Cyclist

Last summer I got myself a road bike, learned the proper terminology for someone that rides a road bike (cyclist, not biker) and started heading out every weekend and most weekday evenings until it started getting dark before 5:00.
For this spring/summer I've joined a cycling group that will be hitting the roads every Saturday and probably one other day as well.  I did this because I'm apparently going to be doing two Gran Fondo events and the Ride to Conquer Cancer this year (let it never be said I don't jump into new things with both feet,) and I need to get myself ready for these (also, I need to learn to ride in a group.)
I'm excited and nervous, both for riding with a mix of people that includes a couple of pros from time to time and for meeting a whole bunch of new people.

I need to be able to keep up with this group if I'm going to enjoy it, so training starts... well, yesterday.  And it starts indoors.  (I never claimed not to be a fair weather cyclist.)

I have added some new tools to my training kit.  I'm still (obviously) doing crossfit 4 or 5 days a week, but getting my cardio up takes more than WODs, (even the 40 min kind.)

My Training Tools:  I keep it simple. I'm new at this, and I don't need to be that person with all the best gear who had no idea what she's doing or how to use it, so I'm taking things slow and buying them one at a time as I determine I actually need them.

Indoor Trainer: 
A friend lent me his which was so very helpful and nice.  I guess it had been sitting in the basement for a while, and he doesn't need it at the moment.  There is a spin bike in my condo building's gym, that I was using before, but this is better.  I don't need to share, I can watch either a training app/video or a TV show, play whatever music I want without dealing with headphones and I can line up three water bottles to make it through the sweaty business that is indoor bike training.

Cadence meter:  
This is an important purchase that I went super cheap and Chinese with, it took... 6 weeks (I think?) to arrive, did not come with batteries and it needs to be positioned perfectly to actually read the cadence.  The speed readings seem less picky.  The reason i bought it was to track my cadence, so ideally this flaw in my cheapo meter would be the other way around, but c'est la vie, you get what you pay for, ect.  All that being said, it does give me data, which is what I want and need in order to track my progress and have tangible things to work toward improving.
It connects to the Wahoo app, which is handy. My reading from about 1/2 way through my short spin last night is here on the right.  My average should actually be more like 90, and my average speed should be.... not that.  I have a lot of work to do. 

Apps:  
Apps are arguably not necessary, and relatively pricey (around $10USD a month it seems for almost everything I could find.)  I've tried Sufferfest and Roadtrain so far, Sufferfest was good but there aren't that many videos in the library for the cost.  I'm still looking for my holy grail as far as training programs and/or apps, but these are doing the job so far.

I do non-stop research on everything I care about so inevitably I will be finding other things to add to this list.  I'll report back.  For now I have work to do to get moving way faster so I can keep up with all the people that have offered to ride with me!

Spin, spin, spin.  If only I was this fast.

Out for a ride with my imaginary friends #sufferlandria #cycling #indoorcycling #homeworkout #homegym #timelapse #iwishiwasthatfast

A post shared by Danielle (@danielleisatthegym) on Jan 28, 2017 at 3:28pm PST

From wannabe to crossfitter

I'm not a natural athlete.  I was never "the best" at any sport I tried, in fact I quit most of the sports I tried because everyone else took them so damn seriously and ruined all the fun.  I didn't want to become a varsity rower; I wanted to paddle around on the ocean on sunny days.  I didn't want to compete against people who could see themselves going to university on a soccer scholarship; I wanted to kick around a ball with my friends.

I'm not particularly competitive, I don't really like most sports, and I don't take myself overly seriously. These traits are not ones that make a typical "athlete."  I didn't have any desire to be a typical athlete, I just wanted to be "in shape" (whatever that meant,) look good, and keep up when friends wanted to hike, snowboard, or do some kind of silly theme run.



I tried so many different ways to become that person.

First, I tried training like a bodybuilder.  The training style was not a coincidence, my personal trainer (yes, I was 17 and had a personal trainer) at the time used to be a bodybuilder and thought I'd make a good one.  I had an eating disorder already (no one knew about that yet) and didn't think building a lot of muscle was a good idea, but I followed along like the well behaved, people-pleasing oldest child old I was and actually started to look pretty good.  I did not compete or even come close, which is honestly one of the better decisions I made at that time in my life.

Once I turned about 20, I decided muscle was the enemy and I spent years following a style of "working out" that can really only be described as paying $50 a month to read a book on an elliptical.  I was a Cardio Bunny as we semi-affectionately say now in fitness forums.  At least it took up a lot of time, of which I had a lot; I was antisocial, depressed and starting to seriously wonder if I was losing my mind due to anxiety and bulimia.  Fun times.

There were other workouts over the years, a lot of time spent in the gym, a lot of money spent joining bootcamp classes, yoga classes, running, spinning and trying to find something I enjoyed enough to keep doing.  I was still uninspired and bored and cycled through these classes as quickly as my short term memberships expired.

At about 28 years old I decided that STRONG=SEXY.  The internet said so and it must be true.  I found out that powerlifting existed, and that I could actually lift quite a bit of weight for my size/training level, and that it was really, really enjoyable.  I spent the next few years (aside from a few injuries I caused myself) building strength, ignoring endurance, and having a great time doing it.  Powerlifting is fun, it's a great way to train, and though I can't really call myself an actual "Powerlifter," training this way really opened my mind to strength, muscle, and building a skill that I was proud of.  Even when most people didn't take much interest.

255xcant lock out. Next time. #deadlifts #conventional #sumo #whynot #liftingweights #nolockout #threeredlights

A post shared by Danielle (@danielleisatthegym) on Aug 13, 2016 at 9:54am PDT

A little less than a year ago, I realized that I was lonely, tired of working out by myself, and still hadn't really found "my people."

Enter, Crossfit.  The sport I'd seen the internet make fun of for years; cheesy logos and catch phrases (your workout is my warm-up - really?); stories of douchy, shirtless bros getting so competitive with one and other that they would land themselves in the hospital; a price-point that was easily twice that of my current gym membership.  Was I really going to do this?  Yes, apparently I was.

Once I decided I wanted to try it out, I needed to find a place to go that didn't have the aforementioned douchy bros (these are a myth as far as I can tell - I've been to a lot of Crossfit boxes.)  I wanted coaches that knew what they were doing.  I wanted a location that I could get to without a car.  Lucky for me, my wishlist aligned and I found my current "box" (I feel like such a dork even writing that, but that's what it's called) and I was hooked.

Cleans #poweredbycupcakes . . . . #cleans #liftingweights #practicemakesperfect #weightlifting #crossfit

A post shared by Danielle (@danielleisatthegym) on Feb 12, 2017 at 8:52am PST

I'm still a wannabe, but I found a great community, great coaches, and a sport I look forward to doing every day.  I'm getting better, stronger, and I think even more aestetic (which was basically all of my initial goals.)  My goals have changed, my plans have changed, and certainly the way I spend my time has changed.  I wish it didn't take me so long to get to this point.

New year, new me, blah blah blah.

I always start the year with great intentions, with fresh goals, a positive attitude and ideas that are sure to turn everything around.  Accountability be damned, I have IDEAS.  Great ideas.  Many ideas.  The best ideas.  And far less follow through.

For some reason, now that it's no longer resolutions season, I feel a renewed sense of drive - to accomplish, to try, to plan.  So let's take advantage of that.

Life's Journey?  Maybe.