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Old 08-17-21, 04:24 PM  
Daphne M
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Northern Virginia
Hi all -- I read all posts at lightning speed because I haven't been online much since June. I'm getting caught up.

Vannie - Enjoy the new run schedule. Are you training for an event or for general fitness? I sympathize with you and Cyric. Even my morning walks have not been enjoyable due to the late July/August heat and humidity. My whole body feels like an armpit. I'm only motivated to get out there by the prospect of getting to pet someone's dog.

Pratima - Paddleboarding, family travel, back to school, kids sports, red cards -- busy busy times. I'm so glad you got to see Gail. What is it with Atlanta houses and marble floors? I noticed a lot of them when I used to visit family in Atlanta.

Alison - Your stressors made me tense up too! Plumbing and cars -- very stressful. But there's nothing like the threat of cycling 100 miles in 2 months to motivate you and get your butt back on the bike.

Me -

Due to hamstring injury, July was no rowing, no cycling, no running. About all I could do was walk and commit to lifting weights. (Spoiler alert: I did not in fact lift weights.) No exercise triggered bad eating habits. And then a root canal, temporary crown, permanent crown and lots of weird eating to accommodate that situation. I undid some of my 2020-2021 weight loss along the way.

I also came down with COVID in July -- we assume the Delta variant. (I'm fully vaccinated and probably got it from another vaccinated person.) Mostly equivalent to a bad cold and couldn't taste a thing, but the cough was bronchitis-like and had me worried, not gonna lie. Bad for 10 days. I isolated from Norm in the house as much as I could. Lots of distance, separate bedrooms, separate bathrooms, wore a mask everywhere inside, lots of handwashing. He didn't catch it. (He's going through radiation/surgery stuff so this was a huge relief.)

Now we're in mid-August, the hamstring is reaping the benefits of all my chiropractor's good work and it's close to full health.

So NOW I Have Workouts to Talk About at Last
  • Hydrow Rowing - The women's and men's US Olympic rowing teams (8 seat boats) filmed 6 outdoor workouts with Hydrow that were amazing. The men's were filmed in the Oakland (CA) estuary and the women's at Mercer Lake in Princeton, NJ. No music, you simply stayed with the team's strokes and followed the coxswain's commands. Awesome, awesome workouts, I cannot recommend highly enough. They varied in length from 1 minute to 10 minutes and let me tell you, the men's 1 minute challenge row was crazy. You basically start at about a 36 S/M, accelerate from there and then just try to hold on. I am sure my form was terrible and I averaged a 44 S/M. I probably looked like a crazed woman. But I earned the "Stroke of Greatness" badge and that's all that matters.
  • Cycling - Pretty sure that I am going to cave and finally buy a Peloton bike. I have a lot of good reasons for it but mainly it's because I feel retirement coming in the next couple of years and I need to buy ALL the expensive things before my income dwindles. In other words, fear of Norm taking control of the checkbook and that is a REAL fear, check-in buddies.
  • Running - Kind of pathetic. I'm doing a lot of 2.5 mile run/walks. It is what it is and it will gradually improve.
  • Strength - I am going to do it. Really. I am.
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Old 08-18-21, 05:55 AM  
AlisonH
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Northern Virginia
Daphne: Ugh! Covid + dental work + injury = not fun! Sorry you had to go through all that. I hope you and Norm are both doing well now. Yes, whole body feels like an armpit is a perfect way to describe this weather. I was hoping to get a break from it in New England, but we brought the hot and humid air with us. I think you’ll really like having a Peloton. As much as I love the spin bike I have, I thought it was great having that screen and all the metrics there. Plus it’s nice that it shows what the cadence and resistance should be in case you weren’t listening to the instructor, which often is an issue for me on my 5:00 am rides.

Speaking of 5:00 am rides, I did 2 30-minute Peloton rides this morning to kick off the 8-week century training program I found. I know I need to get on the bike outside, but not in this weather—at least not to start the training. The program is one long ride per week, one long-ish ride with speed intervals, and 3 60-minute spins. I can do that. It recommends upper-body strength training but not lower. I don’t want to give up my Sunday runs if Jean and I ever are both in town the same weekend again, so I’ll keep those in there as well. I haven’t run in quite a while, so they’ll be slow run-walks whenever we start up again.
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Old 08-18-21, 04:10 PM  
Daphne M
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Northern Virginia
Alison - Believe me, I am the last one to push you to get outside for your century training. I'm a cycling weenie. I like indoor training because it takes less time and I don't have to worry about cars or potholes. But I know, you've got to do some outdoor training to prepare for an outdoor century. Like you, I am not looking forward to 5 am workouts again when we eventually return to work. I'm always up that early but that doesn't mean my body is ready for hardcore exercise that soon. Do you all have a RTW policy yet?

