The Neverending Bike Rack Story

So I picked up the hitch that we ordered for the Pilot this morning. Odd thing though...it helps when you have the hardware that you use to attach it to the car. Apparently, Advance Auto Store decided that we could just hang it with Duck Tape or twist ties maybe. Anyway, I had to re-order the hitch (and the appropriate hardware), which should be here tomorrow. I'll pick it up and then get it installed on Friday hopefully...what a pain in the butt!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!! I've come to the conclusion that there are like 6 smart people in the world and two of them live in my house :)

In terms of exercise, I had a much better day. Walked 3 miles, lifted (arms/chest), and then mowed grass. So lots of good cardio.

I also picked up my new sunglasses from the eye doctor today. Wow....they are sweet!!! I'm very happy with them. They should hopefully keep all those bugs out of my eyes while cycling (maybe they could make something so you don't swallow bugs...that would be a big seller)

Weight: 175.6lbs
Exercise: Walking 3 miles, lifting
Weather: Sunny, very warm 88 degrees

We wear short shorts...

So today was leg day at the gym. I did all kinds of great things...

1. Leg Press
2. Seated Calf Raise
3. Standing Calf Raise
4. Lever Leg Extension
5. Lever Lying Leg Curl
6. Lever Back Extension
7. Deadlift

I ended up with 30 minutes of cardio on the bike. I'm a little sore, but nothing overwhelming. I didn't get that cool stretch though as the trainer suggested we wait until Thursday for that. Tomorrow is back to arms/chest and my bike ride (I'll also be mowing grass tomorrow). Man I can't wait until I can run again.

The only real downside to the gym is I can't ride my own bike for the cardio (I have to use their stationary bike) and the gym itself is not air-conditioned. So it gets a little hot (and a little stinky). Otherwise, I really like it.

BTW, I had another person suggest Lynyrd Skynyrd for training music, so I guess I'll download some songs from them as well.

Weight: 176lbs
Exercise: Cycling 8 miles, Lifting
Weather: Sunny, warm 85 degrees

Come on baby light my fire...

So a frequent reader suggested the following training music (some of which I already have). I have some downloading to do as the 8-tracks that these originally came on don't transfer well. Sorry Joe ;)

Photograph - A Flock of Seagulls

Shooting Shark - Blue Oyster Cult

The Voice - Moody Blues

Drive - The Cars

Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen

Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Herum

Kasmir - Led Zepplin

Wheel in the Sky - Journey

Only Time Will Tell - Asia

Freebird - Lenyrd Sknyrd

Livin on a Prayer - Bon Jovi

Final Countdown - Europe

Silent Running - Mike and the Mechanics

Heat of the Moment - Asia

I Want to Know What Love Is - Foreigner

Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore - REO Speedwagon

New Years Day - U2

We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions - Queen

Light My Fire - The Doors

While I get to downloading, I'll give you a quick update. Steph and I walked 3 miles this morning at the track. I really wanted to run....I found myself having to keep from taking off. I think I actually walked faster today than I've ever walked 3 miles before...man I wanted to run. But, as my good wife advises, I have to let my leg heal all the way up...patience is the key. So I'll continue to walk/cycle for little while longer.

I also lifted today. If you're interested, below is the arms/chest workout I do MWF:

1. Dumbbell Flies
2. Dumbbell Press
3. Dumbbell Hammer Curls
4. Dumbbell Bent Over Row
5. Dumbbell Front Raise
6. Dumbbell Lateral Raise
7. Triceps Dip

I also throw in about 40 push-ups daily. I haven't started my ab stuff yet...have I mentioned I hate ab work?

Tomorrow, I'll lay out the lower body workout I do on Tuesday and Thursday.

Weight: 176.6lbs
Exercise: Walking 3 miles
Weather: Warm, overcast, 83 degrees

Preparing for the 40 miler

In preparation for the 40-mile bike trip we have scheduled next weekend, Steph and I decided to take a bit of a longer ride today. We went about 17 miles and felt pretty good. Our butts weren't too sore :) I guess that means we can at least make it to Morgantown which is 20 miles from our starting point. I also got up early and walked an additional 3 miles before the bike ride.

