Author Topic: Strength & Fitness 2015  (Read 212463 times)

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #700 on: August 24, 2015, 09:39:28 AM »
[...]Just that stuff I do[...]

Thank you!

Not a problem. If you do end up doing the homemade route for the pullup bars in the garage, I'd definitely suggest doing a write up and taking a lot of pictures. I definitely would like to see the progress and how you went about doing it. You can post it here, but another thread and a link to it here would be super useful too. Best of luck. Let me know if you want to join into this gauntlet, or wait for the one next year.

Oh yes, to all of you reading this, I am going to start a new 2016 Strength and Fitness thread next year. I'll use some of what was learned here to ensure that it has even more value than this one, although I won't be adding people automatically.

Credaholic

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #701 on: August 25, 2015, 09:01:49 AM »
Haven't checked in in a long time, but thought I'd come remind myself of my goals!

I never did complete a full month of T25 with zero skips, and I've stopped doing it completely this summer. However, I did hit my weight goal! I'm sitting at 133 lbs now and have lost 8 inches in my hips, waist, arm and thigh measurements.

I'm not really doing any "work outs" but I have done lots of hiking and walking with my kiddos, and I've been doing a bit of biking - even got a double trailer for towing the kids to the grocery store! Since I'm not doing ab workouts I wouldn't say my stomach is toned, but it is nice and flat and I no longer fear the "love handles!" I completely forgot about my flexibility goal.

My new goal is to bike STP next year (Seattle to Portland) and I'm planning on signing up for the Cascade Training Series in preparation which starts in March - so I guess that's my Fitness 2016 goal! In the meantime I'm just going to try to get out there on my bike on some hills, and when I can't ride alone do the errands with the trailer and the kids.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2015, 11:43:34 PM by Credaholic »

lucky-girl

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #702 on: August 30, 2015, 12:33:02 PM »
Thought I'd check in on my goals.

I've made steady progress towards my pull-up- though I am not quite there yet. I've been working on really activating my back muscles during other parts of my workout. I continue to be getting into the gym 2-3 times per week, which feels great.

I am probably just about there on my goal to have body fat under 25%. I started around 30% or more (this is all going by pictures- so pretty inexact). I've gone down one size at least in clothes, and have been getting a lot of compliments. My weight hasn't changed much at all- maybe 5 pounds. I am hoping to get to a size 8, I started around a size 12, sometimes 14. Wearing a size 10 now.

I have made zero progress towards my swimming goal. I just haven't gotten into the pool enough. I've gotten some swimming in here and there, but just not in a focused way. I need to decide whether I am serious about getting that goal done. I think I'm also going to look for a stroke clinic to see if there is something I'm doing with my freestyle stroke that is making it more tiring.



bop

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #703 on: August 30, 2015, 01:28:56 PM »
Okay, I've finally joined this thread.  My goal is to run a half marathon faster than a 9-minute mile pace (about 1 hour, 58 minutes).  My daughter and I are planning to run a half marathon race on November 15.  I've never run longer than 10K, so I'll have to increase my distance training over the next two months.  I'm pretty sure the goal is doable.     

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #704 on: August 31, 2015, 08:10:07 AM »
Okay, I've finally joined this thread.  My goal is to run a half marathon faster than a 9-minute mile pace (about 1 hour, 58 minutes).  My daughter and I are planning to run a half marathon race on November 15.  I've never run longer than 10K, so I'll have to increase my distance training over the next two months.  I'm pretty sure the goal is doable.   
Glad to have you here! I'll get you added to the tracking post later today.

Zikoris

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #705 on: September 01, 2015, 04:59:18 PM »
I'm going to give this challenge a try for September: https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/the-30-day-stronger-knees-challenge/?utm_source=mfp&utm_medium=Facebook Anyone want to join in?

My knees are fine, but all that foam rolling and mobility work should do a lot to help my splits.

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #706 on: September 01, 2015, 05:00:25 PM »
I'm going to give this challenge a try for September: https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/the-30-day-stronger-knees-challenge/?utm_source=mfp&utm_medium=Facebook Anyone want to join in?

