This morning Drew and I headed off to the gymnasium like usual. Before we left, his sister said, "I hope you get really sweaty today!" I'm back to three non-consecutive days of weight lifting, so all I was going for was the cardio. We got to the gym right when it opened (at 6 AM) and were the first people inside. That meant free reign over the machines. I decided to head straight for the stair mill.
If there ever was a sweat inducing machine, this is it. I did intervals on Level 10 for 30 minutes and my gym towel was soaking wet by the end. I had to trade it in for a fresh one when I was done and I almost never do that. I didn't think a half an hour was enough cardio for one day, but it was enough on the stair mill. So, I finished up on the stair mill and headed over to the elliptical machine. I did one of the gluteal programs on the elliptical, which isn't one that I normally do. I'm not really sure I know what the difference is anyway, other than this one keeps you at a really high incline level the vast majority of the time. I tried to keep the resistance pretty high as well, although I did take a break for a few minutes in the middle and lowered it down.
Once again, I finished up with some stretching. No foam rolling today. My abs are still sore when I laugh, so I guess those crunches from yesterday are working their magic. I'm also slowly starting to realize that I have a 10K to run on December 6 and that perhaps I should start running more often for the next week or two. I have my regular Terrier run tomorrow, but I'm thinking that maybe I should be running two or three times a week anyway in preparation for my half-marathon in March. So many things to think about and plan for!
Stair Mill
Time: 30:08
Distance: 2.92 miles (140 floors)
Pace: 10:19/mile
Calories: 339
Maximum HR: 168
Average HR: 161
Elliptical
Time: 33:10
Distance: 2.70 miles
Pace: 12:17/mile
Calories: 331
Maximum HR: 156
Average HR: 149
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Drop It Like It's Hot
Today I had to skip my normal Sunday routine of Terrier swim practice because we were going with Drew's sister for lunch at Per Se. If there ever was a reason to skip swim practice, this seems like the best reason yet! It didn't mean that I skipped working out all together, though. Instead, I headed to the gymnasium with Drew this morning in order to start on Week 7 of my weight lifting book.
This week starts Drop Sets - where you do one set of weight lifting at a high weight, drop to a lower weight (about 30% less) for a second set, and finish up with an even lighter weight (30% less again) for the final set. Oh, and there is no rest in between sets.
This was today's workout:
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 15 reps @ 65 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 35 lbs
Leg Curls (Double Leg): 1 set of 10 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 45 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs
Calf Raises: 1 set of 15 reps @ 125 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 100 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 75 lbs
Leg Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 125 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 100 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 75 lbs
Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
Legs and abs. Oof. The legs weren't so bad. The book had different goal reps for each exercise, so I really concentrated on meeting the goal reps, which I was able to do every time. It wasn't easy, but I did it. I'm pretty sure that 125 is my highest weight to date on the leg presses/calf raises, so that was exciting! I also suffered through the crunches, which was painful. I did rest for 5 seconds in between each set of crunches. I thought that was fair as it'd be similar to adjusting the weight on any of the other machines. This weight lifting is really fast compared to a lot of the other ones where you can rest for 1-2 minutes between sets. I couldn't believe how quickly I was done and I even had to wait for about 2 minutes for a guy to be done with the leg press machine.
After I was done with the weight lifting, I headed over to the computer spin bikes. I tried out a new program today, the endurance program. Mainly, that meant a lot of seated spinning instead of more in and out of the saddle. I think that I liked this program a little bit better because even though it might have been a little bit more boring than the ones where you get out of the saddle a lot, it was more true to the type of biking I'm trying to practice. I really tried to keep my cadence up above 80, even at the higher resistances, which I guess I was successful at because when I got off, it said that my average cadence was 81. When I had about 10 minutes left of my bike ride, Drew came over to find out that the second computer spin bike is broken. They're ordering a part and expect it to be fixed by Friday, but he was really hoping that I could show him the ropes on how to use it.
I finished up my bike ride and headed over to do lots and lots of stretching. Being at yoga yesterday reminded me how important it is to stretch after working out. I also did a lot of foam rolling. My shins are feeling so much better now that I've been foam rolling them. They don't hurt when you touch them anymore, which seems like a really good sign. I must say that foam rolling my shins is also one heck of an ab workout and by the time I finished, I was shaking from the effort of doing it. I also decided to foam roll my IT band for the first time. I see a guy doing it all the time at the gym, so I thought I'd jump on the band wagon. It was definitely painful, but that's probably a reason to keep doing it.
All in all, a very successful workout. Not enough to burn off the 2000+ calories that this lunch will be, but a good start!
Weight Lifting
Time: 19:33
Calories: 124
Maximum HR: 150
Average HR: 119
Spin Bike
Time: 47:00
Distance: 16.9 miles
Pace: 21.52 MPH
Calories: 501
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 155
This week starts Drop Sets - where you do one set of weight lifting at a high weight, drop to a lower weight (about 30% less) for a second set, and finish up with an even lighter weight (30% less again) for the final set. Oh, and there is no rest in between sets.
This was today's workout:
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 15 reps @ 65 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 35 lbs
Leg Curls (Double Leg): 1 set of 10 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 45 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs
Calf Raises: 1 set of 15 reps @ 125 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 100 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 75 lbs
Leg Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 125 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 100 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 75 lbs
Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
Legs and abs. Oof. The legs weren't so bad. The book had different goal reps for each exercise, so I really concentrated on meeting the goal reps, which I was able to do every time. It wasn't easy, but I did it. I'm pretty sure that 125 is my highest weight to date on the leg presses/calf raises, so that was exciting! I also suffered through the crunches, which was painful. I did rest for 5 seconds in between each set of crunches. I thought that was fair as it'd be similar to adjusting the weight on any of the other machines. This weight lifting is really fast compared to a lot of the other ones where you can rest for 1-2 minutes between sets. I couldn't believe how quickly I was done and I even had to wait for about 2 minutes for a guy to be done with the leg press machine.
After I was done with the weight lifting, I headed over to the computer spin bikes. I tried out a new program today, the endurance program. Mainly, that meant a lot of seated spinning instead of more in and out of the saddle. I think that I liked this program a little bit better because even though it might have been a little bit more boring than the ones where you get out of the saddle a lot, it was more true to the type of biking I'm trying to practice. I really tried to keep my cadence up above 80, even at the higher resistances, which I guess I was successful at because when I got off, it said that my average cadence was 81. When I had about 10 minutes left of my bike ride, Drew came over to find out that the second computer spin bike is broken. They're ordering a part and expect it to be fixed by Friday, but he was really hoping that I could show him the ropes on how to use it.
I finished up my bike ride and headed over to do lots and lots of stretching. Being at yoga yesterday reminded me how important it is to stretch after working out. I also did a lot of foam rolling. My shins are feeling so much better now that I've been foam rolling them. They don't hurt when you touch them anymore, which seems like a really good sign. I must say that foam rolling my shins is also one heck of an ab workout and by the time I finished, I was shaking from the effort of doing it. I also decided to foam roll my IT band for the first time. I see a guy doing it all the time at the gym, so I thought I'd jump on the band wagon. It was definitely painful, but that's probably a reason to keep doing it.
All in all, a very successful workout. Not enough to burn off the 2000+ calories that this lunch will be, but a good start!
Weight Lifting
Time: 19:33
Calories: 124
Maximum HR: 150
Average HR: 119
Spin Bike
Time: 47:00
Distance: 16.9 miles
Pace: 21.52 MPH
Calories: 501
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 155
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Oh, Yoga...Why Did I Forsake You?
This morning Drew and I did something that we haven't done in months ... yoga! His sister is visiting us for a long weekend and she practices yoga several times a week. This was a good reason for us to pull out our Yoga Passbooks and find a studio where all three of us could go and use a coupon.
I thought that we should try Laughing Lotus. We went to the Sun Celebrations class that was taught by Deborah. She had a fantastic accent that none of us could quite place, but from her bio, it turns out that she's South African. It definitely made it easier to listen to her for an hour and a half.
She spent the very first part of class talking to us about how we are mirrors for the people around us and we reflect back the good qualities and they do the same for us. And when our friends are struggling to find their purpose in life, we can help remind them of their good qualities. Sometimes I think all of this stuff is a little too new-agey for me, but this was actually presented in a way that seemed really practical.
Once we actually started the class, it was a really quick pace that she had us moving to. It was a vinyasa class and I thought I was going to die in some of the vinyasas - particularly those that were downward dog, plank, cobra/upward facing dog, downward dog. Every time she said "plank position" I think that my stomach quietly revolted a little bit from the stress on my abs. It's now been a week since I did whatever I did to them and they're still quite tired. But, I fought through it and was able to do most of the vinyasas, although sometimes I just had to stay in downward dog.
I definitely got in quite a good workout during the class if sweating is any indication. I've definitely lost a lot of flexibility in the last year, but I'm hoping that I can figure out a way to work yoga back into my workout routine. Even if it's just one night a week. Clearly, from my HR stats below, at some point I was working really hard for my heart rate to be 205! I am 99% certain that is my highest (recorded) heart rate ever. And it was quite surprising to see at the end of class. I only recorded the time where we were actually doing poses. I stopped timing for the shavasana.
Time: 1:17:36
Calories: 396
Maximum HR: 205
Average HR: 109
I thought that we should try Laughing Lotus. We went to the Sun Celebrations class that was taught by Deborah. She had a fantastic accent that none of us could quite place, but from her bio, it turns out that she's South African. It definitely made it easier to listen to her for an hour and a half.
