Summary

Week 4 of the winter plan. I’m gaining weight faster than desired, and will need to cut in the New Year, but for now I’m enjoying the holidays (yes, even fruitcake). Workouts are on track, and swimming in particular is improving slowly but surely.

Subjective Data

I didn’t slack off this week, probably because JK gave me shit for slacking off last week. But wow… was I tired come Saturday evening (when I wrote this). My eating was not good this week – way too much chocolate and cookies for the holidays. But I’ve decided to just go with it and worry about changing eating when the holidays are over (and the temptations much lower).

I returned to running this week with two 2-mile runs. No pain which was good.

Objective Data

Blue lines == actuals; Gray areas == my target range for that week.

Assessment

My exercise regimen is working well. My swimming is getting better, my kick is propelling me forward, and my stroke always starts out smooth. However I tire very quickly which leads to form breaking down once I exceed 100 yards in a row, so now I’ve got to work on increasing yardage. My brick workout (swim-spin-run) on Saturday was brutal; it was essentially the same workout as Tuesday, but at the end of the week I’m just beat. Hopefully that improves as I get closer to March.

My eating is not in control, and in the New Year I’m going to spend a week or two explicitly counting again to make sure I stay in range. Still, my body measurements aren’t too far out of shape, so nothing drastic required (like the all oat-bran and yogurt diet… yuck).

Plan

I’m staying to plan for the next week, which if you look at the gray areas you’ll see is almost a rest week. Woo hoo! That’s because I’ll be in Oregon visiting J’s family for most of the week. I’d like to get one to two runs in, and get a few isometric workouts in without a gym (i.e. pushup/pullup combos), but I’m not going to be bent out of shape if none of that happens. The reality is I’m fatigued enough that a week off now will be welcomed.

I did modify my plan slightly based on revisiting my holiday schedule (I hadn’t realized I’d be away from a gym for so long), but not in a way that I think impacts my chances of hitting targets. If you look closely you’ll notice a slight difference in the weight-training, running and spinning plans for the next 2 weeks from prior week’s plans.

Reminders

My aunt will not be able to run the Dublin marathon in October, so I’m still undecided between New York (November) and Dublin Ireland. If you’re interested in running either with me, let me know. I’m not going to decide until around April. Also, if anyone is interested in doing the Philly Triathlon (June) with me… especially if you’re a medical school student about to graduate, are having a light fourth year and want to be in great shape for your wedding (you know who you are…)… you’re welcome to join the team!

Presentation Notes

These notes are always presented in SOAP Note format.

Thanks for reading.

– Art