Thursday, January 13, 2011

Holy Spin Class….

Have you ever wished for death during a workout?
I have, a couple of times. The most memorable time was during the Portland Marathon when I contemplated jumping off the bridge, just to be done with it…read about it HERE. Ok, that may be a tiny over-exaggeration but still. One other time I was running 8x400 hill sprints. The funny thing is that I could stop at any moment. I could quit. I could walk. I could have gotten in my car and drove to Mandolin Café for a coffee and a brownie. I could have had Mel and Jill scoop me into their car during Portland Marathon at mile 13 or again at 18. But I didn’t.
I didn’t quit.
Why?
I have no idea.
Today during spin class I wished I would black out. Fall from the bike and sleep peacefully on the floor until the class was over. I felt that way 30 min in. It was tough!! I was dripping sweat. I could watch the sweat drops roll down the bridge of my nose and follow it falling to the ground.
SPLAT!
My sweat was pooling under the spin bike.
Weird.
I have never seen that before.
I sweat, don’t get me wrong, during runs and other workouts. I just don’t generally see it pool beneath me. As I looked ahead at the mirror I could see my fellow spinners taking breaks, sitting back in the saddle. Why couldn’t I? Why was I still climbing? Still “turning it up”? Good question… So I would say spin was a success. I will be trying to hit the class at least once a week , doing one ride on the trainer at home and my weekly long ride outside on my gorgeous new Felt….she still needs a name. (Time is almost up to win some Yurbuds or a 50% off coupon to Optic Nerve. Check it out HERE)
After spin I ran 3.25 miles. I didn’t want to. I was tired and wanted to be done. I was hungry. I had a side stitch. I was thirsty and had no water. My head hurt (Why, yes, I would love some cheese with my wine. Thank you.)
So why not quit? Why not just get of the spin bike and walk from the room? Why not hit STOP on the mill and be done with it? I don’t know. It is not in me to quit. I am the dumb one who might fight to the death. I would be the one to gnaw off my own arm to escape from under a tree.
Ok. Maybe not. But who knows?
In Portland Marathon at mile 13 I was done-zo. But I wasn’t. I wanted to quit but I couldn’t. I was going to die trying. Just like a year ago in the Million Inch run (HERE) when my hip hurt so bad the sounds of pain coming from my mouth were not even human, I did not quit, not until I hit exactly One Million Inches. And I know this is probably not healthy. Not smart. Not ideal. And I know I can be smart and quit, stop when the time comes. But for now, I have not hit that point. What will it take? I shudder to think…
In the end I think this will help me, it has helped me way beyond exercising and racing. I have carried this over into my every day life. When I know others would lay down and cry I got myself up and went on. When I felt the world was crumbling beneath me I ran to solid ground instead of falling into the crevasse. Running has made me stronger and taught me invaluable lessons.
And for your viewing enjoyment, I love bell peppers. I had the most delicious one tonight with dinner and just thought you would like to see it:
pepper
dinner
Do you like bell peppers? That is a bell pepper, right? The orange ones are my favorite and yellow is a close second.
Have you ever kept on going when you know you should have stopped? Or am I the only nut case out here?
And finally, how do you think a spin class converts to road biking? I was supposed to ride 20 miles today but did an hour of spin instead….

16 comments:

  1. I haven't come to the point where I've wished for death during a workout but during childbirth (labor) oh ya, I've been there :) It's always worth it when it's over though right? :)

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  2. I love red bell peppers soooooooooooooo much. Only raw, though. I kind of hate cooked bell peppers.

    Also, green bell peppers are the grossest thing ever.

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  3. During Park City Marathon last year summer I was cursing...I never curse. I was questioning my whole existence. The mental games that happen when our bodies are so spent is ridiculous. I thought I wouldn't walk for a month after that race. I ran the Monday after...go figure.

    I actually am partial to green bell peppers but I'll take all colors on the stop light... :)

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  4. My "I kept going but I know I should have stopped" happened in Portland too. I was running my first marathon. Felt awesome up until mile 16 then BAM!!! Knee its hurting. I try to stretch, still hurts, i walk, then run, then walk, then run, then walk, then... well you get the point the last 10 miles of the race. There was no way I was going to quit. When I walked by the medical tent at who knows what mile and the nice lady asked "Cynthia are you ok?" I said yes even though the voice inside me was yelling "NO take me back to my hotel room where it will be nice and dry and I can sleep this pain away" But there was just no way I was not going to finish my first marathon.. so I hobbled to the finish line. Most normal people would probably never want to run another one again, well, I plan to run a few more this year. They can't all be like Portland can they? :/

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  5. Spinning is awesome I love it. I do the bike so I can see the distance I ve completed for my cardio at my gym the spin bikes don't have the little meter... I usually ride pretty hard in spin or on the stationary bike, Jason and I went for a ride in December and the real hills kicked my butt although I think spin or stationary are good training just not quite the same.
    What is this new thing you are waiting for?
    With my trainer there have been a few times I felt like I was going to pass out / throw up but to me that means I must get in better shape.
    I love your last post from daily mile, I've been keeping track of time worked out and cardio mileage at the end of every month so I can see how I am doing maybe I ll do daily mile.
    PS. going to mandolin tomorrow and wish you could come because it's right by your house. I MISS YOU !!!

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  6. Dang girl! You self-motivate WAY better than I ever could. Awesome job pushing through those hard workouts!

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  7. i love spin class! haha, Ryan said he hit the wall at mile 2 of the Disney marathon this past Sunday, LOL. I LOOOOOVE peppers! i eat at least 1 pepper a day, sometimes i don't even cut them up, i just eat them like a pepper. I prefer to buy the sweet field peppers, i like they way they taste and they are usually $1/lb cheaper!

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  8. I like the red ones best!

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  9. I love me some spin...our classes are brutal - no joke and I often want to back off but I use them as part of my mental training to just.keep.going.
    I love raw peppers and cooked in things like chilli. But a cooked stuffed pepper? Blech.

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  10. love it. i get the i want to quit so much and it is such a head game.

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  11. AWESOME job on the workout! Quitting is for... quitters!!! Way to push through!!

    MMMM I love peppers too. Mostly red. Don't like the green ones much - too bitter!

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  12. I love spin class and definitely think it qualifies for a good chunk of miles for the day. I see a good amount of people put towels under their bikes just to catch their sweat- you're not alone!

    The time I kept going when I at least wanted to stop was during my first 5k...I was having major potty issues and wanted to just walk in fear of having an accident. It pushed me to go faster so I could run to the bathroom after lol

    Http://justrunmego.blogspot.com

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  13. that pepper is nearly the same size as your child!

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  14. Wow! Excellent job with the killer spin class!

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  15. See, this kind of makes me think my spin instructor sucks.

    I love bell peppers. Doesn't matter what color. Green, red (ESPECIALLY red), yellow, orange. I <3 'em all.

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  16. Very motivational post! Check out my blog (I'm new) to see what my husband made for dinner last night, I think you would love it!

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You're pretty much awesome!!

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