I recently saw a blog where someone said they gave each year a "theme." Well this year is the Year of Leaving My Comfort Zone, the year of the S-t-r-e-t-c-h.
I'm stretching out of my comfort zone.
I'm stretching my ideas of what is possible.
I'm stretching my physical and mental abilities.
A while back I made a list of life goals, both medium and long range. When I look at what is keeping me away from them I see that they are all outside of my comfort zone in some way.
A fairly bad scare about my blood pressure gave me a big push to take my health seriously, but I have a long ways to go to be where I want to be. In fact, I'm not yet able to picture where I want to be, though I can picture some stops along the route.
Getting physically active is definitely outside of my comfort zone. I've always been a fairly bookish and slow-moving sort of person. I've never been either athletic or thin. Losing weight is also outside of my comfort zone. And posting this stuff to a public forum?
Yet I'm doing all three.
It's going to be a repeated process of stretching out of my comfort zone, then working and waiting while my comfort zone grows and stretches out to meet me, but hopefully I'll get better at it as I go.
So what are my actual goals?
*To get off my blood pressure medication
*To maintain and gradually increase my exercise level and integrate being more active into the rest of my life
*To continue to get a better handle on food
I'll get more specific about goals in my next post, but I wanted to at least get this out there before I leave on vacation in 2 hours. I'll also be posting about my vacation exercises. (My big challenge for the week is to exercise with no gym and no people working out around me.) And I promise, once I get there I'll reply to people who have answered posts of mine...but for now I have a plane to catch!
It all started with blood pressure. Near the beginning of this year my blood pressure measured so high that my doctor sent me straight to a pharmacy with instructions to take a pill immediately and come right back the next day.
Not wanting to be on medication if I could help it, I started looking up what to do about high blood pressure. Of course almost all the suggestions I found were stuff that would be good for me anyway, but it was wanting to get off the meds (reinforced by some nasty side effects from the first med I tried) is what really got me kickstarted on geting healthier.
What I'm trying or plan to try: *eat lower sodium & "Dash" food plan
I tackled these two right away. It took about a month to adjust to lower sodium (during which food tasted horrible) but I stuck with it. I also dived head first into the Dash eating plan.
I'm not sure I want to stay with Dash (and I've strayed from it the last couple weeks) but as well as lowering my blood pressure a little it also did me some good by eliminating most of the highly processed food from my life and thus (accidentally) getting rid of most of the things I binge on.
*lose weight
Even though I want the weight loss, this is a hard goal for me to embrace at times because it's hard to agree with the culture that I need to lose weight without also buying into alot of garbage and stereotypes about my worth as a fat person. Still, I've committed to it.
At my high point I weighed 255 and I'm down to 202 now. Some of that was a result of the way the Dash plan eliminated lots of my binge foods. Some of it was from learning to actually experience physical hunger before I ate. (That was an embarrassing lesson to learn, since it meant admitting that I hadn't been truly hungry in years.) Some of it was probably from starting to excercise.
The last week and this week I've stepped it up and been weighing and measuring my food. I can't say I like doing that, but I want a clearer idea of how much I eat and what my maintenance level is.
*aerobic excercise
Ok, this one is also part of the "exercise" goal so I'll cover it there.
2) To maintain and gradually increase my exercise level and integrate being more active into the rest of my life
I recently finished a 6 week goal of working out at least 3 times a week at the gym, and now I'm a little ways into a 6 week goal to do 5-6 workouts a week. It's not going too well, but then I had a friend die and just came out of being sick for a week, so I'm hoping things start clicking.
Ideally I'm doing resistance stuff about twice a week and using a heart rate monitor 2-3 times to do some at-the-gym aerobic routines my trainer has suggested.
I've switched from always taking the elevator in my building to almost always taking the stairs.
I also bought a bicycle for riding in the city. I'm a pretty big wimp about riding in city traffic so I've been focusing on taking short rides to get comfortable enough to do my shopping and errands by bike. I want to get to the point where I do most of my grocery shopping with my bicycle.
I want to keep trying new exercises and activities so I can find more that I like. My trainer recently showed me some TRX exercises that I want to try again and my gym has a yoga class that I want to try.
