Author: jank

Food Diary, SUS day 3

Breakfast:
6 oz Yogurt
Banana
Granola Bar (oats and honey)
Coffee
Total: ~400 cal

Lunch:
Turkey, Provolone, and mustard (mmm, spicy brown mustard) on a multi-grain roll
Baby Carrots
Small bag Lays
Total:480 cal

Snack
Snickers.
Total: 280 cal

Supper
Taco Bell
Total:600 cal (no, honestly, only 600 cal)

Day 3 total: 1750 cal, give or take.

Remarks: I’m feeling a little hungry, but running at lunchtime helps knock down the afternoon munchies.

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Tale of two runs

Ran the Navy Base yesterday and today. Kind of a study in contrasts, though neither run was “bad”…

Yesterday, I was feeling hale and hearty, strapped up the sneaks, fired up the iPod, and headed south. The sky was blue, the birds were singing, the breeze was moderate – absolutely great day to be running on the bay. Did a couple of hill sprints, pegged the HR at 178 at the highest, had no problem recovering. 5.2 miles, 44 minutes.

Yesterday afternoon, it became apparent that the littlest disease vector had, indeed, passed his latest specimen on to me. Went to bed around 9 PM, slept through till 6. Still felt crappy today, but hey – man’s got to work, right?

About lunchtime, I did the assessment – no symptoms below the neck, so I’m good to go, right?

Did the run, used the HRM, stayed at or below 150. Got mad ’cause I noticed I hadn’t started the stopwatch when I started running. Then remembered that I had started listening to the “Wait, Wait, don’t tell me!” podcast when I left. Finished the run just as the podcast wrapped up – 48 minutes.

So, virus or no, I think I did OK – only picked up 4 minutes.

early-ish to bed tonight…

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Food Diary, SUS Day 2

Breakfast:
Eaten in the car (Bad, I know)
1 Pear
8 oz Yogurt
Banana
Granola Bar (oats and honey)
Coffee
Mixed Nuts
Total: ~720 cal

Lunch:
Turkey, Provolone, and mustard (mmm, spicy brown mustard) on a multi-grain roll
Baby Carrots
Small bag Cheetos
Total:480 cal

Snack
Chocolate.
Total: 200 cal

Supper
Frittata (peppers, mushrooms, taters)
Total:450 cal

Day 2 total: 1900 cal, give or take.

Remarks: Knowing I was writing it down made it tougher to take candy out of various dishes.

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Shape Up for Summer, Day 1

OK, one day of the Shape Up for Summer is done. Successfully, I might add.

For the first week, the focus is on: Eating Right and Exercise. (Registration required. If you’re squeamish about this, drop a comment or send me an e-mail, and I’ll send you a Gmail invite so you can set up a disposable e-mail account. I typically register as “Mickey Mouse” of Anaheim, California, or “Millie Bush” of Kennebunkport, Maine. I will vouch that the Day hasn’t spammed me yet.)

Part One, Eating Right – the gist is to start a food diary. Which is a solid engineering approach – how can you correct a problem until you’ve documented current behavior? I blew this for Monday, since I didn’t read the articles until bathtime. Interesting bit about the diary is that they want us to track not only what goes in, but where and when it does. OK, we’ll see.
They’re also using the “Hips to Waist” ratio as a metric, instead of straight pounds. Haven’t broken out the tape to see where I am yet.

Part two – Exercise, was decent advice, though directed towards completely sedentary people. Goal for the first week is 60 minutes of cardio over 7 days. Recommendation is to break it into three 20 minute chunks.

I’ll throw out a gripe here – even before they get into recommended exercises, they spend two paragraphs on heart rate. The info isn’t bad, but, since they’re targeted at non-exercisers, I would have recommeded something that didn’t involve Heart Rate Monitors, watches, counting, or anything technical at all. Rather than HR, I would have focused on the Relative Perceived Effort scale – exercise hard enough to breathe deeply, but not to get out of breath.

The other program is a daily set of four stretches – calves (Lean against the wall), quads (pull heel to butt), hamstrings (lay on back, stick leg in the air, flop towel over foot, and pull), and chest/arms. The chest/arms stretch was great –

Stand near a doorway with your arms out and your palms and forearms resting on the frame of the doorway. Elbows should be at a 90-degree angle. Slowly walk through the doorway, making your shoulder blades come together. This will stretch muscles in the front of your shoulders and in your chest. Hold the position 15-20 seconds

Good stuff.

Execution: I made my exercise – 45 minutes of swimming, 2000 yards. Felt much better than last week.

Light Blogging Weekend Update

First, the beautiful: After a day of yard work, I had a stellar run Sunday on the way home from the Y. The weather was insanely beautiful, almost to the point of bringing me to tears; family swim had been a blast – even the youngest was playing in the water instead of just clinging fiercely to me. And the run home was one of those that makes running worth it.

Used the HRM again – kept the rate under/at 150 for the first four miles, then did three hill repeats at pretty much 4 miles, 5 miles, and 5.5 miles. Good stuff. Added a half mile after the last hill to bring the heart rate down. Total was 6 miles in 55 minutes. (Yeah, slow, but I’m running). Got back to the house with the sweet metallic/ammonia smell in my nose and the back of my throat after the hill repeats, but got my HR back down pretty quickly – within a quarter mile after the last repeat, which made me really happy. I’m already looking forward to next weekend, though I think I’ll switch up the route and go via the big hill in Old Mystic.
The ugly – after the great run last Wednesday down in Norfolk, the only thing I did before Sunday was a quick swim Thursday night. Bleh. Never really got into a groove, and struggled to crank out 1500 yards.
Next, it’s official – I’m fatter than I was last year. I suppose I should be upset, but not really. I think I’m finally starting to recapture the energy I had back last year.

Finally, I’m 4 weeks out from my two year bloggeversary. Which corresponds with the first time I’ve been consistiently fit for more than 6 or 8 months at a time. I like it.

Shape up for Summer

The New London Day (Local Newspaper) is starting their “Shape up for Summer” series every Monday for the next 12 weeks. Since I’m not currently “on” any program, I figured “What the heck?” and threw my name in the hat.

So, this is a new category, etc, to follow the progress and advice in the Day, and see if I can’t kickstart the 20 lbs or so I still need to drop.

Good weekend; will write later. Taxes this week, so expect either light posting, or explative laden posts as The Man gives his annual sticking to the Jank Family finanaces. I think there should be something else added here, some sort of one line semi-libertarian (I’m working to register Jankertarian as a party) tirade/motto*, but not sure what… Open to suggestions

* – Must be suitable for a family blog. I’ve come up with one, but, it involves five of the seven deadly sins, and all of the words you can’t say on television. In one sentence.

Further Reason Scott Adams is my hero…

Dilbert-man can write about sports:

… I don’t know what kind of training he did, but oh-my-god. … There was ferocity to his strokes. He wasn’t just hitting the ball, he was punishing it. His court speed was breathtaking. His shot selection was brilliant. His backhand, previously a weakness, had become a rocket.

You only needed to listen to the court sounds to know that Blake was heading deep into the tournament. When a tennis racket strikes a ball perfectly, it creates a sound wave that spectators can feel in their entire bodies. If you play tennis yourself, you can practically close your eyes and know who is winning. …

Read the rest of the bit. It’s great, absolutely perfect sportswriting.