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This post is for Thursday and Friday, March 18 & 19, 2010. Thursday
morning I woke early thinking about an upcoming insurance audit and was
unable to fall back asleep. So I got up, ate breakfast, worked on some
bookwork, and waited on the sun to rise so I could run around the lake.
As the sun finally made an appearance I decided it was still a little
cool to run so I hit the spin bike for 30 minutes instead. I planned to
clean up and go to the gym after the bike, but Kim was getting ready
for work as I finished with the bike so I decided to run before the gym.
The Jack Russell and I trotted off on a 2.3 mile run and made it back
before Kim came downstairs for breakfast. I was sorta tired at this
point, so I rested a few minutes with the dog on the front porch and had
a small protein shake. Once I felt somewhat recovered I cleaned up and
headed to the gym. I began my workout with a run on the treadmill, and
it was just terrible. I've never tried to do my treadmill work last
(not without resting hours beforehand) and I was beat. I manged to get
in 3.2 miles, but it was a struggle. My arm workout afterward was none
to impressive. 3 sets of press downs, 3 sets of overhead presses, and 3
sets of rope press downs for triceps. Biceps began with 3 sets of
seated incline dumbbell curls, and ended with 3 sets of hammer curls. Friday's
workout was brutal. I met DJ at the gym for a treadmill workout. 10
minute warm up, then his 5x5x5 for 15 minutes, followed by 10 more
minutes of a recover walk, then repeating the 5x5x5, and finally a 10
minute walk to recover again. Brutal. I did well until the final 5
minutes at the highest speed (8mph). I got in about 2/5 of the time at
8, about 1/2 at 7, and the rest at 6. During the final cool down walk I
realized it was Friday and I had to train legs. WHAT? I've NEVER
forgotten leg day before. I've been so geared towards cardio training
and was so happy to have someone to run with this morning that I
absolutely forgot it was leg day. I contemplated waiting until
tomorrow, but ended up deciding to go ahead and train after the HOUR on
the treadmill. 3 sets of leg extensions, 3 sets of leg presses, & 3
sets of hack squats for quads. Hamstrings began with 3 sets of seated
leg curls, 3 sets of hyper-extensions, and finally 3 sets of stiff leg
dead lifts. After the workout I got on the elliptical for 20 more
minutes. More of a final cool down than any real cardio work. I've
been trying to balance my food intake better. Lower sodium, more
protein, same calories. Everything I look at has something I don't like
in it now. If it has low sodium, high protein, decent calories, then
it's loaded with cholesterol. Low in fat, carbs, and calories, then
it's full of sodium. AAAHHH!!! I rolled out the grill for the
first time since last fall today. Grilled chicken (just chicken,
nothing else, no marinade, nothing) and made a wonderful small salad. I
had some shrimp yesterday for lunch and was very happy with it as well.
I think I'm gonna try to have only 1 or maybe 2 NS meals per day. I'm
good on non NS breakfasts now, I just happen to really dig the NS
granola, muffins, and pancakes. NS lunches will be easy for me to do
without. As long as I've got time I can grill some chicken/fish/shrimp
and have a salad every day. The lunches were always my least favorite.
I plan on still eating NS dinners pretty consistently for awhile. I
love the veggie fajitas, some of the new wraps, the pizza. It's just so
easy to have these meals and not have to worry about what to do for
dinner. Pic below is yet another from Costa Rica.
