Tag Archives: spin

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Sometimes training involves being flexible, and this week I had to do just that and retool my workout plan to include more spinning and less time pounding on my feet after a not-so-smart Tuesday tempo run left my feet covered in blisters. I still felt like I got a really good week in though and am continuing to improve my fitness. The feet are doing a lot better and I hope to test them with some more faster runs this week. I ran 14.17 total miles last week.  Here’s the day by day training breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class in the morning followed by a legs workout.

Tuesday: You can read the full story here, but basically I decided to do a tempo run in really old shoes and my feet paid dearly for it leaving me a bit hobbled for the rest of the week. Somehow it was still a great run. I got in 6.67 miles on the office treadmill starting out with a mile warm-up at an 8-minute pace, bumping it down to 7:35 to start the tempo portion and working my way down to 7:03 before cooling down for 2 minutes back at the 8-minute pace.

Wednesday: I bandaged my badly blistered feet up and limped over to my apartment gym in the morning, and put in 30 minutes on the stepper and a legs workout.

Thursday: I got in a body ride spin class at Revolve Thursday night as part of a blogger ride they hosted. It was a blast – more to come on that tomorrow.

Friday: Rest Day.

Saturday: I started the day off with an endurance ride spin class in the morning and then tested my feet out for an easy 3 miler in the afternoon at my apartment gym.

Sunday: I headed back to the spin studio for an early morning body ride before putting in an easy 4.5 miles on the treadmill at Washington Sports Clubs before my membership there ends this week.

Super Spread for the Super Bowl

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Super Bowl Sunday is usually synonymous with parties, overeating and indulgence. Despite being a Bills fan and facing many years of disappointment on this day in the 90s, I still look forward to it. You can find healthy Super Bowl party recipes all over the Internet, but I figured I’m still going to eat a ton of food today, so I might as well start the day off with a great workout so I wouldn’t feel guilty. I torched some calories with a 7-mile run to start the day followed by an intense body ride spin class. Bring on the snacks!

Ian and I decided to hang in and watch the Super Bowl at home. I didn’t have a huge rooting interest this year. I hate the Ravens because I dislike Ray Lewis, so seeing the Niners win would be OK. On the other hand, I was also so happy the Ravens beat the Patriots and felt a little compelled to root for the almost-local team that I wouldn’t mind seeing them win either. I’m glad it turned into a good game after looking like it would be a blow out. My favorite commercial spots were the M&Ms, Clydesdales, Oreo, Taco Bell and the one about farmers. Let me know your favorites in the comments!

We made a great Super Bowl spread to enjoy during the game. We started off with a guasacaca (I can’t say this without giggling. Try it, it just sounds funny.) recipe we found on Serious Eats. It’s an avocado salsa that Serious Eats describes as “the Venezuelan answer to guacamole, but with a brighter, tangier flavor.” Ian describes it as “if smooth salsa and guacamole had a baby.”

Guac

Guac

Next we put our brand new crock pot to work to make a chicken chili. The Hamilton Beach crock pot came with three different size crocks we can use with it: 2-, 4- and 6-quarts. For this recipe we went with the the 4-quart pot. The apartment smelled amazing all day as our chili slowly cooked. We didn’t have quite enough chicken for what the recipe called for, but we had some extra andouille sausage from another meal, so we added a bit of that giving it a nice little kick. It tasted even better than it smelled and we had enough for a few days of leftover lunches!

Chicken Chili

Chicken Chili

We wrapped up our Super Bowl spread with a delicious dessert – Peanut Butter Caramel Cupcakes. I found this recipe on a blog I came across a few weeks ago and they were simply amazing. The frosting reminded me of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, and drizzling caramel sauce over the top just put them over the edge. I brought the rest to work  or I would have eaten all of these. So good!

It was a fun Super Sunday filled with great food. Hope you enjoyed your Super Bowl parties and snacks! What was your favorite indulgence from this year’s Big Game?

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Last week marked the end of my base building phase before I start training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon this week. I felt really great all week and feel like I’ve gotten my fitness back to a good point to start race training. My mileage total was 24.25 miles. Here’s the day-by-day breakdown of where I left my footprints this week:

Monday: Spin Class

Tuesday: It was a lot easier to get myself out this week with 40 degree temps compared to my 9-degree track workout last week! Track Workout – 2.5 mile warm-up; 6X800m repeats with a 400m jog recovery; 2.5 mile cool down

Wednesday: I hit the gym for a 10-minute warm up on the elliptical followed by a 30-minute tabata workout and some more lower body strength exercises.

