January 25, 2006

Row for Humanity

Today marks the fourth annual Row for Humanity event at HWS (this photo is from the first annual RFH), and I find it important to note that I have never completed the fundraiser in the proper manner. Freshman year, the event fell on the day after my surgery, so I spent all day watching the ergers rather than joining them. Sophomore year, I was under special direction from December through February to train per heart rate, and thus rowed for two hours at a controlled heart rate instead of the required one hour, which is notably more intense. Junior year, I was off studying in South Africa, so I had to run for an hour instead of erg. And this year, my back is not strong enough yet to be able to erg for an hour, so I biked on a trainer in the atrium of the library for an hour and a half as an alternative. Regardless of the equipment I was on, however, I got to participate in the event this year, which was the goal anyway. I got some rather confused and bizarre looks as the atrium of the library is a busy place, and there aren't usually two dozen ergs and a bike set up in the middle of it, but no one actually asked me what was going on. It was a good thing, anyway, because it's not that easy to explain anything when you're in a very hot room trying to train...

Posted by rgutwin at 12:58 PM | Comments (3)

July 26, 2005

Becca's New Bike!

Per request, I am displaying my newly-purchased road bike. This bike was previously owned by a triathlete who is currently a patient at the gym, and it is adorned both by a Team USA sticker and one of the Canadian flag. After I finally received the shoes and pedals that seemed to take an eternity to get here, I installed them relatively easily and took my first ride around the block. Unfortunately for me, I can't spend as much time on the bike this summer as I would like, since I'm trying to beat up the erg as much as possible in preparation for my senior year of rowing. Still, I'm having a lot of fun on it when I can. This morning, I hit 36 mph going down a hill in a headwind!

Posted by rgutwin at 02:23 PM | Comments (3)

May 11, 2005

53' Pyramid

I did a (rather difficult) 53' pyramid on the bike today, followed by lifting at the same percentage. I can't wait to integrate more machines into my workouts instead of only having the option to bike. And an outdoor bike would be great at this point, too. Can you tell that I'm tired of spending hours on one of the two stationery bikes in the really small weight room?

Posted by rgutwin at 05:37 AM | Comments (4)

May 10, 2005

Another One

Another rest day this morning... I'm really tired, and my shins really hurt, and it's in my best interest to step back from all my running for a week or so. I'll probably jump on the bike and the weights tomorrow, but no running for Becca on Thursday, either.

Posted by rgutwin at 08:01 AM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2005

Hmm

My shins are really bothering me, so I'm not sure how running is going to go tomorrow. I might have to either take the day off again or spend it on the bike, because the pool isn't an option (little kids have invaded...). Today I spent 45 minutes on the bike and lifted at the same weight I've been lifting for two weeks or so.

Posted by rgutwin at 05:18 AM | Comments (4)

May 06, 2005

Betchya Can't Guess

45 minutes of biking followed by 20 minutes of lifting. Hey, I mixed it up a little on Wednesday, so what do you expect? I'm all out of creative juices and energy by Friday, I guess. Even with the rest day.

Posted by rgutwin at 03:57 AM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2005

Okay, Another Rest Day

This morning I woke up at 7:00 to a decidedly not-yet-risen sun. Naturally, I rolled over and proceeded to sleep until 8:00, when the sun had reached a reasonable height in the sky. Knowing that I would probably come to some such conclusion this morning, I decided last night that today would be a self-dictated rest day...the second this semester! It's a new record. I'm starting to learn how to listen to my body when it says, "Hey Becca, I'm really tired. Let's not go out and try to kill me today."

Posted by rgutwin at 05:13 AM | Comments (2)

May 04, 2005

More Biking

This morning, I decided to do a 53' pyramid of interval work on the bike before my lifting of 3 x 8 reps. For some reason, my hip flexor is giving me a little bit of trouble, but hopefully it will fix itself and not turn into any sort of serious injury. My lower legs are really bothering me, so I'll either take tomorrow off (knowing me, the likelihood of that happening is slim to none) or I'll spend it on the bike or in the pool. Ah, the pool...how I despise you so.

Posted by rgutwin at 04:57 AM | Comments (5)

May 03, 2005

(Semi-slow) Intervals!

My coach has allowed me to begin some longer interval work, since I've been building my aerobic base pretty much for the whole semester. Yesterday I warmed up and then ran 3 x 8:00 (it would have been 4, except my shins were really bothering me). This morning I put on my running shoes again and ran around for 45 minutes. My shins really aren't loving me right now...

Posted by rgutwin at 02:51 AM | Comments (3)

April 29, 2005

Academics and Exercise

I rarely do any of my studying or reading while I'm exercising, 1) because I find it hard to read if I'm running on a treadmill or bouncing up and down on an elliptical, and 2) because I generally don't have so much work to do that I can't get it done during the 23 hours of the day I'm not exercising. However, due to an entertaining evening last night with Frances and Crystal, I didn't get as much studying done for my combinatorics final than I initially anticipated. Thus, I spent my 45 minutes on the bike this morning reading proofs on permutations and combinations and reccurence relations and all sorts of fun stuff. I couldn't read while I lifted, although I suppose you could call that my "processing time". 8 reps again at the new-and-improved heavier percentage. Might it be 10 next week?

Posted by rgutwin at 05:58 AM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2005

Back to the Asphalt

I decided to run yesterday, because the only other alternative was swimming, and I'm not particularly a fan of both embarassing myself in the pool and then smelling like chlorine for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, there was something going on at the track for the day, so I spent 40 minutes running around campus.

This morning, I decided to run again as an alternative to swimming and biking, but this time I spent about half of my 45 minute run on the track. My shin pain is somewhat bizarre: it comes and goes during my run, and only feels particularly excruciating when I stop sometimes. I don't get it...

Posted by rgutwin at 05:15 AM | Comments (4)

April 26, 2005

Pool Time!

I went swimming for 40 minutes this morning, because I don't think it's great for my shins if I keep running on them, and I feel like I've monopolized the bikes in the weight room enough... I alternated 10 minutes of aqua jogging with 10 minutes of freestyle (sans goggles, which means that I looked rather...silly). Now, six hours and one short, cold shower later, I still smell like chlorine. Ah, the joys of swimming.

