Out of Shape

This past week, I decided I needed to set some short term goals and maybe a schedule. While the weekend is not over yet, I have yet to do so. I am still not sure exactly what I will be capable of in the coming months so it is hard for me to set goals. I have a long term goal of racing the Shenandoah 100 but I really don't know if I will be able to do that.

This past week I continued with my strength training but moved it from everyday to roughly every other day. In addition to adding some exercises to my rehab routine, I also added some exercises to my upper body workout. I have definitely gotten stronger since I started working my arms, shoulders, and chest but you would not know by looking at me. Not that my goal is to be a fitness model or anything but it is a nice validation to look in the mirror and see a few muscles.

I did reach another milestone this week. Last week I did a 1 mile run in my Vibram Five Fingers. My calves were really killing me for the next week afterwards. They were really tight and sore and with every step I took, I was reminded of that short little run. On Thursday, a week and a day after my 1 mile run, I put on the Five Fingers again and this time had a pleasant 2 mile run. The weather was cold and it was very windy. That part was not pleasant at all. But I ran with Melissa which was a lot of fun. I don't think either of us would have done it by ourselves but together we were able to knock it out. Melissa is training for the Monument Avenue 10K and is putting in a lot more mileage than I am.

Another positive thing about this 2 miler around the neighborhood was my calves did not hurt the next day nor the next. I did more stretching afterwards followed by all my rehab exercises so I think that helped. Also I tried a slight variation on my hamstring stretches that really made a big difference. Basically I copied a pose that I saw on the cover of a yoga DVD at the bookstore. I sat on a yoga block with my legs straight out in front of me. I put a strap around the bottom of my feet and then held the strap with both hands. To make the hamstring stretch even better, I pushed my elbows out to the side and upwards. Wow. That slight adjustment makes a big difference.

Milestone number 2 was my first mountain bike ride on actual trails. I have been riding my trainer and I have done some longish mountain bike rides on the roads around town but this was my first trail ride since I injured myself last year. I did pretty well. The course was pretty muddy in parts that made the ride quite a bit more difficult than if it had been dry. I mostly took it easy but there were some tough obstacles that I managed to make it over as if I had been riding all along. One particular one caught me by surprise and when I made it over the obstacle, I gave a little celebratory "YEAH!" There was no one else around so I let out a pretty nice scream.

One thing I did notice is that I am pretty out of shape. I do have pretty high standards but I could definitely tell that I was breathing harder than I usually would on the particular course I rode. But that is ok. I have been in this position in the past and think I can whip myself back into shape. But I am still not sure about the September race. I really won't know how fit I am until I ride with some of my fellow riders. I felt out of shape out there today. It is amazing how much harder trail riding is than riding on the road. Even though my average speed is much slower on the trails, I end up breathing a lot harder and heating up much more.

Tomorrow I plan to have a mega workout day. Since I did upper body on Friday, I plan to do another upper body workout tomorrow. I also have not gotten in a core workout in a number of days so I plan on doing that as well. Plus I want to get another ride in and it is time for me to do all my rehab work as I did not do any Friday or Saturday. That is a lot of exercising, probably 4 hours or more. And if I have time, I would not mind getting a short trail run in after my mountain bike ride. I am not really getting a good start as it is late and I should be resting up for my big day.

I may have time to do some extra core and upper body workouts next week as we are looking a the possibility of another snow storm that may keep the schools closed and me at home. Of course that means that we also have to stock up at the grocery store tomorrow. Actually we do that every weekend so that is really nothing new.

Finally, I heard that Erwan Le Corre will be putting out a DVD this summer. I am looking forward to incorporating his training methods. I will leave you with link to a video of Erwan "working out." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m61t3ObnSP0

Here Comes the Sun

All last week I had been looking forward to the weekend warm up. And 0n Saturday, when I woke up, I took advantage of the sunshine and got a long bike ride in outside. I rode from my house to downtown Richmond and did a loop around Belle Island and then rode back. It ended up being a 27 mile bike ride which was pretty good. My knees were a little sore but after some icing, I felt pretty good.

On Sunday I got in a long workout after an 8 mile mountain bike ride on the road. I did all my PT exercises plus all my upper body work. I have added a few additional exercises to try to build more muscle in my arms and chest. I don't see the gains in my upper body workouts that I see when I ride the bike or run but I know I am getting stronger although not readily noticeable.

