Sweat It Out: SPINCO Toronto

October 28, 2016November 4, 2016Leave a comment

Work | Sweat | Achieve

fullsizerender43

A couple weeks back I was invited to check out a class at Toronto’s newest cycling studio, SPINCO. SPINCO, a studio with locations in Kelowna and Victoria, has opened it’s doors at 2577 Yonge Street, across the street from Barreworks and a few blocks North of Eglinton.

The outdoor facade of the studio is very simple, and the space is narrow and long. When you enter the studio you walk by a wall of merchandise including a limited collection of tanks, sweaters, and hoodies by the Peace Collective declaring that Canadians Spin Better, and we know that’s the truth. And then you’ll find yourself at the registration desk.

The staff were friendly and welcoming. The bikes use LOOK clips, which is different from most (all?) boutique spin studios here in TO which use SPD or have a combination of the two for the pedal clips, but the good news is they provide the shoes in your class fee.

SPINCO offers a class style that is “full body” and includes intervals of weight training with weights and body weight while riding the bike. It is important to note that while this form of indoor cycling is all the rage right now in both Canada and the United States, it is controversial in the indoor cycling industry and for a few reasons (rider safety, rider biomechanics, integrity of cycling) is spoken against by the Indoor Cycling Association. The music was a motivating combination of top 40, and pumped at the perfect level to be inspired without blasting out your ear drums.

Photo by SPINCO

The studio space has a mirrored wall and creative lights on the ceiling which can be turned on in various combinations which was done throughout the class. There was also a strobe light that was turned on at random internals. Branded towels were provided on the bikes upon arrival and bikes were cleaned by staff following the ride.

SPINCO has some of the best bikes in the city, the Schwinn AC Performance Plus with Carbon Blue. The ride is so smooth with a real to the road feeling. The bikes have a variety of built in hand positions in the handlebars, two water bottle holders (which in this class were used to hold the 1, 2, or 3 lbs weights), as well as fore-aft adjustable in both the seat and handlebars for the perfect fit for each rider.

The studio also contains showers and washrooms within the change room and common self locking lockers in the hallway.

Photo by SPINCO

Prices at SPINCO are slightly above the Toronto market price with a single class being purchased for $25, however class passes fall back into the range of $22-$17 per class depending on the packages.

This space is great and if full body rides are your thing, I definitely suggest you check them out. Plus the first class is free until October 31st!

Road to 70.3: Week 14

August 8, 2016August 28, 2016Leave a comment

My legs are fried! Last week seemed to be all about the bike – also because I did my long weekend ride on Monday, took Tuesday off for Mark’s birthday, and them crammed the rest of the workouts in the remaining 5 days – ouch. But I got them done!

MONDAY: 90km. As we were still up at the cottage I took full advantage of the long ride out on the country roads. I did a couple out and backs to down town then a long straight (although hilly) segment out to a sunflower field I had seen. The photo doesn’t capture them that well be it was great to have this goal to ride to, and to get it done with very few cars, and on such a nice day.

TUESDAY: Today was Mark’s birthday, and after yesterday’s long ride it seemed appropriate to take a rest day. I spent the day running errands and Mark and I had dinner at a little place he had been wanting to revisit after a Tribe brunch. Balance is key.

WEDNESDAY: Today was our weekly Tribe run, plus I got in a 20km bike ride. It was really hot out and my only free time was key tourist time along the waterfront trail, so I kept my ride indoors. I also discovered I can access our condo’s common area wifi while on the bikes, so kept myself very entertained with some movies and old TV shows.

THURSDAY: Today was an epic brick plus bonus bike ride I had missed on Tuesday. In the morning I swan 1.5km and did a long and torturous 75 min run. The heat was awful and EVERY step of the way I had to consciously choose to not walk. It was a dreaded workout, but one that is so sweat when it’s done. I finished my day by teaching at YYoga, and sticking around for a spin class – I always like taking other teachers classes, and this one was great.

FRIDAY: Today started with some epic procrastination which required me to not get into the water (for 1.5km) until the afternoon and then decide it was to hot for an outdoor run, so for the first time in forever I ran for 60 minutes on the treadmill.

SATURDAY: So I think procrastination is becoming the theme of the week. I decided to not get up to swim prior to our Tribe run, so I did 13km, then swan 2km, then rode for 45min. As I had previously been riding indoors I hadn’t noticed that I had misplaced my outdoor cycling shoes (I have different clips for indoors). This was really disappointing as I got dressed, couldn’t find them, so took my bike down the 50 floors to our parking, only to not find my shoes there either (note they were actually in my car). So back upstairs I went, changed into human cycling clothes and hit the gym. To much indoors and to much procrastination.

