Daily Sugar Management

Going good  so far Fridays was under 38 grams of sugar and 1290 cal carbos = 1442 calories from carbos, a little low but I will be seeing the results
Yoga and Pilates Friday night
Saturday was even better 35 grams of sugar and 1512 cal carbos = 1652 calories total from carbos now you have to add it protein and fat and I am not really counting them... unless they become a problem
Doing yoga after supper - weigh in tomorrow to see if the drastic reduction in sugar can have short term recognizable proof of success.

Fitness test results - dedicated to the next year without sugar

Ran 2.4 km after a warmup almost 20 minutes - and I remember doing the same distance in 7:56.
All those who say I have a lot of work to do just to get it to 12 minutes - say Aye!
Accomplished the muscular portion 25 chin-ups, 50 pushups, 100 bicycle kicks(seated) and 50 step-ups in 8 minutes.

Now this will become my sugar register under the TITLE -  DSM  =Daily Sugar Management I will write two numbers (this is an example only) 200/25 which will be amounts of  carbohydrates/sugar.
All attempts to indicate ASPA - Aspartame or SUCRA - sucralose will be made however I am human ...

Yoga has been added and we have several and various exercises on the go, way too much.
Schedule will be put in tomorrow night - today was a dog walk working on joint mobility and foot plant - FAST;
Focus, alignment, speed, and t..... anyone anyone?

Trail Running and Tabata

Tried something a little different tonight, cooked supper for the family, set my portion aside.
Went trail running, 2.75 km - rolling terrain at a good pace 1 min on; 2 min walk the average
heart was 129bpm and the high was 173bpm.  Added in was the Tabata training - Body Rock style -
thanks so much for those creative and great and challenging workouts,  it was a tremendous bonus Sumo Leg Lifts, pushups, dips, left leg then right leg step ups  all those at various places on the trail run which either had logs or beams etc.

Lastly once at home slow controlled crunches, I think I can still feel my gluts and my lower abs.
Intense!  Then I ate after playing taxi.  Kids - I mean young adults!

Rocked It

Used 20 work to 10 Rest - once again building up to 50/10 once I see some changes in post HR or morning HR - a variety of pushups with the Perfect Pushup, a variety of leg exercises with Eurosport w/10Kg medicine ball and mostly bicycling for abs - all this while on the smaller red Aeromat .
More later maybe tomorrow - have not been feeling great, but it is getting better.

Tuesdays - Tough - Terrible - Results

Did a walk run - felt good, pace was good - distance was okay, more at the bottom end of medium than Hard.
However what made it tough was I body-rocked back at the house, 1 May/12 did my 12 minutes after my run,
wrote down my results for Squat Jump 1/2 Burpee; Alternating superman pushup; tricep dips; and bent knee situps.  Good Tuesday night and good night Tuesday!  We'll see the improvements in 1 month.

May....... I walk, till I run.... to fly

Well April has come and gone and a change in schedule is required, got to find some trails to run on, got to lean out (bodyrockin' this month)   Tues Eve and Sat morn will be H - for hard  there will be only 2 rest 1/2 days Tues am and Fri PM  2 med /4 light and 2 Wii and 2 Pilates - if I can pull it off for a week then another, then another then another you get the idea, bodyrockin' probably in the afternoons 5 out of 7 days each week.

Emphasis will be on taking one workout on at a time - for in the not so distant past, when I consider the whole week my workouts end up WEAK with a hole in the week either; middle or at one end or the other.
Couple of very solid efforts last week remember each work out builds on the last and REST is the most important factor after, stay hydrated stay away from sugar ...... eat well!

Tabata Training Tonight

Gymboss is a great tool once you follow the instructions and set up the timing, intervals work- W to rest - R (there are other timers out there so look around till you get the best deal or the easiest to understand) .
Body rock  TV is cool and motivating and has a different type of push in Tabata training.

To break into it carefully my approach is 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off change exercise, for 8 exercises two times thru - felt great - burning in the lungs, muscles tired etc. As well these leaves me lots of room to improve to get up to 50:10 (W : R)   max repetition effort to come in a few days, LOL.

Yes my doctor said I was good to go as long as I was progressive, stay injury free and.... breathe.......
Will have to add equipment as I go along to add variety, right now I am sticking with a medicine ball - Perfect Pushups and use them with certain exercises  which tonight included; (Squat Jumps; Pushups; Burpees; High Knees(running on the spot); Switch Lunges; Tuck Jumps; Tricep Dips; Any Ab ex - crunches) X 2

HR was good - getting used to the new routine, all done, really done, for tonight!

Trail running is fun

New adidas adizero XT trail shoe to break in on a 20 minute outing.
Down the main road then off the sidewalk onto a trail and followed
the creek back toward the house.  Training partner was game and
as a dog likes to go...then go ...go and then go some more then we
run..... get it?  Good effort by me on the outing considering how little time
I have put into fitness lately.   Garmin did great measuring all the variables
and letting me know when my HR was not in the correct zone....sigh.

