reading meister

Following on from my last post about enjoying reading about research, I've really taken things into overdrive the last day or two. I liken education to reading a menu - a bit of this, a bit of that. I'm all about using stuff that has scientific backing and merit. Of course there are limitations to many studies and the parameters used as such, which is why I believe one must not see things in terms of absolutes, rather "in the light of the information gathered, it seems like approach x is the way to go".

I need to do some research for the few projects I want to tackle in the New Year and having a path to follow is starting to generate new ideas and inspirations. It's such a nice feeling, after feeling rather flat for most of the year. There's been a permanent smile plastered on my face this last week - this morning one of my RPM girls asked me if I realized that I smile, even when I'm suffering!

This morning's fitness effort was teaching my RPM Hi Performance class - I combined the new release with tracks that were almost perfect duplicates of the Cadence and Mountain Climb - ie double the muscle endurance effect. I haven't taught this class for four weeks due to step teaching commitments and it was in the words of Scooter, "Good to Be Back". I felt fantastic after what I felt for me was a pretty maximal effort - and so inspired.

Then had lunch and headed over to the Brisbane Apple Store for a Macbook Workshop. Today I tackled Iwork, which was really beneficial and I also visited Borders and picked up a book that I've been wanted to read for ages - "Freakonomics" - I'm hoping hubs wants to read it more than me as it's part of my Christmas present to him.

Bikram RPM tales

From L-R Bottom Row: Ferny, Me, Lisa S
Left to Right Middle Row: Nicole P, Shelley S
Back Row: Steph D, Dori W, Carolyn G

Wow - had an awesome RPM session this morning with these guys from Blogland. Had decided to get to RPM early to warm up, but upon entering the gym found that the whole concept of warming up was completely unnecessary as the gym's airconditioning system was being replaced. I felt really bad that it was so stinking hot, but then remembered that I was teaching a tough-as-nails powerlifter(Lisa) , a chick that can deadlift 90kg for 4 x8 reps without batting an eyelid (Dori), a Tank(the Fernster), an ex-RPM instructor and Figure Competitor who is "told to have a go" (Shelley) two Figure Competitors (Steph of the great arms and shoulders and Carolyn who owns a beautiful back) and two retired competitors (Nicole and myself, who reminisce about the good old days but don't plan on going back there anytime soon).

"Ha!" I thought, "I'll make these guys toughen up instead!". Well, it turned out to be an awesome ride and everyone's enthusiasm was contagious. I must admit feeling a bit green during Track Nine and checking the countdown timer but there was no way I was giving in, especially with Dori's last blog post about wanting me to train until I puked :) It was so hot, I even broke out of my standard Canterbury RPM clobber and stripped off to my crop top. As you can plainly see, my belly doesn't see the sun..ever!

The plan afterwards was to train Carolyn and then join the others for a Vietnamese Feast at 10.30am. I had issued Carolyn with all these directives and stretches she needed to improve her squats and today I couldn't believe that I was watching the same Carolyn squatting. It felt really awesome to be making a difference and I can't wait to see Carolyn's butt next year (wait, did I just say that?) When Carolyn and I got out of the gym, everyone else was already eating - that's my kind of girlfriends - ladies that like a good feed! I was feeling so depleted by that stage I went bananas and bought a few of those yellow banana lollies we used to have in our childhood. Man, they tasted good!

Then we finally got to have our Vietnamese and some great conversation and then Carolyn and I went downstairs to buy her a pair of Nike Free Shoes for her weight training - I managed to negotiate 10% off and somehow the girl at the counter managed to give us 20% off, so I would say that it was a very positive shopping experience.

Back home now and I'm sitting here taking tea like Mrs Nesbitt - I watch far too many kids movies...as you can tell.

