taking a compliment

I find that taking a compliment is a really tough thing to do.  Today I had two friends post on my facebook status that they thought I was inspirational.  Rather than just say thanks and bask in their kindness I felt really weird about it.  I kept thinking, me inspirational?  Really?    I am not sure why it so tough for me to accept a compliment, I don't recall being overly rejected as a child, though I will admit, that parts of my childhood made me feel less than accepted.  But as an adult I guess you don't hear compliments like you did when you were a kid getting stickers saying WAY TO GO, YOU ROCK, YOU GO GIRL, or even better, YOU'RE AN INSPIRATION!

So after an hour of feeling really weird about the compliments I have let them soak in and I am smiling, thinking HELL YESS!  I DO ROCK!!!  :-) 

So thank you to Ashli, Joe, Cara and Dani for the Facebook stickers.  I really appreciate it.     I am happy to know that my posting about my crazy workouts motivates you to get moving too.  I want all of my friends to be happy and healthy.  In the end that is all that matters.

time to focus

Its been a while since I have last posted and I will have to admit I have become highly distracted with work, travel, kids, more work, and even reading a book.

Yesterday I finally (after many days off) got a work out in, 1 hour 45 minutes on a spin bike.  I got up on the bike and went to turn on my iphone to listen to music and whaddya know, I forgot to charge the damn thing.  So I sat there and debated, screw the work out, its hard to spin with no music and motivation, or suck it up and deal and ride any way.

So I stayed on the bike and people watched and listened the plethora of chatter in my wee little head.  Man I really have a lot going on in there.

What I realized though in that hour in forty five minutes was my struggle to FOCUS on the task at hand.  To stop and just think about riding that bike.  To use my legs all the way through the pedal stroke.  To keep my form strong, shoulders relaxed.    That aspect of the workout was 10x more taxing than the ride.

I guess in the world we live in today we live to be distracted.  With twitter, Facebook, IM, email, cell phones, etc, its rare that we just do one thing.  I am one of those multi-task until you drop kind of people, but this training made me stop and think, am I really being effective with all that sh** going on?

I am glad I stayed on the bike.  It made me think about when I am going to be out on the road, for 8+ hours, and I need to get real with myself and focus.

I am going to apply this more to my day to day activities and thoughts, adjusting to one thing at a time.

weather permitting

So the last 3 days here in lovely Colorado have not been great weather days, rain to SNOW to more rain.   Not seeing the sun for 3 days I will also admit makes just nuts.  So as an alternative I have worked out indoors at the gym and well, it kinda sucked.  I was so in the frame of mind that spring is here and now I can be out, but then I have to be back in....sigh.

Today I am supposed to get 30 miles in on the bike and I am staring at over cast skys and feeling the biting wind.  I think a double spin class followed by another 45minutes on my own will have to do.    I am too much of a wuss to deal with crap weather.

what does distance really matter?

Today was my first outdoor ride of the season and I tinkered around at my computer this morning trying to "map my ride" to make sure I got close to the 15 miles I was supposed to ride.

So off I go and ride my loops just to get the feel of the bike on the road.   I rode pretty well, not completely fearless, but I didn't have a death grip on the breaks, nor did I have a panic attack when a car would pass.   When I got  back home and  to my laptop and go to log my ride only to find out that I only rode 9.5miles, not the 15 I had in my head.  GRRRRR.  Now normally I would turn around and go back out, but the rain came in, and I didn't want to go and do another 6 miles in the rain.

Perhaps tomorrow I will go after those other 5.5 miles (after a 4 mile run).  But for today, I am going to be content that I got my butt off the couch and on the bike and road with confidence for 9.5 miles.  Today I chose confidence over distance.

group energy

I am a firm believer in group energy.  Thus my love of Bikram and other group yoga classes.  Today on the training docket was to go to spin class.  I really do love my gym, Lakeshore Athletic Club, we have an amazing facility and some pretty amazing instructors.  When I have gone to spin classes in the past I had always had a female instructor.  And I have always enjoyed those classes very high energy, and just butt kicking intensity.

Today, though was different as the class was lead by a a male instructor, and I will just let him be nameless.  But all I can say, is wow on the group energy....   When he said, in his low voice, glistening with sweat, "How was that intensity?  Ready to do it again?"  I had to refocus, yes we are spinning here!    But it was an interesting interaction between the instructor and the group.  Everyone seemed ultra focused and trying so damn hard to please.

I also understand why women now go into that class with make up on and their hair done.

I can say I did have a stellar spin work out, over 650 calories in 60 minutes.  This may have to be a class I visit more often....

rest day -Monday

I think having a "rest day" is just plain difficult.  I am so sore today from running for the last two days (and lunges with medicine ball the day before) that I dont feel like I am resting.  I am having a RECOVERY day, that is painful, like to stand up, sit down, climb stairs, sit on the toilet (sorry TMI).

I had a day trip from Denver to Orange County today and thought not a big deal.    Wrongo.    Carrying a back pack through an airport in heels just sucked completely.  My calves, quads, everything were just pissed upside down and sideways.

I keep thinking that which does not kill me makes me stronger, right?  But jees am I sore.    Wait, did I say that already?    I think its cause I really hate lunges, especially with a medicine ball.

Back to workouts tomorrow, with special help from Coach Jen.......I am wondering if I should have gone to bed early so I can get up and go run????  Lord I hope not.  I really hope tomorrow is ride or swim, pretty please with sugar on top.

Running with a kid

Today I sprinted/ ran/jogged/walked the Broomfield Frank Shorter Race4Kids 5K with my daughter Riley.    She is 8 and this was her first race of the season with plans to compete in the Bolder Boulder and IronKids triatholon in August.   I wanted to keep the race fun and not stressful. So we set the goal of finishing the race without stopping, meaning no standing still or sitting.

What I found in "running" this race with her is that she (like many kids) only have two gears:  balls out sprint, or slow walking to catch her breadth.  When I tried to explain to her that we can run slowly, she looked at me like I was trying to tell her how to do it WRONG. 

This made me reflect on how we grow up and even as adults approach life.  Sometimes we are going so hard and so fast that we forget to slow down to take it all in.  And in an effort to go so fast we have to stop to deal with the pain (or other ailments) and we can't enjoy the moment.

We did find by the last 2K of the race that we could "run/jog" a specific distance.    From one set of cones to the next, and then walk quickly as a recovery on the next set of cones and this helped to keep the pace, but still allowed us to enjoy the really beautiful day and the time as mom and daughter.  She did SPRINT across the finish line at the end, ahead of me, but waited at the end for me to cross and gave me high five.

I am sure our next steps in training will have their challenges, but for today, we met our goal to finish, without stopping, and hopefully going at a pace that will allowed us to enjoy the race and remember our time together.

Next planned race is another 5K next weekend with both kids and the dog....lord help me - Canine Classic 5K in Boulder.