Well, as I indicated earlier, the whole running thing has come to a close. The knees don't support that kind of behavior. :) So, rather than blog about stuff I can't do, I've started a new space to blog about the stuff I continually do... science, work, and food. Yes, I will still be doing the occasional pieces of exercise (most likely the recumbent exercise bike), but it will mostly have to be walking and various weight-lifting activities.
Anyway, the new blog is on my personal website: http://www.existentialdoubt.com/logs/metadata/
Cheers!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
The Knee Injury
The Tao tells us that moving against the flow of a river is difficult... so it is better to move with the flow, to let the river do the work for us rather than against us. Well, maybe all this exercise stuff is just up river for me.
Two weeks ago I dislocated my patella, and am still in a brace for it. Granted, it is a smaller, patellar brace (rather than the full immobilizer I previously was wearing), but I'm limited to very little activity. I've been able to manage some walking, and some moving about the homestead doing a few yard chores, but nothing truly aerobic.
Well... it's disheartening, to say the least. If I were a superstitious sort of person, I might believe that "something" or "someone" was trying to tell me something. But, I think with enough time and rest and recovery, this will pass and I'll be back on the skates, back at the circuit training, and back toward the goals.
Until then, cheers!
Two weeks ago I dislocated my patella, and am still in a brace for it. Granted, it is a smaller, patellar brace (rather than the full immobilizer I previously was wearing), but I'm limited to very little activity. I've been able to manage some walking, and some moving about the homestead doing a few yard chores, but nothing truly aerobic.
Well... it's disheartening, to say the least. If I were a superstitious sort of person, I might believe that "something" or "someone" was trying to tell me something. But, I think with enough time and rest and recovery, this will pass and I'll be back on the skates, back at the circuit training, and back toward the goals.
Until then, cheers!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Why are gyms filled with so many fit people?
Last week I was able to train two days... Since I'm back at school full-time (although still working part-time), I have access to the university fitness center. This means an indoor track (1/10 mile) and loads of exercise equipment. So, I decided to do circuit training.
My version of circuit training is to start with three laps (3/10 mile), then get on the device that lets you hang your legs down, and you can lift your knees up... it's an abdominal exercise I'm using for reaching the sit-up goal. Another three laps (up to 6/10 now)... then the lat pull down machine, to train for the pull-ups. Another three laps (9/10 total)... and I jump on the bench press, just because the bench press is a great, overall, exercise. Finally, another three laps (1.2 miles total now), then squats, then the last three laps (1.5 miles overall).
On other days, I'm going to just do aerobic stuff on the roller blades... the super sweet Rollerblade Crossfire 90 MX roller blades, I mean! :)
So far, I've been sore as hell for two days after each circuit training session. I suppose that's good. This coming week, I'm making sure to bring a protein smoothie with me each day for post-session recovery...
Tomorrow, just for grins, I may do a pre-test PFT, just to see how awful my scores would be. Sometimes, that can be a good motivator for me! My predictions? 0 pull-ups, 40 sit-ups, and a 36:00 3-mile. Sad, and humbling, but reality is what it is.
My version of circuit training is to start with three laps (3/10 mile), then get on the device that lets you hang your legs down, and you can lift your knees up... it's an abdominal exercise I'm using for reaching the sit-up goal. Another three laps (up to 6/10 now)... then the lat pull down machine, to train for the pull-ups. Another three laps (9/10 total)... and I jump on the bench press, just because the bench press is a great, overall, exercise. Finally, another three laps (1.2 miles total now), then squats, then the last three laps (1.5 miles overall).
On other days, I'm going to just do aerobic stuff on the roller blades... the super sweet Rollerblade Crossfire 90 MX roller blades, I mean! :)
So far, I've been sore as hell for two days after each circuit training session. I suppose that's good. This coming week, I'm making sure to bring a protein smoothie with me each day for post-session recovery...
Tomorrow, just for grins, I may do a pre-test PFT, just to see how awful my scores would be. Sometimes, that can be a good motivator for me! My predictions? 0 pull-ups, 40 sit-ups, and a 36:00 3-mile. Sad, and humbling, but reality is what it is.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
The Long, Hard Road
It has been quite some time since the last official post, for which there are many reasons... but only one of which really matters: my motivation had flopped.
Despite having made gains and progress, and all that, my body was feeling beaten up more and more, and I just got frustrated, and mostly gave up. However, over the last few weeks I've started a walking routine each day before lunch, and I have a new set of goals and a plan...
Now, there is still running in this new goal of mine, but I'm not going to have a lot of running in my training. That may seem odd... Well, perhaps it is. But, my body gets beaten up when I run, so I'm only going to run during my weekly check-ins. In its place, I'm going to keep walking, and re-introduce an old love: in-line skating.
So, what are the new goals? To score 50% on each of the three components of the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test (PFT), for an age 43 male. That means that I'll need to be able to complete 10 pull-ups, do 50 sit-ups in two minutes, and run 3 miles in 26:15. This would give me a score of 150 out of 300, and is what's called a 2nd class score (there are three classes, 1st class being the best). By way of comparison, to score 100% on the PFT, you'd need to do 20 pull-ups, do 100 sit-ups in two minutes, and run 3 miles in 18:00. I think my goal is attainable, albeit modest by Marine standards.
Time frame? I want to have met this goal by next year at this time.
Of course, I'll have to meet smaller goals along the way, and one of them will be simply getting to the minimum passing score of each event for an age 43 male, which is 3 pull-ups, 45 sit-ups, and a 30 minute run. I want to meet this goal by the end of October.
My training will be assisted by my returning to school full-time, as I'll have access to the fitness center equipment, an indoor track, and plenty of outdoor walking/running/skating trails to use. Like I mentioned, I'm not going to try and run every day, but I will do at least 30-45 minutes of aerobic work four days a week, and I will have a weekly check-in where I do all three events (pull-ups, sit-ups, run) and post the results.
I am not going to change my diet, as such, except to include nutritionally dense foods. Yes, I will still most likely eat my butter and cream... I'm getting in shape to get in shape, not to starve myself.
Cheers!
Despite having made gains and progress, and all that, my body was feeling beaten up more and more, and I just got frustrated, and mostly gave up. However, over the last few weeks I've started a walking routine each day before lunch, and I have a new set of goals and a plan...
Now, there is still running in this new goal of mine, but I'm not going to have a lot of running in my training. That may seem odd... Well, perhaps it is. But, my body gets beaten up when I run, so I'm only going to run during my weekly check-ins. In its place, I'm going to keep walking, and re-introduce an old love: in-line skating.
So, what are the new goals? To score 50% on each of the three components of the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test (PFT), for an age 43 male. That means that I'll need to be able to complete 10 pull-ups, do 50 sit-ups in two minutes, and run 3 miles in 26:15. This would give me a score of 150 out of 300, and is what's called a 2nd class score (there are three classes, 1st class being the best). By way of comparison, to score 100% on the PFT, you'd need to do 20 pull-ups, do 100 sit-ups in two minutes, and run 3 miles in 18:00. I think my goal is attainable, albeit modest by Marine standards.
Time frame? I want to have met this goal by next year at this time.
Of course, I'll have to meet smaller goals along the way, and one of them will be simply getting to the minimum passing score of each event for an age 43 male, which is 3 pull-ups, 45 sit-ups, and a 30 minute run. I want to meet this goal by the end of October.
My training will be assisted by my returning to school full-time, as I'll have access to the fitness center equipment, an indoor track, and plenty of outdoor walking/running/skating trails to use. Like I mentioned, I'm not going to try and run every day, but I will do at least 30-45 minutes of aerobic work four days a week, and I will have a weekly check-in where I do all three events (pull-ups, sit-ups, run) and post the results.
I am not going to change my diet, as such, except to include nutritionally dense foods. Yes, I will still most likely eat my butter and cream... I'm getting in shape to get in shape, not to starve myself.
Cheers!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Week 16 - friends of the groom
No times this week. The wife was in surgery, and this stresses me out, so I did several hours of grooming the trail on Saturday following a heavy snow, but then it rained that evening. I didn't dare go out on the wet trail, for fear of ruining it, then having it freeze that way!
So, apart from the grooming (which was heavy work, to be fair), I sat around the house with the better half and cooked and played Mass Effect 2. And tried like hell not to be worried and stressed, which is the surest method of becoming worried and stressed.
So, apart from the grooming (which was heavy work, to be fair), I sat around the house with the better half and cooked and played Mass Effect 2. And tried like hell not to be worried and stressed, which is the surest method of becoming worried and stressed.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Week 15 - You ski some, you run some
After all these efforts I've made at grooming a little Nordic trail of my own, it seemed a shame today to not use it for my timed "run." So, I got up at the crack of noon (love Sundays) and hit the snow.
It was somewhere during the second lap that I recalled this important fact: Nordic skiing is much harder than running! The differences are legion, for they are many... (resisting the urge to launch into a Monty Python, "amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as... surprise, fear, a fanatical devotion to the Pope..."). Primarily, you use your arms. Coupled with that, each step does not always result in forward propulsion. Third, although it is true that one can "kick and glide" to a decent extent, that is only true for 1) people with balance, and 2) people who don't suck at the Nordic diagonal stride. I don't qualify on either count.
So, I watched my per lap times increase and increase... because I was working at full capacity (my heart rate was cruising at 174 - close to maximum - not sustainable!), I had to keep stopping to 1) catch my breath, and 2) let my vision return. What does that mean? It means I was working so hard I started having tunnel vision! Yeah, that's a wee bit hazardous when you are out by yourself in the cold and snow; it's usually the first step in passing out.
To sum up: I love skiing! I missed you, I missed you! Hard to beat a workout in which you come right to the precipice of consciousness, and spit into the void! Plus, it's so much easier on my knees... Skiing it is, then. At the very least, my ass will be firmly kicked toward ratcheting up the fitness, and when I return to regular running later in the spring, I predict I'll just fly right along. Well, fly in the sense of a bumble bee... you know, you look at that huge bug and wonder how the hell it stays aloft...
Lap Times
Loop 1 (diagonal Nordic) : 3:57.7
Loop 2 (diagonal Nordic) : 4:19.0
Loop 3 (diagonal Nordic) : 4:47.6
Loop 4 (diagonal Nordic) : 5:12.6
Loop 5 (diagonal Nordic) : 5:29.3
Total distance: 2 km, Total time: 23:46.2, Best mile: n/a
Weekly weigh-in: 314
Average power: No data for skiing, yet
Heart rate following final loop: 174
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down stretch: 99
It was somewhere during the second lap that I recalled this important fact: Nordic skiing is much harder than running! The differences are legion, for they are many... (resisting the urge to launch into a Monty Python, "amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as... surprise, fear, a fanatical devotion to the Pope..."). Primarily, you use your arms. Coupled with that, each step does not always result in forward propulsion. Third, although it is true that one can "kick and glide" to a decent extent, that is only true for 1) people with balance, and 2) people who don't suck at the Nordic diagonal stride. I don't qualify on either count.
So, I watched my per lap times increase and increase... because I was working at full capacity (my heart rate was cruising at 174 - close to maximum - not sustainable!), I had to keep stopping to 1) catch my breath, and 2) let my vision return. What does that mean? It means I was working so hard I started having tunnel vision! Yeah, that's a wee bit hazardous when you are out by yourself in the cold and snow; it's usually the first step in passing out.
To sum up: I love skiing! I missed you, I missed you! Hard to beat a workout in which you come right to the precipice of consciousness, and spit into the void! Plus, it's so much easier on my knees... Skiing it is, then. At the very least, my ass will be firmly kicked toward ratcheting up the fitness, and when I return to regular running later in the spring, I predict I'll just fly right along. Well, fly in the sense of a bumble bee... you know, you look at that huge bug and wonder how the hell it stays aloft...
Lap Times
Loop 1 (diagonal Nordic) : 3:57.7
Loop 2 (diagonal Nordic) : 4:19.0
Loop 3 (diagonal Nordic) : 4:47.6
Loop 4 (diagonal Nordic) : 5:12.6
Loop 5 (diagonal Nordic) : 5:29.3
Total distance: 2 km, Total time: 23:46.2, Best mile: n/a
Weekly weigh-in: 314
Average power: No data for skiing, yet
Heart rate following final loop: 174
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down stretch: 99
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Week 14 - something's trailing me
Love winter, love winter, love winter.
But, it makes running difficult. So, I'm going to be skiing for a little while as a winter replacement. Yesterday (Saturday), I groomed myself a trail on the walk/run course. I knew it was going to be cold at night, so I wanted to get the air out of the snow, as that helps the snow firm up and become something pleasant to ski on.
Problem is, I don't have any grooming equipment... or a snowmobile! Solution? Tied an old headboard and footboard, from a dead bed, together and tied that all to myself. Then, I just pulled it through the snow, along the trail. I used snowshoes to pack things a little more. It was a challenge at times, and the first time around got my heart rate up to a pounding 175, but each pass got easier, and I eventually groomed it pretty well on the fourth pass.
You can see the results above. This is the portion of the course that comes out into a hay field before returning to the woods. Given the low light conditions (it was about 16:30 and sunset was starting) I had to find a spot with enough openness for some light! The shot below is of the same portion of trail, but looking back onto the track I set today with the skis.
That was just the first pass, though. I skied around today for about five loops, a little over a mile. It's been a very long time since I've done traditional diagonal Nordic skiing! But I did have a few moments of good form on some of the flat areas, and felt a nice kick and glide rhythm develop. I was kind of silly and forgot my iPod, so I didn't get any base-line times for my skiing over running.
So, I groomed the trail yesterday, and skied on it today. But, I'm not the only one interested in the trail, apparently! At left is an imprint from a deer, who decided that walking along my trail was easier than trudging through the deeper snow...
I mentioned seeing a couple of deer last week, and I've seen all kinds of tracks in the snow, but none of them followed my trail, until this guy (or girl) came along. It's nice to know that all that huffing and puffing with dragging the headboard through the snow was not only worth it for me, but also worth it for all the fuzzy little forest creatures, too.
In the end, it was a fun, outdoorsy kind of weekend. Which certainly reduced my guilt at playing a lot of Mass Effect 2, just released on PS3, in the evenings! Next week, I'll return to timing myself, etc., now that I've got a proof of concept for the ski trail.
But, it makes running difficult. So, I'm going to be skiing for a little while as a winter replacement. Yesterday (Saturday), I groomed myself a trail on the walk/run course. I knew it was going to be cold at night, so I wanted to get the air out of the snow, as that helps the snow firm up and become something pleasant to ski on.
Problem is, I don't have any grooming equipment... or a snowmobile! Solution? Tied an old headboard and footboard, from a dead bed, together and tied that all to myself. Then, I just pulled it through the snow, along the trail. I used snowshoes to pack things a little more. It was a challenge at times, and the first time around got my heart rate up to a pounding 175, but each pass got easier, and I eventually groomed it pretty well on the fourth pass.
You can see the results above. This is the portion of the course that comes out into a hay field before returning to the woods. Given the low light conditions (it was about 16:30 and sunset was starting) I had to find a spot with enough openness for some light! The shot below is of the same portion of trail, but looking back onto the track I set today with the skis.
That was just the first pass, though. I skied around today for about five loops, a little over a mile. It's been a very long time since I've done traditional diagonal Nordic skiing! But I did have a few moments of good form on some of the flat areas, and felt a nice kick and glide rhythm develop. I was kind of silly and forgot my iPod, so I didn't get any base-line times for my skiing over running.
I mentioned seeing a couple of deer last week, and I've seen all kinds of tracks in the snow, but none of them followed my trail, until this guy (or girl) came along. It's nice to know that all that huffing and puffing with dragging the headboard through the snow was not only worth it for me, but also worth it for all the fuzzy little forest creatures, too.
In the end, it was a fun, outdoorsy kind of weekend. Which certainly reduced my guilt at playing a lot of Mass Effect 2, just released on PS3, in the evenings! Next week, I'll return to timing myself, etc., now that I've got a proof of concept for the ski trail.
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