A day behind, but still running!

So, it seems I never found the opportunity for yesterday's blog posting.  Just an indicator that life is NOT slowing down, especially with the kids coming school year!   BUT,I am not letting that derail my plans!  Yesterday I even exercised BEFORE work.. But Since I am a day behind - that is getting ahead of myself.

Back to Tuesday.  After work I had a short run on the schedule.  You might recall that my current plans had the short runs at 4 miles these days.



Holy crap did I do it fast.  

Holy Jeepers Cats! Its the day AFTER the day after that hurts!

[caption id="attachment_2844" align="alignright" width="216"] Me (you believe that right?) Doing a shoulder press![/caption]

LOL! Ok, so yesterday I had posted about how my soreness was less than expected, and in different places than I expected.

I forgot one key thing about strength training.. It's not the next day that hurts.. it's the day AFTER the next day... I woke up in the middle of the night, and the majority of my body hurt.  THAT was apparently a good workout!  I know it wasn't from yesterday's, as yesterday was a 4 mile run (with my bicycling shadow!), followed by a long period of stretching.  Hardly the things that sore shoulders/chest/arms/back are made of!   I feel much better about that workout, and I am looking forward to using my bowflex tonight!   

Never sore where you think

[caption id="attachment_2831" align="alignright" width="300"] Me resting after using the bowflex.... (ok...ok.. the image MIGHT be from http://www.bowflex-help-online.com/is-a-bowflex-home-gym-worth-the-money.html )[/caption]

Last night I hit my bowflex for a nice workout. My thought is that by swapping days of running and lifting, I give my Plantar Fasciitis a chance to heal (in theory), while working on the upper body/core that I have spent years ignoring. It seems like a good way to develop a balance that I have been sorely lacking.

Now, the thing that surprises me with the bowflex, is that I am usually sore in different places than I expect. With out giving you all the details of last night's workout (imagine how exciting THAT would be... I pushed.. relaxed.. pushed.. relaxed..,) I was sure that today - I was going to be facing some seriously sore triceps. SURPRISE!!!! The Arms are fine, and your back is letting you know it was a great workout!

I'm certainly not complaining, as I know it was a good workout either way.

#Juneathon Day Something or Another - The Treadmill and Bowflex

So I had this thought.  Now it was partially born out of the fact that I didn't have clean running shorts, and my manpri pajama pants were awful comfy, but it was still a thought.

If impact levels make a difference to Plantar fasciitis (to be fair, I couldn't remember if they did or not), and a treadmill has more give than the sidewalk.... Would running on a treadmill hurt less?  See how well I rationalized not going outside?  So with this thought, I went downstairs to the dreadmill.  I set the speed at 7.6, figuring if I was going to torture myself with two miles on the dreadmill, I should at least do it at a sub-8 minute mile.  Then because I felt guilty being on a treadmill, I set the incline to 2.5.

#Juneathon Weekend 8,9 and 10

Seems three days is becoming my normal Juneathon blog...  I'm pretty sure that isn't how the "rules" read...

So what did I do?   Well on Saturday, I drove an hour (And a bit of change) out to Virginia (opposite side of DC from where I live) and picked up a Bowflex XLT for 75 bucks!

[caption id="attachment_2773" align="alignright" width="490"] see? it fit nicely in the car![/caption]

It was a pleasant enough drive, although a 5 buck toll on the road that goes to Dulles International Airport seemed a bit steep to me, especially since there was another 1 dollar toll to get OFF of the road! WTF?  But the drive was pleasant, and even with the addition of the cost of the tolls - the price was great..

Just another Magic Monday

Every day, you can choose if you are going to have a good day, or a bad day.  Granted, sometimes life throws a curve ball and tries to convince you to change your mind, but even then - you can maintain your choice with some effort (And perhaps some denial of reality.)

As an example, I had a rather interesting week on the first week I stopped posting.  You may (or may not) be aware that I work in the Information Technology field.  I m the Director of Information Systems for a non-profit that covers 2 states, plus Washington D.C..   As you can imagine, we use quite a bit of technology.  We ran into a problem, that we were not getting enough power into our main office.   Seriously.  Everything would be fine through the night and first thing in the morning, but as people arrived (and turned things on), lights would start to flicker, computers would reboot and battery backups would start to squeal in outrage.   Throughout this week, people were a wee bit amazed I was still able to smile and joke around.. My response to it?  Hey, at least we are getting it all out-of-the-way at once!  This could be random issues popping up for the next three months!  Look how lucky we are!

You see, computers require power.  I know this might be a shocking realization, but when they aren't getting that power, they fail.  This is also true for computer-related equipment (such as IP Phones.)  In fact, steady power hits can lead to a loss of programming for phones.. Hypothetically, lets say you could lose 3/4 of your phones this way..