As I've said in a few earlier blogs, today was the day I ran the Nike Human Race 10K. I had caught wind of this probably two months ago when I was at the gym and thought it would not only be fun but a challenge that I could do.
Originally the plan was for me to do it around home, with the girlfriend riding her bike alongside me as support. Welllllllll....that didn't happen. Since I am on reserve, the airline can call me at their leisure and tell me when to come to work. I got a call last night saying come in for a 2 day trip. So I decided, why not bring girlfriend with me to Fargo and have her still support me?
The nice thing about the midwest? It's flat. The downside? It's hot, and humid. That didn't deter me, however, and I mapped out a running trail on mapmyrun.com. Figured out what 6.2 miles was and girlfriend and I left to stretch around 2:30.
After a decent warm up, we got started. Within 1/2 a mile, I could already feel the heat. I was feeling ok though for the most part. At around 2.5 miles girlfriend went back to the hotel and I continued on, determined to finish.
I started walking at one point, knowing I just couldn't keep doing it. But I was determined to finish it. I rounded the corner and there was girlfriend waiting with water and a towel. Best things my eyes have seen all day.
All in all, I ran it in 1:05:04 for a pace of 10:25 per mile. Not too shabby, considering I walked a little. And something to build on.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Running in Fargo
Well, here I am writing from ... um ... Fargo, N.D. I'd say it's gorgeous or wonderful, but I really can't say that from what I've seen of it. Brandon ended up having a trip (ahhh, the joys of sitting reserve for an airline pilot) and he felt bad about leaving me ... again ... so he paid for me to come on up and join him. Yay. :)
Anyhoo, as you may have read from him a few days ago, he wanted to do the Nike Human Race 10K today. Well, he's not home, but Fargo is nice and flat and oxygenated, so why not do it on the road? We got into town about 1:30pm CT so it left a ton of the day to run.
A ton of the hottest part of the day. 86 degrees when we started out and 89 when I gave up. Oh, and because it's the (upper) midwest and not a desert like Colorado basically is (arid!), it's ass humid, too.
If we were back at home in the hilly, dry wonder that is Colorado, I was going to bike alongside Brandon as he did his 6.2 miles, having a water bottle for him (mobile water station!) to keep him hydrated along the way.
Since we're not home and I don't have access to a bike ... I did the next best thing.
Attempt to run it with him.
I say attempt because after 28:30 and 2.64 miles, I gave up. I felt a blister or something on the bottom of my right bunion (already agitated thanks to the shoes i wore to the airport) AND I felt like I was overheating. Not just my crazy feet, but all of me. Take note: I've been done for about 20 minutes and my face is still bright freaking pink thanks to the exertion. The heat was just too much for me so I did the prudent thing and dropped out.
Brandon said he was doing okay and kept on going. This 10K, for him, was more of a challenge - didn't have to pay for it and it was a way to take the next step beyond the 5K. If he had to walk or whatnot, it would just mean he had a lot of training to do.
(part of me says that we didn't train for it anyway as i think i've run a longer distance than a 5k like twice and he has ... not much more than that.)
Anyway, off to the lobby for me with some water to greet him as he comes back because I bet he'll be about ready to melt into a puddle.
Anyhoo, as you may have read from him a few days ago, he wanted to do the Nike Human Race 10K today. Well, he's not home, but Fargo is nice and flat and oxygenated, so why not do it on the road? We got into town about 1:30pm CT so it left a ton of the day to run.
A ton of the hottest part of the day. 86 degrees when we started out and 89 when I gave up. Oh, and because it's the (upper) midwest and not a desert like Colorado basically is (arid!), it's ass humid, too.
If we were back at home in the hilly, dry wonder that is Colorado, I was going to bike alongside Brandon as he did his 6.2 miles, having a water bottle for him (mobile water station!) to keep him hydrated along the way.
Since we're not home and I don't have access to a bike ... I did the next best thing.
Attempt to run it with him.
I say attempt because after 28:30 and 2.64 miles, I gave up. I felt a blister or something on the bottom of my right bunion (already agitated thanks to the shoes i wore to the airport) AND I felt like I was overheating. Not just my crazy feet, but all of me. Take note: I've been done for about 20 minutes and my face is still bright freaking pink thanks to the exertion. The heat was just too much for me so I did the prudent thing and dropped out.
Brandon said he was doing okay and kept on going. This 10K, for him, was more of a challenge - didn't have to pay for it and it was a way to take the next step beyond the 5K. If he had to walk or whatnot, it would just mean he had a lot of training to do.
(part of me says that we didn't train for it anyway as i think i've run a longer distance than a 5k like twice and he has ... not much more than that.)
Anyway, off to the lobby for me with some water to greet him as he comes back because I bet he'll be about ready to melt into a puddle.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Randomly ...
... anyone out there in Blogger-land (and i mean blogger-like-this-blog-is-written-using-blogger-land) know how to do cuts? I know LiveJournal does them and Steph at Back In Skinny Jeans can using TypePad ... but how in Blogger?
If I do end up doing those fitness history posts, they're going to be ass-long and I'd rather hide them behind a cut instead of making you scroll ridiculously much.
Thanks in advance. :)
If I do end up doing those fitness history posts, they're going to be ass-long and I'd rather hide them behind a cut instead of making you scroll ridiculously much.
Thanks in advance. :)
Wii Fit and Walking the State Fair
Went home to Minny on Thrusday night. The best part about going home, aside from seeing the dogs and my parents, is being able to play Wii. My mom got Wii Fit and it's really fun. It's one of those things that makes you WANT to work out, which is good. I played for about 1/2 an hour.
Friday I spent walking around the State Fair. Yes, I ate some fair food, but still got a lot of exercise, which is good.
10K tomorrow
Friday I spent walking around the State Fair. Yes, I ate some fair food, but still got a lot of exercise, which is good.
10K tomorrow
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Future Post Preview!
... kind of. I mentioned way the hell back when that I was going to eventually do a post or two on my fitness history - the background of why I am the way that I am. Or something like that.
Well, I started typing some on it tonight and, next thing I know, I have four pages of a word document.
That's a lot of blog ... and that's just through middle school.
You can't tell I'm a writer (journalist). Nuh uh. Not at aaaalllll.
Soooo ... I can obviously edit things down or just do about 10 different blog entries ... once I get them all written out. I really want to post my history ... but at the same time, I don't want to bore y'all.
Therefore, if any of you readers out there in the ol' blogosphere have thoughts on this matter - whether you want to see the entirety of l'histoire de T or just the Cliffs Notes version, let me know.
(and yes, you'll see another blog later when i go work out. maybe. part of me wants a day off.)
Well, I started typing some on it tonight and, next thing I know, I have four pages of a word document.
That's a lot of blog ... and that's just through middle school.
You can't tell I'm a writer (journalist). Nuh uh. Not at aaaalllll.
Soooo ... I can obviously edit things down or just do about 10 different blog entries ... once I get them all written out. I really want to post my history ... but at the same time, I don't want to bore y'all.
Therefore, if any of you readers out there in the ol' blogosphere have thoughts on this matter - whether you want to see the entirety of l'histoire de T or just the Cliffs Notes version, let me know.
(and yes, you'll see another blog later when i go work out. maybe. part of me wants a day off.)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Working Out on the Road
Yeah, so I've titled it this before, but I'm too lazy and cranky to think of a better one, so screw off...
Ok. My wonderful girlfriend drove down to Colorado Springs where I'm overnighting tonight (seriously, it's like a 15 minute flight...why?????) and we decided to explore the wonderful sights of CO Springs. Then we hit a 24 that is here. The lighting sucked. Really bad. I felt like I was in a meat packing plant or the Batcave, sans the cool shit that Batman has. But regardless, we got to work.
Read her blog for what we did.
My arms feel good, and when I weighed myself in the locker room, I noticed I have dropped a couple pounds that I have recently gained. Which is good. However, I know I still have a loooooong way to go to achieve the body and goals that I want.
Oh, and those treadmill sprints...tough today. :(
Ok. My wonderful girlfriend drove down to Colorado Springs where I'm overnighting tonight (seriously, it's like a 15 minute flight...why?????) and we decided to explore the wonderful sights of CO Springs. Then we hit a 24 that is here. The lighting sucked. Really bad. I felt like I was in a meat packing plant or the Batcave, sans the cool shit that Batman has. But regardless, we got to work.
Read her blog for what we did.
My arms feel good, and when I weighed myself in the locker room, I noticed I have dropped a couple pounds that I have recently gained. Which is good. However, I know I still have a loooooong way to go to achieve the body and goals that I want.
Oh, and those treadmill sprints...tough today. :(
Springs Workout
As I mentioned yesterday, I headed down to the Springs to meet up with Brandon since he's overnighting here. (... that sentence was probably all kinds of wrong but eh - i'm still in the offseason.) So, since I have a car, we drove to one of the 24s down here to work out.
First of all, the Southgate 24? Sucks. Lots more weights than the one we typically go to as well as some more cardio, but the lack of gigantor digital clocks (to time planks and whatnot) and non-mirrored walls as well as the shitty layout were enough to get it two big thumbs down from us.
Anyway, five minutes of warm-up on the recumbent and some stretching before we were off to lift. So ... what did we do today?
- walking, weighted lunges
- 3/10 body-weight squats - last five jumping
- 2/:30 planks (2 sets of regular, 2 sets of right side, 2 sets of left side)
- 3/12 shoulder presses
- 3/10 lat pulldowns
- 3/10 bicep curls
We then hopped on the treadmill to do some of the 2/3 sprints that we mentioned earlier ... but for a lesser amount of time. The ideal plan was to do 15 minutes worth ... but we stopped after 10. For me, my lungs were KILLING me (damn sports asthma) and for both of us, we realize that we should do cardio first - lifting second. Like I usually do. Anyway, walked at 3.5 mph and ran at 6.0 mph for the first sprint and 6.5 mph for the second except for the last 30 seconds which was done at 7.0 mph.
I almost died and barely had anything left in the tank (and my legs are gonna kiiiillllll tomorrow), but eh. It was a good workout.