It's another Take 5 - on Saturday

I'm going to follow Leslie's lead and post another Take 5 momentarily but first a quick catch up. We had a pretty quiet Good Friday and this morning, it was business as usual as I taught my weekly Hi Performance RPM. I had a full room which was nice and I felt really good throughout the entire workout. I arrived at Fitness First about 30 minutes early and did 30 minutes of low intensity/drill work before I started and I think that made a huge difference. As we are going away next week for a family holiday, it made me realize that I only have two more RPM Hi Perfomrance classes to teach before my surgery, which I must admit is rather nerve wracking. I'm planning on really caning these next three weeks in terms of exercise - I will run, swim and play tennis whilst we're away and then I'm going for two weeks of grunt before I go into self imposed slugdom for the next few months. I'm not looking forward to this at all as exercise to me is as essential as brushing my teeth, but from what I've read, going back too soon just extends the healing process further.

Here I go...TAKE FIVE:

FIVE Favourite Snack Foods:

1) apples
2) hummus dip and veggies
3) Slim Secrets bars - my favourite being the Rev Up or the Afternoon Snack Attack
4) My Crunchola Recovery meal
5) nectarines, peaches etc with natural yoghurt

FIVE Favourite Quotes:

1) "The heart has reasons the head knows nothing of" Blaise Pascal
2) "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent" Eleanor Roosevelt
3) "I have run the great race, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith." St Paul in Timothy 4:7-8
4)"Anyone can do something when they WANT to do it. Really successful people do things when they don't want to do it" .- Dr. Phil
5)"Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right" .- Henry Ford

FIVE Things you love about your job:

1) I get to make a difference in people's lives
2) I get to connect with like minded people with the backdrop of awesome music on a regular basis
3) I get to learn about what makes people tick
4) I see a whole spectrum of emotions in my job and share successes and pick people up when they are feeling down
5) It keeps me feeling young!

FIVE Places I would like to live

1) Oregon, USA
2) Vancouver, Canada
3) Sunshine Coast, Australia
4) Perth, Australia
5) Northern Beaches, Sydney Australia

FIVE Things I love about blogging:

1) I've met some fantastic people blogging
2) I can write about all sorts of dribble whenever I feel like it
3) I have experienced all sorts of perspectives from different bloggers that I really appreciate!
4) It's a way of escaping and connecting with myself.
5) I can practice writing.

Runnin' Wild and Free

I'm recovering from a big weekend of launches - 3 RPM and 1 Bodystep class. The title of my post today reflects Track 5, "Running Wild and Free" by a group called Airbourne. It's a really meaty thumper of a track and the noise that an entire room full of RPMers can make during it is really something else - did anyone say "hey,hey,hey!". My favourite track of Bodystep this round was the Party Track - "Get Me Bodied" by Stardancer2 which was great fun.

Yesterday happened to be an unscheduled rest day due to Miss G being unwell. Luckily she is firing on all cylinders this morning and so am I - lucky really as I am subbing a Hi Performance class this afternoon, so I had better have my game face on!

Appropriate recovery is just as important as good training - the down time yesterday did me good, even though genetically my recovery is superb. Gotta look after my little "ability".

Adventure Racing and finding the lucky socks

Last night I participated in my first Adventure Race with Rose and Kev (on the left side of the photo, I am on the right). We had a ball running around Brisbane in our little Kermit shirts. This is what the race was about (from Area 51 Website):

"Round 1- One Night in Vegas
Date and Location
Fri 15 Feb 08 - Brisbane CBD, HQ at south bank, further info emailed & posted on web 5 days before the race. all urban.Teams turn up at 6pm as registration opens, you receive your race packs containing all your maps and information and some other goodies. You have some planning time to work out a route and after a race brief the hooter goes off at 7pm! prior to the race all teams will be emailed information about the event...
Length and Timings
Race length 3 hours (and five minutes) - registration opens 6pm, race start 7pm, race finish 10:05pm.
Disciplines and Style
Trek, Public transport (NO mountain bike) and many urban challenges- rogaine style, get as many CPs in any order you choose then be back at HQ before 3 hrs is up. urban challenges play a big part.... the harder the challenge, the more points you get!
WHY?
ONE OF THE MORE MEMORABLE ADVENTURE RACES YOU WILL EVER DO!! GET A TASTE OF THE BIG SMOKE AND THE CITY LIGHTS ON A BALMY SUMMER EVENING. iT ISN'T A RACE SO MUCH ABOUT FITNESS, BUT EXPERIENCING ALL THE CITY HAS TO OFFER. after the race teams pop into the Plough Inn next door for a celebratory drink! Never done anything like this before? All you need to be able to do is get a team of 3 people together, be able to read a street directory and know how to have some fun"