3) To continue to get a better handle on food
Right now I've quit bingeing by eliminating some foods and categories of foods completely from my kitchen and also never cooking stuff in big batches or too far in advance. It's working for the moment and it's a huge achievement, but I want to be able to cook ahead of time and I want to be able to keep some occasional splurge items on hand.
I also want to learn more about nutrition and to consider new ideas even when I think I already know the answers.
OK, I'm on vacation and only have a faint lingering cold from being sick. I'm staying with a family I used to nanny for and became part of the family along the way. It's nice weather and it's really good to see the kids.
I'd intended to work out Saturday (yesterday) and didn't, but at least I wasn't a total couch potato. I went to the pool with the little guys and quickly realized I was falling into the "sidelined parents" pattern where all the adults sit on the side and just watch the kids be active. So I did get in the water with them and goof off some.
Today I intended to try an aerobic workout in the park with the kids. I wore my heart monitor and my intention was to warmup then keep my heart rate in a certain range for the duration. Didn't happen. When I realized I was resisting the natural rythymns of play I decided to just go with those, with an occasional look at my heart monitor to remind me to get it in gear every so often.
I discovered that chasing a small child ("You can't catch me!") took my heart rate to 150 and that just swinging high while pumping vigorously was up to 107.
Tonight I used my new resistance bands and also did a couple bodyweight excercises.
I did 3 sets, 10 reps each of:
triceps pull down
bicep curl
low pull
shoulder press
twist (not sure what to call it- it's a baseball-batting motion I usually do on a cable cross)
Then I did 10 squats and 20 modified pushups (done on knees).
I found it hard to gage how much resistance was right and kept having the nagging feeling that I was somehow messing up, but I gave it my best effort.
I packed my food scale and I've keeping up with weighing and measuring my food.
8/18/08, Monday
40 minute bike ride
mostly level or a mild slope
I'm still on vacation so I borrowed a bike. I can't say I enjoyed it since I wasn't comfortable with the bike or my route, but I stuck with it.
8/19/08, Tuesday
hour bike ride
more up and down and two serious hills (at least for me) in the mix
I found a bike path that follows a stream and winds through a park. It was fun. A few times I had that feeling of flying I remember from childhood.
On the way back I tackled a hill that left me panting but I got up it.
Then I got completely lost and had to walk for a couple minutes till I got sort of oriented again and rode back to where I'm staying. Feel tired but good.
Still on vacation. Last night (Wednesday) I did resistance band exercises and a couple body weight exercises.
It was easier than last time to quickly get close to the "right" level of resistance with the bands. The kidlets have been super curious about the bands and both the little guys did some of them with me. Plus little R kicked my rear doing pushups.
I did 3 sets, 10 reps each of:
triceps pull down
bicep curl
low pull
shoulder press
twist
Then I did 20 squats and 20 modified pushups (done on knees).
Ok, first a disclaimer. I know now that machine weights are not an optimum choice. I didn't know that when I started them though. I chose them mostly as something that I knew I could get comfortable with and that I remembered liking when I had messed around with them a little bit 20 years ago.
I figure I'll be slowly moving away from them (and the trainer I've been working with every other week has been nudging me towards other things).
But for now y'all will just have to make fun of me.
8/21/08, Thursday
mostly traveling, no excercise that day.
8/22/08, Friday
AM weight: 199.8 Yeehah! I've gotten under 200!
Here's Friday's workout at my gym (with a break in the middle)
The ellipticals were all in use so I did a little bit of bosu stuff while I waited.
bosu plank 40 seconds x 3
bosu compressions 200 x 2
Then, intervals on the elliptical using my heart rate monitor.
