Hey Slacker: Give Me Your Money!

Miles Run This Week: 0
Days Until Burlington: 130

OK. First things first - black bean soup was a smashing success. It would have been REALLY good with

some bacon (which many of the recipes called for) or some ground meat (but then it would have been chili). All in all, it was incredibly filling and tasty. The celery was essential to adding some texture/crunch to the other ingredients (so it was good to not saute it too long). 

This morning I dragged myself to the gym for the 6:30 spin class - which had better results for me than when I went to the Thursday class. I suspect it's because this is the spin class with a cute, straight dude as the instructor. I also made sure I didn't sit behind a big sweaty guy - girls butts are way nicer to look at (at least in this class). Last week I sat behind a guy who wore light colored cotton shorts to class, and was definitely part of Resolutionpalooza. Every intense interval was a sweaty TMI. Even though Tuesday spin doesn't really fit into my week...it might be worth it to switch some things around.

One thing that spinning and running have in common for me - they both tighten my piriformis. The piriformis is a muscle in your glute that controls your hip's range of motion. If it gets too tight, it can start to irritate your sciatic nerve, giving you some pretty gnarly pain in your back and leg. I've found it just makes my IT band a horrible mess (more than it already is). It's a legitimate pain in the ass. My go-to to helping me keep it in check is this puppy (which is actually called the pigeon, not puppy):

  

Since it's deemed an intermediate position, you should probably go check out the steps a the Yoga Journal to avoid hurting yourself (especially if you're doing this pose to avoid getting hurt - irony!). It's also a double-feature - I use it to get at my hip flexors, too. Some times I just prop my leg up on the bathroom sink while I'm brushing my teeth, too. Essentially the same stretch (but standing up, obv). 

Lastly, my Runner's World email mentioned a new app to motivate you to go to the gym. The original story ran in the New York Times ; the gist of the app: you lock yourself into number of days and duration each week (minimum 1 day for 30 mins) and then put some moolah down (minimum of $5) - if you don't man up and go for the times and days you originally set, you lose your cash. All the money taken from the slackers is then pooled together and divided up equally among the people who met their gym goals for the week. Meaning, if you're a gym rat, download this app, and low-ball yourself, you could get paid for going to the gym (without an endorsement from Nike paying your way).

While the RW forum brought up some good points (why not donate the money to charity?) - this app raised some bigger questions for me. (Aside from the gym-rat detailed above.) 

• If you don't know how to set realistic goals for yourself, you'll go broke quick. We've all met (or been) the person whose intentions, while well-meaning, are completely batshit. There's a reason that all the "Couch potato to runner" workouts focus on 5Ks - because you can't going from a couch potato to a marathoner. Or how many of us have sat at our desks on a Monday saying, "OK! This week's the week! I'm going to the gym EVERY DAY." Guess what? There's not couch potato to 6 day a week cardio plan, either. Is there something to keep this in check from over extending your reach? 
• This reinforces the stigma that working out is a chore/something that we all know we "should" do, versus setting it up as something we WANT to do. I get that the money will probably re-prioritize your day to make you squeeze in a workout - isn't that what paying for a gym membership is anyway?  I'm already paying $2.50 a day for the BSC, if I don't go all week, didn't I just waste about $20? I don't go to the gym because of the $$ - I do it so my pants fit (and to run a sub-5 hour marathon). 
• It forces you to do something to your body that maybe you shouldn't be doing. Rest days are necessary. If you're the fool up there who over extended yourself, you might force yourself to slave away on the treadmill - risking overuse injury (or worse). The $5 you saved that week isn't going to cover the physical therapy costs if you fuck up your knee or get a stress fracture because you didn't want to skip a day that you needed to skip. 

I'm rolling this app into the Re-tards Tones/Sketcher sneakers, Vibram 5 finger shoes and Zumba category: for people who are looking for a quick fix, most likely because they aren't working out for themselves.