A Life of Training...

A Place from my Macro Photographs

2011-10-29T10:53:00.002-05:00

I've decided to create a blog where I will put my Macro Photography .. and other photographs that I think are neat. It is "alifeofmacrophotography.blogspot.com" - in keeping with the "A Life Of" theme. :) It's still in the makes .. so I will be trying to gather some of my old photos and get it started.

As for training .. I don't have a goal or intense training plans right now. I'm more trying to stay healthy .. and fighting fit: like Caleb at 80 was ready to take the land by force... I'm not 80 yet, but I'd like to be fighting fit at 80 too!

Amazing Storm

2011-10-01T09:51:00.003-05:00

A couple nights ago, we had an amazing Storm blow over! I took about 230 photos with my handy Canon PowerShot A710 IS. I used the continuous shooting setting so it would take 10 photos at a time, put it on my tripod and pushed the button while I stood inside! It was that intense!

It sounded like explosions rolling through the sky - just above the tree tops. I don't usually get scared in electrical storms, but I stayed mostly inside. Here are some of the photos that I captured. Enjoy :-)

Intervals Again

2011-07-31T01:44:00.001-05:00

Not much time today, so I did what I've been wanting to do for a while now .. throw in session of intervals on my road bike. Out on the dam it's 4 miles with out vehicles - just other cyclists, walkers, runner, skaters and etc.

So today it was 7 intervals across and 8 on the way back. The routine for today was 30 seconds hard and 60 seconds recovery. My Garmin works good for that and it was the interval session I used last so I just push the button to start and it keeps track of everything including a 5 second beeping as each state changes from one to the next. So it was out of the saddle at the start and then at the end of the 30 for a couple seconds too. After 15 of them .. it was very nice to be done. I then had a few miles to ride home.

Most people who 'train' know and appreciate the value of intervals - just not the difficulty or the pain of those workouts. Today was a workout that it was especially nice to 'have finished.'

Before the intervals I was able to bike with my wife - that was good. Not hard for me, but that's not it's purpose - the purpose right now is to be an encouragement and help. :-)

One yr PR's

2011-05-11T17:39:00.000-05:00

I've not been able to do much 'pro-active' training for the last year - as life has been challenging and the time needed for such training just isn't available.

I've tried to reduce my weight training from two days to a single workout - hoping to do at least two workouts rather than the regular four of the past. This past week I got 2 1/2 in: two regular ones and the 1/2 was just bench; doing my regular wo and then adding weight. I stopped at 250 lbs which I've not done for over this last year of reduced training. I probably could have done more, but working out alone in the garage ... it just seemed like I'd done enough.

I also had a time on my bike over the bridge (Time Trial) section that I enjoy so much in the past couple weeks. [It's a flat section just over a half mile long.] One time I saw a max speed of just over 44 mph. Another time I saw a max heart rate of 189. Both of these are good and encouraging numbers as my overall fitness seems to be down, but my bodies capacity for exercise still seems to be present - I just am not able to tap into it very often.

The important lesson: life isn't about exercise and PR's; life is about relationships! Period: family, friends and still having some margin to handle the unexpected and unplanned. I enjoy training very much and it has value in helping me interact with others, but when the days are too full - it has to give. And that's where I'm at. Enjoying life, just not enjoying as much training as I'd like ... :-)

First week with 4 weights...

2011-01-28T12:01:00.003-06:00

Just a quick update (to keep this site alive). With all that has and is going on, having significant exercise has been very rare. But, this week I was able to get back into my old weight training routine. Now the weights and reps are down a bit, but not as far as I was expecting and I'm hoping to be able to keep it going again now.

On the first of the year though, I was able to work out with weights, ride my bike and go for a run!! That's a good way to start the year.

Another Blood Donation

2010-11-03T21:17:00.003-05:00

I was able to give blood again this week - Tuesday to be exact. My cholesterol numbers are on-line already and were 163 this time. I'm good with that. I'd like to have an annual blood exam sometime to see what the other numbers are.

Here's a good site for giving blood (Carter Blood). I hope everyone that reads this has given blood or maybe gives annually. Not everyone that wants to give blood is eligible to do so. Even if you're squeamish, they are very attentive to your needs and how you feel. And, most importantly, your given blood could very well save the life of one or more people!! That's a pretty good return for a little discomfort.

As for exercise: 27 miles last week with a 7 mile run under 8 min/mi avg which is very good for me. I'm not sure when I did that last. This week, is a reduced week, not so much by choice but out of necessity of a 'full life'. And I'm sure the reduced mileage will be good for my body.

I've started back some regular strength training exercises and am hoping to see some lost strength return over the next weeks - months.

Being "Well" or "Healthy" is a long-haul assignment .. not a sprint, but rather an ultra! :-)

PS - If you want to see your health take a giant leap forward, don't use your exercise as a license for eating nutritionally dead foods (pleasure foods ... for me chocolate, Blue Bell, etc.)

Blue Angels and F22

2010-11-01T22:01:00.004-05:00

Some photos from the air show this weekend. Good family time.

The Blue Angels were GREAT!!

The one with the six of them is where they all come in from different directions and cross around the center. (I was glad to see that they are all in this photo: not bad for an amateur photographer and his Canon Powershot AS710! :-)

... However, I think the flight of the F22 was even more amazing. It was flying in ways like I've never seen an airplane fly before. It was truly amazing to watch. The photo of it here shows the back wing/flap/surface out at a weird angle .. part of the amazing way that plane flys. It was VERY Cool!

Albino Squirrel photo on my 10 mi run today

2010-10-23T14:27:00.005-05:00

Albino Squirrel
Over the last few years I've seen an 'Albino Squirrel' on part of a regular route that I run. When I run I don't bring my camera; and usually don't have my phone except for long runs. Today was a longer run, so I had my phone and stopped to take a few shots. The photos aren't exceptional, but rather provide proof that there are some of these 'white' squirrels on my routes. He watched me long enough to allow me to get a few shots, but my phone-camera is not a 10th of the camera my A710IS is. (That's why the photos are a bit grainy.)

Nutrition
The second photo is from one of my lunches this past week. It was nice to have a different work schedule and get to run with my wife as well as fix her breakfast (enhanced oatmeal) and lunch (stir-fry: onion, yellow squash, sweet potato, bell pepper, garlic, rice, chicken and spinach at the last minute. Spices include: turmeric, cayenne, ginger, fish oil and 'Bragg' liquid aminos (similar to soy sauce)). Most days my wife is now fixing my lunch for me, which is a change from the last several years; but a change that I'm grateful for.

One of the changes that we are just starting right now is switching from Olive oil for cooking to Grapeseed oil. This was the first lunch that I used Grapeseed oil to cook the vegetables, rice and chicken; and I liked the lighter taste of it. The reason for switching is mainly for the higher smoke point (the point where the oil starts to breakdown). Nutritionally the oils are very similar and taste-wise the Grapeseed is lighter.

Exercise
Work continues to challenge my routine and I've still not gotten into a consistent routine with biking, running and weights. So for now I've put the emphasis on running as it is easy to do, I enjoy it, it helps me relieve stress and it burns some calories.

Today I did my long run and it was 10.5 miles. No speed records as it was 1:30:39 @8:38/mi pace. My avg HR was 143 which is in line with it being a lower steady run.

I've been running a 3.5 mi loop with the intent of staying under 8 min/mi pace. This makes me run a little faster than is easy for me, so I consider it good training for improving my speed. The pace for the two (3.5 mile) runs this week were 7:24 and 7:40. I also got in a 3 mi run with my wife at her pace. Before running with her I did 7 miles at my comfortable pace which was 8:29/mi for that run. The total distance this week was 27.53 miles. My Garmin says it was 4299 calories - thankfully more than my 'Blue Bell' consumption this week ... :-) Last week was 25.13 miles with a long run of 9.5 miles. And the week before that was 17.11 miles with the longest run being 7 miles.

Life
Life continues to be quite full and I'm glad for the weekends and the break from the routine that they provide. Today was a day with rain forcasted. But, as I've experienced on enough occasions over the years, I often start off to see how far I'll make it before the rain hits asking God for a dry path to run; and return home to sprinkles as I turn onto my street! No Joke! (As a work colleague of mine says, "True Story!") So, it's been raining off and on, sometimes quite hard, since I got home.

[Last photo is of my middle daughter on her birthday, taking a shot of her dessert. Taking photos runs in my blood, and hers too.]

A 'hot' week...

2010-08-08T18:21:00.003-05:00

No PR's this week ... well, I take that back, I think my run of 6.5 miles yesterday may be a PR for the slowest I can remember doing it in quite some time .. 9:24 avg pace with some speeds over 10 min/mile: it was a run that I was glad to just finish! :-)

My total running miles were down this week ~15. I really want to get it back up to 20+, but am just not able to right now. Due to a couple primary reasons: fatigue, heat, schedule, ...

I did get to bowl another two games with my family and some friends. I bowled the second game at 202; maybe I should spend less time running and more time bowling as it seems my bowling is improving and my running is not-improving.

I also got a bike ride with Omar this morning in early: 23 miles for 90 minutes. It was a beautiful morning and nice to ride with a friend. Other than almost getting run off the road by a car I we were riding up a hill into the sunrise - it's was very nice. That wasn't too fun. I saw him in my mirror but was surprised when he passed me at about 10" to my left. That's why I had 'two' Planet Bike Blinky lights on the back of my bike in the past (now I have one on my mtn bike that my wife rides), and I'll be looking for another one so I can again have two as it's worth having a second light if it helps to be seen. (Being almost run over by cars and almost caught by chasing big dogs are my least favorite parts of morning rides. Thankfully they don't happen on every ride!)

So, not much to report. Expecting another full week and wanting to get my miles in .. we'll see. I also wouldn't mind dropping a lb this week as my stress eating needs to be better managed.

Thought for the day: Be careful what you sing and where you sing it. EX: after commenting that the waffle mix was to thin after returning from my ride this morning and sometime there after subconsciously starting to hymn the Veggie Tales song "It's plane to see .." --- whack .. I guess I didn't realize what I was singing, nor how close to my wife I was. None-the-less, we got a big laugh out of it as I tried to explain that I wasn't saying her brain was to small ... Since then, we've had a theme of 'brain' jokes today, including the relationship of dying brain cells and yawning, and mush for brains, ... it's been quite entertaining! So, the thought was, catchy tunes can sometimes end with a "Whack": don't forget your surroundings! :-)

Bowled a 236 game

2010-08-03T12:02:00.005-05:00

[Photo: my best bowling game to date: 236 :-]

This morning I got to go bowling with my family - that was nice. As a family we bought shoes years ago and have a large container of them now for our family and 'guests' that join us too. This morning it was just the six of us though and the bowling alley was mostly empty. We have an offer that my frugal wife bought at the beginning of summer so we can bowl two games each. Since we all have our own shoes - there's no cost.

Before today I bowled one game probably 15+ years ago over 200 (in the low 200's). Well today, started with remembering where I was standing and aiming from the last time we bowled as a family (179 and 169 that time). But today was different that first game: I was able to put the ball over my mark .. and get strikes; seven of them in that game with two spares and one open frame - the 10th. When it was finished my score was 236. It's my best game to date - and I was able to do it with my family! [For those that are interested: I throw a straight ball, I stand two boards to the right of the last dot on the floor and aim for the fourth dot from the left of the first set of dot's on the lane.]

So, I don't know who like to bowl that reads this - but it's a fun family activity and if you make the investment to buy shoes it becomes very affordable.

My Grandma used to take me bowling when I was a kid and she's the one that gets credit for teaching me how to bowl (even though I don't quite have her unique approach walk). She was a good bowler - and for you that remember the game show 'Bowling for Dollars' - she was on that. She didn't win much as I remember, she said the lanes were very waxed (slippery). She also used to fish with me and taught me how to play penuchle! And I think she was better at both of those activities than I was too!! She has passed away for many years now, but Grandma Rose was quite a character, fun and silly ... and some might say that I too am becoming a bit of a character too!

So this morning I bowled the highest score game of my life to date!

3 weeks 3 rides

2010-08-02T20:11:00.002-05:00

[Sorry, no photo this time .. no time. ]

It's a far cry from previous training ... but when priorities and life squeeze, I'm glad to be getting one ride a week in: and have managed to do so for the last 3 weeks.

I'm still running - that not as much as before too, but I'm trying to get my miles back up over 20-25 again. In my running last week, I did 2 miles @ 13:11, and on my 7 mile day I did mile 4 at 6:40. For me that's good, but I'd like to do better. So, I'm trying to add a few more miles each week and adding more speed training (which is my least favorite thing to do: running speed training that is). Intervals on the bike I enjoy much more for some reason .. probably because I'm faster on the bike than I am running.

I also recently did 61 sit ups in 60 seconds and am going to work on that to see if I can get 65. I could do 53 push ups and would like to see that improve too .. but then again, priorities and time limit training.

The weight lifting has been another area that has taken a time/priority hit - and I've lost a fair bit of strength and muscle. I'd like to add it back, but for now am going to focus more on aerobic fitness so will expect to loose some more muscle. :-(

Eating wise - I'm still enjoying my salads, and almond butter, jelly, spinach and black pepper sandwiches: and I'm enjoying the 'Blue Bell' a little to much too! I know it's a stress releaser for me, but I still struggle with it.

Something that I'm mindful of these days: "Knowing what to do isn't enough: doing it is!" It's a valid truth for all areas of life: health (eating, exercise, sleep), family, friends, God. It's certainly one that I struggle with in the area of health, as I know when I'm not doing what I'd like to be doing, but yet still find myself doing it. (EX: getting a second or third serving of the 'Blue Bell' [the Best ice cream in North America!])

Finially A Bike Ride

2010-07-21T21:12:00.003-05:00

[Photo: Ahhhh ... snow. No snow here now, but 5 months ago it was Amazing!! Now it's just hot; with 'hot' forcasted for the next several months...]

June 4th was my last ride - prior to this past Sunday morning. Sunday morning I was able to get out and rode 26.26 miles according to my GPS. Nothing spectacular, but that wasn't the purpose .. instead it was being drawn to ride again! I've missed it.

Every time I take my bike off the rack, I am thankful for it. It's a great bike that rides super and with regular care it performs like a champ. Certainly I am the limiting factor ...!

I rode the bridge Time Trial, but forgot to stop at the end, so I think my numbers were just over 30 mph avg for the 1/2 mile and max HR of 177. For the whole ride it was avg 18.5 mph, max 45.7 and avg HR of 148.

There were other cyclists out and I was able to ride up and chat briefly before continuing on. I'm looking forward to this Sunday's ride already. I'd like to leave a little earlier so I can ride for more than 85 minutes. I've mostly been running and working; the weights and cycling have fallen away due to priorities and time.

Training wise: I'm having a hard time pushing myself to the higher training heart rates. In the past when I was cycling focused I'd get my intervals in on the bike. Recently I've been running intervals on the track .. but I'm not seeing the numbers that I was last year. Working those higher numbers is more uncomfortable ... , but I need to get that mental desire back to the point where I can push through those discomfort barriers. We'll see.

Don't forget to get your rest, and try to lay off the Blue Bell (I'm talking to myself here).

Two Full Photos...

2010-07-12T20:58:00.001-05:00

Here are the two full size photos (not just the zoomed in portion as in the last blog entry). One is a hard candy on a cup-cake (something I don't like to eat) and the second is the word "Game" on an old TV (you can see the RGB rectangles with their analog intensity values..).

:-)

Two New Mystery Photos

2010-07-04T15:31:00.004-05:00

Ahhhh ... a few minutes to enjoy my camera again ... nice!!

So, lets see if anyone knows what either of these two 'macro' shots are. Both these shots were inspired by my kids; one by my daughter by accident and the other by my youngest son. I'm still pleased with the quality of this Cannon A710 IS Macro lense! It takes GREAT macro shots.

So, be brave, any guesses...??

New blood...

2010-07-02T16:10:00.003-05:00

My wife has (had) never given blood before .. well before today that is! :-)

I had mentioned it in the past: as something we can do together; and she doesn't know her blood type, so we could find that out and her cholesterol level too. So, today we went and did that together as one of our errands. It was Good!

It being the 4th of July weekend - it's probably a good time to make extra blood available. And we have these neat Carter Blood Red White and Blue T-Shirts that match that we can wear together: and are planning too at the 4th of July party we are planning on going to. (It's kind of fun, even if it's a little corny, to wear the same shirts; for us it's good for our marriage and relationship - and that important; so we do things like that together.)

I will throw out a plug for those that haven't given before or haven't done so recently: giving blood is a great thing to do. To have a body that has good blood, and can surrender a unit of it for someone else that may not have good blood or needs it - it's a pretty unselfish and thankful thing to do. So, please consider giving blood sometime soon this Holiday weekend: Your blood may save the life of another person!

Exercise:
It's been a looooong time since my last update. Life has been very full do to work and schedule changes. I've not been able to ride much, but have been running a moderate amount: an interval at the track once a week; another moderate run; and a 7 mi run on the weekend (for fun and enjoyment). I've not been doing weights due to my schedule change, but am still trying to do pull ups (able to do 1 set of 10 reps and then need assistance on following sets). I have been doing some cross-fit type of workouts though - and they've been good.

Hydration:
With the warm months I've been trying to stay hydrated and have noticed my body water content is up from what it used to be. This is a good thing I think as water is so vital to a well functioning body. (I have a scale that gives weight, fat% and water% - based on some entered body information. The absolute number may be off, but the change is what I'm watching; and my change in water is about 2% up from my previous normals.)

[Photos: my wife and I with our shared 'blue' post donation wraps, one of my greetings to my wife..., a nice sunrise this week.]

Intervals and Hill repeats

2010-06-03T08:14:00.004-05:00

This morning I was going to go for a run - but my wife said, "You ran yesterday morning, shouldn't you ride today?" Hmmm?? Yep, I guess so. I was kind of planning on riding tomorrow morning with Jon (if we still hook up while he's in town), but a ride this morning sounds good.

Intervals
So, a little bit later, I headed out for a what turned out to be a 61 minute ride. It was warm up to the dam and then 30/60 intervals across (30 seconds hard - 60 seconds recovery); the return trip was steady state trying to keep my HR between 145 - 155; then on the trip back home I went up the hills in my second gear (I used to use 3 and 4 last year when I was in better bike shape).

Repeats
On the last hill (Mountain Creek ~ .5 mi) I did it in 2nd gear. At the top, I decided to do it again, but in the next gear. (Kind of like the ladder I've done in the past up a steeper but shorter hill - Prayer Mountain.) Second and third gears were all managed in the saddle, but 4th required me to get out of the saddle part way up and stay out for the remainder. Fifth gear required me to get up even sooner - and with that one I decided it was late enough and just kept heading home.

With today being the last day of school for the kids - tomorrows routine is at 'risk'. Saturday I expect to participate again in a group CrossFit type workout. Last Sat I got 10 honest pull ups in on the first rotation. And on Tuesday's work out I got 10 again. That's probably only the 2nd or 3rd time I've got 10. I sure would like to see that increase.

That's all for now. What are you doing, as much as it depends on you, to stay healthy and fit: physically able to enjoy life?!

[photo: "Enjoy the smells of life - especially if they are being warn by your wife!"]

Memorial Day 2010

2010-06-01T07:24:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Memorial Day. A Great day for many reasons!

With the kids home and me off of work, it usually creates problems for scheduling in the regular exercise. For starters, I usually don't get up so early which often costs me that strength training session (yesterday was no exception). My wife and I did get our run in together, but then I made my following run alone. And that was it as far as planned exercise goes (as I don't count mowing the yard as exercise - nor do I consider throwing kids in the pool exercise).

