Y2W26 Day 7

Posted on August 5, 2012 by admin

We’re going the distance..we’re going for speed…. (but we did not have speed).

AM:

10.78 mile jog in 2 hours and 28 minutes

 

I have been sick and not 100% for a few days now.  I missed a day of work, I have been hacking, coughing, sneezing, and struggling daily.  I did feel better so  we went for a long jog.  Turns out it was much longer than I should have done.  Thursday I was only able to struggle through 2 miles and that turned out to be the day I called into work.  Here it is 3 days later and I went for a record distance this year.  Sometimes I am just not smart.  I did good on the way out and we turned around at 5.4 miles from the truck.  That would have been the perfect stopping place for me.  Unfortunately we did need to get back to the truck.  I was struggling and running on fumes.  Each step was tough and I felt like quitting many times.  I kept telling myself to go just a little bit more.  I had actually decided to quit at one point and stopped and checked the mileage and saw I was within a mile of the truck and decided I might as well crawl along at my snail’s pace and finish what I started.  My wife did great!  today was the longest distance she has ever run in her life!!!  She was better with her pace and was able to do the distance drama free.  I bet she could have done it at least 28 minutes faster if I was not there to slow her down.  I told her that and she countered with she would not be out running like that if it were not for me so we were both OK with it.

Here is a funny thing, it is hours later and we both feel OK.  No leg cramps, no real pains or injury, we are good.  I was incredibly sore when we first stopped and needed to wrap my ankle with an ace bandage for a while but even that is back to normal.  If I was not feeling so crappy with being sick today could have been a much better day than it already was.

The only bad thing from today is my unhappy toe.  Long runs make it sad. Be happy it is out of focus.

 

 

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Y2W26 Day 6

Posted on August 4, 2012 by admin

Weight lifting!

AM:
Leg press
180-15
270-15
360-12
450-10
540-10
450-10,10,10

Hack squats
90-12
180-12
270-12
360-12
270-12

Bench press
135-12
185-5
205-5
225-3
245-1 (it was easy, I should have tried for 255)

EZ-Bar curls
50-15
60-15
70-10
80-5
90-5
60-10

This workout kicked butt! The routine I have been following has been working. I have been getting stronger with all my lifts. If I was feeling like I was over being sick I would have pushed some more with the bench press. I believe I would have gotten 255 if I tried but did not want to push my luck as I was still a little light headed from being sick.

Today’s PM workout was all house cleaning. We are long overdue for it. We have family coming to stay with us so it is time to clean things up. We took out 4 bags of recycling and filled a garbage can full with stuff we should have thrown out previously. WOW we live like hoarders sometimes…

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Y2W26 Day 5

Posted on August 3, 2012 by admin

Still sick!

I am still sick but feeling a little bit better.  I did get a good workout this morning but I did not weight lift as scheduled, I did 55 minutes of cardio.

AM:
20 min stair machine
20 min elliptical machine
15 min bike

PM:
35 min elliptical machine

SO I am feeling better. I think I tomorrow might be a near normal day. I hope so. Dinner tonight rocked! We had steak, asparagus and mushrooms with onions. It was good!

 

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Y2W26 Day 4

Posted on August 2, 2012 by admin

Today sucked. Totally sucked.

I am sick with a cold or flu and am far from feeling like I should. I woke up today with the goal of running and we did. I only did 2 miles though. My breathing was terrible and my muscles were like lead. I made it home and called into work. There was no way I could work feeling like this. I took a nap until 9:30 am and rode the couch for the rest of the day. I did not even think of going to the gym in the afternoon. I hope this passes quickly as I feel like I am losing my fitness level with every cough and sneeze!

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Y2W26 Day 3

Posted on August 1, 2012 by admin

I am sick!

AM:
assisted pull-ups
5 sets

squats
bar-8
95-6
135-6
185-5
135-7

hack squat
90-12
180-12
270-12
360-10
450-5
540-5 new record!
360-10
180-12

dumbbell overhead presses from the ground
25-8
30-8
35-8
40-5
45-5

This workout rocked! Feeling sick sux but I am still getting in my gym time. Today at work I was sweating some and feeling a little light headed as I was getting up and down off the floor. I took it easy at the gym this afternoon and did the bike for 25 minutes. I can’t complain about being sick since I set a new personal best on the hack squat. I hope to feel better tomorrow but who knows if I will.

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Y2W26 Day 2

Posted on July 31, 2012 by admin

Run day!

AM:

5+ mile run with my wife.  We averaged a little faster than 12 minute miles.  That is the norm for me.

PM:

30 minutes on the elliptical machine

I have been off all day. My throat is raw and I feel slightly weak. I think I am getting a summer cold/flu. Nothing I can do but ride it out. I am drinking plenty of fluids and hoping for the best.

