Good times in the pool today.
Lap 1: 7:30
Lap 2: 6:07
Lap 3: 6.07
Lap 4: 6.18
Lap 5: 6:19
Lap 6: 6:15
Lap 7: 6:17
1850 yards, no 250 yard laps over 6:20 (my previous best.) The double 6:07 is a personal best, and I did it twice in a row. So a sub-45 minute mile. Excellent swim. :)
Had a good bike... 10 miles at 16.7 mph. I was concentrating on maintaining 90 RPM, so I was adjusting the resistance on the exercise bike to maintain 'drag.' Basically going for 'turnover' as opposed to speed, for the distance.
The run.... hmmm... the run.
So I ran with my running shoes on. I've been running barefoot for well over a month now.
It was like running with cement blocks on my feet. Oh, it was so uncomfortable. I felt totally ungainly. Not like I have been running regularly. I missed my bare feet on the run. Obviously, I am going to have to make the switch to Vibrams, or something like that for the Tri, but wow, it stunk to run like that.
Day off working out to fly tomorrow.
Might lift after flying... we shall see.
Cheers!!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Time constraints and working out
One of the problems with trying to get good exercise sessions in is having time constraints from normal life. Obviously, this is aggravated by a job that takes up big quantities of our time, and takes us away from home and hearth regularly.
So, had a good 1000 yard swim; I was swimming on a full stomach, so that really put the brakes on me; Need to put more time between eating and swimming hard... lol.
So, my times;
Lap 1: 7:57
Lap 2: 6:15
Lap 3: 6:13
Lap 4: 6:20
Lap 3 gives me my best time so far since I started timing. It was kind of funny because I rolled over and did half a lap on my back, too.
I would have done more, but I had to get back and take care of Thomas, so that ended the swim there.
Yesterday I had a great lifting session before sailing, and the evening before I had a great HIIT working from Mike. 3 circuits of this workout in 20 minutes total... aahhh... feel the burn.
Today is swim/bike/run day... :)
Time to get Thomas down for his nap, and then off to the ghetto XSport.
So, had a good 1000 yard swim; I was swimming on a full stomach, so that really put the brakes on me; Need to put more time between eating and swimming hard... lol.
So, my times;
Lap 1: 7:57
Lap 2: 6:15
Lap 3: 6:13
Lap 4: 6:20
Lap 3 gives me my best time so far since I started timing. It was kind of funny because I rolled over and did half a lap on my back, too.
I would have done more, but I had to get back and take care of Thomas, so that ended the swim there.
Yesterday I had a great lifting session before sailing, and the evening before I had a great HIIT working from Mike. 3 circuits of this workout in 20 minutes total... aahhh... feel the burn.
Today is swim/bike/run day... :)
Time to get Thomas down for his nap, and then off to the ghetto XSport.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Quick swim and more...
So, did my mini-try today....
The 1000 yard swim---
Lap 1 7:15
Lap 2 6:22
Lap 3 6:22
Lap 4 6:21
Total for 1K yards, 26 minutes, or a minute better than my first 1K a week ago. Not too shabby. I felt strong, had good pull through the whole thing. No fatigue at all, no fading.
Biked 5 miles, averaged 17 mph. Unfortunately I hit the Pause/Reset hoping it would show me the summary, but it cleared... Yup... duh. But I know I was regularly at 17, that was the pace I wanted to hold.
The barefoot run went well, just keeping up with my alternating speeds to build up my strength. Still at the mile marker, moving to 1.2 next week. This is where boredom usually sets in with running for me, so we shall see.
Lifting in the morning, then off to KBNA... back to work... sigh.
Cheers!
Scott
The 1000 yard swim---
Lap 1 7:15
Lap 2 6:22
Lap 3 6:22
Lap 4 6:21
Total for 1K yards, 26 minutes, or a minute better than my first 1K a week ago. Not too shabby. I felt strong, had good pull through the whole thing. No fatigue at all, no fading.
Biked 5 miles, averaged 17 mph. Unfortunately I hit the Pause/Reset hoping it would show me the summary, but it cleared... Yup... duh. But I know I was regularly at 17, that was the pace I wanted to hold.
