Moving Day!!

I'm moving my blog to the same hosting site that I use for my personal web page. Please visit me at:

DaveGetsFit

A Tough Loss

If the sometimes joked about notion is true that we only have a finite number of heart beats available to us in a lifetime, then I made a big withdrawal on my account yesterday. I played a really tough three-game match with Neal, and we split the first two games. Both games included several extended rallies where I really had to hustle. When we took a break after splitting the first two games, I mentioned to Neal that my heart rate was really up there. So then what happens? We start the third game with a twenty shot rally that saw me racing all over the place (only to lose the point). The third game was back and forth but I ended serving for the match at 14-12. Unfortunately, Neal ended up serving at 14-14 and won. It's a tough way to lose, but it was a really terrific workout. Neal seems to have my number in 2009 after I was fairly dominant at the end of last year.

Ten more miles on the bike since the last post. I had a slight tailwind for this mornings ride in. I've been running the GPS program for every ride, but I may not continue. It's depressing to see my average speed--so slow. I might pick up a cheap computer to see if perhaps the calculations from the GPS are off. Maybe I'm a tad faster than being reported! :-)

Morning weight: 207lbs

The Morning Commute

I had a good ride in this morning. It was a brisk 39 degrees but there was no wind to speak of. That's a rarity for Corpus Christi, which probably has a better claim to the moniker "Windy City" than Chicago does. I don't mind riding in cold weather at all but I don't care for fighting cold headwinds (or worse--cold, windy and WET). I'm riding pretty slow right now as my EZ-1 recumbent is not what would be considered a fast bike to start with, and that is exacerbated by the fact that I don't have my "recumbent legs" back after not riding one for awhile. I should get a little faster as time goes by but no biggie if I don't. I just want to enjoy the ride and arrive safely.

Riding in does give me a chance to play with a new toy. My phone is a T-Mobile G1--aka the Google phone. It runs on the Android operationing system written by Google, and intergrates with their services very well. One program that I run is called "My Tracks." It uses the internal GPS capability of the phone to allow you to record your movements. Once you record a track, you can upload it to both Google Maps and Google Docs with on tap. The Google Docs function creates a spread sheet showing all kind of statistics like distance, elapsed time, average speed, average speed while moving, elevation changes, and more. The Maps upload puts the track on the 'My Maps" tab of Google Maps. If you click on the end point of the track, it will display all of the statistics for the ride. You can check out this morning's ride by going here:

http://tinyurl.com/cjb65d

My overall average speed is REAL SLOW because I let the track continue to record while I stop at the gym to shower and change. So the "average speed while moving" is more indicative of my ride. I'll probably have a 15mph headwind going home so it will be slower.

Morning Weight: 210lbs

Grok Never Had a Day Like This!

Or perhaps he did. Maybe one morning Mrs. Grok started getting all over him because she wanted the cave etchings redone in "seafoam green." That's how my day went--putting up curtains, and sitting on a bench at the mall why women shopped. Ugh! Not very primal. But I did eat well today. Breakfast was an egg scramble with mushrooms and onions cooked in coconut oil. And my late lunch/supper was a big ass salad and a few pieces of sausage I extracted from a big batch of red beans my wife was cooking. Growing up in New Orleans, I ate a lot of red beans and rice, and it's one of my favorite meals. But I'm not going to do any beans or rice while in restart mode so I just ate a little of the sausage.

I'm looking forward to some warmer weather so I can start getting out for some early morning golf. It's been awhile since I've played and I'm itching to get back out there. I'll probably play like crap but that's not a concern when I'm playing Boogie Golf!

Morning Weight: 210lbs.

Saturday Workout

My grandson was hanging around the house today and giving off his "I'm bored" vibe so I told him to put on his shorts...and we headed to the gym. I didn't do a lot but it was better than hanging around the house. I started off with 30 minutes of "treadmill fartlek." I walked at a baseline of 3.5 mph but randomly ramped up the speed to 7 or 8. Then I headed over to the dumbbell rack:

Seated Overhead Press
18 x 15lbs
8 x 20lbs
5 x 25lbs

Bench Press
15 x 20lbs
8 x 25lb
4 x 30lbs

Have I mentioned before how weak my upper body is? :-) Hey, it's been awhile since I've done anything like this.

I went on to do a hierarchical set of leg presses on a machine. I regretted it afterward because my lower back was a little sore. I was afraid to do squats because of my hand injury. I also tried to do pushups but there was no way--my left hand immediately protested. Monday I plan on calling for a doctor's appointment. So not a great workout but it's a step back in the right direction.

