Sure!

The only actual failing grade I ever got in a class of any sort was in swimming lessons! I grew up within miles of The Great Salt Lake - it's something like 15 times saltier than ocean water, people are known to 'bob like corks' - me, I just got water in my nose when my head went under...

Ryan, yes, that would be 10 minutes of continuous lunges. I commented to someone once about doing my lunges to songs and he asked what I did if a really long song came on and I responded 'thank the lunge gods'. So, I realized I didn't have to wait to get lucky and put all of my favorite really long songs (the shortest is just under 5 minutes) into a Lunge playlist on my IPod. I generally do 2 songs, take a little break (slackline in this case followed by squats or KB swings) then 2 more songs of lunges, repeat, repeat, repeat.

So, for whatever stupid reason, I had decided last week to try and go back to using an office chair (I haven't used one since I did major lumbar disk damage in Sept 2008). After Thursday, my back was sore, by Friday afternoon, I was nearly crippled. Went into the weekend doing the funky chicken walk, so Saturday was kind of a 'lite duty' work day which was OK as it was just stinkin' hot. By Sunday, after a good bit of doing my old back restoration routine I was moving better and we did a yard workout.

Dips 3 sets of 8 (actually, these were really good according to Tom who will always let me know when I'm not dipping enough!)
Pushups 2 sets of 8 (these also drew a compliment!)
Monkey Bars - did 4 continuous lengths for the first time ever - that would be 44 rungs!
Assorted mountain climbers, toe touches, high knees, butt-kickers, and down dog side to side jump sets of 20 each
Hula hoop tricks to loosen up in between more serious exercises
One arm hangs

Spent the day clearing brush - I hate 'near-record breaking heat'!

Back exercises followed by Shoe Hill Loop w/Tom this morning
 
I'm Australian, so I have no excuse for being a terrible swimmer. I even had years of swimming lesson when I was young and apparently I was even good at it for about 5min. Then I stopped getting lessons for a couple months, and have basically been the worst swimmer I've ever met since then. My dog-paddle is both more graceful and more effective than my freestyle.

I kinda miss monkey bars. I had a long term affair with them from the ages of 8-10.
 
I was the opposite to goldie, was useless in the water, made myself improve, now look like a good swimmer, but slower than people think I am. As far as being Australian goes, there is a lot of Oz furter from water than anywhere in the UK, that's what inspired Pratchet to write a book loosely based on the area wher 'the wet' was a legend no-one believed in.
Crawl is my sprint, breaststroke I can do practically forever, dog paddle wears me out in moments and I go nowhere. Problem I have is the amount of energy I have to use staying afloat.
I got U grades for swimming when younger, which is ungraded, below fail grade in the eyes of many. Can't really grade someone for swimming when they literally can't swim.

Ditto the heat. Had a bit of light cloud cover here yesterday, made the run so much more comfortable than it has been. And yes I know both of you will consider the 20 to 25 celcius that I was struggling with to be barely warming up but I have a melting point of 10 to 15.
 
Most of Australia lacks water...and anything resembling human life. Where there's water there's people; where there's heat there's a desire to make use of that water; and since Australia is about a quarter of a mile away from the sun, we live in pools and the beach. Two more generations and we'll grow thins.
 
Here in the UK we are 4 light years away from the sun, but in order to prove we are a valuable tourist destination we have people wearing miniscule clothing anywhere there is sea nearby and 20mph on shore breeze. This makes for an interesting level of sunburn as people forget that the presence of gooseflesh and chattering teeth doesn't mean they don't get the UV damage.
There is such an obsession in that way here that any body of water is viewed as a sunbathing area, even when this is an indoor swimming pool and they are nowhere near windows.
I attribute a lot of despondancy here regarding carbon footprint etc. as being due to the disappointment when global warming was found not to be universal and changed to climate change. People in the UK wanted warmer weather and were happily burning tyres in an attempt to get this, now we find out that the world is warming on average and our average temperature is dropping, some very unhappy people.
Evolutionary wise addaptations here we don't need thins as so many are severely fat.
 
