After my surgery was scheduled for Tuesday, I was emailed my weekly schedule form my coach. It is time trial week. I have a time trial scheduled in every discipline. I was able to get in my swim TT in and two other normal workouts before surgery.
For the first time, i have been forced to take true recovery days. Often when I take a recovery day I still work, mow grass, or do an y number of activities. Even when I had the flu I tried to sneak in some workouts.
The last two days have been OFFICIAL recovery days. I have done nothing. I have laid in the bed, done web design, and slept. Oh, and taken my weight is Vicodin. I am sure that this break is good for my body in terms or training; i know the break is good for my body in terms of recovery from surgery, but it is killing my mind.
I am itching for two things- a cheese burger and a brick workout.
Does anyone else ever crave workouts when they are forced to rest?
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Accountability 06/23/11
06/20 Morning weight: 184
06/21 Morning weight: 182
06/22 Morning weight: 179.9
06/23 Morning weight: 177
Goal: AM swim (again) and PM 40 mile ride.
Results: Overslept again. Once I woke up I reported to the pain cave and did about 55 push ups. After work I needed to finish mowing the backyard and get in my 40 mile ride. I weighted my options and given I knew I would not have much time to mow Saturday before CB's bday party I decided to mow for an hour first and then go ride. An hour turned into an hour and a half. This meant I would be returning from my ride about 10pm. Since I intended to get up for a 200m swim I decided I should do a short workout on the bike instead. On the trainer I did a 10 minute warm up, 3 x 3 minutes trying to work to threshold (without any way of telling), tabata sprints in a hard gear, tabata right leg only, tabata left leg only, then tabata sprinting in an easy gear. I followed that with a few sets of core work (I can't remember what now), then 4 sets of 2 pull ups, 1 set of 3 pull ups (max), 1 set of 4 neutral grip pull ups, and last 3 back bridges for 15 seconds each. I cool down with stretching with a strap.
Diet: diet bar, grapes, steak, mushrooms, rice, water.
06/21 Morning weight: 182
06/22 Morning weight: 179.9
06/23 Morning weight: 177
Goal: AM swim (again) and PM 40 mile ride.
Results: Overslept again. Once I woke up I reported to the pain cave and did about 55 push ups. After work I needed to finish mowing the backyard and get in my 40 mile ride. I weighted my options and given I knew I would not have much time to mow Saturday before CB's bday party I decided to mow for an hour first and then go ride. An hour turned into an hour and a half. This meant I would be returning from my ride about 10pm. Since I intended to get up for a 200m swim I decided I should do a short workout on the bike instead. On the trainer I did a 10 minute warm up, 3 x 3 minutes trying to work to threshold (without any way of telling), tabata sprints in a hard gear, tabata right leg only, tabata left leg only, then tabata sprinting in an easy gear. I followed that with a few sets of core work (I can't remember what now), then 4 sets of 2 pull ups, 1 set of 3 pull ups (max), 1 set of 4 neutral grip pull ups, and last 3 back bridges for 15 seconds each. I cool down with stretching with a strap.
Diet: diet bar, grapes, steak, mushrooms, rice, water.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Accountability 06/22/11
06/20 Morning weight: 184
06/21 Mornign weight: 182
06/22 Morning weight: 179.9
Goal: AM Swim and AM Track workout
Results: Wednesday is my 2nd shift day so theoretically if I get up at 05:15 I can fit more in my day. My body didn't agree. I overslept again and got up with 20 minutes to get ready. Since I only had 20 minutes I went to teh pain cave and did 60 bicycle oblique crunches and 20 full body crunches.
I planned to get my speedwork for my lunch, but I had a lot of work to do so my lunch kept getting pushed back until before I knew it it was 8 Pm and time to get home. Since I had brought my running clothes to work I made a decision to stick to my challenge and get it in. I changed at work and once I got back in town instead of going home I went straight to the track.
The workout was a ladder of 400, 800, 2x1200, 800, 400 at a 7:30 pace (10k). The first two went well. Durign the 400m I had to slow myself down. The first 1200 sucked because i could not hold the pace, the second 1200 was worse. I took a minute rest before the 800. The first half was good but I slowed dramatically. For the last 400 I started steady and sped up every 100m; I made a point to not check pace until I hit the finish line. At that point it was 6:23. 400's good- longer intervals still need work. 6 weeks to the next olympic distance race.
Diet: eggs, banana, grapes, hummus, carrots, lettuce, cucumber, grilled chicken, peanut butter, fluid recovery drink.