On Monday, I had a rest day but also I emailed my PT to ask her for some recommendations on how I should progress with my training. She made some general suggestions. She also told me to up the my ankle weights to 10 pounds. So earlier tonight, I strapped two five pound ankle weights to one of my ankles and ran through all my exercises, first with one leg and then with the other. It was not as tough as I thought it would be. I did sweat a little more than usual and it was harder but not impossible. I was pretty pleased. I am starting to be able to see and feel some more muscle definition in my quads. Nothing compared to the speed skaters I have been watching on tv but I am getting stronger.

I do have a problem though. I don't have any short term goals to work towards. I have some long term goals including racing the Shenandoah 100, someday running an ultra, getting more fit in general, hiking Pike's Peak with Melissa, and maybe doing another triathlon someday. But these goals are either very general or way off in the future. I find that I need some more immediate or specific goals to keep me going.

One thing I am truly looking forward to is moving my workouts from inside to outside. My plan it to build a backyard playground that will allow me to do some natural exercises. I mentioned this idea in a previous blog and http://quackenblogger.blogspot.com picked up on the idea. Carrying and throwing rocks, climbing trees, jumping from rock to rock, etc. These are all things I want to incorporate into my workouts. Alas it is still too nasty outside to get going on this. So I will have to concentrate and focus on my indoor workouts for now.

I still have a couple of great tools to help me keep in shape and vary my workouts. I have yet to really break into my BOSU training. I have yet to do many of the workouts included on the DVD. I have yet to even do part 2 of the ab workout. But I am close to being able to start doing more of the workouts on that DVD. And I have another DVD that came with my Kettlebell that I am looking forward to getting into. Plus I just watched a video of some neat things one can do with a medicine ball. Hopefully all these new things can give me some variety that will help keep me going. It has been a long winter of indoor training and while overall I have done well, I am getting antsy.

I am going to continue doing my PT at least 3 times a week with the added weight and a few extra exercises. Perhaps in 2 to 3 weeks, I will be able to start doing some of the other exercises. I hope so. For now, I have decided my homework for this week will be coming up with some short term goals and a training schedule. Perhaps I will be able to share those with you next time.

Thanks for reading. Did you get your heart rate up today?

Full Tilt Boogie

"Full Tilt Boogie." That is what the doctor said about what I can do now. Actually he just said "full tilt" but I added the boogie which is a phrase a former boss used a few times. The doctor said my knees were healed and that I could start running again. Overall I was pretty happy with the visit. It was quick, probably less than 10 minutes. But I thought he examined my knees well enough and I got to ask him questions about what to expect and about what I could do. I forgot to ask him one or two things but I did pretty good all things considered.

Now to be honest, I can hardly go "Full Tilt Boogie." And I would not say my knees are "healed." After all I still have 2 pretty sizable bumps on each knee. Besides the bumps, I still have a little discomfort in the knees and I still have the problem with my left knee. I have to be careful taking my pants off as that is when I tend to snag it and get the shooting pain. But it has improved greatly. Before surgery, I had to be super careful doing anything including getting in and out of the car. Now it is mainly the taking off of the pants that I have to worry about. It will be a long time before I can bend my knees past 90 degrees under weight but I think someday I will be able to.

When I got home from work after today's appointment, I decided to go ahead and try a short run. I put my toes socks on and worked my feet into my Vibram Five Fingers and trotted off for a 1 mile loop around the block. I had some very slight discomfort in my knees but not too bad. After warming up, they felt a little better but not completely and totally pain free. I felt pretty good overall. I did 1 nine minute mile and was not really out of breath so that was good. It seems I have not lost too much fitness due to the biking and strength training. After my run I had to head out to my hair cut appointment so I did not really do anything else. I did manage to get a little bit of stretching in later and then I was back on the couch icing the knees, reading a great blog (http://quackenblogger.blogspot.com), and watching the winter Olympics.

So now the question is what is next? I think it is time for me to step up the strength training. The doctor said I had to work on my quad strength and one way to do that is through cycling more. Also he said I could start doing leg extensions and I happen to have a leg extension bench so I can add that to my list of exercises. I am going to reach out to my Physical Therapist who said I could email her with questions. I need to figure out how to step it up a notch. And I will start putting in more time/mileage on the bike. I am also considering enlisting the expertise of a personal trainer. A personal trainer can be expensive but it may be worth it to me.