Posted by rgutwin at 08:27 AM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2005

Lack of Precision is Frustrating

I ran another timed mile on Sunday (yes, even though my shins are still bothering me. They weren't too bad, though...), and I'm starting to realize how frustrating it is to try to time an approximately-one-mile route. Usually, a difference in up to 100 meters or whatever isn't really a big deal, but when you're trying to compare times from week to week, it gets challenging. The reason I'm so frustrated is because I ran a 6:15 mile yesterday, while last week I finished with a time of 6:14. I'm convinced that I ran for a few extra seconds this time, although it's hard for me to tell because I'm usually so out of it when I finish that I can't remember exactly where I stopped. I always start in the same place, though. Maybe sometime this week I'll clock the course while walking, and then just run by distance instead of time from now on.

Another monotonous 45 minutes of biking, 20 minutes of lifting this morning. I'm up to 8 reps of the super heavy weight, which is somewhat difficult. I'm hoping I'll build lots of muscle fast so that I can bump up the weights one more time before I leave.

Posted by rgutwin at 07:31 AM | Comments (5)

April 22, 2005

Resting is Effective

After feeling progressively worse throughout the day yesterday, I woke up this morning without any sign of the illness that threatened me yesterday! So I spent 45 minutes on the bike and lifted the heavier weights that I've been lifting this week. For some reason, it's surprising to me that I took a rest day and it was actually noticeably beneficial to my health!

Posted by rgutwin at 06:27 AM | Comments (1)

April 21, 2005

A Rest Day?

For the first time in a very long time, I decided to pay attention to my body this morning and forego the daily morning training. My shins have been bothering me, I'm extraordinarily sleepy, and I'm also coming down with some sort of stomach/sore throat/general ickiness feeling. It was hard to force myself to stay in bed this morning, but I reminded myself that a sick Becca trains much less effectively than a healthy one. I wish that I had a coach around to command me to take things like rest days, because it's rather difficult for me to convince myself that I shouldn't complete a workout just because I don't feel like it. I'm hoping that I can nip this illness in the bud so I can start doing more speed training soon.

Posted by rgutwin at 04:12 AM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2005

Those Weights are Heavy!

An hour on the bike this morning followed by my increased weight percentage, still at 6 reps. All of this heavy lifting better be building me some useful muscles!

Posted by rgutwin at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2005

A Nuisance

My shin splints (or whatever the heck they are) are back again, unfortunately in what seems like full force. I've been trying to be so good about only running on soft surfaces, but it doesn't seem to be helping! I braved the rainy weather this morning and spent 40 minutes on the track (gasp! without my Forerunner!), until the pain in my shins got so bad that I realized it would definitely be a bad idea to continue. I don't know what to do, because biking every morning doesn't sound particularly appealing to me. Work with me, legs!

Posted by rgutwin at 12:04 PM | Comments (1)

April 18, 2005

Timed Mile and Such

I've been running timed miles on Sundays to try and simulate some of what my body would be going through if I were at home and racing. A few weeks ago, my time was 6:26, then I went on spring break, and the following week I ran a very disappointing 6:28. This Sunday I resoved to not miss a season PR by only a few seconds, and was excited to see 6:14 on the clock when I passed the one mile mark. Hopefully I can get my time under 6:00 before I leave for home.

This morning I spent an easy 45 minutes of steady state on the bike and then (finally) increased my lifting percentage. Unfortunately, that meant that I also had to decrease my reps to 6 on most of the exercises, but I can work on getting those back up to 10 again. So now I'm lifing 25 kilograms on the upright row, 60 kilograms on the leg press machine, 37.5 kilograms on the seated row, 25 kilograms on the hampstring curl, and 52.5 kilograms on the tricep press.

Posted by rgutwin at 05:05 AM | Comments (6)

April 15, 2005

Interval Work!

This morning I did four 600m intervals on the track, which was definitely a welcome break from all the long, steady running I've been doing. I'm not sure how accurate my Forerunner was in measuring the distance, because I think it's a 400m track and my little buddy wasn't giving me exactly 400m every time I went around, but it's not so much about the specific distance than it is about the general time and speed. After the 4 x 600m, I did 1 x 200m and then headed into the weight room to get my lifting in.

Posted by rgutwin at 05:58 AM | Comments (3)

April 14, 2005

The Track is my Friend

Another 45 minutes this morning running lots and lots of circles around and around on the track. I was going to extend my run to 60 minutes, but unfortunately the pain in my shins strongly encouraged me not to do so...

Posted by rgutwin at 08:42 AM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2005

Bet You Can't Guess

Another 45 minutes of steady state on the bike this morning, with some harder intervals mixed in for a bit of fun. I never thought I'd say it, but I'm actually beginning to miss erging to the extent that I wish I could erg instead of bike. I'm sure that I'll get my fill of it this summer, though, training hard enough so that I can PR this fall.

I lifted at the same percentage today, which still doesn't feel particularly light, but which I want to increase hopefully next week. I'll just have to improvise with the whole "you can only increase by 15 pound increments" thing.

Posted by rgutwin at 06:26 AM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2005

Track Running

I have decided that I don't particularly enjoy running around in circles on the track, but unfortunately my stubborn shins have given me little alternative. I spent the majority of my 50 minute run on the track this morning until the presence of two young men who were trying to get my attention became too distracting. Thus, to avoid the attention I was eliciting in my bright orange running shorts, I finished the run through the middle of campus, which definitely wasn't the smartest idea Becca's ever had. "Let's run past a few hundred people instead of just two, because that sounds like it might help the situation..."

Posted by rgutwin at 11:50 AM | Comments (1)

April 11, 2005

Changing it Up a Bit

This morning, after I braved the rainstorm raging outside, I spent some time on the bike before lifting. Instead of doing my usual 45-60 mintues, though, I did a 53 minute pyramid. It wasn't as painful as it usually is on the erg or on the water, but it was better than all of the steady state I've been doing.

At Asim's apartment this weekend, I noticed that he had a rowing machine in his game/exercise/telescope room. I wasn't a Concept II, and after I sat down on it briefly, I wasn't super impressed. Something about the whole metal bike-chain thing is much more appealing than a piece of fabric attached to the handle... I guess that it makes sense that Concept IIs aren't super common over here, since they're made in the wonderfully small state of Vermont.

Posted by rgutwin at 08:05 AM | Comments (0)

April 08, 2005

What? Dialogue in the Gym?

