Lean, Strong, and Fit

Better than Ever!

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:18:00 +0000

Just a quick update. Work's been pretty busy, and I have not been very active online in terms of any writing. I did manage to eek out a mildly acceptable training regimen for my half-marathon. I was pretty nervous the couple of days before the race, but I ran it as strong as I could and finished in 2:03:32. I wanted under two hours, but long water stops and cramps at the end got the best of me. I averaged around a 9:30 pace.

I remember during training how tough the runs were. Once you start running past an hour per training run, there's nothing fun about workouts. Couple the long time with the treadmill (training was mostly in the winter and we had a rough one in NE), and it was a grind week in and week out. I remember on more than one occasion that I said I would never train for another half. But...but the fact that I ran it so close to two hours makes me think that I could do it next time.

After my race, I changed up my routines again. Now I'm doing somewhat of a split for my weights. Instead of two weight workouts and two runs a week, I'm aiming for three weight workouts and two runs a week. I was aiming for shorter workouts and just being more active during the week. I recently got in a very good week of sleep too and was rewarded with 8:30 miles during my last 4+ mile runs. I hope to get faster so that my future races would be faster.

Lesson from this post? Rest is very important.

Last weight-in:
169.0 lb

How bad do you want it?

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 02:29:00 +0000

I came across this video from HBO last week. It's inspirational as heck, and I thought I'd share it. It shows that if you want something, then go get it. It's not going to be easy. It'll be a lot of work. It'll be hard. But if you are determined enough. Persevere enough. Push enough. You'll get it.

Same for fitness. You don't need a special diet. You don't need a special workout. You don't have to get fit in 90 days. You don't have to slim down X amount of pounds in X amount of time. Fitness isn't something you get on and get off. It's a life change. Who cares if it takes you two years versus two months to get your six-pack? Or if you have to run the marathon next year versus this year (although you can't keep delaying a goal. That's procrastination.)? What matters is that you keep working. Keep striving. Keep improving. One rep at a time. One foot at a time. One second at a time. One ounce at time. You'll get there.

I have pictures of me from 2007 when I thought I'd go on P90X. Work and life got in the way. Never did get the body I wanted in 90 days. It's 2011. I'm doing my own consistent workouts. Running pretty consistently. Eating consistently. My pictures today are pretty good. Am I satisfied? Nope. I'll still aim for that extra rep each week. That extra second off my running time. That extra .01% off my body fat. That extra foot in my distance runs. You know why? Because I want it bad. And this video reminds me when I forget.

Last weigh-in:
168.0lb

P.S. Don't have the guts to post the pictures yet, but the progress is amazing. I suggest you take pictures, if not for tracking progress, then for bragging rights if you are already fit.

A New Year, A New Challenge?

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 03:13:00 +0000

So it's 2011, people. I feel like last year just came and went. Overall, I'd say 2010 went decent. If I have to go by the guideline that I should do something that scares me, well, I did it. The triathlon scared me for eight weeks. Now I'm wondering what I should do to "scare" me this year.

Since the tri, I've been lifting twice a week and running twice a week. I've built up my mileage such that I've been running at least six miles each run for the past couple of weeks. I wouldn't say I'm addicted to running, since I seem to have a love/hate relationship with it. There are days where I dread going out in the cold or to the boring treadmill at the gym. Then there's the constant grind for a few miles before I even start feeling good about running. But man, right when I hit the one hour mark, I feel great. I mean, what a feeling it is to know that your mind and will is strong enough to push your body! I hit 10K distance a few weeks ago, and I felt GREAT. I reached 8 miles one run a couple of weeks ago, and that felt AWESOME despite the fact I could barely walk at the end. So yeah, love/hate.

I haven't ran outside for about a week since the snowstorm hit. It's draining to watch where you're landing your foot strikes and hope you didn't hit ice. So, I've been running at Planet Fitness on the treadmill. Downside is that the treadmill automatically starts cooldown after one hour. So I aim to be faster each time I go to the treadmill. I usually aim for increasing distance when I'm running outdoors.

Recently, my cousin has been bugging me to do a half-marathon with him. Needless to say, a 2+ hour run is not very appealing to me at all. Thoughts of hitting the wall or succumbing to a walk has been discouraging me from committing. Yet, I've been constantly running twice a week, always aiming for 6+ miles each run. The half is in March, and I have plenty of time to train for it. Not to mention the fact I did run 8 miles helps. I'll admit, the half scares me a bit. Can I actually run for that long? Lately, I've been questioning why I convince myself out of doing things that scare me. So, I'm pretty certain that I will attempt the half in March. I just need to bring myself to sign up for it. Haha.

So depending on how soon I decide, 2011's first challenge will be a half-marathon. Now to go find some new running shoes!

Last weigh-in:
169.0 lb (The running is making it difficult to keep building mass)

Lift weights anywhere!

