Training Log Archive: possum

I hadn't weighed myself in a long time, and have been slacking and indulging. So scary. I stepped on the scale yesterday and have gained 5 pounds. I will get serious about taking it off, to help my arthritic knees and toes. Just glad they aren't hurting more than usual already.

Today was a special day. We had a fundraiser for Stevie?, and counted our kicks, so every round included kicks. I ended up with 2400. I started on Round 9 and did 540 flutter kicks (sore quads) then Round 1 was jumping rope with buttkickers. I didn't rack up as many kicks on the rest of the rounds, but I really rocked this workout and kept my heart rate up.

Lots of sniffing and greens picking interspersed with some serious power walking from Mack Porter over the bridge to Jesse James and around the loop to return.

Most of my time was spent in the yellow. Pretty intense. I did everything but plankups, substituting plank twists.

The Riverfront trail. I picked enough greens yesterday, so we didn't have to do that today, and Elray and I were both glad of that.

I am mostly happy with my training, Jared, 9Round, and yoga. I want to add more orienteering practice. My other goal for this year is to meditate on a regular basis. I have sleep issues, and my doctor suggested melatonin and Headspace. I have tried the melatonin without much result, but I'll try it again with meditation.

Today I did some up-downs, mountain climbers, extreme in-and-outs, and pushup (from the knees), all of which required putting weight on my left hand.

They closed Mack Porter again, so we went to Jesse James, and went very slowly. I picked enough rabbit food to hold Harvey for two days.

Stretch & Strengthen. I didn't lose flexibility during the two week layoff. Good.

Fun way to start the New Year with a Farsta at Rockhaven, put on by OK. Good weather, lots of participation. We had a mass start, then later on a butterfly with everyone doing different orders on the legs, and finished with a maze. Trashy woods, and lots of steep. I did well except for a major mistake going from 4-5. I ended up at 6, and had to backtrack to 5.

I slogged from the maze to the last control, then mostly slogged to the finish. My fenix told me I had trained both aerobically and anaerobically. Fun and good, too.

Looking back on this year, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The last six months of the year, from the end of June on, it seemed like injuries, surgeries, and recoveries from both kept me from doing much training.

Two were accidents, both caused by dogs. I will no longer tether Elray to me when walking/running with her, and have really choked up on her leash. With the other accident, I guess just be more aware of what is going on around me.

The oral surgery, which was the ugly, was not preventable. The only thing I can do there is get checked every six months to make sure that if it returns, I catch it quickly.

The two cataract surgeries were really part of the good. I can see so much better, and I'm still stunned every morning about how colorful the world is.

The major accomplishment was actually completing my first half marathon, and really enjoying the experience. The training was not that much fun, but the fun during the race will help my mental attitude while training. The only regret was all the accidents and surgeries following afterwards, which prevented me from building on the training.

One of the most exciting parts was increasing my VO2max from fair to excellent. Wow!

My only training difference this year, besides the slogging, was yoga. I had been going to yoga, but it was a very passive class, and although the meditation was good, not doing much for me physically. Lissi started a stretch & strengthen class twice a week, and this was just what I needed. When I can't go for a few weeks, I can tell the difference in flexibility. My balance is also much improved, although I attribute a lot of that to my trainer.

C • Nice year! 1

Lots of balance stuff again today, which I did much better than several months ago. Some things get better. Used 12.5 and 15 lb weights for several exercises today. Only thing I couldn't manage was on the cable machine, where I couldn't do the combo curl and pull, so my left hand was pull only. No sled today.

This week's CHOW was at Round 2--using dumbbells, do a lunge, come up with a curl, then do at upright row. This counts as one. I did 42 in 3 minutes.