Oct. 27: 60 minutes Zumba

Totals:
21 days
1272 minutes

Friday, Oct. 28:

45 minute spin class


This is turning into a sort of "rest" day for me, in that all I do on Fridays is get my cardio done early in the morning. I am thinking maybe I need to work on abs afterward, to get something else in, as I am really missing my old twice-weekly Pilates classes.

Can I say again how the spin class members intimidate me? Again at the beginning of the spin class, when we are just sitting upright, peddling, warming up our legs, they were talking about their marathon training. One of them was disappointed in her time because she was just slightly to slow to qualify for Boston. The others were encouraging. They talked about how they loved half marathons, because they "leave you with something afterward" and are less exhausting. Also, after class, the instructor was talking about her foot injury with a very compactly muscular triathlete guy (who usually stays on the bike after class to get through further work on his own), who was giving her advice on treating it, beyond rolling it over an iced water bottle. He was talking about fluid buildup, which was interesting, but I did not want to obviously eavesdrop.

Some class members run on the treadmills for a while after spin class. They wave to me as I head to the stretching area & then leave, feeling like I am skipping out early.

I'm fascinated by the difference between the culture in my current and former spin classes.

In my old neighborhood, the 6 AM spin class people are not necessarily marathon runners. They are just people who work long hours at their jobs, getting home too late for evening exercise classes, and the gym is on the way to their train, so they work out, shower & make up at the gym, then walk a half-block further to the train to get to work.

Here, where people don't walk as much (except pairs of women out for exercise), the early-morning spin class people seem to be the really serious athletes.

So, the norm on exercise & training & fitness varies according to your peer group. Whereas in my old spin class, I seemed to be training hard, in my new spin class, I am not. Not at all.

Saef-- your new spin classes would intimidate me! Most of the folks in my spin classes are not serious athletes. There are a few that wear their biking gear so I assume they bike outside competitively but they don't talk about it.

Oct. 28: 60 min. elliptical

Totals:
22 days
1332 minutes

Saturday, Oct. 29:

60 minutes Cybex arc trainer, hands-free, hill intervals, resistance at eight, and this really worked me
60 minutes beginner Kripalu yoga class, with an instructor I hadn't worked with before. She must teach the 9 AM and 4:30 PM classes, which are during my working hours. (In fact, a great many of the yoga center's offerings occur during my working hours.) She was really good, as they all are.

Sunday, Oct. 30:

10 minutes rowing warmup on the Concept 2, to get to 2,000 meters, at a rate of about 39. I want to row more often, as I used to, but can't always find the time before 5 AM to drive over to this gym, which is farther than the old beatup gym in the village
45 minutes arm, shoulders and biceps routine. Again I am thinking I need to do this twice, as P90X tells me to, but I was short on time.
60 minutes vinyasa yoga, very challenging, particularly pigeon and crow. I was not very birdlike today. Anything in hips, butt and upper thighs, I can't do. Probably not coincidentally, this is my "zone of shame," the part of my body that I dislike the most (other than loose skin). Being a pear has something to do with this.

Oct. 29: 95 min. Bikram Yoga
60 minute walk

Oct. 30: 40 min. elliptical

Totals:
24 days
1527 minutes

Oct 31:

45 minute spin class, with me wearing my "Dawn of the Dead" t-shirt, which I got from the gift shop in the Zombie Museum in the Monroeville Mall in Pittsburgh, where "Dawn of the Dead" was filmed. Part of my family lives in Pittsburgh, and has been there for a good while now. Have I mentioned that friends of my cousin and his wife were extras in "Dawn of the Dead"? And that when they watch the movie, they point them out to me? One was a zombie, but the other two were in the scene where the good ole boys out in the country are getting their rifles out to do some zombie-shootin', and they are popping the tops on their Iron City beers.

60 minute beginning Kripalu yoga class, the start of my seventh week of trying the practice three times each week. A sparsely attended class because of Halloween.

Oct. 31: 60 minutes (30 body pump, 30 cx)

Totals:
25 days
1587 minutes

Not my best month-- missed too many days but hopefully November will be better!