The Westside LA Chapter of Team in Training is now accepting participants! I will be the Web Captain for this season and I can’t wait to get started! If you’re interested, below is where you can get more information.
San Diego Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon and Half Marathon- May 31st
Mayor’s Marathon and Half Marathon Alaska- June 20th
Seattle Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon and Half Marathon- June 27th
Please join us for one of our upcoming information meetings to learn more about our fundraising and training program.
Upcoming information meetings:
Tuesday, January 13th at 7:00 pm
Sporteve
3849 Main St, Culver City
Sunday, January 18th at 10:30 am
Niketown
9560 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills
Wednesday, January 21st at 6:30 pm
Will and Ariel Durant Library
7140 W. Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood
Sunday, January 24th at 10:30 am
Montana Branch Library
1704 Montana Ave, Santa Monica
If you cannot attend the meeting or would like more information about Team In Training please contact Kristen McManus at (310) 846-4727.
For all posts from now on related to my Hundred Pushups training, I will add a “100PU” to the title.
Today, I started the program with their Initial Test. The site says:
To perform the test, simply execute as many good-form push ups as you can. Don’t cut corners and please don’t cheat – the last thing you want to do is end up in the wrong level of the training program! The results may be humbling, but trust me, honesty is the best policy if you want to maximize your strength gains!
My initial test = 23 push ups, which puts me at rank 3 of 7 (higher the number, the better). I’m cool with that. This rank tells me what column in the chart to follow. I will then have to do a certain number of push ups three times a week, slowly increasing for the next 6 weeks to come. I gotta start somewhere right? I can compare this to my marathon training because at first I was a little shocked I couldn’t do 3 miles in the first practice, but in due time I was able to do 26.2. So I have to be patient, and trust that this training program will help me meet my goals. Baby steps, I know.
Since I’m still on a TNT break, I’m continually exploring what else is out there. A few months ago, I came across a program called Hundred Pushups, which is a 6 week training course to get someone to do 100 consecutive pushups. Upper body marathon, maybe? I’ll give it a shot the Monday after Thanksgiving. Why Thanksgiving? I’m not going to hold back in Thanksgiving. Delicious homemade meals with family? I can’t say no! From that point, it will be about 8 weeks until the next marathon season starts, so a 6 week program would be a perfect fit for my schedule!
We’ll see how it goes – I will record my training on this blog (see? it’s much more than a running blog), and see my progress from there to see if this really works.
What is the perfect running form? An article from RunnersWorld.com gives us a few pointers because every little thing affects our running form. Where is your head tilted? How do you sway your arms? Are your shoulders relaxed? Is your stride too long? I remember my first season in Team In Training my running form was so bad, I was aching everywhere! I would get shin splints so easily, and my shoulders were so sore. I made a few adjustments, to my stride, and payed attention to my upper body motion, and eventually, it fixed itself. It may not be as easy as it sounds, but be a little patient and make adjustments on each of your runs. Your body will adapt. For best results though, there are some training centers out there that will record your running form and recommend adjustments. I haven’t tried it myself, but close running friends of mine highly suggest it.
Almost a year ago, I donated to KCRW, a subscriber-run local radio station in Santa Monica. In return, I received a few music CDs, and a 3 session gift certificate to Indo-Row classes at Revolution Fitness in Santa Monica. The year had past, and the expiration date just ended. I called Revolution Fitness if they would still honor it, and fortunately, they did.
Since I’m on this cardio phase right now, I gave it a shot and reserved a spot in the class online last week. Coming into the class, I was a little nervous because the last time I did any type of rowing was during a personal training session at 24Hr Fitness maybe 6 years ago. I never attempted to do it again since because I wasn’t confident in my form to do it by myself in the gym.
Revolution Fitness is in the old town type shopping area of Santa Monica off Montana. If you didn’t know the address, the sign wasn’t that obvious, and the actual entrance to the place is not exactly at the street. The staff was very friendly at the door, accepting my expired gift certificate, and directing me to the correct room. The actual place itself is a bit small, but it’s known for the Indo-Row class, spin, yoga, and pilates. It wasn’t the usualy 24Hr Fitness I was used to. The class itself only had about 7 people including the instructor, Brian, who will be traveling to Japan next week for a rowing competition. He was very helpful in getting me started, showing me the correct form, and explained the rowing machine. Everyone else were 4-5 time repeaters of the class, but I think I was able to pick up very quickly. I wasn’t paying attention to the intervals of the training, but they were definitely intervals, going from very slow, to fast. He broke up the training with strength training with weights, and sit ups. We would go back and do sprint-type rows, and slower motion rows. There was a team aspect to all this, meaning we all had to keep up at the same pace, which is especially important when doing actual rows in the water.
