Moving Right Along

Thanks to everybody for your kind words the last couple of days. It might sound incredibly stupid to some people, but losing my gym was a sudden and traumatic change I simply did not need right now, seeing as how it happened to be this enormous rock of stability in my life I planned to cling to as I adjusted to new motherhood.

I did some lovely wallowing and had a couple of good cries, and now I'm ready to do what needs to be done.

Swimming - This is the biggest problem. The closest pool is 10 miles away (~30 minutes), in a gym I can't even pretend to afford (Single membership: $500 join fee, $100 a month) that is so snooty they wouldn't even TALK to me on the phone about my membership inquiry until I gave the contact information of a personal reference who's already a member. They discourage day-passes, although if they're in a good mood and you're with a member you can swim for a mere $10. So. You can see how well THAT option is going to work out.

There's a rumor the local high school sometimes lets people swim in its pool. I happen to know they do not allow people to run on their track, so I'm not getting my hopes up about the swimming pool. I also heard they only let people in on weekends, which interferes with the traditional long bike and long run on the weekends. Although I am lucky enough to have a flexible work life, so maybe I'll have to suck it up and do my long stuff mid-week sometime. But the swim is my weakest event, I can't imagine how I'll be able to progress if forced to dial back to once a week (and only on the weeks they're not hosting an event). Someone is checking into the details for me, fingers are crossed.

Biking - Because Wonderful Husband got me a trainer for my birthday last year, this is not a problem. I hadn't touched the stationary bikes at the gym since last year. Case closed.

Running - A problem with an expensive - but logical - solution. I'd already started moving more of my run workouts outside anyway, and have even invested in some pretty decent cold weather gear. But I relied heavily on the gym's treadmills for running in bad weather (that includes extreme heat and cold) and for speed interval training (which I simply am not yet skilled enough to do outside). Plus, when you're overweight, it's strongly recommended to do a good portion of your run training on a treadmill to save your body from some of the pounding it gets outdoors.

Considering the baby is going to make it much harder to get out of the house regardless of the weather, I think it's time I bit the bullet and bought a new treadmill. I used to have (cheap, crappy, used) one and got a lot of use out of it before it died. Having one again would not only solve my indoor running problem, it will make it easier to sneak in a workout on crappy days or between baby feedings when there simply isn't time to get to the gym and back.

I also need to invest in something like a Garmin 305. I've been limited in my outdoor running because I can't track my speed or distance except on the boring 2 mile loop in my neighborhood, and even that data is sketchy because I currently suck at pacing myself. A Garmin would certainly solve those problems.

Not that I can afford either item, but at least I've got something specific to save my pennies for.

Strength Training - I hate this with a passion but I get that it's necessary. I've been in heaven since my physical therapist banned me from lifting, but next season I need to ease back into it. I will admit I feel pathetically weak since I stopped lifting - the muscle is just gone. I used the gym heavily for weight training before. My best friend's parents have a small weight lifting setup at their place and I've been invited to use it. Not great, and a far cry from my weekly weight training class taught by the personal trainer who's been helping me for 3 years, but at least it's something.

Core - I hate core work (who doesn't?), but I didn't mind the Pilates class at my gym because Yogini taught it, and it was free. I'm not going to pay for a separate Pilates class with some random teacher I'll probably never had time to go to after the baby comes. I should incorporate it as part of some double workout anyway, which makes a class illogical from a training standpoint. I've got a sports-oriented Pilates reference book and I can maybe buy the Core Performance workout dvd and just suck it up and do it at home.

Yoga - Yogini is working on finding a place that will let her teach at least a session a week. No word yet on when or where. Current options are looking like they'll cost me as much just for yoga as my whole damn gym membership did before. But I desperately need yoga and finding a way to continue it is a high priority - I simply can't beat my body up with all the other training and not give it something back. And a class is important to me because yoga is something I simply don't do even half as well, or as often, when I'm by myself. I very much need the guidance of an instructor.

So. That's the plan, if you can call it that.

Is it going to be all-in-one-place and 5-minutes-from-home convenient? Not remotely.
Is it going to cost more? Boatloads.
Will I have to completely rearrange my training schedule in incredibly frustrating and sub-optimal ways? YES.

But am I going to stop training because of it? HELL. NO.