Tuesday 4/2/2013

The week from hell draws to a close, though it bumped my schedule by a day before it died! No worries though, because I got chest and back in today and I don’t have to work for the next 5 days! Huzzah!

The knee is doing better, still sore now and then, but better all the same. I’m still doing PT twice a week and they’re working on my butt, cause….my butt’s pretty weak. That’s okay though, it’ll improve! I’ve still been logging some miles running, which has been fantastic with the warm up, and the only thing keeping me sane in this crazy ass period here at work.

On my mini-vacation, I still plan on running AND…I’ve already made plans to visit my parents gym when we’re visiting them at the end of the week, so let’s get this train back on the rails!

Weight’s up by 2 pounds, at 248 but that’s due to stress and me trying to not go crazy with stress on the weekends and indulging a bit. It’ll buff out though.

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 1,096 pts Today
Barbell Incline Bench Press:
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 12 reps
- 125 lb x 12 reps
- 125 lb x 12 reps
- 125 lb x 11 reps
Barbell Bench Press:
- 125 lb x 10 reps
- 125 lb x 10 reps
- 125 lb x 10 reps
Machine Chest Fly (Pec Deck):
- 100 lb x 15 reps
- 100 lb x 15 reps
- 100 lb x 15 reps
Dips – Chest Version:
- 10 reps || assisted || 100 lb
- 15 reps || assisted || 115 lb
Pull-Up:
- 10 reps || assisted || 115 lb
- 6 reps || assisted || 115 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 115 lb
Bent Over Barbell Row:
- 100 lb x 12 reps
- 100 lb x 10 reps
- 100 lb x 10 reps
- 100 lb x 10 reps
Lat Pulldown:
- 100 lb x 10 reps
- 100 lb x 10 reps
- 100 lb x 10 reps
Seated Cable Row:
- 42.5 lb x 10 reps
- 42.5 lb x 10 reps
- 42.5 lb x 10 reps
Wide-Grip Pulldown Behind The Neck:
- 70 lb x 15 reps
- 70 lb x 15 reps
- 70 lb x 15 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 10 reps
- 10 lb x 7 reps
fito2sa

Wednesday 3/20/2013

Day two of the new four day split! Like I had predicted, I was pretty sore this morning after the first day of the new program, despite if I thought I was working hard or not. It was a good kind of sore, (i’ve actually come to look forward to DOMS, in my mind, it means you worked hard!) so it’s all gravy. Mmm gravy. Today’s workout was all shoulders and tri’s. I felt the burn a little more during the workout this time but by the time I was done, I had some serious T Rex arms going as I tried to wash my hair! When I went to do my dips at the end, an exercise I’ve been busting out 30 reps on at the same weight, I damn near fell off the machine, my arms were jelly!

So, it was good workout.

Tomorrow’s the first day of Physical Therapy. Hopefully I’ll get told I can at least do the elliptical or something. No running is making me antsy and an antsy Casey is no fun for anybody.

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press:
- 25 lb x 8 reps
- 35 lb x 8 reps
- 45 lb x 8 reps
- 50 lb x 4 reps
Seated Barbell Military Press:
- 45 lb x 5 reps
- 65 lb x 5 reps
- 85 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 10 reps
- 95 lb x 6 reps
- 95 lb x 6 reps
Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise:
- 10 lb x 20 reps
Reverse Triceps Bench Press:
- 45 lb x 8 reps
- 65 lb x 8 reps
- 85 lb x 8 reps
- 95 lb x 8 reps
Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 10 reps
- 115 lb x 8 reps
- 115 lb x 6 reps
Cable Rope Overhead Triceps Extension:
- 32.5 lb x 20 reps
Dips – Chest Version:
- 5 reps || assisted || 70 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 70 lb

Tuesday 3/19/2013

Well, today’s a bitter sweet day. After getting my back healed up, I noticed all the while that my right knee was feeling funny. Not all the time, but at random times I’d get done with squats and my knee would feel like I was wearing a knee brace. At first that’s all it was; a tightness around the knee. But as the next two weeks progressed, the feeling happened more and more often and then the acheyness would set in in the evening.

