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</p>
<p>Does your gym offer any classes that might interest you. I got started with kettlebells after taking a class at my gym. Same with TRX–took a class because I wanted a different type of workout. Both really motivated me to keep going.</p>
<p>Very Happy:</p>
<p>When that’s happened to me, I’ve just tried to change it up. I’m not sure the exact change really matters:</p>
<p>a) One time, I stopped my regular workouts completely for a week and just went for walks. I was fresh and ready to go after a week.</p>
<p>b) Several times, I’ve started completely new programs – specifically New Rules of Lifting for Abs New Year’s Day and this most recent iPod Nazi core program. Learning new exercises, new types of workouts, etc. I’ve been fortunate in that all of the new programs also feature very new (and interesting) exercises, so I’m busy just trying to see if I can even do them.</p>
<p>c) On at least one occasion recently, I was getting burned out and worn down by my workouts and made the conscious decision to scale back.</p>
<p>Bromfield’s suggestion of a kettlebell or TRX class or really anything that is brand new makes a lot of sense, especially if you are in a rut doing the same exercises with the same weights over and over.</p>
<p>I find that it works for me to alternate between a specific structured program (like New Rules for Abs) for a few months and then taking a break and doing my own workouts with whatever exercises I’ve been meaning to try.</p>
<p>Speaking of staying motivated, I’m still learning how to stay fired up and enthusiastic about diet and exercise now that I am no longer losing weight. Those “five pound celebrations” were such a big part of the motivation for me that it’s been a learning experience to not have them anymore.</p>
<p>i-dad, now is the perfect time to train for that 5K! ;)</p>
<p>Girls weekend away. Stayed away from all the baked goods and wine. Had one lemon drop martini as a splurge and stuck to eating plan the entire time.</p>
<p>Short hike on Friday.
20 mile bike ride Saturday.
5 mile with steep uphill today.</p>
<p>Was surprised that it was not difficult watching others munch on cookies, muffins, etc.</p>
<p>You can do an interval 5K too.</p>
<p>Actually, I have changed it up a bit in the last six months:</p>
<p>I used to do what iDad’s doing, although on the treadmill – walk, then run intervals, trying to improve improve improve. I’ve had some sort of pain in my left ankle – doc diagnosed it as bursitis and said the “cure” was ice, rest and more ice. After six months of that – where my only cardio was the stupid recumbent bicycle – I gave up. I’m now back on the treadmill just walking – no more jogging or running, since it seems to aggrevate whatever the heck is wrong with me – but I’m reading a book as I walk. The time flies. In fact, yesterday I extended my treadmill time by 10 minutes so I could finish my novel!</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions on how to change things up. I’ll take more suggestions.</p>
<p>I seem to have too many things that I can do which means that I typically don’t make a huge amount of progress improving on certain things because other things push them out. This summer it was tennis that pushed out running and weights though I did get a moderate amount of running in. I wanted to take a summer course in martial arts with the kids but that got pushed out. There are all kinds of sports out there that are fun and/or competitive. I also cleaned up my table tennis paddle and bought a couple of boxes of balls as there are a lot more people at work playing table tennis but the paddle and boxes of balls have sat in my overdesk compartment since the springtime.</p>
<p>Yesterday I spent quite some time cleaning out part of the basement. It seems that I spent a lot of time clearing out two spots (the basement feels like it has much more space now) but it’s amazing how long it can take to clean up a few small areas. The basement will be an ongoing project as there are several other areas that I want to work on. Cleaning out clothes is a fairly bit part of my plans for decluttering and my wife has indicated that she has a lot of clothes to clean out too.</p>
<p>VeryHappy, I don’t know if this is of any value to your situation, but I had bursitis in my knees last year, and it turned out that it was the running shoes I was wearing that was causing it. I spent all kinds of time and money on treatment and training. This did allow me to run in a way that didn’t hurt, but after not running for 6 months (due to work), I started back and the pain came back. It happened that I needed new running shoes about this time, so I went and got fitted at the store recommended by my son’s cross country coach. That was the end of the knee pain. </p>
<p>My toe is still sore, still can’t wear anything but a flip flop, but it is getting better. I am going to be starting back at square one when I can finally run again.</p>
<p>I haven’t posted in a while but I’ve been following along. This summer my trainer left, I had two surgeries, my glute has been bothering me, blah, blah, blah. I’ve been able to maintain my weight with the little I’ve been able to do but I had gotten bored. The past two weeks I’ve really had to recommit myself to fitness. I signed up for a P90X style class at the Y, I’m back at tennis lessons, and I’ve redesigned my weight lifting program. I can finally feel my motivation coming back. </p>
<p>Thank you all for being here with your exploits (and your aches and pains). You’re a great source of motivation and inspiration!</p>
<p>Blankmind:</p>
<p>You must have broken the bejeezus out of your big toe. Man, I bet that has hurt!</p>
<p>chintzy:</p>
