New Twitter, and a plug for the local guys

I've been a terrible blogger lately. I've got a blog coming Sunday about a 100 day challenge I'm taking on, but today (Saturday, because I am absolutely not writing both entries Friday night while I should be out having a life and setting them to autopost ;) ) there's something else on my mind.

Shameless plug first: I have a new Twitter account -- @jessicatris703. Follow me!!!

There are a lot of choices for fitness clubs around Rochester.

I've been really happy teaching for Rochester Athletic Club, they've taken the time to teach me some new class formats and I'm so excited to be taking on my own bootcamp-style class next month! And I've been able to push both myself and others teaching with RPMs on their awesome bikes. It's out of Buffalo and I really like that they have five locations. When it comes to group fitness, they're very organized and professional, and the instructors are excellent. My experience there has been overwhelmingly positive.

But RAC can afford to promote itself (just watch any video on the D&C site)!

I've had two very positive experiences, though, with private fitness centers in the past week that I thought I'd share.

I joined the Downtown Fitness Club on Chestnut Street for one reason: The pool. I needed an inexpensive place to swim with flexible hours and that was it. But ever since I joined, the owners/managers remembered my name. They've held some awesome events and challenges that you just don't see at a corporate place. This week I emailed them for more info on a challenge they were hosting. I decided it wasn't for me. The owner pressed back, asked what my goals were, recommended another program. It's so clear that the club values its members, and when LA Fitness opened, with a pool, for the same price I had no interest in jumping ship.

Next, I picked up a Groupon for Cycledelic Studio, a indoor cycling studio in Brighton. It took me a couple classes to warm up to it, it's a different style and with indoor cycling sometimes it takes a couple tries to find an instructor who fits your tastes. Tonight, though, I took a class with an awesome instructor and LOVED it. I can't remember the last time I've been pushed so hard in a class. Plus, the instructor knew her stuff, which always makes the class better.

I chatted for with the instructor for awhile after class, and an hour later I get a nice email from the owner of the place, among other things concerned that I got my water bottle back that I left there over a month ago. She had also made it a point to introduce herself to me in a previous class.

These things count, and sometimes get lost in the corporate world.  These are the kinds of things that make me want to come back. So, if you've found my blog through Googling different fitness clubs or gyms in Rochester, NY, (yes I pay attention to what Google terms bring people to my blog) do shop around, find the best place for you, but make sure these places are on your list.

Ok, so I've got one more. Anyone who knows me knows that I like my red wine. I adore Century Pittsford Wines, a Wegmans creation. But there's this tiny little wine store by me, Corn Hill Fine Wines and Spirits on Exchange Blvd. I've actually only been in there two times (despite how much I talk about wine, I don't drink that much).

Both times I've been in, the owner was working. He knew about his wines, and tonight I was looking for something new. I described what I liked, he took me right to it, Opera Prima Cabernet Sauvignon, and it's delicious.

Getting my ambition back... and my next race

I know.

I know.

I know.

I've been a real bad blogger lately. (Yet somehow I eeked out 2,200 hits in September.)

There are many reasons for this: Work has been insane. My home computer is on the fritz. I'm trying to get outside as much as I can before the long winter sets in. And, well, I've kind of been addicted to this tv show (which I finally finished)...

(Warning: Long, ramble-y, probably pointless post ahead.)

Anyways, I've got a race report on the Rochester Autumn Classic Duathlon coming after I write this (though I'll probably space them out to autopost). I also have a doozy of a cycling playlist to share. But a brief Facebook conversation with an MIT friend inspired this post which I wanted to get done first.

My running hit an understandable lull during and after the move. The fact of the matter was, running was not going well even before I took the new job. In Ohio I was in a rut but my running buddies kept me moving. I left them to come to New York, and without a group or a race to train for I didn't look forward to running. It felt like a chore. Plus I was getting slower, not faster. Not encouraging.

