Monday, March 31, 2014

Activity 3/24 - 3/30

I took lots and lots of steps this week.  I'd say that most of the week I did a great job just fitting in what I could fit in. 

Monday - 3.6 miles in 1:15.  My wife had been out of town all weekend helping her folks so I told her on the phone that I needed to go for a walk when she got home.  It was lovely to just breathe deeply and be alone for that time.
Tuesday - 2.5 miles in 50 minutes.  It's a combination of lunch time walk to meet a friend, afternoon break walk, and walk with the family and dogs after work. 
Wednesday - Spin biking.  1 hour interrupted: The traditional... Warm up, 10 x 2 minute standing hill 1 minute recovery,warm down, stop, put the kids to bed, lay down with the 6 year old, get up, ride 20 minutes mostly steady seated resistance.
Thursday - Walk 2.55 miles in 55 minutes.  Walked on break at work and also with the family after work. 
Friday - 4.15 miles in 1:15.  I walked on my morning break and then left work early to enjoy being outside. I walked to the store for food for dinner and just barely beat the rain and hail home.
Saturday - 3.65 miles in 1:05.  Early morning walk.  Crisp and clear. 
Sunday - 1.5. mile walk. I woke up all stuffy and with a sore throat.  I took an allergy pill but still felt like crap all day.  Still, I felt too still so I took a 30 minute walk. 

Steps:Monday - 17,123 *
Tuesday - 11,308
Wednesday - 8,296
Thursday - 13,804
Friday - 16,005
Saturday - 16,701
Sunday - 8,451
Total - 91,688 **

* New one day record!
** New one week record!

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Activity 03/17 - 03/23

This was the first of a few very busy weeks for the family.  Busy weeks that don't really lend themselves to a lot of exercise.  Add to that the fact that the treadmill seems to be broken and ...

Monday - I took a lunchtime walk of 2.5 miles and then 1.6 after work with my little girl on her bike. All in all I managed to put together > an hour of walking so I was pretty happy with that.
Tuesday - I walked for about 30 minutes while a co-worker was at the doctor's appointment I drove her to.  It was nice out. Employees kept asking if I was having trouble finding an office.  Later, I did a spin workout for an hour.  I really burned my legs doing 5 sets of 3 minute seated hills with 1 minute recovery. Then I did 5 sets of 2 minute seated hills with 1 minute recovery.  Ow.
Thursday - 55 minutes of steady easy spin.
Friday - 2.0 miles walking during lunch and then afternoon walk to the bank.
Saturday - 1:05 spinning. I found a good and free spin class on YouTube and tried one.  Really hard interval work but then the internet connection hung up at about 35 minutes so I finished it out sort of emulating those intervals.
Sunday - 1:10 spinning.  I did 1 and 1 intervals.  5 sitting, 5 standing until I was done.  Hard but not killer. 

I tried to keep my steps up throughout the week whether it was pacing while cooking or laundry or walking to the mailbox. 

Steps:
Monday - 14,705
Tuesday - 10,334
Wednesday - 9,182
Thursday - 7,016
Friday - 12,212
Saturday - 10,674
Sunday - 8,170
Total - 72,293

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Baby/Big Brother Blankets

I made blankets for a friend's baby and for her 6 year old.  The friend is mostly an online friend but we have met a few times.  I needed a project and thought she would appreciate it.  The blanket is one I may have made before from a book of blankets with large borders that I have.  It was fun and easy to make.  
 


 
I asked the friend what colors her son likes and see said orange, gold, yellow so I made this with assorted yarn - some that we had and some that I had to go and get.  I had a hard time finding the rainbow variegated but I do like the more orange/yellow/green variegated.  This blanket seemed to go very slowly which is strange because the last big granny square blanket I made was done in about 8-10 days.  
 

I'll see my friend this weekend to give her both blankets. 

