Playlists and Progress Reports

Super Bowl Sunday, February 1, 2009
Off--157#

I've been wanting to make a mix for my VO2 max workout since ideally it would have a nice fast-paced group of songs, and I've gotten a little tired of the same ol' stuff, so I went on a search and came up with some stuff. Workout music is difficult for me to find because I don't listen to the radio much, and when I do, I try to listen to more mellow stuff to chill me out some. (I tend to be a little stressed all the time). Mostly, though, it's just my iPod and some of the couple thousand or so songs I've accumulated. So I Googled workout music and found some suggestions. Here's what I'm going to be working with. Keep in mind it's a work in progress. If anyone had ever told me I'd have Ashlee Simpson on my iPod, I think I would have smacked 'em. Never say never, I guess.

Lady Marmalade, Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya & P!nk Moulin Rouge
Learn The Hard Way, Nickelback Daredevil The Album
Pump It, Danzel
Trouble, P!nk
Switch, Will Smith
Maggie's Farm, Silvertide
I Like to Move It, Madagascar 5
This Moment, Disturbed Transformers (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)
Paralyzer, Finger Eleven
So What, P!nk
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree
Everybody Wants You. Billy Squier
T.N.T., AC/DC
La La, Ashlee Simpson
Pretty Vegas, INXS
Let's Get Loud, Jennifer Lopez
SOS, Rihanna

Now for the ugly part, the progress report. As I've said before, I guess I should just be happy that I'm not completely off the deep end given my current stressors. One good note is that my groove on the pull ups is getting better. Not so much the pushups, but definitely the pull ups. Might actually be able to do one by the time I'm eighty. :(
Weight 157# (up 2.5#)
Waist 30.5" (down .25" since January 1)
Belly Button 36.5" (up 1")
Hips 38.5" (up .75")

TGU's up to 5 sets of 1/1 with the 20kg.

VO2 Max is up to 25 sets of 7-8 reps with the 12kg.

For a baseline, I ran an 11.5 min mile a couple of weeks ago (no heckling allowed here). I post this here so it's easy for me to find in a month or so when I'm trying to see if the sprints are doing any good (they start when I get back to FL).

Now for some more fun stuff...

I can remember my grandmother having a 5 gallon bucket of Reelfoot lard in the floor in her kitchen. She cooked EVERYTHING with it. (And lived to be 94. Lived by herself until she was 87). They are tearing down the old meat-packing building, but this smoke stack always draws my eye. I'm fascinated by it for some reason, so I decided to get it in some of the daytime pictures of the ice storm.

I wish I could have captured the way the light hit the melting ice. It was dazzling. Here's one of my attempts anyway. If you even remotely like it, click on it to enlarge it and see the reflection of the light in the ice.

On the way to Mom and Dad's Friday, I took the above pictures and as I was driving south the ice went away. The sky stayed pretty spectacular, though, so I decided to try out my new 24mm lens. It's amazing how wide a view it gets. The pic below is in NO way doctored. That's how it looked in person.

WORKOUT: NONE-- Today was an off day.

Ice, Lots of It

Thursday, January 29, 2009
0ff-155.5#

Apparently even Mother Nature wants to send us off in style because she set about with a spectacular display a couple of nights ago. Unfortunately, we live in an area that seldom gets cold weather precipitation unless it's in the form of ice. Not snow. Ice. All I could think as it got colder and colder and the trees became more and more laden with ice was, "Two more weeks to warm weather." :) Though the move is tugging at my heartstrings in many other ways, the change in weather is certainly something I'm looking forward to.

In light of our hopefully never having to brave another icestorm, I at least got out and earned some frozen toes getting some pics. I hope you enjoy them.

Abbie thought the cold stuff was great! She was actually more playful than I think I've ever seen her.

Here's the courthouse where we're living now. Unfortunately, this picture just doesn't do justice to the sparkle.

One of the docs with whom I work is the son of the "son." This place is an icon of Southern small town life. Kind of like Wynn Dixie in Because of Wynn Dixie (which, btw, is where I'll be shopping in Florida).

Another Southern icon...ice cold Coca-Cola. HA! I couldn't resist. Get it?

The neighbor's back yard was pretty awesome, too.

WORKOUT TODAY: Off Day.
YESTERDAY'S WORKOUT:
Double 16kg C&P/Bent Row 5 ladders of 3 with 30 sec b/w rungs and 2 min b/w ladders.
Double 16kg squat 5 ladders of 2 with same rest scheme.
5 rounds of 30sec snatch R, 30 sec snatch L, 30 sec rest.
TUESDAY'S WORKOUT:
The swing/squat thrust ladder for time which actually wasn't very good.