D40: 03.30.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~4.4mi/~30min
Driver: X-Cops: You Have The Right To Remain Silent...
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A

Observations/Intel: Bad allergy day again today, so I knew air would be bad...legs are adjusting fairly well, so I tried to lay back a bit and focus more on arms. Those are coming along more slowly, so I just need to make sure they are involved more. As long as I can physically go, I'm going to keep it going...this is now my third day in a row...not sure what tomorrow will be, but if I can go again, I will. I feel like I need to string along a couple weeks of consecutive 30 min. workout days before I move the time to 45 minutes, but I also feel that's pretty reachable sometime in April. Then, once I can string along a couple weeks of consecutive 45s, I can either throw in 2-a-days of 30 minutes (or maybe 45) or move it to 60 minutes. Once I can get to that point, I can start adding in some intensity and focus more on cardiovascular...as it is right now, I'm not only not even close to being out of breath, but not so much as breaking a sweat...for some of these, I don't even wind up drinking water...obviously, I need to not be in an allergic period before worrying about those things, but I took a very long layoff, so I want to make sure my body is physically acclimated and put my impatience to the side for once and take this slowly.

D39: 03.29.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~4.75mi/~30min
Driver: Mindless Self Indulgence: Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A

Observations/Intel: Bad allergy day today, so things were pretty off. I ground it out anyway, as getting muscles acclimated is the current primary goal and once those are set, then we can work on the air. It was pretty ok until the first half, when things took an immediate plunge, but I pressed on anyway. Have some running around to do today, as I'm trying to get every single thing I can think of in before they lift the mask mandate later in April. I think I should be good for tomorrow, but we'll see...might be another case of 2 on and 1 off.

After today, I should have errands down to one back burner stop that I might skip entirely, as it is a restaurant and I should really be focusing on keeping diet cleaner. This weekend, I kind of blew it up a bit (I do a lot of spicy food reviews for a YouTube channel) and was rewarded for that by holding a ton of water and being bloated...still not back to normal yet. However, I'm done with all of the super egregious stuff I had scheduled, so going forward should be better.

D38: 03.28.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~4mi/~25min
Driver: Mindless Self Indulgence: You'll Rebel To Anything
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A

Observations/Intel: Air was mostly fine. I'm not really pushing, though, as my body is still not up to that. My hope is that by the time it starts getting warmer (I do all this in a freezing basement right now), I can start to really press a lot harder. Today was short because I didn't realize the album I chose was less than 30 minutes and I ran out of tunes. 

Yesterday was a worse than normal allergy and my legs were somewhat sore, particularly my ass, so it was a good rest day. I definitely need to progress beyond 2 consecutive days, but 2 on and 1 off is better than nothing. Part of my challenge with carrying so much weight is that it intrudes on things like which nerves are affected when sitting in Air Dyne seats, for example. I'm getting the biking bug again in a big way and if I can work it, might get a Go Pro to mount to my bike and make videos of my own rides...still nowhere near that, though...a lot of *ahem* miles between here and there, but I love watching those videos. I do kind of wish I could change it up with walking, but my left Achilles wears out fairly quickly, even with a brace, doing that, without any particular stress, so this is definitely the way to go for now...

D37: 03.26.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~4.75mi/~30min
Driver: Mindless Self Indulgence: How I Learned To Stop Giving A Shit And Love MSI
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A

Observations/Intel: Air was mostly fine, but I was not pressing hard at all (nor will I until next month, maybe). I had some crazy allergy stuff today and am also getting used to the idea of actually doing stuff on a Friday, so I was taking it easy, but clearly my body is acclimating a bit as it was pretty easy to get into the groove of things and tack in a bit more distance. Using my upper body is progressing a lot more slowly than my lower, as legs (and left Achilles, so long as I put the brace on it before getting on the bike) were very solid, aside from my ass, which is still adjusting...possibly I might have to go to a 2 on, 1 off schedule for a bit, but we'll see. Upper body I just can't use for extended periods, so getting that to the point where I can use the handles for the entire time will have to be a longer-term goal for now. I have a lot of walking around also to do today for weekly grocery shopping, so we'll see how tomorrow feels. For now, I'm planning on doing the damn thing.

