The timing of this scheduled workout was pretty good, given that my legs were trashed. It's interesting that I worked out harder a week earlier, yet this past week seemed to leave me more beat up, despite two rest days. Perhaps it was just a cumulative effect, or maybe the very hilly bike ride on Sunday followed by a squat day in the gym on Monday.
Here's my workout from yesterday:
Warm-up (most done with exercise bands)
Supersets:
1a - Bent over BB row 2x12
1b - incline alternating DB bench press - 2x12
2a - Close grip cable row - 6x5
2b - Push-ups - 6 x as many reps as possible (AMRAP)
This one had only 10 seconds rest after the rows before the push-ups. I pushed the weight up on the rows from last week and I was curious how the push-ups would go. I was happy to do 15, 14, 13, 12, 12, and 12, for a total of 78. In each set, I went until I couldn't do another rep without a rest period and the previous rep had been a very slow ascent. This was my best performance on push-ups recently.
3a - Barbell curls - 9, AMRAP, AMRAP
3b - Close grip bench press - 9, AMRAP, AMRAP
I used the same weights on these lifts as last week, but found that I was able to squeeze out some extra reps in the second and third sets. Overall, it was a very good workout, and way better than exercising outside, where it was extremely hot and humid.
The temps are supposed to drop a bit today and I'm hoping to get in an easy run after work. However, if my hamstring complains too much, I'm going to call it quits and go for a recreational swim instead.
PRP Countdown - 12 days
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Hamstring
My hamstring seems to be slowly getting worse. I've gotten to the point where I seem to have a constant dull ache in the area of the injury. I'm probably doing too much exercise and creating inflammation in the injury area. Yet, compared to my "normal" exercise levels of the past few years, it seems like I'm doing very little.
I've only run 700 miles so far this year and I'm on pace for my lowest running mileage year since 2002 or perhaps even 1998. In 2002, I had surgery to repair a torn ACL and lost a lot of the year to the injury and rehab. In 1998, I was simply stressed out by work, a new baby, and a late-year job change and cross-country move. Between all of those things, I simply didn't run very much that year - 967 total miles and 450 of those miles came in November and December, after I'd gotten my job situation settled. In 2002, I ran 1365 miles. Since 1990, those are my two lowest mileage running years, but it's pretty obvious that this year will be worse than 2002.
I've got less than two weeks until the PRP procedure, so I guess I just need to back off somewhat and not do any (more) damage until that procedure is done. After the procedure, I'll have two weeks of very limited activities while the PRP does its work.
In the interim, I'll try to stay active, but perhaps moderate things a bit. I'm not very good at moderation, so we'll see how that goes.
Today, I'm scheduled for an upper body lifting day, which I should be able to do without irritating the hamstring. Today is also supposed to be the last day of the brief heat wave that has hit Vermont recently, so training indoors in AC is fine with me. I ran a few easy downhill miles to the pool after work yesterday and it wasn't fun in the heat.
I've only run 700 miles so far this year and I'm on pace for my lowest running mileage year since 2002 or perhaps even 1998. In 2002, I had surgery to repair a torn ACL and lost a lot of the year to the injury and rehab. In 1998, I was simply stressed out by work, a new baby, and a late-year job change and cross-country move. Between all of those things, I simply didn't run very much that year - 967 total miles and 450 of those miles came in November and December, after I'd gotten my job situation settled. In 2002, I ran 1365 miles. Since 1990, those are my two lowest mileage running years, but it's pretty obvious that this year will be worse than 2002.
I've got less than two weeks until the PRP procedure, so I guess I just need to back off somewhat and not do any (more) damage until that procedure is done. After the procedure, I'll have two weeks of very limited activities while the PRP does its work.
In the interim, I'll try to stay active, but perhaps moderate things a bit. I'm not very good at moderation, so we'll see how that goes.
Today, I'm scheduled for an upper body lifting day, which I should be able to do without irritating the hamstring. Today is also supposed to be the last day of the brief heat wave that has hit Vermont recently, so training indoors in AC is fine with me. I ran a few easy downhill miles to the pool after work yesterday and it wasn't fun in the heat.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Weekend
We just had our first really warm, summer-like weekend of the year. In mid-August. A month from now, the leaves will start turning, but summer seems to have just arrived.
