<p>Well,I asked and PG responded honestly!!! ;)</p>
<p>3.5 on the track and treadmill - it was a chilly 44 outside - I know I’ll kill for that in January but today it Just felt REALLY cold!!!</p>
<p>Interesteddad, you must have really overdid it. The peppermint pattie wrapper has a nice shine to it.</p>
<p>I have a 21 day mini-streak going. I thought it would end today since I had to get up at 4 for a road trip (business) but I went down to my treadmill tonight after I got home and did 2 miles. I’m not that invested in the streak, but everyday I ask myself “Can I run today? Do I want to run today?” For 21 days the answer has been Yes.</p>
<p>4 miles outside. Dressed well and was toasty warm. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah. Just ridiculous, really.:)</p>
<p>Thank goodness the Butterfinger avatar is gone! I felt a Pavlovian response (drooling) coming on each time I visited this page :)</p>
<p>It was a beautiful day today and I walked about 4 miles, distracted. I’m playing with a new camera–talk about rattling brain chips. It is very smart, this camera. Yesterday I ran 4.5, did a little bit of upper body work on the old machines. </p>
<p>Trainer workout today–TRX and core work, plus some lunges, squats, and planks. Afterwards, I did 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. Going on a short day-long road trip tomorrow, which is the perfect excuse for a day off.</p>
<p>My work out for today is not going to be the work out I intended, though its a very first world problem.</p>
<p>Despite emailed instructions to NEVER dump leaves on my trail again after last year’s debacle, and after a REMINDER, the crew who does my yard DUMPED all the leaves at my trail head again. Its like four feet deep and makes it exceedingly difficult to get up the hill for my hike.</p>
<p>Equally mystifying to me is that in the course of “cleaning up” the leaves from the inner terrace area, they managed to leave a 15-foot swath of leaves n the center of my pool cover, right over top of the drain panel. – the exact area ive painstakingly Ceared the leaves OFF of fr the ast few weeks.</p>
<p>I’m livid, and feel like making them fix it, but its all going to freeze Sunday, and if I DON’T do it today, well, it will be even more of a mess once its frozen on the drain panel.</p>
<p>So grr. Wet cold leaf workout ahead.</p>
<p>kmc, I’ll be joining you with the sea of leaves today…sadly my leaf crew is me and H. And we’ve got a lot of leaves. </p>
<p>8 miles this morning. Cold - it was 25 degrees when I got up at 4:45 am! Felt good though. We agreed that we felt ready. </p>
<p>Does everyone here take rest days? What are your philosophies on having one day of the week with no exercise? </p>
<p>I think rest days are important. Especially with running. I think 1 day a week helps you stay injury-free. I have to force myself to take them and resist the guilt factor</p>
<p>I think at least one rest day is important. I’m no lifting expert, but you need to give yourself time for your body to repair. My “rest” days are days that I take a long walk with H and the dogs, just no running, lifting or anything too strenuous. </p>
<p>PG, I meant to ask you - in quite a few of your posts, you mention trying to talk yourself into doing something running related. Do you like running? Or do you just like the idea of running? It’s okay to not like running or not want to run. There may be other cardio activities you enjoy more. We’re all guilty of not doing everything we should in terms of having a well-rounded exercise plan - I hate to lift, but I do some type of strength training at least twice a week. Why not set a goal for yourself of doing some type of cardio twice a week and then decide if running is something you want to pursue? </p>
<p>When I trained for my marathons, I ran every other day and did something light like free weights on the non-running days. </p>
<p>I like rest days, a lot! Although not at the distance that is going to get me in trouble with injuries (fingers crossed), I’ve been running on the 3-4 days a week schedule. On the off days I walk and do weights, or a core routine. </p>
<p>I don’t like rest days. It’s like skipping a needed dose of medicine for me (mentally). That said, I think rest days are a good idea. </p>
<p>Rest days are critical to allowing your body to recover and rebuild. Any sort of strenuous exercise tears down muscle fiber and depletes your body’s energy reserves. You need time to recover and rebuild. This is typically accomplished in a variety of ways including alternating high intensity and low intensity days, alternating muscle groups that are worked and by even taking a day off with no activity (a complete rest day) or by having an active recovery day where you engage in very light exercise (active recovery). With weight lifting, you should be giving each muscle group at least a 48 hour recovery period before hitting it again and depending on the intensity of the exercise even as much as 72 hrs recovery for the particular muscle groups. Runners and cyclists often alternate high intensity and moderate intensity days. If your training program permits, taking a day off for rest or active recovery (like taking a relaxed walk and doing some stretching) is important. If your training program, because of specific goals, does not contemplate a defined rest day each week, then you should have a schedule where every “X” days you take the day off.</p>
<p>To illustrate, during the cycling off season, I do a high intensity strength and hypertrophy weight routine. I schedule those sessions for Mondays and Fridays. On Wednesdays, I do a body weight based routine like TRX, pull ups, chin ups, push-ups etc. No resistance training on weekends. This gives me plenty of recovery time between lifting sessions and also alternates intense and moderate resistance training days. I also do cycling training 3 days per week typically consisting of high intensity indoor wattage training on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a more moderate intensity but long ride outdoors on weekends. I usually take one of the weekend days off for rest or active recovery.</p>
