Day 17 : 1,500 Skips!!

Just before I went to bed last night, I printed out the two new workout sheets. What a shock!

I hadn't bothered yesterday because Workout 1 was the same exercises with a few extra sets so I had amended last week's sheet by hand. I didn't even look a the number of skips! I had been lulled into a false sense of security by Patrick's comments on Day 5 :

"So, as you get more fit, don't fall into old thinking. Yeah, you'll feel great, and be saying to yourself, "Only 1000 jumpropes? I could do 3000!" But don't do it. Keep it light, keep it consistent, and you'll see results."

So I naively thought that 1,000 skips a day was it. I should have known better!!



Yikes, up to 1,500, without even the option of a gradual build-up - you know, "1,000 to 1,500".

Being Sunday, I slept in and did everything I could think of first before the daunting task ahead of me. Finally stepped into the garden at 12.35 - into, shock, sunshine. The thunderstorms have finally gone away. This, course, also a minor miscalculation as it is still summer and therefore the temperature is UP. But I continue. The first thousand in just over 25 minutes, the next five hundred in another 15 and being bloody-minded, I thought I would see if I could make up for yesterday and reach 2,000. Discretion being the better part of valour, I decided that enough was enough at 1,705 after 50 minutes.

I don't seem to get the same long sequences going that eveyone else does and this really eats up the time.

Then the workout.

Yesterday I did :
Squat 4x20
Incline pull-up 5x6
Push-up 5x8 (from the knee)
Curl 4x8
Side Shoulder Fly 4x10
Sit-up 4x15

Today
Lunge 4x10 (not deep enough, my legs were very stiff after all those skips)
Lawnmower 4x8
Chest Fly 4x10
Ski Jumper 3x8
Shoulder Press 4x10
Leg-up 4x10 (not straight up, maybe up to 45 degrees)

After that, I lay in an exhausted heap for quite along time before a long bath.

No such problems on the dietary front and I clocked in this morning at exactly 87kg (the new scales go to 0.1kg instead of 0.5kg). So I've lost 5kg in 17 days.

I'm going to try to cook some batches of food, weigh them into the right quantities and freeze them to try to ease the time pressure preparing breakfast, snacks and lunch. Not sure about freezing fruit!

Day 16 : The Hint of a Shadow

We had more thunder and lightning all night and I kept waking up It was very humid all night and still wet when I got outside to do my skipping about 8am. The clouds had lifted a bit though and at times there was even the hint of a shadow on the ground.

I've decided that skipping time like a train journey - it is not actually the running time, it is the gaps in between(changing trains) that decide how long the journey will be. It is the same with my skipping - if I have many breaks, it takes a long time. My 1,015 skips took 30 minutes.

This left me not enough time to do all the workout before I went out but did manage the squats before heading out. I was off for my weekly session with Charlie - a lot of work on my back (some spectacular "cracks") and legs (rather painful). A new twist today. I was connected to a meter measuring my pulse and I had to try to keep my pulse down while the session was going on!!

I mentioned my high acidity last week. I have been drinking the apple cider vinegar and honey mix, sloshing balsamic vinegar on my food and also eating predominantly vegetables and it all has had a dramatic effect. I'm now very alkaline, which is a much better place to be. I'm sure big swings are not good so I hope it will settle down and I will keep checking.

On the way back, I managed to catch "The Dark Knight", impressive, intense but a bit gloomy.

This means I didn't get home until 22.00. I didn't have time to pack a lunch so was rather hungry by this time. All the restaurants looked very tempting on the way home. So a very, very late lunch and then I managed to finished the workout. I actually survived without eating lunch quite well, although I'm sure it should not to be repeated too regularly. I'm going to pass on dinner as I feel full.

Day 15 : TGIF

Well, in bed Thursday night by 21.00, surfaced briefly at 01.00 before being thoroughly shaken at 04.30 by one of the biggest thunderstorms I've ever heard. I was tempted to get out of bed to watch the lightning but felt too tired. When you were a child, did you ever work out how far away the storm was by counting the seconds between the lightning flash and the thunder clap? Well, this one was over my head, NO space between the lightning and thunder and some of the thunder claps seemed like they were rolling on forever.

