Tag Archives: bike

Balancing My Workouts (or Doing Some Planning)

Posted on January 18, 2016 | 4 comments

It was another week of highs and lows in my workouts. I had to do some real thinking about how I can continue this lifestyle long-term and I think I’ve found some great ideas to help me.

Monday was a bit of an odd day for me. I went to an afternoon workout instead of a morning one because of filming my friend’s project. I do afternoon workouts most days, so it wasn’t too bad. But it seemed to throw my day off a bit and I had trouble with figuring out when I should eat because I ate breakfast so early and didn’t want to eat lunch too late and get sick in my workout. But I managed to figure out something that almost worked for me (I didn’t eat enough before my workout so I was getting a bit light-headed).

Monday was a run/row day (those really are my favorites) and because the run segments were short enough, I was able to do my push paces at 3.6 miles per hour for the entire class. I’m hoping that I can get my base pace up to 3.5 miles an hour, but that’s still a struggle for me. But I’m ok with getting my push paces up. And as I mentioned before, I’m focusing on my speed on the treadmill instead of increasing the incline. I feel like that is making things a bit easier on my hips and calf so I’m happy to continue doing that.

Wednesday was a bit of a tough day for me. I’m not sure if I was getting shin splints again, but my legs didn’t feel right. It wasn’t the same as the usual shin splint pain. It was more toward my ankles and didn’t start until the end of the treadmill segment, so I didn’t stress out about it too much. As soon as I got off the treadmill I focuses on my weight works and was successful in only using 15 pound weights (no 12 pound weights at all that day!). We also ended the day with a 3 minute row and I felt like my form was a bit straighter than it has been in a long time (when I bend my legs on the rower, they go more out like a butterfly than bending like a squat). I did take care of my legs after class, so I didn’t have any pain on Thursday like I have in the past with shin splints.

Friday was a crazy day for me. I wasn’t thinking that it was the start of a holiday weekend and I was late for class for the first time ever! Fortunately, my friend Dani was there and saved me a treadmill. I was only 3 minutes late, but it did throw me off. It was another run/row day, so I was pretty happy about that. I was mainly doing 3.6 miles an hour, but I tried to increase it to 3.7 for the last 30 seconds of each treadmill block. My legs were feeling fine, so that was a relief. And Friday marked the start of the Orangetheory weight loss challenge so I’m glad I got the challenge off to a good start with a great workout.

I also added in a 4th workout on Saturday. And this is where I’ve made a decision that I think will help me out. While I don’t love using the bike instead of the treadmill, I’m terrified of overdoing it on the treadmill. So I’ve decided that on weeks that I do 4 workouts, I’m going to do that 4th workout on the bike (or the 1st workout of the week on the bike if that’s on a Sunday). It’s hopefully going to help my hips take a bit of a break without having to take a break completely with the workout. So on Saturday this past week, I was on the bike. I wasn’t able to get my heart rate up as high as I’d like, but I’m wondering if that may be because of how I’m hunched over on the bike and how the heart rate monitor fits in that position. But I was pedaling a lot faster than I have in the past and that made me very happy.

My weight work on Saturday was great. I was doing deadlifts with 25 pound weights and my bicep work with 15 pound weights (although I’m thinking now that I could have done 20 pounds weights). I also had some great improvement on my form on the work on the TRX straps. I don’t know what clicked for me this week with form, but there was something that just made everything easier to do so I could push myself even more than I was before.

I’m not sure when my next week of 4 workouts will be (maybe in 2 weeks), but I’m liking the idea of taking a bit of a break with that 4th workout being on the bike. Knowing that is my plan, I might start doing more 4 workout weeks if my schedule allows. I’m hoping that one day, that will be what my normal weeks will be like. But for now, I’m happy with only sometimes doing that 4th workout.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailSwitching Things Up (or Challenging Workouts) Default ThumbnailBack To 4 Workouts (or More Rowing!) Default ThumbnailA Week On The Bike (or Ending My Year By Taking It A Bit Easy) Default ThumbnailGetting Back To Normal Workouts (or Balancing Hard Work And Taking It Easy) Default ThumbnailFitting In My Workouts (or Planning For The End Of The Year) Default ThumbnailFitting In My Workouts No Matter What (or Last Workouts Before The 5K)

4 Comments

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health

Tagged , , , , , ,

My Birthday! (or Laundry, A Bike Ride, and Dinner!)

