Week in Denver

I spent last week in Denver for project management training. Between the convention and time spent with my wife, exercise was out. Given the slight cold I arrived with, I did not even try to hit the gym. I am sure the thin air would have made things difficult. I did walk several miles each day, though that was balanced by eating out every single meal, including 2 snacks a day. The convention center fed us quite well.

I expected to return to the weights early this week, but my wife now has the flu. Training continues to take a back seat to staying healthy. I am focused on transitioning back to a standard, low stress work week. I managed to both take lunch and leave on time today and yesterday. I need to keep that pattern up. Trying too hard was stressing me out and tanking my immune system.

My original plan upon returning was to eliminate all refined grains from my diet. That has not panned out. There's no excuse, just a lack of motivation. It's fun to snack on cookies after lunch and none of my current lifestyle priorities rely on not eating them. My weight has bumped back up to the mid-160's, but the only impact is on my training goals.

Down Week

I have done zero training since Sunday. Monday morning I woke up with a slight cold that has persisted. Past experience shows if I try training through something like this, I just get really sick. Next week I have once a year job training that I would prefer to be healthy for. It will be a full week.

Following that, I am going to focus on patterns that keep me healthy and training. The penalty for one heavy day of activity like last Sunday should not be a cold. That is an indicator that I am allowing other areas of my life to generate an unwarranted amount of stress.

Initially I am going to make a point to stop working through lunch and start leaving work on time. I am also going to remove refined grains from the menu, whether eating out or at home. My daily consumption of processed food needs to return to once a week at most.

Weekend Warrior

Today I stretched, trained full body, went for a 5 mile walk, and will attend bowling in the evening. My training session broke out like this:

Warm Up - 12/12 x 12k One Arm Swings; 5/5 x 16k Kettlebell Snatches
1.5" Deficit Deadlifts - 5 x 60k, 70k, 80k, 80k, 80k, 80k
One Arm Press - 8/8 x 12k, 16k, 16k
Front Squats to Box - 5 x BW, 20k, 40k, 50k, 50k
Renegade Rows - 5/5 x 16k, 16k, 16k

Overall I found my endurance lacking. Rest time between sets stretched to several minutes on the bigger exercises. I suppose this was a result of accumulated fatigue from yesterday's bike ride coupled with my limited training as of late. I do think my choice of exercises was appropriate.

I am still working on a good training strategy for the work week. The yoga studio I was considering is out of business.

Bike Ride

Today I biked 15 miles and played with my unicycle a little bit. I am still struggling to balance on it with support, let alone get anywhere. Wednesday I trimmed the seat post down, Thursday I also played with it for awhile.

I missed having any weight sessions during the latter half of this week. At work we had 4 demos in 5 days and they tired me out. The solution for busy days may be morning training in my garage, but given that I start work at 8am, that would require me to get up between 5 and 5:30. I am not eager to do so.

I'll put in a full body session tomorrow.

Upper at Home

Another quick one tonight:

Warm Up - 12/12 x 12k Swings
Snatches - 5/5 x 16k, 20k, 24k, 24k, 24k
Overhead Press - 5 x 20k, 30k, 40k; 3 x 40k, 40k, 40k
Renegade Rows - 5/5 x 16k, 16k
Dynamic Pinch - 5, 5, 5

Overall my session was lame. I had to pull back on the snatches due to skin that threatened to tear. The set of 5 with 40k on overhead press drained me for the others. I also felt like I was using my upper traps to help press, instead of the lower traps. On renegade rows my left elbow felt unstable, causing me to skip the last two sets. I was also weak on the dynamic pinch.

Waiting to start lifting until 7:30 did not help me, nor did being at work until 8pm last night. I am having fun, but things are out of balance. Our current project goes live this month. I am going to make a point to get on a more reasonable schedule following that deployment.

My gym membership expires this month. There is a yoga studio a few miles from my house, on the way to work. As I have been failling to attend to active recovery, I may give it a shot. I'll need to check pricing and class times.

I need to clear the equipment I don't use out of my gym. I wish selling it wasn't such a hassle.

Lower at Home

One of the best hours in my Sunday:

Deadlifts - 5 x 20k, 60k, 80k, 90k, 90k, 90k
Box Squats - 5 x BW, 20k, 28k, 36k, 40k, 40k, 40k
Grippers - 5/5 x T, #1, #1; 10/7 x #1
Knee Raises - 5, 6, 7

I continue to avoid wiping myself out in any single session. My strength is coming back, I am staying healthy, and I am not missing workouts. While I may not hit all the exercises I'd like to have done, I'd say this approach is appropriate for now.

I need to work on my food choices, however. Yesterday I ate out breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Today I ate out breakfast and lunch, though my choices were healthier than yesterday. The $150-200 a month it costs me to eat out whenever I want fails to provide sufficient financial disincentive these days. I lack a motivating reason to change my patterns.

Today I got the pipe cutter for my unicycle. I expect to play around with it sometime this week. I also scored two bowling balls with bags at play it again sports. For $3 a ball, I'll choose between them at the bowling alley.

Bike Ride

Today I biked 14 miles, to and from work... I got free lunch and had fun, but sure wish our project was done!

Upper at Home

Yesterday I walked for an hour. Today I did the following:

Kettlebell Snatches - 5/5 x 16k, 20k, 24k, 24k
Overhead Presses - 5 x 20k, 30k; 4 x 40k; 3 x 40k, 40k, 40k
Renegade Rows - 5/5 x 16k, 16k, 16k, 16k

I took it relatively easy since I have a 14 mile bike ride planned for tomorrow.

Lower at Home

Last night I went for an hour walk with my wife. This evening I did a brief lower body workout:

Warm Up - Walk around sub-division
Deadlifts - 5 x 20k, 60k, 83k, 83k, 83k, 83k
Box Squats - 5 x BW, 16k, 24k, 32k, 32k, 32k, 32k
Grippers - 5/5 x T, #1, #1, #1, #1
Knee Raises - 8, 8

I am dragging due to poor quality sleep. The last three nights I've slipped into bed right on time for 8 hours of sleep - unfortunately I do not fall asleep instantly. Maybe if I get tired enough...

The project that entered crunch mode at work has continued to keep me busy. It turns out I can squeeze an hour of work in after I shower and before bed if necessary. I'm not terribly fond of the extra time, but the end is in sight and a quality product will go out the door. Those two factors make a huge difference.

Tomorrow I'll go for a run, Friday an upper session at home. My breakfast and dinner have been quality this week. Lunch still requires improvement. I did limit today's deep dish pizza to one slice and had some of the salad.