Step it up

We've been doing this for almost a month now, 4 weeks in theory, although I was a bit of a late starter... But it's time to start making it harder and harder, testing my limits, finding my failure point, that sort of thing.

I don't remember Friday's session, but pretty sure it was weights after a brief 1km jog. It was another drive-to-work day, and I was sad because I had now driven to work twice in a row - hate that! Today I had another 45min session, and after lat-pulldowns and dumbell flies, I managed to do 8 push-ups before failing, and 20 overall. That is a vast improvement on the 7 I managed in a minute a few weeks ago!

Saturday was a lazy day, spent on my laptop doing work. But Sunday arrived and we had finally agreed to do the Bowenvale to Sugarloaf hill walk. Sugarloaf is pretty high up, and after some time, we seemed to be getting closer, but not higher... The cars were parked at the end of Bowenvale Ave, elevation 15m above sea level. The carpark on Sugarloaf is at 420m, so this was an ascent of about 400m. For the 8.5km loop, the first (and last) 1km was basically flat. Well, except for the sidetrack I went on which added some excitement, but I did stumble over an overgrown Hidden Valley track, so might have a walk up there one day, see where it goes.

To get to Sugarloaf, spend 3.5km walking up, up, up. Some parts were easy, gradual, wide, others were steep (sometimes vertical), narrow, rocky and hard. All the way tho, awesome views, lovely scenery, and a mental dog (Chester on this walk, bonkers mutt)

We made it to Sugarloaf in good time, with the wind howling at us, we quickly descended through Vic Park (again, plenty of sidetracks, will take notes/map next time) and after avoiding some mad downhillers were back at the car in 2.5 hours. That was maybe the hardest walk so far, or so I think, so the crater rim challenge is looking good for some time soon. Up Kennedys Bush to Summit Road, follow the Crater Rim track to Godley Head, then drop down to Taylors Mistake for an ice cream (or a stick of celery).  That's about 30km as the crow flies, maybe 35km on foot. A bloody long way to go for an ice cream, that's for sure!

On the subject of celery, my diet has changed a bit, but not enough. I don't see a lot of gut-reduction going on. I'm sure it is, but I like instant results! So, I'm trying harder and harder to lower carbs every day. Today's lunch is protein high (chicken legs, bacon & lettuce salad, 2 x boiled eggs), carb low (a muesli bar and a banana) and will set the bar for the week. I'm a diabetic for gawds sake, carbs are poison for me! Why do they taste so damn good? Why are they in every convenient edible product? Must try harder.

Hoping to do 10 sessions this week and add some distance to my commute somehow, maybe taking the long way through the park or doubling back on the tracks. Riding on the grass in the park is hard, so may add a few extra km's of that when I get the chance.

Onwards!

Excuses run faster than I do...

Since Monday, little has happened as far as exercise goes. But, before you (probably correctly) judge me, let me explain.

Monday went fine and well, but on Monday evening I got a phone call and was invited on to TVOne Breakfast the next morning. So obviously I couldn't do a workout in the morning and then smarten up and head to the studio. That evening, Tracey was out apparently learning about nutrition (probably at the pub) so no evening session either. Wednesday saw Tracey sleep in so no time for a session before work, and she was at the pub nutrition seminar again that evening.

So, not all my fault. Yes, I could have done some exercises without her, but I know it'd be half-arsed, and anyhow, I ride to work and back, so it's not like I was being completely lazy!

Well. Today I was up and ready to skip off to work by car as we have Chester for a couple of days and he was coming to the office for a while. A bit hard to ride a bike with a dog in your bag, especially a big dog! He was so active and playful with Austin last night, he has spent almost the entire day snoring under my desk and on my feet.

