Activity 06/02 - 06/08

I had a pretty good week activity-wise. 

Monday - Morning spin. I spun in the morning doing 25 rounds of 1 standing and 1 down.  Good and sweaty. 
Monday - Walked 1.5 miles after work.
Tuesday - I walked on the gazelle in the morning for 35 minutes. I have no idea how to estimate mileage on that type machine.
Wednesday - 46 minutes spinning. Nice steady zone 2.
Thursday - I took the day off from exercise although I went to the blood center and donated a double of platelets (big double - 8.8). I am trying to catch up after 3 months off (2 months deferred and then trouble getting scheduled).  I still want to donate at least 12 times this year if not more.
Friday - 3.9 miles. I took the day off Friday for a variety of reasons.  I walked to the grocery store in 100% humidity. 
Friday - Tree sawing.  I sawed down 3 trees and chopped up the branches.
Saturday - I meant to work out but it just couldn't fit into the day.  My wife was sick all day and I spent the day doing errands and housework and then the guy came to install the garage door opener and I couldn't leave while he was there all day.
Sunday - 3.8 miles walking.  I walked to the store again in light rain and then home with groceries. I picked up recycling on the way home again.

Fitbit steps:

Monday - 12,249
Tuesday - 17,115
Wednesday - 12,116
Thursday - 12,083
Friday - 20,090
Saturday - 12,465
Sunday - 15,450

Total: 101,568

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

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

Activity 2/17 - 2/23

I had another good activity week. I notice that since I've given myself permission to work just any activity into my day, since I've said it's ok if it's just 10 minutes, I've been able to be active nearly every day.  And most days I'm not getting interrupted at 10 minutes.  It's sort of magical. 

Monday - 3.8 miles in 1:04.  I walked to the store and back to get stuff to make dinner.  I love doing that!
Tuesday - Treadmill walk of 1.75 miles in 35 minutes before making dinner for the kids and I.  Then spun while watching the Olympics - 40 minutes.  I did 15 rounds of 1 minute seated climb and 1 minute recovery. 
Wednesday - Busy day with kid well checks and wife chiropractic and working part of the day at home.  I hit the treadmill to get in 3.1 miles walking in an hour. 
Thursday - Awesome spin!  An hour with 3 rounds going 3 minutes standing hill, 3 minute recovery, 2 minutes standing hill, 2 minute recovery, 1 minute standing hill, 1 minute recovery.
Friday - Lunch time walk on an errand.  2.2 miles in 40 minutes.
Saturday - Neighborhood walk sandwiched into a busy day. 3.09 in 58 minutes.
Sunday - Early morning neighborhood walk.  It was lovely out and I waited for the sun to come out and then enjoyed the stillness.3.52 miles in 1:04.

Every week when I go to print that picture above, I notice that some of my workouts are listed on the wrong day and I have to change.  This week it occurred to me that maybe dailymile thinks I'm in another time zone.  Sure enough that was the issue.  Of course now, it shifted my workouts again...

Monday I made my 4th blood platelet donation of the year.  I went for a triple and unfortunately that was a bit too long.  I felt sick and they had to pull the needle quickly.  On the upside, it was a valid donation and my platelets helped numerous patients.  On the downside, I'm now deferred for 8 weeks. 

Steps:
Monday - 11,463
Tuesday - 10,438
Wednesday - 13,759
Thursday - 4,845
Friday - 10,470
Saturday - 12,720
Sunday - 15,148
Total - 78,843

Activity 2/10 - 2/16

It's a few days late to be posting but I wanted to be consistent about posting some activity.  Last week:

Monday - I got up early to fit in 2.55 miles in 50 minutes on the treadmill. 
Tuesday - Treadmill again 3.05 miles in 1 hour while the wife worked and the kids played.
Wednesday - Spin while watching Olympic coverage. I started with 5x3 standing hills with 1 minute recovery. Then 5x2, then 5x1. This ride was a real challenge to my conviction to take whatever I can work in since I had to get off the bike to let the dogs out, let the dogs in, tell the kids to stop clowning around and go to sleep, let the cat through the gate, let the cat back through the gate the other way, check on the clowning kids, and answer the phone.
Thursday - Lunch walk. 1.75 miles in 30 minutes.
Friday - The day was beautiful out so I took a few hours off and took ChocolateDaughter to hike at the park along with out friends and their dog (and a houseguest dog).  We didn't cover many miles but it was beautiful and fun.  I guestimated 3 hours but that's probably high.
Saturday - 3.4 miles in just over an hour. The day was beautiful out and although I felt busy and had a lot to do, I just enjoyed the sun and wind.
Sunday - I indulged in lazy!  I took the kids to cheer at the marathon but otherwise watched Olympics and crocheted. 

Steps:
Monday - 10,835
Tuesday - 11,201
Wednesday - 9,038
Thursday - 8,993
Friday - 11,943
Saturday - 12,691
Sunday - 4,419
Total - 69,120 - Not as good or consistent as the week before. 