SUNDAY: YogaJam kicked of our Sunday as it does almost every week. The morning stretch is great and as I only teach 2 of the 10 classes, I typically get to enjoy being a participant which is always so much fun. On my way to yoga I found my cycling shoes – obviously great news. After the yoga class I delayed almost 2 hours before finally getting out to start my 80km ride. It was hot and crowded. After 42km around the Leslie Spit and Beaches, I had enough of the pedestrians along the water front and took my ride indoors. So much riding this week had really gotten my butt sore from the sitting and even a new episode of Sex and The City of my Ipad couldn’t shape the voices in my head telling me to take a break.

This was a brutal week for delaying and procrastinating my workouts. Any and every reason I convinced myself to wait or do something different – but I got them done. It wasn’t until writing this post that i realized these themes and my mind games. It was hot, I’m tired, I’m sore, I’m busy – let me send just one more email. Each of these delays was my choice – the training got done, but certainly at the expense of my downtime and family time. This weeks goal – do the workout when I say I will.

We are heading on vacation soon, and I’m trying to figure out how to keep my training on track. Any tips? Leave them in the comments.

Missed a week of my training?

Week 13 Week 12 Week 11 Week Ten Week Nine Week Eight

Week Seven Week Six Week Five

Week Four Week Three Week Two Week One

Road to 70.3: Week 13

August 2, 2016Leave a comment

This week culminated in a couple epic workouts as I was reaching the max of my training plan for Seawheeze and decided to push my long ride a little longer to complete a full 90km. These workouts were also broken up with some blogger events which both involved workouts and were a lot of fun – more on those starting tomorrow.

Here’s what my plan looked like:

FullSizeRender(30)

And here’s how it went down:

MONDAY: I’ve been feeling worn down after my last month of three heavy days, so today was simply a 5km with the TSX crew. My hamstring and IT bands have been getting tight and sore and without much rest have been impacting my other workouts, so I think this break was much needed and appreciated.

TUESDAY: Today was my scheduled rest day. A trend that’s been working well. I still taught a YFit class and a yoga class, but enjoyed the time during the day that I would typically be training to do some of my own work.

WEDNESDAY: Today I rode for 70 minutes then we headed out in a crazy rain storm for what ended up only being a 2.5km Tribe crew run. This weather was so bad – and we run rain, shine, snow – but we physically couldn’t finish, so people went on their way.

Later that night (after the rain had stopped) I took part in a great community event called THE exchange. It was a networking and community celebration event that included a 30 minute strength training class at Fuel and a 30 minute yoga class at the new Misfit studio on Ossington. Since I plan also had a 20 minute strength training workout this was a perfect event to be inspired physically and recharged mentally.

THURSDAY: With my first real day off without schedule “work” I went to Hamilton and spent the day with my dad. We spent 2+ hours paddling around Burlington Beach and finished with lunch at Hutches. I headed home to attend the Lole white tour I had been invited to as “media” but with time so tight didn’t get in my scheduled swim. I counted this yoga class as my second strength/flexibility for the week.

FRIDAY: Nancy came into town today and along with Kat we did a brick workout out of Cheery Beach. This was my second open water swim there this season and today it was DISGUSTING! The shoreline was littered with garbage, it smelt bad, but with others in and our goal races looming we went in too. It wasn’t until we reached our starting point that a lifeguard paddled over to us in her boat to point out the the condition flag was red, meaning swimming was not advised. Of course we were already in the water at this point. My sister asked the lifeguard if she would go in, she replied saying she would if she had to and that the standards in Canada a very high. The ecoli rate was 126, she told us how some countries don’t warn people until they are at levels of 200 or even 400 – i decided to swim on my back.

FullSizeRender(15)

After our 1.5km swim we went out for an 8km run. It was warm, but the company was great and we ran along a pathway none of us had previous been on, but it gave us an epic view of the downtown skyline.

SATURDAY: Today was our epic long run with Tribe. Nanc stayed in town and we did 19km followed by some yummy treats to celebrate Seawheeze. It was a great way to kick off our final long run of this training cycle.

SUNDAY: Today was a scheduled 88km bike ride, however, following a wonderful Tribe Yoga Jam, Mark and I headed to the cottage for the night. The usual 3 hours ride took a little longer as we stopped along the way to see some places Mark had discovered on his motor cycle and to catch Pokemon. Knowing my ride would be at least 4 hours, I didn’t feel safe riding at the cottage at night, so enjoyed the evening with family and rode Monday – yeah long weekends!