By this past Friday, I said the hell with it and went into the Dr. The prognosis is not good…well, to be honest the prognosis was pretty ambiguous to be honest. The doctor left me with a physical therapy appointment and orders to stop running for the time being and no lower body lifts, which kind of sucks. When asked about doing say the elliptical or the stationary bike at least for cardio, I was faced with ‘it will slow your healing’. So, I’m faced with cutting my exercise down drastically, just as my plateau began to break! Yes, it sucks.

When looking at the change, I started thinking about my lifting. I was told specifically I could do all the upper body stuff. I had also had a conversation with a friend at the gym about how I’ve been doing the same program since September, and how it was good to change up lifting routines periodically to shock your muscles. It didn’t take long to put two and two together and figure out that this may be a good time to get off of Starting Strength and try something new.

Here I with day one of Alfalfa’s #4. It’s a bit different from starting strength and it feels like I’m back in noob mode, but I’m pretty excited to be doing something new. With this program being a four day split, with one day dedicated to leg stuff, I figure for the time being it will be pretty easy to just skip the leg day and add an extra cardio day once I figure out what cardio I can do safely. I’m not interested in being huge, but this program’s supposed to be balanced for strength and size and with the changes I’ve seen so far, I’m pretty stoked to have muscles once I drop the rest of this pesky stomach fat!

Here’s to day 1. It didn’t feel as tiring as Starting Strength’s A day, but then again, I probably won’t be able to lift my arms by this evening!

Dumbbell Bench Press:
- 30 lb x 6 reps
- 40 lb x 6 reps
- 55 lb x 6 reps
- 60 lb x 6 reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press:
- 90 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 10 reps
- 125 lb x 8 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Bench Press:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 145 lb x 10 reps
- 135 lb x 6 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
Machine Chest Fly (Pec Deck):
- 70 lb x 10 reps
- 85 lb x 10 reps
- 100 lb x 15 reps
- 100 lb x 15 reps
Incline Dumbbell Curl:
- 20 lb x 8 reps
- 30 lb x 5 reps
- 25 lb x 8 reps
Barbell Curl:
- 40 lb x 10 reps
- 40 lb x 8 reps
- 40 lb x 5 reps
Close-Grip Standing Barbell Curl:
- 40 lb x 15 reps
Cable Crunch:
- 52.5 lb x 12 reps
- 52.5 lb x 12 reps
- 52.5 lb x 12 reps
fito2sa

Wednesday 1/23/2013

Well, that weekend stretched out a bit longer than I expected! Work was closed on Monday for the holiday and while I still had good intentions of driving over to the gym (it’s across the street from work, a good 30 min away)….I was warm at cozy and playing DmC on xbox, and was quite happy to be there. Tuesday was a no go too as the wife and daughter both have the flu, so I had to have another day off to get them to the Dr. and play nurse. Today though…I got back at it. And the getting was pretty good, I must say.

Wednesday has really been kind of a cluster…the fuel pump died on my Truck last night out of nowhere, so today’s been a mess of getting that looked at, over quoted and just general headaches. I got to the gym late, so I had to cut off my accessory lifts which I felt bad about. But they’re accessory lifts and I got some in, so who shives a git! I got the important stuff in. And I did them well! Today was the 2nd time I got 300 x5 on the deadlift, which blows my mind. This is officially 50 lbs over my body wait. Hot damn!

Speaking of body weight…I got on the gym scale today, which I don’t count as officially. The staff even says it hasn’t been checked in a while it’s mostly for tracking trends, not really to be considered accurate. I consider my morning fasting weigh ins at home to be official. That said, the trend on the gym scale was good. It was real good.

For the first time in this journey? I had to take the scale off the 250lb block.

Today, I was at 248.5 lbs! That is officially the lowest I’ve been on the gym scale!

Man, I can’t wait to weigh in in the morning.

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 2,402 pts Today
Barbell Squat:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Bench Press:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 145 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Deadlift:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 275 lb x 5 reps
- 300 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
Dips – Chest Version:
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
Weighted Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps

Wednesday 1/16/2013

Well here we on Wednesday. It’s been sort of a rough week. The Mrs. has had the flu and I’ve been concentrating on fighting it off myself so I haven’t gotten any runs in as of yet, which sucks. On top of that, the mental journey for the diet has been up and down all week as I continue to fight off the vacation weight gain. Some days I feel as if I’m just trucking along shoulder to the grind stone, some days I’m frustrated. Some days I’m worried I’m facing burnout and just spinning my wheels as if nothing’s happening. Most of the time, I then hit the guy, hit a PR on something and then I’m all pumped up and everything’s good again! Bottom line? Plateau’s suck but, all you can do is muscle through it.

