A New Max

This morning Drew and I went to the gym together and that meant that I'd have a spotter in order to try to test out my bench pressing abilities.  The last time I tried, I felt like I maxed out at 80 pounds.   A couple days ago I was able to do 90 pounds on the chest press machine, so I was hoping for something around there.  But I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it, since I always think the machines are easier. 

We started out with 30 minutes on the stair mill before hitting the weights.  I was pretty nervous, but we started out at 65 pounds and that was fine.  Then I moved up to 75 pounds and it was definitely getting harder and my right pectoral muscle was a tiny bit tired.  I decided that we should just go for it and try 85 pounds.  I did one really easily.  The second one I managed to get up and then that was it.  My right pectoral muscle had had enough.  I can't say I really blame it.  And, um, as a result, I dropped the bar.  Right into Drew's hands.  Lucky thing I have such a great spotter, huh?  It's not quite as bad as it sounds.  I kept my left hand on the bar the entire time and I'm sure I just surprised Drew more than anything else.  Thanks to him, I was never in any real danger.   

After that, we finished up with some more weight lifting, which looked a lot like this: 

Bench Press
5 @ 65 lbs
5 @ 75 lbs
2 @ 85 lbs

Skull Crushers
3 x 10 @ 25 lbs

Butterfly
6 @ 60 lbs
8 @ 60 lbs
7 @ 60 lbs

Shoulder Press
2 x 10 @ 12.5 lbs (per arm)

I have to say that I'm pretty proud that I beat my previous best.  Especially since I really haven't been lifting weights all that consistently (or at all) recently. 

We finished up our day with some time on the Arc Trainer.  I still don't understand the appeal of that machine.  Drew loves it, probably with a capital L.  And I think it's super boring.  His response?  "Yeah, but I go faster and push myself more than you."  After thinking about that for a while, it's probably the reason I love the stair mill so much.  Because the machine pushes you automatically.  Plus, it's really easy to read a book on the stair mill.  Which probably makes it the best machine of all time.  Maybe I don't like the arc trainer because I don't automatically get pushed in the same way? 

Stair Mill
Time: 30:00
Distance: 2.95 miles
Calories: 275

Weight Lifting
Time: 32:05
Calories: 144

Arc Trainer
Time: 30:00
Distance: 0.70 miles
Calories: 248

And I Swam

We spent last night in Westchester after having dinner at Blue Hill. Delicious cocktail, dinner, wine and desserts were on the menu, but after all that, sometimes you just need a good workout! I decided to brave the gym today with Drew. He said that he was going to do the Arc Trainer, lift some weights and do some swimming. I offered to come along and give him some pointers on the swimming part.

We did the thirty minutes on the Arc Trainer. I think that's Drew's favorite piece of gym equipment, but I don't think it's mine. It was definitely a good enough workout to get me nice and sweaty. Then we headed over to the boy area weight lifting room. I just wasn't in the mood to lift weights, so instead I flipped through the most recent Time Out New York while Drew did some lifting.

He was doing some leg lifting, but decided to cut it a bit short so that his legs wouldn't be too tired for the main event ... swimming! This was the first time I'd even been in the water since Alcatraz. It was a little bit bittersweet, especially since Drew has commandeered my swim cap, I was stuck using the one from Alcatraz!

We got into the pool, which was a bit cooler than I remembered, and Drew started swimming and I started aqua jogging? I gotta tell you, it makes you feel pretty ridiculous. Also, I never realized before how slippery the bottom of the pool is. I really felt like I should be wearing aqua socks.

So, in full disclosure, I did swim. One length of the pool. I just wanted to see how my arm was. It's not all the way back to normal yet (big surprise there, huh?). I also decided that even though I can swim, I don't think that I will swim. Mainly because I think my stroke is pretty decent right now and I don't want to mess that all up with doing a repetitive motion that is wrong. Plus, if anything is my strong suit, it's swimming. I'm the least worried about that.