I knew I was burned out but I've never been very good at resting. So I did what any clinically insane person endurance athlete would do and set my sights on a half ironman. You know, because a sprint tri would be too easy logical.

So for about three months now (has it really been that long?) I've hardly been running at all. I've been on the spin bike. I've been biking. I've been swimming. I've been working on my strength. I've been stashing my pennies away so I can buy a road bike in the spring (what does it say about me that that's a bigger priority than a computer?).

In three months of very little running (occasionally I'd toss in a 3 or 4 miler) here's what I've been able to accomplish:

• I can do 30+ pushups in one shot. When I first started focusing on my strength, I could barely do 8.
• I can hold a plank for three minutes (I'm no Kimberly Bouldin). When I started getting back to core work I was up to maybe a minute.
• I can do 200 squats in one shot on the BOSU with 5 lb weights. I remember struggling with 50 before.
• I'm up to 20 smith rows, again in one shot. I think 8 was my limit before.
• I completed a century bike ride with killer hills. Before moving here my distance PR on the bike was 40 miles all on a flat.
• In general, I kill it on the hills on the bike, where I used to struggle with the slightest incline.
• My trainer said my balance has improved substantially.
• I can now do three lengths nonstop in the pool, and I'm totaling just over a half mile in the pool for each workout. I know on the surface that's not impressive, but when I moved here I didn't even know how to breathe correctly. 
• I'm becoming a much better spin instructor. The bikes at Rochester Athletic Club have computers so I'm using RPMs in my teaching and learning so much. 
• I'm learning how to teach a new class, total body sculpt. It's your basic, full body lifting class, and I'm learning lots as I slowly get my routine together.

I'm working with a trainer who's helping out tremendously, and I credit him with all the improvements to my strength. The strength has helped my speed. I've also been trying to eat cleanly and cut most processed foods out of my diet (some days are better than others).

Going into the du, I had the biking down pat. A few hills, no problem! I  was nervous for the running. I had practiced on and off the bike to get ready for the transitions. My garmin is on the fritz (some days it works, some days it doesn't) so I haven't had much sense of my pace.

A week ago Sunday, I surprised myself big time.

Before my little hiatus from running, I was running at about a 11-12 pace. At the du, I was consistently doing sub-10 minute miles! My 3 2-mile splits were: 19:17, 18:43, 17:58 (sub 9!!!!)

Two work friends just did the Chicago Marathon. At work, inspired by them and still reeling from my du, I decide, "I think I'll run tonight."

I found myself super-excited about it. The same way I used to get so excited for every run. All the time. I went for three miles, the 10:40 pace felt easy. It was a wonderful night.

Friends, I have my running mojo back :)

So time for the next challenge: Fleet Feet Dirt Cheap Stage Race, Nov. 11, Mendon Ponds State Park.

11 miles. Time to ramp up the weekend distances in a hurry.

I'm mega excited.

Midweek updates

I've promised to keep everyone updated on the move and my (currently nonexistent) training. Lots of little things to report :)

I spent Friday and Saturday in Rochester, New York with my dad, and I found an apartment! I went to bed Friday mulling over what I thought would be a tough decision. Do I want to live 15 minutes away from work, renting out a room in a huge house with a pool and a fenced in yard? Or do I want to rent a (really big) studio apartment in a nice area of downtown in an awesome trendy building?

Drive-bys nixed all but one of our Saturday appointments, so that morning at 11 a.m. we rolled up to a lovely brick building in a neighborhood called Corn Hill, a half mile from my new office and a half mile from a bike path that goes along the Genessee River.

Corn Hill landing, just a half mile away from my new home.

It was an instant "a-ha" moment. It's a lovely, well-kept one bedroom place on the first floor. If you're friends with me on Facebook you can see a photo.

For some perspective, I have become a bit spoiled during my time in Newark. I live in a huge two-bedroom, all for me, with a dishwasher and my own washer and dryer. The new place is much smaller with no dishwasher and a shared washer and dryer.