Medium Effort

Eating:  just had an apple, going to get some fajitae

Drinking:  water

Listening:  Rapid Spanish

 

Run 3 minutes at 5.5mph

 

deadlift 165# 12

squat 185# 10

WA pullups 50# 9

bench 145# 8 no spot

WG pull 120# 10

OH press 40# 3 x 8

sitting pull 50# 20

situps 45# 12

dips 5

 

I could go up on the deadlift but I think I should focus on range and form.  Squats were hard.  Bench was very, very uneven.  Maybe next time I should drop down and do reps, just once?  Situps were surprisingly hard.  I hate dips. 

A Weird Run

(on Sunday)

 

Ran 2.8 miles (very slowly).  Biomechanically I did not feel good at all, and after about 2 miles I got a very sharp sudden pain in my right calf that stopped me in my tracks.  I was able to continue running and the pain subsided pretty quickly, but it was pretty freaky.  My calf still feels pretty tight.  I need to track down a coach, I think. 

PERSEVERANCE IS KING

Eating: I had another salad

Drinking: water

Listening: La Ballade du Mois de Juin

 

WA pullups 60# 12 check

deadlift 155# 12 check

bench (spot) 145# 9

WG pulldown 120# 9

squat 185! 8

OH press 40# 3 x 8

CG pulldown 120# 8

situps 45# 12

dips 8

incline bench DND

 

My thinking on the OH press and dips and other stuff that I suck at is: shut the fuck up and keep at it. 

MH Tabata

Eating:  apple, and going to Le Paume for lunch in a few with JPM

Drinking:  a small matcha

Listening:  Hammer

 

Ran:

5' at 5.5mph

6 x 40" on, 20" off at 15 incline, 5.5 mph

10' at 5.5mph

 

Only laziness prevented me from running 15 or 20 minutes at the end.  Still, I had a good workout, and I was able to keep a good focus on my form for the entire time.  Better to do that than to run 20, end up slapping for the last 7 minutes and get shinsplints.

 

I liked the MH Tabata format.  I didn't get as winded as I do by the 8th rep on a regular Tabata (in fact, I probably could have survived another 2) but it was still tough to complete, and I was able to keep the running speed down and thus maintain form.  Form form form. 

Sanzen

Eating: Chop't Cape Town Cobb

Drinking: double macchiato

Listening: honshirabe

 

Run 5.5 mph 5 minutes

 

WA pullups 60# 12 still a little jerky at the end

deadlift 145# 12 easy

bench 135# 12 getting there

WG pulldown 120# 10

squat 175# check!

OH press 40# 2 x 10, weak form at end, should be doing 3 sets

CG pulldown 120# did not do

Situps 45# 12

Dips 8

Incline bench 45# 20

 

On the whole I felt really good.  I think I have done some kind of damage to my right quad / hip, so I may skip squats next time.  My running form felt very good, although I kind of felt a little lopsided, like maybe I was favoring one side. 

 

With OH press, I don't know if I should be staying at the higher weight and just doing 8 or 10 good reps, or dropping to a lower weight and doing 3 sets.  I wish Drew Baye would finish his book. 

Sunday 3/22

Ran 2 miles with Wife and Monstermobile. 

 

Some ache in left ankle and knee.  Right thigh kind of sore and wonky from squatting on Friday.

Friday 3/20

WA pullups 60# 10

Deadlift 145# 12

Bench 135# 12 (no spot, on that bar machine)

WG pulldown 120# 9

Squat 175# 10

OH press 60# 10 terrible form

CG pulldown 120# 10

Situps 45# 12

Dips (slow) 4

Incline bench 45# 20

Rehab

Eating:  cough drops

Drinking:  water

Listening:  the clack of my keyboard

 

Coming off a pretty rough cold.  Not as bad as the one I had in BC, but bad.  The Wife had to sleep on the couch last night because of my coughing, and prior to that I had a really bad earache and a sore throat too.  My doctor says the answer is lots of steam.

 

Anyway, I made it to the gym today:

 

15 pushups

Run 20' at 5.5mph

15 pushups

 

Felt very good - nice to get on the treadmill and listen to some music.  Biomechanically I feel very good too.  I took a really long steam bath afterwards and at the moment I feel superb. 