She spent the very first part of class talking to us about how we are mirrors for the people around us and we reflect back the good qualities and they do the same for us. And when our friends are struggling to find their purpose in life, we can help remind them of their good qualities. Sometimes I think all of this stuff is a little too new-agey for me, but this was actually presented in a way that seemed really practical.
Once we actually started the class, it was a really quick pace that she had us moving to. It was a vinyasa class and I thought I was going to die in some of the vinyasas - particularly those that were downward dog, plank, cobra/upward facing dog, downward dog. Every time she said "plank position" I think that my stomach quietly revolted a little bit from the stress on my abs. It's now been a week since I did whatever I did to them and they're still quite tired. But, I fought through it and was able to do most of the vinyasas, although sometimes I just had to stay in downward dog.
I definitely got in quite a good workout during the class if sweating is any indication. I've definitely lost a lot of flexibility in the last year, but I'm hoping that I can figure out a way to work yoga back into my workout routine. Even if it's just one night a week. Clearly, from my HR stats below, at some point I was working really hard for my heart rate to be 205! I am 99% certain that is my highest (recorded) heart rate ever. And it was quite surprising to see at the end of class. I only recorded the time where we were actually doing poses. I stopped timing for the shavasana.
Time: 1:17:36
Calories: 396
Maximum HR: 205
Average HR: 109
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Power of 10
This morning it was back to the regular gymnasium for me. I had to finish up my last weight lifting workout for this week and then I figured I would so some low-impact cardio. I have to say that I have just been so tired this week (as in my muscles are all just tired) and I figured that a day of taking it easy would be good for me.
The weight lifting workout was another day of Super Sets. I did a quick 5 minute walking warm-up on the treadmill in order to warm-up and also read about what was in store for me workout wise today. As soon as I saw that crunches were first, I knew I was in for trouble.
This was today's workout:
A) Reverse Crunches: 1 set of 5 reps
B) Crunches: 1 set of 10 reps
*****
A) Dumbbell Pullovers: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 25 lbs
B) Lat Pulldown: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 70 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Pullovers: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 25 lbs
B) Lat Pulldown (Underhand): 3 sets of 10 reps @ 50 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Curls: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm)
B) Barbell Curls: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 30 lbs
The crunches were impossible. And I really mean that. I could barely do the ones that I did. I really did a number last Satuday on my abs. It apparently was much worse than I originally thought. I knew that it took me several days to be able to laugh without wincing in pain, but I wasn't prepared for the fact that I still wouldn't be able to do crunches. I definitely wanted to do them, but it just wasn't happening.
I took that as a sign that maybe my body just needed a bit of an easier day with the weights. I didn't really make a conscious decision to do sets of 10 reps, it mostly just worked out that way, and there were a couple of times where I was struggling to get 10 reps done, but it just seemed like I couldn't lose the pattern by the end of the workout.
The underhand lat pulldowns were done on the cable machine, which I mostly hate. A guy came while I was doing my last Super Set with the first lat pulldowns and I talked him into letting me finish up, but I didn't think he'd be so keen on me doing three more sets too. So, instead I set up the cable machine. The lat pulldowns weren't the easiest thing to do on that machine because I had to squat while doing the exercise, so it made my legs tired too. But, I got them done. It wasn't quite at the weight I had been lifting before, but I think that mostly was a function of the equipment I was using.
After the weight lifting, I headed over to the elliptical for some easy cardio. I was definitely sweating by the end of it. I used one of the machines that gives me a better mileage result. I don't know if that's cheating or not, but I noticed that a lot of the elliptical machines in our gym have stationary handles. I used to really like those machines, but I've recently changed ways and now think that the ones with handles are better, which is what I used this morning.
Weight Lifting
Time: 27:11
Calories: 164
Maximum HR: 152
Average HR: 116
Elliptical
Time: 30:24
Distance: 2.60 miles
Pace: 11:41/mile
Calories: 287
Maximum HR: 161
Average HR: 144
The weight lifting workout was another day of Super Sets. I did a quick 5 minute walking warm-up on the treadmill in order to warm-up and also read about what was in store for me workout wise today. As soon as I saw that crunches were first, I knew I was in for trouble.
This was today's workout:
A) Reverse Crunches: 1 set of 5 reps
B) Crunches: 1 set of 10 reps
*****
A) Dumbbell Pullovers: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 25 lbs
B) Lat Pulldown: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 70 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Pullovers: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 25 lbs
B) Lat Pulldown (Underhand): 3 sets of 10 reps @ 50 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Curls: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm)
B) Barbell Curls: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 30 lbs
The crunches were impossible. And I really mean that. I could barely do the ones that I did. I really did a number last Satuday on my abs. It apparently was much worse than I originally thought. I knew that it took me several days to be able to laugh without wincing in pain, but I wasn't prepared for the fact that I still wouldn't be able to do crunches. I definitely wanted to do them, but it just wasn't happening.
I took that as a sign that maybe my body just needed a bit of an easier day with the weights. I didn't really make a conscious decision to do sets of 10 reps, it mostly just worked out that way, and there were a couple of times where I was struggling to get 10 reps done, but it just seemed like I couldn't lose the pattern by the end of the workout.
The underhand lat pulldowns were done on the cable machine, which I mostly hate. A guy came while I was doing my last Super Set with the first lat pulldowns and I talked him into letting me finish up, but I didn't think he'd be so keen on me doing three more sets too. So, instead I set up the cable machine. The lat pulldowns weren't the easiest thing to do on that machine because I had to squat while doing the exercise, so it made my legs tired too. But, I got them done. It wasn't quite at the weight I had been lifting before, but I think that mostly was a function of the equipment I was using.
After the weight lifting, I headed over to the elliptical for some easy cardio. I was definitely sweating by the end of it. I used one of the machines that gives me a better mileage result. I don't know if that's cheating or not, but I noticed that a lot of the elliptical machines in our gym have stationary handles. I used to really like those machines, but I've recently changed ways and now think that the ones with handles are better, which is what I used this morning.
Weight Lifting
Time: 27:11
Calories: 164
Maximum HR: 152
Average HR: 116
Elliptical
Time: 30:24
Distance: 2.60 miles
Pace: 11:41/mile
Calories: 287
Maximum HR: 161
Average HR: 144
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Difference Between Slow, Medium & Fast
This morning I met Laura for our last swim at the other 14th Street Y. Neither of us really like this pool that much. The past two times that we had been there it was really cold, which didn't make it any better. The pool is also generally fairly crowded and today was no exception. It's a seven lane pool and four of the lanes were open for lap swimming. Two of the other lanes were taken up by a master's group and the last lane was for water walking (whatever that is). The lanes that were open for lap swimming included one for slow swimmers, two for medium swimmers and one for fast swimmers.
I decided to start in one of the medium lanes. I wasn't quite sure I wanted to hang with the big boys this morning in the fast lane and there were also quite a lot of people in that lane already, so I decided to go with a less crowded medium lane. It didn't take long before I got really frustrated with the lane that I was in. There was a girl alternating between doing drills and swimming breast stroke, which I don't think is anyone's fastest stroke.
I must have passed this girl about 10 times (without exaggeration). On the tenth time, I really wanted to ask her if she thought that she was in the right lane since everyone else was passing her as well. Instead, I decided that I'd just suck it up and move over to the fast lane. Now, I had already realized that my arms were still exhausted from Sunday's lifting workout. And I'm just tired in general these days. I think I'm in need of a day off (or at least a day to get another hour or so of sleep in the morning), but Drew's sister will be visiting this weekend and I'm not 100% sure I'll get in long workouts over the weekend, so I need to stick with it this week.
When I moved over to the fast lane, I thought my arms were going to fall off my body. I don't really think I was swimming that much faster, but I always feel more pressure to go at a good speed. I think it's all more mental for me. After doing about 400 yards in the fast lane, I decided to slow down and give my arms a rest and move to the other medium lane.
That medium lane was only slightly better than the first one. I'm not sure if people just have no idea how to seed themselves or what the deal is, but if you're doing drills or something else very slowly, there is no need to make the rest of us suffer. I actually still had a pretty good swim despite all the obstacles. It was rather boring as the pool situation wasn't really conducive to doing a lot of drills or short sets. But, this is what I did:
1000 yards freestyle
600 yards alternating breast & free
150 yards kicking
I decided to start in one of the medium lanes. I wasn't quite sure I wanted to hang with the big boys this morning in the fast lane and there were also quite a lot of people in that lane already, so I decided to go with a less crowded medium lane. It didn't take long before I got really frustrated with the lane that I was in. There was a girl alternating between doing drills and swimming breast stroke, which I don't think is anyone's fastest stroke.
I must have passed this girl about 10 times (without exaggeration). On the tenth time, I really wanted to ask her if she thought that she was in the right lane since everyone else was passing her as well. Instead, I decided that I'd just suck it up and move over to the fast lane. Now, I had already realized that my arms were still exhausted from Sunday's lifting workout. And I'm just tired in general these days. I think I'm in need of a day off (or at least a day to get another hour or so of sleep in the morning), but Drew's sister will be visiting this weekend and I'm not 100% sure I'll get in long workouts over the weekend, so I need to stick with it this week.
