30:00 Bike + 10:00 Run + Butt/Abs [TIU]

Well, like a bum I decided to take the day off yesterday. That's three days in a row I didn't work out -- that doesn't happen too often, but when it does I always manage to feel slightly guilty. Unless I'm on vacation or something and there's good reason. But just... because I didn't feel like it? Not good enough. I regret not doing anything every.single.time. You'd think I'd learn. But sometimes there's just too much bleh to overcome...

I'm still feeling bleh. Boredom with my cardio options, I think, is the biggest problem. Typically I bounce between running, biking, and rowing, and I do well enough, but it's just not cutting it recently. Doesn't help that I think I've messed up my knee -- all those options make it hurt, so I'm scared to do anything truly intense for fear of seriously injuring myself. But at the same time, biking is the tamest thing I can think of and I've done that twice already in the past week. TWICE! BORED!

I'm considering sucking it up and running outside -- I haven't been out in ages since it's been cold, and every time it's been like 60 I've had other plans. Generally speaking I really hate running outside in the winter. It's cold, it's dark, and it's cold. And dark. Reasons! I really should just buy some damn gloves and get over it. 45 isn't too bad... right? Right? Guess we'll see...

To make up for yesterday's ennui I'm throwing in some ToneItUp butt and ab routines after my run, which will likely be a bit shorter than the usual 6 miles to accommodate the extra time I'll need. Probably won't make it through all 3 sets of everything, but there's a chance.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4 - lots of energy today, nothing inspiring to waste it on

Sore Areas: None

Yesterday: Laziness

Environment: Winter. 45 degrees. Freezing to death.

Workout

Equipment: Stationary Bike
Level: 16
Program: Random
Work time: 30:00

Minutes	Intensity: RPM	Total Distance (mi)
0:00 - 5:00	75-80	1.35
5:01 - 10:00	95+ [:20] 0 [:10]	+ 1.70 = 3.05
10:01 - 30:00	Repeat 0:00 - 10:00 x2	+ 1.40 = 4.45 [@15:00] + 1.61 = 6.06 [@20:00] +1.36 = 7.40 [@25:00] + 1.65 = 9.05 [@30:00]
Total: 30:00	3:19 min/mi	9.05 mi.

Equipment: Treadmill
Work Time: 10:00

Minutes	Intensity: MPH	Incline: ° [time]
0:00 - 2:00	4.0 side shuffle R [1:00] side shuffle L [1:00]	3.0
2:01 - 5:00	4.5 backwards [1:00] side shuffle R [1:00] side shuffle L [1:00]	3.0
5:01 - 8:00	5.0 backwards [1:00] side shuffle R [1:00] side shuffle L [1:00]	3.0
8:01 - 9:00	5.3 backwards [1:00]	3.0
9:01 - 10:00	5.3	3.0

Booty Tone
Equipment: Dumbbells [10 lbs]

Exercise Name	Reps
Reverse Lunges	20
1-Leg Deadlifts	15/side
Table Kick + Step Up	10/side
Table Leg Lifts	15/side
Table Hamstring Curls	15/side
Table Curled Pulses	20/side
Table Circles	15/side
Superman + Hamstring Curl	15
Bridges	15
Walking Bridges	20
1-Leg Bridge	15/side
Bridge Hip Swing	20
Toe Bridges	15
Time	15:00

Abs Tone

Exercise Name	Reps - Weight
Standing Side Slump	30 - 10lbs
Lunge + Twist Kick	10/side - 10lb
Plank + Cat Tuck	15/side
Elbow Plank Hip Drops	20
Elbow Plank Side Kick	3 [slow]
Beetle Crunches	10 - 10lb
Crunches	20
45 Degree Bicycles	30
Time	11:00

Post
Energy Level [1-5]:
Stretch Time: 
Total Time: 75:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 
Sore Areas: 

Comments
Ended up being waaay too cold to run. A pox on the dark! But I still got in a decent workout, even if it took 482 lines to explain...

Distance Run - 3.65 mi

Kickball day! Which means no time for a real workout, but since I'm still working off the massive amounts of butter I ingested over the weekend (and I slacked yesterday) I need to do *something*. So, I'll run to the kickball fields! They're less than 2 miles away, but if I turn right instead of left and head up the hill before I go down to the fields, plus run a bit beyond and come back I can stretch that to 4, which is a completely reasonable distance for a proper workout.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 3

Sore Areas: Hamstrings

Yesterday: Happy hour!

Environment: outside!