But, before I had time to slip into something uncomfortable and worklike, she had pulled out a deck of cards and it was play time. I did a quickish (sub 6 minutes) 1km jog as a warm up, shins holding out well, then inside to face the deck. A slight twist on the previous 'game' where the numbers no longer count, just the suit. No easy star jumps this time, we had push-ups instead. So for the next 20 minutes or so, I stopped, dropped and rolled like a sweaty sack of potatoes until she had extracted the required amount of groans and whining from me.

A quick clean-up, then into the car and off to the office. I hate driving, people in their cars in rush hour traffic are morons! Every time I drive to work (not often) I fume the whole way, wishing I was on my bike instead.

Speaking of my bike, as I occasionally do, the damn thing is starting to fall apart after just 10 years of use! I snapped a seat rail this week, and my bottom bracket creaks like an old rusty spring bed when I ride. Cost to DIY fix it? Less than $100. Value of the bike after I spend $100 on it? About $25, maybe. Why can't stuff last forever, and maintenance be easy? I'm torn between spending some cash and fixing the thing up properly, or buying a proper commuter bike. DIY will win, it always does. Save my money for a new 29er or something cool and mountain worthy.

Right, back to work, Tracey will have a session organised for me when i get home, so there's no excuses for slacking tonight. This weekend will again be full, but not hectic, so hoping to get some riding in as well as a womble up the hills. Sugarloaf via Bowenvale has been requested, hope I get it this time, we've done all the trails in the Mt Vernon area now. Time for something new and a bit harder!

Slackers Anonymous

The weekend passed gently. It was another of those busy-doing-nothing weekends. We went out for a very nice BBQ on Friday night, a superb dinner on Saturday night and a hill walk on Sunday morning. 

We met in the usual spot on Sunday, but an hour earlier to beat the heat, and discovered we should be heading to higher ground! Quite timely and ironic that we should be heading up a hill at the same time we were supposed to be abandoning the flats due to the impending tsunami after the massive earthquake in Chile. Texts and calls were made throughout the morning, and thankfully nothing serious happened on our shores. We took a new path up the hill, climbing over the lump and down to Huntsbury Domain, then taking the Gorge Track up, up, up, until we got to the cool viewing platform about halfway up to Mt Vernon. I love these walks, I get to see bits of the landscape I miss when I'm on my bike, and see heaps of wildlife (fantails galore on this day). The dog was even better managed, pulling less, and ignoring both of the long-dead sheep just off the path. My descent was easier than Tracey and the others had, seeing as how I stayed on the path, and they went uphill, then off-piste, then vertically up through scrub land for an additional half hour looking for the road again.

Monday morning rolls around and I request a quick ab session before work. I leash the dog and we do a 1km warm-up jog and return home to discover we're not doing a quick session, we're doing a full torture. Chaos, keeps it interesting! On the bench for pull-downs, then squatting dumbbell press things, then more pull-downs, then some kind of reverse backward lunging squat dumbbell press, then onto the floor for hamstrings the hard way, then crunchies on the swiss ball. My fitness test at the start of the challenge saw me to 20mumble crunchies in a minute. I do more than that each session now, which is good. but with my legs draped casually on the swiss ball, I had to do fifty. Yes, it took more than a minute, but I did them. Then some more hamstrings, then another 50 of the damn things. So, 100 crunchies this morning, I guess it's getting easier or just less hard. If I keep this up, I may well be able to do the 1,000 crunchies in an hour Tracey keeps talking about. Sounds painful, but potentially possible. 

During my gut stretching, I mentioned to Tracey I should do a post-ride session when I get home, time and circumstances permitting. Just a quick few minutes doing something nasty. Every little bit helps, and if I can do 2 sessions a day, I should be fit twice as fast yea? I'm not suffering from aches and pains after the routines, so have no issues stepping up the pain or frequency. It's only hard while you're doing it, it's easy once you stop!

Am I full of vim and vigour? I was on Friday on the way home, but was tired all weekend, possibly due to poor food choices and some liquid calories I should have avoided. Back on the straight and narrow this week, results here I come!