Heh, guess what I'm doing?
Driving for over an hour to run for less than half an hour.
Yep, I've actually entered a 5K, first time ever. It's a Turkey Trot, to be held weekend before Thanksgiving, benefiting my nephew's school. Not at all something I'd normally do, but then again, it's not something my sister would ordinarily do, and when she asked if I'd like to join her - seriously, how could I pass that up? How often do you run a race with your sister? Sis actually ran cross country in high school, but didn't continue on as anything other than the occasional recreational runner and to my remembrance, hasn't run a race since then. Something new and different for both of us. What a hoot!
Today was weights at the gym, one of the FBB workouts. I liked it, although the rep scheme, which blends a bit of low rep with a lot of high (similar to the final phase of NROL/W), is not my favorite, mainly because counting 15 or so reps gets old fast. I guess I could vary the rep scheme (d'oh), but OTOH sometimes it's not a bad idea to do what you don't like, and it's not as if a more endurance-like rep scheme isn't what they suggest for runners, anyway. And, it'll be on to strength soon enough.
Bon weekend!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
All over the board Monday
I’m having that “missed the boat” feeling… wow, sigh.
I’ve been thinking a lot about spring semester for school what I want to do, what I need to take, etc. And I decided (finally – hah!) that it might be in my best interest to get myself some academic advisement, preferably someone who has a clue as to what I want to do and how I need to get from here to there. So I went poking around my alma mater’s website, and found that they have a post-baccalaureate program for career changers going into medical or dental professions… but it’s limited to doctors and dentists. Blah. I did call to talk to them, and the referred me to the college’s sport science program, which I didn’t even know EXISTED when I was there, and if I did, I probably would have considered it a gut major, something for jocks who wanted to become gym teachers or something. Yes, I was ignorant, mea culpa! I would LOVE to go back in that major now, but that’s seriously water under the bridge. Still, it makes me sad to think that if I had been a bit more patient and thoughtful back then…. Although, who knows, really.
Oh well. I’ve had my moment of regret – not much I can do about this now but continue on from here. I should have plenty of opportunity to study the same and other topics either in grad school or in continuing ed afterwards, and frankly it’s not as if I haven’t been educating myself in some capacity along the way as it is. So I’ll see what, if anything, that program office can do to help me at this point, and if they can’t, I’ll start calling the grad schools, although to me that seems to be working the process backwards, not forward.
Segue. When I was in college, I had a good friend named Dan. Dan was a physics major, and a total physics enthusiast. He in fact talked my best friend at the time (a writing major, as was I at the time) and I into taking physics and calculus. He and I also used to play guitars until all hours in the stairwells of the dorm; we screwed around with all sorts of funky scales and got an appreciation for how math intermixes with music. I tend to think about him a lot this time of year because one of his favorite sayings was, “It’s always darkest just before it goes completely black.” Which is about how I feel this time of year, when there practically isn’t any morning sunlight to speak of. And by morning, I mean before 7 am. – I think civil twilight is right around then right now, meaning, of course, one who runs at a normal-ish, morning-person-hour runs in the dark at least part, if not all the way. Being one of said people, I love, love, love the day we set the clocks back to normal time and I get the morning light back, at least for a while. Used to be they’d have been set back by now, but unfortunately that won’t happen for nearly two more dark weeks.
All of which is a very long way of saying, I’ve decided that next week, when it’s darkest, I’m going to cut myself a little slack and have an overdue running cutback week, knocking a mile or two off each run. That will leave me with two hard and one easier week before the race, a decent final push, I think.
So far, I’m liking the new weight workouts. The FBB workout I did on Friday was good, different and satisfyingly challenging, and I’m looking forward to doing its “B” counterpart on Wednesday. Today was Give Legs a Break day, so I did the Precision Nutrition workout a go, and have to say, it was a bit of a Fail. The exercises themselves weren’t bad; in fact the thing felt pretty well put together for what it was (upper body, multi-plane push/pull), but it took me just over half an hour for the whole thing, including five minutes of rowing, which was the recommended warm-up. When I was done, both my legs and core felt neglected in a “where’s the REST of the workout?” manner, something I totally hadn’t anticipated, so I added on a couple of things (overhead squats, Roman chair squats because they amuse me, and some killer reverse abs/core on the tiltly board thing) to round out the session. I like the base workout enough to keep it, and next time I’ll know to have a plan to finish it off.
I’ve been thinking a lot about spring semester for school what I want to do, what I need to take, etc. And I decided (finally – hah!) that it might be in my best interest to get myself some academic advisement, preferably someone who has a clue as to what I want to do and how I need to get from here to there. So I went poking around my alma mater’s website, and found that they have a post-baccalaureate program for career changers going into medical or dental professions… but it’s limited to doctors and dentists. Blah. I did call to talk to them, and the referred me to the college’s sport science program, which I didn’t even know EXISTED when I was there, and if I did, I probably would have considered it a gut major, something for jocks who wanted to become gym teachers or something. Yes, I was ignorant, mea culpa! I would LOVE to go back in that major now, but that’s seriously water under the bridge. Still, it makes me sad to think that if I had been a bit more patient and thoughtful back then…. Although, who knows, really.
