Has your air quality cleared up @sushiritto ?
@1214mom , “only” 38!!! 
That’s awesome.
You are missed when you are not here. Darn that iPad think it can be revived??!
If yard work counts I’ll add on a few hours of exercise for today. Spent the afternoon trimming bushes, raking up debris, climbing ladders, carrying sticks and debris, etc!
The AQ here is in the moderate or yellow zone. I’m one of those considered to be in the “sensitive group” with my allergies, but the air was wasn’t a problem for me. And hasn’t been since Thursday. I had a good run.
@abasket, the screen just died (went black) and it should be able to be fixed. It’s just 13 months old, but I got it at Costco with their Visa, so they should cover the likely 250-300 bucks it costs to fix.
We ran 11 miles yesterday at a good pace, weather was lovely. Part of our run was through Wolf Trap National Park, no concert events these days but their beautiful grounds are open. For those of you on the W & OD in NoVA , you might just see me one of these days 
That’s my running area.
Yesterday I thanked my friends for wanting to run the virtual half in September. I was initially reluctant to train to run it, especially in the summer heat and humidity, but went along with it. It has made me a stronger runner and I realize the old truth “you can do more than you think”. They pushed me out of my comfort zone and I am better for it. Positive peer pressure.
Have a great day everyone.
^^^ And a hot challenging summer for outdoor active is has been!
3 mile cool run this morning. Liking these couple of high 50’s mornings!
No mornings in the 50s here. It was 81* with ungodly humidity Saturday morning at 4am. Today I got to move to an outer circle of Satan’s closet, as it was only 70% with high humidity. H and I are thinking about celebrating the LAST day of the worst month of the year! But then I reminded him September is usually bad too. LOL.
So my run was blechy, but I worked REALLY hard on the lifting. Week 7, the circuit workout paired chest and back which was new. Probably my favorite parts to work. I used 40s for the chest press and increased to 15 reps (x3 sets). Also used 40s for the rotating chest press and decline press, but only 10 reps because you got NO rest in between, so essentially 40s for 20 reps (x3 sets). It was a killer. And during the burn-out, I almost got in 150 push-ups.
I am still in a funk. I feels like I haven’t slept well in forever. I wake up drenched several times a night. Last night included the bonus of nightmares. And my left eye has been twitching almost constantly for the last week, though at home it is definitely better than at work. Good thing I get off at 1 today. My co-workers will be safe from my wrath. H? He might not as lucky, but he’s used to it by now. LOL.
@ClassicMom98 you need something to shake up your funk! Sounds like the combo of stress and lack of sleep is causing havoc on your physical and mental state.
Stress definitely messes with my sleep.
I can no longer “bounce back” from a poor night of sleep.
I feel like I could use a good cracking at the chiro. Stiff neck!
I had a phone consult with a Starting Strength coach and it was so helpful.
Training alone in my basement, difficulty making progress (ability to add weight to the bar), losing sight of my goals, feeling stressed and feeling motivation wane, dealing with aches & pains…all good to talk to someone who has seen it in clients and experienced it himself.
He gave me the outline of a new four split with a three week cycle. The change in rep scheme might give me some much needed mental relief.
He said nice things about my progress to date, and that made me very happy.
He had some good tips for sticking with training for the long haul. Maybe take the focus off chasing numbers for a few months with a re-set and focus on not missing any training sessions, eating well, sleeping well.
He encouraged me to hike again. I’m training to live, not living to train. Meaning, I don’t have competition goals. Don’t get burnt out. The big picture goal is train four times a week. It’s ok if I miss reps or cannot make “progress”.
It was just what I needed!
Yay for any positive supportive vibes!!! ^^^^^ Maybe a small hike soon???
I have my eye on this Sunday. 13+ miles up in Wisconsin. One of my favorite local hikes! And it’s cooler now.
So, no one will be wearing masks, but is it any different from me being at work? Not much.
I told the coach that part of my thinking has been I’ll lose sleep in order to wake up in time to drive to the hike (1.5 hours one way!). I’ll be super tired and Sunday will be a “waste”. Then, I won’t hit my reps and sets on Tuesday because I didn’t recover enough on my days off.
He said, “Go hike.”
Haha!
I think I’ll make an effort to go, depending how work is on Saturday. Then try to pay attention to whether it lifts my spirits or not. So, the Sunday chores won’t get done! Whatever?
I’m going to start the new 3 week cycle today! I’m excited to do something a little different, even if I don’t have exercise ADHD the way @sushiritto does!
He also said that life stress – normal and unusual stress – is going to impact training and is not necessarily a sign that one is not making progress. You know, it’s been a BAD YEAR for a lot of people, and it’s important to adjust expectations and not get down on oneself.
So much I needed hear this week!
I was just explaining my exercise ADD this morning to someone who inquired about a t-shirt that I was wearing related to exercise. There are folks that literally do the same exercises on specific days every week of every year. Boring!
What’s kinda funny to me is that I’ve noticed a few people at my gym adding a CF-like exercise, like wall balls, higher volume lifts or a tabata routine with the air bike to their powerlifting routine.
@Midwest67 What’s interesting to me is that in my last cycle, heavy deadlifts were not emphasized at all. Maybe 1x week with a WOD which included lighter deadlifts. But then late last week, I set a DL double PR out of nowhere. You may find that after your new cycle, when you return to the previous program, you may get a PR or two. Routine can be the enemy of power gains.
Today, I’m actually teaching one of the young guys at the gym to power clean. His program’s goal is about dunking the basketball. He’s a recreational basketball player and his program calls for power cleans today. To me, it’s dumb to add an Oly lift out of nowhere with no instruction. But hey it’s not my problem.