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 15:45:00 +0000

I'm currently in the middle of moving, and it's not leaving me with a lot of time. Life is pretty busy too, so fitting in workouts while making sure I have time to rest in between is getting tough. I've been getting somewhat serious with my runs too, so that makes it even harder. So far this week, I've ran once (5.11 miles in 46:48, about average of 9:08 mile), lifted in lite workouts twice, and swam once. I had planned on doing a full lift workout and running one more time before this week ends, but here I am sitting at work. I went out last night too, so I couldn't squeeze in the run I wanted to. But, it's a slow day and I've found the perfect thing to help!

With my limited action with my full lifting workouts, I've done more pushups and curls than I really wanted. This is leaving my back feeling pretty ignored and me with okay posture. While going about my work here, I found an extra 5 gallon Poland Spring bottle--full. So I'm going to fit in some deadlifts and some rows. Heck, I might even do some shoulder presses with it! Workout anywhere, people.

Last weigh-in:
170.0 lb.

Finished the triathlon!

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 21:04:00 +0000

It's been almost a week, but I did wind up doing the triathlon. Saturday night, when my cousin came up, I was coughing up a storm. I was barely recovered from whatever I had, and I doubted if I could even finish the triathlon let alone survive the swim. But I did it.

When I woke up Sunday morning at 5:30AM, my cough wasn't there. I felt pretty good, but the fear of drowning during the race came back. At the same time, I knew if I didn't do it, then it would've been because I wussed out. It was almost time to leave, so I dressed anyway and grabbed my gym bag and helmet. We went to pick up another cousin who would photograph and I contemplated grabbing my bike. I decided not to, but LI cousin convinced me to bring it just in case. We got to the YMCA and all I saw were pretty fit people with road bikes. I had a heavy mountain bike with hybrid tires, bar ends, and a non-working third gear. More fear. I walked LI cousin to the registration and I stood outside. Then I realized how stupid it was and I went to register. There was a funny scene where the race director was shocked at the time I wanted to change my swim time to, but whatever.

Leading up to the swim, I was nervous as heck. I got inked up with my numbers, setup my transition area, and warmed up a bit in the pool. Seeing how I doubted my ability, I lined up near the end of the 122 people pack. The first guy that finished did it in about 4.5 minutes. Craziness. Meanwhile, I stood there with some first-timers and worried how it would look to rest every 25 yards I swam. Until...until I saw a guy kick on his back the whole 250 yards. That immediately put me at ease. It finally got to me, and I freestyled the first 25 yards. I opted not to rest and went under to the next lane. I got on my back and did a combo of kicking and "jellyfishing" for three laps since I wasn't sure how I would feel without stopping for any rests. I hit my head on the wall and decided I couldn't do that the rest of the way. I wound up doing my back kick for most of the remaining laps with me switching over to freestyle near the wall so I could see. I finishe the swim at 11:28 instead of the 20 minutes I thought it would take.

I jogged to the transition, put on my top, socks, shoes, sunglasses and helmet. I ran to the bike mount area and started biking. I thought it would be better to put on my gloves on the bike, but I nearly wiped out twice. Bad idea. Did the 3-loop 10.1 mile course. Hopping off the bike, I felt my calves cramp and seize up. Not good. I hobbled/jogged to transition again, racked my bike, whipped my helmet off, and was off to do the 4.5 lap 5K. My legs felt like they were gone. I stripped my gloves after the first lap and just kept reminding myself to run like I trained. I ran through the cramps, ran through the pain, ran through the fatigue that was creeping in. I kept telling myself, "You did this. Remember the bricks? You did this." The last half lap, my LI cousin came to run alongside. He had finished much earlier. A 42-year old lady started cheering me on as she finished too. I started pumping my arms harder, and just like in training, I switched to a sprint near the last 50 yards and bolted to the finish. The feeling was pretty kick*ss. Time? 1:29:34.

It was quite the accomplishment, and I would definitely do it again. By signing me up, my LI cousin effectively forced me to finish learning to swim. Now I have to work on my technique. Triathlon season is pretty much over, so I have plenty of time to get better before the next one. I did get sick again afterwards, but I'm almost good again. I'm already working out again, albeit a bit softer 2 - 3 times versus 4-5 per week. I'm thinking of doing a 5K in a couple of weeks. In training, I'm hoping to reach the 10K mark too. Exciting stuff. Now to get a real bike.

Last weigh-in:
169.5 lb (while sick, so probably more like 170.5 - 172.0lb)

A Big Question Mark

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 16:58:00 +0000

So...I haven't trained that much at all this past week. After my buddy's wedding this past Saturday, I wound up with a sore throat which quickly was accompanied by some small body aches, stuffy sinuses, and a low fever. I've only started to feel better Thursday, and tried swimming again, but energy level is very low. I still have an itch which makes me cough now and then. All this leaves me with a big question mark.

