Monday, March 30, 2009

Dizzy

Today Taylor and Karl joined me at lunch, and Meredith tagged along again. Bryan, in addition to recovering from ITBS is undergoing physical therapy for his right shoulder. A few months ago he re-injured an old injury, and like any regular guy, kept exercising and surfing with it. He has taken the last two weeks off and should be able to join again next week.

Today's beat down added dips to the pyramid. Thus, each set consists of a certain number of pull ups, double push ups, triple sit ups, and the dips equaled push ups.
This sucked. I'm still working at getting comfortable again with the regular pyramid, even without the extra set of 10 at the top. Adding dips made this even more hurtful. But we pushed through.

Karl is getting better at pull ups! He started doing regular ones, which used to be impossible a month ago, and switched to modified on about set 6 going up. Meredith did modified pull ups (I explained to her that it's a better workout than just bouncing off the ground for each rep), as well as modified dips. I was proud of her effort again, but this second expedition proved too overwhelming again as she started cutting back reps at my advice, and tapped out at the top. Good showing though! As I mentioned before, she used to fake illness to get out of PT, and is now willing to at least try my workouts.

Taylor is a beast at dips. He pushed through more than I, until he got nauseous and almost puked. I suppose it might be a mental competition. Since I've done this longer, I suppose I can tell when my body is simply complaining, or if it's on the verge of breakdown. When my triceps and the attachment point of my traps at the base of the skull were REALLY screaming on the top set, I dropped off, shook them out, then did the last two. Taylor kicked ass and pushed all the way through. On rung 9 coming down, he took a time out. No worries. Better to take a break than kill yourself. He jumped back in at 6 and was careful coming back down.

Similar story for Karl. He got dizzy, took a break, got some water, and jumped in at 5.

Similar story for me. I could feel a headache/dizziness coming on after the top. So I just took longer breaks and payed closer attention to how each rep felt.

MVPs for all!

Totals:
100 Pull ups
200 Push ups
300 Sit ups
200 Dips

******

Everyone was too tired to run, so I trust them to do it on their own tonight.
Bryan came over after work and did some pool running with me again. We did a 10 minute warm up, then 3 on, 2 off, twice. Then a cool down and some underwater stuff.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Lazy Sunday

Slept in 'til 10:00. Awesome!
Got up, ate some of the quiche I made yesterday morning. It is kick-ass.
Had a banana and some juice. Played some Mafia Wars on Facebook. Read some "Timeline," by Michael Crichton.

Was planning on going for an 8 miler, but two miles in, my knee pained. Took a moment to stretch, and had no further problems. However, decided to only go 6. Same route as yesterday.

7:43, 7:40, 7:41, 7:41, 7:38, 7:37
46:02

Nice even splits!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Nice and Steady

Good weather today. No surprise there, though. Same weather as any other day.

Ran a steady 6 on the trail about 3/4 mile from my place.
Felt pretty good. Passed some natives fishing of the bridge, some homeless in the park, some factory workers at the plant, and some other runners/bikers/walkers on the trail. It's always fun passing bikers when I'm only running 7:40s.

In the fourth mile, out of nowhere, my right knee had some sharp pains. This time it felt more like the hamstring attachments than the IT band. Not sure what's up there. Might go to physical therapy after the race next Saturday.

8:13, 7:37, 7:38, 7:29, 7:01, 7:48
45:39

Happy weekend to all.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Pool

Spent a lot of time in the pool this week. Decided to take the week off since I was being lazy, and my right knee still feels like it wants to develop ITBS.

Pool running, treading water, and doing hypoxic stuff. Fun!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

So it's okay

I haven't run since Sunday. The legs hurt, and I'm lazy.
Bike a lot today.

I feel lazy.
But I met a girl on Sunday, so it's okay. ;-)

Christy.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Trails and Hills

Today after church I decided to run on location. It's a beautiful part of the island with lots of trails, hills, mountains, etc.

Only went 6.5 miles...I got tired very quickly!
First mile: all trail, mostly uphill, 11:57
2nd mile: some trail, downhill road, 8:02
3rd mile: uphill road, back on trail: 11:58
4th mile: left the trails, downhill road: 7:32
5th mile: hills in cemetery, 7:38
6th mile: exit cemetery, uphill road to church, 7:24
last half mile: uphill road to church: 4:22
Total time: 59:03

I had planned on a long run, but those first three miles killed me!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Friday Magic

Today, Taylor was the only regular. Meredith, another girl in the rock band, came out today. Good for her! I remember at A-school in Virginia, she'd bum out of PT days by faking sickness, and now she's willing to try the A-Team. (I decided to steal that name for our group).

We did pyramids. It seems as though all the new people start on pyramid or super set days. I guess it weeds out those that don't really want to push that hard. She did okay...has an interesting pullup technique: using a shorter bar, jump up and briefly hold the up position, drop all the way down, push off with the feet to jump up again. She kind of did half of the workout...skimped on pushups and situps, but I was proud of her first effort.