When I moved over to the fast lane, I thought my arms were going to fall off my body. I don't really think I was swimming that much faster, but I always feel more pressure to go at a good speed. I think it's all more mental for me. After doing about 400 yards in the fast lane, I decided to slow down and give my arms a rest and move to the other medium lane.
That medium lane was only slightly better than the first one. I'm not sure if people just have no idea how to seed themselves or what the deal is, but if you're doing drills or something else very slowly, there is no need to make the rest of us suffer. I actually still had a pretty good swim despite all the obstacles. It was rather boring as the pool situation wasn't really conducive to doing a lot of drills or short sets. But, this is what I did:
1000 yards freestyle
600 yards alternating breast & free
150 yards kicking
Swimming
Time: 40:40
Distance: 0.99 miles
Pace: 41:04/mile
Calories: 435
Maximum HR: 174
Average HR: 155
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Where Am I?
This morning I managed to talk myself into getting up and making it to the Terrier group run. It definitely didn't hurt that the weather was pretty nice outside. While I was running to the meeting point, I was noticing how many leaves were on the ground and the sound that they made crunching under my feet really made me forget that I was in NYC. It also made me wish that someone would rake them into a huge pile for jumping purposes.
We did our normal strides workout (approximately 0.50 miles) and then we were given our running workout for the day. Coach Spencer explained that we would run up the West side of the park to 102nd Street. From there, we would run around the upper loop of the park, which includes the Harlem Hill. We were supposed to repeat the upper loop 3-4 times, but the key was to keep the whole workout aerobic and to not go into anaerobic effort. While I still need to do the heart rate threshhold test to really figure out my HR zones, I think I can mostly tell on my own that sustained effort in the 180s is really too high for me, so I was going to aim for more in the 170s or so.
When we started out on run north, Coach Robert said that we should keep on the trails and side paths as much as possible instead of the main road. We all took off and started running. I was keeping up with the group for a while, but then I remembered the aerobic versus anaerobic effort part and realized that I needed to slow down a bit, so I fell behind from the group. And then, I literally fell.
Remember all those leaves that I loved at 5:45 in the morning on the way to the run? They turned sinister and were hiding all sorts of rocks and ruts on the Bridle Path that we were running on. I stubbed my toe on a rock and just fell down. No real harm done. I landed on my hands and right knee. I have some really tiny scrapes on my hand and I got a little bit dirty, but otherwise only my pride was hurt.
The first time I ever went running with Drew, I hated it. I think I really hated it because it proved that even though I looked like I was in shape physically, I really wasn't cardiovascularly. We couldn't have been running for that long before I was trying to figure out a way to end this. The best way I could figure out how to do that was to trip myself. I didn't actually do it, but I thought about it the entire time. How best to do it to make it look natural, etc. Once I told Drew that story, he (jokingly) told me that if we were ever running and I did fall, he wouldn't help me up because he thought that I'd be faking it. That was all I could think of today when I actually did fall ... and didn't even do it on purpose!
After getting up and dusting myself off, I then took a wrong turn and ended up almost all the way on the East side of the park. I must tell you that I'm really fantastic at running on the road in Central Park. When I veer from the road, I inevitably get lost. Which is what I did this morning. Oops. As soon as I realized that I had gone too far East, I tried to wind my way back to where I wanted to be.
Finally, I made it to the 102nd Street transverse. By the time I got there, it was really pretty much time to turn around and run home. I did start running slightly further north, but upon consulting my watch, I realized that I needed to head back home at this point and skip the loops on the hill.
For some unknown reason, I decided to run home on the Bridle Path as well. The only explanation I can offer is that I really wanted to try to figure out where I got lost. I definitely see what happened now that I know the right way to go. However, I wasn't done there. I was almost home (somewhere between 72nd and 59th Streets), when I got lost again. Well, I actually wasn't lost. I just couldn't figure out where I was. I thought I knew where I was, but because of this path running, I was coming at everything from a different angle, so for a minute, I got totally turned around and a little bit panicked. Luckily, I figured it out and made it out of the park in one piece. Obviously, I won't be planning any evening path runs as it's a bit questionable during day light hours.
Even though I didn't do the workout that we were assigned, I did try to keep track of my heart rate and keep it a bit lower than usual. I was definitely more successful with that on my run home than the other running portions, but I'm going to contribute the 193 maximum HR below to the fact that I fell and I probably scared myself. All in all, even though it wasn't the workout I set out to do, it was still approximately 5.9 miles in 59:23 (10:03 pace), not including the strides. I have to say approximately because I just did the best I could with figuring out the mileage from gmap pedometer. There isn't the best map for Central Park trails.
Run to Meeting Point
Time: 7:45
Distance: 0.81 miles
Pace: 9:34/mile
Calories: 94
Maximum HR: 183
Average HR: 168
Run to 102nd Street
Time: 23:40
Distance: 2.3 miles
Pace: 10:17/mile
Calories: 323
Maximum HR: 193
Average HR: 177
Run Home
Time: 28:18
Distance: 2.8 miles
Pace: 10:06/mile
Calories: 331
Maximum HR: 181
Average HR: 164
We did our normal strides workout (approximately 0.50 miles) and then we were given our running workout for the day. Coach Spencer explained that we would run up the West side of the park to 102nd Street. From there, we would run around the upper loop of the park, which includes the Harlem Hill. We were supposed to repeat the upper loop 3-4 times, but the key was to keep the whole workout aerobic and to not go into anaerobic effort. While I still need to do the heart rate threshhold test to really figure out my HR zones, I think I can mostly tell on my own that sustained effort in the 180s is really too high for me, so I was going to aim for more in the 170s or so.
When we started out on run north, Coach Robert said that we should keep on the trails and side paths as much as possible instead of the main road. We all took off and started running. I was keeping up with the group for a while, but then I remembered the aerobic versus anaerobic effort part and realized that I needed to slow down a bit, so I fell behind from the group. And then, I literally fell.
Remember all those leaves that I loved at 5:45 in the morning on the way to the run? They turned sinister and were hiding all sorts of rocks and ruts on the Bridle Path that we were running on. I stubbed my toe on a rock and just fell down. No real harm done. I landed on my hands and right knee. I have some really tiny scrapes on my hand and I got a little bit dirty, but otherwise only my pride was hurt.
The first time I ever went running with Drew, I hated it. I think I really hated it because it proved that even though I looked like I was in shape physically, I really wasn't cardiovascularly. We couldn't have been running for that long before I was trying to figure out a way to end this. The best way I could figure out how to do that was to trip myself. I didn't actually do it, but I thought about it the entire time. How best to do it to make it look natural, etc. Once I told Drew that story, he (jokingly) told me that if we were ever running and I did fall, he wouldn't help me up because he thought that I'd be faking it. That was all I could think of today when I actually did fall ... and didn't even do it on purpose!
After getting up and dusting myself off, I then took a wrong turn and ended up almost all the way on the East side of the park. I must tell you that I'm really fantastic at running on the road in Central Park. When I veer from the road, I inevitably get lost. Which is what I did this morning. Oops. As soon as I realized that I had gone too far East, I tried to wind my way back to where I wanted to be.
Finally, I made it to the 102nd Street transverse. By the time I got there, it was really pretty much time to turn around and run home. I did start running slightly further north, but upon consulting my watch, I realized that I needed to head back home at this point and skip the loops on the hill.
For some unknown reason, I decided to run home on the Bridle Path as well. The only explanation I can offer is that I really wanted to try to figure out where I got lost. I definitely see what happened now that I know the right way to go. However, I wasn't done there. I was almost home (somewhere between 72nd and 59th Streets), when I got lost again. Well, I actually wasn't lost. I just couldn't figure out where I was. I thought I knew where I was, but because of this path running, I was coming at everything from a different angle, so for a minute, I got totally turned around and a little bit panicked. Luckily, I figured it out and made it out of the park in one piece. Obviously, I won't be planning any evening path runs as it's a bit questionable during day light hours.
Even though I didn't do the workout that we were assigned, I did try to keep track of my heart rate and keep it a bit lower than usual. I was definitely more successful with that on my run home than the other running portions, but I'm going to contribute the 193 maximum HR below to the fact that I fell and I probably scared myself. All in all, even though it wasn't the workout I set out to do, it was still approximately 5.9 miles in 59:23 (10:03 pace), not including the strides. I have to say approximately because I just did the best I could with figuring out the mileage from gmap pedometer. There isn't the best map for Central Park trails.
Run to Meeting Point
Time: 7:45
Distance: 0.81 miles
Pace: 9:34/mile
Calories: 94
Maximum HR: 183
Average HR: 168
Run to 102nd Street
Time: 23:40
Distance: 2.3 miles
Pace: 10:17/mile
Calories: 323
Maximum HR: 193
Average HR: 177
Run Home
Time: 28:18
Distance: 2.8 miles
Pace: 10:06/mile
Calories: 331
Maximum HR: 181
Average HR: 164
Monday, November 9, 2009
Up Before The Alarm
This morning I had agreed to meet our friend Eric at the gymnasium. When I asked him last night if he wanted to meet, I was a little bit upset that he said yes, but I knew that it'd be really good motivation to get up and out of bed! Apparently it was because I had set my alarm for 5:30 and I woke up at 5:20 on my own. I almost never wake up early like that, so it was a big surprise to me. Of course, I didn't get up then, I snoozed for a few more minutes, but I left for the gym at 5:57, so it was still an early morning.