As much as I dread the swimming leg of the triathlon, now I'm left wondering if I can even make it through the bike and run legs as well. I know I'm not 100% over whatever I had (cold? small flu?), so I'm not sure how much I have in the tank, so to speak. I swam Monday just as I was getting sick, and even though my form felt good, my endurance still sucks. My muscles screamed after one 25M lap too; effects from my illness, of course. Thursday swim was okay, but after getting out of the pool, I was light-headed and queasy from the effort. This does not bode well at all. I question my ability to do the 10M bike and 5K run.

It's already Saturday and the race is tomorrow morning. I can go through with the prep and see how I feel tomorrow morning, but I just don't know what's going to happen. It's unfortunate that I got sick the week before. I put a lot of time into this race, even if my swim portion was ever so frustrating. In the back of my head, I'm trying to justify quitting by committing to some road races before the year is out. We'll see what happens.

Weak swim endurance

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:37:00 +0000

Ever since doing a nonstop 25M swim, I've been a bit more hopeful with my swim sessions. After two sessions so far this week, I find I have no endurance when swimming.

For the week, I did a quick shoulder workout on Saturday and hit the pool Sunday. I don't know if it was the lack of rest between my shoulders workout or if it was because I was showing off my airborned dynamic pushups and one-armed pushups about 30 minutes prior to swimming, but I tightened my right shoulder. It feels like a minor strain and seems to be around the upper outer pectoral muscle or the lower trap. It only bothers me when I reach my right arm across my chest to the left or sometimes when I lift my arm. Not good. This was Sunday night. Monday, I did another indoor bike/run brick, then I swam again last night. Good thing was the affected area doesn't really affect my swimming, but my lack of endurance definitely does.

I can't seem to do more than 25M at a time. I need to work on making my technique more efficient. I also need to increase my endurance by a lot. The pool for the race is 25M and goes from 3 feet deep to 9 feet. This means I also need to work on not relying on my feet being able to touch the bottom. I'm thinking I need to at least be able to swim 50M nonstop and rest at the edges. That or learn to pace myself better in the water so I can last 250M. This would mean getting more comfortable in the water and learning to breathe effortlessly during the slow swim.

I'm going to try to hit the pool three times a week for the last two weeks to see if I can squeeze in some last-minute improvement. I'm probably going to stop my shoulder workouts as well to prevent hurting myself. My goal for the rest of this week is to run one more time and swim 1 - 2 more times. Also, need to rest up and hope this tightness/strain goes away. Oy. It's almost funny to think that I've went from a non-runner to someone that looks at my 4 mile run tonight and think, "Oh good, an easy day."

Swimming is kicking my butt

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:54:00 +0000

So it's been a while since my last update. During this time, I went on vacation and then caught up with work and working out when I got back. While away, I did manage to use the hotel pool four days. I also realized that I suck at swimming. I couldn't get my rhythm right and swallowed a lot of outdoor pool water. Not fun. I ate a lot and ran and lifted once that week.

Since coming back, I have been keeping up with my other workouts. I didn't swim all of last week, but devoted 20 minutes to working on my strokes and breathing timing. I think this helped the most because last night I was able to do 25M laps with breathing. I did it three separate times, so it was quite encouraging. I'm looking at doing some private lessons again, but being ready for a 250 yard swim by Oct 3 is still looking doubtful. My runs are doing well. I've been consistently running at least 5Ks now, but the bike/run is killing me. I did a real brick last week outdoors and did 7.5 miles biking and 2.0 miles running. My legs felt like they disappeared on me after getting off my bike. This week, I ran 3.5 miles on Monday night with my 5K clocking in at 29:38. Feels great to see my 5K under 30:00, but I'm sure after a swim and a bike, that time will go up a lot. Tuesday night, I did an indoor brick of 10 miles stationary bike and 4.1 miles treadmill running. Needless to say, I didn't have much gas left for my swim last night.

I'm going to continue with my training, but as I've said before, the swim event is going to make or break this triathlon. I'm not sure how the three weeks I have left will go, but at the very least this triathlon has got me off my butt and doing more than I've ever done. That's what I'll keep telling myself...oy.

Crazy week so far

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:41:00 +0000

It's been pretty crazy so far. After skipping my Sunday workout, I was "forced" to do a double workout day on Monday with Workout AH in the morning and a bike/run at night. I would up doing a 6.3 bike on the stationary bike and a 2.0 mile run on the treadmill. I was pretty happy that I was able to bump up my running mileage from 1.75 miles.

