Summer '25: WK 08, D1, D2, D3
Fitness Journal
(Back to fitness journal).
08/24/2025, Su, Day 1
Routine:
Total time: 40-min
Warm-up (jogging)--10-min
Running Intervals--30-min
1/5-mile fast, rest 80%, repeat for 30-min
Cool-down
2-hour hike with 25-pound vest
Notes:
- Thoughts: Just more hard sprinting. I felt slow today, but I pushed through the best I could. It is probably not realistic for me to feel fully recovered always for these tough workouts. I might show up feeling 80% and have to make due with what I have that day. My upcoming challenges will demand that, anyway.
- 2-hour hike: After my sprint workout, I threw on my 25-pound vest and went for nice long walk. I like where I live, because I'm at the bottom of about a 1-mile-long hill that heads up to the local high school. That's great to start a walk or test myself on a run.
- Hiking purpose?: I am hiking occasionally, too, because it's specific to the work I'll be doing in a few months. I have to get ready for it.
08/26/2025, Tu , Day 02
Routine:
Total time: 70-min
Warm-up--15-min: Incline Treadmill (forward, backwards, sideways)
Sprint intervals--45-min: 30-sec on, rest 80%, repeat. 10% incline
Cool-down--10-min (backwards walking, 10% incline)
Notes:
- Fasted exercise: I am intermittently fasting (IF). I like this protocol, because I am not hungry in the morning, anyway. Why not let it ride? I am trying to coordinate real hunger with eating.
- IF benefits: With IF, I like the alertness during the day. Also, Ori Hofmekler explained that when we eat carbohydrates throughout the day (starches and sugars), that we are reducing our mental alertness and acuity. With IF, for one, I get to eat when I'm truly hungry (instead of when I am obligated to). Secondly, when I do eat at night, the meal is nicely relaxing. It really feels like a recovery meal. I like saving the relaxing effect of food for the evening, when my day's work is done.
- My IF setup: With IF, I just drink water throughout the day. I have a four-hour window when I will eat in the evening. Mostly whole, natural foods, of course. I keep it simple--water fast during the day, then a four-hour window to eat at night. (Ori Hofmekler has stated the window can be as much as six hours, but four hours works fine for me). I am looking forward to continuing this and seeing the benefits it can have for me.
- Incline work: Yes, working at a 10% incline is much harder. But I am trying to compensate for the treadmill being easier than running outside, too.
- The mind, healing, and recovery: I am using Jon Kabat-Zinn's Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) mp3s--and daily, too. I had already been sitting quietly and doing breath work, but I also enjoy the guided meditations. Just doing one body-scan meditation this morning left me feeling in a much more positive and upbeat mood. It is really important to intentionally cultivate more peaceful, balanced mind states. The solutions are there. It's been proven by millenia of practice. Now it's a matter of me being consistent in my application. I am glad to be rekindling this work and integrating it regularly into my life.
08/28/2025, Th , Day 03
Routine:
Total time: 60-min
Resistance Training: Upper-body emphasis
Machine calves raises
Machine-assisted pull-ups
Flat DB presses
Overhead standing alternating DB presses
Seated double-handle cable rows
Hyperextensions
Three (3) sets each, 6-10 repetitions, controlled cadence, 1-2 reps left in the tank
Cool-down: Incline backwards treadmill walking--10-min
Notes:
- Atmosphere: I like Planet Fitness for treadmill work, but not for lifting. The purple everywhere is not a good setting for serious lifting. I will lift at home now and do treadmill work at the big-box gym.
- Just a lift today: No running today--just lifting.
- Rest earned: I earned the weekend here. I'm a little run down, but tomorrow will be some cycling for fun and physical activity. I'll take the weekend off and come back to this Monday.
- Next resistance-training session: Monday will be resistance training with a lower-body emphasis.