February, which feels like a long time ago now, was not a stellar month when it came to physical activity.
March, on the other hand, has been pretty darn good.
Wanna see what happened?
Running
Training is ramping up for the Niagara Falls Women's half so I've been adding a few extra kilometres every week. Plus I tossed in some speed and hill training to get my legs and my heart pumping. Things are feeling good and my running is going well.
Distance covered: 118km
Number of workouts: 14
Time spent: 14.5 hours
Cycling
My cycling went down a bit this month but for a good reason. I've added swimming back into the mix and, let's be honest, there really are only so many hours in a day.
Distance covered: 38k
Number of workouts: 2
Time spent: 1 hour and 48 minutes
Swimming
Yes my friends, I am back in the pool again. I hopped back in two weeks ago and have been trying to go twice per week. No Master's class. Just me and my little workout tucked into a waterproof baggie. I'm enjoying it much more than I did last fall and look forward to the workouts again.
Distance covered: 10,000m
Number of workouts: 4
Time spent: 4 hours
Erg'ing (aka rowing machine)
I've been going to my new fitness centre on Sunday mornings and doing a nice little workout. Thirty minutes on the erg followed by weight training. The distance is adding up and I'm getting a bit faster and a bit stronger with each session.
Distance covered: 31,822m
Number of workouts: 5
Time spent: 2.5 hours
Corefit and Weight Training
I'm tossing any weight training I've been doing into one big pot. Whether it's an hour CoreFit class or an hour lifting weights, it's going here. Sadly I haven't figured out how to convert ten minutes on the bench press into distance so I'm only going to report on the number of workouts and time spent doing them.
Number of workouts: 8
Time spent: 6 hours and 15 minutes
Grand total for March:
Number of workouts: 33
Time spent: 29 hours
Distance covered: 196.8km
Where does that get me to?
I have covered a total distance of 547km in three months.
In January I had made it from my house to Barrie. By the end of February I was just north of Parry Sound. And now?
Well, I've made it all the way to Sudbury, Ontario with enough left over to turn west and head another 70km towards Sault St. Marie.
Just to remind you, my goal is to run, swim, bike, row and walk (on the golf course) my way to Regina, Saskatchewan by the end of 2015. The total distance is 2396km from my front door. In the first quarter of the year, I've covered just under one quarter of the distance (23% to be precise). Which means I'm well on my way to getting to Regina by New Year's Eve.
The challenge for April?
Where to fit in my Sunday morning erg/weight workout once it warms up enough for our Sunday morning cycling group to hit the roads again? The schedule will once again have to be tweaked.
Showing posts with label rowing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rowing. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
The Ups and Downs of a Sunday Workout
I haven't written too much about diabetes lately because, for the most part, the diabetes god have been pretty well behaved. They still throw plenty of highs and lows my way but they've been pretty predictable and easily remedied.
Sunday morning was a different story and I was not impressed with their shenanigans. I guess, in hindsight, I was partly to blame but I'm still disgusted by their behaviour.
I woke up on Sunday morning to Rose vibrating next to me. I had just dipped under 4.0 (3.9) after a long slow descent over the last 5-6 hours. To deal with the low, I had four Dex4s. I also turned down my basal rate by 40% for 3 hours since I knew I was going to the fitness centre once I got up.
By the time I was up and dressed and down in the kitchen, my blood sugar was 9 and climbing. Seemed pretty dramatic after only having four Dex4s but I figured it would come back down once I started erg'ing. In fact I knew it would drop down so I had half a banana for good measure.
Ten minutes later I was on the rowing machine and, after 30 minutes of hard work, my blood sugar was 10.4 and dropping. Looking at Rose I could see that I had climbed to 11.5 during the workout before turning south again.
I figured 10.4 was a good number to start my weight training at and that I would probably keep trending downward. I did indeed keep trending downward and got all the way down to 9.0 before heading back up again.
Sixty minutes of weight training later I was 13.5 with an arrow heading straight up. It didn't make sense at the time, After my workout I bolused two units and headed home.
I kept climbing, double arrows up, until I reached 16.9. By then I had 6 units of insulin on board, was starving for breakfast and unable to eat.
I guzzled water, showered, andpatiently waited for the insulin to kick in. After an hour, it finally did and my blood sugar did exactly what I expected it to. It tipped downward, gathered speed and within 30 minutes I went from 16.9 to 10.
I started making breakfast, which was technically now my lunch. By the time it was ready I was 6.4. I ate, my blood sugar climbed up and back down the way it normally does when I eat my breakfast and things were fine for the rest of the day.
Doug asked me why I went so high during the workout.
I guessed that it was because I was lifting weights. That used to happen years ago when I weight trained but I had forgotten.
The combination of 30 minutes of cardio (which usually drops my blood sugar) followed by 45-60 minutes of weights (which apparently brings it up) will take me a few weeks to figure out.
I'll start by not lowing my basal insulin next week and see if that helps avoid the awful high without triggering a low.
Good thing I like to exercise, love numbers and don't mind experimenting. Otherwise I can see how it would be pretty tempting to just stay in bed.
