Exercise Goals for 2009

hahaha!

I have two words for you that will solve pretty much every single one of your problems I think:

WORK ETHIC

You seem smart, passionate, funny, lotsa good things but you need to develop some sticktoitiveness, dude!


Meanwhile, did intervals on Tuesday (6, 7, 7.5, 7 mph, respectively), had yesterday off, and will be trying a yoga class today! That'll be interesting. I'm, ahem, REALLY not flexible.

true that.

Hot-footin'!

Agree with the work ethics part.

whow, sozobe is running faster and faster - you're training for the olympics,
aren't you?

I'm back in full swing as my back is as good as new. Wasn't able to exercise
yesterday though as the kid spent extra time at the library choosing books - mind over sport! She's reading about 4 books a week and I didn't want to rock
the boat.

This morning I'll go and exercise longer though....

George, I am so looking forward to your spring and summer reports. Even
on a cold winter day, you'll see beauty in it.

It's just intervals! Can only go 7.5 mph for a quarter mile, that seems to be about my limit right now... I'd love to go 8 mph for a quarter mile though, that'd be fun.

The yoga class was a big enormous BUST. Eek. It's advertised as "great for beginners." OK, I'm a beginner! (Absolute beginner, have never taken a yoga class or anything at all, ever.) Show up at class, they get started. YOWZA. Really complicated routine right off the bat. My friend and I exchange looks but do the best we can. The best we can is pretty damn lousy (though I'm the lousier of the two of us). It's fast, it's confusing, it's HARD! Other three people in the class are serenely and yoga-ly doing their thing. After a few rounds of this, I mutter to my friend "I thought this was a beginner's class..." Yoganazi instructor snaps "This is a yoga class!" Bite me. (I think she was commenting on the fact that I was talking rather than what I said, and nothing had been said about no talking and again I'VE NEVER BEEN TO A YOGA CLASS BEFORE IN MY LIFE which I said at the beginning so she knew that.)

Some attempts are made to help us out but I can't keep my head on the same plane as my arms (or whatever the hell she was saying) and look at her to see what the hell she was saying at the same time. But my form was obviously horrible and my wrists were hurting in a bad way (not that there is ever a good way, exactly, but there's the "feel the burn" hurt and then "call the ambulance" hurt and this was worrying me).

So after about 15 minutes, I decide I'm outta there. (I don't, like, stalk out, just say "yeah I think I need a more introductory class, thanks" and leave.) My friend follows. We diss yoganazi instructor and feel better and then go back and do some nice jocky weight lifting. Hmph.

Total: 15 mins bike, 15 mins yogatorture, 15 minutes weights + ball crunches.

Sheesh!
I hope they're not all as snotty as that!

Sheesh is right. Sozobe, there is Yoga and there is Yoga - I always found the
acrobatic yoga very contra productive, at least at the stage I was in. Svaroopa
yoga is the best method to create a state of bliss. I used to love it - should start
again too - no time though!
Svaroopa yoga lifts pressure off your internal organs and glands, so everything functions better. Stress relief and deep relaxation are intrinsic to the relaxation of your core tensions.
Look if they offer these type of yoga, sozobe. My mother (75) started Svaroopa
yoga a few years ago, I had to coax her into going and now she won't miss a class.

Did 1 hour of exercise today - 30 min treadmill (the first 15 min I ran),
20 min bike, 10 min weights.

Not all yoga instructors are snotty, but yoga's hard. I've had a few different instructors over the past 5 years, and it's just hard. I can get into the groove of a number of the moves now (after doing it twice a week for nearly 3 years), but there are still moments when I think "this is supposed to be making me feel good?".

I think I've finally come to the conclusion that I can only work with 'real' yoga instructors (you know, the one at the temple where they serve rice and lentils, or community centre yoga instructors. I can't cope with people at clubs who instruct yoga. They're a different species, to my way of thinking.

I haven't taken a yoga class in my life, but I can so imagine the stare of that yoganazi!

Me either - in my case, I don't want to hear the bushwa. Which is too bad as I might like the underlying moves.

Twelve TV monitors hung from the ceiling of the gym, two each for the
broadcast channels, Fox, CNN and ESPN. I was watching the text scroll
at the bottom of one of the CNN monitors. Usually the scroll annoys
me because the text seldom relates to what the announcer is
saying. If I try to read the one and listen to the other, I end up
understanding neither.

I couldn't hear the announcer because I didn't bring earphones to plug
into the doohicky mounted on the elliptical machine I was using. Just
as well. Never is heard a discouraging word. It occurred to me that
I had been on the machine watching the scroll for almost five minutes
with absolutely no idea what I had been reading. I was just too
tired.

Clive was on the next machine speaking to me. I had no idea what he
was saying either. "Hunh?" I inquired. He said something about
hockey, but I wasn't sure what. "Hunh?" I repeated, a little louder
for clarity. He told me that he was upset beause he had benched Phil
Kessel in his fantasy hocky team and Phil had just scored a
goal. Apparently this information had come across the ESPN scroll. In
school Clive had been diagnosed with ADD, but when something caught
his interest, his powers of concentration could boil water. "Hmph," I
remarked.

