Recap of the Past Few Days (Day 227)

My laptop is still in for repairs, so I'm trying to catch up on my posts with an old machine.

Saturday Kim and I jogged around the lake for her C25K work, then I went to the gym and did another 3+ miles on the treadmill, followed by a leg workout. At that point I thought I was finished for the day. I returned home and was greeted by Kim, who was ready to take one more little run around the lake. I ended up doing almost 9 miles of jogging + the leg workout.

Sunday I was exhausted, sore, and in need of rest. So I did absolutely nothing. I ate OK, but I didn't do any exercise at all. I realized late in the day that I was in a foul mood because I didn't train at all. Kinda grumpy and feeling like a waste for not doing some sorta exercise.

Monday I jogged early with Kim around the lake, then hit the gym for another 3+ miles on the treadmill, followed by a chest workout with my mother. Monday afternoon we went shopping for Kim's Birthday. I made a decent lunch choice and drug my mother to get sushi. Well, I had sashimi (some delicious blue fin tuna) and she had yakitori. She was a little hesitant to begin with, but after the first bite she was all about it. She had chicken, salmon, pork, & bacon wrapped scallops. Now mom can eat with me for lunch more often!

Tuesday I ran 3 miles in the morning (Kim had to work), followed by 3 more on the treadmill, then a shoulder workout. I didn't do any other cardio the rest of the day. We went out to eat (and deliver my Mac to the repair center) for Kim's Birthday late in the evening. We ended up eating at a great little pizza place in Chattanooga called Lupi's. You can order pizza by the slice so we didn't over eat. Stopping for Ice Cream at Ben & Jerry's after dinner didn't help with the healthy eating, but it was her birthday, thus a great excuse to get some ICE CREAM!

Today I got up and ran 3+ miles around the lake with Jumping Jack Flash, did 3 more miles on the treadmill at the gym, trained back, then did 15 minutes on the elliptical trainer. Tonight we're planning on running the track around the lake after Kim gets in from work. She's kinda getting excited about training for the Warrior Dash now. She's also very concerned about being able to run the whole thing. I keep telling her she's doing well and will be ready by the day of the run.

The mac should be repaired and back home within a few days. I didn't realize until it was broken how much I use it. All of my photo and video editing is done on it. All of my food logging, blogging, menu planning, etc. is done on it as well. We have quite a few PC's in the house (using one now) but they're tied to a particular room, and most are so OLD and slow.

Below is a map of route we run here at the lake.


View Running Track Around Moss Lake in a larger map

If I could get a week or two in a row without a birthday party, a dinner, or other special occasion (like last weekend's uncontrollable fried fish craving) I'll be back at my weight before we went on vacation. I'm close now. As soon as the mac returns I'll post a new "Warrior Beard" pic.

Computer Problems, Be Back Soon

Hi all. My mac book pro, followed by my backup pc, have crashed. Headed to repair shop today. Try to post from other computers soon. Without the mac, I can't edit photos so I'll hold up on posting much until it returns. Still training, still running, still doing well. Be back soon

Horse in My Yard, Star Trails (Day 222)

This post is for Friday, March 26th, 2010.

I was unable to run outside because of all of the rain on Thursday night, so I started my training for the day on the treadmill at the gym. I wanted to do the same routine as last Friday when I ran with DJ. I ended up changing it just a bit. I walked uphill for 10 minutes to get warmed up then ran 5 minute intervals at 8, 7, and 6 mph. Next I walked for another 10 minutes and then repeated the intervals again. Finally I walked another 10 minutes to cool down. Not a bad workout at all. 60 minutes and over 5 miles with half of the time spent walking. I planned on training legs after finishing up with the treadmill but just as I finished Kim walked in the gym. She smiled and told me she'd lost her house keys and was locked out. Perfect reason to push the leg workout a day and go home to have lunch with Kim!

We had a healthy lunch (chicken for me, veggies and a soy burger for her) and then went our separate ways to finish up the day. I had a quick meeting with an accountant then off to the grocery store. I stocked up on chicken breasts and found some fish I planned on grilling us for dinner. We ended up going to a little place in town for dinner. Kim had crab legs, and I planned on having oysters, but I ended up with catfish (fried) and chicken wings..... I've been craving fried fish for 8 months & this is only the 2nd time I've had any. 2nd time for wings as well. I felt like poo afterward.

