Spin 10 vs. YMCA Spin

During the winter, I maintained my sanity with two kinds of spin classes: Spin 10 and YMCA Spin classes...

On Mondays & Thursdays I do Spin 10. Spin 10 is a totally unique spin class that takes place in the middle of an old firehouse on the westside of Wichita. Van Tubbs is our fearless leader through the 90 minutes (or so) of spinning. It's always a good workout (even on his so-called "easier days"). You bring your own bike and trainer to each class and watch his video mixes of bike races, music videos, the occassional chinese food commercial (haha China Star buffet), and other randomness that he plugs in there to take your mind off the hard work. I love to watch the time trial races...very motivating!

Before class starts, Van turns the lights off and the Christmas lights on (yes, you read that right - Christmas lights).

These are the Christmas lights that illuminate the room
just enough to see your bike computer. And who doesn't
want to spin with Christmas lights on?
I LOVE IT!

His cat (Raz) and two big grey dogs (Mojo and Cleo) walk around class and either pretend to watch us spin or watch the videos. The music is awesome. The workout is awesome. The company is awesome. As much as I'm excited about warmer weather and getting in more road time, I'm actually going to miss this class (it ends March 24)!

Me - warming up.

The husband - apparently he's too hard core to warm up.

On Tuesdays, I spin at the North YMCA with my co-worker/neighbor/friend/dogsitter, Becca (this girl obviously holds a lot of titles in my life). While it's a typical YMCA class, I still love it! Pam G. kicks our butts and makes us laugh. She usually brings a CD of 80s music, which I totally dig, and it's a quick-in and quick-out (60-minute) class since it's right around the corner from my house. There's also another hard core spinner girl there that I see each week. She has buff arms. I should work on that...maybe later.

This is my YMCA Spin Class.
Poor photo quality, but what are you gonna do?
It's hard to multi-task quality spinning and good photography...

This is me (right) & Becca (left) after YMCA Spin.

Wow, my face is red - proof of how hard I worked!

Becca, why isn't YOUR face this red?!?!?

So, each of these classes are really cool in their own right. They're both useful for different aspects of training and both have their place in my spinning heart.

I will say that I'm typically S-T-A-R-V-I-N-G when I get home from Spin 10 and not so much when I get home from the Y. Not sure why that is...maybe it's the additional 30 to 45 minutes of spinning.
I think my new favorite post-spin snack is Terra Chips. Have you ever had Terra Chips? A full serving of vegetables in every ounce is their claim. I hope that's ok because I eat a lot more than one ounce...they're so delicious! The downside is that their stinkin expensive. I'm pretty sure $5 for a bag of chips is unreasonable, but I like them.

A full serving of veggies in every ounce.

Try them...you'll like them.

So, tonight is spin night at the Y. Looking forward to a little Rick Springfield, AC/DC, Billy Idol, and Duran Duran! She's hungry like the woooolf....I CAN'T WAIT!

Set a goal for yourself to try Terra Chips before my next post!
Chelsea

Who's your daddy?

I hate to exercise.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned that somewhat important fact in a previous post or not, but even if I did it's still worth repeating...I really do hate to exercise. In fact, when it comes right down to it, I only know one person who hates to exercise more than me and when she started exercising, I figured it was time for me to board that train. (Thanks, Shea Shea for inspiring me.)

So, tonight was my very first hill training night, and being as though I hate to exercise (yes, I decided to say it AGAIN), I was really dreading this evening. But I knew I had to do it so I threw my bike in the car and drove to Kechi after work (for you non-Kansans, Kechi is right outside of Wichita). I found a stretch of hills and nice spot to park on the side of the road (basically in a field). I got out the car, got my bike out the car, put the helmet, jacket, gloves, shoes, & sunglasses on (yes, I have that much crap to get ready before I can start) when a farmer in his overalls comes outside and yells, "Git! Git! Git off my properteee!" So, I threw all my crap back in the car and I "gitted."

