sidebar | life and training 5.23 – 5.29

Well folks, the ‘rona finally squeezed its way into our household. J fell ill on Monday after what we believe to be an exposure last Wednesday. His case was relatively minor, the worst being a slew of fatigue that hasn’t quite subsided still and a 101 fever that popped up for a day and change. He’s been taking it very easy, sleeping plenty, and I’ve supplied lots of soup and tea while also monitoring any inconsistencies in my own energy level. So far, I’ve tested negative for the virus. Hope that continues.

I think too many people underestimate keeping themselves safe with the ‘vid still floating around so prominently. Quite frankly, lots have gotten careless. I was discussing with a friend the increase in Maffetone Method training (which I was trying, and stopped this week) and my theory is that so many are looking at it due to screwing up their heart rates after a bout of ‘vid and a too-fast return to training. Not the case with me, by the way, at least to my knowledge. While J’s mom took it upon herself to wag a virtual finger and tell him not to “run it off,” I don’t think he has any desire to lift a foot higher than he needs to right now. All the better.

Why push oneself when feeling ill? Sure, I’ve been a dumbass and plowed through injury only to make it worse (not for the past couple years. Injury free since 2020!) but I think I’ve learned my lesson on that front. Same goes for when one is under the weather. What are you accomplishing by stressing your body out and prolonging healing time? A heightened ego? Well, step on your ego. Ain’t helping you in the long term.

Obviously, you are the best judge of your own health, just don’t be a biased one. If you’re feeling shitty and your gut tells you to take it easy, listen to it. Instinct is far more powerful than emotion. For myself, a stuffy nose sometimes benefits from some exercise – especially swimming, that clears my sinuses right up – but if my head is swirling and I’m expelling a lung through my mouth, ain’t no way in hell I’m trying. The best I’ll do is a short walk if I’m feeling antsy and energetic enough to get a few steps in. Anything vigorous is off the table.

What boundaries do you set for exercising while unwell? Obviously, the best way to know what’s safe and what isn’t is by speaking to a doctor. Folks on IG, websites (like me here, hello) and such are not reliable sources to turn to to deal with your own health anomalies. Leave that to the pros.

What I’m Up To This Week

Reading…Anxious People by Frederik Backman. So far the story is really piecemeal and babbly, which isn’t unusual for Swedish authors I’ve read in the past, but it has some funny moments and an interesting story progression.

Testing…Poke bowls, a hummus platter, a summery salad, cookies, and a lovely kaleidoscopic cupcake!

Buying…New goodies from Magnolia. For whatever reason I didn’t know they had an online shop, I kind of just figured it was a Target partnership. I took advantage of their Memorial Day sale and grabbed a new colander, this cute little serving board , and a fluted salad bowl.

Avoiding…Another overdraft on my credit card. Whoops.

Trying…An indoor grow light for my herbs. My basil plants don’t seem happy indoors or out, so I bought some artificial lighting in hopes of sprucing them up!

Loving…Watermelon! Tested two recipes with watermelon in the past couple weeks and am quite enjoying nibbling on the leftovers.

Trying…Couch to 5K. Clearly something in my running suffers so why not start from scratch? There’s many variations of the program, but I’m just going to strip it down and follow this one since I theoretically have some aerobic fitness.

A Few Things I’m Digging

Soup…A sick man in the house calls for warming food. Comforting Classic Chickpea Noodle Soup (and it’s omnivorous cousin) are on repeat right now, I’ve enjoyed the leftovers for a few days. This time around I added some plant-based chicken tenders to my batch.

Yogurt…I’m sorry, but I love flavored yogurts even though they’re less healthy and blahblahblah. Dannon Light n’ Fit Greek in Boston Cream Pie is dope. Love it for my nightly yogurt bowls.

Tequila cocktails…Tequila really is my mixing obsession right now. Adoring the Strawberry Paloma Sangria lately since it also involves wine. Can’t go wrong there.

Serve board…The exact board mom got me for Christmas isn’t available anymore, but this one is similar. I love it for styling my summer foods and am trying to brainstorm a good snack board to really use it for its intended purposes.

Game…With not much else to do lately, J and I played a couple rounds of Ticket to Ride over the weekend. A simple game but with a good deal of strategy involved.

Week in Training

Monday, 5.23: 2.77 miles, 12:37 pace/149 bpm + 1 hour back & biceps

Golly, a one bpm drop in my average! Can’t get too excited until an actual trend develops, but I guess its something? Felt pretty crappy to be honest, stuffy and hot and unenthused.

