I got a run in today

I've had way too little sleep, no exercise, and have been eating pretty lousy the last couple of days. I've got a headache that won't quit to go along with that. Fun.

I willed myself to go for a run today. I started slowly, and my legs were still tight from running around like a kid the other day. They loosened up after about five or six minutes. I ran a BFL style HIIT run, and ended up doing pretty well. I felt better once I got going. I'm off to do TGUs for some fun.

My goal is to hit the gym in the morning for some weight training.

Two useless days

Well...maybe not useless. Let's call them two rest days.

Events unfolded in a workout unfriendly way. That means no formal workouts for three days including the picnic day. That doesn't make me happy. The next two days may not be all that workout friendly either. That being said...I'm getting something done. No matter what.

I sure got some running in today

Today was my annual company picnic. I decided not to work out today, because I knew that I'd be sprinting, moving, jumping, stretching and throwing all day. We started out with a two hour football game, had a bite to eat, and progressed onto softball. Doing something like this, you see exactly how training has a positive effect on performance. It's a lot more fun playing when you're in shape than not. And yeah. I'm a bit sore....and I earned it!

If I can only convince my boss to do this every week!

Am I a phony?

I was thinking about this today. Am I a Crossfit phony? I mean, I do some of the workouts, and I try to eat Zone/Paleo friendly. But do I DO Crossfit? I mean, I go to other blogs and people are hitting the WOD every day, posting times and making progress.

Me? I do a workout here, some lifting there, some running there. Sometimes I make up my own workouts that seem like a CF workout.

Okay...mentally...I'm there with Crossfit. Starting this September, I move onto a blend of Ripptoe Starting Strength workouts and CF workouts. Now, I could jump entirely into CF, but I want to build strength first, and I want to work on some of the CF elements before I go over entirely.

I was working squats and deadlifts today. My weight is just entirely too low in these exercises. I know that I've intentionally held myself back on these as I've developed my form. Now, it's time to work that weight up.

Handstand pushups? Need to work on them.

Overhead squats. Damned things torture me.

Muscleups? I don't know. I haven't tried them. I've been reluctant to try with the bad shoulder.


The SS programs I'll be using will have me doing less lifting than I do right now, but will force progression in terms of weight used. This will give me the opportunity to add some elements work that is sorely needed. I need to balance out the what and when of the CF workouts too. I don't want to be doing heavy leg work two or three consecutive days, or I'll defeat the purpose of what I'm doing.

So...I may not be there yet..but I'm coming. Look over your shoulder, 'cause I'm on the way!

Changed it up a bit today

I was toying with a 5k run, but decided to do a two part workout instead.

First, I rowed 2k in 8:24. The damned strap came off one of my feet at around the 1400m mark, so I had to struggle with that the rest of the way through. Long legs and long arms = rowing hell. Anyway, it was a good change. I'll have to do that more often.

Next, I did some intervals on the treadmill at a 1.0 incline. They went like this:

Walk 4 mph 1 minute
Run 6 mph 1 minute
Run 8 mph 1 minute
Run 6 mph 1 minute
Run 9 mph 1 minute
Run 6 mph 1 minute
Run 10 mph 1 minute
Run 6 mph 1 minute
Run 11 mph 1 minute
Run 6 mph 2 minutes
Walk 4 mph 1 minute

I was going to do the 12 mph interval, but wanted to keep teh total time to about twenty minutes. Next time.

I need to do some reading

In my attempt to combine IF with a more Paleo friendly diet, I need to do some research. I don't intend to go to a 100% Paleo diet at all. For one thing, I'm not sure I want to eliminate all dairy products from my diet. Cottage cheese and Greek yogurt are staples of my diet, and I'd be hard pressed to replace them with something else. Although I will take most of my carbs from fruit and veggies, I will still eat some complex carbs. I'm not going to shy away from some pasta or brown rice or a baked potatoe or a bowl of oatmeal. What I will do is eat much less of these than I've eaten in the past. I really think people underestimate just how how much of this stuff they're really eating at a sitting.