First of all, the Southgate 24? Sucks. Lots more weights than the one we typically go to as well as some more cardio, but the lack of gigantor digital clocks (to time planks and whatnot) and non-mirrored walls as well as the shitty layout were enough to get it two big thumbs down from us.
Anyway, five minutes of warm-up on the recumbent and some stretching before we were off to lift. So ... what did we do today?
- walking, weighted lunges
- 3/10 body-weight squats - last five jumping
- 2/:30 planks (2 sets of regular, 2 sets of right side, 2 sets of left side)
- 3/12 shoulder presses
- 3/10 lat pulldowns
- 3/10 bicep curls
We then hopped on the treadmill to do some of the 2/3 sprints that we mentioned earlier ... but for a lesser amount of time. The ideal plan was to do 15 minutes worth ... but we stopped after 10. For me, my lungs were KILLING me (damn sports asthma) and for both of us, we realize that we should do cardio first - lifting second. Like I usually do. Anyway, walked at 3.5 mph and ran at 6.0 mph for the first sprint and 6.5 mph for the second except for the last 30 seconds which was done at 7.0 mph.
I almost died and barely had anything left in the tank (and my legs are gonna kiiiillllll tomorrow), but eh. It was a good workout.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
*can't think of title*
Well, Amy's gone so it's time to get serious about working out again ... because I actually can now. Yeah.
Anyway, since I'm meeting up with Brandon in the Springs tomorrow since he overnights there (yay, boyfriend's work shacking him up only an hour south!), we decided we'd hit up the gym together in the afternoon. As a result, I decided I'd go for a run tonight. It was still warm, but not as bad as it was earlier.
I first warmed up by doing 20 jumping jacks, five sprints in the backyard (each about 25 yards) and followed that up with another 20 jumping jacks. I then stretched my butt out and did the same loop I've done the last three times I've gone running outside.
The results this time: 1.25 miles in 12:07 for a 9:42 mile.
Even though this was the fastest time of the three runs, I felt really pretty crappy. Part of it was due to my diet today (you don't want to know. well, not HORRIBLE, just not a lot) and part of it was probably a bit due to me pushing myself.
Still, I finished and I finished in a decent time. Maybe it was the tiny addition of sprints this past week. Hmmm ....
Anyway, since I'm meeting up with Brandon in the Springs tomorrow since he overnights there (yay, boyfriend's work shacking him up only an hour south!), we decided we'd hit up the gym together in the afternoon. As a result, I decided I'd go for a run tonight. It was still warm, but not as bad as it was earlier.
I first warmed up by doing 20 jumping jacks, five sprints in the backyard (each about 25 yards) and followed that up with another 20 jumping jacks. I then stretched my butt out and did the same loop I've done the last three times I've gone running outside.
The results this time: 1.25 miles in 12:07 for a 9:42 mile.
Even though this was the fastest time of the three runs, I felt really pretty crappy. Part of it was due to my diet today (you don't want to know. well, not HORRIBLE, just not a lot) and part of it was probably a bit due to me pushing myself.
Still, I finished and I finished in a decent time. Maybe it was the tiny addition of sprints this past week. Hmmm ....
Quick run in Grand Junction
I worked out very briefly in my room yesterday since the workout room was closed in Billings and it was 107 degrees outside. *eek!* I just did some wall sits and some push-ups. Nothing exciting but enough to feel active.
Today I went for a quick run in Grand Junction. I running mapped it and it was 1.7 miles. Again, nothing spectacular, but during the run, I got the dreaded side pointy dealies which haven't plagued me for awhile. Not sure where they came from, except that I haven't eaten very well over the past two days...
10K on Sunday................mmmmrrrraaaaa
Today I went for a quick run in Grand Junction. I running mapped it and it was 1.7 miles. Again, nothing spectacular, but during the run, I got the dreaded side pointy dealies which haven't plagued me for awhile. Not sure where they came from, except that I haven't eaten very well over the past two days...
10K on Sunday................mmmmrrrraaaaa
Monday, August 25, 2008
Staying Active
In keeping with my August resolution to stay active somehow even with my roommate in town, I went hiking up around the Maroon Bells area of Aspen in the mountains.
Oooo, pretty!
Amy, after seeing a picture of the Bells I took last winter on her "holiday" card (i gave in to the pc-ness. i'm sorry.), wanted to head up there to see one of the most photographed spots in Colorado (and hell, probably the planet). We did probably about two miles total of both trail and road (walking back to bus pick-up place), hanging out at 9,580 feet.
Amy cantering down the path.
Waterfall thingy we found ... right before a lot of underbrush that led us to the road.
We also stopped in Glenwood Canyon (because it's gorgeous, even though it doesn't photograph well). We parked in a rest area ... but saw the path that goes along the (colorado?) river down below us. We also spotted this steep-ass dirt path that took us down to said path and river. Soooo ... we walked down the path (carefully as the footing wasn't sure) to the river for some photos. Of course, this meant we had to walk back up the steep-ass hill while trying not to slide back down. Needless to say, I took the entire thing on the balls of my feet, giving my quads and calves a nice quick little workout.
If that wasn't enough (because really, it wasn't), and since I know I need to lift more too, I did some push-ups, squats and crunches in the room like five minutes ago. Go me.
And yes, I changed the format. It's a bit easier to read.
Oooo, pretty!
Amy, after seeing a picture of the Bells I took last winter on her "holiday" card (i gave in to the pc-ness. i'm sorry.), wanted to head up there to see one of the most photographed spots in Colorado (and hell, probably the planet). We did probably about two miles total of both trail and road (walking back to bus pick-up place), hanging out at 9,580 feet.
Amy cantering down the path.
Waterfall thingy we found ... right before a lot of underbrush that led us to the road.
We also stopped in Glenwood Canyon (because it's gorgeous, even though it doesn't photograph well). We parked in a rest area ... but saw the path that goes along the (colorado?) river down below us. We also spotted this steep-ass dirt path that took us down to said path and river. Soooo ... we walked down the path (carefully as the footing wasn't sure) to the river for some photos. Of course, this meant we had to walk back up the steep-ass hill while trying not to slide back down. Needless to say, I took the entire thing on the balls of my feet, giving my quads and calves a nice quick little workout.
If that wasn't enough (because really, it wasn't), and since I know I need to lift more too, I did some push-ups, squats and crunches in the room like five minutes ago. Go me.
And yes, I changed the format. It's a bit easier to read.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Sprinty McSprinterson
Since we lifted yesterday, we thought today would be a good day for running. Buuut, since it's been raining off and on and we're wusses (okay, i'm one) when it comes to running in the rain, we decided to go to the gym instead for the 45 minute 2/3 treadmill sprint workout ... after five minutes on the recumbent and stretching, of course.
I did all my two minute walk portions at 3.5 mph, but varied up the running. For the first four sections (so up until the 22:00 mark), I ran the three minute portions at 5.7 mph. For the next three sections (up until the 37:00 mark), I upped it to 5.9 mph. I went back to 5.7 mph for the second-to-last sprint to regain some energy. Then, for the final sprint, it went like so:
42:00-43:00 - 6.0 mph
43:00-44:00 - 6.5 mph
44:00-44:30 - 7.0 mph
44:30-44:45 - 7.5 mph
44:45-45:00 - 8.0 mph
I was tired near the end, but definitely could have pushed myself more ... and will next month when I do a lot of (s.)H.I.I.T. training.
I did all my two minute walk portions at 3.5 mph, but varied up the running. For the first four sections (so up until the 22:00 mark), I ran the three minute portions at 5.7 mph. For the next three sections (up until the 37:00 mark), I upped it to 5.9 mph. I went back to 5.7 mph for the second-to-last sprint to regain some energy. Then, for the final sprint, it went like so:
42:00-43:00 - 6.0 mph
43:00-44:00 - 6.5 mph
44:00-44:30 - 7.0 mph
44:30-44:45 - 7.5 mph
44:45-45:00 - 8.0 mph
I was tired near the end, but definitely could have pushed myself more ... and will next month when I do a lot of (s.)H.I.I.T. training.
45 Minute Treadmill Workout!!!!
An old workout resurfaced today...a workout that I haven't done in a LOOOOOONNNGGGGG time. The 45 minute 2-3 treadmill workout.
For those too lazy to read back to like, April posts, the 45 minute treadmill workout was introduced to me by Gray, my former personal trainer. You're on the treadmill for 45 minutes, walking 2 minutes and running 3 minutes. When I first did this, I was basically peeling myself off the treadmill when I was done, but it QUICKLY got me in shape. There's something about it that does wonders for the body.
Anyway, I walk at 3.5 and run at 6.0. Today I walked at 3.5 and ran at 6.2 at an incline of 2.0 (marginal marginal uphill). Was feeling good throughout the whole thing, actually. On the 2nd to last one, I took it down to 6.0, and on the final one, cranked it way up, so much that at the final 30 seconds I was sprinting at 12.0.
All in all, it was another very good workout.
For those too lazy to read back to like, April posts, the 45 minute treadmill workout was introduced to me by Gray, my former personal trainer. You're on the treadmill for 45 minutes, walking 2 minutes and running 3 minutes. When I first did this, I was basically peeling myself off the treadmill when I was done, but it QUICKLY got me in shape. There's something about it that does wonders for the body.
Anyway, I walk at 3.5 and run at 6.0. Today I walked at 3.5 and ran at 6.2 at an incline of 2.0 (marginal marginal uphill). Was feeling good throughout the whole thing, actually. On the 2nd to last one, I took it down to 6.0, and on the final one, cranked it way up, so much that at the final 30 seconds I was sprinting at 12.0.
All in all, it was another very good workout.
Keeping With the Goals
As Brandon said, today was a bit of a cluster, but we still managed to squeeze in a late night gym session. I warmed up with five minutes on the recumbent bike and then stretched out really well. From then, it was lifting time ...
- lunges across the group x room and back with a bar across the shoulders
- 2/10 stability ball crunches
- 2/10 body weight squats against a stability ball on the wall
- 2 sets of 21's with a barbell
- 2/10 seated rows
- 3/10 standing tri extension thingys (at the cable machine with the rope attachment; i did a bit of calf work while brandon did his sets)
- 2/10 back extensions
I probably could have pushed myself a lot more in terms of weight and intensity, but since I haven't lifted in a while, I decided not to. Hoping for a run tomorrow!
