As I read that title I realize there is a double meaning to that...not quite 30 years old (I will be soon) Not quite 30 miles...which is what I really mean. Last Monday was officially bike to work day as deemed by me. And to celebrate the occasion I rode around 30+ miles. Good times!
Today, I was not so ambitious. First, let me address the weather here in Chicago. Cold wind...again...boo. Second, my legs...fried...in a good way...all the usual suspects are sore...butt, hamstrings, quads and all the little muscles running from the hip joint all the way to the knee joint.
I still had it in me to ride. Just not to work, at 5am in the morning. I waited till 4pm in the afternoon. Much better. Less wind. Legs had some quality time with the foam roll already. I must say that it was a great decision. I have on the super padded bike shorts today so my butt is not sore! I am only doing about 16 miles. And I can feel that summer is coming to the city. Seeing all the little things that go up along the lake front for summer going up. The only thing left are the nets that go up on the North Avenue Beach for beach volley ball. At that point I will stop riding the lake front path home. Too many people to dodge. I will take my chances with the cars. At least the majority of cars on the road are traveling in a straight line and do not step right in front of your moving tires. Till that time comes I will continue to enjoy my rides home on the path. The wind carries the smell of the flowers in the trees along the path (Names escape me. Just know that they smell heavenly!) The gently lapping of the waves from the lake just to the east of you as pedal closer along the beach. Even the din of the cars whizzing past farther off to the west of you is peaceful while riding along. I will still be able to enjoy these simple pleasures early in the morning all summer. Most people do not rise with the sun ;) and then ride along the lake to get to work. There are those of us who do. And I am sure they enjoy it as much as I do!
Happy riding.
Monday, May 11, 2009
workout log May 10, 2009
Squatting on Sunday, again :)
I realize that the last week has been a bit busy and resulted in my not posting anything witty regarding my workouts. Here it is; I did them. I pressed some weight overhead a lot then did some cable push ups and chin-ups. I dead lifted well and heavy then did many bent over rows and glute ham raises. Finally, I benched. Did some heavy rows known to a few as "Kroc Rows"...more on that later...and then did push ups till my arms fell off ;)
Back to Sunday...squats...Madonna...I know the two are not mutually exclusive but in my little world they work well together! This particular Sunday was Mother's Day. So I was in the suburbs, no where near the familiarity of my gym. I still had work to do so I asked my sister to take me as a guest to her gym (Lifetime Fitness) I am not a fan of big box gyms but one must do what one can with what's available...and that is what I did. A few things to do when you have to work out in a big box gym...first have good music! Tunes out all other distractions (for the most part) Second, find the squat rack in the corner (it seems to be where they place the non Smith squat racks) farthest from just about everyone and everything and make it your new home for 45 minutes! Take off your shoes, make your self comfortable under the bar and squat away...happily no one bothered me at all (even though I was in my bare feet-only way I really like to squat ;)
warm up:
bar=45 x10
65 x5
75 x5
85 x3
work sets:
95 x3
110 x3
120 x7 (was going for 15...got distracted by something out of the corner of my eye in the mirror, lost focus and almost dumped rep 8! thought I was going to be hurting in the back from that...nope...thank goodness)
loaded the bar to 65lbs
Reverse Lunges 5 x what ever each leg had! My right quad has been acting a bit funny the last few days...foam rolled a lot...even "warmed up" with a blue lotion rub down on the right quad/hip flexor area...seemed to help...in fact as the sets of lunges increased so did the stability in my right leg...I really think that hip flexor was pulling on something and those lunges just opened it up!
oh-averaged about 7 a leg each set
45 degree back extension
10lb behind the head x5 x10r
played with 2 30lb kettle bells
Double handed swings 2 x10
Double handed high pulls 2 x10
Single arm snatches 2 x10
Topped it all off with a nice leisurely hike on the tread mill at 15% for 45 minutes.
....all the while, listening to Madonna :)
I realize that the last week has been a bit busy and resulted in my not posting anything witty regarding my workouts. Here it is; I did them. I pressed some weight overhead a lot then did some cable push ups and chin-ups. I dead lifted well and heavy then did many bent over rows and glute ham raises. Finally, I benched. Did some heavy rows known to a few as "Kroc Rows"...more on that later...and then did push ups till my arms fell off ;)
Back to Sunday...squats...Madonna...I know the two are not mutually exclusive but in my little world they work well together! This particular Sunday was Mother's Day. So I was in the suburbs, no where near the familiarity of my gym. I still had work to do so I asked my sister to take me as a guest to her gym (Lifetime Fitness) I am not a fan of big box gyms but one must do what one can with what's available...and that is what I did. A few things to do when you have to work out in a big box gym...first have good music! Tunes out all other distractions (for the most part) Second, find the squat rack in the corner (it seems to be where they place the non Smith squat racks) farthest from just about everyone and everything and make it your new home for 45 minutes! Take off your shoes, make your self comfortable under the bar and squat away...happily no one bothered me at all (even though I was in my bare feet-only way I really like to squat ;)
warm up:
bar=45 x10
65 x5
75 x5
85 x3
work sets:
95 x3
110 x3
120 x7 (was going for 15...got distracted by something out of the corner of my eye in the mirror, lost focus and almost dumped rep 8! thought I was going to be hurting in the back from that...nope...thank goodness)
loaded the bar to 65lbs
Reverse Lunges 5 x what ever each leg had! My right quad has been acting a bit funny the last few days...foam rolled a lot...even "warmed up" with a blue lotion rub down on the right quad/hip flexor area...seemed to help...in fact as the sets of lunges increased so did the stability in my right leg...I really think that hip flexor was pulling on something and those lunges just opened it up!
oh-averaged about 7 a leg each set
45 degree back extension
10lb behind the head x5 x10r
played with 2 30lb kettle bells
Double handed swings 2 x10
Double handed high pulls 2 x10
Single arm snatches 2 x10
Topped it all off with a nice leisurely hike on the tread mill at 15% for 45 minutes.
