Climbing With a Head Wind

Both Renee Morris and Sherrie Medina have debuted as our new substitute spin instructors at Foothills. I was unable to be there for Renee's ride on Wednesday morning but from all that I hear it went very well! I'm sorry I missed it!

I did, however, go on Thursday when Sherrie taught the first half of Jody's 5:45 pm class. She rode us through a nice range of drills from climbing with a headwind to rolling hills with some speed and a nice spin downhill after a very steep climb. It was 30 minutes well spent!

I asked Sherrie about how she developed the ride. "I started with the music" she said, finding, what she called, “hard working music" that provided the perfect down beat for a serious climb. Then she plotted out the drills that she knew she wanted to use.

Beyond the obvious physical test of being conversational during a strenuous workout, Sherrie told me the biggest personal challenge she faced was overcoming her shyness. She said that while she is accustomed to exercising her body, its her public speaking that doesn't get much of a work out. Participating the Foothills 12-week challenges really informed how Sherrie approaches teaching spin. She set the goal figuring out how to do it and moves toward that goal, steadily and without looking back.

After we talked for a while Sherrie started to imagine different modes of delivering rides, as a teacher. “I always thought it would be cool,” she said, “to video tape a road ride from the perspective of the rider then project that on a screen as I taught the profile in the spin class.” Multi-media rides? You know I like that idea!

Listening Post

You're sitting in your car, listening to your favorite CD or your jogging on the canal to the rhythm of a favorite song. You think to yourself -- that would be a great song for spinning!

Don't keep it to yourself! Let the instructors at Foothills know...

What songs would you like to hear? How do you imagine they might be used? A perfect fit for the warm up? a steep climb? during speed work? while we stretch?

No promise that you'll hear the song next time you ride, but you might be surprised. AND, it will give the instructors some information about their rider's listening trends.

You can comment here, on the blog, or send Jo and email. She'll compile a list and get it to the instructors.

Thanks for contributing to the conversation!

And, did you know there's an entire cottage industry of making music for exercising purposes? Follow this link to find out more.

Here are a couple other links you might find interesting, too.
An extensive archive of play lists
Royalty Free Music

Schedule Changes WE 06.28.07

Date @ Time - Instructor
Wed 06.20 @ 9:15 am - Carol
Wed 06.20 @ 5:45 pm - Carol
Thu 06.21 @ 5:45 pm - Holly
Sat 06.23 @ 7:45 am - Erin
Tue 06.26 @ 5:45 pm - Alisa
Wed 06.27 @ 9:15 am - Carol
Thu 06.28 @ 5:45 am - Wendy
Thu 06.28 @ 5:45 pm - Itamar

Blogging 101

A blog (short for 'web log') is a website where entries are written in chronological order but displayed in reverse chronological order. Blogs can be formal or less so, written about opinions or experience. They are frequently dedicated to one particular interest - there are travel blogs, political blogs, food blogs, health blogs, and, yes, fitness blogs.
One of the key features of blogging is the interactive capacity of the site; readers can very easily write comments to the blogger and each other. Blogs can be virtual communities made up of people who never meet or they can be places where people who know each other extend their acquaintances through on line writing.
If you read something here that sparks your interest or reminds you of something you'd like to share with other readers you can leave a comment. It's very easy to comment. Here's how:

• Scroll down to the bottom of this post. You'll see a string of text that identifies who wrote the posting (Jo) and when. To the right you'll see the word "comment" with a pencil icon next to it. CLICK on the word "comment". (If you want to keep this page open as you complete these steps, RIGHT CLICK on "comment" and drag the cursor over "open in new page" from the drop down menu.)


• A page with two columns will open. On the left are all the comments that have already been posted. On the right you'll see the words "Leave Your Comment" above a white input box.


• Type your comment in the white box.


• Next you must "choose an identity" and, for the purpose of posting to the blog, you have three choices. Log in if you have a blogger account. If you don't have one or don't know what that means you may choose to remain anonymous or click on "other" to enter your name. Unless you want to remain anonymous, the best choice is to click on "other" and then fill in your name and, if you have one, your website address (this information is optional).


• Then click on "Preview" if you want to read your comment as it will appear to other blog vistors.


• Finally, click on "Publish your comment" and it will be sent to the list moderator for approval. Jo moderates this list, she is the judge and jury when it comes to what gets posted.
  
  A note from Jo about moderation: I am a liberal moderator (doesn't that seem a little ironic? a liberal moderator... ) I will approve almost anything and wouldn't dream of editing your comments before publishing them. I just need to filter spam and other inappropriate material that might be sent as comments to the blog. Its a tough job, but someone's got to do it - right? Right.
  


• Once you've left your message click on "Foothills Revolution Spin" at the top of the left hand column to go back to the blog and continue reading.

Its that simple.

Go to blogger.com to look at a seemingly endless number of blog examples and read more on Wikipedia about the history of blogging, current trends and an extensive list of on line references.

Schedule Changes WE 06.16.07

Date @ Time - Instructor
Sat 06.09 @ 7:45 am - Missy
Mon 06.11 @ 9:15 am - Missy
Tue 06.12 @ 5:45 pm - Wendy
Thu 06.14 @ 5:45 pm - Holly
Sat 06.16 @ 7:45 am - Missy

Why water?

"Water, water everywhere and all the boards did shrink. Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink."

When I was in the 9th grade Dr. Woodruff made us memorize The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. I think of this phrase during spin class, as I reach for my water bottle and watch the sweat drip from my wrist.

It seems I loose the water as fast as I drink it!

What happens to the water we drink while exercising? According to Jody "it goes straight to your muscles." But how does that work? Why does it make us feel better? I set about to find out and this is what I learned.

The American College of Sports Medicine took a position on how to hydrate during exercise. they recommend that we drink AT LEAST the same amount of water that we loose from sweating during exercise. I drink a full liter.

We loose plasma in our perspiration which means fewer red blood cells are reaching our muscles. Since red blood cells carry the oxygen in our blood, fewer of them can only mean one thing: less oxygen to our muscles. The result? Fatigue. The sooner water is absorbed into the blood stream, through the small intestines, the sooner we replenish the oxygen to our muscles spelling r-e-l-i-e-f. So, it makes sense that the ACSM recommends exercising (and hydrating) on an empty stomach - it speeds the absorption rate.

The ACSM also recommends drinking 16 ounces of water two hours prior to vigorous exercise. One hour prior isn't too late. You might have to pee in the middle of your ride, but better a full bladder than a cramped calf muscle or hamstring. Right? Right.

This is a fairly rudimentary understanding of a very complex set of chemical and mechanical processes. If you want to know more about hydration practices, I suggest you check out the following links that offer a variety of interesting contexts for the question:

Montana State University Sports Nutrition

Healthtouch On Line

NSW Institute of Sport

Ironman Power

Lead Seeking

What makes your spin practice unique? How long have you been doing it? Do you remember your first ride? How does spin fit into your other fitness practices? What changed in your other activities after you started to spin? If you'd like to share your answers to these questions and more, contact Jo Novelli at fhr.spin@gmail.com, she wants to hear from you.

Too modest to talk about yourself but think you have some good material for the blog? Go ahead, post a comment or drop Jo a line fhr.spin@gmail.com. She is always looking for leads.