Minor lung ailment

making me grumpy - it's really genuinely minor, but lungs raw enough that I think I'd better stay out of parks/avoid aerobic exercise. I will lift later, that's something! Then flying to Cayman tomorrow - that early morning flight and dry cabin air are always hard on the lungs, so I had better err on side of caution....

Bench!

Hmmm, that was equivocal, I sort of got 125 but not I think really (Josh said he didn't touch it - we will mark with an asterisk). On the bright side 115 is now very manageable and I know I topped out at 85 last time we tested, so that is a good improvement.

I am sorry to say I have another minor lung ailment, it was coming on me last night and I could feel it quite strongly this afternoon as I gave out awards etc. - the happy exercise chemicals make it go completely away while actually working out, and we had a glorious 90min workout with all sorts of other fun stuff, but I can feel the postnasal drip and cough starting up again. I BLAME THE POLLEN!

1.5hr upper body

Run!

I decided yesterday that my ONLY PRIORITY for this week and next (flying to Brent's on Friday for SPA WEEK) is daily exercise (x2 where possible), healthy eating and better sleep habits. So though I did linger in bed for too long, my day is off to a good start....

Complaints: chafing from inadequate lubrication on Sunday's run, tight lower right-hand back, tender left mid-calf, high humidity. Felt plodding rather than fleet of foot. OTOH not bad, reasonably enjoyable (especially once I turned around and was running north along the river home - breeze in face is beneficial when it's so damp).

Warmup: 20min as 4 x (4:1), then 5 x (30s hard, 30s walk, 4min jog), then 5min walk to stretch back, then 2 x 4:1 cooldown home - 1hr total

Deadlifts!

My favorite day of the lifting week. We are testing this week, and I am very happy with what I "pulled" today - had better prepare myself for not being quite so elated at bench (where I have made progress but it is not so dramatic) and squats (still behind the other too). But - 241!

RESOLUTIONISM

is largely frowned on, but some sort of external commitment strategy seems necessary - it will be very good for mental and physical health if I adopt a resolution from now through late July (when a couple weeks of travel will put paid to this sort of regimen) to exercise in the morning BEFORE I turn on computer and check email. I didn't do that this morning, and predictably got derailed (email from lawyer asking me to scan and send real estate documents ASAP, which meant I needed to go to the office and had side effect of getting me onto a bunch of other unfinished estate business); today it didn't matter, as it was a priority to get out midday as well as this evening and my schedule's quite open, but it is a very bad habit and one that I should be able to do something about! I am much more scrupulous about it at Brent's as it is crucial to get out for a run before dawn - but I should be able to arrange life here so that I can do the same.

Muggy but much cooler than yesterday, mercifully.

:30 as 6 x 4:1, with #3-6 having last 30 seconds of each run interval HARD

Ugh....

Friday was a sort-of-inevitable day off, but yesterday was unwanted day off - workout partner had to cancel due to circumstances beyond his control, but instead of (say) going out for a run, I just went back to bed! ARGHHHHHH!

Today I did get out for what SHOULD have been 1:20 time-on-feet run at 3:1, but it is woefully hot and humid, and I didn't get out the door till midday - turned around at the half-hour mark due to feeling disgustingly overheated and eyes and lungs COATED with pollen. Walked rest of the way home.

Partial fail, in other words, but given how little willpower I seem to have currently (and how much easier it is to be in bed than to do anything more productive!) I think I had better count it a success and move on!

:48 as 3:1 run-walk, then :22 additional walk for 1:10 total TOF

Squats!

This workout does not produce the same exhilaration in me as deadlifts, I find the lift itself significantly more challenging and am still waiting for all the final technique bits to fit into place - BUT, that said, I am really making progress - I am about 90% there, just need to keep doing it now I think and ingraining the habits....

1hr lower body

Bench/lung woes!

I AM AN IDIOT, it is entirely my own fault - forgot inhaler yesterday and did workout without taking albuterol first, I could tell I was a bit wheezy but it's not a high-HR workout so I thought it would probably OK. HOWEVER once I started working out this evening, it was clear something was not right with the lungs - arghhh - very raw and raspy, I had to skip conditioning bit at the end as I didn't want to do anything with additional strain! Meant to run earlier, didn't get to it due to laziness, but in retrospect it was just as well....

(Today's workout was quite fun, only I think I worked so hard deadlifting yesterday that I had little left to give!)

1hr upper body

Deadlifts!

My favorite day of the lifting week! What fun...

1hr lower body

Short run!

I got into the park and it was a veritable CARPET of pollen - called it short as though this was not objectively the case, my subjective sense was that pollen was sealing my left eye shut with stickiness and inflammation!

(Did NOT have long run yesterday, which means no run adventure next Sunday, this was always the more sensible option - immune system currently hammered by allergies and fatigue, don't need to do anything to put undue strain on it.)

:20 as 4:1

Run!

Surprising how sweaty an activity running is even on an overcast day...

THIS WAS GOOD. I hereby vow that running will be a near-daily habit and that I will come up with a rock-solid structure for this coming winter that will not let me fall so far out of the running habit!

:40 as 10min warmup (4:1), 10 x 1min hard, 1min recovery, 10min cooldown jog

Bench/back

Extra workout - an indulgence, but it was worth it! Now I am feeling slightly awful due to allergies - my eyes feel like they are about to pop out of my head - must go and dig around in cabinet to see if there are some drops or anything else that might improve the situation....

1hr upper body

Squats!!!!

Workout of bliss. Everything that was horrible and impossible last week was finally clicking. Still need to get these grooves more deeply entrenched (neuromuscular more than a strength issue as such), but I was squatting 135 by the end of the workout and it felt extremely manageable. Assignment for the week is to do air squats whenever I think of it and try and get this set of cues to become truly reflexive (activate quads and glutes, brace abs, SCREW feet out, go down LOW and then really SURGE back up with pressure from outside of the feet....)

Having an extra workout with Josh tomorrow as a treat - we will do back and bench, it is his persuasive theory that squatting will become easier when my lats are stronger than they are currently.

1+hr lower body

Powerlifting of bliss!

It is just very quiet and meditative, I thoroughly enjoy it! Both the activity itself and the particular iteration. Bench today - after the main sets, did some very fun work at lighter weight/close grip for speed and volume, 3 x 20 x 65!

It is possible that after I meet one more deadline tomorrow (well, one plus one minor revision on something else), I can actually COLLAPSE for a bit - I may be kidding myself, certainly final papers are coming in at the end of the week and will need comments etc. etc., but the end does seem to be in sight....

1hr upper body

Deadlifts!

OK, not 100% but mostly back on form - in fact while working out I realized that really it's allergies now that are making me glassy-eyed, not ailment as such, though lungs are still somewhat full of junk. Highly satisfactory workout.

1hr deadlifts and grip work