Times Like These

"It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again..."

I figured it was appropriate to start this entry with a Foo Fighters song for two reasons. The current circumstances of probably every one of us are totally off schedule and we're learning to adjust to a (hopefully) temporary normal. The second being that I had tickets to their upcoming 25th-anniversary tour and it's been postponed until December. That really put an imaginary dagger in my heart but it's definitely for the best. 

Before we go way into that rabbit hole, let's glance over how training was last week. Strides were the magic word for week three and I loved every minute of it. It's been quite some time since I've done an actual prescribed workout of any type of help with speed or drills. When my coach put it on the schedule, I was so amped up! Strides aren't anything long but to really get your legs fired up for those short bursts just feels so good. Here's a clip from Friday's run which was probably the most consistent, pace-wise.  

We had a real s-show of weather during the week. It rained for roughly four days. Wednesday (3/11) was met with some light drizzle, to begin with, followed by a downpour as I got halfway into my strides and drills. I don't have access to a treadmill anymore so not going out isn't an option anymore unless I opt for biking instead. You never know what race day will bring. Don't be afraid of a little weather. 

I started week 2 of the Argentina series on my bike. This endurance ride was quite the challenge and boy did my legs start talking to me. Once you finish those last few minutes before the cooldown, it's like that fire just grows and grows! It's definitely been a great compliment to my running.

So yeah, about this crisis we're living through right now. Crazy, ain't it? I've seen some majorly disappointed people on the internet after races getting postponed and canceled. I mean we're talking major races, people. Boston, London, even the Barkley Marathon! While my race wasn't scheduled until May 2nd, I wasn't really holding my breath. Sunday, our governor put out a statement of limiting groups to 50 people or less. "Well, it's only a matter of time now," I said to myself. Sure enough. Sunday evening, I received word that my race has been postponed. Now, last year I dealt with my first deferment but this is totally different. While at that very moment I felt super upset/sad, I quickly shifted gears. This is for the better. I've definitely learned that you can't think of yourself in these moments of bad news after bad news. I texted my coach and told her I'll keep training and I'll run on my own on May 2nd if I have to. They are offering a virtual option so that's what we'll do. The actual in-person race did get rescheduled to July but twelve hours in that summer heat? I'm not about that. We'll still carry on and break so many barriers! 

We have a joke in our house right now and the saying goes, "Covid-19 is sponsored by Amy's". 

Amy's is really the only "premade" food I buy. That pizza is SUPER good, especially if you throw some vegan feta on it. The Indian-flavor burrito is my new favorite. I stopped doing my full grocery shopping in the store a while ago and now do delivery with Amazon Prime but decided to make a trip last Friday to Whole Foods myself. The cashier asked me if this was "doomsday prep" and I said, "Nope. This is a typical day!". She laughed. I don't believe in keeping major access amounts of food in your home. I never understood why people had pantries full of crap all the time but never ate any of it. I also hate the thought of wasting food. If you come to look at my fridge on Friday's, it's typically empty minus some beer or other beverages. Did I grab a few extra things that I otherwise wouldn't this time around? Guilty. But, trust me. We'll eat it all. As a runner, my metabolism works like a stage 4 Audi S6. You probably don't know what that means but it's a super-fast car. Just because we're being told to stay home doesn't mean you can't eat like a normal human being. I still have plenty of produce and am still eating my normal staples every day: oatmeal, almond butter toast, this new shake recipe that's THE BOMB. 

Yep, that's a quality picture I took with my phone of a YouTube video so I could remember it. I know, please give me an A for effort. Paula Findlay shared it and I don't know when I'll make something different because it's been super refreshing after my workouts. Side note: the word 'triathlon' keeps toying in my head. Future endeavor? 

I will share a tea recipe I tried today. In the midst of all of this sickness going around, you better be keeping up on that immune system. If you don't eat like an idiot all of the time, hydrate, and maybe get a little movement in, you'd be surprised how much you can fight off. I've incorporated turmeric into my daily diet almost every single day in the past 6 months or so. It's a great anti-inflammatory! I buy the actual root of it but you can also buy the pre-ground stuff in the spices section at your local store. A little goes a long way. I just throw mine in smoothies most of the time and add in a little pepper. That aids in the absorption of turmeric. I recently found this tea recipe and had been wanting to try it. I'm big into herbal teas and it's pretty great! 

It's super easy to make. You just need a lemon, ginger, turmeric, and a dash of cayenne or pepper. Heat it up, strain it, and voila, you have tea. Super easy, super cheap. I'll link the real recipe here. 

Well, for now, we carry on. I hope you do too. 

We Bought a Bike!

Finally, the post you've all (like 6 of you) have been waiting for. Cycling is something I've always been interested in. We used to go on bike rides in Michigan and I'd hit the bike at the gym for cross-training, but my husband and I started talking about the idea of just getting one for the house. We both own mountain bikes and I'll be honest, they haven't seen much dirt. Michigan doesn't have mountains but boy oh boy, Arizona does! We're not at that level yet. Cardio fitness needs to be built up before you just go balls to the wall. Yes, I am a distance runner, but when I'm on a bike, it's a whole different heart rate experience. Anyway, let's get into the nitty-gritty, shall we?

