Top Three Pet Peeves at the Gym

If you had met me years ago you would have met one of most optimistic people in the world, I could always find the silver lining to everything. In the last few years my outlook has soured, but even with this I have retained a love for diversity and therefore a great tolerance for others.

I have many pet peeves but I rarely say anything about them as I try to be tolerant of others. However, this week all the planets aligned and I was hit by all three of my gym pet peeves between Sunday and last night.

TOP THREE PET PEEVES AT THE GYM

1. THE CIRCLE JERK- This one happens fairly often, and can happen one of two ways. Either way it is just inconsiderate of others. CB works out in the cardio room at the Y, usually riding a bike. In that room the Circle Jerk is when Friend A is going to the gym so Friend B joins them. Friend B has no intention of working out, but if Friend A rides a bike, Friend B sits on the bike next to him. If Friend A is using the elliptical, Friend B is going to STAND on the machine next to him.
   
   In the weight lifting room it is a little different. Friend A and Friend B are hanging out or lifting together, I can never really tell. They walk to Station X, which happens to be the only one of its type in the gym, and load the bar with weights. Then they stand with one on friend on each side of the station and talk. After 10 minutes pass one of them will complete 1 set and they will again stand on each side and converse for another 10 minutes. This repeats until it is thoroughly annoying. If you walk up to ask if you can work in a set, they will not break conversation and will ignore your presence.
2. THE DIRTY ASS- We are at the gym and just like any other physical activity sweat is expected. As sweat is expected so is a certain level of funk. It happens, I workout and I get funky too. This is different, this is just shameful and has happened to me twice this week. On Sunday I was getting my long run in on the treadmill since it was 14 degrees and sleeting outside. In came Gym Member X who smelled strongly of unclean house and baby powder. Apparently expecting to get funky she prepared by coming in baby fresh. Except, she now reeked of two smells and apparently her entire workout circuit involved the four machines surrounding my treadmill. Every time she moved the smell drafted and I choked.
   
   Last night, in came Gym Member Y who had the similar problem. Except he smelled of dirt. I do not mean that he smelled dirty. Some may understand what I mean, after many years working construction full and part time, not to mention digging holes at the rescue squad station in flip-flops and swim trunks (thanks Chief), I can recognize the smell of dirt itself. You could smell him from five feet away.This was only compounded while in the middle of my heaviest bench press set when he bent over me to get some weights that were racked on my bench. I choked and dropped the bar on myself.
   
   These people are the close cousin of the guy who bathes in after shave to lift weights.
3. THE NAKED OLD GUY- This is classic and I saw two posts dedicated to his topic last Friday. This has not happened to me in a long time, but with the planets aligned this week it was bound to (actually I think all of the blogging summoned them out of winter hibernation). Monday morning I slipped to the locker room to relieve myself while resting between sets and it happened. While walking past the lockers to the door a random overweight grayed haired man, naked as the day he was born, standing captain morgan style on the bench attempted to engage me in conversation. He politely asked some question like "Dis you see the game last night, Panthers don't have much of season left now do they?" I had my headphones in and I pretended to not here him and kept walking.

AND JUST FOR READING A BONUS ANNOYANCE-

THE FLEXER- This is not a pet peeve but every time I see it I laugh and shake my head. It is always a guy between age 16 and 25 and mid way through his workout, just like clock work, he is going to take a break and find a mirror to flex and revel in his muscles. It gets worse when they start rubbing and touching. I have even seen guys in sweatshirts do it. I could understand this is in a Power lifting type gym, but this is a YMCA; and how come I never see women flexing at themselves?

Terrible Tuesday......and a few thank yous

As it is Tuesday, it is time to think of a diabolical workout for the day. Actually, I really like last weeks workouts because it worked perfect with the time allotted so I am going to keep it. However, this week I will flip it around and put the longer workload last. I originally thought of a time trial to work in, but I forgot how so I'm letting it ride.

Terrible Tuesday Workout
Tabata- Row, Bike, Run
24 min pyramid- Row, Bike, Run

Kanye West has a line in a song where he metaphorically compares admiration to flowers. He goes on to talk about sending real flowers to funerals and how it is too late for the deceased to still enjoy them. He then comes to a good point by stating that you should share metaphoric flowers (admiration) with others while they are around to "smell" them.

