Struggling

I'm through--more or less--with the mancold but have hit a wall as a result of a heavy travel schedule and a lack of self discipline. I'll ramp up again this week, then be off on the road for a week. Another challenge is foot pain flare up. As in, it hurts to walk. I need to be more agressive in treating this. Finally, I've determined that my no alchohol during the week routine is a cruel form of masochism and have abandoned. I need to find another way to lose my weight.

A Lost Week

I've been sick--a man cold--and as s result I have not worked out in a week. I stuck to the no booze Mon-Thu (inclusive) regiment and didn't gain any weight, however. My weigh in was exactly the same as last week: 247. So it was a lost week.

I'm feeling much better and will get back into teh workout routine tomorrow.

This Just In

So far my 2009 calendar is perfect: a workout every day and no booze on the designated no booze days (Mon-Thu, inclusive). I'm down 6 lbs. since January 1.

Now 247.

Got to keep it going. Fighting a cold, but it's not a full-on mancold.

2009!

Can you tell which of these fattys is me?

In 2009 I resolve to lose weight. 30 pounds or so.

Here's how:

1. Avoid injury. This means limited running.
2. Consistency, consistency, consistency.
3. No drinking of alcohol during the week (this is a guideline).
4. Friday morning official weigh-ins.

I weigh 252 pounds now. 220 by Beach-to-Beacon?

Limping To The Finish Line

Wrapping up a challenging 2008, and missing workouts due to snow storms, holiday obligations, and minor injury (an abdominal strain is my most recent malaise).

I have another foot appointment today. I'd like to have my surgery done and over with and be able to start working consistently with the new year.

I also need a beer related new year's resolution to bring my weight down.

For now, thouigh, it's catch as catch can, and head into the new year somewhere between completely unfit and fit.

Working At It

At the risk of jinxing myself, I'm going to track the week's workout total here despite the fact that I haven't done my Sunday morning spin yet.

I had a successful workout week, with 5 hours total of sweat exercise between rowing, spinning, and kettlebell. The kettlebell stuff is the most intense, but all the workouts are at least solidly in the aerobic zone (the kettlebell stuff is more like a track interval session).

My fitness is improving. Another breakthrough: I had a cortisone shot in my foot and it (along with the prescribed anti-inflamatory) has made a huge difference. As in, my foot pain is basically gone.

So that's all good. I'm enthusiastic about the workouts and feel that the combination of the three exercise practices gives me the well-rounded fitness that I seek. I have two challenges, however: I'm going to have some minor foot surgery in a couple of weeks that'll lay me up for a few days. I just need to avoid having that deter my momentum. The other challenge is my weight. I'm going to ignore that through teh holidays and then attack it somewhat aggressively.

Another Okay Week

I'm starting to string together some consistency. This week included two kettlebell workouts, two spinning sessions, and one row.

I need to go after it harder, and I'll do so. But the week was okay.

I'm not losing any weight and need a new tactic for that.

Progress

I had a pretty good fitness week: 2 spinning sessions 1 rowing workout 2 kettlebell sessions and a 1.5 hour bootcamp that combined a little bit of everything. More on kettlebells: they are Russian, and demand cardivasular fitness while working strength and flexibility. I've worn my HR monitor and find that my HR frequently soars above AT during the toughest bits and rarely falls below the aerobic zone during the recovery parts. It's kind of like an interval session on the track, only different. Here's a video that demonstrates some basic movements. It looks easier than it is. It woirks just about everything.

Oops, I can't figure out the video upload thing. Try this link instead.

A Decent Week Along the Comeback Trail

I was still sick at the beginning of the week, and missed Monday and Tuesday workouts. Wednesday was a monster day; AM spin and PM Kettlebell. Thursday was rest again, Friday, I rowed. Saturday was atough Kettlebell session. I rowed again this morning. Not bad, but I can do better. And I will.

Back To The Pursuit of Fitness and Health

I've moved my novel. If you are interested in continuing to read it let me know and I'll invite you in to the blog where it now resides.

I also have a re-newed committment to health and fitness. Although my weight gain is fairly evenly distributed when compared to the woman shown here, who would be quite trim and svelte were it not for a backside that's gotten away from her a bit--I am concerned about my weight and have an action plan.

Essentially, I spin, row, and do this torture called kettlebells twice a week. That is, I go to two spin classes per week, two kettlebell sessions per week, and row twice per week. This exercise plan, coupled with the always challenging moderation on the intake side, should reverse my lagging fitness trend.

I will let you know how it goes.

A Big Transition

I have a new goal, and I am motivated to achieve it. It’s not a fitness activity but it will have an impact upon my fitness. Here’s the goal: I will complete the first draft of a novel in one year. Here’s what I’ve learned about this goal so far: it takes time and work. Specifically, I need to write about 100,000 words. I have written 7,609 thus far. I have miles to go before I sleep.

I need to write every day, more or less.

In the decade of my twenties I played lacrosse seriously, from thirty to forty I played basketball seriously, from forty to fifty-something I ran seriously. By seriously, I mean I worked at it, kept score, and cared about the results. That doesn’t mean that I was ever much more than a middle-of-the-packer in any of these pursuits. I anticipate much the same with my new pursuit. I’m going to work at it, and I care about it, and I want the result to be the best that I can produce.

