Sure!

Thursday 5/3/12
So good to be home! Yesterday was a long one and I resorted to eating junk (Taco Bell and candy) on the road - oh well, forgive and move on!

Weight 140.6
We did the Shoe Hill Loop clockwise this morning (the hard way!), the running section was gently uphill and we did it in 9:55, so about 1 minute slower than going the opposite direction. We ran the last leg home too, so total loop was 36 minutes. T was great to remind me to hold my core tight on the downhill.

Food today:
coffee with half & half
6 oz juice
2 eggs, 1 toast
1 medium boiled yukon gold potato
Greek yogurt with fresh strawberries
homemade chile with saltines
Fruit currently on my desk: kiwi, 2 apples, grapefruit

Will probably leave the office @ 3:30 to go to Viola's for sale strawberry plants and haul water, then water the garden at home.
 
Friday 5/4/12 140.2
No early out yesterday - bureaucratic stuff, ugh!
No exercise this morning, but errands today.

Food:
coffee w/half & half
juice with vitamins
2 eggs, 2 toast

planned for the rest of the day:
Greek yogurt with mixed berries
pineapple
homemade chile w/few saltines
apples, kiwi
boiled yukon gold

Will go to NF later, so will likely end up with a chocolate chip cookie

Weekend plans
House cleaning and garden on Saturday after we do a local hike/run of some sort
Rock climbing on Sunday

Have a great weekend everyone!
 
Weekend catch-up (May 5&6 2012)

Saturday 139.8, bf 17.5/26.9 = 22.2 avg

long run - 8 miles, home out 523 to 550 and back, 1hr 28 mins. Matched T's time on the 1.1 mile hill (climb from 7600 to 7920) from when he was training for 100 milers several years ago, about 14.30 up. Good rolling hills, ran most of the 8 miles. Roller when returned home and again in the evening before bed.

Cleaned house and worked in garden, planted seeds (peas, greens, carrots, radish), watered

pre-run: coffee, toast w/pnut butter
breakfast: biscuits, eggs with garlic, onions, jalepeno, anaheim, bell, shallot, potato, salsa, sour cream, cheddar
pineapple slices
dinner: poached pacific salmon in lemon and butter, brown rice, steamed carrots, chard, bell pepper, broccoli, green onions

Sunday 139.0 lbs
Roller really helped, not much soreness! Rock climbing at the Overlook! Good day, kind of chilly, climbed well enough, not great.

coffee with half&half
juice
2 eggs, 2 toast

pork loin sandwich with mustard, mayo, humus
2 boiled potatoes
cashews
gatorade

NF for dinner - rice, chicken verde sause, bean enchilada, chocolate chip cookie
 
Monday May 7, 2012 139.8
Kind of stiff from climbing, slept in, so short gym workout
BOSU with 5 kg medicine ball
BOSU lunges 45/leg
lunges with 5 kg medicine ball 30/leg
squats with ball
balance disk

coffee with half&half
juice with vitamins
2 eggs, 1 toast

plan for day
chile with rice
yogurt with fresh strawberries
apples

Laundry this afternoon - ugh!
Add sugar cookies to that list... laundry was endless, but at least it is done for another month.
 
Last edited:
Tuesday 5/8/12 141.2 (eek!)

Shoe Hill Loop this morning - T was checking old times in his log and made a comment about this possibly being a day for a record... are you kidding me? ...OK, I'm in! Tested the under armour shoes with chiles socks - good combination, might use this for the upcoming trail race. Fast power walk to the starting rock then took off running with T pushing me the first half; he took the lead for the second half. 1 mile in 8:20 over rough ground and loose dirt - our best time ever! We wonder if we might be able to get a sub 8 minute mile this summer - it is early yet... overall time was excellent too - around 36 minutes.

I have some soreness/stiffness from the lunges yesterday - feels like I worked hard: it feels GOOD!

coffee with half&half
juice with vitamins
2 eggs, 1 toast
yogurt with fresh strawberries

planned:
boiled potato (Yukon gold)
apples
pineapple
last of the homemade chile with brown rice
 
hey the rope is 2 1/4 inch diameter. I bought a 40' length. so with it edoubled over like that it is about 20' each hand. BNot sure of weight, but too heavy ;)

It's a bit heavy. BUT- I went for it, since I only wanted to spend the money once.

here is a close up of the rope-
View attachment 5545

I think if I had rope around that you can braide or tape together, I'd make it abnout half that size to start, and then add on as you get better.

