Avoiding those Demons of Autumn

[swe]

Thanks, Swe.  Yep, it is a rare day that I don't love my workout - what would be the point?? I look at it as adult playtime!

 

Hope things are good with you too.  Be kind to yourself with those calipers - they can be mean.  I do them a couple times a year but don't obsess much, same with daily weigh-ins. I do it and record it, but know that a difference on any given day is meaningless and only look at trends over a week or more likely over 10 - 14 days.

Ye adult playtime is a good way to describe it. I really enjoy it too.

 

Things are good with me. The calipers are very inaccurate so I'm not focusing too much on those. I'm relying mostly on pictures and now I've also started with some tape measurements to make sure I know I'm going in the right direction.

 

Keep up the great work. Not much longer til this challenge is done

[Meant2Move]

Weight 135.0 - happy maintenance!

 

I love those days when I get to the office trembling and exhausted from a good workout. 

 

Ran 2 fairly fast miles on the treadmill, 2% incline - first at about 8:30, second was 8:06. Little bit of walking before and after. 

 

BOSU lunges for a 5 minute song, then step-back lunges for another long song, and then a mix of tick-tock and other lunges holding the 10kg medicine ball for a last song. My lunge song mix is really good so it's easy to keep going.

 

Pullups: finally got a set of 5 continuous (4 has been my max for ages) so was happy about that.  Mix of 3's and 4s, kippers and straight after that for a total of 20.

 

Played a little on the balance disks in between pullups

 

Pushups: 3 sets of 8 mixed in with

T2B - 20

 

Got some new gloves with a rubber grip - likely a little bit of a cheat since they help me hang on longer, but they feel good and my hands didn't get nearly as sore

[SunSeeker]

Great work out M2M.  I don't think the gloves are a cheat at all.  Super impressed with the 5 pullups!

[Meant2Move]

Great work out M2M.  I don't think the gloves are a cheat at all.  Super impressed with the 5 pullups!

 

Thanks, Melyssa!  I have decided I like the gloves a lot, so they are keepers.

 

*****

135.4 - made some super yummy lasagna on the weekend so my grain-based carbs are higher than my normal 0. I don't mind, this (or higher) is a better weight for me. And since none of it is wheat, I have yet to become a psycho-mental lady with a belly ache, so it is all good!

 

Was having an exchange with a friend yesterday about having a Ninja mindset - she claims I do, I was lamenting not having as much agility as I used to.  Anyway, when it was still nasty, nasty cold this morning such that we didn't want to run from home, I headed to town. But, on the way to the gym I remembered a wonderful alternative - the Buffalo Park exercise course! The 2 mile dirt path has about 15 exercise stations, some simple body weight or calisthenics, others have fun equipment like monkey bars, ring traverse, balance beam, wooden wall to climb over, pullup/chinup bars, ladders, rope climb, situp station.

 

The sun was up, the temperature was up above freezing at last, so I went out for a fun run/exercise course. I never see anyone else doing the exercises, lots of runners and walkers, but no one plays. It is really a shame as it feels so good.

[Meant2Move]

135.2 Did not really have a plan headed into the gym this morning and then I spied the stairmaster machines as I walked into the cardio room - haven't done those in ages and they would be perfect as I was at the exciting conclusion of my current audiobook, The Red Pyramid so I really wanted to keep listening. Can't listen to an audiobook and run fast, I need tunes for that.  Anyway, the stairs are a steady, hard, high heart-rate workout that I both love and hate but having the book to listen to would lesson the "hate".

 

Level 9 (met of 9.3) for 25 minutes. I tried to pay attention to floors climbed as that is the most reliable comparison number (for when T and I are trying to out do one another) but I let all the numbers jumble in my head - calories, floors, mets, distance. Oh well. Level 9 is nothing special, it is hard, but I've spent time on level 11 before when doing a max HR test, and a fair amount of time on level 10.

