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.

Four-mile run with Wes

Today, Wes and I went to the Ogden River Parkway for a run. I wanted to test my knee and see where I stand in the pain department. I've been using the foam roller on my IT band for two days now, so I'm not sure that will make any huge difference yet. We ran into Jessica in the parking lot before we got started. She just finished a 9-mile run, which is pretty impressive in my book.

Wes taking a Gu Shot before our run.

The run was tougher than expected in the cardio department. Running is completely different from swimming when it comes to fitness level. Swimming for almost four and a half hours last week still doesn't make me breathe as hard as I did today when I was running. My knee, to my surprise felt fine for the most part. I started feeling the usual discomfort and then pain by about 3.5 miles, so I didn't go for too long after that. Shockingly, I finished in 38:40, just a few minutes behind Wes. I don't think I've ever ran four miles that fast before. Maybe that's why I felt so winded. Perhaps I took it out a little too hard and need to slow down a bit.

It's still hard to say how much my knee can take. I certainly am not capable of running a half marathon on it right now, but I have two solid weeks to work at it before the Huntsville Half Marathon registration deadline passes.

Total distance: 4 miles running.