SIR BIKES A LOT!

Rubber meets road, or dirt, is the focus today!  I would like to alert all locals of the amazing dirt and paved trail opportunities for biking and running.  What better way to do this then to highlight a local race!

A few weekends ago I had the pleasure of learning about the many types of mountain bike racing!  There is downhill, cyclocross, and also short course.  I know I missed some but I look forward to learning more.  Right here in Greensboro, and Guilford county, mountain bike racing is alive and well.  My friend Kelly is in the process of trying out racing as a possible next step in her fitness.  She has a serious passion for playing outside on her bike, but is not sure if she wants to add racing into the mix.  She invited me along to check out her short course race at Bur-Mil park.

Watching Kelly race was an exciting experience!  I had the chance to be part of the pre-race hangout with Kelly.  There was a mini-huddle of participants gathering after she warmed up. I really liked the supportive atmosphere shared by all the female participants.  They were trading encouraging words, comparing clothing layers, and strategizing about how to deal with the course conditions. Kelly participated in the open category which is for beginner racers, and in this category the kiddos, ladies, and fellas all race together.

This was a timed short course race.  The length of the race is time-based, 30 minutes, and it was a 1 mile loop around a part of the trail system in Bur-Mil Park.  The leader typically does about 6 laps.  This race series was called Biking in the Woods.  And in this particular race,   Kelly finished second!  Way to go, K-money!

Here are some pictorial displays!

Smiley Kelly

Game Face Kelly

Start Line!

However, if this sounds right up your alley, another mountain race series starts up in April, on Wednesday nights.

Here is the link!
http://www.racinginthewoods.com/tmtb-series.html

Other fun info nuggets include three local groups that may peak your interest if you like seeing the the world on two wheels.

The Greensboro Veloclub has something for all levels of riders!  This is more of a road biking group.

http://www.greensborovelo.com

If you prefer your tires nubbly, check out the local Fat Tire Society.

http://www.greensborofattire.org

Multi-sport Spice

The Triad Triathlon Team does group rides and so much more, ride along and maybe get interested in an your first sprint triathlon!  There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced triathletes in this group who do all different kinds of triathlons. AND an indoor tri coming up next weekend!

http://www.triadtriteam.com

Lastly, Buri-Mil park is a feature packed park.  It has quick access to great trails (Big Loop, Little Loop) and the Atlantic-Yadkin Greenway.   Other features, especially nice for totters,  it has a waterpark, a playground, a picnic area, and real bathrooms.

http://burmil.guilfordparks.com

COMFORT ZONE CHAMPIONS!

I am listing some submission action from Brian, Jen, and Cathy.  Enjoy there personal moments!

A note to all the contributors: All your stories are great!  I appreciate the reflection and time you put into sharing about yourselves.

Brian, knowing what a consistent and dedicated runner you have become makes this story extra fantastic.  You are one of my sources of inspiration.  Go Trainers, Brian is now running sub-8 minute miles (avg 7:30's I Think) and has completed a few half marathons and a marathon...he is just getting warmed up.  He is also a great friend period and super supportive of all his running buddies. He is the definition of community.  Thank you!

Brian's story

This actually from the first time I went running in April, 2011. Rewind back to December, 2010. I went and saw my dad, who happens to be my doctor. He drew my blood for my physical, and I was shocked with the results. My cholesterol was pushing 200. He told me I needed to exercise and eat better. I half listened to him. However, when spring came, I decided to try running. It was cheap (free) and something I could do on my own. 

My coworker Randy who has been running his whole life took me under his wing. I ran with him for the first time, and I was barfing after 8 minutes. However, I forged on, and completed 2.5 miles at around 12 minutes a mile pace. That entire run, I wanted to quit. It was flat out awful. But I competed it, and I was hooked. Every time I want to quit, I think back to my first day, and remember what it took to complete that first run. :)

Jen, wow, what an adventure you described.  My husband and I went mini-golfing once and I totally had to lean over the rail to retrieve my ball from the blue colored pond.  You traversed a swollen flooded river on another continent.  You and your guy scaled Patagonia, in Chile!  I think you need to write us a weekly "amazing things my spouse and I do column". Thank you!

Jen's Story

Hey Beth!  I picked a journal entry from one of our fun trips pre-kiddos. This is from a backpacking trip we took in Patagonia in 2008.

