Prescribed Workout:
Running: 2 miles, 8:30 pace (17 minutes total)
Pullups: 3 sets of 3
Situps: 5 sets of 20
Pushups: 5 sets of 20
Actual Workout:
Running: 2.00 miles, 16:59 total (About 8:29 pace)
Situps: 5 sets of 20
Pushups: 5 sets of 20
Dips: 6 sets of 3
Eating
Lunch (12:00)
Romaine salad with corn, tomato, sliced chicken and a small helping of cilantro dressing
Large cappuccino with non-fat milk
Dinner (6:00)
One helping of Mexican rice
One helping of corn and peas
Two small chicken breasts
Thoughts
It was a more strenuous workout today than it was on Monday. Maybe because I was stressed out over a test, or maybe because I changed my routine slightly (went to the gym at 3:00, not 9:30-10:00), but for whatever reason, I struggled a bit. Maybe I didn't have enough carbs in my system--I should have had a snack, like on Monday, but I went straight from class to the gym.
Anyway, despite my struggles, I still finished running only slightly above Monday's pace. But, it was much more of an ordeal. I had to stop at .65 of a mile, after going at least a full mile before stopping on Monday and last Friday. I took another break at 1.25, 1.65 and 1.85. I finished my first mile in eight minutes on the dot, and sprinted the last .10 of the second mile (about a six minute pace), once again yelling out to myself and drawing the eyes of the people around me. Oh well. I still have blisters on my left foot, which I seem to numb out during my run, only to have it come back more painful later in the day. I hope they go away quickly.
I did some dips in lieu of pullups...again. Those went well. The pain in my hand from Monday seems to have gone away.
The pushups were particularly hard today--once I hit 15 on each set, I started to ache. The situps weren't too bad, just a standard burn.
As for eating...I could probably add more calories to my diet. I imagine that I'm below 2000 right now and, given my metabolism and current activity, that's not good. Snacks and breakfast are in order.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Week Two, Day Two: January 20th
Workout
Prescribed Workout:
Swimming: Continuously for 15 minutes
Actual Workout:
Swimming: Continuously for 10 laps in a 50 meter pool
Eating
Breakfast (9:30)
One banana
Lunch (12:00)
One helping of curry chicken
One slice of whole wheat pita
Dinner (7:00)
Nine pieces of assorted sushi
One bowl of chili
Thoughts
A fairly light and uneventful day. In the pool, I finished my first four laps in five minutes, which led me to believe that I might be able to boost my total laps from 10 to 12. Alas, it wasn't mean to be, and my pace slowed as time went on. It was again a mix of free style and breaststroke.
On a separate note, my blisters that I spoke about yesterday have gotten exponentially worse, to the point where I have a hard time walking on them at all. We'll see how that impacts my running tomorrow, but it's a gigantic pain in the ass right now.
I passed on pizza for dinner and instead opted for some sushi and chili--an odd but delicious combination.
Tomorrow should have more for me to report. I have a test, though, so it's back to studying for now.
Prescribed Workout:
Swimming: Continuously for 15 minutes
Actual Workout:
Swimming: Continuously for 10 laps in a 50 meter pool
Eating
Breakfast (9:30)
One banana
Lunch (12:00)
One helping of curry chicken
One slice of whole wheat pita
Dinner (7:00)
Nine pieces of assorted sushi
One bowl of chili
Thoughts
A fairly light and uneventful day. In the pool, I finished my first four laps in five minutes, which led me to believe that I might be able to boost my total laps from 10 to 12. Alas, it wasn't mean to be, and my pace slowed as time went on. It was again a mix of free style and breaststroke.
On a separate note, my blisters that I spoke about yesterday have gotten exponentially worse, to the point where I have a hard time walking on them at all. We'll see how that impacts my running tomorrow, but it's a gigantic pain in the ass right now.
I passed on pizza for dinner and instead opted for some sushi and chili--an odd but delicious combination.