5 min warm up
4 min 125-145 BPM ,then 1 min 145 - 155 BPM (repeated 4 times but missed hitting one of the sprint intervals when I got distracted)
5 min cool down
Took a break, then weights:
Bear with me since I don't have any standard formats down. The #s are from the numbers on the plates, +5 is adding a 5 pound weight. (Yeah, I'll learn, but for now just getting this posted takes priority)
3 sets, 10 reps each (unless stated otherwise)
cable cross twist: 25
cable cross shoulder press: 15
low pull: 45
triceps pull down: 5 +5
biceps curl: 2
leg press: 1st set 9 both legs, then 4.5 one leg, then 9 both
hip abductor: 7.5
hip adductor: 7.5
shoulder press: 62.5
seated chest press: 65 +5
8/24/08, Sunday bosu compressions 200 x 4
bosu plank 40 seconds x 4
bosu crunches 6
elliptical:
5 min warm up
30 min 125-145 BPM
5 min cool down
Last edited by CloveApple : 08-24-2008 at 10:41 PM.
Reason: to get my days of the week right
My oh my I did not want to drag myself down to the gym today. Finally got out the door though, and once I got there and got going it felt good.
bosu plank 40 seconds x 4
bosu compressions 200 x 4
bosu crunches 10
bosu step (the notation I use on this one would only make sense to me -let's just say I did two rounds of it)
(The numbers are from the numbers on the plates, so not actual pounds; +5 is adding a 5 pound weight.)
3 sets, 10 reps each (unless stated otherwise)
cable cross twist: 25
cable cross shoulder press: 15
low pull: 4 + 5
triceps pull down: 5+5
biceps curl: 2
leg press: 1st set 9 both legs, then 4.5 one leg, then 9 both
hip abductor: 7.5
hip adductor: 7.5
shoulder press: 62.5 (10 reps, then 7, then 5)
seated chest press: 65 +10 (10 reps, then 10, then 7)
In a couple minutes I'm out the door to take the (group home) residents to camp. I've told myself I'll fit in a workout while we're there, but it may be a bit of a challenge since I'm not ever really off the clock at something like this. I'm bringing my heart monitor and my resistance bands, but I'm not sure what the set up will actually allow me to do.
Food for this trip has been a challenge too.
I had been planning to find out exactly what foods we were bringing and then look up the calories for reasonable portions. But when I stopped by work to check what groceries we had, I discovered that the person in charge of food wasn't going shopping until this morning even though we leave this morning!!
So I'm bringing my own stuff, some of which I've already portioned and weighed. Plus I'm bringing a food scale.
Still, I think I've planned as well as I can, so off to meet the adventure!
Smart move on bring your own pre-portioned food. Camp food is usually high calorie.
Thanks. It ended up being a life saver. I thought I would have a little bit of say in the cooking (in past years I did) but this year I would have been up a creek without my own supplies.
As usual it was an exhausting trip. I was hoping to get in an aerobic exercise and was thinking maybe something with stairs but there were none near our cabin plus it rained Weds evening.
I settled on resistance band stuff plus two other exercises.
With resistance bands I did 3 sets, 10 reps each of:
triceps pull down
bicep curl
low pull
shoulder press
twist
Then I did 20 squats and 20 modified pushups (done on knees).
8/28/08, Thursday
We stumbled back into town this afternoon. I stalled for awhile before hauling myself to the gym and doing some time on the elliptical. 5 minute warm up, 20 minutes at 125-145 BPM, and a 5 minute cool down.
Argued with myself about doing more, but decided I was more just deadly tired than slacking. In any case, I feel better for having gotten in a little aerobic stuff. It's amazing how it can lighten my mood.
Last edited by CloveApple : 08-28-2008 at 10:39 PM.
Reason: to fix typo
As usual it was an exhausting trip. I was hoping to get in an aerobic exercise and was thinking maybe something with stairs but there were none near our cabin plus it rained Weds evening.
I settled on resistance band stuff plus two other exercises.
With resistance bands I did 3 sets, 10 reps each of:
triceps pull down
bicep curl
low pull
shoulder press
twist
Then I did 20 squats and 20 modified pushups (done on knees).
8/28/08, Thursday
We stumbled back into town this afternoon. I stalled for awhile before hauling myself to the gym and doing some time on the elliptical. 5 minute warm up, 20 minutes at 125-145 BPM, and a 5 minute cool down.
Argued with myself about doing more, but decided I was more just deadly tired than slacking. In any case, I feel better for having gotten in a little aerobic stuff. It's amazing how it can lighten my mood.
