Training for the Arts

As I mentioned in this post, I'm really taking training seriously this year. I want to kick 75 miles in the butt. I appreciate the donations thus far (Tuesdays are going to be my "thank you" days, so stay tuned folks) because they literally got me out of bed this morning.

As I posted on Daily Mile, I did NOT want to get up at 5:30 AM to go to the gym. But spin class is on the calendar as a necessary activity for this endeavor. So I went. It was really difficult, but I went. And it was great. And got me through my day. So thanks everyone for keeping me motivated.

Tomorrow my "training" activity is the e Rock N' Run in Tosa, which actually has proceeds going to UPAF, so two birds, one stone.

Of course, you can always donate online here.

Or attend on  Friday, May 7, 2010 • 5:30 PM to 9 PM - Guest Bartending for the Arts @ AJ Bombers

thankful tuesdays: 30 by 30: 1/3 there

I guess my dedication to Couch to 5k and home cooking is paying off. I went to the doctor today and found out I've lost 10 pounds since I was there last month for my illness of doom.

I kind of hit the "reset" button on my life in 2009 and I'm glad that I'm taking it in a positive direction.

I am really thankful that I've been able to stay focused and motivate myself to go to the gym and moderate my junk food and booze intake. I'm really thankful for my friends who have been supportive of my efforts and my mom who has set me up with all the appliances I need for success. Special thanks to Becky who will be my CSA buddy this year and to Lars who is my virtual gym buddy.

Speaking of CSAs! If you want to be thankful for them this summer (and trust me you will be), check this out:

Saturday, March 7 from noon to 4 p.m.

Urban Ecology Center CSA and Local Food Open House

(http://urbanecologycenter.org/csa/csa.html)

I'm already signed up for a veggie share from Rare Earth again this year, but I'm curious to check out fruit, meat, flower and dairy shares they've added. I'll be heading over there around 1 p.m. on Saturday if anyone wants to go.

30 by 30: Couch to 5K

After having several friends talk up the ease of the Couch to 5k Running Program, I decided to try it for myself. I'm now in Week 2, and kind of enjoying it.

A couple of weeks ago I went to InStep in the Third Ward (also at the recommendation of several friends), and bought fancy new running shoes. I actually don't know if I've ever owned ACTUAL running shoes before. Definitely cross-trainers and basketball shoes, but this may be a new journey for me completely. The nice thing about running shoes is that my feet no longer kill when I run. So it's not that terrible.

I also bought a heart rate monitor to help me track my progress.

Well, I'm only on the second week, so it's not awful yet. The treadmills at the WAC are different than going outside too, I suppose.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

If anyone has tips, please leave them in the comments below.

monday munchies: culver's turtle sundae

Totally earned after an hour of racquetball and then a flat tire misadventure in West Allis, WI.

Thank God for Ted the Mechanic who stopped and helped out the non-mechanically inclined young professionals.

30 by 30: yoga one-on-one - PT II

Same thing happened this week. I was the only one who braved the elements and showed up for yoga class.

The regular instructor was back though and said that the holidays have a lot to do with it. I hope so. I really love having the 9 AM Saturday class available.

And I'm totally digging yoga. I'm learning to balance! And not fall over!

30 by 30: audio assault

Last night I pointed out that while I enjoy the idea of "nice," sometimes I'm not so pleasant myself. Few things put me in a foul mood faster than terrible music. I'm also not a morning person, so bad tunes before I'm fully awake also poison my day.

I thought I'd written before about why I attend the spin class that I do, but I guess not. It's not by accident that I go on Wednesday. Kelly isn't just a fantastic instructor, but she usually has an extremely palatable soundtrack for a 6 a.m. class. While I can handle the pop music of an aerobics class in the evening, in the morning I need something a bit more chill. She typically has an inoffensive mix of '90s folk-rock, world music and euro-remixed Madonna songs. Her tracks always flow together nicely and keep you focused on the "road."

This morning I thought she'd lost her mind.

We warmed up to some pleasant Eddie Vedder solo song, so I didn't think anything was wrong. But then came some crap-rock song as we got into our workout. Followed by my worst nightmare -- CREED -- the WORST BAND EVER. EVER. EVER TO EXIST ON THE PLANET OR IN THE UNIVERSE.  I didn't know what to do. I felt ill. And it wasn't just because of the 4-minute climb. I tried to sing another song in my head to combat it, but no Scott Stapp's awful vocals and terrible lyrics were raping my entire auditory system, I couldn't escape.

