Tuesday and Wednesday

Did a 25 minute walk Tuesday morning as promised; hwoever, i could have gotten some extra sleep that morning, since I ended up walking for 2~ hours with my cousin Jeff around DC! I felt that Tuesday was such an overhaul (i was dead tired), i would go easy on me and skip Wednesday's workout. Since I biked to work today, i think i can forgive me, since I'm not being anything close to a sloth... Well, not anymore anyway! (it feels good to say that!)

Monday: Revision

Here's Monday's report. This is crazy!
Bench: 115: 10 reps (level up!)
Squat: 135: 10 reps (level up!)
Shoulders: 95: 6 reps (same)
Biceps: 45: 10 reps (level up!)
Triceps: 30: 10 reps (level up!)
Rows: 60: 10 reps (level up!)
Pullups (assisted): 8 (+1!)

Making progress!

So here's the new plan for this week: Monday: strength training Tuesday: 25 minute walk & stretching Wednesday: strength training (include lower body rehab), stretch Thursday: 30 minute walk, stretch afterwords Friday: strength training (include lower body rehab), stretch Saturday: rest Sunday: 30 minute walk, stretch

Following a plan I found online from a certified trialthlete coach. This was actually the plan i was following when I had my knee problem. *groan* I'm actually feeling a little bit of pain in my right knee today, which is somewhat discouraging. These pains have come and gone in both knees for the last month.

One thing I need to verify is the consistency of wearing orthotics. How often should I wear them? I need to call the office from where I receieved them and get this information.

Do I need to get my knees reexamined by a doctor? Its been...about 4 or 5 months since my last visit. It would be nice to see if any progress has been made concerning the core issue, and of course, it woudl be important to see if any progress was not being made...An option that is always available to me is talking to the trainers at Gold's again and explaining my situation, getting a (paid for) plan that encorporates my problem, thus I get the training I need plus the added bonus of working towards getting my knees better... I would have to actually go to the trouble of getting an actual figure of the estimated cost. If i remember correctly, its not cheap.

Another Catch Up Post

Hey dudes. Wednesday was your normal cardio and lower body training day. 4:30 was when I reached my 157 HR. Thats an improvement of 30 seconds!

And Thursday, I... I skipped the strength training. I decided to do my research that morning and make sure I had EVERYTHING prepared for my first BIKE TRIP TO WORK! It was fun! It was refreshing! it was a workout! Hahaha.

Friday was the same as Wednesday pretty much! Nothing else really!

Next week we start the 5k training! I'm pumped!

Playing catch up!

So I forgot to post a few times. Bleh. Lets get you guys caught up.

Friday and Monday cardio days were the same old. Took me around 4 minutes to get to my HR of 157 at level 5 incline. Not too bad at all.

Since I don't have a "timed" training class, I am much more relaxed with my pace. As long as I get in the office between 8 and 9, I don't raise any eyebrows. I'm waking up at 6:00 AM on days where I dont have to come in early or late. So far its been surprisingly normal, thanks to my goal I accomplished last week.

Now today was my first strength training day to be done in the morning. Lets look at how I did:
Bench--- 115, 8 reps (+1 rep!)
Squat---135, 9 reps (+1 rep!)
Shoulders---95, 6 reps (+1 rep!)
biceps---40(80?), 10 reps (+2 reps!, time to level up!)
triceps---30, 7 reps (+2 reps!)
rows---50, 10 reps (+1 rep! time to level up!)
Now for pull ups I did somethign a little different. They had a machine that gave you some minimal assistance. I chose to do this since I strained my back with the normal pull up machine. This seemed a lot more controlled, and I got more out of it, I think. There were weights added to it, but I'm not sure how that works in the grand scheme of providing me with resistance...anyways:
Pullups---7! (+3 reps!!!)
That might not be the same weighted accomplishment as my 4 without the machine. But I got more high-intensity time regardless.

Still need to find a spotter. i won't reach full potential on the free weights without one.

2nd Strength Day: Slow Start, Strong Finish

Category ,Weight, Reps
Bench, 115lbs, 7reps lowered the weight amount
Squat , 135lbs , 8reps fewer reps than before, probably due to Wednesday's load
Shoulder Press, 95lbs, 5reps fewer reps than before
Bicep Curls, 40(80?)bs, 8reps fewer reps than before
tricep extension, 30lbs, 5reps lowered the weight amount
Standing Rows, 50lbs, 90reps raised the weight amount
Pullups, 4 +1! :)

We're starting to see some stability. I adjusted my loads from Tuesday to better reflect where I stood. I still need a spotter though, and I still~ don't know where to find one. I'm not frustrated with the fewer reps reported today, as I'm expecting that for doing someting 48 hours after being fresh. I expect some improvements next Tuesday. :)

Didn't wake up on time either! Threw me off! But it wasn't my fault! An emergency at 2:30AM woke me up, and I was still writhing about it (even though i fixed it) until about 4:00AM when I finally fell asleep. I suppose its nice to have that hour buffer of sleep though, just in case you have to recap.

