Stadium stairs

Sunny but not too hot, mid 70ºs at the MTSU Floyd Stadium.  Got there just as the football team was finishing.  It was hard.

Stretches, drills

12 x Stadium stair sprints 

Even with a lengthy bathroom break after 6x, and with sit down breaks every 2 or 3x, I was only able to get a dozen.  Could've gotten more but had a meeting to attend.  Probably good that I didn't do more.  Was feeling shaky after just 6.  

Unlike the previous session, I was really sore today, the day after.   Particularly calves, quads.  Typical morning back and knee soreness.  

Too heavy.  144 after workout.   Woke up at 146.5 lbs today.  

Health tests:

Fortunately, the AFP/AFP L3% and DCP tests came back with a good result, so I probably don't have liver cancer.  The AFP tests were down 15% from the June test and the DCP had a negligible result (0.3 ng/ml).  I booked a full body MRI cancer screening for Nov through Ezra.  Head to pelvis, all organs.  

 

tempo 100s

Same workout +1.  Had to wait 30 min after arriving at the track for the rain to stop, did my 20min warmup, then into it.  

I knew this would be hard after a slow week of workouts.  That was confirmed as my HR hit 176 after just the second rep. 

Stretches, drills, bands, 50m stride

Hoka Rocket X2s on

6 x 100m on turf w/ 30 sec rest between - avg ~ 17 sec

Max HR - 185

HR over 170 - 5:01

HR over 180 - 2:35

Once I started it, the recovery periods were too short to see much HR drop.  After first rep I recovered to 162 and that was the lowest it got through the entire set.  

Here is the HR data - max and recovery HR between reps:

Rep #1 - Max 170 - rest - 162

#2 - 176 - 168

#3 -180 -177

#4 - 182 -177

#5 - 185 -175

#6 - 185 - 157 after 90 sec

Max HR usually occurs within 10-15 sec after rep, so almost no recovery.  Hopefully there HRs will come down after I improve conditioning.  

143.4 lbs after workout.

water running

While visiting my parents in FL, I was happy to have the neighborhood pool to myself Sunday evening for an hour.  I got some badly needed exercise.

Water running 

60 (R+L = 120 strides) x 10 w/ 1 min rest

Max HR 155

Avg HR over 23 min - 132

Better than nothing.   First exercise in 5 days.  Today was supposed to be my weekly running interval session but it has been raining constantly for 5 hrs and it looks like it may let up in an hour.  Not much time to workout since I have to teach at 5.  

Ate pretty well in FL but arrived home super hungry, at a bit more than I should, woke up at 144.5 lbs so I may be a bit heavy for running today, assuming I can get out there.  Planning to increase my tempo set to 6x100 w/ 30 sec rest.  5x was hard last time.  

Going to be in Murfreesboro on Fri so I may run the stadium stairs on Friday morning.

This pool is 200 yds from my parents house and sadly, they've never used it.   When I didn't return home promptly, my father went out looking for me.   He went to the wrong pool.  

 

100m tempo on turf

This was last Tuesday 9/16, I forgot to post it.  My second tempo set.  Twas hard.

Stretches, drills, bands, 50m stride

Hoka rocket x2s on

5 x 100m on turf w/ 30 sec rest - avg ~16.8 sec

Not in shape, knew this would be hard after the second rep when HR hit 170.  HR maxed at 188 after the 5th rep.   Weight was ok, 142.3 after. 

I forgot to post my first tempo set from last week 9/9:

4x100m w/ 30 sec rest.  Avg ~16.4  

In FL now visiting parents.   May try for 6x100m when I get back on Tues.

'Knees over toes guy' suggested walking backward with resistance for knee strengthening.  Going to try it.  

Weight pulls

Went to the track yesterday with my bike, had as an option to bike sprints or weight pulls.   Opted for the weight pulls.  Didn't want to do too much because going to run tomorrow.  Not sure if i want to run hills on pavement or tempo 100s on turf.  Probably turf.

These pulls are very exhausting.   Get the HR up fast and use full aerobic capacity by the end.  Even 2x2 for 50 yds was hard.  I hit HR of 180 at the end of #2 because I rested very little between reps.  Found the 2 45 plates under the bleachers.  I hid them in tall grass near the track.  Stupid that I have to do this.

Stretches, drill, bands, 2 x 50yd strides 

Weight pulls - 90lb 

2 x 2 - 50 yds on turf

By no means is the knee anywhere near normal or at the point where I can do full scale strengthening or training.  Jury is still out whether it will ever be.   Better to go slow and try to get as much healing as possible.  Hard to be patient.

Bike climb

Summer has returned but with less humidity and cooler nights but dry and hot in the low-mid 80ºs. 

Did my 1x/week bike climb.  A little faster than last week, did it right as it was getting dark.  Truly only a little faster, just 6 sec.  Amazing I can bike for 23+ min and be within 5 sec of my previous effort.