Aerial Battle
On the run I saw two Mocking birds chasing a crow and then later I saw another Mocking bird chasing a squirrel across the road up into a tree. I saw a Blue Jay chasing a flying bug (or that's what I'm guessing it was doing as I couldn't see the bug). Birds are fun to watch! A few days before I watched an aerial battle while I was waiting outside of a store for my wife. High above was a hawk being chased by a crow, which was being pursued by a smaller bird. These birds were probably 200 feet up as the hawk was mostly gliding back and forth increasing it's altitude while the crow was often having to flap it's wings as it tried to dive bomb from the rear (giving respect to the hawk in doing so). The little bird was only a part of this battle for a brief time before diving out of the sky into some structure for refuge. It lasted 5 minutes or more before the crow also tucked it's wings and dove down at an amazing speed (I've never seen a crow go that fast) - leaving the hawk high above (3-4 hundred feet up) gliding back and forth, much like it had been doing even as it was being taunted by the crow. It was quite neat to watch. I wonder how many other 'people' saw that battle going on above? Are others to busy? Am I to idle to make time to 'watch' birds; or smell flowers, or watch the sun rise, set or look into the night time sky?

Barbecue
It was nice spending time with my family. We barbecued meats and vegetables on the grill and later cleaned our pallet with some Mint-n-Chip and Cookie Dough Blue Bell ice cream!! Mmmmmm... As I am known to say, if you're going to eat ice cream - you might as well eat the good stuff : closer to the form it was when God first made it. :-)

Veterans
I called my friend Bob - a Vietnam veteran and talked briefly. We don't see each other much any more, but I try to call him and pass on my thanks to him on Memorial Day. We often remember those and their families that gave their lives, but many came home and 'live' with the costs of their contribution to our freedoms. He (and they) also deserve our support and prayers. So it was nice to reflect on this Great Country, even with all the issues and things going on that I don't agree with - I am still thankful for the freedoms we have and for those who have helped to give them and keep them for us, for me and my kids to have.

Swimming
We got to go to a friends house and swim (thanks Rick and Peggy). That was the kids idea and my youngest daughter called and worked it out. It was sunny and most of us got a little pink - even with sun screen, but it was very nice. [At my house, if you get pink - you can be pretty certain that vinegar and aloe are going to be a part of your near future: meaning that my wife will be spraying you with vinegar (to stop the burning she says) and later some aloe will be rubbed on to ease the discomfort and aid in healing.] So, I too was sprayed and it actually burned a fair bit, but it's fine now. And she adds that I'm not pink anymore. :-)

Missing-Man Formation
In the morning as I was sitting in the yard with my wife after mowing and she had watered, the kids just went inside and I heard it: the military jets coming. We live in the normal flight path of the National Cemetery, and will have the 'missing man formation' fly over every year - several times. I jumped up and ran to where I could see them with out the trees. It was very nice and loud (the kids came running out, too late, but thinking we were having a tornado!)

Thanks
It made me think how nice it is to live where we live: we have amazing sun sets and rises, see animals doing all kinds of crazy things, have tornado's, hail, torrential downpours, have seen the sky 'boil' as a storm builds, intense heat, humidity and cold, ... so much, so neat, ... so much to be thankful for.

That'd be my theme for yesterday: a day of being thankful for SOO Much!! I'm a very thankful Man!!

11 Workouts 6 Days...

2010-06-01T06:58:00.003-05:00

Last Week
It was nice last week to get in all my morning and lunch workouts in - as well as a group CrossFit type workout in too. So that was 5 strength training workouts, 3 run / rides with my wife, 1 longer run by myself, 1 interval ride on my bike and the CrossFit workout. Five days of two-a-day, one on Sat and the week started with a rest day last Sunday. It was nice!

A Vehicle
I can't say why exactly, but exercise for me has many benefits: health, stress release and probably more important it is a vehicle for me to get closer to God. On my runs and rides I choose not to listen to music so that I can exercise my mind too. Sometimes I daydream; sometimes its fully engaged keeping my body doing the workout; often it's praying or thinking through things that haven't been given time up to this point. I will often listen to music when I'm doing my strengthening exercises, but outdoors I like to hear everything around me; the cars, animals, wind, airplanes, etc. I like to smell peoples breakfasts cooking, their laundry softener, the flowers, freshly cut grass, ...etc. There is so much to hear and smell. And then to see: the Mocking birds chasing crows in the sky and squirrels across the road, crows being chased and still chasing other birds of prey, spotting an all white albino squirrel, who knows what will be seen or smelled or heard when you're watching and listening ...

Too much?
So, there is a fair bit of time spent in exercise, but the reality is that it is a key part of much of my life. I get so much input by it and so much release through it - it's a very key part of my life.

What are the vehicles in your life that draw you to God? Those are probably worth pursuing. And the ones that fill your life with out drawing you to God - those are probably worth dropping.

Intervals ...

2010-05-27T20:43:00.003-05:00

When I'm lucky, I've been riding once a week; usually Thursdays. Today, no one else was riding with me, so it was a good day to do some interval training. For some reason, most people don't like to train with intervals: I know they can hurt, but they can also bear so much fruit; so they're worth the pain.

Numbers
The intervals were done over 8 miles: out and back across the dam. Since I'm out of practice, I opted for an easier interval: 30 seconds hard - 60 seconds recovery (easy spinning). The total time was 24:28 with an avg speed of 19.4 mph (149 hr) and mx of 28.1 mph (165 hr). The hard time was 8:55 for 3.26 miles. The total number of intervals was 16 (hard and recovery).

Nutrition
I seem to be going through one of those "always hungry" phases again .. yikes!! So, I just finished a Vanilla yogurt and will go brush my teeth for the second and last time tonight. (Usually brushing my teeth is a reminder that my mouth is 'closed' for the rest of the evening, but tonight .. not so.) Other wise the eating has been good nutritionally, just lots of it.

Strength Training
Kind of plateaued here .. but that will change soon when I start incorporating more CrossFit type of workouts in a couple weeks. So, I'm kind of in a maintenance mode with the disciplines and routine right now. And I'm OK with that. Trying to increase the activity level a little with out getting injured.

That's all for now... don't forget to add those Interval sessions in you weekly routines. If you want to see some serious improvements that is ... :-)

Even less rest..

2010-05-24T21:11:00.002-05:00

My Monday routine is still a bit like a routine, but I'm trying to mix it up some too. Today I added some sit ups to the mix and took out most of the recovery time (used the sit ups for the other muscle recovery).

I normally include them in the warm up, but today I did a 60 second test and did 60 sit ups (where I was going elbow to opposite knee) in that minute: last time I remember doing that was in High School ... a few years ago now.
- The first routine was dips, bench, decline sit ups: 3X - no rest.
- Then it was dips, decline bench, decline sit ups: 3X - no rest.
- Then incline and butterflies: 3X - no rest.
- Then tri-bar push downs, forward and reverse: 3X - 15 seconds rest.

And that was it. It was a good workout. I added some knees to elbows in the warm up: and those sure get your body engaged (from the pull up bar, in a chin up position, elbows at 90 degrees, pull knees up and touch elbows).

At lunch it was then regular run and ride with my wife: it was a bit warm today and we're both sporting a little extra 'red' in our complexion. Just over 5 miles total.

Eating was good. I'm still hungry a lot, but just dealing with it and letting myself be hungry when I know I've recently eaten.

No photos today. I need to relax a little with my camera and add some photos soon.

And all went quiet...

2010-05-23T20:43:00.003-05:00

Wow, it's been a long time since my last Blog. I am still exercising; I am still eating fresh raw spinach most every day; I am still struggling with Blue Bell and I am going thorough some changes in my work that may have me run silent for a season as my time gets re-prioritized in a couple weeks.

I don't know where to start with an update .. I guess I can say that I'm modifying my routines a bit again with the intent to make them a little more like circuit training. As it is I don't take much rest between sets: 0-60 seconds, but I am thinking when I was taking 60 before I will try 30 this week, and 30 before will be 15. Should make for a challenging workout. The reps may suffer enough that I will likely have to back down the weights to get in 4-6 reps min. We'll see .. just experimenting .. trying to work hard, mix it up and maybe even have some fun too. I tried a group workout this past weekend where they train with high intensity for shorter times: I like it. I've kind of done it some, but want to try it some more.

Nutrition wise I've decided to give my self some grace on the weekends and try to live tightly on the week days. I guess that's all for now.

What Am I?

2010-05-06T09:14:00.001-05:00

Can you identify these? We're growing some...

:-)

The Closer you get...

2010-05-06T07:55:00.003-05:00

[Photos: this mornings post workout drink: soy milk, whey powder, carob powder, cinnamon, turmeric, cayenne pepper and olive oil; before being stirred and after.]

This must be my fourth or more attempt at starting this blog .. it's like trying to write with a 2x4 dipped in ink, rather than a quill: there's just to much and it all comes gushing out. Much like trying to drink from a fire hose. So, I'll try to reduce the volume, take a deep breath and start again...

Nutrition:
Other than over-eating I'm doing good. But then that's a lot like saying, "Other than not having any self control over the quantity and frequency of my eating - I'm doing Great!" What a contradiction. Rather than feeling good about the types of foods I'm eating and ignoring the amounts and reasons for such eating, I should (and am) continuing to be amazed at the struggles that food can have over this life. But then, the original sin involved Food - that doesn't surprise me much! And this is all coming after a 4 day juice fast.

Exercise:
This is down from previous routines. Mostly due to getting busy with other "Big Rocks". My wife and I got a run/ride in yesterday, but missed Monday and didn't get the core workout either. But we were happy for the run at least. It was hot, windy and dry. Our run together was slower than normal and my run I had a hard time keeping under 8 min/mi pace (my GPS kept playing the slow pace alert - meaning I was going to slow).

Strength:
Still struggling a little here, but today was a little better as it was my Heavy Bench routine. I'm not gaining any reps, but I am still maintaining. The last three work sets are 225 and I'm still getting 3 reps each with 90 seconds rest. I also do a couple sets of close grip decline at a lower weight; and some incline dumb bell sets too; and dips and tri-bar sets too ...

Motivation is down...

2010-05-04T08:05:00.004-05:00

The time after a fast can often be more challenging than the time during it. Such is the case this time.

I've been forcing myself to do my strength training, but the intensity is down A LOT. But, I'm just trying to push through this knowing that it will pass soon (hopefully a few days to a week). So, there was no running yesterday: alone or with my wife. Other priorities are pushing and getting more time. It was inevitable .. and has begun.

The biggest pressure for me is an upcoming teaching event, where I'm going to speak on the subject of "Healthy Living" to a Ladies group. I've lead several small men's groups on various topics including Health and Nutrition, a mixed group, and a couple single sessions on the topic of Nutrition, but this will be my first 'conference' type event.

It will also be my first time speaking to a women's only group: one session Friday evening and two sessions on Saturday; with some break out topics, healthy snacks/menu, and ice breakers too. And it will involve not just the physical side of being Healthy, but the more important and often overlooked Spiritual side too.

I'm very excited about it, but the preparation for teaching causes a fair bit of anxiousness for me as I prepare, but knowing that I like to be free and go with the flow of the group. With under two weeks left for preparations - I'm starting to feel it more. This rock is becoming bigger than exercise and many other rocks in my life, so things are getting shuffled around a bit right now. If you want more details, please let me know. :-)

The photos are from the rain that blew through last evening. It was nice to have my camera and take photos again ... it was very relaxing and enjoyable. Nice to see the intense Rainbow and the reminder that it is of God's promise to never Flood the World again (Genesis 9:12-15 ).

Day Four .. broke fast this evening

2010-05-02T16:19:00.004-05:00

We started Wed night after dinner and my wife ended Sunday morning and I will likely end Sunday evening. The main purpose was for Detoxing and doing it together.

The menu has been juice and broths. We've juiced carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, oranges, lemons, grape fruit, grapes, strawberries, parsley, beats, spinach, ... and I'm sure I'm missing somethings. The broths have been made by warming pressed garlic, pressed onion, parsley, peppers, some home made salsa, sweet potato, and various spices: turmeric, mustard powder, cayenne powder, black pepper, olive oil, paprika, Basel, and a few other that escape me now. The broths would be warmed and then strained. They were a bit spicy from the pressed garlic and onion, but those are good ingredients for a detox and I didn't want to put them through my juicer and contaminate it.

I also brushed my skin daily with a luffa sponge and had an enema each evening - even though I had a natural BM each day. I guess I measure the success of the detox by the stool. Having regular natural BM's while not eating I see as a good sign, as I am normally very regular after eating a meal and before exercising. I will not describe it here.

Exercise these last for days has been two mornings of strength training, a run with my wife on Friday, Sat was a 30 mi bike ride with Ed, and Sunday was an indoor soccer game.

I have in the past taken supplements and also soy milk and whey protein powder after working out, but this time it was just juice. I would also use psyllium husks in the past, but this time used a nightly enema instead.

The total weight loss was 9 lbs, most of which I expect to get back as my colon starts working again. My stomach is flatter, but that is likely due to the colon being empty.

So, tonight I broke the fast with a salad: spinach, onion, crasins, mustard, olive oil, honey, black pepper, cayenne pepper, turmeric, and some refried beans (something I've been craving). Not the best meal to start a stomach after a 4 day juice fast, but .. that's what I did.

That's all for now. If there's something you are curious about or want to know, just ask and I'll respond.

Juice Fasting...

2010-04-30T07:20:00.002-05:00

Thursday was the start of a Juice Fast. This one is different as my wife and I are doing it together.

Morning:
We both started the day with exercise, independent of each other: me in the garage with the weights and she on a bike with a girl friend. I was making juices while the kids were getting ready for school.

We sat down together after they were taken to school for our juice meal. Before us were four jars of freshly made juices, vacuum sealed (to keep out the air) until we were ready to drink them. This morning we juiced carrots, spinach, grapefruit, sweet potato, orange, lemon, kiwi, pear and apple. I made one container of spinach and another of carrot. Then the other two were combinations of carrot and the others. (Carrot is a good 'cleaner' of the juicer, so I run it through after softer fruits, or at the end of the spinach to squeeze out all the spinach juices.)

The first we had was spinach and carrot. It looked like a fluid that you'd put in your car (my wife said), but the flavor wasn't too strong and was actually good. Then we had some of the fruit juices - diluted with water.

I usually use psyllium husks to add volume to keep my bowls moving during a juice fast, but am going to use enema's instead this time. (Psyllium can be mucus forming, so I'd like to have as much 'cleaning' benefit as possible from this juice fast.) I will leave most of those details out, although they are an important indicator of how the cleaning is going.

Before heading out the door I had a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar with some water. I'm not taking my supplements during the fast. I am planning on keeping all my regular exercise. I'm not going to be taking any whey protein drinks after working out - which is something I've done off and on in the past. The key here is to allow as much cleaning and detoxing as possible.

I had 30+ ounces of water by 10:30; used the restroom 5 times; and am looking forward to sharing this experience with my wife. She says she's done this before, but I'm not sure how long, so it will be neat to kind of 'coach' her through this and see how it impacts her physically, emotionally and the rest.

Afternoon:
Small group ride (three of us), but a good one with all the wind. Afterwards I fixed juice for my wife and Mathew.

Evening:
We made some broth from some warmed water with garlic, onion, bell peppers, cabbage, celery, cayenne pepper, mustard, black pepper and I cant remember everything else I put in there. We then warmed it and then strained it and drank the broth: not bad actually.

The skin is vital for getting rid of toxins, so I used the luffa sponge in the shower. I had three bm's naturally by noon and then an enema that evening before bed. Day one ... ending.

[Sleep was good (Th night), HR was down just a little (as is normal). Expect to be a little cooler today (Fr) and have a lower HR. Worked out this morning, but a little less intensely. Am ready to make and drink some juice (a little bit hungry). Scale says 4.8 lbs difference. I would say most of that was in the further emptying of my colon with nothing filling it up.]

Two for Two so Far

2010-04-27T20:08:00.004-05:00

[Photo: some extra garlic that I pressed this evening. I put some on my garlic bread, and this will end up in tomorrow salad. Garlic is very good for us, so I eat it often. Some people say I smell like garlic, but I don't smell it, so they must be pulling my leg ... ]

Monday morning was my normal workout, but I worked out with the garage door open (I forgot to close it the night before). So that allowed me when laying down on the bench to be able to look out and see the transformation of the sky. It started out dark, then lighter on the horizon and dark up higher, then clouds, then more light, then some pinks, then orange .. it was quite a sunrise. I would have got my camera, but I didn't want to wake anyone else up. It was a nice addition of a dimension to the workout.

The workout is still the circuit type - bench, dips, etc... with short (30 seconds) or no rest in between exercises.

Later in the day my wife and I did our two mile run together and then our 3.2 mile run/bike together. The first two miles were at 9:38 pace and the last 3.2 miles were at 7:21 pace. It was a gorgeous day and nice to be able to run.

Tuesday morning was mixed up with a different schedule for the kids. So the weights were done in the evening before dinner. Nothing real notable. Just glad to get it in and see a little improvement again. During lunch I was able to enjoy a 7 mile run with 1 mile at a little faster pace of 7:10 and the avg pace for the 7 miles at 8:10. It was good to run for fun and allow my mind to think of other things.

Last week was the first week that I had all five strength training sessions in several weeks. I'm hoping for a repeat this week and have M and Tu on track so far.

Tomorrow should be work out with my wife and running. Thursday should be weights and then a group ride with a new rider joining us. Should be a lot of fun.

Life continues to be full - and good.

That's all folks .. don't forget to say why you're saying I love you to the person you're saying it to. It is sure to improve your relationship in BIG ways!!

Love Training...

2010-04-26T19:58:00.005-05:00

Not, do you love training? But rather, this is about 'love training'.

What do you do when your spouse says you are saying "I Love You" so much that it doesn't have any meaning? Do you have a pity party? Get angry? Stop saying it? Shutdown? There are many not helpful responses, but I think my wife and I are on to something BIG here...

This last week I started a "NEW" practice - at the request of my wife. Rather than saying I love you, I first started thinking about why was I feeling love for her right now? Then I would say something like; "If I were to say I Love you right now, I would mean that I ...." and I'd describe the reasons for wanting to let her know that I love her. Then with that communicated, I could say "I Love You" and the meaning was clear and known to us both.

The result has been really neat for both of us. For me: to have to think about what I'm trying to express and then actually trying to express that. I'm finding that what I'm expressing can be quite different, even though in the past I would have used the same three words to express it. So for example, after our exercise today, I told her that if I were to say that I loved her I would be saying that I appreciated her riding with me, coaching me, encouraging me, helping me to work hard and not leaving me behind - then I told her that I loved her - and she knew what I really was trying to express. For her: it seems to me that she's opening up and wanting to 'hear' what I'm wanting to express. It's almost like I'm able to see further into her eyes - like she's more open to hear my efforts at deeper and more meaningful communication of thoughts and feelings. Even though the idea was hers, she hasn't started doing it much yet, but I did ask her this evening after she said she loved me, "Why?": So she too shared what she was wanting to communicate in those familiar words and it was very nice to hear why she was wanting to express her love to me.

A parallel is apologies. How many of us like to be told "I'm sorry." Nothing else, just that? Not me. When I hear those words, I will usually ask a question, "What are you sorry for?" Then I can understand what they are sorry for and it leads to a better understanding as the speaker has to think about what they are really wanting to say, and the hearer gets to listen with out having to guess what they are trying to communicate. I've been doing this for quite some time (read many years - and requiring my kids to do the same).

So, just as earnestly as I would encourage you to add some interval training to your running and cycling workouts, so I also encourage you too try out this replacement for "I love you." Make an effort to say "Why" you are wanting to express your love, and then finish with those familiar 3 words - where they will now have specific meaning and communicate deeply. Take the risk, open your heart, this is your spouse - go for it!

