Working through Distractions

So this morning, I found that my roomba vacuum damaged one of my things and if you know anything about me, I really like to keep my things pristine.  I was so annoyed, of course, especially since it's fairly new.  Now I could have used it as an excuse not to work out while I tried to fix it.  It's also not easy to feel motivated when annoyed, so I could have used that as an excuse also.  Instead, I took that "energy" albeit negative and tried to use it as a focal point when working out this morning.  Needless to say, my arms hurt now.  That's what I get for not taking better care of my stuff.  HA.

Aside from arms, I also got my core workout in AND also got to pick up some breakfast for the kids.   I guess I feel a little better, but I'm still annoyed.  I'll take whatever I feel now and bring that with me to today's ride.

Looking forward to our lunch ride as it should be a good one today.

Skipped Legs, Shoulder Day and More Hard Cycling

Today is my usual leg day, but I decided against working them out in order to save them for this weekend.  Even though the century ride isn't until Sunday, I want to make sure that they are 100% since I want to keep up with the guys I'm going with.   I know they'll be pushing hard since that's their typical MO. 

Instead, I worked out my shoulders this morning and had a great workout.  I was able to keep pushing and achieved 100% (i.e. failure) through several sets.  Lisa even thought my shoulders were bigger when I got home, which was likely they were still pumped.  I also had a good core workout done, so all set there. 

Today will be another lunch ride, which I'm looking forward to.  It was pretty intense yesterday, so I hope we can have the same type of ride again.  I'll trash my legs up through tomorrow, but maybe lighten up the intensity on Friday.  That's the plan anyway.

Met-Rx, Back Workout and Today's Ride

After this weekend's binging, I was back on Met-Rx last night and I really have to say that this food routine seems to be working out okay for me.  The increased protein during the week seems to keep me from losing muscle while keeping me trim.  In some ways, I think it continues to let me lose even more body fat, but I haven't yet proven that to myself 100%.  The last thing I want to do is assume that I can eat whatever during the weekend and then hit that slippery slope, so I'll try and control it as much as possible. 

I got my back worked out today, and had a pretty decent workout.  I was less than motivated when I arrived there, but once I started warming up, I had an attitude adjustment and got it done.  4 exercises hitting the back at different angles, then a lower back followed by an ab workout.  Good stuff.

We'll be riding today during our lunch time, and maybe we'll do some hills today.  It may be a little warm, so we may need to do something coastal.  Let's see if the guys are up for hitting up that new hill off of San Miguel again. 

Nutrition, Sleeping in and Chest at Lunch

When the weather is nice and the feeding before a ride is good, it always works out where I had to have only minimal nutrition during yesterday's big ride.  I guess the ice cream and other crap I ate on Friday and Saturday held me over pretty good where on the ride, I only had to have 1 waffle and 1 gel and 1 package of Shot Bloks. I also only needed 2 bottles of Ultima during the ride (the new grape flavor rocks!).  This was preceded with a Cytomax bottle before the ride.  I hope I don't have to feed much more than this during the next 2 big rides, but I will play it safe so as to not bonk.

My legs felt a little worked last night, so I opted to sleep in and not go to the gym this morning.  It was nice to get some sleep for a change.  

I will be working out at lunch time and only doing a chest workout.  I'll save the cardio for tomorrow's lunch ride.  

Arms and More Riding

I got in the gym this morning and got my arm workout on.  I only had enough time to do 2 exercises for triceps and 2 for biceps.  I also was able to add my ab and lower back workout.  The weird thing was before I worked I, I seemed to have slightly strained a muscle on my mid back.  I don't know how it happened, but just as I was putting on my belt, I felt a little tension.  Oh well, it didn't affect my workout too much.  I was just a little tentative during some of the movements.

Today, I want to get in a little more miles just before the weekend. I know we plan on doing a pre-OC Gran Fondo ride, which should be a pretty good run, so I'm looking forward to it.  The weather has been awesome lately, so if it carries on, it should make for a good workout.