When you get older, it is too easy to let life direct your priorities, too easy to find an excuse to not work out at least every other day....busyness leaves you falsely fulfilled and no time to spend on yourself.  Tuesdays nights will be a 30 minute to 60 minute effort (again progressively)  with a mix of aerobic macrocycles and anaerobic microcycles.

 Define macrocycle - for my purposes 13 weeks which includes or is made up of 2 or 3  microcycles of  4 - 6 weeks each depending on the objective within the aerobic fitness plan. Wednesday AM will be a Wii workout, for tonight we now relax.....

Knees and Rest

Knees and Rest - I have found that the years of being in the military, "pounding the pavement" and time on the gym floor (as a military phys ed instructor) have made it very easy for pressure to build up.  The next day may be a challenge for various bio-mechanical  and inflammation and age reasons.

1) I have a cream from my doctor, it helps, sticky as all get out but it helps.
2) I have advil
3) I try to do less stairs on those days when they are bad.
4) I sleep with my knees bent and elevated.
5) I do mobility "stuff" with them
6) I walk and walk - carefully
7) I stretch to alleviate any muscle tension surrounding the knee joints.
8) I drink plenty of water.

I have done and do R I C E R from time to time
rest
ice
compression (light)
elevation
rest

Trying to stay surgery free, cuz that might take a long recovery.
Remember though, surgery is for some the only option to be pain free!
I know it will not be pain free, and I hope to gradually increase, efforts distances.
F A S T = thanks COLM and Eammon C.

Focus
Alignment
Stability
Timing - (length of time your feet are on the ground)

Moving again - Thurs - aerobically inclined

Nothing like a 37:17 walking the dog and moving the arms in the fresh clear air that winter's end relents and gives way to spring.   The training beast, did not have to mark every other pole or fire hydrant tonight.  No new or joint problems, I LIKE IT.  2.5 km of the distance was in the HR zone I wanted.

Tomorrow morning I will find out if this has all been for naught.   Pace was good and HR and time per KM.
Good effort        F   A    S    T     - definition wait till next time!
Change my work out to incorporate 3 main aerobic stints, Tues eve, Thurs eve and Sun am to line up with enough active rest between and the actual competition day, it might be Saturday, I will check and alter if required.  So Sept 2012 is not going to happen unless,1) weight drops to 160 by June; 2) a kayak and a bicycle are able to be purchased by Apr 30; 3) Running comes quicker - lol; 4) Duane says -" Hey bro  you kayak , I'll bike and we can do the run together" you know like a team..... he doesn't know I am doing this yet; so 2013 it is! 

19Feb and 20 Feb

Quick walks on both days.  Sunday was 4.2 Km and Monday was half that.  Pumped the arms too.
The idea was so see what pace affected the knees.  On both days there was some discomfort
which results from jarring motions, foot plant and it was related directly to pace.

This good news; as the stride smooths out from kilometers walked the pain will reduce or the opportunity
for discomfort will go away!  That is my theory, in the mean time I will have to monitor when in my runs I begin to feel the type of discomfort which can linger for days post work-out.

Training partner was more into smells than walking quickly. (the 4 legged training partner)
Garmin acted up by dropping the heart every once in awhile which made me want to either adjust the chest strap or have someone pinch to make sure I was still alive. There are very few people out and about at 5:30 am.

Weather was great both days, in other words, no rain and some actual clear sky!
Must refuel for another busy day job day.

0205 and 0213 Far and few between

02/05 - Good work out.  Ran and walked 4.2km -  8:00AM
100 m walk and 100m run for the first 10 min. ( X5)
1 minute run and 2 minute walk with a 3minute break twice (x7)
in other words 1 run - 2W R - 1 run - 2 W R - 1R - 3 W R and repeat with 1 extra 1 m Run
at the end followed by a 5 minute cool down.

No trg partner, left the four legged friend at home.

02/13 - Good work out.  Ran and walked 4.2km -  5:30AM
600 m walk  first 7 1/2min.
1 minute run 2 minute walk  ( X  9)
1 run - 2WR - 1 run - 2WR - 1run -2WR -1 run - 2WR then to
continue 1 run- 2WR - 1 run- 2WR-1 run- 2WR- 1run-2WR-1run
then a cool down walk.

With the beast!

I compared the two graphs and the work outs were different for 1 reason - the
dog.  Without the dog I was able to push harder and therefore had to throw in a 3min WR
and the actual  patterns were almost equal, I am unable to copy them into my blog, I am trying to do
that too!
Pace in the on with out the dog was 8:52km  - not exactly world-breaking but with the dog took
me down to a 10:00km but remember the ratio is 1 min run to two minutes walk rest.