We got our race pack just after 6pm and spent the next half hour or so contacting our map (so it wouldn't fall apart) and working out a route that would enable us to get the most check points (CPs) in the three hours we had available to us. At 7pm we were off and Rose, Kev and I hurtled over the Grey Street Bridge and found our first Checkpoint in the Queen Street Mall, then it was onto the Gap Cycle's Eating Challenge in the middle of the mall where we had to eat foods related to bike parts. I don't know where wasabi peas come into the equation, but I skulled three of them, not realizing how hot they were. Rose and Kev fought over the WeetBix and I finished off with a good chaser, nearly a tablespoon of vegemite. We then decided to take a quick dash for a checkpoint at Central Station and then back tracked for an Internet Cafe challenge.

That done, it was back to the station to try and get a train to Brunswick Street. Silly me who was really quite enjoying the whole adventure got us on the wrong train and we went Express to Bowen Hills (aaagh). So it was lucky we could get back to Central relatively quickly and run towards The Valley where there were four checkpoints to pick up.

The first involved fishing around in a rather nasty looking broth of "pond water" for a plastic spider which we nailed rather quickly, then it was off to Chinatown's rotunda for the second CP. Our third Valley CP involved a memory game where we had to memorize a card sequence which Rose and I forgot immediately :) We eventually knuckled down and got it done before heading to Brunswick Street Station to pick up the fourth CP.

We then had to decide what option to take then as our plan to train it to Toowong was thwarted by a patchy timetable at best. Here we decided to train it to Roma Street and run past Suncorp Stadium to Milton Station, pick up CPs at Savoire Faire and Milton Station, before taking the BONUS point challenge of Ten Pin Bowling at Milton Bowl. Whilst we were making that decision we came across another team involved in a Scavenger Hunt. We quickly worked out that it was part of a checkpoint we had purposely avoided at the beginning of the race. Luckily the team we met was happy to tell us that we needed to collect a red napkin, straw, current day's newspaper, beer coaster, business card and a movie ticket from today. I immediately asked someone on the platform for their business card, we were gifted a coaster and a newspaper and we found the straw and our napkin on the way to Milton.

We made the train back to Roma Street and connected with a train back to Southbank. We picked up another 2 CPS in South Brisbane and then were extremely fortunate to pick up our final Scavenger checkpoint item from a fellow who was leaving the Southbank Cinema Complet. Then we completed a 100 point "Maritime Challenge" at the Maritime Museum which was a bit finicky. We then sprinted more than half way over the Goodwill Bridge and picked up our last CP before Race Close.

How could I also forget to mention that I had to strap an orange helium balloon to my pack and carry it for the whole race to earn bonus points? Rose was fantastic at ensuring that I didn't run under any low branches as I kept forgetting that I had the balloon.

We finished the Challenge at 10pm, handed in our Points Card and will get the results in a few days.

We went home feeling pretty fatigued - I was trying to momentarily forget that I had to teach RPM Hi Performance at 8.10am this morning. I was so pleased to see Rose turn up to do the class - a kindred spirit who just "knew" what I was going through up there. I must admit I had a few very cautious dial turns up there this morning but I managed to pull through. I even found a pair of Shimano socks that I originally purchased with my cycling shoes which I call my "lucky socks " - I seem to have taught several decent classes with these socks, so I kept the legend alive and decided to wear them.

Miss S had come to RPM and shouted me a post workout "Surge". I think I could literally feel my body vacuuming it up this morning~!

There is another race coming up soon that hopefully we'll be able to participate in but for now, I'm just going to bask in the enjoyment of this one - it was great to work as a team, it was great that I was able to run around Brisbane without any ill effects and I'm so relieved I managed to do a half decent job with RPM this morning.

Now it is time for a nana nap :)

Kicking it Loud

I had an awesome workout yesterday - I taught RPM Hi Performance and totally thrashed it. I had thought after last week's effort that I wasn't going to raise the bar any higher for awhile, but yersterday proved me wrong again. I know I've been on about this for a long time in my blog, but the power of your mind is an amazing tool! You see, I was expecting the arrival of my good monthly mate and was feeling a bit low, but before the class I listened to my music and visualised a good teaching effort and good performance, which is exactly what happened. I don't think there's a better feeling exercise wise - the endorphins you receive after giving something your best shot.