Yesterday's Ride Analysis, Shoulders today, and Today's Ride

I have absolutely no regrets from missing my leg workout yesterday.  In fact, I'm glad since I felt like I was pretty worked after yesterday's lunch ride.  For some reason, I felt pretty depleted where I questioned whether I ate enough the night before.  Last night, I ate just a little more for today's activities. 

I did manage to get in my shoulder workout, and intensity wise, I'd say it was a 9 out of 10.  I have hig it harder, but I just couldn't push the boundary as much for some reason despite the increased calories.  I did step it up where I didn't rest in beween sets as much, but I think I could have went harder.  4 shoulder exercises and 1 trap exercise.  I also worked the abs. 

Today should have a bigger turn out for our group lunch ride, so it should be interesting.  I won't know what I'll have until I get out there, but I plan on recording again on the GoPro just to keep messing around with it. 

Skipped Morning Workout and Today's Ride

Yesterday, I had a random chest pain that occurred in the morning before going to work where it felt someone what like indigestion.  The odd thing about it was it came and went pretty quick.  It happened again in the afternoon much later after the ride, and then again when I woke up in the middle of the night to go pee.   I'm a little worried (okay, maybe more than a little) since I don't know what that is, but it hasn't come back since.  When I got up to go to the gym, I ended up changing my mind and ended up going back to bed to get a little more rest and see if that helped.   Today was suppose to be my leg day, but I may just skip out on this for now and resume next week.

For today's lunch ride, I really don't want to push to hard.  I just want to see how everything feels.  I'll try and record the ride with my new GoPro, so it'll be fun staying in the back for that.

Race Analysis and the Latest

Skipping all the workouts on Friday and carbing up seemed to have worked out well on Saturday's race.  I felt pretty good, although I wasn't too keep about the scheduling of the race where I would have preferred to stay up there rather than drive up the morning of.  Next year.  Ultimately, I think I was able to do what I could where I was happy with my results.  Of course, there's always the lingering thoughts that I could have pushed harder here or there, but I think that's normal.  The only thing that would support that was how I was still able to ride a 60 miler with Gary on Sunday. 

That Sunday ride was a good run.  I was worried about my legs, but they still seemed like they were pretty strong.  I had minimal nutrition for the ride (1 waffle, a couple shot bloks, and didn't even finish 2nd water bottle).  I think the weather helped, although the winds on the way back were a little harsh.

Yesterday was my anniversary, so I slept in and skipped a morning workout.  I did get my chest workout done at lunch time, and although it wasn't the best, I still got it done.   It's funny how not having my ipod (battery died) and gum can affect my workout, but not having them and working out is still better than not working out. 

This morning, I got my back workout in, and I'm still trying to burn off the celebratory meals I've had over the weekend including last night.  It was a good workout with 4 exercises hitting the back at different angles and then topped off with a couple core exercises.  I just wonder if my sweating during my workout was due to effort or just the fact that I had some beef on Sunday.  HA HA

For lunch, I think it's time for a good run up Portola.  My BMC came back from the race with a flat, but it's back and ready to go for today.  I'm thinking it'll be a better run if this cool weather holds up.

Arms, Cardio and Diet

I got my arms worked out today where the focus was on biceps.  I' still feeling like I'm not able to focus 100% but it was good enough.  I'm still trying to pull back some for this weekend, so not a big deal.  3 workouts for the biceps and 1 workout for the triceps was all I did.  I also did my abs on a machine I don't typically use. 

For lunch today, I plan on doing a mild cardio session.  I know some people are probably tapering off more and not working out at all, but I need an outlet for my pent up energy (aka anxiety) and I still want to keep the fat off.  

For my diet, I have been having Met-Rx 4 times a day since Monday.  It hasn't been a problem as far as fueling my energy and it seems to let me drop more fat.  I'll probably do it one more time tonight, but I will eat on Friday and try to get some decent carbs in.