The next day I hit the pool again, but with goggles. The googles helped a lot, but I overthought my stroke and form and wound up panicking a few times. Longest nonstop swim is just a bit over half the Bally's pool. Not looking so good there. Need to relax and stay calm. I probably should stick with one to two strokes per day to maximize my time there. I was in the pool for about 25 minutes and worked on backstroke, freestyle, and even some breaststroke. Too much for a short workout.

Last night, my shoulders felt sore from the stress of having Workout AH and the swim session so close together. I opted out of Workout CH (I might skip this until the race is over) and just did one-arm pushups and curls. I followed this with a run outdoors. I aimed to hit over 2.0 miles, but after hitting 2.25 without much pain, I decided to go for the 5K. I finished 3.18 miles with the 5K clocking in at 31:02. I'm a few minutes off my PR, so I have more work to do there as well, but I'm quite happy that I can do a 5K again. Now if I can get it up to a 10K with the 5K finishing under 28:00, I'll be happy.

Still loads more training to do. I'm on vacation next week, but hope to keep up with my running and swimming at the hotel. Oh man.

8/12/2010 Swim

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 20:50:00 +0000

The past Thursday would've been like every other Thursday except for the fact that I knew I was going to go swimming after work. After having it in the back of my head all day, I made the drive to Bally's to sign up for a 7-day thing. Wouldn't you know that they were have a class till 8PM? So with even more suspense, I drove home to change into street clothes then went back for my first swim since Summer 2009 (which was when I learned how to swim).

I went back with gym bag over my shoulder. I changed then cursed myself as I discovered my goggles were not with me. I made my way to the pool and hopped in. After getting a lane to myself, I did some simple kicking and then some freestyle strokes without the breathing. Feeling a bit more comfortable, I tried to get myself used to water surrounding me by immersing myself and doing various strokes. Feeling a bit better, I went for a freestyle with breathing. Oh man. Timing was off. Got some water in. Long story short, 15-20 minutes later, I got the timing right, but I was tired. It was my fifth day straight of working out, and my body was getting tired. I got out and went home.

This first week has been interesting. I did Workout CH the night before the swim, so I had five straight days of working out. By yesterday, different parts of my body were sore. I took yesterday and today off and will be back at it by tomorrow. I'm buoyed by how fast I remember how to swim, but I got a long way to go to build up to 250M of swimming. What comforts me is that the backstroke is not hard to do, so that's my backup stroke when I start drinking water in the pool on the day of the race.

I'm going to enjoy my rest for now, but I still got seven weeks to go.

8/10/2010 Run

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:13:00 +0000

Yesterday was supposed to be a swim day, but the work pool is too small and I didn't have anything lined up. I got home around 9:45 and decided to go for a run just to fit something in. The run started out pretty good. Tried to fly down the hills and pound up the inclines. Side stitches weren't as much of a problem today, but eventually the uphills on the way back cause my abs to cramp out pretty bad. I ended at 1.75 miles with an average pace of 9:42. It was an okay run, but I'm a bit consoled at the increase in mileage. I'm hoping to be running consistent 5Ks soon and 10K's by the time I race. Not much else to write about. I stretched, showered, and went to bed.

Workout CH tonight, maybe an easy run after and hope to hit the pool Thursday.

First bike/run

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:30:00 +0000

Part of my new training regimen includes a day of biking followed by running. Since I've never ran after biking before and that I'm rebuilding my running distance again, I figure I do an easy bike/run today. It wasn't my best, but it'll do for now.

I started with driving to my mom's home. That's where I keep my bike since my apartment doesn't really have the best place to store my bike. And besides, my mom's is close to a good bike route. But today was different. Seeing how I need to bike then run, I decided to kill two birds with one stone by biking my cousin's bike back to my apartment, then running back for my car. Since I knew biking is easier, I tried to take detours when possible to make the ride longer. But since I was riding a female bike, and it was a comfort bike, I cut it short and ended the ride at 2.34 miles. Nonetheless, I gave my quads a taste of what it was like to pedal and climb hills again.

I rested for a bit, and ran back to my car. The running is still a bit difficult. No leg cramps this time, but some side stitches here and there. It's been a while since my core was used to the constant pounding of running. With the sun beating on me, there were a couple times where I thought of putting in the 0.8 miles I did before and call it a day. But I put my head down and pushed through till I reached my mom's. I started slow at around 4.5 mph, but ended around pace, pounding through downhills when I could. I wound up running 1.11 miles at an average of 6.52 mph (9:12 pace). My max was 8.97 mph (6:40 pace) and was probably from the downhill.

Today's workout isn't one to rave about, but it gave me a good idea of how it would be like to run after a bike. My next bike/run would probably be 5+ miles followed by a progressively longer run. I'm hoping to build up to a 5K by September and be able to run 10K by end of September. There's a lot of work to do, and I still need to figure out a place to practice my swimming. On top of all this, I need to stay on my lifting regimen. I did Workout AH yesterday, hope to do swimming or arrange for some swimming tomorrow, and probably do Workout CH Wednesday. It's still looking to be a long 7-8 weeks till the triathlon. Oh man.