06/21 Mornign weight: 182
06/22 Morning weight: 179.9
Goal: AM Swim and AM Track workout
Results: Wednesday is my 2nd shift day so theoretically if I get up at 05:15 I can fit more in my day. My body didn't agree. I overslept again and got up with 20 minutes to get ready. Since I only had 20 minutes I went to teh pain cave and did 60 bicycle oblique crunches and 20 full body crunches.
I planned to get my speedwork for my lunch, but I had a lot of work to do so my lunch kept getting pushed back until before I knew it it was 8 Pm and time to get home. Since I had brought my running clothes to work I made a decision to stick to my challenge and get it in. I changed at work and once I got back in town instead of going home I went straight to the track.
The workout was a ladder of 400, 800, 2x1200, 800, 400 at a 7:30 pace (10k). The first two went well. Durign the 400m I had to slow myself down. The first 1200 sucked because i could not hold the pace, the second 1200 was worse. I took a minute rest before the 800. The first half was good but I slowed dramatically. For the last 400 I started steady and sped up every 100m; I made a point to not check pace until I hit the finish line. At that point it was 6:23. 400's good- longer intervals still need work. 6 weeks to the next olympic distance race.
Diet: eggs, banana, grapes, hummus, carrots, lettuce, cucumber, grilled chicken, peanut butter, fluid recovery drink.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Accountability 06/21/11
Goal: AM Swim, PM brick
Reality: I overslept through the alarm clock. Actually, I don't think it went off, but CB says it did. With oversleeping there was no swim, but with my quest for a morning workout I completed 55 push ups. After work I came hope and completed a brick. It sucked. I wanted to quit and my legs had no turnover. I averaged 10:30 miles- slowest in over a year- but I completed the workout.
Diet: Breakfast bar, grapes, carrots, hummus, banana, salad, grilled chicken, Fluid Muscle Recovery Drink.
Setbacks: 2 diet Mt. Dew and 1 Diet Dr. Pepper.
Reality: I overslept through the alarm clock. Actually, I don't think it went off, but CB says it did. With oversleeping there was no swim, but with my quest for a morning workout I completed 55 push ups. After work I came hope and completed a brick. It sucked. I wanted to quit and my legs had no turnover. I averaged 10:30 miles- slowest in over a year- but I completed the workout.
Diet: Breakfast bar, grapes, carrots, hummus, banana, salad, grilled chicken, Fluid Muscle Recovery Drink.
Setbacks: 2 diet Mt. Dew and 1 Diet Dr. Pepper.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Accountability Check 06-20
Goal: AM fat burning workout, Upper body weights, speed work swim.
Results: I was struggling with sleep so I did not get up as early as I would have liked. However, I stuck with my plan and did 20 minutes on the trainer. I did a warm up, followed by 10x 30 second on my third toughest gear, then some one foot spinning, and a cool down. At lunch I completed upper body weight per my training plan, plus day 2 of the 100 push up challenge, and 6 x 20 ab exercises. My last workout of the day from the training plan was a swim with 100m warm up, 200m, 3 x 400m, 200m, 100m cool. The plan was do it as soon as I got home from work, I was exhausted so I made myself a deal. I set a schedule. 5:40-6:00 sit in quiet and eat a snack, 6:00 vacuum and then take dogs out, 6:15 read, 6:30 make salad for dinner and change into swim trunks, 6:45 head to pool. I really wanted to skip this was workout, as of late I have not looked forward to swimming in general and even less to speed work. I think this has something to do with struggling at it so much. I promised myself I would not skip it. It has been two weeks since I have been in the pool and my lungs are hurting from allergies so I decided I would swim it with fins. This should be a confidence booster and since I am getting in extra workouts I will return one morning and get it in without the fins.
Diet: With the exception of a diet bar and a small bowl of cheerios as an afternoon snack everything else I ate was whole foods. The diet bar was because today is grocery day so we were low on lunch foods and the cheerios were because I felt like I was bonking and needed some carbs for the swim. The other foods of my day included grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, spinach, green peppers, red peppers, cucumber, green grapes, and a quarter of my first ever pear (not sure I like it)
Now I will go mow grass for 15 minutes (to split it up before the weekend), shower and be IN bed by 9pm.
Today's missions are accomplished- Tomorrow I intent to unpussify the mission!
