Week 5: Climb for Clean Air – Hurdles

Plan:

Monday: Long Cardio

Tuesday: Strength Training with Weston

Wednesday: Long Cardio

Thursday: REST Day!

Friday: Strength Training + Interval

Saturday: Hike day

Sunday: Strength Training + Interval

Did you ever have a plan something, and totally blew it?   Well, this week is kinda like that.   It started good and it shifted somewhere half way in the middle of the week and my plan is completely out of whack.   I can make all the excuses in the world, but at the end of the day, I am accountable for things that I didn’t do and I’m not to pleased with myself this week.   Yes, it’s mama day weekend and I’m supposed to cut myself a slack and be pampered and all, but it didn’t really give me a hall pass to skip a work out, let alone TWO days of work out.   I faced life hurdles this week.  Between work, family, children and just life in general, I am having a very hard time to find those hour or two, to do my work out, let alone 3 or 4 hours to do training hike.   In result – I skipped a work out this week and no training hike.    Not a happy Yanni.   However, I’m not going to mope around and hide.   I ‘fess up.  Let the world know, that I will get my behind back into the program tomorrow.    Get up, dust myself up, and move on.   I have exactly 73 days to my climb days and I really need to get with the program.   I don’t have too many weekend to do training hike and the one that I do have, not all of them are available to me to do it, so I really, really need to plan it wisely.

How it actually went down:

Monday:

Long Cardio day.   After a week of letting my leg rest, I’m ready to get a lot of lower body exercise.   I did an hour at elliptical machine, using a cross-ramp, training hill program on the machine.    I kept my heart rate at the endurance zone at all time (hover at my 80% of MHR) and I did really good.   The whole hour went by just like that and I did 5.26 miles on that hour.

Tuesday:

Weston decided to mixed up my strength training.   We started with just regular squat, but with kettle bell in my hand, did variety of upper body combination while I did about 4 sets of squats, follow by lunges.   Then I did single legged squat, also with kettle bell in my hand as an extra weight.   Half way into it – he had me walk into the treadmill for 10 minutes to stretch my muscle, since some of the routines still gave me the sharp pain, but it went away.   We repeated the same routine.   I did total 8 sets, 12 reps each of combination of squat, lunges and single-legged squat and step-up with kettle bell upper-body combo.   I was so spent by the time I was done and barely able to walk

Wednesday

Long Cardio Day.    I loaded 45lbs weight into my pack, strapped in my back and set the treadmill to 15% grade and walk for an hour.   Since this is going to be my summit pack, I thought this would be a good long cardio since it will also help me train with my pack.   I found out really quickly that I need to exchange my pack from the medium frame to small, since my shoulder is a bit sore afterward.   I set the treadmill on 2.0 mph and able to maintain it speed for the entire hour, even though I have a hard time to maintain my heart rate within the endurance zone.  It was peaked all the way up on the upper level of the zone.    I was panting most of the time.   I didn’t want to adjust my pace nor drop my weight (yes, stubborn me) and just kept walking.

Thursday:

Weston told me to NOT take a rest day this Thursday, and did strength training on the traditional leg work out.   Bummer.   So I went to the gym.   I did my warm up at the treadmill for 10 minutes then start my routines.   It consist of Lunges and Squat – both used 10lbs dumbbell combination with upper body routine, then I did Leg Press, Leg Extension, Leg Curl, Hip Adduction and Hip Abduction.  Then I did my cores exercise consist of plank, side oblique crunch and bridge.  I did 3 sets of 12 reps of all routines.

Friday:

I skipped work out.   I was planning to do it after work, but I just can’t make the time.

Saturday:

REST DAY!  This is my planned rest day.  Even tho I skipped work out the day before, I already made a plan with the family to do thins today.   Yes, I could squeeze an hour to do something, but I didn’t.

Sunday:

This is when things went downhill.    I didn’t go for any hike.   I plan to, even dropped the my girls to my mom so I have absolutely no reason to not go.   Instead, I decided to go over my gear.   I laid out all my hiking gear in the floor and went over my list.   I went and exchange my pack to the right size, had it readjusted and got the right model.    I didn’t go for any training hike, but I know for sure what gear do I have and what gear that I still need to get.   There is a wee bit sense of accomplishment.    I’m not happy that I didn’t go for any hike, but I feel better knowing that I know what gear inside that bin that’s been sitting in the garage in the last few years.

Fundraising:

I raised $1279.21 this week plus $779.21 company matching with total $2058.42 this week!!!  I did a happy hour fundraising party at my office and it’s a huge success!   Thank you SO much for those who participate on the event and supporting my cause and for the SQL community that keep surprising me with their generosity!   Keep the donation coming!

Update:  This post now become part of Get Hawt#5 series

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