SlimCache

It's crunch time. With only two weeks to go until my race it's time to start running more frequently. My helpful fitness advisor suggested at least 2 times a week. I'll go with that for now but I'm actually thinking more like 3. So with that in mind I went out today to greet the sun at the Back Cove. You know the place. It's a revisit and I'm sure it's going to become a staple if I'm not considering it as such already.

I like this place because there are distinct mile markers, something I don't have when running the streets of Old Orchard. This of course makes it easier to record splits, something I'm just getting into tracking at this time. And now for the really great news! I'm improving upon my time. I suppose that was bound to happen, but as someone who has never run for anything in their life, it comes as a little bit of a surprise. Today's time was 36'00"75. That's almost a minute and a half faster than my previous attempt which was done on a course that is not as hilly as this one. I'm really rather proud of myself. It was just what I needed after a week of feeling disconnected and sh**ty.

Day one down of the new plan, a distinct workout commitment for every day of the week. Tomorrow it's caching and some circuit training. Also of note, look for me on LiveStrong.com as I've just starting using The Daily Plate there and also some of the other features and groups. I think it's really going to do the trick for calorie tracking to point out the nutritional improvements I could make to optimize my efforts. Oh yeah, and I'll have to post my weigh in later today (possibly tomorrow). It's a whopper. That's all I can say at this point. The suspense is killing you ain't it?

Call this a confessional. After reading FatBlogger Powers... ACTIVATE! I realized that I'm not alone in my slump,and felt better momentarily, but inactivity has just got me feeling so damn depressed lately. I'm lethargic and disengaged most days recently. An ear infection slowed me down a few weeks ago, car trouble had me running around (and not in the GOOD way) looking for solutions, and cranky kids have taken their toll as well.

I guess I needed a moment to step back, evaluate my goals, and devise a plan. Charles' post has forced me to address this and I think I've come up with a valid solution. Every week I will make a list of the fitness efforts to make the following week. A sort of contract, of which there will be a physical copy much like a checklist, and I will tick off my daily accomplishments from the list of "to dos".

Next week's list looks like this.
Sunday 8/31: 5K Portland Back Cove
Monday 9/1: Geocaching + Circuit Training
Tuesday 9/2: Fitness Room
Wednesday 9/3: Rest
Thursday 9/4: Fitness Room
Friday 9/5: Geocaching + Circuit Training
Saturday 9/6: 5k Old Orchard Beach

This is phase 2 of the plan that is to change my life. This has been the most trying time so far, and if I can get through this I'm confident that I can see it through to the end.

I've run more than three miles consecutively before, but wasn't really trying to track my time. I figured since I'm supposed to be getting ready for this race in a few weeks I ought to try to get an idea of what type of times I'm doing.

This morning I set to doing a 5k. I picked my route on runningmap.com. 1.55 miles down and back. I tracked my time on my heart rate monitor and ended up coming in at 37 min 25 sec. That's not too bad. I kind of impressed myself. I can't wait to get some more of this weight off so I can improve upon that.

My heart rate was pretty high. I averaged 169 and maxed out at 182. Not so sure if that's accurate or not and if it is I really have to get some more conditioning. Kcals burned were 474 and since it was super-cardio, only 25% of those cals were fat.

Well maybe it's not THAT big of a deal, but I do want to thank Kacky for interviewing me for the latest installment of The Maine Podcache. I met with Kacky, who co-hosts the show with Katadin Goddess, at the heart and some would say soul of Freeport; L.L. Bean. We sat down on the lovely front porch of the new hunt and fish store on a stormy afternoon about a week and a half ago to discuss working caching into a workout plan. At the time of the interview I had only lost 32 pounds. Before you lament my gain, don't be fooled! I'm down three more since then.

I would like to share what I've found the be quality podcasts I've recently found on weight loss, running, and caching. I'm pretty picky, as I have a little background in radio and am kind of a stickler for good, clean sound. I find these podcasts to have some superior production quality along with extremely useful information. If you have a podcast on running, fitness, nutrition, outdoor pursuits, or weight loss please give me a shout. My eager ears are always open. If you haven't checked out the following please do.