Oh well. I’ve had my moment of regret – not much I can do about this now but continue on from here. I should have plenty of opportunity to study the same and other topics either in grad school or in continuing ed afterwards, and frankly it’s not as if I haven’t been educating myself in some capacity along the way as it is. So I’ll see what, if anything, that program office can do to help me at this point, and if they can’t, I’ll start calling the grad schools, although to me that seems to be working the process backwards, not forward.
Segue. When I was in college, I had a good friend named Dan. Dan was a physics major, and a total physics enthusiast. He in fact talked my best friend at the time (a writing major, as was I at the time) and I into taking physics and calculus. He and I also used to play guitars until all hours in the stairwells of the dorm; we screwed around with all sorts of funky scales and got an appreciation for how math intermixes with music. I tend to think about him a lot this time of year because one of his favorite sayings was, “It’s always darkest just before it goes completely black.” Which is about how I feel this time of year, when there practically isn’t any morning sunlight to speak of. And by morning, I mean before 7 am. – I think civil twilight is right around then right now, meaning, of course, one who runs at a normal-ish, morning-person-hour runs in the dark at least part, if not all the way. Being one of said people, I love, love, love the day we set the clocks back to normal time and I get the morning light back, at least for a while. Used to be they’d have been set back by now, but unfortunately that won’t happen for nearly two more dark weeks.
All of which is a very long way of saying, I’ve decided that next week, when it’s darkest, I’m going to cut myself a little slack and have an overdue running cutback week, knocking a mile or two off each run. That will leave me with two hard and one easier week before the race, a decent final push, I think.
So far, I’m liking the new weight workouts. The FBB workout I did on Friday was good, different and satisfyingly challenging, and I’m looking forward to doing its “B” counterpart on Wednesday. Today was Give Legs a Break day, so I did the Precision Nutrition workout a go, and have to say, it was a bit of a Fail. The exercises themselves weren’t bad; in fact the thing felt pretty well put together for what it was (upper body, multi-plane push/pull), but it took me just over half an hour for the whole thing, including five minutes of rowing, which was the recommended warm-up. When I was done, both my legs and core felt neglected in a “where’s the REST of the workout?” manner, something I totally hadn’t anticipated, so I added on a couple of things (overhead squats, Roman chair squats because they amuse me, and some killer reverse abs/core on the tiltly board thing) to round out the session. I like the base workout enough to keep it, and next time I’ll know to have a plan to finish it off.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Day of Rest Not Very Restful, Akshully...
But at least I'm not on a jury. They only called in groups for two jury pools, and my number didn't come up either time. So I spent most of the day in a noisy, crowded area with other equally bored, distracted, and restless people and tried not to be too bored, distracted, and restless, myself. Got in a bit of (probably poor quality) studying for tomorrow's exam, and managed to get out for a decent walk at lunch. Also finished a book and read most of a magazine, and chatted up a couple of people who were also getting can't-sit-still-itis.
At least I wasn't called, and I'm off the hook for the next three years. Yay! But I do think my brain is turning to mush. I'll be very happy when classes are over tomorrow, although I'm looking forward to A&P; we're starting on the muscles.
Speaking of which - I did decide to go with the modified FBB/PN UB workout scheme for the next five weeks. I didn't have to change all that much, as it happens; three exercises, total, all things I have been doing and will do again in the first stage of MS. (Front squat, incline bench, and one other, I forget what. Plus I messed with the planks, because I'm up to two minutes on weighted planks and it's time to switch that up.) I also got a new (well, used) book today, this little puppy:
I keep seeing Robert dos Remedios' name popping up, and having quickly reviewed the plans, I can see why: his approaches are similar to those of the Cosgroves. I don't know what the relationship between those parties, if any, might be, but they've drunk from the same well, no doubt. In any event, I only had a chance to briefly peruse the programs, but there's plenty of flexibility and variety, and I can see having fun playing with this at some point.
At least I wasn't called, and I'm off the hook for the next three years. Yay! But I do think my brain is turning to mush. I'll be very happy when classes are over tomorrow, although I'm looking forward to A&P; we're starting on the muscles.