Sunday morning was a different story and I was not impressed with their shenanigans. I guess, in hindsight, I was partly to blame but I'm still disgusted by their behaviour.
I woke up on Sunday morning to Rose vibrating next to me. I had just dipped under 4.0 (3.9) after a long slow descent over the last 5-6 hours. To deal with the low, I had four Dex4s. I also turned down my basal rate by 40% for 3 hours since I knew I was going to the fitness centre once I got up.
By the time I was up and dressed and down in the kitchen, my blood sugar was 9 and climbing. Seemed pretty dramatic after only having four Dex4s but I figured it would come back down once I started erg'ing. In fact I knew it would drop down so I had half a banana for good measure.
Ten minutes later I was on the rowing machine and, after 30 minutes of hard work, my blood sugar was 10.4 and dropping. Looking at Rose I could see that I had climbed to 11.5 during the workout before turning south again.
I figured 10.4 was a good number to start my weight training at and that I would probably keep trending downward. I did indeed keep trending downward and got all the way down to 9.0 before heading back up again.
Sixty minutes of weight training later I was 13.5 with an arrow heading straight up. It didn't make sense at the time, After my workout I bolused two units and headed home.
I kept climbing, double arrows up, until I reached 16.9. By then I had 6 units of insulin on board, was starving for breakfast and unable to eat.
I guzzled water, showered, and
I started making breakfast, which was technically now my lunch. By the time it was ready I was 6.4. I ate, my blood sugar climbed up and back down the way it normally does when I eat my breakfast and things were fine for the rest of the day.
Doug asked me why I went so high during the workout.
I guessed that it was because I was lifting weights. That used to happen years ago when I weight trained but I had forgotten.
The combination of 30 minutes of cardio (which usually drops my blood sugar) followed by 45-60 minutes of weights (which apparently brings it up) will take me a few weeks to figure out.
I'll start by not lowing my basal insulin next week and see if that helps avoid the awful high without triggering a low.
Good thing I like to exercise, love numbers and don't mind experimenting. Otherwise I can see how it would be pretty tempting to just stay in bed.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Heart Rate Update
I think it's about time for a heart rate update. Seeing as how I track it pretty religiously these days, I might as well report back in case anyone out there is thinking about training using your heart rate.
Since running is the sport that I do the most (3 times per week rather than just 1 or 2) it's the activity that I am getting the most practice with in terms of figuring out heart rate.
What I've been trying to do is to keep my long runs under 160 beats per minute while keeping my shorter runs under 165. Last week I started doing speed work again and I'm planning to get back into hill workouts this week. For those I just go full speed ahead and then check what my heart rate is at the end. For the speed work I peaked at 174 beats per minute and for hills I'm guessing I'll max out at 180 since that was my max last fall.
Here is an example of how things have been going:
Saturday I ran 14k. I tried very hard to keep my heart rate between 155-160 and it stayed there easily for most of it but kept creeping over 160 during the last few kilometres. That being said, I ran 14k without too much effort and I did not stop once. Not even for 15 seconds at a red light. I just started running at the end of my driveway, ran 7k, turned around and ran back to my driveway. Best part was that I didn't want to stop. It felt easy enough that I knew I could do it so I did.
The tradeoff is that I'm slower than I used to be. Not by a lot but still slower.
That being said, I'll take 15 seconds per kilometre slower if the tradeoff is that I can run for 90 minutes with no great difficulty and feel completely fine for the rest of the day.
I'll be ramping up the mileage over the next few weeks as I train for my spring half marathon. I'm running 16k next week, 18k not long after and then I'm in the 20s for a few weeks in a row. If I can keep my heart rate down and glide through those distances too, I'll be completely sold on this new way of running.
On to other activities!
I have used the erg (aka rowing machine) four times now at my new fitness centre. I've tracked my heart rate each time as well as my distance. During my first two 30-minute workouts it was a struggle to get 6000m done. On the third one I did 6400m and just this past Sunday I was able to do 6650m. So I'm obviously getting the hang of this thing.
My heart rate numbers are pretty similar to my running ones. Once I get going I'm hovering in the high 150s, up to 160, for the rest of the workout. Strangely, that heart rate makes for a pretty easy run but it makes for a pretty intense erg session. At the end of 30 minutes I'm dripping wet, panting and exhausted.
For cycling, I can't seem to get my heart rate up to 150, never mind above it. Even when the dude on the video is yelling at us to climb faster or spin faster or push harder, I tend to hover around 145bpm. I feel like I'm working pretty darn hard but it's not reflected in my heart rate.
Tracking my heart rate during a swim is not an option at this point because I don't have the waterproof watch to do it.
Lessons learned so far?
1. Running using heart rate works very well for me. It might not work for the speed demons out there who like to give it their all during every run but it works for me as I try to find a way to run long distance races feeling strong from start to finish.
2. A given heart rate (say 155bpm) is easy to reach during some activities, hard in others and seeming impossible in others still. Yet the effort I'm putting out is different for each activity.