I do adore my monkey bars - Tom made them for me for my birthday (49!) present last autumn. The seriously calloused state of my hands is not pretty but luckily my spouse is not concerned with having an ultra-feminine wife; he prefers having a partner that will join him in play, sport, and whatever crazy fitness scheme he dreams up.

Ryan, I strongly suggest visiting a playground near you! Can't remember if I posted this, it was the first weekend we got to play on the monkey bars - oh I must have, but what the heck! (Have to add that the heavy breathing is Tom who had just finished some sort of nasty circuit, not me!)


Actually, this is fun - Tom has been working on his grip strength this year:



The heat I am complaining about is not particularly extreme either - maybe 33c on the weekend, but I maintain that heat at altitude (we live at 2225 meters) is much, much nastier than heat at normal elevations. Add some strong "breezes" and humidity at 10% or less and one can dry out to cracker status in a matter of hours. This year happens to be a big one for locusts (yes, of the biblical plague variety), so their dried-out husks are hanging all over in the bushes and trees, and at the end of a day spent outside, I feel like one too.

---
All this chit chat to delay having to say that aside from a good set of back/core exercises and hauling at least twice my weight in dirty laundry to my vehicle, no workout for me today (138.4). I will get to haul said weight out of the truck and into the laundromat, wash/dry/fold for about 3 hours, then haul it back to the truck and home. Not cardio, not strength, might be core if I do it right, and definitely not fun. Oh well, got to do it once a month whether we are desperate or not!
 
139.4 Back and core exercises when I first got up - feeling better but sure wish I had never tried the stupid chair experiment!

T went hiking with a friend so I was on my own for a workout. Maybe should have run as I might be getting out of practice running by myself... hmm - should I worry about that? Not going to!

I may be sorry tomorrow when we do Saddle Mt and I have to run up that darn hill for 2.75 miles, but I made today a lunge and body workout day. Felt really good other than my new and dry acupuncture improved achilles tendons don't seem to be ready for jump rope intervals. Rats! The tendons have been so much better I was hopeful, but by the 3rd interval, my right tendon said enough! Burning and tearing is back, but I have a treatment scheduled for tomorrow anyway so should be temporary.

Jump rope - 1 song
Various kicks - knee to elbow, butt kickers, toy soldiers - 1 song
Kettlebell swings with the 20lb'er, also single leg deadlifts with it - 1 song
Jump rope - 1 song
10lb medicine ball work for 1 song
Squats - body weight and with 10lb medicine ball for 1 song
Jump rope - 1 song (last round cuz of grumpy tendon)
Lunges of all varieties - 2 songs
Plie' squats with and without weight - 1 song
Lunges, mostly tick-tock - 2 songs
Push-ups 8, pull-ups/chin-ups 8, push-ups 8, pause to pet the cat and catch my breath!
Monkey bar lap - Eeek! When did the bars start spinning?? I think it is the heat - the rubber gasket is softening in the heat and doesn't hold as well - spinning bar definitely adds to the challenge!
Toes 2 bar - a few, but my grip was shot so Charlie got a few more pets and I packed up my toys and went back to the house. I'm beat and it feels good!
 
Today (139.4) was supposed to be Saddle Mt, but the alarm went off and Tom rolled over and cuddled me and we both went back to sleep until Charlie cat jumped on us (he is 19 lbs - one notices his arrival!) to say it was well past time to get up and open the door. Evidently he had plans for the morning even if we were willing to put ours aside!

So, after back/core exercises and breakfast, we decided on a Shoe Hill Loop, but since we were doing something easier and shorter than planned, we agreed we had to really push the middle 1.1 mile section - shoot for 8 minutes! Ugh! Ran hard and fast, but did not quite make it - 8:05. Still, I'm pretty happy with that time on legs that are definitely feeling yesterday's lunges.

As we were coming up the canyon, we wanted to refresh our memory on our hill sprint - not the preferred place for sprints, but the one that is close to the house that we do in a pinch. So one 40 second near-sprint through the weeds and cinders - slow time and totally loaded our socks with seeds and stickers. 3.2 miles for me today.
 
