Nerd Pride Radio Fitness Club

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:29 am

I've reached a point where I've sort of peaked in terms of being able to physically improve, and am now focused more on maintaining that level of fitness. When running, I'm not trying to improve each and every time I run, but instead try to have one run a week where I really push it for the full 6 miles and finish at or under 45 minutes, and the rest of the runs are a mix of things between speed and incline work. When lifting weights several times a week, I'm not always trying to lift the heaviest weights for each move, but only do that about once every few weeks, and the other weeks I'll lift lighter and focus on form and increased reps. I'm hoping this will help keep the injury bug away for longer.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Fri Jun 25, 2021 10:48 am

That's probably a good plan, since your nemesis doesn't seem to be the fitness itself but only the risk of reinjury. Do you get the nice endorphins when you run?

Today the forearm is sore but not angry, and I think I'll be able to ride the bike and stuff. It's too moist and gross outside to do my usual yard work exercise. I might have to break down and get a weightlifting membership somewhere because I really don't want to reshape my entire life for CrossFit again, but I actually have dreams about weightlifting in the night. I did discover that four members of BTS are now doing CrossFit and have the same glassy eyed glow of the cult member that I did for a couple years there. It's a really excellent thing to do but it eats up half your life to do it properly. I just want to go somewhere and lift weights once in a while, and cry less after the workout. There was something amusing about being in that place where an OCD person can be facedown on the dirty rubber floor bawling with relief for having finished the event, but oddly I'm reluctant to go back to that place. And it's expensive.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Jun 25, 2021 11:19 am

I have a set of BowFlex SelectTech weights for my home workouts. Doesn't take up much space, but offers a good range of weights. With as much as I've used them over the years, and saved on gym memberships, they've more than paid for themselves.

As for endorphins, I certainly hit a point in my run where I'm ready to quit or slow down but get a second wind and can keep going. And during the run itself, I'm usually zoned out and in a rhythm. And when I finish, it certainly feels good. So yes, I get the runner's high.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Sat Jun 26, 2021 10:40 am

Three miles into my half-marathon this morning, and a circuit breaker tripped and brought the treadmill to a sudden, unexpected stop. Had to reset the breaker switch and restart the treadmill and do a 10.1 mile run.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sat Jun 26, 2021 2:47 pm

Nice work! I'm glad no injury happened from the circuit malfunction!

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Sun Jul 04, 2021 9:52 am

Got some new running shoes, so we’ll see how tomorrow’s run goes. You’re supposed to replace your running shoes every 300-500 miles. I calculated that my last pair had about 5,000 miles on them. So it was overdue.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Mon Jul 05, 2021 8:07 am

The new shoes worked well on this morning's run: 6 miles in 44:45 with no slowing down at all. The real test will be Saturday morning's half-marathon, to see how my feet feel after 13.1 miles, but so far it seems to be helping.

I certainly will not be replacing my shoes every 300-500 miles. Since I run over 40 miles each week, that would require that I buy new running shoes every 12-13 weeks. But I definitely will not be waiting until I reach the 5,000 mile mark on this pair.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Jul 06, 2021 1:10 am

You probably get some benefit from the wear and tear being mostly your feet pounding on them, as opposed to whatever sidewalk or trail or road you might be on instead, scraping up the soles?

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Sat Jul 10, 2021 5:28 am

Pretty good half-marathon this morning. Not a personal best in terms of time, but a decent time, and absolutely no breaks at all. The new shoes and some calf compression sleeves seemed to help. We'll see how I feel later today.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sat Jul 10, 2021 6:44 pm

Good news! I have been good about exercising but unfortunately feeling it in the knees and back in my old creaky age! I also find that physical exercise can be a little taxing mentally ever since I had the concussion. Being hit in the head has caused other problems too, like noun retrieval is not working the same way as normal. My working theory is that it's just going slower than usual by about a half second but that's long enough for me to notice my brain filing through its rolodex of neural connections and selecting its nouns. Often the noun that presents itself is not the right noun, but I feel like it ought to be the right noun, in almost exactly the same way I can tell you that the key of c major is yellow, the letter u is yellow, the number three is yellow, and August is mostly yellow. So I'm getting an insight into this architecture and to be honest it's a little bit disturbing because I would prefer to keep all of my wits functioning very well through the much older ages, nor does one like to reflect that something like this could happen from hitting the head, and even did happen! It has been kind of a rough month here.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Sun Jul 18, 2021 4:13 pm

