What is the thread that connects these things for me? I know it's a thin one, but I've been logging activity on the President's Challenge site and noticed after this weekend that Gardening, as an activity, can really rack up points considering most of us can spend hours on yard work versus an hour or less working out at the gym. This weekend I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 hours in the yard. And I didn't even mow grass. That was tilling, weeding, weed eating which I guess is sort of mowing, planting, raking and bagging. Whew. Man am I exhausted but the jungle behind the house no longer looks like it could contain wild animals. I mean ones more wild than the 2 unruly beasts that inhabit the fenced in area at the bottom of the yard. The one with the 3 foot tall grass patches and multiple "large dog" sized holes that we could race model boats in right now. I've now uncovered parts of long lost rock gardens and flower beds we didn't know existed or were half buried in the dirt. I feel a bit like Hiram Bingham and I want to rename my yard Vilcabamba. I should have Joe make me a sign. "Welcome to Vilcabamba" you just THOUGHT the Incas died out in Peru. We have an english ivy and periwinkle carpet that would be enviable if it weren't for the invasiveness. I love the beautiful blue flowers and the evergreen vines but puhleeese. I hate having keep constant vigilance over the ivy climbing the trees. The periwinkle is in everything, everywhere. I swear that stuff just creeps around and pops up where you least expect, or want it. It's a stealth plant. Then we have the juxtaposition of the bareass terraces that can't grow anything but weeds. I tried wildflowers last year but I planted too late and the summer sun just destroyed them so we're going to try grassing them. Now I'm starting to think that a controlled burn may be in order. Hmmm, I wonder who I call for THAT permit? Those who know of my poison ivy woes- I only saw it twice this weekend. The good news is the first time it was on the other side of the fence. The bad news is the second time was on a trail during the 2 hour break we took on Sunday to play with kids. We needed to plant a travel bug in a geocache. That went well but I, as per my usually disagreeable body, had to pee. On the trail. Couldn't wait. Saw the club leaves. After. Oh well. If anything comes up it will make for a great post.
So the gardening was a big part of the workout scheme this weekend but I also managed a short walk on Friday, a 30 minute bike ride plus some stability ball exercises on Saturday. I'm not doing anything today. My entire body hurts. All of it. And I still have a vegetable garden and at least 2 shrubs and a tree to plant. That has to wait because I have 1 dinner with a USAF neice about to deploy to angry areas, 2 softball games and 2 practices, and 1 piano lesson between now and Saturday. I need a wife.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Rest Day
I think I need a rest day. Work has been rather hectic and today was just nuts. Home hasn't been exactly calm either with Joe working late every night, Mc and her new braces-broken braces-wart blistering-piano lesson and softball practice on the same night but lost her cleats issues and me being my normal manic self because the floors are filthy, the dishes are in the sink and the laundry won't fit in my 4 bin hamper! Jeeeesh. If I could just do away with the commute, I could work 44 hour weeks instead of 52 hour weeks. I can't believe the commute adds an entire work day of time to my week. What the *&^% was I thinking when I moved? Anyone got one of those transporter dealies like on Star Trek. I need one of those.
Tonight is more softball and a trip to buy new cleats. Yea. I made out a to do list for the weekend. Going to try not to think about the Disney vacation/new furniture/plane tickets to Boston/braces down payment I already have to pay for. Or the taxes, the tree removal or the retaining wall that's coming apart that is on the horizon. And people wonder why I work out and then pig out. Mindless. Pure. Stess relief. Comfort
Tonight is more softball and a trip to buy new cleats. Yea. I made out a to do list for the weekend. Going to try not to think about the Disney vacation/new furniture/plane tickets to Boston/braces down payment I already have to pay for. Or the taxes, the tree removal or the retaining wall that's coming apart that is on the horizon. And people wonder why I work out and then pig out. Mindless. Pure. Stess relief. Comfort
Thursday, April 10, 2008
ISO Vocabulary Lesson
Each time I want to log an exercise, I have to ask myself "do I even know what that's called?" Most of the time the answer is yes, but there are those moments when I am in search of a vocab lesson.
