Hi all. This will be the last post (probably) until around March 8th or so. Kim and I load up and head out early tomorrow morning for Costa Rica!
Over the past 3 day I've run about 21 miles plus this morning I got in my final 3.5 mile run before the trip. I thought about trying to get in another session later but I really don't want to be overly sore (or risk injuring something just before we leave) so I think I'll just rest and get ready to leave.
Sticking to eating well (I did sneak and eat some of the "Drive Thru Diet" last night). It was horrible, but great. :) I'd been exhausted and starving all day so I decided to splurge and have some nasty burrito. I'll stay on plan until we leave tomorrow. I have no idea what to expect with regards to Costa Rican food. I'm a sucker for street food, so maybe we'll find something good every day out walking around. Our resort is supposed to have pretty good food, so if nothing else we'll eat there (or nearby at other resorts).
Well, that's it for now. Expect lots of pics when we return!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
100 Miles & Running (Day 193)
Today was another good cardio/workout day. "100 miles and running" is how I feel (bonus points for anyone who knows the name of the group who recorded that song). I began with 3o minutes on the spin bike at home after breakfast. I managed to keep up with "Doyle", the top level rider on the workout DVD. My goal is to become Doyle (on the bike anyway). After the bike I had a snack, got cleaned up and headed to the gym. Today I did have to train alone because mom was unable to join me. I ran 3.5 miles on the treadmill, and it was awful. It felt like every step was gonna be my last. I think it was because the gym was a little hotter than usual today (the heat was actually turned on). After the run I spent the rest of the day dreading the second 3.5 miles. My resistance workout today was back. I began with 2 sets of pull-ups (horrible, just horrible), followed by 2 sets of pull downs, then 2 sets of t-bar rows, and finally 2 sets of y-bar rows. The 2 sets thing is a little something different today. Usually I get 3 sets per exercise. I wanted to train a little faster and get in a little bit of a change.
Once finished with the gym I cleaned up and then drove to my grandmother's house to pick her up for lunch. Mom, dad, my grandmother & I celebrated her 81st birthday with lunch at an Olive Garden. I had a salad with lite dressing, no croutons, a single tomato, and not much else. I later looked up the calories in the regular salad everyone else had and was shocked. They might as well have had a pizza. Lots of calories & LOTS of sodium. My soup had a few hundred calories & a boatload of sodium. The bread sticks were where I bombed. I meant to eat 1/2 of one. I ate 3, @ 150 calories each. Damn. For sure gonna run again now. The rest of the day I had some granola, some very low fat-high protein beef jerky, and NS sloppy joe for dinner.
After Kim got home from work we went back to the gym. The final treadmill session went much better than the morning run. It was noticeably cooler in the gym. I ended the day with 7+ miles of running, & 8.5 miles on the bike.
I've got my bag packed and ready for our trip. Kim is to have her bag packed tomorrow evening so we can weigh it and make sure it is under the weight limit for checked bags. I've made check lists, shopping lists, packing lists, etc. I don't want us to be up all night Friday night trying to pack and get ready to leave. I want to be able to be ready tomorrow night so Friday I don't have to worry about it. Friday I want to be able to train, come home and sleep some during the afternoon, run again in the evening, then go to bed early so we can get up and be at the airport EARLY Saturday morning. I'm so excited about this trip. If I don't see a monkey I'll cut someone!
Another pic of me below. Shot at the OneLight workshop in Atlanta last week. Nong Cavender shot the photo.
Once finished with the gym I cleaned up and then drove to my grandmother's house to pick her up for lunch. Mom, dad, my grandmother & I celebrated her 81st birthday with lunch at an Olive Garden. I had a salad with lite dressing, no croutons, a single tomato, and not much else. I later looked up the calories in the regular salad everyone else had and was shocked. They might as well have had a pizza. Lots of calories & LOTS of sodium. My soup had a few hundred calories & a boatload of sodium. The bread sticks were where I bombed. I meant to eat 1/2 of one. I ate 3, @ 150 calories each. Damn. For sure gonna run again now. The rest of the day I had some granola, some very low fat-high protein beef jerky, and NS sloppy joe for dinner.
After Kim got home from work we went back to the gym. The final treadmill session went much better than the morning run. It was noticeably cooler in the gym. I ended the day with 7+ miles of running, & 8.5 miles on the bike.
