WEDNESDAY, 02.17.09 Raining. I was supposed to swim but instead I told myself that sleep would be more helpful. I don't regret because I worked hard in cycling class with Laura. My heart rate was up to 183-188 about three times during class. If only she played better music, I could've had my heart rate to 195+. Which reminds me, I need to learn more about my heart rate monitor than just knowing how to turn on the back light and reading the time. =T Chris (from Team Lipstick) greeted me today in the locker room. I've seen her around a lot in the gym before and always assumed she was training with Laura. From the gym you can easily tell who's training with Laura. They always have their HRM on and are quite lean - me being the exception. I'm a wannabe - for now.
THURSDAY, 02.18.09 HA! I made it to swim this morning! Equinox's 54th St. & 2nd Ave. club has an endless pool! I put my HRM (heart rate monitor) to use. In cycling class I hit 185, 183 and 188 during the three spikes of our ride. That's 95% - 97% of my maximum heart rate (which is 193). My resting heart rate is 59, though I probably need to do a few more test run for accuracy. We ran outdoors again. This time we did an Indian run - where the last person in the line must run and make it to the front lead of the line. Then we keep rotating while we run along the lake. Yep, my legs are sore, yet again... but thank goodness for personal stress relievers.
FRIDAY, 02.19.09 Yay! It's Friday! I'm more excited than usual. This week flew by fast! Tri-Body class at 6:30 a.m. was a tough one - but I never expected it to be easy. Next time, I need to pick up lighter weights because her sets are super long! Diana Ineman, the instructor, reminds me of Laura, our lead coach. She seems to be from Cadence (state of the art bike facility in NYC which I'll be going to tomorrow! Psyched!). The fire alarms went off while I was enjoying my warm shower. I ignored it until a lady came down to tell me that there was a fire upstairs and I had to leave the building. Yet, I took my time eating my egg whites. That was a safety concern; I really shouldn't have done that.
SATURDAY, 02.20.09 Saturdays ride was a challenge; two loops around central park was probably around 13 miles. We pacelined and took turns at the lead before dropping off the front slowing down on our left. During my lead, I didn't call out the runners in our way with enough time and our team had to react and quickly swerve around them. That was my bad. I was somewhat afraid to ride behind Steve because he is a big guy. If anything were to go wrong I'll break my ribs especially if he were to fly and land on top of me. Scary thought. But where's the trust? After our ride, I slowed my bike a few feet away from where our group was stationed. I thought it was a good idea because I'm still practicing my clip off, slow, lean forward and land. Next thing I know Marianela (another Roubaix) came and crashed into me from behind! And to the ground our bikes went. Good thing we we're both already clipped out. It would've hurt more if we weren't. Everyone backed out of Cadence today, so I did too. We didn't practice drinking water while riding today. We didn't practice turning our heads and reading while riding either. =( maybe next week. I need my hand warmers for next time. I decided to ride the west side highway back to KC's apartment. From 67th St. to Canal St. was actually a nice ride with a view - until I lost my way. I decided not to ride along Canal because of the traffic and I ended up on Broadway and Laffayette. Later that evening I joined Laura's swim class at Equinox, Greenwich Ave. It was a flagship so she had to sign me in as a guest. Again, I was last in line at the beginner's slow lane - it's okay though, that's where I belong. We practiced finishing our strokes hard in the end. We also learned swimming on our sides to be able to have further reach on our strokes. Laura pointed out that I kick way too hard and too much - not expending my energy efficiently. At the end of class though, she said "I'm very proud of you Joy." Not sure if it was becuase I've improved in my swim or if it was because of my obvious effort in my struggle to learn how to swim.SUNDAY, 02.21.09 I was supposed to run but I didn't. I should've. But again, I don't regret. I got an hour of nap time instead. I needed that nap. My body was drained.
MONDAY, 02.22.09 Swim! Thought I'd be efficient by putting on my swimsuit before heading to the pool this morning. Unintentionally forgot to pack my bra and went to work without them. How unprofessional. =T I went light today. Swam 15 laps (5 of which was with a pull bouy) in a half an hour. I guess it takes me approximately two minutes each lap. I had my own personal reserved lane! I ripped the swim cap though =T Now I need to get another one. Luckly Reebok had a spare. My new cap will be a silver one. Today is our "off day" so I'll be doing what I'm best at...relaxing! I was 15 minutes late for yoga class so I wasn't allowed to enter the room and interrupt the class. I contemplated on hitting the pool again since I already went this morning and I'm going again at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow, BUT I threw myself in there and took another 15 laps (5 of which was with a pull bouy). This time I was a little tired and not so motivated and it took me about 40 minutes. Nutrition class was informative. A lot of detail and numbers. Sometimes I wonder if counting the grams and the servings is really that important. I try to eat healthy every day with fruit, veggies and protien in my diet. Maybe I'm missing some extra carbohydrates to give me that energy. Lauren A. stressed not to skimp out on carbs for this type of training where consistent exercise lasts over an hour.