- lunges across the group x room and back with a bar across the shoulders
- 2/10 stability ball crunches
- 2/10 body weight squats against a stability ball on the wall
- 2 sets of 21's with a barbell
- 2/10 seated rows
- 3/10 standing tri extension thingys (at the cable machine with the rope attachment; i did a bit of calf work while brandon did his sets)
- 2/10 back extensions
I probably could have pushed myself a lot more in terms of weight and intensity, but since I haven't lifted in a while, I decided not to. Hoping for a run tomorrow!
Solid workout tonight
Today was just a cluster in the life of TS and BG today...what better way to take out our frustrations than on our own bodies?
Hit up the gym since it's been awhile. We both wanted a solid workout, if nothing spectacular. We warmed up on the recumbent bike then did some lower body work. Lunges, some sit-ups, and body squats. Then upper body. 2 sets of 21's, some seated row, and triceps. We also did some back extensions.
Like I said, nothing spectacular, but a workout I feel amazingly good about right now. :)
Hit up the gym since it's been awhile. We both wanted a solid workout, if nothing spectacular. We warmed up on the recumbent bike then did some lower body work. Lunges, some sit-ups, and body squats. Then upper body. 2 sets of 21's, some seated row, and triceps. We also did some back extensions.
Like I said, nothing spectacular, but a workout I feel amazingly good about right now. :)
Friday, August 22, 2008
Traning and Triathlon goals
Since my toe is fixed and a triathlon is looming on the horizon, while we were both in Seattle, girlfriend and I came up witn some training goals. Basically we lumped them into two things, training and personal. There's also some nutrition goals in there as well.
AUGUST GENERAL GOALS
- Get my foot fixed (done)
- Work out when we can (given how busy the rest of the month is for us)
- Just stay active somehow
AUGUST PERSONAL GOALS (MINE)
- Foot fixed (hooray, done!)
- On basis of that, run Nike Human Race 10K on 8-31-08
- Run more
SEPTEMBER GENERAL GOALS
- Skirt Chaser 5K and maybe Autumn Color 5K
- Core, cycling, and general cardio
- Run Red Rocks
SEPTEMBER PERSONAL GOALS (MINE)
- Endurance for cardio (treadmill workout, hill sprints, etc)
- Core strengthening
- CONSISTENCY (week to week)
OCTOBER GENERAL GOALS
- Maybe a 5K
- Enjoyment outside (October is probably our favorite month)
- More hockey
OCTOBER PERSONAL GOALS (MINE)
- Intense weight training
- flexibility
- agility
Each month will bring on new challenges and mix it up. I think over the summer one of the problems was I was doing the same workouts day in and day out. I mean, it was good that I was training and whatnot, don't get me wrong, but only running 5K's, for example, is not going to help me grow. That's why I'm doing the 10K on 8-31. Running Red Rocks is another goal of mine. I want to run every row + sprint up the rows at the end. Mixing it up will help both of us stay motivated.
As for nutrition, it's a tough thing for me being I'm a pilot. However, I think I can take it in baby steps. Here they are...
- No fast food except Subway and Taco Bell (options at the airport suck)
- Pack food for trips
- Eat out less and when I do, wise menu choices
- Cut down snacking
- Actually eat while bartending (have girlfriend bring something or pack some food)
- Try multi-vitamin
- More water (not Gatorade)
- Don't waste treats
Even further into these goals, girlfriend and I have set a couple rules for each other. Promises in motivation. These are...
- Support each other. We are not competing against each other. We are helping each other
- No sabotaging each other, unintentionally or otherwise
- Say fuck you to our inner critics (definitely the hardest thing I will do all year)
- No negative self talk unless its telling the inner critic to go fuck itself
- Keep each other on track and help each other get back up
- Remind each other not to overdo it
With these goals in mind, the next couple months should provide entertainment on the blogs and help girlfriend and I shed some poundage, but more importantly, help us feel better about ourselves and in general.
AUGUST GENERAL GOALS
- Get my foot fixed (done)
- Work out when we can (given how busy the rest of the month is for us)
- Just stay active somehow
AUGUST PERSONAL GOALS (MINE)
- Foot fixed (hooray, done!)
- On basis of that, run Nike Human Race 10K on 8-31-08
- Run more
SEPTEMBER GENERAL GOALS
- Skirt Chaser 5K and maybe Autumn Color 5K
- Core, cycling, and general cardio
- Run Red Rocks
SEPTEMBER PERSONAL GOALS (MINE)
- Endurance for cardio (treadmill workout, hill sprints, etc)
- Core strengthening
- CONSISTENCY (week to week)
OCTOBER GENERAL GOALS
- Maybe a 5K
- Enjoyment outside (October is probably our favorite month)
- More hockey
OCTOBER PERSONAL GOALS (MINE)
- Intense weight training
- flexibility
- agility
Each month will bring on new challenges and mix it up. I think over the summer one of the problems was I was doing the same workouts day in and day out. I mean, it was good that I was training and whatnot, don't get me wrong, but only running 5K's, for example, is not going to help me grow. That's why I'm doing the 10K on 8-31. Running Red Rocks is another goal of mine. I want to run every row + sprint up the rows at the end. Mixing it up will help both of us stay motivated.
As for nutrition, it's a tough thing for me being I'm a pilot. However, I think I can take it in baby steps. Here they are...
- No fast food except Subway and Taco Bell (options at the airport suck)
- Pack food for trips
- Eat out less and when I do, wise menu choices
- Cut down snacking
- Actually eat while bartending (have girlfriend bring something or pack some food)
- Try multi-vitamin
- More water (not Gatorade)
- Don't waste treats
Even further into these goals, girlfriend and I have set a couple rules for each other. Promises in motivation. These are...
- Support each other. We are not competing against each other. We are helping each other
- No sabotaging each other, unintentionally or otherwise
- Say fuck you to our inner critics (definitely the hardest thing I will do all year)
- No negative self talk unless its telling the inner critic to go fuck itself
- Keep each other on track and help each other get back up
- Remind each other not to overdo it
With these goals in mind, the next couple months should provide entertainment on the blogs and help girlfriend and I shed some poundage, but more importantly, help us feel better about ourselves and in general.
Training Goals
As we've both alluded to recently, we each came up with some goals for the next few months in terms of fitness, nutrition, training and overall confidence. We're each going to do a separate post with our own goals, but there will be some overlap.
I won't yammer on much, so onward!
Rest of August:
- get Brandon's foot fixed (DONE!)
- work out when we can (i've got a friend visiting, brandon's got airplane stuff)
- just stay active somehow
Personally:
- run, run, run
- lift (even if it's lunging around the house or whatnot ... like moving furniture)
September:
- SkirtChaser 5K and possibly the Autumn Color Run
- core, cycling and general cardio
- MAYBE looking into hockey leagues
- run Red Rocks
Personally:
- H.I.I.T. (or crabby's s.h.i.i.t.) training for cardio
- general focus on upping strength training
- flexibility
October:
- maybe a 5K (might be one at red rocks)
- enjoyment outside - REJUVENATION
- hockey
- agility
Personally:
- endurance for cardio; stamina
- functional strength training
We also made some general goals in regards to our nutrition ...
T's Eating Goals:
- mini meals - eat every few hours
- more fruits and veggies
- start taking a multivitamin
- drink lots more water (i always feel better when i do)
- no soda pop (whatevs) except for some rare Diet Pepsi
- smarter menu choices when eating out (meaning, split with brandon when i can)
- when I have the option, choose healthier restaurants
- don't waste treats (so if we're at a buffet-type restaurant, don't get the dessert there because it's crappy quality. instead, save it for some place where it's going to be really damn good)
Finally, we made some promises to ourselves and each other in terms of motivation so we stay on track ...
Our Pact to Ourselves:
- SUPPORT EACH OTHER
- no sabotaging each other, unintentionally or otherwise
- say "fuck you" to our inner critics (harder for boyfriend)
- no negative self talk ... unless it's telling the inner critic to go fuck itself
- keep each other on track AND help each other get back up if we fall off the wagon
- remind each other not to overdo it ... since we both have tendencies toward overtraining. This goes back to Brandon's thing a few posts ago about always feeling like there's a little left in the tank at the end of a work out.
I'll repost the monthly goals as those months come around this here blog. If you, the (few) readers notice that we're not doing something in regards to our personal pact in this blog (like trashing ourselves), CALL US OUT ON IT. It'll help in the long run.
Here's to training ...
I won't yammer on much, so onward!
Rest of August:
- get Brandon's foot fixed (DONE!)
- work out when we can (i've got a friend visiting, brandon's got airplane stuff)
- just stay active somehow
Personally:
- run, run, run
- lift (even if it's lunging around the house or whatnot ... like moving furniture)
September:
- SkirtChaser 5K and possibly the Autumn Color Run
- core, cycling and general cardio
- MAYBE looking into hockey leagues
- run Red Rocks
Personally:
- H.I.I.T. (or crabby's s.h.i.i.t.) training for cardio
- general focus on upping strength training
- flexibility
October:
- maybe a 5K (might be one at red rocks)
- enjoyment outside - REJUVENATION
- hockey
- agility
Personally:
- endurance for cardio; stamina
- functional strength training
We also made some general goals in regards to our nutrition ...
T's Eating Goals:
- mini meals - eat every few hours
- more fruits and veggies
- start taking a multivitamin
- drink lots more water (i always feel better when i do)
- no soda pop (whatevs) except for some rare Diet Pepsi
- smarter menu choices when eating out (meaning, split with brandon when i can)
- when I have the option, choose healthier restaurants
- don't waste treats (so if we're at a buffet-type restaurant, don't get the dessert there because it's crappy quality. instead, save it for some place where it's going to be really damn good)
Finally, we made some promises to ourselves and each other in terms of motivation so we stay on track ...