Posted on August 12, 2015 | 4 comments

My actual birthday was a pretty awesome day! It didn’t start off so awesome, though. Last week the dryer where I live was broken. It got fixed, but at some point during the week both the washer and dryer broke. I had no idea until I tried to do laundry on Sunday morning. So at 7:30am I put all my dirty clothes in my car and went back to the laundromat. It costs almost 4 times what it costs at my place to do laundry, but I needed clean clothes! Fortunately, I got a couple of birthday phone calls while I was there so that helped to pass the time.

After I got home with my clean clothes, it was off to the first part of my birthday adventure. CicLAvia is an event in LA where they shut down a major street (or several major streets) to non-motorized traffic only. So you can bike ride, skate, or walk without fear of being hit by a car. CicLAvia not only happened to be on my birthday this year, the street that was shut down was only blocks from my house! So even though I don’t ride my bike in traffic, I rode the few blocks in traffic to get to the street that was closed down to cars.

Bike Ride

I was hoping that I’d be able to ride with a couple of friends, but it was too difficult trying to coordinate schedules (and some friends were also still searching for bikes that they could rent). So I went off on my own for a nice bike ride.

I don’t get to ride my bike that often. Like I said, I don’t ride where there is traffic (I’m a good bike rider, but cars intimate me) and it’s not fun to have to get my bike into my car. So I know that I could ride more often if it was more convenient. There may be a new bike ride near my house in a year or two, but until then I have limited biking practice.

When I do go out on my bike, it’s usually a pretty short ride of 2 or 3 miles (getting the bike in and out of my car takes up so much time). But for this ride I decided to just ride until I started to feel a bit tired and then turn around. I forgot to turn on a tracking app on my phone when I started my ride, so I didn’t get my mileage count until I got home and could map it out.

Birthday Bike Ride

That’s the farthest I’ve ridden on my bike since I got it! My legs definitely felt it after the ride was done. But I was able to relax at home before the second part of my birthday.

I didn’t want to do a big party for my birthday because they are too stressful to organize. But I did want something different from going to a bar. So I invited a bunch of people to come out to dinner, and we had a nice little group there!

Birthday Dinner

Yes, my birthday dinner was 6 girls and 1 guy, but I don’t think he was complaining. It was a really fun dinner with lots of great conversation. And I had some really delicious food!

Food

After dinner, my friends had set it up for the waiter to bring a slice of cake with a candle in it. But we were all so full from our food that between all of us we maybe ate 1/10th of the cake slice.

Between my birthday outings, the phone calls I got, the Facebook notes, and the gifts that friends and family gave me; I had a really amazing birthday. I know that I say that every year, but it’s so true. My birthday was pretty much perfect (I wish the laundry wasn’t broken) and I have no idea on how to top it next year!

But even though the calendar says my birthday is done, I’m not done celebrating quite yet!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailContinuing The Birthday Fun (or Pie and Makeup) Default ThumbnailAlmost Free Birthday Dinner (or Spending My Birthday With My Birthday Twin) Default ThumbnailHappy Hour Birthday Dinner (or Just Having A Nice Catch Up Chat) Default ThumbnailMaybe I Should Be A Wine Drinker (or How We Spent My Grandma’s Birthday Dinner) Default ThumbnailGrandma’s Birthday Dinner (or One Of Our Thanksgiving Traditions) Default ThumbnailBirthday Twin Dinner (or Zero Dollar Bill)

4 Comments

Posted in Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , ,

Baby Steps Progress (or Surprising Myself)

Posted on March 17, 2014 | Comments Off on Baby Steps Progress (or Surprising Myself)

I don’t feel like I’ve made a ton of progress in spin class lately. I’m still sitting down for the entire class. I had previously discussed trying to stand up (or ride out of the saddle) with my hip surgeon, and his advice was simple. If it hurts after the workout, that’s good. If it hurts while I’m doing the workout, that’s bad.