Morning Weight: 209lbs

Injury

I started commuting to work on a bike several months ago. From the beginning, I had trouble with my hands getting numb. I bought gloves, adusted the seat postion, and put on some bar ends, but nothing seemed to help. I even dumped the hybrid bike with the straight handlebars for a Jamis Commuter 3.0 with "city" bars. The problem eventually morphed into some serious hand pain in my left hand, and that pain would extend up my arm when I had to grab things. A little research convinced me that I was suffering from what is known as "handlebar palsy" and other names. It's the result of irritation of the ulnar nerve. One of the things that I had to quit doing was pushups--too painful. It also affects my ability to use a kettlebell to some extent.

I'm pretty sure I've eliminated the source of the problem. I traded in that new Jamis bike on a recumbent (something that's worthy of its own post later). Now I have NO pressure on my hands, and I'm much more comfortable on my commute. But the healing process is going very slow. I'm going to call for a doctor's appointment to see if there is anything I can do to speed up the recovery other than gobbling up some Motrin. The one good thing is that my left hand is feeling the brunt of the problem--I can still swing a racquetball racquet with my right hand.

Morning Weight: 209lbs
Bike: 0 miles (combination of the gym showers being closed for repair, and the forecast of 30+mph winds)

Getting Re-Motivated

I had all but decided to just give up on my blog. I came down with the flu a couple days after my last post, and that floored me for a week. Then I had to quit riding my bicycle because I was having some bad hand pain (irritated ulnar nerve I believe). My will power to avoid the high-carb snacks that my wife insists on buying for the grand kids waned. I couldn't get motivated to go to the gym although I continued to play racquetball at least twice a week. I hopped on a scale and got a bit of a shock. I weighed 199 on Thanksgiving morning but last week I tipped in at 214!

I was losing it.

I have had the experience twice in my life of losing over 50 pounds only to eventually gain it back. I really don't want to make it a third. So one of the steps I'm taking is to get back to keeping this record. Again, it doesn't matter if anyone reads it (although I've continued to get a few hits a day despite not posting)-- I need to do this for ME. So even if I can't come up with anything particularly interesting to read, I will still post my morning weigh in. I'm not going to let some up and downs from the scale bother me, but I'm going to use it for motivation. I don't want to go back to Fat Dave. I have a couple real nice pairs of Nike golf shorts with a 34 waist that I want to get into! Gonna make it happen!

A.M. Weight - 211

Fasting, Racquetball, Cycling, and Kettlebell

Yesterday was a rather busy day in my fitness quest!

Impromptu Intermittant Fast - I didn't eat until 2pm yesterday but I didn't plan it that way. I came in to work, turned on my computer, fired up Outlook, and was promptly reminded of a class I was supposed to be in that started 10 minutes earlier! I rushed over to the base motor pool for my annual driver's training and a three year refresher on driving a forklift. Nevermind that I sit in front of a computer for eight hours a day--my company requires me to have a forklift license for "emergencies." So I had to skip my normal breakfast, and by the time I got out of class it was time to head directly to the racquetball court...

Racquetball - Lost my second straight match to Neal--he's off to a good start for 2009. But it doesn't get any closer than today. We split the first two games and he won the final 15-14. I served for the match but lost serve on an unforced error. It's a very aggravating way to lose!! But we played some terrific games and I got a hell of a workout!

Killer Commute - The ride home was against a steady 20-25 mph wind with gusts over 30. I really enjoy riding a bicycle but that ride didn't register very high on the fun meter. Looks like more of the same today.

Kettlebell - Did some clean and press ladders - 3 x 4.

I ate a slab of dead cow cooked in a little coconut oil.

It was a good day!

On The Road Again!

I got back to commuting to work by bike last week after having to give it up while working a little overtime. And not only did I get back on the road, I got back on a new bike. This is a Jamis Commuter 3.0--a 2007 model that I got for a great price on the 'net. It's an 8-speed but you'll notice there is no derailer (you have to click the image to see the whole picture). It has a Shimano Nexus internal gear hub--similar to the old Sturmey Arcer 3-speed that came on the "English Racer" I got for Christmas in '63. I bulit the tailbox out of coroplast and the base/tail light mounts out of pvc. It's a blast to ride!

Workouts were a little spotty this past week. I was off Monday so I went for a walk that lasted about an hour and a half. But Tuesday I had a really bad allergy day--I was anchored to a box of Kleenex and felt miserable. So no exercise on Tuesday. Wednesday I played racquetball with Neal. In both games I fell way back early, fought back to make it a game, but lost in the end. I was suffering from an antihistamine hangover so I passed on a third game.

