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Exercise Goals for 2009

 
 
George
 
  1  
Reply Wed 25 Feb, 2009 12:28 pm
@Thomas,
Way to go, Thomas!
Where was the 5k?
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Wed 25 Feb, 2009 03:50 pm
@Thomas,
Go Thomas! Very impressive.

Sozlet came with us to the track and ran with us sometimes. The main problem is communication. I can't really talk to ANYONE while running -- towards the end of last track-running season I could understand trackmom (my running partner and now gym partner) if we ran slowly, because I knew her well by then and because we had the same stride. Sozlet is both shorter (and therefore harder to see) and has a different stride, so communication doesn't really work.

We can run together anyway, of course, but that removes one positive aspect.

Meanwhile, I gymmed today and yesterday but not Monday (today is usually my day off, went to make up for Monday). Tuesday: bike, weights, ball crunches. Today: intervals (4 quarter-mile stretches at 6 mph, 6.5, 7, and 7.)
0 Replies
 
Thomas
 
  1  
Reply Wed 25 Feb, 2009 07:04 pm
@George,
Thanks for the encouragement, George and Sozobe!

George, the 5K was around a loop in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Sozobe ... of course! I guess you could sign with Sozlet, but it would interfere a lot with your arm movement.
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Fri 27 Feb, 2009 02:30 pm
Gymmed yesterday, elliptical + weights + ball crunches (15, 12, 15).

Ran today -- two continuous miles! Woo-hoo!

I did go ahead and run more slowly twice -- it helped so much that it almost felt like cheating, but the initial goal is just to run continuously for two miles, the 5 MPH thing was arbitrary. I slowed to about 4.2 MPH between 1.5 and 1.75 miles, and then again for only about a tenth of a mile at the very end, but I was running the whole time! That was doable enough that I think I can go ahead and keep running 2 miles from now on, and it'll just be a matter of how fast I go.
CalamityJane
 
  1  
Reply Fri 27 Feb, 2009 03:32 pm
@sozobe,
You go, sozobe! One day, I'll be there too, for now I am happy that I exercise
on a daily basis, doing much of the same thing, alternating between bike, treadmill and elliptical, or walking outdoors when it's warm enough.
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Tue 3 Mar, 2009 12:34 pm
@CalamityJane,
I've been very impressed with how you've been doing, CJane, keep it up!

Gymmed yesterday and today.

Monday: Elliptical, weights, ball crunches (15, 12, 15)

Tuesday: Quarter-mile intervals (6.5 MPH, 7 MPH, 7.5 MPH, 7 MPH), 2.25 miles total

(Clothes shopping is getting to be more fun...!)
George
 
  1  
Reply Tue 3 Mar, 2009 01:16 pm
Montreal was having yet another of its innumerable festivals. This one was
Le Festival Montreal en Lumiere. I was jogging along Rue Notre Dame past
Place Jacques Cartier and it was lit up with dozens of light-themed displays
and crawling with people. Never mind that it was seven at night with
temperatures in the single digits (Farenheit). I looked down toward the Old
Port and there, ablaze with multicolored lights, was a huge ferris wheel. Who
the hell rides a ferris wheel in this kind of cold?

We were in Montreal to drop Nigel off after his "reading week" break. We
had planned to have dinner at Le Bourlingueur in Old Montreal, but every
legal parking space (and a fair number of illegal ones) was filled. I finally
convinced the family to let me drop them off and I would just drive toward
the center of town until I found a space and then jog back. Clive
volunteered to come with me, but I gave him The Dad Look and he said
OK and got out.

I found a spot on the edge of the Old City and was jogging through the
streets dodging festival-goers. More and more were arriving all the time.
I passed a buggy and challenged the horse to a race to the corner. He
pretended not to understand English. Probably a separatist.

I got to the restaurant just as The Lovely Bride, Clive, and Nigel were
examining the menus. Later, filled with wine, celery soup, "le confit de
canard", turnip, potato, and "sugar pie", I jogged back to the car. People
were still arriving. I found out later that this was "Nuit Blanche", an
all-nighter. Montreal is one hard-assed party town.

I checked out the distance. I had parked 0.7 miles from the restaurant.

CalamityJane
 
  1  
Reply Tue 3 Mar, 2009 02:53 pm
@sozobe,
Thank you sozobe, I am surprised myself - I used to hate exercising and now
I feel not right if I skip a day. Today I jogged 15 minutes without interruption -
my goal was 30 min by Dec. 2009. I might upgrade my goal to 60 minutes.

Tell me sozobe, do you really like the exercise ball? I am uncertain if I should
buy one, resp. if it gives me enough exercise options to justify the price.
CalamityJane
 
  1  
Reply Tue 3 Mar, 2009 02:55 pm
@George,
I've seen the pictures of your lovely family and yourself, George. Montreal
seems a nice city to visit. Running back and forth to the car made you feel less
guilty about eating rich French food - I hope you had dessert as well!
George
 
  1  
Reply Tue 3 Mar, 2009 03:03 pm
@CalamityJane,
CJ wrote:
. . . I hope you had dessert as well . . .

Mais certainement!
I cannot resist Quebec maple sugar pie.
0 Replies
 
George
 
  1  
Reply Tue 3 Mar, 2009 03:06 pm
@CalamityJane,
Quote:
. . . I used to hate exercising and now I feel not right if I skip a day. . . .