I need to do a bit of homework in terms of fruits and veggies. If I try to maintain Zone like balances in terms of protein/carb/fat intake, I need to have a better understanding of how much of each I need to eat. I'd also like to try a bunch of different veggies too. I find that I limit myself to always eating the same 3 or 4 things, which gets pretty boring.

I've got some work to do.

I got what I deserved

Today was an upper body strength day. I duplicated last Monday's workout, but added weight to every set. I'm working my way back up to where I was...slowly. I don't want to jinx myself, but the shoulder has been great. I have avoided kips and knees to elbows to limit the strain on my shoulders. I miss K2Es. I'll start them up slowly soon.

At the end of my workout, I decided to do a 4 minute set of Tabata Squats. I finished with 105, which is more than the 93 I did on June 18th, but two fewer than the 107 I did on July 9th. I got what I deserved. Since the squats were a spur of the moment decision, I didn't have a record of my last performance with me. I was certain I hit a record, so I slowed down. Why? Why would I? Why would I leave anything on the table, PR or not? Lesson learned the hard way.

Today is a fasting day again. I feel completely fine, and had no adverse effects during my workout. This thing may actually work!

Sprinting day

Today I decided to do some running. I alternated a moderate jog with a fast one, one minute intervals each for 16 minutes. Then I finished up with a set of Tabata Sprints. I did some TGU sets yesterday on rest day. I know it was rest day, but I really like how the TGUs work the entire body. I needed to get my blood moving.

I indulged in a few extra carbs yesterday, which is probably what I will always do on a Saturday. That's part of my plan; a bit of a BFL holdover and an understanding that I do have to get along in the real world.

I should note that I really don't think I'm carb starving myself. I'm just getting the majority of them from fruits and vegetables, and eating the amount I SHOULD eat, rather than the excessive amounts I was eating. It makes you realize how crazy the diet of the average person really is, and how it is pushed on us at every turn.

One interesting observation is that I am really feeling lean and...I don't know...primal? Feral? I won't say that I'm constantly hungry, because I'm not. But I do feel much more alive for lack of a better way of explaining things. Interesting.

Every once in a while

you have one of those days that you're about 75% through your workout and your mind starts to object.

Mind: "WTF are you doing, Justa?".
Me: "Getting a good workout in. What do you think I'm doing".
Mind: "Trying to kill us. Dude...the Olympic trials are over. Hell...The Olympics are almost over. You aren't getting on the team. The Yankees aren't looking for a new center fielder. There are no enemy troops landing on the soil of the good old USA as of the last time I looked. Would it KILL you to take it just a little bit easy here?"
Me: "You know, it just might at that. Now shut up and focus. I'm trying to set a PR here."

My workout today:

For time:
400m run

50 squats

400m run

25 burpees

400m run

50 squats

400m run

25 burpees


The last time I did today's workout was on July 8th. This came before my vacation and a month and a half of scaled back workouts and less than optimal eating. I had a time of 19:13. Today I posted a 19:04, which is just a hair better. All in all, I'm fairly pleased, but I really would like to be a lot more Crossfitter just the same!

Some observations from today:
1. Pacing is critical. I thought that I could increase the speed of the run by 1 or 2 mph over the last time I did this. I did, but it cost me on the squats and burpees. There is a science to this. I'm sure the best CF performers understand pacing better than I do. If you burn up on the run, you can't do the squats or burpees as well. If you go too slow, you take too long. I need to work on the balance...and on getting more work done in a shorter period.
2. A really challenging metcon workout will leave you with the sting and taste of lactic acid buildup in your mouth and throat. After gathering my breath and wits, somebody was talking to me. My voice was all hoarse from it. I've got a love hate relationship with that feeling and taste.
3. If I wasn't fasting today, I'm reasonably sure the patrons of my gym would have been treated to a colorful display of whatever I'd eaten so far today. I've never been this close to shaking hands with Pukie.
4. I'm fortunate that there is a fairly large area in the gym that has mats for people to work abs or stretch or whatever. It is where I go after this kind of workout to lie down and catch my breath and recover. If I tried it anywhere else in the gym, it's likely I'd have someone running over to me with a portable defibrillator. Obviously, this isn't a CF gym.
5. As tough as the workout was, I don't feel as if my fasting has had any adverse affect on me at all. That being said, I am looking forward to eating later, even though I'm not feeling famished at all.