My knees are fine, but all that foam rolling and mobility work should do a lot to help my splits.
I'm going to have to send that to my GF. Her knees give her crap all the time

Tyson

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #707 on: September 02, 2015, 09:36:22 AM »
I've got a small update for my Convict Conditioning - I'm now on Half Pushups for sets of 25 reps and about to move on to full pushups!  Super stoked about that.  I'm surprised how easy the pushup progression has been.  I'm also (finally) able to use my actual pullup bar for back work now.  I'm surprised how slow the pullup progression has been.  But I am actually a little closer to doing full pull-ups.  It's just slow and steady.  And hard!  We'll see how it goes.  I really look at pull ups as the acid test for how I feel about my overall progress within CC. 

One thing is for sure - I'm much closer to being able to do pull-ups using this progression that I'd be on my own if I'd just jumped straight to the bar and started trying to muscle myself up. 

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #708 on: September 02, 2015, 09:56:59 AM »
2 Big accomplishments for me in the past week.

Preface - I have only ran on the treadmill averaging 1-3 miles at a clip.
Never knew how to swim, joined a local outdoor town pool 4th of July.

This past weekend I completed the TOBAY Sprint Distance Triathlon
This morning I ran the hilliest 10k course on Long Island


Looking forward to crushing PR's and getting better at swimming, biking, and running!

Cromacster

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #709 on: September 02, 2015, 10:57:51 AM »
Ugh the past week I've been doing some crazy volume with my squats.  I've been stupid and haven't kept up on maintenance.  Man my IT bands are inflamed and sore.  This week is low volume with heavy weights, so easier on the ole IT bands.  Spending much more time on mobility and hydration now.  Sometime it takes something to go wrong to highlight what needs to be worked on.

Two more weeks until my first Weightlifting meet.  I'm excited.  I'll report back and let you know how it goes.

I realized I forgot to report back on this meet.  Snatch was bleh, hit 91kg (200ish lbs), missed my attempt at 93kg (205) which I usually hit in training no problem.

Clean and Jerk went better, I hit all three lifts.  The third lift I hit a pr of roughly a 0.7kg (1.5lbs) at 130kg (286.5lbs)

I was happy with the result and was a good first experience for a meet.  It will probably be another 6-7 months before I do another one.

Overall progress to my goals is going decent.  I might come up short on my target weights as I've been battling some injuries.  I've been doing a good job getting some cardio in and doing my mobility work.  I need to be more diligent about mobility work though as these are most likely the issues for my injuries.  Been feeling good lately though.  Did a squat workout of 8x2 working up to 352lbs.  That is the heaviest I've gone in a long time.  400 might not be far off by the end of the year.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #710 on: September 08, 2015, 01:19:06 PM »
Just recently made the switch from hybrid muscle building/fat loss mode to all-in muscle building mode. I'm discovering how challenging it can be to eat 200 grams of protein every day. And potentially expensive. Still gonna go for it though.

Zikoris

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #711 on: September 15, 2015, 04:08:15 PM »
I've shaved another half inch off my splits, down to 4 inches off the ground now - the foam rolling seems to be making a big difference! I've been rolling consistently for just over two weeks now.

I do think my boyfriend's getting a little sick of "Can you measure my crotch???" though.

alleykat

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #712 on: September 18, 2015, 06:25:40 AM »
Yesterday, I did 20 mins on the elliptical machine. I could barely do 5.  I don't know if it was an off day but I hope I am able to do that again. I would love to get it to 30-40 mins.  I love the calories it burns. 

Walking on the treadmill, I shaved two minutes off my mile. I can now walk it in 17 minutes instead of 19 with varying inclines.  I would like to be able to walk 15 min miles.

Mountain climber - not sure if this is the actual name, but I can do 3 minutes now.  I got it up to 8 previously but slacked off.  This machine is a beast.

Pulled out my p90x.  Although, I can barely do most of it, I am doing what I can.  I am not on a set plan right now but am looking forward to getting into this a bit more.  I don't see myself doing this an hour a day, but anything helps and I need to get myself stronger.

Longwaytogo

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #713 on: September 18, 2015, 08:34:17 AM »

I do think my boyfriend's getting a little sick of "Can you measure my crotch???" though.

hmmm.... Speaking from the male side I'm not thinking that's something I would get tired of - Sorry, couldn't resist.