138.4 Did back/core exercises and was drifting into a pretty mellow mindset thinking maybe some trampoline or slackline this morning, wasn't going to push. After the acupuncture treatment yesterday, my lower legs had been sooo achy. They were much improved this morning, but I was willing to not do much. Then Tom asks if there is time to do Saddle Mt. What??? OK, so he has some umph... who am I to squelch that. No, no time for Saddle Mt, but we could do our 9122B run if I kicked into gear.

We got ready quickly - love that about running - put on a hat, tuck some TP in my pocket, put on shoes and go! This is an out and back and the back is gently uphill and up through the same canyon as the Shoe Hill Loop. When breezy (when isn't it 'breezy' here??) the wind through the canyon can be fierce. Ran well out to the turnaround, had a few moments here and there on the way back where running seemed hard, and the canyon was tough - had to tell the governor to take off a couple of times when he tried to tell me I didn't want to run against that headwind. Successfully gave him the boot, and we set a new best time for this run. Nothing amazing, but steady improvement. 4.5 miles in 43:10.
 
Sure! said:
4.5 miles in 43:10.
Click to expand...

Wait, our time was better! That should have been 41:30!

Saturday workout was good, and fun. Slack line along with good upper body work.
Monkey bars - 2 laps
Not sure why, but started working on kipping pull-ups 3x4
Toes 2 bar sets 5, 7(PR), 5, 3
Dips 2x8
Push-ups 2x8
Shoulder press 2x8@45
Curls 2x8@45
Lots more slack line and before any of this, did shoulder joint integrity and core work with the medicine ball as we walked Dillybug on the 1/3 mile loop.

Hard physical labor today, removing rocks from the soon to be drive and hoisting 60 lb bags of concrete into place, then helping mix and fill a post hole. Whew, drove away after dinner and am in a hotel tonight, conference for the next 2 days.
 
Sure! said:
I do adore my monkey bars - Tom made them for me for my birthday (49!) present last autumn. The seriously calloused state of my hands is not pretty but luckily my spouse is not concerned with having an ultra-feminine wife; he prefers having a partner that will join him in play, sport, and whatever crazy fitness scheme he dreams up.

Ryan, I strongly suggest visiting a playground near you! Can't remember if I posted this, it was the first weekend we got to play on the monkey bars - oh I must have, but what the heck! (Have to add that the heavy breathing is Tom who had just finished some sort of nasty circuit, not me!)


Actually, this is fun - Tom has been working on his grip strength this year:



The heat I am complaining about is not particularly extreme either - maybe 33c on the weekend, but I maintain that heat at altitude (we live at 2225 meters) is much, much nastier than heat at normal elevations. Add some strong "breezes" and humidity at 10% or less and one can dry out to cracker status in a matter of hours. This year happens to be a big one for locusts (yes, of the biblical plague variety), so their dried-out husks are hanging all over in the bushes and trees, and at the end of a day spent outside, I feel like one too.

---
All this chit chat to delay having to say that aside from a good set of back/core exercises and hauling at least twice my weight in dirty laundry to my vehicle, no workout for me today (138.4). I will get to haul said weight out of the truck and into the laundromat, wash/dry/fold for about 3 hours, then haul it back to the truck and home. Not cardio, not strength, might be core if I do it right, and definitely not fun. Oh well, got to do it once a month whether we are desperate or not!
Click to expand...

I think I remember that video. Monkeying around would certainly do some good things for my grip and posture, plus the whole fun thing. I can't remember where the nearest monkey bars are, though, outside of local schools. And I'm pretty sure that strange men hanging around primary schools is frowned upon by society :(
 
My hotel is set up on a bluff so this morning I got in some good hill work by running "laps" down and up the hill. I'm guessing that the road is maybe .3 of a mile one way, did 4 laps, so a little over 2 miles. Each climb was 280 feet, so racked up over 1100 feet of climbing.

Sitting in a conference all day has about killed me. Back to the office tomorrow
 
So leaving the hotel yesterday, I measured my hill and it was .4 and a dab, so I get 3.2 miles for yesterday's effort.

A nasty forest fire started near Prescott (where I attended the conference) and blew up to 7000 acres in no time. We were innundated by the smoke at home last night (probably 100 miles away as the crow flies/smoke blows) so my head was just a stuffy congested mess this morning although the air had cleared. Didn't try for a real workout, just played in the yard with Tom and Charlie.