I was actually sort-of looking forward to this morning because I really wanted to try out my brand new bike shorts that I got yesterday. And, since I had it, I also wore one of my new workout tops. Oh, and new socks too. Somehow having new stuff makes it all more fun.
So, I headed off to the gym and got myself a computerized spin bike. I was really excited to try out my new shorts. I have to say that they made the ride a lot more enjoyable, even though I was sweating buckets. The funny thing is that I was wearing the new UnderArmour shirt that I got yesterday (the pink one) and I wasn't sure if I would really like it or not while I was at the store. Drew told me that he really likes all of his stuff by them (I didn't have any of their stuff) and today when Eric got to the gym, he said I looked really cute! So, I guess it was a good purchase in the end!
The ride itself today was fine. I did a different setting than I had been doing, but I think it's all pretty much the same stuff. Today I used "Intervals" instead of "Race Day" and I still did it on Level 7. I'm not sure I really noticed a difference from one to the other, but I also wasn't listening to the guy who talks to you on the computer. I was just reading the instructions on the screen.
I think that I'll be really happy with these new shorts, but I'm just hoping that I don't spoil myself by wearing them and then will be unhappy when I go back to tri shorts on my regular bike!
Time: 48:03
Distance: 15.4 miles
Pace: 19.23 MPH (average)
Calories: 477
Maximum HR: 163
Average HR: 149
I was actually sort-of looking forward to this morning because I really wanted to try out my brand new bike shorts that I got yesterday. And, since I had it, I also wore one of my new workout tops. Oh, and new socks too. Somehow having new stuff makes it all more fun.
So, I headed off to the gym and got myself a computerized spin bike. I was really excited to try out my new shorts. I have to say that they made the ride a lot more enjoyable, even though I was sweating buckets. The funny thing is that I was wearing the new UnderArmour shirt that I got yesterday (the pink one) and I wasn't sure if I would really like it or not while I was at the store. Drew told me that he really likes all of his stuff by them (I didn't have any of their stuff) and today when Eric got to the gym, he said I looked really cute! So, I guess it was a good purchase in the end!
The ride itself today was fine. I did a different setting than I had been doing, but I think it's all pretty much the same stuff. Today I used "Intervals" instead of "Race Day" and I still did it on Level 7. I'm not sure I really noticed a difference from one to the other, but I also wasn't listening to the guy who talks to you on the computer. I was just reading the instructions on the screen.
I think that I'll be really happy with these new shorts, but I'm just hoping that I don't spoil myself by wearing them and then will be unhappy when I go back to tri shorts on my regular bike!
Time: 48:03
Distance: 15.4 miles
Pace: 19.23 MPH (average)
Calories: 477
Maximum HR: 163
Average HR: 149
Sunday, November 8, 2009
I Shopped. I Swam. I Was Tired!
This afternoon was fantastic weather-wise, so Drew and I headed off for an afternoon of shopping. I really wanted to get some bike shorts. I've finally broken down and realized that I probably can't spend an entire winter on the spin bikes in tri shorts. There is just not enough support and those are not the best seats. I feel like I failed in that aspect, but if I'm going to keep my legs cycling this winter, this was going to be a good investment.
Drew wanted to go and look for some new socks. He recently switched over from all cotton socks to technical socks and since he only has a few pairs of new socks, we knew that we should hit up the discount stores and look for deals on technical socks. We ended up going to TJMaxx and Filene's Basement to look for socks for him (and I figured I might as well just take a look too!).
This is what I ended up with:
Two new technical shirts, a new sports bra, 8 pairs of socks, bike shorts and an exercise ball book. I actually already own an exercise ball that I've never used before. After how tired my abs are today, I'm realizing that perhaps I should start using it more often. The book was $2.99 at TJMaxx so even if I only use it a few times, I think I'll get my money's worth!
This was Drew's loot:
A new pair of gym shorts, 10 pairs of socks, and a pair of compression shorts (not pictured, but I'm pretty sure he bought them. I just couldn't find them to take a photo).
We also stopped at our favorite store to buy bars -- Bed, Bath & Beyond:
I'd just like to say that only the seasonal Clif bars (on the left) are mine! I'm really excited to try these new flavors. The rest of the loot is Drew's. Although I might sneak one or two of those Kind bars if he doesn't pay too close attention. They don't have much in the way of protein, but the one flavor that I've had previously was really delicious.
After the shopping, it was time to head home and then off to swim practice. I will say that having swim practice at 4:30 on a Sunday afternoon isn't the most ideal time, but I make it work. Today Coach Dave was coaching the swim practice. I think I've maybe been to one other practice where he was coaching, so I wasn't sure what was in store. I also knew that my arms were going to be tired no matter what happened and I was hoping for an easy day.
As we were getting in the water, one of my teammates (Heather), was standing in front of a slower lane than she usually swims in. I told her that she was in the wrong lane, as she had told me two weeks ago! She moved over and swam in my lane (the middle lane). The swim today was a lot of short sets and I can't remember all of them, but I remember the warm-up clearly and I counted the main set twice and I'm sure that it was 1600 meters, so this is a rough estimate of what we did:
Warm-Up
100 free
300-broken into 75s (breathe right / breathe left / breathe every three / breathe every five)
200 kick - on your side (no board)
200 pull - 50 free / 50 back / 50 breast / 50 free
Main Set
4 x 200 free (each faster than the last)
4 x 100 kick (varying from free / back / breast)
8 x 50 free (moderate)
Cool Down
50 free
The problem with my description of the main set there is that while we did a total of 1600 meters, the longest distance was 200 and there were some 25s in there as well, but I just couldn't remember it all by the end. I could barely remember how to pick up my arms and swim after the warm-up. I really wasn't sure that I could finish the entire workout. I have never ever felt so tired swimming. In the very last 50 that I was swimming of the main set, I actually wondered what would happen if I just stopped and floated for a while.
I know that this sounds crazy and it probably is, but I really think that my abs being so sore impacted my swimming. Drew helped me realize today that it's my ribs that are sore where the muscles are just below the surface and I was having a really hard time inhaling or exhaling completely while swimming. That wasn't helpful at all in having a good swim.
I also led my lane the majority of the time. The 200s that we were doing were spread throughout the main set and each one was supposed to be faster than the last. I sort-of think my first one was done in 2:40, but after that I wasn't really paying attention. I was just trying to keep thinking about swimming and moving forward. And I never feel like that in the pool. Normally I'm super relaxed and having fun. By the time we got to the third 200, I was wiped out after 150. I had to let two of the three people behind me pass because I knew there was no way I was going to be able to keep up the same pace.
When we finished that 200, Heather looked at me and said "I think that whole thing was anaerobic for me." I told her that I was pretty sure I had been anaerobic since the warm-up and that swimming on it's own is mostly anaerobic since you aren't breathing half the time. Needless to say, the workout kicked my rear-end!
Now I'm off to get ready for work tomorrow and the gym in the morning. I'm hopefully meeting our friend Eric there in the morning, which is good motivation to get up and out of bed since Drew is out of town again.
Swimming
Time: 1:07:15
Distance: 2450 meters / 1.52 miles
Pace: 44:10/mile
Calories: 697
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 152
Drew wanted to go and look for some new socks. He recently switched over from all cotton socks to technical socks and since he only has a few pairs of new socks, we knew that we should hit up the discount stores and look for deals on technical socks. We ended up going to TJMaxx and Filene's Basement to look for socks for him (and I figured I might as well just take a look too!).
This is what I ended up with:
Two new technical shirts, a new sports bra, 8 pairs of socks, bike shorts and an exercise ball book. I actually already own an exercise ball that I've never used before. After how tired my abs are today, I'm realizing that perhaps I should start using it more often. The book was $2.99 at TJMaxx so even if I only use it a few times, I think I'll get my money's worth! This was Drew's loot:
A new pair of gym shorts, 10 pairs of socks, and a pair of compression shorts (not pictured, but I'm pretty sure he bought them. I just couldn't find them to take a photo). We also stopped at our favorite store to buy bars -- Bed, Bath & Beyond:
I'd just like to say that only the seasonal Clif bars (on the left) are mine! I'm really excited to try these new flavors. The rest of the loot is Drew's. Although I might sneak one or two of those Kind bars if he doesn't pay too close attention. They don't have much in the way of protein, but the one flavor that I've had previously was really delicious. After the shopping, it was time to head home and then off to swim practice. I will say that having swim practice at 4:30 on a Sunday afternoon isn't the most ideal time, but I make it work. Today Coach Dave was coaching the swim practice. I think I've maybe been to one other practice where he was coaching, so I wasn't sure what was in store. I also knew that my arms were going to be tired no matter what happened and I was hoping for an easy day.
As we were getting in the water, one of my teammates (Heather), was standing in front of a slower lane than she usually swims in. I told her that she was in the wrong lane, as she had told me two weeks ago! She moved over and swam in my lane (the middle lane). The swim today was a lot of short sets and I can't remember all of them, but I remember the warm-up clearly and I counted the main set twice and I'm sure that it was 1600 meters, so this is a rough estimate of what we did:
Warm-Up
100 free
300-broken into 75s (breathe right / breathe left / breathe every three / breathe every five)
200 kick - on your side (no board)
200 pull - 50 free / 50 back / 50 breast / 50 free
Main Set
4 x 200 free (each faster than the last)
4 x 100 kick (varying from free / back / breast)
8 x 50 free (moderate)
Cool Down
50 free
The problem with my description of the main set there is that while we did a total of 1600 meters, the longest distance was 200 and there were some 25s in there as well, but I just couldn't remember it all by the end. I could barely remember how to pick up my arms and swim after the warm-up. I really wasn't sure that I could finish the entire workout. I have never ever felt so tired swimming. In the very last 50 that I was swimming of the main set, I actually wondered what would happen if I just stopped and floated for a while.
