YIKES - Slipping a little - A couple of weeks of posts

Spring is here. Time to pick a race and plan a hiking trip. Any suggestions or participants?

25-Mar-09 Indoor Spin Class and tempo laps
In an effort to make the gym membership worthwhile today I hit spin class. Like last week our instructor Kim had it out for us and lead the class through a variety of hills, sprints and music induced tempo changes. As usual a good workout that leaves a good sweat. From the bike I went down to the track for 10 loops of the indoor track with each loop including a 50 yrd “sprint”. Sprint might be a bit of an exaggeration.

24-Mar-09 Indoor – swim-bike-run
The calendar says spring, but too no one has told mother nature. And since I was not in the mood to get outside in the cold it was off to the gym. It has been a while since getting in the pool. Thankfully it was not too crowded. I decided to do the swim bike run. 15 min swim (all things considered went well), 10 miles on the bike, 2.5 run. Ran out of time to do more so it was off to work.

23-Mar-09 Rrun 8.1 Mile 1:00:30 Hr
Freeking cold. I had planned a run and basically did not pay attention to the temps. Headed out in shorts but the wind had the temps in the teens. I survived and my time was only slightly slower then the last time I ran this route (however I felt at times like I was barely moving). I guess I need to pick up the pace overall.

22- Mar – 09 Rride on Mtb with John
Changing things up a bit today and was able to get out with a friend. However, the planning gods where not on our side. With a limited window to start with (typical) I got all geared up for a road ride, he was ready for giving the mtb a run so we gave that a shot. This required a little drive time, so we drove to Henderson Swazey over in Exeter. Great trails but due to the wetness and lingering snow the trails were closed. So doing what we could it was out on the road on the mtb. Together we put in a loop of XXXX

21- Mar – 09 Hoop
20- Mar – 09 Road Run 8.1 Mile 1:00 Hr
19- Mar – 09 Lift and Stretch
18- Mar – 09 Spin & Tempo Run


17-Mar-09 Rrun 8.1 Mile 1:00 Hr
Cool (mid 20’s) Morning Run. Still Dark. No wind.

16-Mar-09 home elliptical

As a result of a sick child with too many unscheduled wake up calls put plans for an early workout on hold. Plan B ended up being 66 min on the elliptical at home. Nothing special about this to talk about. I turned on the TV and watched some high quality action movie and tried to keep the tempo as high as I could. In the end a decent workout. Great to have the home equipment as a plan B

15-Mar-09 road run 8.3 Mile 1:03hrs

Today the weather was great. Signs were abundant that spring is right around the corner. However, due to the days schedule I really couldn’t wait for the temps to get into the 50’s or 60’s so I was out around 9:00 just as temps were getting into the 30’s. That said, the sun was up and bright and it was very pleasant, very little wind. I got out for a fairly straight forward, lightly hilly run of 8.3 miles. (Now that the temps are better I will start using my GPS as the batteries won’t cut out after two uses.) This was a new variant of a regular run as I kept to the roads and out of the mud. Pleasantly, surprised that it came in around 8 miles and I was able to keep a comfortable pace (at least as far as running and comfort match together for me.)

Last week and then some……

What have you been up to? Anyone in a winter funk ready for the spring time weather. Well this week daylight savings has come and gone. It is now back to being dark in the morning. I was getting a little used to getting out and not having to drag out the lights etc. That said, I am afraid that I am going to have to stay away from the trails for a while. It is just soaking wet out in the woods. All of that great snow over the winter has all but disappeared. We are going to have mud for quite some time.

Let’s get to the list of things I have been doing.
3/13 - Gym. Stationary Bike 40 min and 20 min on the stair stepper. Good pace.
3/12 – Weights. Back from a couple of days vacation with lots of work to catch up on.
3/11 – Day of downhill skiing. Bretton Woods. Weather was rainy for the first half of the day but somehow the snow held out and so did we. 75% of the mtn was open and all kinds of touraine without a line to be found.
3/10 – Epic 4 hours of XC skiing at the Mount Washington Hotel Alpine center. 2 hours with my wife at a casual pace and then 2 hrs on my own at a greater pace. More to written about this. Too bad the awesome dinner at the Mount Washington Hotel was about 10,000 calories which negated all the benefits achieved with all of the skiing. Ohhh well gotta live a little ;)
3/9 – Uhhh can’t remember.
3/8 – Mountain Bike ride on the road. 55 mins for a 10+ mile loop
3/7 Hoop
3/6 XC skiing. 1.25 hrs
3/5 Spin Class
3/4 Weights and DVD

3/3 Tuesday – Winter is back

Although at this point I am sure many feel that winter has never left and basically they are tired as hell of it, the storm whipped through yesterday, cancelled school, kept everyone working from home and freshend our supply of the white stuff.