Our Pact to Ourselves:
- SUPPORT EACH OTHER
- no sabotaging each other, unintentionally or otherwise
- say "fuck you" to our inner critics (harder for boyfriend)
- no negative self talk ... unless it's telling the inner critic to go fuck itself
- keep each other on track AND help each other get back up if we fall off the wagon
- remind each other not to overdo it ... since we both have tendencies toward overtraining. This goes back to Brandon's thing a few posts ago about always feeling like there's a little left in the tank at the end of a work out.
I'll repost the monthly goals as those months come around this here blog. If you, the (few) readers notice that we're not doing something in regards to our personal pact in this blog (like trashing ourselves), CALL US OUT ON IT. It'll help in the long run.
Here's to training ...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
A toe fixed, and new motivation
While in Seattle, the toenail that I had fixed in April grew ingrown again. Down in the dumps, my workouts naturally suffered. I splashed in the pool with girlfriend and walked around downtown Seattle one day, but never anything like I wanted it to be.
Two days ago my toe got fixed and I am back in the game. In Seattle, girlfriend and I came up with a plan for the next couple months on working out and tri training. More on that later.
This morning, we got up and went for a run. Just our 1.38 mile run around the neighborhood. We didn't want to push it too hard being that neither of us have really worked out lately. I am really excited that I got back my Nike+ thing. I did it in 12:25 for a pace of 8:57 minute pace.
We're gonna get back into this thing
Two days ago my toe got fixed and I am back in the game. In Seattle, girlfriend and I came up with a plan for the next couple months on working out and tri training. More on that later.
This morning, we got up and went for a run. Just our 1.38 mile run around the neighborhood. We didn't want to push it too hard being that neither of us have really worked out lately. I am really excited that I got back my Nike+ thing. I did it in 12:25 for a pace of 8:57 minute pace.
We're gonna get back into this thing
No More "Vacation" For T ... Kind of.
Sooo ... yeah. Haven't really worked out in a little while. I was going to bring all my workout stuff when I visited Brandon in Seattle, but his ingrown toenail of DOOOOOM came back and it made him not be able to work out anymore. :( So, since I was having space issues in the suitcase already, I left my workout shoes at home and took the trip as a vacation.
Granted, we did walk around a lot and splashed around in the (highly chlorinated) pool to keep moving, but it wasn't working out per se.
So, due to getting stuck at SeaTac and spending a night there (boo) as well as Brandon getting his toe fixed again, we didn't get to work out again until this morning. We went for a run - the same 1.25 mile loop I did the last time I ran ... but I did it in 12:59 for a 10:23ish mile. And my lungs were bothering me.
I know I'll get my legs back fairly quickly but my lungs take FOREVER to get back. I take a week off from fairly high intensity cardio and it takes my lungs a good month to get back to where they were. *sigh* It'll be a bit difficult working out over the next week due to my roommate from college being in town (ran while she slept), but I'll do my damnedest.
Also upcoming: While in Seattle, Brandon and I wrote down our goals for the rest of this month, September and October, so expect a bloggity blog about that soon!
Granted, we did walk around a lot and splashed around in the (highly chlorinated) pool to keep moving, but it wasn't working out per se.
So, due to getting stuck at SeaTac and spending a night there (boo) as well as Brandon getting his toe fixed again, we didn't get to work out again until this morning. We went for a run - the same 1.25 mile loop I did the last time I ran ... but I did it in 12:59 for a 10:23ish mile. And my lungs were bothering me.
I know I'll get my legs back fairly quickly but my lungs take FOREVER to get back. I take a week off from fairly high intensity cardio and it takes my lungs a good month to get back to where they were. *sigh* It'll be a bit difficult working out over the next week due to my roommate from college being in town (ran while she slept), but I'll do my damnedest.
Also upcoming: While in Seattle, Brandon and I wrote down our goals for the rest of this month, September and October, so expect a bloggity blog about that soon!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Trying to top my run from yesterday
So me, being super ambitious, wanted to do better than I did yesterday. I knew I could do better, so I went for it. Concentrating on running slower in the first 1/2 of the run so I had something left, I felt great until about 3/4 of the way through. I hit a mini-wall and slowed way down. I was able to pick it back up for the final bit and made it for a time of 22:22, or 16 seconds faster than yesterday.
I'll probably take tomorrow off from running and swim and lift. The tri training is on.
I'll probably take tomorrow off from running and swim and lift. The tri training is on.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Good-Feeling Run
Went on a quick run tonight around the neighborhood in a different loop that I haven't done in a long while. It's basically down a hill and then back up a hill.
My breathing got a little yucky, but never so bad that I felt like it slowed me down. For a 9:58ish mile (1.25 miles in 12:28), it's definitely slower than I'd like to be doing, but honestly? I don't care as long as I feel good on a run. It's been a while.
My breathing got a little yucky, but never so bad that I felt like it slowed me down. For a 9:58ish mile (1.25 miles in 12:28), it's definitely slower than I'd like to be doing, but honestly? I don't care as long as I feel good on a run. It's been a while.
Did I have a good run????
Not really. I set a goal of 2.38 miles in 20 minutes and instead ran it in 22:38. I felt good throughout the run, but I guess my pace was slow. 9:30 per mile. Not too impressed. :(
I guess it's just a sign that I need to keep stepping it up.
I guess it's just a sign that I need to keep stepping it up.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Not a Gymnast ...
... so I can't be too inspired by the gymnastics events. Which sucks, really, because I find that stuff cool. It's a guilty pleasure of the Summer Games ... much like figure skating is my guilty pleasure of the Winter Games (i know, the hockey player, right? brandon hates me for this, btw). But srsly, I can't even do a proper cartwheel. Never have been able to, probably never will. I think I have too much weight going on in the hip area.
Anyway, I can swim, so after watching the women's 100m back ... semis?, I moseyed on over to the gym to get in a swim workout of my own - the first since the tri. I mixed up the strokes a little bit AND took my time, just to ease back into the pool. I'd rather just swim to swim and get stronger and not do crazy "training" workouts, so to speak, until after the first of the year.
Regardless, I did the following:
Laps 1, 3, 5-10, 13-16 - breaststroke
Laps 2, 11 - crawl
Laps 4, 12 - backstroke
Not much variety, but enough to get me going again on those other strokes. And while I did all that in about 28 minutes, I also pushed it with some of my laps, needing to rest after or, in the case of my non-dominant strokes, in between.
Anyway, I can swim, so after watching the women's 100m back ... semis?, I moseyed on over to the gym to get in a swim workout of my own - the first since the tri. I mixed up the strokes a little bit AND took my time, just to ease back into the pool. I'd rather just swim to swim and get stronger and not do crazy "training" workouts, so to speak, until after the first of the year.
Regardless, I did the following:
Laps 1, 3, 5-10, 13-16 - breaststroke
Laps 2, 11 - crawl
Laps 4, 12 - backstroke
Not much variety, but enough to get me going again on those other strokes. And while I did all that in about 28 minutes, I also pushed it with some of my laps, needing to rest after or, in the case of my non-dominant strokes, in between.
wheee....
I swam 750 yards, or meters, I don't know which. I'm assuming the pool is about 25 meters. But who knows. In any event, that's what I swam.
I also lifted. Did some shoulder presses and curls.
But my mind has gotten to wandering...which is not good. Usually. In this case, it might be good...
Girlfriend kind of got me thinking this afternoon about how our diets have been over the past few months. We live with her parents which is huge in terms of financial savings. And really, I am grateful for the blessing that it is. But it does have its downsides. The biggest one being the food situation. First off, I feel very uncomfortable asking someone who I am not related to by blood to buy things for me at the grocery store that I like to eat, especially when other people in the house don't eat them (yogurt and craisins jump to mind immediately). I also feel obligated to go out to dinner, lunch, etc which I know is not good for me given the crap restaurants serve nowadays. And I feel obligated to sit down and eat artery-clogging dinners with the people that are letting me live in their house and sleep with their daughter.
So obviously I'm caught in a catch-22 here. With a tri next year + an overall lifestyle change that I have made in the past year, I am pretty concerned about staying in shape and being healthy. My worry is that Theresa's mom (and my own) will sabotage my efforts, no matter how much exercising I do.
I also lifted. Did some shoulder presses and curls.
But my mind has gotten to wandering...which is not good. Usually. In this case, it might be good...
Girlfriend kind of got me thinking this afternoon about how our diets have been over the past few months. We live with her parents which is huge in terms of financial savings. And really, I am grateful for the blessing that it is. But it does have its downsides. The biggest one being the food situation. First off, I feel very uncomfortable asking someone who I am not related to by blood to buy things for me at the grocery store that I like to eat, especially when other people in the house don't eat them (yogurt and craisins jump to mind immediately). I also feel obligated to go out to dinner, lunch, etc which I know is not good for me given the crap restaurants serve nowadays. And I feel obligated to sit down and eat artery-clogging dinners with the people that are letting me live in their house and sleep with their daughter.
So obviously I'm caught in a catch-22 here. With a tri next year + an overall lifestyle change that I have made in the past year, I am pretty concerned about staying in shape and being healthy. My worry is that Theresa's mom (and my own) will sabotage my efforts, no matter how much exercising I do.
Downsides to Living at Home
For the most part, I am very thankful that my parents let me (and now the boy as well) live at home, rent and everything free. I have a laundry service, my internet/cable/utilities/water all paid for as well as the vast majority of my food. It helps keeps costs down a ridiculous amount, especially now when I'm unemployed.
This does, however, come with the large downside of having to eat what the family eats ... which is rarely completely healthy. I should delve into a bit of background here first ...
My mom and dad are both overweight. Dad was actually totally awesome a few years back, losing weight by the standard: cutting and counting calories, smaller meals, swimming and walking. However, a lot of it was health motivated. His doctor basically told him if he didn't lose weight and lose weight soon, he'd be in a whole lotta trouble. However, since then, his weight has creeped back up and his exercise is back to non-existent, save for some occasional yardwork. I also don't think he's been to the doctor since he's packed the pounds back on. I know that for him, eating healthy and working out can be difficult given that he travels an ass-ton for business eating out all the time ... but I've found that it's not so hard to squeeze in a walk here and there, or some body weight squats, or some crunches, or something. He also snacks at night ALL THE TIME which is also a recipe for destruction.
