8-28-14

Excellent yoga class today. I felt strong all the way and never double clutched on the balance moves that usually make me dance. I even held the half moon for the entire duration, where I usually get a terminal butt cramp. Instructor says I am improving noticeably. I want to believe...

8-26-14

On a pretty good stretch this week. Sunday biked about 15 miles down the Lehigh (River) Gorge Trail from Rockport, PA to Jim Thorpe. Then had lunch in JT with wife and friends. Nice artsy little town nestled between mountains in the river valley. Pretty ride and good time.
Monday was yoga day. Shoulder and quad emphasis which I really felt after the bike ride.
Today, tuesday, I did a solo 3 mile interval. Time was 37:00, a few seconds off my best. It was hot and sunny which slows things a bit. But I ran more of the course than usual, including some smaller uphill grades. The goal is to keep improving and I think this run met the mark.
Looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.

8-20-14

3 mile interval run at lunch. Timed at 36:43, my best time by about 20 seconds. This is a rough trail with 2 killer hills and several more moderate ones. My approach is to walk the first .6 miles to the top of the first nasty hill, then start running the flat when warm and loose. Then it is run flats and downs and walk the serious uphills. To go faster, I don't think I'm running faster, just running a higher proportion of the course. Same speed, more run, less walk. As my recovery time shortens from each run, I can start earlier and run longer before my wind is spent. Seems to make sense and seems to be working, so far this year, injury free. Hope to break 36 before winter.

8-18-14

3 mile interval at lunch. 39:40, a couple of minutes off my  best and a comfortable pace. After a 5 mile hike yesterday, the legs are feeling it. If they aren't the first things to go, they are close...

I work out at lunch as many as 4 times a week. The mid-day break is great, but it is a press to fit the workout into a lunch hour and since we don't have convenient showers, it feels awkward sometimes. Today, I finished the run, got a glass of water and sat at my desk to try to stop sweating while eating lunch and catching up  on emails. A woman from the office looked in and commented on how good I looked. I said something like: Huh?. She said, you have a good sweat, your face is pink, you are eating a healthy lunch and your clothes are hanging on the door to your credenza. I'm glad we deal with the basics here, without a lot of pretense. I was glad she feels that way as I went to the men's room, wiped the sweat off with paper towels, got dressed over the lingering moisture, combed my hair with my fingers and went back to work. Glad I finally found a fit in what is likely my last work stop.

8-17-14

Tate (my dog) and I went on a hike in the local state gameland today. My thought was to get a workout, have some time for mental reconstruction and just enjoy the day. The path we followed starts on an old railbed that is a vehicle route into the gameland for hunters during the season, but is closed too motor vehicles this time of year, then take a single track mountain bike trail to the site of an old gravity railway transfer station, head east to an impassable creek gorge, and then bushwack back to the car, uphill to test my cardio condition. I missed the turn onto the single track because the DNR apparently moved the roadkill depository that used to provide  a can't miss trail marker. No carcasses today, no stink and we walked right past, adding a mile to the walk. Then the brush at the creek gorge was so thick we deferred to a nearby power line cut and climbed out of the valley on that.  Probably an equal workout with less bushwacking, ticks and aggravation, if less natural. Made the climb out without having to stop as I did a couple of years ago, split a bottle of water with Tate at the top, he got a biscuit and I got something more interesting than usual to write about. 5 miles in 1 hr 45 minutes, a good sweat, the highlight of the  day.

8-15-14

Haven't entered anything for over a week. Down at the  second house last weekend where my workouts were chainsaw and shovel work. There must be some  physical merit to the work because it sure wears a man out. This week I ran 3 miles on wednesday on the lunch trail at work. 37:30, my second best time, on a day I wasn't really pushing. Felt pretty good. Hard yoga workout on thursday, focusing on shoulders and thighs. Pretty sore today (friday), demonstrating that yoga can be as demanding as you want to make it. Read about an ex pro wrestler who, after rebuilding his destroyed body via conventional yoga developed a more rigorous version with a strength building emphasis and is successfully helping people and selling his product. It is a new concept for sure, but a positive one.

8/13/2014

Swimming today for 45 minutes.  First time of swimming in the lane that shares partially the "deep end".  Kinda cool and new for a while to watch the bottom drop out or rise up depending on which lap.  But after a while it was just swimming.

Weekend workouts

Spent several hours on Saturday and Sunday pulling the boards off our deck.  Actually, I think I'm going to call those workouts.  It wasn't fun, it was hard, my heart rate was elevated for an extended period, several coumpound body movements repeated in sets, sweat pouring off me in torrents,... Yup quacks like a duck.  See if I can get into the gym this week a couple times.  Next weekend I need to finish removing the remaining boards and finish staining the supports and joists.  The Mancub started that chore but this gives us a chance to detail it.  Probably order the new plastic decking for delivery the following weekend.

8/7/2014

Got my swim thing on.

50 minutes, breast/crawl, breast/crawl, breast/side/side/crawl

Felt fine at the time, though I'm feeling sore a few hours later.  Pleased at the duration today, Monday was a bit of a fiasco, so this was a pleasant surprise.

8/6/2014

13lb vest

4 rounds

.25 mile dreadmill, at 4mph

Push up burpee jumping pullup,6x

Empty o-bar, goodmornings, 8x

Hanging knee raises, 6 x

3 rounds

89lb squat cleans, 5x

Standing cable crinches, 150lb, 15x

3 rounds

89lb push press, 3x

Mace bell, 10-2, 8x

3rounds

89lb upright rows, 3x

Mace bell, 10-2' 8x

8/4/2014

Swiming for 40 minutes.  I thought it would clear my mind.  Instead I ended up just running the shit over and over.  I thought it would be better to come back to the office and make head way on the crap rather then fixating on it.  

8-3-14

After a lazy saturday Tate and I went for a run in the neighborhood. I timed my  self on it in the spring and did the 3 1/3 mile course in 42 minutes. At the time I set a goal of 36 minutes by Halloween. Today's time was 40:55. Better, but nowhere near the goal. I suspect the goal is unattainable. Funny how as we age, the desire fades more slowly than the ability. I want to keep improving but honestly fatigue and wear and tear are bigger factors than they used to be. In the end, it is about erosion control.