More than half the battle is just getting in there and getting it done. But once you're in and it's over...you can't help but feel pretty darn good. Way to go on sucking it up and hitting the elliptical.
More than half the battle is just getting in there and getting it done. But once you're in and it's over...you can't help but feel pretty darn good. Way to go on sucking it up and hitting the elliptical.
Thanks. From your log it looks like you've been doing your share of sucking it up in your own workouts.
I worked out at the Y this evening instead of my usual Friday morning time. Downtown Minneapolis is purely crazy with the Republican convention. I saw at least 5 helicopters in the sky and countless police.
bosu plank 40 seconds x 4
bosu compressions 200 x 4
bosu crunches 10
bosu step (two rounds of it)
(The numbers are from the numbers on the plates, so not actual pounds; +5 is adding a 5 pound weight.)
3 sets, 10 reps each (unless stated otherwise)
cable cross twist: 25
cable cross shoulder press: 15
low pull: 4+5
triceps pull down: 5+5
biceps curl: 2
leg press: 1st set 9 both legs, then 4+5 one leg, then 9 both
hip abductor: one set at 7+5, then 2 sets at 8
hip adductor: one set at 7+5, then 2 sets at 8
shoulder press: 62.5 (10 reps, then 10, then 7)
seated chest press: 65+10 (10 reps, then 10, then 8)
I'm still weighing and tracking my food calories. Any feedback on what a decent amount of time for a baseline is? (As in figuring what my maintenance level is.)
I'm way overdue for a log entry. Maybe that's because I didn't want to say I haven't done any workouts for a couple days. I think I really needed one and possibly two of those days off as I've been pretty overloaded. But now I really need to get back to the gym.
And even more than that, I need to plan how to put breaks in every so often without feeling like I'm cheating or playing hooky, and without dropping the whole thing. It's more important to me to make exercise sustainable over the long run than to have short term heroics with no follow through.
I'm just not sure where the balance is. Where the line is between "need a break" and "slacking."
Still, I have been continuing to track my food and I have almost 4 weeks of calories tracked. And I have Sunday's (4 days ago) workout to log.
8/30/08, Sunday
After work I did intervals on the elliptical using my heart rate monitor.
5 min warm up
4 min 125-145 BPM ,then 1 min 145 - 155 BPM (repeated 4 times)
5 min cool down
I got a cool (and unexpected) compliment yesterday. A relative of one of my group home residents asked me if I'd had lap band surgery.
9/4/08, Thursday
To get myself back to the gym today I promised myself I could do my favorite one of my two quicker workouts. But then the ellipticals were all taken so I ended up doing a little bosu work too while I waited.
bosu compressions 200 x 3
bosu plank 40 seconds x 4
elliptical intervals with heart monitor:
5 min warm up
4 min 125-145 BPM ,then 1 min 145 - 155 BPM (repeated 4 times)
5 min cool down
For those too impatient to read my meanderings, the short version is: I tracked some #s and found I didn't know more than before I tracked them. Plus I worked out.
Food stuff: (very technical term )
I'd been tracking calories (no macros, right now just calories is enough to challenge me) for a little over 4 weeks now. The numbers are probably getting slightly more accurate as I tweak the measuring.
I haven't set myself a precise goal (though I've been aiming at or under 2000) because the point of it right now is just to get a handle on where maintenance is and where deficit is.
Also I've been fine with letting the numbers bounce up and down. Part of that is that I have been trying to make sure that I eat enough on workout days to avoid an energy crash.
(I had some horrible crashes shortly before starting this log. I'd get home from working out and be the sort of stupid tired you get from being severely sleep deprived or mildly sick, but I'd be too stupid-feeling to figure out that it was hunger/low blood sugar. I'd just notice dumbly that I couldn't think and that I was bad at stuff I'm usually good at. Then I'd eat something and suddenly realize I was ravenous. Then I'd eat something more and as I ate my ability to think would gradually return.)