Mom, on the other hand has been overweight for years, has tried a myriad of diets, claiming they all "don't work for me, they're all full of shit." She claims her metabolism is slower than molasses. She has some weird vegetable soup diet thing she tries every now and then (more of a cleanse, now that i think about it), but obviously it's one of those "quick fix" things. She, however, has a lot more things working against her:
1.) She works third shift, hanging tags at a supermarket. That schedule alone fucks your body up. Given that she has to do a lot of crap during the day, her sleep schedule is erratic at best so she's always tired and always cranky. Perhaps, in part, due to this,
2.) she eats like total crap. I've told her that she should just try the mini-meal thing - a few nutritionally dense meals throughout the day/night to kick-start/keep her slower-than-slow metabolism going. However, her snacks at work will be Twizzlers or 100-calorie packs of Lorna Doone shortbreads. She'll have a bowl of ice cream, saying "I felt like it" or "it's okay, because I'm getting my calcium in this way." ... WHAT?
3.) Her health (in general) is good enough that her doctor doesn't feel the need to tell her to lose weight or else. She's got good blood pressure, cholesterol levels and the like - which I'm thankful for inheriting because my blood pressure kicks ass. However, despite that, she has had arthritis in her knees for years and, more recently, has been having back and foot troubles. She claims it's just due to working on her feet all the time, but I can't help but think it's got something to do with all the extra weight she's carrying around.
She enjoys swimming, but wouldn't go with me to 24 when they had their "bring a guest for free" promotion, finding some excuse. When the whole family had a membership to the rec center, I dragged her along for some walking and low-level recumbent biking, but only a few times. She couldn't swim there, but only because the lap schedules were erratic and didn't fit in with her work schedule.
Now, she proudly said she lost five pounds last year eating what she wanted when she wanted (i feel like an asston of jelly on my toast this morning, so i'm gonna have it). The weight loss is good, don't get me wrong, but at her weight, she could be safely losing AT LEAST that a MONTH. But with no imminent health dangers (well, obvious ones at least) on the horizon and her declaring she's always too tired because she stretches herself thin everywhere else, the motivation will be impossible to come by.
My brother is a strange case. He claims he eats well, but when I'm around him at family meals, he eats a shitload of relatively crappy food. If he eats better at home, then more power to him. But as his business is slow lately (he works in remodeling kitchens and bathrooms and stuff), he's been eating more and more meals back at home base (our house) to save money. His job (and now, his puppies) keep him active and he does enjoy the occasional bike ride (though hasn't in a while), but his main vice is beer ... as evidenced by his slightly solid (looking, at least) beer belly.
To get back on track, the reason why I got so frustrated that it sparked me to blog tonight: tonight's dinner.
From pretty much everything I've read amongst the ever-changing diet advice out there (coffee is the bomb! coffee will kill you! and so on), one standard is that when it comes to the food on your plate, it should be colorful and pretty; avoid the monochromatic meal.
Well, let me tell you what the family enjoyed for dinner tonight:
- 2% cottage cheese with canned pears (i actually enjoy this ... in small quantities)
- steak (don't know what cut) covered in Montreal steak seasoning (too seasoned; i prechop my steaks so i only eat about a serving and toss the rest in a ziploc - can't eat much red meat anymore)
- chopped mushrooms sauteed in butter, for the steak (ate a tiny bit; could tell mushrooms were getting old and yucky)
- corn on the cob, buttered (ate a half-cob; i hate this as a vegetable - it's basically a starch)
- russet potatoes, peeled, sliced and fried with onions (bland and just ... blah)
- pillsbury crescent rolls: garlic butter edition, served with brummel and brown (realized they were the garlic butter ones halfway into my second roll - knew it tasted funny and couldn't figure out why ... *gag*)
The color palette? white, light yellow-green, gray, brown, yellow/white, white, tan. Pretty damn monochromatic if you ask me. I had as little of everything as possible and supplemented with some red grapes, but still.
Costs be damned, I wish Brandon and I could move out now, if only to eat better without the family looking down on me (history for another day ...).
This does, however, come with the large downside of having to eat what the family eats ... which is rarely completely healthy. I should delve into a bit of background here first ...
My mom and dad are both overweight. Dad was actually totally awesome a few years back, losing weight by the standard: cutting and counting calories, smaller meals, swimming and walking. However, a lot of it was health motivated. His doctor basically told him if he didn't lose weight and lose weight soon, he'd be in a whole lotta trouble. However, since then, his weight has creeped back up and his exercise is back to non-existent, save for some occasional yardwork. I also don't think he's been to the doctor since he's packed the pounds back on. I know that for him, eating healthy and working out can be difficult given that he travels an ass-ton for business eating out all the time ... but I've found that it's not so hard to squeeze in a walk here and there, or some body weight squats, or some crunches, or something. He also snacks at night ALL THE TIME which is also a recipe for destruction.
Mom, on the other hand has been overweight for years, has tried a myriad of diets, claiming they all "don't work for me, they're all full of shit." She claims her metabolism is slower than molasses. She has some weird vegetable soup diet thing she tries every now and then (more of a cleanse, now that i think about it), but obviously it's one of those "quick fix" things. She, however, has a lot more things working against her:
1.) She works third shift, hanging tags at a supermarket. That schedule alone fucks your body up. Given that she has to do a lot of crap during the day, her sleep schedule is erratic at best so she's always tired and always cranky. Perhaps, in part, due to this,
2.) she eats like total crap. I've told her that she should just try the mini-meal thing - a few nutritionally dense meals throughout the day/night to kick-start/keep her slower-than-slow metabolism going. However, her snacks at work will be Twizzlers or 100-calorie packs of Lorna Doone shortbreads. She'll have a bowl of ice cream, saying "I felt like it" or "it's okay, because I'm getting my calcium in this way." ... WHAT?
3.) Her health (in general) is good enough that her doctor doesn't feel the need to tell her to lose weight or else. She's got good blood pressure, cholesterol levels and the like - which I'm thankful for inheriting because my blood pressure kicks ass. However, despite that, she has had arthritis in her knees for years and, more recently, has been having back and foot troubles. She claims it's just due to working on her feet all the time, but I can't help but think it's got something to do with all the extra weight she's carrying around.
She enjoys swimming, but wouldn't go with me to 24 when they had their "bring a guest for free" promotion, finding some excuse. When the whole family had a membership to the rec center, I dragged her along for some walking and low-level recumbent biking, but only a few times. She couldn't swim there, but only because the lap schedules were erratic and didn't fit in with her work schedule.
Now, she proudly said she lost five pounds last year eating what she wanted when she wanted (i feel like an asston of jelly on my toast this morning, so i'm gonna have it). The weight loss is good, don't get me wrong, but at her weight, she could be safely losing AT LEAST that a MONTH. But with no imminent health dangers (well, obvious ones at least) on the horizon and her declaring she's always too tired because she stretches herself thin everywhere else, the motivation will be impossible to come by.
My brother is a strange case. He claims he eats well, but when I'm around him at family meals, he eats a shitload of relatively crappy food. If he eats better at home, then more power to him. But as his business is slow lately (he works in remodeling kitchens and bathrooms and stuff), he's been eating more and more meals back at home base (our house) to save money. His job (and now, his puppies) keep him active and he does enjoy the occasional bike ride (though hasn't in a while), but his main vice is beer ... as evidenced by his slightly solid (looking, at least) beer belly.
To get back on track, the reason why I got so frustrated that it sparked me to blog tonight: tonight's dinner.
From pretty much everything I've read amongst the ever-changing diet advice out there (coffee is the bomb! coffee will kill you! and so on), one standard is that when it comes to the food on your plate, it should be colorful and pretty; avoid the monochromatic meal.
Well, let me tell you what the family enjoyed for dinner tonight:
- 2% cottage cheese with canned pears (i actually enjoy this ... in small quantities)
- steak (don't know what cut) covered in Montreal steak seasoning (too seasoned; i prechop my steaks so i only eat about a serving and toss the rest in a ziploc - can't eat much red meat anymore)
- chopped mushrooms sauteed in butter, for the steak (ate a tiny bit; could tell mushrooms were getting old and yucky)
- corn on the cob, buttered (ate a half-cob; i hate this as a vegetable - it's basically a starch)
- russet potatoes, peeled, sliced and fried with onions (bland and just ... blah)
- pillsbury crescent rolls: garlic butter edition, served with brummel and brown (realized they were the garlic butter ones halfway into my second roll - knew it tasted funny and couldn't figure out why ... *gag*)
The color palette? white, light yellow-green, gray, brown, yellow/white, white, tan. Pretty damn monochromatic if you ask me. I had as little of everything as possible and supplemented with some red grapes, but still.
Costs be damned, I wish Brandon and I could move out now, if only to eat better without the family looking down on me (history for another day ...).
Friday, August 8, 2008
Olympic Motivation ...
... kinda. I was watching part of the Opening Ceremonies before leaving for the gym and while doing cardio ... but I don't know if it motivated me any more.
Anyway, my back was feeling better so I did go work out tonight (go me!). Typical five minute recumbent bike warm up as well as stretching. I wanted to lift tonight and not do too much cardio, so I only did 15 minutes of intervals on the stepmill. Still, those 15 minutes of intervals got me sweating pretty nicely, so I'm happy.
Then, it was off to a light lifting day. 3/10 captain's chair thingys, 3/10 each forward, left and right side crunches on the ab-bench (did first 10 of each together, rested, continued). Then it was off to do 3/10 back extensions. In the midst of my resting, I glanced at myself in the mirror and thought, "Y'know self, you look pretty damn good tonight." That doesn't happen too often, but I'll take it.
From the extensions, it was 3/10 lat pulldowns, 2/10 lying dumbbell tricep extensions and 2/10 bicep curls. I did 2/5 of shoulder raises, but it was really like 2/10 since I alternated between forward and side raises. At this point, my arms were starting to get fatigued (yay!). I finished up with some quick body weight squats - 3/10, with the last five as continuous jump squats.