Speaking of which - I did decide to go with the modified FBB/PN UB workout scheme for the next five weeks. I didn't have to change all that much, as it happens; three exercises, total, all things I have been doing and will do again in the first stage of MS. (Front squat, incline bench, and one other, I forget what. Plus I messed with the planks, because I'm up to two minutes on weighted planks and it's time to switch that up.) I also got a new (well, used) book today, this little puppy:
I keep seeing Robert dos Remedios' name popping up, and having quickly reviewed the plans, I can see why: his approaches are similar to those of the Cosgroves. I don't know what the relationship between those parties, if any, might be, but they've drunk from the same well, no doubt. In any event, I only had a chance to briefly peruse the programs, but there's plenty of flexibility and variety, and I can see having fun playing with this at some point.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Whew.
Glad that test is over. I thought it went really, really well, too. And I got an A on my lab practical. So, one more exam this week - maybe - and I can breathe for a little while.
The "maybe" - I have a psych exam (yes, yet another one) this Thursday. I also have jury duty tomorrow. Normally I don't mind jury duty - it's a change of pace, sometimes interesting, sometimes not - but this time 'round, I really want nothing to do with serving, because if the trial goes more than one day (and seriously, with the kinds of hours they courtroom seems to keep, that's almost a given), I'll miss class AND my test, and Ms. Psych professor doesn't give make-up exams. What she DOES do is drop your lowest exam grade on the semester and compute your grade based on the remaining scores (so, it's based on 7 out of 8 exams), so in essence, if I miss the exam that would be my dropped grade. Which I suppose is fine, but what if I screw up on my own, down the road? From what I understand the court really doesn't care about this kind of thing (school is not one of the recognized hardship excuses from petit jury service), so we'll just have to see what happens. Not much sense in worrying about it, I guess.
This morning was a rainy, and therefore muddy run. It also wasn't particularly fast, mainly because a good section of it was on trails, so I was squishing through stuff and trying not to land on my ass or do a face plant (which I almost did, woo! that would have been fun). I figure, good practise for the trail race, since you never know what kind of weather you're going to face on a given date. I saw no one else out on the road, or on the trails, which I guess isn't all that surprising since it was around 50 degrees, but honestly, it wasn't all that bad once you got going. The hardest part of a rainy (or very cold) run is getting your ass out the door in the first place.
Might skip karate tonight. I am assuming I will be taking my psych test and need to study, and it's going to take a few more hours before my brain quiets down enough for me to do that. Right now, I sort of have post-test fog.
Go Phillies!!
The "maybe" - I have a psych exam (yes, yet another one) this Thursday. I also have jury duty tomorrow. Normally I don't mind jury duty - it's a change of pace, sometimes interesting, sometimes not - but this time 'round, I really want nothing to do with serving, because if the trial goes more than one day (and seriously, with the kinds of hours they courtroom seems to keep, that's almost a given), I'll miss class AND my test, and Ms. Psych professor doesn't give make-up exams. What she DOES do is drop your lowest exam grade on the semester and compute your grade based on the remaining scores (so, it's based on 7 out of 8 exams), so in essence, if I miss the exam that would be my dropped grade. Which I suppose is fine, but what if I screw up on my own, down the road? From what I understand the court really doesn't care about this kind of thing (school is not one of the recognized hardship excuses from petit jury service), so we'll just have to see what happens. Not much sense in worrying about it, I guess.
This morning was a rainy, and therefore muddy run. It also wasn't particularly fast, mainly because a good section of it was on trails, so I was squishing through stuff and trying not to land on my ass or do a face plant (which I almost did, woo! that would have been fun). I figure, good practise for the trail race, since you never know what kind of weather you're going to face on a given date. I saw no one else out on the road, or on the trails, which I guess isn't all that surprising since it was around 50 degrees, but honestly, it wasn't all that bad once you got going. The hardest part of a rainy (or very cold) run is getting your ass out the door in the first place.
Might skip karate tonight. I am assuming I will be taking my psych test and need to study, and it's going to take a few more hours before my brain quiets down enough for me to do that. Right now, I sort of have post-test fog.
Go Phillies!!
Monday, October 18, 2010
My text book has a website
How cool is that? I didn't realize it until just this past week. The book came with a CD, which I tried to use on my computer but didn't have much luck. It says it's Mac compatible, but when I popped it in, it tried to run Windows on my comp via Parallels, which is not a good thing, Parallels being amazingly flaky and crash-prone. So I pretty much gave up on using the computer as a study aid, and just figured I'd do it all the old-fashioned way. Which, frankly, hasn't been working all that badly for me thus far. But one of my classmates put me on to the book's actual website, and it's pretty damned useful! It has all kinds of interactive tools plus several tests per chapter, as well as bonus materials. It has really helped me figure out what I have down and what I need to look at more going into my next exam.