Tomorrow should have more for me to report. I have a test, though, so it's back to studying for now.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Week Two, Day One: January 19th
Prescribed Workout:
Running: 2 miles, 8:30 pace (17 minutes total)
Pullups: 3 sets of 3
Situps: 5 sets of 20
Pushups: 5 sets of 20
Actual Workout:
Running: 2.00 miles, 16:43 total (About 8:21 pace)
Situps: 5 sets of 20
Pushups: 5 sets of 20
Dips: 6 sets of 3
Eating
Lunch (12:00)
One bowl of chicken noodle soup
Snack (3:30)
One Chewy bar
Dinner (6:00)
Two pieces of chicken breast
One pieces of fish
One helping of rice
One cooked mushroom
One Egg
Thoughts
Quickly, on eating: nothing special today. Pretty standard. Protein, carbs, etc. Fin.
I don't know what's happening, but I love it. I have blisters on my feet and can barely walk, yet I still decided to do my workout today, running and all. The result? I finished my two miles in under an 8:30 pace, and finished my first mile in 7:45. I didn't take a break until 1:15 in, and then took only one more break after that. And honestly, this was my "easiest" run yet, despite the pain from the blisters. My breathing was good, again, and my legs didn't feel like jelly afterward. It was tiring, sure, but I'm getting faster and not feeling the effects as much. At this time last week, I was struggling to finish at under a 10 mile pace. Now, I'm beating the set workout pace. Something has clicked, and my speed and endurance keep getting better.
I've stopped trying on pullups. It's a shitshow. I don't know how to get better, except try to build up arm strength, but I can barely do more than one. It's a waste of time until I can find a way to hoist myself up. I did see a machine at the gym today that is essentially an assisted pullup--I might start doing that until I can do one without any help.
The dips were all right, but something was wrong with my left wrist--I felt a shooting pain around the third set. I powered through it, but it still stings now. I'll rest it for the next day or two.
The extra set of pushups and situps certainly made a difference. I was heaving for air and tiring far worse than during my run, and the 10 total sets probably took about the same amount of time. My abs and arms are on fire right now, but overall, a nice start to the week.
Running: 2 miles, 8:30 pace (17 minutes total)
Pullups: 3 sets of 3
Situps: 5 sets of 20
Pushups: 5 sets of 20
Actual Workout:
Running: 2.00 miles, 16:43 total (About 8:21 pace)
Situps: 5 sets of 20
Pushups: 5 sets of 20
Dips: 6 sets of 3
Eating
Lunch (12:00)
One bowl of chicken noodle soup
Snack (3:30)
One Chewy bar
Dinner (6:00)
Two pieces of chicken breast
One pieces of fish
One helping of rice
One cooked mushroom
One Egg
Thoughts
Quickly, on eating: nothing special today. Pretty standard. Protein, carbs, etc. Fin.
I don't know what's happening, but I love it. I have blisters on my feet and can barely walk, yet I still decided to do my workout today, running and all. The result? I finished my two miles in under an 8:30 pace, and finished my first mile in 7:45. I didn't take a break until 1:15 in, and then took only one more break after that. And honestly, this was my "easiest" run yet, despite the pain from the blisters. My breathing was good, again, and my legs didn't feel like jelly afterward. It was tiring, sure, but I'm getting faster and not feeling the effects as much. At this time last week, I was struggling to finish at under a 10 mile pace. Now, I'm beating the set workout pace. Something has clicked, and my speed and endurance keep getting better.
I've stopped trying on pullups. It's a shitshow. I don't know how to get better, except try to build up arm strength, but I can barely do more than one. It's a waste of time until I can find a way to hoist myself up. I did see a machine at the gym today that is essentially an assisted pullup--I might start doing that until I can do one without any help.
The dips were all right, but something was wrong with my left wrist--I felt a shooting pain around the third set. I powered through it, but it still stings now. I'll rest it for the next day or two.