I wanted to run early on Saturday, but I also needed to get to the farmers market early, so my wife and I bought fruits and veggies before running. I was feeling beat from lifting twice on Friday and I didn't want to run as long as my wife was planning to go. So, we ran a hilly five miles together and then she went out for a bit over five more. I started to mow the lawn while she finished running.
After that, I did some home maintenance type of stuff, and it was time for a swim. We followed that up with dinner and then watched Slumdog Millionaire. It was a really good movie, but I find it hard to believe that it was the best picture released last year. It kind of reminded me of the year Shakespeare In Love won best picture. That was a good movie with a typical happy-ending to the love story, but it wasn't close to as good a film, in my opinion, as Life is Beautiful or even Saving Private Ryan. However, I haven't seen the other pictures that were nominated from last year.
Sunday morning, I got up early to go bike riding with one of my fellow ski instructors. My wife and son came with me and they hiked nearby while I rode. My friend and I did a very hilly ride that lasted just under two hours. The heat kept building through the ride and hills never seemed to end. I drained two water bottles during the ride and still felt like it wasn't enough.
The highlight of the ride was seeing a beautiful black bear - the first time I've ever seen a live bear in New England. It was in some bushes right beside the road and as my friend rode past the bear, the bear was startled and ran into a meadow, where we had a great view of it. My friend does a lot of mountain biking in the same area where we were road riding, and he sees bears pretty regularly, but it was a first for me. This is an area known to harbor a healthy bear population because of the high density of beech trees. Bears love the beech nuts and when I'm teaching skiing in the winter, I often show customers beech trees that have bear claw marks on the bark.
So, after our ride and my wife and son's hike, we met up for a late breakfast. After that, we went home and then went for a swim. I was too tired to do much else the rest of the day. Mostly, I caught up on the past week's episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report before bedtime.
I did a lower body lifting session today and I'll probably run an easy 3 miles to the pool after work. It's supposed to hit 90F today and my son has his first high school soccer practice of the season today. It's going to be a tough day for soccer.
I wanted to run early on Saturday, but I also needed to get to the farmers market early, so my wife and I bought fruits and veggies before running. I was feeling beat from lifting twice on Friday and I didn't want to run as long as my wife was planning to go. So, we ran a hilly five miles together and then she went out for a bit over five more. I started to mow the lawn while she finished running.
After that, I did some home maintenance type of stuff, and it was time for a swim. We followed that up with dinner and then watched Slumdog Millionaire. It was a really good movie, but I find it hard to believe that it was the best picture released last year. It kind of reminded me of the year Shakespeare In Love won best picture. That was a good movie with a typical happy-ending to the love story, but it wasn't close to as good a film, in my opinion, as Life is Beautiful or even Saving Private Ryan. However, I haven't seen the other pictures that were nominated from last year.
Sunday morning, I got up early to go bike riding with one of my fellow ski instructors. My wife and son came with me and they hiked nearby while I rode. My friend and I did a very hilly ride that lasted just under two hours. The heat kept building through the ride and hills never seemed to end. I drained two water bottles during the ride and still felt like it wasn't enough.
The highlight of the ride was seeing a beautiful black bear - the first time I've ever seen a live bear in New England. It was in some bushes right beside the road and as my friend rode past the bear, the bear was startled and ran into a meadow, where we had a great view of it. My friend does a lot of mountain biking in the same area where we were road riding, and he sees bears pretty regularly, but it was a first for me. This is an area known to harbor a healthy bear population because of the high density of beech trees. Bears love the beech nuts and when I'm teaching skiing in the winter, I often show customers beech trees that have bear claw marks on the bark.
So, after our ride and my wife and son's hike, we met up for a late breakfast. After that, we went home and then went for a swim. I was too tired to do much else the rest of the day. Mostly, I caught up on the past week's episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report before bedtime.
I did a lower body lifting session today and I'll probably run an easy 3 miles to the pool after work. It's supposed to hit 90F today and my son has his first high school soccer practice of the season today. It's going to be a tough day for soccer.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Sometimes, life gets in the way
Working at a small company has been fun and exciting for the past few months. This week, we needed to release a new product, and we didn't do the best possible job with the release. That led to a couple long work days this week, and it caused me to miss my workout yesterday. After a planned rest day on Wednesday, I ended up with two rest days in a row. I had a dinner reservation to have dinner with my wife and son last night and I was late for that, but I eventually made it. We had a really nice dinner at a local restaurant in a small local town. The restaurant sits on the edge of a lake and every meal there is a treat, especially when you can sit on the deck by the lake, like we did last night. It was a great way to unwind from a stressful work day.