Got me thinking about "back in the day" when I first went to college. I went to Carnegie -Mellon University, which at the time was referred to as Computer U. They had a vision - a computer in every dorm room. They weren't there as of the time I left, but they were still well ahead of the times in that regard. EVERY student - and we are talking a diverse lot, everything from music and drama majors to hard science and engineering majors - had an account on the schools mainframe (remember those?) and had to take a programming class. We learned Pascal, which I believe is actually still in use, not that I could actually still write a program in it. It was actually a pretty cool class in that it taught you a bit about thinking/thinking things through/testing your work. The computer could only do what you told it to do, so if your program didn't work, well, you f'd up, and had to tease out your own mistake. Debugging became one of my favorite things there for a little while.
And now, textbook publishers have book-specific websites, and people carry powerful computers to the actual classroom. A-mazing.
Had a really great day for running yesterday, and bombed myself with a really challenging run. I strung together just about every hill I could without doing any significant backtracking, with a mix of steep ups and downs and gradual ups and downs. I can throw in at least one more level of difficulty - more than that will require a lot of backtracking and loops, which I despise, so I'm not sure I'll go there - but even so, this one was really tough. One of the steepest up hills was at around mile 9 (out of 10.4 or so) and I wouldn't have minded having a rope to help drag myself up. But I did it, so I'm happy, plus the Eagles won, the Phils won, and I squeezed in some quality study time, so I can't argue with the day on the whole.
Today was weights at the gym. I'm officially done my self-made workout block, and am considering what to do next. Assuming all goes as planned, I have about five weeks of workouts to do prior to the trail run, after which (after a short break!) I'll be starting Maximum Strength. I'm considering using the FBB stage 3 workouts, swapping out any exercises that also appear in the first stage of MS for something similar that doesn't. However I also like having one day a week where I'm giving legs a total break (and they seem to like it, too), so I may do FBB two days a week and a purely UB workout one day a week. I have until Friday to think about it, as I'm taking Wednesday as a rest day (Jury duty) and won't hit the gym again until Friday, but right now I like that plan.
Got me thinking about "back in the day" when I first went to college. I went to Carnegie -Mellon University, which at the time was referred to as Computer U. They had a vision - a computer in every dorm room. They weren't there as of the time I left, but they were still well ahead of the times in that regard. EVERY student - and we are talking a diverse lot, everything from music and drama majors to hard science and engineering majors - had an account on the schools mainframe (remember those?) and had to take a programming class. We learned Pascal, which I believe is actually still in use, not that I could actually still write a program in it. It was actually a pretty cool class in that it taught you a bit about thinking/thinking things through/testing your work. The computer could only do what you told it to do, so if your program didn't work, well, you f'd up, and had to tease out your own mistake. Debugging became one of my favorite things there for a little while.
And now, textbook publishers have book-specific websites, and people carry powerful computers to the actual classroom. A-mazing.
Had a really great day for running yesterday, and bombed myself with a really challenging run. I strung together just about every hill I could without doing any significant backtracking, with a mix of steep ups and downs and gradual ups and downs. I can throw in at least one more level of difficulty - more than that will require a lot of backtracking and loops, which I despise, so I'm not sure I'll go there - but even so, this one was really tough. One of the steepest up hills was at around mile 9 (out of 10.4 or so) and I wouldn't have minded having a rope to help drag myself up. But I did it, so I'm happy, plus the Eagles won, the Phils won, and I squeezed in some quality study time, so I can't argue with the day on the whole.
Today was weights at the gym. I'm officially done my self-made workout block, and am considering what to do next. Assuming all goes as planned, I have about five weeks of workouts to do prior to the trail run, after which (after a short break!) I'll be starting Maximum Strength. I'm considering using the FBB stage 3 workouts, swapping out any exercises that also appear in the first stage of MS for something similar that doesn't. However I also like having one day a week where I'm giving legs a total break (and they seem to like it, too), so I may do FBB two days a week and a purely UB workout one day a week. I have until Friday to think about it, as I'm taking Wednesday as a rest day (Jury duty) and won't hit the gym again until Friday, but right now I like that plan.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Nausea!
There's something really elemental and apparently gut-wrenching about lab practicals. They're not multiple choice tests, where you at least have a chance of getting things right if you're struck clueless. They're not essay tests, where you can at least feel semi-good about yourself for employing the "baffle 'em with bullshit" tactic (not that it works) if you don't really know what to say. No, you're presented with whatever - in today's case, bones - and asked very specific things, which you have to describe in the correct manner. Basically, you know the instant you lay eyes on the bone if you know it and that's it - you know it or, well, not. I don't know what it is about them, but many of us find ourselves extremely nervous and nauseous prior to walking into the lab. It's like all the studying is behind a very flimsy damn that really wants to break, and is afraid of breaking at the same time.