Eight Weeks to a Sprint Triathlon

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 03:45:00 +0000

So my cousin surprised me by signing me up for a sprint triathlon. Now mind you, I haven't ran since early May, and all I've been doing is lift. On top of that, I just kinda learned how to swim last summer, so I have super anxiety about the swim leg of the race. To add to all the fun, the race is October 3, giving me about eight weeks to train for this. This is going to be an interesting eight weeks.

I think it'll be kinda cool to write some posts during these eight weeks and see how I either tackle this race or die trying. I just found out today, so I tried to calm myself down by doing a resistance workout, followed by a quick run (to Subway for dinner). The run didn't go so well. I wound up running at racing pace and lasted 0.8 miles before cramps (probably from lifting) and a side split stopped me, but I made it to Subway. On a tangent, I wound up only bring an American Express credit card, and the Subway near my place didn't take Amex. So off I went running home to grab my wallet...and my car.

Since I haven't been hitting the gym for my workouts, I've tweaked my workouts a bit. Exercises are paired so that I do one, rest, do the other one, rest and repeat two more times before going to the next pair.

Workout AH (Essentially Workout A, but modified to a full-body routine. Added the "H" to emphasize the at home part):
Pullups/Lateral raises
One-armed pushups/Front raises
Shoulder press/shrugs (No rest before shrugs. Sometimes followed by one-legged squats or 3-way calf raises, if I'm not running anytime soon.)
Bent over dumbbell row/Biceps curls
Incline pushups on Swiss ball/Hammer curls

Workout CH:
Pullups/One-armed pushups
Australian pullups/Incline pushups on Swiss ball
Rear lat raises/Chest flies
Biceps curls (Preceded with a leg exercise if I'm not running anytime soon)
Hammer curls

I've been consistently doing Workout AH once a week, and supplementing with Workout CH if I have time. So far, results have been great. Consistency and sticking to a decent diet has led to increase in strength and muscle mass with a decrease in fat and overall weight. It definitely shows that hard work and sticking to at least a loose schedule pays off. If you are close to me at all, I'll let you know that it's Workout AH that occasionally makes me want to puke. To be fair, it's usually on a hot day and I drank too much water, but it's a tough workout. I currently use 40-lb dumbbells at 3 sets of 9. Pullups are 3 sets of 11, one-armed pushups are 3 sets of 5, incline pushups 3 sets of 19. I aim to finish within an hour.
Today I did Workout CH, followed by the run to Subway. I've thrown together a schedule for the next eight weeks to try to get some training in before the race. I'm going to see how that goes, but I'll probably have to tweak it. Again, I'm very nervous yet highly motivated to train, so this is going to be interesting. Stay tuned!

Last weigh-in (a couple of days ago):
170.5 lb

Quick update

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:49:00 +0000

This isn't going to be a detailed update, but since I posted a link to MuscleHack in the previous post, I wanted to quickly update where I am now.

Weight's pretty good. I've been average 172.5 lb. What's great is that I've been able to make gains in my strength. I am now on 40 lb dumbbells for my at-home weight workouts. I haven't hit the gym for awhile. Been busy with a new job and the heat makes me less motivated to make the drive. I haven't been able to hit the heavy weights, since I haven't gone to the gym, but I try to compensate with incline pushups, one-handed pushups, one-legged squats. Pullups are still the way to go for hitting my lats/back.

Cardio is suffering. I currently travel a lot for my job, and the long commutes not only saps my energy, but my time. I'm hoping to start running/biking 2-3 times a week, but it's not looking too good. My hiking goals have been seriously challenged. It's July, and I haven't hiked once. Not good.

Even with my setback in terms of cardio, I feel I'm still doing well on my fitness. I feel stronger than ever and I have a hunch that my body fat is around 13-14%. Ideally, I'd like to get that closer to 10-11%, but it'll take more control with my diet and more cardio. We'll see how it goes.

T.A. 3.1 from MuscleHack coming soon

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:40:00 +0000

If you don't read MuscleHack.com and you're pretty serious about getting bigger, then you should start...soon. Mark McManus over there writes some very good, detailed articles about...yup..."hacking" your muscles. He provides a lot of his own research and trial and errors in his approach to getting bigger. He also has a few programs on his site to achieving that goal efficiently. So while World Fitness Network is targeted to getting strong and lean, MuscleHack is about mass. Go check out his latest post teasing his Total Anabolism 3.1 now!

In the current T.A. 3.0 cycle you overload each muscle group in a single set then wait until the peak overcompensation point (P.O.P.), then do it over again. Each successive full-body workout should progress in reps or weight to ensure continuous muscle growth.