Didn’t run on weekdays last week due to the work travel, but did run my half-marathon yesterday morning. No breaks, and improved the time, felt good. Then yesterday we helped our daughter move some of her stuff out of her apartment. She’s on the 3rd floor, so I made about 15-20 trips up and down stairs. Today, my calves are unusually sore, even for the day after running long distances. Not sure if it’s the running after a short break, climbing a bunch of stairs, or probably the combination of the two.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sun Jul 18, 2021 5:41 pm

Presumably that stair climbing is doing something different with the calf muscles, weight-bearing, etc? Just reading about moving reminds me how much moving sucks! I don't mind the physical back and forth of it, but I do mind the straining and twisting and turning with heavy objects, like pushing that bed up a flighted staircase or whatever. I want to reach the magical age where nobody expects me to help with that type of s*** anymore. I just want to carry medium-sized boxes of books and such and be left in peace. Speaking of which, I haven't done much weight-bearing exercise the last couple days! You could enlist people like me to carry those boxes and pay YOU $10 an hour for it and call it training! I'm still mad about her roommate and I don't even know this woman, whose ears somewhere are burning as I contemplate her venal trickery!

Eliahad · Post by **Eliahad** » Sun Jul 18, 2021 9:28 pm

Hey T! Are you a heel runner or a toe runner? I definitely land on the balls of my feet more than my heel, so I feel like my calves get a pretty significant workout when I run. I don't know what it's like for you, of course. Just curious!

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Mon Jul 19, 2021 4:52 am

I'm more of a heal runner than a toe runner, though it's close to neutral. I try to alternate between the two on longer runs to keep things from tightening up and to give me something to focus on. So Saturday's half-marathon, I alternated every quarter mile between heel and toe running.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Aug 16, 2021 11:32 am

After a year and a half of working out on my own but failing to accomplish much, I decided to admit I need to be herded through it like a cow and went back to crossfit (same type of workouts) but under a different brand name and roof so as to avoid the whole issue of being in a cult and paying too much. It has worked out really well and judging from body soreness I lost about eight months' progress. Not all the way back to the beginning where I literally had to crawl up and down stairs, but back to a midrange point where it hurts pretty badly to go up and down and ibuprofen is needed to cope. First week has been good; this week should get into more heavy weights.

. I will be fixed.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Mon Aug 16, 2021 12:28 pm

Yeah! Good for you!

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Aug 16, 2021 3:17 pm

Thank you, it feels good to think I have made the right decision because it feels like someone surgically inserted landscaping bricks into my thighs, and that's not fun.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Mon Aug 16, 2021 4:01 pm

I took 9 days off of working out due to vacation. My diet absolutely sucked. But I still lost weight, probably a combination of decreased hydration and the fact that we were busy doing stuff most of the day so I didn't snack as much as I normally do, and the meals I ate tended to be smaller than usual. Started working out again this morning. The endurance took a little bit of a hit, and the muscle tone had a noticeable decline, but it went well overall. A week or two and I'll be back into shape again, hopefully.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Tue Aug 17, 2021 1:14 pm

For about two weeks, I've been doing alright calorie counting, as eating is probably my big vice.
So I wrote out the calories for all my usual breakfasts, lunches, and snacks and placed it on the pantry door at eye level. My goal is to limit the pre-dinner calories to between 1000 and 1300. It's always just too difficult to gauge dinners, they always change, but my pre-dinner foods rarely change much. Just want to get to the point where I'm not maxing out my calories even before dinner. In that way it's been a bit of a success. I lost a little the first week and have maintained the second.

