D89: 06.31.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~9.1mi/~40min
Driver: Satyricon: The Age Of Nero
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Sleep has been really chaotic. That, in combination with an (unintentionally) erratic deficit caloric intake, is compromising recovery. Yesterday was off of a really bad sleep night and since I had only one weekday workout schedule for this week due to other commits, I just moved it back to today in the hope Legs would be fresher. They were, but still took a really long time to warm up and Air was really funky, possibly due to the slight rain yesterday that made everything much more humid than normal and little else. Air, in fact, got really pushed, while Legs, after some coaxing, were able to keep up with what I asked. This marks one of the few times that Legs were able to drive Air as I was hoping, but, again, Air was not quite all there going in.

I went with a higher peak point on the sprints, but did the pyramid, except for everything at .4mi. It's interesting to note where my natural cadence seems to be on the sprints. Legs, as mentioned, were not warming up fast enough to my suiting, so I also threw in a .5mi mini-sprint prior to all of that. Ideally, I will be able to get sprints eventually to 1mi, but as I'm not quite to .5mi consistently at the higher speeds, that won't be for a bit. I believe next week, one of the days, I will be pushing to the peak point. Today, I went one level below my previous peak of last week. 

Weigh-in today was 255. It sort of hovered between that and 254, but I'm going to err on the higher side.

D88: 06.27.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~9.35mi/~45min
Driver: Stratovarius: Nemesis
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Legs and towards the end, ass, were pretty fried, predictably. Air was fine, but not tested. Intestinal area still a bit odd, but not enough to knock things off track today. Not sure what's going on there, but kind of annoying.

It's really getting pretty gutty trying to be patient, particularly in the face of the Delta variant, as I very badly want to get back into the gym again and throw some iron around. Now that it's generally too hot to realistically consider riding my actual bike, the enthusiasm for that has dampened somewhat, but all I have to do is look down to wish I could start making some serious composition reform, but also can't really do that without equipment...

D87: 06.26.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~11.35mi/~51min
Driver: Insult II Injury: Point Of This
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Today was odd...was woken up early, felt super-bloaty, then some gastrointestinal chaos, which didn't clear until a bit later on, so later than usual workout. I decided to really go low-key and wound up with both the highest distance and time since my return to working out. I'll take it. I also tried to go to a more staggered cool-down, as I feel that lactic acid not clearing may be a hindrance. Again, just went with the running time of the CD, but also managed to drop my mini-flashlight, so cool-down didn't start until the entire disc was concluded. Tomorrow, more of the same I expect. Sprints will be Tuesday-only this week, as I have a very time-consuming meeting on Thursday, which will work out well in not taking a huge chunk of time off, but still getting some quality rest...at least I hope, anyway. Air and Legs both fine today, but neither really tested, despite the extra time/distance. All to the good.

D86: 06.24.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~8.5mi/~38min
Driver: Skyfire: Mind Revolution
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Monday felt like I could go again, but Tuesday & Wednesday woke up both days feeling tired, which is usually a pretty strong signal to take some time off...today was a bit downcast also, but I suspect that's more due to a change in the weather. I got on anyway, as I wanted to see where things were and...then took a while to warm up. 

Usually, my cadence is between 40 - 44 PRPM (pedal revolutions per minute) and a load hovering somewhere between 1 - 2. I should probably point out my machine is also not calibrated and is not at all remotely young, so, this may be somewhat off, but it is what I have to measure with currently. When I do sprints, I usually hit a point somewhere between the load marks and hold it (some of the time .25mi, some of the time .4mi). The highest sprint I have done in the earlier posts is with a load between 5 - 6, which is a cadence of somewhere around 60PRPM. So, today, starting with a brief warmer between 4 - 5, I went up to see how long I could hit and hold .25 mi sprints. I wound up making it between a load of 7 - 8 and PRPM of 70 before my Legs were gassed. Air, however, was fine and I'm thinking now that if I would have given myself more rest, I probably could have hit 8 - 9. 9 - 10 or 10+ is probably not realistic at this point, however. Still, goals to work toward...

Weigh-in yesterday was 255, which is -1 from the last weigh-in and which matches the lowest I've hit since re-re-re-starting this whole fitness journey thing...