I went in there feeling like I knew my shit but wouldn't you know? I seem to have tried to invent a new way to screw up. We were given a bone (or set of bones, such as part of a skull, or a hand, or a foot), and asked to name four specific parts of it. Well, I caught myself twice simply naming things in the order in which they spilled out of my head, rather than in the order in which they were asked. So I had, say, radial tuberosity where I should have had troclear notch, hamate where I should have had fifth proximal phalanx, etc. I caught a THIRD instance of my doing this when I went back over my test, and am hoping I caught them all. Jesus H. Christ. The results of that exam may be way more interesting that I'd like them to be.
Speaking of which, I got a 101 on my psych exam. I'll take it.
Today was back to the hills. I strung my route together a bit differently, essentially doing the key/hardest hills the opposite way from what I usually do. (Incidentally, reversing a route is a great way to freshen up any run.) Usually I route my hill runs for maximum uphill steepage, and for just about all of the hills I have, the normal down side is generally of a gentler grade than the up. But, since running down a steep hill is actually pretty challenging in its own right (as is running up those long grades), it made for a nice change of pace and a good reminder to self to do that more often. Tonight will be karate, as usual.
I went in there feeling like I knew my shit but wouldn't you know? I seem to have tried to invent a new way to screw up. We were given a bone (or set of bones, such as part of a skull, or a hand, or a foot), and asked to name four specific parts of it. Well, I caught myself twice simply naming things in the order in which they spilled out of my head, rather than in the order in which they were asked. So I had, say, radial tuberosity where I should have had troclear notch, hamate where I should have had fifth proximal phalanx, etc. I caught a THIRD instance of my doing this when I went back over my test, and am hoping I caught them all. Jesus H. Christ. The results of that exam may be way more interesting that I'd like them to be.
Speaking of which, I got a 101 on my psych exam. I'll take it.
Today was back to the hills. I strung my route together a bit differently, essentially doing the key/hardest hills the opposite way from what I usually do. (Incidentally, reversing a route is a great way to freshen up any run.) Usually I route my hill runs for maximum uphill steepage, and for just about all of the hills I have, the normal down side is generally of a gentler grade than the up. But, since running down a steep hill is actually pretty challenging in its own right (as is running up those long grades), it made for a nice change of pace and a good reminder to self to do that more often. Tonight will be karate, as usual.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The tibia articulates with the...
Yeah, that's what I'm studying. OK, not at this moment - the brain needs a brief recess. I've frankly come to appreciate how well they - the recesses - work, as opposed to just pounding away at stuff until the pages get blurry.
This morning was the usual am workout with Sensei J, followed by yoga class. Spent much of the afternoon studying and found myself really just wanting a simple push-up/pull-up style workout (part of my "legs mostly off" day). The mind was feeling uncreative so I grabbed P90X Chest and Back off the shelf and did that, plus Ab Ripper X. I haven't done THAT type of volume in some time, so I expect to feel it tomorrow.
I hope the legs appreciated their mini-break; it's back to hills tomorrow. Heh.
This morning was the usual am workout with Sensei J, followed by yoga class. Spent much of the afternoon studying and found myself really just wanting a simple push-up/pull-up style workout (part of my "legs mostly off" day). The mind was feeling uncreative so I grabbed P90X Chest and Back off the shelf and did that, plus Ab Ripper X. I haven't done THAT type of volume in some time, so I expect to feel it tomorrow.
I hope the legs appreciated their mini-break; it's back to hills tomorrow. Heh.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Test mode
Today I handed in a psych paper, the first "paper" I've done in, well, a long time.
Which is not to say I haven't done a shitload of reports over the past, well, few years, but they've all been very formal, structured reports, prepared according to a very formal template, reviewed by at least one and up to a dozen or more (yes, seriously) other people, containing data tables, maps, diagrams, and appendices out the ass, and packaged by someone else into a glossy, bound package. I didn't find it particularly difficult to write, but in re-reading it, I had to wonder what the instructor will make of my voice, which was incredibly formal. I didn't really give any thought to an appropriate writing level for the thing, and perhaps I should have. Oh well, done is done. Also had a psych test today, which kicked off the next testing cycle (why, oh why do these things happen in cycles?). Anyway, today was psych, Thursday is a lab practical for A&P, Tuesday is an A&P exam, and next Thursday is yet another psych test. So if I'm not writing much, you'll know why.
Overall, the workouts have been going well, but I'm about ready for a break. I've been waiting for a rest day to present itself to me, but so far, no dice. I felt pretty draggy this morning toward the end of my run this morning and may take a pass on karate tonight. Might also give the leggies a break in tomorrow's weight session and do upper body only. I found a pretty cool workout on - of all places - the Precision Nutrition website and I've been interested in trying it. Goes like:
Corner barbell press
Corner barbell row
Seesaw press
Pullups/pulldowns
Machine Flyes
Cable seated row
I honestly can't remember the last time I did a machine fly... Then again I might just pick up the kettlebells and do a grind style day. It's all good, right?
