Trying to get into the groove

“My wife was afraid of the dark... then she saw me naked and now she's afraid of the light.” -- Rodney Dangerfield

Well thank the Lords of Kobol* I did something today. (*Yes, I'm a Battlestar Galactica new series fan.) I did the bike trainer this morning and lifted some weights this evening.

As I'd said before in my last post, I need to be better organized at keeping track of my workouts this season. In previous years at the gym, I kept track on how hard, how fast and how long my sessions were, like on the treadmill. Then I'd just play the "top that workout" game on my next session where I would take it ever so slightly up a notch. And so on. That I enjoyed.

But this year, I don't know. I just don't feel like writing anything down. At least until tonight. And it's because I feel I'm lacking in tools to measure my performances. My cyclometer is a bit flaky; my swimming is...well...I just swim; and my running...frankly, I'm at a loss on how to accurately gauge my outdoor runs. It was soooo much easier at the gym with the machines; just press level 1 the first week, then level 2 the second week, etc; or enter 6.0 mph on the treadmill one day, then 6.1 mph the next day, etc. Nice small incremental improvements. But outdoors, how do you increase your running by 0.1 mph? This, I must figure out and get used to.

A different year, a different environment. A gym rat no more am I.

* * *

Workout--Thursday, 4/14/06:
Bike Trainer: 60 minutes, 12.70 miles
25 min: Warmup
23 min: Hill Intervals--

4:08 min, HARD (standing on highest gears,
pedal cadence to Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield)
3:26 min, Easy (recovery, sitting on lowest gears,
recovery to Love, love, love by Tristan Prettyman)
2:36 min, HARD (standing..., Unwritten...)
3:26 min, Easy (recovery...)
2:36 min, HARD (standing..., Unwritten...)
3:26 min, Easy (recovery...)
3:06 min, HARD (standing, cadence to Good Times by Tommy Lee)

12 min: Cooldown

Weights (my first day):
Bench Press: 45 lbs (bar only), 25 reps x 10 sets
Shoulder Side Raises: 13 lbs, 10 reps x 5 sets
Situps: 15 reps x 5 sets