And since day 1, it has hurt whenever I tried to ride out of the saddle in class. Every so often, I’ll try to ride out of the saddle to see if somehow it doesn’t hurt (at least in the bad way). And it never seems to be only good pain.

This past Saturday I went to Heather’s class (I love that since I’m not at my old job anymore I can go to her lunchtime class on Saturday!). It was a great class and I was sweating like crazy. It was exactly what I needed.

In the past, I’ve always tried to ride out of the saddle when there is very little resistance on the bike. I’m not sure why, but that’s always what I’ve done. And every time I’ve tried, I can stay up for a couple of seconds before I feel the bad pain (which is basically my hip locking up and feeling like the bones are grinding).

But this past Saturday, I decided to try riding out of the saddle while we were in the hill portion of class. This meant that there was a lot of resistance on the wheel and that we were not pedaling as fast.

And I was actually able to stay up for about half a song! It was tough, but it didn’t start hurting until about half way through the hill section. I was able to stay up and even do some of the moves (we were sitting down for 2 counts and then standing up for 2 counts).

After half of the song, the bad pain started again, so I sat down. But this was still the most that I’ve ridden out of the saddle for any spin class I’ve taken!

It’s tough to be super excited over this since I only rode out of the saddle for about 90 seconds and a majority of the 45 minute class is supposed to be out of the saddle, but I’m trying to be happy. Maybe the next class I take I can ride out of the saddle for a majority of the hill section. And one day, I’ll be able to ride out of the saddle for 45 seconds when there is no resistance on the bike.

These are baby steps. And they will take a while to add up to what seems like progress. But I’m trying to stay optimistic that this will snowball into faster and faster progress and one day I will look back at the time that I had to sit down for an entire spin class as something in the past.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailI’ve Got Some Follow Through (or I Said I’d Do It So I Did) Default Thumbnail2 Steps Forward 1 Step Back (or Going With The Flow) Default ThumbnailBaby Steps (or Trying To Be Proud Of The Little Victories) Default ThumbnailBeing A Bit Of A Show-Off (or More Baby Steps) Default ThumbnailBaby Steps Of Improvements (or Getting Ready For The Dri-Tri) Default ThumbnailSurprising Myself (or Maybe Progress Is Faster The Second Time)

Comments Off on Baby Steps Progress (or Surprising Myself)

Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged , , ,

Trying A New Spin (or Knowing When A Place Does Feel Like Home)

Posted on February 19, 2014 | Comments Off on Trying A New Spin (or Knowing When A Place Does Feel Like Home)

On my last day at my parents’ house, my dad and I decided to go to a spin class. We actually wanted to try a spin class when I was home at Christmas, but other things ended up happening.

The spin class was at the Courtside Club, the gym that my parents have belonged to for forever. And I do mean forever. My mom has been a member there for 34 years and my dad joined when he and my mom were dating. In fact, their wedding reception was held at the Club (back then it was more of a hotel and tennis club than a gym).

While home at Christmas, my dad and I did a little investigating into the spin classes. We found out that most classes were an hour (compared to 45 minutes at SoulCycle) and that the bikes had both clips and cages so you could either wear bike shoes or sneakers. My dad had found out between my trips home that the clips for spin class were different than what I have on my fancy bike shoes, so I had to use the cages and my sneakers.

When my dad and I got to the class, we managed to find bikes off to the side (almost in a similar place to where I ride at SoulCycle). I tried to set up my bike on my own based on the guidelines that I’ve learned at SoulCycle, but my dad still called the instructor over to help us. He was actually pretty impressed with how well I set up my bike. The instructor (whose name I can’t remember, sorry!) was very friendly and asked if my dad and I had ever been to spin before. We both said that we had, just not at Courtside. He told us to take things at our own pace and to try our best.

Right before the class started, the instructor announced that I was joining the class for the first time and everyone gave me a round of applause (I have no idea why my dad wasn’t acknowledged too). Then the class started.