In the end we picked up about 10” of new snow. This morning was perfect for snow shoeing. However, it was in the low teens with a decent breeze so I made sure to go with the full face coverage. Other than that my regular gear of hat, headlight, backpack, jogging jacket/windbreaker, t-shirt, rebook long sleeve moisture wicking , lycra pants, shorts, llbean-athletic boots and jogging gloves (thin knit) did the trick. I got out about 6 and was out for about an hour. Sun was already up, so it was daylight for most of the time. Jogged for about 50% of the time but did not seem to cover much distance. Overall good workout.

2/27 to 3/2 - Man how time fly’s – Here is a few days of posts.

3/2 Monday – XC in the morning
Another snow storm last night had about 6 inches of fresh powder on the ground and it was still dropping. Love that. Got out with it still dark and the roads were not plowed yet. Went out for the normal route,(up the road, cross the field, through the woods to the power lines) but either my skis are really starting to get worn or my legs were tired from last night or the snow just wasn’t right (too deep?) because it felt like I was trying to ski on two 2x4’s. All that aside, I was working from home today so I was out for about an hour and a half. Very peaceful moderate/steady pace.

3/1Sun – XC skiing by headlight
As usual, Sunday is a tough day to predict. With knowledge of the snow coming I decided to sleep in and plan for a night time outing. Unfortunately, the snow didn’t exactly pick up by this time. We only had a couple of inches which was just enough to hide the branches, ice and bare spots. Ended up beating the crud out of my skis. That said, it was still time out under the complete cloak of darkness which for me is fun. Being in the dark, bad weather, off road always forces me to focus on the environment and not the repetition of the event. Time just cruises by. I ended up taking about 1:20 to do the regular XC ski loop. I took out the GPS so I have a plot of the route, I just need to upload.. Maybe tomorrow.
BTW – man am I sore from hoop. It has been a while since I played. I felt good while playing.



2/28 Sat Hoop
2 hours of hoop at the gym. Felt great, but sore the rest of the day. Not a low impact game.

2/27 Fri can’t remember.
I did something though.

2/24 and 2/25

2/24 Stretch and Lift Thursday
Keeping with the plan of a day off from cardio; I slept in a little and then did some stretching and lifting. Nothing to much to say about the stretching, just try to move through a series of yogaish moves and cover the whole body. Lifting pretty much works the same way. Light weights, high reps, lifts that cover as many muscle groups at one time.
Writing this now, I have no motivation to do anything tomorrow. Gotta check the weather.

2/25 Another missed spin class
My regular spin class is packed. I just missed getting there in time to make the list. I can’t get myself to get up earlier than 5:20…Ugh. So having missed class I tried to head to the pool, which was also too crowded. As anyone who knows me… I am getting a little annoyed / jumpy at this point about getting up early and wasting time, but I eventually settled into the stationary bike. Here I did 10 miles of varied tempo. Then I hit the treadmill for 3 miles and then gave the pool another shot. I swam for 12 min. In all a decent workout but….

2/22, 2/23 and 2/24 A bit of a variety so far this week

2/24/09 – at the gym
At the gym today mixing it up on a few cardio machines. Stationary bike for 10 mile varied pace 100 to 110 rpms in 2min 30 sec intervals , 20 min on the stair climber – mixed pace as well and then finished up on the other machine that I keep forgetting to see what it’s name is.

2/23 Snow Shoe
A little snow fell so I strapped on the snow shoes today. As always it was good to get out. I was out early before sun up and the temperatures were OK (low 20’s) but the wind was a howling. Crossing over the fields at the start of the trek was “fun”. I was out for just over an hour returning after sun up. Because the new snow was only a couple inches and the old snow is getting very dense I was able to split the outing about 60% jog and 40% walk. Always a good workout.

2/22 Wet messy run
Lately I have been on this kick of trying to sleep in Sunday’s at least until the kids wake. This always leaves my trying to find a low impact way to squeeze something in. So the family and I were out and about visiting friends and running a few errands so we did the ole drop off and run home routine. It was raining so I had the fam drop me off about 4 or 5 miles from home. One of the errands was to pick up a new rain proof running jacket so I decided to put it through its paces. Once out and wet the jacket did a great job and the temp was OK so I ended up running for 56.30 hopefully over 7 miles. I can only guess what the mileage was but overall things went well. Once to the house I put in another 15 on the treadmill to warm the body back up and casually slow the heart rate down.