My progress has been Awful/nonesixstant. A 3 day backpacking weekend left me with some awful blisters and I've been expelling my limited energy at work. But I have a 10K Thanksgiving morning that I need to start gearing up for immediately or I'll be suffering/walking it.

horsepoor

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #714 on: September 24, 2015, 09:34:57 PM »
Haven't checked in in awhile.  Running has been sporadic to non-existent lately, but I'm pleasantly surprised when I do get out there and run 4.4 miles in 40 minutes or so.  I've been pushing for riding 6 days a week and that tends to squeeze out the gym time.  Now that weather is getting cooler, I should be finding more time to run, plus I'm ratcheting down to riding ~5 days a week.  I did hit the gym today for about 45 intense minutes of rowing, kettlebells and assorted weights.  The Bosu Ball work has really paid off in terms of my dynamic balance in the stirrups over jumps.  Catching up on this thread has me inspired to sign up for the Zeitgeist half marathon.  This will be my 3rd year running it, and probably my slowest since I haven't been training, but why not.  I've got six weeks to prepare and need something like this for focus and motivation.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #715 on: September 27, 2015, 02:18:15 PM »
My wife and I just churned out a nice 10km run around Burnaby Lake - a wonderful urban trail in our area. My goal to complete my October half marathon in under 2 hours looks to be well on track. I got "permission" (ALWAYS do this guys) from her to forge ahead and see what kind of time I could post - she is comfortable with a 6 minute per km pace and isn't too interested in trying to go faster, which I respect. I managed to maintain a 5:30 minute pace for 10km today - if I can do this for 21km, I will hit my half marathon time goal with minutes to spare.

I was pretty damn fit when I was in my late 20's. But it thrills me to no end to be able to say that I am the fittest I have EVER been now in my early 40's. Hot damn. ;)

Hopper

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #716 on: October 07, 2015, 06:30:16 AM »
You guys are inspirational! 

Somewhat "failing" at my self-identified 2015 goals, but I have definitely done some good things that were not in my goals.  Running took a backseat in the summer to swimming. I swam 30 minutes of laps 4x a week at a public outdoor pool.  That was from memorial day to labor day.  No swimming since then.

So on my goals, I won't be running a half marathon - but I have a 10 miler this Sunday AND I ran into work 2 days this week - that's 8.5 miles each time.  So I am good with that.

My goal to bike commute 25+ times could still happen.  I haven't been keeping great track, but I know its been at least 10 times.  I can do 15 more!
 
My last goal was to do upper body training 2X/week.  Ummm. No.  This has not happened.  Some lifting, maybe 1x a week on average, and minimal weights, etc. I did just order a set of kettlebells as a work benefit, so maybe I will get on that. 




 

Tyson

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #717 on: October 09, 2015, 04:22:17 PM »
Bodyweight training update, doing Convict Conditioning protocol.  I am up to doing full pushups. Two sets of 20.  A couple more workouts and I'll progress to the next variation which is close handed (diamond) style pushups.  For pullups I am still doing jack knife style pullups, hopefully progressing to half lullups soon.  Forbridges I am up to doing full bridges from the floor.  If there is one move I was skeptical of being able to work up to, it was full bridges.  Yet here I am.  Yay for the CC protocol!

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #718 on: October 11, 2015, 11:59:30 AM »
DW and I just got in from a 10k run on the hilly, twisting, forested island roads. A decent sub-6 minute pace per km, which is typical when we run together.

We basically agreed that by dragging our butts out this morning to run, we could indulge in the turkey/gravy/beer fest that is the Snow clans island Thanksgiving with a LITTLE less guilt. :)

And my running partner informed me that they are not doing the out of town half marathon anymore due to an Achilles injury, so I may be out as well. Going to keep up the training for now.

horsepoor

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #719 on: October 11, 2015, 12:31:17 PM »
Knocked out 9 miles this morning fueled by some bulletproof coffee and a few Medjool dates.  The best part is enjoying the big breakfast of hashbrowns, sausage and eggs afterwards.  4 weeks until my half marathon so I'm planning 11 miles next weekend, then 13, and the weekend pre-race will be 8 or so.  Will be interesting to see how I do given the relatively short training period.  I ran this same race the past two years and posted around 2:02 both times.  I'll be satisfied with 2:15 or less this year.

rocketpj

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #720 on: October 11, 2015, 12:56:59 PM »
Been awhile since I posted.  Beginning of year goal was to get up to 3 workouts/week, continue cycling and add ocean swimming.

I am now doing 3 workouts/week, though due to work issues i now do most of them at home (kettlebells, TRX, bodyweight, heavy bag).  I haven't done the swimming I wanted to, though I did some.

I continue to cycle a lot.  And I've now added twice/week jiu-jitsu training to my schedule, which I'm really enjoying.

