Back at the gym...
Took a 2 month "bridge" from the gym January/February because I was in hospital and then I couldn't get myself there and my two bad legs were kind of non-conducive to exercise.
Friday was the first day of the new month. Time to see if I can still swim. hadn't gained back any of the weight I lost in the last 12 months (25lb) but lost a lot of strength and who knows with the stamina.....
Thought about having beest drop me off and then walking home afterwards, but it's a long walk and the weather was not nice. Was working up the courage to drive there (beest had the van because he was on taxi duty after school, so would have to be the Fit -a stick....)....... Thor called from school. After working hard all week and getting a star on his work for the first time. he had left his prized piece of work at home and couldn't "check out". Any other time I'd've said "tough break dude" But he'd had a shitty week with his hockey coach and worked so hard....... GULP. Long story short... I did it. 10 miles across town. Then -after many tears and stuff- I drove to the gym.
THE FUCKING POOL WAS CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE. Cried. then did a small upper body work out and hit the hot tub. At least I had driven. A lot.
Swam a half mile on Monday. and on Tuesday.
and a mile today
:D :D :D
followed by a timed 400....
.....because I have a goal:
http://epicraces.com/?event=sky-triYou're putting me to shame! I need to get back into my swim, apple routine ...
WTG Monstah!
You go, monster! What an inspiration.
Good stuff monster. :) You must be feeling empowered now?
Nothing in the world can take place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
You are the persistence monster.
HOT TUB!
Sometimes it make me break out in a cold sweat!
One two three four!
Hot tub! Ha! Da!
Ah-full of water!
I say hot tub! Ha!
Day! Ba! Very, very hot... Very hot! Da!
Hot tub! Gonna get ya hot-a!
Gonna make ya sweat! Hey! Say!
Hot tub! Rub a dub in the hot tub!
Rub a dub with me!
Should I get in the hot tub?
(Yeah!)
Will it make me sweat?
(Yeah!)
Should I get in the hot tub?
(Yeah!)
Will it make me wet?
(Yeah!)
Well, well, well...
Hot tub! Ah!
Get in!
Gonna get in the water!
Gonna make me sweat! Ah!
Here I go in the hot tub!
HHHHIIIGGGHH!
Too hot in the hot tub! Ma!
Burn myself!
Make it cooler!
Good God!
Gonna make me...
I'm gonna get in the hot tub...
I'm gonna get in the hot tub...
I'm gonna get in the hot tub...
Ha! Lilin! Lidilin! Eh!
A gonna make me sweat-ah!
Dah! Gonna make me sweat!
Gonna make me sweat-ah!
Dah! Gonna get me in the hot tub!
I can't stand it!
Here I go! I can't stand it!
Here I go in the hot tub!
Gonna get in the hot tub!
Gonna get it wet-ah!
Good God!
HHHIIIIGGHHH! Ha!
Good God!
Rub a dub!
In the hot tub!
Rub a dub with me!
Good God!
Rub a dub in the hot tub!
Gonna set me free!
[VIMEO]1061813[/VIMEO]
Must feel fabulous good for you! :)
Swam a half mile on Monday. and on Tuesday.
and a mile today
:D :D :D
followed by a timed 400....
I honestly don't think I would be able to do any of that, and I'm stroke free. I think the farthest I ever swam is about a quarter mile.
yebbut you could probably run further than me :D
You are the persistence monster.
Nothing in the world can take place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
thanks especially for that :)
Today's Monster totem is...the envelope please...
The Wolverine!
The wolverine has a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to its size, with the documented ability to kill prey many times larger than itself...the wolverine has been recorded killing prey such as adult deer...An account placed a polar bear of unknown age and weight together with a similar wolverine where the smaller, tenacious predator came out the victor.
Fitting, since she lives in ann arbor!