 

Next, up into the weight room for more unfocused whim training - started by mixing pull-ups with T2B and was really pleased to be gettting a much better pike going with the Toes 2 Bar. Then somewhere in midst, I realized there was really no one on the weight racks so I decided to add some OHP and front squats. The press was not good having already done 2 sets of pullups and 2 sets of T2B, but I muddled through, and continued to mix up all 4 things. In then end I was pleased with the pull-ups and T2B, weights, not so much.

 

Pull-ups 4, 4, 4, 3
T2B 5, 4, 5 (nice pike!), 5, 3
OHP 5x55 2x65
Front squat 5x65, 5x85, 3x95

 

Doing well with contacts and food for the week. One ding Tuesday for a chocolate bar.

[Meant2Move]

135.2 Hauled drinking water yesterday and left it in truck overnight because it wasn't going to freeze hard overnight. Started off the morning with a farmer walk with the water jugs, 50 steps, 50 lbs each hand.  Did a "suitcase" carry with the other jug.

 

Since I had hit all of my workout goals for the week today was free-pass day in the gym for me. Kinda thought I would run, but a controlled burn just south of town left my breathing clogged so instead I went for incline fast walking - 7% grade, 4.8 mph for 30 minutes, climbed about 1000 feet.

 

Hamstring was a tad grumpy so did some work on it:
single leg deadlifts with 20lb kb
100 kb swings
single leg balance, kicks, and rotations

[Meant2Move]

Friday round-up before heading into the weekend:

G1: loads of contacts and conversations this week. Really proud of finally dealing with some outstanding financial issues for my organization, I've been putting this off for over 2 months.  Max points of 4

 

G2: no wheat, no alcohol, 2 dings for treats. Eating more grain based carbs - rice noodle lasagna - super yummy but adding grains seems to ramp up the sugar desires as I really had to fight treat urges.  Cardio points = 5 for the week, net of 3 on this goal headed into the weekend.

 

G3: Max of 4 pts for hitting p/t2b/p goal, bonus pts for increasing pullup string to 5, OHP, F squat so 7 pts

 

Total going into the weekend is 14

[Meant2Move]

Got more fitness done this weekend than actual work on the shed roof because that project seems to be morphing into something fairly complex - seems to happen a lot at our house! Engineers!

Saturday we did 6.04 miles out to the AZ trail and back, 58:40. Felt pretty good, but heart rate was a little on the high side the entire time, avg 161, max 170. Gorgeous morning.

Sunday was a fun yard workout - lots of slackline. Made many attempts at turnarounds but didn't succeed at all. Oh well, I kinda knew that it was beginners luck the other day. Will post the pic of the tarantula that crawled over my shoe when T emails it to me - definitely in the scary monster category!

Speed rope and double unders were good. Trying to improve/change technique for DU's which has temporarily made me miss more (and my rope really hurts when it smacks me), but I'm hoping that in the long run I'll get a lot better. Jumping higher rather than lifting my legs higher now.

Switched most of my t2b from the tricky bars to the monkey bars and finally boosted my reps to 8 continuous - still a long way from the goal of 20. The smaller bars of the MB are definitely easier to hang on to, the tricky bars are almost 2 inches in diameter. 8, 3, 5, 6, 4

MB 1, 1.5 laps
OHP 5x55, 5x60, 3x65, 3x65
F squat 6x55, 6x80, 5x90, 5x90
Pushups 3 sets of 8
KB swings 3x 25
Pullups - just 3 as I was pretty focused on T2B and overall just got too tired to do them well after everything else.

Monday 136.6: 40 minutes on the spin bike today, avg 23mph with cadence in the 90's, avg HR 120, max 130

Wore my favorite cords today and find they have gone from comfortable to baggy - poo! Not the look I wanted for a date with my guy.

[Meant2Move]

Points tally for the last week of the challenge, was at 14 heading into the weekend

-1 for Halloween jelly beans on Friday

+5 for weekend exercise for weekly total of 18

 

Another week where I was saved by exercise, which is pretty much how my life works. I can be headed into lunatic mode either from stress or whacked out brain and if I can just get some quality exercise time, I can nearly always pull myself out of it, and get back on track.