Waves to Pratima and Vannie


Me - I'm in easy workout mode, which is just lovely and I may stay here forever. Indoor Peloton rides usually 10 to 30 minutes and only the instructors that make me happy. Rows are 10 to 20 minutes and a cooldown. Runs are mixed with walking for the first 2 to 2.5 miles and then just plain walking if I go any further than that. Strength 2x weekly, no more than 30 minutes, using medium-ish dumbbells or machines at the gym. A lot of mobility and stretching. A little core work. It's well-balanced and I'm sweating but I will need to amp things up a little to help get some of these extra pounds off.

Peloton bike - Thanks for the vote of confidence on buying one, Alison. I haven't bought it just yet. Over the weekend, I "casually" mentioned to Norm that I'm thinking about it and he took it in stride. BUT I have to give it a couple of days before pulling the trigger so that it appears that I really am "thinking about it" when you guys know perfectly well that this has been inevitable for at least a year.

I finally figured out how to configure the bike in my space, so now my biggest worry is that the metrics and leaderboard aspect will suck the joy out of it. You see, I like to pedal like I'm Dorothy out for a ride in Kansas with Toto in my basket. I'm good with that for now, but when I'm publicly outed I may get sucked into the competitive vortex and I really don't want to do that. So we will see how that goes.

Onward and upward, tomorrow is a gym day with Monica. (Unless she is sick.) I will mask up. All equipment is wiped obsessively but they haven't gone back to distancing yet. Really high warehouse ceiling helps but no clue what kind of HVAC they have and that's probably the most important factor. Ugh, will this COVID ever end?
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Old 08-23-21, 05:58 AM  
AlisonH
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Join Date: Jun 2002
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I made it through my first week of century training. It was pretty basic—3 “easy” hour-long rides, one more hour-long ride but with sustained speed pushes, and 1 hour and a half-long ride. I did them all on the spin bike with Peloton. The schedule made it so most were pre-dawn, but even if not, I just can’t with this humidity. I know I need to be prepared for any weather the day of the ride, but I’m just not there yet. Plus I love riding with Denis, Sam, Bradley, Leanne, and Ben. It’s hard to get motivated to just go ride.

The long ride increases by 30 minutes each week, which is a lot, but that’s what I get for only training for 8 weeks. I mapped out a schedule that SHOULD work for me, but the way the last month has gone, I’m nervous.

The plan has upper-body strength training 2-3 times a week. I didn’t get that in last week, but I did start this morning with a short UB strength workout on my owns

Daphne: We have a RTW plan—we’re in phase 3.2 of 3.3. But the definition of each phase keeps changing, and unofficial sub-phases keep getting created. So I go back the very last part of phase 3.3, whenever that is or whatever that looks like. I’m in NO hurry! Last week’s Capitol Hill events made me even less ready to go back. Whenever I do go back, we’ll have a lot more telework. I’m hoping to only go in once a week, but nothing’s been approved yet.

Pratima: I hope school is going well. DD starts her senior year today—the earliest we’ve ever started school. She’s really stressed about being back in-person for the first time since the pandemic started.

Vantreesta: How’s the running plan going?
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Old 08-23-21, 02:20 PM  
Vantreesta
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Snowman Land :)
Second virtual Getting Buff 5k is in the books! It also happened to be the second most miserable run of the summer, I think! So hot. Weather 81/86, hum 73%, wind 8 (supposedly), partly cloudy. 4 min wu walk then 3:1 intervals to start but last mile had a lot of extra walking. At 3 mi I just gave up and walked the last bit. Left calf cramped on first run interval so at the next walk break I paused Garmin and stretched both calves on the curb. Paid close attention to it the rest of the run so I didn't aggravate it. I know I should have done the warmup I've been doing but I needed to get done ASAP and it was already so hot I just had to go do it. I had at least been walking around at the grocery store and didn't just jump off the couch and run!

