Yesterday was my second time working out at Orange Theory Fitness but it was my first official Orange Theory Fitness workout. The theme for the day was endurance.

I think I enjoyed this workout more than the first one. I started out with rowing and ended with the walking. The coach, Ben, had us do these side plank things to work our obliques. I sucked at them.

He also wanted us to do burpies. UGH! I do not burp well. I knew I couldn't do anything involving jumping (or moving) up and down, so I just did straight push ups. Which by the third set where killing my arms. (Which, amazingly enough, are not sore today. Not sure if that means I'm doing something wrong.)

Although I don't hit the numbers they are pushing for on the treadmill, I do push myself higher than my normal (which is around 2.5.) I kept my treadmill at 3.0 with a 2 incline through most of the workout. The first half was intense for a distance (1/8 of mile for walkers) and then one minute of recovery. I went about .44 miles doing that. The second half was to go as hard as we could for 10 minutes and try to beat our distance from before. I got to over .5 miles. Very happy with that result.

Things that we good about this workout -- since I knew what the colors on the screen meant, I was able to see if I was working at a high enough intensity.*

The other thing that is cool about Orange Theory Fitness is that they mail you a summary of your workout. If I remember correctly, the goal is to have 15-25 minutes of your workout in the blue/green zone and 15 in the orange/red zone. I hit both this time.

I don't have editting software available as I post, so I apologize for all the crap around the shot -- I'll edit it later.

I'm feeling good about my Orange Theory Fitness membership. (And not giving money to Drumpf.)

*I went up and found my name on the board so I'd know where to look for my color -- I don't wear my glasses while working out and can't read the monitor unless I walk up close enough

Procrastination is Not Your Friend

In my true fashion, I procrastinated getting workouts two and three in this week, so that when Saturday rolled around, I had to work out both Saturday and Sunday. A little bit of panic sets in -- but I'm still good.

I have a plan:
1. Get up early and workout around 7:30 on Saturday morning before going to volunteer at the San Diego Zoo at 9:30
2. Go work out around 9:30 on Sunday morning before going to my noon Sunday game event.
3. Perfect plan.

Of course, I do not follow this plan.

Instead this is the actual results (which I should have known):

1. Do not get up early on Saturday.
2. Do volunteer training, walking around the Lost Forest at the Zoo and then do a two-hour shift at orangutans.
3. Go to LA Fitness after all that.

Photographic proof: 

I go to the LA Fitness location in Kearny Mesa. Above is a photo of the club on the outside.

You may say, hey, so you dropped by, took a pic and left. Nope . . . 

Here I am at the front desk:

(Sorry, cannot figure out to rotate that photo -- it's right in my photo editor, but not here.)

And to prove I actually worked out -- here are the results:

The best part is that I made myself work at a bit higher pace than I normally do. I usually start at 2 miles per hour, but today I started at 2.5 miles per hour and actually went up to three for a bit. It was a 45 minute walk with a 5 minute cool down.

And the plan for today (Sunday, March 27)? Of course, that went out the window. I got up on time to go to my game event, but not to go workout before hand. So at 3:00 when games ended, I headed over to DeAnza Cove to walk.

I made a deal with myself, if I could easily find a parking space, I was walking around the bay area there. If not, I'd go home and walk the neighborhood. No problem finding a parking space. Lots of people, but parking was not a problem.

I did a photo and a little video at the beginning of my walk. Here's me at DeAnza:

Yeah, I know you have no idea where I am from the photo, but it's DeAnza. I was listening to "A Way with Words" on KPBS which was about half way done when I left.

I don't know how to add the video from my phone yet -- so maybe later I'll add that..

I walked for about one and a half hours. From the lot at DeAnza to the Hilton Hotel and back.

It was a bit of a challenge dodging all the people on bikes. None of whom know how to announce they are approaching -- like saying "on your left" or "left" before they pass. On the other hand, if they did do that, they probably would have gone hoarse from constantly announcing their approach to all the people.

I really don't understand why Minnesota, a place with THREE months of warm weather, has separate paths for cyclists and walkers/runners, but San Diego with TWELVE months of warm weather makes them share one path.

My feet were really sore after both walks, but, damn it, no money for Drumpf.

Happy dancing! (But next week, two workouts done by Wednesday.)

Orange Theory Fitness - Let the Ransom Workouts Begin!

My ransom workouts ran into a snag at the end of January when my dad died and the trip home for his funeral messed with my finances. But things are finally back on track and the Ransom Workouts have officially begun.

The standards for the Ransom Workouts:

• The workout week is Monday-Sunday
• I will workout for 30 minutes, three times a week
• I will submit photographic evidence of the workouts

If I do not do this, I will lose $5 per workout not completed and the money not ransomed from now through the end of April will go to Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

THAT CANNOT HAPPEN!

So, today, I went to check out Orange Theory Fitness (OTF) in Mission Valley for a free class. My sister in Des Moines, Iowa, goes to OTF three to four times a week there and told me about it. I decided I wanted to check it out.

Here I am with my Bluetooth heart rate monitor waiting for my workout class to start:

Me -- with my heart rate monitor ready to workout

I was presently surprised to find that they have showers --  only two but they have them. It seems most people just come, workout and leave. They do have hand lotion in all the bathrooms -- something my dry hands love!

I started my workout on the rowing machines and alternated rowing with upper body weight training. I also did my first TRX routine. It will be interesting to see how sore my arms are tomorrow. I ended with treadmill and squats.

Going into this, I was interested in joining. I didn't want the unlimited package because I know I won't go that often and right now, I'm just looking to go at least once a week. They have several packages for monthly memberships -- 4, 8 and unlimited times per month. Or, you can pay for 10-30 sessions and have a year to use them.  I decided to go with the four times per month membership. If I decide I want an extra class, it's $18.00/class (actually less than my current per class cost.)

Here is my new membership folder:

My new membership folder

My first official workout is scheduled for next Tuesday, March 29 at 5:05.

Ransom recovered: 1!