Tomorrow starts the 4th round of my weight loss good. I’m actually looking forward to it as I haven’t seen my coach since before Christmas and the groups make me feel accountable for all the weight stuff. Plus, this will be a maintenance group so I’ll get a chance to air some of the frustrations I’ve had here as of late and get them off my chest. Plus, I have my first one on one with my coach for the year, so we can take a closer look at this roller coaster attitude I’ve had here as of late and get my head on straight. She’s usually pretty good at talking me down off the frustration ledge, so I’m looking forward to it!

On a better note, lifting tonight was a mixed bag! I was able to get one working set at 205 on the bench press, but it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. My shoulder was feeling a bit ‘crunchy’ though it didn’t hurt, but my right shoulder felt a bit week. I dialed it back to 195 and was struggling (my former normal work weight) but I know it was because I was spent on the 205. All the same…I got 205 x 5! I really can’t argue with that! The real magic was my deadlift though. I’ve been feeling my oats on the deadlift here as of late. I got to 275 last Friday and repeated it tonight. I felt get after that 275 though so I figured the hell with it, let’s see what happens at 300. When I got down thee for my first rep, I half expected it to not even get off the floor, but it came up. It came up well too, so I kept going. 300 x 5 blew my mind. Not too shabby for 18 weeks of work and considering I was a fat shlub before that!

All in all, a good night. Tomorrow I’ll get my head on straight with the health coach and we’re going to start kicking the shit out of sub 250. And it’s gonna be gooood.

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 2,792 pts Today
Barbell Bench Press:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 145 lb x 5 reps
- 155 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Squat:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Deadlift:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 275 lb x 5 reps
- 300 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
Dips – Chest Version:
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
Weighted Ball Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
fito2sa

Thursday 1/10/2013

So last night I got out for my run after work. The weather had warmed considerably and the snow had started to melt, so it was all in all rather nice! My legs felt were a bit sore for the first part of the run, the loosened up well. About the time I hit the 3 mile mark though, they turned to lead and really started to become achey as I went. I got my miles in though and after I got home and stretched out well, they were all right. That was day 4 of my attempted 6 days straight, so I was pretty excited to see that I could do it, even after squats. Today, I woke up pretty tired and I think I may have a bit of a cold bug, which would suck. I drugged up though and so far, so good. The snot went away at least! I’m still feeling pretty beat and I have been positively RAVENOUS all day, which is odd for me! My breakfast has changed up a bit today; same amount of calories, maybe not quite as much protein, but other wise it’s all been the same. I’m hoping that this is a sign that the ‘bod is starting to gear back up and screaming for fuel! I saw a bit of a drop on the scale this morning, so maybe so.

At lunch today, despite being pretty tied and feeling a bit under the weather, I hit the treadmill at the gym for two easy miles (it wasn’t actually as slow as run keeper states in there, I had a cooldown mixed in with that time) to make sure I hit day #5 of my 6 day hopes. I didn’t feel like running too much more on my sore legs, but the bike seemed reasonable, so I jumped on that for a bit. I used to ride the stationary bike pretty heavily back when I started this journey, so it was kind of cool to jump back on today to see home much my output’s changed since then. In the end, I burnt some calories, felt a bit spent and again…REALLY hungry! I supplemented my typical packed lunch with 2 hard boiled eggs for some protein and a 100 calorie cookie pack for this afternoon. That should help, plus i’ll still hit all my numbers.

Tomorrow’s plan a day at the gym, so more squats and bench press followed by day #6 in my running attempt. I think it’s quite doable, though this cold bug feeling worries me, so I’ll be sure to drug up some more tonight. I’m thinking soaking in a hot bath will help as well! This weekend, I plan on sleeping in good and late on Saturday and doing little else physical wise, (aside from walking the dog that is). Sunday is more podcast recording in the early morning, then I”m going to see if I can hit a 5-6 mile run to kick off the next week!