The barefoot run went well, just keeping up with my alternating speeds to build up my strength. Still at the mile marker, moving to 1.2 next week. This is where boredom usually sets in with running for me, so we shall see.
Lifting in the morning, then off to KBNA... back to work... sigh.
Cheers!
Scott
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Swim the mile
Took the weekend off. Just needed to rest, and had a great time in Charlotte with my excellent FO friend Natalie.
Back to the grind!!
So, quite sensibly, I reversed my workout program, lifting weights after my swim. That made things much better. Here are my times:
Lap 1: 7:37
Lap 2: 6:25
Lap 3 6:29
Lap 4 6:45
Lap 5 6:36
Lap 6 6:36
Lap 7 6:36
So my mile totaled out at 47 minutes, give or take. That makes me about 1:30 faster than my previous time. I can feel good about that. I swam a bit more untimed, after, too. Just felt good overall. I did a few 'sprints' in the water, and considering I had done a mile already, I know I have energy and wind to burn.
Interesting thing that I have found out about swimming. You know how you get a song stuck in your head, and sometimes you can sing it away? As in... sing another song, and eventually it will displace the one that is stuck? Well, there is no way to do that when you are swimming laps (I don't have those cool underwater headphones.) If you have a song stuck in your head (The other day it was "C is for Cookie," can you tell that Thomas is listening to Sesame Street?) then you quite obviously cannot sing. As far as I know, not without drowning. So there it sits, taunting you. In your head.
Bodyweight workouts.
This is where I get a lot of my ideas for bodyweight workouts. Mike likes to do his 'towel' workouts, and I can tell you firsthand, they will knock you on your butt. Sean has his Bodyweight blast workouts, too. I combine a few movements from each, or I do them as sets between 5 mile bikes on the exercise bike. Great way to combine everything.
Cheers!!
Scott
Back to the grind!!
So, quite sensibly, I reversed my workout program, lifting weights after my swim. That made things much better. Here are my times:
Lap 1: 7:37
Lap 2: 6:25
Lap 3 6:29
Lap 4 6:45
Lap 5 6:36
Lap 6 6:36
Lap 7 6:36
So my mile totaled out at 47 minutes, give or take. That makes me about 1:30 faster than my previous time. I can feel good about that. I swam a bit more untimed, after, too. Just felt good overall. I did a few 'sprints' in the water, and considering I had done a mile already, I know I have energy and wind to burn.
Interesting thing that I have found out about swimming. You know how you get a song stuck in your head, and sometimes you can sing it away? As in... sing another song, and eventually it will displace the one that is stuck? Well, there is no way to do that when you are swimming laps (I don't have those cool underwater headphones.) If you have a song stuck in your head (The other day it was "C is for Cookie," can you tell that Thomas is listening to Sesame Street?) then you quite obviously cannot sing. As far as I know, not without drowning. So there it sits, taunting you. In your head.
Bodyweight workouts.
This is where I get a lot of my ideas for bodyweight workouts. Mike likes to do his 'towel' workouts, and I can tell you firsthand, they will knock you on your butt. Sean has his Bodyweight blast workouts, too. I combine a few movements from each, or I do them as sets between 5 mile bikes on the exercise bike. Great way to combine everything.
Cheers!!
Scott
Saturday, May 19, 2012
A quick 1000 yards.
Let's see how well this works; posting from my phone.
The 17th, did a quick 1000 yards, same rules as before (300, then sets of 250.)
Lap 1. 7:38
Lap 2. 6:12
Lap 3. 6:37
Lap 4 6:41
So 1000 yards in 27 minutes. Not too bad.
I did a barefoot mile the 18th at my overnight hotel in Buffalo. 12 minutes, alternating a pace of 3.5 for 2 minutes and 6.0 for 2 minutes. Keeping the rhythm up at 180 beats per minute. They call it a fast turnover; keeps your feet under you by making you shorten your stride to prevent heel striking; longer strides land on the heels, shorter strides land pronated or slightly toe first. Barefoot, that is your goal.
Treadmill barefoot is ok, I have not brought it to the street yet. Kind of a dicey proposition on pavement. So, jury is still out for that, but I know I want to save my knees, so we shall see.
