12-31-13

OK, since my 12-22 post affirming my commitment to regular workouts during the holiday break, I have taken two untaxing hikes with my out of shape son and daughter-in-law. Now that everyone is gone, time to get back to business. Tate (dog) and I tried a new road trail today. From the house, cutting through the woods, using a right  of way to cross the spillway from the lake dam, then another right of way to a street that intersects with the route that makes up my usual out-and-back home based road workout. The out and back route is 3 hilly  miles, a good workout but the duplication is less interesting than a circuit. Today's route makes a 3 mile circuit. The new half is flatter, making it more runnable. The second half, with its tough hills, adds interest to the workout. Not sure if there will be neighbor issues around using the right of way, but I think just plowing forward will flush them out. It took us just under 40 minutes to do the route in a whiteout level snowstorm. We both enjoyed it. Got a little wet crossing the stream below the dam. Need to plant some better step-stones for the future. Tate is less concerned. Planning to try it again tomorrow.

12-22-13

7 minute fitness interval indoors (12 exercises, 30 seconds each with 10 seconds rest between). Then a 3 mile interval run outdoors. 60 degrees on Dec 22nd. Nice to get an outdoor sweat even if it felt a little wrong. Off work for about 10 days. This was a good start to staying active during the break.

12-20-13

Yoga. Getting to know the  instructors game plan now, but still find it difficult, mainly I think due to my lack of flexibility. In down dog for example, because I don't flex into the move enough it overloads my shoulders and triceps. It makes it more difficult than it should be and explains why the women struggle less than me. Something to work on. It is a great workout in any  case.

12-16-13

Snow over the weekend and snowing today, ruling out the lunch walk. Yoga instead. One on one with the in-house instructor. 45 minutes of a blend of strength, stretching and balance. She is fluid, I was halting. Short range of motion, quivering muscles and no balance to speak of, but a great workout. Not sure why I like it but I do. Hoping to make gains against all my newfound inadequacies as the winter progresses.

Wellness measurement

At work we have a new wellness program and our shared insurance premiums are reduced for the employee if we fall within the acceptably healthy range on 5 measurements. The metrics are height/weight ratio, sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and smoking. I was in the acceptable range on all, but of note were my blood pressure at 100/70 and total cholesterol at 165 with HDL at 69. Both have dropped significantly over the last 2-3 years. I take half the  recommended dose of red yeast rice for the cholesterol and no meds for blood pressure. It has dropped since I started meditation a year ago. My cholesterol  reading  5  years ago was in the mid-200s. I have lost about 25 lbs since then and I think regular exercise has contributed. I like the idea of improving habits rather than taking medication. Have to work on the wife who didn't fare as well.

12-15-13

Significant snowfall this weekend. Walked the dogs through the woods for fun but the workout was inside. Did the 7 minute interval workout, that is about a dozen exercises for 30 seconds with a 10 second rest in between. It alternates major and minor muscle groups and covers the whole body. If done aggressively, it is a little uncomfortable. Followed it with 30 minutes on the treadmill. Alternate run walk up a grade between 5 and 10 %. Covered 2.5 miles. Good sweat. Felt pretty good. Looking forward to an outdoor interval tomorrow.

12-11-13

First lunch time yoga class. Our sales administrator is a yoga instructor in her personal life and offered to do classes two times a week during winter. 3 guys and 2 women showed up. She abbreviated the routine to 45 minutes, merciful to us novices. She was great and we tried to follow her. Excellent stretch, what felt like good upper body strength work and a pretty good sweat. Looking forward to continuing and hoping to make similar strides in flexibility as those made in aerobic conditioning since the interval runs started last spring. Stay tuned.

12/9/2013

Weighted vest

Stairwell work:

30lb dumbells, farmers walk two flights, drop the bells and go down and back up,

Lather, rinse, repeat,  I went for about 20 minutes.

High box box ups, 5 per side, over head squats on inverted bosu ball, 10 reps, 3 rounds

Weighted hanging knee raises, twisting cable crunches, 3 rounds

12-08-13

I was in Mexico all week on business and except for some hotel room stretches and pushups, I was delinquent in my workouts. Of course the plentitude of Federales with assault rifles marshalled around the hotel was a disincentive. Got home at 2am saturday morning and saturday was pretty much a washout. Did a 3 mile interval run with Tate today. Not my fastest, but felt good. Unfortunately a long visit from the German HQ will prevent lunch runs most of this week. Looking forward to  getting back on track before the weekend.

12/8/2013

Work got ahead of me this week, alas.  So, only Mondays swim to log.  Went for a walk today, probably just a mile.  20 degrees and sunny.  Because I wasn't hunting I was able to move more steadily so covered more ground.  Fair bit of sign, deer, turkey, squirrel, the thin snow made the new tracks stand out.  Breaking trail in a boggy area got the heart rate up a little -- certainly better than sitting in the chair but also certainly not high intensity.

12/2/2013

Swimming.

200 yards, breast/free, side/free, side/free, breast/free
2x100, breast, side, side, free

200 yards, breast/free, side/free, side/free, breast/free
2x100, breast, side, side, free

200 yards, breast/free, side/free, side/free, breast/free
2x100, breast, side, side, free

200 yards, breast/free, side/free, side/free, breast/free
2x100, breast, side, side, free

100, breast/free, breast/free

did that in 50ish minutes (real swimmers count, hundredths of seconds, me... not so much)

12-1-13

Business trip to Mexico this week and I couldn't find time today (Sunday) to get to the woods. So Tate and I did 3 miles worth of run/walk intervals on our neighborhood streets. 7 significant hills over 3 miles. Run flat and down, walk most of the ups. I pushed it a little since I won't get out much in Mexico. 40 minutes for the circuit, a personal best by 2 minutes. Seems to indicate that steady work makes gains. Knees sore, twinge in my left hip. Otherwise feel good. Tate is sleeping.

12/1/2013

3ish mile hike in the highlands.  Light snow on the ground and in the air for the last half.  I was over dressed a struggle to not overheat.  I prefer this time of year.  Country is beautiful in a spare and stark way low hanging clouds spitting snow, a rare aesthetic, but I resonate with it.