I waddled home and plopped down on the sofa as Kim went to visit a friend for the evening. I thought of riding the spin bike, but just couldn't get motivated. I'd resigned myself to resting with the Pug for the evening. A little later I heard my big dogs going crazy outside. It was about time to bring them in for the night so I got up and walked to the back door to let them in. I opened the door to find a man on a horse standing in my yard. My dogs were going bananas! Before I go on I should say we get a fair amount of weirdness at our lake. People are always trying to sneak in to hunt, fish, hang out, do stuff they shouldn't be doing, etc. So we're kinda used to finding people on our property that shouldn't be there. This is only about the 2nd time I've seen someone on a horse on the property. The other time they were a long way from my house and I knew the person (neighbors who have permission). So as I see the Lone Ranger in my back yard I really don't know how to greet him. I lamely wave and say hi. In response the man wheels the horse around, goes all Hi Ho Silver on me, and takes off at a gallop riding toward the barn, though my yard and the neighbor's yard, and into the night. Now I'm compelled to chase after the horseman to see why he ran and what he's doing on my property. So I did end up getting more cardio in last night. I quickly brought the dogs in, grabbed a high powered flashlight, my night vision gear, and side arm. Next I'm running through the night trying to catch up to a galloping horse. 2 miles later I gave up. The tracks vanished once the rider left the dirt road around our lake. I walked around and hung out in the dark for a bit to see if they ever came back. Nothing. All in all I guess it was a pretty normal night at our lake.

Since I was out late, in the dark I took the opportunity to shoot some star trail pics. This is a composite of about 99 photos (each 30 seconds long) of the stars above my house. I shifted the sky to blue to try to eleminate the horrible color from the sodium vapor light near our house (those terrible orange security lights, I HATE those things).


Tomorrow I'm gonna run outside (I hope), train legs, and grill my chicken and fish. Good sounding day!

Running in the Rain (Day 221)

This post is for Thursday, March 25, 2010.

The rains hadn't started yet when I woke up, so JJF and I headed out on a jog around the lake. About a mile & a half in, the rain began. Never more than a good drizzle, but cool and wet none the less. We finished up with a 3 mile jog before the forecast heavy rain arrived around 9AM. The rain ended up arriving around 9PM....

At the gym I ran another 1.8 miles on the treadmill and then finished up with 1.7 on the elliptical. So on the day I only ended up with an hour of cardio and around 6.3 miles. I trained arms after the cardio at the gym. 3 sets of press downs and 3 sets of overhead presses for triceps, followed by 3 sets of standing dumbbell curls and 3 sets of straight bar curls for biceps. Fast, heavy, and finished. The total muscular workout lasted less than 15 minutes.

Another pretty good food day. I had a NS snack (chocolate rainbow delight) as my only NS item of the day. The rest of my meals were either grilled chicken breasts, salads, protein shakes, or granola. I ended up eating to much cereal late because I ran out of chicken. Lazy, I know. Any way, I ended up with about 1700 calorie deficit on the day. It's sad, but I just can't burn 4000 calories anymore without doing 3 cardio sessions a day. I've been trying to get it with just two, but I'm falling short. So back to three it will be.

My sodium intake was low again today. Not much NS and again a low sodium day. That is my only concern with NS. Everything else has been so great (and the sodium levels get you just about the recommended amount, give or take a little) so I guess it's not really that bad.

Tomorrow is leg day! Woohoo! At least I didn't forget about it this week...

Pic is another from Costa Rica. That isn't me in the waterfall. We didn't know about doing this until it was to late to try it. Did make for a cool photo though.

Stil Running (Day 220)

This morning I was able to run outside again. Things were still a bit muddy, but not to bad. Jumping Jack Flash and I took off at a moderate pace around the lake. I ran my usual route, but then doubled up on the back portion of the property, extending the run from 2.2 to 3.4 miles. My pace ended up being much slower than what I'm used to running on the treadmill. Damn hills (and mud). Great workout though. A little later in the day I hit the gym and did another 2.9 miles on the treadmill. The first 2 miles were at 7mph with the rest of the time at a slower jog, then finishing up with a slow pace uphill. My workout for the day was back. I forgot my lifting straps & training belt (thinking more about the cardio instead of what I needed to train with, I guess) so no pull-ups today. I began with 3 sets of hammer strength pull downs, followed by 3 sets of hammer strength low rows, and finally 3 sets of lat pull-downs. Kinda pathetic workout really. I was very fatigued by the end though. I was resting between sets and my arm and back muscles began to twitch/tremble. This is an improvement from last week when I wanted to cry between sets from exhaustion. The only other cardio of the day was about a mile and a half walk with Kim late this evening after dinner.

Today I didn't eat a bit of NS. I didn't mean to, it just worked out that way. Lots of chicken breasts, a protein shake, grilled blackened fish, salad, and cereal. My sodium intake today was the lowest recorded yet.