She is teh awesome, isn't she? :)
She is [FONT="Arial Black"][SIZE="7"][COLOR="Indigo"]The Wolverine![/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
Har! they just kicked me out before I made it to the hot tub. :( But my first timed 400 was under 10 minutes (I fumbled the stop watch, but when I finally stopped it it was only at 9:54). and the second was 10:35.88. They followed a 24 length warm up and some light weight training plus my core strength/abs PT exercises.
What? Kicked you out?
"Don't make me go all wolverine on your ass, now get out of my way and let me into the hot tub."
I don't know what those times mean I only know they are a hell of a lot faster than anything I could do.
yeah, they wanted to close up and go home or something silly like that.....
Hiya monster. I was thinking about you tonight, and this thread in particular.
I would like to present myself as a candidate for membership in the mile swim club.
Twil and I went to the YMCA tonight; she worked out on land, I swam. I hopped into the pool and was pleased to learn that I hadn't forgotten how to swim, though after the first two hundred yards I thought I'd forgotten how to breathe. I've always started out "too fast" and then slowed way down, only to settle into a somewhat smoother groove eventually. I decided to swim sets of hundreds, and after the first six, I gave myself a well deserved break. I told the lifeguard that when he checked for signs of life. As did the fellow in lane six. The nice young guy in lane four said "I knew you were ok, I saw you breathing". Thanks man.
I checked my heart rate and it was in the mid 140s, puh-lenty fast for a recently undessicated fossil like myself. I thought, I'll do three sets of six hundreds, that's a mile plus a little tip. First set, rough. Second set, I set a cadence for my breathing with a mental chant of "this is eight, this is eight, this is eight", then, "this is nine, this is nine, this is nine". I had a good view of the digital clock at the opposite end of the pool and I was working on a three minute sets, turning in split times from 1:43 to 1:50. Open turns cost me a second or two apiece I learned, and my backstroke is considerably slower than my freestyle. Let's not talk about the two frog kicks I managed before the grinding in my right knee signaled the end of my breaststroking days (sadface).
I would like to present myself for membership in the mile swim club... but I can't. Because it turns out the Y closes at 10:00, but the pool closes at 9:00 pm. Aaand... I only got in the first two sets of six one hundred yard swims. The nice lifeguard gal did let me swim to the opposite end of the pool to get out, so my last 25 yards were butterfly (well, soggy moth maybe) and I got out and soaked in the hot tub for ten minutes.
But next time, I promise.
eta: According to the WebMD exercise calculator, I burned about 950 calories in the process! WOOT!
This week I tackled the run (three miles). Indoor track because I didn't know if I actually could still run, and picking up my weak foot is still an issue, so the dangers of obstacles and ending up too far from my car dictated I start indoors on the horizontal hamster wheel.
On Tuesday i walked two fast miles then ran a third. on Thursday I did similar. Yesterday (Friday) I walked one to warm up andthen ran three without stopping. they took me 39 minutes. I've looked up sprint/mini-tri times and that doesn't actually seem too bad, although mine were indoors and not after the bikw ride.... but it's a start. Swam a few more 400s too, and joined and quickly left my old zumba class, but stuck it out through a strength and stretch class....
I pity the obstacles that dare confront Monster. :haha:
You're doing real well, keep going, don't be disappointed by minor setbacks, you're a winner.
I'm constantly amazed at what you do
wow, thanks guys *blush* I'm not really improving my weakness, though, or my sciatica :( But it's not getting worse either.....
...and now I have a bad thumb. got it x-rayed this week. waiting for results :( but i don't need it to do cardio. Stupid thing. I'm falling apart!
Swam today. A mile -inluding a warm up, two "sprint" 400s and a cool down. Both 400s were around 10 minutes, the second one was faster.
I have to register for the Tri this weekif i'mm'a do it. I found out it's the same weekend polo girl's team are at a tourney in Chicago :(
None of that matters, you're moving, moving without collapsing. The performance will improve in time, not as fast as you want I'll bet. But as long as you're moving it won't get worse, and eventually get better.
