Spinning Queen, Baby!

I don't want to admit it too publicly so if you ask me I will probably say no, but I am starting to really enjoy this spinning thing. Maybe I will take it outside, too, you know what I mean, like real biking. Remember Josephine? She was good to me, come spring, I might take her out again.

In the mean time, I am pedaling at gyms in Plzen. We go there about once or twice a week and the instructor already knows us, me and the 3 Frenchmen (sometimes more), she calls us Tour de France. I'd find it hilarious if I wasn't dying on my bike. She even knows us by name.

Sometimes we have spinning marathons of 4 hours. This take place on Saturdays at our favorite gym: the owner sometimes spins with us and she always comes at break to give us mandarins and chocolate. The music is fun, sometimes themes such as 80's, 90's or disco and I sing a long, sometimes it's rock and I suffer.

On Mondays I have the tae bo sessions. That is intense too and I just love punching and kicking the air. I sometimes punch the boyfriend as well, he so likes to play the victim and "complain" but he really loves the attention.

And when I cannot or don't feel like spinning or tae bo, I dance in front of my Wii to the rhythms of the Just Dance game. It's a good substitute to zumba but i need some new songs. I used to go to Zumba quite a lot but I dropped in favor of tae bo but I am still thinking of going back, once or twice, I even bought a groupon. I just don't like going on my own so I do my best to drag a girl friend to zumba but none of them seem to have been hooked. I blame it on the teacher, not showing you the moves before the song starts: we are not all dancing queens.

After all this sport you'd expect me to be fit. Well I am just about as fit as a 31year old, haha, I am only 27. But I do feel better and I have certainly gained considerable muscle, according to my scale. I actually did a test and I have nearly the perfect weight considering  my muscle build but I do have to shed a couple of kilos to have the perfect weight for my bone structure.

So I am waiting for spring now. Real spring, with sun and a bit of warmth, a sweet breeze, flowers. I want spring so I can finally enjoy the clean air and the Saturday morning of sports and shopping for gardening supplies for my balcony garden and generally spinning around like a bee.

*Image from http://www.fitness-husovka.cz

It was so unexpected, I just had to take a picture for you

No, the fact that the local hockey team, the Plzen Indians, won against the visitors, PSG Zlin, was not unexpected, in fact it was to be expected, considering the performance of the winning team this season. After loosing 19 points on a technicality, they are back stronger than ever. What was unexpected however, at least by us, was the presence of two Peugeot cars on the ice, during the breaks. Here they are in all their splendor, looking a bit like another car I know...

I didn't know what to expect when I went to the game, I didn't have time to think about it too much but I guess the show and the very hot atmosphere, did take me by surprise a little. You see, football is not the king in this here little country, hockey is. And the crowds love it, they savor every moment of the match, the show the fans put on for the team is impressive.

During the breaks, the supporters have some beers (there is no season for beer here) or hot wine, hamburgers, hot dogs and other treats are also available. On the ice, there are sometimes shows for kids (hitting a pallet is not as easy for the small ones apparently) and for the grown ups. This is truly entertainment  for the whole family, moms, dads, kids, grand parents, the whole family was there.

But this game is not an easy one, sometimes the players fight and the referees have to intervene. An action that would be a big fault for a football player, doesn't even get a frown on the ice, the goal might be smaller, but so much harder to reach. Hockey is not a game for the weak of heart!

There is quite a lot of action, it was hard for me to capture a good image, or to follow the pallet all the way for that matter. I did find myself cheering for "our" blue and white team: modrá a bílá, jdete kluci!

Going up the hill

Once or twice a week I put on my pants with special pads for my tush, I tuck in my heart rate monitor belt under my sports bra, put on my favorite t-shirt and my best sport shoes. And I prepare to go up a hill. Well, actually I just go in a class with 20 other people, each on bikes, and we sweat and hurt on music.

Oh boy does it hurt. I'm not the best at spinning, that's what this torture is called, but I do try and as my heart rate goes up I concentrate on continuing and above all breathing. Sweating is easy but breathing...  It's hard but I also like it, some sort of masochistic sport. Anyway, I can disconnect from the world for an hour or think about my plans, I only pay attention when the instructor screams what her a change in the program. And so I bike, but don't put me in a forest please, not yet anyway.