Workout
Equipment: None!
Work Time: 33:00


Distance: 3.65 mi
Time: 33:00
Avg Pace: 9:02/mi

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 4
Stretch Time: 0:00
Total Time: 35:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 2
Sore Areas: Hamstrings

Comments
My hamstrings were much sorer than I originally thought they were, which meant I was not moving nearly as fast as I had planned. That, coupled with the fact I got out of my house about 5 minutes later than I should have meant I had to cut the run short since I wanted to make it to kickball on time. Oh well, at least I got in something.

I laugh sometimes though - 3 years ago or so I would have considered running 3 1/2 miles a massive accomplishment. Back then, 3 was pretty much the norm, and more often than not I took a puppy playtime break about a mile in (we would run by the park and he'd get so excited!). Now, I'm disappointed in myself if I don't make it at least 5, but 6 is better, and more often than not I'm the one dragging the pup through those last miles. Sometimes I get distracted and run more, although 10 is my max and I've only done that a couple of times (I have better things to do than devote that much time to running, thankyouverymuch).

5.5 mi Hike

No gym today - I'm in the mountains! Sort of. Or a valley. Not really sure which. But my friends and I rented a cabin in the Wilderness and decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather (and the fact the government reopened, thus reopening the national parklands) to go for a hike. Or a walk. Depends on how you look at it.

We started off strong -- had a nice mimosa breakfast, loaded up a backpack with beers, and set off for the trail! According to the map it was only like a mile, maaaaybe a mile and a half away. We could totally walk there, do the 2 mile trail around the woods, then walk home. Easy! Aside from the fact there are no sidewalks in the woods and we were walking literally down the middle of the road (CAR! *scatter*), getting weird looks from all the locals, everything seemed great. We did lose a party member about 150 yards from our front door, but hiking isn't really her thing, so we pushed on!

Fast forward an hour: we still hadn't reached the trail head. So much for maps.We also hadn't counted on the fact we were walking up a mountain. Slowly. Walking. So slowly.

We did eventually find the trail head, but at that point we were Done. And we still had to make it back. And the trail was closed! Regardless, we figured we were There so we should at least set foot on the trail -- we walked it about a tenth of a mile, climbing over felled trees and down a creek bed (maybe the trail blockade was right?) and actually ended up running into the Appalachian Trail. We took photos, someone explained to me at length that people actually do walk the trail for weeks at a time, setting up their tent wherever (why would you do this?). Like, on the side of the trail. Or in the middle of the trail. Am I the only one that thinks that's weird? What if there are other people and you're all camped out in the middle of everything, takin up all the space? How rude.

After we found the App Trail we turned around and booked it home so we'd make it there before dark. We made it, only to find out that we didn't have any electricity. So we ate chips and salsa on the patio until it came back and we could check on the crock pots. Not a bad day.

We mapped our walk when we got home and discovered it was actually over 2 miles from our cabin to the trail head, give or take. Plus whatever off-roading we did on the trail. And it was nearly 1000 vertical feet. No wonder we were tired!

2 mi. Run + Plyo + Arm/Back/Ab Tone [TIU]

Still a little disappointed that I has to miss my beach weekend, but I'm getting over it. Being super productive is helping - knocked out a bunch of things that had been lingering on my to-do list (sorry pup, but you were overdue for those shots!) and made substantial progress in the ongoing War on Dirt. And I even made it to the gym today! Wanted to hit it hard to make up for some of the slacking I've been doing recently, so I brought up this combo workout I adapted from ToneItUp's Stars and Stripes workout, throwing in their String Bikini workout for good measure, along with some ab work I made up on the fly.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: None!

Yesterday: None :/

Environment: Indoors, muggy

Workout
Equipment: Treadmill, Jump Rope, Resistance Band
Work Time: 60:00

Treadmill

Minutes	Speed: MPH	Incline: %	Total Distance (mi)
0:00 - 3:00	6.5	3.0	~ .3
3:01 - 5:00	7.5	3.0	~ .55
5:01 - 8:03	8.5	3.0	1.0
Plyometrics + Toning Routine
0:00 - 3:00	6.5	3.0	~ .3
3:01 - 5:03	7.5	3.0	~ .55
5:03 - 8:05	8.5	3.0	1.0
Plyometrics + Toning Routine
Total: 16:08	7.46 [avg]	3.0 [avg]	2.0

Plyometrics + Toning
1) 3:00 Jump Rope

Minutes	Jump Type
0:00 - 0:30	Double-Foot
0:31 - 1:00	Butt Kicks
1:01 - 1:30	High Knees
1:31 - 2:00	One-Leg [:15/side]
2:01 - 2:30	Butt Kicks
2:31 - 3:00	High Knees

2) String Bikini resistance band workout

Exercise	Reps
Side Lifts	20/side
Bicep Curls	7 full, 7 bottom half, 7 upper half
Reverse Flys	20
Triceps Flys	20
Lat Flys	20