In this new cycle we place MORE overload on each muscle. This will stimulate more growth by imparting more muscle damage in each workout; anabolism (building up) is stimulated by catabolism (breaking down) which is a negative feedback control.

via MuscleHack.com

Taking a break from updating

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Sun, 23 May 2010 22:43:00 +0000

If you haven't noticed already, I don't post much to this blog anymore. I've come to realized that the blog became my own fitness journal, and that's not quite what I had in mind for it. I still write weekly updates, but since they were mostly for me, I'm keeping them in a fitness journal now. There are quick a few blogs out there that do a lot better job than what I had intended to do here. MuscleHack and World Fitness Network immediately come to mind. I just don't have the time and resources to provide what they do there. They provide a lot of great information for bodybuilders and fitness-oriented people alike. I think they are better equipped and more-knowledgeable to help others better than I can.

I'll keep doing what I do in terms of my own fitness goals. I might even post here and there when I actually have something more useful or interesting to talk about. So, good luck all in your pursuit of being lean, strong, and fit.

Getting more runs in

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:21:00 +0000

Got a double update here. Here are the breakdowns:

Week 1
Sunday: Workout A
Monday: None
Tuesday: Workout B
Wednesday: None
Thursday: None
Friday: None
Saturday: Run (outdoors)

Week 2
Sunday: Workout A
Monday: None
Tuesday: None
Wednesday: Run (outdoors)
Thursday: Workout C
Friday: None
Saturday: Run (Spot Pond: ~6K. 5K in ~34:00)

I'm still sticking to my Saturday Morning Runs. Having people running with you really motivates you to stick to a consistent schedule. Weights-wize I'm pretty consistent with two sessions per week. Hoping to be able to hit three sessions once in a while. I'm trying to bump my weekly runs up so that I'm doing 2 - 3 sessions per week as well.

It appears that distance-wize, I'm ready for a 5K again. But to be where I would be satisfied by my performance, I need to get my speed back. I seemed to have fallen into comfort running 10:30 miles, but to beat my last 5K score, that needs to get back down to 9:30. I'm still hoping to do a 5K in May, then a 10K in the summer. I'll reassess during the summer and see what else I want to do this year.

With warmer weather approaching, I need to start tackling the 4,000 footers in NH. I've already decided that I'll have to do some this hiking season, even if it means I'm on my own. With 40 peaks in NH over 4,000 feet, I have quite a bit to do. Summiting four peaks a year would take 10 years to do all 40, while something like 10 peaks a year would bring the time frame down to 4 years. Quite a big difference. I'll probably do Mt. Monadnock later this month as a warm-up, then start some peaks in May.

I'm pretty excited that the warmer weather is here so I can start tackling some goals of mine. Can't wait.

Last weigh-in:
174.5 lb

Hives are gone.

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:41:00 +0000

Double update here. First week was a bit rough with me dealing with the remainder of my hives. Had to be careful how I did my workouts so my sweat wouldn't trigger the histamine. Here's the breakdown:

Week 1:
Sunday: None
Monday: None
Tuesday: Workout A
Wednesday: Walk
Thursday: Workout B
Friday: None
Saturday: Light hike

Week 2:
Sunday: None
Monday: None
Tuesday: Workout A
Wednesday: None
Thursday: Workout C
Friday: None
Saturday: Run outdoors (2.6 miles)

I've been missing my Sunday workouts due to plans on the weekends. But my weekends are a bit more open now and I've already made my Sunday workout for this coming week. So things are looking good. Had a good run yesterday outdoors with some people. I hope to do a group run every Saturday morning where it'll just be fun to get together. In addition to my Saturday runs, I hope to do a couple of runs during the week to work on speed and tempo. I know plans don't mean anything until I do it, but I hope to be ready for a 5K soon and then a 10K by summer.

My wrist got better during my episode of hives. Probably due to the corticosteroids I was on, but now that I'm back to lifting hard again, my wrist seems to bother me during certain moves. Currently, I think it's a combo of an inflammed tendon and tight forearms from gripping heavy dumbbells. I'm trying to be vigilant with forearms stretches daily, but it's tough.

Not much else to write about.

Last weigh-in:
172.0 lb

Triple update

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:50:00 +0000

I've been pretty lazy with my updates. So, here's the breakdown for the past three weeks:

Week 1:
Sunday: None
Monday: Planks
Tuesday: Workout A, arms
Wednesday: None
Thursday: Workout B
Friday: None
Saturday: Run

Week 2:
Sunday: Workout A, arms, planks
Monday: None
Tuesday: Workout C at home
Wednesday: None
Thursday: Workout B
Friday: None
Saturday: Ski @ Sunday River

Week 3:
Sunday: None
Monday: None
Tueday: Workout A
Wednesday: Run
Thursday: Workout C at home
Friday: None
Saturday: Run (25 minutes outdoors)

Consistency is key, and I have not been consistent with running. Last week, I started to get back in the swing of things, even running when I was up in Canada for the weekend. Unfortunately, I came down with a bad case of the hives and I can't afford to run since the sweating triggers it. I'll see how it goes laying off for this week. I hope to get back to it next week. Not much else to write about.

