Friday, August 16, 2013

runDisney Sense of Timing

It struck me today that runDisney has a very interesting sense of timing.  I think it's only a recent development for most things, but some are always at odd times.

I received my final race instructions for the Disneyland Half Marathon just last week and yet today I had my final race instructions for Tower of Terror tonight.  Two emails were only a week apart, and yet the races are a month apart.  Not that it's really an issue, but it did cause me to give it a thought (and apparently part of a blog article).

runDisney also has their usual pre-race meet-ups, which they post at really odd times of the day... ok the morning.  I tried to get one during the Princess Half, but missed out, and due to my crazy busy work schedule didn't even see the current one for the Disneyland for almost an entire day.  Apparently it was posted pretty early in the morning and filled almost as quickly.

I kind of wish that they would leave it open for a day and then choose by a random drawing.  That's what they used to do for all of the exclusive limited edition pins.  You signed up and then if your name was drawn you got one!  Should be the same kind of deal...

I'd like to go to one of these meet ups, but especially for Disneyland, I have a life around the race that includes spending time with family and friends I haven't seen in a while... and o ya, my parent's work schedule since they're helping me get around for everything.  Maybe one day I'll get into one of these meet ups, but surprisingly, it's not on my "must do" list.

Friday, August 9, 2013

More New Equipment

Having days off is lovely.  It's something that you don't really appreciate until you don't have any.  Today was my first in 20 days and I took advantage of it by actually doing house hold chores that needed to be done like last week and by getting to the gym.  I just had to get my feet on the new treadmills and the new elliptical looking machines.

The treadmills were first and it was like the elliptical last night.  They had readjusted where some of the controls were and had the new ipod connection point.  The TV's weren't connected again, but I just found another Strava playlist and started my workout.  I was happily surprised to see that there was another workout option though.  There was an interval option!

This new interval option didn't have a preset interval, but instead relied on the athlete.  It asked for your jog or walking speed and then your running speed.  Then it started on your jog speed and when you were ready for the run speed you just hit the button and it jumped to your running speed.  This is going to be fantastic since I follow the Galloway plan!  While it's been possible to readjust the pace for intervals, it took time and was slightly annoying, this is just easing that pain and making the treadmill workout much more convenient.

After the treadmill I headed over to the brand new incline elliptical machines.  Once I started I realized they were essentially an elliptical version of a stair master.  I fell in love with these machines almost instantly.  I've always wanted to do stair master workouts, but with my knees I have never been able to.  Since the climb on these machines are still on an adjustable incline, I was able to get that perfect hill/stair workout without nearly as much stress on my knees.

These new options and machines are making me excited to get back to the gym (especially once the TV's work).  Hopefully I'll be able to drag myself in after work more often... although I'm still not holding my breath on that.  However, I am still looking forward to October and November when the temperature drops and I'm able to run outside more.  I think at that point I'm going to look at more classes again to utilize the gym in that area.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

New Gym Equipment!

It was almost like getting a new toy at Christmas, or new running shoes... either way, it's exciting.

My gym was closed earlier this week and I was finally able to get back in today for a nice jog on the elliptical.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was more than just new posters hanging from the walls.  They reorganized the cardio machines and all were brand new.

The machines are essentially the same, but with controls moved to new areas, a new TV screen, and now a spot to connect an iPhone/ipod.  I thought that was pretty handy, especially tonight when most of the TV's had yet to be connected.  I just simply plugged in my iPhone and my music (I was playing a list provided by Songza) and it was piped through the machine.  All volume and other controls were also controlled by the machine which I found to be convenient.  Now I'm just waiting for the TV to be connected.

There were also some other new elliptical machines that could incorporate inclines, which I would have tried, but they were a bit crowded, partially because they were the only ones that had working TV's for the elliptical row.

Tomorrow I'll be checking out the treadmills and seeing if they have any new gadgets or settings that could potentially be helpful for later training...