<p>Good to hear from you. Maintenance is hard. Not only is the scale no longer screaming, “WIN!” every few weeks, but fitness has improved to the point where gains are no longer coming quickly. It really helps me to have a defined program that I know I’ll be doing for the next 3 months, so I don’t really have to think about motivation. I already know what I’m going to do on Mon/Wed/Fri (subject to weather adjustments as I am doing today to take advantage of a spectacular day).</p>
<p>I certainly have lost a little of my motivation now that the wedding has passed. The family 5Ks have helped but I really need something else too. I hit the gym hard this morning with new intensity. Biked, lifted weights and finished on the dreadmill. 1 hour and 23 minutes according to my HRM. My glutes are already tightening up! I seem to do better when I have a fancy function scheduled so I am fixating on more weight loss for a Holiday Gala that we will be attending. I hope this works!</p>
<p>Idad, it’s the little toe, and I’m not sure it’s broken. It feels like a bad bruise but also is kind of numb, so who knows. I can walk barefoot without pain, but any closed shoes put too much pressure on it. Maybe now is a good time to try barefoot running!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>OK. OK. OK. :)</p>
<p>I had already decided to swap days and go walk/jogging today because it is gorgeous out. 67 degrees, deep blue sky, not a cloud in view.</p>
<p>So, instead of my usual hilly park 5K route, I’m going to go over and do the route of the 5K family run/fun walk. I’ve got the route mapped out and it looks pretty flat compared to my usual (of course gmap pedometer and reality may be different). I programmed a 5000 meter workout for the Garmin:</p>
<p>200 meters warmup walk
400 meters walk
400 meters jog
400 meters walk
400 meters jog
400 meters walk
400 meters jog
400 meters walk
400 meters jog
400 meters walk
400 meters jog
400 meters walk
400 meters jog</p>
<p>These are longer jogging intervals (I’ve been doing about 320 meter intervals) and I’m going to try six intstead of the five or six on the longer route that I do in the park. On the other hand, I don’t think this route has the long uphill sections before each jogging interval and none of it is on dirt (which is easy on the legs, but more tiring I think).</p>
<p>Of course, this is all very arbitrary. I might find that some of these jogging intervals are on the uphill sections, but at least I’ll have an accurate GPS track with exact elevations for the course and I can adjust as necessary. I figure I ought to at least make it look good and end with a jogging interval crossing the finish line! :)</p>
<p>I’ll let you know how it goes. The Garmin isn’t going to zap me with a cattle prod if I end up walking during parts of a scheduled jogging interval! At least I’ll get a sense of how much and where I can jog on this particular course. We’ll see. This might be increasing the jogging distances a little bit too much. If so, I can always drop back to five intervals (walk 600K and jog 400k) or whatever.</p>
<p>^^ Sounds like a good plan.</p>
<p>Got in four miles this afternoon and I feel refreshed. I did a bit of weightlifting too. Waiting to see how idad did.</p>
<p>“^^ Sounds like a good plan.”</p>
<p>Absolutely! Waiting for idad’s report.</p>
<p>OK, I’m back. Hit start on the Garmin and did the the 5K just as I had planned. Six 400 meter walking intervals alternating with six 400 meter jogging intervals. It’s all back roads, paved, but no shoulders and enough cars zooming by that it’s not as enjoyable as my usual route, but nice neighborhoods, woods, old cemetaries, and so forth.</p>
<p>Adding 25% to the length of my usual jogging intervals was probably a bit optimistic. I saw heart rates of 102%, 101%, 102%, 98%, 97%, 99%. And, my pace definitely slowed as the intervals progressed: 6.0 mph, 5.7 mph, 5.5 mph, 5.2 mph, 4.9 mph, 5.0 mph. Total time: 42.59 minutes. Here’s [the</a> graph](<a href=“http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/AppleHarvest5Kwalk-jog9-19-2011Speed-Distance.jpg]the”>http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/AppleHarvest5Kwalk-jog9-19-2011Speed-Distance.jpg). Overall, it wasn’t that grueling. I wasn’t as gassed as the heart rate makes it seem.</p>
![http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/AppleHarvest5Kwalk-jog9-19-2011Speed-Distance.jpg]the](http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/AppleHarvest5Kwalk-jog9-19-2011Speed-Distance.jpg%5Dthe){kind=link}
<p>I don’t know that I could have gotten luckier overlaying the intervals on the elevation. I was walking up the steep uphill bits and most of the uphill running was pretty mild. The worst interval was the last one which is pretty much all up a gentle grade. I don’t think I would change anything. I think this is a pretty good way for me to attack this thing. I’ll see if I can do it a couple more times. I’d like to crank up my pace (jogging and walking) just a bit. </p>
<p>Here’s [the</a> elevation chart](<a href=“http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/AppleHarvest5Kwalk-jog9-19-2011Elevation-Distance.jpg]the”>http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/AppleHarvest5Kwalk-jog9-19-2011Elevation-Distance.jpg) with jogging intervals.</p>
![http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/AppleHarvest5Kwalk-jog9-19-2011Elevation-Distance.jpg]the](http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/AppleHarvest5Kwalk-jog9-19-2011Elevation-Distance.jpg%5Dthe){kind=link}
<p>Blankmind and Chintzy–hope you both are on the road to recovery. </p>
<p>Walking is getting much easier for me. I went out with friends and we did 2 miles (very slowly)! Also started doing some upper body exercises in the New Rules book. Down a few pounds, which makes me happy since I was afraid that I’d gain since my exercise has been pretty limited. It’s been 4 weeks since the surgery to remove ankle hardware.</p>
<p>A pretty scientific approach.</p>
<p>It’s interesting that your recovery time is pretty consistent in terms of heartrate.</p>