The rest of our day will be spent doing household chores and then, hopefully, napping ;)

Weight: 175.8lbs
Exercise: Walking 3 miles, Cycling 17 miles
Weather: Sunny, warm, 88 degrees

Boring Saturday

Didn't do much exciting today. Steph and I ran errands all morning and then went for a walk at the track this afternoon. That's about it. Not much to report otherwise. Oh wait, I found some great new workout music: My Chemical Romance (MCR). If you're looking for something to keep you going, MCR works. A little emo, but nonetheless pretty good.

Weight: 177lbs
Exercise: Walking 3 miles
Weather: Warm, humid, 85 degrees

Boil, boil, toil, and trouble.....

Well, the Dr. says I am having really bad allergies. So he gave me a bunch of medicine and sent me on my way. While I was there, I asked him to take a look at my leg. He did an X-ray and didn't find any evidence of a stress fracture, so it looks like I'm on the mend. He gave me a referral to some local physical therapy folks who are runners and advised me that I should get in touch with them to get some advice on avoiding future injury.

While I was out, I ordered a receiver hitch for Steph's car which a local mechanic is going to install for me. We originally had asked the dealer to price out installing a hitch and he quoted us like $1000.00. Buying it on our own and getting a guy to install it is going to cost $300. Much more reasonable. So, we're going back to the original idea to haul the bikes around. I went by our local bike shop and placed the order for the rack. Next Wednesday I'll get it installed. Glad that's over :)

Finally, I went to my personal trainer again today. We went through my initial exercises and then she did some great stretching thing to my legs that was really cool. Felt really good. Anyway, I'll be back in the gym with her on Tuesday.

After the visit today with the trainer, Steph and I biked to Prickett's Fort and watched the local Fairmont Community Band perform the first of their summer concert series. Once that was over we biked back home.

Busy day, but lots of fun.

Weight: 176lbs
Exercise: Walking 1 mile, Cycling 5 miles, Lifting
Weather: Warm and humid, 85 degrees, sunny

Personal Trainer

So today is a rest day. I usually exercise 6 days week and rest on the 7th. Typically, I take my rest day on Thursday. I don't really know why it's Thursday, just kind of worked out that way.

More importantly, however, I went to my first appointment with the personal trainer. It was pretty standard I think. I had a PT test to ascertain my current fitness level. I did pretty well. Above average on situps (51 in a minute), excellent on pushups (32, untimed), and above average on cardio (step exercise as I decided not to run because of my leg). Where I really stunk is flexibility. I must be the stiffest guy around. OK, that's not exactly what I mean....uhmm, my body is really inflexible...much better. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with my assessment.

I have around 18-19% body fat. Which, for my age, is normal. Because of that, I will no longer be concentrating on losing weight but losing body fat. I think I'd like to get to around 10% or so. That way, I'll be pretty cut.

Tomorrow is my first actual workout with the trainer. She's also going to set me up with a diet that will match my desire to put on some mass and condition my body for the marathon. All in all, it was great to actually talk to someone who knows what they're talking about when it comes to fitness and nutrition. I'm pretty excited.

On a slightly different note, I think I have a sinus infection. My snot is yellow....yuck!!!! I'm headed to the doctor tomorrow to get the official diagnosis.

Anyway, here's to more formality in my exercise!!

One more thing: I NEED WORKOUT MUSIC!!!!!!!

Weight: 177lbs
Exercise: None, rest day
Weather: 85 degress, sunny, beautiful

What a day!!!

So today started out as a normal Wednesday for me (sleep late, goof off, watch tv, etc.). But, I had a few errands to run. First, I dropped by the eye doctor to get some new sunglasses. It sucks to cycle with crappy sunglasses because all the little bugs end up getting in your eyes. So, I got those ordered. Then I had an appointment to get my tires replaced on the Accord. Did that, but I decided that while the tires were being put on, I'd take a walk.

I walked to East-West Stadium in Fairmont. What a cool place!!! I had no idea that Fairmont contained this little gem. It has a rubberized track, a huge football/soccer field, and regular bleachers. In addition, it's open 24 hours a day. That means I can run any time I want on that cool track....bye bye stress fractures (at least until I get bored of running on a track).



Today I also went all out on my exercise. Walked, biked, lifted, then mowed grass. Whew!!