3) 25 Burpees - 10 Pushup + 10 Half + 5 Reptile

4) Ab Toning

Exercise	Reps
45° Bicycle Kicks	20
Bicycle Crunches	20
'Tornado' Leg Lifts	2
Plank + Leg Lift	1:00 [20 lifts]
Side Plank + Dip + Top Leg Crunch	10/side
Plank Up-Downs	10
Side Plank + Twist + Lower Leg Crunch	10/side
Plank Tucks	30

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 4
Stretch Time: 10:00
Total Time: 10:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 2
Sore Areas: Upper Back/Neck [probably unrelated]

Comments
At work early today so I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked, but I'm not feeling too many adverse effects of this workout. Was definitely shaking throughout yesterday evening though. Next time I'm going to try to move a little quicker and fit in one more mile in the hour.

2 mi. Run + Full Body Pyramid [P&I, TIU]

Having a really hard time trying to make a Plan for today. For the week, actually. Just generally having trouble focusing. Plus I feel like I haven't put in a good week of workouts in a while, and this is my last chance before I go out of town, so I'm feeling guilty I can't get my act together. Oh well, onward!

Pyramid workout is a combination of a Pumps&Iron body-weight pyramid and ToneItUp's Bikini Strap Workout, smushed together and done as a half pyramid.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: Left butt muscle still hurts.

Yesterday: Bike/Lift

Environment: Indoors, raining, muggy

Workout
Equipment: Treadmill, Dumbbells - 15lbs
Work Time: 48:00

Treadmill

Minutes	Speed: MPH	Incline: %	Total Distance (mi)
0:00 - 3:00	6.0	3.0	~ .3
3:00 - 9:03	7.0	3.0	1.0
9:03 - 11:03	7.5	3.0	~ 1.25
11:03 - 16:00	7.5	2.5	~ 1.82
16:00 - 16:55	8.0	2.5	2.0
Total: 17:00	7.1	2.8	2.01

Pyramid Lift

Exercise	Set 1: Reps - Weight	Set 2: Reps - Weight	Set 3: Reps - Weight	Set 4: Reps - Weight	Set 5: Reps - Weight
Burpees + Pushup	10	9	8	7	6
Side V-Sit	10/side	9/side	8/side	7/side	6/side
Lunge + Kick	10/side	9/side	8/side	7/side	6/side
Squat + Side Leg Lift	10/side	9/side	8/side	7/side	6/side
Plank Row	10/side - 15lbs	9/side - 15lbs	8/side - 15lbs	7/side - 15lbs	6/side - 15lbs
Bridge + Chest Fly	10	9	8	7	6
Bridge + Tricep Curl	10	9	8	7	6
Sitting Bicep Curl + Shoulder Press	10	9	8	7	6
Russian Twist	10/side	9/side	8/side	7/side	6/side
Total Time	~7:00	~7:00	~6:00	~6:00	~5:00

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 3
Stretch Time: 15:00
Total Time: 75:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 2
Sore Areas:Biceps/Arms

Comments
Not the best workout I've ever had, but far from the worst. I'll take it! I like the idea of a pyramid workout, but I feel like doing one rep of something is stupid, thus the half-pyramid. It's a bit of a cop-out, I guess, but I did do 5 rounds so that helps? Maybe next time I'll start at 12 reps and work my way down. I also feel like I got zero ab work in, so I'll focus on that tomorrow. Hope it stops raining soon...

30:00 Bike + Total Body Tone [TIU]

Just trying to catch up this month's workouts...

Lift portion of the workout is modeled after ToneItUp's Santorini Bikini workout.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: butt muscle - left side

Yesterday:

Environment:

Workout
Equipment: Stationary Bike
Work Time: 45 min.
Program: Random
Level: 15

Minutes	Intensity: RPM	Distance Traveled : mi.
0:00-5:00	75-85
5:01-10:00	100+ [20 sec] 35 [10 sec]
10:00 - 30:00	Repeat 0:00 - 10:00  x2	8.72
Total: 30:00	3:26 min/mi [avg.]	8.72

Quick Lift:

	Goal	Actual*
Exercise Name	Reps - Weight [type]	Set 1: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 2: Reps - Weight [type]
Pile Squats	15	15	15
Side Plank 'Hugs'	12/side	12/side	12/side
Walkout Plank + Tricep Pushup + Downward Dog + Plank	12	12	12
V-Situps	15	15	15
Russian Twists	12/side	12/side	12/side
Total time	5:00	?	?

*Color key: green = accomplished goal, blue = exceeded goal, yellow = did not meet goal

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 
Stretch Time:
Total Time:

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 
Sore Areas: 

Comments
Could probably up the reps on those exercises, especially if I'm only doing 2 set. Should probably do the full 3 though. Laziness won the day.