I have to say that Drew does look a little bit better than he did before he took his one (and only) swim lesson. I think that if anything came out of it, he definitely realized that I might actually know what I'm talking about. Not that I think I'm the best person to coach him, but at least now if I give him some pointers, he might actually give them a bit more credibility than I think he was before.

I mainly occupied myself kicking and aqua jogging. It was nice to be back in the water, but just like this whole walking/running dilemma, it made me want to just be able to swim. Soon. Really really soon. I think.

Arc Trainer
Time: 30:00
Distance: 0.76 miles
Pace: 39:28/mile
Calories: 261
Maximum HR: 155
Average HR: 146

Swimming
Time: 30:21
Calories: 116
Maximum HR: 151
Average HR: 100

Doing Some Figurin

OK, so I've been a bad blogger. Which generally means that I've been a bad exerciser. In this case, that's actually sort-of true. Although I usually like to think that Monday mornings are not made for working out. And sometimes rainy Tuesday mornings fall into that category. I actually did go to the gym on Tuesday after work, but my workout got cut short (only 20 minutes on the Arc Trainer) because our dinner plans got pushed up. But I've got proof I actually did those 20 minutes, see:


But, the truth is, after finding out that I couldn't swim, bike or run for the next few weeks because of my broken elbow, my heart just isn't in it. So, I've been trying to figure out what I'm going to do with myself for the next month or so while I'm waiting for everything to heal. The truth is that I just don't love the gymnasium. I think it's taken me a while to figure that out and I actually think it's why I didn't really workout much before I started this whole triathlon business. The truth is that I really love to be outside.

I think I've come up with a plan that will get me up and out of bed in the mornings, but might not be a plan for triathlon completion in 2010. I'm not sure that I'm okay with that last part of the statement quite yet, but I know that I've got to keep moving in the meantime. The best thing that I can come up with that makes me happy and willing to get up early is to take long walks outside. I know that's not necessarily going to help me when it comes time to swim, bike or run. But you know what? It's going to keep me a lot happier than I have been for the past few days.

Truthfully, I've really been down in the dumps about breaking my elbow. I feel mad at myself for falling in the first place. And then I think that if I could complete a triathlon immediately after breaking my elbow, why can't I just keep swimming, biking and running right now?

I know that I most likely won't be able to compete in either of my scheduled triathlons this year (New York City and Timberman) and I'm really having a hard time coming to terms with that fact. I also have to say that I feel incredibly guilty for getting Kristin to sign-up for Timberman as well and now it looks like there is a pretty good chance I won't be there! I'm still reserving my final judgments until my doctor appointment on June 15. Of course, I'm hoping that he'll say I can go back to all three sports, but even if he does, I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do right away - especially in the biking department.

So, with all of this weighing on my mind, I went out for a nice walk this morning. It was so nice to be back in the Park and people-watching. I even saw some of my Terrier teammates out there doing their brick workouts. I knew I wasn't walking as quickly today as I had over the weekend, but I was still just so happy to be outside and getting in some cardio that I didn't really care. At this point, I have to just remember to be patient and let my arm heal so that I can continue to do triathlons in the coming years!

I have to say that I realize that this might not make this the most exciting blog for the next few months, but I'm going to keep on writing even if there isn't anyone out there reading. I'll try to take my camera along on some of these walks, because there isn't a day that goes by where I don't think "only in New York...".

Arc Trainer
Time: 20:00
Distance: 0.52 miles
Pace: 38:27/mile
Calories: 206 (from machine)

Walking
Time: 1:13:01
Distance: 5.50 miles
Pace: 13:16/mile
Calories: 593
Maximum HR: 163
Average HR: 140

Two Down

It's now been two weeks since I broke my elbow and that means that hopefully I've only got 4-6 weeks more to go! Not that I'm obsessively counting down or anything! This morning Drew and I headed to the gym together. I will say that I really do not love the gym. I don't know why. It's not even that I dislike working out. I think most of it is that now that the weather seems to be settling into being nicer all the time, all I really want to do is be outside.