I can only figure 8 those things for like 20-30 seconds, and my deltoids are on fire. Abs get really sore, and tricepts twitch. It's a heck of a thing.

I guess when you get really good at throwing out with your whips, you can do it without it being hooked to anything. When I tried that, it just kept coming back at me.

anyhow,
hope that helps.
FF
 

Attachments

  • rope.jpg
    rope.jpg
    38.8 KB · Views: 58
Wednesday May 9, 2012 142.0 (where did that come from?!)

Actually, I suspect it is inflamation - I'm pretty sore all over between climbing on Sunday, lunges on Monday, and the fast run yesterday. Weight room today after more lunges - if the thighs are already screaming why not really push hard?

Am feeling really fit and strong today - it feels good!

BOSU lunges - around 60/leg
lunges with 5k medicine ball 20/leg
squats with 5k medicine ball - length of a song - maybe 30?
lunge holds with 5k ball, hold to 10 count, 2 sets per leg

Weight room
leg press 200 lbs x 20
single leg quad extension 35 lb x 10 x 2
cable hamstring 20lb x 10 x 2 (increased weight today)
triceps press (like assisted dips) 120lbs x 10 x 2
single leg calf press 200 lbs x 10 x 2 (increased weight today)
single arm cable row with twist 60lb x 10 x 2
chest fly 25lb x 8 x 2 (these just do not get easier, ugh!)
side lunges with 45 lbs on cable, 2 sets x 10 per side
 
Thursday May 10, 2012 141.6

If I was feeling fit and strong yesterday, today I'm feeling a bit... was about to say wimpy, but really, I think I'm just a little tired. I've worked my body hard this week and yesterday I ate crap, so am not fueling it properly. Also, I've been short on sleep for a few nights in a row - given that I am far from 20, this older body needs some better care.

Did EFX this morning, 30 minutes 445 calories - really had to push myself to go hard, I was tempted to coast. When I increased the resistance from 7 to 8 I was sorely tempted to drop it back down. Roller and some stretching afterwards.

coffee with half&half
juice with vitamins
2 eggs, 1 toast
yogurt with frozen mixed berries

planned food:
2 apples
boiled egg
salad with pork, salsa & sour cream dressing
 
Friday 5-11-12 141.2
Taking the day off exercise-wise, attending to other life elements instead. Tomorrow will be our weekly long run, but we will try not to push too hard as it will be the last before next weekend's race. Actually, I am not sure the Saturday morning long runs are so detrimental as what we do with the rest of the weekend.

Had a weird mirror moment yesterday - was standing in front of a mirror in a tank top and my arms caught my attention - lean, defined muscles - was it too much? To defined, to muscle-ly? It reminded me of the media furror a few months ago over a Madonna picture and the resulting comments about her arms (good and bad). I told T about it and he reassured me that I have nothing to worry about, my arms look good, are not too muscled and then he reminded me that when he was doing his measurements a short time ago and did mine too, that my bicep was not much different flexed than it was relaxed. (And how can that be, anyway? It looks waaay different?!) OK, enough of my psychosis for now...

Food today:
coffee with half&half
2 eggs, 1 toast
yogurt with fresh strawberries
2 apples
salad with chicken, salsa/sour cream dressing

Have a great weekend everyone!
 
Weekend catch-up 5/12/12:

139.0lbs 17.4 - 26.4 for avg 21.9% bf

Saturday long run was not supposed to be a huge one, but we got going and kept going! Went out the pass to 9151, up to 773 and on to 418. Decided to go over to the Cherokee road and remind ourselves about where that goes. Ran down that road, including the sections closed and churned against motor vehicles - really rough and rocky - great for the feet and ankles (I think). 30 minutes down that path to 770. Walked up to 514. Ran the first mile in 9:04 and the second in 9:14. About 10 miles based on pedometers in 2:20.

Roller at home. Big breakfast, then some housekeeping and worked in garden.