I found some great videos (links to come,) of bodyweight workouts and high intensity interval training workouts. So it goes like this... After your warmup, you work out hard for 30 seconds, then rest for 15, repeating till you are through.
So one of them is (30 on, 15 off,)
Burpees
Glute bridge raises
Alternating pushups
Mountain climbers
High running legs
Swimmers
Windshield wipers
Alternating calf raises
So I have been doing 5 miles at 90 rpm (about 16.5 mph) on the exercise bike, and then a set of interval training. Finish at 20 miles with 4 intervals. Kicked my butt, but feels great.
So that is the workout dealio. Things are going smoothly, and today, Saturday, is a rest and sailing day.
Milk stuff.
A few months back, I started a series of posts on raw milk, especially the health benefits of drinking raw milk. Chris Newsweek of The Healthy Skeptic is writing that very topic on his website, and he is doing it much better than I ever could. I'll be taking largish excerpts from his site onto here, but also I will link to his posts. More to come on that soon.
Cheers, y'all...
Scott
Thursday, May 17, 2012
So here we go again... registered for the Chicago Triathlon
So, here we go again!
I guess maybe I am a glutton for punishment... just for fun. I'm registered for the 2012 Chicago Triathlon (Sunday, 26 Aug.)
Last year I did the race, knowing I could never properly be a contender, or anything, but I figured what the heck, why not?
What got me started on this again was my pre-diabetic readings from my fasting blood sugar. One of the ways to bring that down is to exercise regularly. Well, if I am doing that, then I might as well do it with a target in sight.
Well, last year I got my ass handed to me by 2 foot waves in the harbor swim (on a 1.5K swim--- .93 miles) caused by the 20+ mph winds blowing out of the NorthEast. Then, I had that bike up and down the lakefront (2 laps,) on my mountain bike, for 40K (25.8 miles,) which gave me a tremendous tendonitis flareup on my right knee. Then the 10K run, and I am not a good runner to begin with. About a mile into the run, I knew I had to throw in the towel... It was either that or visit the hospital when I destroyed my right knee.
So, here I am, doing it again. At least this year I know a lot more what to expect, and I have made a few changes in what I am doing.
First off, BIG change-- I run barefoot now. I'm just closing in on a mile barefoot on the treadmill. This should help the knee problems I have had running, and it certainly has so far. The key, of course (as explained in an earlier post,) is to add distance slowly. Actually, I will run a mile on my overnight tomorrow. Treadmill... barefoot. I can tell ya, you get some funny looks when you sit down on the end of the treadmill, take your shoes and socks off, and then zip along with bare feets. Quite a few stares. But I am sold on the idea, and I have good research telling me that it's a far better way to run.
Something else that should be good training barefoot, is it should prevent a recurrence of plantar fasciitis... I would love to avoid THAT vampire biting at my heel again.
Will I do the Tri in my bare feet? Doubtfull. Too many ways to tear a foot open. I just want to get the technique down correctly, and then see if I can transition to my running shoes, or maybe pick up some running huaraches, that kind of deal. Time will tell....
Another change is I am shopping around for a good road bike. Not break the bank good, but a bike I can ride normally to the boat, etc, that I can also do 20+ mile rides on. No more mountain bike. That resistance did me in. Most likely looking at a Trek 1.2. If you are a road bike fan, and know a good bike or two to recommend, drop me a line and I'll listen in.
So I went for my first 'mini' Tri yesterday, with a swim and a bike, and an untimed run (.93 miles, tho.)(and this was after my weight workout... not sure what I was thinking, but I had a good time with it.
The pool that I swim in is 25 yards long. I count a lap as out and back, so 50 yards. I swim 5 laps for sets of 250 yards. I do the first set as 300 yards (6 laps,) so that I have an even mile after my 7th set (Actually, a little over, I am allowing for pushing off the pool every 25 yards, which you just can't do in the lake.)
So, here are my times for yesterday, swim and bike. (Pool, exercise bike.)