     

We woke up at Las Troncos with more rain and wind AFTER waking up in the middle of the night to pee to see partly cloudy skies with no rain. Eddie went to look at the Rio Electrico and sees that it had definitely risen. When I asked him about it, he replied, "Remember the bank we were standing on to get water? It's not there anymore." When I looked, he was right. Sketchy! So, we started to get organized to get out of there at 715 in the morning-probably our earliest start. We finally got going at 9:00. It always amazes me how long it takes to get everything together. Our first obstacle we came upon was that the little bridge we had crossed was flooded over from the rising river! Luckily, we had two other options and the first one worked. We hiked along for a while through a nice forest which protected us from the weather. We eventually came to another area that was flooded out (but not as bad) and managed to negotiate it over a few logs and rocks. After about an hour and 40 minutes, we came to the park boundary, and then the trail began to traverse parallel to the river. We came to a granite section of rock that we had to rock climb up since the lower part was filled with water. We had to bushwack our way through some bushes at another section. We finally came to the dreaded river crossing near the Glacier Piedras Blancas. We had to negotiate up and over some boulders, then came to the actual crossing. At this point, we have been pelted by rain for about an hour and were soaked. I was hungry, cold, and subsequently tired. Ed found a path with large boulders to potentially cross the water on. He went first and ended up taking off  his pack to slide down a boulder to get to the next one. Then, I had to slide the pack down the rock to him. He then swung it over to the next rock and almost lost it. At some point, his Crocs came off and luckily, just sat on the rock. He then threw his pack onto the next rock which was on the bank. For a second, I thought the pack was going to come off the rock and take off down the river. So, it was my turn. I started feeling scared. 

     I managed to slide down the rock with my pack on. I then had to jump onto the last rock to safety. It was at this point that I lost it. I was crying, "I can't! I can't!", but Eddie urged me on, saying, "Don't think, just jump!" So, I cleared my head for a second and jumped to safety, sobbing. My main fear was not that I was going to get hurt, it was that Ed was going to get hurt trying to help ME. I don't know  what I would have done if he fell in that river. We quickly recovered to get to the next crossing which I didn't even remember since it had probably been just a trickle. We had to walk across this one in knee to thigh deep cold glacier water. Ed did it twice since he carried his pack first, then mine with me behind him, holding onto him, walking sideways. Then, we were REALLY cold. I lost it a few times in the next hour it took to get to the next camp which had a shelter for climbers during the climbing season. At one point, I think I started to really lose it and started to hyperventilate. I was a mess. I was also upset with myself for crying in the first place. We got to the shelter and took all of our wet clothes off, replacing them with our warm, dry layers. My body temperature finally increased to normal. We drank some hot tea, made some more hot tea, and ate like savages. It took us 4 hours and 20 minutes to get there and we really took only one break. We hung out in the shelter for 3 hours! By the time we set out, the skies cleared (at least in the direction we were headed) and we hiked the last 2+ hours, staying dry. All of a sudden, fall was here. The smell of fall was around us. I love that smell. 

Cathy's Story

Cathy I loved how you described your transformation!  You are the winner!

Here is my entry for this month's go training contest.  If I win you can quote me on this (well you can quote me on it even if I don't win) - I have been really out of touch with exercise and and eating healthy over the past few years. It has been a long time since I've enjoyed, really enjoyed working out.  But writing out my thoughts about being pushed out of my comfort zone with exercise really reminded me how much I miss the exhilaration that comes with a great workout.  Very inspiring and hopefully something I can build on to start rebuilding my health.

It was a challenge to isolate the one best example of pushing myself out of my comfort zone in terms of exercise because my mentality toward physical fitness has evolved so dramatically over time.  I have never been a "natural athlete."  Exercise seems to come easily for some people who flawlessly execute yoga poses, gracefully jog down the sidewalk or cycle through an intense spin class while barely working up a sweat.  I'm not that guy.  I have been known to loudly fall down in yoga class, I lumber down the street when I'm jogging or come out of a spin class easily confused for someone exiting the pool.  None of that has every stopped me from exercising but it always lingered at the back of my mind, this sense that I had to try harder in order to succeed. 

I have also had a complex love-hate relationship with exercise.  My first experiences with working out go all the way back to fifth grade and being at the very back of the pack when we had to run the mile in gym class.  It wasn't the best way to form a positive relationship or appreciation for what my body was capable of.  Moving into adulthood, I was very all or nothing with exercise - I was either working out for 90 minutes every day to the point of exhaustion or I was stationary on the couch. Neither of which are healthy approaches to working out.  

All of that changed when I found kickboxing.  I was so nervous my first class.  Everyone was incredibly nice and so encouraging.  They were also in amazing shape and watching the end of the class before me I could see the class would be intense.  When it was my turn to hit the floor for the 50 minute session I took off my shoes, strapped on my gloves and grabbed a punching bag.  We started slow with some basic punches and then moved on to basic kicks.  Having my fists and feet come into contact with the bag was such a release!  All of my negative energy and stress was channeled into the bag.  We moved on to more complex combination moves and while I was a little clumsy at first, when I would get the move down I felt graceful.  Graceful!  Me!  It was exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time and I slept better that night than I had in years.  