I feel it's important to mention that I'm creating these training entries more for me than for you, because I'm keeping no other record of my workouts and it will be useful to be able to look back on what I did this spring. Thus, "another day of 45 minutes on the bike and 20 minutes lifting" is technically all I need to write.

But this morning, something slightly more exciting happened, because someone in the gym actually talked to me! He asked me if I had been hiking, because I still have lots of nasty little scratches all over my legs that betray my whole getting-lost-in-the-woods experience. I relayed part of the story to him, and after further discussion found out that his name is something that sounds phoenetically like "Socks" (which I can remember...) and that he's from the Eastern Cape. I'm sure I'll be seeing plenty more of him every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in the gym before I leave.

Posted by rgutwin at 09:28 AM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2005

So Far, So Good

This morning I spent 50 minutes running on the track (at a slow pace, granted, but it was still 50 minutes of running...), and there was no sign of my pesky shin splints that started to appear before I went on break. Hopefully I can prevent them from getting as bad as they've been in the past, but I don't know what to do about it other than back off from speed and super long distances. Any suggestions, marathon girl? Or marathon daddy?

Posted by rgutwin at 03:16 AM | Comments (4)

April 06, 2005

The Titles are Getting Redundant

Perhaps I should stop trying to find a title for every training entry I post, because it feels like I keep doing the same thing every day. I biked for 45 minutes this morning, followed by lifting at who-knows-what percentage due to the whole "kilogram" and "the smallest increment you can increase is over 14 pounds" thing. I do still have lots of muscles, though, which I am very excited about. Now the trick is to train my body to actually supply the muscles with oxygen during a workout, which is always a good thing...

Posted by rgutwin at 04:42 AM | Comments (0)

April 05, 2005

Starting Slowly

After a return of my shin splints a week and a half ago, I decided to take the week of fall break off from running and then to ease back into it this week. This morning I made my way over to the track and spent a quality 45 minutes jogging around, completing the workout accidentally with an exact distance of 5 miles and consequent average pace of 9:00. Okay, so it wasn't as easy as I initially intended it to be, but hopefully it wasn't hard enough to aggravate my shins again.

Posted by rgutwin at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2005

Return to the Gym

After a week off from training (not counting the 6.5 hour hike and 4 hour, rather tense and lost hike through the forest), I jumped on the bike again this morning for 45 minutes, followed by another 20 or so on the weights. Two people asked me what was going on with my legs, because I have about a million and one scratches all over them from the thorn bushes yesterday. I felt kind of weird explaining that I got lost in the woods...

Posted by rgutwin at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2005

An Odd Sight

This morning I ran my usual route around the circumference of the campus, and something rather strange happened. As I come around the back of campus, Table Mountain comes into view behind the nature reserve. It was large and looming, like usual. Each loop takes me roughly 20 minutes, and when I came around again, Table Mountain had completely disappeared! The fog in the distance completely erased the background of the mountain and left the foreground looking totally unchanged. It was so strange to expect Table Mountain in the distance but to see absolutely nothing! I'm going to miss Table Mountain...

So, 40 minutes of running today because I had to rush back to my dorm to study for my final combinatorics exam. Well, not the final exam, but the last in-class test. Needless to say, I aced the test. Maybe it was all those exercise-enduced endorphines...

Posted by rgutwin at 11:01 AM | Comments (2)

March 23, 2005

The Bike is my Friend

Even with an injured hamstring, I was able to bike this morning for an hour without any pain. I lifted this morning at the same percentage that I lifted last week, because a) the gym wasn't open on Monday, so I haven't lifted since Friday, and b) it's very difficult to increase the weight I'm lifting because it's generally in increments of 5 or 7.5 kilograms, which is slightly over 10 and 15 pounds, respectively.

Posted by rgutwin at 05:47 AM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2005

A Little More Rest

I was good this weekend and took both Saturday and Sunday off for my injured ankle. I ran for 45 minutes on Monday morning and 50 minutes this morning, both of which felt fine on my ankle. However, I have potentially now pulled my hamstring...

Posted by rgutwin at 07:57 AM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2005

Another (Frustrating) Injury

My ankle has been bothering me since late December. For some reason, the lower lateral area of my right leg hurts sometimes, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with my workouts or other activities. When I got to Johannesburg, it started hurting about two days into the trip, but the pain went away after a few days and just started recurring late yesterday. Now it's to the point where any time I try to use the ligaments near my right ankle, I get an unpleasant twinge of pain. I'm going to take Saturday and Sunday off from running and see how I feel.

This morning I spent an hour on the bike and 20 minutes with the weights, as usual. I've got to start thinking of ways to spice it up a bit, but I also like routine workouts. And plus, when I decide to do something a little more involved, I always end up going a little harder than I should...

Posted by rgutwin at 04:48 AM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2005

More Cardio

I went running for 50 minutes this morning (which entailed about 15 minutes more of rushing around because I had made myself a few minutes late for class). After running slightly too quickly on Tuesday, I set the custom page on my Forerunner to display time, distance, and calories, the three units that didn't have anything to do with my speed. Technically, being the math major that I am, I could have calculated my speed with the given information, but I made a conscious effort not to do so. Therefore, my pace was about 30 seconds slower than Tuesday's, which made a whole world of difference.

Posted by rgutwin at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2005

The Ditz in the Weight Room

I try very, very hard not to make a fool of myself in the gym. I know my way around the weights, and I spend the majority of my time away from them on the bike. I spent 45 minutes on the bike this morning and then ventured into the lifting section of the gym (ie, I got off the bike). As I was using one of the weight machines, I went to go put the peg in the right weight hole, and I noticed that there was no peg! So I grabbed one from the machine next to me, put it in, and didn't lift the weight at all. I thought that maybe I had been slightly too ambitious in my weight lifting goal, and I lightened the weight. Still nothing. Then I looked closer at the weight stack, and the peg was all the way down in the bottom hole! I had inadvertantly been trying to tricep press 150 kilograms, which is slightly less than 300 pounds. Um, yeah. I'm not there yet.

Posted by rgutwin at 05:36 AM | Comments (5)

March 15, 2005

A Not-So-Much-Recovery Run...

It's important to mention that Frances and I have a squeaky door. This means that whenever she wakes up, I wake up, because she inevitably has to use the squeaky door every morning. So I was going to take Tuesday off again this week, because I've been really, really tired, but I figured that since I was up anyway, I'd go for a run.