There she is. The NordicTrack s22i joined our family a few weeks ago. After I shared the news on my Instagram (@britanyg), I got an influx of messages asking how it is, why this, why not the Peloton? In all honestly, I would have had a Zwift setup if we had the extra EXTRA money. But, that requires a road bike, a trainer, and the actual program, all of which would have cost way more in the end. Maybe in the future! But alas, I'll tell you why we chose this set up over anything else on the market, including the largely-worshiped Peloton. Now, I will throw up a disclaimer and say I think the Peloton is a great bike, depending on what your riding needs are. I know a lot of people that own one and love it! This is nothing against them or the bike. Keep on riding your ride! This post is obviously full of my own opinions and hopefully won't come off as bias. I love everybody no matter what you do!

We weighed lots of pros and cons. We even test rode it a handful of times before taking the dive. Getting a bike of this magnitude is an investment. So why a bike, anyway? Why not a treadmill? Well, my husband isn't a runner. I prefer something we both can get great use out of. I had been looking to part ways with the gym for some time as I wasn't even going and doing everything at home, including my yoga routines. When he introduced the idea, I was totally in. There were a few aspects that really sold us on this bike. First and foremost, the warranty. NordicTrack offers a 10-year frame warranty, 2-year parts, and 1-year labor. This is compared to Peloton's 1 year for everything. Speaking of warranties, the NordicTrack comes out of the box with toe cages so anyone can ride the bike right away without having to buy clip-in cycling shoes.

We opted to change our pedals to Shimano SPDs, a very easy flip. The kicker? This doesn't void the warranty. If you change either the pedals or the seat on a Peloton, you can say bye-bye to the warranty. You don't absolutely need to ride a spin bike with clip-in shoes but it will make your ride a little more comfortable. I recently purchased these Bontrager shoes for $80 and they work perfectly. I also like that they don't look like your traditional shoes.

The second feature that I really loved is the fact that the incline and resistance happen automatically with whatever ride you're doing. Your trainer controls it. You can definitely opt in to change it manually but taking the guesswork out of it is nice. Maybe that's just me being lazy. I've done plenty of CycleBar rides and have turned many knobs but to just focus on my ride is great! 

I actually had no idea it went to a negative decline until I was doing a ride. Talk about a kick upon those RPMs! If you want to know what to expect ahead of time, you have the option of watching a graph.

You can also see a leaderboard in that picture. I don't really care about anyone else since I'm not a competitive person but if you're into trying to catch that number one spot, you can filter it to show people in your age group, specify male or female, and many other things. Now, this is a good time to mention the spin classes. Obviously, Peloton is notorious for having that spin gym vibe, offering live classes you can attend from your own living room. While NordicTrack does have a variety of spin type classes, they aren't live. They are all pre-recorded. Clearly, that wasn't a selling point for me. 

If I wanted to just do spin-type classes all the time, we would have gotten the Peloton, but I want variety. The NordicTrack gives you the option of not only what you see up there but trail rides, road series, even complete tours. I think the coolest feature about riding is that it has Google Maps integrated. You can map out any ride you want and it'll follow street view as you go. 

Here's me riding down a road in my hometown of Rochester Hills, Michigan. This is a neat feature for me, as a runner. How? Maybe there's some new road I want to check out but not sure about the number of hills I might die on. Now I can ride it ahead of time. 

I'm in this Argentina series right now and it's been epic! Having the trainer ride along and coach you is super motivating and makes the time go by quicker than just pedaling away on a stationary bike. 

I know, I already posted this picture, give me a break. Another feature I really like is that the massive 22" turns a complete 360 degrees. Some spin rides have workouts where they have you get out of the saddle and do some bodyweight moves or stuff with weights. There is also a full library of workouts that don't include riding such as yoga, HIIT, strength, and more. It's nice to be able to turn the screen and not have to have the bike in the way. The bike does come with 3lbs weights at no extra cost.

Even though the pictures make this bike look massive (maybe it's just the screen), it easily fits into small spaces. We have ours in our guest room right now along the side of the bed. It's only 51" wide! 

I think that pretty much highlights all of the reasons we like this bike and decided to go with it over the Peloton. I can enjoy a spin class but also ride in Moab or France if I wanted to. Do I have any cons? Sure. The incline feature can be a little loud. The touchscreen can be slightly laggy sometimes but it's nothing that completely annoys me as much as my 11-year-old Macbook Pro. The only other con is that there is no Bluetooth option. While we don't have to worry about waking up kids since we don't have any or disturbing each other because it's in a completely different closed-off room in the house, it'd be nice to have the option to have wireless headphones. However, the volume controls let you change the music, the trainer's voice, and the overall volume all separately. If you want to ride without music, you can choose to do so. Obviously, none of these were huge factors into us changing our minds.

There are a lot of negative reviews out there for this bike, most of which revolve around how much "technology" is built into it turning into more fixing later down the road. There are also a ton saying they ripped off Peloton. I mean, every company rips off each other eventually, right? I'm sure we'll see something even more epic in the next year from someone else. I've read that some people returned it after a few weeks when it started making weird noises. One fitness equipment store we visited even had a couple in there butt into us asking if they carried the bike, calling it a "Chinese piece of crap". I laughed as I walked out. We haven't had any issues and so far, we are absolutely loving it. You can't rely on everything you read from the general public. 

I'm sure there is a lot more I could talk about with this. If you want to know more, you can comment below and I'll do my best to answer your question. Whatever you may be riding, I hope you enjoy every minute of it!