Week of April 27

Monday: Exercise bike. 40 minutes. 3rd from hardest intervals.

Tuesday: 20 minute walk.

Wednesday: Pilates. 20 minutes.

Thursday: Nothing.

Friday: Exercise bike 35 minutes. 3rd from hardest intervals.

Week of April 21

Monday: Swim sim 20/20.

Tuesday: Jog. 5 minutes brisk walk / 22 minute job / 10 minute cool down walk. Knees hurt for a minute near the start, but otherwise okay.

Wednesday: Exercise bike. 35 minutes. Moderate intervals.

Thursday: 40 minute walk by beach.

Friday: Exercise bike. 20 min. Hardest setting.

Saturday: Pilates 20 minutes. Exercise bike (moderate) 20 minutes.

Week of April 13

Monday: no exercise.

Tuesday: Exercise bike. 30 minutes. Moderate intervals.

Wednesday: Jog. 5 minute warm up / 21 minute run / 5 minute cool down.

Thursday: Sim Swim - 20 bike/20 Pilates.

Friday: Bike (real!) 30 minutes.

Week of April 6th

Monday: Simulated swim - exercise bike 20 minutes. Hardest intervals. 20 minutes basic Pilates. I know this falls short of actually swimming. However, the 20 minutes on the bike pushes my aerobic endurance and the Pilates gives me some arm, back and abdominal work. My plan is to ramp up this combination until I can afford to swim again.

Tuesday: Jogging. 5 minute warm-up. 20 minute slow jog on beach. 5 minute cool-down. Left hip hurt like crazy for the last 10 minutes, but felt fine as soon as I stopped running. A little bit amazed that I got myself to run again.

Wednesday: Exercise bike. 30 minutes. Moderate intervals.

Thursday: Walking. 20 minutes. A light day.

Friday: Hiking 90 minutes. Walking 20 minutes. Moderate.

This was spring break, so I was busy and exercise took a back seat to other things.

Week of March 30th

Monday: Exercise bike. 20 minutes. Hardest setting. Short intervals. 20 minutes basic pilates. Amazing how much more limber I am doing pilates after sweating hard on the exercise bike!

Tuesday: Exercise bike. 30 minutes. Moderate setting. Short intervals.

Wednesday: No exercise - too busy with all the errands!

Thursday: Exercise bike 20 minutes. Hardest setting. Short intervals.

Friday: Exercise bike 30 minutes. Third from hardest setting. Short intervals. Followed by 20 minutes of basic pilates. Fine at the time, but tired now at 2:00 pm...

Week of March 23

Monday: Exercise bike. 30 min. 3rd from hardest setting. Short intervals.

Tuesday: Exercise bike. 20 min. Hardest setting. Short intervals. 6 minutes pilates. Wanted to mimic some of what happens with swimming. Pushed my heart rate up to 140-150 range and worked some core muscles with the pilates.

Wednesday: Walk. 20 minutes on the beach. Had a headache, so kept it simple.

Thursday: Exercise bike. 30 min. 3rd from hardest setting. Short intervals. Was watching a creepy Firefly episode and really got the heart rate going! 130-160 BPM.

Friday: Light day. 20 min walk to beach.

A Fresh Start

Well, there has been some exercise here since the great triathlon of 08, but not enough. The usual things came up... change in schedule made it hard to get to the pool, a steady stream of low grade colds... bla, bla, bla. But spring is here and I'm ready for a fresh go at things. Here are some thoughts that I'm working into goals right now...

1. Multi-vitamin every day. I want to eat in a healthy way since I know that is optimal for getting nutrients, but with seasonal availability of fruit and veggies I want to know that I'm getting iron and calcium on a regular basis.

2. Healthy eating goal 1: more whole grains. I'm finding ways to eat whole grains that I LIKE. Popcorn, brown/wild rice, 1/2 whole wheat bread. I think my goal will be making 1/2 of my grain servings a day whole grains (as recommended by the US government).

3. Healthy eating goal 2: understand blood sugar better. I tend to eat frequently because I get hungry and cranky. Probably a sign that blood sugar is fluctuating too much. I want to study up on what foods and combinations of foods will keep me going though the day.

4. More exercise. I want to gradually work up to running again. I think I'm going to follow this 5k training plan and intersperse exercise bike, pilates and swimming (?) in the off days.

5. Preventative medicine. You know, all that stuff about seeing doctors once a year. Its finally sinking in that "I don't eat McDonald's every day and I'm young" is probably not an panacea. (See mom, it did go in... but apparently advice like that is a time bomb that only goes off once the recipient sees large numbers on her birthday cake...)

These goals are going going to be revised somewhat as I get going. Eventually I will put a time on how much I want to exercise per week, and look at how to implement what I learn about blood sugar, but this is a start!