Distance Run + Booty Tone [TIU]

I wasn't originally planning on running today (since yesterday was such a fail I had planned to go hard at the gym) but it's too nice outside to keep the pup indoors all day! So I've rearranged my week a bit and decided to take advantage of the fact it's not raining for the first time in a few days. Yay not raining! However, to make up for the yester-fail, I'm GOING to add a TIU butt toner after my miles. I will I will I will. Who knows, I might even get crazy and do it twice! Three times?!?

PS: I had my first iced coffee of the year today, does it show?

PPS: Starbucks frappy hour week start Friday! Some of the light frapps actually have decent stats if you consider them a dessert. Win!

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: No muscles - ankle is still hurty.

Yesterday: Toning fail.

Environment: Outside! Gorgeous, sunny, and 70!

Workout
Equipment: none!
Work Time: 75:00?

Distance run: 6 mi(?) 60:00 (?)

Booty Bonus!

	Goal	Actual*
Exercise Name	Reps - Weight [type]	Set 1: Reps - Weight [type]
Arms Raised Deadlift	15
Reverse Leg Lifts	20/side
Squat + Side Lift	10 + 5/side
Hands/Knees Leg Lifts	20/side
Hands/Knees Hamstring Curl + Pulse	20/side
Bridges	10
Bridge + Kick	10/side
Single Leg Bridge	12/side
Total time	8:00?

*Color key: green = accomplished goal, blue = exceeded goal, yellow = did not meet goal

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 
Stretch Time: 
Total Time: 

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]:
Sore Areas: 

Comments

Distance Run - 6.2 mi

Friday! My dad's in town, which means it's guaranteed to be an awesome weekend full of amazing food. Tonight we're going on a cruise on the river, in theory to see the spring blooms. Unfortunately the blooms haven't bloomed, so in reality we'll just have happy hour on the river. And then we're going to my favorite pizza place and probably eating a heap of prosciutto. So I'm making it a priority today to get out of work with enough time to go for a run. Dog will be excited about the extra love too!

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: None

Yesterday: Rowing, upper body lift.

Environment: Outdoors - gorgeous, sunny, and warm!

Workout
Equipment: none!
Work Time: ~65:00
Distance: 6.2 mi.

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 3
Stretch Time: 0:00
Total Time: ~65:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 2 - mostly just tight
Sore Areas: Quads/Calves

Comments
What a disaster. Next time I think it's a good idea to go running mid-afternoon during tourist season, remind me it's not. Ugh. I had originally planned to run to Lincoln, but after dealing with crowds for the first mile and a half I gave up that plan. Instead I ran up the hill and into the residential neighborhoods. Which were nicely empty, but holy stop lights batman. I think I hit nearly every single one! And of course it was also rush hour, so there was very little ability to sneak across on reds because I probably would have been hit by a car. I probably stood around for 10 minutes over the course of this run! So terrible. And then a few miles away from home dog decided he didn't want to run any more. I had to practically drag him the last 2 miles, AND I had to end the run about half a mile earlier than I wanted to because he sat down and refused to move any more. I think it's because boyfriend took him running earlier this week -- I'll have to remember to space out our workouts more. All in all, a disappointing effort. But at least it was something...

ZCUT #6 + 2.85 mi Run/Walk

SPRING IS HERE!! Well, for today at least. It's supposed to flurry later tonight and be back in the 30's tomorrow, but whatever. The calendar says spring, the current temp is in the mid-50s, and I'll take it!

Boyfriend had counted on the weather being nice and planned on taking the dog for a run today, which normally would leave me free to spend mucho extra time in the gym. But it's so nice, I think I'm going to run with them! Partially, anyway. I'm going to jog with them down to the grass as my warmup, do my ZCUT plus whatever else I can fit in while the run somewhere, then join back up with them for the tail of their run. Hopefully I can drag them both up the hill -- it's good for them!

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: Obliques.

Yesterday: Jumping + Ab-bing

Environment: Outside! Warm! Windy...

Workout
Warmup: Jogging ~ .6 mi
Equipment: None!
Work Time:

ZCUT #6 : 10:00 circuit: low jacks, 'flying' jump lunges, side burpees, superhero hold
Round 1 - 25, 22, 5, 12
Round 2 - 25, 20, 5, 12
Round 3 - 23, 20, 5, 11
Round 4 - 24, 20, 5, 12
Round 5 - 25, 22, 4, 12

Bonus: Kick lunges (20/side)

Jog/Walk: 2.25 mi.

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 4
Stretch Time: 0:00
Total in-Gym Time: 0:00!