D85: 06.20.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~9.15mi/~45min
Driver: Damageplan: New Found Power
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Today was a lot less breezy than yesterday. Air wasn't tested, as this one was a lot more casual, given Legs and ass being not fully recovered. At the moment, Tuesday is probably going to get skipped, but will see how I feel then.

In other news, one area of major stress is at the beginning of the resolution. To be sure, there won't be an actual easy part to the thing, but I'm hopeful that it will be easing towards conclusion by the time I'm ready to resume the gym.

D84: 06.19.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~9.75mi/~45min
Driver: Burn It Down: Let The Dead Bury The Dead
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Today was kind of a question after Thursday, but the rebound, even given the kind of crappy last 2 nights of sleep I've had, was definitely there. I am getting the impression, though, that I might need to take another shot at some extended time off, so rather than take a full week after tomorrow's workout, I think I might skip Tuesday, depending on how I'm feeling after the work-work I need to do then and just circle back for another sprint day on Thursday, particularly if I'm going to be chasing a max. That will be right around the 3 month mark of when I started, so...not a bad plan, all in all. 

Legs were fine, Air was fine. I can actually see some of my Leg muscles when I work out, which is kind of interesting...it also made me really want to get back into the gym again, so I can start chasing definition better, but my commit was fall, so I could try to improve my cardio before attempting that and I still need to lose a solid 30 pounds, minimum. Once I get back, of course, I will have to fight the battle of strength training/bulking vs. bodybuilding, but I also feel I really need to keep pushing to 12 - 15% bodyfat, so I guess we'll see. Winter is not a great time to be trying that, but where my head is at is with me never wanting to leave this path ever again.

D83: 06.17.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~8.5mi/~37min
Driver: Skyfire: Esoteric
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: In the course of doing work yesterday, I wound up increasing my uptake of protein rather considerably, resulting in my Legs being a lot more ready today. So, the point I knew was coming, in which I tried to move forward using a more "normal" diet, has gone as far as I can take it. Starting probably tomorrow, but maybe today, I will be moving another step closer to my former pseudo-bodybuilding diet of several years ago. One of the things I disliked about it was a heavy reliance on protein powder. While I use it now, I don't also want that situation repeated as going that narrow can tend to cause "crashes" if I step off of it, which I may need to do here and there.

Legs were not all the way back today, but good enough to run sprints and I ran the peak of sprints higher. I was shooting for 40 minutes, but the higher levels were pretty hard to hold (.3mi at the peak instead of .4, as were the rest) and definitely gassed out my Legs. It did get me curious, though, and I think next sprint day I'm going to try to see how hot I can run for .25mi passes. My guess is that next sprint day will also be next Thursday, as I'm in the midst of a project that precludes me getting on the bike Tuesday at the usual time. If I can do sprints then, I will, but not counting on it. Air got pushed pretty hard today. Needs improvement, as expected. I also wound up working up a decent sweat for the first time since getting back to this.

Weigh-in yesterday was 256, which is no change from last time.

Also, as of today, I am 50.

D82: 06.15.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~8mi/~39min
Driver: Alcatrazz: Live Sentence - No Parole From Rock 'N' Roll
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: I said last post that recovery was in question a little bit...it's in question a lot of bit. Legs were a total no-go for sprints today. I wound up getting to this way late due to work commits, and decided to do what I used to do in the olden days and just throw on a CD (cassette back then) and go for it. The album running time would dictate the workout and I'd use the final song for a cooldown, which is what I did here. I was still thinking of sprints going into the workout, but I never warmed up enough to feel that was feasible. Perhaps Thursday...it was also like 106 here today, so doing it after appointments was kind of interesting. Air wasn't really tested, but I rather prefer doing the workout prior to going out, so I'm going to keep my eye on that. Night workouts are still kind of out of the question, I think...

D81: 06.13.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~9.2mi/~45min
Driver: Black Label Society: Mafia
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Recovery is still in question a bit...Legs definitely not there today. Head foggy from wildfire smoke...it smelled like a BBQ restaurant in the bedroom when I woke up. It was still a go, but took a much longer time to warm up. If this was a sprint day, I probably would have modified it, but as a lower key duration workout (which is good to have as a backup option), it was fine. Air was not tested particularly.