Thursday: Early morning tempo run on the treadmill at my apartment gym. I really wish I had room for my own treadmill. 5 miles total – warming up and cooling down at an 8-minute pace and reaching a 7:35 pace throughout the middle. I made it a double day getting in 4.25 after work. I met up with a friend who I went to elementary through high school with for a fun run around the National Mall. We looped past the Vietnam Memorial down to Lincoln and back around to the Capitol Building before splitting off to different metro stops. It was a blast to take in the sights while chatting and catching up along the way.

Friday: Spin Class in the morning and I took a late lunch to head down to the office gym and get in 50 minutes on the elliptical in the afternoon.

Saturday: Spin Class

Sunday: I set out in the morning for an easy-paced 7-miler through Georgetown onto the Rock Creek Park pathway and headed for an out and back along Hains Point before heading home via the Memorial Bridge. I followed the run with an hour body ride spin class at Revolve DC.

Sun setting as we ran down the National Mall Thursday night.

Sun setting as we ran down the National Mall Thursday night.

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Training is going great. I tallied 20.5 miles this week. I’m still working on my base, but added a second speed workout this week with a tempo run on Thursday. Here’s the training breakdown by day:

Monday: I had a track workout and spin class on tap for today, but a broken down car derailed my morning plans. I still managed to get to the gym later in the day for an hour on the elliptical and a strength workout.

Tuesday: Boy was it cold out this morning. I so don’t know how I used to survive the Syracuse winters growing up. Track Workout – 2.5 mile warm-up; 6X600m repeats with a 200m jog recovery; 2.5 mile cool down

Wednesday: 1.25 mile easy warm-up on the treadmill followed by a 30-minute boot camp style tabata workout.

Thursday: I hit the treadmill for my first tempo run in months and it felt great! 4.5 miles total – warming up and cooling down at an 8 minute pace and reaching a 7:41 pace throughout the middle.

Friday: Spin Class – Body Ride

Saturday: 3.5 miles easy through Arlington. I started out on the Custis Trail, but it was a bit slick so I hopped off and ran the side streets going up and down some killer hills. I followed up the run with spin class.

Sunday: 4 miles through Georgetown and Arlington ending near the Iwo Jima Memorial. I pushed the pace a little on this run and felt awesome! I headed up to Revolve after my run for my first barre ride spin class – hear more about this in a later post.

Spin Class: High Energy + High Intensity = Great Workout

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I’ve jumped head first (or more accurately, bike shoes first) back into spinning this past week, taking classes at Revolve’s spin studio in Clarendon. I took a break from spinning while doing the physical therapy thing, and while I was able to ride my regular bike as long as I didn’t clip into  the pedals, it definitely feels good to be back in the spin studio for my favorite kind of cross training.

I joined the Washington Sports Club in Clarendon about a year ago primarily for their group classes. I already have free access to gyms at home and at work for the basics, but I missed spinning and was interested in trying out other classes like body pump. Unfortunately, their class times don’t fit well into my schedule anymore, so I’m considering ending my membership there after my year commitment is up.

I took advantage of a free pass to try out the relatively new Revolve Fitness studio in Clarendon last week. I’ve seen rave reviews about their studios in NYC as well as the one here. It’s not a gym, but rather is a dedicated spin studio. The class was awesome and really kicked my butt – a great way to start the week off. I bought their discounted intro package for one month of unlimited rides at $60. It gets a bit pricey, at least for me, after the first month is up, (although I have no doubts about the quality they provide) so I don’t think I’ll continue with the monthly unlimited memberships going forward, but you can also buy packs of individual rides to spread out over several months as well.

Bike Shoes

Bike Shoes

In the meantime, I plan to get as much use as possible out of my intro month. I took classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday of this week, and already have spots reserved for weekend classes. They offer three types of classes: Real Ride, Body Ride and Barre Ride. The Real Ride is similar to what I’m used to having taken classes at other gyms, and it simulates an outdoor ride with challenging sprint intervals and hills. I took my first Body Ride class this morning, which combines light weights to work on your upper body while riding and still getting the cardio impact. We did the weights for one longer song and I loved it – very cool change of pace.

I’m not sure how I feel about the Barre Ride. You spend the first half of class riding your way to a great cardio workout then hop off the bikes for a series of barre-based exercises using the bike’s handle bars as a bar. I’ve never done this type of exercise, but will try to fit it in sometime during my intro month, and will let you know how it goes.

I love the high intensity, energetic atmosphere at spin classes. It can leave you exhausted and provides the best cardio benefits of the cross training activities that I do. I’m never bored, as can often happen on the elliptical at the gym, and both the 45-minute and one-hour classes are over in a flash.