It was totally different to what I’m used to. There was a little computer on each bike and you were supposed to get to a certain RPM at different points in the class. I’m not used to that at all. At SoulCycle, we ride to the beat. That’s what I’ve focused on. The RPMs weren’t too hard, but I still found myself riding to the beat even though it was the wrong speed.

There were also some technical difficulties with the stereo and microphone so I know that the instructor was a bit flustered and the class was affected a bit by that. But I survived the class.

Even though I had an ok time (if I do that class next time I’m visiting my parents, I’m buying the proper clips because using the cages sucked), I still got in a good workout. And it has reassured me once again that being at SoulCycle is the place for me and that that is the perfect workout for what I’m looking for.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailThe Tale Of Two Fitness Studios (or Knowing Where Your Home Is) Default ThumbnailSharing My Soul (or My Dad’s First Spin Class) Default ThumbnailA Smile In Spin Class (or Sometimes The Little Things Are Big) Default ThumbnailMy First Spin Class (or How HBO Might Have Helped Me Find My Perfect Workout) Default ThumbnailSpinning Machine (or Continuing My New Healthy Addiction) Default ThumbnailKicking Butt (or Feeling Extra Tough In Spin Class)

Comments Off on Trying A New Spin (or Knowing When A Place Does Feel Like Home)

Posted in Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged , , , ,

Sharing My Soul (or My Dad’s First Spin Class)

Posted on November 19, 2013 | 1 comment

One of the things that I had been wanting to take my dad to for a while was spin class at SoulCycle. First of all, I wanted to see if my dad agreed with me that it was a good workout (I like to prove to him that I don’t do easy or weak workouts). But the second reason I wanted to take him was because he has been riding a bike almost every day since before I was born and I wanted to see how he would do in an inside bike ride. My dad used to ride his bike to work almost every single day. Now that he’s retired, he either goes out on his road bike or on an adventure on his mountain bike most days of the week. But spinning is different from outside bike riding so I was curious to see how he would do.

We scheduled our spin class to be on Saturday morning. I wanted to make sure that we got one of my favorite instructors for his class, and I saw that Heather was teaching at 9am on the Saturday that my dad would be here! So we signed up for that class right away.

My dad wasn’t too nervous for the class since I had shown him some videos of what the class would be like before we got there. And obviously he did a great job pedaling the spin bike the entire time. Where my dad had some trouble was the coordinator of the different moves on the bike. But I don’t blame him for that. It took me a couple of classes to get the rhythm of everything down. And since I still can’t do all the standing up stuff, I don’t do all the moves on the bike yet.

After the class, my dad agreed with me that it is a tough class and a great workout! And I got to say hi to Heather really quickly and she invited me to be her guest at one of her 7am classes one day (I have to try to start getting up earlier to make it to that class)!

Overall, I’m pretty sure that my dad enjoyed the class. We got a good workout in and I think he’s starting to understand why I love spinning so much! There isn’t a SoulCycle studio that close to my parents’ house, but there is one about 4 blocks away from my brother and sister-in-law’s house so I told my dad that he should take them to a class sometime! I don’t know if it will happen (I don’t think spinning is my brother’s thing), but maybe one day it will!

I’m just glad that I’m starting to share my love of SoulCycle with members of my family. Maybe my dad will come to a class with me again the next time he and my mom are in town…

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailSharing Some Soul (or Another Day Another Friend At Spin Class) Default ThumbnailBaby Steps Progress (or Surprising Myself) Default ThumbnailKicking Butt (or Feeling Extra Tough In Spin Class) Default ThumbnailMy First Spin Class (or How HBO Might Have Helped Me Find My Perfect Workout) Default ThumbnailA Smile In Spin Class (or Sometimes The Little Things Are Big) Default ThumbnailTrying A New Spin (or Knowing When A Place Does Feel Like Home)

1 Comment

Posted in Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health

Tagged , , , , ,

26.2 (or No Marathon For Me)

Posted on March 18, 2013 | 1 comment

It was the LA Marathon here in LA yesterday. I had a bunch of friends running, so I had the news coverage of the marathon on my tv this morning hoping I’d catch a glimpse of one of them running (sadly, I didn’t).

