Winter is on the way!

Last night I could already feel the tug to not go for a run this morning. It is getting cold at night now, close to freezing. Yesterday it was extra-cold because of the strong winds, on the order of 30mph. So, I checked the weather forecast and say that it was supposed to slow down to 6mph or less. So, I had no good excuse!

This morning, I tried to dress warmly without overdoing it. I think did pretty well. It was 36F for my run with a wind of about 4.5mph. That may not be much wind, but it's enough to make it feel even colder. I wore a short sleeve dry shirt under a sweat shirt, silk long johns under kind of thin workout pants (not sweats with a fuzzy interior), a reflective vest, a stocking cap, and thin gloves.

I was afraid I'd have problems with my cold-induced asthma. I have some wheezing as I type this, but during the run, I only noticed a tiny bit of squeak. Overall, not bad at all.

I got a bit sweaty, but since it was only a 30 minute run, it wasn't a big deal.

It was a good feeling run. I didn't even have the first mile dread I often have. I took an easy pace and chose a hillier route. There are some pretty decent hills in this area. Nothing San Fransisco like, but if I don't want hills, I have to pick my route carefully.

In 30:22 I covered 2.67 miles. That's a pace of 11:21. I ran to the Podrunner podcast "Definitive" at 154bpm. One of my favorites.

Here's to a great start to the day!!

Feeling strong!

Last night I attended a yoga class of a new yoga instructor at the gym. I was the only one there, so I got a private lesson for $5. I think I'll pay more than she's asking if I go again. That just isn't enough. It was really good and this was the first time in a long time I had a mirror to check my form in.

This morning was 6B4 for me. Next are the last two Stage 6 workouts!! Things went well. I even increased some of the weights. I realized that last time on the 2-pt row, I did both arms at the same time. Oops!

Reverse lunge 1db at shoulder- 4x4@30#total

Db 2-point row - 4x4@45#total (one arm at a time, this time! I run the weight parallel to my body, otherwise the width gets in the way and hits my body... maybe this isn't totally right, but it's the way I do them)

Db push press - 1x4@25#ea then 3x4@30#ea (wow, that's hard!! difficult to stabilize at top)

Back extension - 3x4@45#total

Incline reverse crunch - 3x4@30deg

Am I close to a chin-up yet?

Today was 6A4 of NRoLfW, otherwise known as the "armbuster." Well, I'm the only one calling it that, but it is true! I mean, 15 second rests? Yikes!

I'm getting frustrated with the triceps pushups. They are just soooo much harder than when I let my elbows track outward. They feel so weak compared to all the other powerful stuff I'm doing.

It was a good workout. It took about 34 minutes. I'm wondering when I should attempt a real chin-up. Definitely not today or tomorrow!!

Negative chin-up - 1x25sec@10# then 1x20sec@15# then 1x17sec@20#

Underhand lat pulldown - 2x2@112# then 8x2@105# (yikes!! 15 seconds for resting is nothing!!)

BB split squat - 3x4@80# (for the last set, I didn't get down as far as I would like)

Push-up - 3x4 on the floor with arms in (argh! So frustrating... didn't get as low as I would like and did some dipping to get up a couple times...)

Pi mile run

Yes, I did it. I finally ran in the Pi Mile Run, a 3.1415... mile run, rounded to 3.1 miles (5k). LOL! It's put on by an engineering group that I was a member of back in college. It was a super small race... 12 people. But, because of that, I came in 5th! The 4th place person just beat me. I didn't have the energy left to kick it more at the end. My Garmin read it at 3.25 miles or so. I'm pretty sure that is correct, because they took a longer route on that course than I have in past races held there. It was a friendly race. I finished the course in 33 minutes. Which means I finished 5k in about 31:29. That would be about my best time, I guess! I need to check my Garmin log and see if it agrees.

It was cold and windy. I'm sure that didn't help turnout. Not horrible for a run, though.

Update: I finally took a look at my Garmin output and although it's not 100% on the mark, I don't see any glaring errors in the GPS tracking. So, I hit 3.1 miles at about 31:06. Not bad! Maybe I'll break 30 minutes some day. The race course was about 3.3 miles.

My HRM was losing contact every now and then. (There is no way I was at 130bpm in the middle of the race!!) But, it looks like my heart rate was around 185bpm for the last 9 minutes of the race. Wow! I guess I did push myself and it's no wonder I was only able to muster a short 8min/mile kick at the end!

I think I'll be sore tomorrow!

Today was 6B3 of New Rules. It was tough! I tried to increase all my weights, in the first section, since the set number stayed the same and the reps went down. I kept the weights the same for the second section, since another set was added.

It was a hard workout. My form suffered at points, but not too bad. Sometime during the first section, a slight soreness appeared in my back. It didn't get worse, though, so hopefully it will go away.

Reverse lunge 1db at shoulder - 3x6@30 (form was getting sloppy towards the end, the weight got lower, so I started bending to the side to offset it)

DB 2point row - 1x6@45#ea then 2x3@45#ea and 3@40#ea

DB push press - 2x3@30#ea and 3@25#ea then 1x6@25#ea

Back extension - 3x6@40#

Incline reverse crunch - 3x6@30deg