Which is not to say I haven't done a shitload of reports over the past, well, few years, but they've all been very formal, structured reports, prepared according to a very formal template, reviewed by at least one and up to a dozen or more (yes, seriously) other people, containing data tables, maps, diagrams, and appendices out the ass, and packaged by someone else into a glossy, bound package. I didn't find it particularly difficult to write, but in re-reading it, I had to wonder what the instructor will make of my voice, which was incredibly formal. I didn't really give any thought to an appropriate writing level for the thing, and perhaps I should have. Oh well, done is done. Also had a psych test today, which kicked off the next testing cycle (why, oh why do these things happen in cycles?). Anyway, today was psych, Thursday is a lab practical for A&P, Tuesday is an A&P exam, and next Thursday is yet another psych test. So if I'm not writing much, you'll know why.
Overall, the workouts have been going well, but I'm about ready for a break. I've been waiting for a rest day to present itself to me, but so far, no dice. I felt pretty draggy this morning toward the end of my run this morning and may take a pass on karate tonight. Might also give the leggies a break in tomorrow's weight session and do upper body only. I found a pretty cool workout on - of all places - the Precision Nutrition website and I've been interested in trying it. Goes like:
Corner barbell press
Corner barbell row
Seesaw press
Pullups/pulldowns
Machine Flyes
Cable seated row
I honestly can't remember the last time I did a machine fly... Then again I might just pick up the kettlebells and do a grind style day. It's all good, right?
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Exercise Theory of Relativity
Had a great (and challenging) run this morning. It's part of a series of runs I'll call the Hill Maxes that I've been looking forward to doing, but really hadn't been able to put in the schedule to date, due to the locations of the hills relative to my usual starting points, the distances I needed to run (often too short to incorporate a ton of hills), and the fact I needed pace more than hill training. But they are a perfect fit for me now, and I've been having fun putting them together. Today's run was especially nasty (and even while doing it, I though of a few ways to make it even nastier) - about seven miles of hills and then off through the woods.
While running I got into this pensive mood (doesn't always happen - more often than not I don't think of anything at all in particular when I run). It stuck me how relative exercise and effort are, one person to another. I was thinking, here I was doing what I call a seriously hilly run, and someone from someplace that is considerably hillier than southern NJ, oh, a TON of places, would probably find my run not all that challenging. I do think I am making the best use I can of what I'd call limited resources, but they are just that - limited resources. And still, for me I'm able to come up with challenging runs, hopefully runs that will get me through this trail race, which will take place in actual hills.
So, as flat vs. hills vs. Hills goes, so, generally, does exercise duration and intensity and difficulty. My normal day is another person's overtraining is another person's walk in the park. Your light is my heavy is another person's impossible. My average running pace is someone's fast and someone else's pathetically slow. I've heard it said that you really can only compare yourself to yourself, and sometimes I think every exercising person should have that plastered somewhere that they'll see it often because really? Those are the only measurements that count.
Another thing which has brought this to mind is watching people going through the Insanity program. (Incidentally, I'm glad I took a pass on this for now - I'm really enjoying what I've been doing, otherwise, and it would be too much on top of that. Still might try it sometime in future.) I've heard a ton of criticisms of the program and also a lot of praise, the latter in particular from people who really seem to enjoy effort (as I do). In fact my general impressions of the program was that it was geared toward in-shape people who wanted to get ripped, and no one else need apply. The only reason I was even considering doing the program was because I heard people saying it was the hardest thing they'd ever done. So, I had to know, you know?
Of course, my impression is based on the takes/experience of people who have been doing exercise videos for a long time, often more than a decade, who have their own expectations of the program based on the hype, the infomercials, the perceptions of like-minded individuals, Beachbody's reputation, and so on. And yet the people who I see doing the program 1) by and large, are not advanced exercisers, by any common measure, 2) are not vidiots, 3) have heard none of the hype, 4) haven't seen the infomercial, and 5) didn't come into this knowing anything about Shaun T. (or any of the other BB trainers, for that matter). And guess what? So far, no one has dropped out, and they're all improving relative to their individual starting points.
To which I say, go group! Are they working at the same level as the in-shape person who wants to get ripped? How should I know? But relatively speaking, it's working for them.
I'm sure there's a much shorter way of saying all of that, something along the lines of Tony Horton's "Do your best and forget the rest," but when you're running 10+ miles, trains of thought, when they do stay intact, tend to expand, not contract.
And now, back to my Psych paper.
While running I got into this pensive mood (doesn't always happen - more often than not I don't think of anything at all in particular when I run). It stuck me how relative exercise and effort are, one person to another. I was thinking, here I was doing what I call a seriously hilly run, and someone from someplace that is considerably hillier than southern NJ, oh, a TON of places, would probably find my run not all that challenging. I do think I am making the best use I can of what I'd call limited resources, but they are just that - limited resources. And still, for me I'm able to come up with challenging runs, hopefully runs that will get me through this trail race, which will take place in actual hills.