Today:
Treadmill 25 minutes
15 walking incline at 2%-10%
running 8 minutes at 0-2%
3 minute walking cool down 0-4%
vocab needed- a couple of weeks ago my stepson showed me this move-
single arm dumbell rows while in push up position.
1x10x12lb 2x8x15lb
seated cable row 1x10x50lb 2x8x60lb
single arm cable lat pulldown 1x8x20, 1x8x25, 1x8x30lbs I think. I still haven't figured out the weight on this darn thing
flys- 3 x 8 x 15lbs
assisted dips 1x8x73, 1x8x80lbs
5 minutes of ab work
Today:
Treadmill 25 minutes
15 walking incline at 2%-10%
running 8 minutes at 0-2%
3 minute walking cool down 0-4%
vocab needed- a couple of weeks ago my stepson showed me this move-
single arm dumbell rows while in push up position.
1x10x12lb 2x8x15lb
seated cable row 1x10x50lb 2x8x60lb
single arm cable lat pulldown 1x8x20, 1x8x25, 1x8x30lbs I think. I still haven't figured out the weight on this darn thing
flys- 3 x 8 x 15lbs
assisted dips 1x8x73, 1x8x80lbs
5 minutes of ab work
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Treadmill Burns
It was raining at our "normal" workout time today so we headed over to the fitness center. I knew C wouldn't last long, she abhors the "gym". I as usual, only got more into it as the time passed.
Started with 4 minutes of walk/jog warm up then walked but increased the incline 2% each 1:30 to 10%. 2min @ 6mph, 2 min @ 6.5mph, walk 1 min, 6mph 2 minutes, 8mph 1 min, walk 1 min repeated 3 times. Jog/walk cool down with 1 minute at 10% incline to total of 31 minutes.
bench press 2 x 6 x 65lbs, 1 x 6 x 75lbs
incline bench press 3 x 8 x 50lbs
cable crossover pull 1 x 8 x 20lbs, 2 x 8 x 25lbs (not sure on those lbs)
reverse push up 2 x 8
back on treadmill for 2 x 1min x 8 mph sprints, tried for 12mph like on the biggest loser but only made it about 10 seconds, twice. I just knew I was going to get spit off the treadmill and have treadmill burns on my face. Jogged a bit to make it up to about 5 minutes
Good workout, still sweating. ewww
Started with 4 minutes of walk/jog warm up then walked but increased the incline 2% each 1:30 to 10%. 2min @ 6mph, 2 min @ 6.5mph, walk 1 min, 6mph 2 minutes, 8mph 1 min, walk 1 min repeated 3 times. Jog/walk cool down with 1 minute at 10% incline to total of 31 minutes.
bench press 2 x 6 x 65lbs, 1 x 6 x 75lbs
incline bench press 3 x 8 x 50lbs
cable crossover pull 1 x 8 x 20lbs, 2 x 8 x 25lbs (not sure on those lbs)
reverse push up 2 x 8
back on treadmill for 2 x 1min x 8 mph sprints, tried for 12mph like on the biggest loser but only made it about 10 seconds, twice. I just knew I was going to get spit off the treadmill and have treadmill burns on my face. Jogged a bit to make it up to about 5 minutes
Good workout, still sweating. ewww
How Much Pizza Can One Woman Eat?
I'm missing 5 days of posting, I'm not sure I even remember what I did on Friday. I know I walked for a few minutes and did some upper body work along with some traveling lunges .