Tomorrow is a rest day for sure.

What's it good for? Absolutely nuthin'!

Back in my BFL days, I was weighing myself on a somewhat regular basis and attempting to measure my bodyfat percentage using both a caliper and one of those scales that claim to measure such a thing. The calipers always showed a BF level that was about 30-40% lower than the scale. I put much more faith in the calipers not just because I wanted to believe them, but because I could see and feel that the scale percentage was just plain wrong.

Anyway, the lowest weight I recorded in my log was in March of 2007 at 192.8 pounds. I seem to recall that at some point thereafter, I weighed in at 186 pounds on a visit to the doctor, but I'll go with the 193 since it is my written record.

I weighed myself this morning, and I came in at 209 pounds, which at least is down from 215 from a couple of weeks ago. At 6'3", that's not horrible. I knew I was gaining weight and wasn't overly concerned because I was on a mission to add some muscle mass and strength. I have undoubtedly accomplished that goal. But still. Depending upon which weight you take as my low point, I've gained between 17 and 23 pounds in seventeen months. There's just no way that's all muscle. In fact, I'd be thrilled if half the weight gain was muscle.

What is this extra weight good for? Nothing. In fact, all it does is hurt my performance. I'm not a big scale whore at all. Visually, I already knew all of this. I don't need a scale to tell me what I need to do.

I really believe the combination of IF and more of a Paleo style of eating will make a huge difference in my body composition. I can see and feel it already. I'll try to keep zone like in terms of caloric intake, but where those carbs come from will be mostly from paleo foods.

It will be interesting to see how all of this affects my performance as well and my body composition.

Strong workout

I'm working my way back slowly, so I was able to work both upper and lower body today. My workout featured five sets each of bench press, pullups and overhead presses, four sets of squats, three sets of deadlifts, three sets of step ups onto a bench, three sets of dips...and yeah...three light sets of dumbbell curls. I know....but they seem to help that soreness I have in my forearms, so I do them once in a while.

I'm finalizing my plan for the beginning of September. I'll be combining a strength program with Crossfit, with the objective to be 100% Crossfit within six months.


I had a thought today while I was thinking about nutrition. Our thinking is completely backwards from how it should be. When making nutrition choices, we think in terms of how much of the foods we love to eat we're willing to sacrifice in order to maintain or improve our health and fitness. Shouldn't we really think in terms of how much of our health, fitness, and longevity we're willing to sacrifice by eating the foods we love to eat? It sounds like the same thing, but it really isn't at all.

I feel lean and mean

I've been limiting carbs for two days now, and I feel lean. Okay, I know it's a bit silly to think I'm going to have immediate results, but it is how I feel. At least initially, I won't be eliminating all grains/carbs enitrely. I do need to live in teh real world, you know. I'm not going to say I'll never have a bowl of macaroni or oatmeal or rice or a baked potato or an ice cream cone. That just isn't realistic. What I will do is limit these things dramatically. I will rely on most of my carbs coming from fruits and vegetables. I'm sure it will take a bit of adjusting too but I'll get there.

I've been weight training on and off for over twenty some years. I've come close to having the physique I'd like, but have never really gotten over that last five or ten percent of stubborn belly or love handle fat. Some would say that I'm bordering on exceptional fitness for a man of fifty, and that I'm nuts. As I've written before, I will not accept that kind of excuse from myself. Age is NOT a limiting factor as far as I'm concerned. Many people blame age for destroying their bodies, when age has nothing to do with it. Anyway, having gotten serious again about three years ago with the BFL program and now morphing into a modified CF routine, I still seem to be unable to get over the top with this. I know part of it is that I have the occasional food breakdown on weekends or on vacations. But I think the real culprit is excessive carb intake...and carb intake of the wrong kinds.