Focusing, Shoulder Workout and Last Ride for the Week

Training is just as much mental as it is physical...if not more.  When I'm weighed down with other thoughts and especially those that make me anxious, it's very difficult to stay focused.  Today was such a day.  I made it to the gym this morning, but mentally I was not 100% checked in.  No matter how I much I wanted to push, I think I'd give up on a set just because I couldn't focus enough on what I wanted to achieve.  Thus, I would not call today's shoulder workout one of the better ones.  It would be one of those "at least I made it in" moments. 

I skipped leg workouts this morning due to a race this weekend where I'm looking to save up my legs for the event.  I plan on riding at lunch time today, but it'll probably be the last one for this week.  I still plan on doing a mild cardio tomorrow and maybe a really light one Friday morning, but that's it.  Let's see how this works out for me.

Couple Training, Angles, Back and Bike

Lisa came to the gym with me this morning, and I did my back workout while she did her cardio.  When she comes with me, it does provide additional motivation to get up to go and vice versa.  It's nice we get to go as a couple.

As for my back workout, I was reminded today how important it is to hit the muscle from different angles.  I do see some guys hitting the muscles the same way over and over again, and while it is exercise, I don't think it's as effective as when you change up the movement to hit the muscle.  I did pull downs (close grip), angled rows, alternating wide grip pull down, and cable pullovers.  I also did my lower back and abs.  One thing I noticed from working my lower back regularly is how my back seemed to hold up better on the hilly ride (like on Sunday) whereas that's usually one of the areas that tire first.

For cardio, the lunch ride is on but I need to be mindful of this weekend's Nautica tri where I'll be doing the bike leg as part of a team for work.  I want to have my legs be fresh, so I'll try and take it easy this week and probably taper off by Thursday.  We'll see how that goes.

Overcoming Obstacles, Diet and Today's Workout

On Thursday, our neighborhood was one of the "fortunate" ones to lose power, so staying the course with regard to diet and training was tough.  I did end up having a sandwich for my last meal that night rather than a Met-Rx, but it wasn't too bad.  I just don't typically eat bread at night, but se la vie.  Since the power didn't resume until early a.m., I also had planned on just going to the gym at work vs. planning on going to the one nearby at the chance it would not be open based on the outage.  The funny thing was the gym near my office was  also closed, but I went ahead and worked out in at another gym (bldg 11) on campus and got a pretty decent shoulder workout.  I also still got a lunch ride in, so I didn't let the power outage become too much of an obstacle with regard to my training.  

I took it easy on Saturday and got to ride my mountain bike to my son's soccer game a couple miles away.  It was quite windy, so I spun for the most part.  It felt good to do so after 3 days straight of hard riding.  I also went to a pool party for my daughter's soccer team, and I did cheat on my diet there having half a hamburger, some chips, and a couple beers.  I figured it was okay given I was going on a big ride on Sunday.  My meals after were also not the greatest diet-wise, but again, I needed the calories. 

On Sunday, I had a great ride and I never seemed to run out of energy (i.e. calorie-wise).  I was pushing hard at the end just to see if I can get myself to get really hungry but that never happened.  I did have a couple honey waffles and gels during the ride, so that helped a lot.  The post ride pizza and beers probably wasn't the best for me, but I thought I deserved it.  I also didn't eat well after since I brought the family some KFC after. I ate way too much chicken.  Damn that Colonel.

This morning, my alarm clock woke me up to go to the gym but my legs were feeling tired from the ride.  I decided to sleep in and skip cardio all together today to let my legs rest, so I'll be doing a chest workout at lunch time.  I know when my legs feel like junk, my weight training suffers but I'll try my best to just push through it.  By tomorrow, I expect I should be back on schedule with my 2/day training.

The Addiction Continues

On Facebook today, a couple people commented on my check in at 24 hour fitness and got me asking myself why do I get up every morning to work out.   I answered honestly and said it is like an addiction for me where I have to go or I'll feel horrible.  Every morning, the thought of skipping my workout and sleeping in does cross my mind but only briefly.  The thought of how I'll look/feel/perform takes over after, which gets me up pretty quickly.  I've also said before that once you do something long enough, it becomes routine where a lot of the times, I go on auto pilot and find myself in the gym not realizing how I got there.  When I'm there, I just do what I do where I don't like to waste my time/effort and want each workout to count.   Maybe I need an intervention.