Results: I was struggling with sleep so I did not get up as early as I would have liked. However, I stuck with my plan and did 20 minutes on the trainer. I did a warm up, followed by 10x 30 second on my third toughest gear, then some one foot spinning, and a cool down. At lunch I completed upper body weight per my training plan, plus day 2 of the 100 push up challenge, and 6 x 20 ab exercises. My last workout of the day from the training plan was a swim with 100m warm up, 200m, 3 x 400m, 200m, 100m cool. The plan was do it as soon as I got home from work, I was exhausted so I made myself a deal. I set a schedule. 5:40-6:00 sit in quiet and eat a snack, 6:00 vacuum and then take dogs out, 6:15 read, 6:30 make salad for dinner and change into swim trunks, 6:45 head to pool. I really wanted to skip this was workout, as of late I have not looked forward to swimming in general and even less to speed work. I think this has something to do with struggling at it so much. I promised myself I would not skip it. It has been two weeks since I have been in the pool and my lungs are hurting from allergies so I decided I would swim it with fins. This should be a confidence booster and since I am getting in extra workouts I will return one morning and get it in without the fins.
Diet: With the exception of a diet bar and a small bowl of cheerios as an afternoon snack everything else I ate was whole foods. The diet bar was because today is grocery day so we were low on lunch foods and the cheerios were because I felt like I was bonking and needed some carbs for the swim. The other foods of my day included grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, spinach, green peppers, red peppers, cucumber, green grapes, and a quarter of my first ever pear (not sure I like it)
Now I will go mow grass for 15 minutes (to split it up before the weekend), shower and be IN bed by 9pm.
Today's missions are accomplished- Tomorrow I intent to unpussify the mission!
Gut Check Time
My Couch, Oversleeping, Oreos, Fried Chicken, Coke, McDonald's, Wendy's, Dairy Queen Blizzards, Mountain Dew, Doritos, Pizza, and Corn Dogs- These are the thing my Bachelor life was made of. These are the thing that got me a solid start on the road to being 300 pounds by 30.
I started last week exhausted because I spent the weekend pulling 20 hour shifts in my office, glued to the computer, drawing up website layouts for a project I have been hired (for free) to do. I returned to work tired. Slightly before the end of the day I was victim to some foul career sabotage. This sent me to a place similar to the mental exhaustion I have at the end of a work week, but on the first day. I shut down. I checked out. My mind reverted. It reverted back to bachelor life. After a year, apparently it is still my default behaviour. I filled my time at work and off work with different combinations of the my bachelor life. Despite slipping in a 16 mile run and two short brick workouts I arrived at the end of the week four pounds heavier and with the highest weight I have had in some months- 184.4 lbs. My goal has been to break the plateau of 180 and hit my next mile marker 175. This would put me 10 pounds from my goal- but I AM FAILING.
I hope my mental week off was enough, because it is time for my figurative as well as literal gut check. I am recommitting myself to accountability. I am three weeks out from my next race, but the race is not the concern. If I perform poorly it is my fault. I am committed this week to getting things back together. I am challenging myself this week to cleansing my diet- I will stick to primarily whole foods. I am challenging myself to getting up for morning workouts- regardless of how short. I am challenging myself to hitting every workout on my training schedule. I am challenging myself to do the research and figure out what help I need to start getting quality sleep again. I am challenging myself to remain accountable by posting my daily success and failure for all to read.
Anymore Challenges?
I started last week exhausted because I spent the weekend pulling 20 hour shifts in my office, glued to the computer, drawing up website layouts for a project I have been hired (for free) to do. I returned to work tired. Slightly before the end of the day I was victim to some foul career sabotage. This sent me to a place similar to the mental exhaustion I have at the end of a work week, but on the first day. I shut down. I checked out. My mind reverted. It reverted back to bachelor life. After a year, apparently it is still my default behaviour. I filled my time at work and off work with different combinations of the my bachelor life. Despite slipping in a 16 mile run and two short brick workouts I arrived at the end of the week four pounds heavier and with the highest weight I have had in some months- 184.4 lbs. My goal has been to break the plateau of 180 and hit my next mile marker 175. This would put me 10 pounds from my goal- but I AM FAILING.
I hope my mental week off was enough, because it is time for my figurative as well as literal gut check. I am recommitting myself to accountability. I am three weeks out from my next race, but the race is not the concern. If I perform poorly it is my fault. I am committed this week to getting things back together. I am challenging myself this week to cleansing my diet- I will stick to primarily whole foods. I am challenging myself to getting up for morning workouts- regardless of how short. I am challenging myself to hitting every workout on my training schedule. I am challenging myself to do the research and figure out what help I need to start getting quality sleep again. I am challenging myself to remain accountable by posting my daily success and failure for all to read.