Don't get me wrong. The biggest reason for what I do is health based, not image based. I have made significant improvements in my health, and I plan to continue to do so. I also want to be able to maintain a high level of perfomance. Of course, there is a strong correlation between these things...and improving in one area often helps improvement in another.

Here's one more bit of reading about the Paleo diet. I encourage you to read it. You'll actually think twice before sticking another hunk of bread in your mouth.

I'll be strength training today...and I'm looking forward to it. Tomorrow will be fast day again.

Interesting article

Interview with Art Devany

I'll be doubling up tomorrow

I missed my workout today due to something much more important that I was tending to....and I'm not sorry.

The more I read about IF and The Primal Blueprint, the more it makes sense to me, and the more interesting it gets. I'm going to remove all but a very small portion of grains/starches from my diet. I'll get my carbs mostly from fruits and vegetables. I know I'm doing something a bit dumb here. I should IF or eliminate these nasty carbs one at a time, so I can figure out what effect each of them has. By doing them both at the same time, I won't know whether it's one or the other, or the combination only that works. Oh well. I'm doing it anyway. I've been known to do a stupid thing or two on occasion.

Runnishment

I had the fun of taking my kids and myself to the dentist this morning. I was scolded for the length of time since my last visit, and for not flossing often enough or well enough. Now she wants me to come back every three months.

I decided to give myself a consequence for a less than stellar appointment. I call it runnishment. Yes. I'm kinda copying funnishment. What can i say. Sue me. Anyway, I need to train myself to run at a faster pace for a longer distance. I used this workout a couple of weeks ago, and liked it. Well...you know what I mean by like it. Not like-like it. Well anyway...I did it again today, and I was smoked...and happy...at the end of the workout.

Warmup jog 6mph 2 minutes

Run 800m @ 8.5 mph
walk 2 minutes @ 4mph
Run 400m @ 10.5 mph
walk 2 minutes @ 4mph
Run 800m @ 9.0 mph
walk 2 minutes @ 4mph
Run 400m @ 11.5 mph
walk 2 minutes @ 4mph
Run 800m @ 9.5 mph
walk 2 minutes @ 4mph
Run 400m @ 12.0 mph
walk 2 minutes @ 4mph
Run 2 minutes 7mph
walk 1 minute 4mph


All runs were done at a 1.0 incline

I was tired and felt a little drained and irritable last evening before dinner. I think the fasting may take a little bit of adjusting to. If 24 hours ends up being too much, I can cut it back 4-6 hours and probably still get teh same benefits anyway.

Workout is finished

I had a good workout, adding weight and sets from what I've done over the past few weeks. I'll spend a number of weeks working myself back up to my previous weights again. I've got a plan that has worked in the past for setting new PRs, and I'm going to implement it again.

I'm still a bit hungry, but it is better than this morning. I can now see dinner coming up over the rise, and I'll easily make it until then. Piece of cake. Oops. I didn't need to write that, did I?

Fasting day

As I've written before, I'll be fasting on Monday's and Thursdays. More technically, from dinner the night before until dinner the night of fasting day. I'm hungry as hell today. The same thing happened last Monday. Perhaps it is the effect of eating a bit more than I should over the weekend. When I fasted on Friday, I was pretty much fine all day.

Anyway, I'll be doing a strength workout today at lunchtime. I'll go a bit heavier than I have the past couple of weeks, and add a bit more. I will bring myself back up sowly so i don't sidetrack myself with an injury.

More later.

HIIT running today

2.85 miles in 23:00, outside, some small hills.

Grrrr...

I need to run better. I need to run faster.

I need to eat some breakfast.

Workout is finished

I felt good during the workout. I started crashing a little bit at the end of the burpees, but I really haven't pushed myself for a few weeks, other than that little 800m/400m running experiment. I'll run some tomorrow.