Just trying to pass on something that has taken us years to discover. Try it, I bet your relationship will like the results!

[Photos: more nice roses, fruit from the Mulberry tree.]

Trading Progress for Perseverance

2010-04-23T07:39:00.002-05:00

[Photos: "I'm Loved", my youngest son winding up for a 5' 8" jump, lunch time salads ... yummy!]

The weeks continue .. and so does life. Often it seems the events of a day are what would normally occur over a week; and the events of a week are those of a normal month. So it is in my life ... again and again; living months in weeks and weeks in days...

Indoor Soccer:
We had another game last night, 2nd one for me (missed the last two Sunday games). The first game caught me off guard 2 1/2 weeks ago: I thought I was in pretty good shape, but the high intensity running had me winded in 5 minutes. I had been running, but not doing any intervals or high intensity training. So that next Monday my wife and I started our current routine where we run together at her pace (2 mi) then she rides with me while I run (3.2 mi) at a challenging pace for me (usually 7:30 range).

We've been doing this for 2 1/2 weeks now and I was much better off Tuesday night at the game: not the winded problem of the first game. We lost, but it was fun. I got to score two goals: one header and one by foot.

Strength Training:
I missed my Friday routine last week, so I had 4 times including Wed with my wife. This week I got in all 5 routines; what has become a rarity these last weeks. I've backed down just a small bit on some of the weights where I felt like I was sacrificing 'good form' for number of repetitions. Over all strength seems to have plateaued for the last 3 weeks, but with all that is going on I'm OK with that and am just working on persevering at this point. This is week 25 - with just the one week off due to sickness.

Running:
We're still doing our run/ride combo 3 days a week. Wed we saw a new PR in the run with my wife! She's still complaining some, but her times are getting faster. It's fun doing together. I ran 7.6 mi on Tue, but at a relaxed 8:40 avg and 138 avg HR.

Cycling:
I cycled last Th at lunch and did again this week. Last week it was just me and Ron. This week it was Ron, Steve and I. Every time I get on my bike .. I think how fun it is to ride, to go fast .. it's a fun sport! I am only riding once a week now, and before it was none. Just no time since it's not my priority right now.

I got a call from Ed who will be visiting next week .. with his bike. So, I expect to get a beating when we go riding as he too is a ferret, but I expect he's in much better cycling shape than I - and he will probably enjoy putting the 'hurt' on me at least one or twice on our ride! :-)

Nutrition:
Pretty much the same successes and struggles here - mostly eating well, but eating to much. Did have an encounter last week with some bears, the small gooey kind ... but I eventually was victorious after their population was taken to zero (I'm speaking of gummy bears). Salads prevail for lunch; protein drinks after the morning workout and oatmeal for myself and wife after the kids are gone. I'm trying to cut back on snacking and desserts.

Priority:
The priority in the area of health right now is to not over eat, strength training and running. Along that path I'd like to see my weight come back down 7 lbs or so. (It's not good when you eat 5 lbs of gummy bears in a week....)

Life:

As I started this write up, so I will end it: with the fullness of life. The Bible talks of how the things we go through will later be used to help others. What I'm experiencing right now is that while the paint is still wet and even still splattered on my face .. it's time to help others. It's not my goal or desire to have an 'easy' life, but rather a 'full' and 'good' life - and that's what it is.

My life feels like a hike right now: where the trail changes (rocky, dangerous, level, steep up and down, wide, narrow with overgrown brush, wild animals - some small and some big, ..) and the weather changes (sun rises, sets, dark cold nights, beautiful days, intense downpours, a rainbow, ..).

Sometimes the uphills aren't so bad in the middle of the day, but in the dark of night in a downpour ... sometimes I just have to look for shelter and continue when it's safer.

So, my desire is to persevere: even when it's more than I can handle alone, for in those times I experience the intimate care of my God: and what can be more important that that?! (Not getting another rep, not another PR, not loosing more weight, not ... nothing!) Life can be challenging, but that's OK.

Mystery Bug - Exposed

2010-04-19T07:53:00.002-05:00

The previous photo is of a "Mayfly", or that's what my wife and I think it is. We have many of them around these days; sometimes we refer to them as mosquito eaters, but I'm not certain what fact that is based on...

The Mayfly was on the window of our car drinking the drew from the windshield. :-)

Mystery Bug

2010-04-13T07:42:00.004-05:00

My daughter saw this this morning as she was heading off to school. So, she does what every kid would do; she calls her Dad to "get the camera!" :-)

My family's always on the look out for possible "Mystery Shots" or other cool shots. It's fun to see their 'eyes' developing as they are 'seeing' much more than many these days as they see flowers, bugs, clouds, ... and other amazing things in God's Creation. (Had my daughter had more time, I'm sure she would have grabbed my camera and tried to take this shot herself. But, she hasn't quite gotten the macro photography down yet. Soon I'm sure.)

Can you tell what this is?
Can you tell what it's doing?
Can you tell where it's at?

Still recovering...

2010-04-11T20:08:00.004-05:00

[Photos: a little 'lady bug' like bug that landed and crawled up my arm as I watched my son's soccer game, rear drum van brakes - a bit more work than disc..., another little bug enjoying my arm at the soccer game.]

This last week was #23 since starting back at strength training after taking most of last year off for cycling. Before getting sick two weeks ago, I was mostly seeing continued progress; but the last two weeks have been full of broken routines...

Strength Training:
This past week I got in my Monday, Thursday and Friday routines. (Tuesday was spent working on the car with my Dad. Wed was time talking with my wife instead of working out together.) The other days all saw a little decline in the repititions, especially the Friday routine that hadn't been done for 4 weeks [note to self - need to get those friday routines in]. No break throughs or noteables other than having a failure on my 'close grip decline' set with 135 lbs on the 20th rep. Failures are always fun: having to crawl out from under the bar as it rests on the stops on the frame...

Exercise with my wife:
We too have been missing some of our workouts (runs and Wed strength / core) in weeks past, so this week we got all our running in, with a few modifications: rather than two runs of 2 miles and one run of 3 miles we did three runs of two miles. But, we added a three mile bike/run after the two miles: where she would ride my Mtn bike with me while I would try to run 3 miles at a quicker pace (7:30 ish). So we did this three times and then got a 7 mile bike /run in on Sat. So, my wife ran 6 miles and biked 16: the most for her in a week with out question!

Six days of running this past week:
It always seems that as one area struggles another will abound. So this past week the running was 'abounding' as I ran M-Sa: 5.25, 5.6 , 5.25, 5.4, 5.25, 7 ==> ~32+ miles for the week. That's more than normal for me in days and quantity. No real long runs in, but there were 3 runs of 3.25 miles that were in the 7:30 range (good for me). My max HR on these runs was in the upper 170's (177, 178). Not what I've seen on the bike last year, but still reasonable for where I'm at aerobically.

Nutrition:
My struggle with proper nutrition continues to be portion control. Now that I'm allowing ice cream again, I have to be careful there too. And my wife brought home a 6 lb bag of gummy bears ... I've asked her to put them away for me as they are easy for me to over eat. But the albacore, spinach, protein drinks, salads, chicken, water, etc ... all continue. All in all - no complaints. I still enjoy an active and fit lifestyle!

This week: #24
I would like to see all my strength training sessions again. I'd like to see all the bike/run sessions with my wife and some of my own too. For this to be a reality, I have to get to bed earlier - on time. So: this will end my entry for tonight.

How big are these flowers?

2010-04-04T19:04:00.005-05:00

Can you guess the size of these flowers? (Even though most might call them weeds, if they notice them at all...)

When I'm not exercising I sure do have a lot more time for taking photos ... :-)

I hope to have some more 'training' articles this week. If you're not training, take the time to see and smell the flowers!

Two Mystery Photos

2010-04-04T18:58:00.002-05:00

Here are two new mystery photos. Can you tell what they are?

Two steps backwards

2010-04-04T18:45:00.004-05:00

[PHOTOS: me crawling through the grass taking photos. The first of my fuchsia prey ... , the second of a towering flower/weed (1/2" tall) ...]

With being sick last Sunday-Monday, I never really recovered this past week (22). My wife and I didn't run all week. She ran by herself on Monday. I ran lightly no Tuesday. We had our core workout on Wed. Th was my normal workout, but I was missing repetitions in most of my sets. Friday was missed and not made up on Sat. Sat evening there was an indoor soccer game .. whew .. that can sure let you know your aerobic conditioning level. And mine was / is lacking.

Through out the week I notice my coordination was a little off or slow at times - something I attributed to not being 100%.

So, it was a recovery week; where the exercise was light and the short term is a couple steps backwards, but in the long run (in a couple weeks) I expect it to be a part of further steps forwards.

I hope to step it up this week and get all my planned work outs in; as well as adding some better aerobic training by running or cycling intervals .. every ones favorites!

Why keep training??!

2010-03-31T02:39:00.003-05:00

Sooner or later we all ask this question: "Why am I doing this?" It may be in the context of physical training, school, work, marriage, faith, ... it's a question that penetrates all boundaries in life.

So as I'm finding myself awake, again, and not wanting to disturb my wife (this time) who is sleeping so soundly so near by, I'm going to think elsewhere and let her sleep. Tonight I'm wrestling with a common question in my life: why am I doing what I'm doing?

Physical Training:
Why do I keep at the daily physical training? For me it's not to reach an end goal and then stop, but rather a continued process of wanting to be my best each day. Some days I'll be able to train 3 times and others I may be able to train for a week. I've yet to run a marathon - something I would very much like to do some day. But it's not a fundamental motivator in my training. It'd be neat to be able to do 20 pull ups, bench press 300 lbs, ride a sub-5 hr century, run a BQE (Boston Qualifying Event) ... but the real bottom line for me in training has to do with the quality of my life. If training for a specific goal takes time away from other more important life goals - then I have to adjust my training and possible short term goals. Physical training has it's place; it's a big rock for me, but not my biggest.

A bigger rock: my Marriage
My wife and I went to a marriage conference a few weeks ago - maybe 4 now. It was very good. I've been reviewing the material and there are many pearls of wisdom there. One of them was, "You can't get a new spouse, but you can give your spouse a new you." If you're married - you should re-read that. It hits full strength on the "Why am I doing this?" question in the context of marriage. If our perspective is me centered, then being open to making ourselves a better spouse with out any guarantee of it being reciprocated, is very tough indeed. But, that's what separates Great marriages, Poor marriages and divorced marriages.

Having been married almost 22 years - we've seen some rough seasons and both want more in our marriage. But it's possible that more of our needs may never get met. That's a difficult reality to consider, but it's a real possibility. What I can do is change my thinking; to "GIVE" more of me; learn to communicate and express Love in a way that my wife understands (5 Love Languages); don't be so selfish (let her rest while I lie awake in bed); consider if my expectations are appropriate or should I have any expectations at all?; do I communicate my needs as requests or demands?; do I punish and reward - or just Love? There are so many things to consider when I'm willing to reflect and work on myself - where I can actually change.

Another good pearl was "The grass is greener where you water it most". Meaning: work your own garden, raise your own flowers and trees, keep your own fountain flowing, use your own actions to build into your marriage - don't look for a garden that has the flowers you want already blooming. Work the ground, dig up the rocks, make the rows, plant the seeds -- and Water them: enjoy making the garden God gave you a beautiful place. Our spouse is that garden and a fountain to be enjoyed.

Another wasn't new - but nice to hear how important it is to understand that marriage isn't a 50-50 deal: it's 100-100. We have to be willing to give 100% independent of the contribution of our spouse. It ties into the giving your spouse a new you concept: where we can act independently of our spouses actions. And biblically, when we stand before God and give an account, Revelation 20:11-15 there won't be any using our spouses as an excuse.

The marriage changer for me was asking God for the desire to change myself even if my wife never did. That I would be an honorable husband and father: period. No conditions. And very shortly after those prayers came another prayer, "help me love her as you love her" - another biggie.

For those with a Biblical belief on marriage, the Husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church (and in the OT as God loved his people). This is a love that exceeds my capacity to give on my own. God's example is to a people that regularly choose other lovers (other Gods) and yet He continued to love and restore His bride. It's a VERY high bar. And one that I can wrestle with several times a day - more when I'm needy and frustrated that "my" needs are going unmet --- or are they? Are they really going unmet, or am I just thinking wrongly? I am certainly not a perfect man, but I am thankful that God has been giving me this desire of my heart - to be able to Love my wife more like he loves His bride. I know my wife has seen a change in me over these last 5 months and I look forward to seeing what a few more years like this will grow in our garden. :-)

What's the purpose of marriage anyways - biblically (Matthew 22:23-33 ) there is no marriage in heaven , so why work so hard at it? For me, I believe marriage is bigger than the two of us. It's one of those cases where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole! Where else can we be so close to another person and have God work through them to shape our character? And children .. they are a gift from God; as difficult as they can be, they are still a gift from God. So, marriage is a deeper training: a life training. Other than God, it's most peoples biggest rock, unless the rocks are out of balance ...

So, why keep training? To be the best I can be: physically, emotionally and spiritually. So when this life ends and I stand before my creator with out all my excuse cards, my life won't be a shame. Everything done for myself will have no value on that day.

(Maybe I can get to sleep now .. time to try. I'll have to re-read this in the morning... wow it's late/early .. I guess I'm a slow thinker...)

Being Sick - not the norm.

2010-03-29T19:59:00.008-05:00

[Photos: the squirrels were out enjoying the day today; the last photo has 3 squirrels and one mocking bird in it: they were having a great time today.]

I've been very thankful that for the most part, I don't get sick very often: maybe once every couple years..

Well last night started my most recent 'sick' experience. I thought it was from eating to much pizza. Something I like, but it's pretty low on the nutrition scale (even just the veggie versions). And I had two large pieces with two servings of salad for lunch; then a couple hours later went for a bike ride (22 miles); and then ate three more pieces after my ride. About an hour later my stomach was starting to tell me that I had made a mistake.

There was little rest as every three hours I would have to use the bathroom to throw up (multiple repetitions in each set): I did 3 sets of those: 10:30 PM, 1:30 AM and 3:30 AM. I know I was getting a workout as I was sweating each time. My heart rate was also up. That being said, it's one of my least favorite forms of exercise and I'm glad that I don't have to do that very often!

Walking back to my bed from that 3:30 AM restroom visit (last set) I turned off my alarm: "There was no way I would be able to get up and do my Monday workout; no way at all." (It's now Monday night and I think my Tuesday morning routine is also at risk. Bummer.)

I had to stay home most of the day from work today. My wife bought some Gatorade, 7-Up, and saltine crackers. (This is my normal recovery meal after such an intense workout.) I ate and drank slowly even though I was VERY thirsty and hungry. I tried to go on some errands with my wife mid morning, but she had to help me across the street much like a Boy Scout would help an elderly lady. I was slow moving and achy and ended up waiting in the car for all three stops after a brief attempt to participate in the errand.

When it came time for our 2 mile run .. I had to watch her go with out me. :-( I was glad that she did it, but kind-of sad that I didn't get to run with her. It was a Beautiful Day: warm, sunny, hardly any wind; a perfect day to run together.

Being sick is an infrequent experience for me - something that as I experience it again I'm very glad for. I would first attribute my health to God's blessing on my life. Then I'd assume that the disciplines that I practice also have a part - but who can say for sure. My goal is to just do the best I can. This sickness was a good reminder that I don't like being sick and there's no reason for me to do things that can make me sick (like over eating). If I get sick - I get sick, but there's no reason for me to live in such a way that makes it more likely to get sick: unless I enjoy eating more than being healthy...?

Strength workout details

2010-03-28T19:08:00.004-05:00

[Photos: recent sunset. We were hoping for the submarines to be racing in the lake, but they weren't racing that night - maybe next time...]

This past Thursday workout was a little different from the previous 20 weeks: I've backed off going to single rep sets on the bench. Last week it was 245 and 250 for the finial two sets, this week it was a second and third set at 225. So, instead of a single rep at each weight last week, this week it was 3 reps each.

From what I've read, even though I've not had any problems yet, doing single rep sets weekly creates a lot of stress and can often lead to some overuse injuries. So instead, I stayed at 225 as my 'work' weight and did three sets there (4, 3, and 3 reps). I think I will don the 1 rep sets every 3 or 4 weeks from here on out.

The rest of the workout was much like the one the week before:
- Bench: 20-bar, 6-135, 8-185, 8-205, 4-225, 3-225, 3-225 with 90 seconds rest between sets
- Close Grip Decline: 20-135, 12-155 -- 60 seconds rest
- Incline dumbbells: 18-35, 9-45
- Dips: 9, 9, 9
- Triceps rope: 15-60, 10-70, 5-80 -- 30 seconds rest
- Wide bar Triceps push down: 18-60, 10-70, 5-80
- Triceps kick backs: 20/20-25

Friday's workout was missed and not picked up on Saturday; and so was the 3 mile run with my wife. :-(

4 Mystery shots exposed

2010-03-26T08:13:00.004-05:00

-The first photo is of my eye.
-The second photo is of my wife's eye.
-The third photo is of my wife's eye after being fully dilated by an extensive eye exam. (Not a cow eye...)
-The last is as guessed - the center of a rose.

Finially a core WKO

2010-03-24T20:19:00.005-05:00

[Photos: Some of the roses that I've placed around the house for my wife (reminders in my absence), I watched my Grandaughter Monday AM and she was affectionate to her dolls.]

Wed had been 'our' core workout together, but we missed the last two weeks: today we got to work out again together .. it was nice!

The routine is mainly legs and trunk exercise: leg raises, L's, good mornings, squats, decline sit ups, punching bag, weighted calve raises, plank and kick backs. We do them as a circuit and do it twice with a decent warm up too. There are many neat things about working out with your spouse: time together, encouragement, teasing, affection, ... it's not the hardest workout - but that's not the primary goal. The big benefit is relational and we're seeing new PR's there!

We also got in our 2 mile run together at lunch. It was a bit windy, but not to cool. She ran like a champ and is consistently running just over a 10 min/mi pace. Very good for her. She's capable of more, but not motivated yet to go there. I can only encourage her and point out what I see. Even she said it was a good run today as we prayed over our lunch after the run. She'd say, "Every run is a good run; when it's over!"

Yesterday was just a regular day with exercise: no big events. The weights in the am were normal and in the pm I was able to ride on the trainer (51 minutes). Every time I ride on the trainer I'm surprised at how effective it is at cleaning my pores. It seems to have an amazing ability to make my whole body sweat. I think it's more effective than a sauna!

Tomorrow is heavy bench, but I think I may modify the routine a little for the next couple weeks and not go quite so heavy to where I'm only doing a single rep, but rather do a couple sets where I can do 2-5 reps. Then I'll do the 1 rep sets maybe once a month. Up to this point it's been fine, but the weight is heavy enough that I want to take a cautionary step since I work out alone and don't want an overuse injury in my elbows.

My weight is up a little. I was sore for a couple days from Mondays bench PR. I feel recovered now so should be fine in the morning.

The rest of life is full - as is everyone's. "Every day has enough trouble of it's own." - so make "TODAY" your best day!

4 New Mystry photos

2010-03-24T20:14:00.002-05:00

The following four photos are of three different objects.

Can you tell what they are?

Can you tell which two are of the same object?
(I'll post the full size photos that these came from in a day or two.)

Monday - wk 21, another PR

2010-03-22T21:32:00.003-05:00

[Photos: Finished the entry way flooring (and boy is it nice), the late March snow this past Saturday evening/night.]

I've been doing a bi-weekly rotation on Mondays now for the last 10 weeks. One week it's med-light weights with more reps and little rest, and the other it's 6 sets of 6 reps with 2 minutes rest. The 6@6 started at 185, 195, 200, 205, 210 and today it was 215 - a PR (personal record) as I've not done it before. (I'm guessing in two weeks I'll likely repeat this weight as it was all I could do to get all the reps in.) No major changes in the rest of the days workout. When I came in - the house was quite. It was clear that Spring Break had not been eradicated from the system yet.