Taylor is really improving, as am I. He's faster at pullups since our techniques differ as well. Actually, he does them like I used to: controlling the fall so as to not lock out, but sacrificing full range of motion. For some reason, when I started doing these again, I made a point to do a full rep each time, so when I lock out, I take a second to pull back up again. But the marked improvement in both of us over the past month is incredible! (Arbitrary, but cool, he's comfortable taking his shirt off in public now. ;-) )

Pushups and situps easy as always.

Taylor really enjoyed feeling like crap after the run on Wednesday, knowing that he'd put forth that kind of effort. Today, we did a negative-split 4 miler. Two miles out in 17:32, back in 15:45. He's getting there.

Hey Abby! I think I saw your brother today! We passed on the trail, had a kind of "I recognize you" moment, as I guess he's seen my picture, and his face resembled yours. But alas, I couldn't remember his name, so I'll yell at him another day. ;-)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Various

Taylor and I were the only ones to PT today. We did the various pushups thing Charles showed me online.

11 various (explosive, explosive staggered, one-armed, dive-bombers, hand-tap, side-tap, rotational, alligator, elevated, shuffle, spidermans)

During breaks, I was telling Taylor about a couple other variations I used to do. So we tossed in two more sets. Tigers, and core. For Tigers, try and get your hands as close to your hips as possible in doing pushups. Core, raise alternate legs on each pushup.

Finished with 10, 5 Pullups, and 20, 10 Dips

Totals: 130 Pushups
15 Pullups
30 Dips

Karl came out for the running workout. I just kind of made it up since our track is weird (about 740m)

half mile warmup
then four laps of sprinting straights and jogging curves.

Taylor has the heart of a Lion! He's mentally tougher than many runners I've trained with through high school and college. He's not naturally talented, and isn't in competitive shape, but he never gives up. I actually had to slow down and hold back so that he'd stop giving effort trying to catch me. What a guy!

Karl is trying. I can tell he hates running fast. He's in it more for the base level of fitness than competitive improvement. Outstanding musician, but bull-headed. Doesn't listen to my advice. ;-) Adjusting his stride would help him with efficiency, as would giving the workout a chance. Oh well.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Waiting

Still waiting for interviews to be scheduled. That's all I have left of the application process.

Today, it was just Taylor, Karl, and I. We hadn't done a running workout for a while, so I pulled out a relic. Back in the day when I used to read Runner's World, I found a fun workout that would be awesome in theory, but never works.

The run is for a group of different paces, thus everyone can run at their own tempo. We're supposed to run out for a set period of time, then once that time is up, everyone turns around and heads back. In theory, everyone should arrive back at the same time. The workout: whoever is the farthest out when time is up tries to catch the others. The slowest runner (closest home) tries to beat them back. Fun!

So Taylor and Karl didn't have watches, but based on their normal paces I gave them turn around points. I was fairly close, but forgot to account for my own fatigue (haven't run since Thursday. I was just over two miles at 15 minutes, and had planned on 4.5. Thus, when I turned around, Taylor came at me for another 20 seconds. I couldn't see Karl, but he probably ran an extra 30-40 seconds out. Thus, I caught them after about half a mile. They were kind of puttering along (Taylor slowed down to talk to Karl who is a dedicated trainee, but won't pick his knees up). So to inspire them, I slowed briefly to encourage/command, then picked it back up. That did the trick because even though I came in 2 minutes ahead of Taylor, he raced in panting and sweating up a storm. Karl came in 2 minutes later, breathing hard and saying it sucked.

Good! The only way to get better is to find your comfort zone, then destroy it.

For PT, we did supersets. 10 sets each, Taylor and I did 10s, Karl did 7s. They both did very well, and, should I say it?, are actually starting to enjoy pushing themselves!

Followed with some pullups. Max out, then 2/3, then 1/3.

Totals:
Run: 4.2? miles 6:46, 7:14, 1:56, 6:49, 7:13 (29:59.99)
Pushups: 300
Situps: 300
Pullups: 15, 10, 5 (30)

Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Ocho

Ran a nice steady 8 miles today. Felt pretty good. I needed to clear my mind, so I just kept running until time was up.

My right knee has been bugging me a bit. Time to rehab.

7:56, 7:29, 7:27, 7:29, 7:17, 7:18, 7:20, 7:09 (59:30)

It was awesome...I ended up over by the F-15 hangars. Can't wait!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Pyramid, blisters

Today we did a pyramid again. Another new member! Kristen, used to play trumpet in the rock band, now in the brass quintet. Taylor, Bryan, Karl joined us, as well as Ed and Colleen for the 2nd time.
The workout:
1-10-1 Pullups
x2 Pushups
x3 Situps

Totals: 100 Pullups, 200 Pullups, 300 Situps

Everyone did awesome! I got blood blisters under my palm calluses. Fun stuff!

I had planned a running workout, but everyone was too tired. So Taylor and Karl ran a warmup mile, then Taylor felt dizzy, so I made him quit. Karl and I did two 400m dashes x 400m jog.

Monday, March 9, 2009

2nd time is easier

Have you noticed the 2nd time is always easier? The learned response of tissues I suppose, whether it be physical, mental, etc.

