Jane- great quote and VERY true. We do what we can do. It’s all about trying and sticking with it- whatever “it” may be!
One of my favorite stories dates back to the days of Bill Rodgers, one of the absolute top US marathoners. He met another runner at a talk and asked the runner about his racing. The runner said “Well, I’m slow. I run a marathon in about 4 hours.” Rodgers said, “Wow. You can run for FOUR HOURS! That’s awesome!” and he was totally sincere.
<p>Great story about Bill Rodgers, MOWC.</p>
<p>I LOVE windblock polar fleece. My Lands’ End jacket is fabulous and I can tell a huge difference between it and even my heavy polarfleece without the windblock. It still breathes somehow.</p>
<p>Also loving the new technical “ipod” gloves with the touch fingertips. Just enough to keep the wind from nipping, and so nice to be able to pick a new playlist without taking off a glove. The grippy strips on the palm and hands also let me hold onto it much more securely. Overall, call that one a clear win.</p>
<p>H is going to make me a wobble board this spring. The one that the gym had made is fabulous – much better (harder) than the commercial wobble board that they also have. I don’t quite get the bosu trainer – it looks like everything there would need to be on one foot. I’m going to grab the measurements off of the the one in the gym. I think the key is the size of the half-round.</p>
I need to run for 30 minutes today. It’s raining and cold, so I have to choose between that or the treadmill. I hate the treadmill so much that I am going to try the rain. Yuck.
<p>I got my stretching and weights in last night and feel great today. I’m going to do one to two miles and see how I feel and then do stretching and weights again tonight. Running on an indoor track seems to have done a fair amount of damage to my knee so I guess I can’t do that anymore. It may also be additional tightness from running more miles without doing more stretching that caused the problem.</p>
<p>Our daughter is in school now as is our son (though he may be working fulltime very shortly) so it’s pretty quiet at home for me which gives me more time for working out. If our son does get the offer (they are claiming to have sent it), then I will need to arrange housing for him in Boston and it may mean that I get a place to hang out down there.</p>
blankmind- I can so relate to your feelings about the dreadmill. I would rather run in the rain than on the 'mill any day.
ararab- the size of the “ball” of the bosu makes all the difference. Some you can easily stand on with both feet, which I prefer because it will give the option of 1 or 2. Also how much it is inflated can increase or decrease stability accordingly.
Today’s workout: Cardio Dance class
What a difference an instructor makes! Great class-- lots of legwork-- plyo jumps/squats/lunges, all well-integrated into the dance choreography–a great workout.
<p>Day 2
Have eaten healthy and 30 minutes of yoga today…</p>
<p>I am here to testify that running in the rain soooooo beats running on the treadmill. Of course, the rain kind of subsided just as I got started, so it was more of a light drizzle, but I finally got to wear my hat :). </p>
<p>I ran 3.25 miles in 30 minutes. I watched my heart rate instead of pace today. I found that if I keep my heart rate to around 170, I feel like I could go forever. I started uploading my garmin data to the running ahead website. There’s a statistic there called VO2 Max, what is that and how do they calculate that number?</p>
<p>Did some mobilization stretches and hang cleans today. Nothing much, but those hang cleans sure get the heart rate up quick! Also found a use for the Smith Machine today… work great for doing band-assisted push ups :)</p>
<p>sigh…two steps forward, one step back. Sitting here connected to my TENS machine after I had to break down and take a muscle relaxer and some more ibuprofen. At least I am trying to stay away from the pain meds. This is really making me depressed.</p>
<p>1 mile + Smith machine. My only problem was shoe-laces. Untied twice. I’m going to grab some laces from another pair of shoes to try on these. They are a new pair. The run felt fine, knees felt pretty good. We’ll go again tomorrow.</p>
<p>OH, NMinn, I am so sorry! Hang in there-- sending you healing vibes!</p>
<p>NMinn: Hope your back gets better. Lingering injuries aren’t fun–I know.</p>
<p>MOWC: Good luck with the Flying Pig–I have a niece who ran it a few years ago. Cincinnati is really hilly. I was surprised when I visited.</p>
<p>CJ–good quote.</p>
<p>Bill Rogers lives in my area and he’s friends with my primary care physician. I saw them running together in a local race. My D and son-in-law were watching too and I said–there goes Bill Rogers. Got a blank stare from both of them. Guess it’s been a few years since he was Boston Billy.</p>
