January 5, 2012

Three Things Thursday

1. Marathon Training - Oh man it feels good to write that on the blog! That's right! This week marks Week 1 of training for the Madrid Marathon! I could not be more excited to be traveling back to Spain to run a marathon! Carbo loading with wine, tapas, paella and my Texan sister from another mister? Count.Me.In. As of now, I've decided to stick with running 5x a week so this week calls for 3 easy runs of 4 miles, 1 hill workout and a long run of 9 miles. I'm trying to be serious about strength and cross training this week so I've done a Jillian Michaels' DVD, a  spin class (see below) and an upper body strength training session. Not too shabby! I'm undecided as to whether I'm going to go back to my routine of 'Training Tuesday' posts. They were really beneficial for me to process how my training was going and to get advice from the other marathoners out there (especially Celia) but I haven't decided yet. We'll see. Either way, I will keep you posted about how my training for Madrid is going because I can't freaking wait to tackle Marathon #3 and my big sub-4 goal in SPAIN!

2. Spinning - Last night, Emily and I took a trip over to Soul Cycle to try out a spin class. I had never taken any kind of indoor cycling class before and decided to go to "the best" for my first experience with spinning. Soul Cycle has gotten some serious hype from magazines, celebrities, TV shows, etc. so I thought it would be a great place to take my first class. My overall take - I didn't really like it. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing...and the fact that the lights were off almost the whole class, meant I couldn't look at other people to try and figure it out...and the music was awful. I'm talking late 90s/early 00's rap mixed in with the latest house music. I wasn't feeling it...at all...and you know what? I didn't feel like it was that great of a workout. I just sweated a lot and I'm sore in a region that I really would prefer to not be sore in from sitting on the bike. During the weights portion (yes, you do reps with light weights and crazy things like sit-ups and push-ups on the bike), I just kept sliding off my seat and I felt like every time I stood up in the bike, I was going to fly out of my clip-in shoes because my knees would buckle in some really awkward way. Long story short - spinning is not for me. I would consider trying it again if I had a more newbie-friendly instructor and better music but at $32 per class? I won't be back to Soul Cycle?

3. The Book and Movie Lists - If you've taken a close look at my blog lately, you'll notice that I changed my goal from reading 100 books and watching 100 movies before my 25th to 50 of each. Why? Well, for starters, my birthday is in 6 weeks so I know that's just not going to happen and even though I've kind of given myself the extension of doing all of some of these things at 25, I've nixed the Book and Movie lists because well, I haven't liked the majority of the movies I've watched...with the exception of The Prestige...that movie was phenomenal...and the reason I haven't actually sat down to watch a lot of them is because they just don't seem like interesting movies to me. The same goes for The Book List. I've loved some of the books I've read on this list...Pride and Prejudice, War and Peace, Gone with the Wind? But others? Have just been terrible and I really love to read so I want to go back to reading books that I want to  read. I'll definitely continue reading some of those books beyond the 50 but I'm not aiming to read all of them anymore.

That's all I've got for you today. Tell me: How has your week been? Have you ever been to a spin class? Did you like it? Have you tried Soul Cycle? Do you like reading? What are you reading these days?

I'm working late tonight and then I'm going to go home and cuddle up with my current read: Anna Karenina...which is on the list but which I love. 

Have a great weekend y'all!

15 comments:

  1. $32 for a class is super pricey! I probably wouldn't go back either!

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  2. I just went and looked at your book list to see if there are any I would recommend. Nope! I am mostly a light for pleasure reader and many of those look rather heavy. I just read a great book on the Ironman.

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  3. madrid is going to be amazing. i <3 spain - great choice for a spring marathon! and you're so close to sub 4 i have no doubt you'll get it.

    i went to one soul cycle class before i left nyc. i liked it (but the instructor/music were both good) but it's sooooOOoooOOo expensive.

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  4. I have done soul cycle -- I feel like I enjoyed it more the 2nd time when I knew what was going on and what to expect. I think spinning (the 4x I've done it) is totally instructor dependent -- can make or break it!

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  5. Thats a new experience. Would gladly try cycling sometimes and probably will bring my own music with me. :D
    buy aion accounts

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  6. There's two types of spin: 1) spin with gimmicks (like the pushup crap), and 2) spin for cyclists. The classes I take mimic outdoor routes, and you use the spin bike like you would a regular road bike. The intensity builds on hills, and we do sprints and speed work like you would training for outdoor biking. 80% of my spin classes are in the saddle, like they are when you bike (unlike gimmicky classes that have you standing up and down and up and down etc). Try another place before you write it off. Also, it took me a couple months of going at LEAST once a week before I was 100% comfortable with posture, intensity, etc.

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  7. oh, and also? spin shouldn't cost more than like $12 a class. it's like bikram yoga--you pay for the instructor's time. and no instructor is worth $32/person.

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  8. yay marathon training! I am sure you will go sub4 :D Just be sure to hill train!!!!

    I tried spinning in college. I hated it. Sometimes I wonder if I am missing out by not trying spinning in one of the nyc studios. Your review just confirmed that it would not be for me. Probably good because that is not an amount of money I want to spend regularly. I'd much rather go for a run :)

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  9. I loved reading through your lists. You really have accomplished a lot movie and book-wise.

    Running a marathon in Madrid sounds absolutely amazing. You may be my new hero:)

    *Erin

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  10. I've done spinning and doing a class every week or so, but $32 for a class is a bit crazy - I just slot into the spinning classes at my gym and they normally keep the lights on! Spinning isn't for everyone though, and if you know what you enjoy for workouts, then I'd say just stick to that.

    When is your birthday, I'm turning 25 on Feb 10 - we must be pretty close to eachother!

    xoxo
    Jenna

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  11. im sooooo stinkin jealous of you and ally!!! youre gunna have so much fun!!!!

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  12. Did you decide on a new blog name??

    Also, i haven't been to Soul Cycle but that doesn't sound like fun to me. My sister loves it though

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  13. YAY for the Madrid Marathon! And as for the spin class, Soul Cycle is NOT spinning. I'm a certified spin instructor, and some clubs claim to have spinning, but it's not the original created by Johnny G. Totally understand if you don't ever want to take another spin class, but I would recommend finding a place that offers actual spinning (not cycling). :) I used to be a spin addict, that's why I got certified.

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  14. I'm not into spinning either. I didn't like the lights off in the rpppm plus I had a difficult time to know when the resistance was right. I wish it would be digital. Spain = jealous! :)

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  15. I really hated Soul Cycle, but LOVED Flywheel (yes, even at $32/class). Where did you end up taking spinning classes that you liked?

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