I left on Cloud Nine and had morning tea with Miss S - our RPM meet ups on Saturday mornings have become a regular thing and so much fun to share the RPM love with someone who is just as keen for a thorough pasting as I am.

Today has been pretty low energy - I've been fending off the monthly attack with some super duper Naprogesics and planning for a great week ahead.

Sore wings and training for today

I know I said that I wouldn't do any strength training until next week, but I managed to slip in a run and some upper body training yesterday. Whoa, am I sore, particularly in the lat area and triceps - courtesy of some wide grip low cable rows for the back (excellent for developing overall posterior (back) strength in the upper body, plus shoulder friendly. Then there were the throatcrushers (say no more!) for the triceps. Ouch!

Last night I found out that I had to teach two RPM classes back to back today - firstly my Hi Performance class at 8.10am then the 9.30am class. I had a good laugh with the absent instructor telling her that I'd just polished off an enormous icecream in an equally enormous waffle cone (after eating all of my veggies of course), so that the second class would be just the ticket.

I gave it a good whack in the first class and then as there were three other instructors at the club who could take the second class, I decided to give it to someone else and participate (as she had my DVD). This served another purpose - one of my New Year's resolutions is to get around and participate more in other instructors' classes . I don't think I gave it my best effort after the pasting I got in Hi Performance, but it was lovely to hand the reins over and simply enjoy the riding experience.

After such effort initially, I've been a bit of a slug for the rest of the day. What are weekends for anyway :)

RPM weekend!

I've had a rather busy weekend teaching RPM. I taught RPM Hi Performance (which Fitness First describes as a "one hour monster") on Saturday morning and then regular RPM yesterday afternoon - I taught RPM this morning and went for a run as well. I'm also teaching RPM on Wednesday (just for something different!)

It's little wonder that all of this cardio has found me extremely ravenous today. I've polished off a 500g bag of stirfry veggies already today in addition to all of my regular treats and will probably add another bag tonight!

OFf for another visit to the physio tomorrow - the clicky knee is slowly improving and we are doing more stability work and trying a magnet to help activate TA more. She has also been doing some research into diastasis repair and core stability, so I'm looking forward to more answers tomorrow.

Not much else to report. I'm tied up with Christmas preparations and this week should be head down, butt up!

I am so sore!

I cannot believe how sore I am today - I had a deadlift focused day yesterday and I am sore through my legs (hello glutes!) upper back and shoulders. This morning, I taught Hi Performance RPM, which is RPM with two extra working tracks added in. I certainly knew about it when I got to the end of it.

I've spent the better part of the day doing the ironing and taking the girls to the local pool for a swim. Eating hasn't been all that stellar today - I can attribute part of this to feeling exhausted, sore and extremely fatigued. The key is trying to make the next meal a good one and getting back on track. I've been inspired by a few recipe sites lately, so that is my next project - different food :)

I included the puppy pic as I think that once we've built we are going to add a canine to the family.

Wonder woman!

Whew, what a morning! First up was RPM High Performance and "high performance" has really been the order of the day. Alicia came to class this morning and is looking really really good and looks like she's going to explode out of her skin with pent up energy - her skin is glowing, she's looking even leaner this week and all is well. I found this morning's class really, really tough - amazing, when I found last Saturday's relatively easy. I think it just may have something to do with the strength workout I banged out yesterday.

Then it was off to the Queen Street Mall to watch Lisa compete at the National Powerlifting Titles. I never realized powerlifting could get so emotional as I watched several competitors, willing them to nail their lifts and break new boundaries. It was a bit cold and windy, certainly not the best conditions to be holding a National Title meet but the athletes did superbly. I will let Lisa fill you in on her experience in her blog (she's probably out partying right now) , but what I can say is that I'm proud of what she did today and all of the hard work she put into achieving such an awesome result - so my picture of Wonder Woman is dedicated to Lisa today. Well done~!