@sf

Haha. OK. Spose. Am 55. Will giv up 4thwth.

Rest day today at home with the DB10 who has a cold. Nasty NNE wind is finding every gap in the house. I am going round with a mastic gun. I know ventilation is important for old houses (1865-ish tho' can't remember properly) but I shan't get all the draughts. And they are bad for my rehab phase.

Hope to be moving again on Monday but who knows what the weekend will bring?

Sept. 24: 60 minute zumba class with my dd (15)

Totals:
21 days
1183 minutes

Sept 25:
7.25 mile run
1:11

Wonderful run even though it was a warm, humid morning. Fall is due to arrive tonight in the form of a cold front -- hurrah!

BTW, IM38 n I LV 2 TXT!

Sept. 25:
45 minute spin class, which left me looking as though I'd walked fully clothed into a shower because of the summerlike level of humidity
60 minutes Pilates class

Around the corner from the gym, a small farmers' market sets up every Saturday through early November. I walked over there after my classes at the gym, trying not to bump people in the considerable crowd with my rolled-up Pilates mat, buying apples & Chinese eggplant & green beans & Delicata squash & tiny little sweet onions shaped like flying saucers. What a gorgeous day. No trace of fall at all, except for the bounty on the card tables.

Sept.26:
45 minutes spin class
60 minutes weights

Another Sunday morning in Tricia's House of Pain. (That's what I call the Sunday 9 AM spin class.) I'm thinking about trainers who lead exercise classes. There are those who give us pretty much the same routine in every class. I feel as if they may be teaching too many classes, or are burned out, or have somehow mentally checked out & are bored with what they are doing, but unable to recover the spark of enjoying themselves. Then there are those who are enthusiastic & change it up at every session; I can see they've put a lot of thought & imagination in coming up with the routine. A good teacher is a good teacher, no matter what the subject. The difficult thing is when I like the person, but find myself admitting reluctantly that he or she really is not such a good teacher, that there are others more gifted. Personal loyalty keeps me attending the class sometimes. I mean, I still get a good workout. But it's not that amazing experience of discovering I'm capable of something unexpected that I've never asked myself before. After a really good teacher's class, I feel as if I've **grown** in some way, not just gotten a decent workout with my heart rate at a good level for a certain amount of time.

Maybe life is too short to spend time with instructors that aren't really inspiring.

26 Sept

All day, with regular rests and ice pack, working on firewood in the garden. Firewood cardio intervals with saw and axe.

Saef - is Tricia inspiring or merely painful? I remember you mentioning Pilates classes aggro about two teachers. Is your thinking related to that? Should I stay or should I go go? (Wham?)

On the one hand... Some people want to feel that they are "making progress." That means being challenged; pushing; going harder, faster, heavier, longer. Always looking to do more.

On the other hand... Some people aren't interested in constantly pushing the envelope. Some days are more challenging than others, and those other days may simply be routine. Effort isn't measured by how big a weight gets lifted, how many reps are done. Progress is keeping going every day in some way.

There may be other hands.

It's mostly about what makes one feel satisfied, and why.

Jay

Sept 25:
4 mile run with stroller
43 minutes

Saef, I keep thinking you should have a blog. Or a book. I love your writing.

I, too, seek out classes for inspiration or at least the motivation of an instructor who will call me out if I'm just phoning it in. My gym has some really good instructors, but it seems a lot of the staff are leaving to go to a new "boutique" gym. Hopefully my favorites won't go!

Saef, I have a friend outside of Philadelphia who is a spin instructor of the inspiring variety. She spends hours finding the right mix of music for the session she wants. She definitely does not do the "cardio to music" type class but one that balances the ride and the music. I love her classes - too bad Philly is 3,000 miles away.

Saef-- I know exactly what you're saying! I always get a good workout but some workouts are just inspiring, uplifting and amazing while others are just a workout. I've often wondered how much $$ the instructor makes per class. I have a feeling it isn't that much but I may be wrong?

Sept. 25: 42 minutes run, 60 minutes hike
Sept. 26: 60 minutes elliptical

Totals:
22 days
1345 minutes

Have decided to give myself a full week off the gymn after hitting the wall last Wednesday.

Mon 27th: another blissful day playing with firewood in the garden. The DB is still off school with a cold so we are doing physics and history. That's demolition work (levers) on part of an old conservatory with his great grandfather's crowbar. I love this kind of thing. It gives me great satisfaction (see Jay's post above).

I actually went back to the gym today for 15 minutes of cardio. Considering I've maybe exercised 5 times in the last 2.5 months, this is a big deal. More tomorrow.

9/24 - none
9/25:
* HIIT run: 5 min warmup walk, 20 min 1:2 intervals 6mph/5mph, 5 min cooldown
* the rest of NRLW S1W6B: 3x10 lunges w/2x15# dumbbells, alternating with 3x12 swiss ball crunches w/2.5# weight
* stretching
9/26 - none
9/27 - 30 min dog walk

Sept. 27: 60 minutes arc trainer, resistance at 8, intervals
60 minutes circuit training class

Tonight the instructor, Tom, worked with me on the form for one station in the class. Apparently it's a kick-boxing move. Jab, jab, lift knee, lift knee. So it looks as though I can learn what I want to call choreography, I just need to slow it down. I seem to take longer to break it down in parts & then reassemble it into a smooth unified motion.

I swear that my extremely active life is some form of karma for all the gym-hating & gym-avoiding & forged notes excusing little Saef from gym all though junior high school & high school.

Silver, yes, Tricia is inspiring. The pain in Tricia's House of Pain comes from pushing myself hard. She puts a great deal of thought into her spin routines, and she aims high -- she leaves it to her students to lower the resistance on their bikes if they're not up to what she's asking. You're right, I'm ruminating about the various personalities at the gym. I've bought some personal training sessions & now I get to choose who I want to work with for each session. There are trainers with whom I'm friendly & who have given me great incidental advice, and there are trainers who I really want to work with one-on-one, and the two don't always match.

JayEll, you're right. People want different things from their exercise classes. And different kinds of instructors meet those varying needs. I'm looking for a challenge. Weirdly enough, I think even gender roles may have something to do with it. I'm a Daddy pleasing little overachiever, and a male trainer may get something interesting out of me. I really connote strength-training with maleness & maybe that's why it draws me. My workplace is male-dominated & I spend a lot of time proving I'm "as good as" or better. Probably this carries over.

Amy-the-Same-Seven, thanks so much. Maybe I should get a blog going. But I like the equality here. Everyone can write something. No one owns it. It's not about anyone in particular. (I always thought blogs were a little narcissistic.) Amy, I'm afraid I may be going to one of those little boutique gyms where your instructors are fleeing. At least, the price is boutique-y. It costs too much per month. But it's two blocks from my home & very walkable, and that's my No. 1 criteria for a gym: Proximity. (Even over equipment state.) I have to use it.

WaterRat, you are lucky to have that inspired friend who's a spin instructor. When you meet someone like that, it's like you understand suddenly there's a whole new level to the game. And once you know that, how good it can be, if you're like me, it's hard to go back & settle for less. I understand totally why you wish you could be in Philadelphia working with her again.

Michele, I suspect the money in this is not particularly good unless you are a star & training models & actresses & actors. And there are never many stars. I imagine it's one of those fields that people go into out of love for it, rather than entirely for money-making, because they want to do it more than anything, and supply of instructors outstrips demand, keeping wages low. If an instructor is charismatic, people follow her & fill her classes to overflowing, & she probably has a further financial advantage due to being more likely to be picked for one-on-one personal training.

ETA: Damn, this looks like a blog. Sorry for the novel.