Jumping rope adds to strength training workouts

Tonight (Friday night) I added rope work to my strength training.  It felt good.

Because I workout alone and don't have a spotter when I lift weights, I rarely lift to failure on some of the big lifts.  That means, at least for me, a reduction in the overall intensity of the workout.

By jumping rope in between sets I was able to get my heart rate up and work up a good sweat too.  It isn't the first time I've done, this but it is something I plan on doing regularly from here on out.

The Friday night workout focused on chest and shoulders.  The exercises were a barbell bench press, barbell shoulder press (from a hanging clean movement), upright rows, dumbbell side raises and a barbell dead lift.  I jumped rope in between sets.

The workout lasted about 1.25 hours.

7.48 miles today - in the neighborhood

I ran 7.48 miles today.  It was in the low 70s today.  It was very sunny today as well.  Since I was at home I went out in the late morning (around 11am).  It was an atypical October day.  There is no telling when the Chicago deep freeze will set in so I felt compelled to take advantage of this nice weather.

The neighborhood was very quiet.  I did a 1.15 mile lap in the immediate subdivision and then went out of the subdivision for a 3.14 mile run out and then 3.14 mile run back to the front of my house.

I haven't run this far in about a month (since the 9/11 Chicago Half Marathon).  Later this week (Saturday) I want to go out for a 8 mile run.  It's all part of getting ready for the 11/5/11 Hot Chocolate 15K in downtown Chicago.

Lack of a goal = Lack of focus

In August I ran 80 miles while fasting to raise money for orphans in India.  In September I ran a half marathon for Team Red White and Blue.  These goals kept me focused.

Since the 9/11 Chicago Half Marathon my workouts have been decent but my diet is disgusting.  I'm eating pizza, burgers, fries, candy, white bread and cookies.  The reason is simple - I don't have any really big challenges on the horizon.

Today is the start of a new set of challenges.  On November 5 I'm going to run in the Hot Chocolate 15K in Chicago.  Later this week I'm going to set a date to have my body-fat percentage measured (as part of my competition with my colleague at work) and to hold the bench-press completion (against the same work colleague).  The bench-press competition will be based on body-weight plus 10 percent for the weight to be used.  My goal is to be at 190 pounds and then use 220 as the amount of weight to be lifted.  I'd like to get 20 repetitions with that weight.

These goals keep me very focused and on plan.

I've made this same mistake of not having any short term goals and I experienced the same decline in my healthy lifestyle at that time as well.  I should know better by now.

Race or no race, I've must set goals in order to remain successful.

36 miles to reach 600 mile running goal for 2011

Wow!

It's been a better than expected year for running!  I set a goal of running 600 miles in 2011.  It's early October and I'm 36 miles to the goal.  That's great.

I'm going to try to hit 700 by 12/31/11!

Ramadan's 80 miles and $3000 (and more) in charity: DONE!

It was tough, but I thank God and all my family and friends for helping me achieve this small goal I set for myself during Ramadan 2011!  I completed the 80 miles while fasting and my family, friends and even complete strangers, donated over $3500 to The Miracle Foundation to help orphans in India.

A very special thank you has to go to The Daily Herald newspaper and to Madhu Krishnammurthy, a reporter for this paper.  Madhu heard about what I was trying to do via Facebook (we're friends on Facebook) and she did a story about it.  That story was the key to getting the word out.  I know it made a huge difference because the day before the story was published the donations were at about $700 and it was already about 10 days into Ramadan.  Once Madhu's story came out the donations started pouring in!

This is a shot from the article on the Daily Herald's website

The folks at The Miracle Foundation have been very kind.  They've heaped a ton of praise on me.  It feels great but it's really more than I deserve.  It was a small effort on my part, my family, friends and complete strangers were then ones who donated all the money and the folks at The Miracle Foundation are the ones doing to good work.

This is a partial snapshot of a thank you card I received from the folks at The Miracle Foundation:

I'm truly grateful to God for making it possible for me to be able to run like this at this point in my life.  

Day 24 in Ramadan - a little run down but still going

Today is the 24th consecutive day of fasting for me.  I've run 67 miles as of yesterday.  I'm going to try to knock out another 5 today.  My goal is 80 miles by the end of Monday, 8/29/11.  It looks good so far (for hitting my goal).

I am feeling very run down, however, and that manifested itself yesterday as I was trying to do hanging cleans (a version of a clean but instead of lifting the barbell from the ground I let the bar hang just below my knees).  I can usually go up to 135 pounds for reps but yesterday I was at about 115 pounds and struggled to get the weight up without losing my footing.

Also, getting myself onto the road, track, treadmill or weight room is tougher and tougher with each passing day.  I'm not missing workouts.  I'm just fighting with myself to get me started.

Running (and lifting) while fasting...

I'm a Muslim and part of my faith is to fast in the month of Ramadan.  Fasting entails abstinence from food and drink from pre-dawn (that first crack of light) to sunset.

Ramadan began on August 1, 2011 and I've been fasting every day.  I've also been running and lifting.  It hasn't been easy, but it isn't as hard as some folks might think.

In the early days I tried two strategies.  The first was to workout just before sunset (usually 1 to 2 hours before).  The idea was to limit the time between the end of the workout and the time when I can eat and drink.  This strategy worked.  I did it this way for a few days.

After the first few days of Ramadan I tried strategy #2 which involved working out after I broke my daily fast.  This was a disaster.  I tried to eat enough to energize myself but not so much that I would feel bloated.  I found that once I ate something and started hydrating, I was too tired to work out.

If I were alone, strategy #2 may have worked, but I am blessed with a wonderful family.  The breaking of the fast is a communal time followed by a prayer.  By the time I finished up with these obligations it was already 9:30pm.  I had to be up by 3:30am to eat before that first crack of dawn so working out after 9:30pm would leave too little time for sleep.

Strategy #1 - working out just before the breaking of the fast each night - was formally adopted as the way to go.  After work I either go home, change into some workout clothes and hit the road or I get home and head straight to gym.

I feel good.  Normally I get very sluggish in Ramadan.  This year, in addition to the running and lifting, I've been very particular about my eating.  I've definitely indulged in some rich foods at special gatherings with family and friends, but mostly I've stuck to veggies, quinoa, lean meats and my protein + fruit smoothies made with unsweetened almond milk.

This Ramadan I'm not just running my usual 12 miles per week.  I set goal of 80 miles for Ramadan (it's part of a fundraising effort for orphans in India).  That's considerably more miles than I normally run.  It turns out to be 40 miles per week.

As much as I'd like to sound nonchalant about it, the truth is that running the additional miles every week is challenging!  I've been experiencing soreness more than in other months because currently I'm running almost everyday.  I have to because I don't really want to try running longer distances while I'm fasting.  The longest I've gone is 5 miles.  The trade off to running fewer miles at a time is that I need to run 6 or even 7 days per week.

In addition to the running, I've also continued to lift weights.  It's not as often as before Ramadan, however.  During the first two weeks of Ramadan I lifted twice each week.  I think that's about what I expect to do this week and next week as well.

I'm glad I pushed myself to workout this Ramadan.  No excuses!