Garmin stats: 3.1 mi in 34:49, avg pace 11:14, best pace 8:10. Not my worst 5k ever but definitely not my best either. Glad I got it done! It felt like a zombie mission in the truest sense: just survive!!
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"God, please help me to be the person my dog thinks I am."
"You can't run from your problems. But you'll both feel a little lighter when you get back." ~New Balance shoe ad
You don't have to be fast, just keep moving forward.
Note to self: You don't get to complain about things you won't work to change!

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Old 08-23-21, 04:24 PM  
Daphne M
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Northern Virginia
Alison - I love that you consider an hour ride to be "easy." But I guess they seem that way when you consider how many hours it takes to do a century ride. Might as well hold off until the weather is better for those outdoor rides. We're lucky to have rails to trails like the W&OD and the closed loop at PWFP for riding, cause I can't stand navigating traffic, it really terrifies me.

I wouldn't have the fortitude to do an outdoor ride in this nastiness either. According to my weather app, it was 90% humidity this morning. So your daughter just had her last first day of FCPS -- awesome! I really feel for these kids with all the uncertainty around COVID added to all the uncertainty around college.

It sounds like you like the same Peloton instructors that I do for cycling: I pretty much rotate from Ally to Denis to Bradley. For variety I may throw in one of the Jess's or Matt W or Sam Yo or Ben. I have different favorites for other activities like treadmill, strength and stretching.

Vantreesta - That's a FANTASTIC 5K time, especially in those summer weather! Way to go! Hope you treat yourself to something special today as a reward.

Waves to Pratima!

Me - (Squealing) I ordered the Peloton bike. I mentioned to Norm that I was thinking about it, then waited a few days to put in the order so that it would appear that I actually *was* thinking about it. (When really I'd already made up my mind, I just hadn't had the courage to push the "BUY" button yet.) I pushed the darned button on Friday, estimating that it would take anywhere for 2 weeks to 6 weeks to be delivered. Imagine my shock when they said they could deliver it Tuesday. As in TOMORROW. Immediate feeling of panic, because, WHO IS GOING TO TELL NORM? (LOL, I texted that question to Cleda and she immediately replied "The delivery guys?" My favorite answer.)

So it took a little bit of rearranging and decluttering, but my workout space is now pretty much ready and I will have my 3 cardio machines (tread, Peloton bike, Hydrow rower) all in a row. I am thrilled.

Workouts - this humid weather is my kryptonite. I dread stepping out into it.
  • But I did get out and run this morning - 2 miles of running (with pause to take pic of a fox who was staring at me) followed by 1/4 mile of walking.
  • Then I did a 10-minute biceps/triceps dumbbell workout with Andy Speer (Peloton)
  • And a 10-minute full body stretch with him after that.
  • And a 5-minute yoga flow with Channing on Hydrow.
  • Showered, did hair, makeup, did zoom meetings and then (drumroll)
  • Went back down to my Hydrow rower in full makeup and did a live Hydrow row with Laine from Lake Lucerne, Switzerland. I couldn't resist, just had to see the beautiful scenery. I promised myself that I would row really easy, just to loosen up and wouldn't even break a sweat but was completely SOAKED by the end. Two showers before 12 noon, LOL.
That's all! I am ready for Peloton!
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Daphne M
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Old 08-24-21, 02:12 PM  
Daphne M
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Northern Virginia
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daphne M View Post
(Squealing) I ordered the Peloton bike. I mentioned to Norm that I was thinking about it, then waited a few days to put in the order so that it would appear that I actually *was* thinking about it. (When really I'd already made up my mind, I just hadn't had the courage to push the "BUY" button yet.) I pushed the darned button on Friday, estimating that it would take anywhere for 2 weeks to 6 weeks to be delivered. Imagine my shock when they said they could deliver it Tuesday. As in TOMORROW. Immediate feeling of panic, because, WHO IS GOING TO TELL NORM? (LOL, I texted that question to Cleda and she immediately replied "The delivery guys?" My favorite answer.)
Update: the bike arrived at 8 this morning and I did my first cycling class on it at 9:15. (A 30-minute Bradley Rose low impact ride that was great.) First thoughts:
  • It's beautiful. (And should be for $2k.)
  • It takes up so little room! 2 feet wide by 4 feet long. That's nothing. Everything in my workout space just fits so perfectly now! I am fancy.
  • I love that when instructor says a specific resistance (e.g., "35-50") , I finally know exactly what that should feel like. It was really tough to estimate this using my bike's gearing on the fluid trainer. It turns out that under 35 resistance is a lot easier than I thought, but 50 and over resistance is a lot harder than I thought.
  • I love the post-ride graphics. There were 4 different graphs, each showing how output (watts), cadence (rpm), resistance (the bike's resistance setting) and speed (mph) changed over the 30 minutes.
  • I like that even though I hide the leaderboard during my ride, it did pop up at the end to show how I placed. I wish Hydrow had that feature. I don't like getting swept up into the feeling of a race while I'm cycling, but I like knowing where I am at the end.
  • I like all the nifty little add-on features, such as how it's integrated with Spotify and Apple music so that you can favorite a song you like and it'll automatically go to your music.
  • I kept having to scooch back on the seat during my ride or I'd end up on the nose of the saddle and that is not fun. That was not a problem for me on my bike/trainer. I think that's because I slumped more than I should have on the Peloton. Something to work on.
  • There are still Peloton workouts (strength and treadmill) I'd rather do on my big TV with the Roku. (Instead of using the bike screen.) There are two ways to do that: a) mirror cast by pairing the bike with the Roku stick/smart TV; or b) download the peloton app to the Roku and play the workout directly, which is what I've been doing with the digital subscription all this time. I think I'm going to stick with option b.
  • The pedals and cleats are still really stiff! Clicking out takes dedication, but the shoes are super comfortable. Made me realize my current bike shoes are probably 15 or 20 years old. Time flies.
  • The ear phones were a waste of money. Use your own with bluetooth.