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 2
Sore Areas: Quads, Obliques

Comments
They made it! Boyfriend is still on the upswing of the 'getting fit' process, so he was all like 'I can't do the hill, I'm not ready, it's too far, I already ran my 3 miles' blah blah blah. I dragged him up anyway. Yes there was walking involved, but the important thing is that it happened. Progress! Next time we'll job the WHOLE way up, I know it.

Distance Run - 6.5 mi

I had such a wonderfully ranty post planned for today... big plans to rip into the 132082031 new people that have decided to flood into my gym in February (a new trend of Lunar New Years resolutions, perhaps?)... rage at the women who use the temporary lockers as permanent storage for their yoga mats and don't even lock them... seethe at the fact that I've had to modify 3 or 4 workouts recently because all the machines were taken...

but you know what? It's Friday, I left work early, am happily looking forward to to see some old friends this weekend, and it's a gorgeous 55 degrees outside. I'm going running. Happy weekend!

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: None

Yesterday: No exercise, ate risotto and drank wine. Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Environment: Outdoors - gorgeous, sunny, and warm!

Workout
Equipment: none!
Work Time: 61:00
Distance: 6.5 mi.

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 3
Stretch Time: 0:00
Total Time: 65:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 2 - mostly just tight
Sore Areas: Quads

Comments
I don't recommend running any distance and not stretching afterwards. Especially when you then sit on a plane for 3 hours. And then drink. And wake up early the next day. Generally speaking, that doesn't leave you feeling your best. But if you were happy with your healthiness effort, gotten off the plane in New Orleans, and stayed up late with some good friends only to wake up early to volunteer with puppies, it tends to not matter very much.

Distance Run - 6.5 mi

Originally hailing from the Windy City, I'm not what you would call 'accustomed' to 50-degree January afternoons. Subzero temps, sloppy sleet (only when not hailing, naturally), and massive winds? Streets and sidewalks so covered in slush and salt even my dog doesn't want to go outside? That's January, through and through. So when the universe decides to gift me with a warm spring day in the middle of winter, as it did yesterday, I feel downright guilty for not taking advantage of it.

Since dog hasn't gotten a good run in a few weeks, I decided to take him out for a spin. Although the sun had set by the time we got out of the house, there was a nice warm breeze and enough moisture in the air to make me think of proper Spring [random aside: what is it with people and the word 'moist'? You find some who shudder at the mere thought of the word. And if you ask them about it, the only real defense they can ever give is that the phrase 'moist panties' is downright cringe-worthy. Oh, so your first association with this arbitrary word is B-level romantic literature? Because mine is with delicious baked goods. Who wants a dry brownie? No one. Ever.

Clearly it's 'damp' you should be avoiding. When is 'damp' ever a good thing? Damp socks are the worst, damp towels probably mean you're cleaning, and damp pants? Sorry you were running late and had to get dressed before everything took its proper turn through the drier. Not the best way to start your morning, am I right?

/rant.]

What's even better is I actually remembered to time myself properly this time! Well, sorta. According to my watch, Dog and I covered 6.5 miles in 61 minutes. Not too bad, especially considering there were a myriad of stoplights and an inquisitive dog 'forcing' me to take breaks. I'd say there was easily 2-3 minutes of downtime, so I'm giving myself a pace under 9:00/mile, which I'm perfectly content with. Dog seemed to enjoy it too, though he was definitely slacking towards the end...

20:00 Stairs + 20:00 Bike

Laundry is the worst. Honestly. Somehow, I always have a mountain of it, and, on the rare occasion where I get it down to nothing I realize that as soon as I take off whatever I'm currently wearing there's going to be more to do. A vicious cycle, to be sure. And what's worse, since I've been neglecting Mt. St. Laundry recently, I ran out of 'good' bras! Anyone else have 'good' bras? The select few that you've stumbled upon over time that actually do what they're supposed to do and keep everything strapped down? I have, like, three. The other 47 in my drawer? Functional, but I probably shouldn't jump rope in them. Although sometimes I do anyway. Whoops. That's Future Britt's problem.

Anyway, since everything clean was also stupid, I ended up going low-impact yesterday. The stair stepper, which I've recently discovered is a bitch and a half and therefore probably really good for me, and the ol' stand-by stationary bike. I'll get back to jumping up and down later this week.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: Legs hurt, but I think they're bruised and not actually sore

Yesterday: No exercise, four-more-years champagne

Environment: indoors - FREEZING. Coldest day of winter thus far.