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This post is for Wednesday, March 17th, 2010. Today I switched
things up a bit. I ran around the lake before going to the gym. No big
dogs on the run today, just me and Jumping Jack Flash. Pretty easy run
overall. I'm still not used to running on real ground, up and down
hills, uneven dirt roads, etc. I'm finding it akward trying to set a
pace. I'm all over the place with it now. Starting to fast, finishing
to slow. Hills are throwing me off. After the run around the lake I
changed and headed to they gym. I ran 3.3 miles on the treadmill (plus
the 2.2 at the lake for a total of 5.5 miles) before starting my back
workout. I began the workout with 2 sets of pull-ups (just awful),
followed by 3 sets of pull-downs, 3 sets of T-bar rows, 3 sets of seated
rows, and 3 sets of straight arm press downs. Between the second and
third sets of the pull-downs I realized I was about to cry. Over the
years I've had lots of "experiences" during workouts. I've vomited
often, passed out, bled, even shed a tear while actually exercising, but
this was the first time I've ever almost cried from shear exhaustion
WHILE RESTING between sets. I laughed at myself, got some water, and
moved on. Good times. After the workout I jumped on the elliptical
machine for a final 10 minute cardio session for the day. BB showed an
almost 4000 calorie burn for the day. WooHoo! Good food day
calorie wise. Not so good on the sodium front. We went shopping last
night to find some lower sodium items for me to eat. Got some chicken
and shrimp to eat either at lunch or dinner. EVERYTHING I looked at was
loaded with sodium. Guess I'm gonna be eating lots of salads, veggies,
and grilled chicken/shrimp. The protein shakes that I've used on and
off for years are LOADED with sodium. So last night I found the brand I
used way back in college, Designer Protein. Much, much less sodium and
calories. Below is yet another pic from vacation. This is
"Pinchy." He(she?) was on the steps leading to our room one morning. I
bent down to get a pic and the claws came up, ready for battle. I
haven't unloaded my camera gear yet, so that's why I'm not posting any
food pics right now. Maybe this weekend I'll get motivated and unpack
all my stuff. 
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This post is for Tuesday, March 16th, 2010. Today I decided to
cancel the auto-delivery of Nutrisystem. I have almost two month's
worth of food remaining (a month of my food, and quite a bit of Kim's
last order) so I'm not stopping the program quite yet. I am planning on
transitioning myself off slowly though. My training, healthy eating,
and blogging will continue as usual. Just no more auto delivery. I
ran outside again along with my treadmill work today. I took one of
our big dogs (the 70+ pound Zoey) along with Jumping Jack Flash and I on
the run. She did great for the first mile. She was dragging me along
behind her at a full on sprint. The next 1.2 miles she was behind me.
She wanted to stop and drink from every mud puddle, sniff of every
leaf/tree/whatever so she could rest. I let her drink some, but dragged
her away from her sniffing rest spots. I'm gonna try to take Daisy
running tomorrow (she's around 80#s). Along with the outside running I
got in 3.7 miles on the treadmill. I varied my treadmill work by doing
the fast paced part of the run first, then slowing over the rest. The
first miles was less than 8 minutes (hey, that's fast for me), the
second mile was 8 minutes even (still fast for me), but the third mile
slowed considerably. I think the third was just under 9 minutes. The
remaining time on the treadmill was at a nice, slow, 10 minute mile
pace. After the treadmill I trained shoulders. 3 sets machine military
presses, 3 sets dumbbell side lateral raises, 3 sets of smith machine
upright rows, and finally 3 sets of shoulder shrugs. The weight
training is still good (probably intense for most) but it's become
almost an afterthought with all of the cardio I'm working on. Never
thought it would be this way, but I'm very happy with it now. My
sodium intake was still higher than I wanted today. Protein was much
better (I added 2 protein shakes). More salads/fresh veggies instead of
frozen veggies to help with the sodium issue. Still a little hungry at
night. I've gotta work on that. Either another protein shake, cereal,
or something. Pic is another from the Costa Rica vacation. This
is our first morning on a deserted beach called Playa Biesanz. One of
the most beautiful places either of us has ever seen. Later this same
day I proposed. An absolute perfect day! 
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This post is for Monday, March 15th, 2010. After a few days of
entering my food on the BodyBugg food log I've come to a couple of
realizations. The first, which I already suspected, is that my protein
consumption is low. Very low compared to what I used to take in when
training hard. No problem to correct that. I'll replace some snacks
with protein shakes and all should be good. The second realization is
the amount of sodium I'm taking in. WHOA! Super high & we don't
even own a salt shaker. Most of the sodium is of course from NS foods.
I knew they were high, but when combining them with some of the
vegetarian burgers, frozen veggies, and granola it really totals up.
Not much I can do about the amount of sodium in the NS meals so I'll
have to really watch my choices concerning veggies & proteins. Hopefully
the protein shakes will help me with feeling weak and HUNGRY at night.