That’s all for now, I could sure go for a nap.

Here’s a two parter for ya…

Wednesday 1/9/2013

Running:
- 0:38:54.2 || 3.7 mi || 10:32.9 min/mi
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/140952923
fito2sa

Thursday 1/10/2013

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 411 pts Today
Cycling (stationary):
- 0:20:00 || 7.1 mi || 21.3 mph
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/141115070
Running (treadmill):
- 0:28:51 || 2.1 mi || 4.3 mph
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/141108969
- Comment Share
fito2sa

Sunday 1/6/2013

Sunday, the start of a new week! I haven’t ran for a week due from soreness from the squats, but today everything was moving well and the pace dialed in quite nicely. This week I hope to start getting in daily miles (6 days out of the 7 at least) so I can really improve my base mileage, so we’ll see how that goes. The weight lifting is still progressing nicely, though I’m starting to get bored of Starting Strength, so it might be time to look for another program. Alfalfa’s programs look good, I may go for something more aesthetic building vs. power lifting base for a good 12 weeks as the weight starts to get closer to goal. It’d be nice to look all studly and stuff when I got down to 200 lbs!

Today I updated my running log which I haven’t done for a bit. I was able to finish December at 43 miles total. This was an increase over November’s 35 miles, so good good. I haven’t seen another month like August where I hit 65 miles, but I see that returning when the weather turns warm! What really blows my gourd is that I ran a total of 292 miles for 2012! Considering I was a 350 lb blob back in February who had a hard time walking up stairs, this is mind blowing. I started running in July of 2012, and wound up at 292 miles. With an extra 6 months to run in now, I think I can easily top 500 miles for 2013 and if I push myself, I can cross the 600 mile marker! In fact, I think that’s a long term goal; run 600 miles in 2013. How about them apples?

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 350 pts Today
Running:
- 0:37:20.2 || 3.5 mi || 10:32.8 min/mi || flat
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/140122813
fito2sa

Friday 12/21/12

It’s Friday and the holidays are officially in effect! Prep for family visit limited me to just a run on Wed with no gym. Office Christmas party was Thursday, so I declared a cheat day and enjoyed myself while a midwestern snow storm cut off my post work gym visit! So today, I”m up a pound or two from bad food bloat, which is not the end of the world and it too shall pass. Despite what Gandalf says.

It’s funny though looking back on the office luncheon yesterday. I had mostly okay food diet wise but I had a piece of pie a couple cookies to go with it. I’ve been on this diet since roughly the end of February and it’s amazing how much my capacity and tolerance has changed! While I didn’t feel like I had to be rolled out, the hearty helpings of food left me feeling over stuffed and the pecan pie and 2 cookies (and a couple small chocolate candy/pretzel thingies for full disclosure) left me feeling queasy within a good half hour of the party! It also left me with an amazing sugar rush and fighting to stay away in my recliner by 7:30 pm. Proof positive of that whole ‘you are what you eat/food is for fuel’ mantra I’d say.

Coming up, we’ll have some good eats on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but not so many sweets. Mostly ham, lasagna and scalloped corn, so not the end of the world. I’m on stay-cation next week, but I’ll still be tracking and counting all my food so not too worried. Heck, I’ll probably be hitting the gym at least two of the days next week too, and I’ll be running for certain! As it stands, I have a 5k to run tomorrow morning (in the snow, sweet!) and then I’ll have about 9 days to try and log 22 miles so I can finish up 2012 with exactly 300 running miles!

Not too shabby for a dude that started 2012 at 351 lbs. if I do say so myself.

And I do. I do say so myself.

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 1,095 pts Today
Standing Military Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
Bent Over Barbell Row:
- 70 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
Lat Pulldown:
- 50 lb x 10 reps
- 75 lb x 5 reps
- 85 lb x 5 reps
- 85 lb x 5 reps
- 85 lb x 5 reps
Pull-Up:
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
Weighted Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
Chin-Up:
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
EZ-Bar Curl:
- 50 lb x 12 reps
- 50 lb x 12 reps
Lying Barbell Triceps Extension (“Skullcrusher”):
- 50 lb x 12 reps
- 50 lb x 12 reps
fito2sa

I felt the need for another playlist, so here we are once more with “Oh God It’s After Me!” Or, OGIAM! as it’s known in certain circles, (Read: My Brain) is my scientifically formulated playlist made specifically for running!

