Dear Doctor

I'm so ambivalent about this.

Due to my frustration at becoming winded so easily that I can't run very long at all, I am right now compelled to do the four miles outside without stopping no matter how awful it gets. BUT I know that it will be awful, so I'm also compelled to skip it because I know it'll be a big downer.

So I'm all dressed up and ready to go but also wondering why the heck I should.

Resolution #1 for 2012...

nln resolves to NOT recreate tonight's dinner in 2012. what was on the dinner menu you ask?

Let's see...there was a granny smith apple and almonds. Sounds pretty healthy, right? Yeah, then things took a wrong turn and my meal was completed with sugar-free butter pecan ice cream topped with chocolate syrup and a sliver of chocolate cake (yes, it DOES beg the question why sugar free ice cream if you are going to top it with massive quantities of sugar. I will leave it to Lynndi Lauper to explain why). Dinner concluded with a bowl of cheez-its. It was decidedly not my healthiest dinner.

I DID however work out hard enough today to possibly make that meal not a complete caloric disaster. I ran 6 miles (all at once...I can't do the one mile on one mile off thing) followed by all kinds of core work. THEN I went home and cleaned my house (vacuumed, mopped AND dusted), did the laundry, did a reverse house call (my patient came to MY house and I examined her, cause sometimes that's what you gotta do when you are a doctor) and even did a little shopping!!

I will try to end 2011 on a better note (and meal)!!

Oh Boy

I think you did a legit workout today.

I went to the gym and did this foolishness of running one mile at a time and doing 25 each of the other things till I got to four miles and 100 things. So the 100 things were:
pikes on the ball
variety of crunches (some oblique) on the ball
pushups
tricep dips
and then I did 25 super mans and 25 frogs just cause they're fun.

Maybe tomorrow I'll run four miles and do 100 pushups, ab crunches, and bla bla bla all in a row.

Now we are eating. I'm afraid to say more about that.

nutrition tips from nln

your body won't absorb the iron if you have blasted a hole through your stomach lining by consuming coffee all day long.

I suggest that you stop the coffee after 10 am and drink WATER! You will also need some vitamin C perhaps a clementine or a cup of juice?

and HOW MANY milligrams of iron are you taking per day? maybe you want to increase your fiber intake too...i'm just sayin'

From Both of Us

We're eating junk.
The truth is one of us is eating junk and the other just way too much. After nearly collapsing from ovo-overload, nln is in the fetal position eating fudge.

But we digress.
Neither of us can do pistons for a full minute, not on either leg. One of us can't do a minute of leaping laps without almost passing out, but that could be anemia. Or not.

We took the Peggy challenge today, not the Alex challenge, and we lost. But we will not hate HIIT. We will go again and again and again and face all the humiliation. We will dream of the day our own version of it is available. LILT. Low Intensity Lazy TIme. We'll set up all those benches and weights and whatnot, but then we'll take a nap.

(nln approves of this blogpost)

Dr. nln in the house!

I'm baaaack!

I was vacationing in the "south" (okay, it was only as far south as St. Louis) but it was 55 degrees on CHRISTMAS DAY so it may as well have been Florida!

I went running on Christmas day (5.25 miles in hilly Richmond Heights). On the 26th I repeated the "12 days of Christmas" workout. Don't ask me why. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. I needed a day off from running. And then guess what happened? It SNOWED! yes, there was about 1/20th of an inch of snow but 3 inch deep puddles. I ran outside and now my shoes are sitting over the heating vent hopefully drying out. Also, I learned an important lesson this past weekend: iPods were not designed to go through the washer. My iPod shuffle is now sitting in a bowl of rice. Apparently, this is some way to dry out the electronic goods. In all reality it will be a waste of both the ipod and some perfectly good rice! If I DO have to buy a new shuffle, guess what color it will be????

A Fitness Challenge from My Bandmate

Alex in Chains is in better shape than anyone in the Brat Pack. She put together an instructional video to help Dr. nln and me get to her level.

I hope the doctor studies this as carefully as I have because I don't know if I can do this one.