Clive was eyeing the panel of my elliptical and must have noticed that
my distance was close to his and getting closer. He launched into
what he calls a "speed burst", going full tilt boogie. I thought
about kicking it up a notch, wearing him down, and then passing
him. But I didn't. Not that I couldn't have. I just didn't feel like
it. When its timer finished counting to ten minutes, the elliptical
chimed three times and I dismounted. Clive's chimed also, but he
wanted to show me how he could keep it going with just one foot.
"Yerb", I said appreciatively and went to the locker room for a
shower.

Such eloquence from a monosyllabic fella.


Ran 2 continuous miles today, but had to slow down this time, not for long but still. I think caffeine may have been the key variable last time (since this time I was wearing contacts and was next to my friend for most of it -- alTHOUGH, she finished earlier than I did and it was about there that I started floundering... hmmm).

I had a little talk with gym owner about the verbiage on their website re: yogatorture. Maybe amend "great for beginners" to "previous yoga experience recommended," I suggested. She was nice about it and saw my point.

Let me share this with ya'll.
Friday I am out for a run. It's cold. 33 degrees and the wind is blowing out of the north. The blue, blue Beeeeelllllewwww sky is clearer than I have ever seen and, did I mention this, it's cold. I run downhill to Fort Tryon Park, around the big turn to the river walk and I start up the long (one point four miles) of uphill, followed by a short flat and then (dun dun---- dun dun dundun) 181st Street which is really about as straight up as a street can get.

I'm trotting along. I have finally gotten warmed up after passing the three mile mark and, hey, I'm feeling alright. I make the turn onto 181st Street and start up. There are two really pretty girls, one pushing a baby carriage, at the top of the first rise at Cabrini Ave. I am looking at them and not at the uneven sidewalk just in front of me. (cue: impending doom music)

A couple of months ago I started doing push-ups. I could do about five good ones when I started, on a good day now, I can do about twenty. Not as many as I could do when I was sixteen, but hey. AND I read somewhere that the main cause of injury in a fall is the lack of arm strength. Failure to stop a fall causes more injuries to the face and head, the knees and wrists.

Returning to the girls and the uphill run, one of them was so beautiful, just striking in the way her eyes ,,,,,, I tripped over a piece of pavement and nosedived towards the sidewalk AND ,.,,,
I put my hands out and caught myself.
Yup.
I just did a perfect plank.
My knees never hit the surface. I pushed myself off the sidewalk and back to a standing position and then looked into the shocked faces of the two girls.

"I'm fine." I said ' I've been working on that move for weeks now."
"Good.'' said the one with the eyes."We thought you had a heart attack."
Translation:
"Hey, geezerhead, wat chew doin' witch dooze shortzon? eh?"
"Nope." I laughed." No heart attack. (I was trotting by them now) I wouldn't want to ruin your day".

Work on your arms every now and again.

Joe(Save your face)Nation

Good for you about the arm strength! I started being able to do zero good push-ups and am now up to five. So your arms are doing great -- which is the moral of your story.

***

This week, I probably overtrained. I worked the same hours as before, but I pushed the intensity too hard on the cardio workouts. As a result, I felt burnt out and depressed before the 8K in Central Park today. (For the metrically challenged, 8K is five miles minus some small change.) I decided not to run it like a race, and not to try to break an hour. Instead I ran it like a hard training run (pulse 155), and finished in a surprisingly decent one hour and three minutes. Maybe I should have gone for the hour after all ....

Go Joe!

I read that same article (about the importance of being strong enough and quick enough to catch yourself -- don't forget quick, it means your reflexes are also in good shape) and it made a big impression on me, too.

And go Thomas too! As I read the preamble I thought you were going to say you decided not to run the race at all, which would have made sense. But no, you went ahead and ran it and finished only 3 minutes off your goal! Great job!

Thomas: I've heard that voice at the start of several races.
"Man, I'm tired. Mebbe I should trot this out... ."
or
" I just want to finish strong so I'm going to take it easy."

I learned to tell it to shut up.

It usually speaks up again about 3/4 of the way through.
"Okay, you're doing good enough."

Joe(I've missed several PRs -sometimes by seconds- whenever I started listening to Mr. Goodenough.)Nation

wow, lots of good activities here. Good going Thomas, and Joe made practically the perfect landing while keeping face in front of the babes. I tried that once Joe - blocking a fall with my hands, only to find out that my wrist was broken. You must be a lightweight and I'm the elephant

I was just out walking up and down our hills - too beautiful weather to be
indoors.

is walking 10 miles a good exercise?

thats how far it is from my house to my grahmas.

just wondering if its decent or just mildly good.

Walking is great exercise, ogionik! How often do you visit your gra'ma?