Hashtag Mean It: January Recap

Total Miles Ran: 20.03
Total Miles Cycled: 47.73
Minutes Other Cross Training: 239.73

There are only 4 days left in February but figured a January recap was better late than never. With all the crap of last fall, and my lack of a gym membership, I admit I wasn't very committed to getting any type of exercise in. Luckily, the new year sparked the idea of a fresh start in me so I got myself two new motivations: the first, a spinning bike and the second, a membership to the local Orangetheory. I had set purchasing a spinning bike as a 2019 New Year's goal, and then found lots of excuses to spend the money on something else. As the year came to a close, I more carefully researched bikes, prices, why the weight of a flywheel matters so much (the heavier, the more it simulates biking outside), and whether or not tracking cadence would really give me any real training benefit (meh, not really). Technically the purchase was in 2020, but I found an excellent deal on a Sunny Fitness bike, and am loving it.

I've already canceled my Orangetheory membership, but have another month to go because of their cancellation rules (fine, whatevs). I actually have really enjoyed the workouts, and I do believe it has made me faster, or at the very least more comfortable with going faster and pushing my limits. It's gotten me back into strength work, and I enjoy not having to think too hard about what type of workout I'm going to do. I just show up and do what the coach tells me to do.

What I did not enjoy was the constant contact as if they are trying to get me to join their co-ed Greek chapter. I actually got a marketing text message saying they were "looking forward to helping me on my journey to more life." Excuse me, Head Coach Ben, but my life is pretty great as it is so why don't you just take my money and let me do my own thing. <-- actual response by me

So, Orangetheory is a great workout and I do believe if you want to get faster over the winter months, this is a good option to consider. Just be warned, they will try to get you to buy into their "community" mindset. Sorta like Crossfit, if I really think about it. Crossfit is much more subtle though. They should take hints from them.

Favorite Run: a snowy and tactical 3 mile jaunt that took me an embarrasingly long time. But I was outside and running again in the fresh air and I wasn't too cold so it was delightful.

Favorite Workout: the first Orangetheory workout I took, the run portion was a lot of hill climbing at what they call "push" pace, what the rest of us call tempo pace. It was so fun, I was grinning the entire time.

Podcasts listened to:
Rob Has a Podcast - select preview episodes of the SURVIVOR all-winners season that premiered in February
Detective Trapp
Keeping Track - podcast with Molly Huddle, Alisyia Montano, and Roisin McGetten
Clean Sport Collective

January Photos: