Word for the Week: USE

AM workout:

• 5 minutes extreme slow lunge L, R
• 100 quick-style wall squats
• 5 minutes extreme slow push up
• 100 quick-style towel front delt raise
• 5 minutes extreme slow curl, 10-lb dumbbells
• 100 quick-style towel curls
• 5 minutes standing extreme hamstring
• 100 quick-style glute ham raise to arm's length

We had a little discussion before the workout regarding my using (or not using) my glutes and hamstrings correctly while running. Even if I'm not necessarily thinking about "squeezing" or "contracting" them, I should at least be thinking about using them. So that's what I was focused on during the lunge, and the wall squats seemed to follow—I was using my muscles right. Now I just have to translate that to the road while I run!

Week Recap + Run

Isabelle, MaryVonne, Angela, Michelle, Robin, Jason

Susan, Randy, Jen-Luc, Isabelle, MaryVonne, Angela

Lucy, Judy, Gavin, Katie, Marilyn, Randy

Robin and Michelle hard at work sorting photos; Jason and Mike watching ESPN

Car milestone: 100,000 miles!

This week was fantastic--I love my family and being able to spend Thanksgiving with them! We did a lot but it seems like not much:

• Sisters were both there, which was great fun!
• We went through Mom's 8 boxes of photos, 4 of which returned to TN with me.
• We played lots of games: Uno Attack, Catch Phrase, Pictionary, the Name Game, and more.
• R, AJudy, and I did a little shopping.
• We all helped put up the Christmas decorations.
• I did a few workouts (Wed. AM with Will; Thurs. AM 5 minutes lunge R [2:36] L [1:36], wall squat, standing ham, curl, push up; Fri. AM 100 altitude drops lunge, standing ham, wall squat, bench, bentover barbell row; Sat. throughout the day 5 minutes wall squat (4:08), lunge, standing ham).
• We enjoyed the traditional foods: Pizza for Wed. supper; sandwiches and turkey/beans/mashed potatoes/corn/rolls/amazing desserts for Thurs.; La Gandola spaghetti and lasagna for Fri. supper.
• M and I worked on a little project.
• I went through M's clothes and practically doubled my wardrobe!

Since I got home yesterday, I was hoping it would work out to run. It didn't, so we went today. Thankfully it was earlier than we'd gone last week and I was riding later, so I had time to nap between!

Here are the results from today and the last three times (Nov. 21, Nov 14, and Nov 1):

• 15:07, 2.33 miles, 6:30 pace, 153 HR (186 max); 10:52, 1.84 miles, 5:54 pace, 146 HR (185 max); 10:39, 1.79 miles, 5:58 pace, 137 HR (200 max); 8 minutes, 1.33 miles, 6:03 pace, 150 HR (197 max) HR
• Lap 1: 2:16, 5:58 pace (5:09 best), 0.38 miles; 2:28, 5:55 pace (4:54 best), 0.42 miles; 1:48, 5:33 pace (4:57 best), 0.33 miles; 1:26, 6:00 pace (5:14 best), 0.25 miles
• Lap 2: 1:02, 5:53 pace (4:53 best), 0.18 miles; 1:58, 5:59 pace (5:21 best), 0.33 miles; 1:56, 5:55 pace (4:55 best), 0.33 miles; 5:22 best pace
• Lap 3: 2:02, 5:57 pace (5:12 best), 0.34 miles + 00:42, 7:33 pace (6:06 best), 500 feet; 1:33, 5:59 pace (5:24 best), 0.26 miles; 1:41, 5:48 pace (4:51 best), 0.29 miles; 5:22 best pace
• Lap 4: 2:39, 6:27 pace (5:38 best), 0.41 miles; 1:37, 5:36 pace (4:22 best), 0.29 miles; 1:39, 5:39 pace (4:53 best), 0.29 miles; 1:27, 6:03 pace (5:25 best), 0.25 mi
• Lap 5: 3:15, 6:44 pace (5:41 best), 0.48 miles; 1:56, 6:08 pace (5:18 best), 0.32 miles; 1:58, 7:16 pace (2:42 best!?!?), 0.27 miles; 1:28, 5:42 pace (5:03 best), 0.26 mi
• Lap 6: 3:09, 7:11 pace (5:43 best), 0.44 miles; 1:19, 5:44 pace (5:16 best), 0.23 miles; 1:34, 5:45 pace (5:20 best), 0.27 miles; 1:10, 5:54 pace (5:08 best), 0.20 mi

Will decided we'd not count Lap 2; good thing. On that one, I just quit. For no reason. Then I wanted to leave. Thankfully, we didn't, and I was happy we didn't leave. I felt tight the entire run--not comfortable running--and I obviously got progressively slower. Not that I was running all that slow anyway, it just felt slow for some reason. Today I was glad for a coach making me work hard. If it had been a race, I would have had to find a way to push through (I said I would have gone slower), so I just bore down and ran on. My goal is to run a fast mile, but I know I can't get there yet and it feels kind of overwhelming. It helped today for the last 4 lap that Will said, "Just run to me." That was better, because I had a destination (albeit moving). Lap 2 I split where I felt like I was slowing down; the change in pace is evidence that I was. After Lap 5 and before I looked at time or distance, I said that felt like a pace I could keep for a mile (6:30 according to distance).

We ending up riding outside despite the threat of rain, and it turned out to be nicer than I'd expected. It still required multiple layers and it started getting dark at the end, but we didn't get rained on. It was a good group of riders: Lisa C, Lisa S, Parri, Jen, Anna, Jonell, Robert, Cali, Valerie, and me. We had a great ride until less than a mile from Lisa's house, when a driver pulled out from a side street directly in front of Anna and she fell. Fortunately she wasn't hit and wasn't hurt badly, but it's never fun to fall! She got back on her bike and rode the rest of the way to Lisa's, where we enjoyed cookies for Jonell's birthday. Yum!

• 2:12 total (it was SIGNIFICANTLY windier this week!)
• 38.44 miles (and we obviously changed the route slightly, since it's been about 35 miles)
• 17.3 average (37.7 max)
• 165 HR (193 max)

This morning's workout:

• Glute ham: 1 altitude drop, 1 quick style, 1 rebound, repeat those three 5 times (a total of 15 reps, all in succession)
• Standing ham: 45 seconds
• Repeat the previous 2 for 3 total times.
  
• Wall squat: 1 altitude drop, 1 quick style, 1 rebound, 15 total reps
• Lunge: 45 seconds (R, L, L, R, R, L)
• Repeat the previous 2 for 3 total times.
• Front delt raise: 1 altitude drop, 1 quick style, 1 rebound, 15 total reps R, 15 total reps L
• Push up: 45 seconds
• Repeat the previous 2 for 3 total times.
• Curl (light bar) 1 altitude drop, 1 quick style, 1 rebound, 15 total reps
• Bent-over some sort of row (right hand with 10–15-lb dumbbell extended beyond left shin, for 1, then left hand with 10–15-lb dumbbell extended beyond right shin): 45 seconds each arm
  
• Repeat the previous 2 for 3 total times.

CompuTrainer Class

AM:

• Wall squat: 1 altitude drop, 1 second rest, 2 altitude drops, 2 seconds rest, 3 altitude drops, 3 seconds rest, up to 10 then back down to 1 (10 only once)
• 1-leg squat: Same
• Glute ham: Same
• Push up: Same. That means I did 100 push ups!
• Curl (5-lb dumbbells): Same

Todd's class (29.05 miles, 1:15 on the CompuTrainer) with Lynn, Sarah, Valerie, Rod, Ben, Ashley, and Kelly (mostly all Ironman triathletes and definitely a different crowd than my usual Thursday group!

PM:

• Lunge
• Scap pull up
• Did not do crate crunch because I wanted supper!
  

Altitude Drops (Something Different from Last Week!)

AM:

• Lunge R, L: altitude drop, hold 10 seconds, altitude drop, hold 10 seconds, repeat for 10 total reps
• Push up: altitude drop, hold 10 seconds, altitude drop, hold 10 seconds, repeat for 10 total reps. Did 21 in a row, and on the 21^st one, I arched my back a little (so said Will) so I sat up and shook it out before finishing the rest.
• Glute ham: altitude drop, hold 10 seconds, altitude drop, hold 10 seconds, repeat for 10 total reps. I felt like I worked really hard on this whole one. It felt good the entire time.
• Curl (5-lb dumbbells): altitude drop, hold 10 seconds, altitude drop, hold 10 seconds, repeat for 10 total reps
• Crate crunch: altitude drop, hold 10 seconds, altitude drop, hold 10 seconds, repeat for 10 total reps

PM:

• 1-leg squat: 100 little altitude drops
• Glute ham: 100 altitude drops. 40 in a row, then sets of 20.
• Bench press (20-lb bar): 100 altitude drops, all in a row! Of course, it was only 20 lb, but it did feel good!
• Curl (light bar): 100 altitude drops
• Crate crunch: 100 altitude drops

Run; Bike Mishap

We didn't run yesterday, so we went this morning at 9:30 to Pinkerton Park to improve on last week's times and distances. Improve I did—hooray!

Here are the results from today and the last two times (Nov 14 and Nov 1):

• 10:52, 1.84 miles, 5:54 pace, 146 HR (185 max); 10:39, 1.79 miles, 5:58 pace, 137 HR (200 max); 8 minutes, 1.33 miles, 6:03 pace, 150 HR (197 max) HR
• Lap 1: 2:28, 5:55 pace (4:54 best), 0.42 miles; 1:48, 5:33 pace (4:57 best), 0.33 miles; 1:26, 6:00 pace (5:14 best), 0.25 miles
• Lap 2: 1:58, 5:59 pace (5:21 best), 0.33 miles; 1:56, 5:55 pace (4:55 best), 0.33 miles; 5:22 best pace
  
• Lap 3: 1:33, 5:59 pace (5:24 best), 0.26 miles; 1:41, 5:48 pace (4:51 best), 0.29 miles; 5:22 best pace
• Lap 4: 1:37, 5:36 pace (4:22 best), 0.29 miles; 1:39, 5:39 pace (4:53 best), 0.29 miles; 1:27, 6:03 pace (5:25 best), 0.25 mi
• Lap 5: 1:56, 6:08 pace (5:18 best), 0.32 miles; 1:58, 7:16 pace (2:42 best!?!?), 0.27 miles; 1:28, 5:42 pace (5:03 best), 0.26 mi
• Lap 6: 1:19, 5:44 pace (5:16 best), 0.23 miles; 1:34, 5:45 pace (5:20 best), 0.27 miles; 1:10, 5:54 pace (5:08 best), 0.20 mi

This run was so much fun. I never leave this in a frustrated state. I get only one chance to run per week, and even though I'm running only 2 miles, I'm running hard and feel good. If I continue adding time and distance to each one, I'll eventually achieve 1 continuous mile, and then 2, and then 3.1, and eventually 6.2. If only Will could stay around that long!

We got back about 11, and I had enough time to have some lunch but not really think about recovering before heading over to Lisa's to join Anna, Lisa, Mary Beth, Lee, and Jen for a ride. It was supposed to have been about 2 hours. We took a slightly different route to the first sprint sign and had less time to think about it, but Lee saw it right away and offered to lead me out. How could I refuse? She had an awesome lead out: solid, slow increase in speed. I waited until she stood up and then considered going when Mary Beth went around me on the right. I had to react right then, got on her wheel, then overtook her just before the line. She said she was in the wrong gear, and it was a good thing because I didn't have any more gears! But I did remember to be on the hoods.

Not long after that, I dropped my chain climbing up a hill, tried desperately to get it back on, failed, and managed to get the chain stuck between the rear cassette and the spokes. That totally messed up the derailleur, and I was unable to finish the ride. So, we called Jack to come rescue me. He looked at my bike later and pulled/pushed everything back into position, concluding that it was the derailleur hanger, not the frame like I'd originally thought, so hopefully I can get a replacement piece shortly and be back on the road.

Those two blue pieces aren't supposed to be quite that separated; it looked way worse before Jack fixed it!

Stats from my part of the ride (which in total ended up being about 1:30, I heard):

• 25:30, 7.25 miles, 17.0 avg (29.2 max—sprinting into the wind!), 394 cal, 143 HR (192 max)
  

When I got home, I opened my Pampered Chef bag: A new cutting board, sharp knife, and good cheese-cutting knife. Hooray! And my sister's Christmas present. I'd forgotten what I'd ordered for her, so that was a surprise. But I know she'll like it and use it.

Turkey Bowl 2009

Will and Zach let me come watch their annual Turkey Bowl football game today. It was a blast! Beautiful weather, a few good games, and the cutest little boy to entertain. What a great way to spend a Saturday. Fortunately there was only one injury, but unfortunately it was during the first play of the game: Tad caught the ball and dove into the hard ground, separating his shoulder pretty good. It looked terrible and he said he was in a lot of pain. Nothing more serious than that injury, thankfully, and no one even complained of littler injuries.

Picking teams

Caleb, Will, Zach, and someone I don't know; there was a lot of playing, but a lot of standing around, also.

Maddox, my little friend. We had fun playing football and rolling down the hill.

Will makes a nice catch at midfield

And, since we were at Crockett Park all day, we did not run. Tomorrow morning. In the cold. I can't wait!

Lauren came over for supper and games. We made and ate some spaghetti and rolls, made Ache-Crackers for her to take home and me to take to my family for Thanksgiving, and played Monopoly. Fun night with the cousin.

Busy frosting the crackers

Lauren had fun decorating

Ache-Crackers: The finished product

Moses and the Amalekites

AM:

• Glute ham: 10 deep breaths, 1 rep, repeat for 12 total reps
• Push up: 10 deep breaths, 1 rep, repeat for 10 total reps
• Lunge R: 10 deep breaths, 1 Russian Lunge rep, repeat for 6 total reps
• Lunge L: 10 deep breaths, 1 rep, repeat for 6 total reps
• Wall squat: 100 rebounds
• Bentover row: 100 rebounds, 10-lb dumbbell
• Lunge L: 100 rebounds
• Lunge R: 100 rebounds

PM:

• Squat: holding 25-lb dumbbell in arms, 10 deep breaths at the top, 1 fast rep, repeat for 10 total reps
• Glute ham: 10 deep breaths, 1 rep, repeat for 12 total reps
• Push up: 10 deep breaths, 1 rep, repeat for 10 total reps
• Bentover lateral delt: bend over so back is parallel to ground; hold arms out to sides so they also are parallel to ground; holding 1-lb dumbbells (or water bottles, since we were improvising), take 10 deep breaths at the top, do 1 rebound rep, repeat for 10 total reps

The last one took about 12 minutes, and I think I knew partly how Moses felt when he had to hold up his arms while the Israelites were fighting the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8–14); when he held up his arms, God gave them victory, and when he lowered his arms, they began losing. So they entire day they were fighting, Moses held up his arms. Thankfully God gave him Aaron and Hur (Caleb’s son) to hold up his arms; he didn’t have to do it all on his own! If he’d had to, though, I’m sure God would have given him strength. “And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.” (vv. 12–13)

Cycling Camp

Today was the first day of Coach Todd's cycling camp. Well, he's been teaching them for a while; it was the first day I attended. This cycle is 5 weeks of base preparation, and the crew includes some of the Nashville area's finest female cyclists: Lisa S, Lisa C, Lee, Parri, and Cali. There are others, but we managed to coordinate us being in one class together. Plus they are all on Team Belladium and we ride together every week, and I am excited that we can all get stronger and faster together. I am looking forward to a day when we do a race or time trial! (We had two others, Jennifer and Lane, in the class to fill up the 8 spots.)

According to the CompuTrainer, we rode somewhere around 25 miles during the 1:12 or so class. It was a pretty steady ride with a few high-cadence intervals thrown in. I love all the real-time stats: Threshold (mine was set at 160, which was way too low), Speed, Distance, Watts (115-130), W/kg (around 1.2-1.6), HR (around 150; will verify), and cadence (between 90 and 115). Not only can you see your own, though, you can see all that of everyone in the class. Hooray for competition!

The afternoon workout was a short one (definitely not complaining):

• Glute ham: At the top, 10 deep breaths, do one rep fast, repeat for 10 total reps
• Bentover dumbbell row: 10-lb weight, 100 rebounds. Will had to remind me to make sure that my back was parallel to the ground and that one hip wasn't higher than the other. And to go fast and through the dumbbell.
  

More Lunges...

I'm anxious to see whether we will be doing even more tomorrow after what all we did today and yesterday. Today was significantly more difficult physically than yesterday, possibly because my legs were tired? They didn't really feel tired, I just really struggled.

• Push up: hold at the top, breathe 10 deep breaths, do one rep fast, repeat for 15 total reps. This was about 25 minutes.
• Lunge: L, R. We attempted to do the reps as Russian lunges like I did yesterday. The first felt OK but it was not fast. The second I must not have turned on for and I fell. Then we went to holding the lunge at the very top (as high as you can be so that your front shin is still perpendicular to the ground) and doing the reps to the bottom and then back up fast. Left leg out--my left glute seemed to be doing the majority of the work. Right leg out--my left hip flexor seemed to be doing the majority of the work. I kept trying to re-create the same feeling as from the first leg but couldn't.

I think that's all we did in the morning, but it still took over an hour. I decided not to swim because I didn't want to be rushed out of the house, so I didn't. Then I finished the workout after work at MFY:

• Squat: Stand up straight for 10 deep breaths, do 1 rep with 55 lb, then repeat for 15 total reps. I started out holding the bar the entire time (maybe the first 4 reps) but was not happy. I could not stand up straight and hold the weight, so I breathed with no weight then grabbed the bar, did the rep, and replaced it on the rack. I kept forgetting that I was supposed to have been working while standing, though. It was like I could remember either to breathe (and count breaths) or to work. Total time: 25 minutes.
• Glute ham: Hold at about 80-85*, take 10 deep breaths, do one rep fast, repeat for 15 total reps. This one I worked very hard on. It felt much better than the squat. 20+ minutes
  
• Curl: Hold a bar at the top of the curl, take 10 deep breaths, do one rebound rep fast, repeat for 15 total reps. I couldn't remember whether Will had said anything about weight, so I used a 12-lb bar. This one felt so good. Doing rebounds in between were a good break, and since it was only one I could really focus on doing it fast. ~18 minutes
• Seated lateral delt raise: 3 minutes extreme slow with one 2.5-lb plate in each hand (both arms at the same time). Three minutes felt like nothing compared to the times of the previous exercises!
  

Lunge, Lunge, then Lunge Some More!

We did a lot of lunging today. And a lot of everything else we did. Everyone was there (Bill, Nancy, Zach, and Natalie) and was happy to be working out, and that made the time fly by. Good thing, too, because each leg's lunging was about 13 minutes (and only because Will cut it down from 20 reps to 15 reps).

• Lunge R: lunge, take 10 deep breaths while in the lunge position, Russian lunge, hold the lunge, repeat for 15 total reps. I did stand up a few times between some reps (it was probably about every 2 or 3), but it was still about 13 minutes of lunging.
• Lunge L: lunge, take 10 deep breaths while in the lunge position, Russian lunge, hold the lunge, repeat for 15 total reps. I did stand up a few times between some reps (it was probably about every 2 or 3), but it was still about 13 minutes of lunging.
• Glute ham: hold at the top (about 80–85*) while taking 10 deep breaths, 1 rep (kind of a rebound rep but definitely supposed to be a fast rep), hold at the top, repeat for 15 total reps. I did 5 at a time, then stood up and gave my knees a break, then repeated.
• Push up: hands on the ground, hold up at the top while taking 10 deep breaths, 1 rep (fast down and up), hold at the top, repeat for 15 total reps. I did 9 then had to break, then 2, then the final 4.

Will mentioned that the lunge was the most important exercise. It really was good, lengthening my muscles for a little while but then breaking things up a little with the RL. The hardest part, I think, was breathing deeply each set of 10 breaths. About 2 reps into the first leg, I started to get a headache that never really went away. It would hurt less when I stood up and hurt more as soon as I was in the lunge position. I think it's from not being used to focusing on breathing deeply (Will said sometimes you could get tingly or start yawning, too, because your body's just not used to getting that much oxygen); something else to work on while at work now. But since lately I haven't been breathing well while running, this should help fix that.

The only thing is, I wasn't really thinking about running at all while doing these. I was at first thinking about the headache (only on the right side of my head) but then decided that was ridiculous because I should have been thinking about lunging. So I changed my focus to my legs but wasn't really thinking about running. Maybe I'll try that tomorrow.

Sinking

At least, that's what it felt like I was doing instead of swimming. But I did make it through!

• 5 on, 5 off thru 30 something; it was supposed to have been scap pull up, but I used a 10-lb dumbbell, stood like in a bentover row position, and held the dumbbell down by my front ankle, across my body, using my lats
• Repeat with other arm
• 1 minute bentover rebound row, 5-lb dumbbell
• 5 on, 5 off thru 30 same thing as before, using my lats
• Repeat with other arm
• 1 minute bentover rebound row, 5-lb dumbbell
• 5 on, 5 off thru 30 push up
• 1 minute rebound curl
• 5 on, 5 off thru 30 push up
• 1 minute rebound curl
• 5 on, 5 off thru 30 wall squat
• 1 minute rebound lunge R
• 1 minute rebound lunge L
• 5 on, 5 off thru 30 wall squat
• 1 minute rebound lunge L
• 1 minute rebound lunge R
• 5 on, 5 off thru 30 1-leg squat R 
• 5 on, 5 off thru 30 1-leg squat L
• 1 minute rebound glute ham 
• 5 on, 5 off thru 30 1-leg squat R 
• 5 on, 5 off thru 30 1-leg squat L
• 1 minute rebound glute ham

This wore me out! I went home and laid down for 10 minutes before heading out to swim. Then I felt like a rock while swimming but still did well in the kick sets. I'm surprised I didn't end up at the bottom of the pool!

• 50 warm up
• 5×50 catch up fist, catch up open hand, breathe EVERY stroke (250)
• 5×50 catch up open hand, swim (count stroke), breathe EVERY stroke (250)
• 5×50 swim with flippers (count stroke), breathe every 3 strokes (250)
• 50 easy
• 12×25 kick, no flippers; last week we did 10 and I was right on 25 every time. This week we did 12 and I was right between 24 and 25 every time—maybe it was an average of 0.25 seconds faster? (300)
• 50 easy
• 1200 total

Team Belladium Ride

A fantastic group of strong riders!
Lee, Vicki, Parri, Todd, Lisa C, and Shannon
Missing: Anna, Cali, David, Jeremy, Jonell, Katie, Lisa S, Lynn, Robert, and Valerie

Team Belladium’s ride did not disappoint today. The crowd of all strong riders gathered, Lisa took some pictures, Todd said ride endurance pace and be careful (oh, and don’t forget the sprint within the first couple miles), and we all hit the road. The company was fabulous: Strong and talented. The weather was perfect: Warm and sunny. The route was enjoyable: Hilly and beautiful.

We did the same route as last week, arriving back at Lisa’s in exactly 2 hours. Because the first sprint is so close to the start, we had to come up with a strategy early. It didn’t take long for Lisa to lead, with Lisa C, Cali, Parri, and I behind her; she strung out the group pretty quickly! Our goal was to beat Todd, and she caught him talking and he was too far behind to make up the ground. The plan was for me to be right behind Parri and then take it at the end. Lisa, Lisa, Cali, and Parri did such a great job and I got anxious; Katie was right behind me and I didn’t know anything about her. I didn’t even give Parri a chance to stand up and take me a little farther before I went around her. Unfortunately Katie was right on my wheel, came around, and passed me for the win. If only I would have let Parri lead for another minute! Or if I would have been on the hoods; I don’t know why, but I was in the drops and didn’t want to move my hands up; I stole a glace at Katie, who had her hands on the hoods, and knew that’s where mine should have been.

We slowed some after that and continued through Eastern Williamson County. This route is not lacking in hills, but neither is it lacking in amazing landscape. From the top of one hill after the Ag center you can look out over a beautiful green valley and see the multicolored trees. Creation continually expresses God’s glory and creativity, and I never tire of it.

After a quick re-grouping at an abandoned gas station, we headed back to town. The sprint sign comes shortly after our last turn onto Wilson Pike, and I’d been hoping that the others had forgotten. Then I heard someone (I don’t know who) say, “I feel like ya’ll are about to speed up again. Isn’t there another sprint around here somewhere?” Everyone was aware then, so we tried a similar tactic. Todd has such a good sprint and just blew past us, but then Katie and I went at it again. I had my hands right, let her lead for a little, and then went around her, beating her by about as much as she beat me by in the earlier sprint. It was so much fun having a great, FAST lead out train both times and great competition for the sprint!

Neither of my computers was working, but I do know that it was 2 hours. The map says it was about 35.5 miles. Lisa passed along our average speed, which was 17.81 mph (not too shabby considering all the hills!), and her max watts (562 while leading the sprint); I think she said her average was around 155 (last week it was about 175, which is not endurance pace). I thought we rode faster this week because we had more people, but it looks like we (or at least Lisa) didn't ride as hard up all the hills on Long Lane!

I decided to try something new from the grocery store this week. Last week the Farkases raved about pomegranates, I happened past them in the produce, so I got one. Fortunately they came with instructions or I would have been lost!

1. Cut off the top about half an inch below the crown.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Score the sides wherever the sections (4 or 6) are obvious on the top.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Open the fruit by pulling apart the scored sections.
   
   
4. Loosen the arils (seeds) into a large bowl of water.
   
   
5. Scoop the fleshy part floating on top of the water out of the bowl.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Strain the water from the arils.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Serve and enjoy!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

They tasted great on a little spinach salad, and I have plenty more for the week.

Running

This time last year Nancy and I were taking trips to IN to watch Will play. I miss those trips and spending time with Nancy; she is full of wisdom and happy to impart it. She doesn't have girls in her family but still likes to do girl things, so she invited me to join her downtown Nashville at the Christmas Village thing at the fairgrounds. There were a number of booths set up in the buildings, and we found a few interesting places. The favorite by far was the Cherry Republic, from Michigan, that had a number of sweet treats that were all cherry-themed. I found some good stuff!

Then it was off to lunch (McDougals; see more on that below) and shopping with Lauren.

Yes, she is in a cart (with a good excuse, though; her ankle has been hurting and was wrapped in an ace bandage)

We found some good things for a 12-year-old and 13-year-old girl for Christmas. I had a few ideas but knew Lauren would enjoy it and have some other ideas as well.

Today's run was so much fun. I was excited to run and was actually nervous like I would have been before a race. Since I only am running once per week, it's like there's a little pressure riding on each run. Today definitely did not disappoint. We went to Pinkerton Park in the middle of the afternoon with half of Franklin. Fortunately the path is plenty wide and I only had to run on the grass once. Here are the results from today and last time (November 1):

• 10:39, 1.79 miles, 5:58 pace, 137 HR (200 max; avg HR def not accurate); Approx. 8 minutes, 1.33 miles, 6:03 pace, 150 HR (197 max) HR
• Lap 1: 1:48, 5:33 pace (4:57 best), 0.33 miles; 1:26, 6:00 pace (5:14 best), 0.25 miles
• Lap 2: 1:56, 5:55 pace (4:55 best), 0.33 miles; 5:22 best pace
  
• Lap 3: 1:41, 5:48 pace (4:51 best), 0.29 miles; 5:22 best pace
• Lap 4: 1:39, 5:39 pace (4:53 best), 0.29 miles; 1:27, 6:03 pace (5:25 best), 0.25 mi
• Lap 5: 1:58, 7:16 pace (2:42 best!?!?), 0.27 miles; 1:28, 5:42 pace (5:03 best), 0.26 mi
• Lap 6: 1:34, 5:45 pace (5:20 best), 0.27 miles; 1:10, 5:54 pace (5:08 best), 0.20 mi

Lap 5 was obviously way different from all the rest. Will thought it was because I forgot to be fast. I agreed and also thought it was because I went out at a pace. I didn't realize that until I ran the next one and it felt so different. Laps 2 and 5 were around the 2 switch backs of the track. After Lap 3, we took a nice long break because my stomach wasn't very happy with me. It could have been from the McDougals' chix, fries, and ice cream that La and I at for lunch (but that was at noon and this was nearly 3:30) or it could have been just from running at a higher intensity.

Will was at a lot of places along the path and would remind me of things. He reminded me (numerous times) about my arms, which are too high (my hands are like at my chest and come in, which means I'm probably collapsing my chest). Once when he reminded me I straightened up and I could feel a physical, immediate difference; it was significantly easier to breathe! What stopped me again this time was that I felt like I just couldn't breathe well any longer. It could be partly that I start breathing loudly and know that's a tell that you're getting tired. I tried to push past it was long as I could, but that ended up being only about 3 seconds. Definitely need to work on that!

We also did a bonus sprint at the end, just to end up at the mile marker:

• Sprint: 400 ft (.075 miles or ~130 yards)
  

I came home for a quick supper and then we went to the Landings' workout room. We didn't to the full workout because he said it's a fun one. If the two exercises we did are any indication, it will be a fun, hard workout!

• Push up: 5 on, 5 off thru 30 with 10lb
• Curl: 1 minute rebound
• Push up: 5 on, 5 off thru 30 with 20lb
• Curl: 1 minute rebound
• Wall squat: 5 on, 5 off thru 30
• Lunge R, L: 1 minute rebound
• Wall squat: 5 on, 5 off thru 30
• Lunge L, R: 1 minute rebound

Lauren had invited me to her bonfire, so I went over, met ARenee's friends, spent some times with seven 10-year-old girls (Anna, Millie, Bailey, Addison, Leah (?), Lauren, and Maddie), and then played games with Luke, La, and UJohn.

5 Minutes of Work

It's been a couple weeks since I've done the full 5-minute ISO workout, so I was looking forward today's workout. Morning: 5 minutes of work. Afternoon: 3 minutes of work. Also, this time I was on my own and had the timer (as far as I can tell, it's been since 8-25-09 that I last recorded times), so I could get an idea of how long I could go.

• Lunge R: 2:26 before I had to put my left knee on the ground. But I'm definitely getting better about working just as hard with that extra weight off. (8-25-09: 2:15)
  
• Lunge L: 1:36 before I had to put my right knee on the ground. I still worked hard. (8-25-09: 2:05)
• Standing extreme ham: 5 minutes. Today I had shoes on and couldn't feel my muscles lengthening as much as I could the other day. NTS: Remove shoes!
• Wall squat: 1:48 before my legs just failed and I fell; it really hit me all of a sudden. I continued with a series of up and downs, stopping the clock as necessary, and finally finished the entire 5 minutes. It must have been from the 3-min ext slow wall squat and 3-min ext slow squat yesterday.
• Push up on knees: 3:50. Not quite the 4:35 from 10-27-09, but I'm sure I was working harder and more correctly the entire time. Will is doing these on his feet (and likely working significantly harder than I am) and is determined to hit 5 minutes; he's currently at 4:33 and that's my goal too. Only I have to make sure I'm working as hard as I can the entire time, which is what I was focused on today. (8-25-09: 2:50)
• Preacher curl: 5:00, 8-lb dumbbells; probably could have used more weight but still focused on lengthening my biceps.
• Crate crunch: 5:00, but maybe didn't work as hard as I could have the entire time.

Afternoon (I think it was the following):

• 1-leg squat
• Glute ham
• Push up on knees
• Scap pull up
• Crate crunch
  
  

Word of the Day: Zeugma

Here's what we did this morning (a good variety):

• 3x20 jumps off the bench into a squat (which Will said is an altitude drop)
• 3x20 glute ham altitude drops
• 100 rebound push ups on knees
• 100 seated rebound curls with bar
• 3 minutes extreme slow push up on knees
• 3 minutes extreme slow wall squat

Language in general is fascinating. Although animals can communicate, they in no way have a language capacity and communication skills that humans have. It's a testament, in a big way, to the fact that God created us in His image and for His glory. We use language in interesting ways, and this new word I found today displays a little of our creativity with words (which all comes from God!):

Zeugma (pronounced zoog-muh) Basically, it means applying a single word/phrase to a succession of following words or phrases without repeating the initial phrase. This could alter the meaning if misread and often causes readers to pause while trying to understand the meaning. She sent him on ahead of her and her package. He raked all the leaves and his fingers through his hair nervously.

The use of a word to modify or govern two or more words when it is appropriate to only one of them or is appropriate to each but in a different way, as in to wage war and peace or On his fishing trip, he caught three trout and a cold. (Random House Dictionary)

A construction in which one word or phrase is understood to be related to two or more other words or phrases, while being grammatically consistent with only one of them, as with subject-verb agreement in She was upstairs, and her children downstairs. (American Heritage Dictionary) [This is not a good example. "Was (Were)" isn't repeated, but neither is the sentence open to misinterpretation.]

1586, "a single word (usually a verb or adj.) made to refer to two or more words in a sentence," from Gk., lit. "a yoking," from zeugnynai "to yoke" (see jugular). Etymology: Middle English zeuma, from Medieval Latin, from Latin zeugma, from Greek, literally, joining, from zeugnynai to join; akin to Latin jungere to join — more at yoke. Date: 15th century (Online Etymology Dictionary)

The use of a word to modify or govern two or more words usually in such a manner that it applies to each in a different sense or makes sense with only one (as in “opened the door and her heart to the homeless boy”) (Merriam Webster Dictionary)

I work on the 5th floor of a 6-floor building and frequently roam the halls on different floors (except floor 3: their doors are locked and that entire floor is inaccessible unless you have a card key). One of my favorite finds is construction in various suites. This week, they're working on floor 6 and covered the floor with plastic to protect the carpet.

Protective covering

The plastic they lay doesn't completely cover the hallway, so they lay two layers. That means air bubbles along the middle, and walking over it produces a sound like bubble wrap. Needless to say, I will be frequenting floor 6 for the next week or so. Fun times!

Air bubbles!

Veterans' Day

Thank you to all those who have served and are serving in the military, to those who have made it a priority to help keep us safe and free from many of the worries that citizens of other countries deal with. I am definitely grateful for your service!

Today has seemed like a long, busy day. But it's nearly over and I'm still here; God is good!

Due to sickness and lack of sleep, we've had a smaller crowd in the mornings; it was just Nancy, Will, and me in there this morning, and we weren't even joined by some of the regulars on the treadmills and elliptical trainers. I like it because it means we can turn off and keep off the TV and there are significantly fewer distractions. Today I was especially happy, because it was super hot in there and I was sweating like crazy!

• Push up: 100 altitude drop with hands on ground and on knees
• Seated curl: 100 altitude drop with 5-lb dumbbells
• Jumps of bench: 100, landing in squat position. Will showed me a few of these the other day, and mine didn't feel anything like his looked. I stopped way lower than he did, which means I wasn't turning on as hard as possible every time I landed. Not only that, but I frequently landed with my knees too far forward and my upper body too straight (like wall squat instead of regular squat). Definitely not some of my best work in terms of form.
• Standing extreme hamstring: 100 altitude drops
  

Then it was off to swim with the crew at BFY: teacher Ginny, Doug, Heather, Leanne, Annette, Kim, Lachelle, and a few others whose names I don't know. I seem to always skip out right before or during the main set, but I still got a good swim in today:

• 200 warmup
• 8×50@10sec rest: drill, swim, repeat (400)
• 200 kick (kickboard, no flippers)
• 50
• 450 pull (we were supposed to have done 500 but miscalculated)
• 50/75/100/100/75/50: before the last 25, take 10 seconds rest, then sprint; 30 seconds between sets, 1 minute at the top of the ladder (125; this would be 450, but I had to leave after the first 75)
• 1,425 total
  

At work, we've been doing clean reads of some of our products, which means we sit in one of our conference rooms and read 282 and 215 pages of text. It gets tedious and monotonous at times, so we've started breaking it up with little exercises. Today, I did 30-second wall squats a few times, 20-second lunges, 30-second standing ham, and a couple push ups. And we finished both products. Woohoo!

On my way to MFY from work, I talked to G and GJ; I had invited them to stop by and see me on their way home to Florida from Milwaukee, but they declined, wanting to arrive at their destination as soon as they could. I hadn't heard whether they'd made it, so I found out. Plus, I wanted to thank Gramps for his service. Then it was the rest of the workout.

• 1-leg squat: 100 little altitude drops. Will initially said regular, but I asked for little ones. He said OK, fine, as long as I made sure to do 2-second stops after each one. I did. Not that any of these is particularly easy, but this one is particularly hard and seems unconquerable if I have to do 100 regular altitude drops. Thanks, Will!
• Glute ham: 100 altitude drops from arm's length
• Plate front delt, standing: hold a 10-lb plate in front of you, throw it up, and catch it forcefully with your hands around eye level. I think I got this. I don't know whether I successfully continually used my lats, though.
• Bench press: 100 altitude drops with a 30-lb bar. I was so happy to have been able to do bench press. We have been doing a lot of push ups lately!
  

Volleyball Champs!

Extreme slow, 3 minutes:

• Push up
• Push up
• Curl, 15-lb dumbbells
• Curl, 15-lb dumbbells (about halfway through, I could not lift the dumbbells up to restart--that was a lot of weight!)
• 1-leg squat (right leg in front)
• 1-leg squat (left leg in front)
• Glute ham from top
• Glute ham from top

This was a tough workout! Different from the last couple days of lots of reps, but a good different. I could tell I worked hard since afterward I ate 3 scrambled eggs with green peppers, a cup of Honey Nut Cheerios, and some celery with peanut butter. And then I was still hungry!

The evening was fun: Volleyball, workout, volleyball. We won our first match and then had a break, so I did the following:

• Lunge R, L: 5 minutes extreme slow
• Standing extreme ham: 5 minutes. I was so excited on this one because I could actually feel my muscles lengthening. It felt so good!
• Push up: 5 minutes extreme slow, on the ground on my knees.

Then we played in the championship match. It was likely the best match of the season, and we won the second game 27-26; it was win by 2 with a cap at 27, so we took it down to the wire. But we pulled it out!

Brad and me with our prize for winning

Unfortunately Jeff had to take off early, so he missed the picture and the prizes. Henry had an assortment of things, from shirts to hats to volleyballs. I chose a volleyball and am quite happy with it!

Back to Work

Workout:

• Lunge R, 35 seconds; standing extreme hamstring rebounds, 35 seconds; repeat 6 times
• Lunge L, 35 seconds; standing extreme hamstring rebounds, 35 seconds; repeat 6 times
• Glute ham, 6x10
• 1-arm elevated push up (R arm elevated), 35 seconds; 1-arm dumbbell row position with lat pulses (left arm with dumbbell), 30 seconds; repeat 6 times
• 1-arm elevated push up (L arm elevated), 35 seconds; 1-arm dumbbell row position with lat pulses (right arm with dumbbell), 30 seconds; repeat 6 times

Swim:

• 200 warm up
• 3x100 (25 R-arm stroke, 25 L-arm stroke, 25 kick, 25 build swim) @ 10 seconds (300)
  
• 50
• 10x25 kick (no flippers): 25 seconds every time! That meant I got 15 seconds rest so that everyone got at least 10 seconds (I was the first one on the wall every time and I was very consistent) (250)
  
• 50
• 3x(3x50) swim, pull, swim with flippers (450)
  
• 1,300
• The last set (I skipped out early) was quick 50 (get time), 100 pull, quick 50 (same time), 100 pull, quick 50 (same time), 100 pull, quick 50 (same time), 100 pull.

Beautiful November Ride

Today's ride was absolutely amazing. Who knew God would provide us such wonderful weather and allow us to enjoy it. He is good! Uncharacteristic for November, the temps were around 75*, the skies were blue, and it was fabulous. It was even nice enough to spend some time at the pool and get some sun!

Lisa C, Parri, Lisa S, Anna, Shellie, Lee, David, Cali, and I did a little different route today than we previously had ridden as a celebration of Lisa C's bday: hills, hills, and a few more hills. We didn't do the best at keeping it steady (Todd was not there to keep us in line), but we finally even out about 1:10 into the ride. Stats:

• 1:58:57 (too bad I didn't ride another 1:03 to get to 2 hours!)
• 34.89 (that would have gotten me to 35 miles, too)
• 17.6 mph (40.3 max)
  
• 164 HR (198 max)
  
• 2,126 calories (good thing, too, since we went back to celebrate Lisa's bday with cupcakes)

Route:

It was just the ladies contending for the sprints, and although Parri led Lisa C out to try to give her a birthday win, I jumped on their wheel and got to the sign first. On the way back, both Lisa S and Parri said they were tired, so I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I picked a sign ahead and decided that I would sprint from there (it was going to be a long sprint!). Lisa must have picked the same sign, because she started just before I was going to. I got on Parri's wheel again and came around Lisa just before the sign. My legs felt so good during the entire ride, and I think my cadence was pretty good, too. I wasn't paying too much attention to it, but when I was it felt good.

 Cali, Shellie, Lee, Ana, me, and Parri

David, Shellie, Lee, Anna, me, birthday girl Lisa
I need to learn to relax my arms!!!

Sunrise; Hoover Run for Hope Race

Saturday started out amazingly beautiful. I wandered out to Moores Lane with my camera and Bible to try find a great place, within walking distance, to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately I left about 10 minutes too late and missed the changed from complete darkness to start of the sunrise, but fortunately God still showed His awesomeness and creativity in the beautiful sunrise.

Picture #1; there are many more but I had to limit my uploading here!

Here it comes!

Panoramic of the view I had once daylight had come

Then it was off to Kenrose Elementary in Brentwood for the Hoover Run for Hope. Not my best race, not my best time, but I finished 6th overall and 1st in my age group (final time: 23:30, which is about a minute slower than average for me). The thing is, today I went out thinking I’d run fast until I couldn’t any more. I never looked at my pace, I just split when I felt like I was slowing down. The first 1.25 was 6:45 pace and I ended up at about a 7:30 pace, so I obviously slowed down quite a bit. But, I felt great for the first part and figure if I can just keep building on that, I’ll continue getting faster.

Race gear

About mile 1.3

Lisa, Sarah, Jay, and Brad had gone trail running in the morning and then came out to cheer. I had run past Lisa's house and see cars but didn't expect to see them at all. Much to my surprise, there they were right outside the school's parking lot cheering! Made my day and made me run faster!

I had breakfast of oatmeal (dark chocolate cocoa, honey, almonds, and banana) between 6:30 and 7 before the 8am race, and I had a little water to drink before the race also. By about mile 1.5, I was so hungry it felt like I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before! That was about an hour later than I'd normally eat, so I never even considered that I'd be hungry, so that was a surprise. I also felt like about halfway to two-thirds in I went from aerobic to anaerobic, and my HR stats show this a little. I didn't split at the miles (although the time keepers said 6:59 and 14:59 gun time for miles 1 and 2); instead, I split where I started feeling differently.

• 23:35 total, 7:28 pace (5:37 best), 162 HR (198 max)
  
• Lap 1: 8:40, 1.25 mi, 6:56 pace, 137 HR; slowed slightly
• Lap 2: 6:37, 0.81 mi, 8:10 pace, 169 HR; slowed more
• Lap 3: 4:10, 0.56 mi, 7:28 pace, 179 HR; felt OK
• Lap 4: 2:50, 0.33 mi, 8:28 pace, 192 HR; felt anaerobic
• Lap 5: 1:24, 0.20 mi, 7:13 pace, 178 HR; finish
  

Come back to this day...

I don’t remember what today’s workout was. I remember a few parts of the afternoon workout, in no particular order:

• 10×4 reps altitude drop push ups (was supposed to have been bench press) with a few seconds of recovery visualization (lats and pecs, even though those aren’t the muscles I felt like I was using) between each set.
• 10×4 reps jumping from one foot off a bench into a squat position on the ground (lift feet/knees up as high as possible on each) with a few seconds of recovery between each set.
• Russian twist, 5×3 each side
• 5×6 overspeed glute ham

I remember some of the morning workout. It consisted of, again in no particular, some or all of the following:

• 1-arm elevated push up, 30 seconds, followed by 1-arm row pulses, 30 seconds (if left arm on ground, left arm row; pulse lats with chest up)
• Glute ham
• Lunge L 30 seconds, 30 standing hamstring pulses, repeat 5 times
• Lunge R 30 seconds, 30 standing hamstring pulses, repeat 5 times

Today was also a day I got to leave work early, which meant time in the hot tub. With the sun shining. Beautiful day.

Then it was off to pick up Lauren from dance and bake a little at Farkas’. We made some pumpkin mini-muffins, some chocolate-coffee mini-muffins, and some quiche, and we also played a little Apples to Apples. Fun times with the fam!

Slightly Better

It was only Will and me this morning, and hopefully we figured out a little more about yesterday. I guess mentally I was ready to do the exercises, and physically I could do them, but I was just doing them, not getting much out of them, and feeling weak. He said we might try some breathing exercises next time if I really can't do them. The thing is that I know how hard I can work; when I can't work that hard, I get frustrated because I can't. He reminded me that God knows—He sees the heart and the focus and it's OK if you just can't physically perform and need a day or a week off. Just do your best. The results aren't ultimately up to us anyway—the Lord gives the increase. It was a great reminder, and definitely something I needed to hear this morning. We did a little-ish workout, which means this afternoon's is going to be a fun one.

100 altitude drops:

• Glute ham (he kept reminding me to pull from the hips, which should keep my upper body and lower body from having a little lag between them)
• Wall squat (we had to decided between this and 1-leg squat; I said 1-leg squat because I didn't do it yesterday, he said wall squat because he wanted me to be able to work hard and enjoy it)
• Push up (little altitude drops, which ended up being sets of 4)

I went to MFY and finished the workout after work; I felt strong! Today was way better than yesterday.

100 altitude drops:

• Scapular pull up
• Bench press, 30-lb bar
• 1-leg squat (little altitude drops, which made this one much better; not necessarily easier, but I could handle it much better. It helped that Will said you don't start from all the way down but rather a little above parallel.)
• Glute ham (how many of these have I done over the last week?!??! I'm going to be able to do a glute ham raise off the ground in no time!)

Then it was off to Inversion to listen to Jonathan talk about Flight and Pursuit:

1. Flee gossip and pursue Godly conversation.
2. Flee drunkenness and pursue self-control.
3. Flee pride and pursue humility.
   

Consistency Part II

Will was so nice this morning. Wednesday is a 3-workout day, so he let this morning's workout be light. I think it was lighter than he had originally planned because I said I was tired and needed a nap, but we'll do more this evening. Zach and Bill were down there with us today, and Will's friend Natalie joined us, too. This was probably the worst morning for focus. At least the TV was off so there was one less distraction.

• Wall squat: 10 sets of 4 altitude drops with a break in between each set, during which I was supposed to visualize recovery. My fave.
• Push up: 10 sets of 4 altitude drops with a break in between each set, during which I was supposed to visualize recovery.
• Crate crunch: 5 sets of 40 quick-style reps with 30 seconds between each set.

Then I got my nap. Actually it was less of a nap (although I did sleep some) and more of just pouring my heart out to God. I don't know what my problem was this morning. I got up to go swim, and as much as I didn't want to go, I'm so glad I did.

• 200 warm up
• Something else
• 300 pull
• 10 sets of 50s
• 2 sets of 50s
• 1,100+

We were supposed to do a 50 and get about 10 seconds rest before we started the next 50 but keep the same time interval regardless. So I swim about 42-second 50s and was going on 55. I was third in line behind Heather and Leanne until I caught Leanne. We were doing well holding 55s until the last 3 or 4 when we went on 60. I went as close to 55 as I could without having to worry about catching Heather. I was consistently coming in between 40 and 42 seconds; I was thrilled about the consistency, but definitely have some work to do on time (33 seconds is an attainable goal, at least for one, and 28 seconds is an aggressive goal). Even though I wasn't doing consistent reps yesterday, I was swimming consistently today. The last 2 50s were actually supposed to have been part of another set of 10, but I had to get out. Everyone else put their flippers on and I went without, starting 5 seconds behind Leanne and trying to catch her.

I felt great the entire time. I wasn't getting tired, 10 seconds was plenty of rest, and I wasn't getting slower (neither was I getting faster) as time went by. I can't say I was thinking about chest up and good strokes, but I'm hoping that if I think about it all during the gym workouts, I won't have to think about it at all while I'm racing—I'll just do it right and well. Ginny mentioned this morning that they are considering putting together a Masters' Swim Meet for the adult swimmers at the local Ys. How cool would that be!

It's a good thing the swim was good, because the afternoon  workout was anything but. 100 altitude drops:

• Scapular pull up
• Glute ham
• Wall squat
• 1-leg squat (skipped)
• Bench press w/30-lb bar, then 2–3 min break
• Bench press w/20-lb bar

I skipped the 1-leg squat because I just couldn't do it. I did about 6 on one leg, stopped, started again, stopped, went into the hallway (I was at the CSY) to try to collect myself and refocus Will asked later if I was going out to sulk—hardly!), started again, and then quit. The bench press was extremely hard, even with only 20 lb. I might have been able to do only about 15 at a time, but I was determined to finish.

When I got home I went over to talk to Will. This is going to happen frequently and I needed him to know that. When I was doing just 3 days a week, I could do it and, if I wasn't doing well, just do it again the next day and do it right. But if we're working out every day, I can't save a workout for the next day because I can't do it that day. I don't know if he really understood/understands, but maybe.

Consistency

We had a little company in the workout room today (not the Monday crowd we had a couple weeks ago), with Sherrie from across the way (who started talking to me because she said I had an accent like her sister-in-law who is from Michigan) and another girl who immediately turned on the TV when she walked in. The silence is way better for focusing, but I can't say I remember even what was on TV, so that's a good thing.

15×10 seconds with 10 seconds rest rebounds:

• Front delt raise: 3-lb dumbbell, all with right arm, 30 seconds rest, all with left arm. Hold arm up with palm down, drop dumbbell, drop arm to catch dumbbell, and lift arm and dumbbell up quickly and forcefully.
  
• Curl: 3-lb dumbbell, all with right arm, 30 seconds rest, all with left arm. Drop forearm (lengthening biceps) and let go of dumbbell, catch dumbbell while bringing forearm back up (contracting biceps) through dumbbell; keep wrist curled and upper arm perpendicular to ground.
  
• Glute ham
• Lunge: all on right leg, all on left leg

Today I noticed, and so did Will tho he didn't say anything until the end, that every rep was different from the previous and next reps. Now since I have most of the skill down, it's a matter of feeling—notice what the really good ones feel like and re-create that for every rep. That should translate to efficient, consistent, and good running and swimming and riding (although not in that order).

Ezekiel

Today's workout: 20x10 seconds of pulses with 10 seconds rest.

• Bentover Front Delt Raise: 5-lb dumbbell (which was a lot of weight); second arm--20 seconds rest for the last 10. Focus on lats and delts.
  
• Bentover Row: 5-lb dumbbell. Focus on lats and delts.
• Standing Extreme Ham: Focus on glutes.
• Lunge R, L: stand up between each 10-second interval. Focus on back leg's glute and front leg's hamstring. I could really only focus on one leg at a time, so back leg it was.

After this, I swam at BFY:

• 200 warm up
• 200 kick (kickboard but no flippers)
• 50 easy
• 300 pull (breathe every 3 for 25, breathe every 5 for 25, repeat)
• 50 easy
• 4×25 backstroke kicking (on side or back)
• 4×25 backstroke (7-kick roll, stroke; 5-kick roll, stroke; 3-kick roll, stroke; swim)
• 4×25 backstroke
• 1,100 total
  

The pulses that we did first were excellent for the swim later. Because I had been thinking about chest up during the workout, it was already on my mind for the swim. Then I could focus on being efficient and keeping my chest up. The backstroke was good for that too. Unfortunately, I don't float well and felt super inefficient kicking for the last 300, but I was definitely doing my best to do it correctly. Being able to swim twice a week will be good; I don't think I'll lose anything not being able to ride or run more than once each per week, but I think I would definitely lose technique by not swimming. And as much as I dislike swimming, it's that much better for me to be getting in the pool so that hopefully I start to enjoy it. Fortunately we are not doing too many yards, but unfortunately we have a lot of breaks between sets.

The book being read by Brian Hardin from The Daily Audio Bible this week is Ezekiel. I have read this book numerous times and am continually amazed at how God reveals His character in this book. He also shows His fantastic imagination. The things He tells Ezekiel to do sound so crazy, but they all correspond in some way to His judgment and grace and wrath and mercy.

Running; Schedule and Goals

Yesterday Will and I figured out a schedule/goals list for the next couple months. Here’s what we came up with as far as a schedule (subject to change, but having this structure is great for me!):

10 workouts
4 others (2 swim, 1 run, 1 ride)

Monday    Tuesday    Wednesday Thursday  Friday    Saturday   Sunday
6am wrkt  6am wrkt   6am wrkt  6am wrkt  6am wrkt  AM run
8am swim             8am swim
          6:30 wrkt  6:30 wrkt 6:30 wrkt mid wrkt  late wrkt  late ride

And here’s what I came up with for goals:

Distance	Intermediate Pace	Aggressive Pace
5K	6:34	6:17
10K	6:31	6:20
10K (tri)	7:30	6:31
Half Mary	7:15	6:29

So today, we went out to get an idea of speed. I tried to run as fast as I could until I couldn’t, then I took 5 minutes rest, then repeated. I ended up with 5 real reps (we couldn’t count the first one, which I ran what I thought was too fast so I just stopped; obviously I didn’t quite have the right mindset). I’m not sure how I feel about today’s workout. It felt like I was running fast, but I just couldn’t run that fast for that long. It was encouraging seeing that I could run faster than I’d thought, but I really wasn’t lasting much longer than 0.25 miles before I just felt like I couldn’t get enough air. Will wondered if maybe it was more I was kind of freaked out that maybe I might not be able to breathe or if it was really I couldn’t go any more, and I thought maybe a little of both.

I don’t have the most reliable results from the Garmin, but Will’s trusty stopwatch had me running about 90 seconds at a time. What I do have is this:

• Approx. 8 minutes, 1.33 miles, 6:03 pace, 150 HR (197 max) HR
• Lap 1: 1:26, 6:00 pace (5:14 best), 0.25 miles (this was the one I stopped on)
• Laps 2 and 3: unreliable, but 5:22 best pace
• Lap 4: 1:27, 6:03 pace (5:25 best), 0.25 mi
• Lap 5: 1:28, 5:42 pace (5:03 best), 0.26 mi
• Lap 6: 1:10, 5:54 pace (5:08 best), 0.20 mi

I was really encouraged about the speed but discouraged about the distance. Will was confused why my inner thighs might have been tired. But my legs definitely warmed up and felt much better after the first couple. The only thing that couldn’t keep up was my breathing. It was all around fun and good, though, and we have something to go off of and build on. When we finished, we ended up retracing most of Will’s steps to find his phone (which we did, praise God!) and then joined Nancy at Cozymels for lunch. Yum! And, before I forget, this cat has tried to come into my apt at least 3 times, but instead of letting him in I just watched him and took his picture.