The extra set of pushups and situps certainly made a difference. I was heaving for air and tiring far worse than during my run, and the 10 total sets probably took about the same amount of time. My abs and arms are on fire right now, but overall, a nice start to the week.
Weekly Measurements: Start of Week Two
Time for the first tangible results of this workout program. At the beginning of last week, I weighed 222 pounds and had a body fat percentage of 22%.
After one week on the program, those numbers are now...
218 pounds and 19.5%.
That's some nice progress! I'm pretty pumped, four pounds and 2.5% in just seven days is quite a lot. Let's see what the next week holds. I never really put down weight/body fat goals, and I don't intend to--wherever this program leads me, it leads me. I may very well end up at the same weight at the end, just with half the body fat. Or, I might drop 30 pounds. Who knows? (Actually, someone with a trained eye could probably look at the program and tell me, but I'll keep myself in the dark). Still, it's nice to see that my efforts have already had an effect.
After one week on the program, those numbers are now...
218 pounds and 19.5%.
That's some nice progress! I'm pretty pumped, four pounds and 2.5% in just seven days is quite a lot. Let's see what the next week holds. I never really put down weight/body fat goals, and I don't intend to--wherever this program leads me, it leads me. I may very well end up at the same weight at the end, just with half the body fat. Or, I might drop 30 pounds. Who knows? (Actually, someone with a trained eye could probably look at the program and tell me, but I'll keep myself in the dark). Still, it's nice to see that my efforts have already had an effect.
Week One, Day Seven: January 18th
Workout
Prescribed Workout:
Swimming: Continuously for 15 minutes
Actual Workout:
Swimming: Continuously for 10 laps in a 50 meter pool
Eating
Lunch (3:00)
15 chicken dumpling
Dinner (9:00)
Assorted Chex Mex
Two Chewy bars
Thoughts
First, the eating: it looks like a) a light day and b) an unhealthy day. But, the dumplings had a surprisingly low number of calories and carbs, as did the Chex Mex and Chewy bars. That being said, I'll be surprised if I ingested more than 1,000-1,200 calories on the day, which is far too low. But, I woke up at 1:00, and was pretty busy after then. Sometimes, I simply forget to eat. I'm going to try and make sure this doesn't happen again.
As for the workout, you'll notice that I went from 13 laps on Thursday to 10 on Sunday. I finally found an underwater watch, so I timed myself for real, instead of simply in my head. The result? It takes me almost exactly 15 minutes to do 10 laps on a 50 meter pool. Before, I was almost certain that my times were too good to be true, so I swam 13 laps. But, I must have gone over the 15 minute mark. The workout felt good, I tried to go as many laps as possible before taking a break of any length, even if it was only for a few seconds. I also swam in the fast lane, so I was egged on by people passing me--I hate being beaten, even if it's in recreational swimming. I swam mostly breast stroke, so I'm going to focus on free style this week.
I also played about an hour of pickup basketball at night, which was fun, despite my team being destroyed. We had no subs, so I played the entire game, which, of course, involved a lot of running a jumping. That was a nice, added bonus to the day's workout. It concluded my first week on the program, which overall, felt good. There were definitely some times--Wednesday, in particular--when I questioned what the hell I was doing, but after Friday's run, it seemed to be coming together. Back in a few with the weekly weigh-in.
Prescribed Workout:
Swimming: Continuously for 15 minutes
Actual Workout:
Swimming: Continuously for 10 laps in a 50 meter pool
Eating
Lunch (3:00)
15 chicken dumpling
Dinner (9:00)
Assorted Chex Mex
Two Chewy bars
Thoughts
First, the eating: it looks like a) a light day and b) an unhealthy day. But, the dumplings had a surprisingly low number of calories and carbs, as did the Chex Mex and Chewy bars. That being said, I'll be surprised if I ingested more than 1,000-1,200 calories on the day, which is far too low. But, I woke up at 1:00, and was pretty busy after then. Sometimes, I simply forget to eat. I'm going to try and make sure this doesn't happen again.
