Category Archives: Workouts

Running in Bangkok – Lumpini Park and environs

May 7, 2013Photo post, Running, Travel, Workoutsx01509

So way back in the beginning of March I went up to Bangkok for a four day seminar for work. We stayed right in the heart of downtown at the very fancy Hyatt Grand Erawan Hotel. I actually managed to squeeze out enough motivation to do a couple workouts while I was up there and one of them was a run down to and around Lumpini Park.

I’ve been to Bangkok a bunch of times and I’ve walked around or through Lumpini at least twice for sightseeing purposes. It is always full of people exercising (running, biking, walking, weight training, fitness circuits, and more) so I was really excited that the Hyatt was just up the road from Lumpini. So one evening after training I laced up my sneaks and headed out with my camera.

(Note: This post is just a sight seeing expedition with all the interesting pictures I took on the run. I posted the actual workout data back on the day of the run in this post.)

Here’s a close up satellite shot of the park:

Continue reading Running in Bangkok – Lumpini Park and environs →

Workout for Saturday, 20 April

April 21, 2013Biking, Photo post, Workoutsx01509

Went for another bike ride on Saturday. I did the exact same loop as last weekend except that at the north end of the back straightaway I extended out to the north to see what was there and then stopped at a different convenience store at the turnaround.

Unfortunately what I found was that my quiet, rolling rural highway turns into a major commercial and industrial artery about a mile above my programmed left turn. I’ll have to do some more map and car recons to find a nicer extension to this route or possibly a new, longer loop course.

This time I did remember to charge and bring my camera. The photos don’t do justice to the scenery but I’ll include them at the end to give a feeling for the route.

Self portrait (also known as the “last known photo” in extreme cases . . .). The jersey was a birthday present from Twin Six. It’s called The Brew Pub. The back has a really cool chain ring insignia on it.

Nutrition. I ran out of peanut butter so I was using a weired PB-combined-with-chocolate-spread-thing. It was . . . okay. Not as good as PB & Nutella.

Route starts out following the shore of Mabprachan Reservoir. . .

More after the jump . . .

Pages: 1 2

Workout for Wednesday, 10 April

April 11, 2013Biking, Bodyweight training, Push-up/Sit-up Improvement, Workoutsx01509

Up at 0430. Knocked out pushups on the balcony and a 40-minute trainer ride on the bike. I snapped a screenshot of a different page of the pushup app because this one actually shows the rest intervals.

On this workout I used NO EXTRA REST TIME and I knocked out the final set of 60 without coming out of the front leaning rest. Felt really good. Breaking the lead in sets in half makes the fatigue much more manageable compared to the workout on Monday.

I also finally pulled my mountain bike out of the closet (covered in cobwebs and with two completely flat tires). It’s all polished up, lubricated, pumped and ready to go. Next week I’m going to start sneaking out after work and hitting the mountain bike track near my office on Thursdays. If I don’t post next Friday, send help.

Two days in a row

April 6, 2013Push-up/Sit-up Improvement, Running, Workoutsx01509

I shouldn’t be this excited considering I worked out first thing in the morning for . . . oh . . . about 14 years of my life. But considering I don’t have a single workout partner or any form of external influence to “encourage” me to do so nowadays I’m significantly proud that I once more got up early and worked out BEFORE work.

It is fantastic to come home after work and have the evening completely free and not have to force yourself to muster the mental energy to get out the door and workout.

Here’s all what I did before the sun came up today:

I’m feeling really strong on the pushups. This workout for example only called for 50 reps in the last set. Did 57. No ‘pike’ resting either. I took one or two quick breathing breaks in the plank position but for the most part just knocked them out. Solid.

Wasn’t feeling really strong for this run. Could have been the time of morning. Could have been the cycling the previous day (always hard on the legs). Really just wanted to slog through at a slow trot, but I scrolled through the custom workouts on my Garmin and decided to knock out this 30s hard/30s easy run. It was not fun.

Running without music might actually be good for you

February 27, 2013Running, Workoutsx01509

So for tonight’s run I went sans motivational music. I was worried that I’d have trouble maintaining my pace without the invigorating strains of East Versus West and Through the Fire blaring through my ears, but I actually feel like I did a better job of being consistent across all eight intervals (a feeling that is substantiated by the actual data).