I'd be raving about the fantastic instructors, music and classes -- which is the greatest thing about Peloton -- if it weren't for the fact that I've been using the digital-only subscription since Jan 2020, so I'm already familiar with that aspect. There are some things available that I couldn't get through the app though, like all the scenic rides with instructors, the distance rides and so forth.
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Old 08-25-21, 06:09 AM  
AlisonH
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Daphne: Yay for the Peloton bike! I’m glad to hear the delivery time went from months and months to just a few days. I’m a tiny bit jealous, but I still do love the spin bike I bought. And HA! saying *I* think an hour is easy. The training plan says to do an “easy 60-minute spin.” I never think it’s easy, lol. Denis was out to get me today! But he’s so cute that I forgave him. DD is struggling a bit with back to in-person school. It’s really hard for her after being home for a year and a half. The thrived at home, so she really wasn’t ready to go back. A parent shared a photo their kid took of the main hallway packed full of kids, and other parents started placing bets on when schools will close again. In a school of approx 4,000 kids, social distancing is impossible during passing time. Most kids in the picture did have their masks on correctly, but not all.

Tomorrow I finally get a day off from the bike. My legs need it! I will do Earth Body Yoga and some upper body strength.

ETA: Daphne, thanks for the reminder about PWFP. I’ve hiked there a lot, but I always forget about the bike road. Last time I was there was a cold and windy January day, and there were still guys biking that road.
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Old 08-25-21, 09:03 AM  
Daphne M
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Northern Virginia
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Originally Posted by AlisonH View Post
Daphne: Yay for the Peloton bike! I’m glad to hear the delivery time went from months and months to just a few days. I’m a tiny bit jealous, but I still do love the spin bike I bought.
Your spin bike is probably just as good a ride as the peloton bike. And you're welcome to try mine out -- that goes for my Hydrow rower too -- any time. For me the Peloton is a big step up in convenience from using my road bike on the trainer. (PS - do you know anyone who would be interested in a used indoor fluid trainer? It's still in good shape. I'm throwing in the riser block and a nice carrying case. I know I can sell it, but if you've got a friend who'd want it, I'd happily give it away to a good home.)

oops, work calls, will finish later.
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Daphne M
Gone anaerobic one time too many.
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Breast Cancer Survivor
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Old 08-25-21, 09:52 AM  
Vantreesta
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Snowman Land :)
Daphne, what is a fluid trainer?
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"No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the couch."
"God, please help me to be the person my dog thinks I am."
"You can't run from your problems. But you'll both feel a little lighter when you get back." ~New Balance shoe ad
You don't have to be fast, just keep moving forward.
Note to self: You don't get to complain about things you won't work to change!

Word for 2024: Accomplished; Word for 2023: Grounded; Word for 2022: Consistency; Word for 2021: Mindfulness
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