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #721 on: October 12, 2015, 10:19:28 AM »
I haven't jumped on the slackline more than once...until yesterday. Holy crap, it turns out that even with improved core strength and balance, I still totally suck at it. I highly doubt I'm going to hit that goal this year, but it's all good. Also, apparently nobody has actually hit step 10 in Convict Conditioning (at least the one handed hand stand pushup part). So my goals will most likely not be met, but the journey has been amazing. We'll see how it goes the rest of this year. I think I'll do the same goals for next year.

That being said, are there any additional things that would be beneficial for next year's challenge? I like the single spot for everyone rocking this (with some separate threads for whole 30s and the like). I thought about a shared google spreadsheet, but with the goals being so general, not sure how I could do that without a direct edit on each sheet. What about you folks? Any extra things that would be valuable, something to keep you accountable, or whatever else you'd like to see?

ToughMother

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #722 on: October 18, 2015, 09:53:08 PM »
ParticipantGoal
ToughMother
update as of Oct 18 2015
  • Drop weight to 125lbs DONE!
  • Stretch: Drop weight to 118lbs On my way
  • 3-4 workouts weekly could be better!
  • 4X 5K runs DONE!
  • Less junk food, more veggies/fruits doing well with this!
  • No equipment workouts (TBD) epic fail -- planning to get a Concept II before winter

horsepoor

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #723 on: October 19, 2015, 08:14:45 AM »
Knocked out 9 miles this morning fueled by some bulletproof coffee and a few Medjool dates.  The best part is enjoying the big breakfast of hashbrowns, sausage and eggs afterwards.  4 weeks until my half marathon so I'm planning 11 miles next weekend, then 13, and the weekend pre-race will be 8 or so.  Will be interesting to see how I do given the relatively short training period.  I ran this same race the past two years and posted around 2:02 both times.  I'll be satisfied with 2:15 or less this year.

Damn, my 10.4 yesterday sucked.  I didn't run at all during the week because there was a wildfire that totally inundated the valley and air quality was one tick below hazardous.  There's a chance I also had a hangover yesterday.  Ooops.  Traveling this week so relegated to whatever hotel gym equipment may or may not be available.  Might be able to sneak in a hill run if I get up early enough on Wednesday as we'll be staying in a Tiny Mountain Town.

Need to ramp up the mid-week workouts and get some of this fat off.  I think I've got 5# or so to get to my goal from the beginning of the year, which should be totally do-able.  Planning a Whole30 for November and might just take it through the rest of the year with a couple designated exception days.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #724 on: October 19, 2015, 09:56:58 AM »
I am going to give er' hell this week, then I'm off to tropical climes for a while...which is good, because it is really starting to get drizzly and gloomy here in the PNW.

Body fat % is sitting around 10 -11% right now, and I am going to really lock down the diet and crank up the cardio in an attempt to burn 1000 calories daily between now and when my flight leaves. I don't think I've ever been in the single digits in terms of body fat percentage before - and it shows, cause I find myself unusually cold these days. The big question is, can I maintain what I have worked so hard to accomplish in terms of my fitness? I think I need to try my best not to slip into full blown "holiday mode", which means limiting meals out (not easy, as I love Baja influenced cuisine), avoiding certain calorie packed sweet tequila based drinks and keep up some sort of exercise regimen (morning jogs at the very least).

I am a bit curious what reaction (if any) my new appearance might generate on the beach and around the pool. There is almost 60 pounds less of me now...I looked at some pics from last years Baja trip. The difference is startling.

Okay, now I'm off to vote...then the gym. Both of these activities can be done within a 2 block radius of my home...which I find particularly awesome this morning. Again, it's a freakin' MONDAY, and I am so happy. For the majority of my adult life this has NOT been my reality.

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #725 on: October 19, 2015, 01:07:23 PM »
Feeling a bit wussy[...]

Cut nearly 4 minutes off my last time on 2.75 miles running yesterday [...]

Umm, I don't see this being wussy at all. Just sayin'.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #726 on: October 19, 2015, 01:36:04 PM »
Feeling a bit wussy in comparison to all the athletic stars here, but plugging away.  Cut nearly 4 minutes off my last time on 2.75 miles running yesterday, and did my first three mile run in just over 34 minutes this morning.  Pathetically slow compared to the real runners here, but nowhere to go but up at least.

This is NOT a competition.