[Meant2Move]

Challenge summary:

Started late, so this was just a 4 week challenge. 

Week 1: 11 points

Week 2: 10 points

Week 3:  8 points

Week 4: 18 points

 

I did not get to do the Grand Canyon Double Crossing due to the US Government shutdown which closed all national parks. Major bummer, but have been working on leg strengthening to prep for winter hiking season in the Canyon and for winter telemark ski season. This year would have been an OK GCDC, not a great year like 2012 was, but OK and we likely would have finished within 20 hours.

 

My estimate was that on a great week, one without food dings, I should expect 15 points. There were a lot of food dings, but I was darn strict on the food rules, maybe to the point where it caused me to be overly aware, thus made me want it more? Don't know. In every case, I saved myself from truly bad scores with exercise, and that is how it works for me in 'real life'. Exercise is what keeps me happy, sane, and productive. If this were science, it would be a case of "I saw what I expected to see".

 

Anyway, with 60 points "possible", my score was 47 or 78%. If I were in school, that would not have been an acceptable outcome for me, but in real life with a real job, I am going to declare it maintenance.  My weight is stable, workouts are consistant, mentals were pretty darn good, and the focus on contacts was a positive.  

[Meant2Move]

136.6
A good day on the stairmaster (made easier by a good audiobook!)
Level 10 for 30 minutes
167 flights
211.2 watts
10.2 METs

Wore my HRM, avg 145, max 156, hrv 130, cals 292 (started about 4 minutes into workout), machine cals were over 300 but not sure how far

Circuit of pull-ups, T2B, song of lunges
pull-ups 4, 4, 5, 2 slow negatives, 3
T2B 5, 6, 5, 3, 3
BOSU lunges 4 songs

– one of my new rubberized gloves is already blowing out – stitching around the thumb. Rats, guess my "aid" will be shortlived!

[Meant2Move]

10/30/13 136.8 Another pair of favorite slacks that are too dang big, there is a reason I generally wear skirts or dresses, but it was nasty cold and snowing this morning so I went for the pants. Oh well, I'll just be sitting all day anyway.

Sanity maintenance cardio today - working on a couple of projects that are necessary but that I detest, thus the need. Treadmill high speed walking: 5.0mph over various grades 5-1.5%, but mostly 2% for 40 minutes.

[Meant2Move]

136.8 Started off with fast feet training for 20 minutes on the elliptical. Been talking with a friend who wants to run faster and decided I needed to do some work as well now that the hamstring is a bit less grumpy. Avg'd 179.5 steps/minutes (good tunes today ). Wish I believed the watts or mets on that machine - I was working really hard but I doubt the 12-13 METS or 190-200 watts was accurate.

Then with 25 minutes left on the clock, headed into the weight room
OHP: 5x55, 5x65, 3x65 - decided I need to get more reps at reasonable weights
F squats: 5x70, 6x70, 4x95 - same idea, mixed these with OHP
2nd Deadlift (DL) trial: 8x45, 8x65, 8x75 - doing better at the chest lift thing, minor shin/knee bangs
Curls 6x45 (because the idea popped into my head while moving the bar)

Then with 10 minutes left, decided to get in as many sets of pull-ups and T2B as I could
Pull-up 5 with long slow negative on the last, 3, 4
T2B 5,4,4

[SunSeeker]

Hi M2M.  Are you doing the current challege?

[Meant2Move]

Hey Melyssa,

So far, no, I haven't put together a challenge. I haven't been logging on much. I'm 95% sure I will sign up for a 24 hour event over New Years so will mainly be racking up the miles over the next 6 weeks while trying to hang on to my upper body strength... I have some 2013 New Years resolutions I'm still targeting and running out of time I guess! Maybe a challenge is what I need to get me the rest of the way to those goals.