Lunch was beautiful and my wife and I had a very good 2 mile run together. She's still complaining some - but she's doing it .. and doing it faster. :-) You know what I like to say, "Go Grandma, Go Grandma, Go Grandma ...".

Evening was full: I was hoping for some time on the bike - but didn't happen.

It was a nice day all around. Just about ready to hit the sack and start it all over again tomorrow. Some days are just nice - and I sure am thankful for those when I get one: that was today. A day where the joys were more than the stresses .. that's nice!

Supercross - Dallas Cowboys Stadium 2010

2010-03-22T21:23:00.005-05:00

Last month I won 4 tickets to the Supercross this past Saturday evening at the new Cowboys stadium. I took 3 of my kids - and we had a great time!

The stadium is hard to imagine with out actually seeing it with your own eyes. The two big screens are huge. Everything is big. We sat on the second level and had great seats. We were able to park and walk and saved the parking fee (thanks Dave).

One of the things that I enjoy and appreciate very much about living in the South is the patriotism and pride of our great country. At this event there was a police escort, military escort and 12 new air men that took their oath at the start of this event. There are still a lot of proud people where I live - myself included. I don't agree with everything that's going on, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Spring Break - routine breaker...

2010-03-19T05:32:00.004-05:00

[Photos: a nice sun set from the back yard as seen over my roof, my peanut butter cookie maker expanding to doughnuts (quite tasty unfortunately), same sun set out front.]

Spring Break, when all the kids are home and not in school, is a time of mixed up routines and broken schedules. Now in my family, I like routine more than the rest, so the others are probably just fine. For me the late nights rolls over to late mornings; late nights often lead to undisciplined eating close to bed time; missing my morning exercise; and other 'changes' as well.

Strength Training
So this week, week 20, I missed my Monday routine. It was actually the first time in 20 weeks (some may be saying after 20 weeks you 'should' miss one). So, Tuesday morning (late) I did a combined Monday and Tuesday routine; also something I've not done before. Excluding the warm-up time, it took 82 minutes: kind of a long workout with the weights. I certainly had some 'tight' muscles when I was finished. No real steps forward, just maintaining previous weights and repetitions.

Wednesdays core day was also missed. Last week I attempted it by myself but was having an achy back, so I stopped. This week there was just no time (probably over slept due to being up late). So this was the second week of not getting this workout with my wife - hopefully we can get this back next week.

Thursday is my heavy bench routine and I changed it a bit this week due to last weeks improvements. I used to do the bar, then put on 45's, then I'd start the 'work' sets and put on multiple 10 lb weights, take them off and put on 25's, ... kind of a hassle due to not wanting to jump to big from the warm ups to the work. But, now I am adding the 25's after the 45's: what that means is my first set is now 185 instead of 175. So, the new sets were: 185, 205, 225, 245 and 250 with 8, 8, 4, 1 and 1 repetitions respectively. I've gotten rid of a couple of the intermediate sets and added another single rep set at 250. The rest of the routine is about the same as before, but I did bump the triceps sets up by 10 lbs.

Running
This week, even with the broken schedule, the running time with my wife is still very high on my priority list and we've been able to get both 2 mile runs in and are planning on getting the 3 mile today. This will only be her second time running 3 miles, so we'll see how it goes. My main goal is to be an encourager to help her accomplish what she wants when she may think she can't.

For myself I've been trying to get in 1 longer run a week and was able to do that at the dam - 8 miles. The Garmin says it was at an 8:14 avg pace. That's fine with me.
Cycling
None. There is a ride on Sat that I was wanting to do, but it conflicts with the afternoon and evening plans. That's kind of a bummer for me. Last year I was zero on the weights by now and 110% on the bike. This year it's different: different goals, motivations, ... very different.

Life
A current struggle of mine: letting people make their own choices; want what they want and not what I want them to want - when those choices directly affect me. These are obvious things to say and very difficult things to do - when you really have to let others choose to like you, to be with you, or even 'want' to be with you. Many friendships and relationships seem to be in this place right now. It's a challenging balance to not pull back and to still let others exercise their own will - even after they've filled up at your table and now move on with out investing back to the level that I would want. It's very much a sense of rejection that has to be dealt with properly and timely.

It goes back to that difficult word "unconditional". I can't think of an easy application of it: unconditional love, unconditional friendship, ... It's a challenging standard to live by - and I continue to be challenged by it, deeply!

I'm meeting with two other men and going through the "Seven Pillars of Health" book. I've done this before with a men's group and a mixed group and each time it's a neat time of learning and applying; but mostly it a time of encouraging. Encouraging each other to seek out the truth and put it into practice in our lives; to be willing to see ourselves honestly and be wiling to make changes. It's a 7 week journey that's main challenge is to apply what you learn and let it impact your daily life.

End of 19 weeks

2010-03-14T21:19:00.003-05:00

This week ends my 19th week of 5 strength workouts per week. That's about 90 workouts since starting (missing about 5 over those 19 weeks).

Mon - was 6 @ 6 with a PR (personal record) a 210 lbs followed by the rest of the Monday exercises. I also ran with my wife 2 miles and got 50 minutes on the bike that evening. Also spent a little time with a young man who is wanting to loose some weight and gain some muscle for his summer job (motivation to work a water park with out a shirt on...)

Tue - no real changes .. still not able to get 10 pull ups! Man .. I can get 9 1/2 ... but can't push myself for that last half. Most of the rest of the routine is about the same with just minor changes due to the 'eb-n-flow' of training.

Wed - run with wife for 2 miles (second fastest time for her - fastest being last Friday). Lunch core workout by myself, but was poorly motivated and having some lower back aching .. so I called it short and hardly worked out at all. Not a good workout!

Th - gained a rep on the 225 and 235 sets (4 and 3 reps respectively). Just last week I lost one rep on the 235 set, so it's just part of the normal '3 steps forward and 2 steps back' progress: so I'll take it.

Fri - Still at my pull up ladder of 6 (1,2,3,4,5,6,6,5,4,3,3,3), so the last two were up just a little. I also had one more rep on my last set of the lat pull down (from 6 @ 140 to 7 reps). No run on Friday - too full.

Sat - talked with my wife about modifying the routine a little and adding another mile one day a week. So, we ran 3 miles in the morning together - the first time she's ever done that!! So, it's another PR for Grandma!! Go Grandma, Go Grandma ... You're doing a Great job!

Weight wise I'm up a little from my lowest, but I still have a pair of pants that I can wear that don't belong to me ... (that's all I'll say about that)! I'm OK with that for now as I'm not able to give the extra discipline required to keep myself at that level - nor am I able to give the time in additional exercise to do the same.

Tomorrow is the start of 20 weeks .. 6 more and it will be a half year! That sounds like a long time. It will be neat to see what has changed in 6 more weeks - I'm excited to see!

Commitment

2010-03-10T20:33:00.007-06:00

Now if you're my wife, who thinks my blogs would be better if she could skim PAST the exercise details and just read the 'real life' stuff, this is one of those in its entirety. This ones for you babe...

---- No exercise details follow ----

Recently I made a list of movies that I wanted to see (maybe while trying to put some time in on my bike on the trainer), but I also picked out a movie called "The Time Traveler's Wife". From the review that I read, it sounded like a movie that my wife and I might both like: time traveling, love, marriage, hope, struggles, ... could be a good mix of guy and gal content. So we watched it the other evening...

I don't want to give any 'spoilers', but I thought it was good. I saw conflict, love, commitment, hope, .. and when it was time for the couple to reflect back on their life; they said they wouldn't have changed anything. That's so rare these days. Most of us think marriage is about myself: meeting my needs, helping me succeed, being happy, giving 50-50, ... what I'm learning after 20+ years of marriage is that just isn't what its about.

As one who believes that God puts people together for the life long journey called marriage - it's so much bigger than ourselves. A marriage is the starting place for a family, for a heritage, for generations to benefit and reap harvests that were initial sown by us. It's about giving 100%: anyone can love someone who loves them back, but what about giving with out getting your needs meet, or lowering expectations and requirements to be happy, maybe seeing our spouse as more important than ourselves, ... and on and on it goes.

The movie to my wife was sad - and she doesn't like sad endings. I however thought the ending was positive. So, we saw the same movie but experienced it differently - imagine that ... ! It lead to some nice discussion about how I saw the movie and why I thought it was hopeful and why she thought it was sad. I don't like to make movie recommendations - but I guess I'm about to: I thought this was worth the time to watch it as husband and wife.

Some of the thoughts; what can I do differently to love my spouse as God would have me too? What unrealistic expectations am I holding on to, or even requiring of my spouse? What areas of selfishness can I surrender? What languages of Love does my spouse respond to?

Words of Affirmation
Quality Time
Receiving Gifts
Acts of Service
Physical Touch

After 21 years, I feel like I'm almost starting over again. God has given me a fresh love for my wife, so I know He can do the same for you ... if you are willing: to pray, surrender and do what needs to be done; knowing isn't enough - it's got to get into your heart and experienced through your actions and words. I'm hopeful for the next 20 years: they should be incredible - or so that is my desire.

(With the oldest person alive at 114; if we both make it that long - we've got several sets of 20 year increments left ... :-)

Training to prepare for Training

2010-03-09T08:33:00.005-06:00

Below is a snap shot of the logged exercises for the last two weeks. It's not the detailed log, but rather a high level log. The detailed log is kept with my weights and that's where most of the details go: including runs and rides. (Yes - I guess that means I keep two logs.)

This week starts number 19 with the emphasis on strength training. I had thought I'd be riding more, but I've just not been able to add it - nor have I been willing to replace the weights or runs up to this point. So, it's looking less and less likely that I'll be ready for the hard century ride (Three State Three Mountain) on May 1. :-(

Positive Note: On Monday I do a different bench routine every other week. This week it was doing 6 sets of 6 reps with 2 minutes of rest between sets; the significant note for me is that it was with 210 lbs - a weight that I've not done before .. , ever. It was difficult and when you do the second set and already know that you couldn't do another repetition, and still have 4 more sets to go .. it quickly becomes a mental battle not to give yourself an out or an excuse to not complete it. (The way the routine works is that you go up in weight after you can to 6 sets of 6 reps. If you can't get 6 reps on one of the sets, then you bump it down for the reaming sets. So, having done 205 two weeks ago; I couldn't mentally get my head around 215 so I opted for a 5 lb increase. In two more weeks it will be 215.) Also on Monday I was able to do weights in the early AM, run with my wife at lunch (in the light rain and strong wind) and then get 58 minutes on the trainer in the evening.

I guess I'm passing through a season where solitude and exercise are opportunities to reflect, think deeply and consider my life. I don't see it as a crutch, substitute, replacement, escape or anything like that; but rather it's part of the mechanism that God uses to draw me to himself. The weights do more than improve my strength and physical health: there's value in what I'm listening too, there's release in being able to yell, scream, cry, dance, sing and have freedom to just be me as I try to beat this body into submission. The running is often a time of extended prayer and listening: wanting to run for joy. Cycling on the trainer is more difficult - it's more like hard work: enjoyable at some level - but much work.

I only slept about 4 hours last night. Not enough I know. It seems like sleep is the second to go for me when stress and anxiety build past a manageable level. The first would be constantly eating (which I struggled with yesterday). So part of today will be spent fasting: with the desire to cast my cares on the one who cares for me; and then to not take them back. I'll probably have a long run during my lunch break - since I won't be eating.

Such is my life. The physical training is progressing well and is a component of the training that happens in relationships with my family and others. PT is of some value, but life is full of training that is so much more important. "Be faithful with the little so you can be trusted with much" .. that's my desire.

Managing expectations - giving unconditionally

2010-03-06T22:11:00.005-06:00

[Photos: Youngest at a cub scout activity shooting the BB guns, one of the most fun of the day - the paper rockets, one of the 'ships'.]

It's hard to believe it's been 18 weeks now (over 80 sessions), since starting back on consistent strength training. The next goal is to see what it's like after 26 weeks of this training.

This past week I had all my strength workouts: M-F (approximately 5 hrs). I ran with my wife three days on a 2 mi route; with our last run being a PR of 2 miles in 20 minutes even. (This is great for someone who has never run before. It's a good time of exercise and bonding: three of my favorite work outs of the week.) I also ran by myself twice: 8 and 9 miles with my average paces in the low 8's.

I don't have my log, but I think I only had one session on my bike. Not much time for a ride coming up very soon. I'm still not sure how to put more time in on the saddle as I don't want to give up the strength training, nor the running with my wife. I could swap out my runs, but the wind has been a bear; hard for running, extremely difficult for riding.

No real improvements this past week: lost a couple reps here and gained a few their. I also picked up a few pounds. My middle daughter has become quite a good 'cookie' baker - so we are flush with yummy variations of peanut butter cookies. Unfortunately tonight I found the jar full again of fresh cookies .. and took care of maybe 7! :-(

Tonight's run was kind of neat: I don't normally get side aches, so a 1 1/2 miles I walked for a couple minutes due to the pain. It gave me a chance to think about why I was running and what I should be thinking and praying about on this run. The rest was good - adding a loop to bump the distance to just under 9 mi with ~3 of the middle miles run at a faster time. What was the focus? The short answer: to take off the burden / yoke that I was starting to put on my wife to please me; to meet my expectations. That burden is a thief to giving unconditionally. It's hard to love unconditionally when you have expectations that go unmet. It's much better to lower the expectation bar and focus on raising the unconditional giving bar...

After the run, I was able to come home (after what seemed like just a few minutes but was really ~73 mins) with renewed resolve, purpose and direction. Ready to give love with out conditions or requirements - a challenge for sure. There's something neat about being able to let your spouse fall asleep in your arms or under your affectionate care. I would encourage all who are married to practice this weekly: find pleasure and satisfaction in speaking the Love language of your spouse - even to the point of letting them fall asleep while you continue to give unselfishly. These are seeds that will indeed bear fruit in your spouse.

The "Ebb and Flow" of progress

2010-03-04T19:30:00.004-06:00

[Photos: lunch one day (broiled salmon) mmmmm, Birthday breakfast at Cracker-Barrel with my youngest daughter this week (still won the checker games and got 'one left' jumping the pegs), my middle daughter out back riding this evening (nothing like a little riding to put the smile back on a face!).]

One of the certain experiences of regular (and usually intense) exercise is the give and take of daily routines. Today is my heavy bench routine. And today I lost a rep on my 2nd to last set. This is not a big concern really, but rather a reminder that there are many variables involved in the results of a training session: previous rest, nutrition, energy, attitude, wellness ... etc.

It is unreasonable to think that change will only happen in a positive manner. The saying "Three steps forward and two steps backward" is applicable to training too. Often the overall trend is improving, but there are periods in there where gains are lost; to later be recovered with further gains too. Such is the reminder from today: like a tide that is coming in, still each wave will come in and then go back out.

Nutrition wise: my biggest problem has been - I'm hungry a lot (all the time). That leads to over eating. Why am I hungry? I'd have to guess .. stress: I'm eating to feel better, not because I'm actually hungry. So to say I'm "Hungry all the time" is probably not accurate: more likely I've got an abnormally high amount of stress.

Confrontation: as one who doesn't mind confrontation - I wouldn't mind a reprieve at this point. Having to confront people older than ones self is a difficult thing to do properly: done with respect, in Love, gentle but still firm, giving instruction, giving a rebuke, exhortations, corrections, ... etc. Confronting those who are close to us is also a challenge. My life has had several of such confrontations over the last several months: with the most recent one being today.

Handling conflict, being able to correct, over looking an offense, loving unconditionally, giving forgiveness, always hoping, ... these are the real fruits of "A life of Training". The physical training has some value, but real life is all about relationships: with God first and other people next. My life would have little value if I only trained my physical body and didn't also practice disciplines that affect more than my physical person. Forgiveness doesn't require big arms - but rather a big heart. Unconditional love is not related to how much one can bench press.

So as I consider the negative progress with the weights today, I am also considering the positive progress in my life with a properly handled confrontation of one older than myself; of love given with out condition .. a day of true training; another day in "A Life of Training..."

Can what we do as a family affect our health?

2010-03-01T08:34:00.003-06:00

[Photos: balloon race, driving cars on the wall, keeping an 'eye' on things, puckering up.]

My family and I went to the Science Museum recently to see a 'Spy' exhibit and a 'Technology' exhibit. It was very interesting with lots of hands on things to do, try, see and learn.

But, rather than give all the details of our trip to the museum, what struck me as I was 'people watching' - there aren't very many heavy to obese people here?! Hmmm ... why is that??

I saw mostly families with kids of all ages (mine ranging from 9-17). As I was sitting there and noticed that, I started looking around more and it was confirmed right away that the general population in there was not a 'normal' sub-section of the general American population: there were very few heavy to obese adults or children.

I mentioned it to my wife who quickly agreed and started pondering the 'why' question with me: "Why do the people at the science museum look more healthy than the ones that I see at other places?" Some of my initial thoughts:

they are interested in knowledge and may know more about health issues
they are out with their families doing things together
they are spending their time and money together
is it a more educated group, and somehow education can impact our health (but I see medical Dr's who aren't healthy - which is an extreme oxymoron)

I see a lot of heavy parents and kids at the soccer games on Saturdays: so putting kids in sports isn't a clear sign of the 'practice' of good health. I also see healthy people of all ages at the donut store (as well as those not so healthy looking).

My wife and I recently went to Red Robin. It was immediately apparent that the population in there better matched the general population: a much higher percentage of overweight to obese people present. Why? One easy one is: bottomless fries. Or as my wife was saying, where are those bottomless fries going - to peoples bottoms of course.. We shared the fish-n-chips order and it was very tasty - and we had a second serving of fries too. Not that there is any nutritional value, but that they were offered, already paid for and I said sure. And I'm one who thinks about how many miles I'm going to have to run to burn that off: but I still struggle with leaving food on my plate too...

Finial thought: Where we go and what we do can indeed have an impact on our health. Learning to walk away from free food, walk away from food already paid for, ... even, visiting more museum's could be a healthy thing to start doing. :-)

Why do you think the people at the Science Museum are more health than the general population? Please comment. Thanks.

An observation from the Spy exhibit: - One of the 'things' a spy often has to do is lie or deceive others (not a job that would keep you out of conflict with the Ten Commandments). So they had a section there where two people would interact with each other by asking questions about a picture: one would lie and tell the truth and the other would have to pick if they were being truthful or not. What I found out is that I was able to lie with out being detected by my wife 2 out of 2 times and the one time I was telling the truth she thought I was lying..? She on the other hand was detected when she lied and agreed with when truthful. This wasn't a big surprise to me as I can usually tell when things aren't quite right ... which is a good thing for a Father of 5 to be blessed with.

After 17 weeks...

2010-03-01T05:30:00.003-06:00

[Photos: one of the breakfasts I prepared for my wife this last week (1 egg with grilled onion, bell pepper, spinach and cheese with refried beans (no lard/msg)), even 30 minutes on the trainer gets my pores sweating - even in 40 degree temps: it's a messy workout.]

It's kind of hard to believe that it's been 17 weeks now (started on Nov 2) of purposeful strength training (via weights and core exercises). The last recorded session was in March on 2009 - the longest period of time in the last ~7 years with out doing some regular weight training. (It was do cycling.)