Some of us (due lack of family commitments and such things) may have more time to dedicate to bettering our physical selves. And some of us (raises hand) may have crossed over into OBSESSION territory with this whole thing.

Knowing some of the particulars of your current life (via your great Journal) I think you are doing GREAT...even if you are a bit frustrated by a perceived lack of progress.

lucky-girl

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #727 on: October 19, 2015, 05:05:18 PM »
It's getting closer to the end of the year, and I still have a way to go on my goals. That's not to say I haven't made progress though- I feel like I've made some huge changes this year. And I still have a few months to get going on that pull-up!

My plan is to make it into the gym 4 times a week for the next four weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. One of those will be a session with my trainer. I'll be in good shape heading into the holidays, and it will give me a good sense of what the potential is for a more structured workout.

I'll let you know how that goes!

Tyson

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #728 on: October 20, 2015, 06:11:38 PM »
I have officially progressed to half pull-ups (2 sets of 5) and semi-narrow pushups.  I mastered regular pushups, with hands spaced shoulder width apart, and I tried to jump to full narrow pushups with hands placed under the sternum, but it was too big of a jump in difficulty.  So I'm doing semi-narrow pushups with hands under the collar bones and it's hard but doable.  I figure once I work up to 2 sets of 20 on this, the sternum hand position will then be doable too.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #729 on: November 07, 2015, 07:57:43 AM »
Lhamo, you are rockin' it...keep going.

I've been in the Baja for just over a week now, and I am trying to get some sort of cardio everyday...be it a 5k run in the morning before it starts to get HOT or a long beach trek. The beaches here run for miles in each direction...the sand down by the surf is quite packed and provides good footing...I like to head up higher on the beach where the sand is dry and fluffy and walk at a good pace. Walking in this soft sand is an incredible workout - my aching legs told me that it was working muscles that regular running/walking do not. And there is a chance I might find more sea turtles!

horsepoor

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #730 on: November 08, 2015, 07:08:15 AM »
Finished my half marathon in 2:14.  Not bad considering I haven't been able to break 2:00 on this course when training properly.  This year I decided to run it about 6-7 weeks ago, only ran once or twice a week, my longest run was 10.4 and I missed my last planned long run due to other stuff coming up.  Anyway, the weather is cooler and wildfire season is over, plus my riding horse is sold, so I should be able to get back into running more consistently and get my speed back.  As far as other workouts, I've been toying with doing some pretty brief workouts and liking the results.  Being stuck with hotel gyms pretty frequently over the last several weeks, this might consist of a mile or so on the treadmill, some squats, deadlifts and overhead presses if I'm lucky enough to have dumbbells, some pushups, dips and box jumps if there's a weight bench, and planks using a stability ball.

In other news, I'm starting Whole30 today.  I've been pretty much stuck at 4# lost since the beginning of the year, so this might help me shed the other 4# before the end of this challenge.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #731 on: November 08, 2015, 08:34:59 AM »
Congrats horsepoor, that is a more than decent time...especially considering the amount of running you had been doing leading up to it.

boarder42

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #732 on: November 12, 2015, 05:44:27 AM »
So i hit my goal of 185 around Mid may then spent the summer and fall mostly on the road for work.  Trying to get back on the wagon now.  down to 210 by the end of the week hopefully.

bop

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #733 on: November 15, 2015, 03:41:55 PM »
My goal is to run a half marathon faster than a 9-minute mile pace (about 1 hour, 58 minutes).  My daughter and I are planning to run a half marathon race on November 15.  I've never run longer than 10K, so I'll have to increase my distance training over the next two months. 
Mission accomplished!  My time in the half marathon was 1 hour, 52 minutes, 8.4 seconds, which works out to a pace of 8:33 per mile.  It was my daughter's first half marathon too -- she finished in a quite respectable 2 hours, 13 minutes. 

Thanks, jordanread, for starting this inspiring thread. 

jordanread

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #734 on: November 16, 2015, 06:09:44 PM »
My goal is to run a half marathon faster than a 9-minute mile pace (about 1 hour, 58 minutes).  My daughter and I are planning to run a half marathon race on November 15.  I've never run longer than 10K, so I'll have to increase my distance training over the next two months. 
Mission accomplished!  My time in the half marathon was 1 hour, 52 minutes, 8.4 seconds, which works out to a pace of 8:33 per mile.  It was my daughter's first half marathon too -- she finished in a quite respectable 2 hours, 13 minutes. 