Workout
Equipment: Stair Stepper, Stationary Bike
Work Time: 40:00

Stairs

Minutes	Intensity (steps/minute)	Total Distance (floors)
0:00 - 1:00	51	~5
1:01 - 2:00	60	~11
2:01 - 3:00	69	~18
3:01 - 4:00	78	~26
4:01 - 5:00	91	~35
5:01 - 7:00	101	~55
7:01 - 17:00	repeat 1:01 - 6:00 x2	~95 ~135
1701 - 20:00	60 forward [1:00] side step - L [1:00] side step - R [1:00]	~141 ~147 153
Total: 20:00	76.5 [avg]	153

Stationary Bike
Program: Random
Level: 15

Minutes	Intensity (RPM)	Total Distance (mi)
0:00 - 5:00	70-75	~1.3
5:01 - 10:00	~95 [:20] ~30 [:10] x10	2.6
10:01 - 15:00	70-75	3.75
15:01 - 20:00	~95 [:20] ~30 [:10] x10	5.25
Total: 20:00		5.25

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 4
Stretch Time: 10:00
Total Time: 60:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 0
Sore Areas: None! Surprisingly.

Comments
Everything I've heard about the stair stepper is that it's a total butt burner, but after awhile it wasn't my butt that was tired, it was my quads! Butt still isn't sore even the day after. Must look into this.

Also the stair stepper at my gym is stupid -- it goes by 'levels' which correspond to an awkward number of floors per minute, which in turn equal 10 steps per floor. For example, level 9 is equivalent to 5.1 floors per minute, which is the same thing as 51 stairs per minute. Why 51 and not 50? Hell if I know. Then while levels 10, 11, and 12 are a fairly normal 55, 60 and 65 stairs/minute, 13 decides to be 69 instead of 70. WTF? Why can't I just plug in nice round numbers for how many stairs I want? Plus the machine maxes out at a paltry 101 (...) steps/min, which is why there's an awkward 2 minute interval in there. The idea was to do all one minute intervals topping out at whatever level was closest to 110, but I never got that high. But by the time I figure out it wasn't going any faster I was already like 20 seconds in so I just rolled with it.

DIstance Run

It's been a week now since I contracted the plague, so naturally I'm starting to feel guilty about slacking on the workout front. While I think I get major points for going at all, it's time to get over the excuses and get back up to speed.

It's currently a ridiculous 50 degrees outside (in JANUARY!), and since pup has been languishing at my mother's house for several months where I know he wasn't run at all, I'm going to use this opportunity to get in a rare winter run. 'Rare' because it had better be about 50 degrees for me to go outside -- I'm not so dedicated to running that I'll invest in or put on anything more than a long sleeve Underarmor in response to inclement weather. You will def not find me out there when it's anywhere near freezing -- I hate gloves and I hate running with my ears covered. Gives me earaches.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 

Sore Areas:

Yesterday:

Environment: Outdoors - warm! Surprisingly.

Workout
Equipment: none!
Work Time: 55:00
Distance: 4.5 mi.

Post
Energy Level [1-5]:
 Stretch Time:
Total Time:

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]:
Sore Areas:

Comments
It was 55 minutes from the time when I left my house to the time I got back inside. That includes the time it took to walk out to the street, walk the dog a block to get him prepped, the run, several doggie stops, lights, plus the several block walk at the end to cool down. When I take that into account, I don't feel so bad about running only 4.5 miles in 55 timed minutes [12 minute miles? I can do better than that...]. It was probably closer to 40 minutes or so. I hope. I really need to start remembering to set my running timer...

30:00 Incline Treadmill Walk

Feeling slightly less like death, but still nowhere near 100%. Everything hurts, but especially my back. I'm starting to wonder whether I did something to it, and it's not just sickness. Maybe when I rowed Monday? I don't know. Regardless, I wasn't feeling up to anything very intense today, so I decided to go with a incline walking workout. It's literally the one on the little paper thing at the top of all the incline treadmills in my gym. Claims to burn lots'a calories in a short amount of time. Hopefully it's not lying!

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 3

Sore Areas: none, really

Yesterday: No alcohol, no exercise

Environment: indoors

Workout
Equipment: Incline Treadmill
Work Time: 30:00

Treadmill:

Minutes	Intensity: MPH	Incline: ° [time]	Total Distance (mi.)*
0:00 - 3:00	3.5	9.0	~.17
3:01 - 13:00	3.5	21.0	~.76
13:01 - 18:00	2.5	30.0	~.97
18:01 - 28:00	3.5	21.0	~1.5
28:01 - 30:00	3.5	6.0	1.5

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 3
Stretch Time: 0:00
Total Time: 40:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: I0
Sore Areas: None

Comments
The walking was actually harder than I expected, although it did feel like I was breathing icicles the entire time. I hate being sick -- hopefully I'll be 100% soon!

