Today (and by today, I mean Monday, April 1st, when I actually started writing this post), I celebrate a return to routine and regular blogging.
It has been a while since Weigh-In Wednesday # 9...but I have been busy, busy, busy. On Thursday, March 21st, my Montréal bestie Del came for a visit. So rather than be anti-social and write into the void, I hung out with her instead.
I must say, I'm more disciplined than I thought.
Not only did I get in a 2 hour workout before we went to the airport to pick her up, but I managed to drag both her and my lazy bones to the gym the next morning for a cardio machine/aerobics class/cardio machine sandwich combo to which my super bendy yoga-going friend was not accustomed. 1/2 an hour on the elliptical, an hour of aerobics, and then 1/2 an hour on the treadmill...no big deal, for me...kinda big deal for Del, but she soldiered on! Here's something I didn't expect, I am pretty good at keeping a straight face when I screw up a combination in Manda's class when I'm alone, but I burst into uncontrollable laughter when I see my best friend making up steps and looking back at me. I usually utter some sort of disclaimer to those around me when I attempt the dancy classes, but we should have been placed into a soundproof room. Haha...
Good friends will come visit you, great friends will attempt massive amounts of cardio with you...except if you decide to attempt a sp!n class.
No doubt you are aware of Del's first indoor cycling experience - Sit 'N' Spin - so you can imagine my excitement when both she and my mother said they'd come and try "weaving" with me. Monday morning started off similarly to Friday morning, mandatory elliptical, then aerobics, back onto the elliptical for a bit more...and then hop off, join Del on the bleachers for a bite to eat...at which point she breaks the bad news. She will not be attending the class with me. Then I get a text from my mother saying that she's punking out as well. Really? How bad is this sp!nn!ng? Haha...I mean, I've ridden a bike before, I should be fine, right?
There is this complete knockout that always sneaks into the back of Manda's aerobics classes, and after one such class, I spoke with her:
"I want to be you when I grow up." I told her.
This woman is gorgeous. She has a rock solid bod, fantastic hair, wonderful freckles, and if she's at the Crystal...then, no doubt, you can hear her laughter...and to top it all off...she's really, really nice! Turns out Teresa teaches indoor cycling. Of course she does. She gave me a two-week pass to Quadra Sports & Fitness so I could give indoor cycling a try...and she gave me 3 other passes too so that Del, Stéphane, and Barbara could do the same. Yet, I am the only "trooper" apparently.
Monday, March 25th, 2013 - my first class with Teresa @ Quadra Sports & Fitness - the ninja has already warned me that the seats are small and hard, the classes are tough, and that I should probably do half of what she tells us to do...just to get used to it. Trepidation? Sure. Del, also reminds me that the clock will not advance and that it'll feel like I'm going to die. Nice. So, I choose my bike with a due sense of exhaustion and dread. Teresa makes the necessary adjustments, and I hop on...and think, wow, this really is a hard and tiny bike seat. There are so many fans set up in the racquetball court in which the class takes place, but I am at the edge of them...so I will sweat. WHAT AN UNDERSTATEMENT.
Sitting up on the seat, we do some arm, shoulder, wrist stretches while our legs fly around at uncontrollable speeds...or perhaps that's just me. Tension set at 65%, so pretty much...none...and then we are meant to slip one foot out of the straps and place it on the centre bar. Um...what? Haven't we all had that super scary kid-injury that involves a pedal hitting a shin at a truly unsafe velocity? I think it's usually on one of those red and white tricycles as the pedals are attached directly to the front wheel and when you're flying down Roslyn Avenue...anyway, that's all I can think about. But, I do it...warming up one leg and then the other. And then we're off...or we would be if the bikes had two wheels and weren't stationary.
This is what you need to know about indoor cycling classes, it's fast and furious and fun. Once you get over the fact that all of your weight at times will be on the ball of one foot, and if you don't lower your seat enough it will constantly poke you in the arse (lesson learned)...it's really quite enjoyable...and you sweat A LOT. Warm-up consists of lower tension sprints, hill climbs, and circuits that include push-ups, hover, hover sits, only the leg on the left, only the leg on the right, stand-up, sit down, fight! Fight! Fight! The tension moves from 65% which takes very little effort to 95% which is like pushing through wet cement. It's constantly changing...as is the routine. Pull up, push down, pull up, push down...breath in through your nose, out through your mouth, in through your nose, out through your mouth. Thank gods our feet are strapped in securely, unfortunately, I have no feeling in them at this point. "Weaving" is part strength and part speed...all endurance...and then it's over.
I honestly couldn't believe how the time flew...but then again, it was new and exciting and Teresa does a good job with the encouragement. Of course, she IS at the front of the class going through everything that we are going through...does that mean that if I continue sp!nn!ng, I get to look like her? Gah! I hope so. That's motivation enough.
Visit Suzie's blog...
OMG..what if I don't have a pretty face?
www.whatifidonthaveaprettyface.blogspot.ca
Also...FYI....from an email I received from Rhona Attwater, Executive Assistant to John R. Baudhuin, CEO
Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc.
2111 Narcissus Ct., Venice, CA 9029
Phone: 310.740.8834
Fax: 310.823.7408
E-mail: [email protected]
www.maddogg.com
Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc. are the creators and exclusive owner of all rights to the popular physical fitness programs branded under our federally registered SPIN® and SPINNING® marks, among others, for indoor cycling and products and services related thereto. The founders of our company, Johnny Goldberg and John Baudhuin coined the terms SPIN® and SPINNING® for indoor cycling in 1992, approximately 20 years ago, in Santa Monica, California, and grew the brand into a worldwide phenomenon. We currently have over 200,000 licensed SPINNING® instructors in over 35,000 fitness facilities in 80 countries. The generic term that should be used is “indoor cycling” and not Spin® or Spinning®. Our Spin® and Spinning® trademarks are not the generics term for indoor cycling.
Now, we all know what to call "weaving."