However, I know that if I only walk outside for the next 4 to 6 weeks, I won't have done enough to have a chance at doing these upcoming triathlons, so I'm going to have to head to the gym - like it or not. Drew offered to show me his Arc Trainer routine today. I have never been a super big fan of the Arc Trainer, but he said that his normal routine was no joke and it would be better than before.

He was right. We did 2:00 at 20 incline (the highest it can go) and 50 resistance. Then we did the next 26 minutes at 20 incline and 100 resistance (the highest it can go). That was not easy, but it was nice and sweaty, so that was good. Then we finished up with another 2:00 at 20 incline, 50 resistance. I'll say that I'm still not in love with the Arc Trainer, but it was better than I expected. I realized right away that going to the gym isn't going to be easy. I'm not supposed to lean on the equipment or put weight on my arm, so I can't really hold onto the equipment with my left arm. Which makes me feel a little off-kilter on everything. Here are my final stats:


After the Arc Trainer, I said that we should do 4 leg lifts. I chose two and Drew chose two.
We started off with Leg Presses, followed by Drew's Torture Non-Lift (the technical term, I'm sure), then my choice of Prone Leg Curls and Drew's choice where I quit (again, technical terms).

Leg Press: 3 set of 10 reps @ 180 lbs
Drew's Torture Non-Lift:
(Right Leg) 15 reps / 10 reps plus 5 pulses / 10 reps
(Left Leg) 15 reps / 10 reps plus 7 pulses / 10 reps
Prone Leg Curl: 12 reps @ 50 lbs / 10 reps @ 60 lbs / 8 reps @ 70 lbs

The leg presses are pretty self explanatory, I'm sure. Drew's Torture Non-Lift was basically like doing lunges, except your back foot is elevated on a weight bench and then you do a lunge forward. That pretty much sucked. I also wasn't so keen on doing something where I had to balance. Mainly because I'm extremely afraid of falling and hurting my arm further. The leg curls were also fairly sucky. That machine is just not our favorite.

And then Drew's lift where I quit? It again wasn't really a lift. It was more of a body weight thing. We had to stand on this piece of foam and reach out with one arm and lift the same leg behind us. Ok, so, I can't really reach out my left arm and I felt really insecure balancing because I'm sooooo afraid of falling again at this point that I just quit. I don't even feel bad about it. Well, that's not true. I was upset at the time because I had mentioned before that I didn't want to have to do anything that required balancing. And I was upset because I wanted to do 4 leg lifts and we only did three. But, I don't feel bad about not completing that particular lift. I think it was a good choice in the interest of my arm.

After that we headed over to the spin bikes. I was able to nab one of the computerized ones (the other one was taken, so Drew just used a regular one). I chose the Endurance Ride, Level 8, since it's mostly flat and doesn't require a lot of out of the saddle stuff. I gotta tell you, it's not easy to ride a stationary bike with one arm. And it's almost impossible to try to reach to get your water bottle with only one arm and nothing else to stabilize you. But, somehow I managed to ride for a little over a half an hour. Not too shabby - here are the stats:


I think I could get used to this sort of workout routine, maybe alternating with 2-3 walks a week. I'll probably try to coordinate the walking with the weather forecasts and head to the gym on the cooler/rainy days. Hopefully it'll keep me in good cardio shape!

Arc Trainer
Time: 30:00
Distance: 0.82 miles
Pace: 36:35/mile
Calories: 348
Maximum HR: 181
Average HR: 173

Weight Training
Time: 37:13
Calories: 282
Maximum HR: 165
Average HR: 135

Spin Bike
Time: 32:26
Distance: 12.50 miles
Pace: 23.12 MPH
Calories: 327
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 159

I Thought You Were Sleeping!

Last night Drew asked me if I wanted him to make sure that I got up and went to the gym this morning. I said yes, but that I would want to sleep in longer than he would because he likes to putz around more in the morning. I'm more of a sleep-in until the last minute and then put on clothes and run out the door kind of girl. So, when his alarm went off at 5:15, I was glad I'd be able to sleep for a few more minutes. He did come upstairs around 5:45 and I told him that he could go ahead and go to the gym and I'd just meet him there.