Activity 06/10 - 06/16

Monday - 1.5 miles walking while ChocolateDaughter rode her bike.  Fun walk.
Tuesday - 10 miles Cycling in 48 minutes.  A very refreshing and good but hot bike ride. I came home before an hour because I thought I would ride with ChocolateDaughter but she was busy.
Wednesday - 4.05 in 1:00 on the treadmill. Mostly walking. I wanted to run some but just felt too hot. 
Saturday - 15.7 miles Cycling in 1:13.  Nice ride with high humidity.  Got home and CD was riding around so she and I rode another 1.5 miles.
Sunday - 2.06 mile walk in 32 minutes while both kids rode their bikes.  They did really well taking turns leading.


Steps - 53,182
My steps weren't as good as in previous weeks.  I can't post the daily steps because Noom rolled out a new app called Noom Walk and I don't see that I can access daily totals any longer.  So I only see weekly steps. Still, I should be getting >= 70,000.

Activity 5/20 - 5/26

A pretty good week:

Monday - 1.25 mile walk. I did a quick walk at lunch.  It was hot enough that I actually came inside and walked in the tunnels a bit.
Tuesday - 4.0 run and walk in 1:00.  Jesus it was hot and humid out.  I did my walking warm up and then started 2:00/1:00. Then 1:00/1:00. Finally I just switched to running between the zone 2 beeps on my watch and then walked back to the office.
Tuesday - 30 minute Core Workout.  Such a good core workout.
Wednesday - 1.5 walk.  I would have done more but a hard day at home left my workout out of the question. While the wife laid down with our daughter to put her to bed, I went for a neighborhood walk.
Thursday - 3.3 in 1:05 walk.  I walked to the dry cleaners and back to drop off the clothes.  Very hot out 88 with 85% humidity.  Nice to do an errand.
Friday - 3.05 in 40 minutes run (13:06) plus 1.00 walking warm up/down.  First chance to use the new/used treadmill.  It was too hot and still in the garage so I cut the running short.
Saturday - Strength training. I did the Coach Jeff total body workout for the first time in months.  Very challenging. I need to start doing some strength training at least 2x a week.
Saturday - 3.05 walking in 1:00.  Treadmill walk in the garage. My son watched an episode of Doctor Who, then came out to nag me to stop.
Sunday - 4.5 in 1:00 (12:53) plus .5 walking warm up/down.  A good run at 2:00/1:00 with the fan moving the hot/humid air around. I don't know if I could do this in temps 15 degrees warmer without passing out. I wanted to run longer but my son nagged the entire time for me to stop.  I was not feeling supported at all...

Weight:
Sunday 167.3 so I'm down .3 for the week and 2.7 overall.  Obviously I'd like to be seeing better results....

Steps:
Monday - 10,073
Tuesday - 10,829
Wednesday - 9,600
Thursday - 13,663
Friday - 12,387
Saturday - 8,032*
Sunday - 18,579

* Saturday I checked the step count while I was on the treadmill for an hour.  It recorded around 1000 steps.  By my calculation it should have gotten around 7200.  So that should be well over 13,000 or even 14,000 steps.

Activity 05/06 - 05/12

I have a very medium week.  No big spectacular workouts but no crashes and burns either.  Not enough steps...

Monday - 1.6 mile walk at lunch time.
Tuesday - 4.0 mile walk at lunch time. I should have run but my stomach was not of the good from the moment I woke up and I didn't want to chance something ugly.  A very nice walk and good pace (17:00 miles).
Tuesday - 30 minute core work.  Very good work.  All the usual suspects.
Wednesday - Bike ride 13.37 in 59.  (13.7 mph). That's fast for me.  Now that I've got my mechanical issues resolved (for a few days) I am riding a bit faster. 
Thursday - 4.0 walk with running in 1:00.  Very slow.  Mostly walking with a bit of running.  I did not feel well before I set out.  Still, I'm amazed at how slowly I'm moving in these run/walks. 
Saturday - 5.05 in 1:20.  I intended to ride my bike but had a hole in my tire and tube so switched to a walk/run.  Felt run down and slow and I was slow.  Again, I find it shocking how slow I am.  Part of me doesn't care about speed because I'd prefer to walk but want the calories burned from running but another part wonders if I'm actually doing "damage" by doing it this way. 
Sunday - I went and volunteered at a race in the morning rather than working out in the morning. And then the family was going to hike but we decided to just not.  Instead we celebrated Mother's day by crafting while watching Downton Abbey and then visiting our friends. 

Weight:

4/8 - 170.0
4/14 - 169.5 (-.5)
4/21 - 166.7 (-2.8)
4/27 - 167.6 (+0.9)
5/4 - 166.2 (-1.4)
5/11 - 165.8 (-.4)

So it's moving and in the right direction.  I think I need to be more active and also eat less candy to lose more.  15.8 pounds to go!

