Working My Ass Off

 I have not seen my ass in the CS since the beginning of spring. As soon as I head for spin class it runs to the elliptical to read the N.Y. Times Digest. Working my ass off? I don’t know what the hell I am sitting on but it’s not my ass.

Sunday Import

It’s not often that a team can bring in their own “ringers” but this Sunday in Roslyn that’s exactly what we did.  At home in Woodbury we are in our element. Geographically today we are in essence out of ours but with enough familiar faces we have in effect taken the home team on the road complete with our own raving fans, us.

It reminds me of Camden Yards in Baltimore and the Yankees have come to town and a “Let’s Go Yankees” chant erupts from all over the Stadium.  This is what it felt like today. A much darker studio than our pedaling grounds but nonetheless I saw so many of the faces I have come to recognize and their returning smiles to my countenance gave me a slight rush.    It was, how else to say it comfortable.

Once the music started and we saw Kristen clip in three times, (Two bikes with broken clips) we were home. It had the ambience of   the visitor’s park but it seemed like it was ours now. Those home team riders will just have sit back in awe and watch a finely trained precision team go to work and workout. 

Kristen took off her kid gloves that she usually wears on Tuesdays and the bare-knuckle approach must have left had an indelible mark on their collective chins because the Kindergarten Cop was nowhere to be seen. And 

She's No Cupcake

I did not hear the short story about Kristen’s 7 year old but as the story goes, it seems Master Gagne was innocently referring to female protuberances as “cupcakes”.   A very interesting observation from a 7-year-old male who may not realize what he might have more than a passing interest in as he enters the pubescent zone. 

As long as we are on the subject of confectionary delights, it might give us the impression that KSC has some “soft” spots.  I can answer with a resounding AYKM?  It is remarkable to me when we do finish a ‘road’ and Kristen tells us to back off and grab water, we for a moment think we can relax. Nothing could be further from the truth.  It seems like only milliseconds pass and she is urging: “Come on up”. 

Again today the focus was recovery and it felt as if I was exerting my willpower to try to bring my heart rate down as quickly as possible.  After banishing the word ‘rest’ from my vocabulary recovery seems very appealing like the girl with the curl.  The power of the mind has the capability of laser like focus and today had me zeroing in toggling back and forth between breathless and the hard zone.

We had a new member on Thursday and he of all things to wear had donned a “Grumpy” T-shirt from the 7 Dwarf collections.  No sooner did our host spy that did he get permanently named so. In fact Kristen didn’t even want to know his given name. I spoke to him in the locker room afterwards and he was lamenting his choice of wardrobe. I told him I was happy he passed on “Dopey”. He breathed a sigh of relief because he owns that one as well.  When you wear a target like that it’s as if you are wearing a sign that says, “Kick Me”.

How about QOTD (Question of the day) Today’s question comes from John McQueen the alter ego of Jack Briant and he writes:  How long does Kristen really think 5 seconds is? I can sing 99 bottles of beer on the wall faster than that. 

Evil Woman

A rare treat, Thursday 8:30 spin in KSC.  Either I never got up early enough or I have been opting for Thursday night with the Blue Sapphire not sure why I have not taken this edition. 

Summer is rearing its solar power aided by its cousin humidity and it brings out my love/hate relationship with AC. I love the fresh air but when the air is still and stifling I bow to the artificial atmosphere that air conditioning provides.

I just heard that Carolyn will vacate her evening slot but Tripp will fill in as substitute. No worries that’s a heads heads coin. 

I of course cannot be sure ever what the demeanor of Kristen will be when she enters the CS because it is never the same ‘road’.  She presents a multi faceted personality that is always entertaining and of course didactic. She it would appear does not let the preceding parts of her life ever interfere but rather it seems to fuel her rationale to take each session to another level. Most professionals can compartmentalize their inside life vs. their outside mirror.

When I heard ELO play “Evil Woman” I instantly felt the visceral chord being struck crosswise on my solar plexus and the rush of adrenaline fueled a noticeable increase in my pedal stroke intensity.  When KG turned to me and said: Will this be the title of today’s blog, it resonated. And let’s be real she is EVIL, but in a good way.

  Today I felt like it was 1979 and that my training regimen back then of 95 miles a week was something I could maintain the rest of my life.  Well of course hardly. But the fact that I had the feeling that I am in training again was revelatory because not since the Boston Marathon have I felt this good both mentally and physically about my exercise regimen. 