As I look at my log entry for that first week, I see several things that are different now:

I have a much more formal and through (and difficult) warm up time
The max weight for my heavy bench routine then was 195 for 2 reps: last week 195 is my second set weight and done for 8 reps: followed by 5@215, 3@225, 2@235 and 1@245
The pull up ladder was up to 4 (1,2,3,4,3,2,1) with a note saying I couldn't do 5: last week was the first week that I can remember (ever) where I did a pull up ladder to 7 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,6,5,4,3,2,1); that's 16 ttl vs 49 ttl
My routines used to take 40 to 45 minutes and now take 55 to 65 minutes
I've added a few additional exercises
All the weights are up from that first week
I've added a bi-weekly routine change on Mondays switching from a more intense circuit to an intense strength routine
I've had to replace my heavy punching bag as the other one started to tear after several years of 'taking a beating': my replacement is doing well and still taking a regular beating too

Even with the differences, the underlying structure is still noticeably similar. I'm still doing the same groups on the same days. Wed, core day, has become a time with my wife joining me - since week 7 with only a few absences.

What's nice is that I really enjoy the results - and sometimes the workouts too; certainly it's very nice when they are done. It' s my hope to keep it up for another 12 weeks - June 1. I need to put some thought to some more concrete goals, but will do that when time allows. As for time, it's time to go do my circuit Monday routine now, so I'll just add that I had two 8 mile runs and two rides on my trainer, and three 2 mile runs with my wife this past week - besides the 5 weight and core sessions. I had one day with 3 activities: weights (morning), running(lunch) and cycling(evening) - which is something I enjoy when it happens.

Final thoughts: think about where you want to go or be with your health and fitness, recruit some help if you're not able to put a plan together to help you get there, and very important, START. Then, equally important, PERSEVERE: don't quit, work through the challenges and you will indeed see fruit of your labors - I know I am. :-)

A Discipline called Fasting...

2010-02-26T08:18:00.002-06:00

[Photos: a fairly normal protein drink that I make (whey protein powder, filtered water, soy milk, ginger, cayenne, and cinnamon), when not fasting a typical lunch (salad: spinach, tuna, onion, garlic, ginger, peppers, ... ).]

Discipline is often not a word that people like to hear; and neither is fasting. It's my experience that both are an important part of a balanced life.

Fasting for me tends to come in seasons: where it will happen regularly and then not for a while. The fasts are usually of different lengths depending on the purposes: purposes range from intensely spiritual to health reasons.

Yesterday was spiritual reasons (which shall remain between me and God) and to remind my body that food is for nourishment - NOT for pleasure. Since I still did my exercise, I allowed a protein drink afterwards to aide in post exercise recovery. I did this after my strength training this morning and then after an 8 mile run during lunch time. I then broke the fast with my family after helping prepare dinner. And then later I was able to ride on the trainer for a quick 37 minutes. So, it was a good day with exercise, but also a good day with not eating and spending more time in prayer and reflection.

Fasting is a big topic and one that I'm not going to try covering here. I mention it though, because it is worth considering it's role in our lives: especially a life of training, or a life of discipline. It's not a 'diet' thing, but rather a discipline that helps in all areas of life. To be able to tell our bodies 'NO' is a key requirement to be able to 'DO' what we often need to do but isn't easy to. If there's interest I can write at a later date on Fasting and more details on it's use in my life.

For now .. take control of your eating: eat for nourishment, fuel your body for what you want it to accomplish. Good fuel, rest, training, ... much is required to accomplish great things. :-)

12 lbs in the last 30 days

2010-02-22T21:14:00.003-06:00

[PHOTOS: a typical salad for lunch (spinach, carrot, onion, crasins, bell peppers, spices, mustard, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, ...), A close up of the albacore - not pieces, but the kind we get is a whole chunk - it's the best I've found and I buy it exclusively!]

This isn't the Biggest Looser, so for me to loose 12 lbs in 30 days - it's a little faster than I'd like. I have been trying to cut back on my quantity of food as my weight passed over my 'warning' line early this year - or maybe even late last year. (A more healthy weight loss rate would be up to 2 lbs per week - at my weight.)

Now to have 12 lbs and still able to lose another 5 with out much concern - I was caring some extra weight that can't be contributed to 'increased strength' - iow lean body mass. So the weight loss is welcomed and I'm trying to to keep it off and see another 5 lbs go with it.

My normal eating is a protein drink (house drink: soy milk, water, ginger, cayenne pepper, Cinnamon, spinach, protein powder, ground flax seed, almond, and sometimes apple, pear and carrots when I use the VitaMix). Lunches will often be salads with tuna for protein and dinners will be with the family and not always as nutritionally balanced. I usually drink 24 oz of water while doing my weight routine and will drink another 50-70 during the rest of the day.

I've not been getting the intense aerobic exercise that I used to - which is one of the reasons I was putting on the weight: I was eating for a much higher training load. Time and other more important commitments keeps the training down, so the eating has had to come into line. But the flip side of that is that it actually feels good to be hungry at times. As I write this I'm a little hungry, but it's 9:30 and no way am I going to eat anything now. My teeth have been brushed (as a reminder to me that my mouth is closed for the evening) and I'm not planning on eating until after my workout in the morning.

I do get my HR up during my warm up and through some of my more 'circuit' types of routines, but it's not the same as running hard or cycling hard / long. But for now, it's what I can do and I'm making the best of it.

I still haven't done 10 pull ups (9 1/2 last week) so maybe this week ...!

I'm continuing to enjoy the weight workouts, so that's why I'm still doing them and this is week 17 after 7 or 8 months off last year. Even my middle aged body is responding well to the training. Today I did a bench workout that works on strength: doing 6 sets of 6 reps with a 120 second rest; today I did 205. I may have completed this 1 other time in the past 7 years of working out with weights. For me it says what I'm doing is working: still.

The bottom line: if I can do it, so can someone else. It takes some discipline and commitment, but the results are great in how I feel and what I'm able to do. Sunday I was able to go for a run after doing a task for my wife. I wanted to run for an hour, so I ran 8 miles and it took 1:04, roughly an 8:10 pace. I haven't done that for a while - and I've not been training for it. So it was nice to just go run and then see the results when I got home. Part of that can be attributed to the loss of 12 lbs.

My encouragement to you would be to think about where you want to be and start working to that end. It's never to late to make a change in your life.

Exercising: reaching Failure

2010-02-22T20:50:00.002-06:00

It's not my normal practice, but having worked out with free weights (by myself usually) for several years now, I do know what it's like to not be able to finish a repetition; to know what it's like to have the weights come slowly back down with muscles screaming in defeat.

This past week was week number 16 of my consistent weight work outs.
- I was able to ride my bike on the trainer twice
- My wife and I ran 3 times (which is our goal) together and worked out once
- Failure on two exercises on Th (245 bench, 45 incline dumbbell)
- Failure on curls on Fri

There continues to be signs of improvement even though there were failures in my routine this past week. Eating has been good. The weight continues to come down - with out a loss of strength; which is always a concern when loosing weight and still trying to increase strength. (As of today, I've lost 12 lbs in the last 30 days. It's a bit faster than I'd like, but I think the stress of life is also a contributor - and one that is often out of my control.)

Snow Shots at home

2010-02-22T20:32:00.004-06:00

[Photos: shots out back, shots out front, my snow angel, night shot]

No power for 3 days

2010-02-16T21:15:00.002-06:00

Just a short note and photos to follow. We had an amazing snow storm last week. Our power went out Thursday night and was out until Sunday.

Other than some amazing walks with my wife through the crunching snow and some snowball throwing, there wasn't much exercise taking place. It was to wet to run, to cold and dark to do weights and motivation just wasn't very high with all that going on.

Thankfully my wife and I got two of 'our' runs in before the weather hit last week. I also got 4 of my weight workouts in. So, all in all it was a pretty normal week. I told my wife if we can run 3 times a week for three weeks she'll see some good progress - so to that goal we've been aiming. We only got two in last week, but this week we are hoping for 3 - in addition to our weekly Wed morning routine together.

Progress is some times measured by not loosing ground as much as gaining new ground. So, with the recent gains it's been nice to not loose that ground over the last week as my weight has come down. I'm glad to not have lost reps - even if I'm not gaining this week .. there's always next week to get another rep in.

It had been 5 weeks since I've ridden my bike, so last night I rode in the garage on the trainer. I had forgotten how much I sweat - even when it's 39 degrees in the garage. Biking is a good workout. I also rode this evening. There is a 3 state 3 mountain ride on May 1 that I'd like to be ready for, so I'm giving up my personal running time for cycling instead. I'll still run with my wife and do weights. Yesterday it was weights in the morning, a run with my wife at lunch and 45 minutes in the garage on my bike in the evening. I like days like that. It was only 2 hours of exercise total, but doing it over three sessions has additional metabolic benefits.

I am starting to sleep better again - due to stresses and heavy issues that are lessening. Tonight was the first night in a long time that I had a serious sweet tooth and struggled with sweets.

It's getting late and I've still got a date with my wife ... :-)

Points of progress last week...

2010-02-08T08:47:00.006-06:00

[Photos: even a giant handful of spinach can't change the color from the 'beat' contents, annual pine wood derby.]

Last week was 14 since starting back at the weights. Since then I've seen much improvements in strength - and even now after 14 weeks I'm still seeing some little improvement every week or two. (I can see the improvements more easily and accurately because I keep a log. Each day's routines have the numbers from the previous time I did it (usually one week prior).)

Last week included some running again. That was very nice. I ran twice with my wife on a new 2 mile route that initially seemed much longer since it was more out and back compared to the previous route that had loops and repeats. I'm trying to encourage her to bump up to 3 times a week together - it's a hard sell when it's cold or grey or wet or not beautiful out. But, I know where she wants to go and am trying to help her see the big goal - and attain it. (And it draws us together.)

I was also able to do a couple runs by myself: two 5 miles and 8 miles on Sat. The goal has been to run with joy and for fun - and that's been nice. Most of my runs are in the 8:30 range.

The last 7 days saw a weight loss of 7 lbs. This wasn't my intent, but with some heavy burdens comes some stress and anxiousness. For me that ended up being several nights of little sleep as well as a completely sleepless night. And a few missed meals didn't help much - even though I was trying to get some of my house drinks in. I did sleep better last night, but still not where I'd like to be yet.

Eating has been better. I normally eat well, but have a tendency to eat to much and also add some sweets - usually in the form of ice cream or something chocolate. I'm trying to cut back on the foods that I eat that give me pleasure rather than nourishment. The underlying idea there is that eating food for pleasure means I'm not getting it from where it should be coming from. It's probably a deeper thing for me that I can explain here right now. Life continues to be challenging - but God continues to provide Hope, direction and purpose. And more importantly He is giving me an ever increasing unselfish Love.

Today was workout one of week 15. And the every other Monday routine is 6@6. That's 6 sets of 6 reps with 120 seconds of rest in between. Two weeks ago it was completed at 195, so today it was bumped up to 200 - and it was difficult but completed as well. In two weeks it will be 205.

Life continues to be challenging - but God continues to provide Hope, direction and purpose. And more importantly He is giving me an ever increasing unselfish Love.

The two improvements in strength last week were doing pull ups and on the bench press. Tuesday I did 9 pull ups - and I only have two years of history in this log, but I don't see an entry of doing 9 before: so I think it was the first time in about 7 years of doing weight training. Then on Thursday on the pull up ladder, I've been doing a ladder up to 6, but this past Th I added a second rep at 6 before coming back down (1,2,3,4,5,6,6,5,4,3,2,1). I think that also is the first time doing that. That ends up being ~42 pull ups in that routine.

On the heavy bench day - Th, I finally got a second rep on my last set. So, in search of progress and continued improvement, I added another set at 10 lbs more and squeezed out 1 rep and 20 partials. So my heavy day now includes sets at (after warming up with the bar and 135) : 175, 195, 215, 235 and now 245. For this routine I allow 90 seconds of recover between sets and have a limit of 8 reps max (only a factor on the first two sets).

Exercising with my Wife - and my heart

2010-02-03T23:03:00.007-06:00

It was nice to work out with my wife again today. Last week she was ill and unable to join me on our 'core and legs' routine.

Today we had some extra fun by taking the camera with us. We both took a few pictures of each other working out. Of course not all pictures taken are to be shared ... but, I'll attach a couple here for fun. More than the photos taken today are now the memories we've shared together. [Photos: one of the roses I recently gave her, both of us doing our high jumping (trying to hit our heads on the ceiling).]

We do the normal warm up routine of stretching and some core exercises then start our circuit. Today it was:
- good mornings
- decline sit ups
- jumping (one leg at a time and then both trying to hit our head on the ceiling)
- squats
- leg raises
- L's
- and lastly calve raises

We did two circuits of this. The only thing that I help my wife with is doing the sit ups - lifting her up and letting her do the negative portion of the exercise. She will help me sometimes to - by hitting me in the stomach when I'm doing mine. The rest of the time we are sharing the same space, talking, being playful, teasing, laughing, admiring, ... enjoying our time together.

I like working out alone most of the time - which is good since that's my norm. It allows me to be more intense and not have any inhibitions with someone else around, but it's still nice to work out with someone else once in a while - especially my weekly routine with my wife. When I get to work out with others it's not just about my training but about interactions, sharing, helping, coaching, encouraging .. all the stuff that happens in my own head for myself now gets to be shared and spoken.

If given the chance to exercise with your spouse - take it. Don't get frustrated that you are at different places, don't be impatient, but rather enjoy the time together. Be silly, vulnerable, show a part of you that your spouse may not get to see very often - open your heart and let down your guard. I can only speak from my own recent experience - it's working for us! :-)

Monday - WO with Chris

2010-02-03T08:01:00.003-06:00

Monday I got to workout with C.Mac. He's working nights right now, so he just came to the house on his way home ~5:45.

Monday is more circuit like: short rests, changing from one exercise to another, moderate weights with higher reps. The routine is basically four circuits:
- bench and dips
- decline and dips
- incline and butterflies
- three different triceps exercises
It's a good routine and gets the blood pumping and lungs working. He's bigger than me, so body weight exercises like dips are tough, but that didn't stop him!

After a good workout it was inside for a house drink: "What color do you want?", was the question. He likes purple, so I opted for a 'beat' base. So into the Vita-mix went beat, spinach, almond, flax seed, pear, protein powder, yogurt and soy milk. It's a good nutritious earthy tasting drink that I think helps recovery when taken shortly (with in 30-45 minutes) after a good work out. As it turns out, this one wasn't as good tasting as the "Green" drink I made for him last time (not a complaint, just an observation). I guess that's because this was both a 'Green' and 'Violet' drink - its just that the beat has a stronger color (and flavor) than the spinach. But none the less, he finished his drink before leaving!

Then the next day - he got a call mid-morning, something he's been waiting hoping for .. to be chosen. Congratulations C.Mac!!

Birds Everywhere...

2010-02-03T07:51:00.003-06:00

I'm not sure why, but there were about 4 days this past week when our neighborhood was "FULL" of Robins. Going out side in the morning you would hear the birds and see them, everywhere, hundreds and hundreds of them. It was very neat.

I don't recall them collecting in our neighborhood in previous years. They're gone now. I'm not sure where they came from or were heading, but it was very cool to have them for those few days! :-)

To sit out side in the morning when it's quit and so many birds are talking ... it was quite spectacular. A very neat memory.

Trivia: "One Robin can eat as much as 14 feet of earthworms in one day!" - http://www.northrup.org/photos/robin/

Blink blink ... 10 Days later

2010-02-03T07:19:00.003-06:00

Thankfully my exercise, even at a lower priority than in the past, is still at a higher priority than Blogging has been. So, I'm into week 14 now, with 7 sessions in those 10 days. (Not all at my normal time, but squeezed in at different times.)

Week 13 had no running or cycling, but I did get all 5 weight routines in. On the 25th I was able to do the 6@6 bench routine at 195 (two weeks before it was 185). Next Monday I'll try it at 200 or 205.

On my heavy routine I saw one extra repetition, from 3 to 4 reps @ 225. This week I'll try to get 4 again and that help me to lock in the improvement by having it two weeks in a row. It's not unusual to see a little variation here and there, but if I can keep the improvements from week to week then they usually stick. I look for improvements every 1 - 2 weeks.

Some of the other points of improvements:

The pull up ladder is still up to 6.
First time of doing 9 pull ups.
I did 57 sit ups in 60 seconds.
My heavy punching bag is now ripping and will soon have to be replaced.
A few other exercises I've bumped the weight up 10 lbs.

All in all - I am still logging improvements in strength.

12 Weeks and Still having Progress

2010-01-25T18:00:00.001-06:00

The body is truly amazing: how it heals, fights off disease, how stress often causes physical side-effects, how good nutrition impacts it, how lack of sleep impacts it, ... and on and on it would go to list the amazing things in these bodies of ours.

In the span of a life, 12 weeks is a very short time. For me it's about 5 thousandths of 1 percent (0.005%) of my life. What is amazing is how significantly the body can change in such a short time: my body today is significantly different physically from what it was just 12 weeks ago. And that still with not always getting enough rest, living in high stress, making my body deal with nutritional and nutritionally dead foods.

What has been consistent is working out each week with weights: 5 different routines, with three focuses, targeting the same muscles on M-Th and T-Fr but with different types of routines on each day. This has been enough change to keep progress in the routine. Typically the reps aren't changing much, but the weights do. Some of the core and body weight exercises have higher reps as strength increases to keep the load and intensity high: where it needs to be to continue to improve. Recover times change from zero to a maximum of 120 seconds with most being 30 seconds.

How different would your body and life be if you have been putting off some health related goals and decide to make a commitment towards discipline for 5 thousandths of one percent (0.005%) of your life? And what's cool is that things will be different once you get there - things that wouldn't be if you hadn't started.

Some people exercise to look good; some to feel good; some to cover up flaws; some to increase strengths; some because the have to; and some do it because it's part of who they are. Me .. I think it's a part of who I am, part of the genetic make up that God put in me when he breathed the breath of life into me those ever growing number of years ago.

Studies show that people of all ages benefit from strength training. This is a known fact. It's not all about getting big muscles, but rather enjoying life longer. If you started today, by April 15th your body, health, quality of life, sleep, nutrition, ... could be drastically different. I encourage you to take a 12 week challenge - for your lifes sake.

Vita-Mix Morning

2010-01-20T07:51:00.003-06:00

It's been a while since I've used the Vita-Mix for my morning protein drink, I've just been using a fork to stir with, so it was nice to get to add the 'extra nutritious' stuff today...

The color gives one ingredient away, but the complete list is:

beat
sweet potato
carrot
spinach
flax seed
almond
protein powder
cinnamon
cayenne
filtered water
soy milk
ice

My wife's first reaction was it tastes like 'dirt'. But the second and following sips (of her serving) were earthy and ended with "It actually tastes good". But after hearing her say it tasted like dirt, the kids were not willing to sample the drink this morning. I put a sampler portion in a small container and will see if I can coax a colleague to try it at work this morning while I drink mine to show it can be done?

It's pretty nutritious stuff - very nutritiously dense!

Lifetime PR!

2010-01-19T19:48:00.004-06:00

I got to run with someone today who on our run accomplished something that they had never done before: how neat is that?!

Now before saying what it is, I think I first want to say "What it is" isn't as important as what was required to accomplish it. We all have mental barriers that challenge our beliefs when we set goals and try to accomplish them. These can be false - and often are, but in our minds they are very real limits. Sometimes we need the help of someone else who doesn't have our barriers to help us. That was the case today.

The success of today was built on recent smaller successes where whittling had started to take place on existing perceived limitations. When we finished I asked if this person would have done it with out my running with them? "NO." I didn't influence the pace up or down, I just planned the route and provided some extra encouragement, motivation, maybe a little different thought process and exposed some barriers as false when they came to the surface.

[I think that is the part of leading, mentoring, teaching, training, fathering, coaching, ... that is so fulfilling - seeing others push back their limitations.]