So, like usual, I kept sleeping. Unlike usual, I did finally get up and go to the gym. I wasn't planning on lifting today (I'm thinking I'll finally finish up my weight lifting book at the end of this week), so all I wanted to do was some quick cardio to prove to myself that I really am getting back into the swing of things. I'd also like to tell myself that I'm going to brave the really cold temperatures that we're having in NYC tomorrow morning and go running with the Terriers, so I decided not to get back on the treadmill today.

Instead, I opted to do the arc trainer. Full disclosure: I really wanted to finish my (overdue) library book and the arc trainer is a pretty good way to do that. When I got to the gym, I figured that Drew was in the weight room and that I'd see him soon enough. After a little while, I noticed him on one of the spin bikes, but he couldn't see me (the beauty of mirrors at the gym!).

I did 35 minutes on the arc trainer and then got off to stretch before heading home. While I was stretching, Drew came over to the stretching area to do some of his own stretching and he said that he thought I was just probably still sleeping since he hadn't realized that I was at the gym. I felt pretty proud of myself that although this wasn't a great workout by any stretch of the imagination, it was better than sleeping in and it made me feel better! Now if I can just talk myself into running outside in the cold tomorrow morning it'll be a really good start to the year!

Arc Trainer
Time: 35:00
Distance: 1.06 miles
Pace: 33:01/mile
Calories: 352
Maximum HR: 164
Average HR: 152

Everything About My Legs Hurt

After yesterday's weight lifting and bike riding, everything about my legs is sore. OK, that might be a slight exaggeration, but they are pretty sore in general. Mainly in my rear end and inner thighs, which Drew says could be from the squats. Needless to say, when I woke up this morning, I was just not feeling it.

I did drag myself out of bed and made it to the gymnasium, which at this point seems like a good thing. Of course, once I got there, I really didn't feel like doing a whole lot, so I settled for the Arc Trainer. I ended up setting it for 50 minutes and just read my book and lifted my legs up and down. It's pretty mindless. Also, didn't really do a whole lot for my heart rate.

I guess I'd say that this workout was better than nothing, but I'm not overly proud of it. I'm mostly proud that I actually got up and out of bed. I also happened to overhear someone at work talking about the fact that they hadn't washed their hair in about 5 days and all I could think was that they must not really workout, which somehow made me feel better about doing anything at all this morning. It might not have been my sweatiest workout, but I definitely had to wash my hair!

Arc Trainer
Time: 50:00
Distance: 1.45 miles
Pace: 34:28/mile
Calories: 436
Maximum HR: 152
Average HR: 140

Yeah, I'm A Badass

This morning Drew got up and went to his old gym to meet with his personal trainer, which meant that he got up really early in order to get there by 6:00. I was going to just sleep for a few more minutes, which turned into the rest of the morning, so I didn't make it to the gym before work. However, I packed a bag in order to force myself to go to the gym after work. It's a lot easier to go to the gym straight from work instead of having to go home in between and change.

I started out with some cardio, which I don't normally do. I really was thinking that I'd do half an hour of cardio, do my weight lifting and then finish up with some more cardio. Drew and I tried to figure out our Heart Rate Zones last night and this is what I came up with for mine:

195 Maximum
Zone 2 = 117 - 137 (60-70%)
Zone 3 = 137 - 156 (70-80%)
Zone 4 = 156 - 176 (80-90%)

I thought that perhaps I should try to stay in a lower Heart Rate Zone than I have been while running and see how it felt. With that in mind, I did a half an hour on the Arc Trainer. It's still really not my favorite piece of cardio equipment at the gymnasium, but it did keep my heart rate lower, so I think it was a success. It's also really good for reading, so that's a small bonus in my book (no pun intended).

I'm starting Week 9 of my Weight Lifting program and I finally remembered to bring (and use) something that I bought a few weeks ago, but haven't had the best memory. Here they are:

Workout gloves!!

Drew made me take this photo with my hands in fists so that you can truly see how "badass" I actually am...
I'm not really sure that I felt like a badass. I sort-of felt a little bit silly wearing these gloves and recording my weights in my workout book, but my hands felt a lot better, so all in all, it was a good thing!

