Taking the Leap

(don’t be too harsh on my photography skills…it’s really really hard to hold the camera steady on a boat)

Why are some decisions so hard to make?  Sometimes there are just so many choices available (sometimes not)…and all I have to do is just pull the trigger and pick one (although I guess, technically, the lack of making a choice is one on its own).  But making a decision (and I’m talking about the big ones here) is scary.  I’m a planner.  I want to know the outcome of my choices.  Where is the manual outlining that if I take option A things will turn out this way…but if I pick option B things will turn out a little differently.  How do you choose?  And what if there is a secret option C that will only reveal itself if you wait just a tiny bit longer.  But how much longer?  And when do you give up on waiting for C?  I want guarantees.  I want a return policy and do-overs.  Wait; hold it just a sec…am I getting serious here?  Let’s put a stop to that right now.  My apologies.  Instead I will try to entertain you with a few (non life-altering) decisions I faced of my own this past week:

1. Should I maintain my “regular” schedule or break it and have some fun with PJK’s brother who was staying with us all last week?  (Forget the schedule…have fun!)
2. Should I decline an invitation/adult beverages/late return home and go to bed early on Friday knowing I have to teach Spinning Saturday morning?  (Stay out, enjoy…that’s what Red Bull is for in the morning, isn’t it?)
3. Should I take care of my weekend chores/errands and skip a boat ride on the Potomac?  (Easy-peasy….boat ride always wins, who cares if there isn’t a pair of clean underwear anywhere to be found on Monday morning)
4. Do I ignore the rumors about the cleanliness of the Potomac & enjoy a swim in potentially fecal-filled waters?  (I took the leap, literally, on this one.  However, the verdict is still out on this decision….if some weird skin infection shows up in the next 7-10 days, we’ll know I clearly made the wrong choice)

Since I was busy having way too much fun and shirking all responsibilities this past week, I ran out of time to create a “new” playlist.  Instead, I picked a lot of my favorite songs that I’ve played before.  Find Saturday’s playlist on iTunes at Spinning Spincycles 8.8.09

Troublemaker—Weezer (2:45)  Warm up

White People for Peace—Against Me! (3:32)  Pick up the pace and start to climb, add ¼ turn every 15 seconds….throw in some speed surges to really increase the heart rate

Middle Management—Bishop Allen (2:44) Drop resistance to a medium effort and jump during the “all right” chorus.  Standing run in-between to keep your heart rate up adding about ¼ turn of the resistance knob after each interval.

What I’ve Done—Linkin Park (3:29)  Slow it down for a heavy standing climb.  Find your focus & hold it there for about 3 minutes, but don’t let your form get sloppy.

Let It Rock—Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne (3:56)  1 minute of recovery.  Then move to a standing jog, add a little more resistance and have a seat in saddle, increase resistance just a bit more, keep your speed to alternate standing and sitting with the resistance

Smooth Criminal—Alien Ant Farm (3:29)  Faster and faster for the chorus using a moderate resistance with short periods of recovery in-between the speed drills.

Joker and the Thief—Wolfmother (4:40) Start in the saddle with light resistance.  Stand for 30 seconds, add ½ turn and have a seat.  Add another ½ turn to stand and run again.  Keep that resistance on the flywheel and have a seat.  Drop the resistance ½ turn for a short recovery & repeat.

Monkey Wrench—Foo Fighters (3:51) Light resistance, but always keeping control.  Pick up the pace fast, faster, fastest in saddle.  Short recovery, add a turn of resistance and repeat standing.

Know Your Enemy—Green Day (3:11)  Heavy resistance alternating between standing and climbing every 30 seconds. 

By the Way—Red Hot Chili Peppers (3:32) Keep that heavy resistance going strong.  Explode out of the saddle to hand position three, increase speed and overcome resistance.  Sit & keep the cadence, drop resistance to recover.

Are You Going to Be My Girl—JET (3:31)  Light to moderate resistance.  Fast jumps with the beat for a working recovery to prepare for our final push to the end. 

Youth of a Nation—P.O.D. (4:17) Hold the resistance from the previous song.  Standing run, increase 1 turn and move to a heavy climb on “we are”.  Finish strong.

Human—The Killers (4:10) Cool down.

The Wrestler—Bruce Springsteen (3:51)  Stretches off the bike.   

**New shoe update(wore them Saturday):  They are AWESOME!