I know that this sounds crazy and it probably is, but I really think that my abs being so sore impacted my swimming. Drew helped me realize today that it's my ribs that are sore where the muscles are just below the surface and I was having a really hard time inhaling or exhaling completely while swimming. That wasn't helpful at all in having a good swim.
I also led my lane the majority of the time. The 200s that we were doing were spread throughout the main set and each one was supposed to be faster than the last. I sort-of think my first one was done in 2:40, but after that I wasn't really paying attention. I was just trying to keep thinking about swimming and moving forward. And I never feel like that in the pool. Normally I'm super relaxed and having fun. By the time we got to the third 200, I was wiped out after 150. I had to let two of the three people behind me pass because I knew there was no way I was going to be able to keep up the same pace.
When we finished that 200, Heather looked at me and said "I think that whole thing was anaerobic for me." I told her that I was pretty sure I had been anaerobic since the warm-up and that swimming on it's own is mostly anaerobic since you aren't breathing half the time. Needless to say, the workout kicked my rear-end!
Now I'm off to get ready for work tomorrow and the gym in the morning. I'm hopefully meeting our friend Eric there in the morning, which is good motivation to get up and out of bed since Drew is out of town again.
Swimming
Time: 1:07:15
Distance: 2450 meters / 1.52 miles
Pace: 44:10/mile
Calories: 697
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 152
I'm Not Sure I Can Go Swimming
This morning Drew and I got up early and headed over to our regular gym. I was only going to do my weight lifting as I plan on going swimming later on today, but he was going to lift and do cardio. We did a quick warm-up of walking on the treadmill and then headed over to the weight room. Drew said that he'd weight lift with me again today, so that was a nice treat.
Today was Super Sets again, focusing on Chest, Shoulders and Triceps. As soon as I looked at the workout, I knew I was in for trouble. Especially since my abs and legs are sore from yesterday, I wasn't looking forward to the same thing in my arms too! This was today's workout:
A) Dumbbell Flys: 3 sets of 15 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm)
B) Dumbbell Bench Press: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 15 lbs
*****
A) Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 45 lbs
B) Tricep Pushdowns: 1 set of 15 reps @ 30 lbs / 2 sets of 12 reps @ 30 lbs
*****
A) Barbell Shoulder Press: 1 set of 10 reps @ 35 lbs / 2 sets of 8 reps @ 35 lbs
B) Side Lateral Raises: 1 set of 12 reps @ 5 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 5 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 5 lbs
I don't think it's fair that you would have to do two types of bench presses in the same day. By the end of the first Super Set, my arms were already exhausted. I wasn't sure how I was going to continue on. Then, by the time I was done with the second set and setting up for the third, my triceps were burning, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Drew tried to tell me that it was a good thing, but I wasn't 100% convinced.
It was right around that time that I had to stop weight lifting between sets and try to practice my swim stroke. When my arms were burning like that, I wasn't really sure that I could actually swim later on. Once I had done three practice strokes and realized that my arms were in fact still capable of movement, I felt a little bit better.
All morning long, my abs have been killing me from yesterday's workout. I had actually thought that maybe I could do some today since there weren't any included in today's workout in the book, but since it hurts to laugh, I didn't really think it was going to be likely. Drew told me that he had the same thought (of doing some crunches himself) and that he did four before he was done for the day. That made me feel a lot better for skipping them all together.
I am planning on going swimming later, which I'm looking forward to. I didn't go last week as I wasn't sure that there would even be swimming practice because of the NYC marathon and the week before that was a shorter practice, so hopefully today's will be more on track!
Weight Lifting
Time: 31:46
Calories: 169
Maximum HR: 150
Average HR: 111
Today was Super Sets again, focusing on Chest, Shoulders and Triceps. As soon as I looked at the workout, I knew I was in for trouble. Especially since my abs and legs are sore from yesterday, I wasn't looking forward to the same thing in my arms too! This was today's workout:
A) Dumbbell Flys: 3 sets of 15 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm)
B) Dumbbell Bench Press: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 15 lbs
*****
A) Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 45 lbs
B) Tricep Pushdowns: 1 set of 15 reps @ 30 lbs / 2 sets of 12 reps @ 30 lbs
*****
A) Barbell Shoulder Press: 1 set of 10 reps @ 35 lbs / 2 sets of 8 reps @ 35 lbs
B) Side Lateral Raises: 1 set of 12 reps @ 5 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 5 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 5 lbs
I don't think it's fair that you would have to do two types of bench presses in the same day. By the end of the first Super Set, my arms were already exhausted. I wasn't sure how I was going to continue on. Then, by the time I was done with the second set and setting up for the third, my triceps were burning, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Drew tried to tell me that it was a good thing, but I wasn't 100% convinced.
It was right around that time that I had to stop weight lifting between sets and try to practice my swim stroke. When my arms were burning like that, I wasn't really sure that I could actually swim later on. Once I had done three practice strokes and realized that my arms were in fact still capable of movement, I felt a little bit better.
All morning long, my abs have been killing me from yesterday's workout. I had actually thought that maybe I could do some today since there weren't any included in today's workout in the book, but since it hurts to laugh, I didn't really think it was going to be likely. Drew told me that he had the same thought (of doing some crunches himself) and that he did four before he was done for the day. That made me feel a lot better for skipping them all together.
I am planning on going swimming later, which I'm looking forward to. I didn't go last week as I wasn't sure that there would even be swimming practice because of the NYC marathon and the week before that was a shorter practice, so hopefully today's will be more on track!
Weight Lifting
Time: 31:46
Calories: 169
Maximum HR: 150
Average HR: 111
Saturday, November 7, 2009
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
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
Friday, November 6, 2009
Excuse Me? Can You See The Hills?
Drew left for Washington, D.C. on Thursday night, which meant that I was left to my own devices to wake up this morning. Needless to say, that didn't go so well. The only good thing about that is that the gym really isn't too crowded on Friday evenings. I'm not sure what that says about my social life, but I certainly appreciated the fact that it wasn't too busy.
I came home after work, changed clothes, grabbed my gear (including bike shoes), and was off to the gymnasium. I was hoping to use the computerized spin bike again. There are two bikes, but up until yesterday, only one was operational (the computer portion, I should say). When I got there, there was a girl on the one bike that had been working and she wasn't even using the computer program. Luckily for her, the other bike's computer was now working, otherwise I wouldn't have had any qualms about asking her to switch over to a regular spin bike. I don't think I would have been out of line. If all you're doing is riding a spin bike, there are 30 regular spin bikes and only two with computers. If you're not using the computer, what is the point of getting on that particular bike?
So, instead I tried out computerized spin bike #2. It's exactly like computerized spin bike #1. Not a big surprise. I decided that I would do about 50 minutes on the bike and once again ended up on Level 7. I must not ever see where you change levels in the set-up. Oh well. I guess 7 seems like a nice enough number.
I was about half-way through my ride when the girl next to me vacated computerized spin bike #1. Her spot was quickly taken by a very smelly guy. I tried not to notice too much, but I wonder why boys are always so stinky at the gym. Do they just forget to wash their clothes? Do they not use soap when they shower in the morning? What is it? Anyhow, smelly guy messed around with the computer for a while and then said, "Excuse me? Can you set this so that you can see the hills?" The short answer was no, which was what I said to him. The long answer is that using resistance and cadence, you can tell whether or not you're going up a hill. I didn't explain all of that to him. I just kept it short and sweet, at which point he got off the bike and took his smell with him. Whew!
I will say that I felt a little bit smug or like I was a "real" cyclist because I knew how to tell whether or not I was simulating a hill without a graph telling me that I was going up a hill. Not that I think I am a real cyclist, it was just a momentary feeling.
All in all, it was a pretty good ride. The only thing that I don't love about the bike is that when you select a time range (I believe I chose 50-55 minutes), it automatically factors in the cool-down in that time range. I guess that's okay once you know it, but I generally tack on an extra couple of minutes in my head to cool-down. It also stops recording once you reach your time limit. Not the worst thing, but not my most favorite either. Perhaps I should just over-estimate my times from now on.
Time: 52:56
Distance:17.9 miles
Pace: 20.3 MPH average
Calories: 586
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 158
I came home after work, changed clothes, grabbed my gear (including bike shoes), and was off to the gymnasium. I was hoping to use the computerized spin bike again. There are two bikes, but up until yesterday, only one was operational (the computer portion, I should say). When I got there, there was a girl on the one bike that had been working and she wasn't even using the computer program. Luckily for her, the other bike's computer was now working, otherwise I wouldn't have had any qualms about asking her to switch over to a regular spin bike. I don't think I would have been out of line. If all you're doing is riding a spin bike, there are 30 regular spin bikes and only two with computers. If you're not using the computer, what is the point of getting on that particular bike?
So, instead I tried out computerized spin bike #2. It's exactly like computerized spin bike #1. Not a big surprise. I decided that I would do about 50 minutes on the bike and once again ended up on Level 7. I must not ever see where you change levels in the set-up. Oh well. I guess 7 seems like a nice enough number.