Never More Than 10

Eating: had wurst for lunch (Atkins)

Drinking:  espresso about an hour ago; water

Listening: GOCJ 9

 

Running 5' at 5.5mph

 

WA pullups 60# 12
Deadlift 135# 12
Incline bench 95# 12

Bench 135# 11
WG pulldown 110# 12
Squat 165# 12
OH press 60# 11
CG Pulldown 110# 12
Situps 45# 12
Dips 10

 

Running 5' at 5.5mph

 

Weight 187 and change.

 

A pretty good workout, all considered.  Went with BK, so I had a spotter.  I hated the pullups but got them done, and sailed through the deadlifts, squats, pulldowns and situps.  The squats were really great, felt superb.  I should go up 10 on all of those.  The bench was tough, but I'll get 12 next week, and then I can go up.  The OH press was atrocious.  My form was fucked after 9.  I blame the inclines, which were BK's idea.  I think inclines are sort of stupid, and I would much rather save my energy for the bench and OH presses. 

 

Another point worth mentioning is the warmup.  The little jog at the beginning was very pleasant and I think it really helped with the squat and the deadlift, which were totally painless.  I can't say if this is because it got my HR up a bit or if it loosened my legs up.  Thinking about warming up with rowing instead but I do like a nice slow jog and an opportunity to work on form a bit. 

 

The real point of depression is the dips.  I can't do more than 10 to save my fucking life.  Maybe I should do them first next time?

Hell is Round the Corner; My Secret

Eating: Cold-Eeze

Drinking: nothing

Listening: Grant Green

 

Running:

5' 5.5 mph

Tabata 6.5 mph

10' 5.5 mph

 

I felt pretty good during the first 5'.  The Tabata almost killed me.  I was feeling a little sick this morning and now I feel like I'm getting the flu.  Terrible, achy joints and bones feeling, like I had in BC.  So much for my vaunted immune system.  I don't think the next 24 hours are going to be fun. 

 

Also, it occured to me while I was running during the very pleasant and rewarding first five minutes that I should formally state something that I have been thinking for a while but that I haven't told a soul: I want to qualify for Boston. 

The Idea of Progress

Eating: Chop't
Drinking: nothing, but I will have some matcha shortly
Listening: GOCJ 5

WA pullups 60# 12
Deadlift 135# 12
Bench 135# 9
WG pulldown 100# 12
Squat 155# 12
OH press 60# 12
CG Pulldown 100# 12
Situps 35# 12
Dips 10

weight: 188#

A repeat of last week, but with very different results. Look at all those 12's! On the squat - I think it was 155 last time too, although I may have written down 165. I am of two minds on raising the weight for Friday. It might not be a bad idea to just repeat and really master form, which on a number of exercises (WA pullups, OH press, deadlift) is not perfect on the last rep or two. Maybe I'll hold off on those 3 and go up on the other 12's.

I have been meaning to record my weight for a while, not because it really matters but because I am interested in its fluctuations. Just looked through the archives and I don't think I've recorded it before, but it was in the neighborhood of 200 when I started.

The plan with running, for now, is to add a mile every weekend, for a couple of weeks anyway, and to do Tabatas on Wednesdays, with a little change - no running faster than 10 minute miles except during the actual sprints, which should always be uphill. Slow and steady wins the race.

Yesterday

Ran 2 miles in the Five Fingers.  I kept the speed down, although I don't have any sense of whether I was above or below 10 minutes, and I felt pretty good.  Some tightness in the left ankle, and my left knee hurts / feels a little weak today. 

Home

Eating:  just had some pork loin, bok choi, broccoli from the Caf

Drinking:  water

Listening:  This Must Be The Place

 

(totally out of order)

WA pullups 60# 11

deadlift 135# 8

bench 135# 8

WG pulldown 100# 12

squat 165# 10

OH press 60# 12

CG pulldown 100# 12

situps 35# 12

backups 8

dips 10

 

Felt pretty good.  Next session I should not change the pulldown weights - one of the real problems I have with that area is stamina.  I should get 12-12-12 at least twice before moving up in weight. 