Run route with bonus pace graph . . . just cause

My interval laps were pretty even (for me):

I’m going to go back and compare my last couple 8 x 400’s. What I’m looking for is the performance in my 12th laps. I noticed tonight that lap number 12 starts off with a 100m or so of the “steepest” incline that I have on the route and then goes flat. I pushed to maintain my pace on the incline and was totally gassed on the flat. I feel like that lap has been off pace on other nights. If so it’s a sad commentary on my hill running condition right now. I may have to get out of town from time to time and hit a couple of big bumps.

Also, this.

84 felt like 91 at seven o’clock at night in the pitch black in the last week of February. Remind me to NEVER, EVER run in the daylight here.

Blink and you might miss it . . .

February 27, 2013Running, Uncategorized, Workoutsx01509

I had a max effort pushup test on the docket for today. Went down to the gym, warmed up thoroughly. Carefully arranged my iPhone using some dumbbells as props. Got myself lined up just right to capture my test on video. I figure this was good to a) check my form and b) double check my count since I tend to lose my basic arithmetic functions when doing pushups since all the blood gets squeezed out of my brain and my face turns purple. Ready?

Here we go:

So you may have noticed that there were no pushups in that video. That was actually a video of me picking up my phone and realizing that I failed to turn on the recording when I went to do the pushups. Yeah.

As a result I don’t have an accurate count of how I tested out. But I can figure out a reasonable approximation. I know I did 45-50 in the first chunk; then I rested and did a set of 10; I may have done another set of 10 but I doubt it; I know I did a set of 7, at least two sets of 5 and at least 3 sets of 3. At the very end I did a couple couples (heh, heh) and a couple singles. Conservative estimate: 85. Top end estimate? Broke 90. I’m pretty happy with that. I’ll go through week 6 of the program and then do a final test and see where I am.

[Amusingly, YouTube offered several options to “optimize” and “improve” the video quality when I uploaded it. Talk about polishing a turd . . .]

Workout for Monday, 25 February

February 26, 2013Swimming, Workoutsx01509

Another nice easy swim workout. I’m not going to mess with my swim programming for a while. I have other, funner fish I want to fry. So these workouts are going to remain boring, active semi-recovery days.

And as a bonus here’s a really pretty chart that I am someday going to take the time to learn what it’s trying to tell me.

Workout for Sunday, 24 February

February 25, 2013Running, Uncategorized, Workoutsx01509

This was supposed to be a 60-minute run but I picked a miserable place to go run and so only lasted 45-minutes. Plus I was pausing occasionally to snap photos so I never got into a really solid rhythm. I’ll do a post showing some of the photos from the run later this week.

I don’t know how long that weather information has been on Garmin Connect. I’ve never noticed it before but it’s pretty neat.

Workout for Saturday, 23 February

February 25, 2013Push-up/Sit-up Improvement, Uncategorized, Workoutsx01509

I skipped my cardio again today. Did the push-up workout though. It was a rough one.

I gave myself and extra 30-seconds of rest before the final set of 50. I would have taken ANOTHER 30, but I wasn’t fast enough pushing the button and the timer ended so I went with it. Even with that I had to take a break at 27. Got up on my knees, swung my arms a few times and took a couple deep breaths and then went back to work.

Next scheduled workout is a best effort test. Last test was 75. Not sure how much improvement I’ll see this time, but I guess that’s what the test is for right?

Workout for Wednesday, 20 February

February 20, 2013Biking, Workoutsx01509

I’m going to do a change-step in my cardio rotation so that my hard run days (intervals, tempo, etc.) fall after my swim days instead of my bike days. Better rested legs means more energy for my hard runs and more intensity in the runs which means better results. I think that’s how it goes anyway.

I’m also adding pull-ups into my rotation starting on Friday. It’s a prelude to adding back in full blown strength training. I’m still working on that plan though so for now the pull-ups are the next step.

375CPFT

An extreme fitness challenge and a lifetime fitness commitment