<p>During the cycling season, I continue to lift and up my riding to 4 days per week outside with 2 high intensity 25-30 mile rides on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and long rides of 50-70 miles on the weekends. One of the weekend rides, while long, is done at a relaxed recovery pace. I may go 8-10 days without an actual rest day because of my training goals and needs but I always make sure to force a rest day into my schedule at least every 10 days but often every 8. </p>
<p>For someone with general fitness goals and non-competitive performance objectives, there is absolutely no reason not to take a day off each week and many benefits to doing so. You will improve faster over time and avoid overuse injuries if you give yourself the gift of recovery time.</p>
<p>It’s really hard to know sometimes when you’re overdoing it, until after you’ve overdone it. That’s one reason I think it’s important to be sure to get in rest days as a regular part of the routine. Injuries are no fun, and depending on how bad they are, can be a major setback.</p>
<p>Been lurking around… still trying to figure out what will motivate me more, and try to take some steps to allow that to happen. Am currently considering two ‘gym’ options. One is a very nice upscale, basically trainer’s gym - you can only work out there if you’re taking a class or working with a trainer. Equipment is awesome and they have a decent variety of classes (pilates, cardio boxing, Tabata, boot camp, etc.). They also have a med-spa upstairs, which is how I found the place. The med-spa is SO nice! But again, I can only use the place if I’m with a trainer or in a class. Second place is a very nice workout facility that I used to belong to eons ago. It has everything… racquetball courts, free weights/weight machines, large dance studio where they offer all kinds of classes, swimming pool, incredible dressing rooms with unisex hot tubs/spas, lots of cardio equipment, etc. The hours are very generous and I can go when I want. It’s affiliated with a hospital next door. Has a small deli with healthy options. I enjoyed it before, but for some reason (I actually can’t remember why) let the membership slide - could have been about the time our own park district opened a facility, which is OK, but not nearly as nice as these places I’m looking at now. I have a trainer I’m happy with, so I’m not really looking for just another place to go that’s a trainer’s gym… BUT - the new trainer’s gym offers reformers pilates, and I talked to my trainer about it, and he thinks I should try it. I just don’t think I have the stamina yet to attempt pilates. He said I should ask if they would be willing to split the hour I purchase up into two half hour sessions till I can see how I manage it. The way it works is, you have to take four private sessions with the pilates instructor in order to teach you correct movement, then you can join a class - but the classes only have a max of four people in them, so even then, you’re getting some good personal attention. </p>
<p>Actually, since I know next to nothing about pilates, can someone here give me a layman’s explanation of the difference between regular pilates and reformers pilates?</p>
<p>Speaking of trainers… I heard some horrible news about a trainer I used for about 4-5 months over three years ago (D2 saw him for a few months, too). I saw him when my usual trainer was between locations, and once he was established somewhere, I went back to him. Anyway, the short-term trainer, a year younger than me, had a massive stroke about ten days ago. I am Facebook friends with him and was following his crisis over the last week. Mid-week, he was moved out of the ICU (he did have to have surgery to relieve some bleeding on the brain), then it was determined he’d suffered a seizure, which was followed by a fever. The whole issue of how someone so young and obviously vibrant and healthy could suffer such a massive stroke has bothered me now for over a week. Then this afternoon I found out he died this morning. I mean, so much of what we know about the risks of strokes (cardiac disease, etc) says they can be minimized with healthy life-style choices. Yet… it happens to someone relatively young. The ONLY insight I have into what could have happened is that they did mention trying to manage his sleep apnea once he was taken off the ventilator. And I know sleep apnea can be, well, deadly, I guess even in people who are otherwise very healthy. He was very active in youth hockey in the Chicago area, and in fact, during both the Blackhawks games this past week, the broadcasters did a ‘shout out’ to him. He was actually training a client when he had the stroke. Ugh!</p>
<p>So, the only ‘questionable’ service of the new trainer’s gym that raises a red flag with me, is the ‘store’ they have in one of their lobby. They carry ‘Ideal Protein’ weight loss products, and I’m just not a big fan of overly processed stuff. I don’t want to feel any pressure to even try it. Yes, I would like to lose weight, but my working out has always been more about building strong bones and muscles first. But, I think working out there would be a much more personal experience, than going to the huge place next to the hospital. Dilemmas abound!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>@Nrdsb4 - forgive me if this has been discussed previously, but I just want to make sure you’re wearing some kind of ID while you’re riding? I think as your rides get longer and you might perhaps get away from more populated areas, that would be important. </p>
<p>H uses RoadID:
<a href=“http://www.roadid.com”>http://www.roadid.com</a></p>
Teri, how awful about the trainer - very, very scary!
I am also on the running 3-4 times a week plan. If the spirit moved me, I’d do another day but 3-4 is pretty much clockwork for me. Off days I may walk or bike bit in better weather. I also do quite a bit of lawn work in the growing season. Everyday includes a couple doggy walks. I think off days are pretty essentials both physically and for most, emotionally ( to not wear out/down - except for MOWC!)