Steps:
Monday - 10,614
Tuesday - 14,304
Wednesday - 7,095
Thursday - 12,613
Friday - 3,933
Saturday - 13,641
Sunday - 4,166

Total - 66,366

Exercise 04/22 - 04/28

I had another good week although I felt like I ate more (and worse) than I should. That probably shows in my weekly weigh-in (I gained 0.9 pounds at weigh in Saturday).  Still:

Monday - I feel like I probably walked around at lunch hour but I'm not seeing it on the graph.  I also did a 30 minute core workout. I combined exercises from pre-dawn and the box of cards I got. 
Tuesday - 4.2 in 50 (11:54) plus walking warm up/down.  The phone GPS showed less but it was obviously off so I mapped it and came up with slightly more than this. I sort of split the difference.  Ran 1:30/:45 intervals on the hills by the university.  Very humid.
Wednesday - 11.5 in 1:00 biking.  Easy heading out and then hard coming back. Either I hit the wind or was having trouble with my bike again.  Or some combination of the two.
Thursday - 4 miles in 1:00. Mostly just walking with a few minutes of running. Very tired legs. 
Saturday - 4.2 miles in 1:20. All walking.  Very humid out. 
Sunday - 16.28 in 1:20 biking.  Very nice ride but the ground was wet. I hit one spot of mud and started to skid out. I kept myself upright and was quite impressed. 
Sunday - 30 minutes core work.  Very challenging. I mixed the Pre-dawn and the box of fitness cards.  I was already feeling too hot in the house and was pretty much drenched by the end of the core work.  Later ChocolateWife wanted to try some core exercises and noticed that the box shows a few other core moves mixed in. 

As I said my weight was up .9 pounds as of Saturday. But I had worse diet as well as getting my period on Sunday so that probably had some effect. 

I'm still using my phone and Noom to count my steps. I find it very motivating but I'm also aware that it is not all that accurate.  I went for a walk on Saturday and did a few spot checks.  My actual step count was about 120 steps per minute and the phone was logging 70 steps per minute (a very big difference).  Still, it's fun to sort of note the steps and strive to reach the (increasing) goal every day.

Monday - 7,808
Tuesday - 15,320
Wednesday - 9,305
Thursday - 11,652
Friday - 9,502
Saturday - 12,013
Sunday - 9,007

Total: 74,607

As you can see, it is obvious that it's not an accurate count and it awards some steps for bike rides (Wednesday and Sunday) but it's still fun to look at.

Training 02/04 - 02/10

Again, I had a better week with some walking and even a short bike ride.  I've continued my treatment with the chiropractor which includes a bit of strength work, some core, and a lot of stretching.  At this point he says the problem is largely the lack of flexibility in my hamstrings and glutes.  So lots of stretching...

This week besides that work I:

Tuesday - 3.5 miles in 1:10. I walked over to the park and through for a little while before returning.  Had to walk up the very big 11th mile Half-Marathon hill. 
Wednesday - 3.18 miles in 58 minutes. I walked through campus because I wanted to avoid traffic noise because I was listening to a book on tape. 
Saturday - 3.0 in 1:00.  Went for a walk at Wells Branch with my friend LD.  Not challenging for either of us but a good walk and no pain. 
Sunday - 3.2 in 58.  A little neighborhood walk. I thought the family was going to go for a bike ride so I stayed close to home.  My map ended up looking a little like a flower. 
Sunday - 3.5 miles in 18 minutes. I've been wanting to see how I do on the bike. The chiropractor gave me the ok but said to ride about 1/3 as usual the first time and maybe 1/2 as long as usual the second.  I went just under 20 minutes and FELT NO PAIN!  I'm very excited about that. I came home and stretched and then iced. 

--I have two more chiropractor appointments this week.  It's a doctor heavy week as the kids both have dentist appointments and their annual well child checks too. 

--I've raised $1790 for Livestrong which is well above my hopes and expectations.  I'm very happy with that total. A few people have said that they will donate but once I get to this point, I've nagged enough.  They will give or they won't...

--Runkeeper updated their app to allow more options for time and distance triggers. I'm thrilled as it was one of the thing that irritated me.  I like the trigger to give me a cue but the longest time you could wait between triggers was 5 minutes.  Now you can choose up to 30 minutes or up to every 10 miles (why would you even want a trigger at 10 miles?). 

Training - 01/28 - 02/03

I don't even see a reason to post a planned week at this point.  Certainly last week was better in terms of my doing some walking.  And it's nice to see some green bars on the graph. 

Monday - 1.0 miles.  I walked around with ChocolateDaughter after work and chiropractor.  

Tuesday - 2.8 miles in 1:00.  Rather a slow lunch time walk around downtown.  I just wanted to move a bit but not worry about speed at all.

Wednesday - 2.95 miles in 55 minutes.  A bit faster but not pushing it.

Thursday - 3.5 in 55 minutes.  Mostly walking. I tried a bit of running which basically told me that I am not ready to run yet. 

Saturday - 6.5 miles in 1:50.  I walked both farther and faster than I have in the past few weeks.  I probably should have only gone about 5.5 miles or 1:40 but I was doing loops to the house and got a bit farther than was ideal.  I iced afterwards and it isn't too bad.  Lots of soreness on Sunday though.

What I know:  I can't possibly run or even walk the entire half-marathon.  My current plan is to walk the first 5 miles.  The family usually shows up at that point to cheer for me. I'm thinking that I'll walk that far, then DNF with them.  I feel bad for the people who have donated and those I'm (not) running in memory or honor of but I have to stay healthy too.