Saturday, April 09, 2011

Walkies

I wanted to take a training break today, but that exercise bug (Bugus exersisus) just wouldn't let me. It must be taking deeper root in my psyche. I warmed up with squats (3x 20) using an empty straight-bar (not sure how much it weighs, maybe [5-10] lbs.), then one set of squats using my curl bar with (20) lbs. of weights (not sure how much the curl-bar weighs, either; maybe I should get a suspension scale, so I can hang the bars off it and get that measurement...).

DC Bike Path: Walk/jog/walk, repeat. (1.75) miles. Pace-avg: (18:20) min./mi. Speed-avg: (3.3) mph. Burned: (204) Calories. Knees are hangin' in there.

Cool, windy, but no gnats harassing me today. B-)  I actually set-up a workout in Garmin Training Center last night, and loaded it on my FR305. I used it today, and it worked out well. The display did not complain about my HR being too low, and I could hear the chimes easily enough over my iPod. I do need to add at least (5-10) minutes on the end for the cool-down walk home, though.

I'm thinking of buying a new iPod. I'm interested in the iPod shuffle, which I can just clip onto my shirt, or other garment, while exercising. This way I can leave the larger iPod nano (3rd Gen., 8 GB) at home. I bought an armband for the nano on eBay a month ago, and it's working out well, but having it strapped around my bicep can be a little irksome during parts of my gym workouts. The new iPod nano (6th Gen., Multi-touch) is pretty sweet. One of the accessories I saw for it was a wrist-band that let's you wear it like a watch, and an option (already included in the nano) that let's you display a watch-face on the screen (analog, or digital). Silly? Trivial? Maybe, but it still strikes me as cool.


iPod Playlist (workout): Oingo Boingo - Best O Boingo, Orgy - Candyass, Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party, Lady Gaga - The Fame, Rammstein - Sehnsucht, DJ Brian (mixed by) - Hardesertrance 2.

-Lancer!!

Friday, April 08, 2011

Snot Nose

Finally got around to my workout today, which might have been a touch overkill. We'll see how my knees feel in the morning:

DC Bike Path: Cycling (47) min. w/ cycling shoes (8.85) miles; Walking: (41) min. Walk/jog/walk (2.13) miles. Burned: (582) Calories [GarminTC].

DC Bike Path: Walking/Jog Training: Lap #1: Walk (10) min./ Jog (1) min. / Walk (5) min.; Lap #2: Walk (10) min./ Jog (1) min. / Walk (5) min., Lap #3: Cool-down walk home. Burned: (249) Calories [Garmin TC].

Again, it was cold outside (55 deg.F.), but little to no wind...when I left. Once I got into the park on my bike, and especially after El Vista, the wind seemed to pick up a good bit, so I had a headwind all the way to the end of the park. And since it was a cold wind, I had "snot nose" all through my ride. Joy. Once back home I filled a bucket with used snot paper, then changed into my running shorts and running shoes. My SJSU hoodie was too porous, i.e. cold, for the bike ride, but it was just right for the foot portion of the park (less wind-chill) workout. I was just able to manage one (1) full minute on each of the "jog" sections of my laps. Almost a brisk stagger. I have been using a method (unnamed) of "jogging" these portions where I move forward in a continuous, rolling motion, while trying to minimize the springing vertical motion of my stride. I think it's working for me.

At this point, I'm wondering if maybe I should just stick solely to walking, instead of the walk/jog/walk, and do leg muscle training at the gym. I'll get back to you on that. Time to eat, stretch, shower, and ice my knees, in no particular order...

-Lancer!!

Widget Issues

The Weather.com widget appears to be having issues, i.e. the weather data in the middle appears to be drifting down over time, which means the Wind Speed is cut-off at the bottom of the bubble. So much for the custom layout. Guess I'll go back to a plain example, and see how that works.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Workout

Got a very late start on my workout today: I was up late, again, and woke up about 1800 hrs. Since the temps are down due to the rain, et al., I went to the gym for my workout:

MCR: "Fit In 30" Room: (35) min. Treadmill: (35) min. Walk (10) min., Jog (1.5) min., Walk: (5) min., repeat. (1.70) miles. Burned: (201) Calories [LifeFitness Treadmill].

