Remember the objective...

I thought I was tired. Work has been pretty demanding. I've been doing 4-5 lunch workouts a week and trying to keep up with the younger/fitter runners in the group. Plus weekend hikes and about a half hour of yoga a few nights a week to stem the tightening and get the kinks out.

So the Thanksgiving break was telling. First break of more than two days since the summer. Seems like as soon as I let down for the weekend, I was done. Low energy and lower motivation. To make matters worse, the Thanksgiving morning coffee was, unbeknownst to me, decaf. Add irritability to the fatigue. The good news is that after 2 days of 8-9 hours sleep a night, I'm feeling decent again. Aggressive 3 miler today with my favorite dog felt good.

So caffeine addiction aside, I'm getting that I need more rest than I used to. After all, it's about health and quality of life, not demonstrating eternal youth. Just have to remember...

11/25/2013

Swim

1600 yards. 
4x100, breast, side, side, free style
2x200, breast/free, side/free, side/free, breast/free
4x100, breast, side, side, free style
2x200, breast/free, side/free, side/free, breast/free

I had a meeting just before lunch and that gave me a later start.  I swam more free style but I'm not certain I swam any faster -- though, I'm not particularly worried about it in any single workout.  Rather, I'm looking for over all trends.  I've not been swimming long enough to see that yet.

11:24:13

It has definitely been a while! However, I've been keeping very busy: running, kickboxing or *ahem step-arobicizing everyday. I'm still recovering from Friday's ab workout in kickboxing class...
I'm posting a link here in case you'd like to give it a whirl.


http://humboldt.edu/centeractivities/sites/default/files/pdf/Abdominal%20Workout.pdf

11/22/2013

Swim

Swam an hour non-stop.  Alas, I lost track of my lap count a couple of times, however, I'm certain that I covered a mile.

I probably should aim at solidifying my distance a couple more workouts.  Then, I think I might cut back on distance a little and try to work on increasing speed.  I'm swimming roughly a 3 minute 100 yards.  To qualify for some open water swims they require a mile in 35 minutes which is 2 minutes per 100 yards.  So there you go no brainer, ready made goals.

11/21/2013

Yoga.

Set my intentions for the class... not to fart, and to relax a little bit.  Pretty straight ahead.  The theme anticipating Thanksgiving was "Gratitude."  Hips were likewise a theme and a lot of what I needed. 

I'm intrigued by how deeply I breath after yoga and swimming.  I've heard lots of popular blatting about how good and important that is.  I've not explored the subject in the more objective resources.  But, from a purely subjective stand point it seems like a healthy thing to slow and deepen ones breathing, relaxing.  That of course is an odd place to be after the vigor of a swim.

11-20-13

After two hard runs on consecutive days, walked with a couple of women today. Since we go through a pretty isolated area, I think it is good for the ladies to have company. Plus, I needed an easy day. Also feels good to encourage other folks to use the lunch hour for a good purpose. Planning a yoga routine tonight and hit the trail harder tomorrow.

11/20/2013

Swimming Thang

3x600, to total 1800 yards, I'd guess roughly the same time 55ish minutes.  Again I'm happy with the progress.  Right now rather than increasing the speed I'm focusing on increasing the distances of the the intervals.  I have no idea if that is the right thing to do, but, by instinct it seems to be working.

11/19/2013

Fun with Weights

Weighted vest, fugly barbell, fieldhouse.

Just a steady medley of movements for 45 minutes.  I can tell it has been a while since I last did this.  None-the-less got through it without embarrassment.

11-18-13

Light action over the weekend, a 3 mile walk with the bride on sunday. Overall, ok since the weather was pretty dismal and I had a lot of winter prep work to do. Monday, today, however was a different story. Beautiful mid-50s late november day and a motivated walking group at work. Personal best 37 minutes flat. It was about all I had, so I know my current  limit. Once again, have to remember that the goal is long term quality of life not a quick performance spike that precipitates an injury. Planning to limit it to a brisk walk tomorrow. Hope the peer pressure to push it isn't too great.

11/18/2013

Swimming.

I did 3x400, and 1x550 intervals, to get my mile and it took me 55(ish) minutes.  That is after only 6 workouts.  While a real swimmer wouldn't be impressed -- I'm pleased with the progress.

11-14-13

Bought a pair of shoe inserts on tuesday, ran in them on wednesday and generated a couple of juicy heel blisters. Although the bottom of my feet feel better, the original objective. Ran again today and did a personal best (37:28) while the blisters throbbed. Felt like a man.

It's been in the 30s this week with snow early. Cold at first but comfortable after the system starts  pumping. Much nicer than the summer when it took close to an hour to stop sweating on some days.

Doing about 20  minutes of yoga based stretching, twisting and balancing moves at night. Good lead-in to the meditation routine and it has definitely relieved several aches from knotted muscles. Very hard to visibly increase flexibility though. Maybe after a few more months...

11/14/2013

Swim.

1400 yards in 47(ish) minutes.  The most noticeable improvement is the reduced rest between intervals.  That is happening naturally.  However, without increasing the speed I can't increase the distance in the time frame.  To increase the speed I need more laps swimming free style.  That, I suspect, is still in the future.