For now I am going to do some planning. I need to come up with a better schedule. So far I have been coming home from work and doing my 30 minutes on the trainer and then my PT exercises. After I am done we make dinner and eat which makes it a very late dinner which is not ideal for me or Melissa. So I am going to start to shake things up and try to do some morning workouts, more stretching, and eventually some different kinds of workouts.

Speaking of schedules, Melissa recently came up with a running schedule and this seems to be helping her get out there and do her workouts so I know the importance of making a good schedule. In fact, Melissa has been doing really well with her training and I am very proud of her. Even though she has not been able to run as much because of the weather, I think her other workouts will be a huge benefit as we go into the spring season. We plan to do a lot of mountain biking this spring and summer with each other and other friends. And we want to do some more long distance hikes. All of these things compliment each other. Most of all, doing all this exercise decreases our risk for heart disease and other illnesses, increases cognitive function as we get older, and for me is really, really fun.

Final Doctors Appointment?

Tomorrow I have a follow up appointment with the knee surgeon. I have been looking forward to this day as I see it as a milestone. I am hoping this will be my last appointment with the doctor. I am also hoping to get a thorough exam and a prognosis about when I will be able to run again. Also I want to get his opinion on my Physical Therapy. Do I need to continue doing the same exercises every day? Can I start doing other things? What can I expect to be able to do in the next couple of months? These are all questions I have for the doctor. The biggest question however will be whether the doctor actually is amenable to some question and answers. Sometimes the doctors are in such a big hurry and they seem to rush through the appointment not really leaving any window for questions. I am not sure I will get what I am looking for and more than likely I will be disappointed. But I am going to try to be positive tomorrow and do my best to ask questions. Don't hold your breath though.

Rest Day

The other day my good friend Chris called and told me that his wife's parent's house had burned down and that her brother was badly burned and was in critical condition at the UVA hospital. This morning when I woke up, I had an update that her brother would be discharged today and was coming to stay with Chris and his wife for a few days.

After hearing this news via Facebook, I decided to go to the grocery store and get supplies for a pasta salad dish that I like to make for dinner parties. So off I went to Whole Foods to get the ingredients as well as our normal supplies. I got lots of great, healthy foods which is the first step to eating right. More on that in a moment.

I came home and made the dish and then went over to my friends house. I arrived about the same time as Robyn's brother. He was actually doing pretty well all things considered. His hand had been burned very badly and his face and chest was also burned. His lungs were also damaged but he was up and around. He had improved immensely from that first day. We will continue to pray for his recovery. Once he is healthy, he will have to figure out where he is going to live as the house was a total loss.

After I got back from my friend's house, it was late afternoon and I had yet to do my daily workout. Unfortunately I had woken up with some pain in my left knee. It was in a different place than usual and I was not sure what it was from. It seems like I have woken up the last couple of days with this kind of pain and I think as my knees feel better, I am able to move around more in the bed at night and the subsequent tossing and and turning is causing me some discomfort.

So I decided to take my wife's advice and clock a rest day for today. I had started an Advil regimen that morning and decided I would simply make it a pill popping day of rest. I even worked in a nap. I did not skip the ice though. Icing my knees is always helpful.

I wanted to comment on my New Years goal of eating healthier. I have been striving for 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. I have also cut out caffeine, sodas, high fructose corn syrup, and unhealthy snacks. I look at nutrition labels more than ever trying to cut down on saturated fats and sodium and to make sure this is no HFCS. There is so much sodium in many of our packaged foods. One way to avoid this extra sodium is to stay away from packaged foods and stay away from restaurant food. So this is what I do. I don't buy it so it is not in the house. And most of our meals are made fresh as to limit preservatives and other added ingredients that offer no nutritional value. Also Whole Foods does not sell anything with high fructose corn syrup in it so I don't have to worry about that when I shop there. You would be surprised how much of our food in America has HFCS in it. Next time you go to buy bread, check it out and see if you can find bread that does not have HFCS in it.

The more I eat healthy foods, the easier it is to do. Now that we have been eating healthier foods, restaurant food has become less appealing. Just the thought of eating the foods that we used to eat sort of grosses me out. When I want a snack, I eat an orange or an apple. If I am feeling sluggish, I drink a glass of orange juice as a pick me up. And it actually works.

So far I am mostly meeting my New Years goals and it feels good. I am cutting my risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and other diseases. My body feels better and my brain feels sharper. Also once I get back into peak fitness, I am hoping that my new diet pays off in that realm as well.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be well rested and ready to get back to working out hard. There is still snow on the ground and more on the way but in a month, it will be near the end of March and usually in Richmond, that is the beginning of the spring season. I want to be ready and whatever I can do to be ready, I am going to do it.