I’ve never done a marathon (the farthest I’ve ever done was a 5K and that’s walking), and at one point in my life, I dreamed of being able to say that I ran a marathon. I even had a personal trainer at one point who was training me to run. That stopped pretty quickly due to my hip hurting. So I gave up on that dream for a while.

Then they started doing marathons on The Biggest Loser. Some of those people were in much worse physical shape when they started and they could do a marathon. So I tried starting with the Couch to 5K program. And I had to give up on that again because of my hip.

I’ve pretty much given up on the idea of running. I know that high impact workouts are not the best for me.

And then one day, I came across this post on Daily Garnish. And it made me realize that it doesn’t matter if I never get to do a marathon one day. That shouldn’t be an end goal for me. For some people, all they dream of doing is a 5K. I have lots of friends who don’t think that they could do one. And I do it. Sometimes I’m a lot slower than I’d like to be, but I still cross the finish line.

And running isn’t for everyone. For me, it’s just not something that I should do because of my health restrictions. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be healthy or that I don’t get good workouts in. I push myself so far in spin class. I drip sweat and I know that even though I’m not do all the standing work, I’ll get there one day.

So maybe I can take the approach I wanted to take with doing a marathon to spinning. Doing a 5K is the same as being able to do an entire class without a break. Doing a 10K is like not taking a break and making sure I use all the resistance that the instructor is saying. And finishing a marathon is being able to do the entire class, standing up work and all, exactly how the instructor wants it to be.

I might not be able to do a traditional marathon, but I can make my own marathon with what I am able and love to do.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailBeing A Spectator (or Watching And Not Wanting To Do The Marathon) Default ThumbnailLA Marathon (or Cheering On My Friends) Default ThumbnailMarathon Viewings (or Olympic Trials and Workout Friends) Default ThumbnailDoing Some Marathon Watching (or Helping Random Runners Power Up) Default ThumbnailAnother Year Of Marathon Watching (or We Tried Our Best) Default ThumbnailBeing A Marathon Supporter (or Cheering On My Cheering Buddy)

1 Comment

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged , , , ,

A Spin And A Spa (or More Spinning!)

Posted on March 14, 2013 | Comments Off on A Spin And A Spa (or More Spinning!)

I went to spin class at SoulCycle on Tuesday (which marked my 3rd spin class in 5 days). And this ride was called the “Beauty Ride” because after the class was over, there was going to be free mini-facials!

So besides wanting to get my workout in for the day, I really wanted to take advantage of the free spa treatment! First of all, the class was really hard for me. It wasn’t that this instructor was exceptionally tough, but I was sore. I really wanted to be able to do 3 spin classes a week while I don’t have work, but I’m not sure that is a reality. I might have to do a week of 2 classes and then a week of 3 and alternate. But I’m proud of myself for trying. And this particular instructor told me after class that she was so impressed that I was working at my own level, but I was working the whole time. That was pretty nice.

So after getting wonderfully sweaty, I headed out into the lobby where the facials were to take place. The spa that was there is named Arcona and their spa is located pretty close to the spin studio and my day job, so I might go check them out in the future.

They had all the spa stuff set up in the center of the lobby (and had free samples for us to take home as well).

IMG_1467

I totally forget the name of the woman who did my mini-facial (I’m so sorry!), but she was awesome! I apologized for my super sweaty face, and she was totally cool about it (and probably why they all wore gloves as well).

The products were really nice and soothing on my face. I try to wash my face right after spin class (they have face wash in the bathroom there), because I hate the feeling of sweat drying on my skin. I tried to get a picture mid-facial, but it didn’t quite work.

IMG_1468

BTW, I totally want some of the cute SoulCycle shirts that they sell there! I just wish they sold one in my size (maybe I should buy it as motivation?).

When my facial was done, I headed home. And I couldn’t help noticing that my skin looked pretty darn nice considering I just spent 45 minutes sweating my butt off!

IMG_1470

The only thing that stunk was as soon as I got home, I jumped in the shower to wash my hair, and I washed off all the lovely products that were put on my face!