I also learned a funny thing about my watch that I've been harping about recently. You need to press the start/stop button for it to work. Ooops. Thought I had pressed it, but nope. Oh well. No record of today's workout.

Tomorrow, I go to my first appointment with a physical trainer. WVU has a great little program that provides free physical training. They do all kinds of assessments on you and help you move to the next level with your regimen. I'll let you know how that goes.

Weight: 176.4lbs
Exercise: Walking 3 miles, Cycling 12 miles, Lifting
Weather: 82 degrees, sunny, beautiful

Fairmont Rotary Club Rail Trail Ride

Steph and I, as well as some of our friends, will be riding in The Fairmont Rotary Club Rail Trail Ride For Scholarship on June 2, 2007. It starts at 10:00am at Prickett's Fort State Park. It's a non-competitive 40-mile trip from Prickett's Fort to Morgantown and then back. I hope my butt can stand 40 miles :)

Apparently if we complete the ride, we get a water bottle, free lunch from Subway, and entertainment before and after the event.

If anyone would like to join us, please let me know.

In other news, my bike ride went well today...I did 12 miles in about 40 minutes. My heart rate stayed in the high range. For a 33 year old guy who is active, my max heart rate is about 188. I stayed around 145-150 almost the entire time which puts me in the "vigorous" range. That's my normal exertion for my daily cycling, so I feel I can probably bump it up some (but not too much). I have to say it again...that heart monitor watch rocks!!!!!

Weight: 177.6lbs
Exercise: Cycling 12 miles
Weather: 84 degrees, very sunny

I need new workout music!!!!

So today was a walking day. This is the first day that I've walked since my injury. It went well. I can tell my stress fracture is still there, but it seems to be healing well. I made sure to stay in the grass as much as I could in order to make sure that the additional stress of walking was softened as much as possible. It was a beautiful day as well so that helped. The heart monitor watch worked perfectly. It was kind of weird though because you can hear the signal from the chest strap in my iPod headphones. So, not only is my workout being stored in my watch, but it also make a noise in my headphones so I can hear my heart beat. The nice thing is that I can turn up the music and drown out the noise.

I also did my strength training today. I have a MWF plan that pretty much works my arms and chest. I have to start on Ab work...ughhh.....I'm not looking forward to that. I hate Ab work. Once, my leg heals up, I'll be doing lunges and calf work but I don't want to aggravate the injury. Anyway, my lifting went off without a hitch.

Steph and I have been evaluating getting a bike rack for her Pilot. Man, what a hassle. I think we have finally decided on a rack-mounted system that attaches to the roof of her car. We want to take our bikes to the beach...who knew it would be such a problem?!?

OK, so lastly I have to make a comment about how much it sucks not to have good workout music....I've gone through my entire collection. So, if you have any music you'd like to recommend or let me use, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know!!!!!

See ya!!

Weight: 176.8lbs
Exercise: Walking 3 miles
Weather: Sunny, 70 degrees

First Post

Well today I'm starting my running diary (or blog if you'd like). My purpose I guess is to keep track of my progress towards the November 10, 2007 running of the SunTrust Richmond Marathon. This is my first marathon, and in fact will be my first competitive race of any kind. So, I'm a little nervous and I guess intimidated by the fact that this is my first race and, on top of that, it's 26.2 miles; however, I'm confident I can complete it.

I bought a book to help me train. It's called The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer and its been pretty helpful thus far. One of the things they recommend is that I keep a running diary of my progress. Hence, this blog. I also just recently bought a heart monitor. It's awesome!!! Steph and I went for a bike ride today to test it out. It keeps track of your heart rate, speed, distance, calories expended, and a crapload of other things (including temperature and altitude). Once you get back home, you can then download all of your information to the computer so you can track your progress...how cool?

As you may know, I'm nursing a stress fracture in my lower left leg. So, until that heals (June 2nd or 3rd), I'll be cycling. So you can expect to hear a lot about bikes until then :)

So, anyway I'll be keeping track of a bunch of things here. If you'd like to to keep up with my progress, please visit often.

Weight: 177.8lbs
Exercise: Cycling 12 miles
Weather: 65 degrees, overcast, some rain.