Needless to say, I was a convert.  I attended classes diligently 2-3 times every week and I got better.  And better.  I felt strong.  I felt healthy. And my love of exercise flourished.  Kickboxing changed everything about how I looked at exercise. Suddenly workouts were hard but fun and I left with more energy than when I came into the studio.  And my appreciation for all that my body is capable of grew exponentially.  I was a natural. 


Once again, it is truly a treat and honor to be invited into people's life for a little story telling, thanks all and stay tuned for March contest!

Gravity Gym in NYC!

OUT OF TOWN GYM REVIEW!

Gravity gym is pretty rad.  This past weekend was a great adventure in mid-town NYC for myself and my online workout buddy Angie.  We wanted a hotel with a kickin' gym and a spa if possible and also a location proximal to Central Park.  We found all these features in the Le Parker Meridien. We met up from the wilds of North Carolina and Michigan for a trifecta of wurking it, exploring and shopping, and eating amazing food.

http://www.parkermeridien.com/gravity/

We both love to go "meathead' in the gym and are pretty competitive.  SO we immediately ditched our baggage, real and emotional, in our room, a mere ten minutes after we hopped out of our taxi and b-lined for a 2:30 class called American Psycho, more on that below!

Gravity gym has a plethora of work 'em out tools.  Cardio equipment in multiples!  And I never saw 100% capacity on the cardio machines, although I wasn't always around at rush hour.  A full free weight area, yea!  And extensive resistance machines if that is your scene.  I prefer body weight exercise and free weights, so the machines are never a must have for me, but the ones at Gravity were in good condition.

Cardio equipment is also high quality, no wobbly treadmills, or sad ellipticals.  Also found here for heart pumping goodness were an arm ergometer, and rowing machines; not your typical gym fare.

This gym also has a pool, and a full group fitness class schedule.

The group fitness rooms are on the smaller side, maybe 10-20 max capacity.  Here is were I think there is potential to grow.  Our instructors often did not demonstrate our exercises, and did not really do anything besides hold a timer.  NO form correction, NO verbal encouragement, NOTHING besides start and stop.

I have had a variety of instructors along the ability and experience spectrum but none as spartan with instruction as my experience here.  I only interacted with two trainers but I was not impressed.

We did a Tabata style class that was 20 seconds on all out, 10 seconds off to recover the whole time! I felt that the exercises were randomly chosen and they were trying to drill us into the ground versus maximize our success.  Ang and I , Meathead 1 and 2 gladly took the abuse! BUT I have had better, more balanced workouts.  Also no real warm-up to this class.  The kicker was when one of the trainers came up to me and stretched me waaaayyyy beyond  my end range of motion.  I was too shocked from the workout to verbalize a no-thank you but not impressed by that!  We were laughing all weekend at how not-too-out-of-shape folks ruined themselves within two hours of landing in NYC!

We also did a spin class were the instructor did not bike along!  Yikes!  Once again, our instructor was just calling out tension levels and time frames but once again no verbal encouragement or push.  I have had so-so spin classes and spin classes that border on a spiritual experience because the instructor engages and pushes you to your limits!  I would have liked a little more meatiness this workout.

From a technical aspect, they need to improve there sound system in the group exercise room.  A huge gym like this should have an integrated professional jam set up!  Half the fun of group exercise is great motivating music, which we definitely had, but you also need to hear them.

The bones of this place are great.  This gym is outfitted with high quality equipment and all the usual suspects for getting fit.

I would like to keep sampling the platter of offerings for the classes!  And see what other things are out there as far as options for instructors.   A great instructor pushes and makes you come out of class successful and pumped, and I just did not get that experience here.

Definitely utilize this awesome gym but maybe ask around at the front desk for who is an engaging instructor who really interacts and is fun.  Gravity totally redefines working out away from home with this multi-level workout space, no sad garage sale T-mill and one ten pound dumbbell tucked away in the bowels of the hotel.

We also had amazing massages at Moonshine spa tucked nicely inside the gym, so the Le Parker Meridien is full of all kinds of goodies.  Also Ten Over Ten, located in the hotel, does great mani's and pedi's and blow outs are available at Dry Bar (also in hotel!), a do-up-the locks station!

Lastly, verbal hug to poor Madeline, our video sampler extraordinaire as the cold monster has stopped her in her workout tracks.  We wish her quick healing and look for her updates once she feels human again!

Madeline versus Jillian, 90 day Body Revolution Week 3 continues...

Phase 1 Workout 4

Sunday, February 24, 2013

I have really similar feelings about this dvd and Phase 1 Workout 3, so this post won’t be particularly long. I was not gasping for air throughout the entire thing (just during the cardio intervals – wow!), but it was still a REALLY challenging workout.

One thing I really like is that Jillian is taking some of the moves from Phase 1 Workouts 1 and 2 and building on them, so you can actually see your strength improve.  I also love all the coreshe incorporates into Workout 4. You are in plank for almost every circuit, which is a killer for your core.