I think that this is very true and I myself never take the time to properly let people know what I think of them (positively).  I know that from time to time I comment on others blogs when they have had off days to let them know that their talent, even on an off day, is something I admire and wish for myself, However, I never really come right out and say things directly. Before I move forward with this post I want to mention just a few people who I admire- CB for always putting up with me and the trauma I bring with me into our marriage, Patrick M. for his entrepreneurial, punk rock spirit that motivates me to want to take some of the ideas I have played around with for years and follow my dreams, Patrick (Responsibility 199) for his great attitude as he tries to make some of the changes I want to make, Andrew for his prayers, Miss Zippy and BBD for their technical support, and so many others I can not name for general encouragement.

Yesterday someone else had a post that spoke to me, and that person has been on my mind since. Funny how I start a blog for my own records and to one day be able to be of support to someone else and in turn found a great support system. 

If you recently have started following my blog you know I am looking to switch careers. If you have been following for longer you know that I out right hate my job and have probably seen me dedicate posts to it and have seen me use terms like "retarded monkeys" ( I tried to find my old post in order to put that in context but I couldn't). There are three things that have the most likely hood to depress me and the strongest one is my work. Yesterday was a bad day and I went into a melt down when I got home. I decided I was mentally drained and thought I would put off my workout and lay on the couch for a while. After almost an hour of mellowing out, Mandy's post about the excuse demons kept playing through my mind.

I was not going to let the demons win, in fact, exercise will increase endorphins and help me get over my day. My homemade workout planned called for 30 minutes running and 30 minutes cycling in zone 2 or 3. For some reason I was not able to bear the slow miles. It was boring me, maybe it was because my brain was racing or because I hate working out inside and prefer to see nature and terrain changes. So I mixed in random intervals, tabatas, reverse tabatas, and played around on the bike trying to increase resistance but keep the wattage (this actually makes me want one of those ibike things, but maybe I should get a bike first).

So to that end, a special thanks to that weird girl from Caratunk who runs in the snow.  You never know how even a recycled post might be exactly what someone needs.

This morning beating the demons paid off. I ended up skipping my workout because my hamstrings were killing me and despite the skipped workout my morning weigh-in yielded a 193 pound me. That is my third day at or under 195 and only 7 pounds to go for the year! :D

I challenge anyone who reads this today to send some "flowers" to someone before the day ends!

When bad is good

With the holidays always comes temptation, and I have fallen prey to it this week. This week I have cheated a lot! However, instead of being hard on myself I took a look back at the rest of this year.

Wednesday I had two hand fulls of M&Ms and two of popcorn plus 3 cookies, Thursday I had 1 hand full each of M&M's and popcorn plus 5 cookies (spaced out over the day), and Friday I had 2 cookies and a breaded chicken sand which. The rest of those days were filled with fruit, vegetables, and lean protein.

Two or months ago on a given day I might have eaten three meal of fast food and filled the hours in between with eating more than all of the food above together. I would still like to improve my diet by eating less processed foods, but overall I think I am doing better. my efforts at moderation are much better. In fact, I can't think of the last time I even had fast food. 

Still doing a good bit of thinking and planning about life and my next year, but i can rest assured that as I sit around pondering this weekend I won't be doing it with a box of swiss rolls!

Up for Discussion...........Give me your thoughts.

I was hoping to dedicate my post today to the Fluid Recovery Drink Review but as I was reading the blogs on my reader I stumbled over one I thought was worth discussion.

Everyman Tri had a post today about making qualifiers for Ironman races or changing times to make it for faster athletes. You can read the whole post HERE.

I posted my response on the blog, but here it is for you:

It seems to me that having to qualify for an ironman series event would make it seem more elite. Isn't that the purpose of Kona, not the rest of the races? Didn't the $1000 preferred triathlete program anger people when they launched it due to being elitist?

On another note, as a fat kid speed is something I lack, however endurance generally is not. If I can train myself to the level of being able to complete a 140.6 race should I not have the chance to race? If I only have a 1986 fixed gear bike and if I would rather put my money into the registration and travel for a race as opposed $3,000 road bike, should that not be my prerogative- so long as I can meet the cut off?

I would live to here the thoughts of others on this post.

Fluid Recovery Drink Review!!

After my Terrible Tuesday workout I was looking forward to coming home and having a muscle recovery drink. A few weeks ago I went looking for a new recovery drink. I like the Ovaltine that I use but as I am  preparing  to start longer races and longer training sessions I feel I am going to need more nutrient that will aid in recovery. I found Fluid Recovery Drink and compared it with Ovaltine and two other major recovery drinks. I liked what I saw so I contacted them for samples, they obliged and I documented my first few attempt so that I could share them with you.

