Monday; Jan. 10: An off day due to work. Started a trip in Salt Lake early and ended up in Philly very late.
Tuesday; Jan. 11: Being in downtown Philly, the workouts are confined to the hotel "gym" or as most hotels call them, "fitness center." Some of the spaces resemble a closet with a few run down pieces of equipment, but I always make it work. The theory is that some type of workout/run, etc is better than sitting in the hotel room with the remote glued to my hand. Today's effort was a good arm weight lifting with 15 minutes of abs and then it was onto the ellipitcal for 6.0 miles at fairly hard level in a time of 54:00. Switching to the treadmill the run went like this: 3.0 miles total at 5.7 to 6.5 mph; 4 sets of hills at 3% incline for 3/10ths of a mile each, all at 6.0mph; total run time was 27:00. So, a good start to the week
Below is a pic of a typical day at the airport in a snowstorm....an airplane looking like a popcicle!
Wednesday; Jan. 12: After an all nighter of flying in the snowstorms of the northeast, today's run was an easy effort to say the least. Being once again confined to the hotel gym, the ellitpicical was the choice. A fairly nondescript effort of 6 miles, lasting right at 54 minutes. Even as motivated as I am, there are days when the exercise could just as well be disregarded, but I always think of the overall results of staying consistent. Also, knowing I am going to spend the rest of the day sitting in an airplane, is motivation enough to get some version of a run in. Not enough time for an actual weight lifting session, but I did manage to get about 15 minutes of ab scrunching.
Thursday; Jan. 13: What a nice break from the cold and snow of winter! My overnight was in Costa Mesa, CA, near the Orange County Airport. This is one of my favorite running areas with a short trot down to the back bay trails and then several miles of either dirt or paved trail. The back bay is home to a number of wildlife species that live along the water and make nests in the surrounding marshes. So far, I have not had the time to run all the way to the beach (and the return run), but hopefully someday I can make the 20 mile loop. Today's run of 7 miles consisted of about a mile warmup and then 40 minutes at a pace similar to a 10K race pace...a good tempo run. All body parts were working, there was a spring in the step, and the cool morning air made the running easy. Total run time was 1:05. Here is a link to the back bay area in Costa Mesa/Newport Beach: http://www.daytrippen.com/newportbackbay.html
Friday; Jan. 14: This was a 22 hour day so to say that it was long was an understatement. I did manage a basic 6 miler, which was a good recovery run after yesterday's tempo.
Saturday; Jan. 15: Another first day home after a trip and it was the usual slog fest. Not much sleep, cranky, sluggish...the same as always. But as always, it was good to get out the door and get some form of movement going. Today's effort was simply a 6 mile walk in about 1:30. Nothing fancy, just a fast walk, enjoying being back home and watching the deer and squirrels.
Sunday; Jan. 16: Despite not sleeping well, it was quite a workout today. A weight lifting session started the day at 5am; P90X abs and Bill Philips style chest and back. Out the door by 615am revealed a beautiful sunrise and 20 degree temps. This was a longer run of 11 miles, along the dirt roads around my house. Many hills made for a hard effort as I pushed the pace on a few short stretches. What was also good to see was that even though I have only been at 8500' for two days since Dec. 27th, the altitude was not an issue. Seems the ole body has adapted to being away from home and then returning to a normal workout effort.
Summary: This was a good week, even though I was working most of it. A few more miles would have been good but with a hill run, a tempo run, and a long run, it was successful. Another key ingredient to improving the running is the nutrition. As we all know, this is often the hardest part, with all of the temptations out there and sometimes a full schedule that finds us making bad food choices without thinking about what we are doing. For several years, my diet has continued to be rather lean and healthy with the 3-4 times a month splurge. I try to stick to fresh/frozen veges/fruit and lean proteins such as cottage cheese, eggs, and very limited turkey, tuna, and chicken. Also, as I have aged and the metabolism has slowed, therefore, I have gradually cut out certain items such as condiments, flour products, processed foods/sugar as much as possible. Unfortunately, I will be the first to admit that I can be a sugar addict....just pure white sugar or corn syrup....usually in the form of hard candy such as life savers, tootsie pops, ricolas, lemon drops...it's all the same.....and as with most addiction, I can't have one piece of candy...it's gotta be the darn bag or the whole roll of lifesavers....therefore, it is a conscience choice to just not have any form of candy with its sugar/corn syrup. Speaking of choices: that is how I look at maintaining a healthy diet...it's all about food choices. .....choices regarding the types of foods we eat and the amount of food we eat....it's about choosing to eat healthy and not about feeling as though we are depriving ourselves. I never feel like I am depriving myself of eating certain foods; I always feel like I am fueling my body/mind with foods to make it all work better and to maintain that size 4 figure. Oh, don't get me wrong..there is nothing more tasty than a pizza or a cheesecake or a huge cadbury bar, but those foods will not fuel me properly nor will they keep me in the size 4 jeans! It is a choice to eat healthy. As for the splurge days. those usually occur right after a trip when I am tired, impatient, grumpy, homesick and the foods usually consist of something with flour and sugar...cookies, candy, pasta, cheese....a good dose of the gooey stuff for one meal and I am done.
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