Sparrows Experiment

Thank you Chillen

I'm up and restless. I've found friends amongst this board and I guess I come here to "socialize". Its funny that when I read everyone's posts I have certain voices for certain people that I hear through their words. Does anyone else do that? haha I wonder how right on I am!

I get really contemplative at night. Vulnerability in the late hours, I think its dangerous. Nonetheless, I'll share that I feel really weird, kinda lost without the triathlon focus. As much as I'm glad to break from it, its really hard not to have it. I think I've followed FF's progress so much that its hard not to get excited through that kind of stuff and wish to do it. Many hate the hard work and extreme cardio that comes with that training. Most of my friends feel they need and want the break after the season. I'm only breaking because I know its probably "good for me" and I need some balance :( I really thrive on the hard stuff and look foward to it. I do like the lifting addition, but its just not the same. I wish I could do both kinds of training...but then I'd have to change my address to the gym's location and they'd need to bring a bed in for me. I'm there enough already.

A tri friend calls this PED (Post Event Depression). lol. Why do we have to slap names on everything.

Well, just a moment of weakness. G'night.
 
Last edited:
I woke up pretty wiped today. I had an awful sleep. Just didn't "feel well" last night. Today was workout B of Fat Loss 2. Very tough stuff. Here are numbers for those:

superset:
snatch grip deadlift: 90
T push up-this was my favorite of the day
superset:
Bulgarian split squat w/overhead press: 15 lb dumbells
underhand grip lat pulldown: 90
superset:
romanian deadlift/bent over row-I started wtih 65 and then had to go to 55 becuase I was losing my grip and my forearms were SHOT. This was a very hard move for me
lower body russian twist-awkward

It was a pretty hard workout. I then did 30 min on the eliptical front and back without arms (works legs MUCH harder) and then 15 min running 10 min pace. No pain today in the shins. I think I need more water or something. I just feel funky
 
Still feeling weird. I planned on, and thought I jogged 4 miles outside last night. Its a new course, we're in a new neighborhood. Once I clocked it it ended up being 5.8. whoops.
It felt reallllly good being outside and running on something other than a treadmill.
 
Last edited:
Got out into the beautiful sunshine to swim.

400 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull
12x50 odd: kick/swim, even: stroke drill/swim @ 1:00
12x25: @ .45
4x25 half sprint first half of pool
4x25 half sprint second half of pool
2x25 full sprint
6x100 decend time 1-3. I went 1:25, 1:20, 1:15 @ 1:45
50 easy
4x100 IM @ 1:45
50 easy
200 kick: butterfly kick on back
cool down

I ran out of time and only got in 3,000. I wanted to do 4K today but I got to the gym late.
Felt weighed down in the water. I"ve been loading up on veggies the past few days :eek: you know how that can go. The first few days can be darn right wicked :D Anyway, I felt pretty bloaty.
 
I had one of the best spin classes I've ever had today. I felt like I could just go forever at a very very high resistance and intensity. I went all weekend sort of weaning myself from some of my diet strongholds. Basically I ate veggies all weekend in various forms (lots in low sodium soup) with a tiny bit of chicken and all pretty bland. I seriously have NO cravings today for anything so far. I'm going to stick to a pretty rigid diet for a few weeks and if it all works out I'll add more weeks until its just habit like before. If I start training for something I'll obviously adjust.

B-whey protien powder/1c unsweetened applesauce
WORKOUT: 1 HOUR SPIN, 2 MILES RUN
PW-accelerade
L-1 small can tuna, 5c mixed greens, tomato, 1T feta cheese, 1T olive oil, 2T basamic vinegar, 1 sprouted tortilla
S-15 almonds
D-Chicken breast, 2c steamed broccoli, 1T feta cheese (I really love this stuff)
S-green tea with 1-2T skim milk
 
Fat Loss Workout A. Increased some of our numbers

Front Squat 3x10@ 135 from 115 :eek:
wide grip row 3x10 90-stayed there
dynamic lunge 3x10 85 from 75-I pulled a muscle on this one last week so I was more careful today.
barbell push up 3x10 60 from 55

Did metabolic overdrive on the stairs after lifting, warm up 5 min then only 4 rounds of 1 min level 16 2 min level 8 , then cool down. I really wanted to do more cardio but my daughter had a little tinkle accident. err. I lost 1 pound this week and another tri friend had some compimenting things to say on my legs :) so maybe there are changes afterall :D
 
Last edited:
1 hour spin class. Very high intensity today.