Thanks, jordanread, for starting this inspiring thread.

Way to kick some serious ass bop. I would also like to apologize for missing you in the opening post. I'm going to add you with crossed out goals. Way to go!!! Start trying to think of what you are going to do next year ;). And you're welcome.

bop

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #735 on: November 16, 2015, 06:17:11 PM »
Thanks jordan!  I have a month to think about my goal for next year. :-)  Are you planning to create a new thread for 2016?

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #736 on: November 16, 2015, 07:38:51 PM »
Thanks jordan!  I have a month to think about my goal for next year. :-)  Are you planning to create a new thread for 2016?
Most definitely! This was pretty successful.

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #737 on: November 16, 2015, 08:13:49 PM »
Great! 

By the way, in the opening post, you wrote my goal as "9 mph" (miles per hour), but it was actually "9 minutes per mile".   

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #738 on: November 19, 2015, 09:23:16 AM »
It is looking as though I will return from a Baja trip in BETTER SHAPE than when I arrived. This has never happened  before. In the 25 years previous these trips were used as a brief respite from the chaos of my career - it was often a hedonistic orgy of eating and drinking. My first extended post-FIRE Baja trip (greater details can be found in my Journal) has seen my fitness discipline MAINTAINED and though the healthy eating aspect has wobbled a few times, it has been okay. I find warm weather environments to be a natural hunger suppressant to an extent, so this has been helpful.

DW and I run 3.5 miles every morning. Will have a light breakfast when we get back. Then we play tennis for about an hour, or until it starts to get to hot. We don't have a car here so we walk EVERYWHERE. I have even dragged her out on a few long beach treks...

The temptation was there to sign up at a local gym here for a month, but I decided a break from lifting weights was probably a good idea...I had been experiencing some pesky elbow tendinitis before I flew down here. It feels MUCH better now.


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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #739 on: November 19, 2015, 12:14:26 PM »
Great! 

By the way, in the opening post, you wrote my goal as "9 mph" (miles per hour), but it was actually "9 minutes per mile".

Fixed.

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #740 on: November 25, 2015, 05:26:08 AM »
I had a mini-challenge going for the last four weeks to get into the gym four times a week (once for a training session and three weight-lifting sessions on my own). Last week was the last week of the four, and it felt great. Now travelling is picking up for the holidays (part of the reason I set the goal in the first place), and my goal will be two to three gym dates a week. It feels great to be heading into the holidays in good shape- stronger than I have ever been!

My goals for next year will mostly be hold-overs from this year. Still working on that first pull-up and I made no progress on my swimming (since I hardly did any at all). And yet, I feel totally transformed.

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #741 on: November 26, 2015, 04:27:09 AM »
I haven't checked this thread in quite a long time. I'm glad to see all the progress! My update:
-Set of 50 pushups - I can do 25 pushups on my knees. This is a work in progress, though I doubt I'll get there in  a month.
-Yoga 3X per week- I was doing this, but yoga made my back feel worse (I must have been doing the sun salutations wrong), so I stopped. It was so relaxing. I'm tempted to try again. This will likely be a fail.
-1250+ miles biked Done! Woohoo!
-No added sugar in diet Done! I do this over 90% of the time, which feels like a good balanced approach to me.
-Gained weight. Done! In the healthy range without resorting to junk food.

Geordie

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #742 on: November 26, 2015, 06:58:07 AM »
I've found this thread a great read and very motivational!

But I don't think there's a lot of point in me posting my own info and goals now at the end of December. When will the 2016 thread kick off?   :-)

My goals center around weight loss, physique improvement, and training for a "extreme" triathlon in Scotland called the Celtman in 2016.

Cheers, G

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #743 on: November 27, 2015, 05:28:40 PM »


I've found this thread a great read and very motivational!

But I don't think there's a lot of point in me posting my own info and goals now at the end of December. When will the 2016 thread kick off?   :-)

Cheers, G

The 2016 thread will kick off after Xmas but before new years.

megara

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #744 on: November 27, 2015, 09:57:11 PM »
On Tuesday I did another Queen Anne walk with my sister and her colleagues.  The weather gods were nice to us again, and got a big dose of Vitamin D to boost my mood.