The class was almost exactly like how I pictured it to be. I thought it wasn’t as cardio intensive as my spin class, I felt the muscle burn all throughout my body. I’m excited to go back next week and mix up my cardio training while I wait for the next marathon season!
The New York Times’ Gretchen Reynolds just wrote a great article on stretching. I remember back in P.E. where we would have to do static, cold, stretches before any activity. Now, studies show that static stretches before any warm up to the muscles are ineffective. The best way to increase muscle strength and effectiveness is by loosening muscles and tendons to increase the range of motion of various joints, and to warm up the body. In Team In Training, we actually do a mix. We actually do some static warm ups, but only after a light jog to the beach. I wonder if this new way of thinking will change up our coaches mind about stretches? The article and video introduces some new dynamic stretches to try out.
Spin class, known as 24Cycle, has been one of my weekly habits. Mondays at 7:30pm in the Santa Monica 24 Hour Fitness led by Katyia. It’s pretty much all up to you because the instructor isn’t going to tell you what resistance to put, neither is she going to tell you if you’re going too fast or too slow. It was all about feeling what’s most comfortable but challenging at the same time. I definitely feel the burn each and every class. I can use this kind of training to help improve my leg muscles and conditioning for my running. It’s a tiny bit easier now than the first class, but still very challenging.
What I like most about this class is that the instructor varies the patterns and workouts. What helped me the most was the interval training where we would do intervals of sprints and hills for 5-10 minutes. Sprint as fast as you can, then when you’re done, up the resistance and then repeat. What a workout! I was sweating so much that my shorts got wet from my shirt’s sweat. I know, I know, too much information, but that’s how intense it is. I’m already interested in buying the special shoes for it that clips on to the pedals for a greater leg workout plus more efficient power handling with each stride.
My last real run on pavement was probably a month ago, and I was afraid that I’ll struggle going back to the old TNT training route along the Santa Monica and Venice boardwalk. Surprisingly, I survived the run with no problems! We kept it at a very easy conversational pace (which we should), and did 5:1 intervals. It brought back some memories passing by the small Venice shops, the homeless guys smoking out marijuana, and the smell of food from the small mom n pop shops.
This morning was my second time trying out 24 Hour Fitness’ Turbo Kickboxing class. I admit, the first time kicked my ass because I didn’t have water, which is VERY important in these high intensity workouts! I figured, since I don’t do as much running on pavement anymore because of my TNT break, I should at least keep up my cardio. The video above is a good representation of the class. I was in the groove of things this time around. I was more familiar with the moves, and was hydrated. I think this will be a good Saturday morning routine for me now.
Last week my first spin class, aka 24Cycle, at 24 Hour Fitness in Santa Monica literally kicked my ass! I wasn’t giving up there! Just like my first day at TNT, which I thought was HELL, I was struggling so badly. I know it just takes some dedication and motivation to keep coming back. I always look back at my marathon experiences, thinking to myself, “If I can do 26.2 miles, I can do this!”.
So today after work I returned to the 24Cycle class, very determined to get a great workout, and hoping that I will see (or feel) some kind of improvement. It was a different instructor, so the interval routines were slightly different, but just as challenging. I noticed that we didn’t have to turn up the resistance as much my previous instructor, but focused more on speed bursts and very, very slow controlled movements. I’m not complaining though. It didn’t kick my ass as much as last time, but it was still one great workout. Hydration definitely helped me out (I forgot it last time).
I’m sold. I’m determined to take this class AT LEAST 2x a week, whether it be in the early morning, or after work. I highly recommend this for a high intensity, fat-burning workout!
The Westside LA Chapter of Team in Training is now accepting participants! I will be the Web Captain for this season and I can’t wait to get started! If you’re interested, below is where you can get more information. 
Since I’m still on a TNT break, I’m continually exploring what else is out there. A few months ago, I came across a program called 
What is the 
Almost a year ago, I donated to 
Last week my first spin class, aka 24Cycle, at 24 Hour Fitness in Santa Monica literally kicked my ass! I wasn’t giving up there! Just like my first day at TNT, which I thought was HELL, I was struggling so badly. I know it just takes some dedication and motivation to keep coming back. I always look back at my marathon experiences, thinking to myself, “If I can do 26.2 miles, I can do this!”.