Here was today's workout:
Barbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 45 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 55 lbs / 1 set of 6 reps @ 65 lbs
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 8 reps @ 30 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 6 reps @ 30 lbs (per arm)
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm)
Tricep Pushdowns: 1 set of 12 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 40 lbs / 1 set of 5 reps @ 50 lbs
Reverse Crunches: 1 set of 12 reps / 2 sets of 10 reps

This week is all about Pyramid-Up, which means that you should increase the weights on each set and decrease the reps. This took a lot longer than some of my other recent weight lifting because you were supposed to rest for 3 minutes in between sets. The goal reps were 12 for the first set, 10 for the second set and 8 for the third set. I had some trouble lifting really heavy today because I was by myself. I thought I probably could have squeezed out two more reps on the bench press set, but I was too afraid to let myself do it. I was shaky after 6 reps at 65 pounds and wasn't sure I'd be able to do two more (or even one more) without a spotter, so I just let it be at 6 reps. Drew said I could have asked anyone at the gym to spot for me, so I guess I know for next time. Even though I'm not sure I would have felt comfortable asking anyway. 65 pounds doesn't seem like a whole lot and I'd feel a little wimpy having to ask for a spotter for such a light weight.

I kept the weight at 30 pounds for the dumbbell bench press because I was having trouble lifting the weight onto the bench and lying down all at the same time. Um, that's right. Until just right now, reading over my stats did I realize that I did decline bench presses. Oops! I gotta tell you, it was another exercise where having a spotter could have been really helpful in order to hand me the dumbbells. I actually considered switching to barbells, because I thought that would be a lot easier to manage, but I stuck it out with what I thought was the right thing.

The crunches were supposed to be crunches with weight, but the weight room and the stretching areas were so crowded that I decided to try reverse crunches again and see if I had the same ill side effects as before. It definitely wasn't as painful while doing them, so I'm hopeful that my abs are back to normal now.

I really wanted to do another set of cardio once I finished up with the weight lifting, but it was already 7:30 and I needed to get home and do laundry before tomorrow, so I cut my workout a little bit short. It definitely didn't help that the weight lifting took longer than expected, but at least now I know that these workouts will be longer.

The rest of this week promises to be pretty bad for me at work so at the very least, I'm going to plan on keeping up with my weight lifting (likely on Thursday and Saturday), but I might skip out on some other stuff. I think it's pretty certain that I won't have a chance to workout at all on Wednesday, since I have to be at work at 6:30 and will be there late as well. I also have to go into work early Thursday and Friday and I have to work on Saturday. I'm trying to take it all in stride and remind myself that I already know I can run the 10K on Sunday and I don't have anything else really big that I have to be training for at this second. It's not ideal, but I'll do the best I can.

Arc Trainer
Time: 30:23
Distance: 1.16 miles
Pace: 26:11/mile
Calories: 259
Maximum HR: 149
Average HR: 138

Weight Lifting
Time: 43:19
Calories: 196
Maximum HR: 137
Average HR: 107

A New Gymnasium

This morning Drew and I headed to a new gymnasium. We belong to New York Sports Club and have the membership where we can go to all of their facilities. Our normal gym doesn't open until 8 on Saturdays, which is usually okay, but today Drew had work, so we went to the 24-hour gym near our apartment. He had been there once before, but it was my first time. I knew that it was smaller than our usual gym, but I actually really liked it. I'm guessing that it was a lot easier to like it because there weren't a lot of people there early on a Saturday morning.

I am starting Week 6 of my weight lifting book. This week is Super Sets that are focused on certain areas of the body, rather than a total body workout like before. This week I'm also supposed to do two workouts on consecutive days and the third on a non-consecutive day. Starting today makes it easy to get two workouts in today and tomorrow and then one more in the week is more than manageable.