Sunday 5/13/12 138.8 lbs
Rock climbing at the Overlook with T and Elliot
Climbed well.
Dinner at NF
 
Monday 5-14-12 139.6
Took vacation day. Hauled water and watered garden.
Worked on house plans.
Cooked turkey and pork.
 
Tuesday 5/15/12 140.4
T doing Elden, and I decided I would rather do something outside than in the gym. Drove to the base of Saddle Mt. Speed walked 30 minutes up the hill (marked the road in hopes of going farther next time) and ran down in 17 minutes. Felt good, didn't push on the downhill, did push up.

Food today:
coffee with half&Half
juice with vitamins
2 eggs, 1 toast
salt bagel w/cream cheese
yogurt with fresh strawberries

planned food:
2 apples
1 boiled yukon gold
big salad with salsa/sour cream dressing and chicken
 
Wednesday 5/16/12 139.8 Hmm - sister's birthday - better send a note!

Only time for a short, intense workout this morning, did 20 minutes of hill sprints on a cinder cone. Climbed 600 feet in 10 minutes, mixing 30-45 second sprints with power walking to get to the top. On the way down I ran, but turned around 4 different times to sprint back up hill for about 30 seconds, so 9 minutes down.

Food for the day:
coffee with half&Half
juice with vitamins
2 eggs, 1 toast
yogurt with fresh strawberries

planned food:
2 apples
1 boiled yukon gold
big salad with salsa/sour cream dressing and turkey
 
I've been elsewhere for a while but missed having this journal as a quick easy place to review my activity - in these matters, it is all about me - the choices I make daily regarding food, attitude, and fitness.

I might make an attempt at copying in my recent activities so I have a continuous line - or not. Meanwhile, I shall put in today's workout.

Weight 142 - this is why I weigh myself daily, it keeps me accountable to me and I can see when I am headed down the wrong track. For me, it also demonstrates that life (too little sleep, too much stress, and white flour) trump exercise. But, I am ready to get back on track today. Pretty good sleep last night, good food (loads of veggies & fruit along with some lean protein) in my lunchbox, and a good workout have started my day out well.

It was lovely outside, but a day in the weight room was necessary and I will be outside all weekend. My plan was that I needed to bump up a plate with every exercise and do the ones I usually dodge.

EFX warmup 15 minutes, 225 calories - fast feet and high resistance
Leg presses 3 x 10 x 200lbs (changed toe direction with each set)
Hamstring 17.5lbs x 10, 20lbs x 10 x 2, 22.5lbs x 8 - going to set 20 as my new starting point
Calf single leg - worked my way up to 260lbs, lots of reps, couldn't remember what my starting point should be
Quad lifts single leg - 35lbs x 10, 40lbs x 5 x 3 per leg
Dips with 20lb assist 8, would have done more but someone took over the machine
Side pulls 50lbs x 12 x 2
Triceps 40lbs x 10 x 2
Rows, single arm w/twist 60lbs x 10 x 2
Shoulder press 30lbs x 8 x 2 (dodge)
Chest fly 25lbs x 8 x 2 (dodge)
No bench press because that part of the room was overloaded
 
5-22-12 catch-up
While we were doing the Shoe Hill Loop (SHL) yesterday, I suggested that today we do hill sprints. Got to admit that is morning when T asked if that was still the plan, the urge to waffle was strong...instead I put on sturdier shoes than usual (I really love the minimalist shoes these days - so light!) and we headed down the valley. [I should explain, we live in the middle of nowhere - 8 miles from pavement on an unmaintained dirt road. To the east of our place is a cinder cone (Northern AZ is an old volcano field). We call the cone Shoe Hill and to go around the base is about 3.2 miles. Our typical scheme is to go counter-clockwise around the hill so we start off going uphill for just over a mile, then we run the back 1.1 mile which is gently downhill but quite rocky - this whole thing is rough dirt roads, and then gently uphill for the last mile through the valley. Going the opposite direction is quite different - running up that hill on the backside is harsh!]