I was about half-way through my ride when the girl next to me vacated computerized spin bike #1. Her spot was quickly taken by a very smelly guy. I tried not to notice too much, but I wonder why boys are always so stinky at the gym. Do they just forget to wash their clothes? Do they not use soap when they shower in the morning? What is it? Anyhow, smelly guy messed around with the computer for a while and then said, "Excuse me? Can you set this so that you can see the hills?" The short answer was no, which was what I said to him. The long answer is that using resistance and cadence, you can tell whether or not you're going up a hill. I didn't explain all of that to him. I just kept it short and sweet, at which point he got off the bike and took his smell with him. Whew!
I will say that I felt a little bit smug or like I was a "real" cyclist because I knew how to tell whether or not I was simulating a hill without a graph telling me that I was going up a hill. Not that I think I am a real cyclist, it was just a momentary feeling.
All in all, it was a pretty good ride. The only thing that I don't love about the bike is that when you select a time range (I believe I chose 50-55 minutes), it automatically factors in the cool-down in that time range. I guess that's okay once you know it, but I generally tack on an extra couple of minutes in my head to cool-down. It also stops recording once you reach your time limit. Not the worst thing, but not my most favorite either. Perhaps I should just over-estimate my times from now on.
Time: 52:56
Distance:17.9 miles
Pace: 20.3 MPH average
Calories: 586
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 158
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Super Sets Are Hard To Do
Last night Drew was at the World Series game, so he didn't get home until pretty late. That meant that he didn't feel like getting up this morning to head to the gym and I wasn't too sad to keep sleeping either. Which meant a visit to the gym after work for me! I packed a bag so that I could go straight from work without going home after work to change. It seems like I would be much less likely to talk myself out of going if I did that.
I'm pretty sure I've griped about how busy the gym is after work, but today seemed even worse than usual. I needed to do my third weight lifting workout of Week 5, which is still Super Sets. One look around the weight room told me that Super Sets weren't really going to be possible tonight, which means that not only are they normally hard to do, they were impossible to do tonight.
So, this is what the workout was supposed to look like:
A) Leg Curls: 1 set of 12 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 6 reps @ 50 lbs
B) Leg Press: 1 set of 15 reps @ 115 lbs / 2 sets of 10 reps @ 115 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Pullovers: 1 set of 20 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 20 lbs
B) Lat Pulldown: 2 sets of 12 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 70 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Squats: 3 sets of 12 reps @ 25 lbs (per arm)
B) Leg Extensions: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 60 lbs
*****
A) Crunches: 3 sets of 20 reps
B) Ab Bench Crunches: 1 set of 20 reps / 2 sets of 15 reps
What I did instead of Super Sets was I did all of the Leg Curls, etc. in a row, resting only 20 seconds between sets. I figured that 20 seconds was pretty close to the time it would have taken me to walk from one machine to the other anyway and it definitely wasn't really enough recovery time. The only set that I was able to do properly was the Squats and Leg Extensions. Except for the fact that the Squats were supposed to be Barbell Squats instead of Dumbbell, but Drew still hasn't had a chance to show me exactly how to use all that equipment, so I still think that what I did was more than okay as a substitute.
After my weight lifting, I ate half of a Luna bar to get a little protein in and have a bit of a snack to tide me over for the rest of my workout. I then hit the cardio equipment. I figured I'd read my magazine and do the elliptical machine. There was not a lot of choice in elliptical machines, so I used one that I've used before but it isn't really my favorite.
I quickly realized why it's not my favorite. It's because that even though I was doing a pretty hard hill level and I was going at a really decent stride pace, I wasn't going anywhere. A while ago, I used the same machine and had the same results. It doesn't make any sense why on some elliptical machines I can average somewhere around a 10 minute mile and on this machine, I average about a 30 minute mile. I know that this might be silly of me, but I'm going to go ahead and stop using this machine unless absolutely necessary.
Weight Lifting
Time: 36:05
Calories: 239
Maximum HR: 161
Average HR: 121
Elliptical
Time: 35:00
Distance: 1.15 miles
Pace: 30:26/mile
Calories: 326
Maximum HR: 161
Average HR: 144
I'm pretty sure I've griped about how busy the gym is after work, but today seemed even worse than usual. I needed to do my third weight lifting workout of Week 5, which is still Super Sets. One look around the weight room told me that Super Sets weren't really going to be possible tonight, which means that not only are they normally hard to do, they were impossible to do tonight.
So, this is what the workout was supposed to look like:
A) Leg Curls: 1 set of 12 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 6 reps @ 50 lbs
B) Leg Press: 1 set of 15 reps @ 115 lbs / 2 sets of 10 reps @ 115 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Pullovers: 1 set of 20 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 15 reps @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 20 lbs
B) Lat Pulldown: 2 sets of 12 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 70 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Squats: 3 sets of 12 reps @ 25 lbs (per arm)
B) Leg Extensions: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 60 lbs
*****
A) Crunches: 3 sets of 20 reps
B) Ab Bench Crunches: 1 set of 20 reps / 2 sets of 15 reps
What I did instead of Super Sets was I did all of the Leg Curls, etc. in a row, resting only 20 seconds between sets. I figured that 20 seconds was pretty close to the time it would have taken me to walk from one machine to the other anyway and it definitely wasn't really enough recovery time. The only set that I was able to do properly was the Squats and Leg Extensions. Except for the fact that the Squats were supposed to be Barbell Squats instead of Dumbbell, but Drew still hasn't had a chance to show me exactly how to use all that equipment, so I still think that what I did was more than okay as a substitute.
After my weight lifting, I ate half of a Luna bar to get a little protein in and have a bit of a snack to tide me over for the rest of my workout. I then hit the cardio equipment. I figured I'd read my magazine and do the elliptical machine. There was not a lot of choice in elliptical machines, so I used one that I've used before but it isn't really my favorite.
I quickly realized why it's not my favorite. It's because that even though I was doing a pretty hard hill level and I was going at a really decent stride pace, I wasn't going anywhere. A while ago, I used the same machine and had the same results. It doesn't make any sense why on some elliptical machines I can average somewhere around a 10 minute mile and on this machine, I average about a 30 minute mile. I know that this might be silly of me, but I'm going to go ahead and stop using this machine unless absolutely necessary.
Weight Lifting
Time: 36:05
Calories: 239
Maximum HR: 161
Average HR: 121
Elliptical
Time: 35:00
Distance: 1.15 miles
Pace: 30:26/mile
Calories: 326
Maximum HR: 161
Average HR: 144
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Ouch! My Arches?
Monday I decided to try out my heart rate monitor during the day. I wore it for 11 hours total. I walked to work, spent 8 hours at work, walked home and then spent some time lounging around and watching TV. Here are the stats:
Time: 11:00:00
Calories: 1410
Average Calories: 128.2/hour
Maximum HR: 142
Average HR: 85
So, obviously, not a huge amount. Especially when compared to Sunday's count. I know that on Sunday I was walking around a lot more, but it is a really big difference. I am glad to know what the total for a regular day was.
On Tuesday, I set my alarm in order to get up and go running in the morning. I had even laid out my clothes the night before, but Drew and I both had a serious alarm clock problem. We both just kept pressing snooze for quite a while. He finally did get up, but I couldn't do it. Today was more of the same. Except that I must have turned off my alarm without realizing it today because Drew got up and left for the gym and I said that I'd meet him there and I was still sleeping when he got home from the gym. Oops.
I really felt like I couldn't go two days in a row without working out. I had been thinking that I would have to go to the gymnasium today in order to get in my last weight lifting for the week, but I realized that I could do that tomorrow instead, which meant that I was then free to go running outside tonight!
I was really looking forward to the run. I have some new cooler weather running gear that I wanted to try out. Plus, I don't have any experience running in cooler weather, so I figured that I need to start keeping track of what I wear under certain weather conditions. Tonight it was 48 degrees and at times it was a little windy. I wore running tights, a tank top, a long sleeved shirt, my new running gloves and I also had my Westchester Triathlon running hat.
Walking to the Park, I was definitely a little cool, which I took as a good sign. Everything I've read said that you want to be a little bit cool when you first get outside and you'll quickly warm up while running. When I got to the Park, I started running right away. I was just really in a running mood today. I was so happy to realize that I didn't have to go to the gym today in order to keep up with the weight lifting routine.
Almost right away, I noticed that my feet weren't really that happy to be running. I was hoping that it would go away if I kept going, but that really wasn't the case. I also wasn't sure what exactly was going on. The pain was in the arches of my feet, both feet, but the right was a little bit more pronounced than the left. I really tried to concentrate on my running form and thought that if I did a better job with that hopefully it would help. Nope.
My plan for running today was to do two loops of the lower loop of Central Park. My thoughts behind that was that it is really well lit and it has the most pedestrian/bike traffic. With the days so short now, I'm going to have to get used to being out in the dark. The good news is that I just got a Road ID, so if anything bad should happen, at least I'll be identifiable.
Of course, my feet were not really wanting to go ahead with this plan. The pain wasn't exactly constant. I guess I would say that I always noticed it, but it definitely came and went in intensity. Once I was more than half-way around, I decided that I would keep running for the entire loop, but that would be it. I'd listen to my body and only have a short run. I was really disappointed in myself. The worst part was that I was really feeling good and I thought I was running at a good pace. But my feet didn't really seem to want to carry me any further.
