JFord Bradleyd3 2013 Spring Group- Closed (Page 16)

I've heard this from several people on this forum.  In my experience... definitely not true.  I always get a good stretch in before doing any cardio or working out.  The few times I haven't, I've managed to pull something or had to cut my workout short because something cramped.  I don't necessarily want to argue the point that pre-workout stretches are important, but rather that, if you've been doing it long enough that your body expects it... don't stop doing it or you'll be sorry!

As for my weakness, I feel guilty saying this, but... salads with a good italian dressing!  I can go through a bag of premixed for 4 people in one sitting and have been known to demolish a head of lettuce.  My wife thinks I'm the weirdest person ever!  That being said, I love my sweets, but I'm an equal opportunity sweetist... if it's got sugar, I'll take it.  Thankfully I've got the metabolism to back me up on that or I'd be a 300+ pound monstrosity.

I have heard lots of talk about stretching.  The most common right now is dynamic stretching before and static stretching after.  I wish I was consistent or to be honest even considered doing either.  I have it in my mind that the first mile of a run, first few miles on the bike or the first few laps in the pool are used as a warmup which will "stretch" whatever I need stretched to do that workout.  I know! I know! That isn't what we are supposed to do.  I am just being honest.  I have been running since 2006 (before that I was 100 pounds over weight and had never EVER been athletic in any way).  I have really only had 1 injury which was a stress fracture just over a year ago.  It was caused from too much concrete running.  So I guess it all comes down to being able to listen to your body.  By the way, the studies that say static stretching before your workout doesn't prevent injury does not say that it hurts you in anyway.  So if it is what you are doing . . . keep doing it!

My weakness - I would say it is chocolate only lately it is anything I can get my hands on.  I seem to be hungry all the time.  In my 3 hour bike ride on Monday, I was only an hour into it and I was craving a Big Mac!  Good thing I still had 2 more hours and no one was home for me to send to McDonalds.  By the time I was done, I was too tired to even think about going out for food!

My guilty pleasure would have to be fresh homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Normally this isn't a problem, but my two boys have been begging the wife every week to make them, so they are always around.  Seems like we go through 2 dozen a week as a family. 

As for stretching, I still stick to what I learned in HS track all those years ago.  Short 1/2 mile warm up jog then some dynamic stretches for 5-10 min.  Then 10-15 of static stretching after the workout. 

On a different note, I was planning on getting in a nice 4-5 mile run outside today but here in KS we just got slammed with 8-9 in of snow and it's still coming so everything is shut down.

We are on our second snow day here in KS.  Yesterday's workout included building a 6 foot snowman, throwing my boys in the snow, snowball fights, and filling 32 five gallon buckets to build a snow fort to keep us safe from the zombies.  Today's workout will include sledding, snowball fights and possibly a trip to the gym if they open up today.

I like it!!  We didn't get quite as much snow as you guys in KS, but here in OK we got enough for me to have the day off (with a little coaxing ), so it's going to be a brick workout for me today.  Glad to be back in the groove after a couple weeks of crud going on.

In lighter news... I can definitely see a difference in the abs already (besides the soreness, lol).  Didn't know there were 6 of them.  Just thought it was just 1 solid ab to protect my belly from being poked!

I was just about to ask how everyone was doing on the core challenge! Snow days won;pt keep you from doing that no will it!

I can sense my core getting stronger. I am not up to sets of 100! Feeling good! I just wish I could get excited about S/B/R again. I have been traveling and on a recovery week this week which has made it hard for me to focus on doing what I need to do! Sometimes I hate rest/recovery weeks, but I know they are needed!

Now that is my kind of training.  As a kid, I lived a few years in Minnesota and loved being in the snow all the time.  Here in Ohio, we very seldom get enough snow to do anything with it.  I also have a neighbor with a snow blower that insists on clearing the driveways and sidewalks of about 10 of our homes on our street.  I keep telling him he is taking away my workout but he loves doing it!  Leaves more time for me to make snow angels with my granddaughter!!!!

Glad to see I am not the only one that is struggling with the S/B/R.  After the surgery, then getting sick it has been most of Feb. that I haven't been training hard.  Now that I am healthy and have the opportunity to train it is hard to get back into it.

Abs are still going well for me.  Can tell a difference when the kids jump on me!

Sat 6.1 mile run  500 crunches

Sunday 21 mile ride  300 crunches

Monday 5 mile run

tonight- 15 mile ride 400 crunches

After tonight, I will be 500 crunches away from hitting my goal of 7,000!

Just thought I would put my blog post in here about my adventure through Insanity this off season.

Well....I missed the last week of Insanity workouts because of work.  I will say this though.  IT'S AN UNBELIEVABLE OFF SEASON WORKOUT!!!!  Final results of the workout.  I lost 2 inches off the waist and 16 pounds from when I started.   It's so dramatic in the 60 days that people have actually made comments at work about how I've lost weight!  I highly encourage people to do Insanity as an off season workout.  It will help with core strength, agility, and athleticism.  So much that with NO tri specific training, I was able to cut 15 minutes from my Indoor Triathlon times.

Congrats on the awesome results!  2 inches and 16 pounds!!  Freaking awesome!

It is primarily cardio.  The thing is it's also got a TON of resistance training using only your own body weight.  Almost every exercise has an element of core conditioning also.  It really hits your entire body including cardio in a single, VERY high intensity workout.  I can't be happier with the results and jump start to my first ever tri season.

Had a great swim this morning. 1700 yards.

This is more for me than you guys, but I thought you might like to hear my thoughts!

Self Rant coming in 3....2....1...

Seems like I have found my motivation again after going through a slump there for a few days. This weekend while I was running something just kept going through my head. "It's time to get serious" Out of nowhere, just kept going through my thoughts. Maybe it is a sign that I need to re-focus my workouts. I am not out there going for just miles. If my plan says run 5 miles, I need to know how to approach those 5 miles. How can I get the most benefit out of that run? What do I need to do to get the maximum benefit? That is my thought process going forward. I have an Olympic triathlon in May. Last year I PR'd it at 2:47. This year i want 2:40. Now how do I make that happen? I have to get serious.

So what about you? Are your workouts truly workouts or are you checking off the miles as just getting them done?

I am pretty sure I am just going through the motions of a workout w/out real thought as to why other than that is what the program told me to do.  I am hoping that once the weather gets better here I can get outside and do some workouts that will have purpose.  It is hard to run on a track for much longer than 30 min for me. 

Motivation right now is lacking.  We just had a 6 day weekend because of snow.  Got a little over 20in. here in Kansas setting an all time record.  Now that I am back to work and on a schedule it will get better.

On a side note, I went to my first ever spin class last night and got my rear handed to me.  I might have had the resistance a little high for my first time, but will continue to go 1-2 times a week till I can get out on the road again.