Drew did the weight lifting with me, which we haven't done in a while. Today's focus was Legs and Abs. I don't think either of us were excited by that prospect, but it was what it was. Here is my workout:

A) Leg Extensions: 3 sets of 15 reps @ 65 lbs
B) Leg Press: 1 set of 15 reps @ 115 lbs / 2 sets of 12 reps @ 115 lbs
*****
A) Deadlifts: 3 sets of 15 reps @ 45 lbs
B) Leg Curls: 1 set of 15 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 65 lbs / 1 set of 20 reps @ 65 lbs
*****
A) Reverse Crunches: 1 set of 15 reps / 1 set of 12 reps / 1 set of 10 reps
B) Ab Bench Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps

The leg extensions and leg presses weren't 100% Super Sets because Drew was taking a little too long with his exercises so when we went to switch, I had to wait for him to finish up and take the weight off the leg press machine. The leg curls need some serious explaining. For Super Sets, I really think that you should use the double leg machine, otherwise it sort-of defeats the purpose if you do single legs. At our regular gym, I normally use the prone leg curl machine (the one where you're lying on your stomach and your rear end is up in the air). Drew isn't a huge fan of that machine (nor am I) so today we tried out the seated double leg curl machine. Um, yeah, that machine is really easy. That's why my first and third sets were so many more reps than the second set. I used the easy machine for those. For the second set, someone was on the easy machine, so I had to run over to use the prone leg curl machine instead. I think the difference between 8 reps and 20 reps at the same weight is pretty remarkable.

Today was my first time actually doing reverse crunches. Turns out that I haven't missed doing them at all. They're really hard. Harder than the other kinds of crunches. I am glad that I got a chance to do them and try them out. I'm sure that it was good for me. The book mentions that holding onto the bench is the hardest part for a lot of people. I'm going to go ahead and say that talking myself into lifting my legs 10 to 15 times was the hardest part, but it was made harder by the fact that I was holding myself up with my arms.

After the weight lifting, we headed off to do cardio. Drew really loves the Arc Trainer, and I've only done it once for about 5 minutes before deciding that I didn't love it, so I thought I should give it another shot. Turns out I still don't love it. I did the Pike's Peak program and thought it was just okay. After 30 minutes, I really felt like I hadn't had much of a workout. I think it would be a good thing to do on days where I'm tired and not in the mood for a harder workout, but I don't think I'll seek it out like he does. I just don't see the appeal. But to each his own.

After our 30 minutes of cardio, I thought he would want to leave in order to get ready for work, but after a few minutes of stretching, he said that he was going to do some more. I figured that since I didn't think I had the best workout so far, I'd go ahead and do some more cardio too. He went back to the Arc Trainer and I figured I should try the treadmill again. I've been boycotting recently after hating the treadmill for the last few times that I'd used it.

Today was fine. I don't think I'll ever love the treadmill. I'm always going to prefer running outside. But it was a lot better than it had been previously where I wanted to kill someone while I was running. My times aren't so great below because I did a few minutes walking as a warm-up and a 5 minute walking warm-down. Also, in the middle, in order to keep the boredom at bay, I switched it up and did a few minutes walking at 8.0 incline at speed 4.0 (a 15-minute mile pace). So, once you factor all the walking in, I actually think I was running at a regular pace while I was actually running.

Part of my problem while I was on the treadmill was that I was starving. I had half of a Clif bar before leaving the house and I had some water with me. It wasn't enough for all the working out I did today. I kept thinking about having some yummy Muscle Milk when I got home from the gym and when I finally did get home, I was shocked to discover that Drew had the last of it today while at the gym! I had a 90-calorie Quaker granola bar instead. It wasn't even close to the same thing. We did buy more Muscle Milk, but it's sitting in Drew's office. I'm hoping that he remembers to bring it home from work today!

Weight Lifting
Time: 39:50
Calories: 292
Maximum HR: 152
Average HR: 126

Arc Trainer
Time: 30:00
Distance: 1.26 miles
Pace: 23:48/mile
Calories: 302
Maximum HR: 172
Average HR: 155

Treadmill
Time: 30:22
Distance: 2.65 miles
Pace: 11:27/mile
Calories: 391
Maximum HR: 188
Average HR: 171