2008, Week Seventeen

Well, as I said earlier this week: I hate being sick. One ride, Monday, for 11.48 miles, and absolutely nothing else all week long. At least I'm feeling better now, and will start easing back in tomorrow. We'll be going through some upheaval at work over the next several weeks—the guy working the morning shift will be leaving soon, so the guy working the late shift (my old shift) will be working the morning shift with him, getting additional training/experience on those duties, while PC and I train the new guy who is starting Monday at noon. My after-work stops at the Y are probably going to take the biggest hit for a time. That means reduced opportunities for strength training and time on the ellipticals.

Mileage: 11.48
Distance from Bag End: 1718.77
Distance to Isengard: 74.23

I Hate Being Sick

Been fighting off a cold since Sunday afternoon. Didn't feel up to the morning treadmill on Monday, but did get in a nice bike ride on the way to work. By Monday night, I knew there was no way I'd make it through either strength training or cardio, so it was just as well I'd forgotten to put clean workout clothes in the van. Stopped on the way home to buy some generic NyQuil and knocked myself out. Still felt crappy Tuesday morning, so I not only skipped the walk, but the bike ride, too!! I decided this would be a good time to take the bike in for service, and that worked out well, since Steve found a broken spoke! I'll pick the bike up tomorrow on the way to work. But for now, I'm gonna go knock back a couple more fingers of generic NyQuil.

2008, Week Sixteen

A big sluggish this week, I think.
Monday April 14: No home treadmill time at all; then I had to make a stop before work and that cut into my bike riding time, so only 3.51 miles; and then I failed to go to the Y on the way home.
Tuesday April 15: Again no home treadmill time at all; but a good bike ride, for 11.22 miles; but again no stop at the Y after work.
Wednesday April 16: Skipped the home treadmill again! And a shortened bike ride because I decided to go ahead and put the final stitches into a project before leaving for work, so only 8.3 miles on the bike; but I did at least partially make up for it all by actually making it to the Y and doing a full set of strength training on the Cybex machines!
Thursday April 17: Again skipped the home treadmill--what is it with that snooze alarm this week? Bike ride for 11.45 miles; and another stop at the Y on the way home, this time to spend 45 minutes on the elliptical, for 3.08 miles.
Friday April 18: Yet another day off the home treadmill; but the morning bike ride was for 11.44 miles; and no stop at the Y because it's Friday and I can't get away from the office early enough to get there.
Saturday April 19: The usual Saturday morning breakfast with my BFFs led to me going to their house to watch the Caps game, so this day became a rest day.
Sunday April 20: Again too lazy to get on the treadmill, but I did take a nice bike ride today down the Santa Ana River Trail, though I didn't get all the way to the beach. 22.97 miles.

Total mileage for the week: 71.97.
Distance from Bag End: 1707.29
Distance to Isengard: 85.71.

2008, Week Fifteen

A flop when it comes to the morning treadmill time, as well as elliptical time. But I did get in two weight training days and a couple of good walks on concrete after work. And while I probably should have spent time on the treadmill, I also felt it was important to try to get plenty of rest this week, too. I tried to make up, at least a little, for that with the longer walks outdoors on concrete and asphalt. The bike has also been more comfortable with the changes that were made—this latest saddle plus the raised handlebars and the smaller grips (even though my hands aren’t really all that small).
Monday, April 7: The only day this week with morning treadmill time, for 1.05 miles; then the morning bike ride, for 10.66 miles; and the Cybex circuit at the Y on the way home.
Tuesday, April 8: Morning bike ride for 10.87 miles, then a 1.81miles walk around the lake at Cerritos Regional Park on the way home from work.
Wednesday, April 9: Morning bike ride for 11.19 miles, then the Cybex circuit at the Y.
Thursday, April 10: Morning bike ride for 11.01 miles, then a 2.38 mile walk around Cerritos Regional Park after work.
Friday, April 11: Bike ride only, on the way to work, for 11.41 miles.
Saturday, April 12: This was my rest day. Not even a bike ride today!
Sunday, April 13: The Coaster Run 5K! This event wasn’t chip timed, but I did Shave My 5K, by around 5 minutes. My gun time at Surf City was 1:09:something IIRC and my time for this event was 1:04:37.