Today, I ran with my wife. We've run and walked together over the years. Our last run we ran with out stopping over the route - a first. Today we ran a longer route with hills for a total distance that she doesn't think she has ever run before. I think the distance and time isn't as important as accomplishing something for the first time - and now as a Grandma! Go Grandma!! Go Grandma!!!

[Photo: two dogs in the wrong beds, the big one picked the little bed, so the little one went for the big bed.]

53 Strength workouts in 11 weeks

2010-01-17T20:51:00.003-06:00

[Photos: Sunrise, almost empty stadium at my daughters soccer game.]

Over the last 11 weeks I've missed two of my scheduled workouts: both being Friday routines. Four days a week this is the first thing I do (while my family sleeps), but on Friday I have a weekly 6 AM meeting. Just that variation to my schedule will sometimes make it so my 5th routine gets bumped to Sat and twice now has been missed all together.

Improvements for this Week:

This week I saw a six on the pull up ladder - something I've not seen since Nov of 2007. (That means I went from 1 to 6 and then back to 1.) That's a good thing considering my weight is up right now. I also added a 6 @ 6 routine that I'll be doing every other Monday for the next several weeks. I started at 185 this week, but have done 200 in the past and would like to get back there again (hopefully 4 - 6 weeks out). And lastly I did an informal 1 minute sit up test going opposite elbow to opposite knee and did 54. I also added a new 1 rep set of 235 to my heavy bench routine. So, even after 11 weeks there are still improvements and progress.

Intensity and a proper mix of variation and routine seem to be the key. The routine is good for actually doing it regularly, while the variation happens with in the regular with good intensity. The fruit continues to be improvement, with out injury, with out burnout and mostly training alone.

The Value of having a Routine - Schedule - Regime:

Before starting back up 11 weeks ago (11/2) the last entry in my weight training log was 3/18 - just over 43 weeks ago. Even with not strength training for 43 weeks; now after 11 weeks my strength is higher than where it was when I stopped in March. At that time I was cutting back the strength training as my cycling time was increasing in preparation for the 6 Day 600 mile ride this past May. My routine was changing to early morning rides on the trainer. I still remember setting the alarm for 4:43. It was quite a schedule, but it was effective and worked as I was prepared for the ride.

I have found and it is now my practice to put in place a training schedule to help my reach my goals. I will usually work form the goal date and then work backwards planning the time needed in training to (as best as I can guess) accomplish the goal. This works good for running and cycling.

I don't have a set strength goal date, but I do have a few goals: Continue to improve. I'd like to do 10 pull ups and maybe even 20 someday. I've not benched over 260, so maybe 275 would be a neat bench goal.

The only 'Sure' time to Train:

I also need to get my cardio back on a schedule. Lunch is just to much hit and miss. So, as in the past, I will likely subtract it from my alarm time and get it in first thing - part of my regime. That being said, I think I just lost 45 minutes from my morning rest. I'll start with 5 AM and subtract more if needed. That also means getting to bed on time. Such is the routine of a full life.

I'll continue doing the weights first, then drink my home made nutrition drink and then will plan on riding on the trainer. That's easy to say, but we'll see how it goes this week. (Except for Monday which is a holiday.) Tuesday will be the first day on this routine.

Six at Six

2010-01-12T06:41:00.005-06:00

A few years ago I read about a routine that was supposed to help increase strength. As an athlete my goal isn't size and extra mass, but rather strength. Now there will be some extra mass for the strength, but you can train and target more growth for the same strength or as a runner and cyclist, I'd rather have the strength with out the extra mass.

So the routine I've done in the past (and it's been effective) is six sets of six reps at the same weight with a 2 minute rest after each set. Once you can do all 6 sets with 6 reps then you increase the weight for the next time this exercise is done (every other Monday is my plan right now). If you can't do all 6 reps on a set, then you bump the weight down 10 lbs for the remaining sets. O yeah - this is a routine that I use on the Bench. I did 6 sets with 6 reps with 7 on my last set, so next time I will bump it up 10 lbs to 195 and expect I'll probably be there for a couple times.

The rest of the Monday routine with the weights was much like putting in a good days work. After 10 weeks my body would have adjusted and stopped being challenged if I hadn't been modifying the routine and increasing the weights to keep it challenging. So a couple of the exercises were done with increased weight, some with reps at 3 (not able to do 1 more) and others with reps at 20 (where I could have still done more). The bottom line: To continue to see improvement you have to continue to Work. Even the warm up exercises are getting a bit more challenging as time progresses. I could feel it for the rest of the day: and for me I know that means I've worked myself well.

At lunch I started to ride my bike on the trainer - and did so for 20 minutes until I had a blowout. Bummer. There's little excuse for that other than user error. I use high pressure tires and think I put in a little more pressure than normal on my trainer (still 20 PSI lower than what I run on the road). I also cranked the trainer resistance wheel up to the tire a little tighter than in the past. So, the combination of those two decisions likely caused my flat. I guess it's a good lesson to have at the start of the garage training season.

I'm still kicking around the Body Fat challenge (thanks JH - 'CyclingDude'). It would require me to take my nutrition to the next level - which would be a good thing, but not sure I can right now. I'm considering it. Along those lines I weighed myself this morning and took the water and fat %'s and logged them. We'll see if there ends up being a graph here at some point in the future.

I hope you who read this are having good health (as much as it depends on you) and might even have some plans that are being worked out towards even better health and fitness!

End of 10 Weeks

2010-01-10T19:46:00.003-06:00

[Photos: ice shapes on my car this morning, The first one shows the ice crystals aligning in long strands (one in the shape of a cross), on the windshield, different shapes of ice crystals].

This week marked the end of my 10th week of my emphasis on strength training. Other than my weight being up markedly - I am pleased with my gains back in the areas of strength.

I missed my Friday morning work out this week - as has happened on several occasions. This time it was so my Mom, wife and I could go through my Grandma's room/apartment. I did get out for one 5 mile run and rode my bike on the trainer twice. That's not enough aerobic exercise for me, but it was all I could manage. I've been mostly watching movies while on the trainer but have been adding some intervals at the end.

Time for blogging and exercising is getting bumped due to daily life. With all that is going on I am glad for getting in 4 of my 5 planned weight training sessions. Life continues to be challenging and full.

A friend has a challenge to get his body fat % down to 9. I have not joined that challenge as I don't have any goals that would help me put in that kind of effort in my nutrition and exercise. How about you? (I've been down to 11 or 12% when I was doing a lot of cycling. To see less than 10 would take a lot of discipline.)

The end of a life as we know it...

2010-01-07T11:59:00.004-06:00

[PHOTOS: Grandma on Christmas Day 2009, a sunrise last week as seen from my front yard.]

Today started differently than normal: a little before 5 AM the phone rang, it was the nurse at the hospital saying that my Grandma wasn't doing so well and that we should come in. Before I was able to leave the house to get my Mom and head up there she had called back ...

It was just Sunday morning when she was taken to the hospital because she was having trouble breathing. In less than four days her kidneys stopped functioning, she wasn't able to eat, problems breathing, couldn't communicate very well and other issues. I encouraged my Mom to go home and get some rest in her own bed last night as she had been staying up there since Sunday. So after she left I stayed in the room for a while thinking of Grandma and child hood memories. I also said my good byes and talked to her before I left (even though she was unresponsive - sleeping probably due to her pain medicine). My brother and I prayed independantly for healing or a soon departure - and eight hours later she was gone.

As I think back on the nurses and hospital staff - they were so caring, crying with us and caring for the needs of a 91 year old woman in difficult times - one of the many under their care. They are wonderful caring people who love the sick and needy, doing what most family members would be unwilling to do. It would be understandable for them to be calloused towards the loss of life, but our nurse allowed herself to care.

There's no way to summarize all that my Grandma did, no way to list the things that made her life valuable, so I don't want to try. But, rather, I have many good memories of times with my Grandparents and I Know that my life today is in part a result of my Grandma. She could be hard and stubborn at times - but someone who has lived as long as she has and seen the changes that have happened during her life time: she needs to be given some slack.

I expect the days ahead to have more times of reflection on my Grandma...

Favorite Photos from 2009

2010-01-01T20:47:00.000-06:00

It's very difficult to narrow it down and pick just a few photos, but these are some of my most favorite photos taken in 2009.

These photos were all taken by me using my Canon PowerShot A710 IS and have not been modified in any way (other than to be reduced). This camera has proven to be take exceptional photos - especially at the micro distance (as seen in the 'Fly' shot).

If you have a favorite or would like a print, let me know. :-)

From A Life of Training...

Photos from 2009

2010-01-01T20:15:00.000-06:00

This past year I published ~ 600 photos in this Blog! Pictures of exercise, food, flowers, the sky, weather, ... Here's a slide show of the first 500.

Week Nine: 5 of 5.

2010-01-01T16:49:00.001-06:00

This is the end of week 9 of the training with an emphasis on strengthening (weight training); and this week I got in all 5 workouts with three of them including others: Wes on Tuesday, Tracy on Wed and Mathew on Th. Cool .. !

[Photos: timer - a very key component and tool for my weight training work outs, a clay bike as this was the "Year of Cycling" for me, me heading to the traininer - "What's wrong with this outfit??!"]

Mon: the first training day of my week and is often a bit difficult getting started. It's a low/no rest routine with 4 circuits: light bench and dips, light decline and dips, incline and butterflies, tri-pull down reg/rev. It's one of those routines much like other things that is difficult to start, but once started it can generate its own momentum to help with finishing. So it was this day, once I started I was servant to the timer that I use in my training to help me stay on task and not get to much rest in between sets.

I also made it out for a run in the afternoon for 4.75 miles @ 8:31 avg. My last run before this was 12 days earlier. This was meant to be a fun run - and it was.

Tue: Wes joined me and did my routine, which was fun. Pull ups are always a good work out... especially when I'm packing a few extra pounds - as I am presently. (Sure I'm thicker - and not just in the head, but I'm also not getting enough aerobic exercise to help with the calories I'm eating.) It was a good work out and nice to have that time with Wes.

Wed: this was the 6th week that my wife joined me for the Wed work out. She did two circuits this time which is the most so far (I only do three). Those circuits are composed of (squats, calves, jumping, good mornings, leg raises, L's, decline crunches, planks and kick backs). It's always fun on Wed. This week we took turns hitting each other while the other was doing crunches! :-) (It reminded me of my college days working out with my friend Bryan; only we'd hit each other a little more and a little harder.)

Th: Mathew joined me this morning for my heavy bench routine (it wasn't too heavy for him, but it's my heavy day). It was nice having the spot so we could push out more than I would have been able to when working out alone. I modified the routine from last week to allow a few more reps at the higher weights. This routine has 60-90 seconds of rest between each set to allow for more recovery. It was nice to work out with Mat as we are getting to know each other and it's a good way to know each other better.

I was able to squeeze in a 30 minute ride (8.5 miles) on the trainer in the evening before dinner. (Avg speed 16.9 mph avg cadence 87). That was nice. It was 40 degrees when I started, but I was dripping quite nicely by the end. The last 90 seconds was doing three repeats of 20 seconds hard - 10 seconds recovery. It was a nice time and I wished I had more time to continue. Again, I'm looking forward to adding regular trainer time in to my schedule / routine.

Fr: alone again and with my pull up ladder day, as well as lat pull downs, assorted rows and curls. My arms feel like inflated balloons by the end as they swell up from the work out and my body's effort to begin healing of the damaged cells. Then later this evening we played some basketball out back. It was fun (sorry about the lip Drew).

Summary: it was nice to have three of my five work outs with someone else. Training alone has its benefits (own schedule, own routine, can set the pace) - but working out with someone else also has some benefits too (encouragement, can push harder with a spotter, not being alone). I know I need more aerobic activity in my week and am trying to figure out what and where. Most likely it will be 30 - 45 minutes of cycling during lunch.

White Christmas

2009-12-26T14:24:00.004-06:00

This is the first "White Christmas" that we've had in many years. It started snowing on Christmas Eve and lasted well through Christmas day - even have some in the shadow of the house still.

Photos:

We had some time drawing around the table as a family. We put out some duplos and set the timer for 12 minutes and drew what we saw. It was fun. We also tried making origami.
My Granddaughter sitting in the snow laughing and having a great time.
One of the fun things we did on Christmas morning was have a "BIG" snow ball fight!
More fun for my Granddaughter and her Aunt.
Our White Christmas.
Christmas lights on our evening when we get hot chocolate and drive around looking at Christmas lights. It's a family tradition. Unfortunately the neighborhoods that we used to visit have less and less each year.
My favorite chandeliers! I always have to stop in front of this house and just look at it -- it's quite amazing. Here's a shot from over 100 yards. (This is also a family tradition.)

End of 8 weeks

2009-12-26T13:40:00.004-06:00

It's gone pretty quickly, as time does these days; eight weeks of working on strength training. The running has taken a hit with the colder weather and busy schedule - no runs this week. :-(

[Photo: the last 3 leaves on the new tree that I planted this summer - now gone.]

Trainer: I did get the bike on the trainer once this week though - yesterday, for 2:05. I was wanting to watch a movie, so I rode while watching it. According to my Cat Eye it was 32.69 miles, 15.6 mph Avg, 23 mph Max, 80 avg cadence, 150 max cadence, no HR data. I've not ridden for a while, so two hours on the saddle was a little uncomfortable. I found myself sitting up right towards the end of the ride as well as moving around a bit. I've never had nor seen 'saddle sores', but I was wondering if that's what was starting as my bottom was getting quite sore...

Weights: I forgot to do my 1 minute sit up test (again). Today's pull up ladder had a second step of 5 pull ups (1,2,3,4,5,5,4,3,2,1). Last week it was just 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1. On week one it was 1,2,3,4,3,3,2,1. So over the last weeks I'm seeing 11 more pull ups in the ladder work out and have gone from a max of 4 to 8. (This is good improvement for me.)

On the bench I saw 2 more reps @ 155 and maintained the increases from last week: so only a small increase in 'work' over last week. Next week I plan to move the max lift on Th from 215 to 225. All in all I feel stronger now than I did 8 weeks ago - no question.

Weight: not so good; still up. I've been allowing and enjoying to many sweets. I plan on getting a little more serious at some point ... maybe tomorrow (which is saying I'm not ready to really make the commitment yet!). If I say I'll start something tomorrow instead of today - that's a warning flag to be dealt with and it's the thought I have when I hear others putting of starting something until the next day too.

Wed with Wife: she joined me again this week. That's 5 in a row now. And this week she did two cycles with me over the exercises. It was good and fun! She's lost many inches - not just in the last 5 weeks, but since she started this past summer - wearing belts and considering some new clothes... :-) Which is a good reminder: the scale isn't always the best may to measure progress as an increase in lean body weight doesn't always look nice on the scale, but does show up in the wardrobe.

I'm still playing with different ideas on how to quantify strength progress. My latest formulas include body weight to help scale the numbers based on the weight of the one doing the work. So a lighter person doing the same weight is producing more power. It's kind of fun in a few spare moments here and there. My latest formula is : work = reps ^ ((weight/body weight)^3).

My wife tells me these are hard to read ... hmmm, trying to work on that. Unfortunately I've not had any good stories like the gym experience earlier this year. :-)

Back on the Saddle Again

2009-12-21T20:32:00.004-06:00

It's been over 3 months since I've ridden my bike outside; the weather last weekend was very tempting, but I had no time. This weekend was more than I could resist. Having missed my Friday workout and Saturday run - with only two shorter runs this week, when Sunday afternoon started to give way to early evening ... I was able to go for a ride.

I was a little nervous as it had been so long, but after a couple miles I was fine. The routine to get ready to ride is more complicated then going for a run:
• check / lube the chain
• check brakes
• check tires - inflate to proper air pressure (120 psi)
• prepare two water bottles
• decide on clothing
• backpack or fanny pack or none
• pack phone, camera, something to eat
• check lights
• find shoes, gloves, helmet and mirror, glasses
• put on chap stick,
• ...
It's quite an extensive procedure. From the time I took my bike off the rack to being ready to leave it was over 30 minutes.

The ride was part of my regular route last year: over the dam and up to Lake Ridge. The wind was out of the South so it was in my face on the way out and helping me on the way back: a good thing for a first ride after 3 months. It was nice to get out. I could feel the loss of stamina in my legs as I would go up some of the hills / inclines. Over the bridge I got to do my TT (time trial) section and managed 31 mph avg for the .5 miles with 181 as a peek HR. Over all the ride was 17.8 mph avg and 150 avg HR.

I continue to be pleased with the bike that God allowed me to be able to buy - well above my pay grade and experience, and something I don't take for granted. Having served my for over 5,000 miles earlier this year and hanging from the ceiling for the last 3 months -- it needed very little service and rode like the champ that it is. (Go Cannondale!)

I don't like missing my Friday workouts as those are the second workouts of the week that focus on the muscles that are helping me improve in my pull ups - something that I would very much like to have improve. I can do 7 now, but I'd like to get over 10 with the hopes of 20 some day. I've found that twice a week is enough to have improvement, but once just isn't enough. So, hopefully this week I'll get all five workouts in.

At the passing of another year I am more thankful for my health. One of the gifts I was given was a nice kitchen knife. I have some OK knives, but this one .. is amazing to use. It's almost like everything I cut is soft: it just goes right through it. I wish I would have gotten a premium knife years ago. (This one is a J.A.Henckels 8" Chef knife.) I have $10 chef knife and like it, but it just wont keep it's edge. I cook a fair bit if meals and dishes - so it's fitting for me to have a nice knife.

Eating wise: my weight is back to where it was 8 weeks ago. I've jumped 2 lbs down to 4 lbs up - 6 lbs. It's easy for me to move 1-2% in just a day or two. I continue to see some muscle growth, but I also see extra weight around my mid section. I have been doing pretty well with not eating much junk - until buying some Mint-Chip Blue Bell Ice Cream on Sat. That's my favorite ice cream and flavor - so I've had some every day since then.

My Monday routine is hard, or at least challenging in that it requires a high intensity level. There are no single exercises - all of them are in the form of two different but related exercises with no, or just a short, rest (30 seconds or less). I don't do heavy weights, but do more reps which lead to tight muscles before I'm done. Only minor improvements over last Mondays routine: which is acceptable as my intensity level is already high on this day so improvements are more likely to be due to strength increases over a couple of weeks.

Measuring strength progress...

2009-12-17T21:02:00.004-06:00

With my focus being mostly on improving my overall strength and core - I'm finding it more challenging to share those details than it was to share my running or cycling stats. But, I'm going to continue to try as I think there is some value in it. (For some reason it feels more personal. Maybe because I'm not seeing others sharing it.)

My seventh week is almost over (just my Friday routine remains). Last week I logged a number that I am going to use to help monitor progress. I'm calling it a 'work' number. By 'work' I mean the traditional meaning in Physics: "In physics, mechanical work is the amount of energy transferred by a force acting through a distance." I'm calculating a representation of that number by multiplying the number of reps * weight. (EX: if I do a set of 12 reps at 135 lbs: = 1,620.) I will use this 'work' number for my Th bench routine as this is my weekly Heavy routine. For Pull ups I will use my Friday pull up ladder total. For core, I will modify my Friday routine to have a 1 minute sit up max rep test and include that number too.

So, today's routine was my Heavy bench and my 'work' number increased from 5,420 last week to 6,425 this week: an increase of 1,005 or ~18%. That gain was accomplished by one more rep at 175, 195, 205 and adding a new set of 2 at 215.

I know that this isn't just an increase in strength from last week, but a combination of strength and intensity - a pushing closer to my limits. (If I were on the bike this would be seen as a high HR - like my short time trials over the bridge this past cycling season where I saw a max HR of 191.)