Monday, March 17, 2014

Activity 03/10 - 03/16


Last week was not nearly as impressive as the previous few weeks.  I was hit really hard by daylight savings time which has never happened before.  In the past, I've always woken up extra early in the weeks following both time switches.  Not this year.  I felt exhausted all week and even woke up to the alarm three times last week (usually I wake to the alarm about 1-2 times a month).  My summary:

Monday - 2 miles walking including a short break at work and walking while the kids rode their bikes after work.
Tuesday - 2.25 miles including a short break at work and then walking on the treadmill while cooking dinner. 
Wednesday - 45 minutes on the spin bike.  22 rounds of 1 standing hill and 1 recovery.  Good workout.
Friday - I walked downtown with a friend at lunch time.  1.5 miles.
Sunday - 3.5 miles in the morning. It was crisp and cold but not drizzly so it was quite nice. 

Steps:
Monday - 13,058
Tuesday - 11,131
Wednesday - 10,703
Thursday - 9,749
Friday - 10,168
Saturday - 5,924
Sunday - 12,182
Total - 72,915

Step summary - So even though I didn't get as much formal exercise in, I did manage a respectable number of steps (55 more than the previous week). 

Monday, March 10, 2014

Activity 03/03/ - 03/09


Another good active week.  I managed more consistent steps I think but we'll find out when I total the steps below. 

Monday - Good spin. I warmed up, then 20 rounds of 1 minute seated climb, 1 minute recovery, then warmed down.  Got a very good burn going.
Tuesday - Another good hard spin.  After warm up, I did 5 x 3 minutes standing hill with 1 minute recovery. Then another 5 x 2 minutes standing hill and 1 minute recovery.
Wednesday - Walking an hour on the treadmill and 15 minutes during my afternoon break at work.  3.5 miles combined.
Thursday - Walked on the treadmill and also 20 minutes while waiting for an appointment.  For some reason I don't see it on the graph.
Friday - 2 miles on walking to lunch and another 10 minutes around the building on break.
Saturday - I went for a walk in gloomy and sprinkling weather. After about 30 minutes it poured and I got soaked walking home.  It was around 2 miles in 40 minutes.
Saturday part 2 - Spin about 14 miles in 1 hour.  I did 25 x 1 minute hill and 1 minute recovery and alternated sitting and standing for the hills.  Very hard and good.
Sunday - Steady spin. I went 40 minutes steady. 

Steps:
Monday - 4,455
Tuesday - 15,090
Wednesday - 10,790
Thursday - 11,027
Friday - 12,683
Saturday - 10,260
Sunday - 8,555
Total - 72,860

Monday, March 3, 2014

Activity 2/24 - 03/02

I had another good week this week.  I know that my steps were lower than last week but still a good week:

Monday - 60 minute spin while watching our Monday evening silly ABC Family TV shows.  I cranked up the resistance every 2 minutes for 3 separate cycles but still felt like it as a bit blah.
Tuesday - 3 mile walk in 60 minutes.  I got up in the morning to walk with Coach Jeff as he ran 24 hours to raise money for his medical treatment. 
Wednesday - Really good early spin. I watched the end of Food Inc., then a bit of Friday Night Lights on Netflix.  I did 15 x 1 minute standing hill/1 minute recovery. Then 5 x 2 minute standing hill /1 seated recovery.
Thursday - I have no memory why I have nothing on the day or what the day looked like...
Friday - 1.6 miles in 28 minutes. I walked to the library to return a book and check a few out over lunch. I was just gorgeous outside.
Saturday - 3.5 miles in 1:05. I went for a walk in the fog and drizzle and it actually felt wonderful. We have a ceramic space heater and I find that when I wake up in the morning I am quite stuffed up.  I had been running the humidifier but then it got warmer and I put it away... 
Sunday - 1.9 miles in 34 minutes. I walked to the store.  I planed to walk both ways but on the way the wind blew and the temperature dropped 20 degrees (no exaggeration) and then it started to rain as I was at the store.  The family came to pick me up and it all turned out for the best because we had company in the afternoon and I could help clean the house.
Sunday #2 - I spun in the evening while watching the Oscars.  The awards shows are not quite the same thing if you haven't seen most of the movies. Still a nice evening.  Between warm up/down I did 20 x 1 minute seated hill and 1 minute recovery.  Wow. My legs burned.

Steps:
Monday - 6,249
Tuesday - 12,425
Wednesday - 7,871
Thursday - 5,576
Friday - 8,213
Saturday - 11,331
Sunday - 9,955
Total - 61,620