40:00 Stationary Bike

Felt like death today -- I think boyfriend brought the plague to me from somewhere. Struggled through work, couldn't even think about doing any real work at the gym. Instead, I ended up on a stationary bike with a magazine. Powered through 40 minutes, on the 'fat burn' setting. Don't know if it means I'm out of shape or not, but it took very little resistance to keep my heart rate at 168. Oh well, something's always better than nothing!

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 2

Sore Areas: none, really

Yesterday: No alcohol, no exercise, hangover recovery day

Environment: indoors

Workout
Equipment: Stationary Bike
Work Time: 40:00

Row:
Level: 8

Minutes	Heart Rate (BPM)	Total Distance (mi)
0:00 - 40:00	avg: 168	14.5

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 2
Stretch Time: 0:00
Total Time: 50:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: ?
Sore Areas: Still have plague. EVERYTHING hurts.

Comments

Soccer + Errand Running = Workouts

After the Spartacus on Tuesday, my aching obliques and I chose to go play soccer on Wednesday. It was 'playoff' week, so we were playing a pretty good team. We lost, but I think I got in a solid 40:00 of sprinting around, so that kind of counts as a workout? Add in the 7 mile round trip bike ride (I might have gotten lost on the way there...), and it totally counts!

Thursday I took a rest day, but today (Friday) was kind of crazy. As I've mentioned, I'm moving at the end of the month. Finally found a place (yay!) and they were willing to hand over the keys a week early (double yay!), but I had to get them from a far-away not-metro-able part of the city (boo!). So I used that errand as an excuse to take a half-day from work and spend 2 hours biking around accomplishing things. Got the parking permits for the moving van, picked up the keys, grabbed some wine... productive afternoon, if I do say so myself. AND my Schwinn and I managed to cover almost 12 miles, including a fair stretch of uphill trekking. Check it out:



Elevation ranges from -3 to +210 feet over the course of the ride.

Family and friends visiting this weekend, so it's unlikely I'll pretend to be healthy at any point, but definitely getting back into it Monday. One more hard week of workouts before the triathlon, eek!

Workout Wrapup #2

Here's a problem I'm finding with some of my workouts -- they make BORING blog posts. I've worked out three times [four if you count the one I will do today] since my last post [last Wednesday, today is Tuesday], and the only one that could possibly be charted was yesterdays. The rest were just, there. So here are some partial posts about the past few days.

Last Thursday I went for a run. It was hard, I didn't want to do it, and there was a lot of other crap going on in my lift at the time [we got offered a house, which is great! But the kitchen SUCKS. A LOT. And I love to cook. Is it worth it...?] so my plans to go to the gym went phhhhhibt. Instead I went home to see if boyfriend could instill some inspiration in me. Which he did, sorta, by shaming me with the 5 miles he had run/walked the day before. Was I going to let him run more than me? Sigh. Fine. No. So I grabbed the dog and we purposefully went one block farther than he did. Looking back it was kind of an easy run, and I probably could have gone farther, but my heart wasn't in it. Still went a touch over 5 miles though, which isn't too shabby. But it was slow-ish and isn't much to talk about.

Friday we went to a baseball game. There were nachos involved. And beer. Healthiness, not so much.

Saturday was one of those days where you're forced to get up early to do one thing [signed the lease for the place above -- decided to go for it, even though it's not perfect. I can deal with it for a year], do three dozen other things as well, look up at the clock sure the day is over and find that it's only like noon. Given that, when boyfriend and I got our bikes back from their tuneups with plenty of daylight still left, we decided to suit up and go for a ride. Covered a little more than 20 miles, all told, at a fairly good clip. it was boyfriend's first 'long' bike ride, and I was really proud of him! He's taking the fact that I signed him up for a triathlon and called it a gift like a champion. T-minus 19 days!

Sunday funday. No words necessary.

Yesterday I rowed for the first time in a bit. I'm going to chart it so that I can compare it to some of the other workouts, but I wasn't on top of my game enough to record all the details. Was a fairly standard pyramid interval though, and I think I was hitting some decent distances.

Row:

Minutes	Intensity [min / 500m]	Distance Traveled [m]
0:00 - 3:00	~2:30
3:00 - 5:00	~2:15
5:00 - 6:00	~2:00
6:00 - 6:30	1:50-	1430
6:30 - 9:30	~2:30
9:30 - 11:30	~2:15
11:30 - 12:30	~2:00
12:30 - 13:00	1:50-	+ 1440 = 2870
13:00 - 16:00	~2:30
16:00 - 18:00	~2:15
18:00 - 19:00	~2:00
19:00 - 19:30	1:50-	+ 1420 = 4290
19:30 - 22:30	~2:30
22:30 - 24:30	~2:15
24:30 - 25:30	~2:00
25:30 - 26:00	1:50-	+ 1425 = 5715
26:00 - 29:00	~2:30
29:00 - 31:00	~2:15
31:00 - 32:00	~2:00
32:00 - 32:30	1:50-	+ 1440 = 7135
32:30 - 34:20	~2:30	+ 365 = 7500
34:20 - 35:00	~2:30	7620

Hey consistency! I like that in a workout, actually. I like to pretend it means I'm not tiring as quickly as I could be. Although I was definitely struggling during the 3rd/4th pyramid. Feel the forearm burn!

