Swimming and video games

Kelly and I went for a swim today, and we are both on the tail ends of our colds. I did a short run on the treadmill for about 15 minutes before we got in the water and my lungs were already burning a bit. The pool was a little busy, but it cleared out just before we started our sets. Here's what we did.

Call of Duty is such a fun game. I don't know why I've neglected it on my shelf for so long.

Warm up
200 free
Core
500 free
400 free
300 free
200 free
100 free
Cool down
100 breast

We swam a simple ladder set and then Kelly did a 50 butterfly just before we cooled down. After we left, we got some lunch and played video games at my house for about an hour. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 has been sitting on my shelf for some time now, and I've hardly played it. It's pretty fun, so I regret letting it sit there for so long. It needed a little bit of attention and I am happy to give it.

Total distance: 1.5 miles running, 1,800 yards swimming

Sickly swim

I've been battling a bit of a cold that has been going around this past week. I really wanted to work out yesterday, but I was running a fever all day and decided it probably wouldn't be very pleasant if I did. I got plenty of sleep last night, though and I felt much better this morning. Kelly was supposed to meet me for a swim at the Roy Rec Center, but he slept in, also battling that same bloody cold that I have. So I went solo today.

Gyms spread germs, so be sure to wipe the equipment down when you are done.

I rode the bike for about 20 minutes just to get my blood pumping. My cough was starting to act up, so I decided that was a good time to stop and get in the water. I was extra careful to wipe down everything I touched with disinfectant, because I didn't want to spread this shit around. Gyms are common places to catch bugs from other people. The water felt great, though and I really enjoyed the short swim. I only did a handful of sets of 200 yards, doing push-ups and crunches between sets. I got out before there was any discomfort in my shoulder, saving myself for tomorrow. Kelly's going to attempt swimming with me again.

Not a bad little workout, considering I'm still sick.

Total distance: 6.1 miles cycling, 1,000 yards swimming

Bike ride at Ogden River Parkway

Today's workout was a blast. Wes and I took his mountain bikes to the parkway to enjoy more of the trail that we normally don't reach while running. Instead of taking the bikes there, we decided we were close enough to just ride them to the trailhead. It was only about two miles away and downhill the first time around.

You can see my route in better detail if you click on it.

It was a lot of fun to really push myself and still stay focused as to not hit any other bikers or runners on the trail. There are a bunch of windy areas that you have to slow down for if you don't want to wipe out hard. I lost Wes early, but we agreed to meet up at the four-mile mark of the trail. Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to reach it, but he wasn't there when I rolled in. I thought he must have pressed on, so I did too. After a while, though, I realized I would have seen him on his way back at some point, so once I hit the six-mile marker, I turned back. I finally saw him again with about one mile left until the trailhead. He said he looped around the pond at the four-mile marker (six miles overall), which explains why I didn't see him and kept going down the trail.

The two miles uphill on the way back was probably the hardest part. I was seriously feeling it in my lungs and thighs. But we made it no worse for wear. We immediately hopped in the car and drove to Quiznos to get some calories in our system. It was so effing good.

Total distance: 16.1 miles cycling

Short afternoon workout

I kept it simple today. Biked 30 minutes at an intense pace and then followed it up with a quick one-mile run. After that, I did some light lifting, working primarily on my back and shoulders. Didn't want to press myself to hard at the start of the week. Nothing else new to report.

Total distance: 8.8 miles cycling, 1 mile running

Sweaty fat f**k

I hit the Roy Rec Center for a long hike on the treadmill this morning. I set the incline to 7.5 (I think the highest it goes is 11 or 12) and walked at 3.4 miles per hour for a full hour. I gradually increased the incline to 9.0 by the time I was done I was absolutely pouring sweat. Seriously, my shirt was soaked. Those "hikes" feel like they burn more calories than regular runs do. It's kind of gross actually, but oddly, you almost are proud of the sweat while you are in the act of working out. It makes you feel like you are actually doing something good and really pushing yourself. It reminded me of an old episode of Jackass dubbed Sweaty Fat F**ks, where the guys stuffed their oversized clothes with bubble wrap and skateboarded around in them.

My crappy low-resolution camera phone couldn't accurately
capture the vast amounts of sweat I poured into my shirt.

The original Sweaty Fat F**ks. I did my best to imitate them.

