I'm still Sure!

Got more fitness done this weekend than actual work on the shed roof because that project seems to be morphing into something fairly complex - seems to happen a lot at our house! Engineers!

Saturday we did 6.04 miles out to the AZ trail and back, 58:40. Felt pretty good, but heart rate was a little on the high side the entire time, avg 161, max 170. Gorgeous morning.

Sunday was a fun yard workout - lots of slackline. Made many attempts at turnarounds but didn't succeed at all. Oh well, I kinda knew that it was beginners luck the other day. Will post the pic of the tarantula that crawled over my shoe when T emails it to me - definitely in the scary monster category!

Speed rope and double unders were good. Trying to improve/change technique for DU's which has temporarily made me miss more (and my rope really hurts when it smacks me), but I'm hoping that in the long run I'll get a lot better. Jumping higher rather than lifting my legs higher now.

Switched most of my t2b from the tricky bars to the monkey bars and finally boosted my reps to 8 continuous - still a long way from the goal of 20. The smaller bars of the MB are definitely easier to hang on to, the tricky bars are almost 2 inches in diameter. 8, 3, 5, 6, 4

MB 1, 1.5 laps
OHP 5x55, 5x60, 3x65, 3x65
F squat 6x55, 6x80, 5x90, 5x90
Pushups 3 sets of 8
KB swings 3x 25
Pullups - just 3 as I was pretty focused on T2B and overall just got too tired to do them well after everything else.

Monday 136.6: 40 minutes on the spin bike today, avg 23mph with cadence in the 90's, avg HR 120, max 130

That pesky 4 week challenge is over and I have a package of gluten free chocolate chip cookies ready and waiting on my desk! Might be something wrong with that, but I shall definitely savor them after I eat my lunchtime mega salad. Wore my favorite cords today and find they have gone from comfortable to baggy - poo! Not the look I wanted for a date with my guy.
 
Clothing fit is always a pain when improving fitness. Ironically even a lot of active wear is not a great fit. Fitness wear is starting to go more out of fashion which could improve this but will increase the price too.
 
CrazyOldMan said:
Clothing fit is always a pain when improving fitness. Ironically even a lot of active wear is not a great fit. Fitness wear is starting to go more out of fashion which could improve this but will increase the price too.
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I know - makes me crazy that fitness wear is also designed for all the people with huge bellies - hard to find anything that fits those of us with a waist. If I'm going to work hard enough to have a nicely curved tush, I'd like for T to be able to see it on the rare occasions we are out and about!

Scary monster from the weekend!
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These guys walk around in the autumn looking for females to mate with and then be eaten by.
 

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136.6
A good day on the stairmaster (made easier by a good audiobook!)
Level 10 for 30 minutes
167 flights
211.2 watts
10.2 METs

Wore my HRM, avg 145, max 156, hrv 130, cals 292 (started about 4 minutes into workout), machine cals were over 300 but not sure how far

Circuit of pull-ups, T2B, song of lunges
pull-ups 4, 4, 5, 2 slow negatives, 3
T2B 5, 6, 5, 3, 3
BOSU lunges 4 songs

– one of my new rubberized gloves is already blowing out – stitching around the thumb. Rats, guess my "aid" will be shortlived!
 
Thing I find is leg size issues. The shorts I wear training are XXXL and are too big. I bought them after buying size large and the back splitting during squats, decided too big was better than that. That was when I was 20 pounds lighter too.

I would definately say chalk or liquid grip would be better than the gloves.
 
136.8 Another pair of favorite slacks that are too dang big, there is a reason I generally wear skirts or dresses, but it was nasty cold and snowing this morning so I went for the pants. Oh well, I'll just be sitting all day anyway.

Sanity maintenance cardio today - working on a couple of projects that are necessary but that I detest, thus the need. Treadmill high speed walking: 5.0mph over various grades 5-1.5%, but mostly 2% for 40 minutes.

Didn't end up eating the cookies on Monday but am pretty sure they are not going to last the day because to get through this stupid budget reconciliation I shall need them.
 
Can't believe no one said a thing about my spider - he is big and scary and wonderful!