Last night we had to go to shopping for Kim some work related books and
we were both so hungry (I'd already had dinner) we stopped to eat on
the way home. I had a salad with fat free dressing and a dozen raw
oysters. That helped, but I still had to eat another snack before bed.
I feel positive the hunger is a result of my workouts. Yesterday I ran
3.6 miles at the gym, trained chest (12 sets total), & ran a little
over 2 miles around the lake after lunch. I'll try the shakes
tomorrow and see how it goes. Kim and I have decided to enter our
first race. It's called the Warrior
Dash. Basically you run 3.22 miles and have to navigate 11 various
obstacles throughout the course. Sounds fun. You get a "warrior
helmet" and shirt upon completion. They have prizes for best costume,
best warrior beard (since I forgot my razor on vacation and have a beard
going already I've decided to see what kind of warrior beard I can have
ready for the race, which is over 2 months away). I'm excited, I think
Kim is too. My Jack Russell looked like he had run in the
Warrior Dash when I found him setting on the front porch after my run
around the lake. He was covered from end to end in mud. He even had
mud in his eyes. No clue what he was chasing, but he looked like he had
fun. No pic of the dirty dog, I just grabbed him and gave him a bath
as soon as we came in the door. Pic is another from Costa
Rica....
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This post is for Saturday, March 13th, 2010. Today ended up being
an off day all around. I tried to ride the spin bike. I actually
changed clothes, climbed onto the bike, and was about to begin a ride
when my father called. We needed to inspect a roof to try to find some
leaks, so I never began the workout. I did climb some ladders, stomp
around on a roof, but that was the extent of my exercise for the day. I
really didn't mind missing a day of training. My legs are SORE from
Friday's leg workout. Bike and treadmill tomorrow. Since I
missed out on training, I decided to have a meal off last night as well.
We ended up at a tiny local Mexican place. I had a delicious carnitas
burrito, beans and rice. So I guess I had an off day all around. Pic
is another from Costa Rica... 
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This post if for Friday, March 12th, 2010. Friday = Leg day for
me at the gym. I began the day with 30 minutes (9 miles) on the spin
bike. I ate breakfast and a snack before going to the gym to make sure I
had enough energy to make it through the workout. At the gym I ran 3.6
miles on the treadmill and was then ready to train. This would end up
being one of the worst leg workouts in memory. It seemed to take
forever. I felt hot again the entire time. By the end of the workout I
couldn't use my towel to clean off the machines after each exercise
because the towel was so wet it wasn't doing any good. I had to use my
sweatshirt to dry off the last few machines. I lost over 4 pounds
during the running and workout. Anyway, I did 3 sets of leg extensions,
3 sets of hack squats, 3 sets of horizontal leg presses, 3 sets of
seated leg curs, 3 sets of stiff leg dead lifts, and 3 sets of hyper
extensions. Every rep was difficult and deliberate. I guess usually
when I train I feel so strong I catch a groove and power my way through a
lot of the workout. After all of the cardio that's not really an
option. The rest of the day I was useless. I didn't even attempt a
third cardio session late. I sat on the sofa and watched days worth of
stuff on the DVR. I only have cardio and abs tomorrow. Maybe
I'll recover well over the weekend. Pic below is from Costa Rica. 