The only thing I can think of is that I've been wearing high heels a lot more recently than I have in a really long time. In the summer, I'll generally wear flats on my walk to and from the office and switch shoes once I get to work. However, recently, I've been wearing them at work and walking to and from work as well. I'm going to hope that if I go back to wearing flats for the rest of the week that my feet will be happier with me next time I go running.
As far as the clothes for the weather, I felt really good. I did end up taking my hat off, but my ears were still cold even though I was overall more comfortable. I doubt that it's worth it to buy some sort of ear muffs because I imagine that it's not going to stay this temperature or warmer for very much longer. I also have to keep practicing running outside in the cool weather because I have a 10K in December in the Park that I have to be ready for.
Running
Time: 18:31
Distance: 1.9 miles
Pace: 9:44/mile
Calories: 229
Maximum HR: 179
Average HR: 169
Time: 11:00:00
Calories: 1410
Average Calories: 128.2/hour
Maximum HR: 142
Average HR: 85
So, obviously, not a huge amount. Especially when compared to Sunday's count. I know that on Sunday I was walking around a lot more, but it is a really big difference. I am glad to know what the total for a regular day was.
On Tuesday, I set my alarm in order to get up and go running in the morning. I had even laid out my clothes the night before, but Drew and I both had a serious alarm clock problem. We both just kept pressing snooze for quite a while. He finally did get up, but I couldn't do it. Today was more of the same. Except that I must have turned off my alarm without realizing it today because Drew got up and left for the gym and I said that I'd meet him there and I was still sleeping when he got home from the gym. Oops.
I really felt like I couldn't go two days in a row without working out. I had been thinking that I would have to go to the gymnasium today in order to get in my last weight lifting for the week, but I realized that I could do that tomorrow instead, which meant that I was then free to go running outside tonight!
I was really looking forward to the run. I have some new cooler weather running gear that I wanted to try out. Plus, I don't have any experience running in cooler weather, so I figured that I need to start keeping track of what I wear under certain weather conditions. Tonight it was 48 degrees and at times it was a little windy. I wore running tights, a tank top, a long sleeved shirt, my new running gloves and I also had my Westchester Triathlon running hat.
Walking to the Park, I was definitely a little cool, which I took as a good sign. Everything I've read said that you want to be a little bit cool when you first get outside and you'll quickly warm up while running. When I got to the Park, I started running right away. I was just really in a running mood today. I was so happy to realize that I didn't have to go to the gym today in order to keep up with the weight lifting routine.
Almost right away, I noticed that my feet weren't really that happy to be running. I was hoping that it would go away if I kept going, but that really wasn't the case. I also wasn't sure what exactly was going on. The pain was in the arches of my feet, both feet, but the right was a little bit more pronounced than the left. I really tried to concentrate on my running form and thought that if I did a better job with that hopefully it would help. Nope.
My plan for running today was to do two loops of the lower loop of Central Park. My thoughts behind that was that it is really well lit and it has the most pedestrian/bike traffic. With the days so short now, I'm going to have to get used to being out in the dark. The good news is that I just got a Road ID, so if anything bad should happen, at least I'll be identifiable.
Of course, my feet were not really wanting to go ahead with this plan. The pain wasn't exactly constant. I guess I would say that I always noticed it, but it definitely came and went in intensity. Once I was more than half-way around, I decided that I would keep running for the entire loop, but that would be it. I'd listen to my body and only have a short run. I was really disappointed in myself. The worst part was that I was really feeling good and I thought I was running at a good pace. But my feet didn't really seem to want to carry me any further.
The only thing I can think of is that I've been wearing high heels a lot more recently than I have in a really long time. In the summer, I'll generally wear flats on my walk to and from the office and switch shoes once I get to work. However, recently, I've been wearing them at work and walking to and from work as well. I'm going to hope that if I go back to wearing flats for the rest of the week that my feet will be happier with me next time I go running.
As far as the clothes for the weather, I felt really good. I did end up taking my hat off, but my ears were still cold even though I was overall more comfortable. I doubt that it's worth it to buy some sort of ear muffs because I imagine that it's not going to stay this temperature or warmer for very much longer. I also have to keep practicing running outside in the cool weather because I have a 10K in December in the Park that I have to be ready for.
Running
Time: 18:31
Distance: 1.9 miles
Pace: 9:44/mile
Calories: 229
Maximum HR: 179
Average HR: 169
Monday, November 2, 2009
Morning Get Up And Go To The Gym Person
This morning we woke up like usual and got ready for the gym. In the elevator on the way downstairs, Drew looked at me and said, "You've really become a morning get up and go to the gym person." I responded in my sleepy haze, "I am definitely not a morning person!". He then clarified and called me simply a "get up and go to the gym person." I can agree with that.
Today I had more supersets of weight lifting to do and then filled up the rest of the morning with some cardio.
These were today's lifts:
A) Deadlifts: 3 sets of 15 reps @ 45 lbs
B) Leg Curls (double leg): 1 set of 12 reps @ 50 lbs / 2 sets of 10 reps @ 50 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 10 lbs
B) Side Lateral Raises: 1 set of 15 reps @ 5 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 5 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 5 lbs
*****
A) Barbell Curls: 1 set of 15 reps @ 30 lbs / 2 sets of 12 reps @ 30 lbs
B) Lat Pulldown (Underhand): 1 set of 15 reps @ 60 lbs / 2 sets of 10 reps @ 60 lbs
*****
A) Crunches: 3 sets of 20 reps
B) Ab Bench Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
I really, really tried to do a better job on the deadlifts today. I think it worked a bit more because I could feel my hamstrings more than I could last time, but that could also be because they're still sore from last time I did hamstring lifts. Also, since they were supersets and it seemed like I needed to have tired out legs for the leg curls, I opted to do the double-leg version instead of the single leg version so that one leg wouldn't get more recovery time than the other. I'm not really a fan of that machine, but luckily they moved it off to the side of the gym. Before it was smack dab in the middle of the weight room where everyone could look at your rear end up in the air.
The crunches that I did really should have been reverse crunches, however there is no bench at the gym that will really allow me to do reverse crunches and keep my head flat on the bench. I'm not sure how to remedy this problem, but I'm going to be researching what to do or a good alternative exercise. I still think that although doing regular crunches isn't the same, it's still an okay substitute in the interim.
After the weight lifting, I headed over and hopped on the stair mill. I decided to go for it and up the level, so I did Speed Intervals on Level 11, which is a new record for me. I survived and I was really, really sweaty at the end. I was starving by the time I got off the stairs, so I rushed through my stretching in order to get home and get some calories in my belly in the form of Muscle Milk Light (vanilla flavor, of course!).
Weight Lifting
Time: 38:02
Calories: 207
Maximum HR: 138
Average HR: 112
Stair Mill
Time: 30:09
Distance: 3.12 miles
Pace: 9:39/mile
Calories: 327
Maximum HR: 168
Average HR: 157
Today I had more supersets of weight lifting to do and then filled up the rest of the morning with some cardio.
These were today's lifts:
A) Deadlifts: 3 sets of 15 reps @ 45 lbs
B) Leg Curls (double leg): 1 set of 12 reps @ 50 lbs / 2 sets of 10 reps @ 50 lbs
*****
A) Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 10 lbs
B) Side Lateral Raises: 1 set of 15 reps @ 5 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 5 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 5 lbs
*****
A) Barbell Curls: 1 set of 15 reps @ 30 lbs / 2 sets of 12 reps @ 30 lbs
B) Lat Pulldown (Underhand): 1 set of 15 reps @ 60 lbs / 2 sets of 10 reps @ 60 lbs
*****
A) Crunches: 3 sets of 20 reps
B) Ab Bench Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps
I really, really tried to do a better job on the deadlifts today. I think it worked a bit more because I could feel my hamstrings more than I could last time, but that could also be because they're still sore from last time I did hamstring lifts. Also, since they were supersets and it seemed like I needed to have tired out legs for the leg curls, I opted to do the double-leg version instead of the single leg version so that one leg wouldn't get more recovery time than the other. I'm not really a fan of that machine, but luckily they moved it off to the side of the gym. Before it was smack dab in the middle of the weight room where everyone could look at your rear end up in the air.
The crunches that I did really should have been reverse crunches, however there is no bench at the gym that will really allow me to do reverse crunches and keep my head flat on the bench. I'm not sure how to remedy this problem, but I'm going to be researching what to do or a good alternative exercise. I still think that although doing regular crunches isn't the same, it's still an okay substitute in the interim.
After the weight lifting, I headed over and hopped on the stair mill. I decided to go for it and up the level, so I did Speed Intervals on Level 11, which is a new record for me. I survived and I was really, really sweaty at the end. I was starving by the time I got off the stairs, so I rushed through my stretching in order to get home and get some calories in my belly in the form of Muscle Milk Light (vanilla flavor, of course!).
Weight Lifting
Time: 38:02
Calories: 207
Maximum HR: 138
Average HR: 112
Stair Mill
Time: 30:09
Distance: 3.12 miles
Pace: 9:39/mile
Calories: 327
Maximum HR: 168
Average HR: 157
Sunday, November 1, 2009
New Shirt, New Shoes, New Service?
