Lifting

Ah, I was overcome with dread beforehand - I haven't squatted FOREVER, and Thursday is traditionally squat day - but it was foolish, really we're in a period of conditioning more than anything else (GPP - general preparation?) and there were no squats scheduled! I love my teammates so much, I really have to make sure I can get to all three workouts in the week - I see why I failed on Monday and Tuesday but we will try and have that be an anomaly rather than a pattern. General prep for at least a couple more weeks still, so that will mean that I'm not missing anything huge while I'm in Cayman.

circuit x 4: (a) 10 med ball slams (b) 10 plank with banded row each side (c) (instead of prowler) low step-ups, 50 each leg

walking lunges: 3 x 15

band hip thrusts x 100

gunshow (triceps, biceps) x 150

1hr total

Day 22, run 21

Yesterday went well (interview at Cambridge UP downtown for forthcoming Austen book publicity, then a day spent with G. so his carer could spend time with his family) but by the time I got home c. 10pm I was just DONE. And a slow start today inevitably. Have not done an iota of packing or tidying (early flight tomorrow, will book a car for 6am pickup I think). Need to get downtown in a bit for allergy shots and powerlifting - it is pretty pitiful that I will have only made it to one out of three sessions this week, that is just the week that I'm having...

:40 very easy as 1:1 jog-walk

Day 21, run 20

:42 as 2:1. Beautiful running weather - first cool and overcast, then sun came out, but NYT website still gives weather as 67F and humidity is low! I should live in a climate where it's like that year-round....

Day 20, run 19

:30 easy, on a beautiful evening in the park (yes, absolutely should have gotten out earlier, but it was a day when it proved hard to get out of bed!). Canceled powerlifting, weekend of so much friends and family just wiped me out. Very good to have day of no human interaction (Brent left mid-morning for airport).

(I did run yesterday, miraculously, before we went downtown for breakfast and thence to NJ to visit my brother's family AND PUG. It was just :20 but without Brent's presence I doubt I would have been able to get up and make it happen - commitment structures/accountability!)

:30 easy

Day 18, run 17

And good example of a day in which I would not have run at all without the double accountability of (a) 100 in 100 and (b) David's coaching! I am ashamed to admit it, but much of the afternoon will now be occupied with the project of Ladyfication for Amy's wedding...

:30 easy but warm/wet (there is SO MUCH WATER in the park! And a lot of damage to trees - yesterday I saw one of the big weeping willowesque ones in the bit of park north of 59th St. completely uprooted...).

double/long

Wait, I never blogged by second one yesterday! Made good choice to stay home rather than going downtown to lift, let me get some errands done in preparation for Brent's arrival and Amy's wedding this weekend and also got out for short SECOND run - Day 16, run 15. Breakfast with Brent, how nice; and got out middle of the day for my long one, as tomorrow is less propitious for it. 90 minutes easy, w ith first hour as 2:1 then switching to 1:1 for remainder. My back d idn't hurt at all! Glute-hamstring thing felt a bit funny at first, then increasingly not quite right (more tender, less numb, and running further down leg), thus pull back to lower ratio. Glad to feel I am so much on the mend tho. That's day 17, run 16. Won't be able to do another double I suspect before traveling to Cayman at the end of next week, but have a plan for how to do a couple each week there (and a LOT of yoga...).

Day 16, run 14

A legitimate one this time. Flying to Cayman a week from tomorrow and really need the reset - intending to do yoga every day. I am not at all in the zone of intense daily writing, unfortunately, and not sure I will have time next week to do the library/prep work that is needed in advance, but will make sure I have SOME kind of daily intellectual/writerly task...

:45 easy

LONG DAY - final PT, walk subbed for run

Ah, I put finishing my index above running earlier, I can't say I regret it though it was probably not the right choice in an absolutely abstract balanced sense. By the time I was done (printed out draft! full of glitches, will fix tomorrow and send by end of day so that I can ignore work for the 3 days Brent is here - he's flying in Thursday and back out Monday for my friend Amy's wedding, and there are inevitably a lot of party and family obligations in any case - but I will be in a better mood if index is sent!), I had to get downtown for PT. Good session - my FINAL PT, I am promoted! Must continue to do core stuff, but being back at lifting is a huge help.