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This post is for Thursday, March 11th, 2010. I began the day
backing up about 65 GB worth of photos and video from our trip to Costa
Rica. At least I'll sleep better now knowing everything is backed up
here and off-site as well. I'm in the process of finding a relatively
large RAID network storage device, I'm just not looking forward to
paying for it. After finishing up with the backup I met my mother
at the gym for our morning workout. We began on the treadmill. I ran
about 3.7 miles and again I was dying it felt so hot. I know they can't
turn on the AC yet, but it's awful for me in there now. After cardio
we trained arms. 3 sets of triceps press downs, & 3 sets of
overhead presses. Biceps followed with 3 sets of dumbbell curls & 3
sets of cable curls. Later in afternoon Kim came home from work
and had about 2 hours before she had to be back so we changed and went
back to the gym so she could get in her first post vacation workout. We
started with about 20 minutes on the treadmill. I ran intervals and
got in a little over 2.3 miles bringing me up to around 6 miles on the
day. She trained shoulders quickly afterward. 3 sets of dumbbell
military presses and then 3 super sets of side lateral raises/front
raises. Again, I felt HOT while in the gym. Last evening I hit the
spin bike for only 15 minutes. I felt tired and knowing I have to train
legs on Friday I decided to only do half the regular amount on the
bike. I had a good food day. NS along with some granola and a PB
sandwich. I've decided that I'm gonna stop tracking food on NS. I'm
gonna switch the food tracking to the BodyBugg website. I hope to
slowly make the switch back to normal food over the next few months and
I'd like to already be using the food tracker there when I do. I think
when I do begin mixing non NS meals into the diet again I'm gonna begin
mostly with high protein meals (chicken breasts, the occasional steak,
etc.) but still keep the calorie count under 2000. This will probably
occur when the weather is nice enough for me to roll the grill back out
and begin cooking outside. Anyway, I've still got a few months to
figure it out. Below is one of the monkeys we ran across in Costa
Rica. Once we knew where to look, they were everywhere. Quality
isn't great. It was very early in morning (not much light) and deep
into the forest so even less light.
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This post if for Wednesday, March 10th, 2010. I
woke up and hit the spin bike to begin my cardio for the day. I've been
making up my own riding routine for the past few days as I watch
SportsCenter and I've been going a little further (mileage wise) than
usual. Typically I get 8.5 miles in during a ride but the past day or
two, not following a DVD workout I've logged 9+ miles each ride. Must
be because I don't slow down so much during the cool down when not
using the DVD. After the bike I cleaned up and headed to the gym early.
3.3 miles on the treadmill and then I trained back. It was HOT (to me
anyway) in the gym and I felt like I was dying on the treadmill. The
workout was quick (only 9 sets total) beginning with 3 sets of
pull-downs, then 3 sets of T-Bar rows, and finishing with 3 sets of
serratus exercises (straight arm press downs). After finishing
up at the gym I raced home, cleaned up again, and then rode with my
parents to visit my sister and her family. Oliver (nephew) has a double
ear infection and a terrible cough. We relieved the parents so they
could go out and eat lunch and get a little break from the sick baby.
He woke after they left and was in a rather good mood, to be so sick.
We played, had lunch at FireHouse Subs (I had a turkey sandwich on
wheat, no mayo, no cheese, lettuce and onions, plus some delicious
Cholula hot sauce) and then headed back home in the rain before Atlanta
rush hour began. The rest of my meals for the day were NS, plus
a peanut butter sandwich instead of dessert late in the evening. I've
also been eating 90 calorie granola bars in the place of my snacks. I'm
still on a granola kick. The snacks have kinda fallen in the time just
before or just after training, so it's worked out well with regards to
keeping me from feeling so hungry during/after workouts. Only 2
cardio sessions on the day. I've felt a little sore from the running so
I decided to lay off the third cardio session and rest. Pics of
Oliver playing with his grandparents (my sister has taken to calling
the grandparents "The Saints" for all of the help they give to her by
taking care of the baby) below.  
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Yup, we got engaged while on our vacation! Along with the engagement
(you can read more about it on my personal blog over the next few weeks
here)
we had a wonderful trip. We saw dolphins, monkeys, sloths, falcons,
butterflies, hummingbirds, and countless iguanas. I ate like a king
(maybe more like a fool) and loved every minute of it. I discovered a
new delightful treat (new to me anyway) dulce de leche (caramelized
condensed milk). I LOVE it. I ate it on everything I could spread it
on. We zipped through the canopy, rode horses, sailed during sunset,
and hung out on a couple of beautiful beaches. Our hotel/resort was
fantastic. Kim cried when we arrived because it was so beautiful, and
she cried when we had to leave. What a trip! I shot over THREE THOUSAND
photos (OK, so that's really not that many for me, last vacation I shot
over 1o00 per day) and hope to have some posted later tonight. I'll
post a link when they're available. Monday morning I returned to
NS (I now have a wedding to get ready for!) and the gym. I trained
chest, ran 3.3 miles, and biked 8.5 miles. It wasn't nearly as bad as I
had expected. Today we (mom & I) trained shoulders after cardio.