136.8 Started off with fast feet training for 20 minutes on the elliptical. Been talking with a friend who wants to run faster and decided I needed to do some work as well now that the hamstring is a bit less grumpy. Avg'd 179.5 steps/minutes (good tunes today :sport:). Wish I believed the watts or mets on that machine - I was working really hard but I doubt the 12-13 METS or 190-200 watts was accurate.

Then with 25 minutes left on the clock, headed into the weight room
OHP: 5x55, 5x65, 3x65 - decided I need to get more reps at reasonable weights
F squats: 5x70, 6x70, 4x95 - same idea, mixed these with OHP
2nd Deadlift (DL) trial: 8x45, 8x65, 8x75 - doing better at the chest lift thing, minor shin/knee bangs
Curls 6x45 (because the idea popped into my head while moving the bar)

Then with 10 minutes left, decided to get in as many sets of pull-ups and T2B as I could
Pull-up 5 with long slow negative on the last, 3, 4
T2B 5,4,4
 
137.8 Massive cookie splurge!

I have decided to sign up for a 24 hour event that runs over New Years - starts at 9:00 AM Dec 31 and finishes at 9:00 AM Jan 1 - with a goal of completing 100K. If I get more mileage, so much the better, but I think that distance is reasonable given my current level of fitness and the time I have to ramp up weekly mileage. Plus, I will get to buy new shoes - always a happy thing for me.

Easy run today, 3.6 miles at 9:30 pace

Looking forward to a day of rock climbing with Tom tomorrow. We haven't been out climbing together in ages.
 
I take it you'll be buying shoes without any eight legged accessories.
Spiders are great, nothing scary about them. Crazy thing is finding the strongest venom actually belongs to the common garden spider we have here in the uk, not dangerous due to length of fangs and amount of venom it keeps stored, but cool thought.
Cookies good!
 
Really good - all 8 of them!

Shoe wise, I'm thinking I'll look at shoes with a bit more cushioning than I've been wearing the last couple of years, fit is key, of course. Will be fun to explore my options a bit.
 
Spiders are a bit nastier down here. Redbacks aren't likely to kill an adult unless you're allergic, although children are at risk. I haven't seen a redback in many years, though, presumably because the huntsmen eat them. A bit further south you have to look out for funnel-webs, which, if I recall correctly, are a real threat. Daddy longlegs are touted as being the most poisonous spider of all, but unable to bite us. They're reputation is wrong, however -- they're venom is mild, and they rarely bite humans, but they're more than capable of getting their fangs through our skin if they so choose. Even though huntsmen are far from dangerous, I'm still very afraid of them, and if I see one in the house I'll be inclined to remove its various signs of life.
 
Had a fantastic time climbing on Saturday with Tom. It was a perfect autumn day - sunshine, mild temps, very little wind, and the most amazing thing was that we had the climbing area to ourselves, all day. We often guess at the number of cars that will be in the lot when we arrive and given how perfect the forecast was and the fact that we were a little late, were guessing many people would be out - Tom guessed 10 cars. Ugh - luckily he was totally and completely wrong - no one there but us!

After a nice warm-up on our favorite 5.9 called "Standard Forks 5.8", we did something we ordinarily never would because it would be thoughtless with many folks around to tie up a popular route with a top rope. Given it was us and the lizards sharing the rock (seems to have been a recent hatching - oodles of lizards!) we set up a top rope on "East of Eden", a beautiful 5.10c line, and did laps. As expected, I was no where close to getting it clean, but was delighted to actually get most of the moves - I just couldn't string them together. Exception was a lie-back section. I am dismal at lie-backs, always have been. But, was pleased that my footwork was good, surprisingly good actually. Not having climbed with much frequency this summer, I could really tell because I was rather uncomfortable with the portion of the crack that was "loose hands". The best part was that it was conceivable to get to the point of following this route cleanly with a little more dedication and regular climbing.