I think today I'm going to swim. Again, a boring entry. But necessary...

40:00 Stationary Bike

My original plan was to take the day off today and go to trivia, but sadly that fell through. Combine that circumstance with the fact I remembered I wouldn't be able to work out Friday because I'm going to a baseball game, and it was decided it would probably be best if I did *something*.

Since I managed not to completely wreak my legs yesterday, but aren't in top form, I'm going with a steady-state workout. I find those kind of workouts less physically demanding overall, but with the potential for a real mental challenge. I get bored very easily. Usually when I run outdoors I can distract myself through 5 or 6 miles with keeping my dog away from squirrels and trying to remember how many songs I've listened to, but our most recent heatwave has pushed the temp over 100 degrees (AGAIN) so neither pup nor I feel up to romping about outdoors. Instead I'm grabbing my trusty Kindle and an easy-to-follow fantasy novel (Outlander, anyone?) and spinning it out on the bike.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: Legs, Upper Back

Yesterday: Minimal Alcohol, HITT Lifting

Environment: indoors - hot/humid

Workout
Equipment: Stationary Bike [LifeFitness]
Work Time: 40 min.
Program: Random
Level: 14

Minutes	Intensity [RPM]	Distance Traveled [Mi.]
0:00-18:50	70-80	5.0
18:51-40:00	70-80	10.34

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 4
Stretch Time: 0 min.
Total Time: 40 min.

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 2
Sore Areas: Legs

Comments
Wasn't really trying to keep track of the distances, but I did happen to notice when I hit 5 miles so I thought I'd include it. Extrapolating from that distance, I should have made it an additional 1/3 of a mile. I'll chalk the difference up to the fact that the first 2 or 3 minutes of the workout is a 'warmup' and has very little resistance. ZOOM!!

Given that I went 10 1/3 miles in 40 minutes, that means I should be able to finish the tri distance of about 25 miles (40k, to be exact), in just under 97 minutes. Since last year it took me 82 and change, the year before 88, it looks like I'm slacking. Should be able to hit nearly 12 miles in 40 minutes. T-minus 6 1/2 weeks...

Distance Run

Confession time: I am not a runner. I do not 'run', I do not enjoy running, I do not understand this (mystical) phenomenon of a 'runner's high'. And I firmly, FIRMLY believe that standing on a starting line with the knowledge that you are going to be doing ONE exercise for the next FOUR HOURS (if you're LUCKY) is an ancient form of torture that causes Zeus to occasionally dissolve into a fit of giggles because he can't believe people today subject themselves to it willingly (thanks Pheidippides).

I will, however, occasionally go for a run. Why? Because it's logistically easy - it takes virtually zero advance planning to accomplish and I can do it almost literally anywhere. Because I know it's a legit form of exercise - it burns real calories and helps build real muscles (I'm looking at you, elliptical. You don't fool me.) And because I can bring my dog -- I get to pretend he's getting the quality time he deserves and he gets to romp through grass. Look at all those birds I'm killing with stones.

So today I'm going for a run. While yesterday's exploits might make me regret this decision, hopefully I won't notice until I'm far enough away from my house that turning back results in running  a respectable distance. Plus, I don't think I have much of a choice -- there's a time factor involved in that I have dinner plans, and while today it's a balmy 82, starting tomorrow the outside air temp will be approximately 'hellacious'.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: none?

Yesterday: No alcohol! Ass kicking cardio!

Environment: Outdoors - warm, with a nice breeze.

Workout
Equipment: none!
Work Time: 55:00
Distance: 5.6 mi.

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 4
Stretch Time: 8:00
Total Time: 65:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: n/a?
Sore Areas: Not so much 'sore' as 'extremely fatigued'. Stairs are a challenge.

Comments
Well, I was right. I lasted about 27 seconds before my legs turned into Jello. Unfortunately, 'around the block' doesn't count as a respectable distance. So instead I employed my patented method of 'give exactly zero fucks about my speed (or lack thereof)' and ground out a little over 5 1/2 miles [5.6, to be exact]. Took me 55 minutes start to finish, but I'm going to give myself... enh... 3-4 minutes for doggie breaks and red lights. Works out to about a 9:15-ish pace. Not my best by any stretch of the imagination, but not bad considering how I felt.