<p>Yeah, Interesteddad, let’s not hurt ourselves. :)</p>
<p>iDad- that sounds like what I would expect from the Airdyne- ugh. You guys are funny. I can just see this broad jumping.</p>
<p>Speaking of broad jumping, one of my running heroes took a huge fall from grace today in case anyone didn’t see it all over the internet. Turns out Suzy Favor Hamilton, former running star for UWisc and post-college has enjoyed a second career as a high priced “escort” and just got “outed”. She is married with a child and her husband “did not approve” of this behavior but she did it anyway. Wow.</p>
<p>4 1/2 miles tonight fairly shielded from the 40mph wind gusts. 40 degrees. It wasn’t bad, but there were a lot of small branches on the path from the wind and with my ability to trip over specks of dust, I was extra slow and careful. Wore the headlamp. Tomorrow morning I might hit the magic number.</p>
<p>MOWC- I am not sure I could stay married to my wife the escort.</p>
<p>I saw the news article and remembered the name.</p>
<p>This is news? Sounds like she had some personal problems and chose not-the-best outlet to deal with them.</p>
<p>^^^ I know, really. Looks like all mention of her has now been removed from some of his online bios. What a nightmare.</p>
<p>musicmom, glad you enjoyed your first foray into spinning. My daughter is the manager of a stand alone spinning studio in Philadelphia and I have done group indoor cycling classes during the cycling off season for 19 years. Just remember that you control the intensity of your workout. As MOWC suggests, focus on your cadence (pedaling speed) and set your resistance where you need to to be able to match as best you can the cadence the instructor has called for. Just because the instructor says to set the resistance at a certain numerical level or to increase it by a certain number of turns doesn’t mean you have to! Also don’t hesitate to sit out a particular interval if you feel it is too much at the moment. If you feel you aren’t ready for it, just sit and spin in a manner that’s comfortable for you and jump back in on the next interval. It’s your workout and the great thing about spinning is that you can benefit from the motivation and camaraderie of a group exercise class while tailoring the workout to your needs. Also, if you haven’t done so, invest in a pair of padded cycling shorts. Your butt will thank you profusely!:)</p>
<p>Michael- thanks for your thoughts.</p>
<p>This am, I am ABSOLUTELY feeling the need for padded cycling shorts!</p>
<p>D and I did an “intro” spinning class a few years ago - it is tough! Unfortunately, not nearly as popular in my area now and hard to find classes - everyone wants to Zumba (sp?)</p>
<p>I did spinning a few years ago and the padded shorts are a must have. It was a huge workout. My friend on the cycle next to me used to sweat so much it took two towels to mop up the floor around her afterwards. </p>
<p>My knee started hurting and so I stopped. I think if I’d taken the time to tweak my shoes and the settings on my bike I could have tracked down the problem but i really don’t want a knee issue so moved on to other types of exercise.</p>
<p>So, I’ve had two parties this holiday season and I’m really, really worn out physically. Hosting parties is good exercise!</p>
<p>I hit 2000 miles this morning! Tomorrow during the memorial run for Sandyhook I’ll hit 2012. </p>
<p>2 interesting conversations- This morning: H “You hit 2000 early!” Me “No. In 2009 I hit it during the Monkey.” H “This isn’t 2009.”</p>
<p>Last night- D is doing the Runner’s World Holiday Streak (Thanksgiving to New Year’s).<br>
D: “I’m ending the streak tonight. It’s too nasty out and I just got home and we have to go out tonight.” Me “Oh, you can do it. Just go out in your parking lot.” D “Besides, I just took my vaccination pill and my stomach will be upset.” Me “Oh, OK. At least you would be close to home!” Later on facebook D: “I HTFUd and ran 1.1 miles to keep the streak going.” Was I surprised? No.</p>
<p>I used my mom’s Wii Fit last night. It was so much fun that I went for much longer than I should have. My body is paying the price this morning lol.</p>
<p>MOWC, congratulations on 2000 miles! What an accomplishment.</p>
<p>2,000 miles.</p>
<p>Congrats…</p>
<p>5.4 miles per day is a lot of running.</p>
<p>2000 miles is not optimal mileage for me. It’s too much. I’m going on record here with that so y’all can remind me if I try to do it again. I think 1700-1800 is a little easier on this old body. I didn’t get hurt this year, but I sure got tired! I don’t think the streaking takes nearly the toll that the mileage does. One of my young running friends hit 3000 today, which is about 600 miles low for her. She’s 28, though- and fast!</p>
<p>Congrats MOWC!</p>
<p>MNK: If you don’t mind sharing, what’s the name of your D’s cycling studio? I have a D in Philly who’d love a dedicated cycle studio. When she was in school, she went to a place on the Main Line that was spinning and yoga, but now she’s in the city and that place is too far away.</p>
<p>Going to call walking around the mall (Xmas shopping) my exercise for today–did sign up for spinning tomorrow.</p>
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<p>Congratulations on the 2K. I’m not sure I drove 2000 miles this year! :)</p>
<p>I wonder if over-training could contribute to your slower speeds in recent outings. I try to follow the discussions at strengthcoach.com and the rage this year has been tracking “heart rate variability” – day to day fluctuations in response to exercise to flag when athletes are getting beat down. It’s all way over my head, but the upshot for some of the proponents, including some pro soccer trainers, is that less training produces better results. One recent example from a gym that trains top-level cyclocross riders was a six month training program that cut the riding by a third for one rider and produced a category win in the largest race on the west coast by a margin of 25 seconds.</p>
<p>He had her riding just three days, in addition to weekend races. One day just a 60 to 90 minute long very slow recovery ride. One day doing short 10 to 30 second power intervals. And, one day doing 10 to 20 minute aerobic threshold intervals. The other two days, doing no riding at all, just strength training, mostly upper body because the legs got it from riding.</p>
<p>The general consensus seems to be less training than athletes thought they should be doing. And a mix of intensities. I’m guessing this is even more true for geezers!</p>
<p>Of course, you enjoy running every day, so I don’t know how you could go about changing!</p>
<p>Early Christmas gifts for myself arrived yesterday…</p>
<p>-The Grid foam roller (travel size)
-Exercise mat
-More mini-bands</p>
<p>Perform Better has a nice sale going and free shipping :)</p>
<p>Bromfield, the studio is Body Cycle located at 1923 Chestnut St. They cater to a broad spectrum of fitness levels and goals and the instructors offer a diverse array of class styles that will meet the needs of those looking for just a good aerobics exercise class to those training for competitive outdoor cycling events. All of the instructors at a minmum are spinning certified and some, such as my daughter, are certified in additional fitness areas and some are nationally ranked competitive cyclists. Body Cycle has a website and Facebook page. My daughter is Shoshana and she would be happy to answer any questions your daughter may have after she returns from vacation on Sunday.</p>
<p>For those who have experienced knee pain when spinning, seat height and fore and aft positioning can be a cause of this. Also, many spinning instructors like to load up on the resistance and have the class grind out a slow cadence below 60 rpms in order to simulate hills. Slow cadence and high resistence is a formula for knee problems. It’s also not the way cyclists actually ride hills. Cyclists in the real world spin up hills for good reason. As a general rule, don’t allow your cadence to fall below 60 when under load. Tighten the resistence so that your legs burn but you can maintain the speed. If your instructor insists that you are going too fast and wants you to reduce your cadence to 40, find a new instructor!</p>
<p>^^ I knew you would explain it better than I did!</p>