Urgan Shows Up, Does the Thing

[Urgan]

5/18/2017

A major snooze.

 

Lift

Rest day.

 

Recover

Sugar AVG: 36 -

Lifting status: green 

 

Aikido

Bokken - 3/4

Shadow Aikido - 5/8

 

Kaitenage

Sankyo

Munetsuki kotegaeshi

Shomenuchi ikkyo

Shomenuchi kotegaeshi

Sokumen iriminage

Ushirotekubitori Kokyunage

 

Words

Writing - 5/8

 

Weekly To-Do

1. Water the dang plants - 4/6

2. Job hunt - 0/1

 

I did nothing useful aside from plant watering, 1 load of laundry, and making dinner. I fell asleep BETWEEN steps of said dinner while it was in the pressure cooker. Sigh. Thursdays be so nothingburger.

[Urgan]

5/19/2017

My stress relief is iron

 

Lift

I'm reeeeeeally disappointed 66 felt as heavy as it did, I just didn't see the wisdom in trying to push my luck. Bench felt really easy, though! 84lbs ain't nothing now.

 

Recover

Sugar AVG: 36 -

Lifting status: green 

 

Aikido

Bokken - 3/4

Shadow Aikido - 5/8

 

Kaitenage

Sankyo

Munetsuki kotegaeshi

Shomenuchi ikkyo

Shomenuchi kotegaeshi

Sokumen iriminage

Ushirotekubitori Kokyunage

 

Words

Writing - 6/8

I did some work here! Not much, but some. Added a new section, thinking about how to connect one chapter to another smoothly. 

 

Weekly To-Do

1. Water the dang plants - 5/6

2. Job hunt - 1/1

 

I sent a job posting to my recruiter, found out the rat bastards just use the same posting to mean any kind of skill level requirements and they actually wanted the kitchen sink. Sigh. One day I'll get into automated testing and maybe I'll become more valuable that way.

 

 

Something something noises about hiring contractors something. If it happens, I have an idea or two about to make life a little less awful. 

[Urgan]

5/20/2017 + 5/21/2017 + WEEK 3 DEBRIEF

That feel like

 

Lift

Squats felt weak, but deadlifts were fine. Works for me.

 

Got that bench PR this week, didn't fail anything. 

 

Recover

Sugar AVG: 45 ^

Lifting status: green 

 

Week 3 Averages:

          Cals   /   Carbs   /   Fats    /  Protein /  Sugar

AVG    2396        236       113          111             45

TGT    2500        281         97          125             50

 

Forgot to capture my weight/cal charts. May fix that later.

 

Macros weren't that great for this weekend. I indulged in a bowl of cereal (GASP) and a coffee drink, which brought my average up a lot. Still finished under. My appetite wasn't on point, as it sometimes does. 

 

Aikido

Bokken - 3/4

Shadow Aikido - 6/8

 

Kaitenage

Sankyo

Munetsuki kotegaeshi

Shomenuchi ikkyo

Shomenuchi kotegaeshi

Sokumen iriminahe

Ushirotekubitori kokyunage

 

All of the practice.

 

Words

Writing - 8/8

I did a lot to connect those chapters and it all makes sense now. 2x the required wording! 

 

Weekly To-Do

1. Water the dang plants - 6/6

2. Job hunt - 1/1

 

Meh. It was a good week, but the weekend sorta took the sparkleshine out of it. Could be the Shark Week talking, though....

[Jord]

those sharks do love to talk

[ixaera]

On 5/20/2017 at 6:38 PM, Urgan said:

Bench felt really easy, though! 84lbs ain't nothing now.

 

One thing I noticed between the two programs I've been doing (5/3/1 before, a kind of sort of TM now) is that 5/3/1 with jokers, heavy bench absolutely felt easier. I don't know if it's something about the ramp up or what, but I experienced a difficulty level-down with 5/3/1 and bench. (Less so with squats and such, those weights are intimidating.)

[Urgan]

5/22/2017

Wait, what?

 

Lift

BP.           OHP

45    3     45    2x3
60    3     50    3
65    3     55    3
75    3     61    3
82    3     52    3x6
86    3x3        

 

I feel really good about bench right now. The weight was heavy, but I was equal to it this time.

