The Chances

How a 250+ Pound Couch Potato Got Healthy

Monday, December 01, 2008

Gym Workout + Garmin Calibration

I had a decent workout today. Maybe not the greatest one I've had, but I did end up running a mile afterward to configure the Garmin foot pod. Anyway, here we go.

Warmup, w/45lb bar
* Overhead Squat
* Squat
* Good Morning
* Barbell Lunge
* Romanian Deadlift
* Bent-over Row

Workout
* Drop Squat, 3x20
* Underhand-grip Dumbell Row, 3x20x25lbs
* Reverse Hyperextension, 3x20
* Elbows-in Elevated Pushup, 3x20
* Side Bridge, 3x10 (both sides)
* Side Lateral Raise & Rotation, 1x20, 1x20 (right) 1x20 (right)

36 min, 210 calories burned
1 mile run (1/2 mile for distance, 1/2 mile for calibration), 8:04.45, 7:31 min/mi, 130 calories burned

Total: 340 calories burned

What happened on Saturday? (or Long Run Gone Bad)

Hey boys & girls. Time to fess up.

My Saturday long run turned into a Saturday long walk. I didn't intend for it to happen that way, but sometimes things happen I guess.

The original plan was to run 7 miles to St. Isadore's for our final rehearsal for Handel's Messiah, which we were to perform on Sunday afternoon.



Afterwards I would have lunch, then run back home. 14 miles total, which I've done every Saturday for the past month or so.

The run to the church was uneventful, albeit very foggy. I also made my running vlog along the way. I kept a steady 10 min/mi on this leg and burned 877 calories.



Afterwards, I ate at Ruthy's in Hillcrest Plaza across the street from the church. I've always liked that place, and on the lunch buffet they had some pasta. I didn't complain, but probably ate too much.

Afterwards I changed back into my running clothes and tried to refill my water bottle, only to find that Hillcrest Plaza didn't have a drinking fountain. NOOOOO! I figured I'd find one on the way, and off I went.

Back in Marysville, the closet place with a fountain I could think of was the hospital. I went into Emergency (God only knows why, probably not the best choice in the world), filled up my bottle, used the restroom, and headed out. I got up to the stop light and suddenly my legs were on fire. Heck, maybe not even suddenly, I was probably ignoring it until this point. I just had to stop.

I told myself I'd walk to the top of the ramp to the E St. Bridge sidewalk, then run. My body didn't listen and kept walking. Ok then, I said, I'll walk to the end of the bridge, then start up again. Nope. How about back on Arboga? Oh, ok.

I ran all of about 1/4 mile before my body told me I'd better stop again. At the corner of Feather River Blvd. I called my wife and told her I'd be late, because I'd walk the rest of the way home. So I did. It was a real bummer, too, I wasn't even keeping decent pace for hiking, it was really slow going. 2.8 mph! So it took a while. At least I burned 725 more calories! It just took over two and a half hours to do it.

Anyway, that's the sordid tale. I'm sure we could go on forever about what the causes might be. Perhaps it was overtraining, I woke up with a resting heart rate of 63 (normally I'm between 48 and 50). Maybe it was because just two days before I had run 7 miles to the park and played football for 2 hours. Maybe 3 hours between legs of the run caused too much lactic acid to build up. Maybe I ate too much.

No, my suspicion is I just went into lazy mode. Bleah.