I've had a couple of stomach growls, but nothing too bad yet today. Not eating hasn't seem to affect my workout either today.

Okay...into the pool with the kids now.

Today's plan

After having not worked out today, I'm planning on doing ring pushups and dips, some overhead cleans and presses with a KB, some ring pullups and some Turkish getups. I'll wrap it up with a set of Tabata burpees. I haven't done them in a while.

I'm fasting again today. I'll see how that goes again.

This weekend, I want to develop the program I'll be starting next week. I'll be following a combination strength/metcon schedule that was laid out in one of the CF journals.

I'm thinking of contacting a local CF affiliate near my weekend house to see if they can work with me on some of the Olympic lifts. It's hard to self assess in front of a mirror.

That's all for now. I'll probably poke back in a bit later.

I was tired as hell

by the time I got halfway into my workout. Could it be the residual effects of yesterdays fast? Could it be that I hadn't eaten enough yet today? I've had that happen to me in the past. I had Western egg beaters and whole wheat toast for breakfast, and cottage cheese mixed with yogurt for a snack. I'm long since past keeping a food journal, but maybe I'll do a mini version for a couple of weeks to see if I can change things up and identify trends. I'm thinking of going IF on Monday and Thursdays.

Oh...I hear you Wigan. I also enjoy eating, and I do it six times a day. Still...you never know how something will work if you don't try. If it does work out, it will be nice to not drive myself crazy about missing meals on days that are really hectic. Anyway, I'd think IF would be easy for you Brits! You're not known for your food, now are you!! ;-p

Speaking of food, I came across this blog recently. The writer is some nurse that writes about a bunch of different topics. Sometimes she has a point. Others, like today's post, she seems to have either no point or she seems to imply something ridiculous, or she doesn't connect the dots to what may be a logical conclusion, potentially leading the reader to the wrong one. Why do I bring it up? No good reason, other than she pisses me off. Biggest reason? She allows no comments. Sure...if you dig you can find a way to contact her, but I view blogs as a place of interaction. I think people stumbling into her blog should have the opportunity to see another viewpoint. I'm guessing that she may have had comments active at one point, but was probably made to look foolish on so many occasions, she turned them off. By the way, check out her credentials....A nurse and certified childcare professional. Now...there's nothing wrong with these...they are worthy professions...but it hardly makes her an expert on nutrition and health.

One last thing....There's some new "club" near my office that keeps on handing out crap promoting their business. They keep on repeating the mantra...lose your gym. join a club. Little do they know they are speaking a curse word to me...even though I do use a globo gym. I know. I know. It's okay though. I can get in 95% of the CF workouts there, so it works for me. (They only thing they don't have is rings and the proper weight wallball.) I also have the flexibility of using different locations, which is impoprtant to me. But really. Join a club. Sheesh. Do people want to hang out and bullshit, or train? Don't answer. I already know.

Munch munch chew chew

That was an interesting experiment. I had a reasonable dinner last night, and a good breakfast this morning. For the most part, I had a fairly easy time of going an entire day without eating. I actually feel more alert than usual today. Maybe it's just my imagination.

In response to Wigan, this kind of fasting is quite different that what those anorexic girls might do. If you read about the primal blueprint, you get an idea of what it's all about. Theoretically, throughout history, our bodies have gone through periods of fasting due to lack of food. By fasting on occasion, we are behaving as our bodies evolved. We teach our bodies to better draw upon fat reserves for energy. It's an interesting concept. I think I'm going to try it for a while and see what happens. I certainly won't starve to death if I don't eat for one or two days each week. If I find my performance begins to falter badly, I'll know it doesn't work for me. If I get more lean and muscular and maintain or increase my performance, I'll know I'm onto something.

Anyway, I'll be working my legs today. Another light day.