Since my Garmin does not calculate Calories burned based on Heart Rate (it uses distance travelled) I also use a Calories Burned calculator I found on a web-site. Whether or not it is highly accurate is irrelevant: I just want a general idea of how many Calories I am burning so I don't overeat after my workouts. Maybe once I am employed I will consider getting one of the newer Garmin ForeRunner GPS watches, since they are supposed to use HR to calculate Calories burned; this will be helpful during gym workouts in particular. I received my Garmin FR305 as an X-mas gift (as already mentioned) so I want to get as much use out of it as I can without feeling like I got what I asked for then, chuck it in a desk drawer to gather dust.

Made some more adjustments to the blog layout, colors and background image.

-Lancer!!

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

New Layout

As you can see I changed the layout of my blog. It's been three (3) years, so it was time to freshen it up a little. I will probably make some more changes in the days ahead.

Exercise: Today is supposed to be a thirty (30) minute brisk walk, I am making it a rest day, instead. The last few days have been pretty good, and the muscles in (and around) my knees have felt more like they've been getting a good workout, rather than heavy abuse. Tomorrow will be back to my modified training plan.

-Lancer!!

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Tuesday

Today I went to the gym for the first time in a couple of days. I spent (35) minutes in the "Fit in 30" room doing cardio and strength exercise, used the Seated Squat machine (3x 20 reps @ [70] lbs.), then the Cybex Calf Raise machine for (3x 15 reps. @ [40] lbs.). I tried using different toe postions (straight ahead, toe out, toe in) and definitely felt more work in different parts of my calves. I will have to remember to use it the same way each time, going forward.
When I got home I had to dump the memory in my Garmin ForeRunner 305; apparently, it was full and did not record my HR data for the gym portion of today's workout. I was also able to export all the data from my Garmin TC (MacOSX) and import it into Garmin TC (Windows). Everything was copied across, including all my notes. Awesome! So today's jogging training went like:

DC Bike Path: Jogging training: (1.86) miles Walk/jog/walk. Total mileage: (2.12) miles. Pace-avg: (17:53) min./mile. Burned (243) Calories. Knees are feeling it.

I continued using the format: Walk (10) min., Jog (2) min., Walk (5) min.; repeat. Since I got home and stretched, I have not felt the dire need to ice my knees, but probably will before I got to sleep, anyway. I think today's gym workout helped get my knees warmed up for the jogging bit today. Bonus!

Also, since I use Voomaxer on FaceBook, and FB has been having issues with Voomaxer the last couple of days (the programmers are still trying to get a response from FB) I have been using the Voomaxer web-site in it's place. I found I was able to export the data from Voomaxer via "Manage > Export" and download it as a CSV (comma-separated values) file. I was then able to open that file in OpenOffice.org (Calc) and everything showed up in the spreadsheet, including all my notes. Bitchin'!

-Lancer!!

Monday

So I finally got out for a bit of running training today:

DC Bike Path: Walk/jog/walk: (1.93) miles, Pace-avg: (17:40) min./mile. Speed-max: (4.5) mph. Total mileage including cool-down walk home: (2.87) miles. Burned: (330) Calories. Knees are feeling it.

Before I went out today, I tried doing some squats to warm up my quads and hams. Sunday, I was reading my old copy of The Doctor's Book of Home Remedies (c.1990),  and it recommended doing strength exercises for quads and hams as a way to help improve knee strength and support. I should also be using the Cardio Circuit room at the gym like I had been before I started this training program. Obviously, I should also have been doing some walking and more to build up my knee strength long before I started this effort.

In the meantime, I will modify the training plan so I am only jogging one (1) to two (2) minutes during each phase of the walk/jog/walk plan. This way I should be able to work my way up to longer periods without crippling myself before the Bay to Breakers, because that would just suck.

I also found a flexible ice pack, with sleeve, at Walgreen's today, so I can ice my knees after my training rather than relying solely on ibuprofen to cope with my aching knees. I wish I could find my old ice-packs. They came with fabric sleeves which could be wrapped around joints with a Velcro closure, sort of like an Ace bandage.

-Lancer!!

Sunday, April 03, 2011

Knees

Today I slept in late to ensure I got enough sleep for a change. I went to the movies and saw The Adjustment Bureau, finally, now that is down to only one (1) showing a day. I enjoyed the movie, though it was a little predictable. Finally went out for a walk today, as part of my 5K training plan:

Surface Streets: Walked for (30) min. as part of training plan for 5K (for B2B). Knees still achy. Burned: (190) Calories. Pace-avg: (18:10) min./mile.

I think I may need to work with a trainer, or just stick to the treadmill at the gym for a while, and see if my knees ache less the day after, or not.  Anyway, I got it done, and am keeping up the chain in Voomaxer. B-)

-Lancer!!