I’m totally going to start trying those samples they gave me. And with the samples we got a 20% off card to use for our first visit, so maybe a facial is in my future soon…

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailSharing My Soul (or My Dad’s First Spin Class) Default ThumbnailSharing Some Soul (or Another Day Another Friend At Spin Class) Default ThumbnailTrying A New Spin (or Knowing When A Place Does Feel Like Home) Default ThumbnailMy First Spin Class (or How HBO Might Have Helped Me Find My Perfect Workout) Default ThumbnailFeeling Like I’m Home (or My Return To Spinning) Default ThumbnailSpinning Machine (or Continuing My New Healthy Addiction)

Comments Off on A Spin And A Spa (or More Spinning!)

Posted in Beauty, Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , , ,

Spinning Machine (or Continuing My New Healthy Addiction)

Posted on March 11, 2013 | 1 comment

This past weekend, I got to take 2 classes at SoulCycle! This is the first time that I’ve taken more than one class in a week, but I’m really proud of myself for doing this!

The first class I took was on Friday morning. It was an 8:30am class, and one of the reasons I wanted to take that class was because I’m trying to figure out if I have time in the mornings to take a class when I go back to work (it would be cutting it close with the 8:30 class but possible).

On Friday, my friend Kate, who comes with me to spin class often, was able to come. And we were joined by my new friend Chelsea, who is participating in the same fitness challenge on Facebook that I’m doing. Chelsea had taken one spin class before, but never at SoulCycle, and all of our bikes were in the first row. I normally take the front so I don’t feel as claustrophobic. It might not have been the right choice as the instructor who was teaching that class likes the people in the front row to do everything as instructed (I’m still struggling with standing up on the bike). So the instructor encouraged me to try the second row for her classes in the future.

I’m not upset or insulted that she suggested that. I’m used to Sal’s class where he encouraged me to be in the front. I just need to test out more instructors and see what each of them like.

After the class, Kate took a picture of me and Chelsea so we could share it online with the other participants of the fitness challenge.

IMG_1449

 

And on Sunday, I went to a class on my own. I’m still a little nervous going to class solo, but I’m sure the more I do it the easier it will be. The instructor for this class was Laurie, who was in for the weekend from NYC (where SoulCycle started). I didn’t know this when I signed up for the class (I picked the one that worked in my schedule the best), but it was an amazing class. Laurie had a great energy and so did everyone else in the class.

Laurie’s class had more of a meditation element to it for me, and that’s what I needed. My muscles were still recovering from Friday’s class, and all of Laurie’s encouragement to let go and enjoy the ride really hit home for me. I survived and felt amazing afterwards! I’m only upset that she is not one of the usual instructors here at the Santa Monica studio, but when she returns to teach here again, I know I’ll be signing up for her classes!

I left on Sunday super sweaty but it was exactly what I needed!

IMG_1455

 

This week, I’m hoping to do at least 2 spin classes, but I might push myself and try for 3! And hopefully my bike shoes will be in this week so I can finally stop renting them!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailAnother SoulCycle Day (or Maybe I Really Have Found My Workout Addiction) Default ThumbnailMy SoulCycle Anniversary (or 1 Year Of Spinning) Default ThumbnailA Smile In Spin Class (or Sometimes The Little Things Are Big) Default ThumbnailFeeling Like I’m Home (or My Return To Spinning) Default ThumbnailThe Tale Of Two Fitness Studios (or Knowing Where Your Home Is) Default ThumbnailA Spin And A Spa (or More Spinning!)

1 Comment

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health

Tagged , , , , ,

Customer Service After The Fact (or An Update to My Experience At Performance Bike)

Posted on February 20, 2013 | 2 comments

I had previously written how poorly my friend and I were treated at Performance Bike. I was so shocked by the behavior of that employee, and I was not afraid to share it.

After writing that post, I tweeted at Performance Bike again. They asked me to email them explaining what happened, and I just sent them the link to that blog post.

Well, they clearly weren’t happy that I put that out there. The next morning, I had an email from the retail marketing coordinator asking if someone could call me to talk to me about what happened. I was fine with that so I emailed back my phone number.