I've got my bag packed and ready for our trip. Kim is to have her bag packed tomorrow evening so we can weigh it and make sure it is under the weight limit for checked bags. I've made check lists, shopping lists, packing lists, etc. I don't want us to be up all night Friday night trying to pack and get ready to leave. I want to be able to be ready tomorrow night so Friday I don't have to worry about it. Friday I want to be able to train, come home and sleep some during the afternoon, run again in the evening, then go to bed early so we can get up and be at the airport EARLY Saturday morning. I'm so excited about this trip. If I don't see a monkey I'll cut someone!
Another pic of me below. Shot at the OneLight workshop in Atlanta last week. Nong Cavender shot the photo.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Lots of Running (Day 192)
Well, I didn't have to train alone toady after all. I trained with my mom! She came by and picked me up around 10:30. We began our workout with cardio. I ran 3.5 miles in 30 minutes. We trained shoulders after cardio. 3 sets of machine shoulder presses, followed by 3 sets of lateral raises, finishing with 3 sets of rear delts. After mom dropped me back at my place I ate a little lunch and then climbed on the spin bike for 30 minutes. Finally late this evening Kim and I went back to the gym so she could do some cardio and tan a bit (in preparation for our trip to Costa Rica). So I jumped back on the treadmill for another 3.5 miles, then about another mile and a half on the elliptical trainer. I'm pretty sure this is the first time in my life I've run 7 miles. Maybe as a kid playing tennis I logged 7 miles during an entire day, but I doubt it. For the past day or so I had been whining to Kim that I haven't been burning as many calories as usual. I realized today it was probably because I haven't been doing my usual hour and a half of cardio. D'oh. So today I easily reached my calorie burn. I actually blew past it and have burned more today than any other day since I started tracking it with the BodyBugg. I think I burned around 4300 calories on the day.
I actually laughed at myself out loud today. I was describing how much I enjoyed running to my mom (I think it was her, maybe somebody else). Then I realized what I'd just said, I "enjoyed" running. WHAT? (read that as Dule' Hill says it as Gus on Psych). When I started trying to integrate running into my cardio workouts I couldn't run 100 yards, much less 7 miles. My cardio consisted of walking at a moderate pace up a steep incline. One of the things I've loved about adding the running to my routine has been the ability to set a goal, work toward it, and then move on to the next goal. I'm really not able to do that with my weight training now ('cause I'm so tired from all of the cardio :) ) so it's nice to have something that I can motivate myself to train for. I think the running has helped me move past some of the long held ideas that I've had that have really limited my fitness. When I was heavier I convinced myself that running was bad for me, bad for my knees, and I didn't need to do it because I might loose some muscle mass. Now I realize how much better shape I'm in and how crazy I was for thinking that way. I'm not a bodybuilder, I never will be, nor do I want to be. I hate to say it, but I'm turning into what I used to hate. A granola eating, pull-up doing, athletic person. I'm not the strongest person in the gym, I can't lift as much as I could six months ago, and I probably can't train as intensely (resistance wise), but I'm drastically more fit. Thankfully, I'm happy with that.
I had a chance to take a pic of a sign I've meant to shoot for a long time this morning. The downtown area of our small town has a small parking area with a little gazebo across the street from the town library. Near the gazebo is a sign compelling everyone to keep pets off of the grass. The only problem is there is not a blade of grass to be found. Ok, maybe a few blades scattered around, but nothing to worry about protecting. Anyway, I love the lunacy of the sign.
I actually laughed at myself out loud today. I was describing how much I enjoyed running to my mom (I think it was her, maybe somebody else). Then I realized what I'd just said, I "enjoyed" running. WHAT? (read that as Dule' Hill says it as Gus on Psych). When I started trying to integrate running into my cardio workouts I couldn't run 100 yards, much less 7 miles. My cardio consisted of walking at a moderate pace up a steep incline. One of the things I've loved about adding the running to my routine has been the ability to set a goal, work toward it, and then move on to the next goal. I'm really not able to do that with my weight training now ('cause I'm so tired from all of the cardio :) ) so it's nice to have something that I can motivate myself to train for. I think the running has helped me move past some of the long held ideas that I've had that have really limited my fitness. When I was heavier I convinced myself that running was bad for me, bad for my knees, and I didn't need to do it because I might loose some muscle mass. Now I realize how much better shape I'm in and how crazy I was for thinking that way. I'm not a bodybuilder, I never will be, nor do I want to be. I hate to say it, but I'm turning into what I used to hate. A granola eating, pull-up doing, athletic person. I'm not the strongest person in the gym, I can't lift as much as I could six months ago, and I probably can't train as intensely (resistance wise), but I'm drastically more fit. Thankfully, I'm happy with that.
