Blogs : Beth Lutz

Days of our Lives

Wednesday, March 19^th

Elliptical: 90 minutes YMCA, 5 resistance for the workout, 4 for easy (10 warm up, 65@190rpm, 15 cool down)

This workout, while a good one, didn’t feel all that difficult while I was doing it. That being said, when I got off the elliptical my legs were a little shaky, and by the time I finished doing core and weights and was walking down the stairs from the weightroom, well, they were tiiiiired. By the end of the day, if I sat down for any extended period of time, getting up again was a challenge.

But that’s good. It means I’m getting work in that is making me stronger. The thing about the elliptical is that in order to increase the difficulty you have to increase the resistance. And increasing the resistance increases the damage to your muscles. Ah well.

There was a soap opera on the tv closest to me, so I got sucked into “Days of our Lives”. The other tv competition was baseball (middle) and CNN (far), so pickings were slim. In the episode, “Bo” was in really poor health for some reason I never figured out, but he was comatose for the entire episode. Everyone still kept on talking to him like he was there, so it took me a while to figure this out. Anyways, his daughter was giving up part of her pancreas to help him get better, a “potentially life threatening” procedure. This was only brought up, oh, five billion times during the episode. First the doctor, then her step mom (I think, I wasn’t sure of the relation), then her boyfriend tried to talk her out of it. She still went through with it, though. I was placing bets on who would survive and who wouldn’t, but it turns out everyone lives. The funny part in this whole saga was when I got home and was talking to my Mom and found out that she knew all the back stories and was falling this plot line with interest.

I’ve discovered the YMCA’s weightroom is, to put it bluntly, sucky. It doesn’t have a 4-way hip flexor machine, which comprises about half of the lifts that I do. I'm going to have to look up some replacements those exercises, but I can't think of any off the top of my head. I’ll be glad when the McPhee weightroom is open again. And the Y's leg curl machine requires you to grip on with your hands for dear life lest you fall off. It’s not my favorite place to be, but I don’t want to lose the strength gains I’ve made, so I’m making do.

The workout was a good one. That’s the longest I’ve gone on the elliptical, and also the longest that I’ve gone at my “long threshold” pace.

Thursday, March 20^th

Swim: 30 minutes (5 steady, 3x30-45-60-75-90 hard w/ 30 sec easy)

I was kicked out of the Y's pool for the first time ever by a self-righteous swimmer who informed me “there are people waiting to lap swim, so if you’re not going to swim you should get out”. Of course what he really meant was “I don’t like sharing a lane and want my want my own so leave.” Most of the swimmers are either working really hard themselves or are very nice, accommodating people, but sometimes you get bad apples. I didn’t bother to argue with the guy because technically it was lap swim and (the main reason) I had gotten out of the workout what I wanted to (quick turnover).  It still made me mad. The hardest part about cross-training is it’s so doggone frustrating. Running is as simple as getting out the door. Cross-training is figuring out schedules and planning around open hours and all that adds up to INCONVENIENCE. Aargh. Sometimes I just want to give it all up, but somehow I find the second (and third and fourth and twenty-ninth) boost to keep on going.

I was still mad after I had changed, so I went and shot some free throws in the gym. It’s a very relaxing activity that requires almost no thinking . I hit 43 out of 50 and made my last 20. Hee, hee. I played basketball all throughout high school. I wasn't the greatest player, but when I was on I could definitely hit my free throws. My all-time record was 97 out of 100. That was a good day.

Run: 30 minute; 3.61 miles (3x2 walk, 8 run)

This felt good. I got up to 8.4 mph on the treadmill (although thinking back now I might have forgotten to set the incline, but still) for the last eight minute segment and my breathing never got hard. I checked my heart rate a little after I finished and it was around 130. Not bad. My right shoulder really was hurting during the last part of the run, but I was able to relax it out somewhat. That’s going to be my biggest challenge coming back. I’m confident I have a decent aerobic base to build off, but I need my body to hold up and make it a pleasant transition.

Still, my stride was smooth and my rhythm felt good. I’m getting the hang of this running thing already.