I'm getting a bit frustrated over the past couple of days. My shoulder is feeling great. I'll have to be careful to bring it back slowly. However, that forearm tenderness/tendinitis is still there. I'm staying away from pullups entirely for now...and that is irritating the hell out of me. How long do I have to rest, dammit? On one hand, i tell myself to push through. On the other hand, going through the rest of my life with pain in my forearms every time I do a curling movement is a bit unacceptable, no? Grrrrrrr.

Yet another Tuesday post

Right now, this IF thing is a piece of cake. After getting over a brief rough spot this morning, I'm finding this relatively easy. I've done this a few times before in the past...just because....but it was never a planned thing and I didn't really even think about the concept of what I was doing or why.

There's a Seinfeld episode where Kramer is driving Jerry's car, and he wants to see how far he can go without putting gas in the car. I'm feeling like that right now. Can I push it another 24 hours? Okay...I'm not talking hunger strike or anything, and I don't want to have my body start eating into hard won muscle tissue, but I am curious. It will be interesting to see what I feel like this evening. I'm reasonably sure I will eat tonight, but maybe sometime in the future, I'll push the limits a bit more.

I lied

I didn't double up today. I did my strength training and some situps and bicycles. I figured I shouldn't push it on the first day I'm trying fasting. I feel a lot better after working out. Maybe I'll walk home from work later if the weather holds.

Other "IF" thoughts:

In addition to standing for intermittent fasting, it may also stand for intermittent flatulence. That isn't a problem if you're alone, but when it occurs lying on an ab mat between two other people, it can be a bit embarrassing. Pretty much all you can do is laugh...which if you do it hard enough, is a great ab workout. I had a great ab workout today, thank you.

When I do the fasting, I'll go in eighteen-twenty four hour intervals, mostly dinner to dinner. That will be easier to manage than breakfast to breakfast, and it will be easier to not disrupt the rest of the family's eating.

It struck me that IF will actually save me money too. My grocery bills are a bit ridiculous.

I'm hungry

What seemed easy at eight this morning is seeming a lot tougher now.

I may end up eating my desk by the end of the day.

Interesting article.

I'll be doubling up my workout today

I'll combine some light weight training with some running. I'm still pissed that I missed yesterday's workout. I feel like I'm rapidly shrinking with these light workouts. I know I need to let my body recover, but it is frustrating as all hell.

This is part of a paragraph listed on this blog:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.

Simple, really. I eat too much. Most of the time, I eat the right foods. But I eat too much. It's time to focus.

I'm going to start experimenting with intermittent fasting. I think once or twice per week, I'll go a twenty four hour period without eating. Yes, I'll drink water, but nothing else. I've been reading a lot about it as part of the primal blueprint. I think I'd like to give it a try. Today is the first day I'm doing it. Forgive me if I'm a grouchy bastard later on.

No workout today

I planned it, ran behind schedule, put it off, had a solution...then that went to shit.

So I ate pizza instead.

Heluva plan, huh?

I knew it was going to be a difficult week, but I'm pissed anyway.

Tomorrow and Wednesday should be better.

Rest day

So...I'm doing some Turkish getups. I've never done them before. They should be some fun.

Eating has been horrid. Ridiculous.

Get with the program already!!!

Next week's schedule will be challenging. I'll fit in what I can when I can. Following week....back to the drawing board.

5K day, outside on street

Total time, 25:20

Blech

I was 2.2 miles into the run at a fast pace. I was running BFL HIIT style. Instead of trying to go one more four minute set of intervals, I decided to hit my ten, and finish with the the extra interval. Big mistake. I tried, but actually had to stop and walk a couple of times until I got my wind back. It was kinda irritating. Poor planning cost me a good 5k time. Live an learn, I guess. Next time.

I decided not to try to kill myself today

I basically repeated Monday's workout. I got a good pump going, higher reps with light weights. Nothing too much at all. I feel like my body is healing little by little. I'll have to bring it back up at a reasonable pace to make sure I don't screw up the shoulder right away.

That's all for now.

Justa out.

I know I'm supposed to be taking it easy

but it's only a little running, right?