One surprise. From my pre-pandemic days, I used to get Dunkin Donuts sausage egg and cheese on a croissant sometimes for breakfast. I figured, oh, I can just move that to a lunch item. But then saw the calories are 720, so even as a lunch item it's huge and and between 55% and 72% of my pre-dinner allotment.

But at least I now know that when I used to get that breakfast sandwich, plus a frappe, and then a lunch, and then a soda, and then some kind of snack at work, and also one when I headed home... I was reaching a calorie limit no exercise could overcome. Knowledge is power I guess...

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Wed Aug 18, 2021 12:42 pm

So I've been struggling with plantar fascitis for several months in my right foot. But I was doing everything right: not walking in bare feet ever; doing stretches; using resistance bands; etc. It felt like it was getting a lot better and so Monday I decided to try walking on my treadmill again (after testing it out on Saturday and Sunday for just a quarter mile each day). So I woke up early on Monday and walked my two miles. An hour afterward, my foot was on fucking fire. Frustrated I made an appointment with the podiatrist, who I saw this morning. It turns out that I have a full tear through the fasicia tissue- not plantar fascitis. It's not going to heal on its own because everytime I get up and walk on it- it just re-tears. So now I'm in a boot for six weeks that I have to wear at all times (even when I sleep) so it can heal properly.

On the one hand, this is a bummer. But on the other hand, I'm really happy to have a solution to a problem that I couldn't solve and was causing me a lot of pain. So I'm choosing to have a positive attitude about it and look forward to regaining full health!

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Wed Aug 18, 2021 1:30 pm

Boo for the injury but yeah for getting it addressed!

My son's high school swim practices should start in October sometime. Since it's his senior year and probably his last season, he would sort of like to do well. In past seasons, he hasn't done anything to prepare before practice began, so it would take him most of the season to get back into shape and get his times back down where he was setting personal bests. So this year, I've convinced him to start doing the P90X workouts in order to get into shape before practice starts up. He's completed the first couple workouts, and he's certainly feeling it! We're trying to stress for him to be careful, to not overdo it and injure himself, but to push his boundaries and build up his strength and endurance. He should feel the aches and pains for the first week or so, as he works each of the different muscle groups for the first time, but then it should get better.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Aug 18, 2021 10:09 pm

Boo for being injured but yay for having an injury that allows you to wear a terrifying boot! I can imagine people going on for a really long time with that injury and not knowing how severe it was, so it's lucky that you looked into it further. And now maybe it will go away for good!

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Mon Aug 23, 2021 8:30 am

Saturday's half-marathon was ugly, but I did finish it. Today's 6 mile run was just about back up to snuff, finishing in 44:53 for a pace slightly better than 8 mph on average.

My son's first week of P90X is coming to a close, and he's certainly feeling it. But he's seeing improvement on the workouts that repeat several times a week, being able to do some of the moves he wasn't able to do the first time, and more reps of the other moves. So it seems to be doing the trick in getting him prepared for the upcoming swim season. Today will be stretching and flexibility, which will help work out some of the aches and pains. And he's like I used to be: not very flexible at all. It used to be that I could never touch my toes, but always came up several inches short of being able to do so. After working on my flexibility for years, plus using an inversion table to help loosen up my spine, I'm to the point where I can almost get my palms to the ground while standing with straight legs. So hopefully he'll see some improvements.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Aug 23, 2021 9:56 am

That stuff is very hard if you are a long-legged type! For us hobbits is very easy but that's not saying much! The pseudo crossfit is having some benefits, as is the reduced food. I love food. We should be able to just eat more and more and more until we die without any issue.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Mon Aug 23, 2021 6:49 pm

2 weeks post Op on my knee and whoops we missed that you have a strained ?MCL...must be why you were in so much pain( which was my complaint when I saw them first)...they poo pooed my complaints until after surgery and taking 4 oz of fluid off my knee.

Anyways....I. Bought a Schwinn recumbent stationary bike...I am going to start me journey back to health there....