I managed to get back to sleep but didn't want to get up when the alarm went off at 06.30. So much for a restful night's sleep - I felt exhausted. But, I hadn't taken my rest day!! So no Workout necessary!! I stayed in bed for an extra 30 minutes. I still had to skip, though, and dragged myself out of bed and into the garden. 1,006 skips in about 25 minutes - not up to yesterday's high(er) standard.

It was wet after the storm and one corner of my eye was on mosquito watch. Nate mentioned heightened reaction time. I can't say I feel the same but at one point, with a mozzie closing in, I dropped the rope, bent down and clapped my hands (in a very smooth movement, if I say so myself) and there was one less mosquito in the world.

Since I have nothing to report on the Workout as it is my "rest day" and as Patrick has been encouraging us to focus on our role models, I though I would share with you the ground rules under which the Roadrunner cartoons are supposed to operate.

Copied from Wikipedia :
1. Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going "beep, beep".
2. No outside force can harm the Coyote -- only his own ineptitude or the failure of Acme products.
3. The Coyote could stop anytime -- IF he was not a fanatic. (Repeat: "A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim." - George Santayana).
4. No dialogue ever, except "beep, beep".
5. Road Runner must stay on the road -- for no other reason than that he's a roadrunner.
6. All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters -- the southwest American desert.
7. All tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from the Acme Corporation.
8. Whenever possible, make gravity the Coyote's greatest enemy.
9. The Coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures.
10. The audience's sympathy must remain with the Coyote.

Actually, some of these rules were broken in practice - there is one cartoon with Bugs Bunny where Wile actually talks, for example. So I have broken them too by acquiring my equipment from other sources than Acme.

Please note that Rule 10 is especially important.

Beep, beep.

Day 14 : Progress?

Patrick said "In just one more week the results will start to show." Maybe sooner than that. Maybe Emiko's feeling marvellous helped as well but after a disturbed night's sleep (there is no point in going to bed early (I finally made it by 22.40) if you don't sleep and I was still awake at 23.50 (I checked), awake again at 02.25 and I woke up for good before the alarm set for 06.30), I did well.

A factor could have been thinking about my 08.30 appointment, for which I had to rush but in the end was only a few minutes late, but I stepped out onto the patio (wet again after more overnight rain) and for the FIRST TIME since starting PCP, I actually managed to do a skip at the first attempt. Not only that, the first sequence didn't get tripped out until I had done 51, and that is a long sequence for me. I decided to try to turn the rope faster and managed to get through the skipping (1.006 today) in twenty minutes, easily the fastest yet. Amy managed her skips well yesterday too so maybe we are getting somewhere. My left calf and knee are still stiff but my legs are feeling a bit more balanced.

Workout 2 today. I should probably lunge a bit deeper, I'll work on that (I wobble a bit) but most of the other exercises went well. I did consult Patrick on the leg-ups and he suggested using a cushion to support my back. In fact. the right location for the cushion was under my bottom and while I won't claim I got it completely right, I did manage 4x10.

On food, because I was late last night, my dinner and bed-time snack ran into each other - yes, it was like having a real dessert. The fruit from dinner (half a Japanese pear) got mixed in as well and as I didn't have any boiled eggs ready, I put a raw egg white in the mix and noticed it less than the boiled one!

Day 13 : Doesn't Time Fly

So here I am at my newly-set bedtime, 22.00, hunched over my computer, eating chicken and cabbage, with four pieces of fish on the stove. OK, reset - must be in bed by 22.30.

The massage did help to loosen my legs up but after 1,005 skips, they tightened up again. I'm definitely going to go back and include my back in the massage next time. The clouds had lifted when I got up and no rain. By the time I left for work the sun was shining.

Nothing new from the exercises so given the clicking clock, I'll pass on that one.

Tomorrow I have a meeting at 8.30am (in Yokohama so I don't have to get to Tokyo, at least) and then I'm out in the evening so tomorrow could be a real test of my time-keeping.

One good thought, I haven't taken my "rest" day yet.

Day 12 : Perchance to Dream

In his email today, Patrick told us to get enough sleep "If you don't rest enough, you will actually become weaker, as your torn, messed up muscles try to do the work intended for healthy tissue. You will look stringy and thin. So, no late nights. This is important."