After that, I did another full hour of weight training and stretching. I really wanted to work on my upper body, given my recent lack of swimming. It was tough, but I was careful to taper my sets and not overdo it on my shoulders.

Total distance: 3.45 miles running (hiking or whatever)

Swim/treadmill combo

My shoulder has been hurting a little more ever since I started doing push-ups, so I took it back a notch and have focused more on my daily strength exercises. So, today, Kelly and I went for a swim, but didn't do a whole lot. I did a few easy sets in addition to some sprint sets. Before that, I walked on the treadmill at a high incline for about 25 minutes to get my heart going and burn a few extra calories. Not a whole lot to report.

Total distance: 1,000 yards swimming, 1.4 miles on treadmill (up hill)

Reality check in pool

Today was my first day back in the water since Bear Lake and it was not easy. It felt like I took a year off from swimming, rather than three weeks. My stroke was sloppy, I was getting winded on basic sets and overall, I just felt like shit. To be fair, the sets I was doing weren't anything like what I normally do and my upper body was tremendously sore from yesterday's push-ups out at the track with Wes.

My creepy silhouette from inside the sauna.

Kelly was with me, and we did some work with equipment, which I rarely use. We did sets with kick boards, pull buoys and then the full stroke on each different stroke. It felt like I was sprinting throughout the entire workout, which in many ways, I kind of was. It really is a totally different feel than the long distance training I've become accustomed. My shoulder was feeling OK, other than the push-up soreness, until I made one big mistake. On the equipment sets, I did the full pull-only butterfly, which really hurt. My shoulder was in pain the rest of the time after that and I didn't end up doing much more.

We sat in the sauna for a while and stretched a bit and called it a day. After three-straight days of exercise, I'm going to take it easy this weekend and jump back into it on Monday. I'm really trying to mix it up, so my body doesn't continue to break down from doing too much of one thing. I think I was good about that this week, doing one long bike, one run and one swim. Not too bad, but lots of room to improve.

Total distance: A measly 1,400 yards

Cool weather: Perfect day for running

I hit the Roy High track today with Wes, because it was cloudy and cool outside. Perfect day for running. I did an easy 1.5-mile jog before we did some sprint sets. We ran the straightaways, doing push-ups and sit-ups at the end, walking the corners inbetween. I normally only do two of those, but we went a little harder today, doing three full laps of them. In the end, it wasn't a ton of mileage, but it was intense, so I didn't feel like I slacked off much. And on the bright side, for the first time in a while, I was able to do push-ups with very little discomfort and absolutely no pain in my shoulder. Hopefully the rehab is starting to work.

Total distance: 2.25 miles running

Back in the saddle

Wes joined me at the Roy Rec Center today and it was definitely a good one. The treadmill I wanted to use was broken, so I settled for the stationary bike, but I'm glad I did. My body was itching for a good sweat, so I really pushed it, attempting to break my 1-hour record on the bike, which was 17 miles.

I set the resistance one level higher than normal and went for it, and felt great the whole way. I even had a little extra in me once I hit that 17-mile mark, seeing that I still had about 2:30 left on the clock, so I notched it up two more levels to 12 (I think the max is 15) for the remainder, finishing with 17.75 miles before cooling down. A new high!! And it didn't feel particularly hard. I think the Bear Lake swim really helped boost my overall endurance, even though I've pretty much taken the last two weeks off.

I followed it up with some easy weight work, doing my shoulder tendon exercises and some light bicep/tricep sets. Wes and I are gonna go back at it tomorrow and mix it up a little more. We both are still battling that damn IT band. Perhaps I'll build up the guts to get in the water, too.

Total distance: 18 miles cycling

Shoulder rehab

The last week was a crazy one. My mother was hospitalized, so Jen and I were taking care of my 7-year-old nephew, Carter while she was out of commission. Combine that with work and cleaning her house/lawn throughout the week, I didn't manage any exercise and I feel terrible about it. Today, though, I was excited to finally start the exercises my doctor gave me, so I can begin rehabilitating my shoulder. There are all sorts of different ones, mostly involving my own body weight, a resistance band and light dumbbells.

This is one of the exercises I worked on today. This dude is using an apple, but I had a 10-pound dumbbell instead. He looks about as pleased as I was.

I just did those today, and plan on hitting the Roy Rec Center tomorrow. It had been closed for the past two weeks during renovations. My knee is still tender, so I'll probably work on the bike a little and perhaps throw in a light swim. Some weight training is a must, too.