You'll be biting peoples heads off before you know it. :haha:
OMG! Ran three miles in 35m46s!!!! less than 12 minutes/mile. i was aiming/hoping for 39 again. :D
ooooooooooooooooooh yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah.
9:50.13 on the swim. :D
I started with 10 minutes left before guard break and he was hovering at the end of my lane. maybe I should employ him to come and hover during the tri?
I don't know if you'll get all the way back, Monster. Life isn't perfect.
But I can see that you will be the best Monster you can be.
all the way back? physically, you mean? No, not completely. The vision thing is for life, I just have to learn to live with it. the weakness should be completely recoverable, it's muscle memory type thing, plus some damage for compensating for the sciatic issues on the other side which were worsened by ciompensating for the stroke weakness..... :lol: So, long time coming. the physical strength is still there (all docs and PTs comment on how ripped I am ;) ) the hardest thing with the weakness/sciatica is leaning to balance them while strengthening them. Swimming running and biking are all good for that. I may even force myself to a y---a class. no it's no good, still can't even type it. :lol:
You go, monster! What an inspiration.
I know this is your thread, I'm just slipstreaming here, being pulled along by your inspiring efforts. It's true.
I also like being able to understand swim lingo, and posting stuff that is understood (well... I guy can dream, can't he?) Anyhow, you *are* an inspiration to me and I thank you for that. Your progress is impressive.
Back to slipstreaming... I went to the Y and swam the other night and I thought of you as I was slogging through the water. I did four sets of four hundreds on a 2:30 basis, with an extra minute or so between the sets. That's 1600 yards, then for the last two hundred, I did four fifties on a minute and a half. The hundreds ranged from 1:43 at the start to 1:58 at the end. I was very tired plus, no goggles meant that I missed several turns. Some of them I flipped and missed the wall entirely... floooaaaated back touched with my toes and then chug chug chug back down the pool. I'll remember the goggles next time.
I finished the whole mile (1800 yard) workout in under fifty minutes!! 49:52!
Afterward, I did some walking and swimming against the current in the other pool, then the hot tub, then the sauna (wooo that was hot) then the steam room. Holymoly. Some punk kept pouring cool water on the sensor in the steam room and triggering a full steam ahead response by the steam generator. Woah, I could only take about five minutes in there. I crawled out, took a cold shower and poured myself into the car. Cardio Trainer says 1097 calories burned by the workout. I felt every one of them that night.
Keep up the good work MONSTER!
Walked a mile to warm up, then ran three and shaved another 10 seconds off my personal best, then walked a mile cool down, then hit the pool -5 lap (10 length) warm up, sprint 400 (under 10 minutes) and 5 lap cool down. then when i got home (after climbing a ladder to get the icile lights off the garage roof), i went out on my bike :D I am NOT going to be able to move tomorrow
Biked 14.4 miles on Saturday :D
Took 24 seconds off run AND 8 seconds off swim today :D :D
and another 21 seconds off run
another 68 seconds off the run :eek: (I needed to bike today but the weather was cold and windy and it was beest's birthday, so i went for the run. the gym was about to close so i had to be quick :lol:
8 days to go. It's snowing :( had my beginners tri "class" today. She was all "well this is the first time we've tried this event and it's not usually this cold at this time of year.... so ignore this bit of the presentation about what to wear and just throw in your entire closet....." it's snowing and windy and I'm supposed to bike 12 miles in a wet swimsuit (not a wetsuit) :eek: And I've been to the gym precisely once this week, can't go today because on top of hector's birthday (planned) we have a "surprise polo tournament " a mere hour's drive away in Birmingham. So now only one instead of three people are available for party prep/bulldozing. And I'm spposed to be on taper but I really feel the need to get one more long/fast bike ride in to be sure I can do it. preferably with a quick run after.
Wibble.
fuck the taper.
just swam the 400 in 9:39.44 and my cap came off and i had to toss it on the deck nd carry on without (good dress rehearsal, right?)
I need to sleep tonight, these early mornings are killing me.
(that's another 3.5 second drop)