136.6 Monday - hit the treadmill as I'm just working toward easy running in the 9-10 minute mile range for a while to build up to feeling comfortable going at that pace for a hours if I possibly can. Not sure it will work, but maybe. Something I was reading last night said if you train to run long and slow you will - and while the point of the article was to do speed work so as not to run so slowly, for me at this moment, running long and slow is what will serve me best if I do the 24 hour event over New Years. That, and running faster aggrevates my hamstring which is not what I need.

4 miles, 9:30 pace which was actually a mix of a little bit of walking at 5.0 mph, running at various speeds up to and including 7.3 mph, but mostly running about 6.3ish mph.

Then lunges. iTunes had "Don't Fear the Reaper" (Blue Oyster Cult) as a Halloween song for .69 cents so how could I resist? - almost 6 minutes and perfect for BOSU lunges. Then because my iPod likes genre, it went to Eric Clapton's "Layla" - who knew that when the piano solo starts there is still THAT much song left! 7 more minutes of lunges!

Spent a little quality time with the foam roller, but was out of workout time so no pullups/pushups or T2B - I'll hit that tomorrow.
 
Climbing is one of those activities that requires so much effort and practice on and off the rock to be any good at. Nice to see you have a target well in your sights.
Your training music is a little more mild than mine. Irony with me is I hate expletives in normal conversation but have very aggressive music where there is a sprinkling within. The last deadlifts video I posted noted the music and age restricted the video because of the content. I hate myself while I am training so the abusive music works well but it wouldn't be suitable in a public gym.
 
Most of my tunes are 80's and 90's alternative - I go for perky mostly, cannot bear to have someone screaming at me.

135.2 Stairmaster this morning, level 10 for 35 minutes, 211.2 watts (trying to pay attention for comparison purposes) and 197 flights. No fan nearby so a very sweaty undertaking - no one would mistake me for "glowing". Highlight was a man that I exchange "good mornings" with came over and said he admired how hard I workout - made my day.

3 sets of pushups, but was out of time so nothing else except some foam rolling. Doing a month's worth of laundry tonight and have already promised myself ice cream as a treat. Is that bad? Doesn't matter, I am soooo looking forward to it.
 
135.0 It is so hard to get out of bed when it's 45F in the house (9F outside) and Tom and both cats are snuggled up to me. Needless to say, was a little late to the gym, but needed the workout so just did it anyway.

2 easy miles on the TM at 1.5%, 9:26ish and 8:34 - sped up the last bit to finish at 18 minutes

Circuit with pullups/toes 2 bar/front squats and then deadlifts
Pullups: 4, 4, 5, 3, 3
T2B: 4, 4, 3, 5, and then went for a record: 8!
Front squats: 5x65, 5x85x2
Deadlifts: 10x65, 8x85x2 - still really focusing on form and sticking with higher reps rather than weight, noticed today that I'm probably tensing my shoulders a little bit as I come up because the last thing I do once standing upright is let them drop just a little bit. Even noting that, wasn't able to overcome it - will have to work on that as I'm pretty sure that wasn't in Ryan's instructions. I am doing better at lifting my chest, it isn't so much of an afterthought now.
 
135.0 Wanted to run outside in the park this morning (it's warmer than yesterday), but was trying out new shoes so needed to be in doors in case they need to go back. 3 easy miles on the treadmill in 30 minutes included some periods of fast (4.8 - 5.0 mph) walking to practice those transitions or because someone was talking to me.

Shoes seem to be keepers - comfortable, fit well, and no achilles heel pain.
 
Sure! said:
135.0 It is so hard to get out of bed when it's 45F in the house (9F outside) and Tom and both cats are snuggled up to me. Needless to say, was a little late to the gym, but needed the workout so just did it anyway.

2 easy miles on the TM at 1.5%, 9:26ish and 8:34 - sped up the last bit to finish at 18 minutes

Circuit with pullups/toes 2 bar/front squats and then deadlifts
Pullups: 4, 4, 5, 3, 3
T2B: 4, 4, 3, 5, and then went for a record: 8!
Front squats: 5x65, 5x85x2
Deadlifts: 10x65, 8x85x2 - still really focusing on form and sticking with higher reps rather than weight, noticed today that I'm probably tensing my shoulders a little bit as I come up because the last thing I do once standing upright is let them drop just a little bit. Even noting that, wasn't able to overcome it - will have to work on that as I'm pretty sure that wasn't in Ryan's instructions. I am doing better at lifting my chest, it isn't so much of an afterthought now.
Click to expand...

