Blog

Starting slowy

I’m not 100% back, not even 90%, but I’m pretty close and feeling so much better than I have in over a week, really. Yesterday I finally had my first real meal since dinner last Sunday and this morning I got back to the gym and actually did a scheduled training session. I’m not expecting to go to the gym and feel great doing it, I’m just happy to be able to go to the gym and be able to do it. It was a long, crappy week. If I take a week off from training, I’d really like to do it on a week when I can spend a lot of quality time with Elizabeth and Charlie, eat whatever I want and get out and do fun things. This was, in fact, the exact opposite of that kind of week. I slept so much that I got bored of sleeping, my day’s off work actually went by really slowly because I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t eat without worrying what it would do to my digestive track and I had very little energy to spend time doing anything fun or hanging out with Elizabeth or Charlie. Well, I think I’m back. Fingers crossed.

Yesterday was the first morning in a week that I woke up and didn’t feel horrible. I took Charlie on a nice, long walk and then spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon reading the paper and watching football. At around 3, I decided to get on the trainer for a light workout as a test of how I was doing. I spent 45 minutes spinning really easily at a low HR (96-100)/medium-high cadence (85-95RPM). I could tell how dehydrated I still was, but it felt good to get my heart rate up a little and my legs moving. The 45 minutes went by quickly and I decided that I could give today’s training sessions a shot. After my ride, I showered and went up to a bar to meet a couple people to watch a totally, horribly disappointing Chargers’ game. I certainly didn’t drink, but I did have a chicken sandwich and some french fries. That was my stomach’s first real test in a week and it passed. The game was such a waste. So much talent and actually pretty good execution, but they made just too many stupid mistakes and in the playoffs, teams get punished hard for their mistakes. I’m pretty bummed – what a way to cap off my week!

This morning I woke up a little groggy and my stomach wasn’t great. But I’ve decided that I’m just going to have to work through it for now. I’d rather do a 75% workout on a 90% healthy body then try to wait until I’m at 100%. So, I had a little to eat and went to the gym to try my strength testing on squat, bench and pull-down again. I was certainly fresh, having had a week off, but I’m also not in top shape, given my calorie deficiencies this week and my inactivity. I decided to try each exercise a little heavier than last week and see how it went. For the squat, I warmed up with eight reps at 95, then did four tough reps at 175, then waited three or four minutes and did five reps at 165; for the bench, I warmed up with nine reps at 135, then did five reps at 195 (I did a sixth rep, but I had a spotter for the bench press and the guy spotting me helped a fair amount on the sixth rep); and for the pulldown, I warmed up with eight reps at 90, then did six reps at 150. I went as heavy as I could today. I’ll have to ask John if for the other tests this week, he would rather that I get closer to four reps or closer to ten. Today, I obviously tried to go as heavy as possible and still get at least four.

I wrote the above this morning, after getting back from lifting. Over the course of the day, I started feeling better and better. By the time I went to swim at 4PM, I was feeling pretty good. My stomach still wasn’t (isn’t) great. I decided I would just do the best I could and not push it. I did a 10 minute warm-up and then swam 30 minutes continuously. Last week I think I did 1,700. I just wanted to get close to that today. I took it pretty easy, but after about 500 yards I looked at the clock and realized I was on the same pace as last week. I just kept going pretty smoothly and easily. I stopped at 1,700 with about 40 seconds to spare. It was much easier and more comfortable than I thought it would be. I guess I’m getting back. I wouldn’t have been brave enough to run today, but I’ll give it a try tomorrow night, when I’m scheduled to do a quick 20 minutes after a ride.

January 14 – Bike
Time: 45 minutes
Average heart rate: 95

January 15 – Strength Training
Time: 50 minutes

January 15 – Swim
Time: 45 minutes
Distance: 2,400 yards