I'm not sure what followed immediately after. I mean at that point I was just glad for it to be over. We still had about 35 minutes left so I knew nothing worse could come on at this point. I was correct, but barely. We endured Big & Rich (but at least everyone knows "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" is a joke), some more crap-rock, Kelly Clarkson (okay, I'll admit, guilty pleasure on that one), Van Halen's "Right Now" (which actually did work well for spin), and that horrible "Sweet Home Alabama"/"Werewolves of London" rip off by Kid Rock or something like that. There were a couple techno-y remixes thrown in there, but in addition to being horrific, the playlist was super schizophrenic. Nothing flowed. It was like the devil took over an iPod shuffle.

Finally as we were winding down, and I was thinking about how I was going to have to find a new spin class (and it was a killer workout today too!), Kelly announced "thanks to Melissa for the guest playlist today!"

THANK GOD. My instructor has not gone insane, instead the girl I already don't like in the class just solidified her position as Public Enemy #1 (this girl REFUSES to have the fan on here when it gets warm in the room, which means if you're stuck next to her, especially when the sun starts streaming through the windows, you're liable to pass out).

Of course it took all I could to not shout out "NOOOOOO" when everyone complimented her on a "great set."

At least I have a work meeting with WMSE this morning to reassociate myself with safe and positive music. And I'm listening to TV on the Radio to clear my mind at the moment.

What is the worst "trapped" musical experience you've ever had?

30 by 30: if i can lift more than the temperature...

Although I went to bed early, I skipped the gym this morning opting for a little online bill paying instead. Why? Maybe because I checked the weather and it was TWO degrees.

New rule: If I can lift more than the temperature, I'll stay indoors until it's absolutely critical I leave the house (i.e. go to work).

It's supposed to snow this afternoon and I'm meeting a girlfriend for a drink after work, but I PROMISE I will go to the gym after that. When I'm already out and not risking hypothermia just for a couple of pounds.

I am doing spin class tomorrow though, so regardless of the weather situation I'll be there.

This is definitely the time of year I reconsider my residency.

30 by 30: yoga one-on-one

I lucked out at yoga class yesterday morning. No one else showed up, so I got a one-on-one lesson.

This ended up being extremely helpful as the instructor was able to watch and critique what I was doing in addition to going at my pace. She adjusted my posture at times and gave me the tip that during a plank, one's inner elbows should be facing each other. I really wish I'd known that earlier, as it made the dreaded plank much, much easier.

It's also amazing how in tune with the entire body yoga instructors are. Mine noticed that my left wrist  was "off" and asked if I was okay. I am perfectly fine, but this is the wrist I badly broke several years ago and had two surgeries on.

The yoga instructor also agreed with me on my opinion of the Pilates experience from earlier in the year.

As much as I enjoyed the personal attention, I hope this was just a fluke and they continue the Saturday morning class at the downtown WAC. It's the perfect time to do yoga -- detoxify from Friday and reenergize for the rest of the weekend.

weekending: santa edition

I haven't really been in the holiday spirit, but I have a feeling I'll get there today. After yoga at the WAC, I'll be meeting up with Monica and heading to Fat Abbey Bier Cafe for the start of Santa Cycle Rampage.

Tonight I have a dinner party and a holiday party. And tomorrow's the Faint at Turner.

BUSY BUSY.

30 by 30: every other day

Clearly I'm not at the gym right now. Wouldn't it be great if they added "blog machines" to the treadmill though? It would be way more useful than the televisions.

I successfully made it Monday and Wednesday and will make myself go tomorrow. I realize I said I wanted to hit 4/5 this week, but I think 3/5 isn't bad considering we had a major snowstorm on Tuesday.

For reasons about to be posted momentarily, I didn't want to have my gym bag with me today as I have to be at Bayshore at 5:30 p.m.

30 by 30: back again to the grind

Headed over to the gym for just a quickie workout this morning, as I must be at work by 7:30 AM. Trying to go 4/5 days this workweek. Slacked over the weekend, but I DID trek around town with Becky yesterday (post on our musueming coming tonight).

30 by 30: spin

Guess what everybody?

I got my butt out of bed (actually was up before Larissa's morning text) and went to Spin class at The WAC this morning.

The weather is fairly temperate this morning and it really is refreshing to walk through the city just before daybreak. Just me and the buses! Except there was this weird spurt of traffic today while I was trying to cross Van Buren. Usually at 5:45 a.m. I can jaywalk just fine.

This workout kicked me into gear, but I didn't die too much. It was interval climbs, so you didn't have the time to really realize all that you were doing. I ran out of water though. Does anyone have any solutions to rationing water during class?

30 by 30: mini work out

Only got to the gym for 20 minutes of solid exercise this morning, but I suppose that's better than nothing.

Hopefully hitting up spin in the a.m.!

30 by 30: pre-storm workout

I braved the increasing snowfall this late afternoon and dragged my butt the few blocks to The WAC. Was a good time to go since the place was pretty empty. Halfway there I realized I forgot my headphones, but luckily there was a spare set in the lost and found.