11-11-13

I want to describe the route we walk/run at lunch. There are a few hundred acres of unused industrial park land and reclaimed surface mined coal lands behind our plant. There are innumerable possibilities but our favorite is a 3 mile lollipop route. It starts out as a secondary exit route from the industrial park. It runs along Interstate 81 and is earthen with scattered aggregate of various sizes on its surface. We kick the loose stones off as we go, but the 4 wheelers that use it on weekend always uncover new ones. There are 3 stream crossings, two really steep and long uphills and washed out downhills. Most of the wildlife we see are snakes and turkeys, with occasional hawks and whitetails. Best part of what's happening is the enjoyment I'm getting from the group motivation that consistently overcomes the inertia and excuses that would otherwise have me begging off too often. Next best is that we are all benefitting physically. Finally, it seems to have started a consciousness raising about health and fitness in the company. There are all kinds of  people walking various routes at lunch, a weight watchers group that has lost over 200 lbs across about 20 people in the last few weeks, and a generally positive buzz about healthy lifestyles. And it all started out as a walk on a lousy trail that makes my feet hurt. Trying out my new shoe inserts tomorrow.

11-10-13

The morning started out crisp and sunny and Tate an I set out to hike a section of rail trail not yet developed. Plan was to go out on the rail bed and return via a couple of power line cuts. About the time we intended to shift to the  power line road it started raining. Since it was the longer way back and we had never done it before, we went back the way we came. About 4 miles each way. Kind of a disappointing walk in that it parallels an active rail bed, is pretty flat and generally not really interesting. I think its eventual function is to be a bike connector between two really interesting sections. But we don't need to walk that section again. The good news is that even uninteresting terrain can offer a good workout. Good thinking time. No memorable photos.

11/11/2013

Swim thang.

I lost track of the 100 yard intervals.  45 minutes in the water and my breaks were significantly less frequent and shorter duration.  I'll guess between 1200-1400 yards.

11-08-13

Kind of a lousy week at work. The  owner is undermining my latest great idea and a couple of key employees are mad about one thing or another. If only business was about business and not so much about people. So, the lunch run was especially cleansing today. It was cold, in the 30s and snowing. But my workout buddy Dan was ready for a hard go as I was. Not our fastest time, but close, and in tough conditions. Given that it is friday and we were both worn down, it was a great victory, propelled me through the afternoon and into the welcome weekend. Looking forward to a good hike on sunday.

11/7/2013

Yoga.

I've been in the woods this week.  Still hunting is extremely demanding of hip flexors and of balance -- as I've lamented recently my hips are rubbish.  Too sitting in the cold tends to tighten muscles up.  So, yoga was a good answer today.

I'm not outlandishly out of condition but I'm in the wrong sort of condition for this activity.  That annoys me and it motivates me.  So, with the time not filled with Chickadees, Squirrels, or more infrequently Turkeys or Partridge, I've been thinking about how, what movements to work on, so that I'm not this pathetic again.

Step up and down and then for the hip flexors.  This next movement opens the hip flexors and strengthens single leg movement -- some sort of Split Squat.  These seem to be a starting place for thinking this through.

11-06-13

Did the lunch run today, third straight day. 37 min 45 sec, fastest yet and it felt pretty easy. I think if we went out trying to go faster we could improve it a good bit. Day off tomorrow to get a haircut and give everything a rest.

Interesting dynamic today in that 2 regulars were planning not to participate because of  minor injuries, a toe and a hamstring. When the others went to change, they didn't want to miss it and went along enthusiastically. Both said they felt good after getting over the inertia. Good vibe in the group. Hope we can keep it through the winter.

11-04-13

I haven't made any entries for a while, but am dedicated to our walk/runs during lunch. 3-5 days per week is typical depending on weather and travel. Set our record today while not really trying, for 3 miles on a hilly course on a very rough track. In April we were walking it in 48 minutes. Today we did 37:50, first time below 38. Probably half walk and half run. I feel fit, no major injuries and am motivated, as are the others in the group.

Recently I started to do some yoga based stretching in the evenings. I've gotten tighter, so it has been a good thing. Also, the nagging knot in my upper back has eased and I feel better than in a long time.

An article in the NY Times today put out a questionnaire that establishes fitness age based on a large study in Finland, I think. I'm 64 with a fitness age of 52, which feels ok. My atrial fib raises my heart rate a good bit, one of the inputs to the score, and I think puts a few years on. Anyway, feeling fit, and  it's validated by a quantitative instrument. What more could an old guy ask for.

11/1/2013

Squats, supersets with cable crunches and diagonal bar raises on the inverted bosu ball

2x12, 135lbs
2x10, 185lbs
2x8, 205lbs
2x6, 225lbs
2x4, 245lbs

finished with 2 sets of Squat Cleans, 89lbs, 6 reps

One meeting and then it is Miller time.

 I reviewed the Stats on this blog.  The entirety of our traffic is from a porn site.  I didn't actually click through to the site rather I Googled the url and read a number of blogger rants about the this site that crawls blogs to solicit traffic.  Pathetic and desperate ploy to solicit clicks.

Was a time when we had real traffic.