Okay, this is one of the Building Blocks of Success, a Key to Greatness, an attribute that applies the world over, and very much something I need to work on. Sure, I can eat the same thing every day (heck, I do it so well, I’ve even been criticized for that!), but I often fail to consume as many meals on weekends as I usually have during the week. This can easily lead to overeating or lack of energy, both of which short-circuit my Fitness Goals in the long run.

Hand in hand with my failure to Eat well on weekends is a lack of adequate Hydration. During the normal workweek, I drink plenty of water. Staying well Hydrated gives me an excuse to leave my desk so I can refill my bottle or go to the RR Ranch, and who doesn’t like to get away from work?! It seems that when I’m biking, hiking, playing with my dog, and all that other great-outdoorsy activity, I fail to take along sufficient H2O to meet my body’s needs, sabotaging my own Fun!

My biggest inconsistency lies in my failure to Rest properly. Whether it’s not enough Recovery time, lack of regular Sleeping hours, or the wrong kind of Rest, I am guilty of Consistently being off-track here. Times Past, when I was in my 20’s and carried around about a dozen pounds more muscle at the same bodyweight, I used herbal aids to relax me and allow for more slumber. Nowadays, I get my best Rest by taking naps or by reading just before hitting the sack. (Oddly, watching moto-roadracing when I’m tired puts me to Sleep, too!) Frequently though, I don’t get enough Recovery and this needs to improve if I’m to reach my full Potential. I could really benefit from deciding on a time for bed and allowing for more naps on weekend afternoons.

Being honest about it, Consistency is very much present in my Workouts. Maybe I will miss sessions because of Illness or Injury, but I otherwise hit the gym hard & regular. There are days when I find it difficult to get out of the house to go Workout, but once I reach the gym it’s a done deal. Whether on the Spin bike, in the water, or “on” the Weights, I usually find more Energy as I go through my routine; it’s like I’m building up an adrenalin rush, picking up speed as I move along. There’s a good chance that while I’m Working out I’m releasing built up Stress I don’t even realize I carry around, all the better!

Okay, that’s my “vent” for another thing I’d like to improve upon!

Fazer

:  )

Success = C.R.E.W. (Consistent Resting, Eating, Working)

Fazer

:  )

Fazer

(who might just have some OJ later!)

Long look into what I went through from 10/16 to 10/28: Started off with chills Friday night but didn’t recognize them for what they were; loaded on caffeine/adrenaline, cold front moving through. Woke to lots of low back pain, which I blamed on "benchseat" which I’d occupied for a couple of hours previous night. Ignored headache & dizziness & overall body ache ("its from working out Th"), stubbornly worked 3 hours moving/sifting soil in my yard. Admitted I had a fever and didn’t feel so well; packed up and hit sack early. Sunday- in really bad shape (severe headache), sick and no denying it. Went to Urgent Care clinic; misdiagnosed and sent home with nothing but "hydrate, take fever/pain relief." After a few days of continued 102 fever and really bad headache/toothache, called Urgent Care doc. Explained that taste buds seemed more sensitive to sweet/spicy and that head/tooth were driving me crazy; was immediately told I had sinus Infection and started anti-biotics 10/22. Friday 10/23- woke up with fever at 103 and muscle cramps in arm/calf/hand. Tried Urgent Care clinic, but they "ordered" me to ER. Sat in cold ER waiting area for about 3 hours, which dropped temp to 99, but BP was still low (88/52?). Hooked up to IV and pumped with "hydrating solution" plus anti-nausea & pain relief.  Sent home feeling much better. Woke up middle of night burning, with pains shooting up & down forearms but unable to move; passed out for a few hours. Woke better and started trying to hydrate. Made it through weekend of constant/severe headache and 102 fever by drinking lots of "sports juice." (doc’s said sodium was ultra low and recommended I stick to "sports juice" for a while) Monday 10/26- saw regular doc, who wasn’t satisfied that I still had fever; got new anti-biotic. Tuesday- woke to ultra severe headache; stood up and fell right over from pain, lucky bed was there; passed out for a while. Spent day fighting headache & fever; hydrated hard with "sports juice," lite lemonade, OJ. Wednesday- woke to feeling like a new man; went fever free most of day (overdid shopping at lunch time); appetite returned and mouth had fun. Yesterday was good, today is better. I’ve gained over 10#, I’ve got spots in my eyes and a clicking noise in my head (drug side-effect; not permanent, I hope), but the headache is gone (yes, it was THAT bad) and everything else is manageable.

Back to Training and setbacks, I’ve had plenty of time to think about my Friend’s situation and what I’ve gone through myself. There you are, Training at your peak. Got the Diet right, Rest is going okay and Workouts are a Blast! Then suddenly you are out of the game, benched by illness or injury. Why is it that we we have such sudden setbacks? Could we be Training too much? Are we not listening to our bodies, forcing them to "fail" us? Sometimes the answer is yes.

When you’ve been told by your Docs to ease off, to give yourself a rest, when you continuously ignore previous painful experience and blindly push on, you’re just asking for it. Yeah, I know: be it an extra couple of plates on the bar, a smaller pair of jeans, a few seconds off the clock- you want that Trophy! You want to Win for you and there is nothing wrong with that, until you hurt yourself doing it. And the more YOU set yourself back by trying so hard the longer it will take YOU to get where you want to be! I’m not even 45 and my greatest accomplishments lay ahead of me, so I will gladly tell you to give yourself the time to do things right the first time!