2/21 returning to the XC skis - endurance planet

Seems like it has been a months since I have been out in some decent snow on the XC skis but with the 5” of snow received on Thursday I was able to get out this morning. The conditions were actually quite good and I was able to get out just before the sun came up. It was a little breezy and about 24 degrees. I was out for about 1:15 and hit the power lines just over the NH border.

You might find interesting….

A site that I like to pick up podcasts from is http://www.enduranceplanet.com/
Endurance Planet is the premiere online destination for runners, cyclists, triathletes, and adventure racers. Endurance Planet offers podcasts, videos, articles and products to members which provide inspiration and education. Endurance Planet gives you all the tools to boldly answer the question, "How far can you go?"
Frequently I wonder where my fitness and training levels compare to others and then I listen to something like this…. Beginner triathalete of the month??? This guy has been doing this stuff for years and trains way more than I do… that said I think this is a good listen and he makes some valid points. I am counting on a new wetsuite to help my swimming… Maybe some instruction couldn’t hurt? http://www.enduranceplanet.com/public/238.cfm

2/19 and 2/20 – A Mixed bag

2/20 A day off. However, that means a day off from pounding my body around doing some cardio. Instead I started the day with some stretching. This basically consists of some yoga ish type moves as I try and work through a series of moves stretching the upper and lower body. I try and focus on the hips and the back to keep things in line as I have such terrible posture and sit at a desk all day. Then did some lifting. High reps and low weights. Again, I do a full body as usually only lift once a week, unless you count 2 – 40lb. kids. Then I finished things off with 20 something minutes of shoveling, thanks to mother nature surprising us with 5 inches last night.

2/19 Normally I take Thursday as a day off from cardio, but I was trying to take the day off from work. As a result, the family took a trip to the beach. It was pretty chilly, but the waves and vacant beach was fun for the kids and peaceful for the adults. As is usually the case I tried to take advantage of the new route and decided to jog home. Although, I over dressed I jogged home in 52.53 probably about 6.5 miles. I will try and map it a little later. A little breezy but a good flat run with the sun setting and giving me some great views.

2/17 and 2/18 Keeping it indoors but hoping for new snow soon

2/18 Today was an indoor day. I hit spin class as part of my regular Wed routine. I warmed up for 10 on the elliptical, 45 min in the class, 10 eighth of a mile loops mixed with a 50 yrd sprint each loop, shoot some hoops and hit the showers.

2/17 The snow is really crappy and it is still too dark and cold to be motivated enough to get out there and run on the road. Hopefully, this week we will either get some fresh snow or it will start to warm or brighten up in the morning. As that was not the case today, I hit the home elliptical for 1 hour. Can’t really push it too hard as I don’t want to break the thing. But it got the legs going to start the day.

2/16 Not much time today

Being a holiday weekend the family and I had a bunch of things in flight this weekend. I was not sure I was going to be able to squeak in a workout but then by some stroke of luck the disastrous plumbing project I was working on took a promising turn. So I jumped from this to running a 5 mile loop. No stretching, no warm-up. It was about 35 degrees but pretty sunny when I headed out. I tried to take it easy for the first mile but then tried to alternate the pace going fast and then slow in quarter mile increments. I wrapped up the loop in 38.29. I will map this out some time.
Tonight I went skiing with the little ones. Trying to carry a 40lb kid and ski on flat surface and then up the bunny slope really was a kick butt workout for the thighs. Ohh my.
It’s late again. Over and out

2/15 Outdoor run - Shenipsit State Forest

This weekend we did a little traveling so I have taken the workout, for Saturday anyways on the road to Somers CT. This is an area I frequently visit and decided to try a trail run at Shenipsit State Forest http://www.nochildleftinside.org/parks/shenipsit07.php. I have been riding and running here for many years and have a few loops that take about an hour.
Today I found that the trails were very icy at the bottom of the mountain and gradually changed to hard packed show the further I moved up the hill and off the main hiking trails. All I packed were my running shoes so it made my decision easy as to what to wear. The running was slow for the most part and I had to concentrate on watching 5 feet in front of me and where each foot was landing. As a result I found on two occasions I found myself off track. However, unlike the other day I didn’t try to just “find my way” and I doubled back to figure out where I was. This proved to me that I was a little further off from where I expected I was and a much better choice. After recovering and completing the loop ended up being out for about 1:15. Overall a good workout and great to be out.
Soon I will try and write a little about winter running footwear.