Today, we did a bit more than last Thursday's workout, and although it was tough, it wasn't as bad.
Taylor, Bryan, and Neff joined me for the PT, then Taylor and I went on an easy 3 mile run to the Missing Man Memorial and back. We had a lively discussion about martial arts and hard body training. The funniest part of the run was when Taylor's midsection got in a stitch from working the abs so hard, then running and trying to talk.
Bryan finally listened to me and started ice massaging.

PT:
2x7 all Pullups (regular, wide, close, reverse, mountain) 70 total
2x15 Pushups (diamond, regular, wide, dive bombers) 120 total
2x15 Dips
3x30 Arm Haulers
2x25 each neck 100 total
Monster Situp Workout 660 total

The only thing that really sucked was the diver bombers. Not cool. My deltoids and triceps were so traumatized that the dips were tough.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

15

Yesterday I went for a nice tempo run on Hickam. Didn't plan on it, but I started out kind of fast, so just decided to keep it up. Felt great! Nice, overcast, and a bit breezy. Perfect.
7:00, 6:53, 6:50, 6:25, 6:36, 6:45 (40:31)

Only saw three other runners, none of whom were Abby's brother.

I had a massage last night for the first time in a year. It was awesome!!!!! I waited WAY too long.

Today, I kind of felt like I was undoing the relaxation during my workout this morning, but I'll just go back in a week or two. I went over to Taylor's...he's the most dedicated, so we decided to do stuff on the weekends too.
Supersets. He increased his reps to 10. Did fantastic. After 10 sets, I was feeling good, and he was feeling good enough, so we did 5 more. Felt great! I'm finally getting back into shape!
Finished with 5 8-count bodybuilders.
30 minutes: 450 Pushups and Situps

Then we ran an easy 3.2 miles on some rolling hills. Nice day, rainy and cool.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Neff

Neff joined us for PT today! He's the guitar player in rock band, one of my best buds here.

We had command PT in the morning, where I had them do 8x15 pushups and crunches.
Then, Taylor, Karl, Neff and I continued outside. We did 3x10 dips, 2x7 of all 5 pullups, 3x30 arm haulers, 2x25 each neck, and one set of the monster situps.
Then, 1.5 miles fast, and 1.5 cooldown.

Totals:
120 Pushups
450 Situps
70 Pullups
90 Dips
90 Haulers
100 Neck
3 miles

Call Sign

Just a thought. Everyone in the band keeps asking me what I'll have for my call sign at flight school. I'm under the impression that it's just kind of given to me.

Your thoughts and input?

Here's what has come up at the band hall: "Prince Charming, Wolf, Badass, Twinkle Toes, Airwolf, AntonAnton, Frenchie, Ensign"

I don't get Twinkle Toes. You shouldn't either. ;-)

Blogs

I wonder who'll be next to alter their title...

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Tuesday Pyramid

Yesterday I did a full pyramid for the first time in a year or so. It sucked! I was dizzy and dehydrated, saw stars, almost blacked out, and almost threw up.

We spent the morning in wind ensemble rehearsal, and I didn't have my water since I wasn't singing. Thus, I didn't hydrate much before the run and workout.

Taylor and Karl ran with me, and Colleen (Karl's wife) was dubbed the first female to tackle the lunchtime BAMFs. She's MVP of the month just for that!

I GPSed the route we usually run through Hickam officer housing, and it was just over three miles.

Nice easy run.

Then, we stretched a bit, and jumped right in. Karl and Colleen did modified pullups. Taylor is greatly improving on real ones. Awesome! Me too. They're feeling better.

The workout:
1-10-1 Pullups, x2 Pushups, x3 Situps.
Total: 100 Pullups, 200 Pushups, 300 Situps.

Some of the pullups were pretty weak, but I attempted 100 of them.

(I just realized how lame my wording is for my posts. I usually write them when I'm tired of studying, so they're quite simple and drab. *Please note, most of my literature creations utilize language far beyond my typical slang in vocalized conversation, making people wonder if I honestly composed it in the first place...)

Sunday, March 1, 2009

HILL!

Today was fun. I decided to tackle one of the HILLs again today. My apartment faces one of the mountain ranges, and some of the roads wind up the faces. It sucked running there when I was out of shape, but I figured I try again today. It was hard, but I felt good.

Without eating too much this morning, all I had in me was two miles up, then back down.
Four miles total. Nice. Two productive days.
7:51, 8:09, 6:02, 7:00
29:02

Ate

Nice medium long run today: 8 miles.

Awesome weather today. A cool wind from the north east, light showers all day, low 70s, high 60s. Felt nice! I actually got a bit chilled. ;-)
I found a run/bike trail about a half mile from my place. Just followed it out for four miles, and it kept going. I'm wondering if it wraps all the way around the harbor...

Total: 8 miles
59:15
7:37, 7:43, 7:27, 7:34, 7:15, 6:59, 7:01, 7:36

Good news! The admiral told me yesterday that he's going to do all that he can to make sure I go to flight school!