I thought I'd do a moderate BFL style HIIT run today, but I knew within thirty seconds that wasn't going to do it. Instead, I decided to run some splits on the treadmill. They looked like this:

Warmup jog 6mph 2 minutes

Run 800m @ 8.5 mph
walk 2 minutes @ 4mph
Run 400m @ 10.5 mph
walk 2 minutes @ 4mph
Run 800m @ 9.0 mph
walk 2 minutes @ 4mph
Run 400m @ 11.5 mph
walk 2 minutes @ 4mph
Run 800m @ 9.5 mph
walk 2 minutes @ 4mph
Run 400m @ 12.0 mph
walk 2 minutes @ 4mph

All runs were done at a 1.0 incline

This was a tough workout. The first 800m and 400m were okay. I probably could have gone faster on those. The very last 400m was a killer. I started it, got 40% of the way in and stopped. I rested a minute, started over, and got 80% of the way done when I felt I had to stop. Maybe I could have kept going, but I was having trouble keeping my pace. When your legs slow down on a track, you just slow down. When they slow down on a treadmill, you are fodder for America's Funniest Home Videos, with a potential prize being a trip to the ER. I decided I'd rather skip all that.

I finished up with some V-situps for good measure. I actually thought I'd do a little rowing too after the run. I'm a funny guy sometimes. Anyway, it was one of those days I really needed to fry myself. Mission accomplished.

Pop quiz

As I was doing a light leg workout today, I started wondering. Is it better to do a light workout for a couple of weeks, or is it better to do nothing at all? Okay....still be active, but nothing with weights or intense running? What do you think?

I did four sets of squats, three sets of deadlifts, and three sets of step ups onto a bench followed by walking lunges.

I need to plan my nutrition better. I'm not talking about vacation damage. I'm talking about everyday nutrition. I think I'm eating too much, and carrying unnecessary weight. I need to tinker a bit and get it right. Hmmm. Seems I've written these words before.

This seems to be a week for action. Action is past due. With interest. There are many action words, but only one that really matters.

Today I discovered

that running with an extra 5-10 pounds on your body is hard...especially when your sinuses are a bit stuffy. I weighed myself for the first time in a while. 215 lbs. That's the first time in a long, long time I've weighed that much. I'm not going to panic. I know exactly why I've gained that much in a ten day period. I don't eat and drink like that all the time, so it will come off quickly.

Anyway, I ran a moderately paced 2.6 miles and did a little bit of ab work. Yes...I did sweat today. Quite a bit, in fact. This week and next wek will be fairly light weeks, and then I'll start turning up the heat.

I've been working on shoulder flexibility. It seems to be helping, as has the rest.

Holiday time is over

I kept my promise to myself and didn't do any weightlifting at all for the ten days I was away. In fact, I didn't do any formal workouts at all. I did bike, swim, kayak, row, run, play a little softball and a round of golf, do some isometric martial arts kinda stuff, and chase a bunch of kids around all week. My shoulder feels better and my forearms feel better, though they are still a bit touchy. I actually thought about taking another two weeks off from lifting any weight at all. I would love to start with a clean slate and fully recovered. However, the fact that I ate and drank my way to a 2578653977 pound weight gain in ten days is weighing heavily on my mind...pun intended. I swear that the bar bill was more than a lot of people spend on an entire vacation!

One word on the running...I hit a little nubber during the softball game (actually, I hit a few....and it couldn't have been more frustrating! I just couldn't hold back long enough to keep from swinging early until my last AB), and found that I flew (for me, anyway) up the first base line. Those Tabata sprints do a body good, don't they?

I decided to do a very light workout today. I did bench press, barbell rows and presses, using about 60-65% of my normal five rep workout weight. Five sets of ten reps each. It was enough to say hello to my body, but not so much that I put any strain on myself at all. In fact, I didn't break a drop of sweat. Really. I actually didn't even shower before I went back to work. I'll go very easy over the next two weeks then gradually start challenging myself again.