These dvds are definitely more difficult than 1 and 2. My muscles were screaming by the end of Workout 4, which is not the worst thing in the world. Oh, and you don’t need your resistance band for this one (workout 4), so that made me happy (why do I hate that thing so much?).

So far, so good. I’m actually looking forward to doing each of these dvds 3 more times!

Guest Blogger Madeline Update on NEW VIDEO from Jilly B's 90 DAY BODY REV!

Madeline sent me this goodness yesterday!

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Phase 1 Workout 3

I graduated to new dvds! I was so excited to try out a new dvd today. 

I am SORE. My arms are killing me, and I did this workout about 3 hours ago. I cannot imagine what they will be feeling like tomorrow. My overall thoughts about this workout: it’s REALLY tough, but you don’t realize how difficult it is until you are about halfway through. 

Positives: She begins to incorporate a little more plyometric (jumping) moves, and she does a lot of upper/lower body at the same time. She also incorporates a lot of yoga into this one – downward dog, plank, and crescent lunge. The cardio intervals were a LOT more difficult, I was panting at the end of each one, but for the most part, I was not gasping for air throughout the workout. It was a serious challenge. I also like that she uses new moves I’ve never done before – it really kept me interested through the whole 37 minutes (a little longer than her promise 30).

Negatives: There are a couple moves that I just did not feel like I was doing properly, particularly the one move where she uses the resistance band (which honestly, I hate). The other negative thing has to do with something she says. At one point, she’s trying to motivate you to push harder, and she says “I don’t want you losing just 1-2 pounds per week – I want to see you losing 5 pounds a week!”

I’m sorry, but I’m 130 pounds. If I’m losing 5 pounds per week, we have a serious problem and I should probably go see a doctor. I think she forgets that some people may use these dvds just to stay in shape or tone up a bit, not lose a ton of weight. I don’t know why, but that comment threw me off for a second.

Overall, this is a arm and quad KILLER. And it only gets harder from here.

I can’t wait!!

WEEK 2 = DONE! Guest Blogger Madeline sums up her first 14 days!

WEEK 2 = DONE!

I have officially completed week 2 of Body Revolution! 10 more weeks to go!!

How I’m feeling: Really good! As I progressed through the strength dvds, I realized I was becoming less sore each time I went through them. Can’t wait to feel the burn when I start Phase 1 Workouts 3 and 4 tomorrow and Sunday.

DVD observations: I’m starting to get a LITTLE sick of the Cardio 1 video (which I have to do throughout the next two weeks as well), but it’s only 26 minutes, and it’s a KILLER workout in only 26 minutes. Plus, with the 2 new strength dvds over the next 2 weeks, I think I will be just fine with the Cardio.

Body observations: Nothing too obvious. I’m sticking to my diet as best I can (though my fiancé brought home GIRL SCOUT cookies the other day! I’ve been resisting the temptation), and I’m feeling my core getting stronger.

Overall: Loving it so far. This is the first time in several months I’ve worked out 6 days per week, and I think it’s because the dvds are only 30 minutes, and the schedule is organized REALLY well. See you tomorrow for my thoughts on Phase 1 Workout 3!

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I am gonna two-cents it again!  I have done all three workouts making up phase one and I would like to throw in some pros as well.

Jillian uses simple moves that are challenging but give you room to grow.  Initially, you can do a lot of these moves with lower poundage weights, but there is endless potential to really push by adding heavy weights or trying the advanced version.

I feel like J-monies gives lots of alignment cues and continually goes over do's and don'ts for form!

INSPIRATION!

Madeline is a guest blogger tracking her experience as she takes on Jillian Michaels 90 day program, Body Revolution.  Enjoy her latest entry below.

Also check out her cooking blog, http://thelawsofthekitchen.blogspot.com, for interesting and creative kitchen adventures!

From Madeline:

This morning I did Phase 1 Workout 1 for the LAST TIME! I am 2 workouts away from being DONE with week 2!!

Phase 1 Workout 1 is TOUGH. I had to really push this morning to get through it, and I wanted to share what did get me through it:

In one of the dvds, Jillian says something to the extent of “if you constantly remind yourself of the ‘why?’ then you can get through any amount of the ‘how?’” Basically, she’s saying if you have an end goal and you constantly remind yourself of it, how you get there will be less of a struggle. With a goal in mind, you can push yourself through these tough workouts because you know where you want it to lead you.

My “why?” is twofold: 1. I want to look great on my wedding day – those pictures last a lifetime – and; 2. I want to reach my ultimate size/weight goal that I have been hovering near for almost 2 years. Those “whys?” are all I need to push just a little harder through these workouts.

Just wanted to share! Hope everyone is having a great week.