Also, the Forerunner that Mom got me for Christmas has been amazing, because I get all sorts of information while I'm running without having to do complicated math in my head. However, it's not so great for encouraging me to run slower when I'm tired, because the really super competitive part of me wants to beat my previous run's pace every time. So I end up running faster than I probably should, but that's the way I tend to train. I spent 45 minutes running around campus this morning, and then 15 minutes running around my dorm to shower and get dressed, and then 10 minutes running to class, an hour class break, and then 15 minutes running from class to my dorm to try to get some breakfast before I went on my shopping trip. It's been a hectic morning...

Posted by rgutwin at 08:13 AM | Comments (1)

March 14, 2005

No Gym Buddy Sighting Yet...

This morning I spent the standard 60 minutes in the gym on the bike, and then 20 minutes of lifting. Unfortunately, my buddy didn't make an appearance today. Maybe I'll see him on Wednesday or Friday...

I took Sunday off this week because the hike that Frances and I took on Satruday was more than enough of a workout for the weekend. That hill was really, really steep.

Posted by rgutwin at 08:11 AM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2005

Gym Buddy

After my 45 minutes of bike time and subsequent 30 minutes of lifting, I headed out of the gym in my sweaty spandex attire back to my dorm. On the way, I passed a guy in my combinatorics class who has talked to me once and seems rather nice (ie, not as pushy as many of the other men here). It was rather obvious that I was coming from the gym, so after I said hi to him, he pointed at his watch and said that he would join me sometime. So I now potentially have a gym buddy, which is rather welcome because I spend quite a bit of time in the gym, and yet no one ever talks to me! Perhaps that's because I spend most of the time zoning out with my iPod headphones in my ears, but still...

Posted by rgutwin at 04:36 AM | Comments (1)

March 10, 2005

Track Time

I spent the majority of my 40 minute run today running around the track. It was somewhat sketchy, because there were people who were obviously setting up for an event that was about to take place, but I was on my way home before anything started.

Posted by rgutwin at 06:15 AM | Comments (0)

March 09, 2005

Still Trying to Shake This...

Much to my disappointment, I woke up with a (still) sore throat this morning. But since I wasn't particularly tired, I headed over to the gym for a light and short 45 minutes of cardio on the bike and subsequent lifting. This nasty virus better get out of my body soon, because I'm getting rather tired of it. Quite literally.

Posted by rgutwin at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)

March 08, 2005

Still Ill

It took me over two hours to fall asleep last night, so when my alarm went off six hours later and I awoke to a general feeling of sickness, I decided not to go for a morning run. I'm planning on heading to the gym tomorrow morning to lightly bike and lift again, though.

Posted by rgutwin at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2005

Spring Sickness Follows Me to South Africa

I honestly didn't expect to get sick this semester. Summer at home is usually spent illness-free for me, and since I haven't been training very hard, I didn't think my immune system was particularly low. But something found its way inside, so I took an extra rest day on Sunday to try to recover faster.

This morning I woke up at 7:00 and spent an easy 45 minutes on the bike followed by my lifting routine. If I don't feel drastically better by Wednesday, I'll ease off even more, but I don't want to let the sickness affect me more than it needs to.

Posted by rgutwin at 07:34 AM | Comments (0)

March 04, 2005

Impressive Stuff

I am prone to be relatively unimpressed by men's strength in the weight room, because I think it's somewhat ridiculous to spend hours and hours a week lifting weights for the sole purpose of having abnormally large muscles. However, since the bike I use faces all of the weights, I have nothing else to look at except the dozen men who are lifting really heavy things. This morning, one guy proceeded to bicep press much more than his body weight, so that when he was finished with his reps, he held on to the handles and lifted his feet off the floor, and the machine lifted him up! And then there was this guy who was leg pressing 140 kgs: that's more than twice my body weight!

So I spent an hour on the bike this morning while I was observing all of these impressive feats, and then I proceeded to lift my (slowly increasing) weights. I can't wait until I get home for the summer so that after I use all of the weights (in pounds) at the gym, I can get lots of protein in my body to help my muscles grow. Protein shakes and bars are not particularly popular here, as I have yet to see them sold anywhere here.

Posted by rgutwin at 05:38 AM | Comments (0)

March 03, 2005

On the Road Again...

I have a math class at 8:30 in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and since the track and weight room don't open until 7:30, it's very difficult for me to get my cardio workout in before I have to be sitting in the science building awaiting a lecture. However, due to the extreme South African heat, it is not a good idea for me to attempt a workout at any other time of the day. Therefore, I was forced to run on the pavement today for 45 minutes, even though it has been giving me quite a few issues recently. I figure that if I build up to longer runs slowly, the hard terrain will be somewhat nicer to my body.

I thought it was rather impressive that I woke up at 7:00 and was able to run for 45 minutes, shower, eat breakfast, finish a proof, and walk over to my lecture hall all before 8:30. Efficiency is my motto in life. Well, that and a few other hundred things...

Posted by rgutwin at 07:28 AM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2005

Another Female in the Gym!

This morning, as I was merrily peddling away on my stationery bicycle in a very warm weight room filled with a lot of sweaty men, another woman walked in and made use of the vacant recumbent bike next to me! I was very happy for the slight shift in the ratio of testosterone to estrogen in the room, and although she didn't make use of the plethra of weights like I did, it was one of the only times that I've seen other females in the gym. It's strange, because although there seems to be a high emphasis placed on body image and weight loss here, not that many people actually excercise. At all.

After 45 minutes of biking and about 20 minutes of lifting, I headed out of the warmest place on campus and jogged back to my dorm. I'm very glad that I don't have any morning classes on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, because this way I have time to get back to my room and remove my sweatiness before I face the 14,000 students at UWC.

Posted by rgutwin at 09:27 AM | Comments (2)

March 01, 2005

Rest Day

With my 3-days-on, 1-day-off, 2-days-on, 1-day-off schedule, Saturdays and Tuesdays are my rest days. I think I'm going to stick with this whole extra-day-of-rest thing for a couple more weeks, because I'm feeling remarkably less tired and sore than I usually do.

I made it to the gym yesterday afternoon and spent 45 rather warm minutes on the bike and 20 minutes or so lifting. Conclusion: I don't like working out in the middle of summer in South Africa when there isn't any air conditioning...