<p>I’m back from CA and was pleased that I managed to workout on 3 of the 5 days I was away. The hotel didn’t have an exercise room–guests got a pass to the health club a few doors away. Went there and did intervals on the elliptical two days and took a power class on the morning that we left. Got back home to find about 4 inches of snow.</p>
<p>I recall buying a pair of shorts from his store a million years ago - I think that he had a store in Cleveland Circle. He was really, really huge in the Boston area.</p>
<p>Good things today. I tried a zumba class at the senior center (don’t laugh) and it was perfect. Lively but not likely to be injurious. The women in it were around my age or younger, & the teacher was great. :)</p>
<p>And I got S out of the house tonight to see what our local rec center has to offer. A rock climbing wall, for one, and the usual exercise equipment and an indoor track. So we’ll see what he does.</p>
<p>Love Zumba. It all depends on the instructor and the music they choose, but if you have found a good one, it’s a great way to get a quick cardio session in.</p>
<p>It is a day off for me (the measly 1 mile walk to the bus stop does not count :)). I guess I’ll just do some weights later tonight.</p>
<p>NMinn, hang in there. </p>
<p>CJane and MOfWC, great running quotes!</p>
<p>The UPS man finally delivered my trap bar today, all the way from China, I think. So, it had to go into the workout today.</p>
<hr>
<p>**WARMUP **</p>
<p>Bent-over thoracic rotation
Squat to stand
Forward/backward jump
Lateral jump
Lateral cross-behind lunge
Seal jack
Reverse inchworm
Forward-backward hop
Curtsy lunge
Straight-leg walk
Heel to butt walk</p>
<p>**CORE ** </p>
<p>Stability ball plank (2 x 30 seconds)
Side plank knee drives (30 seconds each side)
DB farmers walk (1 40lb DB at shoulder)
Stability ball mountain climbers</p>
<p>**POWER **</p>
<p>Box jumps (16 inch bench)
Med ball - overhead slam</p>
<p>**STRENGTH **</p>
<p>Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat (2 x 30 lb)
Chin ups</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“ShowandGoTraining.com: Trap Bar Deadlift - YouTube”>ShowandGoTraining.com: Trap Bar Deadlift - YouTube]Trap</a> bar dead lift<a href=“140%20lbs”>/url</a>
Alternating overhead press (2 x 30 lb)</p>
<hr>
<p>Tough workout, but fun. This was a first time doing the box jumps (to my very sturdy 16-inch weight bench). Not super high, so I’m probably not going to kill myself. Decent form, I think. I’ve come a long way from when I struggled to jump up the steps in the house.</p>
<p>I was greedy on the rear foot elevated split squats. First time doing them with the new bench, which is two inches higher than I’m used to. And, I bumped up from 50 lbs to 60 lbs. First set was tough. Second and third sets were better. Chin ups were a little tough today. Haven’t done them for a while. Got four per set times 3 sets. Couldn’t get the fifth one today.</p>
<p>Trap bar deadlift was good. Not trying to set any world’s records, but I had enough weight to work on the form without breaking my back. Six reps per set, three sets.</p>
<p>The alternating overhead presses are just plain hard. Two DBs outstretched overheard. Lower one to the shoulder and press it back up. Lower the other to the shoulder and press it back up. Six reps per side per set. This is real challenge for the core and the lower back.</p>
<p>BCEagle, for those laces that untie, do double knots. Like little kids. Then they won’t come undone.</p>
<p>Has anyone else had this problem? After doing the box jumps on a fairly low stool, I froze when I tried to do them again. Visions of not jumping high enough. Reminds me of the “horse” in high school gymnastics, when I would freeze and not be able to jump over it. It’s all psychological, I know, since I did 30 or 40 box jumps last week. But this time, I just couldn’t do it.</p>
<p>Yes, the box jump paralysis. I don’t have it on the low boxes but once it is above a certain height, it definitely sets in. It helps to have others around you cheering you on.
And as you said it’s all mental. But I have had days where I felt like I just couldn’t do it.</p>
<p>Same for the pull ups. The current set up at my gym isn’t ideal for these. There is a metal bar that feels like it is in the way, so even if the pull ups are assisted, I always worry that I am going to slip and crash on the bar.</p>
<p>I am really intrigued by your trap bar, idad. May have to look into getting one myself.
On a similar note, you posted a Boyle clip where he declares the end of the squat. I couldn’t quite make out what he proposes replacing it with. One legged somethings?</p>
<p>Because I think if I had distill the weights down to the essential lifts I would go with deadlift, squats and bench press-- what does one do in lieu of the squat as a big muscle all in one effort?</p>