Workout

Holy hell, got on the bike tonight! Lots of things came together tonight to make this happen:

1. Tri training schedule called for 15 minutes on the bike
2. Missed my workout before work this morning
3. Got home tonight to find that my lovely wife had bought me a new bike helmet!

It seemed like karma. So I got the old mountain bike down, pumped up the tires, checked the brakes and took off for a nice ride around the neighbourhood. I ended up being out for about 20 minutes or so and according to mapmyrun.com, I covered about 5 kilometres, which seems pretty good.

It's been a while since I've been on the bike at all, so when I finished, I noticed that my quads felt...heavy. They didn't hurt, but felt kind of...um, pumped. I thought to myself, "I wonder if this is why they say that running after biking is an acquired skill?". So, I tried to jog a bit in front of my house...

I'm not gonna lie: I fell down.

Workout (Start of Try-a-Tri Training)

Super early workout today, but a good one. It was the first day of my mini-Triathlon training and the schedule called for "Run 15 mins". And, lo and behold, I actually did it, at my usual running pace of between 5 and 5.5 mph. With a 5 min warm up @ 3.5 mph and a 5 min cool down @ 3.0 mph, I covered 2.92km according to the treadmill. Not bad.

Workout

Damn, it feels good to type that so often. Banged out a P90X Kenpo workout in the middle of the day today. Had the heart rate monitor on, so I know it was working well...definitely in the zone for most of the workout.

That makes 5 workouts for June and we're only at the 12th. Feeling good that I'll hit the workouts goal for June. Booyah!

Inspiration

"If you want to do it, all you have to do is do it."

Workout, Bike and Protein Shake

Pretty psyched to get out to the gym this morning. Was at work nice and early (7am) and got a lot done, so was able to head over at 8:20 or so. I got a 12 week Tri-a-Tri training program from my friend Steve, and although I'm not sure that I'll start it, it did inspire me this morning to do something that I never do: stationary bike. Steve's program has a 15 minute bike workout in the first week, so I decided to try that out.

It was actually pretty fun to see what the bike was like. Wow, my legs were burning about 2 minutes into it, so that's something. I ended up doing just under 2.5km in 15 minutes. Good times. I think I'll keep mixing that into the workouts. It would be fun to do a simulated Tri-a-Tri at the gym at one point. Just gotta find a pool to swim in.

Finished off the workout with the usual upper body weight circuit x 2. Mixed in some half-assed core while waiting for machines to clear.

And finally, I'm drinking a Myoplex shake right now. Got 'em for 10 bucks a 4 pack at the GNC near my work. Seemed like a good deal. It's actually pretty tasty, and another 25g of protein. It's a tough call though: 210 calories. Tradeoff.

Workout

Another example of a making time to get that workout in - which I will have to do if I'm going to hit my goal of 8 workouts in June. I forgot to set my alarm last night, woke up almost 40 minutes late, hauled ass to get to an 8:30 meeting at work. But when that was over, I decided to go to the gym and make up for the missed workout. Gotta do it!

The plan today was to run 2.5 km to get a level set for the running portion of the Tri-a-Tri (Oh, I didn't mention that? Saving that for another post). However, my shins were killing me and I pulled up lame after only 1.5km. I assume this is because of my outdoor run on Sunday night.

So, I switched to weights and got in two circuits of the usual machines at the usual weights:

Bench press: 105 lbs
Shoulder press: 60 lbs
Bicep curl: 70 lbs
Tricep pushdown: 45 lbs
Leg press: 195 lbs
Row: 90 lbs

Felt good and wish I could have stayed longer!

Workout (or "Kids, Did You Know Running Outside Is Hard?")

Just got the bug to go out and run a bit tonight, mostly because I spend the afternoon reading beginnertriathlete.com. I set the old iPod for a 35 minute workout and off I went. Some observations:

1. It's mosquito season here in Canada. At dusk, they're out in force.
2. I almost stepped on a raccoon while adjusting said iPod.
3. Running on paved sidewalks and roads beats the hell out of your heels, ankles, shins and knees.
4. I have trouble pacing myself without the help of a treadmill.

All of that added up to a rather disappointing 2.5 km in 35 minutes, with lots and lots of walking. But, hey, I did it, instead of playing WOW. And, to be honest, according to my handy heartrate monitor, I spend almost all of that 35 minutes in my target zone, so it's all good.

Workout

Man alive, I did not feeling like hitting the gym this morning. I was late for work (and by "late" I mean I got in at 7:30), so I didn't have time to go at my usual time of 8am. But I did manage to get to there around 8:30 or so, and it was cardio day! Good times.

I started off thinking that I was going to run for 35 minutes and see how far I got. That lasted for about 10 minutes and I was so bored that I decided to start doing intervals. In the end I did about 3.7km in 35 minutes, with a mix between 6.5-7mph running for 60-90 seconds and walking for 3 minutes or so.

In other news, I have to tell you, I have been reading a blog called Dropping The lbs and marvelling at Josh's willpower. Then, he posted some before and after photos. Wow. No weird lighting, no airbrushing, no fat guy to ripped guy bullshit, just real results. This is inspiration.

June Goals (or "Back In The Saddle!")

June 1st! As you know, I was a little down at the end of last week because my weight had spiked so high that I missed my May target by 10 lbs. Interestingly, things have calmed down a bit and I got back on the program. And, of course, my weight came down accordingly. I'm actually feeling pretty good right now and ready to try and move the needle again.

So let's talk June goals:

1. Target spot weight on June 30th - 188 lbs. A little more realistic this time maybe.
2. Continue slow carb diet. I'm getting pretty good at this. I cheat a lot, but for the most part, it's becoming very sustainable.
3. 8 combo workouts. Changing this up a bit so it's not just a running goal.
4. Hockey. I am tempted to take this right off the list, but I feel like I want to keep some tension on it. One of these days I'll do it.

Also, I'm staying on the CQ for June. It actually seems to work. And by that I mean maybe my May results would have been worse if I hadn't been taking it.