Total mileage this week: 63.88
Miles from Bag End: 1635.32
Miles to Isengard: 157.68

These last couple of weeks I’ve been gearing my exercise toward preparation for the 5K, but this week I’ll probably go back to the mixed efforts of the recent past: home treadmill, bike rides, and the after-work gym time alternating between strength training on the Cybex machines and time on the elliptical. And try to get in at least one good long (45-60 minutes) walk outdoors each week, too.

I'm Think...

…I'm ready. Picked up my packet and goodie bag (one of those nice reuseable bags like they sell at grocery stores, instead of the wasteful plastic things we got at Surf City*) at the mall today. Got the bib pinned to the shirt. Pants are hemmed up, so I won't be tripping over too-long pants. Alarm is set for plenty of time to get up, get dressed, and have a bit of breakfast (a granola bar and a glass of milk, and maybe a banana if I remember to buy one while I'm out later today). Still need to put a fresher (as in "nearer to fully charged") battery in the MP3 player. The tee-shirt is a regular cotton tee, not a tech shirt, but a nice one nonetheless. The only "exercise" I've had today is walking from the van into the mall for the packet pickup and back to the van and an errand to the local Orange Despot store. No exercise/workout/training type walking since Thursday night after work. Not even a bike ride today!


*which I'll admit came in handy for bagging up wet clothes!

2008, Week Fourteen

In some respects, it was a pretty good week; in others, it was really crappy.

Monday, March 31: No morning walk, no time on the elliptical, no Cybex circuit. But I did take a bike ride, for 8.39 miles.
Tuesday, April 1: At least I took a walk today, for a piddling 0.84 mile; morning bike ride for 9.18 miles; and a post-work stop at the Y, but I only got about halfway through the machines.
Wednesday, April 2: Home treadmill for 1.10 miles; morning bike ride for 9.46 miles; and finished up the Cybex circuit on the after-work stop at the Y.
Thursday, April 3: I didn't do a morning walk at home, but I did stop on the way home from work to get some outside-on-pavement walking, for 1.24 miles. I also did the morning bike ride as well as a short ride after work, before heading off to another park to do the aforementioned outside-on-pavement walking, for a total of 14.01 miles riding.
Friday, April 4: No morning walk, but the morning bike ride was 10.34 miles. And since it was Friday, there was no stop at the Y. And even though I got off work early enough for another outside walk at the park, there was a nasty cold wind blowing, so I went home, shut off my alarm, and slept late Saturday morning.
Saturday, April 5: Home treadmill for 2.25 miles and an afternoon bike ride in a cold wind on the Santa Ana River Trail for 10.54 miles.
Sunday, April 6: Home treadmill for 2.51 miles and a late morning/early afternoon bike ride on the Santa Ana River Trail for exactly 20 miles. This time I started at the Lincoln Av entry to the SART and thoroughly enjoyed the tailwind coming back. I also stopped at one of the LBSs and purchased new grips, had the handlebar raised, and a couple of other small adjustments. Could hardly wait to get out there Monday morning to try the changes!

Total distance travelled for the week: 89.82
And since I'm composing this at work, I don't have all my other data with me.

This Sunday: The Coaster Run!!

March Recap, April Goals

March recap:
Walk: 18.41 miles (February: 11.92)
Elliptical: 2.63 miles (February 11.64)
Bike: 257.20 (total miles on stationary bikes: 0) (February 186.17; February miles on stationary bikes 0)
Total: 278.24
Cybex Circuit: 6

How I did: Nice improvement in the walking and the biking, but a very poor showing indeed on the elliptical! In fact, the elliptical could be considered a complete flop! Improved performance on the Cybex circuit, too, but need more improvement in the form of making certain I get to the Y at least twice each week.

April Goals: Increase all three distances. At least twice weekly on the Cybex circuit. Increase sets on Cybex circuit.

And in the really good news dept: the monthly weigh-in showed a loss of 5.75 lbs for the month of March, which puts me below 260 for the first time in I haven't a clue how long.