- 155bpm = pretty easy running
- 155bpm = pretty tough erg'ing
- 155bpm = I've never reached that on the bike so I'm guessing it might kill me if I do
Heart rate training may not be for everyone but it's definitely a tool I'm keeping in my fitness toolbox.
Since running is the sport that I do the most (3 times per week rather than just 1 or 2) it's the activity that I am getting the most practice with in terms of figuring out heart rate.
What I've been trying to do is to keep my long runs under 160 beats per minute while keeping my shorter runs under 165. Last week I started doing speed work again and I'm planning to get back into hill workouts this week. For those I just go full speed ahead and then check what my heart rate is at the end. For the speed work I peaked at 174 beats per minute and for hills I'm guessing I'll max out at 180 since that was my max last fall.
Here is an example of how things have been going:
Saturday I ran 14k. I tried very hard to keep my heart rate between 155-160 and it stayed there easily for most of it but kept creeping over 160 during the last few kilometres. That being said, I ran 14k without too much effort and I did not stop once. Not even for 15 seconds at a red light. I just started running at the end of my driveway, ran 7k, turned around and ran back to my driveway. Best part was that I didn't want to stop. It felt easy enough that I knew I could do it so I did.
The tradeoff is that I'm slower than I used to be. Not by a lot but still slower.
That being said, I'll take 15 seconds per kilometre slower if the tradeoff is that I can run for 90 minutes with no great difficulty and feel completely fine for the rest of the day.
I'll be ramping up the mileage over the next few weeks as I train for my spring half marathon. I'm running 16k next week, 18k not long after and then I'm in the 20s for a few weeks in a row. If I can keep my heart rate down and glide through those distances too, I'll be completely sold on this new way of running.
On to other activities!
I have used the erg (aka rowing machine) four times now at my new fitness centre. I've tracked my heart rate each time as well as my distance. During my first two 30-minute workouts it was a struggle to get 6000m done. On the third one I did 6400m and just this past Sunday I was able to do 6650m. So I'm obviously getting the hang of this thing.
My heart rate numbers are pretty similar to my running ones. Once I get going I'm hovering in the high 150s, up to 160, for the rest of the workout. Strangely, that heart rate makes for a pretty easy run but it makes for a pretty intense erg session. At the end of 30 minutes I'm dripping wet, panting and exhausted.
For cycling, I can't seem to get my heart rate up to 150, never mind above it. Even when the dude on the video is yelling at us to climb faster or spin faster or push harder, I tend to hover around 145bpm. I feel like I'm working pretty darn hard but it's not reflected in my heart rate.
Tracking my heart rate during a swim is not an option at this point because I don't have the waterproof watch to do it.
Lessons learned so far?
1. Running using heart rate works very well for me. It might not work for the speed demons out there who like to give it their all during every run but it works for me as I try to find a way to run long distance races feeling strong from start to finish.
2. A given heart rate (say 155bpm) is easy to reach during some activities, hard in others and seeming impossible in others still. Yet the effort I'm putting out is different for each activity.
- 155bpm = pretty easy running
- 155bpm = pretty tough erg'ing
- 155bpm = I've never reached that on the bike so I'm guessing it might kill me if I do
Heart rate training may not be for everyone but it's definitely a tool I'm keeping in my fitness toolbox.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Erg'ing
When I started curling, I became a member of what I referred to as my curling club.
A few years later I took up golf and switched my membership from curling to a full membership which allowed me to curl in the cold months and golf in the warm months. So it became my golf and curling club depending on the season.
Then my club announced all sorts of improvements including the building of a new fitness centre. After a few months on construction, the fitness centre opened last week. Better yet, the use of it is included in my existing membership. Not having a gym membership, I was pretty excited to have access to cardio machines (hello treadmill!) and weights.
Last Friday I headed there after work to check things out and I was impressed. They spared no expense and we have brand new, state of the art equipment, lots of weights, fitness balls, mats, and everything else a great gym should have. They even have, omigod, a rowing machine! (Apparently it's supposed to be referred to as an 'erg' but I prefer rowing machine.)
When I was in university I was taught by my sister (who used to row for her university) how to row properly. I was nowhere near as strong as she was but I loved it. I used to use it all the time...but that was almost 20 years ago. I figured I'd be a bit rusty but I was excited to try.
I hopped on and rowed (erg'ed?) for 30 minutes. It came back to me instantly and I fell into a rhythm that was easy to maintain. I kept looking at the screen and watching the numbers but really had no idea if I was flying across the water or barely moving the boat. All I know is that I did 6000m in 30 minutes (is that good?).
Afterwards I did all sorts of upper body weights using weight machines I haven't used in at least 10 years, since I cancelled my last gym membership. It was great!
I went again on Sunday morning and hopped back on the erg again. Again, I did 30 minutes and covered just over 6000m. Again I did a bunch of weight machines afterwards and went home feeling great.
When I was a curler, I liked my curling club.
When I became a golfer, I really liked my golf and curling club.
Now that there is a fitness centre too? I'm thinking I'm going to be hanging out there a whole lot from now on.
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