Drove up three or four miles, there were still hills so I found another little parking spot - again, it was off the road - and got all my crap back out of the car, redressed, and started pedaling. It was a rough start. Hill one and two hurt. But somewhere about three miles in, I looked down and realized I was going 15.6 miles per hour UPHILL! This is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G for me! I felt so good and so happy that I actually yelled, "Who's your daddy" out loud to the hill. It was not long after this that I saw a police car next to MY car. I hauled butt over to my car and played the whole, "Oh my gosh, officer, what's wrong? Did I do something?" Now add a total ditzy tone to that and you'll know exactly how stupid I sounded...but it worked. No ticket for me. He did provide me with information on another place to park. So, here we go again...

Threw all the crap back in the car and drove a few more miles up the road to Furley. Parked. Got all my crap out and started a second round of hills. Hurt like hell, but at this point I didn't care because I was still feeling euphoric from my "Who's your daddy" hill. By the way, I've NEVER said that phrase before, but for whatever reason it woked in this situation. Anyway, I did only about 4 more miles of hills when it started to get dark so I packed up and as I was about to leave, ANOTHER farmer comes out to tell me that I can't park there. WTF?

So, I did it - I completed my first week of hill work. And for as much as I was dreading it, I am in the best mood right now. I still hate to exercise, but I LOVE how it makes me feel...afterward. And this is why it's all worth it. Now it's time for a treat...Skinny Cow for a Cycling Cow.

Skinny Cow ice cream in individual servings - only 150 calories!

Try it - you'll love it.



I've had a really productive training week this week. I set a purpose for each workout and I think it helped me to stay focused. I've also been really pretty good about eating healthy this week. So much so, that I can't wait to weigh in on Friday. I have no doubt that I'll be yelling, "Who's your daddy" when I get on that scale! Whoop Whoop! (And yes, I'm the aggravating girl in a crowd who likes to "Whoop Whoop" when she gets excited!)

Yes, I'm still here

For you few followers who've been reading my blog, I apologize. I started this blog with gusto (three posts in one week is gusto in my world), and then the second week...nothin. Aside from being sick...twice...and going out of town for a very busy weekend, there was no energy time to workout. And this past Saturday was officially the start to my June 5th Century Ride training. I missed that training day (and the next one) because I attended a friend's wedding in Texas, which was quite a hoot. In fact, I think I used that wedding as my "party it up" celebration before serious workouts kicked in.

Having waaaay too much fun at a wedding

with the husband and old friends!



So, now here I am. I really did start my training last night - did about 80 minutes of intervals at my Spin 10 class (I will explain what Spin 10 is later this week). It was supposed to be an easy night, but I was utterly exhausted 30 minutes in...guess I have a long three months ahead of me.

Me - before the 80 minutes of spinning intervals...

Here's my training "plan" for this week:
Saturday - 25 mile group ride (missed it - having too much at wedding)
Sunday - 10 mile recovery ride (missed it - hungover too tired from wedding & traveling)
Monday - 10-20 miles of interval training (I think I did about 17 miles last night)
Tuesday - Light cross-training day (I think I'll run 2 miles and do some weights)
Wednesday - 10-20 miles of hill training (the only thing I dislike more than running is biking on hills)
Thursday - Spin
Friday - Rest (can't wait!!!)

On another note, my mom is awesome and made me some scarves to sell for my fundraiser!

Isn't this scarf awesome? It's very soft fleece

and will keep you extra warm! Only $20.

Thanks to K-State alum, Amanda Dolechek for modeling.

My mom is also working on some KU scarves as well and I should have those soon.

OK, so I'm up to $1,025. Still have a long way to go, but I have some other ideas up my sleeve. In fact, I'll be hosting a raffle party in the near future...it involves raffling off a signed jersey from a pretty well-respected and very popular NFL Quarterback...stay tuned for more details!!!!

It's beautiful weather in Wichita today! Spend some time outside and get some fresh air - wherever you are!

Chelsea