Anymore Challenges?
Monday, June 13, 2011
When annoyance turns into a learning experience
When I began this blog last year I wrote several posts about my background. I wrote about how prior to starting to train in multi-sport the only "sport" I had been successful at was martial arts and how I have a natural ability to pick up techniques. I also wrote about how it is still a love of mine and I would like to continue my training and maybe compete again given the chance.
Last January I began teaching a children's karate class at a for disadvantaged kids at a near-by community center. The organization it is through started with the purpose of providing karate and cheer to children who may not be able to afford it. I use the income from teaching this class to pay for multi-sport expenses.
Last semester I had a child in my yellow belt class who routinely did his own thing, barely paid attention, and over exaggerated every technique to a ridiculous point. I was at a race for belt testing and the instructor who conducted the tests for me passed him to green belt.
My green belt class is my favorite class, they have high energy, they pick up things fast, and we have a lot of fun. I was already thinking about how having him in that class may change how the class ran. I decided that I would sit the class down and without pointing him out talk about focus and how starting this year there would be penalties for not being focused or doing your own thing.
I started the class and as we did warm-ups the kid acted like he couldn't do push up or sit up. He just laid there not trying. We then reviewed basic kicks and he kept falling down (he been doing these for a year, nothing new) so I told him some things to do at home to make it better. Later in the class we were doing sparring drills and I would demonstrate the drill and they would take turns doing the drill on the bag I was holding. When it was his turn he walked up and did something completely different. I then stopped him and was giving step by step directions for the drill. Half way through my instructions he would stop listening and do his own thing. I sent him to the back of the line when he stopped listening, it had been my intention to make him do push ups for not listening, but I wasn't ready to do this yet.
After the class, I discussed with his mom about what i told him to do to help his kicks. She then told me that was probably because of his Aspergers. I nodded my head and said ok, with a calm face. In my head I blew up, thinking to myself WTF!!!!!! WHY HAS THIS KID BEEN IN MY CLASS FOR 6 MONTHS AND YOU HAVE NEVER TOLD ME THIS!!!!!! I have been thinking it was ADD, laziness, and/or poor home training. Now I need to readjust because punishing him with push ups just doesn't seem fair to me.
I plan to take my lunch hour today to research Aspergers and Autism and see if there is a way for me to adjust my teaching methods. This completely blindsided me, but I think it is a good opportunity to learn and grow as an instructor.
Last January I began teaching a children's karate class at a for disadvantaged kids at a near-by community center. The organization it is through started with the purpose of providing karate and cheer to children who may not be able to afford it. I use the income from teaching this class to pay for multi-sport expenses.
Last semester I had a child in my yellow belt class who routinely did his own thing, barely paid attention, and over exaggerated every technique to a ridiculous point. I was at a race for belt testing and the instructor who conducted the tests for me passed him to green belt.
My green belt class is my favorite class, they have high energy, they pick up things fast, and we have a lot of fun. I was already thinking about how having him in that class may change how the class ran. I decided that I would sit the class down and without pointing him out talk about focus and how starting this year there would be penalties for not being focused or doing your own thing.
I started the class and as we did warm-ups the kid acted like he couldn't do push up or sit up. He just laid there not trying. We then reviewed basic kicks and he kept falling down (he been doing these for a year, nothing new) so I told him some things to do at home to make it better. Later in the class we were doing sparring drills and I would demonstrate the drill and they would take turns doing the drill on the bag I was holding. When it was his turn he walked up and did something completely different. I then stopped him and was giving step by step directions for the drill. Half way through my instructions he would stop listening and do his own thing. I sent him to the back of the line when he stopped listening, it had been my intention to make him do push ups for not listening, but I wasn't ready to do this yet.
After the class, I discussed with his mom about what i told him to do to help his kicks. She then told me that was probably because of his Aspergers. I nodded my head and said ok, with a calm face. In my head I blew up, thinking to myself WTF!!!!!! WHY HAS THIS KID BEEN IN MY CLASS FOR 6 MONTHS AND YOU HAVE NEVER TOLD ME THIS!!!!!! I have been thinking it was ADD, laziness, and/or poor home training. Now I need to readjust because punishing him with push ups just doesn't seem fair to me.
I plan to take my lunch hour today to research Aspergers and Autism and see if there is a way for me to adjust my teaching methods. This completely blindsided me, but I think it is a good opportunity to learn and grow as an instructor.
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