D36: 03.25.21

 

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~4.5mi/~30min
Driver: Mindless Self Indulgence: If
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A

Observations/Intel: Air was mostly fine. It definitely is the worst part of things thus far, but in order to start pressing that, need to get muscles more ready and hopefully shed some pounds along the way. I had to make a number of adjustments to the bike, which necessitated a lot of running around yesterday and I didn't quite get back to it. Also, the headache and aching left knee were not helping, either. Today, was feeling pretty good. Taking a day off helped my ass. Legs are holding up quite well, but these are very casual workouts. 

I'm thinking about the road ahead and might be getting my Trek back in order. It's been a long time since I rode that, but I've been watching a lot of indoor cycling videos where they ride around in Europe, etc. and it's making me lust for being back in that saddle again. I'd need to have a bike recondition it, but that might be the move once it warms up. Still kicking that around at present, though. Also, if I get in good enough shape and am vaccinated, thinking I might try to hit up the gym in a mask and see how that goes. 

Still many miles before that. The process I'm thinking now is to 1) get myself acclimated. 2) Move workouts from 30 min to 45 min. 3) Move workouts to hour OR go to 2-a-days at 30 minutes. 4) 2-a-days at 45 minutes. Time frame for 1) is the rest of March, certainly, possibly into April sometime. 2) Hopefully end of April. 3) Hopefully end of May, possibly into June, if I haven't decided to fire up the actual bike. 4) Depends on 3). Ideally, I could be back in the gym by September or October, which would be awesome, but might not happen at all until 2022...

I also think I might be reconsidering the "anything goes" part on weekends and no workouts on Fridays. I think I should probably try to keep it as clean as possible as much as possible and get in daily workouts as much as possible. Bottom line is that I am just too fucking heavy and I've put this off for too long already.

D35: 03.23.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~3.7mi/~26min
Driver: Death Angel: Act III
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A

 
Observations/Intel: Air was fine today. Tried to work in arms a bit more, get the body more involved. I may need to modify the frame of the Air Dyne a bit more to accommodate me watching tv (might add in some gaming, possibly) while I ride, but I'll save that for a later day. Left Achilles was quite upset with me yesterday. Definitely will need to brace it prior to exercise going forward. Ass is sore also, but both are expected.

Did a weigh-in this morning. 262, probably the heaviest I've ever been. Need to drop at least 40 of that, so there is considerably higher urgency than I was feeling prior (this also explains why most of my clothes fit poorly, if at all). I definitely am just not being active enough and feeling tired and it gets to be a self-perpetuating cycle. I can't add walks in with that lame Achilles, though, so may have to just go to doubles, hopefully sometime in April. A lot of that depends on my ass, which is a bit sore today. Going to try to go through at least Thursday, as Friday is normally my day off, but also shopping day, which involves walking around a grocery store for an hour.

D34: 03.22.2021

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~4mi/~30min
Driver: Death Angel: Act III
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A Just trying to get back into it...

Observations/Intel: I should note that air was fine for this, but it was very casual, almost like a 30 minute warmup. Legs and everything are also ok, but I didn't use the handles much. We'll see how this holds up during the week, but my motivation is pretty high, which also helps...

Among the many, many things I didn't mean to do was to take another 4 years off, but I blew out my shoulder pretty badly...shoulder is better, but left Achilles is kind of screwed, depending on the day/weather. I also found out I have significant allergies and with my additional weight and age, much worse asthma...so, found an allergy pill that worked, got some albuterol for the bad days and then...COVID-19...

Anyway, my air is awful right now and I'm wayyyy too fat. So, order of priority is those two things. Gyms are not safe right now, so not super concerned about if I can get into a gym for a while...I would love to be able to lift again, but I need to shed a good 20 lbs.,at least, and get air better. For cardio, duration is better for fat-burning, so I'm really trying to focus this week (and maybe) next on getting back into the saddle again. I'm shooting for 30 minutes per session (might also add in some walking around), with an eye on getting to double sessions, possibly and definitely some HIIT down the road. I need to make sure that I'm also not introducing myself into headaches, which was the case last time I tried this, coming in the next day. I may need to get a more fuller medical workup done at some point in the future, but for now, I'm going to try to ease into things, get my ass back into the shape of being able to handle a saddle and my body generally used to more activity...even if it takes through April, that's fine. Not in any kind of hurry...

I've also adjusted diet, since that is responsible for 85% of the success rate and have decided to let weekends be free (given my other activities, including video channels and other blogs), but will be dialing in my diet a lot more severely during the week, trying to eat as cleanly and healthily as possible. It has not been egregious for a while, at least all of 2021, but I could stand to clean it up more and get some ratio adjustment towards protein going again.