Breathe, Stretch, Shake Spin Mix (44 minutes)

Breathe, Stretch, Shake Spin
Mix (44 minutes)
My apologies for being AWOL for the last month.
I’ve had
family visiting and just got back from summer vacation on
Prince Edward Island. It was a wonderful week on the beach,
riding, and golfing – a sport I just might be getting the hang
of, in a double-bogey, multiple-mulligan sort of way.
This is a mix of new, never-before-seen-on-the-blog tunes.
It
veers from dance to pop to hip hop to rock, and showcases two
Canadian artists – Beast, and K’naan. The profile includes an
intense 17 minute climb, followed by some surges and lifts.
It winds up with some sprints to the finish. I cribbed the
lengthy climbing idea from reader Tim, who posted a great
playlist with a quad-busting 23 minute climb on the Reader
Playlists page.
If you’re mulling over a Michael Jackson
tribute class, readers Denise and Judy both posted all-MJ
playlists on the Reader Playlists page. (Thanks to all three
of you for covering with new material – much appreciated!)
Before we get into today’s mix, I have to give a shout-out to
another Canuck, Gabriela, the Toronto spin instructor who
blogs over at SpinDJ.
I visited her blog last night and
downloaded a whole bunch of new music based on her
suggestions.
We have very similar musical tastes, and
Gabriela uses playlist.com to make her music available to
listen right from the blog – a nice touch. I added a link to
her blog under Other Sources for Spinning Music – surf on over
and check it out. I bet you’ll like it, too.
The photo? Canadian readers will recognize the Tim Hortons
sign for the Canadian cultural icon that it is. For those of
you who aren’t familiar with Timmies, it’s a chain of coffee
shops named after the NHL player who started the business in
the 1960s. Tims has over 2,800 locations across Canada and
400 in the United States, including some brand new locations
in NYC. Okay, here we go:
I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
(4:49): What an upbeat song. I’ve got
a feeling that this is going to be a
good, good ride. Take the resistance
up to 3/10 and give me some fast,
strong legs. We’re headed for a 17
minute hill, folks, so we have to be
ready for it when we get there.
E-Pro – Beck (3:22): Oh, frig. We’re at the base of this
hill, and it’s the biggest one we’ve ever tackled.
We’re
going to need breaks… water…. and fortitude, but we can do
it. Just take it at your own pace, and dial back the tension
for a break when you need to. (Advanced riders, skip one or
more of the breaks between songs.) Keep your cadence at no
less than 60 RPM to protect your knees.
that, dial back the tension a bit.
If you’re slower than
The songs naturally
encourage the proper cadence – just let the beat drive you up
the hill. We’re starting seated, resistance around 5/10 with
progressive increases every 60 seconds.
Finger Prints – Beast (4:33): This tune from Montreal band
Beast has been on heavy rotation since I heard it on the CBC
Radio Show, “Q.” Wicked, wicked, wicked. You didn’t dial the
tension back, right? Good. Settle in at 8/10. Around 2:00,
take it to 9/10 and stand for the rest of the song. It’s like
riding through mud, a slog all the way. Pace yourself – we’re
not even half way. If you prefer, you can coach the whole
climb seated, standing only for LoveGame.
Breathe Stretch Shake – Mase (3:17): Break time!
Take 30
seconds of easy spinning, then roll the tension back to 5/10.
More progressive tension increases. Don’t come out of the
saddle – yet.
LoveGame [Chew Fu Ghettohouse Fix feat. Marilyn Manson] – Lady
GaGa (5:21): Finally, a chance to pull out the stops. Come
out of the saddle and finish the slog to the top with a
standing climb. Sure, the beat is fast, but we’ve got the
energy for it.
Fine Without You (Radio Edit) – Armin van Buuren (3:18): We
did it! Time to spin out all that tension we’ve accumulated
over the course of the 17 minute climb. Drop the tension back
to 3/10 and go back to fast legs, alternating 30 second surges
with 60 seconds of active recovery. The 60 seconds should
still include strong legs and a purposeful cadence.
Bang Bang – K’naan (feat. Adam Levine) (3:07): Such a clever
song, with clever lyrics and a hummable chorus. Let’s do some
lifts, low tension (4/10). It’s a fast beat so we’re going to
stick to 16 counts. This was a free songs on iTunes. K’naan
is a Canadian hip hop artist. He was born in Somalia and
lived there during the civil war. He comes from a musical
family – his aunt is one of Somalia’s most famous singers.
K’naan and his mother fled Somalia and joined his father in
New York City.
The family later moved to Toronto, Ontario.
New Divide – Linkin Park (4:30): You didn’t think we were
going to get away without sprinting, did you?
Two sprint
songs, back to back here, to take us through to the cool
down. There are four sprints here, of 15/40/60/30 at 0:19 –
0:34, 1:08 – 1:48, 2:21 – 3:18, 3:35 – 4:05.
Love Drunk – Boys Like Girls (3:47): Is it just me, or does
this song remind you of something by Avril Lavigne? Ashlee
Simpson? Kelly Clarkson? While we figure it out, let’s do
one more set of sprints to take us to the cool down: 30/45/50
at 0:48 – 1:20, 1:45 – 2:28, 2:38 – 3:28. (It’s actually from
this Boston band’s eponymous debut CD.)
Her Diamonds – Rob Thomas (4:40): This single from Thomas’s
latest CD is charting right now. Slow down and enjoy the pace
while we cool down and stretch.
New York New York – Ryan Adams (3:47): Some extra stretching
and goodbye music.
I’ll admit it…. I love to go out
for dinner.
I live downtown
with all sorts of restaurants
nearby: Chinese, Vietnamese,
Thai, Japanese, Italian, Latin,
Indian,
Turkish,
Lebanese,
English, Mexican, Greek… all
within a 10 minute walk.
But
according to CBC’s Marketplace,
eating at sit-down restaurants can be far worse for your
waistline than chowing down at McDonalds. If you only go out
for dinner a few times a year, no big deal, have whatever you
want. But what if you go out for dinner once or twice a week?
Here are some strategies for coping with restaurant food:
1. Have a snack before you arrive at the restaurant.
sit down ravenous, you’ll make bad choices.
If you
2. If you can’t have a snack beforehand, start with a broth
soup or salad with dressing on the side.
3.
Decide on your priorities.
Do you want to have an
alcoholic drink? Dessert? An appetizer? Some bread? Pick
one only. (This rule seems particularly unfair.)
4. Ask about half orders and lunch sizes, even if they’re not
mentioned on the menu. Try ordering an appetizer as your main
course. (I tried this on vacation and was served a child-size
bowl of soup as an appetizer, even though it wasn’t listed
anywhere on the menu. Perfect!)
4. Consider eating until you’re full and leaving the rest of
your meal behind. It’s wasteful, but if you take half the
meal home to eat another day, you’re essentially eating out
twice as often. (If you can’t bear to leave it, bring the
leftovers home as a treat for another family member, or even
your pet.)
5.
Whenever possible, share the portion with your dining
companion(s). (Another way to ensure no leftovers to take
home.) This trick works particularly well with desserts.