I do train alone and have many times reached a point of failure on an exercise before completing the rep. Not to big a deal most of the time, but on the bench it's a bit of a pain: having the bar siting on your chest while you push it off to the side until it rests on the safety and then squeezing and crawling out from under it the other way. So, I expect over the next 4-6 weeks I will run out of intensity improvement and will see the 'work' number slow down - but at that point it will be more of an accurate measure of strength increase.

I have gotten in two runs so far this week: a 5 mi and 3 mi. The runs are not happening as the days are full - so I'm turning down my expectations with them and just wanting 3 or 4 per week. Mostly it's a filler until I start back on my bicycle - sometime next month. There is a ride in TN on May 1 called the 3 State 3 Mountain Challenge that I'm hoping to ride in. I have one riding friend that is doing it and a few others that are warm to the idea... :-) It would be a neat way to start the season.

As for other possible cycling dream/goals for 2010:

do my first sub 5 hr century
ride 7 century's in 7 days (did 4 this year in May)
ride for 12 hrs straight
do my first triathlon

Being new to cycling - there are many 'dream goals' out there. Maybe some new technology would help: like a power meter... or some Zipp 404's, or ... maybe I need a sponsor ... :-)

Time to hang up the shoes, but...

2009-12-14T20:55:00.005-06:00

I've been running off and on for enough weeks now that I was expecting my times to be coming down by now. Last week during one of my runs, I was thinking about how I'm not motivated to work a lot harder in running to see the improvements that I'd like to see.

It was a moment of truth and honesty. Then this weekend, Sunday was such a beautiful day I wanted very much to be out riding my bike - especially after seeing three cyclists on the route that I normally ride. So I was thinking it was about time to hang up my running shoes sometime soon and start back on the bike again. I have been off it for a couple months now and I'm starting to look forward to riding again.

Then I went for a run today: it was a beautiful day, sunny, warm, running in a tank top. It was just so nice. Not the hassles of cycling: the extra gear, pumping up tires, checking brakes, helmet ... more prep time. I was just able to put my shoes on and head out the door. I didn't wear my chest strap, so I don't have my HR numbers, but I didn't think that was too important as I've not been pushing myself for the last 3 weeks or so. I did wear the GPS though, so I could track the time and distance information.

Numbers: just over 5 miles, 40:06 time, avg 7:57 /mi, max 5:50 / mi, ~760 calories. I haven't tried to avg under 8 minutes for probably 4 weeks. So today was just a 'enjoy running day' and it was quick and very nice - enough to make me want to keep running (and maybe add some bike rides for now).

[Photo: this mornings log from the weights showing the up arrows.]

The weights this morning were good. Monday is mostly chest, triceps and forearms - besides the normal warm up. I like to put little arrows in my log book when I go up in reps from the previous week - this morning there were many up arrows. By the end of the work out I had some tight muscles which is the fruit of a good work out for me. (When I go down in reps I put in down arrows.)

Weight: is up a couple lbs - and I know better than to think it's just an increase in lean body mass. There has been some of that, but I can still see and feel some not so lean mass around my midsection ...

The rest of week 6

2009-12-13T20:39:00.007-06:00

With the days so full and not having a 'hard' goal - my blogging has bumped down a few steps and I'm trying to blog as often as I can make time. This week that is twice..

Signs of progress: as I mentioned in a previous comment - I have made the 5 strength training routines the primary goal right now. Partly because I can schedule them in first thing in the morning and have little risk other than sleeping in of them not happening; and the rest because I do enjoy them (after they are done). The following are signs of progress as I've finished my 6th week:

I'm taking shorter rests in between each set. I use a timer and set it in advance for the exercise to 30, 60 or 90 seconds depending on the exercise and day.
I'm doing almost twice as much work on the bench press (3,040 lbs lifted on Th of week one VS 5,420 lbs lifted last Th - those numbers are computed from the reps times the weight for each set).
Pull ups started with 4 regular on week one and I did 7 this week.
The pull up ladder on week one went to 4 and was weak and this past week went to 5 with complete reps (1-2-3-4-3.5-3.5-1.5-1 VS 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1, or 18 total VS 25 total).
Warm up was just punching bag and hanging knees on week one; this last week it is over 10 minutes of core warm up and training: twisting and stretching, hanging knees, knee raises, L's, crunches, Punching bag and a plank.

Training with my wife: This weeks Wed routine was the 3rd time in a row that my wife joined me: and once again it was a good time. I actually wrote down one of the things she said as it made me laugh when she said it. Now it's not likely to be as funny here, but the scene is we are on the last exercise of the circuit, the plank, and she says - "I don't wanna do the plank...". This wasn't said in a rebellious tone, but rather a child like whinny voice - looking for sympathy and an out. (It kind of made me think of someone being forced to walk 'the plank' in a Pirate movie - and them begging for mercy...) So, rather than having to do the full minute (and falling to the sharks in the water below), we agreed to 2 reps of 30 seconds with a very short rest in the middle. :-)

This past week I was able to get in all 5 strength workouts; but I was only able to run three times for a total of 14 miles. My road bike has been calling out to me! It's hanging in the garage .. tempting me as often as I enter. I have some loose spokes and a little bit of service that needs to happen to it and then I'll likely ride it again soon. I've not been on it for ~3 months now: long enough to 'want' to start up again after 5,000+ miles this year.

More big rocks .. as is to be expected, but that's OK. My thorn continues to be wanting to exercise or eat when I'm stressed. Eating is easier, but I prefer to exercise: to much of either is a problem; balance continues to be the goal and will likely be the life long goal that I continue to reach for that is just beyond my grasp ...

[Photos: my son's swim meet, the last stages of a spectacular sunset, breakfast one morning (2 fried eggs, onions, bell pepper, garlic, pepper jack cheese and spinach.]

Day 1 - Week 6

2009-12-07T20:23:00.003-06:00

Since this is the 6th week, I've modified my routine a little more.

[Photos: our small dog in his bed, our big dog in our small dogs bed, both dogs in our small dogs bed.]

The last 5 weeks have been good in the sense of increasing in strength (and muscle). The intent isn't so much muscle growth, but I was starting at a place where I had been cycling and not doing any strength training for ~ 8 months. So, a little muscle growth is a natural by product of the strength training and probably a good thing too. In the log book I can see more reps and higher weights - more to support my perception that the current training is effective.

There is much talk about keeping variation in a training routine so the body never gets used to a routine or work load. I have been doing that over the last couple weeks and have added some more variation this week. Specifically what I did to my Monday routine today:

The light bench routine is now done at the same weight for all three sets (135 lbs) and now has a 30 second rest after each set and then a set of dips is done; followed by 30 seconds and then another set on the bench. Three cycles of this is done .. it's a workout that I felt well into the afternoon.
The decline bench is the same as the regular bench with the exception of a closer grip and by the 5th and 6th set of dips I was just squeaking out 1 rep.
I then did a circuit of incline bench with light weight bar bells (35 lbs) and butterflies at 25 lbs; doing three cycles with no rest.
Lastly it was triceps: push downs forwards and reverse grip with 30 seconds in between starting at 30 lbs and ending with 50 lbs.
I always start with a more through warm up now that includes twists, sides, hanging, L's, punching bag, crunches and 60 seconds holding a plank - about 12 minutes of warm ups.
The whole routine took me 51 minutes today.

During lunch it was cool (~42) and drizzly. Not what I've been used to running in, but I had to run as it had been over a week since my last run. So .. I put on my running tights and a windbreaker, ear covers and a visor and headed out. I ran just over 5 miles and ran just for fun. It was very nice and enjoyable. The avg pace was 8:32. I was also able to encourage my wife to go for a run over lunch too. That was good as she has a harder time being motivated when it's gray, wet and cold. She wanted to, but just needed a little extra push to do it. (More good coaching - IMHO.)

End of week Five

2009-12-06T20:46:00.003-06:00

This past week (the one with little blogging and NO running) was week 5 of making the weight workouts a higher priority. This was the first week where I didn't get in all five workouts - I missed Friday. This was also the first week where I didn't get in a single run!

[Photos: our first snow, One of the big rocks finally finished - no more falling down fence, a large spider my son found IN the house this last week.]

This was one of those periods where life was not able to accommodate my desired workouts - and so they were were shuffled when possible and lost for the rest. At this point - writing my Blog when I probably should be in bed, my thoughts are hoping for a week of 5 and 5: five periods of strength training and five runs of 30 miles. Unfortunately I'm sitting here eating Hot Tamales (the candy) and have had WAY to much ... another clear indicator of not getting enough exercise.

I still need to set a goal that is concrete. At this point I just have training goals: 10 / week. I also need a point in the not to distant future where I can accomplish something with the training to give it value. Over all I know I need to continue to get fitter, but I need some milestones.

That's all for now. Any suggestions for some goals or milestones? Thoughts or questions?

Working out with my Wife...

2009-12-06T20:17:00.003-06:00

Wed is now known as "Last Chance Workout" days ... or so that's what my wife said she now thinks of them as. She has for the last two Wednesdays joined me for a portion of that work out.

It's more of a circuit day with most of the exercises working core and large groups of muscles. We have a warm up period (twisting, side stretches, hanging knees, L's, punching bag, crunches and planks). Then we cycle through the following exercises (squats, calves, jumping, good mornings, knee raises, crunches and plank). She does one trip through through with me and then I will do two or three more circuits after she leaves.

We have decided that this is good and we're going to continue to make time for our workout time together on Wednesdays. She'll also be eating the same protein drink in the AM. It's kind of neat to share this together after 21 years of marriage - it's fun. I like to coach and it's meaningful to be able to coach my wife in this way. I know it's no small thing for her to get up early in the cold and spend this time with me and to be subjected to some intense exercise ... all part of the significance of that time now.

My Wed routine has quickly become my favorite of the week! :-)

[Photo: Geese flying south last Sat on my run.]

Briefly...

2009-12-01T06:17:00.002-06:00

I've had some big rocks, that aren't appropriate to discuss here, going on in life. That has made blogging fall behind.

So briefly:
- last week I got in all five routines with the weights (4th week of 5/wk)
- last week I went on 4 runs totaling ~26 miles
- my weight is down maybe a pound

I have a neat shot of some geese flying south that I took Saturday late afternoon while I was on my run (11 miles: from my house to the dam and out just over half way then back).

Monday - yesterday: weights, but no run due to other bigger rocks.
Today - no weights this morning, another big rock. Hopefully I'll get the weights in during lunch.

That's all I have time for. I hope to have time very soon to be more regular in tracking my efforts and progress. :-)

Turkey Bowl .. Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T19:23:00.004-06:00

Thanksgiving morning started with my Thursday weight routine. I know it is Thanksgiving, but I also know that to miss a day makes it easier to miss another .. and another and ... so today I have many reason to be thankful - including being able to do my Thursday routine. (I think this routine is in a previous posting, so I won't put it here.)

That left a little less than an hour to prepare and cook the potatoes and sweet potatoes for the mid-day meal.

Shortly after 8 it was off to the Annual Turkey Bowl - touch football game. There were around 20 of us playing: teenagers to me - the most senior present. It was a lot of fun and nobody got hurt. Some left with some aches and tender spots, and others (myself included) had some the next day from the sprinting. We played for around 90 minutes.

Then it was back home to help with dinner: forming the rolls, making mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and gravy. My wife and kids made the remaining items. It was a plentiful meal and all 11 of us had plenty. We were 5 generations. We also played 'knock out' - which is becoming a family tradition too as my son-in-law is a basketball player.

No run in the evening on this day ... to full, tired and no interest! I hope you all were able to reflect and have a nice Thanksgiving.

[Photos: Turkey Bowl Shots - most of us on the field, me throwing a pass, some of us walking down to receive the kick (myself and two of my kids included).]

Wed - Training with my Wife...

2009-11-25T21:52:00.002-06:00

Wed morning is my legs and core focus - no real weight lifting, but rather a circuit training for my legs and core. I told my wife the plan for the morning workout (in rough detail) and invited her to join me - to which she said sure! Cool!

Space was a little tight, as my workout area is not very spacious. I copied the routine from last Wed to this weeks page and added another exercise to the circuit for the lower back. We started with the warm ups: twisting, side stretches, hanging knee raises, leg raises, punching bag and crunches. These are meant to get the blood flowing and loosen up the joints, muscles and get focused on the task at hand.

We then started the circuit. I normally do it 4 times - or 4 sets. Each set consists of the following exercises: squats, calves, jumping, good mornings, leg raises, crunches and lastly arm and leg kick backs - 7 exercises normally done one after the other taking ~10 minutes for a set. The first set today took ~40 minutes..., but it was a lot of fun doing them with my wife. It was fun coaching her and she commented about how she used to go to the gym before we were dating (25 yrs ago) to watch me work out. We giggled, had fun, admired each other and had a great time together - something that we (like most) need to do more of. It was nice to share something that I've done so many times - but never with my wife before. One set was all she was up to today - but she still has her own routine of walking the dogs, running and skating, and using a balance ball for core exercises too.

The next three sets took around 30 minutes - and were good at raising my body temperature and putting the hurt on some of my body. This is my fourth week back after a long (cycling) season of being off, but there have been years before this of consistent time in different weight routines and exercises - so I'm pleased with the reclamation of lost territory.

In the afternoon I was able to get out for a run. I was thinking 6+ miles, but once I started I noticed how tired my legs were (like I said it was a good work out this morning). So instead I ran to the school and did some track work: running the straights at 3/4+ speed and recovering on the corners. I did 8 laps of that. I then ran back the long way and put in 5.2 miles. The Avg pace for the whole time was just under 9 min/mi: not moving very fast, but just glad to keep moving.

Tomorrow morning is Thanksgiving. I am planning on getting up early and getting my Thursday routine in, then do some meal preparation and then head out for the Turkey Bowl (flag and tackle football game). Then back home to help more and share a wonderful meal with my family: all five generations. From my Grandma to my Granddaughter. We will take some time to reflect and give thanks - the very least we can do: "I have so much to be thankful about."

Tuesday - Training with my Kids...

2009-11-25T21:47:00.002-06:00

As has become normal for this week, Tuesday was a bit later getting to the weights; so about midway through my youngest daughter came to check on me (as she occasionally does). Since she was there and asking soooooo many questions, I decided it was time to 'work her in' to the morning workout.[Now I agree with the common thought relating to children and lifting weights: that being not to do it. Rather than lift any weights, I let her do the motions in proper form with just the tension of the pulleys and cables and gravity.]

Her work out was:
- she likes to hang on the pull up bar, so I timed her for that
- I had her work the heavy punching bag for a while
- we both did some curls using the lower pulley; working on proper form and technique
- we had a hanging competition, but she started using her legs to try to knock me off (which I reciprocated and promptly fell off myself)
- she did some leg raises on the other piece of equipment (I don't know what it's called: you can do pull-ups, dips, core stuff, ...)
- ... about 15 minutes of this and she was ready to go out and play with the dogs some more.

When I came home for lunch and a run, my middle daughter was out front between our house and the neighbors and was kicking soccer balls into the street. She's working on her long kicks. So, I came out and worked with her some. Eventually there was a neighbor kid and another sibling joining us. It was fun, but took the time of my run, so it was lunch and back to work.

That evening I went for a run in the dark again. I wore my Garmin this time, but choose not to look at it at all during the run. Sometimes just looking at it changes how I feel about how I'm running. So I didn't allow myself to analyze the run while I was doing it - And that was nice.

When I was done I saw that my avg. pace was 8:28 for my normal route. That's a little faster than my average pace for the previous week. It felt quicker but still comfortable: maybe I just need to continue to allow some time to get my legs about me and the times will slowly come down. My AHR was 139. Still a little low for maximum aerobic conditioning.

It was a nice training with my girls today after bouncing with my youngest son the day before. And the Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl will be with my oldest son: and a bunch of others (mostly younger than myself); youth, college aged and other adults of various ages - Even a few of us Grandpas! We'll start with touch and end with tackle - or so the tradition is.

Weights and a run and...

2009-11-23T19:54:00.003-06:00

With the kids home for Thanksgiving break, my routine is always challenged. In part from the nights being later since the kids don't have school to go to first thing in the morning. So, I tend to be up later which makes getting up early harder. Today was no exception.

I did get a nice Monday routine in with the weights, but just not as early as I would have liked. I also got a run in, but after work instead of during lunch. I was heading out for my run when I ended up out back bouncing on the trampoline with my youngest - which lead to him discovering the fly. So, I ran in and got my camera and 20 minutes later and at least as many photos, it was to late to get out for a run during lunch. It was a good exchange though - bouncing with my son and a cool fly shoot vs. my normal run. And the run this evening was in the dark with out my Garmin - so it was almost like a naked run; except for the blinky tail light.

A public thanks to Frances for identifying the pretty flowering weed in my last entry: "Even weeds have a name, this one with the pinky flowers is henbit, Lamium amplexicaule." She has a great blog on flowers and gardens and some very spectacular photos too. And she has a Canon PowerShot A710 IS - as do I.

[Photos: weights just waiting to be used, a fly on the trampoline.]

A three week review

2009-11-22T07:24:00.007-06:00

It's been three weeks now since I stated in a previous blog entry (I feel the need for some Discipline!) that it was time to get some more discipline and order as my life was running wild, or wild for me. With that week I started back on the weights and trying to run consistently: planned activities for 6 days / week.

This past week I was able to get in all my planned workouts; 5 with the weights and 5 runs - the second time in these last three weeks. My total mileage was 34 with a weekly avg of just under 9 min/mi. Yesterdays long run was 12.6 miles at 8:52 - about 10 seconds/mi slower than my normal pace (which means I should try to push myself a little harder during the shorter runs- something I already knew but have been struggling with).

Strength: as I look over my log from three weeks ago and compare it to the one for this past week I can see similar routines with more reps at the same weight or higher weights or extra exercises:
- pull ups (very hard for me) [4,5,2,2,3,2] Tues week 1 vs Tue last week [5,6,3,2 1/2,3,2] and my pull up ladder on Th went to 4 where the first week it didn't
- bench press has a couple more reps through out the weight range
- most all exercises are showing some small improvements
- I've also added more time in warm up with stretching and I've added some crunches there as well
- I am also noticing that I am putting on a little muscle (hopefully that would be the reason for my weight increasing ~2lbs since starting 3 weeks ago)
- The last two work out this week also felt better - not quite so mentally difficult: this is a good sign.
- Plans: follow the same routine for another 3 weeks as I think there are still benefits here to be gained

Running: has been enjoyable again, but I've not been pushing myself very hard.
- I've been struggling a bit with motivation to push hard and have instead just allowed myself to run at an easy/comfortable pace (usually just under 9 min/mi)
- Yesterdays 1:50 run, when it was all done seemed like I had only been gone 20 minutes!?
- My long run had an AHR of 139 - much like the previous days of this week: 140, 137, ?, 139.
- I know I would have more Aerobic benefits if I would push harder a couple days a week, but I've not been able to successfully do this recently - not sure why.
- Plans: to try again to get at least one run/week in at a higher pace/HR.

Weight: not much to say here. I'm not loosing any weight - actually gained 2 lbs since getting back to the weights 3 weeks ago. I'm not going to say it's all muscle, but I do know my lean tissue is increasing. I would expect by the end of this next three week cycle to see my fat decrease and probably have a reduction in weight. None the less, for each lb of muscle gained - I get the benefit of 50 more calories per day being burned up.

My key reminder this week: life is relational. It's much more than setting goals, attaining goals, being successful, prosperous, or anything else like that: those are some of the many tools of the trade of life, but not life itself. IMO the real work and satisfaction of life is relational - with God, family, friends, strangers, riding buddies, people we see at the store, on the street, ... where ever life takes us for as long as we have. With Thanksgiving coming this week - it's something to be mindful of.

[Photos: a tiny flower on a weed out back, but on close examination it is very pretty and fascinating, a nice yellow flower out front, even a tall blade of grass towers over this pretty flowering weed.]