I commuted the last three days, and the ride home Friday was against a 20mph headwind. I was tired as hell and ended going to bed early.

I have a racquetball match scheduled for Monday--beyond that I hope to get in some weight workouts and maybe a run on the rower.

Racquetball Week

I played three times this week-didn't do much of anything else. I had to work overtime this week which precluded my bicycle commute. But I got in three tough workouts on the courts. Monday I avenged my last week loss to Neal by taking three games. Then Tuesday I actually won a match against Ron! I won the first and third games. I don't remember the scores but I never faced a game point in the two games I won. Ron didn't go to his "A" serve at all in the first game, and used it sparingly in the last, so as usual I have to issue a disclaimer about my "victory." But I did play some good racquetball, and Ron commented on how well I was doing hitting kill shots from the back wall. I played Ron again Thursday. I got killed the first two games but gave it a good go in the last one. No time in the gym but still a pretty good week!

Walking to the Wah-Wah; Kettlebell C&P

When I woke up this morning, I knew I was looking at spending seven hours or so sitting on my butt watching playoff football today. Soooooo, I decided to get a little work in before kickoff. I went for a quick-paced walk around the neighborhood for an hour and twenty minutes. During the first half, I was listening to Curtis Mayfield/Superfly album (heavy use of wah-wah guitar). I finished up with some Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I have one seriously eclectic Zune!!

When I got back to the house, I lifted some metal:

Kettlebell Clean and Press Ladders

3 x 4 Rungs 35lbs

It's been awhile since I've done these so I stayed with four rungs instead of five. I'll work up slowly.

Not sure what's in store tomorrow. I hope to get in a racquetball match--if not, I'll head to the gym and do some rowing.

Not sure about cycling to work tomorrow. A cold front just passed through and it's going to be pretty chilly tomorrow. It depends on the wind...I'll play it by ear.

Good Start To The New Year!

We had a beautiful south Texas day so my grandson and I rode our bikes to the Naval Air Station. Instead of our normal routine of heading out to the fishing pier, we instead went to the fitness center for a little workout. I spotted him while he did some dumbbell work, and then I did a little bit of legwork. Normally a bike ride would leave my legs too wasted for a workout, but the rides with Dominic are pretty slow so it just served as a warm up for the following:

Hex-bar Dead Lifts
15 x 140lbs
8 x 190lbs
4 x 210lbs

Leg Curls (Precor Machine)
15 x 90
8 x 100
4 x 120

Leg Extensions (Body Masters Machine)
15 x 100
8 x 115
4 x 130

Finished up with a nice ride in bright sunshine. It's been a great year so far! :-)

Some Upper Body Work

Both my racquetball partners are out this week so it's a good time to maintain the jump start on my workout regimen. My legs were sore from the workouts I did Friday and Saturday, plus the ride in this morning, so I decided to work my notoriously week upper body. It's been a long time since I've done any lifting so I had to guess where to start. The ideas was to do hierarchical sets so I had to feel my way to get started. So here's goes:

Seated Dumbbell Press
15 x 15lbs
8 x 20lbs
4 x 25lbs

Dumbbell Bench Press

15 x 20lbs
8 x 25lbs
2 x 30lbs

Dumbbell Curls
RH 15 x 20lbs
2 x 25lbs
LH 15 x 25lbs

Notes: Did OK on the presses although I couldn't quite finish off the bench press. The curls were a disaster...bit off WAY more than I could chew on those.

I had a bit of a tailwind on the ride home. I tried to take it easy on my legs but can't help myself sometimes--gotta hammer with the tailwind!!!

C2 Tabata, Thrusters, Decline Press

I had to "work" today (basically a paid 'net surfing session)but I got off early and decided to hit the gym.

Tabata Intervals on the Concept2 Rower
10 minute warm up
8x20sec w/10 sec recovery

Thrusters
3 sets with 45lb barbell
Reps: 18, 15, 12

Decline Press Hierarchical Set
70lbs X 15
120lbs X 8
140 X 4

Notes:

The C2 is a killer for doing intervals! This was the first time I had done any Tabata in some time. My results per interval in meters covered were 93, 94, 95, 80, 87, 83, 89, 87. I started strong but faded fast! I'm going to do this one once a week and see if I can't improve on those numbers.

The thrusters are limited by my upper body strength. My legs could handle more.

The presses were done on a Hammer Smith machine where each arm moves independently. The weight represents the plates added but doesn't account for the empty weight of the machine.

So a pretty good start, plus I got a jump on the New Year's resolution crowd that will back the gym next January!