The condensation on the windows gave its evidence of just how the thermodynamics of the CS were being pushed to its limit and the open door was a welcome relief towards the end of our ride.  Kristen referred to the main room as a meat locker and I just cannot reconcile just how frigid it is when I walk outside. It feels like I am in a Tropical Rain Forest and am Star Trek transported to the Arctic Circle.  I just came up with my own name and I call it The Forbidden Zone.  It’s pretend exercise out there and that’s where I played most of my tenure here.  Although the Stair Master is still a challenging piece of apparatus but it's LONELY.

P.S.

I cannot wait to pluck that retro picture from Facebook and guess where that will land?

P.P.S. Next Up: She's No Cupcake. 

Wayne's World

I have been reflecting on the epiphany I had last week in spinning class. And that is that rest is not an option and recovery is all I need to seek in the appointed hour.  There is simply no time to rest because it is an illusion I can tell myself but never experience until I hit the pillow at night. As I said earlier in the week we have 23 hours to rest.

Armed with that awareness I can focus more fully on recovery and therefore enjoy the effort to a much greater extent. I told you that KSC is Zen like and as I shift my paradigm yet again spinning becomes a deeply meditative state.  And breathing is part of meditation, as we all know.

Is this what it is like for anyone of you? 

In the movie from 1992 Wayne’s World, Wayne said: "I wasn’t aware of that."  I suffered from the misconception that breathing via the mouth got me more air to my lungs than my nose did.  I was right about that, I did get more ‘air’ but breathing through my nose gave my lungs  more oxygen and less CO2 than mouth breathing did.  It seems according to informed sources that the nasal passages filter out the carbon dioxide making the nose the better (and pardon the pun) channel. 

Thank you for all your reads this month a writer just wants to be read. 

Jaywalking

Never for a lack of words, but today had me searching around for some delicious descriptive semantics from the right corner of the CS.  A new spin instructor for me today was Bill Randall.  He had me charging enough to leave my familiar liquid triangle.  However, he committed heresy when he played The Doobie Brothers tune “Long Train Running” while on a respite in the saddle.  It’s not often that the music really grabs me but today Bill had two that struck a visceral chord, the other being The Police, “Living in a Material World”.

I do have to report that Nancy actually broke the pedals today, no fooling.  I heard this racket to my left and Ms. Three play put her Schwinn off to the Knackers Yard.  Breaking the pedals has taken on a new meaning since Nancy put a hurting on that poor bike.

Got up today not with much zeal I admit because I knew I was not going to dance with The Blue Sapphire in her usual 1015 slot but I had a date in the Bronx so I opted for the earlier edition.  Sometimes it’s hard to change instructors and the comfort zone is Kristen, Tripp and Carolyn.  But not one of the Equinox masters disappoint. 

This Sunday had me jaywalking; I usually cross at the corner not in the middle of the block like I did today.  Desire sometimes wanes even in this passionate avocation but there are days that you just have to bring the butt and the mind will follow. Today was one of those days. Hallelujah!

Don’t Cross the Street in the Middle in the Middle of the Block: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYyRR0GuTFI

Out for Blood

I thought that puddle beneath my bike looked red today. KSC is the only place where getting bludgeoned is what I expect and demand of myself.  And who can get so much out of us than Kristen.  Just when I think I am giving it my maximum effort I dig down and find something better, something faster, and something stronger.

There is never time to rest in KSC and I have come to the realization that there is barely time for recovery in the hour allotted.  And resting is a waste of time we have 23 hours in the day to do that.

 And with that revelation I have also made an adjustment when I sit back in the saddle and that is to pick up my RPM’s no matter what the current “road” is.  I finally got it in my head that when I sit my heart slows automatically and picking up speed is part of the recovery.  I liken it to hill climbing when I ran foot races.   The downhill was not a place to rest from the climb but a time to accelerate and pick up speed. 

I asked Nancy who might be amenable to talking to me about what Kristen’s Spin Class means to them, and she mentioned Lorraine.  And Lorraine said what a lot of us must feel and that is that there is no better motivator than KG.

 Not earth shaking but one of our female riders shocked me and compared spinning to the peak sensation.  You know the peak sensation, it’s a 6-letter word that starts with O and ends in an M?  I thought that was an unusual comparison but all right I never thought of it that way but this anonymous interviewee said a lot of her non athletic friends always ask her what spinning is all about and the word orgasm was the only one that seemed to suffice.  I still think it feels like I am kicking my ass but everyone is entitled to their opinion.