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Aug 23, 2021 9:06 pm

Haha just 4 oz! Imagine having a juice glass full of liquid around your knee that isn't supposed to be there! Every so often I get about a quarter teaspoon of liquid on the front of my knee that's not supposed to be there and I lay down and cry about it. I'd probably just cut off my own leg if I had 4 oz of fluid loose there. I'm impressed you didn't do this and actually waited for the doctors to drain it.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:17 pm

Here's the thing. I'm doing my best to fitness it up lately, but it's too hot. A lot of problems with fitness are that it's too hot. The minute you go outside, you're going to need to spend at least half that time recovering by laying down under a fan in air conditioning. The same air conditioning that is in turn helping to make it hotter outside. It's a doom loop I can't escape unless I move to a cold place. But fitness makes you hotter and that's not good. Hm. I mean it makes you hotter in the hot and sweaty way. That's the bad part. If it makes you hotter in the hotness way then okay fine.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Aug 31, 2021 3:52 pm

Fitness efforts are such that it is hurting me to lift a full can of sparkling water to my lips, because I need to use my right tricep to get it done. The right tricep gave up on life and decided to retreat and rethink itself. Hopefully will return tomorrow in a better state. The question is whether it retreated because fitness efforts were intense or because we are old and things fall apart.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Wed Sep 08, 2021 9:51 am

Hurt my back during my strength workout this morning. Was doing bicep curls with 40 lb. weights and compressed or slipped a disc in my back. It happens every so often. A couple days and some time on the inversion table, and all will be right with the world again. But in the meantime, it's a bit painful. Still was able to complete my 6 mile run in a little over 45 minutes.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Sep 08, 2021 10:15 pm

Oh no my God you are like both bionic and injured at the same time! Hope that goes away, backs are nothing to mess with.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Thu Sep 09, 2021 4:44 am

I did the stationary bike this morning rather than running, just to keep pressure off. But the yoga I did before the bike ride helped loosen things up a bit.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Sep 09, 2021 5:16 pm

Oh yes, yoga is good! I have been doing this one for the hip flexor which is also good for the lower back, let me see if I can find it. You try to search for the same one again and it's mass confusion if you didn't subscribe to the channel. I liked yoga with Adrienne because of the dog but somehow she both goes too quickly through movements and yet also has way too many movements in a long series? It was injurious. I think I just like the style, not sure of name, that is the opposite of flow yoga where you do your poses and hold them for a much longer time. If I wanted to flow I would do Tai chi. This too might be good for your back because sometimes those back injuries happen when one side of the back is compensating for an overstress on the other.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Thu Sep 09, 2021 6:44 pm

My wife does yoga with Adrienne. Loves it.

Pdyx · Post by **Pdyx** » Fri Sep 10, 2021 9:13 pm

I know Adrienne! A friend of mine was her roommate before she became a YouTube star.

This reminds me I've been meaning to try her videos. I've been doing about as good as ever with fitness stuff. Turns out not having a full time job really gives you the flexibility and time to actually exercise. Who knew.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Sat Sep 11, 2021 4:46 am

My endurance has reached a point where my Saturday morning half-marathon is easy. I could probably maintain a steady 7 mph pace for a full marathon. It's the faster, shorter runs during the week that are a bit more challenging for me right now.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sun Sep 12, 2021 10:46 am

How is the short running at a faster pace different from the marathoning? In my mind everything you're doing would require massive endurance, so I am not sure how the approach varies.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Sun Sep 12, 2021 12:43 pm

It’s weird how things change over time, how some things that were hard become easy and vice versa, and then a little later things switch around again. But it happens.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:54 am

Ah. I try to imagine but... Running remains mysterious. I have been fitnessing on the bike, in the pool, the light barbell class, and that's it. Things are going quite poorly in life overall, so I really should go deadlift more, for the rage comfort. There's a reason CrossFit gets you, because lifting is nowhere near as fun for the old crone among many dour, serious, belted dudes at the weight racks. I actually get embarrassed; people watching. That never happened at crossfit. You're just trying to stay alive so you don't have time to worry about who's watching, and you know they're not watching because they're trying to stay alive too.
Plus I'm used to lifting straight off the floor unless doing squats or strict presses, and for some reason nobody at the gym does. Perhaps
But you know what you need for weightlifting? Sleep! Am I able to sleep? No sir. Bad things are happening to multiple relatives. Plus the impossible to do list.ugh