Here's What I Did Tonight

25 cross jacks
25 single leg balance, each leg
25 spidey crawl steps (across the nasty garage floor and past the garbage that I vowed not to look in)
25 lunge to push-ups, each leg
25 regular jax
25 pendulums, each leg
25 (left hand to right foot, right hand to left foot) crab walk combos
25 dive bombers
25 rolling sit-ups
25 cross jacks
25 single leg balance, each leg
25 spidey crawl steps (across the nasty garage floor and past the garbage that I vowed not to look in)
25 lunge to push-ups, each leg
25 cross jax
25 pendulums, each leg
25 (left hand to right foot, right hand to left foot) crab walk combos
25 dive bombers
25 rolling sit-ups
50 spidey crawl steps (across the nasty garage floor and past the garbage that I vowed not to look in)

The Doctor is So Far Out

She's off the grid, out of state, away from the office. Too bad because she can't post about the rough workouts she's taken on during this mini-vacation. Maybe she'll get caught up tomorrow when she's back in town.

I think tonight I'll try a bunch of new stuff I found in a magazine, plus good old jumprope and laps in the garage (past those bags of garbage that have to wait til Friday pickup). Glamorous!

The Day After Christmas

I didn't do a thing yesterday!
But this morning I ran four miles outside, although I had to walk a few times (I swear I'm taking the iron now), and I'm going back to the TRX small group tonight. I know what nln did, but maybe she'll post it herself.

Christmas Eve Outdoors

This is very similar to yesterday's workout, but the sun was shining so who cares?

Ran one mile.
Did 25 of each of these: Swimmer Squat (each leg); Crisscross Lunge (each leg); Atlas (that's for shoulders and triceps - I used 8 lb weights); Side to Side Planks (you know, when you touch right hip to the floor and then left); Dead Bugs (each side).

Ran two miles.
Did 25 of each from that list again.

Ran one mile.
Did 25 each of that list again, then 25 more of each.

The Plan for Today

The mystery to why I'm getting winded so fast has been solved. I don't like the answer, and I don't like the prescription, but I'll do it (sort of) because it seems important.

325mg Ferrous Sulfate TID with some Vit C (I'll take the pills rather than the fructose delivery). The drag is that I can't drink coffee all day long and expect any improvement. NOT EVEN DECAF!

In honor of getting an answer and also of the sunshine and warmth in late December, I will attempt the following in a couple of hours:
one mile run around the subdivision
25 push ups
25 ab crunches on the bench
25 tricep dips on the bench

Repeat four times.

Get in the hot tub for some lunch.

Thursday Laying Around

Yeah, in spite of great ideas, I didn't do a thing.

the 12 days of Christmas nearly killed me!

Perhaps this would be a good time to point out that Dr. nln is Hindu. Or that Hannukah has only EIGHT days.

those of you who attended the "12 days of Christmas" workout at the gym today will understand why I bring this up! It was a TOUGH workout, but it felt great! I am so excited that I was able to do the prisoner jumps and lunges and it didn't bother my knee at all!!!!

I am excited about Lynndi Lauper's "experimental peppermint fudge." THAT may inspire a whole new blog posting!!!

Treadmill, Schmeadmill

I managed to do a little over three miles before I died of boredom. I started so late, and you guys were all at home waiting for me so we could go to a movie where I ate an entire bucket of popcorn for my carb blitz. Totally worth it. And I liked the movie, in spite of a lack of mystery.

It's beginning to look a lot like baseline!

Dr. nln is happy to report that she is getting close to her baseline running (which is 6 miles 4 times per week). Currently she has done two six mile runs. This may not seem like such a big deal, but when you consider that last year at this time she was still on the physical therapy table and was not allowed to even run ONE mile, this is quite the accomplishment.

Tomorrow will (hopefully) be six mile run #3. There will also be a whole lotta core work tomorrow since there was no core work today.

Dr. nln heard that one Lynndi Lauper was going to group fitness session and wonders how it went and what occurred there???

Monday TRX - Interesting

I did intro to the TRX equipment plus some rope work in the PT room. It was good! Not sweaty but that's okay.

SUNDAY ABC!!!

I liked this one. It was stations, but just one time through each. Good stuff.

Saturday

Today I did the same thing I did a couple of days ago, with 100 sprint laps, 100 pushups, 100 ab crunches, 100 other kinds of laps.... You know.

I could get used to NOT working

I am really enjoying all my time off. It's too bad that watching Law & Order marathons doesn't pay the bills...

Today I spent an hour and a half at the gym (2 hours if you include the shower I took after my workout).

I enjoyed a 5 mile run on the treadmill. 2 days of running in a row...I'm getting CRAZY!! After that I did close to 30 min of core work (arms, abs, back). Last week I increased my biceps weights to 17.5 lbs.

Lots of holiday parties this week so I have to make sure I do enough of a workout to account for all the garbage I am planning to eat!!

And what are YOU doing tonight?

More Humiliation at the Gym

Since I was so embarrassed on Tuesday, I went back tonight for more.