Aug 1 -Aug 7
F: pre-tracking Sa: pre-tracking Su: 1879 M: 1823 T: 2247 W: 2115 Th: 1783
weekly total: not available daily average: 1969.4
Friday AM weight: 204.2 (Aug 8)
Aug 8-Aug 14
F: 2202 Sa: 1845 Su: 1986 M: 1762 T: 1690 W: 1737 Th: 1803
weekly total: 13025 daily average: 1860.71
Friday AM weight: 202 (Aug 15)
Aug 15-Aug 21
F: 1955 Sa: 1768 Su 1434 M: 2002 T: 1622 W: 1831 Th: 2073
weekly total: 12685 daily average: 1812.14
Friday AM weight: 199.8 (Aug 22)
Aug 22nd-Aug 28th
F: 1810 Sa: 1862 Su: 1700 M: 1787 T: 1501 W: 1589 Th: 2050
weekly total: 12299 (daily average:1757)
Friday AM weight: 198.4 (Aug 29)
Aug 29th -Sept 4
F: 1909 Sa: 1600 Su 1930 M: 1317 T: 1819 W: 1896 Th: 1587
weekly total: 12058 (daily average: 1722.57)
Friday AM weight: 199 (Sept 5)
attempts to make some sense of those numbers:
At 3 weeks I started plugging in some of the numbers to see where I was. But then when I plugged in week 4 I saw that I don't really know much, because even a slight weight blip changed the data so much. Oh well.
3 week trends Aug 8-28:
3 weeks calories: 38009
average daily calories: 1809.9523
3 weeks' weight loss: 5.8 =20300 total deficit = 966.666 average deficit per day
4 week trends Aug 8-Sept 4
4 weeks' calories: 50067
average daily calories: 1788.1
4 weeks' weight loss: 5.2 = 18200 total deficit =650 deficit per day
I plan to go over this stuff with the trainer I've been working with every other week, but (for financial reasons) I probably won't be having a session with him until the 17th at which point I can afford to go weekly. He'd probably be willing to discuss it now, but I think that would fairly rude behavior on my part when I haven't scheduled a session in 2 weeks and probably won't for another week or two.
(On another site I saw a trainer complaining about "not knowing what to do with" a woman who was scheduled only once a week and I just laughed. I've been spending hours going over my finances to ferret out the money to afford the luxury of once a week.)
and now an actual workout: 9/5/08, Friday
bosu plank 40 seconds x 6
bosu compressions 200 x 4
bosu crunches 10
bosu step (two rounds of it)
(The numbers are from the numbers on the plates, so not actual pounds; +5 is adding a 5 pound weight.)
3 sets, 10 reps each (unless stated otherwise)
cable cross twist: 25, then accidentally 20 when I meant to go up, then 30
cable cross shoulder press: 15
low pull: 4+5
triceps pull down: 5+5
biceps curl: 2
leg press: 1st set 9 both legs, then 4+5 one leg at a time, then 9.5 both
hip abductor: one set at 7+5, then 2 sets at 8
hip adductor: one set at 7+5, then 2 sets at 8
shoulder press: 62.5 (10 reps, then 7, then 8)
seated chest press: 65+10 (10 reps, then 10, then 7)
I rode to work this morning (very short ride) so I'd be guaranteed to bike after work. City traffic makes me very nervous and I want to get comfortable enough to do most of my local errands on my bike, so today's goal was to bike to a nearby store (6 or 8 blocks away), buy something, and get back in one piece.
Mission accomplished.
I found out that one of my new bike locks jams about 50% of the time when you try to turn the combination, but my key-ed one worked just fine.
I've decided my goal of working out 5-6 times a week for 6 weeks just wasn't right for me. Some weeks I hit the goal but felt constant pressure (and wasn't getting other stuff done), and some weeks I just simply tanked. Either way it wasn't working.
So I'm aiming for 4 formal gym days (2 resistance/weights and 2 aerobic) plus integrating non-formal exercise into the rest of my life. This means a bigger push to actually use my new bike as something besides an obstacle course/hurdle in my apartment's entryway.
Also a friend has talked me into doing the Minneapolis Bike Tour next weekend. It's not a race and it's only about 14 miles for the short version, which might not seem like much until you realize that the longest I've done is between 3 and 4 miles (and we took a break part way). Plus that was a month or two ago. So I've got a lot of incentive to bike more this week so I'm not quite as pathetic ... err... I mean unprepared.