Phedippidations - Phedippidations is an independent, free, "Internet Radio" PodCast hosted by Steve Runner who lives and runs with his family in the heart of New England in Central Massachusetts.

4 Feet Running - 4 Feet Running is a weekly podcast with Nik and Dan! She's a marathon runner training for her 5th. He's a beginning runner who finished the C25K program and just ran his first 10K. Every week, they record themselves on a short run somewhere in New England (mostly), they talk about their training, play some music, and have a few laughs.

The Runners Roundtable - The Runners Roundtable, where runners from around the world share tips, tell stories, and keep each other motivated. Pull up a chair and join us, at the table.

Fat 2 Fit Radio - Fat 2 Fit Radio is an Internet radio show, or podcast, featuring Russ Turley and Jeff Ainslie. Join us each episode as we share web sites, insights, information, recipes, weekly weigh-ins and more to help you go from fat to fit.

Podcacher - At PodCacher you will find: A written journal of our geocaching experiences, musings, rants, raves and opinions, show notes to our audio podcasts, links to really cool and helpful stuff, and always family friendly!

Cache-A-Maniacs - Each episode of the Cache-A-Maniacs features a candid, uncut, and irregular interview a member of the Geocaching community.

Maine Podcache - Congratulations! You found it! Intentionally or not. It's the Maine Podcache. Not necessarily all about geocaching in the Pine Tree State. The views expressed are only the opinions of the one who said it. With your hosts Katadin Goddess and Kacky.

These are just a few of the great shows I've been listening to lately on the topics of fitness and outdoor life. I'll post more later. This should give you enough to chew on for a little while. Please let the producers know you appreciate their work.

GC1E385 - Cousins River Trail - Short
GC132ZP - Shambud's First
GC1E381 - Cousins River Trail - Bonus
GC1E37T - Cousins River Trail - Long

Ahhhh, to get back on the trail. That ear infection really slowed me down. I was starting to forget just how gratifying caching could be. Granted, these weren't especially difficult caches today, but it still felt great to get outdoors. It has rained here in Maine for the last month pretty much steadily so that's put a damper (hehehaw) on outdoor activities as of late.

These caches were found along the Cousins River Trail, a relatively new project of the Freeport Conservation Trust adjacent to the Casco Bay YMCA. From the FCT's page :

The new trail on FCT’s adjacent preserve enhances what you can do at the Y by providing a place for outdoor exercise, and a chance to enjoy the beauty of the woods and the shore of the Cousins River. The Cousins River one of the little known gems of Freeport. I recommend you take walk or go snowshoeing on the new trail.

I would recommend these caches for those just starting out. If you've honed your geosenses a little the hides might not prove much challenge. I think they're great examples though for players early in the game. Sometimes even seasoned veterans might enjoy these too as it's really hard to appreciate the beauty of an area when you're consternated over a really tricky hide.

It's not too far of a trek in and out of the trail so to turn this into more of a walk I parked about 3/4 mile away from the first cache. Doing this yielded a 4.03 mile walk today doing 3.2 mph while moving. I've further customized my heart rate monitor to include a target zone specifically for hiking and walking rather than strong cardio. That zone is 115 bpm - 134 bpm. Today's average heart rate fell outside the zone at 136 bpm, as did the maximum of 167. Perhaps I still need to tinker with the zone a little. 50% of the 938 total calories burned were from fats.

A really good day I'd say for not having been out for a little while. 938 calories is nothing to sneeze. Please check out Cousins River if you're planning a trip to the Freeport area. We'd love to have you.

My journaling has really fallen off this week. Not a single entry was posted between weigh-ins. I had a terrible ear infection that took me out for a few days. I've been hitting the amoxicillin pretty hard for the last few so the pain has finally let up. Unfortunately that means there was very little activity on my part this week. I was terribly worried about a gain as I was resting, but felt that since my intake was in check that I would make out relatively unscathed. Perhaps I would only gain 1-2 pounds.