Roark's cove bike climb 

23:18

Avg HR - 165

HR  over 170 - 14:28

HR over 180 - 3:25

Max HR - 185

Avg speed - 6.0 mph

Legs feel ok, better than yesterday.  Still only going to run once per week, probably not even stadium stairs in between til end of the month.  Can't do it Thurs anyway due to an appt.  Maybe last Fri of the month when I know I'll be there.  

Weight is ok, was under 144 this morning.  Unfortunately, due to a tree branch fall on my house, I had to cancel my Drs appointment Thurs, so I went ahead and bought the liver tests on Ulta.  $216 with discount and blood draw fee.   My annual appt is end of Oct so those results if elevated, will justify an image request then.  

bike climb, another gadget

Up Roark's cove Rd today.  I almost decided to do my running workout but decided to wait the full week and do it Tues.  Spectacular day, super low dewpoint / humidity, low 70ºs bright sun.   

Left my watch at the office so I paired my Coros strap with an app by Polar to record my workout.  (Strava app won't work on my old iPhone 8).  No PRs, HR - the usual.  

Bike climb - Roark's cove, 2.5 miles

time - 23:24

Max HR - 184

Avg HR - 166

Avg speed - 6.2 mph

Couldn't get detailed HR info because I was off their chart most of the time, which went up to 155.  

This is the beginning of the 8 days of very dry sunny weather with temperatures coming back to summer levels in the mid 80ºs by the weekend.   

143.7 lbs after workout.

I like gadgets.   The newest gadget I'm thinking about buying:

CONNEQT Pulse

https://conneqthealth.com/

It’s basically a BP measuring device that uses SphygmoCor® technology and claims to assess parameters such as central blood pressure (cBP), arterial stiffness, subendocardial viability ratio, augmentation pressure, and augmentation index, etc... The company seems to have credentials.  

SphygmoCor® technology technology is a non-invasive system by Atcor Medical and Cardiex that measures central blood pressure (cBP) and arterial stiffness by analyzing pulse waveforms captured from an artery in the arm, wrist, or finger. This provides a more comprehensive view of cardiovascular health and risk than traditional arm blood pressure.... The system is used in leading hospitals and research facilities worldwide and is considered a gold standard for assessing central pressure and arterial stiffness.

Anyway, seems interesting and not that expensive, $280 (with discount).   I asked my cardiologist friend who said he'd check it out. 

This Dr shows a demo:  https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-Dn2s3uZDC/?hl=en

The new Kardia mobile 6L looks interesting too, it detects afib, ConneQT doesn't.  

bike sprints / gym

After the 1st running workout on Tues, was really surprised at the soreness of my hamstrings despite the minimal amount of sprinting - 4x100m.  Goes to show, there is really nothing that can completely substitute for the training of actual sprinting in terms of the legs.  I opted to push a bit faster than I would if I were doing a true intensive tempo session.  Instead of 4x100 w/ 30 sec, I ran a faster 2x2x100 with rest between sets.  Felt good to actually sprint, even though my fastest was only 14.5.   Doing a 4x100 w/ 30 sec, I'll have to slow it down to 16-17 sec/ rep.  

Very warm today, maybe the last warm day, about 85º high.   Cold front coming, rain storms tonight and tomorrow morning, after that a bit cooler, sunny and dry for the next 8 days. 

I felt I needed 2 full days to recover from the running as I could feel a bit of weakness in the knees.  Felt better today and by Tues, should be able to complete another running workout.  

Today, I just did 4 bike sprints:

Bike sprints - 4x400m 

Top speeds: 28.8, 27, 27.9, 28.4 mph

Felt ok, decent workout.  I need to go to the gym tonight, will do some strengthening.  

Weight back up after 2 days of no exercise: 144 lbs.  

Back into work full scale and I'm preparing for a performance, some solo guitar, guitar quartet, and duos with flute.  Haven't actually performed at MTSU as a soloist in almost 5 yrs, so it's taking some time.  

Still love my job, despite having to make the commute from this beautiful place.  I normally would have Monday off if it weren't for the Faculty Senate meeting.  ;(

First running workout in 8+ months

I went to the track today with the intention of doing my first running workout since the surgery.   I did, went ok.  Stayed on turf.  It was a start.  Milestone of sorts.

Felt good to put on the Hoka Rocket X2s and run pain free.  Wasn't much, but will slowly up my game, running once/week on turf for this month.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, bands

60m stride 

Hoka rocket X2s on

2 x 100m on turf w/ 30 sec rest - 15.47, 15.51

8 min rest

2 x 100m on turf w/ 30 sec rest - 14.57, 15.72

The running felt great, a little sore after but not bad.  Even this short workout pushed my HR to the mid 170s by second rep.   Long way to go.  Last time I had surgery, I did a similar workout at just a week short of 6 mo.   Now it's about 6 mo + 2 weeks, so maybe 2 to 3 weeks behind last time.  Still remains to be seen how I tolerate running workouts.  

I made sure I was light for this workout.  141.5 lbs after workout.  

Next running workout will be Mon or Tue next week.  This week starts my full back to work schedule.