Saturday: Went to Star City for the dedication of the brand spankin' new multi use trail at Cane Creek State Park. Back in the fall, me-Joe-Sarah-Aaron did a photo/video shoot there and had a great time but only got to see about 3 miles of the 15.5 miles of trail. There was a "race" of 2man teams involving some of the boy scouts that helped build the trail. We started out about a half hour or so behind them. Saw many that only got a few miles in before giving up. Hit the lead group about 10 miles in and got back about a half hour before the first finishers. I wasn't paying great attention to the time but I think it took us around 3 hours. That's a crappy time for only 15 miles but we stopped a lot. There are 40 someodd bridges, 3 suspension bridges, several lakeside vistas to check out AND we had to stop to talk to volunteers and other riders. I hope it didn't give them such misery that they all decide mountain biking is a crock. It was a fairly miserable ride as far as the conditions went. It's been raining here. A lot. Much of the trail was either muddy or under water. Not really appropriate for riding, we wouldn't consider it but the dedication ride has already been put off once for weather so .... It's going to be a heckuva trail when it's dry and gets a bit of use to pack it down. Much of it is very beginner friendly but they left in some steep climbs. None of them long, just steep. They were my downfall. I just could not keep traction in the mud. All in all, I can't wait to ride in better weather.
Sunday and Monday I spent a ton of time out in the garden. By Tuesday I was sore. But it was biggest loser night so I cycled on the trainer for 30 minutes, had a good ride, even got into the big ring for a while. Then I did some upper body work with light weights and a resistance band. If anyone else is watching that show, I think Ali is my hero. MY goodness she is a competitor. I like that. She looks fantastic. I can't believe that even at 146 lbs she was able to work hard enough to lose another 11 lbs. I keep using the "it's those last few pounds that are so hard" excuse. She blows that for me. I'm betting she didn't scarf down a chili cheese dog, onion rings, dark beer or the 5 slices of pizza I had between Saturday afternoon and Monday night. Dang it. It's the diet, stupid!!
Saturday: Went to Star City for the dedication of the brand spankin' new multi use trail at Cane Creek State Park. Back in the fall, me-Joe-Sarah-Aaron did a photo/video shoot there and had a great time but only got to see about 3 miles of the 15.5 miles of trail. There was a "race" of 2man teams involving some of the boy scouts that helped build the trail. We started out about a half hour or so behind them. Saw many that only got a few miles in before giving up. Hit the lead group about 10 miles in and got back about a half hour before the first finishers. I wasn't paying great attention to the time but I think it took us around 3 hours. That's a crappy time for only 15 miles but we stopped a lot. There are 40 someodd bridges, 3 suspension bridges, several lakeside vistas to check out AND we had to stop to talk to volunteers and other riders. I hope it didn't give them such misery that they all decide mountain biking is a crock. It was a fairly miserable ride as far as the conditions went. It's been raining here. A lot. Much of the trail was either muddy or under water. Not really appropriate for riding, we wouldn't consider it but the dedication ride has already been put off once for weather so .... It's going to be a heckuva trail when it's dry and gets a bit of use to pack it down. Much of it is very beginner friendly but they left in some steep climbs. None of them long, just steep. They were my downfall. I just could not keep traction in the mud. All in all, I can't wait to ride in better weather.
Sunday and Monday I spent a ton of time out in the garden. By Tuesday I was sore. But it was biggest loser night so I cycled on the trainer for 30 minutes, had a good ride, even got into the big ring for a while. Then I did some upper body work with light weights and a resistance band. If anyone else is watching that show, I think Ali is my hero. MY goodness she is a competitor. I like that. She looks fantastic. I can't believe that even at 146 lbs she was able to work hard enough to lose another 11 lbs. I keep using the "it's those last few pounds that are so hard" excuse. She blows that for me. I'm betting she didn't scarf down a chili cheese dog, onion rings, dark beer or the 5 slices of pizza I had between Saturday afternoon and Monday night. Dang it. It's the diet, stupid!!
Friday, April 4, 2008
Strange Brew
Wednesday- inside workout:
Treadmill warmup, fast walking and some running for 15 minutes then a 1 minute sprint at 8mph, 2 min at 6mph
gravitron @74lbs for 2 sets of dips and pullups
another sprint segment 1 x 6mph 1x 8mph 2x 6mph
ab work
another sprint segment
Thursday- 3 mile run outside, tried to push the last 3/4 mile and ended in a sprint. Felt good during but my knee hurts today. Bummer.