On the other hand…I am glad I have been Training hard, I don’t feel I would have made it through my illness otherwise. (Yeah, things were that bad.) Many were surprised to hear I was still eating after several days of severe illness, well, I was eating as per my Diet schedule. Chicken soup and Gatorade aren’t at all my norm, thus the weight gain instead of loss, but having Fuel put in six or seven times a day and hydrating well are a way of life. If I had managed to keep eating/drinking past Wed night, I wouldn’t have gotten dehydrated (cramps/shooting pains), but at least I made it that far, Big Thanks to Training!

Illness and injury "attack" our bodies. Through proper Training (Nutrition, Rest, Work), not by overdoing or under achieving, we can better defend ourselves and live a longer, healthier, happier life!

Back to doing it!

Fazer

Fazer

I need rest

I am not mentaly prepared

I am physically ill or injured

my family/friends/dog Need me

     That said, last night’s Lifting went well. I hit Legs and Shoulders, doing new exercises for each ("Kneeling" Leg Curls & Cable Side Raises) and coming out pretty tired but very much pumped!

Fazer

This same testing done at the local University’s Fitness Assessment Center does show an increase in Trunk Muscle of almost 2 pounds, but I didn’t get good measurements to go with that. IMO, the testers at UT and Gold’s did not measure in the same places as last time and so I’m throwing the results out and letting my pics speak for my Progress.

For your viewing pleasure and my Ego, I’m working my lower body as hard as my injured spine will allow and hope to spotlight Legs and Calves in an upcoming photo session.

     Since I’m a bit driven to achieve better physical performance, I’ve wanted to add time to my therapy sessions from about day two. Running out of lung power at the 20 minute mark, I was at least happy to see that I’d gone from doing eight 50 yard laps to completing twelve circuits. A fifty percent increase in output was nothing to sneeze at, and I managed to bag 16 laps a few days later. As Fin-Swim sessions piled on with laps hovering at 14 and above, I was not adding minutes to my routine and this was bothering me more and more.

     When I hit the water yesterday, there was only one other person in the pool. This young man (college age) was "Freestyling" at a  good clip and stopping now and then for drinks from a water bottle sporting the logo for the Iron Man race held in Tempe, AZ. After a few non-stop circuits on my part, I came up to "Mike’s" end of the pool while he was checking his times. "Hey! Do you know if this pool is about 20 meters?" I called out. Mike responded that it was actually 25 yards from one end to the other. Pretty soon, I stopped keeping track of total laps, choosing to focus more on time while keeping "25 yards" going through my mind.

     After 23 minutes of Fin-Swim, I was pretty well spent. I had kept a consistent pace with no big bursts of speed or power, but the fuel in my tank seemed about gone. As I was playing with the idea of stopping at 25 minutes and just calling it a day, I noticed that Mike was doing little relays, four to six laps at speed, with short breaks for water/time-checks. I quickly chose to focus on the other swimmer while continuing to kick, much like when I’m looking to bike faster or get to work quicker by "locking-in" on "targets." Without calling out to Mike, I was pretty soon racing him in stealth mode and even managing to pass him. When the young man stopped for his breaks, I took the opportunity to slack a bit and catch my breath. With about 2 minutes left to a full half-hour in the water, Mike and I kicked off from the same wall. Again, I did my best to at least keep up with my imaginary competitor, sometimes drinking his wake, other times splashing water on him with my fins. Whether he noticed me shadowing him or not, Mike suddenly chose to speed up and I just had to follow.

     Water splashing, waves forming, Mike pushed hard, staying about 2 yards ahead of me. Whether the other swimmer was seeking to improve his time or whether he knew I was out to beat him, I didn’t know and it didn’t matter, we were really moving. Though I was starting to get water up my nose, though I could feel my breath laboring, though my legs were starting to fail, I kept at it as hard as I could. Those last two minutes seemed to stretch on forever and yet there just wasn’t enough time for me to quite catch my opponent. In the end, though I came in "last," I managed to get my 30 minutes of Fin-Swim and even did an extra 30 seconds (return lap). So, thank you Mike! Thank you for helping me push myself to be that little bit more, which is what I want and no less than I deserve!

Fazer

-I spoke to Mike after the race, getting his name and thanking him for the motivation.

-All laps of this Fin-Swim session were done on my stomach.

Anyways, because I wanted to use the hot tub, I ventured to the gym yesterday and used the scale while there. Since I’ve treated myself to comfort food (lots of eating out, 1# of salt-free chips) over the last few days, I expected to see 153 or maybe even 155 on the scale. To my surprise, I came in at 150. I ain’t lifted a weight in a while and I figured maybe I’d lost some muscle and replaced it with fat. When I got ready for work today I got another surprise, my clothes fit just the same as they did last week!

Not sure, but I think I actually gained enough muscle in my last surge that it’s allowing me to get away with a few days off lifting and strict diet without immediate consequences. I’m not planning on staying out of commission long and I’m going back to clean foods at least throughout the work day, but I have to say I am happy with what seems to be the current metabolic situation, which has been a long time coming!

 Fazer

(who is starting to feel WAY too loaded, gotta stop writing and focus on staying awake at work!)

 Fazer