Worries unfounded! I somehow dropped 2.2 pounds on a down week. This has gotten me energized to get back out and hit much harder next time. My body feels better and ready to handle whatever comes up. I also have to train for this race in a month, so next week it's on!

Starting weight - 315 lbs.

Last week - 282.2 lbs.

This week - 280 lbs.

Progress since previous weigh in - 2.2 lbs.

Total weight loss - 35 lbs.

Due to a constantly tightening schedule, I was under a bit of a time crunch today. I've been having to get creative. My session was broken up today and it's a schedule I feel like I could get used to with a little time. I did a half hour on the treadmill during my lunch break. In preparing for my race I'm hitting the treadmill a little more often. I've even found that my speed is increasing, and that I'm now able to handle 5 mph +. During my lunch session I averaged a heart rate of 141 bpm and maxed at 171 bpm. 50% of the 273 kcals burned during this period were from fat.

After work I also managed to cram in another half hour on the elliptical. This was kinda hard to bring myself to do, as it was the end of the day and I was feeling a tad run over. Once I got into it though I felt much better. I ended up pushing harder than I have been lately on this machine, and am really satisfied having pushed myself in for a second session today. Average heart rate for the second go 'round was 145bpm and my maximum was 156 bpm. 292 cals were burned in the second session of the day, 45% of which were fat cals.

So that brings my calories burned for the combined sessions to 565. Going into the day I wasn't even sure how to get any time in today, but thankfully I found out that with a little creativity it is possible, and some activity is absolutely better than none at all.

Good day today. I've been in the mood to get back into the fitness room. Seems like I haven't been there in forever. Maybe I'm just feeling bad for slacking this weekend. Since my run on Friday I hadn't made any real type of effort. It's amazing how back in the day I used to spend weeks on end sitting on my can, but now if I take 2 to 3 days off I feel anxious and lazy. A lifestyle change has taken place, and I think it would be really hard to go back to that way of life at this point.

28 mins. Cycle, weight loss program level 9, 60 rpms
15 reps/120 lbs Lat Pull Down
15 reps Push ups with workout ball
15 reps/30 lbs Single Arm Row
15 reps Squats w/ 20 lb weight
15 reps/20 lbs Bicep Curl/Shoulder Press
15 reps Supermans
15 reps Crunches
15 reps Bicycle Kicks
15 reps/120 lbs Lat Pull Down
15 reps Push ups with workout ball
15 reps/30 lbs Single Arm Row
15 reps Squats w/ 20 lb weight
15 reps/20 lbs Bicep Curl/Shoulder Press
15 reps Supermans
15 reps Crunches
15 reps Bicycle Kicks
40 mins. Arc Trainer/Elliptical, weight loss program level 9, 110 strides per min.

Average heart rate for the day was 144 bpm with a recording glitch of 180 bpm maximum recorded. 1001 kcals were burned hence the title of this entry. 45% of those calories were burned in fat cals. I'm back with a vengeance, and I intend to take advantage of my spare moments this week to get some decent work in. I've even been doing push ups, supermans, crunches, bicycle kicks, and squats at home in the evening. I'm on a roll and am not looking back.

Good old stamina building, calorie burning, heart pumping action. This is what I'm looking for lately. I've been hearing about interval training a lot so thought I would try to step it up today and execute on a jaunt again around the Back Cove (I love this place).

I'm following, although not rigorously, the program outlined here by Weight Loss Weapons blog. At several points in my run today I would turn on mad juice for a minute in an effort to spike my heart rate. The first time I did it was for 30 seconds. The three subsequent times after that were for 1 minute each. As time goes on I hope to build more stamina in order to run faster longer. I noticed an improvement to my speed overall and my average has increased. I see this as a great chance to get ready for my race coming up and plan to continue HIIT to work toward the goal of competing in a 5K!

Average heart rate : 155 bpm Maximum heart rate : 172 bpm
Percentage of cals burned from fat : 35% Kcals burned : 542