Posted by rgutwin at 07:28 AM | Comments (0)

February 28, 2005

Oops

After taking Saturday off, I went for a run yesterday around 10:00. Just before I stepped out of my room, I strapped on my heart rate monitor for the first time since I've been here, just to get a ballpark figure for what my heart rate has been. I averaged 180 for the 40 minunte run, which was extremely high considering that I was running almost 1:00 slower than my normal pace. I don't know if I should slow down and train for my heart rate, or if I should ignore the fact that it's beating so fast. I have a feeling that it isn't the latter.

I woke up at 7:15 this morning and jogged over to the weight room, which is supposed to open at 7:30. No one was there, and after waiting around for 30 minutes with a bunch of guys, I headed back to my dorm. Hopefully someone will be there when I return this afternoon. It's hard for me to imagine something like this happening at HWS, although it seems like opening times in general are a lot more relaxed in South Africa. But then again, probably every other country seems relaxed compared to the United States.

Posted by rgutwin at 02:35 AM | Comments (3)

February 25, 2005

What? A Girl in the Weight Room?

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I haven't seen any other girls in the weight room here (except for the one who works at the desk...). I guess I don't see that many girls on the actual weights at HWS, and since UWC has a (very) limited supply of cardiovascular equipment, the lack of girls makes some sense. But it's still weird to be the only woman in a room full of 15 or 20 men, all lifting super heavy weights and making rather interesting faces.

After my 45 minutes on the bike this morning, I decided to add a few activities to my list of lifts. I did 10 x 3 on standing row, leg press, seated row, leg extension, hamstring curl, and tricep press. I am not free squatting at the moment because 1) if there are really heavy weights on the bar when I get to it, and I need to remove 30 kgs from each side, the bar tips over when I take of the 20 kg weight, which is really dangerous, and 2) the leg press looks to me to simulate the rowing motion much more closely. When I do my heavy lifting this summer, I'll probably add the free squat back in.

Posted by rgutwin at 04:28 AM | Comments (2)

February 24, 2005

Running...Indoors

The gym opens at 7:30, so this morning at 7:35 I walked into the Sport and Rec building, put my books in a locker, and headed out to the track. I figured that since I was running, I would rather run around and around on the same track for a while instead of up and down on a treadmill indoors. Unfortunately, people were setting up for some event on the track, so I was forced to head to the weight room and spend a quality 35 minutes with the treadmill. The interesting thing about the excercise equipment here is that everything is in units of kilograms and kilometers rather than pounds and miles. There's also a cool button on the treadmill that says "5K": if you press it, you're put through a hilly 5K course. I would not want to run a 5K on a treadmill. But for that matter, I wouldn't want to row a 5K on an erg, either...

Posted by rgutwin at 04:18 AM | Comments (0)

February 23, 2005

Rest Week is Over!

I like it when I reach the end of rest weeks, because after about 7 days of doing absolutely nothing athletic, my body gets rather anxious and excited to start moving again! So I spent an hour on the bike today very lightly, because the point of this rest week / rest days is to see if I've been overtraining and to try to help the situation.

I also lifted at around 55%, although the percentages and weights are very approximate because a) I usually lift in pounds, not kilograms, and b) since a kilogram is about twice as heavy as a pound, 5 kilograms is much more than 5 pounds, and there are no weights in the gym that are less than 5 kilograms. So I will be making a rather large jump when I eventually increase my weights. We'll tackle that hurdle when we get there, I guess.

Posted by rgutwin at 03:32 AM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2005

Okay, Fine...

My coach has strongly encouraged me to take a week off from training and return with potentially less of an aversion to overtraining and injury. I have reluctantly conceded, as being able to train has given me at least a slight purpose here at the University. Also, all of the people who gave me funny looks in the morning as I ran around campus will now miss my sweaty face!

Before I got Sandra's email this morning, I spent 45 minutes on the bike and 15 minutes lifting. Since I haven't lifted for a while, my quads have rather noticeably diminished in size, and my pants are about 3 sizes too big. I'm hoping that my muscle will return to me soon (after I take a week or two off, that is...).

Posted by rgutwin at 07:35 AM | Comments (0)

February 15, 2005

Unsuccessful Morning

I woke up at 6:00 this morning to go for a nice 8 mile long run, only to discover that it was fairly impossible for me to include my right leg in anything faster than a slow walk. I ran on it for about 30 minutes, which was probably too long and rather damaging to my future attempts to run. I might head to the gym this afternoon, but my coach has advised me that I should probably be taking a week or two off to stave off any potential overtraining.

I must say, I am not a huge fan of getting up at 6:00 in the morning when I accomplish almost nothing before the time in which I could have comfortably slept in...

Posted by rgutwin at 03:44 AM | Comments (3)

February 14, 2005

Timed 8K

I am not such a fan of the timed 8K, although much of that probably has to do with the fact that I completed it in 90 degree weather, minimal wind, and scorching sun. Yes, I am in South Africa, but I can avoid those elements if I strategically run before 8:00 am. However, it was a late night on Saturday, and I didn't wake up until 9:30 on Sunday morning. Thus, I did my timed 8K yesterday in slightly-less-than-ideal circumstances.

I ran 8K in 40:39, averaging a 5:02 minute km (which comes out to be somewhere around an 8:09 minute mile), which was rather disappointing by my standards. However, it's understandable, and I have no where to go except to get better from here.

This morning I went for a nice 45 minute recovery run, although I'm not particularly sore or affected by the timed run yesterday. My knee and hip flexor are starting to become rather painful, and I seriously hope that they don't give me any problems in the near future... I'm returning to the gym this afternoon to lift and potentially get some more cardio in on the bike.

Posted by rgutwin at 03:22 AM | Comments (2)

February 11, 2005

Interval Work

This morning I was going to complete my workout of 1200m x 3 and 400m x 1 on the track, but when I got there at 7:15, there was a rather large event going on in which I was obviously not a participant. So I used my handy GPS device and ran the approx. 600m loop around my dorm until my Forerunner told me to stop running and start resting. As I haven't done any sprinting work since high school, I don't have a very good sense of my relative speed. Each 1200m piece took me approximately 5:20, and the 400m distance took me 1:32. I don't know how accurate the GPS device is, though, so I don't know if those times translate very closely to on-the-track times.

It felt good to be sprinting again, despite my rather painful quads...