 

The deadlift and squat were kind of touch and go.  This kind of puzzled me.  I think of myself as having pretty strong legs but I am benching as much as I deadlift!  Any more weight on the deadlift and I will be pushing my luck with form, and the squat was actually hard too, although I bet I can do an easy 12 next time and then move up. 

 

I decided to focus on form on the backups this time, and then did them right after deadlifting, which was dumb - it's almost the same muscles.  I ended up doing my 8 with pretty good form but getting that old carsick feeling.  I hate that shit.  I wonder if I should even bother. 

 

MH and I met up for a beer last night.  He had lots of good exercise tips, although I don't remember them because I had like five lambics and then some stout.  He does Crossfit, and seemed to think that my plan of getting strong and then doing Crossfit was a good one.  I wonder how long that will take, maybe a year?

HIIT or HIT

Eating:  a steakhouse salad from Chop't, but with mesclun and extra pepper

Drinking:  water

Listening:  Hammer

 

Run 5' at 9:30 pace

Tabata hillclimb at 6 mph / 10' pace, change to 6.1 mph after 4

4' rest

Run 20' at 10 pace

 

Inspired by Fitness Black Book's ghetto-ass fat loss thing.  Note that I did not fast first, so of course I totally missed the whole point, but I didn't have the nerve to not eat anything all morning and then do a Tabata.  That is something I will work up to for sure.

 

The Tabata was - dare I say it - easy.  It flew by, I did not feel like I was going to go into cardiac arrest, and I got a little skin flush but nothing like in the past.  I must be doing something right!  I just wish I had responded a little more quickly and kicked it up to 6.3 or something.  I guess I was worried about overdoing it.  The 20' run also felt pretty good, a little tightness in my left ankle and continuous clock-watching aside.  What I should say is that it was boring but didn't feel bad, and it was nice to set a goal and not flake out by bailing early or turning the speed down, both things I was strongly tempted to do.  I need to get one of these in a week in order to be finishing half-marathons and marathons in a couple months.

Back in the Saddle

Eating:  just had yet another Chop't harvest cobb

Drinking:  water, thinking about adding some caffeine

Listening:  Orbital

 

WA Pullups 60# 10

Deadlift 115# 10, 125# 12

Bench press 125# 12 unspotted

Pulldown 135# 8 (didn't see the five-pound barbell left on the stack)

Squat 165# 10

OH Press 60# 11

Close grip pulldown 100# 12

Weighted incline situps 35# 10

Backups 12

Dips 8

 

Some thoughts:

• It would not kill me to do some lunges.
• Every so often I should do a dumbbell day, where I do all applicable exercises with dumbbells, and maybe drop ten pounds or so.
• I am still having doubts about whether or not I'm on the right track to doing pullups.  I also think I should be doing at least one of the exercises as a wide-grip.  And maybe I should only be doing one of the exercises each time, and rotating?  Shit. 
• Should I be freaking out if my numbers have dropped a bit from last week?  No, right?
• I feel like I can go a lot heavier on deadlifting, but the squats I am finding very hard. 

Sunday - Climb to the Top

Sunday was the big day.  I was up early and in a scary livery cab for the 6:15 check-in.  I then had an hour to wait around the Rock Center concourse.  I was feeling pretty nervous.  I had received a Facebook message from JM the night before telling me that JP, who was a friend in high school, has MS, and while I was pacing around waiting for the start I checked status updates and saw one of his saying that he was fighting the MonSter.  I found that very motivating.  I wasn't going to race with anyone's name on my back, but after I saw that I went over to the name thing table and wrote out his name. 

