Kick Spin Stretch

Great Combat class today. Tanya went way back and found some great old releases.

Spinning felt pretty good, tried to keep it in check, but the girl sitting next to me had her legs going like crazy and as much as I tried to keep mine slow and steady you can't help synch up with that kind of energy. It's just the nature of group ex. Held back until the last couple of tracks and then gunned it.

Yoga was great as always.

WHAT I ATE TODAY
Apple, Banana, bowl of cereal with soy milk, candy, 12" Quizno's Pastrami on whole wheat.

Spin Cycle

Spinning tonight Tanya. Pushed the tempo a bit. Had a good time.

Ate junk food with my best bud Mike afterwards 'cause I deserved it! No Guilt.

WHAT I ATE TODAY
French Fries, Onion Rings, Cherry Coke with whipped Cream, Homeburger on Whole Wheat with all the fixin's, waffle with ice cream and fruit and hot fudge, flax bagel with peanut butter, healthy cereal in soy milk.

The Universe sends Mixed Signals

I showed up at 2 different Pump classes on Tuesday night, at McCaul and Eaton Centre and they were both packed to the rafters, so I assumed that was a clear message that I should give my body a break. I did half of a spin class nice and easy at Eaton Centre and then headed to Sharon's Flow class at McCaul. She didn't show up, so I ended up teaching a Combat Class. It was great. I felt really really good and I managed to get through most of a class with a little over a half dozen Flow people who had never done Combat before being able to follow along. Quite a rush.

Got up early with Jen and did Yvonne's Yoga in the morning to stretch everything out.

Indoor Inline went pretty on Wednesday night.

WHAT I ATE ON TUESDAY
veggie curry chicken, veggie orange beef, hot and sour soup, rice

WHAT I ATE ON WEDNESDAY

Dragged Myself Today

Felts sluggish today. The hip was acting up this morning.

Did most of a Combat class at Manulife noon hour with Tanya. Took it easy, low impact options.

We were stuck in traffic for an hour trying to get out of the city, so we got to practice late tonight. Part of me was glad that we got a bit of a break since I was so wiped from yesterday, but another part of me really wanted to get the most out of the evening.

I feel like I've been holding back from the starts at indoor this season because I'm just so nervous about collisions going into the corner, but today I decided that the best way to avoid that would be to try to get ahead to the corner. The starts was one of the things that we had drilled quite a bit with Camilo and Leo in the summer, so it felt pretty comfortable.

CRASH TEST DUMMY! Had another good spill coming into the corner and accidentally took out poor Jacky who was coming in on the outside of me for some reason or other at the exchange area.

Something about the excitement of our simulated race conditions really push the "chasing" instincts in the heat of the moment rather than more strategic thinking and my focus on tecnique just goes out the window along the all the track pattern drills. Morgan kept reminding me to stay closer to the wall, which would have given me better passing opportunities and helped me to stay in control around those corners. I'm once again diving into the cones. Aaron reiterated that afterwards as well and illustrated with his fingers, which was a good way to help me "see" the track pattern in my head for future reference. It's all about using the "Everything Drill" and applying it to these conditions depending on where you are in the pack.

I came out of practice feeling like I had a pretty good relay today, despite the spill, but just thinking about it some more there isn't much to be proud of to be able to keep up with the rest of the group if I'm letting my technique fall to pieces. Keep Smooth. Square up everything. Get Low. Focus on the appropriate track pattern depending on if I'm ahead or looking to pass someone. Stronger lower strokes rather than more strokes.

I'm falling back into the habit from my rec marathon days of just muscling through rather than finessing.
Work Smarter, not Harder.


WHAT I ATE TODAY
Apple, Pad Thai, Spicy noodle, curry and lemongrass chicken, orange drink, Flax Bagel with light cream cheese, apple, 2 slices of peperroni pizza, strawberry drink.

Quarters Back Monday

I am very blessed to have close friends who are willing to tell me when I'm being an idiot. Good friends who are willing to speak that candidly should be treasured.

Vanessa wrote me a long email after reading this blog basically confirming much of what I've been thinking about in terms what I'm doing wrong with my training regimen. I'll be going over it more carefully over the next few days to help me re-assess and re-evaluate my priorities. (Thanks V! You are awesome.)

So I guess the first thing I need to do is stand up and make a declaration to the room.
"I am an excercise addict." Sunday night it was pretty clear just how much of an Endorphin Junkie I am, when I was completely and utterly physically and mentally wiped after a 3 hour skate session, yet I felt really really Great. Of course I could barely drive at that point and accidentally ran a red light and had a near collision with another car.

Train SMARTER, not HARDER. I've always known this was what you should be doing, but I've always had trouble sticking to that kind of mentality. Most coaches/trainers I've had in my life have been in the Suck It Up and Push Through it school.

Saturday was a full rest day, which I needed, but I overdid it on Sunday.

It was a pretty late night on Saturday (dinner, Lemony Snicket concert, Carolyn's Brother's birthday). It pretty much did me in when it was time to get up at 7:00am to head to indoor inline practice. I don't think I would have gotten up if Jen wasn't getting up so early to head out to do the Chilly Half Marathon. She didn't like my idea to Bandit the race, so I decided I would go to indoor inline practice since I had to be out in Burlington in the afternoon anyways.

Very quiet at Scooters this morning. A pretty casual skate with a bit of interval training. Then we did Eric G's kid/beginner class and practiced some basics. I appears that the proper technique for "the Circle Drill" has completely fallen out of my head after not doing it for so long. Eric had to go over the basic steps with me again, but I felt really rubber legged at that point from doing it wrong.

I didn't have a nap and as I was driving out to Ice, it was obvious from my driving that the lack of sleep was catching up with me. For the sake of my safete and others, I really need to be fully alert and not so tired when I drive.

We did some interesting drills during beginner ice practice. Basically skating on the outside edges. My balance is still way off on the left.

Jared's advice: Full pushes to the side. Less choppy.

Stayed for the advanced practice and did the laps and relays. Stayed and helped put the mats away which was an extra workout I didn't anticipate.

WHAT I ATE ON SATURDAY
Spinich, Tandoori Chicken, Butter Chicken, Garlic Nann, tomatoes, Lentil Soup, Sag Paneer, Lamb, Pakoras, chicken wing, Ice Cream, Oranges, Expensive Deserts, peppermint tea. Mango Lassi.

WHAT I ATE ON SUNDAY
Flax Bagel with Cream Chese, crepe omelette with bacon, mushrooms bologna onion, waffle with custard cream banana strawberry kiwi, mango smoothie, berry juice, Peanut Butter Bagel, apple