A Day of Waning Motivation

In my last posting, I talked about trying to get up early to work out before work. Today we went in two hours late so I had the opportunity to get some kind of workout in. However I did not sleep well last night.

We have this strange thing with our house that only happens when it is very cold and windy. It does not happen during the summer when it is windy-only when very cold AND windy. I am not sure what is making the noise but there is a loud screeching noise that comes from somewhere on our roof. It sounds like metal scraping against metal. We don't hear it during the day or when we are downstairs in the kitchen or TV room but only at night when we are trying to sleep and it tends to keep us up. Last night it was particularly loud and even though eventually I was able to drift off, I had weird dreams, woke up often, and when morning came, I felt very unrested.

Because I was not rested well, when I got home from work, I was not too motivated to do my exercises. I decided to skip the bike and focus only on my PT exercises. I started with my stretches but after a few minutes, I really felt like quitting and just plopping in front of the TV. However, I did not. I got started with my leg lifts and continued to do all my exercises. There was one exercise that I cut short. This morning when I woke up my knees were bothering me slightly. I attribute some of the extra pain to the tossing and turning in the bed. When I roll over onto my stomach, that bothers my knees so I cut the last exercise short as it can sometimes aggravate my knees.

After completing my PT exercises, I made dinner and we ate. I had a little more energy after eating and I wanted to make sure to get some foam roller in. So I did the hot bath routine that sort of relaxes my muscles and then did the foam roller for 22 minutes. And then onto the ice.

Looking back on today, I think I did pretty well. I was feeling tired and unmotivated but I pushed myself to get started on the PT exercises. Once I got started, the momentum kept me going.

Another thing that helped motivate me was my fellow amateur athlete friends. Earlier in the day, I received an email from my friend Mario listing all the races that he was planning on doing this year. His list was impressive and helped me stay focused. His list of races is posted below. I won't be able to do nearly as much as he is this season but I can use his list as a motivator.

5 days and counting until I go back to the doctor. I am hoping his assessment of my progress is positive. We shall see and I will let you know. Thanks.

Soggy Bottom Boys Rogaine & Navigation – 6 hr Orienteering event – 2/27 – w/ Geiger

Monument 10k – 03/27 - solo

National Duathlon – 4/24 - solo

HR Adventure 10-12 hr Sproute Race – 05/08 w/ Geiger

Marine Corp’s ½ Marathon – 05/14 – fun run with a friend

Marathon Training starts 6/5

Shenandoah 100 – 9/5 – w/ Chieppa, Clay & maybe Jimmy J

SunTrust Marathon – 11/13 – or some other marathon either in November or December

Maybe another adventure race during the summer – depending on dates.

What snow means to me

We have been getting a lot of snow here in Virginia recently. My parents are still under more than 2 feet of snow up in Northern Virginia. Here in Richmond, we have had a great deal of snow also. I always like it when it snows. Mostly for selfish reasons. When it snows, I get to do more of what I want. We have missed some work and had some late openings. Plus this past weekend, we were pretty socked in. All of this extra time at home allows me to work out more. Also, I love to shovel snow so this winter has been really great in that respect.

Today was another snow day. But the county did not decide to call off school until about 7:15AM. When they checked the roads at 4 AM like they usually do, everything looked fine and the forecast called for little or no accumulation from the storm that was coming. Unfortunately for the county administrators, the snow came like a blizzard and there were white out conditions. I was lucky. I don't leave until the last possible minute so I had not left when I got the call that school was closed. Some others were no so lucky. The emails from my coworkers were flying back and forth describing road conditions all over town. We all have mobile devices that allow us to keep up with email no matter where we are so I heard from all different parts of town that the roads were terrible and it was like a blizzard out there.

Also unfortunate was the fact that some students had been picked up by the buses already. Some buses turned around and took the kids back home. Some took the kids to school where they stayed until parents could be contacted. Needless to say, parents were pretty upset about the whole ordeal. Buses were sliding around, cars were in ditches, there was even a 50 car pile up on one of the highways. Later in the day, we received an apology message from the county. Apologizing was probably a good idea. That probably lessened the outrage or at least the number of people vocally complaining to the county about it. They were probably still mad but some were probably willing to forgive.