"Quit complaining and eat your vegetables."

2009-11-17T17:36:00.002-06:00

Depending on your age, you have likely heard this and maybe even said it too. It's a saying that tries to capture a couple different ideas and tie them together. Today in my run - that was the thought that came to mind as I was mildly disappointed that I wasn't wanting to push myself harder to run faster; disappointed that it didn't feel better/wasn't easier; basically just wanting more results than my investment has had time to yield.

For me this thought was clear and direct: "Why am I complaining - at least I'm able to exercise?" My runs these days often feel like eating vegetables that I'm not fond of, but will eat (on occasion) because they are good for me. (Beat juice would be one such example.) There are many people that don't have vegetables or food enough to eat; and so too there are many that can't or don't exercise enough to maintain an active lifestyle or even worse yet, don't exercise enough to stay healthy.

So for now I am going to continue to allow myself to run for fun and back off the training aspect of wanting to see to much in the area of pace improvements. I'm going to do the same with the weights. I'm only back in my 3rd week after 8+ months off and the difficulties with some of the exercises (pull ups and dips to name a couple) I'm just going to allow and accept as appropriate for the place that I'm currently at. I need to persevere through this time of investment.

I am seeing results - the vegetables are helping me. Here's to eating your vegetables with out complaining!

[Monday and Tuesday - weights in the AM and runs later in the day. Aiming for 5 work outs with the weights and 5 runs each week. This is an investment that should yield a return .. soon.]

No long run Sat

2009-11-16T09:11:00.003-06:00

... instead it was a time with other men and especially my youngest son and even a little bit with my oldest son too. It was the weekend of our Men's retreat: where we head out to some property and eat together, camp, have some teaching, sharing and do some cool things: skeet shooting, hand guns, etc...

I put up a 'large' tent that my youngest son and I slept in. We got there after dark, so It was a little challenging putting up a tent in the dark that I've never seen before. We only stayed Friday night due to a commitment for Saturday night already - but J. likes to camp.

There were parts of the property that were very wet : I got stuck in my pathfinder for about 15 minutes. Others also got stuck and I rescued / pulled out a truck on Saturday from the middle of a field that was difficult even for the 4 wheel drive.

In the morning J. and I went for a walk before breakfast and enjoyed seeing all the different flowers, weeds, animal tracks and etc: he likes to pick them, I like to take pictures of them.

Later in the day we got to do some shooting and that was fun. And towards the end of the afternoon when we were heading out J. and I had a little time with my oldest son too. He spent some time with his little brother (who enjoyed the four-wheeler rides and shooting his paint ball gun) - and I enjoyed seeing them enjoy being together!

[Photos: different shots from the time at the men's retreat.]

Weights & Home work

2009-11-16T08:54:00.004-06:00

Friday morning started with my second Friday weight routine. It was nice to get in a second week of 5 times with the weights. This is my goal for the weights. Doing it in the early morning M-F aids in it being a regular time as I'm usually here and don't plan other things.. yet. (But, I knew this was my last formal exercise for the week: sure there is exercise in everyday active living - but that's not what I'm talking about here as formal exercise.)

Once the kids were gone it was into my youngest daughters bedroom where the carpet has been pulled up for a couple of weeks now and get it ready to put down some laminate wood flooring. My friend K. and his 9 yr old son came over and assisted me. Having the extra help was GREAT! They left at noon and it was my intent to stop at noon too ... but the room was so close to being done. So about two hours later I stopped and all but the closet was done. (I had to rip a half inch strip down the last wall and some other custom cutting for the threshold - but it looks very nice now.) Sunday afternoon I finished the closet. Doorways are tough and this was no exception as I made several cuts that were incorrect: probably one bad cut for every correct one - I'm thankful we had the extra boards to cover my mistakes.

It was good to get the "Home work" done with a day of vacation, help of a friend and time on Sunday.

[Photos: flooring and continuous through into the closet.]

A cluttered desk...

2009-11-12T22:03:00.004-06:00

... a cluttered desk is often a symptom or sign of a life that is too full - or so it is in my case. If you want to know how my life is, the untouched up photo of my desk from earlier this week (unfortunately it's even worse today) speaks louder than several hundred words here could.

I try to keep the big rocks, but these days it seems like not even all the big rocks are getting done. No answers for this today... I know the simple techniques and choices - but the difficulty comes in making the many daily choices.

Wed and Th morning == two more bricks in the wall. I switched up the Wed leg routine to do different exercises with my bench attachment for thighs and hamstrings still broken (and no replacement part available from the manufacturer) - so I added some light squats and good mornings.

The fullness of these last days has made running one of the big rocks that didn't make it into the days activities. I did take a reflective 4 mile walk Wed around lunch time. That was nice. No walk or ride walks for Thursday.

Friday I'm planning on the weights in the morning and then working on a home project as I use a vacation day.

Saturday is already to full for a long run, so I'll only have 2 runs in for this week ... consistency is so difficult. Hopefully next week I'll get 5 and 5 again. That's my hope; with out sacrificing other big rocks.

[Photos: my desk in it's current state (and need of attention), breakfast this morning when my oatmeal concoction just didn't sound good...]

Two more bricks in the building...

2009-11-11T07:56:00.004-06:00

Monday and Tuesday were 'Two more bricks in the building" - meaning they weren't anything particularly special, other than they were faithfully done. Had they not been done - then that would be noted as two "Missing" bricks.

Nutrition wise I've been doing pretty good - except for some red vines and some small bowls of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (Blue Bell Ice Cream). After my morning workouts I'm drinking a soy milk, whey protein powder, almond powder, carob powder and a little cayenne pepper. (I can fill a little burn on my throat from the cayenne pepper.) Then I'll cook my oatmeal concoction for my breakfast meal.

For lunch I've been making two peanut butter-jelly-spinach-black pepper sandwiches. (The black pepper is new and came to me after trying a seasonal nut that had a coating on it that included black pepper.) My appetite has stepped up a notch due to the increased exercise, so I'm trying to be careful in my drinking of water and snacking of good foods at regular times.

Monday was the weights in the AM and then my normal route for a lunch run. The weights didn't hurt as much as they did last week; and after a week of getting back into the routine of getting up early It's becoming a little bit fun/enjoyable again (Except for part of Tu and Fr as I do pull ups on those days - and those are still quite difficult for me). The run was a bit later in the lunch break as I was trying to finish a task at work, so I turned on my 8 min/mi alert (beeps when I go slower) and heard it remind me to pick up the pace several times and point along the route until I turned it off half way through... Numbers: 7:58/mi Avg, 151 AHR, 165 MHR.

Tuesday was similar with the weights and different on the run. I did a moderate pace for a little longer 6.9 miles with one of those miles being a maximum effort. As I've said before, and will now repeat: running hard/fast is difficult for me. I have never run a sub-six minute mile, so I don't really expect to now that I'm in my 40's (although it would be an amazing thing if I did - so it's kind of a dream goal). The mile loop (according to my Garmin) was done in 6:31 with AHR of 162 and MHR of 170. I've had a 6:26 when I ran with Wes earlier this year, but this was my best effort on this day.

During that short 1 mile loop I was ready to back off or stop long before the end: it was a small struggle compared to other life issues - but at that time is was my biggest struggle and one that had to be won or surrendered to. Life is full of challenges that are much more significant than running a mile hard. Part of the benefit of pushing past those limits where the body wants to stop, is the memory and experience that goes with me for future events that require a similar perseverance. Running a hard mile has some value on its own. But a life that has been trained by many of these experiences is like a wall that can support ... the more significant things of life!

So the moral of my two days of exercise is simply - they are bricks in a wall that supports much Greater things; they are my attempts to be faithful with what I've been given.

[Photos: bricks in a wall, protein drink before mixing (after morning work out).]

Ten workouts this week, as planned

2009-11-07T20:00:00.006-06:00

[The photo is my weights log book for this week. I log times, weights, reps, sets, and make notes. I also track rest times and other time information. I've got lots of these pages...]

M-Th: weights in the morning and a run later in the day.

F: just weights in the morning.

S: a longer run in the afternoon.

-----------------------------------------

That totals up to 5 times with the weights: three different focuses and two days on all but the legs which are done on Wed to give 48 hrs rest in between the M Th and T Fr routines. It is my experience over the last few years that working each group twice a week will have results. I'm not looking for huge muscles, but rather to see a continued increase in strength: and that is still my goal and measuring stick.

For my run today I was able to run part of one of my bike routes. My wife and youngest two were in M at the soccer fields, so I ran there after getting back from my middle daughters soccer game. Google had it at 14.4 miles, but my Garmin said 13.49 when I stopped at 2 hrs as my wife and kids pulled up beside me after just leaving the soccer fields. It is the longest run I've done in the last few years.

I typically run loops, so this was the longest 'out' run ever. It was a little different seeing things on the horizon 4-5 miles away and then to know that I was supposed to run there .. and then keep going. The run was almost due South and into the wind. Normally I would get to turn around and have the wind to my back - but today it was into the wind almost the whole way.

My unit has gone missing, so the numbers from memory were 13.49 miles, 2 hrs, 8:56/mi Avg, 2020 calories.

Summary: most of my soreness from the weights is gone now - except for my calves which are still a little sensitive. Some totals for the week:

- ~32 miles run

- ~4.5 hrs running

- ~3.5 hrs lifting weights

- calories burned through exercise ~6600

- weight loss ZERO!

- energy and positive effects ... present but hard to measure

My hope is to follow this pattern for the rest of the year. Some variation of course, but much of the same structure.

Photos in the night

2009-11-07T08:02:00.002-06:00

The photos are from out back last night. I like time exposed photos. The moon has been amazing for the last week; and even with it so bright in the sky the stars have been bright too.

It was windy, so I used my flash light to illuminate the flag while I took a 15 second exposure using my tripod. The moon of course is over exposed, as the shots that I've taken of it are around 1/320 of a second - so it's over exposed by 4800 times...

The flag is at half mast as a token of respect for the victims of the Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 people. As requested my flag of this Great Country will remain at half mast through Veterans Day on November 11th.

I'm glad to be able to have my 30' pole mounted to the top of my basket ball goal - which puts it up over 40 feet when it's flying at full mast: able to be clearly seen from the front of the house. City ordnance's allow a 50 foot pole ... maybe some day! :-)

Nov 5th and running with out a shirt

2009-11-05T18:53:00.003-06:00

This morning was my second workout this week targeted on half of my upper body. It's similar to Mondays exercises but with some variation in weights, reps, rest time between sets, grips, ... maybe only similar in the base exercises and targeted muscles.

The main exercises were: punching bag and hanging knees for general warm up; bench (similar to Monday but with longer rest between sets, not going to failure on middle weights and adding a set of higher weight), decline (close grip), incline (dumbbells), triceps rope pull down, triceps bar push down and then dips. By that time I had been greeted by my youngest daughter and I was pretty much done anyways.

At lunch it was my regular route; and with the aching calves I didn't have any pace related goals. It was another one of those beautiful days we've been having. I told my wife if I wasn't so proud I'd run with out my shirt. She said I should anyways and I shouldn't be so proud or worried about how I look ... (content missing here). She convinced me, and it was very nice to run shirtless today. I haven't done that since the summer. Fall is a beautiful time here. As for the numbers: 8:45/mi avg, 141 AHR, 166 MHR.

Tomorrow will be back to a single work out - weights in the morning and no run at lunch. Saturday should also be a single workout - long run in the morning is the plan. So, no run tomorrow in hopes of resting my legs a bit for a longer run on Sat. I'm pleased with the way the weeks going so far.

I'd like to maintain 5 weight workouts and 5 runs each week for the rest of the year. That'd put me in a good spot for a Jan or Feb half marathon or maybe even my first full one .. And then there's the transition to preparing for the upcoming cycling season. :-) We'll see how it all unfolds...

Aching spreads

2009-11-05T08:01:00.003-06:00

Yesterdays workouts (weights in the morning and run at lunch) happened as desired - but the details of each wasn't quite what I had planned on.

The morning started with the weights. It was lower body / legs. I have an attachment on my bench that is used for exercising the quadriceps and hamstrings and I use that as part of my routine. I've had this bench for 7 years now, so it has served me well - but the leg attachment failed during my last set. Thankfully the weights didn't fall on me and cause an injury. (Maybe I'll see if all that metal shop is paying off with my son and see what his thoughts are - I too took metal shop and have some ideas of my own...)

Back to exercise: the weight routine was 4 sets of increasing weights/differing routines. Each set was quad exercises (Left, Right, Both - LRB), calve raises LRB, jumping in place LRB, hamstring LRB and hanging knee raises. It's been a good workout for me in the past and yesterday was no exception. I found that the overuse injury that I'm nursing on the inside of my left knee wasn't able to handle the individual hamstring exercises. So, I used ice on it while sitting at my desk through out the day for the last couple of days. (I know this is what Lyle would say to do - so I'm just doing it.)

At lunch I was wanting to run a little further at a moderate pace and then do a faster mile. But ... that wasn't to be. I started, but was never able to get my pace up. I'm guessing it was from the work out in the morning. So I ran my normal route, but at a slower pace (9:30/mi avg). My AHR was 136 and MHR 150. I consider it a recovery type of run. I wasn't pushing hard, but just moving was stretching and using the muscles in a low stress way. I was completely not driven by my pace, but was trying to keep my HR down and keep moving. (This level of exercise also helps me to be more effective in thinking and praying as less of my thoughts are used on keeping my body to the exercise task.)

This morning I woke to sore and aching calves - certainly due to the focused attention yesterday morning. It's still uncomfortable to stretch as many muscle groups all over my body are aching now. My hands also are tender and aching from holding the various bars with weights.

[Photo: showing the broken attachment that holds the weights for let exercises on my bench.]

Two for Two

2009-11-03T20:55:00.002-06:00

[Photo: protein drink this morning: 1 apple, spinach, protein powder, soy milk, ice]

Today was my second day of starting early with the weights .. and getting a run in later in the day. The weight routine today included (punching bag, various flavors of pull ups, lat pull downs, upright row, lower pulley curls, bar bell curls, dumbbell curls and hammer curls). The running was later and ended in the dark. It was my normal 4.8 mi loop - I wore my blinky light for safety. I turned the pace alarm off and just ran at a comfortable pace - it was nice.

I am continuing to have muscles express their dismay over the starting back up of the training. How you may ask: by aching, tightness, tenderness .. through my shoulders, chest, back and likely my legs after tomorrow. The joys of training.

Tomorrow I should do a lower body weight routine in the morning and then I'd like to do a longer run, with a fast mile in the middle. The weather has been beautiful these last few days .. to the point of wanting to be outside all day (not good for someone with a mostly desk job).

Nutrition wise I'm doing pretty good. Not eating as much; not snacking as much; only had a small serving of Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell ice cream tonight; had yummy spinach and albacore salads for lunch; protein drinks and oat meal after the morning work out ... making much better choices.

I feel the need for some Discipline!

2009-11-03T08:13:00.004-06:00

I feel the need for some 'Discipline'!

Let me explain: Discipline isn't a bad thing, nor should it always invoke fear or uncomfortableness. The discipline that I'm speaking of is the kind that helps us to make choices that may not be easy, but help us to keep heading the direction we really want to go; rather than getting caught in the ambient current of entropy and/or sluggardness.

My life has been crazy with mostly family activities (can you say soccer dad); and because of that I've allowed myself to get pretty undisciplined in the normal areas (getting enough rest, not eating everything that 'looks' good, regular exercise, ... etc) that I have to help me stay in balance and focused. So this week I've started back on some of those big rocks: getting to bed early, getting up early, using the weights before breakfast, running at lunch, reigning in my appetite, starting the process of loosing ~ 8 lbs.

Monday: using the weights by 6 AM so I can be around with the younger kids as they head off to school. I have 6 different routines (with some additional variation) that train 3 general areas twice a week. So a full work out with weights is ~40 minutes done 6 days / week - giving 48+ hours recovery time for each general area. This has worked well for me in the past and I expect it will again. It's been about 7 months and I am feeling the soreness associated with using weights...it's a nice soreness; a soreness that leads to improvement. (Specific exercises in this days routine: Punching bag, hanging knees, bench press, decline, incline dumbbells, butterflies, tri pull downs, dips.)

I also went for a run during lunch: 4.8 miles, with the alarm set to tell me when I'm running slower than 8 min/mi. Numbers: 36:16, AHR 158, MHR 178, APace 7:44/mi. Sometimes I feel silly for posting my information when there are others who are running 100 miles / week and at much faster paces, but it's important to remember why I'm training: I'm training to be able to do MY best; I train because it helps me to not be grumpy with my wife and kids; I train so I can be fit and wrestle with my 16 yr old; so I can carry my 2 yr old grand daughter, do work, ... so many reasons. Maybe even some day to the an Ironman or solo RAAM ...

[Photos: are of a butterfly that was filling up on the flowers on the porch.]

8.5 mile week

2009-11-03T07:34:00.004-06:00

I can't say I know what happened exactly, but I only got two runs in last week - and short ones at that. It gives my left knee some extra time to recover and heal, so that will be good hopefully.

After having such a low week for exercise - I've set some new goals. Not everyone is the same in this area - some can exercise with out goals and/or a plan. But I know that I need some concrete goals with some milestone events in there to measure my progress; I need to track and log progress. The journey and end results are good for me though. So, my next entry will talk about my new goals.

It's an easy time of the year to get undisciplined and unhealthy: I would encourage you to make choices and not just 'slide' into behaviours and/or exercise habits, but instead consider things carefully and intentionally. :-)

3 New Mystery Shots

2009-10-28T22:35:00.004-05:00

Three new mystery shots!

I'm always on the look out for 'mystery shots', as you never know when you will get one. But today there were several. I have another in addition to these for the future.

Any guesses on any of the three? (These have not been altered in anyway. They are just smaller portions of a larger photograph that I have taken today.)

Running against the clock

2009-10-27T21:30:00.003-05:00

[The photos are of my post run recovery drink: flax seed, millet, almonds, carob powder, soy milk, spinach, apple, sweet potato, yellow squash, crasins, protein powder and ice. It was quite green as I was 'heavy' on the spinach. My son had a glass too.]

Tonight I got to go for a run again - first one since Sat morning .. about 80 hours. So it was nice to get out, but it was a 'run in the dark' which is something that isn't my favorite. I have a reflective vest that I wore which helps with being seen. It's a passive visibility: meaning that lights have to reach the vest to be reflected back. I prefer the blinky lights and had one on the back of my shorts (but ended up not turning it on). The other thing that I don't like about running in the dark is when car lights shine in my eyes, it gets very difficult to see the cracks and other features of the road ahead of me - so it's a bit like running blind.

As I like to do - I decide the plan for the run before I left the house. Tonight I chose to set a pace alert; to keep the pace under 8:00/mi. One of the nice features of my Garmin is that it you can set up a fast and slow pace alert. So it was very simple to have it make an audible tune when I was going slower than the entered pace. It would make the tune every 25 seconds or so that the pace was slower.

It ended up being a good run for me. Something that I think I should be able to manage for the 4.8 mi route and eventually longer. My HR didn't get very high, but runs like these are challenging for me; so it was a good workout. Numbers: 7:47/mi, 36:29, 4.69 mi (normally 4.8), AHR 149, MHR 168.

A quick walk through my log shows that on Oct 12th I did the same run and the same time/pace. So it's been 2 weeks since I've tried running under 8:00/mi on this route. I've been 'enjoying' running lately, but feel the need to add in a little 'work' too now. Sept 27th was the last time I did a 3 mi hard run - a month now. Those are hard ones for me and I would like add another to the weekly routine, but I'm still struggling to get in 4 weekly runs. I think I am going to plan on leaving the pace alert on for the next runs this week: all but the Sat long run. (That will push me out of my comfort zone.)