I brought my backup bike into the shop to turn it back into a mountain bike.  It started out that way, then I had the shop convert it to an upright cruiser with smooth tires.  It served me well but once I got my new bike it sat unused for a while.  I am hoping this conversion will bring it back into the bike riding rotation.

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Y2W26 Day 1

Posted on July 30, 2012 by admin

Hitting the weights!

AM:
leg press
180-15
270-15
360-15
450-12
540-10

Bench press
135-12
207.2-5,5,4-1
185-9

Hack squat
180-10
270-10
360-10

Incline bench press
135-10
155-8
175-5

ez-bar curls
50-15
70-10,10
80-5,5
60-10

This was a pretty good workout for me. I did not push it too much since I did the long run yesterday and will be doing a run tomorrow too. I did do more bench presses than I normally do. The 207.2lbs was just a bit too heavy for me. I was not able to get the 3rd set of 5, I needed to stop at 4, wait 5-10 seconds then do the one I owed. From there I needed to drop the weight so I could push again.

On the way into work I found a free exercise bike sitting curbside. I went and got my truck and picked it up. I used it for my afternoon workout in my garage. It is a decent one with a heart rate monitor built in. It is wisper quiet. I was able to work out up to the max level of 16 on it but it is still a decent one to have.

The Olympics are on and I have been inspired by some of the womrn weight lifting. Very impressive. Tiny women pushing more weight that I can do. Very impressive.

 

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Y2W25 Day 7

Posted on July 29, 2012 by admin

Today was a test.

Today we set out for a long run.  We headed down to the Mt. Vernon trail and went for a jog.  We ended up going 8 miles and finished in 1 hour and 38 minutes.   Not to bad.  Today was very special since this is the longest distance my wife has ever run in her entire life!  We averaged a hair slower than 12 minute miles.  Not bad considering the distance and heat of the morning. We did it!  We will be ready for the Army Ten Miler coming up.

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Y2W25 Day 6

Posted on July 28, 2012 by admin

You wanna go for a ride?

Today was a must do things kind of a day.  I needed to take my motorcycle into the shop for some mechanical work.  It starts but does not stay running when I give it gas.  It is a 2004 and time for some maintenance.  We also needed to go for a bike ride.  We headed out and went to the C&O canal to ride.  We were doing pretty good  on the way out.  It was hot but the rain held off.  I ended up getting a flat rear tire a little over 5 miles out.  I did not have tools or a pump with me so my choices were to walk the bike out or ride it out on a flat and risk ruining the rim.  I rode it out.  I did not want to walk 5 miles in the 90 degree heat.  It would have taken too long.  Riding the flat sucked.  I had to keep my speed under 6 mph and it was best at 5 mph.  On the way out we were averaging 10 mph so this was still slow going, but twice as fast as walking.

It was very scenic there. The canal, the river the nature!

The turtle was cool to see.  We are always looking for nature when we go out.  I was so fixated on my flat tire I did not see him.  My wife spotted him.  We had to stop by and say hi to him.  He wasn’t happy to see us.  He kept his head in but did not try to leave so we did not disturb him too much.   The pictures do not do the canal justice for how awesome it looked in person.  There were folks out canoeing on the canal.  It is a place we will be returning to.

Once the fun was done we rushed home to get my wife’s other bike and brought it into the bike shop with mine.  They fixed the bike on the spot and took hers in for some servicing.    Next on my list is my old mountain bike that I converted into a road bike.  It currently looks pretty dorky, but it was converted for me to be comfortable.  I used to get a sore back from being hunched over in a mountain bike riding position.  I had changed out my handle bars for high rising bars and ditched the aggressive tread tires for smooth road tires.  Since I have a true hybrid street bike I don’t use my original bike at all.  Time for it to become a mountain bike again.

 

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Y2W25 Day 5

Posted on July 27, 2012 by admin

Another record!

AM: weight lifting!

Bench press
135-12
205-5,5,5,5

Squats
bar-8
95-6
135-5

Hack squats
90-12
180-10
270-10
360-8
450-6
270-10

cable chest flies
4 sets

leg extensions
90-12
130-10
150-10
170-10

shoulder push with pivoting barbell
4 sets

Today was a really good weigh lifting day. I hit a new personal record on the hack squats. My knees were bothering me on the regular squats today so I switched it up. I also did well with my bench pressing. I was glad to be doing 205 for sets today. I had previously been in a rut and comfortable doing 185 for my workout with an occasional push of 205 or 215 (and a single rep of 225 is I am really feeling good). I expect I will be seeing my bench press max lift being set in a couple months. My personal best was 250 or 255 lbs. If I keep at this I might see 275 lbs as a new best. I just need to keep up with my small incremental lifts.

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