This morning was a bit of a repeat of yesterday. We slept in again and then headed to the gym for another long session of working out. This probably makes up for the fact that we skipped out on the gym on both Thursday and Friday! Plus, it's just a really great way to start off the week. I know I'm going to have to get into the habit sooner than I'd like of getting in longer workouts, so I figure I might as well squeeze them in whenever I can.
I do need to back up for a minute. Yesterday afternoon Drew and I went to the NYC Marathon Expo in the hopes of scoring some free samples of energy bars, drinks, etc. However, all we did was spend money. There were hardly any free samples, which was pretty much the exact opposite of the NYC Triathlon Expo that we went to over the summer. I guess we now know not to waste our time with the Marathon. So, we left with some new socks for Drew (I got one pair too), running gloves for both of us, two new technical shirts for me, and one free coconut water each. Here's our booty:
I colored in the "M" in Mizuno on my running gloves so that we could tell them apart easily. The gloves were originally $20 and we got them for $5 each. I got both shirts for 50% off, so even though we were hoping for a bunch of free stuff, we still got great deals on the stuff that we did get. I had really been wanting some new running gloves and Drew asked if we really needed fancy ones or if we could just get by with cheap ones. However, reading Brie's blog about her recent run with the cheapie gloves, I think I'm hoping that these will be a bit more breathable and worth the extra couple of bucks.
So, long story short, of course I had to try out one of my new shirts at the gymnasium today! I chose the one on the left. I actually really liked it although the sides are completely see-through, which is sort-of funny to me. Kind of like a sexy workout top!
I also took my bike shoes to the gym with me for the first time today. Obviously the shoes aren't new, but taking them to the gym was a new thing for me. I have been wanting to see for some time if they would clip into the spin bike clips. And they do! That meant that I had to give the computerized spin bike another shot today.
For the new service, I decided to do one of the spin class programs and see how that went. I put in all the relevant data (weight, age, etc.) and started. The only thing I apparently forgot to set was the level. I realized that I was on Level 7 (out of 10). Yesterday when I was messing around I did Level 4, which I thought was a bit of a challenge, so I really wasn't sure I was going to make it through 30 minutes on Level 7.
I did the "Race Day" program, which I actually really liked. There were lots of hills to climb (some seated and some standing). I just pedaled as hard as I could. The one thing that I still don't love about this machine is that when I'm standing it will pick up my heart rate monitor but when I'm seated it must be too far from the sensor, so it doesn't. When I looked at my stats, it looked a bit like I had been shocked by a defibrulator since my heart rate was at zero for quite a while and then would jump up once I was standing.
I will say that I think the shoes actually made it more enjoyable. Wearing the cages over my feet just isn't that great once you've been wearing cycling shoes and I'd 100% recommend wearing these shoes instead. Even though I was a little nervous that I'd forget one of my pairs of shoes at the gym, it's probably worth the worrying.
After the bike, I did some stretching and foam rolling. I tried to roll out my hamstring and I'm still working on foam rolling my shins. It is interesting to me how much easier it is on my shins. It is still not comfortable, but it's not painful like it was before when it made me want to yell out curse words. Then I decided that I would do some more cardio and I hit the elliptical machine.
While I was at the gym today, I was watching the NYC Marathon, which was sort-of inspirational. I decided to do an hour on the elliptical but after about 40 minutes I had really had enough. But I figured if I could watch all of those people on TV running 26.2 miles, I could hang in there for another 20. So, I did. I'm really glad that I did. The thing about working out is that it's not always 100% enjoyable, but I'm always really happy that I got up and did it. Although I do believe in listening to my body, but sometimes when I'm still half alseep, I'm not really recognizing that I'll feel better in the end.
I finished up with some more streching before heading home to start my day. Drew and I had some errands we wanted to run and we also decided to go and get lunch downtown on our way to the errands. I decided that I wanted to wear my heart rate monitor and just see how many calories I burned while not working out. I know that this isn't a perfect test and I do plan on wearing it again on a work day where I'm mostly sitting throughout the day, but I thought this would be a good weekend estimate.
It turns out that I burned 230.4 calories per hour, which I actually think is pretty good, given that I didn't do any cardio. The spike in my heart rate came right at the end of the test period when I was carrying about 20 cans of fruit up the steps from the subway. I'm not going to lie, I definitely slowed down when I reached the top of the steps. I think my legs were a little tired from earlier today! I'm now really curious to see what a regular work day looks like in terms of calorie burning, so stay tuned for that!
Computerized Spin Bike
Time: 33:08
Distance: 11.50 miles
Pace: 20.82 MPH
Calories: 393
Maximum HR: 176
Average HR: 163
Elliptical
Time: 1:00:00
Distance: 5.50 miles
Pace: 10:54/mile
Calories: 635
Maximum HR: 170
Average HR: 155
5 Hours Non-Workout Calorie Counting
Time: 5:00:02
Calories: 1152
Average Calories: 230.4/hour
Maximum HR: 153
Average HR: 101
I do need to back up for a minute. Yesterday afternoon Drew and I went to the NYC Marathon Expo in the hopes of scoring some free samples of energy bars, drinks, etc. However, all we did was spend money. There were hardly any free samples, which was pretty much the exact opposite of the NYC Triathlon Expo that we went to over the summer. I guess we now know not to waste our time with the Marathon. So, we left with some new socks for Drew (I got one pair too), running gloves for both of us, two new technical shirts for me, and one free coconut water each. Here's our booty:
I colored in the "M" in Mizuno on my running gloves so that we could tell them apart easily. The gloves were originally $20 and we got them for $5 each. I got both shirts for 50% off, so even though we were hoping for a bunch of free stuff, we still got great deals on the stuff that we did get. I had really been wanting some new running gloves and Drew asked if we really needed fancy ones or if we could just get by with cheap ones. However, reading Brie's blog about her recent run with the cheapie gloves, I think I'm hoping that these will be a bit more breathable and worth the extra couple of bucks.
So, long story short, of course I had to try out one of my new shirts at the gymnasium today! I chose the one on the left. I actually really liked it although the sides are completely see-through, which is sort-of funny to me. Kind of like a sexy workout top!
I also took my bike shoes to the gym with me for the first time today. Obviously the shoes aren't new, but taking them to the gym was a new thing for me. I have been wanting to see for some time if they would clip into the spin bike clips. And they do! That meant that I had to give the computerized spin bike another shot today.
For the new service, I decided to do one of the spin class programs and see how that went. I put in all the relevant data (weight, age, etc.) and started. The only thing I apparently forgot to set was the level. I realized that I was on Level 7 (out of 10). Yesterday when I was messing around I did Level 4, which I thought was a bit of a challenge, so I really wasn't sure I was going to make it through 30 minutes on Level 7.
I did the "Race Day" program, which I actually really liked. There were lots of hills to climb (some seated and some standing). I just pedaled as hard as I could. The one thing that I still don't love about this machine is that when I'm standing it will pick up my heart rate monitor but when I'm seated it must be too far from the sensor, so it doesn't. When I looked at my stats, it looked a bit like I had been shocked by a defibrulator since my heart rate was at zero for quite a while and then would jump up once I was standing.
I will say that I think the shoes actually made it more enjoyable. Wearing the cages over my feet just isn't that great once you've been wearing cycling shoes and I'd 100% recommend wearing these shoes instead. Even though I was a little nervous that I'd forget one of my pairs of shoes at the gym, it's probably worth the worrying.
After the bike, I did some stretching and foam rolling. I tried to roll out my hamstring and I'm still working on foam rolling my shins. It is interesting to me how much easier it is on my shins. It is still not comfortable, but it's not painful like it was before when it made me want to yell out curse words. Then I decided that I would do some more cardio and I hit the elliptical machine.
While I was at the gym today, I was watching the NYC Marathon, which was sort-of inspirational. I decided to do an hour on the elliptical but after about 40 minutes I had really had enough. But I figured if I could watch all of those people on TV running 26.2 miles, I could hang in there for another 20. So, I did. I'm really glad that I did. The thing about working out is that it's not always 100% enjoyable, but I'm always really happy that I got up and did it. Although I do believe in listening to my body, but sometimes when I'm still half alseep, I'm not really recognizing that I'll feel better in the end.
I finished up with some more streching before heading home to start my day. Drew and I had some errands we wanted to run and we also decided to go and get lunch downtown on our way to the errands. I decided that I wanted to wear my heart rate monitor and just see how many calories I burned while not working out. I know that this isn't a perfect test and I do plan on wearing it again on a work day where I'm mostly sitting throughout the day, but I thought this would be a good weekend estimate.
It turns out that I burned 230.4 calories per hour, which I actually think is pretty good, given that I didn't do any cardio. The spike in my heart rate came right at the end of the test period when I was carrying about 20 cans of fruit up the steps from the subway. I'm not going to lie, I definitely slowed down when I reached the top of the steps. I think my legs were a little tired from earlier today! I'm now really curious to see what a regular work day looks like in terms of calorie burning, so stay tuned for that!
Computerized Spin Bike
Time: 33:08
Distance: 11.50 miles
Pace: 20.82 MPH
Calories: 393
Maximum HR: 176
Average HR: 163
Elliptical
Time: 1:00:00
Distance: 5.50 miles
Pace: 10:54/mile
Calories: 635
Maximum HR: 170
Average HR: 155
5 Hours Non-Workout Calorie Counting
Time: 5:00:02
Calories: 1152
Average Calories: 230.4/hour
Maximum HR: 153
Average HR: 101
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