SIX HOUR WORKOUT - RIDE RADAR!!

This past weekend a few of my cycling friends and I embarked on a bit of a suffer-fest.

Over the past month, I have began to organize weekly rides and send them out to a group of friends whom I know are interested in riding. I call these weekly email updates my RIDE RADAR. If you would like to get on my RIDE RADAR, please feel free to comment and let me know and I'll send you weekly rides.

This past Saturday, the RIDE RADAR was slated to do a 30 mile Andice Adventure with the Austin Cycling Association. Early morning winds and rain made us have to find a plan B on Saturday, though. And plan B we did!

Me and a bunch of chicks from the RIDE RADAR chose to attend the 4th Annual Pure Austin Fitness Expo. The event was free and lasted from roughly 9:30 am until a sometime in the afternoon. We were super bummed at first that we couldn't get our ride in, but once we arrived at Pure we quickly realized that a tough spin class could substitute for our ride and a slew of fun classes were to follow. We were immediately bombarded with *healthy* food of bagels and fruit upon entering the gym. We munched a bit and then decided to head to the first spin class of the day. As soon as we found ourselves under the wing of pro cyclist Jen McRae, (check her out ) all that sadness about riding in the rain and intense wind melted away. We had a B-L-A-S-T! Jen taught that we should always changing up your cycling routine inside and outside, going at different speeds constantly and giving varied efforts in order to get faster. She made us suffer, with no breaks in the 50-55 minute class. She put on a great workout, and on top of all that she gave out free gear! Jen Pool and I got full body skin suits that fit us perfectly and Tonya and Liz got biking/tri tops! We felt super cool.

From there, we went our separate ways to try hour long classes of hatha yoga, trigger point therapy, cycle stretching and a killer circuit/cardio workout. Somehow one of the trainers even roped me in to doing a fitness challenge. I was forced to do as many push ups as I could on an upside down bosu ball, then do as many pull ups as I could, and then max out on a stationary bike. My legs were a bit dead from Jen's class, but I tried my hardest! I didn't get a report of how I stacked up against the guys...maybe I will find out at some point.

In between workouts you could find us munching on sushi, hummus wraps and gatorade. An athlete's paradise. Food...and, er...great workouts. I ended up staying at the gym for a grand total of 6 hours. After all those classes, I looked outside at the crystal clear pool and I just couldn't walk away from it without taking a dip. So a swim workout was thrown in at the end of the day. The wind was a bit intense, but overall, the water was warm and clear and my arms felt strong.

After showering and cleaning up, we were ready for some serious chow. We made a bee-line for Luby's and completely enjoyed ourselves! It was a great Saturday.

Again, if you have interest in the RIDE RADAR, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email! Thanks for reading!

Current book I'm reading: The Artist's Way