Three miles on the treadmill, and then I couldn't take it anymore.
So I did 50 pikes on the ball, 25 supermans on the ball, 100 bicep curls with the heavy band, 100 upright rows with the heavy band, 100 crunches on the ball (50 of those side ones we like and then 50 with feet on the wall, and then ran another half-mile, but it was making me crazy so I stopped.

What did you do tonight?

Run baby, Run!

another day off for Dr. nln!!

the weather outside (at least this morning) was ideal for running. Yes, I would have preferred to do without the 20 mile per hour winds, but the 50 degree temperatures more than made up for that!

5.5 miles today...the most I have run since the marathon and it felt good! I didn't do any core work today, so tomorrow I will have to make up for that. I am shocked that Lynndi Lauper is running on the treadmill. I hope today she will get time to run outside. It's so nice to have clean sidewalks and not have to navigate running through snow and ice!

Wednesday, Yet Another Kind of 100

I got very little sleep last night, too much coffee today, and not enough water. So I really didn't expect much, and this workout was fairly quick, maybe 40 minutes:

10 sprint laps, 20 pushups, 10 hi-knees laps, 10 buttkickers, 20 ab crunches on the bench.
10 sprint laps, 20 pushups, 10 bounding laps, 10 skipping laps, 20 ab crunches on the bench.
10 sprint laps, 20 pushups, 20 long jumps down, jogging back, 20 ab crunches on the bench.
10 sprint laps, 20 pushups, 10 side bounding laps, 10 side shuffle laps, 20 ab crunches on the bench.
10 sprint laps, 20 pushups, 10 ballet run laps, 10 karaoke laps, 20 ab crunches on the bench.

Tuesday is Going to Blow Your Mind

Inside. On a treadmill.
And all I could handle was a little over three miles. How sad!

The Doctor is NOT in...

(because her vacation days don't carry over Dr. nln has been using up all her remaining vacation days in December)

I have to say, I rather enjoy having the luxury of working out during the day for as long as I want to! Today I ran and it was FANTASTIC! I am still only at 5 miles but I am happy to be out running and not on a physical therapy table. I'm not training for anything so I am happy to stay at 5 miles for a bit longer. I am still mixing it up with the elliptical and maybe I'll get some swimming time in as well (although, now that I can run, the swimming just isn't as appealing anymore). I also did a bunch of core stuff, focusing mostly on abs (but with some upper arm work as well). And if that wasn't enough, I got to follow that up with an afternoon of SHOPPING! Ahh, the perfect day!

What are YOU doing tonight?

Monday, a Different Kind of 100s

Broken up in groups of 25, but not always in the same order, and with absolutely no cardio, 100 of each:

crunches, variety;
that one kind of row or whatever it is that is so much for the back, 22.5 lb hand weights, each side;
bench press, chest flies, and that thing you do standing and lowering from the waist (hand to knee I guess), each side, 15 lb weights;
frogs, each leg;
squats (with weights at sides), overhead press, standing rows, overhead tricep.

Sunday Run Cause You Did it!

I know you ran a lot further than I did, but it was a miracle that I even got through the front door. 3.7 miles, some of it walking, but all of it outside!!! On a Sunday evening!!!

Saturday too Much Gig Time

At least I got to pretend to be a cookie.

Friday Night Off!!!

Hey nln!
I tried your ideas. It went very well, though I had to take a breath. I really do think a week of nothing but cardio is in order cause I feel my stamina for it slipping.

Four cycles, 25 reps each:

Double knees (that thing, you know, with arms up and out too), each side / old skool super mans (the back exercise) / frogs / pushups.

Football drill, each foot leads 25x / ab crunches on the bench / lateral box jumps / planks, hands to forearms and back.

HITT style Supermans, right side / bicep curls w heavy band / standing rows w heavy band / super mans, left side / tricep dips.

Now I'll do the whole world a favor and take a shower.

Now THAT Was Fun

It was fun to get out of the garage for one evening and go to Peg's HITT class with you.

But I'm going back to the garage tonight to try that thing I posted on Tuesday but didn't do because I watched a movie and fell asleep instead.

Also, thanks for your expert medical advice on the numbness in my left hand fingers (wear gloves, as well as pants) and on my energy problem (take a nap in the middle of the night instead of editing video).

Gotta go.

Reunited and it feels so good!

Got to actually workout with THE Lynndi Lauper today! I think we sent the entire HIIT class in shock, if not with our presence then with our STANK!

Lynndi also got to witness the fine specimen of nature that I alluded to in an earlier post.

