Aug. 7: 45 minutes spinning class, with the poor woman just ahead of me on my right stopping several times & panting hard, or barely peddling while seated when the rest of us were up & hill-climbing. But she made it through to the end. Good for her. "As you are now, so once was I," I thought. On this date in 2007, I couldn't have even managed what she did.

60 minutes Pilates class. The Pilates War at my gym is in full force. One faction of gym members really likes the instructor who replaced the regular instructor when she went out on maternity leave. The replacement is charismatic, energetic, talkative, full of theories, throws in advanced moves & pushes us harder. I like her, too. But some in that class like her so much, they're angry the regular instructor came back. They think her class is way too easy & not brainy enough. Through their protests & comments, they got the gym to keep the new one for Thursday, and they pointedly don't show up on Saturdays for the original instructor's classes, trying to send the gym a message. I'm conflicted. I like both, personally. I agree one pushes me harder & I value that. I am a little uneasy about the Cult of Personality they're developing around the replacement instructor. And yet, she's gifted ... and I want to reward excellence ... Oh, my head aches. I want to make it impersonal & all about training. But it isn't. It never is, with teaching. It's intensely personal. Because it's a kind of relationship.

Aug. 8: 45 minutes spinning class
45 minutes weights

Sun 8 August: 10 mins sculling; 40 mins yoga / stretching; 20 mins brisk walking.

Trying to fit something in between meeting the needs of a number of people in their 80s, one who's 10 and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. I keep telling myself I'm doing well.

Aug 6: dog walk
Aug 7: 5k race, new PR 34:45! Plus a dog walk
Aug 8: half-assed swim (not a lot of laps, but I got some coaching from MIL who is a former college swimmer and the lifeguard who is a current college swimmer), dog walk

Aug. 9: 60 minutes stationary bike at the office gym, resistance set at 8 & intervals, trying to sprint for a few seconds periodically, going just about 14.10 miles
45 minutes Pilates routine. Now I'm keeping a rolled-up yoga mat in my cube for these sessions. My second-best one, the one I ran over with a vacuum cleaner, which left a dark streak across it that won't come off & a kind of scrape mark.

Aug. 10: 15 minutes rowing warmup on the gym's new Concept II rower, then 45 minutes weights

Back to the gym in the evening for 45 minute spin class. After a deadline-driven day at work today, it felt good to hit those pedals during the sprint intervals.

so, my movement is not as vigorous or as lengthy as I had planned.
aug 6, meandering with children
aug 7, my own biathelon: as I had a peach cobbler in the oven and was out in the middle of the lake when I remembered it needed to come out, swam back as fast as I could and dashed up the beach and grass and path to the house fearing disaster but finding it was not ready. whew! (it was beyond fab, donut peaches oooh yum)
aug 8, bike ride with children and dh, 5 miles
aug 9, 20 push ups and tri dips

August 9: NRLW Stage 1 Workout 1A
<-- that is how I feel about this workout. I have been away from the weights for too long.
2x15 squats, first set with 40#, second set no weight and only squatted halfway (the 40# set was too much, my muscles cramped and refused to move without immense pain afterward)
2x15 push-ups, first set on the bench, second angled higher, alternating with
2x15 seated row, first set at 22.5#, second at 32.5#
2x15 step ups, first set no weight, second 2x5#, alternating with
2x8 prone jackknife with swiss ball

9 August: 45 mins yoga & stretching. Say 10 mins sculling and 30 mins brisk walking.
10 August: nothing so far (travel). Will encourage myself to do yoga.

KC: love the idea of your biathlon. You've laid down a benchmark now. Take a leaf out of Jessica's book and you'll beat that hands-down next year.

saef: I love the Concept II. It's my preferred way of doing intervals.

y'know silver, I had the same thought of parlaying my mad dash into a real bi or tri for some time in the future-- had that thought along my just completed 2 mile run/walk

Great minds, you know. Definitely.

I've been remiss on my reporting + out of town...

Aug 6 - rest day
Aug 7 - 4 mile run
Aug 8 - very, very slow 10-mile run.
Aug 9 - rest day, but swam in lake with family and kayaked with nephews (so fun!)
Aug 10 - 4.5 mile run

Didn't manage yoga. Trying to settle in - cat-sitting in London for a week. Will def do it tomorrow am.

11 August: 45 mins stretching and yoga; 90 mins (say) brisk London walking - more steps than usual.

(I do miss 4-5 days/week gymn visits but any movement's better than none, I suppose.)

August 11
50 minute tempo run ~4.7 miles

Maybe some yoga later. Definitely some hand weights.

Aug. 11: 60 minutes stationery bike at the office gym, resistance set at 8, just over 13 miles. I sweat heavily & had no pep today. When I was done, I just felt tired, rather than energized, as I usually do. Lately, I do a Pilates routine afterward, but I just stretched on my mat & left. Even felt daunted by changing in the locker room.

This is unusual. Either I'm coming down with something or I'll end up getting my TOM a few days earlier than the calendar says it should arrive.