Back In The Saddle Again!

Well, there has been a little change in attitude since my last post. That was the one where I sounded like I was going to basically give up trying to document my efforts to "get fit" because I had fallen into a routine that was rather redundant...and boring to write about. But I've taken stock of the damage done in this period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I've decided I need to get back to the more rounded program of exercise rather than depending on just my twice a week racquetball and my bicycle commuting. So hopefully this is going to start looking like it did when I first started when I was doing a variety of workouts. And it starts today!

Still Alive!!

In my very first post, I stated that I might do this a few days and then quit. I'm actually kind of surprised at the number of posts I managed to put up. But I've reached a point where I'm boring myself with thing. I've been doing the same things over and over and consequently, I haven't had anything to write about that I cared to spend some time on. I need some inspiration!

I've had a bit of a lapse since Thanksgiving and I'm no longer under 200 pounds. But I'm not going to worry about it until I get past Christmas and then I'll join the masses starting of with New Year's resolutions. We'll see...

The Day After

Well, I made no real attempt to have a "Primal Thanksgiving." I ate lots of stuff that Grok wouldn't recognize. But I started the day at 199 so hopefully any damage done will be temporary. I'm just going to avoid the scale for awhile--no need to subject myself to the shock!! :-)

I had a couple of great racquetball matches this week. Tuesday was great only in that I got in a good workout. Ron whupped up on me like an unwanted step-child; however, we got in a total of four games and it was some great work. Wednesday I repeated the same sequence that I did the last time I played Neal. I lost the first game but came back and won the last two. I'm pretty damn proud of myself for taking that last game. The second game was tough and I was sucking some serious wind at the end. I started the third thinking I really didn't care about the income. But then the competitor in my took over and I played hard. Great workout!

Good Sportsmanship and Good Eats

If you watched any sports news this past week, you probably saw the story of the golfer who reported a mistake he made (using an unapproved golf ball) which caused him to be disqualified from a tournament after it was over. Doing so cost him any chance of getting his full status on the PGA Tour next year. I was part of an incident this weekend that while not having the same financial implications, still was pretty impressive. I was the referee for a swimming meet on Friday, and I disqualified a swimmer for taking off early in a relay race. Later during the day, the team's coach approached me and said that he checked the results that were posted, and that the DQ wasn't noted. He went on to say that although some people associated with his team didn't want him to say anything, he didn't want a deserving team to miss the finals because of a clerical error. I checked with the scoring table and sure enough--the operator had failed to record the DQ. We corrected the error and the deserving team DID make the finals. I'd like to think that any coach would have done the same thing in that situation, but I know that some wouldn't. This coach showed some real integrity and I hope it rubs off on his swimmers.

Now more to topic. As you know if you've been following along, swim meets tend to put me in a situation where I am faced with great temptation to veer from my chosen path to eat healthy. This two-day meet was no exception. But I'm happy to say I did very well. I passed on all the pastries and other goodies. Friday I had three barbecue sandwiches but I scraped off the meat and tossed the buns. I followed that up with an apple and a banana. This morning I had two bacon and egg breakfast tacos without eating the tortilla. The rest of the day I snacked on fruit from a bit fruit salad. So I "done good." Now it's on to Thanksgiving!!!!

Orange You Glad To See Me?

This is what I found waiting on the kitchen table when I got home from my bicycle commute. We're talking some VERY FRESH oranges with absolutely no pesticides involved in their production. I know that to be true because this is where they came from:

When we moved into this house over eight years ago, there was a little stub growing out of the ground. As it got bigger, I kept campaigning to cut it out because it was going to end up fighting for space with the mesquite tree. Well, my wife won that battle and I'm glad. These are great tasting oranges and the price is definitely right!!

Staying The Course

Not much new to report other than I'm doing a good job of sticking to my nutritional plan, and things are looking good on the old scale. I've been consistently under 200 pounds every time I step on it--even after having a fairly large lunch yesterday at our company Thanksgiving gathering. I'd sure like to get a larger cushion going into Thanksgiving!

Things are not going quite as well with my exercise program. I am consistently riding my bike to work, and getting in my racquetball matches; however, I haven't been doing the pushups or doing any weight lifting. I'd like to make a declaration of renewed commitment like I did a couple weeks ago about my diet, but I'm not ready to go there. I'm thinking of breaking out my kettlebell workbook to do that program at home in the evening. Of course, "thinking about it" won't produce much in the way of results! :-)

I do have a couple other posts semi-drafted in my head but they require some visuals to go with them. The camera battery is charging!!