As for the workout, you'll notice that I went from 13 laps on Thursday to 10 on Sunday. I finally found an underwater watch, so I timed myself for real, instead of simply in my head. The result? It takes me almost exactly 15 minutes to do 10 laps on a 50 meter pool. Before, I was almost certain that my times were too good to be true, so I swam 13 laps. But, I must have gone over the 15 minute mark. The workout felt good, I tried to go as many laps as possible before taking a break of any length, even if it was only for a few seconds. I also swam in the fast lane, so I was egged on by people passing me--I hate being beaten, even if it's in recreational swimming. I swam mostly breast stroke, so I'm going to focus on free style this week.
I also played about an hour of pickup basketball at night, which was fun, despite my team being destroyed. We had no subs, so I played the entire game, which, of course, involved a lot of running a jumping. That was a nice, added bonus to the day's workout. It concluded my first week on the program, which overall, felt good. There were definitely some times--Wednesday, in particular--when I questioned what the hell I was doing, but after Friday's run, it seemed to be coming together. Back in a few with the weekly weigh-in.
Week One, Day Six: January 17th
Workout
Prescribed Workout:
Swimming: Continuously for 15 minutes
Actual Workout:
4.5 mile hike
Eating
Brunch (11:30)
Egg white omelete with turkey, onions, American cheese and mushrooms
One grapefruit
Two glasses of chocolate milk
Dinner (7:30)
Pasta with tomato sauce and clams
Large root beer
Non-fat chai latte
Thoughts
My apologies for the lack of updates this weekend. I'll catch up now. There isn't much to report, as the weekend was fairly light.
I was meant to go swimming on Saturday, but other obligations forced me to miss the pool times. Instead, I went for a hike with some friends in the mid afternoon, which was fun. There were some steep inclines at a few points but it was otherwise fairly manageable, and I worked up a pretty decent sweat by the end of it. I then went to a basketball game and cheered my ass off for over two hours, jumping up and down and practically losing my voice. That has to count for some sort of workout, right?
Eating was also fairly lite. I went to the movies on Saturday night and had a big root beer--I was thirsty and it was tantalizing. Probably not the best decision, but I had eaten fairly healthily over the week, so it wasn't a huge deal. I also had Starbucks for the first time in about a month (I generally avoid it at all costs), and had a chai latte. Yeah...
Prescribed Workout:
Swimming: Continuously for 15 minutes
Actual Workout:
4.5 mile hike
Eating
Brunch (11:30)
Egg white omelete with turkey, onions, American cheese and mushrooms
One grapefruit
Two glasses of chocolate milk
Dinner (7:30)
Pasta with tomato sauce and clams
Large root beer
Non-fat chai latte
Thoughts
My apologies for the lack of updates this weekend. I'll catch up now. There isn't much to report, as the weekend was fairly light.
I was meant to go swimming on Saturday, but other obligations forced me to miss the pool times. Instead, I went for a hike with some friends in the mid afternoon, which was fun. There were some steep inclines at a few points but it was otherwise fairly manageable, and I worked up a pretty decent sweat by the end of it. I then went to a basketball game and cheered my ass off for over two hours, jumping up and down and practically losing my voice. That has to count for some sort of workout, right?
Eating was also fairly lite. I went to the movies on Saturday night and had a big root beer--I was thirsty and it was tantalizing. Probably not the best decision, but I had eaten fairly healthily over the week, so it wasn't a huge deal. I also had Starbucks for the first time in about a month (I generally avoid it at all costs), and had a chai latte. Yeah...
Friday, January 16, 2009
Week One, Day Five: January 16th
Prescribed Workout:
Running: 2 miles, 8:30 pace (17 minutes total)
Pullups: 3 sets of 3
Situps: 4 sets of 20
Pushups: 4 sets of 15
Actual Workout:
Running: 2.00 miles, 17:23 total (About 8:41 pace)
Pullups: 1 set of 3
Situps: 4 sets of 20
Pushups: 4 sets of 15
Dips: 6 sets of 3
Eating
Breakfast (10:00)
One banana
Lunch (12:00)
One calzone with assorted meats
Snack (3:30)
One Kudos bar
Dinner (6:00)
Two helpings of turkey lasagna
Half a dozen carrots
One Egg
Thoughts
I am pumped! My mile time dropped nearly a minute and a half...in two days!! I'm at a loss as for why it happened, but I have an idea... I ate a Kudos bar one hour before my workout. This seems like small potatoes, but I do think it made a difference. For those that don't know, Kudos are small, 100 calorie candy bars. Previously, I found myself getting tired on the treadmill soon after starting. I reckoned that it had something to do with exercising long after meal times. So, even though it was just a little stick of granola and chocolate, I think the Kudos bar made some difference. Yes, I know...Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc...but this is a blog and my mind is searching for answers, so there you go.
Additionally, when I was on the treadmill, I tried to get my breathing in rhythm. Before, I found that I would breathe at an infrequent rate, and would invariably have to take a huge gasp, which would cause me to break any sort of rhythm I had going. So, this time, I was conscious about my breathing, and it made a huge difference--my panting never really got harder, just slightly more intense, whereas before, I would have to breathe harder by the end to make up for shorter breaths that I had taken previously.
In the end, I only took three (very) short breaks, and still finished in just over 17:00, which is where I'm supposed to be. I ran the first mile completely without stopping, finishing in...wait for it...eight minutes flat. I bumped up my pace from 8:30 to 8:00 to see if there was much of a difference, and if my body would notice. The conclusion? Pretty much the same. Anyway, I only took a break because I started to cramp up--something that had never been a problem before. I fought through it at first, but it kept up and I had to walk for a second. I took a break again at 1:35 and one last one at 1:70. After the second break, I bumped the treadmill up to 7:40. It stayed there after the final one, but I decided to incorporate an aspect into my run: a final sprint. When the ticker showed that I only had a tenth of a mile left, I increased the speed to 6:15, and ran all out for the last few feet. It was instantly more tiring, and my breathing got substantially heavier. With .05 left, I wanted to quit, but instead of hitting the stop button, I yelled (outloud) to myself, "You will NOT fail" and "Don't fucking quit." In the words of a certain sarcastic corporal from Generation Kill, it was cheesy-moto-bullshit, but I didn't care: it kept me going. When the final hundreths of a mile ticked off, I started a countdown. "3.....2....1", and when the ticker struck two miles, I yelled out "GET SOME!!!"
It was a small acheivement and one that most people would scoff at, but it felt good to bring my time down and add a sprint to my routine. We'll see on Monday if this was an anomoly. I hope it's not. More than any other time during the workout so far, this made me feel like I was actually making some progress. So although my legs felt like lead afterwards and I was panting like a dog, I was still enthusiastic.
While I was the gym, I tried to do some pullups, since this is my largest current weakness. Unfortunately, I still absolutely suck at them, so I managed one set before calling it a day. Instead, I added three more additional sets to my dips, which I was already using to compensate for the poor pullup totals. Those went well, though my arms were exhausted by the end.
I came back to the dorm and did my pushups/situps. The pushups get progressively easier for me as the days ware on, but the situps remain difficult. By the final set of the latter, my abs were on fire and I was having a hard time lifting myself off the ground. Nevertheless, I never stopped in the middle of a set, which is a first.
As for eating today, I made sure to eat something for breakfast. Calzone was the only option at lunch, so I did away with most of the bread and just ate the meat and sauce. Same with the lasagna at night--I tried to avoid the pasta aspect of it as much as possible and focus more on the substance.
Anyway, an all together successful day, certainly my best so far. The weekend will be relatively laid back--just some swimming--before starting up again with a slightly more intense workout for Monday, the beginning of Week Two.
Running: 2 miles, 8:30 pace (17 minutes total)
Pullups: 3 sets of 3
Situps: 4 sets of 20
Pushups: 4 sets of 15
Actual Workout:
Running: 2.00 miles, 17:23 total (About 8:41 pace)
Pullups: 1 set of 3
Situps: 4 sets of 20
Pushups: 4 sets of 15
Dips: 6 sets of 3
Eating
Breakfast (10:00)
One banana
Lunch (12:00)
One calzone with assorted meats
Snack (3:30)
One Kudos bar
Dinner (6:00)
Two helpings of turkey lasagna
Half a dozen carrots
One Egg
Thoughts
I am pumped! My mile time dropped nearly a minute and a half...in two days!! I'm at a loss as for why it happened, but I have an idea... I ate a Kudos bar one hour before my workout. This seems like small potatoes, but I do think it made a difference. For those that don't know, Kudos are small, 100 calorie candy bars. Previously, I found myself getting tired on the treadmill soon after starting. I reckoned that it had something to do with exercising long after meal times. So, even though it was just a little stick of granola and chocolate, I think the Kudos bar made some difference. Yes, I know...Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc...but this is a blog and my mind is searching for answers, so there you go.
Additionally, when I was on the treadmill, I tried to get my breathing in rhythm. Before, I found that I would breathe at an infrequent rate, and would invariably have to take a huge gasp, which would cause me to break any sort of rhythm I had going. So, this time, I was conscious about my breathing, and it made a huge difference--my panting never really got harder, just slightly more intense, whereas before, I would have to breathe harder by the end to make up for shorter breaths that I had taken previously.
In the end, I only took three (very) short breaks, and still finished in just over 17:00, which is where I'm supposed to be. I ran the first mile completely without stopping, finishing in...wait for it...eight minutes flat. I bumped up my pace from 8:30 to 8:00 to see if there was much of a difference, and if my body would notice. The conclusion? Pretty much the same. Anyway, I only took a break because I started to cramp up--something that had never been a problem before. I fought through it at first, but it kept up and I had to walk for a second. I took a break again at 1:35 and one last one at 1:70. After the second break, I bumped the treadmill up to 7:40. It stayed there after the final one, but I decided to incorporate an aspect into my run: a final sprint. When the ticker showed that I only had a tenth of a mile left, I increased the speed to 6:15, and ran all out for the last few feet. It was instantly more tiring, and my breathing got substantially heavier. With .05 left, I wanted to quit, but instead of hitting the stop button, I yelled (outloud) to myself, "You will NOT fail" and "Don't fucking quit." In the words of a certain sarcastic corporal from Generation Kill, it was cheesy-moto-bullshit, but I didn't care: it kept me going. When the final hundreths of a mile ticked off, I started a countdown. "3.....2....1", and when the ticker struck two miles, I yelled out "GET SOME!!!"
It was a small acheivement and one that most people would scoff at, but it felt good to bring my time down and add a sprint to my routine. We'll see on Monday if this was an anomoly. I hope it's not. More than any other time during the workout so far, this made me feel like I was actually making some progress. So although my legs felt like lead afterwards and I was panting like a dog, I was still enthusiastic.
While I was the gym, I tried to do some pullups, since this is my largest current weakness. Unfortunately, I still absolutely suck at them, so I managed one set before calling it a day. Instead, I added three more additional sets to my dips, which I was already using to compensate for the poor pullup totals. Those went well, though my arms were exhausted by the end.
I came back to the dorm and did my pushups/situps. The pushups get progressively easier for me as the days ware on, but the situps remain difficult. By the final set of the latter, my abs were on fire and I was having a hard time lifting myself off the ground. Nevertheless, I never stopped in the middle of a set, which is a first.
As for eating today, I made sure to eat something for breakfast. Calzone was the only option at lunch, so I did away with most of the bread and just ate the meat and sauce. Same with the lasagna at night--I tried to avoid the pasta aspect of it as much as possible and focus more on the substance.
Anyway, an all together successful day, certainly my best so far. The weekend will be relatively laid back--just some swimming--before starting up again with a slightly more intense workout for Monday, the beginning of Week Two.
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