Strength:

• 3 x 8 rotating press 25#
• 3 x 8 underhand row 45#
• 3 x 10 cable hammer curl 41#
• 4 x 10 ea. single arm pulldown 28#
• 3 x 10 double pulse curl 15#
• 3 x 12 reverse fly 25#
• 3 x 10 narrow hammer curl 20#
• 3 x 10 ea. single arm retraction 20#
• 3 x 20 weighted bird dog 20#
• 3 x 10 ea. airplane
• 3 x 20 knee in
• 3 x 15 cable crunch 45#

Tuesday, 5.24: 2.39 miles, 12:34 pace/(WHATDOYOUKNOW) 150bpm + 1 hour shoulders & triceps

Back to the 150 train. Nothing to show for improvement.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 ea. front raise 20#
• 4 x 8 triceps extension 45#
• 4 x 6 ea. seated single arm press 25#
• 3 x 10 chest press 25# SS 10 close chest press
• 3 x 10 ea. single arm press down 15#
• 3 x 12 t raise 15#
• 3 x 10 lying pullover 40#
• 3 x 10 press down 32#
• 3 x 10 kneeling military press 15#
• 5 minute abs

Wednesday, 5.25: 4.4 miles, 12:31 pace/158 bpm + 1 hour legs

Track-style workout today and actually felt like I was going to toss my cookies during the last interval. These were truly full-throttle efforts and while the numbers aren’t that impressive to a seasoned pro, it’s cool to see some improvement. 1 x 800 (3:31/7:05 pace), 2 x 400 (1:42/6:43 pace, 1:38/6:32 pace) with 3 minute rest and 2 minute rests, respectively.

Strength:

• 3 x 12 front squat 60#
• 3 x 15 close-stance leg press SS 10 wide stance leg press 160#
• 3 x 12 ea. kickstand elevated deadlift 60#
• 3 x 10 yogi squat 50#
• 4 x 15 cable pull thru 45/50#
• 4 x 12 sumo deadlift 80#
• 3 x 25 machine calf raise 160#
• 3 x 10 ea. dumbbell around the world 20#
• 5 minute obliques

Thursday, 5.26: 25 minute elliptical/149 bpm + 1 hour back & biceps + 1,300 yard swim (32:36)

About 300 yards of kick drills during the swim so time was much slower than usual, otherwise I felt pretty slug-like anyway. Still good to be in the pool again. Lethargic is a good way to describe me during my workouts in general today, so perhaps just one of those days.

Strength:

• 3 x 9 ea. curl 25#
• 3 x 8 lat pulldown 80#
• 3 x 10 ea. rotating hammer curl 20#
• 4 x 12 kneeling face pull 45#
• 3 x 10 zottman curl 15#
• 3 x 8 ea. single arm bench row 45#
• 3 x 6 lower curl/6 upper curl 20#
• 3 x 10 row 35#
• 3 x 20 plank reach backs
• 3 x 15 decline leg drops
• 1 minute toe taps
• 30 second boat hold

Friday, 5.27: 20 minute elliptical/147 bpm + 58 minute shoulders & tris + 2.41 miles, 12:28 pace/151 bpm

The amount of anger I’ve felt after running lately is unnatural, so I decided after today I’m no longer following Maffetone. It clearly isn’t for me, and I’m not keen on the high level of frustration and sadness the method inspires. After I made that choice, I felt a bit lighter and ready to tackle whatever season of running in which I find myself.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 bench press 35#
• 3 x 12 ea. single arm extension 15#
• 3 x 12 fly 20# SS 12 close grip press
• 3 x 12 shrug 40#
• 4 x 10 ea. single arm pushdown 15#
• 3 x 12 ea single arm bench press 25#
• 4 x 10 bent arm side raise 20#
• 4 x 8 triceps extension 40/35#
• 4 x 8 military press 20#

Saturday, 5.28: 5.23 miles, 11:29 pace + 65 minute legs

4 minute run/1 minute walk. My endurance is destroyed after so long running 45 seconds at a time, but I’m still happy to run the majority of a session and think I’ll stick to the run/walk format for awhile.

Strength:

• 3 x 12 ea. foot elevated lunge 50#
• 3 x 10 deadlift 120#
• 3 x 12 elevated diamond squat 50#
• 3 x 12 narrow leg press SS 10 wide leg press 170#
• 3 x 10 ea. lateral elevated lunge 50#
• 4 x 10 pause plie squat 70#
• 4 x 15 hip thrust 55#
• 3 x 10 ea. single leg DL to calf raise 10# + band
• 4 x 30 OH marches 30#
• 3 x 20 ea. lateral banded extensions
• 3 x 12 ea. weighted banded bird dog 10#

Sunday, 5.29: 3.79 mile walk (58:00)

Total running mileage: 17.19

Total swimming yardage: 2,450