Within about an hour, the district manager called me. His name is Chris, and he was extremely nice and wanted to hear the entire story of what happened. So I spared no details.

Chris explained to me that he has worked for Performance Bike for years and was shocked to hear what happened to me and my friend. He asked for a description of the employee helping us and the date and time we were there.

And finally, he offered me a gift card that would pretty much cover the cost of cycling shoes for me! I was super grateful, but I wanted to make sure my friend could get shoes too. So he split the gift card (and added a little extra) so we would each have over half of the cost of our shoes covered by the gift card!

As soon as I got off the phone with Chris, I called my friend and made sure she didn’t get her shoes already. She was so surprised that Performance Bike was doing something so nice for us!

And last week, I got 2 of these in the mail.

IMG_1405

 

Just as I was about to buy my shoes online (and have them shipped to the store for free), my dad emailed me. He got an email from Performance Bike with a promo code for $20 off of $100. So between the promo code and my gift card, I paid about 1/3 of what I was expecting to pay for both my shoes and cleats!

Unfortunately, the shoes are backordered for about a month, so I’ll have to continue to rent shoes at SoulCycle for a while. But I’m super excited to have my own cycling shoes very soon!

Thank you again to Performance Bike and Chris for going above and beyond to make sure that they didn’t lose me, my friend, or my dad as customers. It was not expected at all, but much appreciated!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailTrying A New Spin (or Knowing When A Place Does Feel Like Home) Default ThumbnailExcellent Customer Service (or A New Fitbit) Default ThumbnailAmazing Customer Service (or I Love Sharing Positive Stories On Here!) Default ThumbnailAdventures In Customer Service (or Trying Not To Be The Bad Call) Default ThumbnailAdventures In Banking (or More Customer Service Stories) Default ThumbnailI Love Good Customer Service Stories! (or Sometimes A Dream Purchase Isn’t One)

2 Comments

Posted in Fitness, Saving, Shopping

Tagged , , , , ,

Feeling Like I’m Home (or My Return To Spinning)

Posted on February 19, 2013 | Comments Off on Feeling Like I’m Home (or My Return To Spinning)

On Saturday, I finally got to take another spin class at SoulCycle. I had missed going for a while because I was feeling under the weather, then had my audition and music video shoot, and then had family in town.

I ended up also having Saturday off of work (my boss wanted a 3 day weekend like “normal” people), and I noticed that my favorite instructor, Sal, had a 1pm class that day!

So that’s the class I went to.

It was a bit more full than I’m used to seeing it, but I did reserve a bike in the first row in the corner where I like (so I don’t feel claustrophobic). It’s still a little scary riding in the first row because I still can’t do all the standing up work on the bike yet.

I was also a little scared because this was my first spin class without my friend coming with me.

But all my fears disappeared as soon as I got inside. Sal was at the front desk area and as soon as he saw me, he had a huge smile on his face and said hello. He asked me about my friend and commented that I wasn’t on my usual bike for his class.

Just knowing that I’ve made that sort of impression on a spin instructor is so amazing to me. I love that I’m starting to get excited to see the people there and not being nervous for a tough workout.

This spin class was pretty tough for me. I had lost some momentum from not being there for about 2 weeks plus my back and butt are still bruised from falling down the stairs.

But I did manage to convince Sal to be in my post class picture this time!
IMG_1403

I’m planning on going back again this weekend on Saturday in case any of you readers want to check out the workout!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailSpinning Machine (or Continuing My New Healthy Addiction) Default ThumbnailTrying A New Spin (or Knowing When A Place Does Feel Like Home) Default ThumbnailThe Tale Of Two Fitness Studios (or Knowing Where Your Home Is) Default ThumbnailA Smile In Spin Class (or Sometimes The Little Things Are Big) Default ThumbnailKicking Butt (or Feeling Extra Tough In Spin Class) Default ThumbnailSharing My Soul (or My Dad’s First Spin Class)

Comments Off on Feeling Like I’m Home (or My Return To Spinning)

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , , ,