6-30-14

Hit the wall over the weekend after 3 runs and a yoga session with spotty sleep. Felt better today (monday) and did the 3 mile lunch run in 41:20, almost 2 minutes slower than friday. Fine with me though. Hot, humid day and becoming more respectful of the need for recovery time. Day off tomorrow and planning to run on wed.

6/30/2014

Swim.

Did 45 minutes medley of strokes.  Felt pretty good and since it is a warm day it constituted a cooling dip.

So, this is the start of week 3 mending from the pneumonia crash and burn.  I'm guardedly optimistic.

6-27-14

3 mile lunch run today wrapping up a 4 workout work week. Wednesday's time was over 41 minutes. Todays was 39:39. I attribute most of the improvement to less humid weather. Still in the 80s but breezy and pleasant. Good way to end the week.

6/27/2014

4 rounds

1/4 mile dreadmill run, 4mph
push up burpee to a jumping pull up, 6x
weighted hanging knee raises, 8x

3 rounds

hang cleans, full squat, 6x
cable crunches, 150lbs, 15x

So there it is the weekend.

6-26-14

Lunchtime yoga today. It was a pretty aggressive session. My lower back locked up between half moon and wheel. I had to miss a pose or two to unwind it. Hoping it's growing pains and I will be fine tomorrow. One of my work mates told me I've taken on a runner's wiry appearance over the last year. I guess my "ass-kicker" days are behind me. I hope I didn't show my disappointment.

6-25-14

My original plan was to run monday, yoga tuesday and thursday, run friday. Yoga was cancelled tues due to  a customer meeting in the room, so we bagged tuesday and ran today, wednesday, instead. Hot and humid so we really cooked and didn't push to the normal level. The 3 mile route took around 39 minutes on cooler monday and 42 today. It was a comfortable pace, with a pretty hard finish. Felt about right and I was still functional at work in the PM, a necessary thing.

6/25/2014

So, yesterday evening we heard the distinctive thud of a bird hitting our bay window.  I kicked around and found my slippers and scuffled outside to see what the damage was.  A little green bird alive but ass stomped lying on the ground, open beaked panting.  I picked her up.  Her eyes were bright but if it can be said seemed unfocused, yet nothing appeared broken.  I held her for a long time.  Interestingly P was fretting about my intervening with natures course, fussing at me to put her down.  I redirected P to go get the bird book and help me figure out what kind of bird.  A couple of attempts to pass the bird off on nearby branches failed and so I just kept her in my hand.  We, P and I, figured out that I was holding an Ovenbird -- who knew.  Apparently, they build ground nests that resemble Dutch Ovens, hence the name.  Eventually I set the little bird down on a rock in the kids old sandbox and she almost immediately launched, though pretty drunkenly, through some nearby brush.  Last I saw her she seemed ok, standing steady, though perhaps not ready for long flights.

Swam today for 40 minutes.  It felt fine.  I am still a little sore from Monday.

6-23-14

I was really tired by friday last week after working out every day monday-thursday. Took friday off and gardened all weekend, but no real fitness activity. Ran 3 miles today at lunch in about 39 minutes even. This is a good time for me and my group. Finally felt some spring in my legs after sensing fatigue all weekend. The lesson appears to be to get some more rest. Planning to take off wednesday this week to get a mid-week break.

6/23/2014

4 rounds

.25 dreadmill jog, 4mph
pushup burpee to a jumping pull up, 6 reps
weighted hanging knee raises, 8 reps

the last two dreadmills I had to walk an eighth and jogged the finish

3 rounds
macebell 10 and 2, 10 reps, so 5 per side, or so
push press, 85lbs, 5 reps

My breathing was great, but, my heart rate got up pretty high, this concerns me only here at the start of coming back, eventually I'll get some work capacity back.  Though, I was reading the chart on the dreadmill and it says 136 bpm is my new 85%, I'm not reconciled to that just like I'm not reconciled to needing reading glasses.  Whatever, I've got a long way to go before that discontent really matters.

6-20-14

Yoga. Fourth straight day of working out: run-yoga-run-yoga. Too much for me in retrospect. I struggled in the yoga class and seem to have strained something in my right hip. Need a rest day in the middle somewhere.

6/19/2014

Swimming.

Same drill as Tuesday.  On one hand I'm pleased with laying down this baseline, on the other, I'm really tired.  I feel good, just tired.  I'm a little bit sore, not bad, which tells me I'm doing ok with listening to my body.  I have to assume the tired is just increased activity and lost work capacity and recovery from a damn fine sick.

Coming up on the weekend and I'm looking forward to some naps -- though I've a fair few chores too.  Whatever the weather this week has been beautiful and that feels good too.

06-18-2014

3 mile walk-run interval at lunch. Didn't time it, I think it was mid-range. 5 people involved including 2 twenty-somethings. They finished ahead of the rest, but I stayed back with one of the original lunch walkers who fell off the wagon over the winter and is less fit than last fall. 3 workout days in a row and I felt pretty good even on a sunny 85 degree day. Yoga tomorrow.

6/18/2014

Circuit 1
Dreadmill walk .25 miles, 3.5mph
Macebell 10-2s, bunch
Military Press, 65lbs, 8 reps
Bent over rows, 65lbs, 8 reps

Dreadmill jog .25 miles, 4mph
Macebell 10-2s, bunch
Military Press, 65lbs, 8 reps
Bent over rows, 65lbs, 8 reps

did 4 rounds alternating walk and run

3 rounds:
farmers walk, 45lb dumbbells, probably 50-60 feet
cable crunches, 150lbs, 8 reps

cool down
.25 walk on the dreadmill

roughly 35 minutes of work, feeling a little sore in the legs from Monday's good-mornings, and a little tired with 3 workouts in a row, after 5 weeks of complete inactivity

6-17-2014

This is a summary of the last two plus weeks fitness efforts. Two weeks ago, sales meeting at HQ, no workouts and too much eating and drinking. Last week we partially moved to a new house. Loaded and unloaded two trucks with furnishings etc. Water problems at the house led to the need to cut some trees for a winch truck to reach  the wellhead. I was mad enough that I cut a 12 inch birch tree at ground level with a 15 inch bow saw and my Dad's old hatchet. Also did some post hole and fence work. So nothing actually like a workout, but plenty of activity with attendant muscle soreness.

Yesterday, back at work, did a 3 mile interval in 42 minutes, nowhere near our fastest, but felt good and finished first in the group on a hot day.

Today, yoga, which felt great after all the lifting etc of recent times. My flex, especially in hamstrings, hips and lower back isn't very good, but the yoga is really therapeutic and I missed it. Wherever my fitness routine goes in the future I want to make yoga an integral component.

Highlight of the move was the next door neighbor. 75 year old ex army colonel, 6'2 or 3", trim and muscular. Works out on a varied routine regularly and it shows. It is really encouraging if not inspiring to see that it is possible to stay fit and strong well into the senior cycle. And he is a cancer survivor. What a guy.

6/17/2014

Swim thang.  I'm totally dumbfounded that I didn't drown... I actually remembered how to swim.  I went for half an hour and called it good.  I have no idea how far I went just the elapsed time.  Breast, crawl, breast, side/side, crawl -- lather, rinse, repeat.

So last Thursday I saw the PCP and we declared a small victory against the pneumonia.  I was still struggling with the asthma however.  So, we agreed on a script for an inhaler of stuff that helps with the inflammation.  With the exception of Saturday I've not used the albuterol inhaler.  Like I mentioned cutting the wood with the chainsaw set me back.  But, I think I'll be able to go at it again next Saturday and work harder for longer.  These two work outs show that the medication is working and the rest is up to me.

6/16/2014

Saturday, I took the chain saw out and worked on a pile of log length firewood.  It just about killed me.  Too much too quick and I suspect the exhaust from the chainsaw antagonized the asthma.

But, today:

1 mile walked on the dreadmill, 3.5 mph

3 rounds
cable crunches, 150lbs, 12 reps
good mornings 45lbs, 12 reps
macebell 10 and 2, 8-12 yeps

kettlebell swings, 2x8, 18lbs
inverted bosu ball air squats, 8 reps

1/4 mill cool down, 3.5 mph

felt great, obviously this isn't a big bite, but... baby he's back!

Pool has mid-day hours all week long so I think I'll get wet tomorrow.

Highs and lows

Some days I feel almost normal the next pretty poorly and so it goes.  Perhaps because I over do it on those up days, perhaps it is just the cycle of healing.  Going back to the PCP on Thursday for a progress assessment.  

Recovering slowly

So, yes I am feeling better.  And yes I am taking fewer medications.  But I can tell this is going to take awhile to rebound.  Th inflammation in the lungs and sinuses is going to take awhile to diminish.  That in turn hampers endurance.  Just walking from the parking lot and up the stairs antagonizes the wheezing and forces me to rest.  Mostly I'm logging this just for benchmark not to hear myself whine.  

Going to work today

I feel a lot better, but not well, none-the-less I need to make an appearance before someone packs my desk.  I am sure I will be exhausted by days end since my breathing is still labored.  I slept through the night last night first time in weeks.  I also seem to be getting my appetite back.  Tried a sip of P's fruit and vegi breakfast smoothy this morning -- flavor was good texture, not so much.  

6-1-14

Active weekend preparing for a minor move to a second  house in VA which we are settling on next week. Moved a truck full of stuff to the garage from various locales around the main house on saturday and sunday and feel the fatigue. Managed a 3.3 mile walk with Tate around the neighborhood. ET 48 minutes, pretty respectable given the elevation changes.

Re weight loss and calorie intake during training (Per S entry), I find limiting white carbs, sugar and empty stuff to be helpful in that they don't fuel much activity but convert pretty directly to weight. Since going to whole grains and greens as most of my bulk, it is actually some work to keep my weight up. Might only be me though, not sure.

Weight loss a feature

So, lost 7lbs in the last 3 weeks.  Not an alarming amount, really but noticible in the mirror and the waistband.  That is surprisingly motivational though I don't recommend the technique.  I have ranted elsewhere that reducing intake moderately with increased activity is a more balanced technique.  Subsequently through conversation and experience I've seen that to be nearly impossible with intensive training.  A conversation with one athlete I respect: she has lost more than a hundred pounds and competes in both strong women and the Crash-B rowing erg event says that she has to drop intensity while she diets.  The reduced calories simply prohibit intensive training.  I'm wondering if I can keep this weight loss going through my recovery period and then as I resume exercise balance calories more closely to increased activity.  Last time I ate the Zone I was able to get down to 195.  Loss beyond that was too difficult given my intensity at the time.  I don't have the intensity excuse right now.