What the company has to say about the product: Fluid replenishes muscle energy levels, repairs damaged muscle tissue and aids in building new lean muscle, helps manage inflammation, reducing aches, pains and muscle soreness, provides electrolytes to replace those lost in sweat, and supports a stressed immune system. It does this through the synergy of healthy all natural ingredients, in specific ratio to each other and through the timing of using Fluid in the "Recovery Window", immediately after exercise. The company claims the product is 100% natural as well as gluten and lactose free.

Take 1: I was provided three samples and my first try was with Berry Treasure. The directions on the back of the package said to add to 8 to 16 ounces of water and shake in a bottle. I typically have my recovery drink with 8 ounces of drink in a glass. I tried it this way and found that this flavor is entirely too strong to use in only 8 ounces of water. I expected the liquid to match the color of the pack since it is a berry drink but it did not and I though it tasted very chemical. I found that I am not a fan of this flavor.

Take 2: My second try was with the Tropical Escape flavor. This time I tried it with 16 ounces of water in a my water bottle. I prepared it before I went out for my run my shaking the bottle to mix as the directions state. I was surprised by how much it foamed. I placed it in the fridge before I left and when I returned I was relieved to see the foam was gone. As opposed to the Berry Treasure, I really like this flavor. It still has a hint of a chemical after taste, but no different than my lemon-lime Nuun. I topped the bottle off and the after taste was gone.

Take 3: In the case of these samples, I apparently tried the best, last. This third attempt was with the Chocolate Wave flavor. The directions note you can also add this to milk if you so choose. This is what I did. I mixed this in a glass with 8 ounces of milk just like when I prepared my previous recovery drink. I thought this flavor was great! I had no after taste or other problems making it. I really like this one!

What I have to say about it: Like I said earlier, I compared it to my current recovery drink and two other popular drinks. I liked the macronutrient levels of Fluid. For someone who is trying to lose weight I feel that it has what I need for recovery but doesn't have so much that I worry about too many carbs. It has more carbs than ovaltine, but with the increase in protein I am willing to overlook it. Overall, I am happy with the macronutrients.

Overall, if you are looking for a recovery drink I definitely recommend Fluid. Visit their website at http://www.livefluid.com/ .

Terrible Tuesday...back again

As I wrote last week I am dedicating my Tuesdays this month to a workout based on my favorite high school football coaches. The plan during this workout is a variety of exercises for 2 hours while concentrating more on power than on speed. There are three main goals for the workout- activate fat stores, build power, build mental toughness to hard work. I will complete the workout solely on perceived exertion.

As with any goals their is a reason behind each. First, as my goal weight for the year is 186 and this morning my weight was 197 I want to burn some fat to help get closer by the end of the month. Secondly, During the past race season I focused a lot on building speed, I think I should also work to build power to assist in this and there is no time like the present. Last, I complete a lot of long slow workouts and one of the purposes is to build mental toughness to the time it takes to race a long course. I also did a solid amount of short, but hard workouts. These are very good for building speed but do not due much for toughness. Today, we will do both!

The workout for today is as follows:

Warm up-jog to gym
Row- 24 min. pyramid-  4, 2 off, 5 on, 2 off, 6 on, 2 off, 5 on, 2 off, 4 on
Treadmill- 24 minute pyramid @ 12% incline and a good pace
Stationary bike- 24 minute pyramid at level 7 or higher
10 lateral burpees ( 3min)
Row for distance( 12min)
10 lateral (3min)
Stationary bike- 8min w/ tabata @ Level 5 ( 8 rounds of 20 seconds on 10 seconds rest)
Treadmill- 8min w/ tabata @ 12% incline @ maximal pace
Row- 8min w/ tabata
Cool Down- Walk home in the cold

Total- 24+24+24+3+12+3+8+8+8= 1 hour 54 minutes + 6 minutes for transition and water refills.

This week I will remember a water bottle and towel. I will keep a hard pace focusing on sustained power over speed, but make sure it is something I can sustain for the time of the workout. I will also start my stopwatch and end the workout at 2 hours; I also know where the halfway point should leave me and will adjust the middle rowing if transition and water put me behind schedule.

Now to think of next weeks devious workout, if you have any good workout or drills to suggest please send them my way.

After deciding to take an unstructured month, I recorded my thoughts and posted them on my Plans page, but I have been thinking about subing in CrossFit Endurance workouts when the mood strikes me. Hopefully, after the workout tonight I will post a review of Fluid Muscle Recovery Drink.