Did bouncing this morning on the rebounder and have taken the dog for a few longer walks.
My knees took a pounding after the above runs, recovery took a full 72 hours.
So my plan is run - (run walk 3X per week) do a mix of walking, Wii, rebounding, pilates
machine and body weight exercise.
Now I must still try to locate a bike and a kayak, that I can afford. But I will
keep running and training on faith that they will be there when I am ready to use them and
I have saved some funds for them................when I need them.

Friday Morning

There was no sun, when I walked this morning.
Garmin on my wrist, monitor on my chest,
have not gone for awhile, going to give my best.

Air was fresh, my mind was clear, I even
had my training partner near, she was four legged,
super cape on, so we walked and ran, no not...
with speed.

We walked and ran out of fit-full need,
we measured everything except my heart rate,
the battery in the monitor needs replacing,
the watch recorded distance and pacing.

From beginning to end, there was no heart rate,
but there was still a beat that pushed when it could,
the 4.2K distance and route mapped as it would, so...
I will buy a battery, monitor chest strap will work
again,

I will push forward through the pain.
Cuz the beat goes on!

Wii bit of time to work out!

Did a variety of Wii, workouts, ran, biked, strength, some yoga and balance- heart rate was doing good, some flexibility etc coming back, still feel the hamstrings from the Spartacus workout.  Good way to start the day, good energy throughout.

Tonight was to be a medium but as I was doing overtime, too late, too wet, too tired and my frame is talking to me through my hamstrings, did some light stretching  Good rest tonight back at it tomorrow AM - Wii or Pilates and then a run tomorrow night.... once the sun has set, night still falls before my work day ends!
MUST USE GARMIN!

Sparatcus

Did the Spartacus workout at home.
Hamstring do not appreciate the demands and the results like I doo!

See tomorrow!
  You do not know what the Spartacus work out is..... go looking it will be
worth the hunt.

The two-fer

Sunday afternoon went for a solid fast paced walk BUT it had been a while since the Garmin was charged so the battery died 3/4 of the way through.  Worked on getting the training partner to stay close and foot movement, stride and pace.  All in all a good return to the workouts!  2k nothing to get excited about.

Monday AM - did a Wii weigh in ( no comment) and completed 20 minutes of aerobic, muscular and yoga a good variety and overall two days in a row! Did not wear the Garmin as I would have to fiddle not recording satellites etc.  No pulse check but I was working, and working out.  Tonight and tomorrow AM are rest days and tomorrow night will be the first run.  Working late so we will see how I feel about going back out after 8:30, ha ha!

No excuses!

Let 2012 be the year of no excuses!  Sounds like a resolution, way beyond its time.  So I have worked out a few times since Jan 1, and not blogged.  I am still over 50 and trying to get fit.  But those are recent history and will not be any further noted than here.   Done.

So today I went for a walk/ run with the training partner and my Garmin.  (Note to self, to receive the full benefit of the Garmin wear the chest strap to get a HR to be recorded by the Garmin)  Great route, the bridge I cross was closed for repairs and so I did an out and back route.  I did not think to continue pass the bridge, by going back to the road and turning north, I went back and turned south,  the total distance for time was 23:54 of walk/ run.  The ice conditions had an impact on the pace.

The training partner did not complain.  Some minor amounts of snow have fallen recently and will do so for another 5 days.  Wednesday will be the real snow fall this week.  The sky was otherwise clear with streamers of light cloud, no sun as it was 5:30 in the AM. The ice and snow crunched under foot. my breath was clearly visible, and I could feel the result of every minute of inactivity since I last blogged.

I did not stretch prior to going, I had not intended to run, but I did - my knees do not like frozen ground, frozen asphalt or movement at times.  Today was okay on the movement and it will be a long day today.  Going to be reading from Isaiah, today and I will let you know if there is anything pertinent. 

Where is my heart, as it relates to fitness and is it close or far from my objectives of being fit?
How healthy is my heart after 50 years of good and bad habits (eating etc)
Physical fitness and spiritual fitness what is the relationship?
How badly do I want to get fit these year?  The tri-sport event may take me two years to do.   Not really for any fitness reasons, although the September event is only 34 weeks away (approx).  I do not have a bike and I do not have a kayak; to practice with.  Maybe it will take two years total to get the equipment in place while I stumbled toward my fitness goals of 155 lbs and sub 40 min 10km, let alone bicycling, kayaking and well the time commitment to raise the entry fee for the Canuck house event.  I have learned one valuable thing - patience and planning, today is another day and I put a small building block toward completion of the event.
As for Isaiah 28 to 31:9
 Am I showing love with only my words or all of my heart?  Are human rules more important?  Is the fire in my heart to do the event a flicker of a candle or the blast of a furnace?