Training Log Archive: iansmith

In preparation for my canoe-O this Saturday in Newton, I took the commuter rail out to Brandeis and walked to Charles River Canoe and Kayak. I have a season pass for CRCK, so the trip cost about $8 for transportation and map printing. I was unable to record the excursion via GPS because my garmin battery was low.

I explored the northern part of the Auburndale Canoe-O map. The land forms are good, but the water vegetation are outdated or entirely unmapped. I found that there are at two major types of floating vegetation in the area- the broad, large lily pads and what I assume is the Water chestnut, trapa natans. The lily pads are basically impassable, since they have heavy stalks that snag on the bow of a boat. The water chestnuts were passable in places of low density, but a significant fight as they thickened. I found a good indication of passability was the height of the water chestnut leaves above the water; if they had any relief at all (> 3 cm), they were impassable. I spent at least thirty minutes testing the feasibility of traversing several areas; in one case, I spent a few minutes advancing about thirty centimeters with each laborious stroke. Getting stuck in the water chestnuts reminded me of Frobisher, trapped in the ice, and the water was too deep to get out and push. I think I'm a fairly strong kayaker, so I'm unlikely to use the lilies substantially on the course. Each time I forced my way through sections of lilies, I left a conspicuous trail through the matted green. I suspect I did enough damage to the vegetation that it would be easier to follow the same track rather than to force one anew.

After I returned the kayak, I walked about 25 minutes to the Brandeis commuter rail stop, discovered I had misread the website and the next train was due in two hours, and backtracked 35 minutes to the Riverside T stop. This was my longest excursion without crutches in the past few weeks.

C • What time? 3

C • Water chestnuts 2

Today, I did nothing - partly to rest my legs after a strenuous session yesterday. While it unquestionably is weak, I am weak, and I must build up slowly. I lounged around my apartment, read some books, and relaxed.

Level 8 this time; I continued The Forever War until my battery died. My bicycling frequency was about 95-100 cycles per minute (with each foot).

I ventured onto the elliptical after cycling for a short session. I will gradually start to increase the time I spend on the elliptical over the next two weeks, and then transition to short bouts on a treadmill.

I completed a weight circuit, focused on low weight, high repetitions with a diverse set of exercises. To change my routine, I started with 100 inclined bench presses with 10 lb barbells in about 90 seconds. (m) denotes a machine.

3 cycles of:
- 25 dead lifts with 25 lb barbells
- 25 leg presses with 50 lb (m)
- 25 tuck-ups
- 25 seated leg curls, 30 lb (m)
- 25 seated leg extensions, 30 lb (m)
- 25 latissimus pull down, 60 lb
- 25 Elbow-to-opposite-knee crunches, each side
- 25 side bends, 30 lb each side

I need to add lunges to my routines.
In other exciting news, I passed 20,000 log hits recently! Great success.

I miss my bike so much. Fortunately, my recovery is rapidly approaching, and like a phoenix rising from the ashes of its former life, I will take to the skies on my wheels of aluminum.

I increased the duration slightly, and while the last ten minutes caused some minor discomfort in my knees, I felt fine after I stopped. I continued my current audiobook, The Forever War.

Three sets of:
20 squats, body weight
20 calf raises, body weight
32 crunches; first set: centerline, second: oblique (alternating), and third: 40 tuck-ups

Uneventful spinning. I chatted with John Houston about the merits of first person shooters and real-time strategy games. Legs felt good.

Emboldened by how good my legs felt, I did a set of leg strength exercises without supplementary weights. I am still walking assisted by crutches, though I have started walking short distances without them. Delusions of grandeur tantalize me.

3x15 squats, body weight
3x15 calf raises, body weight
3x20 crunches
1x15 standing lateral dumbbell raises, 10 lb barbells