Yesterday was another incline session on the treadmill.  Punched it up to 15.0 for 40 straight minutes this time, and hit 763 calories in an hour.  Extra 10 minute cool down took that up to 809.  BOOM!  Unfortunately I was ravenous when I got home, and ate a bunch of cashews, so that probably offset the calories burned.  I did eat only a small portion of dinner, though.  Limiting portion size has been working nicely so far -- other than that post workout bingey craving yesterday I haven't been having (or more importantly succumbing to) major cravings for the past several days.  I'm feeling much less anxious about a lot of things, though, so I'll have to see if it holds.  Going to try making myself drink a big glass of water whenever I have a craving -- I can always use more water and it may offset them.


Nothing like jumping in on a 2015 thread at the end of November, but hopefully this will get me going to be onboard for 2016. I'm really working on developing some good, low-key fitness/health habits that aren't necessarily tied to a) an outcome, although I do find challenges motivating and b) training for/cutting weight for a competition. I found that signing up for things like Olympic weighlifting/strongman competitions kept me really focused on training, but now that I'm getting a little older and wanting a more well-rounded life, I really want to learn how to be active for activity's sake, even when there's no "official" event on the horizon.

lhamo, I'm quoting you because we must be neighbors. I'm in Lower Queen Anne - so you've probably seen me huffing and puffing around QA hill. Howdy!

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #745 on: December 09, 2015, 12:29:37 PM »
First off, and it may be obvious if you've been following the latest posts, there will most definitely be a Strenght & Fitness 2016 challenge. I feel like (and I hope it's accurate) this thread has been extremely valuable for the participants, and it's been awesome for me. I know a lot of people have asked questions and got answers here.

Personally, I didn't hit any of my goals (Seriously...the slackline was a big one, and I only got on that thing 3 times this entire year). While I'm not up to my max weight (240lbs), I have definitely failed miserably at hitting my goals. There may be others that have experienced something similar, so I want to take a minute to discuss our ideas of 'failure', specifically as it relates to fitness and goals.

Do not take this as judgemental, just take it as it is. I am fatter, less fit, and less strong that I was at the beginning of this year. However, even though I didn't hit my goals, I feel like there were some lessons to be learned here. I figured out what makes me not reach my goals. I can now address these issues moving forward. I think 2016 is going to be awesome for me. I believe it was Thomas Edison (who I'm pretty certain was a douche) who said that he didn't fail 500 times, he figured out 500 ways to not make a light bulb. Even if that was a BS quote, I still think it's awesome. I'm going to remember a few things, and I urge you all to do the same. Failure has this odd sense of shame attached to it. For those of you, like me, who didn't hit your goals, there are a few things we can do. This should be the last step, but your goals may need to be revisited. Also, ask yourself what stopped you from hitting your goal.

For me, I realized that my workouts were too dependent on other things happening in my life. Once those other things went away, so did my workouts. I think that for me, my physical health needs to come first. I will go ahead and set my new goals as the big thing in my life, just part of my wakeup routine. It doesn't matter if I follow that up with going to work, or dicking around on the internet, or anything else. It's going to happen. Next year is going to be awesome. Failure is always an option, but failure isn't something to dwell on. Learn from it, and move on.

Zikoris

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #746 on: December 09, 2015, 12:46:13 PM »
Yeah... I haven't made it to full splits yet. Because I haven't been stretching out my legs much outside of ballet class. I think I'll sign up for one of those 30 day splits challenges.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #747 on: December 09, 2015, 01:47:56 PM »
I'm not going try and downplay what I accomplished in 2015 in terms of my fitness level. I am pretty much amazed (and surprised) at where I currently sit in this regard. Some of this I have documented in this great thread, some in my Journal.

I will be spending some time as we head towards the end of the to figure out where I want to go from here.

And JR...good to hear you are in a better place now to start improving this aspect of your life.

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #748 on: December 09, 2015, 02:18:01 PM »
And JR...good to hear you are in a better place now to start improving this aspect of your life.

I'm all about becoming a 'sexy farmer'. So yeah, I blame you for the term, but things are still in a useful place.

I know we had a lot of people trickle into this challenge over the course of the year. I'd like to know how many  plan to do it next year. Comment on!!

Zikoris

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Re: Strength & Fitness 2015
« Reply #749 on: December 09, 2015, 05:43:28 PM »
Okay, I printed off a 30 day splits challenge, taped it to my fridge, and did the day one exercises. I'll finish it the day I fly to Singapore for winter vacation. If all goes well I can impress my boyfriend's relatives who I've never met with my awesome splits. Or the flight attendants.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!