Last weigh-in:
175.5 lb

Took a week off

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:17:00 +0000

It's another double week update. I'm having some issues with my wrists/forearms, and see how last week was pretty busy, I wound up making last week a "rest" week. Here's the breakdown:

Week 1
Sunday: Workout A, abwork
Monday: None
Tuesday: Workout B
Wednesday: None
Thursday: Workout C
Friday: None
Saturday: Run - 1.41 miles outdoors (9:14 pace at 25 degree weather)

Week 2
Sunday: None
Monday: Planks
Tuesday: Walking lunges, shovel, Workout A, triceps pulldowns
Wednesday: None
Thursday: Pushups, planks
Friday: Run outdoors - 1.41 miles (9:07 pace)
Saturday: None

I laid off my full body workout to give my muscles some time to recover, but my main reason was to see if it'll help my wrist a bit. I noticed that my symptoms are beginning to resemble golfer's elbow. I know, I don't even golf! But golfer's elbow is like tennis elbow but on the other side. The issue mostly stems from grip. I started researching tendinitis when I noticed my wrist pain sometimes emanates from a tendon near the inside of my elbow. At one point, the area even felt inflammed. Another time, I felt similar aches on my left forearm/wrist, which I hadn't sprained. So, I'm beginning to think that my sprain healed, but now I'm dealing with overtraining/grip/tendon issues.

I'm not even sure if it is golfer's elbow, but I'm approaching it by "treating" the suspected cause, which I think is a combination of my full-time desk job and gripping heavy dumbbells during my leg workouts. Besides this recent "off" week, I'm reminding myself to focus on more forearm stretches. I'm also occasionally massaging the suspected inflammed tendon. To address the grip issue during leg workouts, I'm either going to have to get lifting straps or switch gyms, since my current gym do not have the proper free weights for legs. My short-term solution is using the leg press machine in place of squats. I'm still using relatively medium weights for lunges, so dumbbells can still work there.

I'm heading back to the gym this week, so we'll see how it goes.

Last weigh-in:
175.0 lb

Missing runs...

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:01:00 +0000

Here's another double update. Work's been a bit busy, but here's the breakdown:

Week 1
Sunday: Workout A
Monday: None
Tuesday: Workout C
Wednesday: Planks
Thursday: Neutral-grip pullups, pushups
Friday: None
Saturday: None

Weigh-in:
173.5 lb

Week 2:
Sunday: Workout A
Monday: None
Tuesday: Workout B
Wednesday: None
Thursday: Workout C
Friday: None
Saturday: Run - 1.5 miles @ 2.0% incline (9:05 pace, with intervals at end)

It's been a rough two weeks for running. Either I didn't have the time or I just didn't have the motivation to go out and run. There was also the whole losing strength issue that I had, so I was pretty focused on making sure I got enough calories and rest to ensure my muscles would rebuild. When I did finally go running, I wound up with some heavily-cologned guy "walking" next to me. The cologne was so strong, I nearly had an asthmatic attack. Even though he left before I finished, I had a slight wheeze by then. This coupled with an already hard run (first time since two weeks), destroyed my hopes for that workout. I was very annoyed when I left the gym that day. Almost enough to write a post about do's and don'ts of working out at a gym.

Not sure if I mentioned it before, but I've been pretty bummed about this winter. Usually, I'm pretty psyched about skiing and stuff, but I'm more excited about the warmer weather so I can run (outdoors), bike, and hike again. The good thing is that it's nearly mid-February. So, I'm going to start tackling my runs so I can get back into the swing of things by spring.

Last weigh-in:
174.5 lb

Even more moving...

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:16:00 +0000

So there was even more moving last week. Pretty crazy. Here's the breakdown:

Sunday: Help move
Monday: Workout A
Tuesday: Run - 2.0 miles @ 2% incline (started at 9:13 pace, increased 0.1 mph every 0.5 mile); finish with intervals @ 2% incline (7:03 pace - 1:15, 1:30, 2:15)
Wednesday: Workout B
Thursday: None
Friday: Ski
Saturday: Help move

With all the moving, it was all I could do just to make sure I rest enough. Then to top it off, I had my first ski trip of the season. Drove 3+ hrs to Wildcat Mountain in NH. Long drive, but the slopes and the $9 lift ticket was worth it. We didn't ski that long, maybe 4 hours, but I still noticed a difference in my conditioning. I wasn't tiring that fast and I lasted longer in terms of legs than last season. So, I'm liking the results of my training.