Yesterday I had to correct his pull-up. He wasn’t getting full range of motion and getting his scapulae and back involved.
I started a new programming cycle yesterday. So far, nothing too extraordinary.
Yep. My strength program is very simple and repetitive. But, you know, when I did aerobics in the 80s (remember that?!) I liked to go to the same instructor who had the same music and routine. If I got someone new, it was slightly disruptive and less enjoyable. And when I ran regularly in my late 20s, I’d often run the same distance on the same path day after day. Same with cross country skiing. I think I’m seeing a pattern! Haha!
Also, unlike some others here, ahem, I don’t really ENJOY or LOVE training. So, I think whatever approach or plan I come up with has to keep me in the game, for life. It can be challenging, but if it crosses the line and gets too hard, and I’m full of dread about the weight I need to lift next session, well, that’s not going to work if my goal is longevity & consistency. (Editing to add: it would be different if, say, my goal was to compete or my lifelong dream is to deadlift 300#.)
One thing that was extra helpful from the phone consult today was him asking me questions about my training, goals, and feelings about training. Definitely got some clarity from the conversation and hearing my own answers, if that makes sense.
Day 1 of the new 3 week cycle is done and in the bag!
This is such good news @Midwest67 I’m glad you find it helpful. I’m sort of a mix. I love routine. It’s comforting and I like seeing improvement from week to week. But then I also switch it up. Nowadays I find myself running the same stretches of road over and over and then when I find myself comparing times too much and too harshly, I switch it up. Lifting, I’ve done it for so long and done it for so many ways. I’ve done the same thing over and over for months. I’ve done the switch it up every time. Now I’m in the middle. I do a 6-13 week program that’s repetitive and then switch to a completely different program. Whatever works.
Today wound up being easy. I missed my alarm. My cat bit my nose and woke me up 45 min later than usual. It was raining so I just zipped to the gym and rode the bike for an hour and then did a 30 min core video and a 25 min stretching repair video. Time went by quickly and it wound up being what I needed.
My eye is still twitching. My sleep stinky. But another big stressor in my life has taken a very good turn.
I thrive on a schedule and a routine so I have days for yoga and strength and days for running. It works for me. OTOH I do like to vary the routes that I run ( and walk). I have a difficult time trying new forms of fitness (even a different yoga class is a big step for me) as I have a proprioception issue and it is very difficult for me to learn any sort of new fitness move. It took months for me to be able to “get” yoga (and very kind and patient teachers). I can see why people like to try new things though. It’s just hard for me.
Although I’m officially out of the novice stage of lifting, I am not very familiar with intermediate programming.
He de-loaded me across the board on all the lifts and told me to have another run at it, but with a three week cycle. I would have resisted doing that, if I was doing the programming myself. Honestly? When he suggested it, I felt immediate relief.
My form on the Press at heavier weights had really gotten out of whack. And I was not seeing how I was going to progress on deadlifts. So heavy! Lots of dread.
So much to learn!
As far as the elbow tendonitis goes, he suggested I watch that I’m carrying the bar on my meat shelf (back) and not in my hands/arms/elbows on the squat. And to watch I’m not revving the bar like a motorcycle throttle and the descent and ascent.
He said I might have to take some weight off the chins and rotate in banded chins with unassisted. I guess golfers elbow is common, but OUCH.
I’m chatty today! 
@Midwest67 Deloading is very, very common. My program deloads every 4-8 weeks.
Speaking of PR’s, I had one with the Yoke carry today. The two strongmen types invited me to participate at the lower weights. Once they began with the big weights I‘d opt out.
But peer pressure got to me and they had a heavy load on there. I said “there’s just no way I can do that weight.” Egging me on, I tried and couldn’t get the Yoke off the ground. They began to coach me on a better technique and I tried once more.
Up it went and I carried it, SLOWLY, 60 feet x 2 or 120 feet. After returning with the Yoke, much to my surprise the entire gym (everyone is outside) erupted with a roar. The “old guy“ did it. I beat my previous PR by 80 lbs. approaching 3x my body weight. I’m also at my lightest weight that I’ve been in a long while.
And there was also the power cleans, air bike, 3x10 glute ham raises, 100 GHD sit-ups, RDL’s, etc.
@Midwest67 “Meat shelf?!” New term for me.
I have a basic monotony to my working out, same distance, same place, but that means I can let my mind wander. Running outside, same path every day, I will still get surprises because outside is dynamic. The treadmill is monotonous. But that’s okay because I can daydream or work out problems while my body does its thing.
But I do enjoy a new challenge or adventure, even if that means I have to focus on what I’m doing.
I like chatty! Maybe it will slow my descent into a grouchy old lady. I used to cycle back down regularly in lifting, moreso in running. It was easier with running because you’d build to a peak race, take a week off, ease up and begin the build again. With lifting, I would drop back and work on form. Lighter can actually be harder. And build back up.
My legs have been achy, so I drove to the gym and did the stair climber and bike. Maybe next week I’ll run more as the morning temps should be slighter cooler (upper 60s to low 70s). It was 76* and muggy this morning. I can’t wait until it’s back in the 30s and 40s. 20s are my happy place, but I won’t see that for awhile. Video of the day was pulled from 80 Day obsession, booty, phase 1, week 2. I’m pausing on the barre blend. I think it’s aggravating my knee cap. It can have trouble & get off track when I do too many sumo squats and you spend almost all of the time in “2nd position.” 80 Day/Phase 1 of booty is one of my favorite series of exercises. And then I finished with a 7 min core workout.
Will you be able to do your videos & workout in the shed thru winter?