2/13 and 2/14

Happy Valentines Day!!
Today was off to the gym where I intended to do an indoor sprint tri. However, upon getting to the gym I found that the pool was filled. As I am not a good swimmer and a fan of sharing a lane I decided to just hit the bike and the treadmill. I did 11 miles on the bike and 3.5 miles on the treadmill. I believe on the treadmill my pace averaged out to be about 7:30.
Then it was off to coach my son’s hoop game. The guys played great. Especially my boy Calvin who is doing well to be in the right place and do the right thing. Way to go Calvin.

2/13
This day kind of got away from me. Ended up going right to work at 6 instead off to the gym or outside. Ended the day with a little over an hour on the home treadmill

2/12 – “Day off”

As I get a little older I am trying to get used to the thought of planning a day off? It might seem like a fairly simple thing to do, but with the schedule I have you never know when I am going to miss a day unplanned. That said, I have settled into a day where I try to lift, stretch or do balance exercises. Today was that day for this week.

My workout was, 8 min of my wife’s ab tape “the firm” (which I can barely do), 15 min of light elliptical and some lifting. I like lifts that work multiple muscles and try to incorporate balance. 2 sets of high rep barbell overhead presses, 2 sets of high rep lunges, 2 sets of high rep incline bench, 2 sets of high rep pull downs, 2 sets of high rep lat pulls.

Have not thought of what to do tomorrow… Time to check the weather

2/11 – Indoors gym time

This morning I woke up with the intention of getting to the gym for my weekly spin class. However, even after getting there “on time” I learned that class was full. Shouldn’t the new year’s resolution crowd have thinned out by this time? So, I opted for plan B and that was 10 mile on the stationary going from 100 to 110 rpm’s in 2.5 min intervals , then 20 min on the stair climber alternating speeds on that as well. I wrapped things up with loops around the 1/8 mile track , doing 50 yard sprints once per loop. Overall this is a pretty tough workout and I find that cycling up and down forces me to pay a little more attention and helps to keep my level up.
Tomorrow is a stretch and lift day aka rest day.
Good night

2/10 –Snowshoeing on Ice

Today’s workout was a trip into the woods on the snow shoes. The snow quality has really taken a hit with temps last week getting into the 40’s and 50’s and the mix of rain and snow the week before. I have been out on the same trail now a bunch of times so the path is getting well traveled and hard packed. I was able to get out for an hour and jog for about 75% of the trip with the exceptions of the uphill sections. The temp was around mid 20’s so nothing special was required for clothing. The usual, full spandex (close to the body), t-shirt, running jacket (wind breaker), snowboots, gaters, jogging gloves, hat, headlight and backpack. The full moon was still up and the sun is coming up earlier and earlier, so I had decent visibility the whole trip.

Well that was it for today. It’s late, I’m beat. In the near future I need to do a little reading on the benefits of sleep. My new years resolution to get more is not panning out well..

2/10 Monday Indoors

To start the week I unfortunately had to worry about getting my work week underway as well. I opted for a trip to the gym even though the temps outside were pretty decent.

Today's workout consisted of 20 min each on the eliptical, stair climber and some other low impact sliding maching (note to self to find out the real name). Overall not a bad workout.

Tomorrow I plan to take it back outside (snow shoeing) where hopefully that awesome full moon will be out like it was this morning. Of course I will be packing my cell and recently stocked safety kit - see yesterdays post.

Gotta run. Don't forget to check out www.outdoorattractions.com for planning your trips outdoors.

2/08/09 - Getting Lost

I guess I learned a little bit of a lesson today. No matter how simple a trip into the woods (or anyplace when out solo) may seem, pack a little extra gear to be prepared for any unplanned circumstances. This mornings workout plans consisted of heading out for about an 75 to 90 min XC skiing trip. I ended up being out for 150. I was fine, I just got a little lost. But I did not have any way of letting the wife know where I was and if I was OK or had run into a tree and was in serious trouble. As a result I will definetly be packing my cell phone and other provisions for all trips. All for now. Be safe.

2/07 On the Mtn. Bike in 09

Today the weather capped out at about 40 degrees to I decided to dust off the mountain bike and go for a ride. The snow is too deep still to go off road but the roads are way to beat up for the road bike. I scraped off the mud from the last ride (probably 4 months ago), replaced the back tire, checked enough of the bike to make sure that it would survive a trip and hit the road. I was able to get out just before sundown and I could tell its been a while since I have been on a real bike (ahh my rear). But it was great to get out. Check out the ride at http://www.mapmyride.com/user/689689136789/outdoorattractions named 2/07/09 route.

Well that is today's update. I plan to make this a much more regular occurance.