Posted by rgutwin at 03:19 AM | Comments (1)

February 10, 2005

A Familiar Sensation

As a result of my squats on Tuesday and this morning, combined with my daily running activity, my quads are incredibly painful and make even the slightest physical tasks incredibly difficult. This is not exactly what I specified in my application to become a competitive althlete, but at the same time, it feels good to know that I'm kicking at least part of my body back into shape. Tomorrow I'll wean myself from all of this steady state I've been doing and try some interval work, which shall be interesting...

Posted by rgutwin at 07:42 AM | Comments (0)

February 09, 2005

Weight Lifting

Frances and I visited the gym yesterday afternoon to start lifting again. I was rather proud of myself, having brought all of the weight tables that listed what each of us should be lifting at various percentages. However, my bubble quickly burst when I realized that I am now in South Africa and thus everything is in kilograms instead of pounds. I know rough conversions, but now I need to sit down with my tables and figure out the exact kg weight I should be lifting. Life is never simple, I guess...

I went running for 30 minutes yesterday morning before I was forced to abort my run, so I continued my workout in the afternoon with 20 minutes on the bike. This morning, I ran for 45 minutes around campus, which is somewhat monotonous but decidedly more interesting than running on a treadmill. There's a circular drive that runs along the fenced-in perimeter of the campus which is 1.75 miles long. It wouldn't be a very good idea to run outside of the fence, and the track doesn't open until 8:30, so I have a feeling that I'll get to know the circular drive rather well before I leave. The difference in temperature between 7:00 and 8:30 is astounding: as soon as the sun comes up, the day gets exponentially warmer. Despite spending most of the day indoors and only training outside before the sun gets strong, I have a much deeper tan than I would have expected. At least it's not a sunburn.

Posted by rgutwin at 04:50 AM | Comments (2)

February 08, 2005

Running Again

As of Monday, I've been running in the morning around campus before the sun really rises and makes the day unbearably hot. Even though I'm training with my Forerunner this week, I'm refusing to be concerned about pace or distance, as I have already injured myself trying to run too fast too soon. I also purchased a membership to the gym on campus for R100, so I'll be lifting hopefully on a regular basis. It feels good to start training again, but now I'm really concerned about not being able to get proper nutrition to recover. Protien shakes and energy bars like Clif and Luna bars are nonexistent here, and I had to look very closely to find one grocery store that sells one kind of granola bars. Therefore, I have to be inventive in my food sources, which is difficult when I don't have regular access to a store. Maybe training with lower quality nutrition will make my body appreciate all the good things I put into it when I'm in the United States. We shall see...

Posted by rgutwin at 03:43 AM | Comments (1)

February 05, 2005

Sad Days

I haven't been doing an incredible amount of training yet, because of various frustrating reasons. For the first two weeks it was simply impossible, as we were staying in hotels without gyms and traveling every day. Three or four days I had access to a pool, so I swam for 45 minutes to an hour even though it only took me 15 seconds to get from one end of the pool to the other. I was very frustrated by not being able to work out, as it is very difficult for me to sit still for days on end. I was looking forward to arriving at the University and being able to use the gym and run around.

I didn't realize, however, that we were arriving at the University basically a week before it officially opened. As it is somewhat unsafe and rather warm to run around campus alone in the morning, I have only been out running two or three times this week. When I can buy a membership to the gym next week and my routine becomes easier once classes start, I'll be running and lifting regularly and posting my progress here. I wish I were in Geneva training with my team, though. Teammates are underrated.

Posted by rgutwin at 07:06 AM | Comments (1)

January 15, 2005

A Slight Variation

Today I spent 45 minutes on the upright bike, which was decidedly more work for my legs and required more of my concentration than yesterday. Despite the fact that my legs were throbbing before I got on the bike (these so-called growing pains are becoming slightly less amusing), it was a good workout. I would have much rather been running on this bright sunshiny day, but alas, all my running clothes are packed! Today I was forced to use my rejected spandex that I rarely set my eyes upon, because honestly, who wants to travel abroad with sweaty spandex?

Posted by rgutwin at 08:44 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2005

My Calves are Happy

I spent an hour on the bike today, after the treadmill was conveniently broken only two hours earlier. Tim tried installing a different outlet for the new treadmill that the gym just bought, but after throwing the breaker a few times, he stepped aside. I used the recumbent bike instead of the elliptical because I want to try out all of our new toys at the gym.

I lifted in our new cage and unfortunately noticed that the bar was 30 pounds instead of 45. That would have been a much more fun lift had I not pointed the lighter bar out to myself. So I switched to the 45 lb bar sitting dejectedly in the corner, and I lifted at 70%. Although, now I won't be able to lift for at least two weeks, so perhaps my lift today was in vain...

Posted by rgutwin at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 13, 2005

Back to the Elliptical

My calves are rather sore as a result of my refusal to listen to them during the run yesterday, so I spent an hour on the elliptical machine today. I decided that my heart deserved a break from the harsh tempo I've been subjecting it to over the past week or so, and I kept my heart rate around 145, which is what it would be ideally for a 60 minute cardio workout anyway. This was achieved mainly because I was talking to Frances on the phone about our rapidly approaching journey to South Africa, and thus I was not able to work as hard as I probably would have out of habit. Yay for my buddy!

Posted by rgutwin at 06:42 PM | Comments (1)

January 12, 2005

Another Icy Day

I almost got completely iced in again today, but this time the situation wasn't quite as bad outside. My dad and I went running again, although the run was slightly shorter because of the whole I'm-really-afraid-of-falling-down thing. We ran for about 40 minutes with an average pace of around a 9:20 minute mile. I'm hoping that I won't regret this run tomorrow, because the last time I ran on a mad calf muscle was two years ago and a huge mistake. I didn't get to the gym to lift today due to the icy situation outside. I think I'll live anyway, though.

Posted by rgutwin at 06:53 PM | Comments (4)

January 11, 2005

My Calves Are Getting Mad

Another 50 minute run outside today. I have decided that the GPS device I have is very useful for giving me information about my run, but not so good for me athletically when combined with my rather competitve personality. I beat my Virtual Partner by a lot today, finishing with an average pace of 8:20 and a total distance of exactly 6 miles. Unfortunately, all this fast running is probably not good for my heart, and it is definitely not good for my underdeveloped calves. I should probably run slower.