Holiday Weight, Cold Running, and Decisions

This time of year is very busy for everyone and I my life has been no exception this week. On top of work has been holiday shopping, holiday get togethers, annual and semi annuals doctors appointments, and a million other things. Last night we stayed up till 1 AM decorating the inside of the house for the holidays after we got home from a holiday party. And as a Christmas present to ourselves we entered the 21st century with the purchase of our first flat screen TV.  It leaves our old big A. tube tv for me to use in the spare bedroom when on the trainer, should it ever be cleaned out.



 For some reason blogger isn't letting me add captions, after an hour of frustration I give up. So... the 1st shot is of CB's nativity scene and my menorah. The second is our new TV with my nutcrackers. One is from my first year in law enforcement and the other is from my time studying in England.





During all this busyness I know that weight management is a big concern for many of us. Personally, from my post race weight on Thanksgiving day to my morning weigh-in on black friday I had a 9 pound gain. It is ok though! I was able to work it back off and somewhere near the midle of last week I finally broke through my next weight loss benchmark. I do not celebrate these until I am at or under the weight for three consecutive days and it finally arrived. My reward for this benchmark is a Yankees Jersey, but since all of my clothes are running too big these day I decided to pick up a new pair of work pants and two sweaters instead. With my end goal for the year being 186, I still have 13 pounds to go and I am hopeful. I have joining the Fat Cyclist's 10 pound challenge to try and keep my motivated.

With this effort to hit my goal and to train for next years triathlon season I have maintained my training. Today I had what I think may be my coldest run ever. If not it is a close second to last years New Years Eve race. The weather was 34 degrees with an 8 mph breeze. Since I kept on the treadmill until June last year I am never sure how to dress for cold. That's why I asked how to dress for my last race. Given the weather the "what to wear" application at www.runnersworld .com said winter hat (toboggan/beanie), long sleeve tech shirt, tights, jacket, gloves and sun glasses. I did not have all of these so I made some concessions. I no longer have a winter hat suited for running so I wore my Brook's nightlife hat with an ear warmer over it, a Under Armor heat gear turtleneck, a long sleeve race tee, tights, shorts, and sunglasses. I didn't wear gloves because my hands always get hot, I could have worn them after all. I also noted again that I need to buy a jacket or vest, and a new fleece hat. After reading the comments from Adam's review on a pair of tights, I realized how others think about guys in tights and about wearing shorts over them. Well, I got to do what I got to do.

In my last post I asked for suggestions on how to proceed with training. Today I made my decision, I am going to just stick to no goals for this month. In order to keep structure, I am going to write my own training plan just to have something to check days off on the fridge. I am am going to keep my two a week strength training going, my Sunday long run, and Wednesday speed work. I will also add a group fitness class and hopefully Saturday yoga. I will shoot for at least an hour of cardio everyday, plus my LSD Sunday and Terrible Tuesday. Wednesday I began regulating my workouts using the heart rate monitor again, and this is my plan for the rest of the month. After my reading this summer on training zones I began with a workout in zone 2. A run in this zone gave me an average pace of 15 minute miles and required walking breaks on all hills to stay in the zone. After this, I kept the majority of my workouts in zone 3. From my reading you shouldn't use this zone, should either be harder or easier. This zone gives me 10:30 miles, still slower than my normal training paces. I find it odd how much slower I run when using this method, when I am doing pace based training I must be staying in zone 5 most of the time if I had to wager.

Another decision I have been toying with for a month and a half is to go back to school. My mind is not in the right place any more for my work. After over 4 years, I can no longer tolerate having to work with a caseload of 80 inmates who feel my life should revolve around them and unfortunately my tactical duties do not pull me out of the office enough to help me cope. CB and I have discussed it and a career change is in order and going back to school will be necessary. My options for what to do vary greatly. I am applying to the local community college to take the prerequisites for a nursing program. This would mean taking biology and chemistry and then applying to a nursing program in the fall. Secondly, I am applying for a Ph.D. in Sociology at NC State University. Ideally, I would get a doctorate in criminology but there is no program in this state, but this program has a crime and deviance concentration. One of my favorite professors from undergrad got her doctorate there. This would mean a move, but I could keep working for the state while doing this. Thirdly, and mostly for shits and giggles I am applying to a college in Utah for an Associates in Aviation Science. They have a program worked out with my local airport and I would be able to use federal financial aid to pay for flight time. Having a commercial pilot's licence could lead to good jobs in this area flying for NASCAR race teams.

Lastly, my week in number.....

Strength- 1:30 minutes
Stationary Spin Bike- 60.7 mile
Run-17.4 miles
Concept 2 Rower- 40 minutes
Hike- 2.5 miles