9/7/08, Sunday
I had figured I probably wouldn't work out today since a friend was flying into town tonight, but as it was she was too tired to do more than crash at her hotel. So I decided to bike to the Uptown Y (just over a mile away).
I spent a little time thinking about the route so I could avoid some of the busier streets and set off all nervous. Riding in city traffic is a big adjustment for me. ("Big adjustment" is another way to spell "terrifying.")
The actual ride turned out to be fun, but when I was a good part of the way there I realized I'd forgotten my heart monitor that I need for the workout I'd planned.
I decided to keep riding and do an errand in the neighborhood of the gym. So I stopped at a cooking supply store and picked up a kitchen scale I'd tried out at a friend's. Then I biked a few blocks more and visited some good friends I'd been neglecting before biking home.
All in all it was pretty fun for something I'd been avoiding for about two months. Plus I really like my new and improved food scale.
9/8/08, Monday
I'm so tired but it's all good.
This morning was supposed to be my day off where I get to sleep in, but I got called in for a mini-crisis at 6AM anyway. Then I decided to bike (for the first time) to the downtown Y that I prefer. Yup, that's in the heart of traffic-filled downtown. Maybe sleep deprivation made me brave. Or maybe I had to prove that I wasn't wimping out when I lowered my formal gym-time goal.
Anyway, I made it there in one piece. Twice I needed to pull over to the side to regroup and collect myself, but I got there.
Once there I did:
bosu plank 40 seconds x 6
bosu compressions 200 x 4
bosu crunches 10
bosu step (two rounds of it)
(The numbers are from the numbers on the plates, so not actual pounds; +5 is adding a 5 pound weight.)
3 sets, 10 reps each (unless stated otherwise)
cable cross twist: 30
cable cross shoulder press: 15 (stopped after 2 sets because my left thumb was hurting in a way I didn't understand)
low pull: 4+5
triceps pull down: 5+5
biceps curl: 2
leg press: 1st set 9+5 both legs, then 4+5 one leg at a time, then 9+5 both
hip abductor: 8
hip adductor: 8
shoulder press: 62.5 (10 reps, then 7, then 8)
seated chest press: 65+10
Then I biked home. (A different route due to one way streets.)
I ate out tonight at a great restaurant with my visiting friend and I've no way to know what the calories were, but I had decided in advance that that would be ok. I gave myself room for a thousand calories and I just have to hope that was in the ballpark. (Though I may need help sticking with that decision and not freaking out if I maintain or even gain this week.) Tomorrow it's back to weighing and measuring the food.
All in all a good day.
Last edited by CloveApple : 09-08-2008 at 10:29 PM.
Reason: *somebody* snuck typos into my writing when i wasn't looking
I rode my bike to the downtown Y again. It was mostly fun on the way there, though big vehicles coming close to me still make me nervous. Still much better than the first time. This is going to be do-able.
At the Y I did intervals on the elliptical:
5 min warm up
4 min 125-145 BPM (zone 3), then 1 min 145 - 155 BPM (zone 4)
[repeated 4 times]
5 min cool down
Then I biked home. I could really feel the ride home.
Then on the way home I paid for my next batch of personal training sessions. I'm really looking forward to working with my trainer again. I was surprised how much I missed it.
I've got to watch the food though while I get used to this biking thing. I've learned (the hard way) that I have to eat something before or during exercise or I crash, and I've pretty much gotten down what amount works for going to the gym. However I guess I don't have it down yet for biking. I biked to work after my appointment, and while I wasn't in full crash mode I was pretty tired and stupid. Of course I thought I was just tired, but since it got better suddenly after I'd eaten a good deal it was obviously my body actually needing food.
Last edited by CloveApple : 09-11-2008 at 12:38 AM.
Reason: added date
I am so impressed that you are biking to appts, and to the gym! I completely understand the whole stretching the comfort zone thing, I'm just not too good at it myself...you seem to really be getting on it tho!