Swim:
Lap 1 (300 yards): 7:58
Lap 2 (250 yards): 6:39
Lap 3 : 6:46
Lap 4 : 6:42
Lap 5 : 6:57
Lap 6 : 6:55
Lap 7 : 6:39
Total Distance -- 1 mile, 40 yards...
Total Time -- 48 Mins, 36 Seconds.
That will get better, I hope.
Bike:
10 Miles, 38 minutes. Average 16 mph. I can handle that... needs to be faster. And longer. But I was running out of time (That's what happens when you are exercising during your son's nap time.)
We shall see what happens. I am hoping to update this daily from now on. I'll be exercising one way or another almost every day (There will be rest days, of course... resting is part of exercise.)
I guess maybe I am a glutton for punishment... just for fun. I'm registered for the 2012 Chicago Triathlon (Sunday, 26 Aug.)
Last year I did the race, knowing I could never properly be a contender, or anything, but I figured what the heck, why not?
What got me started on this again was my pre-diabetic readings from my fasting blood sugar. One of the ways to bring that down is to exercise regularly. Well, if I am doing that, then I might as well do it with a target in sight.
Well, last year I got my ass handed to me by 2 foot waves in the harbor swim (on a 1.5K swim--- .93 miles) caused by the 20+ mph winds blowing out of the NorthEast. Then, I had that bike up and down the lakefront (2 laps,) on my mountain bike, for 40K (25.8 miles,) which gave me a tremendous tendonitis flareup on my right knee. Then the 10K run, and I am not a good runner to begin with. About a mile into the run, I knew I had to throw in the towel... It was either that or visit the hospital when I destroyed my right knee.
So, here I am, doing it again. At least this year I know a lot more what to expect, and I have made a few changes in what I am doing.
First off, BIG change-- I run barefoot now. I'm just closing in on a mile barefoot on the treadmill. This should help the knee problems I have had running, and it certainly has so far. The key, of course (as explained in an earlier post,) is to add distance slowly. Actually, I will run a mile on my overnight tomorrow. Treadmill... barefoot. I can tell ya, you get some funny looks when you sit down on the end of the treadmill, take your shoes and socks off, and then zip along with bare feets. Quite a few stares. But I am sold on the idea, and I have good research telling me that it's a far better way to run.
Something else that should be good training barefoot, is it should prevent a recurrence of plantar fasciitis... I would love to avoid THAT vampire biting at my heel again.
Will I do the Tri in my bare feet? Doubtfull. Too many ways to tear a foot open. I just want to get the technique down correctly, and then see if I can transition to my running shoes, or maybe pick up some running huaraches, that kind of deal. Time will tell....
Another change is I am shopping around for a good road bike. Not break the bank good, but a bike I can ride normally to the boat, etc, that I can also do 20+ mile rides on. No more mountain bike. That resistance did me in. Most likely looking at a Trek 1.2. If you are a road bike fan, and know a good bike or two to recommend, drop me a line and I'll listen in.
So I went for my first 'mini' Tri yesterday, with a swim and a bike, and an untimed run (.93 miles, tho.)(and this was after my weight workout... not sure what I was thinking, but I had a good time with it.
The pool that I swim in is 25 yards long. I count a lap as out and back, so 50 yards. I swim 5 laps for sets of 250 yards. I do the first set as 300 yards (6 laps,) so that I have an even mile after my 7th set (Actually, a little over, I am allowing for pushing off the pool every 25 yards, which you just can't do in the lake.)
So, here are my times for yesterday, swim and bike. (Pool, exercise bike.)
Swim:
Lap 1 (300 yards): 7:58
Lap 2 (250 yards): 6:39
Lap 3 : 6:46
Lap 4 : 6:42
Lap 5 : 6:57
Lap 6 : 6:55
Lap 7 : 6:39
Total Distance -- 1 mile, 40 yards...
Total Time -- 48 Mins, 36 Seconds.
That will get better, I hope.
Bike:
10 Miles, 38 minutes. Average 16 mph. I can handle that... needs to be faster. And longer. But I was running out of time (That's what happens when you are exercising during your son's nap time.)
We shall see what happens. I am hoping to update this daily from now on. I'll be exercising one way or another almost every day (There will be rest days, of course... resting is part of exercise.)
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