Najia the Ninja

I have already told you about Angela, now let me introduce you to Najia the Ninja.

Najia is my favorite spinning (indoor cycling) teacher. She is awesome. I spin twice a week (Wednesdays and Fridays) at 6 AM. Sometimes I lift weights and/or foam roll before class. So yes I get up between 5 and 5:30 AM depending on the day. I know this sounds a little bit crazy, but honestly it's 10 times better than working out after a 9 hour work day plus an hour (or more) commute each way. Working out in the morning gives me energy for the rest of the day. You may roll your eyes at that but it's true. But yes I do love my coffee, too.

Back to the point. I love spinning. Sarah introduced it to me right before our first half marathon last summer. I am not going to lie, I was skeptical. Indoor cycling? And I can't even read my tabloids while doing it? I wasn't so sure... but then I took one of Najia's classes. I think it was a combination of Najia's energy and the jelly-like feeling in my legs after the class; I loved it. I started going more frequently, and eventually I just started signing myself up for the next couple months at a time (you can do that at 24-hour fitness for $1/class... or if you are friends with the front desk guy you can do it for less than that ;-)). 

A few weeks in, Najia started asking me if I was going to get spinning shoes. I wasn't sure, they were kind of expensive. But everyone, including Sarah who got a pair, told me it makes all the difference in the world. The special spinning shoes are cleats and actually clip into the pedals, whereas my running shoes had to fit under the straps. You have less cushion with the clip-ins, which makes your leg muscles work harder and more efficiently. So I invested in some shoes. And WOW what a difference. It not only helped for stability on the bike, but I could feel my legs, and the rest of my body, working harder.

According to my training schedule, I am supposed to run 8 miles on Wednesdays, but that's a lot when I also run 6 miles Tuesdays and Thursdays. So I switch out that mid-week run with spinning. It's great cross training because it works all of the lower body muscle groups in a different way than running does. Plus it's become something Jeff and I do together, which keeps us both motivated to go. Right now a big bonus of spinning is that it's indoors, and the temperature outside at 5 AM is not very conducive to running in early March.

Tomorrow I will suck it up and run my 6 miles before work.  I didn't run Tuesday because I was so incredibly sore, so I am in need of a good run. I think I may need a little foam rolling action before bed, my hamstrings are still sore from my workout 2 days ago. But mostly I just need sleep. I have been a little bit stressed, but sleeping and running are two of the things that help most. So if sleeping doesn't do it, I will make sure my run takes care of it in the morning!