Stopped by for what I thought would be a brief visit with G., but it was the most beautiful day and we sat outside for a long time by the water, went back upstairs and then to my utter surprise he suggested going out for dinner! Which I could not refuse - I really did not think we would ever be able to do that again, wheelchair or no. Anyway, by the time we were back post-dinner, it was 7:45, I was full of dinner and only wearing sandals with no running shoes. So I decided I'd take the one-off "exemption" and do a brisk walk to substitute for the run. Will not abuse this privilege, but today it just had to be that way.

Next week is not propitious for doubles, arghhh....

:45 brisk walk as sub for day 15, "run" 13

Bench!

Josh has us more on conditioning-type stuff, but really I like that. Skipped final prowler (it came, uncharacteristically, on its own at the end rather than as part of circuit). As much as I don't feel currently in good shape (overweight!), I run so regularly that base aerobic fitness is very solid, I can see I cope with the wall-bounce stuff as well as most of the others.

Medicine ball side slam: 6 x :40/:40 plus (only!) :20 rest

Circuit x 5: (a) 10 x bench @ 65 (supposed to be 65%, but I am still lowballing as I get back into it); (b) floor press x 15 @ 17.5; (c) 5 pushups; (d) 15 x medicine ball chest bounce.

Then I just did some stretching.

1hr upper body miscellany

Day 14, run 12

:20 easy. Day for usual grumpy "I hate summer, the weather and the season" sentiment. Much-loved family member's ongoing health situation continues to make me glum, I don't think there's any getting past that! Trying to lower expectations of myself re: work and life in general till times are better.

Monday lower-body workout

Ugh, I have been barely functioning today - I guess I can blame it on the weather? The trouble with running so late last night was then this morning it seemed like I'd just done it and I truly couldn't face going out again into that humidity, took a zero and will have to see where I can make it up (this weekend is not promising in that regard). Felt utterly uninspired for powerlifting - very intense allergies in eyes and nose and face, so much so that I really sorta felt like I was sick - trudged through the workout without enjoying it much. Thunderstorm ongoing, if it's less humid tomorrow everything should seem better....

1hr lower body (circuit of 5 x 15 medicine ball slams, 10 x walking lunges, 10 x each-side plank with band row [I skipped prowler]; deadlift 6 x 3 @ conservative 141 with no miniband; 100 hammer curls with 12.5. Some PT stretching.

Saturday & Sunday

Hmmm, I guess I only wrote in my log yesterday and didn't log here? Anyway: "90 min easy to explore. Mostly walking! JMD: disgusting weather, super-rainy earlier so I kinda ill-advisedly spent day in bed partly reading but mostly napping. However did finally get out - it's not hot, just DISGUSTINGLY humid. Did my normal out and back along the river - outgoing :45 as 2:00/1:00 jog-walk, then switched to 1/1 for wway home. As I walked up hill into "my" bit of park i realized that my right hamstring/glute were by this point really not feeling great (not painful, but with a lot of twinges of the overstretching variety - back OTOH was great!), and decided to just walk the last bit home. So about 100 minutes total, mostly mix of jog-walk, pretty good! Day 11, run 10."

And just now, also better late than never edition - it never did get less humid, it's still utterly disgusting, though nice to still have a bit of light as I finish just after 9pm (and fireflies!) - :30 easy. The daily run ritual is suiting me very well, and new step counter helping as well - makes it slightly more appealing to walk bits and bobs around town that I otherwise might do on a bus or in a taxi...

Day 10, run 9

:30 easy. Lower back rather sore on both sides, maybe from something in yesterday's workout? Very glad I am on the 100 in 100 - currently suffering from a good deal of distraction/lack of productivity/stress re: my elderly dear family member's ongoing health situation, and doing even a very short daily run counters the unwanted (and largely irrational?) feeling of being a useless layabout!

Thursday lower body

I am exhausted! Not from working out as such, just from day out and about doing misc. bits and bobs. Seems like Josh has everyone doing a lot of conditioning stuff right now. He and I are on the same page re: me not overdoing it (PT was stern the other week about not just suddenly doing tons of lunges just because it's how the workout is written, and easing back into things sensibly!). So I skipped the whole middle bit, which was an evil workout (I actually thought Rob was going to throw up!) involving 3 sets of Bulgarian split squats with 8 @ 52.5s then straight into 20 with no weight on the same side. Lethal! Used rest of the time to do my PT exercises - easier to do them properly when I am at a gym-like place, clearly.

1:10 or so altogether, with work as 5 x (10 medicine ball slams, walking lunges x 10 on each leg, 10 x planks with one-arm row with band); 100 hamstring curl swiss ball.

Day 9, run 8

Just :22 easy. No PT later, but squats, so good to keep it light.