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 4:41 am

For some reason, things just clicked today, and the 6 mile fast run was easy to finish in 44:48 (8 mph for most, 9 mph for the last quarter mile). It's a mystery. Tomorrow, it may suck again. Whenever I take a break, like when I took 10 days off of working out while I was on vacation, when I get back to working out, some things that were hard before the break are now easy, and some things that were easy before the break are now hard. And there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason on what changes or why. The only solution is to keep going.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 8:51 am

Realizing -- is my only-care-about-pre-dinner-calories plan ... which is still working for now, is just the Ultra Slim Fast plan, but with normal food?

a shake for breakfast
a shake for lunch
and a sensible dinner

mine's only:

keep calories at a reasonable level for breakfast
reasonable for lunch
sensible dinner

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Sep 14, 2021 10:11 am

The only thing that worked for me in this regard is to rigidly insist on making vegetables over 50% of the diet, and cut out as many other empty carbs and sugars as possible. I am fighting all kinds of inertia stacked against this body's health, but there are also choices involved.
My husband and dad were able to lose a lot of weight simply by omitting the white carbs from their diet like rice and bread and potatoes and unnecessary white sugar products, without making any other changes in the type of food they are eating. But I do not have this luxury and I also can't give up dairy foods which they don't really eat much. If I have to die because I am eating dairy products then that's how I was designed to die. But at least I will have had some healthy vegetables as well.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Mon Oct 04, 2021 4:38 am

Taking a week off of strength training and running. I have a strained muscle in my lower abs, and it hurts when I run, twist, do situps, etc. So I'm going to spend a week just biking and see if it recovers.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Oct 04, 2021 9:40 am

Ahhh, that's what happens when you try to eat so much - ab muscles break down because they just can't hold it in any longer. That's why I train hard daily to keep my abs pliant and outward-expandable.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Mon Oct 04, 2021 12:08 pm

My calorie-count-til-dinner-time-and-then-just-try-not-to-overeat plan is working very well. Back to a weight I was when I first thought I should do something about my weight. Last time I weighed around this much was in 2011. Pre-kids. First term of Obama. Bin Laden was still alive. I'm back to that weight and Bin Laden is dead!

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Oct 04, 2021 12:15 pm

Please take some of mine then. It is a free gift. You can recycle.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Mon Oct 18, 2021 4:59 am

After taking two weeks off of P90X and running, and just riding the stationary bike, I started back up with the P90X and running again this morning. Easing back into the running so as to not injure myself right away, but the first morning went pretty well.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Mon Oct 18, 2021 7:39 am

So after 9 weeks in a 24/7 boot, yesterday was the first day I tried not wearing it after I woke up at 5 (I still slept with it on). It went well! I did chores, garden work and changed the oil in the car. Around noon it started feeling a little sore, so I put the boot back on- but I figure 7 hours is pretty good. Trying it again this morning.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Mon Oct 18, 2021 7:56 am

Congrats! Take it easy and don't overdo it!

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Mon Oct 18, 2021 8:15 am

Tahlvin wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 7:56 am Congrats! Take it easy and don't overdo it!

Thanks. That’s the plan. I don’t want to jeopardize it and going back in the boot for over two months.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Tue Oct 19, 2021 4:26 am

Ooof. Not only am I sore from yesterday's workout and run, but I also had a doctor's appointment yesterday which involved 3 shots (tetanus booster, flu shot, and shingles vaccine) plus blood work. And the shingles vaccine is supposedly known for its side effects of headaches, nausea, fever, etc. Both shoulders are killing me from the shots, my stamina is not the best due to the nausea, and I'd really just like to go to sleep for a few weeks. So I only ran 4 miles this morning instead of 6.