I felt good in this workout, despite workout buddy boyfriend not being there. Boo. :(
Anyway, my back was feeling better so I did go work out tonight (go me!). Typical five minute recumbent bike warm up as well as stretching. I wanted to lift tonight and not do too much cardio, so I only did 15 minutes of intervals on the stepmill. Still, those 15 minutes of intervals got me sweating pretty nicely, so I'm happy.
Then, it was off to a light lifting day. 3/10 captain's chair thingys, 3/10 each forward, left and right side crunches on the ab-bench (did first 10 of each together, rested, continued). Then it was off to do 3/10 back extensions. In the midst of my resting, I glanced at myself in the mirror and thought, "Y'know self, you look pretty damn good tonight." That doesn't happen too often, but I'll take it.
From the extensions, it was 3/10 lat pulldowns, 2/10 lying dumbbell tricep extensions and 2/10 bicep curls. I did 2/5 of shoulder raises, but it was really like 2/10 since I alternated between forward and side raises. At this point, my arms were starting to get fatigued (yay!). I finished up with some quick body weight squats - 3/10, with the last five as continuous jump squats.
I felt good in this workout, despite workout buddy boyfriend not being there. Boo. :(
Kids suck
I figured instead of running tonight I would get a nice workout in the pool. Yeah, not so much. Only squeezed in around 200 meters before a bunch of kids decided to invade the pool. I was pretty damn heated but what can I do?
I'll just run tomorrow. It's easier.
I'll just run tomorrow. It's easier.
Official-like Tri Photos
Haven't worked out yet today (i will!), but last night I promised you official race photos today and so here they are. With commentary.
Here's me getting out of the swim. It's definitely a much more attractive photo than last year (trust me on this people), but I still think the swim cap makes me look like an old, old woman. Eh.
Here's me getting out of the swim. It's definitely a much more attractive photo than last year (trust me on this people), but I still think the swim cap makes me look like an old, old woman. Eh.
Here's the first bike picture. I look marginally happy here ... but I tried to when I was passing the camera people on the course. Although, now that I think about it, I think this one was early enough on the route that the quads of MISERY may not have kicked in yet. Hm.
The other bike picture. I'm smiling here ... oh wait, it's because I'm going DOWNHILL. And I knew the camera people were around. Yes, I'm "posing" here. But really, it's okay, because prepare yourself for the next two photos ...
Just hitting the mat. If you read my recap, you'll recall that I sprinted the finish, pulling out all I had to do it. You can see it on the face here, all twisted in agony. And that girl just behind me? She was ahead of me going into the final turn. But in my mad dash toward the finish (and tendency to try and finish every race in a sprint), I passed her. HA.
Yes, the top of my head got chopped off here. This photo really shows my final mad dash at the end, given that my limbs are flailing everywhere and my boobs are somewhere over my right foot unlike normal. And yes, that's once again also my face twisted in pure agony and DOOM (and exposition and all that fun stuff). And I'm pudgy. But, on the bright side, look at that leg muscle. Go me.
Non crazy post later ... unless I don't work out. Which I might not. My back still hurts from hockey ... or at least I hope that's the reason why.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Onto the Sprints
Boyfriend is gone so I get to work out by myself. Boo. :(
Oh well. I was pondering running today, but I didn't feel like running with the wind so I decided to wait until this evening and went to the gym instead.
My goal for this month is to stretch more so I did my five minute recumbent bike warm up then stretched out. My muscles are pretty sore from hockey still so it felt good.
I then decided to do the 2/3 treadmill sprint workout for just 20 minutes since it was kinda late already. I walked the two minute portions at 3.5mph and ran the three minute portions at 6.0mph until the final three minutes where I did one minute at 6.5mph, one at 7.0mph and the last at 7.5mph, pushing it a bit. I want a good 5K time before the year is out (well, preferably before the end of september) like last year and I know that getting some sprints/intervals in will help me out.
Tri photos are up on FotoJack ... but I'll submit y'all to those tomorrow. For the curious and impatient, go to FotoJack.com, click on the TRI for the Cure (Aurora, CO) link - is, as I post this, third from the top, and search for bib number 2560. You'll love the pure determination on my face in the running photos. It really shows how much I pushed it at the end ... and more commentary that shall come tomorrow.
Oh well. I was pondering running today, but I didn't feel like running with the wind so I decided to wait until this evening and went to the gym instead.
My goal for this month is to stretch more so I did my five minute recumbent bike warm up then stretched out. My muscles are pretty sore from hockey still so it felt good.
I then decided to do the 2/3 treadmill sprint workout for just 20 minutes since it was kinda late already. I walked the two minute portions at 3.5mph and ran the three minute portions at 6.0mph until the final three minutes where I did one minute at 6.5mph, one at 7.0mph and the last at 7.5mph, pushing it a bit. I want a good 5K time before the year is out (well, preferably before the end of september) like last year and I know that getting some sprints/intervals in will help me out.
Tri photos are up on FotoJack ... but I'll submit y'all to those tomorrow. For the curious and impatient, go to FotoJack.com, click on the TRI for the Cure (Aurora, CO) link - is, as I post this, third from the top, and search for bib number 2560. You'll love the pure determination on my face in the running photos. It really shows how much I pushed it at the end ... and more commentary that shall come tomorrow.
Exploring, not focusing
First day in Seattle and looking to explore around the hotel, mostly to find food places and where that goddamn Holiday Inn Express is. I looked up the address of where the hotel was and found out it was about 2 miles away. Well why not run there???
For the most part, the running was easy. A slight hill, but nothing significant. I really wasn't too focused though as I was taking in the sights around me (nothing except gas stations and restaurants) and trying to figure out a game plan for surviving on a small budget here.
I am trying to follow one thing while I train over this entire year. I want to always finish a workout feeling like I could have done a bit more. And that's exactly what I felt today. Not like I slacked, but that I could have done a slight bit more. Good feeling.
For the most part, the running was easy. A slight hill, but nothing significant. I really wasn't too focused though as I was taking in the sights around me (nothing except gas stations and restaurants) and trying to figure out a game plan for surviving on a small budget here.
I am trying to follow one thing while I train over this entire year. I want to always finish a workout feeling like I could have done a bit more. And that's exactly what I felt today. Not like I slacked, but that I could have done a slight bit more. Good feeling.
Tri Training has begun
I said awhile back, either in blog form or in verbal form to some audience that my triathlon training for next year would begin when T finished her tri this year. I am very proud she accomplished a triathlon; now it's my turn to bust my ass and get it done.
My extremely basic plan right now is strength training and basic running, swimming, and cycling form throughout the rest of the year. January, February and March will see more focus on specific goals. April and May will be brick training and more goal achieving, and June = tri. So yes, crude, but nonetheless, it's a starting point.
On the flight up to Seattle, I had quite a bit of time to ponder why I actually want to do a tri. I've been reading that you should have a reason for doing it. I don't want to be like Theresa's friends who just do it for the sake of doing it, or 90% of the DH's out at the Tri for the Cure. I want to have purpose.
Some of my "reasons" are childish and stupid, like saying fuck you to all the bastards that said I would never achieve something like this or who called me fat back in the day. Part of me wants to really rub it in to my fat ex-girlfriend, who continues to go the wrong way in terms of weight. And then there's the mental part of it, the challenge, that appeals to me.
I think that's what my reason is. It's a form of discipline. It's not something that someone is just going to hand to me. To achieve a good time in this race, I'm going to have work hard. I'm going to have to overcome mental obstacles, and that stupid bastard of a critic that will always be at my side telling me I can't do it.
Anyway, now that I have a purpose for beating myself to utter hell, I went to the gym today with Theresa and got in some good upper body work before I left for Seattle. I clipped out a workout from Mens Health and followed it. Simple, but painful. Dumbbell quats with a jump, seated rows, dumbbell burpees, and this things where you laid down on your back and did a situp. 3 sets of each, then repeat, with minimal rest in between. I finished it off with a couple minutes of recumbent bike.
My arms felt tired, but good. I left for Seattle with a little pain which is what I was looking for.
After all, there's a large mental obstacle to climb here.
My extremely basic plan right now is strength training and basic running, swimming, and cycling form throughout the rest of the year. January, February and March will see more focus on specific goals. April and May will be brick training and more goal achieving, and June = tri. So yes, crude, but nonetheless, it's a starting point.
On the flight up to Seattle, I had quite a bit of time to ponder why I actually want to do a tri. I've been reading that you should have a reason for doing it. I don't want to be like Theresa's friends who just do it for the sake of doing it, or 90% of the DH's out at the Tri for the Cure. I want to have purpose.
Some of my "reasons" are childish and stupid, like saying fuck you to all the bastards that said I would never achieve something like this or who called me fat back in the day. Part of me wants to really rub it in to my fat ex-girlfriend, who continues to go the wrong way in terms of weight. And then there's the mental part of it, the challenge, that appeals to me.
I think that's what my reason is. It's a form of discipline. It's not something that someone is just going to hand to me. To achieve a good time in this race, I'm going to have work hard. I'm going to have to overcome mental obstacles, and that stupid bastard of a critic that will always be at my side telling me I can't do it.
Anyway, now that I have a purpose for beating myself to utter hell, I went to the gym today with Theresa and got in some good upper body work before I left for Seattle. I clipped out a workout from Mens Health and followed it. Simple, but painful. Dumbbell quats with a jump, seated rows, dumbbell burpees, and this things where you laid down on your back and did a situp. 3 sets of each, then repeat, with minimal rest in between. I finished it off with a couple minutes of recumbent bike.
My arms felt tired, but good. I left for Seattle with a little pain which is what I was looking for.
After all, there's a large mental obstacle to climb here.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Tri Post
Okay. I really don't want to write this, but write this I must.
Going into this year's Tri for the Cure, I had goals. I wanted to chop 17:22 off last year's time to finish in an even 1:30. Needless to say, that didn't happen. We'll start at the beginning though ...
That Morning
Alarm went off bright and early for Brandon and I. I think I hit the snooze button once, but don't entirely remember. Washed my face, brushed my teeth, got into my tri suit, Body Glided a bit, grabbed my crap and went downstairs. Made a good breakfast of cantaloupe, coffee milk, orange juice, turkey sausage and a mini whole wheat tortilla with scrambled Egg Beaters and low-fat cheese. While Brandon loaded the Rav (well, unloaded hockey bags and loaded in the bike), I got my water/Gatorade bottles set and made some oatmeal to eat on the road.