I had a chance to take a pic of a sign I've meant to shoot for a long time this morning. The downtown area of our small town has a small parking area with a little gazebo across the street from the town library. Near the gazebo is a sign compelling everyone to keep pets off of the grass. The only problem is there is not a blade of grass to be found. Ok, maybe a few blades scattered around, but nothing to worry about protecting. Anyway, I love the lunacy of the sign.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Missed One Cardio Session (Day 191)
Today I had to train alone. Kim and I tried to meet with our insurance agent early but were unable to arrange a time before she had to go to work. So tomorrow we'll meet early and I'll then have to train alone again. My gym time began with a 3.45 mile run then a chest workout. For chest I began with machine presses for 3 sets, then 3 sets of incline presses, onto 3 sets of machine flies, and finally 2 sets of push-ups. Later this afternoon I rode the spin bike for 30 minutes (8.5 miles) for my final cardio session of the day. Now at the end of the day I'm kinda disappointed with the amount of exercise I did on the day. Usually I get at least 30 minutes more. I've got to try to get back into the groove of 3 separate cardio sessions on most days. Maybe tomorrow.
Food was good on the day. All NS during the day with a little granola mixed in instead of bread and some veggies. Tonight after dinner I stayed hungry. I snacked on cheese, veggies, a NS dessert, and granola. I should have just had a bowl of granola cereal and been done with it.
I did managed to get some bookwork done today along with buying enough cat and dog food to last my parents, who get the joy of looking after our herd of animals while we're on vacation next week, at least until we get home. I also rode/drove along with my mom to take my sister and nephew back to their home in Atlanta this afternoon.
The washing of clothes and prep for packing begins tomorrow. We are terrible at packing. We try to take EVERYTHING with us. This should be a challenge for us to fit everything for 8 days into two relatively small bags (small for us anyway). I'm really struggling not to bring every camera/lens/camcorder we have with us. I'm drawing the line at one camera body, 2-3 lens, one light, a tripod, and a point & shoot. I may not take all of that. I think I can get by with just 2 lens. I know I'll be furious with myself if I get there and see the shot I want but can't get it simply because I didn't bring a long/wide enough lens. Maybe I'll just pack less clothes....
Food was good on the day. All NS during the day with a little granola mixed in instead of bread and some veggies. Tonight after dinner I stayed hungry. I snacked on cheese, veggies, a NS dessert, and granola. I should have just had a bowl of granola cereal and been done with it.
I did managed to get some bookwork done today along with buying enough cat and dog food to last my parents, who get the joy of looking after our herd of animals while we're on vacation next week, at least until we get home. I also rode/drove along with my mom to take my sister and nephew back to their home in Atlanta this afternoon.
The washing of clothes and prep for packing begins tomorrow. We are terrible at packing. We try to take EVERYTHING with us. This should be a challenge for us to fit everything for 8 days into two relatively small bags (small for us anyway). I'm really struggling not to bring every camera/lens/camcorder we have with us. I'm drawing the line at one camera body, 2-3 lens, one light, a tripod, and a point & shoot. I may not take all of that. I think I can get by with just 2 lens. I know I'll be furious with myself if I get there and see the shot I want but can't get it simply because I didn't bring a long/wide enough lens. Maybe I'll just pack less clothes....
Sunday, February 21, 2010
I've Gone Granola Crazy (Day 190)
Today Kim and I began the day sharing a bagel for breakfast. I also had a little granola cereal (still hooked on the granola). After breakfast we walked Jumping Jack Flash around the lake (a little under 2 miles) before getting cleaned up and heading to my grandmother's birthday dinner. I did very well with the birthday meal (some type of spinach/meat/pasta dish) but not so great with dessert. I had a wonderful slice of coconut cake. After the meal I herded up the family outside for a couple of pics. I HATE shooting in bright daylight. Wish I'd have taken the time and found some better shade, but I didn't, so the pics are what they are.
After dinner Kim and I headed to the gym. She tanned while I ran on the treadmill. I got in about 3.35 miles THEN we trained legs. 3 sets of extensions, 3 sets of leg curls, 3 sets of hack squats, and finally 3 sets of hyper-extensions. After the leg workout we trained abs. 3 sets of decline crunches, 3 sets of v-sits, and 3 sets of crunches on a huge ball.
