Week Nine: 5 of 5.

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.