For cardio I ran 3.5 miles (back to normal) on the treadmill and then
ran 2.2 more miles at home around the lake. This was my first "trail"
running experience. Quite different from running on the treadmill.
It'll take some getting used to, but I ran the trail we usually walk
with no problem. I outpaced the Jack Russell (he let me win) over the
2+ miles. 6 months ago I couldn't run from my living room to the
kitchen. Crazy. Anyway, good trip, but good to be home. Good to be back eating right and training. Photos soon! Ok, one photo. This is the view we woke up to on the first morning.
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Hi all. This will be the last post (probably) until around March 8th or
so. Kim and I load up and head out early tomorrow morning for Costa
Rica!
Over the past 3 day I've run about 21 miles plus this
morning I got in my final 3.5 mile run before the trip. I thought about
trying to get in another session later but I really don't want to be
overly sore (or risk injuring something just before we leave) so I
think I'll just rest and get ready to leave.
Sticking to
eating well (I did sneak and eat some of the "Drive Thru Diet" last
night). It was horrible, but great. :) I'd been exhausted and starving
all day so I decided to splurge and have some nasty burrito. I'll stay
on plan until we leave tomorrow. I have no idea what to expect with
regards to Costa Rican food. I'm a sucker for street food, so maybe
we'll find something good every day out walking around. Our resort is
supposed to have pretty good food, so if nothing else we'll eat there
(or nearby at other resorts).
Well, that's it for now. Expect lots of pics when we return!
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Today was another good cardio/workout day. "100 miles and running" is
how I feel (bonus points for anyone who knows the name of the group who
recorded that song). I began with 3o minutes on the spin bike at home
after breakfast. I managed to keep up with "Doyle", the top level rider
on the workout DVD. My goal is to become Doyle (on the bike anyway).
After the bike I had a snack, got cleaned up and headed to the gym.
Today I did have to train alone because mom was unable to join me. I
ran 3.5 miles on the treadmill, and it was awful. It felt like every
step was gonna be my last. I think it was because the gym was a little
hotter than usual today (the heat was actually turned on). After the
run I spent the rest of the day dreading the second 3.5 miles. My
resistance workout today was back. I began with 2 sets of pull-ups
(horrible, just horrible), followed by 2 sets of pull downs, then 2
sets of t-bar rows, and finally 2 sets of y-bar rows. The 2 sets thing
is a little something different today. Usually I get 3 sets per
exercise. I wanted to train a little faster and get in a little bit of
a change. Once finished with the gym I cleaned up and then drove
to my grandmother's house to pick her up for lunch. Mom, dad, my
grandmother & I celebrated her 81st birthday with lunch at an Olive
Garden. I had a salad with lite dressing, no croutons, a single tomato,
and not much else. I later looked up the calories in the regular salad
everyone else had and was shocked. They might as well have had a pizza.
Lots of calories & LOTS of sodium. My soup had a few hundred
calories & a boatload of sodium. The bread sticks were where I
bombed. I meant to eat 1/2 of one. I ate 3, @ 150 calories each. Damn.
For sure gonna run again now. The rest of the day I had some granola,
some very low fat-high protein beef jerky, and NS sloppy joe for dinner. After
Kim got home from work we went back to the gym. The final treadmill
session went much better than the morning run. It was noticeably cooler
in the gym. I ended the day with 7+ miles of running, & 8.5 miles
on the bike. I've got my bag packed and ready for our trip. Kim
is to have her bag packed tomorrow evening so we can weigh it and make
sure it is under the weight limit for checked bags. I've made check
lists, shopping lists, packing lists, etc. I don't want us to be up all
night Friday night trying to pack and get ready to leave. I want to be
able to be ready tomorrow night so Friday I don't have to worry about
it. Friday I want to be able to train, come home and sleep some during
the afternoon, run again in the evening, then go to bed early so we can
get up and be at the airport EARLY Saturday morning. I'm so excited
about this trip. If I don't see a monkey I'll cut someone! Another pic of me below. Shot at the OneLight workshop in Atlanta last week. Nong Cavender shot the photo. 
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