Tomorrow I'll try to ease up on the total miles I run (one session outside before the rain returns & one on the treadmill) and get in some time on the spin bike. Hopefully we'll be able to get Kim's C25K workout in as well.

Pic below is my dinner. Grilled blackened salmon with a salad.

Tuesday on the Treadmill (Day 219)

Today began with a ten mile ride on the spin bike after breakfast. Next was a post ride protein shake, then time to get ready for the gym. I ended up arriving at the gym later than expected (so I could meet Kim during her lunch break) so I was a little hungry by the time I started on the treadmill. I began with 10 minutes walking at an incline, followed by a 20 minute set of intervals. 1 minute @ 6mph, 1 @ 7mph, and 1 @ 8mph, then start over back at 6 again. Once I finished the interval set Kim had arrived, warmed up, and started her C25K workout. I joined her in the interval portion of her routine (running at 6mph for 1 minute, then walking at 4mph for 1 minute, then repeating) for 10 minutes, then I increased the speed to 7 & 4 for the next 10 minutes. After the cardio portion of the workout was over, Kim caught up with a quick little leg workout as I trained shoulders. 3 sets of machine military presses, 3 sets of side lateral raises (dumbbells), and finally 3 sets of upright rows. I wanted to do one more exercise, but I could tell I was spent and needed to eat.

Once back home I had a chicken breast and a double serving of designer protein (with much less water today, yesterday I made it way to weak) with a little Nestle's Quik. Pretty good protein shake. Kinda tasted like college!

The rest of the day I spent grilling chicken to have over the next few days, washing clothes, tending to the herd of dogs, etc. Fun stuff. I'm putting off preparing for an upcoming insurance audit. I'd rather have a root canal.

Anyway, on the day I had 2300-2500 calories and burned around 4000. Decent deficit for the day. Looking back at when I started NS I was training about 25 minutes per day and walking slowly uphill on the treadmill for about 30 minutes per day. I wasn't hungry at that point. Now, with a minimum of 1.5 hours (and usually more) of cardio daily, plus a workout, I'm staying hungry if I don't hit around 2000 calories. I looked back at a time where I was hungry every night and now it's obvious this was the time when I had kicked up my cardio to around an hour a day and was still taking in 1500-1800 calories. I could get by, but I was staying hungry. Even with the amount I took in today, I was still a little hungry late in the day. I've been adding protein shakes, and actual meals instead of trying to snack my way through the evening. Sometimes a PB sandwich (well, 1/2 of one anyway) or a bowl of cereal if I don't have a shake. Now that I've got lots of chicken grilled up, I may try a chicken breast post dinner, or even put it on a slice of bread and have a sandwich. Yum!

The rain has ended here and hopefully it'll be dry enough for me to run around the lake tomorrow. I need to keep training on real terrain along with the treadmill. We did walk about a mile this evening, but Kim needed to get some more work finished up so we cut the walk short.

Tomorrow is Belle's (our Pug) Birthday. She'll be 3. Pic of the birthday girl below....

Sunday & Monday (Day 217 & 218)

This post is for Sunday, March 21 and Monday, March 22, 2010.

Sunday Kim and I headed to the gym for her second C25k workout. Same as the first. Very easy and easy on my knees. That was all of the working out we did for the day. Late in the evening we rode to Atlanta to celebrate my mother's birthday. We each had a dozen oysters and split a lobster salad.

Monday I didn't get to the gym until around lunch (I had to work briefly in the AM). I warmed up with 10 minutes walking uphill on the treadmill, then ran 20 minutes at 7mph, then 5 minutes at 6mph, and then another 5 at 7mp. After the running I walked uphill again for about 5 minutes before moving to the elliptical for 15 minutes. After the hour of cardio I trained chest. 3 sets of presses, 3 sets of incline presses, 3 sets of incline dumbbell flies, and 3 sets of push-ups. Quick, hard, and out.

Food Monday has been mostly non NS. Granola cereal and yogurt for breakfast, chicken breast for AM snack, and a protein shake for lunch. In the afternoon I had another (different, lower calorie) protein shake and 1/2 a grilled chicken breast. Dinner tonight was NS Thick Crust Pizza with fake veggie chorizo, arugula salad with olives, onions, tomatoes, a few Gorgonzola crumbles, and a dash of raspberry walnut dressing. Along with the dinner I had a granola bar before and after dinner to get in a few extra calories. Dessert was more granola cereal and a Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich. Total calories for the day was about 2100. I burned about 3750.



Tuesday should be a more typical day. Bike in the morning, running and training around lunch, and hopefully another bike ride in the PM. I bought some Nestle's Quik Low sugar chocolate powder to add to my designer protein shake. It's been a little bland so maybe a little less water and a little coco powder will help.