I fell off the wagon...

Eating 2 sirloin burgers w/ cheddar cheese &
turkey bacon...  that there is about 1pound of beef!

Oh crap!  I'm slipping.  I let my guard down, I let one cheat become two cheats and now I'm weeks and weeks off my healthy regimen.

I know why I was so unhealthy for so long.  It's too damned easy.  And on the flip side, it is so damned hard to stay on track.

Thank God I caught myself.

There are a couple of reasons why this happened.

Reason # 1: I tried to do too much & couldn't

This year I wanted to add strength training to my running regimen.  I have the physical ability run and lift and spend a couple of hours working out everyday.  I will not do it though.  I have other priorities.

This isn't the same excuse as "I can't exercise because I don't have the time".  I know I have to make time to get in at least 30 minutes of exercise 4 to 5 times per week (minimum).  This is about whether or not I want to give up on other things like sleep, spending some time with my kids and doing my writing.

I was able to keep it up over the summer because the kids weren't in school.  Now that they are back in school the premium workout hours - from when I get home to when the kids go to bed - have to be shared with workouts, family meals and homework.  That's the difference.  The workouts have to be pushed to later in the evening, and by then I'm running low on energy.

Yes, I know it can still be done.  I've done it.  But there are consequences.  An awesome running and lifting workout will have me jacked up and wired for a few hours afterwards.  If I hit the workout around 9pm the I will not actually fall asleep until midnight and that doesn't work for my early morning schedule.

Reason #2: An "All or Nothing" Mentality

Because I've got it in my head that I want to do these amazing combo-workouts of lifting and running, I'm allowing myself to talk myself out of doing something - even if it's less than the full workout - when  there isn't time for the full one.

It's all in my head.  I know this.  I just need to remember it when its time to get the workout down, as little or as much as it may be.

Reason #3: I can't do moderation

I can eat like a spartan six days a week for months and even years at a time (I've done it).  I can pig out on carbs daily.  This is a flaw.  One day I should get around to fixing it.

In the meantime, I need to accept it and embrace it.  It's time to get back on the extreme healthy eating wagon.

Reason #4: I lost my virtual training community

As of late I haven't been working out for any particular races and I haven't been talking about what I want to do and what I am doing on Facebook and on Twitter.  Some people think its all about the ego.  That's definitely a small piece of it, but the biggest part of it is the sense of community I feel when others chime in with what they're doing and who keep an eye out for what I am or am not doing.  I need to get back to that now.

I'm back to the blog!

Lifting Weights @ Prairie Stone
Wellness Center in Hoffman Estates

This has been an interesting year!  I've been away from this blog for almost 6 months.  Fortunately, my absence from the blog is not because I have not been working out.

This year I resolved to work on both my running and my weight training.  In my youth I did a lot of heavy lifting.  In the last few years I've developed my running skills.  This year I wanted to see if I could work on both fitness goals simultaneously.

So far so good!

I've curtailed my running.  I'm running about 10 to 12 miles per week and lifting 3 to 4 times per week.  On some training days I run and lift weights.

Although max lifts are not my focus, I  cannot resist testing myself on my favorite exercise - the bench press!  I'm at 275 lb max bench press.  I did this a few weeks back at a body weight of 205 lbs.  That's way off from the "glory days"!

Back in 1989 I achieved a max bench press of 305 lbs at a body weight of approximately 185 lbs.  I'm not sure if I can get back down to 185 lbs (I'll address that in another post), but I think I can get up to 305 lbs again.

I'm really enjoying the combination of running and weight lifting.  I feel great!

A bad workout vs. no workout: which is better?

I had a bad workout today.  I did the bare minimum and wrapped it up quickly.  It makes me wonder: is it better to have a bad workout or to skip it until the next day with the hope that I'll be more focused later?

Excluding the scenario where the lack of motivation is due to fatigue caused by strenuous training, I'm going to side with those who say a bad workout trumps skipping the workout.

Today's workout called for strength training focused on my chest, shoulders and triceps followed by a 1 mile run and some core exercises.  This workout usually takes about 70 minutes.  I hit all three major muscle groups, did some core exercises and skipped the 1 mile run.  I finished the workout in 40 minutes.

I started out with sit-ups.  I did 3 or 4 sets.  Next, I did my regular barbell bench presses, but I skipped the supersets of machine benches and lying dumbbell flies.  For my shoulders I did 3 rounds of supersets that started with dumbbell lateral raises, upright rows and then barbell shoulder shrugs.  I wrapped up the workout with 3 sets of triceps pushdowns.

Midway through the bench press sets I turned off the television (UFC Unleashed on Spike TV) because I was wasting too much time in between sets watching the fight.

There are a couple of things that contributed to the lack of focus (and it was the lack of focus that was the culprit).  First, I was trying to workout during the last hour and a half before my kids go to bed on a night when my wife came home late from work.  Part of my mind was on the yelling and screaming upstairs.  I felt guilty that I wasn't upstairs helping out.

Today is pizza night for the kids.  I should have made a protein shake with some berries to fuel the workout, but instead I had several slices of cheese pizza.  That couldn't have helped, and psychologically I know it made me feel sluggish.

All of the foregoing notwithstanding, I'm glad I got the workout done.  This will keep me on track with the remaining workouts for the week (b/c missing a workout has a domino effect on all the remaining workouts).

Hopefully tomorrow will be a lot better!

AM Run, PM Weights

I woke up today feeling ill.  I had a queasy stomach.  I felt the same way yesterday and ended up missing a workout.  I couldn't let that happen again today.  I want to start 2012 on a strong note, and missing workouts this early is not starting strong.

By 10:20pm tonight I've completed two workouts.  Late this morning I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and did 13 minutes on the stationary bike immediately afterwards.  This evening after dinner I did a 40 minute strength training workout focusing on chest, shoulders and triceps.

I was able to get some extra reps out of my bench press because I convinced my wife to spot me.  I did my best to look and sound strong to impress her.  When I finished I got up and looked at her.

"Okay.  Can I go now?" was all she said.

Whatever.  I know I'm strong!  Now I'm going to chill out and watch the rest of the Cotton Bowl.  I picked Arkansas to win.