“Wha…” you ask?

That’s right! Every song on this play list I tried to match up with somewhat similar sounds. More importantly however, OGIAM!’s tracks are all at or around 150bpm (or halved at 75bpm). What’s that mean to you? That means that if you pace yourself to the beats of the enclosed playlist while running, you’ll be clocking in at a 10 minute mile! I’ve tested this list today and while I didn’t clock a 10 minute mile since I was…um…taking it easy…it made for good listening and helped me keep consistent all the same!

This time around, I’ve left the beards and flannel behind for some indie rock/stoner rock/just plain old rock for a better pace. There’s even a classic or two in there in the form of The Police and Elvis Costello. Something for everybody! For myself, a former musician and professional marching band nerd, moving my bulk to the beat of a song is second nature, so this is a great way to push yourself out on the trail!

It made for a good playlist sonic-ally too, so there! Mix that with an excuse to take pictures while I’m outside and my upcoming race; this seemed like a Good Thing to Do. (TM)

Enjoy! Got some playlists of your own? Share em’!

We’re finally here, the final days counting down to my next race, which is the Wheeler Mission Drumstick Dash on Thanksgiving morning! This race is a 4.6 mile jaunt, one I’ve been looking forward to hitting up for quite awhile. I’ve found running races to be an absolute blast and let’s be frank; I’m still kind of blown away by the fact that I’m actually ‘running races’, so it’s good news all around. In addition to this, it gives me a tangible event to train towards and keeps me on track diet and exercise wise. So not only do these races boost up my ego; they also keep said ego on target for the long run.

The down side to this upcoming race however, is that it throws my normal gym routine into a bit of chaos as I try to cut back on certain workouts to preserve my legs for the big day. I’ve been dealing with a high amount of soreness in my quads the last week, more soreness than usual anyways, so I figure squats and deadlifts are a bad idea. While I don’t think I’ve hurt myself, I do fear maybe I pushed a bit too far a bit too soon when I deadlifted 245 last week, so for this week a rest. At the same time, ‘a rest’ in my mind doesn’t mean to lay off the exercise all together, so it means I’m stuck trying to tweak my normal routine on the fly. Generally, this isn’t too bad, but it also leaves my worry prone mind wondering if I’m not doing quite enough!

The typical routine consists of two Plans, A and B, done in a three day split. Plan A consists of Squats, Dead Lifts, Bench Press and Dips, with Hyperextensions and Weighted Sit Ups tacked on. Plan B repeats the Squats, then moves to Standing Military Press, Bent Over Rows and Pull Ups, then repeat the hyper extensions and sit ups. For this week, my split was on a B, A, B rotation. On Monday, I did everything but the Squats and it worked pretty well. Still, there’s the concern that maybe I didn’t do quite enough, yet I was still pooped by the end of the night and good and sore, so probably over thinking it! Today I’m going to do an easy 3 to 4 mile run at lunch to make sure I’m loosened up for the race on Thursday, then Wed. evening I’ll be looking at Bench Press, Dips, Hyperextensions and Sit Ups. I don’t really have anything good in mind to supplement the missing squats and deadlifts for this day, so I’ll go ahead and add in some Incline Bench Press as well and call it good.

While it seems like I’m worry a lot over little things, I find it pretty important to keep up on my exercise routine, especially this week of all weeks. It is Thanksgiving week after all, and Thanksgiving means EATING! As long as I’ve kept up the routine most of the week, I can safely consider Turkey Day a cheat meal and just not worry about it! That sounds like a pretty good way to deal with a food-centric holiday when you’re trying to drop pounds, don’t you think?

In the end, I hope the soreness in my quads goes away by Thursday morning. It’s not pain; it’s soreness, so there’s a big difference. Part of my mind is second guessing myself here, as the running has never felt quite the same after I took the week off after tanking last month. I think it’s safe to say that that issue is all mental however. Half of this trek is a mental game, so it’s important to stay positive and reminding myself that I can run 8.5 miles, so 5 miles is a piece of cake! Granted, that’s easier said than done, but we’re staying positive here!

Stay tuned for a full trip report after Thursday’s Drumstick Dash!