At the Race Site
We ended up leaving the house a little after 6am, a little later than I wanted, but we still got to the parking site fairly quickly ... with Brandon eating most of the oatmeal. We unloaded the Rav, pumped my bike tires full of air and joined several of the other competitors in winding our way into Cherry Creek State Park and toward the transition area. I got the urge to poop on the walk down which was good ... but more on that in a second. I left Brandon just outside of transition, found a spot on the rack and hopped over to the port-o-potties. While I pooped (yay), it was not a good poop (boo) and my stomach and insides felt ... well ... not good.
I set up my transition area and then wandered back over to Brandon who found a good spot on the fence. I found my friend Amber at this point so obviously it was picture time.
Amber and her boy wearing a very cute "Team Amber" shirt
Brandon the cheerleader!
After the photos, I went back to my spot to warm up, stretch, pee again and all that. I was getting ready to take my sandals back off when I realized I forgot to put sunscreen on. By this point, the elite wave had already started so I had to wait for breaks between competitors to dash across the race path to Brandon to have him help slather my back up. Sunscreen applied, I went back to my crap and waited for a bit until I heard it was time for my wave to head down to the swim.
Swim
I headed down to the swim, joined up with the rest of my wave and waited until it was my turn to trod across the chip mat and hop in the water. The wave's official start time was 8:20am, but I'm pretty sure we started a few minutes later than that. I dunked my ass in the water several times, squatting down in the water covering as much of myself as I could to try and get acclimated. I had a nice spot near the outside in the back. I knew I wasn't going to be one of the quickest swimmers so I wanted to be out near the back.
That philosophy actually worked out pretty well as I didn't get kicked/swum over a lot. Sadly, about a 100 or so meters in, I somehow swallowed a crapload of nasty, brackish reservoir water and started hacking ... getting to the hacking point where you just feel the raw back of your throat.
Greeeeat.
I kept going though, needing to stop again soon after to defog the goggles. After that, I was good to go and breaststroked my little butt out, not getting passed by the following wave until the first buoy (waves are every 4 minutes). I stayed on the "inside" of the course away from most of the other people. Besides the water hacking incident, I actually felt pretty good on the swim. I couldn't run once I got out and walked most of the way back to transition, but eh.
Disappointing, however, was my time - two minutes slower than last year at 22:38.
T1
I eventually was able to get to a minor trot (okay, more of a canter past the smelly-ass port-o-potties) to make it back to my spot. I stuck my feet in my water bucket, getting most of the gunk off with that and a towel, used Body Glide for the foot blisters, got into my cycling socks and shoes, grabbed the rest of my crap and was off to the bike.
The one time highlight, I was able to cut about two minutes off my first transition time for 5:08.
Bike
I was a bit concerned about the cycling portion given that most of my training rides had been total crap. Still, I knew I had to do it so I was off. My cyclometer is still a bit messed up thanks to transport, but I got it so at least the cadence worked so I could measure that. I felt okay until about the three mile mark when the quads of MISERY started acting up. Still, I was managing to keep my cadence around the 80 mark ... until the big-ass hill around mile six or seven.
I almost got off the bike and walked. I had a giant asthma attack (used inhaler in transition but didn't bring it with me) and my cadence went down to 50something. In a word, I was miserable. I was able to regain control once I got to the top of the hill and started pedaling down it (i made sure to keep pedaling), but it was still a miserable ride.
Despite the road bike, my time on the bike actually went up (mph down) to 44:48 and 15.2mph.
T2
I was so miserable at this point. I put my bike back, drank some water and Gatorade, changed shoes and put on my race belt/number. I slooooowly made my way to the run, stopping at the water table to drink some more water and dump it on my head.
See how miserable I look? *sigh*
Time out of transition was worse than last year - 4:49.
Run
Brandon was my saving grace at the beginning of the run. After he saw how miserable and defeated I looked coming out of the bike, he somehow fought his way through the crowds, across the run course and down the gates on the other side of transition to see me walking toward the run start. He walked with me along the course for the first part of the run, talking with me and calming me down. I was very upset at this point, crying and hyperventilating a bit. He had another one of my old inhalers in the bag he had and gave it to me. It didn't help me much, but mentally I think it did. I knew my time goals were screwed, but I knew I was going to finish - that was all I cared about at that point.
Brandon was going to try and walk and/or run with me through most of the course, but I told him to go toward the finish line - I'd meet him there. I tried running a bit, but couldn't do it - it was just way too hot and I was way too miserable and my feet were overheating like mad. I eventually ended up doing a very modified walk/run ... walking most and running just little spurts. I did a race first for me by stopping at every single water station, getting water to drink a little and dump over my head. Of course, it was over 90 degrees at that point (and i think ended up getting over 100) and I was melting.
I knew this race was going to be awful. I did the run/walk thing last year, but it wasn't nearly as much walking. Although, I'm pretty sure I saw more people walking on the course this year than last year.
With about 500 meters to go, I saw Brandon on the side of the course again.
See miserable T. See miserable T run. Run, miserable T, Run.
Brandon trotted with me for as long as he could ... which meant he couldn't get back to the finish in time for me to cross. I ended up dragging out the last of what I had in me (which wasn't much) to sprint the last little bit across the finish line ... in 42:56 for my slowest 5k time/pace EVAR with a 13:50 mile.
Finis
Add all those numbers up and you get me finishing in 2:00:20, about a full 12 minutes slower (or 13 ... we journalism peoples don't do math) than last year's 1:47:22.
Needless to say, I didn't meet my time goal. I take small (but marginal) consolation in that I still did beat Amber and Gen's times from last year (and beat amber by about 5 min this year).
Still ... last year I had the biggest adrenaline rush after I finished. I could barely walk and was miserable as all hell this year.
I finished, though, and I still want to keep doing triathlons. It's relatively difficult to say that, but I've only done two - one was good, one was bad. I figure I should get a larger percentage of bad ones before I give up on them. I'm not one for excuses, but I put a decent amount of blame on the damn reservoir water. Swallowing that and getting that raw feeling in my throat I think made me more susceptible to having an asthma attack (which is made so much worse with a crappy throat). The heat was also a factor, but I don't figure that as an excuse since I really could have just trained in the heat more than I did. I shouldn't have always waited for the day to get cooler to go on a run or on a ride.
Once the official race photos finally get up on FotoJack, I'll post those as well.
Going into this year's Tri for the Cure, I had goals. I wanted to chop 17:22 off last year's time to finish in an even 1:30. Needless to say, that didn't happen. We'll start at the beginning though ...
That Morning
Alarm went off bright and early for Brandon and I. I think I hit the snooze button once, but don't entirely remember. Washed my face, brushed my teeth, got into my tri suit, Body Glided a bit, grabbed my crap and went downstairs. Made a good breakfast of cantaloupe, coffee milk, orange juice, turkey sausage and a mini whole wheat tortilla with scrambled Egg Beaters and low-fat cheese. While Brandon loaded the Rav (well, unloaded hockey bags and loaded in the bike), I got my water/Gatorade bottles set and made some oatmeal to eat on the road.
At the Race Site
We ended up leaving the house a little after 6am, a little later than I wanted, but we still got to the parking site fairly quickly ... with Brandon eating most of the oatmeal. We unloaded the Rav, pumped my bike tires full of air and joined several of the other competitors in winding our way into Cherry Creek State Park and toward the transition area. I got the urge to poop on the walk down which was good ... but more on that in a second. I left Brandon just outside of transition, found a spot on the rack and hopped over to the port-o-potties. While I pooped (yay), it was not a good poop (boo) and my stomach and insides felt ... well ... not good.
I set up my transition area and then wandered back over to Brandon who found a good spot on the fence. I found my friend Amber at this point so obviously it was picture time.
Amber and her boy wearing a very cute "Team Amber" shirt
Ready and raring to go ... Or so I thought.
Brandon the cheerleader!
After the photos, I went back to my spot to warm up, stretch, pee again and all that. I was getting ready to take my sandals back off when I realized I forgot to put sunscreen on. By this point, the elite wave had already started so I had to wait for breaks between competitors to dash across the race path to Brandon to have him help slather my back up. Sunscreen applied, I went back to my crap and waited for a bit until I heard it was time for my wave to head down to the swim.
Swim
I headed down to the swim, joined up with the rest of my wave and waited until it was my turn to trod across the chip mat and hop in the water. The wave's official start time was 8:20am, but I'm pretty sure we started a few minutes later than that. I dunked my ass in the water several times, squatting down in the water covering as much of myself as I could to try and get acclimated. I had a nice spot near the outside in the back. I knew I wasn't going to be one of the quickest swimmers so I wanted to be out near the back.
That philosophy actually worked out pretty well as I didn't get kicked/swum over a lot. Sadly, about a 100 or so meters in, I somehow swallowed a crapload of nasty, brackish reservoir water and started hacking ... getting to the hacking point where you just feel the raw back of your throat.
Greeeeat.
I kept going though, needing to stop again soon after to defog the goggles. After that, I was good to go and breaststroked my little butt out, not getting passed by the following wave until the first buoy (waves are every 4 minutes). I stayed on the "inside" of the course away from most of the other people. Besides the water hacking incident, I actually felt pretty good on the swim. I couldn't run once I got out and walked most of the way back to transition, but eh.
Disappointing, however, was my time - two minutes slower than last year at 22:38.
T1
I eventually was able to get to a minor trot (okay, more of a canter past the smelly-ass port-o-potties) to make it back to my spot. I stuck my feet in my water bucket, getting most of the gunk off with that and a towel, used Body Glide for the foot blisters, got into my cycling socks and shoes, grabbed the rest of my crap and was off to the bike.
The one time highlight, I was able to cut about two minutes off my first transition time for 5:08.
Bike
I was a bit concerned about the cycling portion given that most of my training rides had been total crap. Still, I knew I had to do it so I was off. My cyclometer is still a bit messed up thanks to transport, but I got it so at least the cadence worked so I could measure that. I felt okay until about the three mile mark when the quads of MISERY started acting up. Still, I was managing to keep my cadence around the 80 mark ... until the big-ass hill around mile six or seven.