Posted by rgutwin at 06:44 PM | Comments (8)

January 10, 2005

Those Weights Were Heavy

I increased to 70% for weights today, which was quite heavy and not as quick as 65% had been. However, at least I'm getting stronger, and those weights won't seem quite so heavy a few weeks from now.

I went on a 50 minute run today and beat my Virtual Partner by over a quarter of a mile, which was an improvement from the last time I ran with him. I covered 5.81 miles with an average pace of 8:34 and a heart rate that was probably off the chart, but I have fun running fast.

Posted by rgutwin at 07:58 PM | Comments (2)

January 08, 2005

Another Workout with the Parental Unit

I went on a short run with my father today, despite the fact that it was starting to get dark and it was snowing rather heavily. We averaged slightly under a 10:00 mile, but considering all the hills and slush we ran through, it was a fairly moderate pace. I didn't wear a heart rate monitor because I am temporarily not in favor of catering to my stubborn heart. My handy GPS device told me that we ran 4.37 miles in 43 minutes and 30 seconds; overall, a good run.

Posted by rgutwin at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)

January 07, 2005

Improvements

Since I lifted today and the weights were at the gym, I decided to forego the outdoor run in the 6 inches of snow that accumulated yesterday. Thus, I spent 45 minutes on the elliptical and then lifted weights at 65% again. I am very excited that lifting on Wednesday made me decidedly less sore than it did last week, and on Monday I'll increase the weight. Cleans are still remarkably painful, though...

Posted by rgutwin at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 06, 2005

Success

I ran for 50 minutes today with my Virtual Buddy and beat him by about 317 feet, which isn't much over 5.61 miles, but at least I succeeded in winning a race with a partner I can't even see. I did get a cramp in my right lung that forced me to stop for a minute due to my inability to breathe, but other than that, the run went well and I don't feel particularly sore. I'm planning on running again tomorrow, as I will be almost exclusively running in about two weeks. Preparation is clearly the skill I lacked with my prior running experiences.

Posted by rgutwin at 11:36 PM | Comments (0)

January 05, 2005

The Erg Is My Friend

I erged again today for 45 minutes with an average heart rate of 160. Very consistently, my average split was the same as what it has been. I'll keep working on that. I then lifted at 65% again, despite my sore legs. After I lifted, the rather strange thing was that my left quad hurt about a dozen times more than my right one, but I have no idea why. Hmm...

Posted by rgutwin at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2005

Slowly But Surely

I rowed 10K on the erg today and pulled just under 2:30 with an average heart rate of 160, which is 5 beats lower than when I did this exact workout two weeks ago. Really, really sore from lifting yesterday, although I still plan on lifting again tomorrow. I can't tell if I'm hurting my body or helping it...

Posted by rgutwin at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)

January 03, 2005

Take That...

I was planning on taking a run outside today, but it turned out I had some immediate marketing deadlines to make, so I worked for the remainder of the daylight hours. Thus, I ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill this evening until it started making not-so-great noises, and then I finished with 30 minutes on the erg. I also lifted again at 65%, which was surprisingly difficult and not too much fun.

A really weird thing about my body, as if there weren't enough already, was that my quads hurt this morning even though I have barely used them for the past two days. I should be studied someday: I'm a walking phenomenon.

Posted by rgutwin at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2005

Iced In

Due to a 17-hour Alias Season Two marathon yesterday with my sister, I decided to take my rest day on Saturday this week. I woke up this morning with the full intention of running outside later on this afternoon. After church and my father's birthday lunch, I noticed that it was raining outside. This wouldn't usually be a problem, because I row in the rain and thus am fully prepared to exercise when cold and wet. What I couldn't deal with, however, was the layer of ice that had coated all possible running surfaces outside. It became very clear rather quickly as my siblings and I walked to my car that I wouldn't be able to run on the ice. I was having a tremendous amount of difficulty just walking.

I decided that if I couldn't run outside, then I would run on the treadmill at the gym. Unfortunately, we pulled out of my father's development onto a road where dozens of cars were in a complete standstill. Apparently they had closed all the roads in my town. Thus, I succumbed to the inevitability that I could not make it to the gym and I would most certainly injure myself if I tried to overcome the elements outside. So my family and I spent an enjoyable evening iced in at my father's house watching Babette's Feast instead. Tomorrow, however, my out-of-shape body will not be so lucky.

Posted by rgutwin at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

December 31, 2004

A Failed Attempt

I decided to take it easier today due to the high heart rate I sustained yesterday. And I must say that I made a valiant effort to do so, as I spent 5 minutes on the elliptical before getting off and moving over to the erg. The lights weren't on in the gym, and my reasoning was that since it would be harder to read the monitor, I wouldn't pay as much attention to the splits. The index card I usually tape over the screen was enjoying a hiatus with my heart rate monitor across the room in my bag, and I didn't feel like getting them.

The truth is, quite a few things were bothering me today, and it has been my tendency in the past to take my issues to the erg, where I get so distracted that not much bothers me except for the numbers in front of my face. As the monitor counted down from 40 minutes, I started off with an average of 2:26 (which is really high for me, so I was trying to back off). But after 5 minutes, the average was 2:25; 10 minutes, 2:24; 15 minutes, 2:23. By this time, it had become an objective to drop the average split one second every 5 minutes. This is exactly my kind of workout, because since the average split is cumulative, I was pulling very low numbers comparitavely by the end of the 40 minutes. Needless to say, I finished with an average split of 2:18. For some perspective, though, this is something I could have easily pulled my novice year.

Conclusion: When combined with intense self competition, getting back in shape is not so fun.

Posted by rgutwin at 07:05 PM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2004

Running Again

I went on a 50 minute run with my father today, which was a fun deviation from my solitary workouts. I strapped on a heart rate monitor before I walked out the door just for the fun of it, and I quickly realized why I rarely monitor my heart rate while running. My heart averaged 190 beats per minute for the 5.35 mile run and was over 200 by the time I finished. But I felt okay and I'm still alive, so no permanent damage done. However, in the long run (ha ha), it won't be super effective for me to train at such a high heart rate if I want to improve my aerobic capacity. Thus, I will not run so fast next time. Probably.

