took another class with the same instructor- Cardio Jump Rope. Crazzzzyyy sweating & fun! Then trying to run over to Union Sq to make a spinning class that was full by the time I got there...darn:(:(

Another awesome thing about the week was Monday night's boxing class. Spose to be an indoor class & we showed up & the dude makes us run along CPW & do lunges & pushups bootcamp style at 9pm at night...so unexpected, but hey- I'm love that stuff to be honest though I may be cursing at the instructor the whole class, inside, I love a challenge.

Sad notes:
I almost cried when I realized that I'm benching 10lb less than I could in July 2007. Simply because I haven't been using my pecs much:(:( Gotta build back up to that.

Reflective notes:
I was blessed with gigantic thunder thighs which always appear big to me but not so big in photos. Today I took part in the no pants subway ride & the photos of me from that actually show my thighs to be toned. A camera never lies! I guess I'm not obese after all. Hooray!

Next goal: keep it up, self!!!! More reports in 3...2...1....

Thursday, January 10, 2008

6 week goals...

I'm off to a fabulous start.

Aside from trying to fit in some fun classes- boxing & all...and going out dancing, here is my goal for the next 6 weeks.

Each week my training will consist of the following:
-5 swim sessions: Fast/Slow intervals Skill drills. 30 mins
-4 spin classes (minimum)
-3 strength conditioning sessions

I'm trying to find a way to fit in Bikram Yoga, but I probably won't be able to because of time constraints. It's also a cost issue. However it's worth it- completing the 30 day challege would rock my world.

I've been eating so well lately. I'm hungrier though so I do end up eating later than I really should.

Otherwise I'm flying!

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Jumpstartin' my year!

On the first of January I attended a fitness day at this facility on the Upper West Side. A huge fitness fair with some rocking classes, among which was a class on Chi Running!

If you remember I purchased a book about Chi Running several months ago. Running is a basic motion, but many times, the ways in which we run are strenuous on our bodies & accelerate injury & stress to the joints. Using some of the principles of Tai Chi, this form of running drastically reduces or eliminates injury. The main things I got out of the class are
-keeping the core engages while running
-propeling the arms backwards & using the rear delt

I still need to read the book a little more, but even with just these two concepts, running felt good. I was supposed to run the NYE race in Central Park but I decided it wasn't a good idea because it might invite reinjury. I'll run again in the spring.

I now have access to an good sized pool for my training. I have a training/fitness partner. One consistent training partner & two others that exist in spirit. Beginning on Monday I have a one- week jumpstart program. I'll also be starting a 5 week triathlon training program that is swim intensive. Details on all this coming right up...