Of all my procrastinating behavior, going to bed is the worst - I bumble around finding things to do until amazingly it is well past a sensible bedtime. Mind you, my lifestyle doesn't help. I have an hour or more's commute each way every day and frequently have activities, both social and work related, in the evening. 21.00 seems early to be saying "Time to go home" but if I'm out in Tokyo, that probably means I don't get home in Yokohama until 22.30. For now, PCP has made this a touch worse - I've been getting up earlier to do the exercises and not necessarily getting to bed any earlier. Even last night when I made an effort to be home early (I left the office at 6.30pm which counts as early), I made it by just after 19.30, did my exercises and had promised myself an early night. I then spent some time on the computer (including the blog) and then an hour or more in the kitchen so somehow didn't get to bed until 23.15. I'm going to have to learn to multitask - steaming vegetables and doing my laundry while I skip.

Mind you, I did sleep like the proverbial log last night.

And I'm feeling there may be a glimmer of progress. Despite all my grumbles, I did manage two sets of exercise within the space of ten hours.

This morning was OK - I was expecting my muscles to complain more. The clouds were still there but no rain and I managed 1,007. I envy Nate's ability to ace the skips and take picture of bees at the same time. My insect onlookers seem to have been washed away. The LCD screen on my skipping rope has made a recovery though and amazingly this morning was correct within a jump or two. I'm taking this as a sign that I'm getting more consistent. Amy's tips of skipping style are helpful, although believe me, I was already trying to jump as low as possible. This accounts for my No1 cause of breaking a skipping sequence. No lift-off or jumping to soon resulting in nowhere for the rope to go - jumping too soon usually means that I step on the rope which is why it gets dropped and broken. The No2 cause of breaking a sequence is getting the arc of the rope wrong and hitting myself in the back of the head. And the No3 cause, kind-of frustrating, is when I'm in a groove and start noticing other things - a beetle crawling across the patio or a bus passing the garden and my rhythm starts to get a bit ragged, resulting in No1 or No2.

But I'm getting there.

Then the exercises. I was on Workout 2 today. For the lunges, I alternated the legs (why didn't I think of that before); I discovered the door anchor works best with my front door and once again, only hit "trouble" with the leg-ups. I only managed 2x10 again. Because of my arthritis, I actually can't lie flat of the floor and I think this is causing the problem as my back keeps trying to "help out", usually with painful consequences. I will consult the Boss offline on this one and see if there is a work-around.

So what kept me so long in the kitchen last night? Steaming pumpkin, potato, celery and spinach. The spinach shrunk down to virtually nothing. And "dry" sauteing (i.e. using the frying pan but relying on the oils to come out of the food) some mackerel and salmon.

I mentioned getting my acidity down and Amy asked what foods are good for making the body more alkaline. Nate mentioned one website and I quite like this one http://www.rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htm.

On my way home tonight I finally succumbed to the Thai massage place at the bottom of the hill. It has been tempting me for a while. Legs only this time. I'll report tomorrow on whether it helped. Feels good at the moment and I wish I had some on my back ..... next time!

Day 11 : A Drowned Rat

As I was trudging up the hill with a couple of bags of fish and vegetables at 7.30pm, I suddenly realised that it had stopped raining. This must be a sign of encouragement from the Universe, I thought, so I quickly got outside with my skipping rope. Hah! I reached about 300 when there must have been a change of shift on high because back came the rain and by the time I had finished, I was soaked. For the record, 1013. I managed the other exercises in my own inimitable style with only the occasionial epithet. I like Workout 1 better than Workout 2. And amazingly, I'm halfway through Week 2.

I'm doing OK on the meal front. I bought a large size lunch box and my brown rice fills half of it and the meat/fish and vegetables fill the other half - just the right size. I think I should be drinking more (water, of course). I'm sure it is not, in fact, but the diet seems very "dry" - the lack of sauces, I guess.

Actually, I'm going to break ranks just a touch. Charlie checked my acidity when I saw him on Sunday and I'm way too acid. So I'll be trying to pick alkaline vegetables but also be driinking a diluted mixture of apple vinegar and honey. Someone (Adrian?) asked about honey earlier - I'm taking it for medicinal purposes.

Just a short post today. I've got some vegetables to steam .............................