Outstanding!
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Tue 3 Mar, 2009 03:17 pm
@George,
George wrote:
Who the hell rides a ferris wheel in this kind of cold?


The question is begged, dear -- who the hell runs outside in that kind of cold? (I guess the rest explains, but still. Nice of you though.)


That's a pretty big milestone, CJane, when exercise becomes default (and you feel off if you don't do it) rather than something you have to force yourself to do. Good goin'!
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Tue 3 Mar, 2009 03:18 pm
@CalamityJane,
Forgot to reply re: the exercise ball -- I use it at the gym, not sure if I'd buy one for home. It's good for doing ball crunches, which seem to be better than regular sit-ups/ crunches.
0 Replies
 
CalamityJane
 
  1  
Reply Wed 4 Mar, 2009 10:10 am
Thank you! It's amazing how fast the body and mind adapts to lifestyle changes,
if one is motivated enough! Laughing

soz, then I probably will forego buying one. Making room for such a big ball
is creating more of a challenge then the cost actually.

Okay, off I go to climb to the 6th floor office again....
0 Replies
 
George
 
  1  
Reply Wed 4 Mar, 2009 10:53 am
Micro Drive is a short spur of a road in an industrial part of
Woburn. At the end of it is a low-rise building that looks like every
other low-rise building in the area. Many of these buildings house
trucking firms and machine shops. This one is home to the gym where
Clive and I work out.

On a cold evening in early March even the parking lot looked tired of
winter. It had been plowed, but half-heartedly, after the most recent
snow storm. The parked cars were coated in salty road-splatter and
the remnants of ice and snow their drivers just didn't care enough to
clean off.

Inside, the traffic was light on the treadmills and ellipticals. This
was the slack period between the fading of New Year's resolutions and
the onset of panic in the face of the approaching swimsuit season.

Clive and I did our squats, using dumbells. Since the largest dumbells
are 60 pounds, I do mine one-legged. I keep the toe of the off foot
lightly down and a bit to the rear for balance. I'm still shaky, but
getting better.

This month we are substituting the chest press machine for bench
presses on the Smith machine. I can see a big improvement in Clive's
strength. I made too optimistic an estimate on how much I could
handle. I gave it all I had. I thought my face was going to explode,
but I only got one rep and that barely. I lowered the weight
considerably and did five reps. On the next set, I increased by ten
and did five reps. On the last set I went up another ten but only did
three reps. Now I know what my baseline is.

I set up the cable such that Clive could do a deadlift with it. He
has trouble getting into a deep squat and was using too much back when
we used dumbells. This is much better for him. We did some dips and
some ab work and then got on the elliptcals for ten minutes. It was a
good workout.

Outside it was still dreary, but I was too tired to mind. On the
drive home Clive regaled me with the latest changes in the Bruins'
lines. I pretended to listen.
ossobuco
 
  1  
Reply Wed 4 Mar, 2009 11:01 am
I now follow this thread for George's writing, while still interested in other comments and always receiving a pulse about the value of exercise. But even on my most "eh, exercise" days, I want to see what George will say next. Wonderful exercise diary, for sure.
0 Replies
 
CalamityJane
 
  1  
Reply Thu 5 Mar, 2009 11:10 am
@George,
Quote:
This was the slack period between the fading of New Year's resolutions and the onset of panic in the face of the approaching swimsuit season.


Haha, that's a repetitive occurrence every year, isn't it? Laughing
Osso is right, you spice up this exercise thread with your write-ups.

I am so sore today, and all I did yesterday was walk up to the 6th floor twice
(I forgot my desk keys in the car) and then moved some rather large pots around the patio. Now my back hurts and my legs are sore. I'm going exercising in
a few minutes, so I hope to loosen up some muscles there, other than my mouth. It seems the gym has become quite the neighborhood hangout lately.
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Fri 6 Mar, 2009 08:54 am
@CalamityJane,
Totally agreed about George's writing...

Bike, weights, and ball crunches yesterday (15/15/15!), and will be trying for 2 miles again today... (haven't gone yet)
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Fri 6 Mar, 2009 10:40 am
@sozobe,
THAT... WAS... AWESOME!

Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy

I don't know if it was the springy weather (gorgeous and high 60's, always energizes me) or the caffeinated chai tea I had before I left (I've tried that trick before) or the fact that my friend was running next to me (we usually run at the same time but don't usually get adjoining treadmills), or if it was that I was wearing contacts (my glasses have been bouncing around and bothering me lately) but my two-mile run today was great!

I started out at 5 mph but kept banging into the front bar so I upped it to 5.2, which seemed more comfortable. The knowledge that I could just slow down like I did last time if I needed to helped a lot, mentally.

So far I've done 2 miles at 5 mph throughout, which was brutal -- I had to really psych myself through the last bit and was wrecked when I finished -- and 2 miles at 5 mph with a couple of 4.2 or something breaks. This time I did the whole thing at 5.2 throughout (never changed the speed again after upping it within the first .1 mile) and felt like I could keep going at the end! Finished really strong. Feels like a breakthrough/ turning point.

Yay!

Happy spring, everyone...!
George
 
  1  
Reply Fri 6 Mar, 2009 04:12 pm
@sozobe,
Yeah, Soz!
0 Replies
 
 

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