Lately, I've been tired, so I haven't been able to get more than one full-body workout in. Usually it's either my shoulders and then Workout B or Workout C during the week. Then I'm lucky if I get two cardio sessions in. Last week, I purposely left out leg workouts and one cardio session because of skiing and all the moving (lotta stairs). I think that helped, but the combination of moving and waking up early for skiing wiped me out for the weekend. I'm still somewhat trying to rest up.

On another note, I think I need to up my eating. Last week, I felt weaker than normal. At my lowest I weighed 172.0, a full 1.5 pounds than last week's weigh-in. Again, it's coming down to whether I want to add muscle, maintain where I am, or cut some fat. The problem is that I am trying to increase strength while trying to get back to 5K running form--two conflicting goals. It's not impossible, just very hard to gain muscle and lost fat at the same time. The good thing is that I'm not in a rush nor do I really place that much emphasis on how I look. Performance is my goal.

As for my injuries, my wrist is still VERY slow to heal. It usually makes some progress over the Friday/Saturday layoff on weights, but by Sunday, it's usually shoulders day and the stress begins anew. Range of motion is slowly returning and I can perform biceps curls again. The moving didn't really help, but I just have to keep paying attention to it. Ankle seems to be doing better. Sitting in seiza (my favorite quad stretch) isn't as painful anymore. I'm trying to keep up with stretching everything in general, so things are looking good.

I haven't really been that excited about this winter. Usually, I'm pretty pysched about skiing, but that's somewhat ho-hum for me at the moment. I'm more excited about being able to run outdoors again and to start hiking again. That and biking. I still haven't really tried out my new hybrid tires.

Anyway, this turned out to be a longer post than expected. We'll see how this week feels. I think I'm going to add a mini protein shake to my daily meals and see if that helps with anything.

Last weigh-in:
172.5 lb

Lotta moving...

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:51:00 +0000

Wound up helping move a lot last week. Here's the breakdown:

Sunday: Workout A; help move (lotta stairs)
Monday: Rest - legs tired
Tuesday: Workout C
Wednesday: Run - 2.0 miles @ 2% incline (started at 9:13 pace, increased 0.1 mph every 0.5 mile), finished with intervals at 7:03 pace (1:00, 1:00, 3:00 @ increasing incline)
Thursday: Rest - wrist aches, sore body
Friday: Move stuff
Saturday: Rest

To try to jumpstart my running, I've been doing intervals at the end of my runs. It's still pretty tough break the two-mile mark right now. Lack of consistency and lack of motivation. The intervals help to break the monotony, while still killing my legs. With all the moving last week, I had to be a bit attentive to my rest periods to make sure I don't overwork my body. Had some wrist aches last week from a combination of an intense Workout C and moving. I'm still pestered by a partially healed right wrist and left ankle. Really stinks. Hope that changes soon.

Last weigh-in:
173.5 lb

First week in 2010

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:48:00 +0000

Well, last week was my first full week in the new year, and I've made a change already. But before I get into it, the breakdown:

Sunday: Workout A
Monday: None

Tuesday: Pushups, rows, ab work, dips

Wednesday: None

Thursday: planks, Workout B

Friday: None
Saturday: Run - 2.0 miles @ 2% incline (9:13 pace); 3x intervals at 7:03 pace (1:00, 1:00, 2:00)

The weight regimen seems to be doing well for me, so no changes there. But if you look at my one run last week, you'll notice that I am adding some intervals at the end of my longer run to try to boost my progress. It's been a tough road building back up to 5K at near racing speed; most I've gotten was 2.0 miles. So far it seems like it's working - my run this week felt easier. What's for sure is that I am soaked by the end of my running workouts. We'll see how it goes. I'm pretty busy this week, so it's been tough to get my workouts in.

Last weigh-in:
173.5 lb

Weight is creeping up...

noreply@blogger.com (truparad0x) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:24:00 +0000

I put in a decent week last week, but I'm noticing that my weight is creeping up. I did have the opportunity to check my body fat at my cousin's gym. 14.2%. It's okay. I knew it went back up, but it's still not good knowing for sure. Here's my breakdown:

Sunday: Workout A
Monday: Run - 2.0 miles @ 9:13 pace
Tuesday: Workout B
Wednesday: None
Thursday: Workout C
Friday: None
Saturday: Run - 1.5 miles @ 9:13 pace, two easy intervals @ 7:03 pace

I did pretty well, considering it was New Year's and my other cousin came up to visit. Usually, it's just eating and drinking, but we managed to hit the gym a couple times. My running is still horrible. I need more motivation to get me to run through my pain; I'm giving up too fast. It's a new year, so I gotta gather my focus and fit in some training if I want to make my goals this year. Oy...

Last weigh-in:
174.0 lb