magiciansampras

For my part, I got in a nice 40 minute lift at the gym followed by a quick 5k on the treadmill. For the lifting I did 3 sets of chin-ups (7,6,6); then did the standing shoulder raises law dawg pointed out (85 lbs total, 3 sets of 8, 8, then 5 (close to failure on the last rep); 3 sets of dips (10 reps); seated lat pulls (2 sets of 8 @ 120lbs; 100 crunches and some assisted chin-ups.

The 5k on the treadmill was done at 6:48/mile pace or 21:06 total time. Felt pretty good.

Alcohol consumed last night: 1 glass red wine.

blort

Yeah, it helps to have an employer plan. A friend of mine pays just over $1,000 annually for an all-access membership using that route. Unfortunately I work for a small firm (~20 people) and there wasn't enough interest when the idea was floated around a year or so ago to get a corporate deal.

I'm hoping they offer some new member incentives before the January rush of people with new year resolutions.

aztimm

Now that the heat broke, it is great to get outside. I was actually surprised to see other people also running in the dark. Our high today was around 85, and its looking like that through the weekend. Lows around 50. Humidity here is very low this time of year, maybe 10%, so 85 feels very comfortable. Now if I could manage to slip out of the office for a lunchtime swim, I'd be set.

aztimm

Nov 19, 2008...6AM swim workout with the team, ASU Student Rec Center
did 60 pushups and held The Plank for 2 min before leaving home
600 warm-up
according to coach Johnny, this was, "Whopass Wednesday"...and we did, "Four Bills"--
5 x 100 @ 1:40, right into
10 X 100 @ 1:35, right into
10 x 100 @ 1:30, right into
10 x 100 @ 1:25, right into
5 x 100 @ 1:20. was tough, but made these with 3-4 sec rest
200 warm-down
total: 4800 yards

I went 2nd in the lane, ran into the #1 guy a few times towards the beginning, but was glad I didn't lead, as I'm a terrible pacer for sets like this. a few of us stayed to finish, maybe 10-15 min late (so 1-1/4 hr swim). man, my chest and arms are still sore...stopped by Starbucks to get a protein drink. hope I feel well enough to lift tonight

PurpleTravel

I belong to Equinox and love it. One thing they do is provide a free month to you if you refer people who end up signing up. So, if you have a group of friends that want to join, maybe you can come to some agreement about how you refer each other and share the wealth...only one month, but better than nothing! Also, if you have an AmEx Platinum, there are great benefits at Equinox- discounted membership rate, some free private training sessions (2 or 3? can't remember), spa treatment, etc...if you use the perks, it almost (but not quite) pays for the Platinum Card. This stuff is probably not as good as a Corporate Membership, but worth noting

magiciansampras

Ran in the Tidal Basin 3k here in DC at lunchtime. This is race that has been going on for years. It's held the third Wednesday of every month, is completely free, completely informal, but they have a professional timing system and it's really quite fun. Today was cold, in the low 30s, but I bet there were 40-50 people there. Today's race was the 418th. Very cool stuff.

As for the race itself, it's hard to have a strategy for a 3k race, I think. So I decided to just go balls to the wall from the get-go. Ran the first mile in 5:57 and then had an inevitable fade, running the last 0.88 at 6:12 pace.

Nevertheless, I'm happy with that sub-6 mile at the beginning. Next time I'll try to finish under 6:00 average.

Totals: 1.88 miles (according to the GPS, 3k is technically 1.86), 11:24 total time, 6:04/mile average pace.

^

dhuey

Super cool! Very few people (relatively speaking) can break the six-minute mile.

magiciansampras

Thanks dude! I honestly don't know that I've ever just tried to run a mile as fast as I can. Good to know that when I want to I can break that 6 minute barrier!

I've definitely come a long way with the fitness.. I doubt I could have broken 6:00 a couple of years ago. ^

aztimm

Yea, that's a great time.

Do they do this race in Dec, Jan, Feb, etc? Is the course plowed and/or shoveled if there's snow? Since I've moved to AZ, I've become a wimp with cold and especially snow.

I was below the 6-min mile at one time....a long time ago. Maybe again.

magiciansampras

Yep, it's an all weather event. And apparently they've had some pretty bad weather, including ice storms and heavy snow. If you check out the race results from January, 2005, the winning time was 30 seconds slower than I ran today... because they had 4 inches of snow on the ground! http://www.geocities.com/tidalbasinrace/20050119.html

georgemma

aztimm, do you swim with a Masters group?

aztimm

Yep, I swim with Sun Devil Masters....www.sundevilmasters.org

magiciansampras

Did another 3.07 miles after work, finishing a little slower than the race. Did it in 22:04 or 7:11/mile pace. Felt good to move the legs a little bit after the race earlier in the day. Almost like a cooldown.

aztimm

Worked late last night, and didn't have enough time to lift when I got home....

Thurs Nov 20, up early for a morning run. did some stretching, 60 pushups, and held The Plank for 2 min before heading out. temp at start around 50F.
aztimm_run_11202008, details--distance: 9.28 miles, time: 1hr 16min 05 sec, pace: 8:11/mile, calories: 1151
I'd much rather start in the dark and at least know that daylight is coming soon, rather than the reverse. It didn't feel like I took it out that fast, but again, I'm not good at holding back at first. The only explaination I can think of for that dip at mile 4 (other than a Nike+ screwup) is I did stop for water somewhere between 4 and 4-1/2, but it doesn't usually impact the graph so much. I also took a restroom break and water (paused my iPod) around the 6-1/2 mile mark.
After my iPod gave my run detail at the end, Tiger Woods came on..."Congratulations, you've just recorded your fastest mile ever." I did pick up the pace after the restroom break, and had some music to help..."People who died," (a bit depressing if you listen to the words, but has a good tempo nontheless) by Jim Carroll, followed immediately by, "Give it away," by Red Hot Chili Peppers both kept me going. "And we danced," by The Hooters was playing as I was in my final sprint. I didn't even need my power song today.

Planning to swim tonight with the team, 6PM. Been a few weeks since I've done an evening swim workout, we'll see what Coach Johnny has in store for me, and anyone else who shows.

law dawg

Today-

Three rounds of:

Superset of body weight bench press (for me 190lbs)
Pullups

No rest between exercises, but rest between sets recommended

11x7x6
22x18x19