I got my back workout in this morning and did 4 exercises (high rep, focus on speed, until failure).  I also got to do my core workout as well.  I only had time to work lower abs (vs. upper), but good enough.

For today's lunch training, back on the bike again.  I wasn't feeling it going up the hills on yesterday's ride, so hopefully it's better today.  I think my weekend binging plus how I felt a little tired from the riding on Sunday/Monday affected me, so I'm hoping I'm a little better recovered today and can do better (i.e. not get dropped). 

Long Weekend and Hitting the Reset Button

Since I took the day off yesterday making for a 4 day weekend, I pretty much did the same blog-wise.  That doesn't mean I didn't train.  Although I skipped the cardio on Friday, I did mountain bike with some friends on Saturday, rode with a club down in San Diego on Sunday, rode solo on Monday, and swam a little yesterday.  I didn't end up doing any weights though, which was not the plan.  I also ate crappy, but all of this just gets me motivated to hit the reset button and start all over again.  Thus, today is the beginning of another new training era.  New goal:  get ready for Nautica tri and subsequent century rides in October.  Shooting for sub 150 lbs.

Today, I had a good chest workout.  My strength was just okay, but I felt like I was able to push through despite.  I had a good sweat going after 5 different exercises.  Today, I reintroduced the drop set. 

For lunch, I'm contemplating on bringing my bike in but the weather forecast is indicating that it'll be really hot today.  I'm not sure I want to ride if it was as hot as it was yesterday.  I'll bring my bike but also have some gym clothes in case I decide to hit the elliptical instead.  Either way, I plan on having a good cardio session later on.

Yesterday's Ride, Arms and Light Cardio

Even this morning, I'm still feeling the effects of my leg workout from a couple days ago.  However, it didn't seem like it was as much of a factor in yesterday's ride as it was Wednesday's.  I did pull back some initially, but got to finish pretty strong.  The odd thing was I didn't think I would be able to push too hard given all my leg muscles felt pretty tight before the ride, but they loosened up and worked a lot better than expected.

I got in a short workout this morning and worked my arms with a lower back workout as well.  I didn't do too many sets, but I was doing 30-40 rep sets for both.  I'm not too interested in making my arms stronger/bigger, so it was enough.  I ran out of time and didn't get to work my abs, but maybe I'll do some crunches later...nah. 

I brought my bike home yesterday as 4 straight days of riding with the guys was enough.  I actually feel like I could have still ridden today even with my legs not 100%, but I'm going mountain biking tomorrow and riding on Sunday. 

I plan on doing some light cardio at lunch instead to burn some calories.  I'm good for a little fat burning and will let my heart take a break. 

Legs Recovering, Shoulder Day and More Bike

I woke up this morning and was really feeling the effects of yesterday's leg workout.  My hamstrings, inner things, and glutes feel like junk, and my calves still pretty tight.  My left calf having cramped as hard as it did on yesterday's ride (as expected) doesn't hurt anymore, but it did bother me for a while after.

I made it in to the gym despite the above, but the last thing I wanted to do was do any movements where my legs would serve as stabilizers.  Basically, this meant just not standing up on any of the movements.  It was shoulder day, so it was hard to do front dumbbell raises seated, but that's exactly what I did.  I also did seated side lateral raises, alternating overhead presses (seated on machine) and rear delt (just one set...ran out of time).  I did manage to get full core workout in. 

For today's lunch exercise, I do still plan on riding.  I know, I know...maybe too much, but there's no substitute for seat time.  I'll take it easier, hopefully, and not push too hard and will probably hear an earful when I don't take the front enough.  Oh well.  I'm hoping that the blood moving around my legs will make them feel better.  The ibuprofen I just took should help too.