I tried to mix it up a bit in my self-guided workout and use my old personal training routine as a guide. I warmed up on the elliptical, did half of my "arms" weight training workout, a couple of laps on the track and then finished it off with about 15 minutes on the Precor.

I am hoping to get up early and go tomorrow, but since we're supposed to get 6"-10" of snow, I thought I'd stockpile some endorphins this evening.

30 by 30: zumbavel

Okay, now that I've had a quick cry I can happily report that I did indeed make it to the gym right after work.

I was shooting for the 5 p.m. Zumba class, but unfortunately the instructor was ill and the sub was not "Zumba Certified." Yes, apparently it would've been illegal for him to teach Zumba.

So instead we did Interval. Interval may be a Circle of Hell that was left on the cutting room floor. But, yeah, yeah, it was good for me, I didn't die, etc.

I have to comment again about how wonderful the staff at the Wisconsin Athletic Club is. You really feel like it's a place where they care about your overall well-being and desire to get fit, versus how much you can bench, how good you look in sporty gear, etc. I clearly was not cut out for the Interval workout, but you really do feel okay just going at your own pace. I also ran into my old trainer who gave me a high five for kicking my own butt back in gear.

30 by 30: hurried tuesday update

I could not drag myself out of bed in the snow yesterday morning, but successfully hit the gym last night for Zumba class. The instructor was awesome, and was 6 1/2 months pregnant, so she made you feel like a wimp for wanting to die. She also was NOT one of those skinny, perky aerobics gals so it was pretty damn fun. I also ran into my friend Jodie there, so it was good to have someone to be totally off-rhythm with.

Woke up early this morning, but felt I had too much to do before I could hit the gym. Especially since my week is thrown off by having to get up at 3:30 AM tomorrow morning. I do have my bag packed to go to the gym directly after work tonight. Hopefully that will tucker me out enough to hit the hay by 7 or 8 PM.

Have a great Tuesday! (thankful tuesday will be coming later too!)

maybe i lied...

Sorry folks, I won't likely be covering my promised blog topics from yesterday tonight, in fact I don't even know if I'll get my weekly Monday Munchies column up (but I'll probably stretch myself and try).

Why? Because I'm hitting the gym (could not drag myself out of bed this morning) for Zumba, and then meeting my wonderful friends at Tutto for the Packers on Monday Night Football.

I really owe it to my friends for putting forth a concerted effort to get me out of the house and not letting me sit around and feel sorry for myself.  Perhaps were tipped off by the prolific blogging? I think maybe I will date my blog actually.  It's pretty dependable.

30 by 30: break pass

This morning, even though I am up at the crack of dawn, I am using a "break" pass. I am extremely sore from spinning yesterday, and since this is my first week back at this whole regular workout thing, I thought I should probably not overdo it.

Yes, I may go back to sleep for 30 minutes or so.

30 by 30: you spin me right round - PT 1

I went to bed early. That made a big difference in getting up this morning.

Made it to spin class with plenty of time to warm-up. Eased into it okay, but then we did THREE climbs. By the last one I was pretty dead and the last 30 seconds of it I had to stay "in the saddle." But I figure, one goof in a 45 minute class is okay for your first time spinning in months.

A couple of questions for other spinners out there:

• How do you easily find your pulse while spinning? I can never find it and my counts are always off. I know I'm getting a workout, since I feel like I'm dying.
• What the heck is "rate of perceived exertion"? How do you calculate it? How do you do math while on exercise equipment?

I do need to start getting my stuff ready beforehand on the days I do spin and take it all to the gym. Rushing a bit this morning (blogging while my hair dries).

Tomorrow I *may* try to do some arm weights. Hopefully my little cheat sheet is still there. Also, my spin instructor told us that there's a new Saturday morning Yoga class. I'm really excited about that as the other classes they have are at terrible times, and I'd very much like to learn yoga. (I need to complete my hippie punch card).

30 by 30: back again baby

Same workout as yesterday, but like I said, I'm easing into it.

Tomorrow is the dreaded Spin class. I was keen on watching them today to pump (freak) myself up (out). According to the schedule Kelly is the instructor, who I really like and who generally does enough of a balanced work out that there are parts where I shouldn't want to keel over. Of course, there are a lot of climbs. I hate climbs.

I'm thinking next week I'm going to start trying the different morning classes, and then after that start mixing in the conditioning stuff I was doing before.

I debated giving myself Tuesday/Thursdays off, but I think temptation takes hold to easily then. Plus, getting up at 5 a.m. gives me a really good reason not to go out and to go home early. After Creative Council last night, it was off to home for me -- no beers needed :)