Later in the day we went grocery shopping. I limped around the store in a state of exhaustion. I was catching calf and hip flexor cramps something awful. Once we re-upped on crystal light, coffee, milk, and granola bars we returned home for dinner. I had a bowl of cereal and a granola bar. I've been laying off of the NS for the past few days. I'm just not feeling it right now. I'm still eating well, just not NS. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel like it. We'll be back on a normal schedule for a week so I'll see how it goes. If not, more cereal!
Finally tonight I shot some pics to use trying out a new stacking program. I shoot lots of 30 second long pictures and then combine them into one image to show the motion of the earth (looks like the stars are spinning). It did ok. Not thrilled with the way it handled some clouds moving in. I'm gonna try out a few other pieces of software over the next few nights.
After dinner Kim and I headed to the gym. She tanned while I ran on the treadmill. I got in about 3.35 miles THEN we trained legs. 3 sets of extensions, 3 sets of leg curls, 3 sets of hack squats, and finally 3 sets of hyper-extensions. After the leg workout we trained abs. 3 sets of decline crunches, 3 sets of v-sits, and 3 sets of crunches on a huge ball.
Later in the day we went grocery shopping. I limped around the store in a state of exhaustion. I was catching calf and hip flexor cramps something awful. Once we re-upped on crystal light, coffee, milk, and granola bars we returned home for dinner. I had a bowl of cereal and a granola bar. I've been laying off of the NS for the past few days. I'm just not feeling it right now. I'm still eating well, just not NS. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel like it. We'll be back on a normal schedule for a week so I'll see how it goes. If not, more cereal!
Finally tonight I shot some pics to use trying out a new stacking program. I shoot lots of 30 second long pictures and then combine them into one image to show the motion of the earth (looks like the stars are spinning). It did ok. Not thrilled with the way it handled some clouds moving in. I'm gonna try out a few other pieces of software over the next few nights.
Training and Shopping (Day 189)
This post is for Saturday, February 20, 2010.
Saturday found Kim and I headed to the gym to train arms, get in some cardio and tanning (the tanning for her, not me) all before heading off for some final shopping before our vacation to Costa Rica next week. Yep, this time next week we'll be somewhere on the West Coast of Costa Rica taking it easy, watching some monkeys and sloths play in the trees.
The workout began with treadmill intervals, one minute at 6mph then a minute at 8mph, then repeat. I continued the intervals for 25 minutes and then jogged at 6 for the final 5 minutes. Pretty good workout and I finished 3.1 miles in less than 25 minutes (I did push the speed above 8 on a few of the intervals). We trained arms after Kim finished tanning. 3 sets of press downs, followed by 3 sets of nose breakers, and finished triceps with 2 sets of rope press downs. Biceps began with 3 sets of rope curls, followed by 3 sets of incline dumbbell curls.
Once back home we headed out around the lake with Jumping Jack Flash for a nice walk. It was a beautiful day here and we walked at a nice pace around the lake and even got a chance to view where the police chase from a week or so ago crashed through one of our back gates and the fleeing car crashed into one of the smaller ponds on our property. Lovely. The crashed vehicle left behind some parting gifts for us including a front bumper and a side rear view mirror. Keep it classy Calhoun!
After our walk we headed shopping for a few items we still needed for the trip. I bought some new trail running/hiking shoes. Kim found some sandals, a back pack, some pants, and a lovely new swim suit. As she tried on the new swim suit and came out of the dressing room for me to see, some of the women around the dressing room smiled and as she walked back into the fitting room began telling each other that they NEVER looked like that and how they'd give anything to be able to have her skin and figure. I just smiled. I almost snarled and growled, "She's mine!" (that's our running joke). Anyway, I told her about it later and she just beamed a huge smile.
Food yesterday was good. I've been on a granola kick for a bit so I'm having a good bit of cereal and granola bars. Dinner last night was at the Falafel Cafe. The lamb was delicious, but the saffron rice was amazing. I'll have to get at it on the treadmill Sunday as a result.
Finally I got in another 20 minutes on the bike late as my final cardio of the day. I had the Olympics on and spun as I watched part of the bobsled competition. To bad I missed curling.....
Saturday found Kim and I headed to the gym to train arms, get in some cardio and tanning (the tanning for her, not me) all before heading off for some final shopping before our vacation to Costa Rica next week. Yep, this time next week we'll be somewhere on the West Coast of Costa Rica taking it easy, watching some monkeys and sloths play in the trees.
