It's been a while

Staind did a song named "It's been a while" - a song of recovery and appologies. This is not about that!

It's not been a while since I was at the gym - just two days. Sue and I have been very good at going 4+ days a week - 5:30 - 6:30 or so (AM, of course). We start with about 30 minutes of cardio (treadmill), then do either legs, arms, or upper body. On Thurday, we skipped the cardio and did legs and half of the arms. Both of us have been pushing hard at night, making that 5AM alarm sound so loud...

Of course, it's now Saturday and the body alarm clock went off as usual shortly after 5. Where is that body / mind snooze button?

We're hitting the gym at 8 today with both kids. Jake needs to start his stairmaster routine to get ready for the summer. I just need to do the full 35 minute routine that Gwynne has set up for me. A little walking (2 min), then 6.3 mph run for 5, a bit of walking at a steep grade, the alternating between 6.3mph run and a 4.5 walk at 4 - 5% grade. With my current weight, it's a 550 calorie routine. While I feel like crap for the first few minutes, I am able to get into the routine. I rarely speed up what I am doing, and slow it down to keep going. With the walking, I do increase the incline to boost the caloric burn.

4 weeks to go and we will be in Jackson Hole. Hiking will be much easier for us now, and I fully expect to be in the best shape of anyone of my relatives that will be there. I do know that Sue is looking forward to being in good shape for her Mom and brothers to see.

Pictures to come afterwards!

10K recovery complete

While I am almost 100% recovered from the 10K on April 1st, my left knee just refuses to cooperate. Running on the soft, cushy treadmill was apparently not sufficient training for said knee. With a good bit of pain after running each day, I have started to ice it down. The rest of my body is doing well after the daily workouts, pain perhaps masked by the left knee. It's like the old headache fix. If you hit your fingers with a hammer, you forget all about your headache - at least for a while!

My workouts are going well. I've been at the gym 5 - 6 days a week for over 2 months now, grinding through 3+ miles daily on the treadmill and lifting weights 2 - 3 times each week. My weight loss has leveled off, so I need to change my weight lifting routine. Gwynne is going to help us today get a better plan programmed on our "smartkeys." Those keys have the routine on them, so we don't need to remember seat positions, weights, ROM or PAD settings for the various machines. Instead of working a bit on everything each 2 - 3 days, we will work on upper body one day, legs the next, and so on. More sets of 12 reps each. Supposedly it allows for a much better workout.

I'm all into a better workout - since I'm already in pain daily...

Monument Avenue 10K

The Monument Avenue 10K was held on Saturday. The weather was far warmer than it has been, so there were lots of people with hydration issues. For me, the training at the YMCA paid off. I cut 6 1/2 minutes off from last year's time (and I trained for last year), so was pleased. My time was 1:14:13 and last year was 1:20:49 (that's 6:36 faster). It was, however, punishment of my body.

As of Monday, the only thing that still bothered me was my knees. I think it was the uneven streets. They are a bit different from the nice, cushy treadmill!

Note to self: Next year train outside for a while!