D80: 06.12.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~10mi/~45min
Driver: Annihilator: Alice In Hell
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: That one took some doing. Sleep schedule has been funky and it's kind of screwing with my loading. Yesterday was also a very erratic eating day, which is not always desirable when running a caloric deficit. Anyway, I wound up having to do some pushing, which I nicely, but with not much room to spare, hit the newest goal. This is an average of slightly over 13 mph, so getting there, and not bad for a duration day, but need to push that a bit higher. There is, I should definitely note, no way I would have gotten anywhere near an hour today. Air was fine, but Legs were definitely having a harder time of things.

This coming up week will likely be somewhat of a busy one, which is not helping with my consistency...I may need to alter the times I'm hitting it, but I rather like the time frame now, not too hot, not too cool. I also am leery that I may be too worn down if I put the workout after things...ideally, I will be able to get back to that (maybe) or at least have the option, but that is definitely a more-towards-fall discussion.

D79: 06.10.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~7.1mi/~32min
Driver: Skyfire: Timeless Departure
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Legs were not there today...deficit diet + not so great sleep + more exercise than anticipated Tuesday wound up tanking them for the workout I had in mind...air was also a little dicey, but didn't get severely tested. Workout was also lacking intensity, as the driver and having a child in the area conspired to ruin that quite nicely. Loading was fine, however, on the positive note. Looks like I'll have to try for the 10 mile mark during one of the weekend duration workouts.

Weigh-in yesterday was 256, which is -2 from last time.

D78: 06.06.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~9.5mi/~45min
Driver: Gamma Ray: Heading For Tomorrow
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: I knew going in that today would be a struggle, so I went into this with more of an "anything goes" mindset towards distance, but as I got into things, it was less of one than I thought. Warm-up took forever, but it occurred to me that I could hit double digit distance (this is evidently my newest goal obsession) today with a higher cadence rather than waiting until the next time I do sprints. Realistically, it will probably not be then, either, depending on when the next sprint is, as I have an actual work function to attend to on this coming Tuesday. Anyway, I ran at the lowest sprint level and held cadence there for a bit, so basically 3 mini-sprints, but that blew what little gas was left in the tank and it was just not enough to make up for the extended warm-up period. I probably would have not quite reached 9 miles today were it not for those, though.

Legs were ok, considering this is the third consecutive extended workout in a row. Air was also solid, but, again, not really to where I can really push it just yet. I think I'm hitting the place I wanted to, though, as summer comes on, in terms of being ready to take advantage of the higher temperatures in relation to unfattening. I really want to go back to the gym, though...both to hit the weights, but also to change it up with some stairmill time on the Cardio side. If I can make it happen by this full, no question I will be fully motivated.

D77: 06.05.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~9.9mi/~45min
Driver: Bitter End: Harsh Realities
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Bum bum is pretty not used to this kind of duration back to back...tomorrow should be interesting, given I have not broken double digits in mileage yet and I'm about due. Air was pretty solid today, despite being somewhat pushed. Hot enough now that I'm working up an ambient sweat, but Legs are still not caught up enough for that to be solely due to the intensity of the workout. Weekends are duration anyway, however...Achilles was a touch sore, but slapped the brace on and no worries. 

Today puts me at right around 260 cumulative miles since I've started this year also...

D76: 06.04.21

Workout: Cardio
Equipment Used: Schwinn AirDyne
Duration: ~8.4mi/~40min
Driver: Motorpsycho: Wrenched
Calories: ???

Quality Level: N/A
Observations/Intel: Been on a pretty bad run of allergies and probably depression, thanks to a situation that grows increasingly stressful. The allergies took a break today, so back on again, even though my schedule has been blown to shit. I've tried to focus a bit on eating cleanly (and even had some vague illness, which did wonders for me attempting to play with fasting a bit, though it was somewhat inadvertent). I did a weigh-in yesterday (?) and it was 258, which is +1 from last time, but that could also possibly have been some slight bloat.

I forgot my brace, as I don't usually do runs on Fridays, and I figured I would go until it started barking, which was after around 35 minutes, so that was kind of heartening. I probably could have pushed through, but really want to use this weekend to get my ass back on track.