Tuesday, High Ambition

I might have to go back to five cycles of twenty reps each.
I know that I need to abandon the circuit training soon and join you on treadmills for a week, but I'm just not ready...

Five times through:
4 laps of high knees across, buttkickers back.
20 each, burpees / thread the needle, each side / prisoner jumps / calf raise.
Five times through:
4 laps of box slides across, ammo runs back.
20 each of squat jumps / pushups / lower ab (leg raise) / shoulder press w band.

4 minutes jump rope.
2 minutes wall sit.
25 each, 4 times: bench press (15) / chest flye / skull crusher.

Monday Monday Monday

After three days off and a really late start (almost 8PM), I wasn't really sure what I could accomplish. I tried the 100s routine from 11/28, the one where I couldn't complete all those tennis squats (cause it's counting BOTH sides). Tonight i actually got it done, and it wasn't bad.

Football drill on bench, per foot / tennis squat, over, both sides / pushups / jumping jax / standing rows with heavy band.
Soccer drill, per foot / v-sit obliques, each side / bicep curl w heavy band / lunge off back, per foot / tricep dips.
Inner thigh, each leg / outer thigh, each leg / box jumps / box runs, per foot.

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

But that didn't stop me from running a 5k today! I haven't done any speedwork in a long time (as evidenced by the sensation of nausea at various points along the course). Nevertheless, I managed a decent time AND I beat that little kid who looked like he couldn't have been more than 10 years old!!

After that I took a long, hot shower and a cozy nap.

What did you do today??

I heart running!

I am SLOWLY getting back into running. I'm far from my baseline, but I did get 5 miles in today! I was on the treadmill, so my "scenery" was mostly the calves of the guy running on the treadmill in front of mine (a very nice specimen of nature). I also did a little bit of core work but mostly I enjoyed my run!

Thursday 100s

Four cycles of 25 reps:

Soccer drill, both feet / pushups / plie squat, touching elbows to knees, both sides / burpees / crosses w 5 lb weights, both sides.

Mountain climbers, hands on floor, both feet / frogs / military press w 10 lb weights / lay down, standup.

Four minutes jump rope.
Shoulder raise with twist, shoulder raise in three positions, and overhead triceps w 5 lb weights.

It wasn't easy at first, but it got better.

Wednesday Quickie

25 each, 4 times through the cycle:

sprint laps / pushups / thread the needle, each side / ab crunches, variety / tricep dips

Took maybe 32 minutes!

So Doc, I'm boring myself here and want to borrow some of your upper body strength exercises - you know, like that military press thing, the shoulder raise w twist, and whatnot. Please give some suggestions.

Hmm...well it seems to me that you incorporate a lot of arm work in your routines. Hello? 100 pushups??

So, what HAVEN'T you been doing? Some ideas:

tricep dips (I know how much you love these)...so let's have you start with one minute intervals and see how many you can do!

overhead triceps

dead lift with row

military press

bicep curls/walk

ammo run

and let us not forget...military crawls!!!

nowhere near as ambitious as Lynndi

All I did was the (stupid) elliptical for 35 min follow by a bunch of one minute core exercises.

now I'm hungry but dinner isn't till 8:30. How long will this gum last??

Tuesday, 100s and 75s

4 times through, 25 reps each:
Bounding across the bench, each side / hands on bench, hop over, side to side / calf raises on that big paint bucket / pushups.
2 minute wallsit, arms in second.
High knees with elbows crossing, each side / leg over garbage can and back / ab crunches / shoulder press with heavy band.
4 minute jumprope.
3 times through, 25 reps each:
bench press with 15 pound handweights / chest flyes with 15 pound handweights.

I ran out of time but found some of this was not as easy as it sounded anyway. Until tomorrow...

Gonna Try It Tonight

100s
Football drill on bench, per foot / tennis squat, over, both sides / pushups / jumping jax / standing rows with heavy band.
Soccer drill, per foot / v-sit obliques, each side / bicep curl w heavy band / lunge off back, per foot / tricep dips.
Inner thigh, each leg / outer thigh, each leg / box jumps / box runs, per foot.

Sunday

Again nothing.

Saturday

Uh...

the day after...

so how far do I have to run to work off all that pie I ate???

Thanksgiving 100s

2.8 mile run, like everyone else...
then 100 of each:
bicep curls (15 pound weights)
shoulder press (15, then 12)
squats (with weights)
standing rows (15 pounds)
lunges
pushups
ab crunches, four types

Wednesday 100s, Thanksgiving Eve

2.6 miles to the gym, then 100 crunches and 50:
bench press, flies, shoulder raise (three positions), overhead triceps, skull crushers
Easy!
Let's do that again tomorrow.

