Gear Review: Bike Trainer DVDs: Spinervals and Carmichael Training Systems

Since I promised it in my last post, and I tried out my new DVD today, I figured I'd do the trainer DVD review. I have a pretty small collection, but hopefully this will help if anyone is looking for a good trainer workout.

Trainer DVDs are pretty useful for getting in a good bike trainer workout, since it can be difficult to push yourself on the trainer alone. It's far easier to push yourself with training partners or a coach yelling at you than solo. Even on a treadmill, you're unable to let up your effort unconsciously, something that can easily happen on a bike trainer. The bike trainer has a tendency to be somewhat boring, and things that you may do to pass the time (TV, videogames, book, etc) also cause you to dissociate and may cause you to drop the intensity. That's fine for easy days, but not so much for quality workouts. DVDs, on the other hand, force you to associate with the workout. Having the coach on the video yelling at you keeps your mind in the workout and the intensity up. Additionally, it's a structured workout with appropriate intensities and recovery, so if you're unsure of how to create a workout (or would just like some additional ideas), a trainer DVD might be a good idea.

Gear Review: Kurt Kinetic Road Machine

As you've no doubt figured out (assuming you've been reading my blog), I've been on the trainer A LOT. At some point, I must have adjusted the roller too tightly too, because it seems I've worn a groove into the roller. 

Anyway, the thing was was a hassle to actually mount the bike on, and the resistance felt unnatural...generally the problems you encounter with a mag trainer with a cheap clamp. Well, seeing as the flywheel is in pretty bad condition, I figured it was time for a new trainer (and an early Christmas present).

Flashback: Why I Started Running

Considering this is supposedly a running blog, I should probably post about running once in a while. Lately, it seems like all my posts have been about P90X or yoga or cycling. So I decided I'm going to go with something a little different today and recount the story of how I got started running.

I started running in ninth grade. Cross-country was offered in junior high, but I was too busy playing basketball. That, and as every high school basketball player knows, running is what your coach makes you do when you do something bad. However, in ninth grade, the high school basketball coach highly suggested we all run cross-country to get in shape. Keep in mind I was the kind of kid who spent hours and hours alone in her basement doing ball-handling drills. I was no stranger to doing whatever it took. (Some things never change?) So, along with several other freshmen basketball players, I joined the cross-country team.

Yoga Is Not Relaxing

I spent a couple years living in Boulder, Colorado. In Boulder, apparently it was a normal thing for stores to offer yoga classes every so often. Even Fleet Feet Boulder, the running store that sponsored my team, had yoga classes, and they're a running and tri store, not a yoga store. Well, since they all knew me and I didn't want to make a fool out of myself in front of them (and because I had zero interest in yoga), I never went to their classes. The whole time I was in Boulder, people continued to tell me how relaxing yoga is. My friends Stefani and Elizabeth were convinced that hot yoga was the most relaxing, purifying, and soothing thing ever, and they seemed determined to convince me of the same thing. Well, anyway, hot yoga was out. I hate running in really hot temperatures, so why would I want to practice yoga in hot temperatures when I had the option to practice yoga in normal temperatures (or not practice yoga at all)? However, these were the same girls who got me mountain biking and snowboarding and I liked those things, so I figured I'd give it a try. They convinced me to go to a store class at the shop where Stef worked. I spent most of the class trying not to fall over. Not relaxing. Later, I rented a house with Stef and Susanna, another yoga fan, and I often got to hear about how relaxing and soothing yoga was, and how that one class was a poor example because the instructor was a different instructor than usual and had made us do advanced balance poses. They said this as they stood on one leg with their arms in the air, or as they balanced on their head and hands with their legs folded pretzel-like on one of their elbows. Uh huh, that doesn't look relaxing.

Mollyyyyyy!!! 1:12:14!!!

Molly Pritz of Hansons-Brooks Distance Project ran a 1:12:14 for first female at the San Antonio Rock N Roll Half Marathon! That's also her 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier (by almost 3 minutes...sick!). Congratulations Molly!

That's also four out of the last five posts that Molly got her name in. You better love me, Molly.

P90X = Hungry

I eat a lot of food. Probably because I run 90 miles per week normally, and even when I can't run (like now), I try to put in a good amount of time on the trainer or lifting or whatever. Two weeks ago apparently involved 27.5 hours of physical activity, between the bike trainer, lifting, and physical therapy. That's like professional triathlete style, right there. And wholly unnecessary...I won't be doing that again. Last week only consisted of 18 hours of working out, AND Monday was a totally off-day. And this week will probably be around 20. But anyway, that should serve as adequate explanation for my dietary habits. However, since starting P90X, my appetite has gone into overdrive. Normally, I eat like a normal, athletic person who works out but doesn't run 90 miles per week throughout the day, and then sometime around 9pm, I decide I want a loaf of bread and half a jar of peanut butter. Most nutritionists recommend against that, but that's just the way my appetite works. However, this last week, I've wanted a loaf of bread and half a jar of peanut butter for breakfast, again for lunch, and again for dinner, and then I still want a box of cereal at 9pm. Well no, that's not quite right, since I haven't gone through more than one jar of peanut butter in one day, so I guess it's not a half a jar every meal, but I digress. And there's a little bit of variety in my diet. Today I had several bowls of oatmeal, polenta, some cinnamon raisin bagels, and a sweet potato, along with the bread, cereal, and peanut butter. So as long as carbs count as variety, I'm golden! Anyway, I cut back on cycling since starting P90X, so I'm down to about an hour of cycling and an hour of P90X per day. And there's no way P90X is harder than 10x1600, so I have no idea what's going on. It's possible that I'm finally starting to build muscle on my skinny little Tyrannosaurus Rex arms. However, it's more likely that I'm just getting cycling quads and my arms are remaining T-Rex-like, since that's what the mirror is telling me. Of course, neither muscular arms nor cycling quads are useful for running.

P90X

I waste way too much time at PT talking. Well, today the subject of conversation was BeachBody's P90X, since PT Fran said that a lot of the exercises from P90X would be good for strengthening weak stabilizer muscles because I have no balance. PT Anthony seemed to agree that it was a good idea and also mentioned Insanity, but P90X seemed to get more votes and Insanity seems to involve a lot more jumping around, so P90X it is. Though now that I think about it, that probably means Insanity is better for cardio, but it's a little late for that now.