Now for the strange brew. We had some nasty storms hit last night but because we totally lost power and finally decided to just go on to bed, we didn't realize that a tornado roared through our neighborhood and took out almost every tree on the street about a 1/4 mile away. Dang.
Treadmill warmup, fast walking and some running for 15 minutes then a 1 minute sprint at 8mph, 2 min at 6mph
gravitron @74lbs for 2 sets of dips and pullups
another sprint segment 1 x 6mph 1x 8mph 2x 6mph
ab work
another sprint segment
Thursday- 3 mile run outside, tried to push the last 3/4 mile and ended in a sprint. Felt good during but my knee hurts today. Bummer.
Now for the strange brew. We had some nasty storms hit last night but because we totally lost power and finally decided to just go on to bed, we didn't realize that a tornado roared through our neighborhood and took out almost every tree on the street about a 1/4 mile away. Dang.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Hill Repeats, Kayaks and Medicine Balls
I did finally take a day off. Sort of. Rushed around all morning on Friday after a short stint of yard work then drove for 6 hours in a hefty wind with a kayak strapped to the car. That took a little more effort than usual.
Saturday- 3 mile run of nuttin but rolling hills. Ugh. Felt pretty good at the end but I wondered if I'd be able to stop sweating. Ever. Since we were on a lake, I took the kayak out for a short ride, short because there was a line of cousins waiting. 7 kids, 8 adults, 2 dogs + 1 neighbor dog, one house. Chaos. After lunch I took the pedal boat out with the hubby, and a beer. Much longer ride this time but had been out about 10 minutes before hubby pointed out that I wasn't really pedaling, it was his momentum carrying my pedals around. OOps. Caught.
Sunday- 2.5 mile run but had a rabbit to chase. The boy wanted to run with me but he is so much taller and so much stronger and uh so much younger. I didn't chase too hard after about the 3/4 mile mark but when he did the math via the minutes on his ipod and figured he was doing about 8 minute miles even on those hills, I didn't feel so bad. We had some breakfast then went outside and threw the medicine ball around for a while, did some exchange of push up techniques and I lost track of time. That was a mistake because about the time we came in all stinky and sweaty I hear my hubby say " Where's the plunger Dad?" OMG!!!! "uh there's something wrong and water is backing up into the downstairs shower" That's right, it was a whore's bath for me. I was oh so ready for that shower by the time we got home.
6 hours in the car again but this time I got to sit. I think it hurts worse to just sit there and stiffen up.
Saturday- 3 mile run of nuttin but rolling hills. Ugh. Felt pretty good at the end but I wondered if I'd be able to stop sweating. Ever. Since we were on a lake, I took the kayak out for a short ride, short because there was a line of cousins waiting. 7 kids, 8 adults, 2 dogs + 1 neighbor dog, one house. Chaos. After lunch I took the pedal boat out with the hubby, and a beer. Much longer ride this time but had been out about 10 minutes before hubby pointed out that I wasn't really pedaling, it was his momentum carrying my pedals around. OOps. Caught.
Sunday- 2.5 mile run but had a rabbit to chase. The boy wanted to run with me but he is so much taller and so much stronger and uh so much younger. I didn't chase too hard after about the 3/4 mile mark but when he did the math via the minutes on his ipod and figured he was doing about 8 minute miles even on those hills, I didn't feel so bad. We had some breakfast then went outside and threw the medicine ball around for a while, did some exchange of push up techniques and I lost track of time. That was a mistake because about the time we came in all stinky and sweaty I hear my hubby say " Where's the plunger Dad?" OMG!!!! "uh there's something wrong and water is backing up into the downstairs shower" That's right, it was a whore's bath for me. I was oh so ready for that shower by the time we got home.
6 hours in the car again but this time I got to sit. I think it hurts worse to just sit there and stiffen up.
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