Tuesday 100s

100s of just sitting around, that is! HA HA HA HA

Monday 100s

4 sets, 25 reps each:
on the bench, football drill, per foot / straddle jumps / pushups / leap frogs over and hop turn
soccer drill, per foot / jumping jacks / kneeling lean back, oblique punches, per side / tricep dips
frog to tadpoles / squat jumps / bicep curls with heavy band / upright rows with heavy band
sit down - stand up (no arms) / lunges off back of bench, per foot / ab crunches / jump rope / frogs

I thought this was a little too much quads, but it feels fine now, and I'm thinking about sugar free ice cream.

Road to recovery

So I only had one coughing fit today where I thought I was going to actually expectorate my left lung! Sadly, that is progress.

the other big progress is that I am back on the (stupid) elliptical machine. If this goes well for the next 2 days then I can (wait for it) RUN on Thursday!!!!!

so today I did 30 min on the elliptical and then 50s:

50 plank rows/calf raises

50 pushups/oblique twists

50 tricep dips

and then a bunch of other random stuff 'cause I got tired of counting to 50!

What did you do tonight?

Sunday Bla

Ran two miles and then noticed that it was dark and cold, so the next two miles were alternating brief runs/sprints with sad walking. Boo hoo.

cereal. it's not just for breakfast!

Since I am injured AND sick, I thought I would leave a nutrition tip.

Cereal is just as delicious when consumed at 3:15pm while watching the Bears football game!

Saturday Duh

I did 100 of NOTHING!
Ate some pancakes too.
Took a 1.5 minute nap.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

WARNING

Hey, nln!
Hersch just told me that you can't do circuit training for more than four weeks. (Take at least one week off from it after four.) This is particularly true with squat jumps, and we talked about squat technique for a while too (feet at 30 degree angles out, shoulder width, return to standing via glutes not feet, that kind of stuff). Dang. I was having so much fun. What will I do for that one week? SWIM??

Friday 100s

ONE TIME:
20 sprint laps
25 bicycle / 25 pushups / 25 leapfrog the bench
20 sprint laps
25 scissor kicks / 25 pushups / 25 leapfrog
20 sprint laps
25 ab raise (hands and feet straight up) / 25 pushups / 25 leapfrog
20 sprint laps
25 ab crunch / 25 pushups / 25 leapfrog

FOUR TIMES:
5 sprint laps
25 calf raise / 25 spider mountain climbers / 25 lunges back on step

50 each: 15 pounds flyes, bench press; 10 pounds shoulder raise (to shoulder, no overhead), overhead triceps (2 handweights)

Thursday 100s

This was fun but went way too fast, so I had to add jump rope and back pull or lift or whatever you call that, with heavy resistance band doubled.

Five times through each circuit of 25 reps each, using bench and heavy band:

squat jumps / frog to tadpoles / pushups / ab crunches (thought this would NEVER end)

high knees, each knee / jumping jacks, some low / bicep curls / standing rows / chest pulls

hands on bench, hop over bench, per side / soccer drill, per foot / tricep dips

inner thigh, each leg / outer thigh, each leg / box jumps / box runs, per foot

Wednesday

Hot tub and shower and dinner cause I just didn't feel like 100s.

Tuesday 100s

DOCTOR!

20 each, 5 times, using bench:

football drill, per foot / tennis squat, per side / standup-sitdown / pushups

mountain climbers, per foot / frogs / squat with side leg raise, per leg / kneeling lean with oblique punches, per arm (I agree that's a good one!)

(WALL SIT FOR ONE MINUTE)

plank with hand taps, per hand / plie squats / Ellenbounds, per side

AND THEN FIFTY OF EACH OF THESE:
with 15 pound handweights - flyes, bench press, back lifts (whatever those are called)
one 15 pound handweight - overhead triceps

And then I did NOT take a shower - HA HA HA HA

Monday 100s

Yo Doctor nln!

This is what I did Monday night, with the bench and heaviest resistance band, five times through each circuit of 20 reps each because that, as you might already know, equals 100:

side plank with arm tucks, per side / soccer drill, per foot / pushups / jumping jacks / prisoner jumps

burpees / bicep curls / standing rows / chest pulls

box jumps / box runs, per foot / tricep dips / ab crunches

calf raises / shoulder raises, per arm

And then I had dinner and DID take a shower.