Slackline (was terrible due to stuffed sinuses affecting my balance)
Kipping pullups
Toes 2 bar
Fooling with the new hand traverse (we've added more climbing holds to the side of the monkey bars)
Monkey bars - Tom asked me to show him how I do my turnarounds as mine are smoother than his, so did mini-laps to do a bunch of turns in a row.

Another acupuncture treatment today, hoping it will knock down the damage I did last week with those jump rope intervals.
 
139.4 today. Back and core exercises as my back was really stiff this morning. My Achilles was rather achy too - sheesh, this junk makes a body feel old!

We set off to do a Shoe Hill Loop. Got to do a couple of short sprints to encourage some cow/calf pairs to move out of the meadow, but then settled into a steady pace. Did not have much kick today for the middle 1.1 mile, so time there was low average at 8:30, then just steady up the canyon. 3.2 miles.
 
139.6 Back/core exercises and Saddle Mt with Tom this morning. Went hard enough to make myself feel sick, but my time wasn't very good. I am going to note that our air quality is horrible from the forest fire and the wind was ferocious, but enough with the excuses, not every run can be fabulous :)

2.75 miles, 850 feet climbed, 5.5 miles total
34:37 up, slow run down @ 25:19
648 cals, f/f 134, avg HR 154, max HR 173

Also, I finally committed to a couple of races and signed up yesterday. 10k on 6/29, and my favorite local race, a 7.5 mile hill climb up the road to the local ski resort on July 20.
 
Our weekend was mostly more hard labor - still moving rocks and boulders, cutting brush, and cemented in another fence post. I'm getting better at hefting those 60 lb cement bags, but I have no plans to take up a new career as a day laborer, it's a relief to get back to the office! We did get in a good yard workout on Sunday morning before the projects began:
Monkey Bars 2.5 laps
Slackline - many passes
Kipping pullups - getting much better, got 4 continuous
Toes 2 bar 20 (6 in a row was the best set)
Lunges of various forms, 100 per leg
push-ups 3 sets of 8
squats 4 x 8
some hula hoop for grins
handstand held for 15 seconds

Today 138.8 my goals/priorities were to escape the wind (ferocious AGAIN - Ugh!!!), sanity maintenance cardio (because of the wind and this is the last week of the fiscal year - Ugh!) and to work on fast feet practice as I'm running that 10k this weekend. All 3 items were pretty much equal on my 'gotta have' meter.

Jumped on the EFX elliptical for 35 minutes, averaged 183.7 steps/minute and if one were inclined to believe the machine burned 510 calories (I am not so inclined). I could tell I was out of practice with fast feet action, I really had to focus on it to keep my step rate high, particularly as the resistance and hills combined at the peaks. Maybe this is why my run times this summer have been a bit slower than last year - I missed the fast feet training I usually do in the spring because I was sick forever.

T is reading a book that is a compilation of scientific research articles on running and training runners so I'm getting the snippets here and there. One of these snippits is that a reasonable estimate of a 10k time is double the 5k time plus 1 minute. The last time I ran a 10k was in about 1988 and while I don't know my actual time, I know I exceeded an hour because runners were given a different color of TShirt based on finish time - I got the slowpoke color :-(

So, based on the idea above and not using my 5k PR but instead, my time on the 5k version of this local race, my time should be 53:50 so I'm setting a goal of 55 minutes or better for the race. Of course, having done that, I'm cycling between self-doubt and possibility. Will have to do some mental imaging of kicking the governor in the butt this week!
 
137.8 Saddle Mt again today. Getting the hard run in early this week and will coast down to the weekend with race on Saturday. Tummy is better today, but sure would like to figure out this lingering nausea after these longer runs. Ate oatmeal instead of the usual eggs and was really careful to limit liquids. Also took an electrolyte before the run and another afterwards.

Time up was best so far this year at 34.04. Was at the highest point on the hill I've ever reached at the 30 minute mark, but must have slowed down as I've done better overall times than this. Relaxed run down as we chatted about the book T is reading, carb loading, and race strategies. 24.02 down.

384 calories up, max HR 174, avg HR 159
275 calories down, max HR 164, avg HR 148
 
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