 

I got into the start corral early, around 7.  I was mostly keeping to myself and warming up, but the dude in front of me noticed the Five Fingers and asked about them.  We had a nice, nervous conversation.  He said he was going to try for 10 minutes and I tried to hide my incredulousness.  He also told me about the fire fighter test, which made me think a weight vest would be a neat thing to have.  Anyway, we made it to the front of the line.  He was off like a shot and I think that eliminated any lingering concern of mine to have a conservative race.  I beeped in and took off, in the process failing to hit my watch's timer button.  I made it up ten flights or so before noticing this.  At this stage I was alternating double and single steps.  I quickly realized that double steps would cause me to, uh, die, so I went to singles but kept a very sharp pace.  I passed dozens of people.  I skipped the first rest stop, grabbed a cup of water at the second, and basically just kept the pace.  I was feeling very, very motivated.  Some clown in a team t-shirt that I had passed earlier caught up to me in the 60's but I turned it on a bit more and he did not pass me.  The whole way I was thinking "15 minutes might actually be possible," but I ended up on top in light snow after only about 13:30.  I feel very, very good about the whole thing. 

Saturday

Ran 2 miles at a comfortably slow pace with The Wife.  Great to see her exercise.  I had planned to take Saturday off completely and relax but I ended up going because I didn't want to miss an opportunity to encourage her.  Had a great time.  Felt nice and loose. 

A Trip to the Gym with BK

Eating:  just had a salad from Chop't

Drinking:  just had an espresso, should drink some water

Listening:  nothing

 

WA Pullups 60# 10

Deadlift 90# 10, 100# 10, 110# 10

Bench press 105# 12

Pulldown 130# 10

Squat 155# 12 ... sick

OH Press 60# 11

Close grip pulldown 100# 10

Weighted incline situps 35# 8

Dips 9

Backups 12

 

Felt great, totally buzzed.  My energy levels were really high and I hate to admit it but I got a kind of sick thrill out of benching more than BK (with no effort).  It is starting to dawn on me that I am making real progress, and there is a lot more progress to be made.  I will be squating body weight soon, and I might even be able to deadlift bodyweight in the next couple months.  If I am lucky enough to have a squatter again, I could bench a lot more.  I even feel pretty upbeat about the possibility of someday doing sets of pullups (although clearly there is a ways to go there).

 

I had intended to do one-armed rows and lunges, but didn't.  By the time I did the second set of pulldowns my forearms were totally pumped, and I felt like I had gotten a pretty good arm / shoulder workout, and I hate lunges.  I will have to get over that some day. 

 

Wow, I feel really good. 

Double Climb

Eating: chocolate

Drinking: nothing, I'm already drunk

Listening: ambient noise from the hallway

 

I did a double climb of the whole building today.  First climb 9:52.  Second climb 7:52 to 28 (total 66, more or less), 11:02 to top.  I was pretty wiped out on the second climb.

 

Meant to do this yesterday but I didn't because wonder of wonders I got staffed on something.  The possibility of fucking it up is stressing me out completely. 

Yesterday

Eating:  leftover jail food

Drinking:  water

Listening:  nothing

 

Yesterday I was feeling a little crappy.  I slept very poorly, in part because I got wasted at the Rangers game with the BIL.  I hit the gym around 4, undercaffinated, and did:

 

WA pullups 50# 8 (felt weak)

Deadlift 70# 10 80# 10 90# 10

Dumbbell press 40# 12

Pulldown 130# 10, I think

Squat 145# 12

OH press 60# 10, I think

WA chinups 50# 8

Lunges 50# 2 per side, way too heavy!

 

Instead of carrying my Blackberry around the gym, like an idiot, I should take a piece of paper and a pen.  Also, I had intended to do situps, backups and pushups, but didn't - too tired and too lazy.  I spent about 15 minutes in the hot tub after that, trying to avoid the next-day tightness in the backs of the legs that comes from deadlifting.  I have to ask: is this enough?  I don't know if I really feel like this routine is going to make me stronger. 

The Stair Master

Eating: nothing

Drinking: nothing

Listening: nothing

 

8 x 30" stair run, 1' rest

 

Intervals were great.  I was supposed to do 10 but I was totally out of juice after 8.  However I feel great now. 

 

I had intended to fast from yesterday lunch today lunch, but after putting the little monster to bed last night I was so hungry, I just had to have a chicken burrito.  Oh well.  Maybe someday.  I love eating.

A Program?