For me, it meant I could do more working out and get some chores done as well as go out to lunch with Melissa which is always nice. I managed to get a bunch of laundry done and get in a very long workout. I rode the bike for 45 minutes during a live Manchester United game. After the ride, I did all my PT exercises plus upper body work including bicep curls, tricep curls, overhead presses, dumbbell flys, chest presses, and push-ups with the inverted BOSU ball. I do 3 sets with 10 reps on each exercise. After all that, I did my BOSU ab workout. I have not attempted part 2 of the BOSU abs workout yet because it starts out kneeling and I am not quite ready to do all that. Since I got such an early start on my exercises, that gives me more time to ice.

So here I am with 1 week left before I go to the doctor. I still have some pain in my knees but they really get better everyday. I am hoping the doctor can tell how hard I have been working. And I am hoping he can give me a better idea of what I can expect in the coming months. My exercises are getting a little old and I am ready to start being able to do other things. I will probably have to continue doing the PT for quite some time but I am thinking eventually I will be able to cut back to a few times a week so I can d0 other kinds of workouts. Just in time for Spring I am hoping.

I have one race on my radar at the moment. Sunday, September 5th is the Shenandoah 100. The race is a 100 mile mountain bike race that is supposed to be quite grueling but also very fun. I have some friends who have participated a couple of times but they have yet to actually finish the race. Right now, when I ride my trainer, I do have a very slight pain in my left knee when I finish riding but during the ride, it does not hurt at all. I am hoping that my Glucosamine regimen helps with my knee joints. It takes about 3 months for the Glucosamine to start to have beneficial effects. I will be approaching the 3 month mark in about a month and a half. So we will see.

Tomorrow we open 2 hours late. I am going to try to get up early and get some sort of workout in. I have recently added the foam roller routine. Basically you roll your quads, glutes, and IT Band on the foam roller as a sort of self massage. It is very helpful to loosen up tight muscles. I may just wake up and try to do some stretching and foam roller. I don't have a good track record for getting up to work out before work but there is a first time for everything.

Thanks for reading.

Routines and Progression

As I think about what I want to record here for all eternity, I realize that I don't really have any new information. Friends and coworkers often ask me things like, "What have you been up to." Or, "What do you have planned for the weekend." My answer is pretty much always the same. Workout.

My physical therapy is time consuming as I have mentioned but I am very determined to get it all done each day. So my days have pretty much been following a specific routine. I get up for work in the morning and eat my breakfast in the car on the way to work. I work all day at a desk and think about my workouts and about future races. I correspond with Melissa so we can always be on the same page. I go home and ride the bike for 30 minutes and then do my PT. If I manage to get right to it after work, I can sometimes add in an ab workout. Then we eat dinner, clean up, and then I continue my therapy in the form of icing. The routine can sometimes get mundane but I have inspirational reading material that I read before bed each night that helps me make it through it. I also have my facebook where I can keep up with my active friends.

Some people look forward to the weekends to go out to eat or to movies or to hang out with friends. I look forward to the weekends because it means I will have more time to workout and still have time leftover to do some grocery shopping and relax with Melissa. Four hour workouts are the norm for my weekends now. And I actually get started on Friday night. Melissa goes for her workout with a personal trainer and I come home and usually put in a pretty intense workout. It is Friday after all and I always have a little bit more energy due to the fact that-well, it is Friday!

Of course this Sunday is the Superbowl. I don't watch Football anymore. I only watch European soccer. In fact, I have been watching a whole lot more soccer lately. When I do my workouts, I have soccer on the tv. When I bike on the trainer in front of the tv, I turn the sound down on the tv and listen to up tempo music. It helps motivate me. Anyway, there is a very great blog entry about the superbowl written by a talented writer. Please check out the Feb 3rd entry on http://quackenblogger.blogspot.com/.

We might get a weather bonus tomorrow. Inclement weather might get us out of work early. Of course that means more time to workout!

There is one new thing I can report before I end this entry. I have progressed in my exercises. I have added weight to my leg lifts-I am up to 7 pound ankle weights. I have also been able to increase the size of the step I use for my step downs and I have added reps and minutes to some of my other exercises. Each day my knees get slightly better. I still can't do certain things and still have moments of pain but I am happy with my progression so far. I was hoping to get more actual bike rides in outside but the weather has not cooperated.

Just a couple of more weeks to my follow up with my doctor. Eyes on the prize!