Grouse Grind: Vancouver, BC - Day 1 [07/08/2007]

I'm still going

Tuesday I was still a bit sore from our group hike on Sunday, yet I still decided to meet with my trainer Reggie. Instead of working on my arms, he decided to work my legs and had me do some squats and lunges with 10 lb weights. Then after another series of leg exercises he finished off the legs by having me complete side steps with a resistance band the width of the gym...down and back. Once all that was done...on to some boxing. This time he threw in some Muay Thai kick boxing...which...I need some practice as I looked pretty rediculous trying to coordinate some of those moves in with the regular upper cuts and front punches.

I decided to take the fourth off from training and will be back at it after work today.

Waterfall Glen

Hike at Waterfall Glen

Yesterday the group met at Waterfall Glen for about a 10 mile hike. Needless to say...I'm finding it a little difficult to walk this morning. My hips are trying to forget the pain of carrying a 40lb pack on top of hiking 10 miles. Well I guess it is a good start to my rediculous increase in training I'm setting myself up for this last month. One more month...

With Work Travel Comes...

Well it has not been as easy as I had hoped staying to a routine while in Cincinnati for work the last two weeks. I will be heading back to the Chicago area tomorrow afternoon, however I can tell I need some work. With getting up and putting in a full day of training (of which is exhausting in and of itself), then completing work that was missed during the day because of training, on top of completing the "homework" for the training each day...and getting the proper rest, food and summit training on top of that. It has been very difficult and not very effective. It is coming up so quick, and I just need to make myself step up the game.

Interval Training

I have been trying to step up my work outs with interval training on the treadmill. Incline at 20% or higher at 2 minutes at a slow run, 1 minute recover, and then repeat for 20 minutes. It is rediculous...I'll tell you what. I worked with a new trainer, Therese, and she mentioned that I need to work on my breathing to help me with my endurance. Talk about multitasking...make sure my abs are tight, my breathings is on track, jog at an incline without falling off the treadmill...oh..and don't pass out or throw up. Right.....

I'm in Cincinnati for two weeks, so it I'm trying to stay at the same level of training with the limited equipment that the hotel offers. Trying to incorprate push ups, lunges and sit ups in my hotel room. This weekend I am going to try and find a trail that I can train on.

So there is light at the end of this tunnel!

So I finally broke past the stage of not seeing any progress. Well...obviously after 4 months there has been progress...but I finally feel like I am getting to a point where I can see past the pain and achieve a goal I set. I have been working on the stairmaster for the past couple weeks and have not been able to go past 30 minutes on the level I set. For some reason I was able to go for an hour [5 miles] and then run on the treadmill for a mile afterwards. So I'm finally starting to see the light. Two more months...I can't believe it!