I'm kinda tired today. Actually, more bored I think. I woke up going "ugh I don't want to do this again today". I think going to the gym twice a day all week is hard, but I brought it on myself, and I bring it on myself. At least 2 of those days I don't HAVE to be there in the morning, but thats when I've been lifting with my friend.

I might as well put down that I'm eyeing a HIM (Half Ironman) next season. I'm deciding between Oceanside (near San Diego...and thats only if its not burned to the ground by the end of the week :(), Vineman (in Napa) or Barbs Race (Napa all-women's HIM). Each has its pros and cons but I need to decide soon since if I choose Oceanside that training will start in a few weeks. I talked to my ironman friend today and she's done all of them at one point or another, so that was helpful to bounce my thoughts off her.

This is all pending my shins as well. I'm sort of believing in faith they're going to be healed. This approach has worked before :D

Diet is going really well. I allowed a small cheat yesterday, basically a small glob of PB cookie dough (my daughter makes killer cookies)-not planned but on the whole I'm doing really well. Now i need to work on getting more sleep.
 
you can do it punkin!

I have heard the vineman is really tough on bike tires, so practice changes tubes, and keeping your elbow broke during the ride.

FF
 
Thanks guys. Well the Vineman half and Barbs are the same course they're just 2 weeks apart and one is co-ed and the other is all women. The only all-women half in the world! Might be interesting, although I do like the competition with the guys too :D I'm leaning more towards Napa. Its closer, prettier and I can get more familiar with the course there as I can visit.

Today I DID tri class. normally I lift on tri class days but I was supposed to teach it today. The instructor was going to San Diego-of all places, so of course her flight got cancelled and she taught afterall. We ran drills and sprints outside for a whole hour and then did a half hour of core work. I was a sweaty mess after all that! My shins held up fine and she said my form looked efficient and right on. The running drills helped a LOT. They were things she'd picked up from Runners World. I told her about Ryan Hall and his amazing half marathon. How he was running 180 strides a minute through the entire thing. So then of course she made us do stride work. Gotta learn to shut my mouth ;)
I had a half hour to burn after that and I fought the temptation to go do more cardio, and got my kids. Went to Mongolian BBQ grill for lunch. YUM

EDIT TO ADD: Had time to kill after I coached since my husband and kids weren't going to be home. I ran intervals for 2 miles and then a very easy heart rate on the eliptical and watched TV. haha. Running feels sooo great right now. I need to watch that I don't overdo it though.
 
Last edited:
flyinfree said:
you are picking up momentum Sparrow. I can feel it! there is a disturbance in the force.

dumdumdum da da dum dum dum---
Click to expand...

AWWWW YEAH BABY

I am HECKA sore today. But I lifted my FL2 workout B anyway. The "B" workout is much harder than the "A" I think. I kept all my same weights from last week except for the underhand pulldowns which I bumped to 100lb. I was lucky to stay with everything else considering how darn torn up I feel today. I have no doubt I could have increased everything if I wasn't. Next week.

I'm taking the weekend off. At least I'm saying that now. Theres a possibility of a swim on Sunday but I did promise my daughter dinner and a movie, just us. I think Sunday will be the only day I can fit that in. I think I need the 2 days actually. I'll be stronger for it.
 
Okay, I had a big cheat last night and I'm not fessing up to my total damage but it involved chocolate cake and Ben and Jerry's LIGHT "frozen yogurt" (although..."LIGHT?", who am I kidding) lol. Feeling just a LITTLE less sore today and I've planned on taking the day off, as much as I'd love to go work off the nasty feeling I've got going from my little splurge last night.
 
Last edited:
sparrow said:
Okay, I had a big cheat last night and I'm not fessing up to my total damage but it involved chocolate cake and ben and Ben and Jerry's LIGHT "frozen yogurt" (although..."LIGHT?", who am I kidding) lol. Feeling just a LITTLE less sore today and I've planned on taking the day off, as much as I'd love to go work off the nasty feeling I've got going from my little splurge last night.
Click to expand...


heheheh

did you see that one guy,, he like 17 or soemthing, that called a bowl of white rice a cheat? hahahaha

Now me- the Ironman wanna be, and you the preachers wife, we do some real cheating eh!
hahahahaha

SWEAT DAILY!!!!!!!!!!!

FF
 
haha. well that WAS me last year. I'd be like "oh I had a handful of cereal, BIG cheat!" haha. Now its the hardcore stuff :)

Didn't seem to do much. I was just up a pound from my low so far and I really don't feel that bad considering how much junk invaded my system.
 