Also...do you make protein shakes? I'm thinking maybe in terms of the biking...they may be the answer to not crashing...I use them in between meals and at times when it's hard to get a "meal" like if I'm running around all day. Just a thought! Congrats on the under 200 mark!! Keep up the good work!!
I am so impressed that you are biking to appts, and to the gym! I completely understand the whole stretching the comfort zone thing, I'm just not too good at it myself...you seem to really be getting on it tho!
Also...do you make protein shakes? I'm thinking maybe in terms of the biking...they may be the answer to not crashing...I use them in between meals and at times when it's hard to get a "meal" like if I'm running around all day. Just a thought! Congrats on the under 200 mark!! Keep up the good work!!
Thanks for visiting. And thanks for the compliment. I almost didn't bike to the gym on Friday, but then I read your post and it helped give me that little bit of extra oomph to tackle the ride.
You know it's funny that you don't see yourself as moving outside of your comfort zone because I see you as somebody who's doing lots of stretching and risk taking.
I haven't tried making any kind of shakes. Maybe I need to put a blender on my shopping list? Or how do you make yours?
Last edited by CloveApple : 09-14-2008 at 06:19 AM.
Reason: I messed up the quote
I biked the 8 or 6 blocks to the store but otherwise this was a day of rest.
Man am I feeling the biking though. It's the ride to downtown that really does it. (Which I didn't do today.)
The hill between me and downtown has been kicking my butt. Going to downtown is mostly downhill, but coming back there is one stretch that has me gasping for breath and barely moving forwards. To look at it's a nothing slope so it pisses me off that it's such a challenge.
I've told myself two things:
For right now riding to downtown is optional (especially on days I'm also working out at the downtown gym).
This does not mean I am giving up on the hill. I am going to work up to it and I am going to beat that @$#!* hill and ride up it smoothly!
For awhile now my breathing and tiredness while climbing the stairs have been an unofficial measure of how I'm doing fitness-wise. Slowly but surely the stairs have gotten easier. They have gone from optional bonus-points chore to automatic daily routine. Sometimes now there is a real spring in my step when I go up to the 4th floor. Now it's that hill I'm going to be watching.
9/12/08, Friday
Biked to downtown Y.
bosu plank 40 seconds x 6
bosu compressions 200 x 4
bosu crunches 10
bosu step (two rounds of it)
(The numbers are from the numbers on the plates, so not actual pounds; +5 is adding a 5 pound weight.)
3 sets, 10 reps each (unless stated otherwise)
cable cross twist: 30 (done in both directions)
cable cross shoulder press: 15
low pull: 4+5
triceps pull down: 5+5
biceps curl: 2
leg press: 1st set 9+5 both legs, then 4+5 one leg, then 9+5 both
hip abductor: 8
hip adductor: 8
shoulder press: 62.5 (10 reps, then 10, then 7)
seated chest press: 65+10
Biked home from downtown. (Hating evil hill.)
In the evening biked uptown (no evil hills) to get some stuff for the Sunday bike ride.
First I went to a bike shop. None of the little packs you can attach to a bike would would work on my bike. So I'll be wearing my backpack for the ride. I did get a front and back light for riding at night though. Plus a new bike lock.
Then I biked to a friend's, visited, and biked home at night.
9/14/08, Sunday
I gave myself Saturday off to get un-sore for today's ride. It's early morning and I'm getting ready (or procrastinating online, whichever ) before I head off on my bike to meet my friend "B" for the Minneapolis Bike Tour - A Tour of the City of Lakes I really want to finish it, but I've told myself I'll still speak to myself if I do half of it.
Woohooo! We rode all 14 miles.
I'm both tired and sleepy, but I did it.
About an hour after the ride when I picked up my bike to go home I discovered I had a flat. When I took it to get looked at they found a big ol' chunk of glass in it, so I had to buy a new tire.
But now my bike is fixed and happy, and I'm tired and happy.
*addition to 9/12/08, Friday
Friday AM weight: 197.8
The Big Stretch
. So I'll be wearing my backpack for the ride. I did get a front and back light for riding at night though. Plus a new bike lock.
Linear Mode