....all the while, listening to Madonna :)
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
May 4th is Officially Bike to Work Day!
It is! Really, I swear. Just look on any calendar.
Ok. It's a day that I just made up for me. Rightfully so, because it was the day I could officially bike to work! And since I am the most important person I know then it's an official day.
The weather was great for it. Slight breeze off the lake. Sun just rising over the horizon. No head wind to speak of. I was as giddy as a school girl...till I hit the first pot hole! Did you know that a lake front bike/run/walk path could have potholes the size of a small pond? I was unaware of this fact! Talk about an unexpected dance with the pavement! It made the ride interesting. Not unenjoyable! Just interesting. I sure do hope that the city of Chicago gets right on fixing those potholes. Though I will not hold my breath because I have been driving over 100 a day for 3 months.
Thank god for the invention of not so figure flattering over padded bike shorts. While they may not be the latest en vogue fashion, they sure do make taking all the bumps much easier. And since I took it upon myself to ride to work, to my errands downtown, home for a minute, back to work and then finally back home for the evening, the above shorts would have made the ride much more comfortable, had I decided to wear them! I thought my tri shorts (only slightly padded) would be sufficient enough to ride around in all day. Apparently my butt is not thick enough to log around 30+ miles in something that thin (yet). I say 'yet' because callouses can be built...
Thank you God for the wonderful weather in which I can now begin biking to work more frequently in. Thank you for an ample and strong behind to sit on and pedal my bike efficantly. Thank you for creating a person to create the very padded shorts so that my strong, muscular not so padded behind can take long boughts of sitting and bumping along on the city streets and lake front path of Chicago! To many more days of biking to work :)
Ok. It's a day that I just made up for me. Rightfully so, because it was the day I could officially bike to work! And since I am the most important person I know then it's an official day.
The weather was great for it. Slight breeze off the lake. Sun just rising over the horizon. No head wind to speak of. I was as giddy as a school girl...till I hit the first pot hole! Did you know that a lake front bike/run/walk path could have potholes the size of a small pond? I was unaware of this fact! Talk about an unexpected dance with the pavement! It made the ride interesting. Not unenjoyable! Just interesting. I sure do hope that the city of Chicago gets right on fixing those potholes. Though I will not hold my breath because I have been driving over 100 a day for 3 months.
Thank god for the invention of not so figure flattering over padded bike shorts. While they may not be the latest en vogue fashion, they sure do make taking all the bumps much easier. And since I took it upon myself to ride to work, to my errands downtown, home for a minute, back to work and then finally back home for the evening, the above shorts would have made the ride much more comfortable, had I decided to wear them! I thought my tri shorts (only slightly padded) would be sufficient enough to ride around in all day. Apparently my butt is not thick enough to log around 30+ miles in something that thin (yet). I say 'yet' because callouses can be built...
Thank you God for the wonderful weather in which I can now begin biking to work more frequently in. Thank you for an ample and strong behind to sit on and pedal my bike efficantly. Thank you for creating a person to create the very padded shorts so that my strong, muscular not so padded behind can take long boughts of sitting and bumping along on the city streets and lake front path of Chicago! To many more days of biking to work :)
workout log May 3, 2009
I like to do squats...do not ask me why...they are by far one of my hardest workouts...I have unstable hips and it makes it difficult to perform squats well...I have unstable shoulders so it makes it difficult to hold heavy bars...in other words they can down right suck...but for some reason, I like squats. Maybe I am just plane nuts! I must be because I voluntarily drove myself to my work/gym to do said squat workout on a SUNDAY!! I do not usually work out on Sundays. Haven't in 2 years. In fact the last time I did was when I was on a 5 day rotation to build mass. I had always put Sunday as a day of rest. However, I really like being in the gym all by myself. It's quiet. No one or nothing to distract from the task at hand. And I can listen to Madonna on my i-pod in peace. Yes I said Madonna. Something about her music makes a leg workout that much better! Just set the i-pod to random with her first few albums and you are good to go! Puts an extra pep in my step or, if you will, speed coming out of the hole. It also helps when you have interval drills directly following your squat workout. For that, I personally like Confessions on a Dance Floor to make the intervals go by faster. Especially since the legs are already screaming "Enough Already!"
But I digress, I really just need to write what I did to my legs while listening to Madonna early (7am) Sunday morning
warm up:
Texas Bar (55lbs) x5
70 x5
80 x5
work sets:
85 x5
95 x5
105 x12
back down to 80 x10 x5
Glute Ham Raises Body Weight x10 x5
20 minutes of interval sprints on the elliptical followed by a 20 minute cool down (all done sing to Madonna's Immaculate Collection-gotta keep my sanity)...my legs are toast...I was thinking, as I stared out the window, "I am going to ride my bike to work tomorrow"
But I digress, I really just need to write what I did to my legs while listening to Madonna early (7am) Sunday morning
warm up:
Texas Bar (55lbs) x5
70 x5
80 x5
work sets:
85 x5
95 x5
105 x12
back down to 80 x10 x5
Glute Ham Raises Body Weight x10 x5
20 minutes of interval sprints on the elliptical followed by a 20 minute cool down (all done sing to Madonna's Immaculate Collection-gotta keep my sanity)...my legs are toast...I was thinking, as I stared out the window, "I am going to ride my bike to work tomorrow"
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