If it’s the literary equivalent of a six hour marathon, that’s okay.

So my fitness goal is 30 minutes per day of sweat exercise. No races, no contests, nothing but the minimum requirement for health.

Ongoing Struggles

My foot (plantar fascitis) continues to be a challenge. I've reduced my running to two days per week. I've added cycling and will add swimming to the mix. My weight is up, my fitness down.

I did have a good interval session on the track on Wednesday: 7 X 800m with all but the first one (still warming up) under 3:30. My long run Sunday was a painful process, though, with the foot bothering me throughout.

So I'll continue to find other stuff to do.

Finally, Real Hope

Barack Obama talks about hope but real hope may reside in the person of Sarah Palin, mother of Track, Trig, Willow, Pipeline, and Curling Iron. Why? As TW points out, my intake is a factor in my body weight. And, my body weight is detrimental to my fitness. Ms Palin, who has a great record as a reformer and may be our president soon (given our miserable voting track record and 72 year old John McCain's battles with cancer) has fought long and hard against science in her efforts to bring creationism to schools and to eliminate pesky polar bears from the face of the earth. Can a fight against gravity be far behind? Surely, if we could eliminate gravity bigger runners like me would have a level playing field. She's a runner who has suffered from gravity during her pregnancies. Let's get behind her and rid the world of gravity!

Progress, then Frustration

My weigh in was 238, so a mild improvement over the prior week.

The week was a mixed bag: I ran (walking the uphills) from work on Monday and to work on Tuesday. My back and hamstrings felt fine. By the end of a good track session on Wednesday, however, my periodic plantar fascitis flare up was in full flare. It has become a pain management challenge. I'll replace my shoes and orthodics, add more specific stretches, ice and more ice, and cut back on my already reduced running schedule.

This week I'll run on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday and try to heal my wounds.

Inspiration

Operation 220 (100kg) Update

The workout this morning was good:

6 X 800m in 3:34; 3:30; 3:31; 3:31; 3:32; and 3:31. The recovery pieces were 2:00, generally, although we stretched it to 4:00 after the third (middle) interval.

The total workout was 5 miles or so. I'm feeling pretty good but after having run for 5 days in a row, I think I'll take tomorrow off.

I'll do my official weigh-in on Saturday morning. It was 240 (109kg) last week. I'm confident of progress.

Challenging But Attainable....

....although not without work. I ran 10 miles yesterday. And it wasn't easy. I took two, two minute walking breaks during the run. But I did it, and I took an ice bath afterwards. By ice bath I mean I sat in the ocean water off east end beach (pictured) for 5 minutes or so. After the initial shock it felt great.

My goal (challenging but attaninable) is to re-gain fitness. To do so, I need to lose about 20 pounds before I can even talk about fitness. So, I ran-walk-ran home today. It went pretty well. I'll run-walk-run in tomorrow and take it from there.

Let's call this: Operation 220 (100kg).

Moving Forward

I had a decent track session on Wednesday, continue to experience no significant hamstring pain, and the low back issues continue to improve. I'm off for a 10 mile run this morning. We'll see how it goes.

I'm also going to experiment with some conservative run-walk-run commutes in the coming weeks. My weight seems to be my major barrier to fitness at this point, ramping up my calorie burn would help address the issue.

On the track, the workout was 4 X 1K. I averaged 4:33 per K, and recovered for 3:00 between work intervals. This coming Wednesday, we'll run 6 X 800m.

More on BtB

The Beach to Beacon is our showcase event and it is impeccably organized, extremely well hosted by the Cape Elizabethians--for whom it must be a bit of a pain--and it has become a great tradition. I'll plan to run it every year. It's the one race where I'll suffer through the process of registering way, way in advance.

My splits were pretty consistent with years past, just slower. By that I mean I went out a bit too fast, ran a slow second mile, then recovered a bit until the 5th mile:

7:57
8:26
7:59
8:09
8:06
8:44
1:34

This pattern is consistent with prior years, and is also consistent with the hill pattern of the course, although I ran the uphill bit at the end of mile 3 better than expected.

I ran again Sunday, 40 minutes, give-or-take, just missing a ferocious thunder storm. I have no lingering effects from the weekend running.

Happy with a PW

I ran the Beach to Beacon race today and despite my worst ever time (50:55) I was pleased with my effort. The result was an honest reflection of my fitness level. The race is inspirational for me this year, with a simple message: get in shape, asshole! I plan to heed that message and hope to have a good 5K race before the end of the year. I'm not sure what defines good at this point. Anything under 22 minutes, I guess. But my back didn't really bother me during the race, nor did my legs, particularly. It was hard work and I'm pleased to have gotten through it.

I'll get right back to my routine with a recovery run tomorrow, and a hrad workout Wednesday. I'll continue that pattern (running Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday) and mix in my gym workouts the rest of the week. The stretching and core work makes a difference, and the rowing machine boosts my aerobic fitness.