Week is going well. Yesterday I did spin class and 2 mile easy run. Just trying to ease back into it. I still have pain but its not getting worse and it goes away a few minutes into a run as long as I'm very careful about my form. I ate very little yesterday, not on purpose. I had homemade veggie soup after the gym (basically veggies and low sodium broth) and then nothing till 5pm which was a small amt of rice, some salad w/olive oil/vinegar and chicken breast. Later I had a bite of appple pie and decaf coffee w/milk ;) it was our small group Bible study last night. There are always yummy things I have to try and avoid. I was just very busy yesterday

Today I did NROL Fat Loss 2 workout A. We're at the 30 sec rest interval and it was more fun than having to wait between sets, but more challenging, for sure. I actually didn't feel as worked out as I normally do afterwards even though we went up on a few of our weights again. My squats are at 125 and thats cool. They jump up each week. the issue now is that the bar is KILLING my spine on my neck, even with the padded thingy. Lunges are at 95 and the barbell presses are at 90. I feel stronger and just when I'm thinking I look "thicker" someone will say I'm looking leaner, so thats nice.

After lifting I did 6 rounds of metabolic overdrive on the tread (warm up, 1 min sprint, 2 min jog (6 times), cool down). I bounced between 6.0 and 9.0

Then I swam with tri class. I hardly swim anymore so I figured I should. I only did 1200 yds but it was a lot of sprint stuff today so it was enough, especially cause I feel really out of swimming shape. My last 100 (4 laps) timed was 1:10 which isn't GREAT but I wasn't disappointed considering the load of the day and the lack of pool time.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
1 hr spin class. I actually hit the wall in class today. Bonked big. I didn't eat breakfast :( I did my 500 push ups in 24 hours. neener neener

edit to add: OKAY my chest is on FIRE people. Its getting worse as the night goes on! :( How am I going to lift tomorrow!
 
Last edited:
Tri class: 30 min cardio bosu workout

Then my friend and I went and lifted workout B of FL2 (hate that one, its hard). Increased a few more lifts I feel really really strong and tri class people are starting to notice and ask us questions about what we're doing. :)
After lifting we did bosu abs with tri class and then I just finished up with 20 min on the eliptical.

Seriously didn't want to work out today. I got very little sleep again last night and I'm so grumpy. I just want to stay in my pjs and sleep all day. no rest for the weary. Lots to do today
 
Yeah, the BSS + OHP is a killer, and is a good reason why FL II is so difficult. Are you noticing a difference in your other activities, like spinning? I know in my spinning class, we did sprints to close out the ride. Granted I probably could have turned up the gear a little, but I was pedaling faster than I'd ever pedaled before - enough to really get the heart rate up. It was kind of exhilerating and scary at the same time.

Sorry to hear you're grumpy, but at least you're not lying on the couch eating bonbons. :)

Any idea what you'll do after FL II?
 
stingo said:
Yeah, the BSS + OHP is a killer, and is a good reason why FL II is so difficult. Are you noticing a difference in your other activities, like spinning? I know in my spinning class, we did sprints to close out the ride. Granted I probably could have turned up the gear a little, but I was pedaling faster than I'd ever pedaled before - enough to really get the heart rate up. It was kind of exhilerating and scary at the same time.

Sorry to hear you're grumpy, but at least you're not lying on the couch eating bonbons. :)

Any idea what you'll do after FL II?
Click to expand...

*puts bonbons away quickly*
I'm just tired, just need to get caught up on sleep. I'm noticing things in my everyday activities. My legs feel like they have super strength. That sounds cheesy, but its true. I put on a lot more resistance on top of resistance in spinning with a good turn over and I can keep it up the entire hour. Today for cardio bosu workout I usually feel totally wiped out after just a small time. Our instructor really really pushes us on that and it feels anaerobic the whole time. I had more than enough stamina and my running feels so powerful. I have no endurance right now in my run, but I have some great speed going on. I'm also able to hold my "pose running" form much easier lately and I'm not sure if thats the strengthening or just more practice.

We'll probably just go into FL3 after this. I don't really know if I want to go into hypertrophy. I'm leary about too much extra muscle. I'm trying to get a better power to weight ratio so as long as i can pack the muscle but stay the same weight, or better I'm good. Fat Loss doesn't seem to be bulking me though and its really leg heavy, not as much arms.

Anyway, thanks for the questions Tom. I was starting to feel lonely in the little corner of my pages here :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top