OK - so we jogged down the valley, then stopped on a good slope, eyed a dead standing tree that seemed the right distance away and said Go! First sprint was 38 seconds. No trail or track here and some nasty soft spots sucked our feet down. Adjusting the stride (short or long) on the fly to land on the grass hummocks helped a lot! Walked back to the start, took a deep breath, turned around and said Go!. Some antelope were on the hill above us - I can just imagine them laughing at our pitiful human efforts - they are amazing creatures! Just 4 sprints but the by the last one we could tell we had used up the fast twitch stuff in our legs. After the sprints we finished walking the loop, no running and didn't time it, but fast walking. About 55 minutes in all. Typical time without hill sprints and only walking is about 44 minutes

T (engineer and pretty good at things like this) was calculating the grade as we walked - he will surely refine it, but best guess was 12%.

M2M

Just adding this note: the best thing about today was that as I was driving into town, T called me and said "thanks for making the suggestion about what we should do for the morning workout and I really enjoyed doing it. I wouldn't have done it myself and think it was good for us." Or something close to that - it really made my day!
 
5-23-12
139.4 this morning and headed to the gym as I wasn't up for anything outdoors in the 45mph wind.
First, 'fast feet' practice on the EFX 25 minutes, 350 calories, no cadence reading lower than 176, and mostly hit the target of 180 or better. Spent about 8 minutes close to 200. Was also able to go to resistance level 8 and bump up the cross ramp a notch. Best feeling workout yet on those settings.

BOSU core exercises with 15lb medicine ball
Flipped the BOSU soft side up for lunges - oodles of lunges because rather than count I went by songs and the IPOD chose 2 looong ones. Next, back step lunges with the 15lb medicine ball and then press and holds with the ball. Legs are TOAST!

Into the weight room
Bench press with 75lbs, 3 x 5 after warm up sets of 45 and 65
Front squats with 65lbs 2 x 5 as the knee grumbled saying lunges were sufficient, thanks
Triceps press with 120lbs 2 x 12
Single arm row with twist 60 lbs 2 x 12 (do I need to say both sides? seems redundant but I don't know about proper syntax...)
Lat pulls 60lbs 2 x 8
Side pull w/lunge 45lbs 2 x 15

Tomorrow T does Mt Elden with the guys so I'm headed up Saddle Mt. 1350 ft climb in 2.75 mi, then run down for a nice round trip. Maybe my new trail shoes will come today and I can try them out!
 
5-24-12
When the screaming wind woke me at 4 am I thought my Saddle Mt plan was a goner, but the wind eased off and T shoed me out the door at 6 so I had time.
Weight today was 139.8

Made it to my previous high point with 3 minutes to spare (27 instead of 30), so moved my flag up the hill by 3 minutes! Success! Based on that, I rewarded myself with the extra 10 minutes needed to go to the top - 9000 feet. Pedometer was pretty close to the map figure of 2.75 miles. Turned and ran easy back down - chased a few cows and calfs too. I thought I was cruising at about 9 minute miles but it worked out to 8.4 minute miles - I am crediting the fast foot training yesterday. If only I could do that on flatter terrain.

5.5 miles, 1400 elevation gain/loss
Biffs salt bagel, toasted with cream cheese when I got to town - I love Biffs salt bagels!

Last night I was telling T about my gym workout and about keeping my cadence above 180 and close to 200. He would never say it but I could see "crazy lady" in his face - instead he just notes how hard I was working and goes on to ask about how my bench press went. Luv this guy!


Was just looking at the topo and realized I overstated the elevation of Saddle MT - edited from 9300 to 9000 ft
 
5-25-12
Weighed 139.2 this morning
Today is a rest day, just did roller and back exercises this morning.

I am super excited about our Saturday long run - we will get up at 4 and drive to McDowell Mt Regional Park and plan to run the 15.4 mile Pemberton Trail. A "cold" front is coming through AZ and tomorrow will be our last chance to do the trail before scorching summer heat takes over the Phoenix area. We will be semi-melting in the 88 degree heat, but at that low elevation it really isn't that bad, and the altitude advantage we will get coming down from 7300 feet is fantastic - I always feel like I can run forever! We want to do the trail because it is the trail used in the Javelina Jundred which is in late October - not sure about it for me, but T might sign up.

So I am saving up today's sweat for Saturday. We will spend Sunday working at home (garden/slackline and/or trampoline too) and probably go rock climbing on Monday.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top