I almost got off the bike and walked. I had a giant asthma attack (used inhaler in transition but didn't bring it with me) and my cadence went down to 50something. In a word, I was miserable. I was able to regain control once I got to the top of the hill and started pedaling down it (i made sure to keep pedaling), but it was still a miserable ride.
Despite the road bike, my time on the bike actually went up (mph down) to 44:48 and 15.2mph.
T2
I was so miserable at this point. I put my bike back, drank some water and Gatorade, changed shoes and put on my race belt/number. I slooooowly made my way to the run, stopping at the water table to drink some more water and dump it on my head.
See how miserable I look? *sigh*
Time out of transition was worse than last year - 4:49.
Run
Brandon was my saving grace at the beginning of the run. After he saw how miserable and defeated I looked coming out of the bike, he somehow fought his way through the crowds, across the run course and down the gates on the other side of transition to see me walking toward the run start. He walked with me along the course for the first part of the run, talking with me and calming me down. I was very upset at this point, crying and hyperventilating a bit. He had another one of my old inhalers in the bag he had and gave it to me. It didn't help me much, but mentally I think it did. I knew my time goals were screwed, but I knew I was going to finish - that was all I cared about at that point.
Brandon was going to try and walk and/or run with me through most of the course, but I told him to go toward the finish line - I'd meet him there. I tried running a bit, but couldn't do it - it was just way too hot and I was way too miserable and my feet were overheating like mad. I eventually ended up doing a very modified walk/run ... walking most and running just little spurts. I did a race first for me by stopping at every single water station, getting water to drink a little and dump over my head. Of course, it was over 90 degrees at that point (and i think ended up getting over 100) and I was melting.
I knew this race was going to be awful. I did the run/walk thing last year, but it wasn't nearly as much walking. Although, I'm pretty sure I saw more people walking on the course this year than last year.
With about 500 meters to go, I saw Brandon on the side of the course again.
See miserable T. See miserable T run. Run, miserable T, Run.
Brandon trotted with me for as long as he could ... which meant he couldn't get back to the finish in time for me to cross. I ended up dragging out the last of what I had in me (which wasn't much) to sprint the last little bit across the finish line ... in 42:56 for my slowest 5k time/pace EVAR with a 13:50 mile.
Finis
Add all those numbers up and you get me finishing in 2:00:20, about a full 12 minutes slower (or 13 ... we journalism peoples don't do math) than last year's 1:47:22.
Needless to say, I didn't meet my time goal. I take small (but marginal) consolation in that I still did beat Amber and Gen's times from last year (and beat amber by about 5 min this year).
Still ... last year I had the biggest adrenaline rush after I finished. I could barely walk and was miserable as all hell this year.
I finished, though, and I still want to keep doing triathlons. It's relatively difficult to say that, but I've only done two - one was good, one was bad. I figure I should get a larger percentage of bad ones before I give up on them. I'm not one for excuses, but I put a decent amount of blame on the damn reservoir water. Swallowing that and getting that raw feeling in my throat I think made me more susceptible to having an asthma attack (which is made so much worse with a crappy throat). The heat was also a factor, but I don't figure that as an excuse since I really could have just trained in the heat more than I did. I shouldn't have always waited for the day to get cooler to go on a run or on a ride.
Once the official race photos finally get up on FotoJack, I'll post those as well.
Different Cardio for a Change
As I'm now done with triathlon training (for a little while, at least), I really don't feel like cycling anytime soon ... running and swimming maybe. So, it was off to the gym today for a quick workout before boyfriend goes off to Seattle for sim training (booooo :().
We didn't have much time to get our sweat on, so he went off to do his thing and I became Cardio Queen.
Warmed up with seven minutes on the recumbent bike then stretched! Oh stretching, how did I miss thee ...
Afterwards, 10 minutes of intervals on the stepmill (gym now has like eight of them. it is awesome.) and 10 minutes of intervals on the elliptical. Not much, but enough to get me sweaty and feeling good.
We didn't have much time to get our sweat on, so he went off to do his thing and I became Cardio Queen.
Warmed up with seven minutes on the recumbent bike then stretched! Oh stretching, how did I miss thee ...
Afterwards, 10 minutes of intervals on the stepmill (gym now has like eight of them. it is awesome.) and 10 minutes of intervals on the elliptical. Not much, but enough to get me sweaty and feeling good.
hockey time
As girlfriend mentioned in her blog below, we did something different tonight in terms of exercise. We played some hockey. And since I haven't played in over a month, I didn't know how I was gonna play. I figured ok, since I have some decent talent still, but I knew I would be slow and probably not nearly good enough for my competition.
In any event, I made some good plays, some lousy plays, feel like I got a good workout in, and still feel bad for girlfriend about the job thing. She is still my inspiration though. And I am very proud of her regardless of what happened.
In any event, I made some good plays, some lousy plays, feel like I got a good workout in, and still feel bad for girlfriend about the job thing. She is still my inspiration though. And I am very proud of her regardless of what happened.
Puck Time
Tri blog still forthcoming. I'd like to wait until the main photos are up on FotoJack, but I may just bloggity blog about it tomorrow. I'm feeling marginally better about it, but ONLY marginally.
After taking yesterday off (well-deserved i felt), I decided to do something other than run, bike or swim today - I played some hockey.
It was my (well, our) first skate in ... geez, at least a month which, in T world, translates into a good skate, weirdly enough. Even though we signed up that morning and were excited about playing, I wasn't looking forward to it at all by the time I got there due to learning that I got rejected for a job that Brandon thought I had a good chance of getting (*siiiigh* go figure). Regardless, after warming up and starting the game, all thoughts about that disappointment went away and I just focused on one thing - playing some puck.
It wasn't my worst game by any means though it wasn't my best - it was somewhere in the middle, probably on the upper end of the bell curve, and that was good enough for me tonight.
After taking yesterday off (well-deserved i felt), I decided to do something other than run, bike or swim today - I played some hockey.
It was my (well, our) first skate in ... geez, at least a month which, in T world, translates into a good skate, weirdly enough. Even though we signed up that morning and were excited about playing, I wasn't looking forward to it at all by the time I got there due to learning that I got rejected for a job that Brandon thought I had a good chance of getting (*siiiigh* go figure). Regardless, after warming up and starting the game, all thoughts about that disappointment went away and I just focused on one thing - playing some puck.
It wasn't my worst game by any means though it wasn't my best - it was somewhere in the middle, probably on the upper end of the bell curve, and that was good enough for me tonight.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Mrrf.
Not having a lot of contemplation going on here.
It was ass hot.
At one point during the bike, I almost got off and walked.
I walked most of the run.
At one point, I told myself, "It'll be an achievement just if you finish."
Longer post when I know my time and pictures get uploaded.
I do love my baby dinosaur for his support throughout the race. I don't know if I would have gotten through it without him - especially at the start at the run.
It was ass hot.
At one point during the bike, I almost got off and walked.
I walked most of the run.
At one point, I told myself, "It'll be an achievement just if you finish."
Longer post when I know my time and pictures get uploaded.
I do love my baby dinosaur for his support throughout the race. I don't know if I would have gotten through it without him - especially at the start at the run.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Blasted the arms in anger
How do I put this...? Lately, I have felt totally worthless. Like a big pile. And it's certainly not without merit. While my awesome, kick-ass girlfriend is competing in her 2nd ever triathlon tomorrow, I am a worthless boob who has never done something like it. Compiled with other worthless aspects of my life (lots of debt, unable to see any change in my near future), working out has unfortunately taken a back seat lately. I have had lots of opportunities, but instead have sat around feeling sorry for myself.
Tonight after a ridiculous night at the bowling alley, I went home as quickly as I could to grab workout stuff and get to the gym to blast my arms. I was so angry, I knew I could lift more. I saw girlfriend, gave her a hug, and immediately started curling. I decided no resting tonight. So immediately after curling, I went into tricep presses and finished with flys. Times 3.
I'm looking at girlfriend's tri as a new starting point. She has impressed me and motivated me so much. Without her, I would have not lost the weight that I have. And with her support, I know I can do a tri next year. And I will. I just have to believe in myself, which I have never really done, so hopefully that is something I can work on.
Tonight after a ridiculous night at the bowling alley, I went home as quickly as I could to grab workout stuff and get to the gym to blast my arms. I was so angry, I knew I could lift more. I saw girlfriend, gave her a hug, and immediately started curling. I decided no resting tonight. So immediately after curling, I went into tricep presses and finished with flys. Times 3.
I'm looking at girlfriend's tri as a new starting point. She has impressed me and motivated me so much. Without her, I would have not lost the weight that I have. And with her support, I know I can do a tri next year. And I will. I just have to believe in myself, which I have never really done, so hopefully that is something I can work on.
I Can Do This. Really.
I'm all marked up. The number 2560 adorns my right arm and left leg.
Not that it will help my time, but rather the bike transporting, but I got a new car today. 2008 Toyota Rav4 (thanks, mom and dad!).
I still need to pack up my stuff and get it ready for tomorrow, making it so all I have to do tomorrow is get my water bottles, dump my stuff in the car ... and take out the hockey stuff and load the bike in.
I went to the gym tonight, but not for a workout. I foam-rolled out my legs (aaaaaooooowwwwww), walked on the treadmill for about 8 minutes (3.5mph, incline 3) then stretched out really well.
Hopefully I'll be okay.
I will be okay. I will do fine.
That is, of course, if I don't melt on the course.
Not that it will help my time, but rather the bike transporting, but I got a new car today. 2008 Toyota Rav4 (thanks, mom and dad!).
I still need to pack up my stuff and get it ready for tomorrow, making it so all I have to do tomorrow is get my water bottles, dump my stuff in the car ... and take out the hockey stuff and load the bike in.
I went to the gym tonight, but not for a workout. I foam-rolled out my legs (aaaaaooooowwwwww), walked on the treadmill for about 8 minutes (3.5mph, incline 3) then stretched out really well.
Hopefully I'll be okay.
I will be okay. I will do fine.
That is, of course, if I don't melt on the course.
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