Day 85 - Orthotics Trial

Finally got my orthotics last week but they came a bit too late to try them out until today. I was surprised how thick the buggers were. I took the insoles out of my runners and popped in the orthos. When I put my feet in there they felt like they would come out of the heel of the shoe on every stroke. Turns out that fear was unfounded, but it sure did feel weird at first. It also turns out that my cross-trainers don't have removable insoles so I either have to get new ones that can accommodate the orthos or not use the orthos in the gym. For now, I'm going to go with the latter.

As for the trial itself, I took a quick jont around Brockton point in Stanley Park. There were plenty of new aches which I new were going to come along. My left foot, where the original problem was, felt like it was now being over-compensated and I was getting some pain in the OUTER side of the arch. All the toes had some numbness on the left side while the right stayed relatively fine for most of the run. Near the end of the run, I had a slight tinge of shin splint on the lower inside right shin but it didn't persist. All in all, I never felt the old aches and pains, only new ones...but the new ones still stopped the run well before my cardio was going to give out. Still keeping my fingers crossed that this will do it.

Day 71 - Time off again

Taking time off for a summer trip to the Okanagan Valley (just got back from) then off to Pasadena for a conference. Won't be getting in any big workouts but I do want to try and get some stuff going while I'm on the road. I've never been good at doing the exercises on the road and I didn't get any in while I was in the Okanagan. Hopefully Pasedena will be better.

Still no news on the orthotics...

Day 66 - Back in action

Awesome session yesterday. I wasn't expecting much cause I injured something on my hip at kickboxing on Sunday. I figured I injured it doing stretches before class and when I described the most likely time of injury, it jived well with what Sean figured I did. We stretched the hell out of my upper IT band (tensor fascia lata I think) and Sean worked on it with thumbs and elbows. I screamed like a little school girl but when it was over, that injury didn't affect any of the exercises. We did a lot of plyometric exercises which drained my tank big-time... I was able to increase my numbers on the exercise ball hamstring exercises so they're coming along nicely.

I should mention to that a lot of my kickboxing exercises seem easier these days and it's all due to the increased core strength. Core strength training isn't sexy or fun but the results can be magical.

Day 64 - End of the no trainer era

Tomorrow it's back to normal. How did the week go with no trainer? I'd give myself a C+. I got in two isolated gym sessions (one lower, one upper). Both were light and I would consider them 'maintenance' sessions only. My muscles were not sore the day after on either workout. I did get in two kickboxing sessions as well - both good. Today's kickboxing session was cool. We were doing elbow strikes for the first time (other than in Kata). My energy was good and I was hammering the pads and I realized just how powerful that strike could be if you could use it properly. In the locker room after class, a few of us were talking about the spinning back kick and how to tweak it for best effect. Normally, the kick is from the fighting stance with the back leg doing the strike. If the legs are close together in the stance, this is do-able, but if the stance is wide, this kick will be hard to hit straight ahead. In the latter case, you can step forward with the back leg, cross it in front of the front leg while doing the spin, then do a back kick with what was the front leg. This maneuver also covers a lot of ground and apparently is frightening to see coming at ya!

Anyhoo, I've had two independent comments that I'm looking buff these days so I guess the training is doing it's thing. I still haven't received my orthotics so serious cardio is still on hold, as is the spare tire area.

Day 58 - No trainer, no training...

You know what they say "No pain, no pain". My trainer is out of town today so I can goof off. But for some reason, I'm not. Damn discipline training MIGHT be setting in.

Training on my own has never been my favorite activity, but I don't want to loose any ground for when I do get back to training with Sean. I don't expect to get the "barely able to walk" or "can't lift my arms over my head" sort of training if it's just me, but I want to keep the momentum going.

So today is legs day. Went down to my building's gym. Here's what I got in:

5 minute warm up run on treadmill
Squats on the floor with a 4kg medicine ball extension out from the chest (30 x 2 sets)
Shuffle squats with a low (4") bench (~12 x 2 sets)
Exercise ball hamstring extensions (15 x 2 sets)
Exercise ball plank extensions (15 x 2 sets)
Burpee/pushup/jumping pull-ups (~6)

At this point, the only other person in the gym was pissing me off so I left. The f**ker seemed to have little concept of shared space. There was about 2 more sets of exercises I wanted to get in so I may have to go back. Got some good burn in though.

Day 57 - F**kin Arches

And I don't mean the Golden ones...

Went down to the gym in my building tonight to get a nice cardio workout. Went on the treadmill and cranked up the elevation to 15. Set the speed so I could stay on the damn thing and get some good arm swinging. At around 8 minutes, my arches were screaming. By 10 minutes, I was done. All this while I was hitting a really nice target zone for heart rate. My orthotics might be here this Thursday so I'm praying to the f**king arch gods.

F**king fireworks are about to start. Better go shower so I don't stink out my girlfriend while we cuddle.