Wednesday Update!

What a creative title, eh?! :)

Weigh in: 175! I went up two pounds from Monday. Is that muscle?! I don't know! I did have two slightly heavier meals on Tuesday than what I am used to. Hey, someone had to finish those porkchops for dinner... and that beef goodness for lunch (which was free by the way!).

Cardio: Reached my 157 rate at level 5 elevation, 3 minutes into my 15 minute routine.. This is a great improvement from Monday, which I believe was level 3 elevation at 2 1/2 minutes. Maybe this is a sign of my body getting used to waking up earlier.

Remember, thats my goal for this week: waking up an hour early every day to fit in that morning workout! This actually is already having interesting effects. Monday, woke up at 7:59 with the alarm set for 8:00, and today I woke up at 6:45, 15 minutes before the alarm... which I had forgot to turn on! Its a good thing my internal clock wasn't slacking off.

Tomorrow is another strength day. Cadence 5/5 is some good hardy stuff. Hopefully with some good sleep I'll be ready to attack it head on tomorrow!

Strength Training: First Day!

What a humbling experience this was... I was utilizing a technique I picked up from the blogosphere where you take your reps in 5 second intervals (5 seconds extending/contracting, 5 seconds returning to normal position). Here's how I fared

Category ,Weight, Reps
Bench, 135lbs, 3reps
Squat , 135lbs , 9reps
Shoulder Press, 95lbs, 8reps
Bicep Curls, 85lbs, 11reps
tricep extension, 40lbs, 4reps
Standing Rows, 40lbs, 13reps
Pullups, 3


I should probably back off the bench and triceps in retrospect, and I can probably raise my weight amount in bicep curls and standing rows. Bottom line though is I will need to find someone to do this with. Without a spotter I can't go until my muscles fail, and thats the whole point!

Tomorrow is cardio/lowerbody mass. This time I'll have plenty of time to get it all done without worrying about where my training place is located.

Excuses Excuses

Okay, so I woke up at 6:30 like I wanted. :)

But I didn't work ou like I wanted.

I rationalized that I would be distracted trying to find my way to my training location today, attempting to crunch for time. So, perhaps this was a good decision. I made my initial goal of waking up early though. That has to be the first step I want to get accomplished.

So that means I get to do my strength training after my work-related training today without any distractions. I look forward to it.

Morning Madness

Weighed in at 173 this morning. Not too bad at all. And yes, I'm working out before work. Crazy stuff, it was a first. 15 minutes on the treadmill for the Monday cardio. Surprisingly, it only took level 3 escalate to reach my max heart rate instead of level 7 (when I do it after work!) I'm not sure what that means, but I don't think its anything too important. Stretching before bed tonight, as always. :)

Introduction

Hey everyone, thanks for coming. This blog is dedicated to following up on my progress towards my fitness goals, as well as establishing some sort of accountability for the long run. Living by myself, its easy to for me to convince...me... to pass up things I really don't feel like doing, but should be doing. We've all been there. The whole internal struggle drama thing. So epic it requires italicized text to build on the drama.



Intense...



But seriously. Here's where we stand.



The goal: i want to run and complete a 5k. Simple enough. This is a stepping stone in my progression towards completing my first sprinters triathlon. It doesn't have to be record pace or by any means fast. I just want to complete it without (much) struggle.



Current status: I've received my orthodics and purchased my brand new running shoes, both fit for neutral support for folks like me that run most often on the outsides of their feet. These are both implemented into my strategy to address a knee problem I developed in September; some sort of misalignment in the joint. I basically couldn't stand for 5 minutes without a dull pain in both knees. It was very discouraging.


On this beautiful March 9th spring day, yours truly comes in at a respectable 170ish pounds (most scales tend to agree on this) and have a few inches on the waist I'd like purged. Furthermore, the pain in my knees has somewhat subsided due to my orthodics. Encouraging.

Current plan: I'm dedicating April to preparation to start a 5k training plan in May. As a lazy bum, I must first win any battles against my willpower to actually go to the gym. Thus, I've been working in the routine slowly, this week having gone 3 times (MWF) to do a 10-15 minute cardio walk and strength training for lower body. I hope to incorporate some upper body training Tuesday and Thursday, something suitable for a runner. I'm not quite sure how I will go about this. Preferably something toned rather than appearing quite brutish, like my little twin brothers.

My diet consists of pretty much anything I want to eat right now, but that doesn't mean I eat anything. I believe I have good common sense when it comes to a healthy meal. I've recently become a big rice fan.

In other news, I met someone in the office who has already done several triathlons in the past. She has experience with many "eastern" things, like acupuncture, drinks, and so forth. I might just have to ask her about those. Its curious.

Well, nothing else to report as of right now. :)