The workout began with treadmill intervals, one minute at 6mph then a minute at 8mph, then repeat. I continued the intervals for 25 minutes and then jogged at 6 for the final 5 minutes. Pretty good workout and I finished 3.1 miles in less than 25 minutes (I did push the speed above 8 on a few of the intervals). We trained arms after Kim finished tanning. 3 sets of press downs, followed by 3 sets of nose breakers, and finished triceps with 2 sets of rope press downs. Biceps began with 3 sets of rope curls, followed by 3 sets of incline dumbbell curls.
Once back home we headed out around the lake with Jumping Jack Flash for a nice walk. It was a beautiful day here and we walked at a nice pace around the lake and even got a chance to view where the police chase from a week or so ago crashed through one of our back gates and the fleeing car crashed into one of the smaller ponds on our property. Lovely. The crashed vehicle left behind some parting gifts for us including a front bumper and a side rear view mirror. Keep it classy Calhoun!
After our walk we headed shopping for a few items we still needed for the trip. I bought some new trail running/hiking shoes. Kim found some sandals, a back pack, some pants, and a lovely new swim suit. As she tried on the new swim suit and came out of the dressing room for me to see, some of the women around the dressing room smiled and as she walked back into the fitting room began telling each other that they NEVER looked like that and how they'd give anything to be able to have her skin and figure. I just smiled. I almost snarled and growled, "She's mine!" (that's our running joke). Anyway, I told her about it later and she just beamed a huge smile.
Food yesterday was good. I've been on a granola kick for a bit so I'm having a good bit of cereal and granola bars. Dinner last night was at the Falafel Cafe. The lamb was delicious, but the saffron rice was amazing. I'll have to get at it on the treadmill Sunday as a result.
Finally I got in another 20 minutes on the bike late as my final cardio of the day. I had the Olympics on and spun as I watched part of the bobsled competition. To bad I missed curling.....
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday Was A Bust (Day 188)
This post is for Friday, February 19th 2010.
Today was a bust. I had meetings all day and planned to train late in the evening. Never happened. As I was finishing my last meeting I got a call that one of our properties had a leak and I had to go take a look. The tenant is a bowling alley and the leak was over one of the lanes. I swapped vehicles so I could have the "work" truck, waited on Kim to meet me at the house, then headed to the bowling alley (one town North of where we live). It was very odd that the roof was leaking, since we hadn't had any rain in at least 5 days.
So we arrived, looked at the leak, climbed the ladder carrying a super heavy bucket of roof patch onto the roof, and discovered NO water on the roof. Over 22,00 square feet of roof there wasn't so much as an ounce of water to be found. Relieved, we climbed back down into the bowels of the bowling center, reported to the manager that the leak was not from the roof but more than likely coming from their over used HVAC system (condensation) thus not my responsibility, loaded up our tools, and left. By this time the gym was already closed so we decided to get dinner.
Kim wanted fish tacos and I thought I'd have a carnitas taco or something similar so we went to a local Mexican restaurant. Kim's food was perfect. Mine sucked. I didn't eat much of it. I even went so far as to tell our waiter it was horrible and he discounted the bill (a little). After dinner we stopped and grabbed bagels for Saturday & Sunday mornings then headed home. So on the day we didn't eat well, we didn't train, but at least we didn't end up with TAR all over us from working on the roof. Not a bad day after all.
Today was a bust. I had meetings all day and planned to train late in the evening. Never happened. As I was finishing my last meeting I got a call that one of our properties had a leak and I had to go take a look. The tenant is a bowling alley and the leak was over one of the lanes. I swapped vehicles so I could have the "work" truck, waited on Kim to meet me at the house, then headed to the bowling alley (one town North of where we live). It was very odd that the roof was leaking, since we hadn't had any rain in at least 5 days.
So we arrived, looked at the leak, climbed the ladder carrying a super heavy bucket of roof patch onto the roof, and discovered NO water on the roof. Over 22,00 square feet of roof there wasn't so much as an ounce of water to be found. Relieved, we climbed back down into the bowels of the bowling center, reported to the manager that the leak was not from the roof but more than likely coming from their over used HVAC system (condensation) thus not my responsibility, loaded up our tools, and left. By this time the gym was already closed so we decided to get dinner.
Kim wanted fish tacos and I thought I'd have a carnitas taco or something similar so we went to a local Mexican restaurant. Kim's food was perfect. Mine sucked. I didn't eat much of it. I even went so far as to tell our waiter it was horrible and he discounted the bill (a little). After dinner we stopped and grabbed bagels for Saturday & Sunday mornings then headed home. So on the day we didn't eat well, we didn't train, but at least we didn't end up with TAR all over us from working on the roof. Not a bad day after all.
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