 

Recover

Sugar AVG: 55

Lifting status: green 

 

Two doughnuts and two squares of dark chocolate. Because Shark Week. Anniversary Week. Whatever. #ihaveanexcuseforalloccasions

 

Aikido

Bokken - 4/4

Shadow Aikido - 6/8

 

Kaitenage

Sankyo
Munetsuki kotegaeshi
Shomenuchi ikkyo
Shomenuchi kotegaeshi
Sokumen iriminahe
Ushirotekubitori kokyunage

 

Normally I wouldn't count dojo time toward practice goals, but I did the thing hardcore. Bokken felt like holding nothing. I was deputized to teach a black belt (youth moving up to adult aikido) how to do happogiri. Thank God I have practiced a lot or this would have been scary. 

 

Words

Writing - 8/8

 

Weekly To-Do

1. Figure out how to refill meds

2. Brush cats - 0/4

3. Clip cat claws - 0/3

 

So begins the final week of May. It's to be a battle of attrition. There isn't enough caffeine in the world to make getting out of bed appealing, but at least there is lifting. 

[Urgan]

23 hours ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

those sharks do love to talk

 

Trying to convince me that living just ain't worth it, lol. Not taking much convincing today.

 

23 hours ago, ixaera said:

 

One thing I noticed between the two programs I've been doing (5/3/1 before, a kind of sort of TM now) is that 5/3/1 with jokers, heavy bench absolutely felt easier. I don't know if it's something about the ramp up or what, but I experienced a difficulty level-down with 5/3/1 and bench. (Less so with squats and such, those weights are intimidating.)

 

Volume is all. 

[ixaera]

6 hours ago, Urgan said:

There isn't enough caffeine in the world to make getting out of bed appealing, but at least there is lifting. 

 

Somehow this is also what gets me out of bed vOv

[Urgan]

9 minutes ago, ixaera said:

 

Somehow this is also what gets me out of bed vOv

 

Benchbenchbench.

[Urgan]

5/23/2017

MOAR PAPERWORK JUST FOR US

 

Lift

Rest day.

 

Recover

Sugar AVG: 42 v

Lifting status: green 

 

Had a chocolate-covered ice cream bar because work was giving them out. Discovered I could bite the chocolate shell like a normal human, for the first time in my life. Was my one sugar snack of the day. 

 

Anniversary the 3rd, but I was tired and it was rainy, so didn't want to go out to eat. Got pizza instead, also indigestion. This sums up the week so far very well.

 

Aikido

Bokken - 4/4

Shadow Aikido - 6/8

 

Kaitenage

Sankyo
Munetsuki kotegaeshi
Shomenuchi ikkyo
Shomenuchi kotegaeshi
Sokumen iriminahe
Ushirotekubitori kokyunage

 

Words

Writing - 8/8

 

Weekly To-Do

1. Figure out how to refill meds

2. Brush cats - 0/4

3. Clip cat claws - 0/3

 

This was very much a do-nothing day. I just wanted to survive it. It started off with a "bang" in that word came down that other departments believe the square peg should in fact be able to fit in the round hole despite this asinine thing called "reality" the peons insist that we all are living in. Just more wasted effort, what else is new?

 

I made a stab at dealing with meds refills. I don't want to have to deal with another doc appointment at that place because who likes praying for a parking space to have the privilege of paying out of pocket for the FABULOUS ob/gyn experience? Just give me my refill and let's be done with the charade that I need to be humiliated first their services.

[CourtnieMarie]

awww, happy anniversary! sorry the pizza gave you indigestion. sounds like our recent anniversary celebration of sub-par chipotle. ah, well. try again over the weekend?

 

both your work and ob/gyn experiences sound terrible. i had a previous ob/gyn office treat me like shit as well. i left asap.

[Mistr]

On 5/23/2017 at 8:31 AM, Urgan said:

5/22/2017

I feel really good about bench right now. The weight was heavy, but I was equal to it this time.

 

Yay for progress on your bench!