If you can actively keep your shoulders down (which will also involve tensing them) throughout the deadlift, it will be a little more efficient, but so long as you're not shrugging the bar up, it's probably okay.

Good job on the T2B record!
 
Thanks, Ryan. Definitely not shrugging the bar up. I have strong tendancies toward tense shoulders in a lot of what I do - have to be super aware while running to drop them away from my ears as well. I'll keep working at it.

135.6 Stairmaster again today mostly because I was really close to finishing my current audiobook and I can work myself into sweaty exhaustion in 35 minutes on that machine and listen to the book. Probably not what should determine my "training" schedule, but I'm not into programming per se and as long as I'm pushing myself hard on a regular basis, I'm happy with that. Level 10 for 35 minutes, 196 floors climbed.

I'm darn excited for the weekend, we will do a favorite hike in the Grand Canyon on Sunday, the Hermit-Bright Angel loop. About 26 miles, wonderful views, and more than 4000 feet of elevation gain. It has been ages since we hiked this trail, and I'm looking forward to the test of a solid long hard push at the end because nearly all of the elevation gain happens in the last 4.8 miles.
 
Catching up - seems like more than a 3 day weekend which can only be positive.

Saturday (134.8) yard workout - beautiful day! Since we were hiking Sunday I didn't do much leg work as I was saving them. We had the slackline up and I am still working at turnarounds without much success. That first day was surely beginners luck! I am pretty close and having a good time trying.

Monkey bar laps: 2, 1.5
Toes 2 Bars: 9!, 4, 6, 4
Speedrope, speed bag, back extensions, cartwheels, obliques w/45lbs and this is the best part:

Muscle ups - bar is same height as the bottom of my nose (62.5 inches): 7 - not continuous and not a sure thing as there were some failed attempts within that 7, but finally getting this!

The 9 continuous T2B is a new PB - got a ways to go to hit the goal of 20, but pleased I am finally making progress on this as well.
 
Sunday - Hermit-Bright Angel loop in the Grand Canyon.

Up at 2:30 am for a quick breakfast, then drove to the Canyon to catch the 5:00 am shuttle. Started hiking in the dark at 5:40ish. Watched daybreak over the canyon as we hiked down in. Got to Monument Creek by about 8:30, first big campsite and many folks were just getting ready to start hiking for the day. A ranger asked to see our permit and we explained we were just dayhiking, he commented that we were making good time. Picked up water at Salt Creek, we were fairly certain we didn't need it, but just in case, better to have it should something go wrong. Made it across the Tonto to Indian Gardens in 7 hours (roughly 20 miles into the hike).

Ate a GU and had a drink for the big climb out of the Canyon. On a good day when fairly fresh, we can get from this point to the top in about 90 minutes, so we always use that as a measure for how we are doing. It is about 4.5-4.8 miles and climbs over 3000 feet. Obviously our time ranges with the distance of the hike that has come before and this part is always the last section of a longer hike. Tom had warned me he might be slow, but he set off really fast. His pace flagged in the last 1.5 miles. Time out from Indian Gardens was 104 minutes, so not great, but not terrible, and no bonk!

Total hike time for roughly 25 miles (various sources range from 23.8 - 26.5 so we stick with a ballpark of 25) was 9:05. Hot shower and a yummy pizza were our rewards. No problems with feet. Had a little knee grumpiness mid-day but no problem while climbing.

Monday was a holiday so no work. Walked a couple of miles in the morning to loosen things up. Neither of us had any specific problems from the hike, just overall fatigue, and it was a fairly lazy day. By Monday evening I was starting to feel my quads when squatting down, and I lost the injury free foot status when I broke up a fight between Charlie and Dilly - Charlie attacked my foot and shredded it. Guess he forgot about the part of the memo that says the neutered male cat is on the bottom in terms of dominance. Both Dilly and I ended up bloodied.
 
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