Posted by rgutwin at 06:21 PM | Comments (0)

December 29, 2004

The Monotony Has Begun

Definitely quite sore from the whole lifting thing yesterday, but I did get a preview of the pain during my squat and clean reps, so I can't be completely surprised. Nonetheless, I'll probably lift again tomorrow and then take some time for my muscles to rebuild themselves over the weekend. Given my weakened state, I think it would be a good idea to lift three times a week instead of two, so I'll lift on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday next week.

15 minutes on the recumbent bike today, and then a switch to the elliptical when I became frustrated with my low heartrate and very painful hamstrings. I spent 45 minutes on the elliptical with an average heart rate of 160, followed by a minute on the erg at my desired 5K pace. I'm still upset that I didn't PR this year, and all of this aerobic base building is not helping me release my frustration. I'm hoping some difficult time on the erg will help.

Posted by rgutwin at 07:03 PM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2004

More Pain on the Horizon

I'm still sore from the hilly run on Saturday, so I spent some quality time with the elliptical machine this afternoon. I then headed over to the weights and lifted at 65%. Due to the fact that I haven't touched objects quite so heavy in at least four weeks, I have the sneaky suspicion that my muscles won't be too pleased tomorrow.

I got an iPod mini for Christmas from my family, and I'm very excited about its portability (not to mention the fashion it brings to my ensemble). I can now listen to music when I run without hearing skips, and I can take the iPod with me when I subject my body to such torture as lifting. My iPod mini's name is Pinkie. It's pink. I like pink. :-)

Posted by rgutwin at 06:10 PM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2004

At Least We're Not Going Backwards...

First of all, it was not the best idea to try so hard to keep up with my virtual buddy yesterday, because I conveniently forgot about the fact that my incredibly weak calves are not yet ready for the hills I subjected them to. The damage has definitely been worse, but I spent some time on the erg today instead of running in the 4 degree weather with injured legs.

Unfortunately, my time on the erg did not produce the results I was hoping for. Apparently, when you take three weeks off from training, you don't return to your previous state of fitness within a week. Who knew? Hence, I pulled the same split with the same average heart rate as I did last week. It is heartening to know that I'm not getting any slower, though. I'll start lifting again this week sometime, and we'll see how that goes, too.

Posted by rgutwin at 06:40 PM | Comments (1)

December 26, 2004

Technological Advances

I am very excited about the training tool I received from my mother for Christmas. It is called a Forerunner 201 and it uses GPS signals to determine the speed you're running at and how to navigate to a preset destination. Thus, when I am running all alone in South Africa, not only can I set a Virtual Partner to help me keep a consistent pace, but I can also find my way back to the dorm when I get lost. It also has other neat features, such as an alarm that can alert me when I run too fast (which sounds rather useful), and a very helpful interval option that allows me to set a specified rest distance or time between intervals. I am very interested to try this in the boat once I return to William Smith as well, as it could provide very useful information for the coxswain, rowers, and coach.

Alas, my virtual training partner beat me this afternoon. However, in my defense, not only did s/he (I have not decided upon a suitable name yet, but I am accepting recommendations...) not experience the effects of gravity up some rather large hills, but s/he also did not have to run in the inch or so of snow that was steadily accumulating for the duration of the 45 minute run. Therefore, I shall pick a more adventageous terrain and precipitation status for my next run, in order to train fairly with my virtual partner. As I cannot train indoors with my partner on a treadmill because 1) GPS signals can't pass through buildings, and 2) that would be silly, because I wouldn't be moving anyway, it looks like I have just made the transition to outdoor running. I have already sent a memo to my shins to make sure they don't do anything I wouldn't approve of...

Posted by rgutwin at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

December 24, 2004

Second Attempt...

I ran again today for 30 minutes on the treadmill and wasn't receiving quite as many warning signals from my body, so hopefully I won't be regretting this workout tomorrow. I finished with 15 minutes on the elliptical and hope to transition to 45 minutes of running early next week. Some people have told me that my body really isn't built for running, but my theory and conviction is that if I transition to running at a pace that is excruciatingly painful for me, I can avoid many of the problems I have encountered in the past.

Posted by rgutwin at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2004

Hmm...

Yeah, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to start with 30 minutes of running. Perhaps if I had been smarter about it and paid attention to various clues during my workout, I wouldn't be quite so tender today. After starting my day out with a highly amusing, very sedated brother with four less wisdom teeth and tending to his multiple needs, I was not able to persuade my reluctant body to fit a workout into my hectic schedule. But I feel as though trying to train too much too soon has been very counterproductive, and thus my coach would potentially approve of this decision made entirely by my sore legs...

Posted by rgutwin at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2004

Tired Already

When I get really tired, I tend to decide that it's too much effort to strap the heart rate monitor to my chest, which I have realized is not the best reaction. In fact, the data I would obtain from my heartrate when my body is tired is probably more valuable than the information otherwise. Nonetheless, I ran today without the monitor at just under 6 mph for 30 minutes on the treadmill. I then evaluated the situation and realized that, since various body parts were beginning to hurt, it was probably a good idea to finish the final 15 minutes of my workout on the elliptical. We'll see how sore I am tomorrow...

Posted by rgutwin at 07:01 PM | Comments (0)

December 21, 2004

It's going to be a process...

Running is one of those activities that you can't jump into very apbruptly: the transition must be painfully gradual. Thus, I spent 30 minutes yesterday and 45 minutes today on the elliptical, hopefully simulating the running motion without exerting my deficient muscles too much. However, my training resources in South Africa will be limited, so I'll need to be ready to run for hours at a time before January 17th. Something tells me I won't be running particularly fast...

Oh, and my theory on training being able to boost the immune system might not be incredibly accurate for my body. I am potentially coming down with a new and exciting illness, unless my immune system can get itself in gear and realize that fighting, while painful in the short run, will make everyone much happier in the long run.

Posted by rgutwin at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)

December 19, 2004

Getting Back in Shape

Note to self: avoid contracting an illness that requires bed rest and all things non-athletic for three weeks at all costs. Not that I didn't have a general memo of the sort before I got sick this month, but taking three weeks off from training is not my idea of a fun time. I got back on the erg today for a 10K aerobic workout and pulled an average of 2:29 with my heart beating about 165 beats per minute. This wasn't the state my carefully trained body was in before my immune system gave into the viral-something-or-other that was attacking it. Perhaps my transition back into training will clear up this nagging upper respiratory infection...

Posted by rgutwin at 05:09 PM | Comments (0)