So, as flat vs. hills vs. Hills goes, so, generally, does exercise duration and intensity and difficulty. My normal day is another person's overtraining is another person's walk in the park. Your light is my heavy is another person's impossible. My average running pace is someone's fast and someone else's pathetically slow. I've heard it said that you really can only compare yourself to yourself, and sometimes I think every exercising person should have that plastered somewhere that they'll see it often because really? Those are the only measurements that count.
Another thing which has brought this to mind is watching people going through the Insanity program. (Incidentally, I'm glad I took a pass on this for now - I'm really enjoying what I've been doing, otherwise, and it would be too much on top of that. Still might try it sometime in future.) I've heard a ton of criticisms of the program and also a lot of praise, the latter in particular from people who really seem to enjoy effort (as I do). In fact my general impressions of the program was that it was geared toward in-shape people who wanted to get ripped, and no one else need apply. The only reason I was even considering doing the program was because I heard people saying it was the hardest thing they'd ever done. So, I had to know, you know?
Of course, my impression is based on the takes/experience of people who have been doing exercise videos for a long time, often more than a decade, who have their own expectations of the program based on the hype, the infomercials, the perceptions of like-minded individuals, Beachbody's reputation, and so on. And yet the people who I see doing the program 1) by and large, are not advanced exercisers, by any common measure, 2) are not vidiots, 3) have heard none of the hype, 4) haven't seen the infomercial, and 5) didn't come into this knowing anything about Shaun T. (or any of the other BB trainers, for that matter). And guess what? So far, no one has dropped out, and they're all improving relative to their individual starting points.
To which I say, go group! Are they working at the same level as the in-shape person who wants to get ripped? How should I know? But relatively speaking, it's working for them.
I'm sure there's a much shorter way of saying all of that, something along the lines of Tony Horton's "Do your best and forget the rest," but when you're running 10+ miles, trains of thought, when they do stay intact, tend to expand, not contract.
And now, back to my Psych paper.
 | |
| Junior and Grif, facing off. Both are preferentially jiu jitsu fighters, and this one is going to the ground in 3... 2... 1... |
Monday, October 4, 2010
Blink blink
Wow. I feel like I'm emerging from a bit of a social tunnel, bit of an unusual place for me. (Can't say I'm the world's most social person.) Fortunately things all came at a point where I was very caught up with school work so it was easy just to flow with things. And, things weren't crazy enough that workouts had to suffer. So, other than the really crappy Eagles' loss yesterday, it was kind of a nice balancing sort of weekend.
One of the highlights was a surprise party held on Friday night. It was for the boyfriend of a friend, although I'm sort of friends with the BF to, and have done a couple of speaking things with him (public service type stuff). It was a good time - but perhaps the most interesting part of the night was the location, which was the house of an acquaintance. I suspected, going in, that the house would be quite the place, and when I google earth-ed it prior to heading over, I actually wondered if they'd let me in. We're talking gated entrance, drive with its own cul de sac, multi multi car garage, pool, tennis court, live in help... the works. The architectural style is what I'd call quasi Italian meets nouveau riche; the interior decoration, which I'm sure was actually very tasteful and horrendously expensive, struck me as Pier 1 Imports Gone Wild, in a WTF is that, and why is it there? kind of way.
I guess my inner bitch is out this morning, because I'm going to talk smack about the hostess, too. I've known her for a while, and my initial impression of her, and one the house only reinforced, was that there's probably no manner of plastic surgery that she hasn't met and embraced. Now - I have absolutely NOTHING against people having plastic surgery. It's your body, and if it makes you happy - do it. It's not something I look for or even notice unless I knew a person before and saw a major change. But this woman - the changes are so NOT organic that she doesn't even look real. Fake boobs, tummy tuck, face lift, cheek implants, and probably enough botox to drop a football team. And trust me, if generally oblivious me notices these things, they are very noticeable. She looks every inch the preserved rich man's wife and my overarching inclination is to feel sorry for her, especially because she really doesn't seem all that happy.
Anyway, the birthday boy WAS surprised, the company was great, the food was very good, and they had the coolest dog, a really playful bull mastiff. (Surprising choice, I guess, for people with so much bullshit interior decoration lying around.)
