And - how can I put this? I’m sorry I was gone for so long. If I had kept it up, my stamina probably wouldn’t have suffered as much as it has.

First of all, let me fill in the gap a little bit. Since my last entry, I’ve been doing a little riding (usually 8-10 miles, only a few times) and very little running (short, slow, usually while walking da pups). I could have been doing more of each, although its the riding that I really lost out on.

Why so little? A couple of reasons. First, my company just released our first major product, and its taken the vast majority of my time. Shoot me a message if you’re in the market for logistics software, by the way ;-) Second, my wife and I have been finishing a long-awaited refresh on our house - the only things missing are replacing the interior doors and doing the interior trim work. I can recommend ceramic tile floors to anyone with pets, in case you’re curious. Third… well… that’s the hard one.

To be honest, I’d become discouraged. I work best when I have a clear goal in site. This injury, coming as it did, effectively squelched my plans for a good race in New York. Since I didn’t really want to do another slow, injury-recovery marathon, that pretty much means no big fall race for me. That meant that my current training plan was completely moot, rather than just something that needed to be shuffled around.

Because of this, it became very easy for me to just pass on the (relatively few, but non-zero) opportunities to get moving. Heck, I hadn’t even been going to the gym - although that had more to do with my insane work schedule than anything else. Still, had I still been healthy and training for NYC, I’m pretty sure that I could have - and would have - found the time to train. But, I didn’t.

That kinda sucks.

Still, this too shall pass. There have been a couple of good things though. First, I’m now down to about 170 lbs. Second, I went into the gym yesterday for the first time in a while, and did a basic workout:

Treadmill: 2 miles (plus some walking to warm up / cool down)

As expected, I’ve lost a lot of my stamina. I fully expect to be gaining it back with a vengance though. My speed doesn’t seem to have suffered significantly - I started out at a 10 minute pace, and gradually sped up to a 6:30 pace at the end. My legs felt fine throughout, but by the end my HR was up at around 190!

Abs: straight leg lifts 2 sets of 10
Abs: weighted crunches - 2 sets of 10 reps at 80 lbs
Abs: mat crunches - 2 sets of 10
Abs: sit-ups - 2 sets of 10
Abs: oblique crunches - 2 sets of 20 on each side

Yeah, I’ve lost ability pretty much everywhere. Again, I’m hoping that recovery will be swift. And no, my sprain shouldn’t have made me stop doing my regular crunches, etc - see the “disillusionment” comments above.

Hamstrings: seated curls (single-leg) - 2 sets of 10 reps at 40 lbs
Chest: seated chest press - 2 sets of 15 reps at 80 lbs
Quads: seated extensions (single-leg) - 2 sets of 10 reps - 50 lbs left, 10 lbs right

Quad extensions are something that I shouldn’t be doing, strictly speaking, but it was hard to do zero with the right leg.

Quads: seated hack squats - 2 sets of 10 reps at 90 lbs

Slow and cautious on those.

Back: wide grip pulldowns - 10 reps at 90 lbs, 8 reps at 120, 4 reps at 140
Calves: seated calf raises (dual leg, toes straight) - 2 sets of 15 reps at 65 lbs
Calves: seated calf raises (dual leg, toes facing out) - 2 sets of 15 reps at 65 lbs
Calves: seated calf raises (dual leg, tows facing in) - 2 sets of 15 reps at 65 lbs
Tibia: seated curls (dual leg) - 2 reps of 15 reps at 50 lbs

Yup, a lot less weight than I used to do.

Shoulders: arm raises (front, side, down, up) - 2 sets of 10 reps at 10 lbs

That was it. Did some stretching and called it a day. On the way out I saw a signup for a 90 day “improvement” competition, so I’m signing up for that since I’m so out of shape - get my “before” pics and measurements taken on Friday at 6 am. That should give me a good incentive to stay with the program, so to speak.

My schedule for the next month or so is pretty basic:

Monday: morning gym workout, as above
Tuesday: morning run, 3-4 miles (slow with fartleks); afternoon bike ride
Wednesday: morning gym workout, heavier weight with fewer reps
Thursday: morning run, 3-4 miles (slow with fartleks); afternoon bike ride
Friday - morning gym workout, as above; afternoon gym workout for upper body
Saturday: longer run, 6-8 miles (lots of breaks at first)
Sunday: longer bike ride

And there you have it. That’s going to be starting on Thursday, btw - tomorrow I’m up at 5am to drive to Dallas for a business meeting. I know, excuses excuses. I’ll have to see if my hotel has a decent weight room, although I fully expect the meeting to run until 10-11pm or so from previous history, so I doubt I’ll be doing much of anything.

I will also try to work up a good lunchtime isometeric routine - balance and core work - that I can do in my office. Suggestions welcomed!

And again, sorry for the long hiatus - we now resume our regularly scheduled fitness program.

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