 

On 5/23/2017 at 8:31 AM, Urgan said:

Two doughnuts and two squares of dark chocolate. Because Shark Week. Anniversary Week. Whatever. #ihaveanexcuseforalloccasions

 

You have to fuel those gains. And have enough happy chemicals in your brain to keep you from doing violence to your coworkers. Good decision.

 

On 5/23/2017 at 8:31 AM, Urgan said:

Normally I wouldn't count dojo time toward practice goals, but I did the thing hardcore. Bokken felt like holding nothing. I was deputized to teach a black belt (youth moving up to adult aikido) how to do happogiri. Thank God I have practiced a lot or this would have been scary. 

 

Go Urgan! I'm impressed at how fast you are making progress with your aikido. Clearly your instructor is happy with you since you are being asked to help new people.

 

On 5/23/2017 at 8:31 AM, Urgan said:

So begins the final week of May. It's to be a battle of attrition. There isn't enough caffeine in the world to make getting out of bed appealing, but at least there is lifting. 

 

Bribes. Bribes are essential to life.

 

1 hour ago, Urgan said:

5/23/2017

Had a chocolate-covered ice cream bar because work was giving them out. Discovered I could bite the chocolate shell like a normal human, for the first time in my life. Was my one sugar snack of the day. 

 

Anniversary the 3rd, but I was tired and it was rainy, so didn't want to go out to eat. Got pizza instead, also indigestion. This sums up the week so far very well.

 

I made a stab at dealing with meds refills. I don't want to have to deal with another doc appointment at that place because who likes praying for a parking space to have the privilege of paying out of pocket for the FABULOUS ob/gyn experience? Just give me my refill and let's be done with the charade that I need to be humiliated first their services.

 

My sympathy on the meh stuff in your week. I agree that it is stupid to have to see a doctor just to get ongoing prescriptions refilled. You can prove you are still alive by talking over the phone. It doesn't take an expert to verify that nothing has changed.

[Urgan]

17 minutes ago, CourtnieMarie said:

awww, happy anniversary! sorry the pizza gave you indigestion. sounds like our recent anniversary celebration of sub-par chipotle. ah, well. try again over the weekend?

 

Thanks. Yeah, sometime when it's not monsoon season. It's been crazy rain times here.

 

19 minutes ago, CourtnieMarie said:

both your work and ob/gyn experiences sound terrible. i had a previous ob/gyn office treat me like shit as well. i left asap.

 

It's a degrading experience no matter how they act when not putting you into the most compromising of positions. * coughs * I'd just as soon not, thanks.

 

15 minutes ago, Mistr said:

Go Urgan! I'm impressed at how fast you are making progress with your aikido. Clearly your instructor is happy with you since you are being asked to help new people.

 

It's clear I need to test. Dedicating a whole session to bokken feels silly at this point.

 

16 minutes ago, Mistr said:

My sympathy on the meh stuff in your week. I agree that it is stupid to have to see a doctor just to get ongoing prescriptions refilled. You can prove you are still alive by talking over the phone. It doesn't take an expert to verify that nothing has changed.

 

Hopefully I can get around it, buuuuut not holding my breath. 

[Urgan]

5/24/2017

Shark Week feels

 

Lift

Squat 

45    3
105    3
120    3
135    3
152    3
160    3x3

 

Deadlift

135    3
155    3
173    3
147    2x6

 

I had to put a gun to my own head to get out of bed and go to the gym, and as a consequence I had to abbreviate deadlifts a bit. Wasn't terrible. My right adductor took real exception to the warmups, but didn't care a whit about walking around, bending over, deadlifting, or anything else. Just squatting. Narrowing my stance corrected the issue, and I never had another complaint all day. Go figure.

 

Recover

Sugar AVG: 42 -

Lifting status: green 

 

The random consumption of sugar has ended. My protein, however, has not been up to spec so far. Can't be fussed to care about it right now. 

 

Aikido

Bokken - 4/4

Shadow Aikido - 7/8

 

Kaitenage

Sankyo

Munetsuki kotegaeshi

Shomenuchi ikkyo

Shomenuchi kotegaeshi
Sokumen iriminahe
Ushirotekubitori kokyunage

 

Did these. Wish Memorial Day wasn't Monday, sigh. 

 

Words

Writing - 8/8

 

Weekly To-Do

1. Figure out how to refill meds

2. Brush cats - 0/4

3. Clip cat claws - 0/3

 

Called the pharmacy. They've called the doc and are awaiting a response. I take that as a signal to inquire directly in order to speed things up. 

 

The very biggest problem with Shark Week is how I feel like a useless slug and the house is a disaster and nothing is getting done and at the very same time I just would rather sleep all day, every day. 

[CourtnieMarie]

i know those feels. buuuut you still got outta bed and squatted and deadlifted! so definite win. now it's time to eat.

[Jord]

holidays interfering with exercise life is seriously annoying. on the plus side, even though no PL club, my local gym should be basically empty. I could superset everything. Last time we went on Easter we were the ONLY people in there. 

 

Is your non Aikido gym 24/7 type deal? 

[ixaera]

1 minute ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

holidays interfering with exercise life is seriously annoying. on the plus side, even though no PL club, my local gym should be basically empty. I could superset everything. Last time we went on Easter we were the ONLY people in there. 

 

Whoa, you have gyms open on holidays? That's pretty sweet. Neither of mine are, and the two 24/7 type gyms near me are so busy it's like why bother. Both are also in kinda iffy spots too so I'd feel less safe at weird hours. And SO full of bros. Not good bros, but the types of bros who judge people and don't re-rack their weights ever.

[Jord]

5 minutes ago, ixaera said:

 

Whoa, you have gyms open on holidays? That's pretty sweet. Neither of mine are, and the two 24/7 type gyms near me are so busy it's like why bother. Both are also in kinda iffy spots too so I'd feel less safe at weird hours. And SO full of bros. Not good bros, but the types of bros who judge people and don't re-rack their weights ever.

 

My PL gym is closed. But I have two gym memberships. 

- PL Gym which is 35 minutes away, where I do barbell club

- Local gym, 1 min away, full of bro dudes, 24/7 card access can go on holidays

 

I only keep the local membership because it is pretty cheap. It is a Powerhouse, so there is PL equipment. And BB club is only every other Saturday. so on the off Saturdays I save gas and workout at my local gym. But sometimes that annoys me and I drive up there 35 minutes and lift out on my own anyway. Plus everyone at the PL gym is cool and I don't mind asking for spots and what not. it is a tight community. 

And I do cardio, my treadmill 5k training, at the local gym with Mr T. 

 

/ramble

[ixaera]

Awesome! I think I would keep up a membership at a 24/7 if they weren't so damned expensive here. The rec center is the only place cheap enough to justify, and their hours are very much not 24/7 (I think on Sundays only one branch is open and only from 12-5)

[Urgan]

38 minutes ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

holidays interfering with exercise life is seriously annoying. on the plus side, even though no PL club, my local gym should be basically empty. I could superset everything. Last time we went on Easter we were the ONLY people in there. 

 

Is your non Aikido gym 24/7 type deal? 

 

It's more because of Aikido that I bemoan the holiday. Dojo's closed. I think the gym is open with abbreviated hours. 

[Urgan]

5/25/2017

I can has fox-spirit caretaker plz?

 

Lift

Rest day.

 

Recover

Sugar AVG: 44 ^

Lifting status: green 

 

The additional sugar came from meals, not junk food. Protein now back in 100+ range. Adulting almost back into gear. Did not eat the pizza, but instead finished off old but real actual food. Here's the thing. I don't actually love pizza, I love the idea of it's hot and ready and I had no part in cooking it. It typically happens at the height of Shark Week for these reasons.

 

Aikido

Bokken - 4/4

Shadow Aikido - 7/8

 

Kaitenage

Sankyo

Munetsuki kotegaeshi

Shomenuchi ikkyo

Shomenuchi kotegaeshi
Sokumen iriminahe
Ushirotekubitori kokyunage 

 

Words

Writing - 8/8

 

Weekly To-Do

1. Figure out how to refill meds

2. Brush cats - 0/4

3. Clip cat claws - 0/3

 

Guys. Refilled without having to go back to the doc. AMAZING. 

 

Yesterday started off okay then descended into madness. Migraine made an appearance, probably kicked off by the stress spike I experienced. Darn near the latest migraine start to date? Only about one episode competes with this one for tardiness.

[ixaera]

32 minutes ago, Urgan said:

The additional sugar came from meals, not junk food. Protein now back in 100+ range. Adulting almost back into gear. Did not eat the pizza, but instead finished off old but real actual food. Here's the thing. I don't actually love pizza, I love the idea of it's hot and ready and I had no part in cooking it. It typically happens at the height of Shark Week for these reasons.

 

I don't like to let sugar from meals count against me, I guess unless I'm actively shoving sugar into the recipe, then sure. Not having to cook is the best treat of all. Especially when migrainey ><;

[Urgan]

13 minutes ago, ixaera said:

I don't like to let sugar from meals count against me, I guess unless I'm actively shoving sugar into the recipe, then sure.

 

I realize this is strict, but it was an experiment to see how I felt on a low sugar (for me) diet. Or rather, it WAS that...not so much this week...

 

14 minutes ago, ixaera said:

Not having to cook is the best treat of all. Especially when migrainey ><;

 

Cooking flies right out the window when my head hurts.

[Urgan]

5/26/2017 + 5/27/2017

Am I amazed or is it just a migraine?

 

Lift

 

 

Felt fine, nothing spectacular, though. Honestly, I can't say I've had an especially weak week, but from mid-week 3 to mid-week 4 was not impressing me. 

 

 

This felt pretty good. Better than the prior week for squats, that is for sure. Deadlifts have been strong at these weights. I'm increasing the next cycle by 5lbs just once to try to make it a little more challenging. I hate doing it in a way, because I always have the worst instincts for when to increase more and make things TOO difficult too soon. Ugh.

 

Recover

Sugar AVG: 44 -

Lifting status: green 

 

We are now stable.

 

Aikido

Bokken - 4/4

Shadow Aikido - 7/8

 

Kaitenage

Sankyo

Munetsuki kotegaeshi

Shomenuchi ikkyo

Shomenuchi kotegaeshi
Sokumen iriminahe
Ushirotekubitori kokyunage 

 

Words

Writing - 8/8

 

Weekly To-Do

1. Figure out how to refill meds

2. Brush cats - 4/4

3. Clip cat claws - 3/3

 

Everything looks good now except for Aikido. I dealt with my cats (they were most displeased), lifted, and kept sugar to a reasonable threshold. 

 

Oh and Thursday afternoon to Saturday is when the migraine showed up. I spent 5 hours in bed on Friday. Oh the productivity. 

[Urgan]

5/28/2017 + WEEK 4 DEBRIEF

 

My hormones be like

 

Lift

Rest day.

 

Recover

Sugar AVG: 41 v

Lifting status: green 

 

And a last-minute downturn FTW. Well, not really a win, because frankly this week's macros are...less than stellar. Observe: 

 

Week 4 Averages:

          Cals   /   Carbs   /   Fats    /  Protein /  Sugar

AVG    2455        274       107            98            41

TGT    2500        281         97          125             50

 

 

 

 

The averages look not so bad, but as you can see, my intake was all over the place. This was a hard week and I kind of just did the best I could. 

 

Aikido

Bokken - 4/4

Shadow Aikido - 8/8

 

Kaitenage

Sankyo

Munetsuki kotegaeshi

Shomenuchi ikkyo

Shomenuchi kotegaeshi
Sokumen iriminahe
Ushirotekubitori kokyunage 

 

Words

Writing - 8/8

 

I meant to write during this week, but had to settle for brainstorming because yeah that wasn't happening.

 

Weekly To-Do

1. Figure out how to refill meds

2. Brush cats - 4/4

3. Clip cat claws - 3/3

 

I am glad this month is done. There's been a lot of unnecessary stress going on and Week 4 was just lousy. The only thing of note for going into the next month is that mid-Week 3 and Week 4 were subpar-feeling for lifting in conjunction with Shark Week sucker punching me at the end this time as opposed to the middle, although I did not actually FAIL any reps. I think this is just due to low quality noms, but noting it anyway.