Eating: just had yet another delicious harvest cobb

Drinking: water

Listening: Awungilobolele

 

pulldowns 150# 8

 

At this point in my workout, I was approached by a personal trainer, let's call him "Carlos", who pointed out some faults in my pd technique, specifically that my shoulders were too far up and forward and that my chest was collapsed.  I listened to what he had to say, which was all sensible, and discussed my goal of doing pullups.  He suggested using the weight assist machine.  So, going forward, that's what I'm going to do, use the weight assist machine, assuming a weight of 190 (actually 186!) with an assist of 50#.  He also said he wants to see me do 3 x 5 pullups in two weeks.  Yeah right.  But, eventually.  So, continuing:

 

WA pullups 50# 8

deadlift 50# 10 60# 10 70# 10

dumbbell press 30# 10 35# 10 40# 10

squat 145# 10

OH press 70# 8 (bad form, drop to 60# next time)

dips 5

 

Then a sauna for 10 or 15 minutes.  A lot of arm work, and I am feeling it now.  I may pay Carlos to help me with deadlifting.  My hamstrings, particularly my right one, are very tight.  On the whole thought not a bad half hour workout.  Also I should keep pulldowns in the rotation, just after WA pullups. 

Back from Canada; Sick; Another Stairclimb

Eating: nothing

Drinking: nothing, and jesus I need some coffee

Listening: Thank You for Sending Me an Angel

 

So, I'm back from Canada.  The new skis were great in the soft snow.  I was widestancing more than I should have, but I guess that's bound to happen if you only ski six days per year.  The hiking was very slow going, especially for the first two days, but not agonizing at all (except for the rubbing from my boots).  So I can say that, while I could have gone harder and would have benefitted from doing so, the exercise was an incredible help and enabled me to enjoy much more of the skiing than I would have otherwise. 

 

I got incredibly sick the last two days I was there.  I'm still trying to determine what the cause was.  N does not heat his house, but that may have had only a psychological effect.  I drank a lot of alcohol, and I went to the hot springs with infected holes in my feet.  The hot springs were amazing, by the way - I did six cold plunges!  BM hangs out in the cold until the gasp reflex stops, which I will try next time I'm near a plunge pool.  I read somewhere else yesterday that some guy who is 100 attributes his longevity to cold showers, and that he stays in to a count of 100, but then I pussed out in the shower this morning.  Still feeling slightly sick.

 

Despite so feeling, I did a climb of the full building yesterday in 10:29.  I was pushing semi-hard on the pace and was pretty winded by the top.  It took me I think 4:11 to walk to the bottom from 23, so I could do two or more 30' laps next time. 

A Hard Effort

Eating:  almonds, just had an apple

Drinking:  water - delicious

Listening:  Seldin, honkyoku

 

HIT portion:

OHP 70# 9

Pulldown 150# 10

 

Cardio:

3 x 7' climb, 3' walking rest; 3.8, 3.8, 3.7

 

What a great workout.  I had a bowl of matcha before and I don't think that hurt.  I also had maybe more carbs than I usually do today, a bowl of cereal for breakfast (still standard, alas) and ramen (with extra wontons) for lunch.  Actually what I think is making the biggest difference is that I meditated this morning, as well as last night.  I am not going to achieve the falling away of body and mind meditating for ten minutes twice per day, but it sure does help me focus.  Way less clockwatching than usual on the treadmill.  I am also pretty jazzed because I had my first shakuhachi lesson yesterday.  On some level I probably knew that not being able to reliably produce any sound at all after a week is normal, but it was encouraging to hear that from an expert, and good to know that the track I am on (continued plugging away) is the right one.  Honkyoku is starting to really get a grip on me, and I get excited thinking about having that kind of control. 

 

I also registered yesterday for the Rockefeller Center stair climb, March 1.  66 floors.  It's nice because I'll have something to sustain my post trip momentum. 

A Productive Morning

When the Little Monster took her morning nap, the wife did a Pilates video.  I puttered around for a bit, practiced shakuhachi, and did 12 pushups with my feet on a chair.  When she was done, I got her up on my back and did a squat Tabata.  I only managed 5 (10, 11, 11, 10, 10, *3) before my form went to total shit and I was gasping for air, but I feel great now.  I think she weighs around 125.