This morning, I did yesterday's scheduled lifting workout - a lower body workout. Tonight after work, I'll do today's scheduled workout. Hopefully that won't leave me too tired to run with my wife tomorrow or cycle with a skiing buddy on Sunday.
To be honest, I have practically nothing planned this weekend other than a few workouts, and I'm looking forward to the nice weather and a calm weekend.
I almost wish I was running the MMD race in NH tonight, but my hamstring would not hold up well to that course right now.
This morning, I did yesterday's scheduled lifting workout - a lower body workout. Tonight after work, I'll do today's scheduled workout. Hopefully that won't leave me too tired to run with my wife tomorrow or cycle with a skiing buddy on Sunday.
To be honest, I have practically nothing planned this weekend other than a few workouts, and I'm looking forward to the nice weather and a calm weekend.
I almost wish I was running the MMD race in NH tonight, but my hamstring would not hold up well to that course right now.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Lifting night, and finally, a rest day
I did an upper body lifting night last night. After my warm-up, I had 3 supersets to do, and a number of AMRAP (as many reps as possible) sets.
I started with bent-over pronated barbell rows and incline DB presses for the first superset - 5x5. I used 135 for the rows and 2x45 for the presses. The 135 was a new high weight for me on that lift, but I seem stuck at 45s right now on the other lift.
I was using 50s for this lift about 18 months ago, and despite the fact that by bench press is better now than then, my incline dumbbell presses seem to have stagnated.
Next, I did supersets of close-grip cable rows (165 pounds) and then, with short rest, as many push-ups as possible (until I had to rest or my form fell apart). The rows were done as 5x6, so that meant 5 sets of push-ups. I did a total of 61 push-ups in the five sets, so I'm improving vs. recent weeks, but I never seem to get past 15 for my first set. I wonder if I should start doing "bonus" push-ups on other days of the week.
Lastly, I did barbell bicep curls and close grip bench presses. The goal was to start with a weight where I could just barely do 9 reps for the first set for each of the lifts, and then use the same weight to do AMRAP for sets 2 and 3.
I used 65 pounds for the curls and 95 for the bench presses - pathetic numbers, to be honest. But, I spend a lot more of my time doing lower body training vs. upper body, and adding upper body mass will not help my running.
I keep track of a number of girth measurements on a weekly basis, and lately, two numbers have been converging. As I'm losing some body fat, my neck is getting smaller. And, my biceps are getting bigger. The two numbers are currently only an inch apart.
I'm pretty sure my biceps have never been bigger than my neck and I'm not sure that it would be a good thing for someone who claims to be a runner. I am clearly adding some upper body mass right now, which I can tell clearly when I put on a dress shirt right now. The chest and shoulders and biceps are getting tighter and the neck is getting looser.
Hopefully, I'll get my hamstring fixed soon and I can once again be a runner who lifts on occasion, rather than a lifter who runs on occasion.
Today is a scheduled rest day. It's been two weeks since I've had an actual rest day (I've trained on my last 3 scheduled rest days), so I think I'll actually rest today. Some new Netflix movies are scheduled to arrive today, so I think I'll just relax tonight.
I started with bent-over pronated barbell rows and incline DB presses for the first superset - 5x5. I used 135 for the rows and 2x45 for the presses. The 135 was a new high weight for me on that lift, but I seem stuck at 45s right now on the other lift.
I was using 50s for this lift about 18 months ago, and despite the fact that by bench press is better now than then, my incline dumbbell presses seem to have stagnated.
Next, I did supersets of close-grip cable rows (165 pounds) and then, with short rest, as many push-ups as possible (until I had to rest or my form fell apart). The rows were done as 5x6, so that meant 5 sets of push-ups. I did a total of 61 push-ups in the five sets, so I'm improving vs. recent weeks, but I never seem to get past 15 for my first set. I wonder if I should start doing "bonus" push-ups on other days of the week.
Lastly, I did barbell bicep curls and close grip bench presses. The goal was to start with a weight where I could just barely do 9 reps for the first set for each of the lifts, and then use the same weight to do AMRAP for sets 2 and 3.
I used 65 pounds for the curls and 95 for the bench presses - pathetic numbers, to be honest. But, I spend a lot more of my time doing lower body training vs. upper body, and adding upper body mass will not help my running.
I keep track of a number of girth measurements on a weekly basis, and lately, two numbers have been converging. As I'm losing some body fat, my neck is getting smaller. And, my biceps are getting bigger. The two numbers are currently only an inch apart.
I'm pretty sure my biceps have never been bigger than my neck and I'm not sure that it would be a good thing for someone who claims to be a runner. I am clearly adding some upper body mass right now, which I can tell clearly when I put on a dress shirt right now. The chest and shoulders and biceps are getting tighter and the neck is getting looser.
Hopefully, I'll get my hamstring fixed soon and I can once again be a runner who lifts on occasion, rather than a lifter who runs on occasion.
Today is a scheduled rest day. It's been two weeks since I've had an actual rest day (I've trained on my last 3 scheduled rest days), so I think I'll actually rest today. Some new Netflix movies are scheduled to arrive today, so I think I'll just relax tonight.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
And now I wait...
I don't know how long it will be before I hear back about yesterday's MRI. The hospital where the MRI was done has no employed radiologists, so they use radiologists from another hospital to read their radiology studies. Hopefully, I'll hear fairly soon and we'll know if the PRP is the right answer or if we need to pursue another path.
My legs are beat today after cycling on Saturday, running on Sunday, and doing a squat and lunge workout yesterday. Today is an upper body workout, and tomorrow is a scheduled rest day. Recently, on my scheduled rest days, I've been doing an easy ride or bike run, but I might just rest this time.
So, I just keep plugging along - lifting, riding, running, and trying to eat well.
It's been 11 weeks now since I've had any alcohol and I'm finally seeing my weight and measurements heading in the right direction. To get there, I've also had to be very careful with what I'm eating. Dropping alcohol alone is not enough for me to lose weight, even if I'm working out hard. So now, I'm living life without alcohol and many of the foods I really like. Luckily, we are in the midst of summer and the fruits and veggies from farmers markets are making it easier to eat healthy foods.
My legs are beat today after cycling on Saturday, running on Sunday, and doing a squat and lunge workout yesterday. Today is an upper body workout, and tomorrow is a scheduled rest day. Recently, on my scheduled rest days, I've been doing an easy ride or bike run, but I might just rest this time.
So, I just keep plugging along - lifting, riding, running, and trying to eat well.
It's been 11 weeks now since I've had any alcohol and I'm finally seeing my weight and measurements heading in the right direction. To get there, I've also had to be very careful with what I'm eating. Dropping alcohol alone is not enough for me to lose weight, even if I'm working out hard. So now, I'm living life without alcohol and many of the foods I really like. Luckily, we are in the midst of summer and the fruits and veggies from farmers markets are making it easier to eat healthy foods.
Monday, August 10, 2009
MRI
That was fast. The hospital needed insurance company pre-approval for an MRI on my hamstring. We filled out the request form on Friday.
Today, at 1:30, they called and said the approval was complete. And, they had a 3:00 slot for an MRI, if I could make it. I jumped at that opportunity, so I'm hopefully one step closer to a solution with my hamstring.
The odd thing is that I'm now actually hoping that the MRI shows a specific injury site. If no acute injury is seen, there is no point in doing the PRP injection, because there is no specific location to target.
If the MRI shows no specific injury site, I am guessing they'll send me back to PT and the chiropractor, rather than doing the PRP treatment.
I've still got three weeks until the treatment is scheduled anyway, and I need to get a blood test (CBC) to make sure I actually have platelets sometime next week. That test has to be done within 14 days of the planned treatment.
As I've said many times before, I just want to run without it being a chore.
Today, at 1:30, they called and said the approval was complete. And, they had a 3:00 slot for an MRI, if I could make it. I jumped at that opportunity, so I'm hopefully one step closer to a solution with my hamstring.
The odd thing is that I'm now actually hoping that the MRI shows a specific injury site. If no acute injury is seen, there is no point in doing the PRP injection, because there is no specific location to target.
If the MRI shows no specific injury site, I am guessing they'll send me back to PT and the chiropractor, rather than doing the PRP treatment.
I've still got three weeks until the treatment is scheduled anyway, and I need to get a blood test (CBC) to make sure I actually have platelets sometime next week. That test has to be done within 14 days of the planned treatment.
As I've said many times before, I just want to run without it being a chore.
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