Sunday was a Special Training with the head instructor of the karate school, Sensei T. It's taken several years but I think I've gotten to the point where I'm no longer intimidated as hell by him. What was particularly nice about this ST is that it was just our school - usually ST's are held in one of his NY dojos, and we South Jersey people (my immediate sensei's students) are vastly outnumbered by students from his schools, not to mentioned outranked. Because there's usually such a large spread of students at the ST's, ranking from 5th kyu (purple belt) to 6th dan (6th degree black belt), there's little specific emphasis, and while everyone gets plenty of floor time, you don't always get to work on things specifically required on your next exam. We only have students raking to shodan (1st degree black belt) so everyone's stuff got some quality going over. It was a fantastic opportunity. We all went out to a late lunch/early dinner afterwards and got home in time to watch the Eagles lose ugly.
So, back to the norm. I have one exam this week (Psych), a psych research paper due next week, and the remainder of the skeleton to start to memorize for A&P. Last week was the head, neck and back - I never realized you had so damned many holes in your head! - and this week is the appendicular (Norwegian for "remainder of the") skeleton.
Workout are all boringly on schedule. I'm thinking of changing up my weight workouts in another week or so to a sort of revolving menu of stuff from FBB. One of the things I don't really like about making up my own workouts is that I think there is a natural tendency to include things you like and/or want to do, so even if you try to keep things honest and balanced and include shit you don't really enjoy but know you need, there's a chance you're inadvertently overlooking something. So what I may do is use the Stage 2, 3, and 4 workouts consecutively, i.e., 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, restart. Since the point of this rotation is mainly to keep me in the gym and working through what amounts to the end of running season so I'm not starting my next program from ground zero, I figure there's no harm in playing around a bit; it's all good stuff.
One of the highlights was a surprise party held on Friday night. It was for the boyfriend of a friend, although I'm sort of friends with the BF to, and have done a couple of speaking things with him (public service type stuff). It was a good time - but perhaps the most interesting part of the night was the location, which was the house of an acquaintance. I suspected, going in, that the house would be quite the place, and when I google earth-ed it prior to heading over, I actually wondered if they'd let me in. We're talking gated entrance, drive with its own cul de sac, multi multi car garage, pool, tennis court, live in help... the works. The architectural style is what I'd call quasi Italian meets nouveau riche; the interior decoration, which I'm sure was actually very tasteful and horrendously expensive, struck me as Pier 1 Imports Gone Wild, in a WTF is that, and why is it there? kind of way.
I guess my inner bitch is out this morning, because I'm going to talk smack about the hostess, too. I've known her for a while, and my initial impression of her, and one the house only reinforced, was that there's probably no manner of plastic surgery that she hasn't met and embraced. Now - I have absolutely NOTHING against people having plastic surgery. It's your body, and if it makes you happy - do it. It's not something I look for or even notice unless I knew a person before and saw a major change. But this woman - the changes are so NOT organic that she doesn't even look real. Fake boobs, tummy tuck, face lift, cheek implants, and probably enough botox to drop a football team. And trust me, if generally oblivious me notices these things, they are very noticeable. She looks every inch the preserved rich man's wife and my overarching inclination is to feel sorry for her, especially because she really doesn't seem all that happy.
Anyway, the birthday boy WAS surprised, the company was great, the food was very good, and they had the coolest dog, a really playful bull mastiff. (Surprising choice, I guess, for people with so much bullshit interior decoration lying around.)
Sunday was a Special Training with the head instructor of the karate school, Sensei T. It's taken several years but I think I've gotten to the point where I'm no longer intimidated as hell by him. What was particularly nice about this ST is that it was just our school - usually ST's are held in one of his NY dojos, and we South Jersey people (my immediate sensei's students) are vastly outnumbered by students from his schools, not to mentioned outranked. Because there's usually such a large spread of students at the ST's, ranking from 5th kyu (purple belt) to 6th dan (6th degree black belt), there's little specific emphasis, and while everyone gets plenty of floor time, you don't always get to work on things specifically required on your next exam. We only have students raking to shodan (1st degree black belt) so everyone's stuff got some quality going over. It was a fantastic opportunity. We all went out to a late lunch/early dinner afterwards and got home in time to watch the Eagles lose ugly.
So, back to the norm. I have one exam this week (Psych), a psych research paper due next week, and the remainder of the skeleton to start to memorize for A&P. Last week was the head, neck and back - I never realized you had so damned many holes in your head! - and this week is the appendicular (Norwegian for "remainder of the") skeleton.
Workout are all boringly on schedule. I'm thinking of changing up my weight workouts in another week or so to a sort of revolving menu of stuff from FBB. One of the things I don't really like about making up my own workouts is that I think there is a natural tendency to include things you like and/or want to do, so even if you try to keep things honest and balanced and include shit you don't really enjoy but know you need, there's a chance you're inadvertently overlooking something. So what I may do is use the Stage 2, 3, and 4 workouts consecutively, i.e., 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, restart. Since the point of this rotation is mainly to keep me in the gym and working through what amounts to the end of running season so I'm not starting my next program from ground zero, I figure there's no harm in playing around a bit; it's all good stuff.
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