Trying to stick to the blog commitment, so here’s the update:

Thursday, March 1, 2012

7:00am: Wake (always too early)

7:30am: Moderate shoveling… Good for back, shoulders, and glutes

8:00am: Breakfast: Eggs, mushrooms, mixed veggies, beans, salsa, cottage cheese

10:15: Brunch: Trail mix, Fage Yogurt, Banana

12:30pm: Lunch: Leftover grilled steak, asparagus, black beans.

4:00pm: 4.5 mile run through the snowy roads of Nashua. I was supposed to do 6, but the conditions were bad and I was wearing my Merrels instead of my VFFs. I’ve only worn them twice before, so I still need to break into them

5:00pm: Lunch 2: Leftover grilled steak, asparagus, black beans

6:15pm: Nashua Athletic Center

• Slight incline DB bench: 50lbs x 9 reps (5sec up /5 sec down pace)
• No rest – pushups x 10
• 2 min rest: Clean, squat and press. 135 lbs x 2, 95 lbs x4, 95 lbs x 4
• Double kettlebell swings: 18 kg bells x 15 reps
• V-Bar tricep extensions: 90lbs x 8, 90 lbs x 7 slow pace
• Lat pull down bicep curls: 60 lbs x 8, 60 lbs x 7
• 1 hr moderate Hatha Yoga

9:00pm: Dinner: Grilled pork tenderloin, boiled beets, black beans

Friday, March 2, 2012

6:30am: Wake

7:10am: Breakfast: The usual

8:00am: Active Release Technique (ART) at Advanced Injury Treatment Center, Bedford, NH. Dr. Looney worked my knee (with Graston tools), and found a lot of tenderness and lack of flexibility in my hip. He painfully worked that out, and showed me an exercise for the foam roller. He also worked on tightness in my right shoulder. My flexibility is always improved after an ART session.

10:00am: Brunch: Fage Yogurt

12:00pm: Lunch: Leftover haddock, green beans, pinto beans

4:00pm: Lunch 2: Leftover pork tenderloin, beets, black beans

7:00pm: After work, I went and bought my own foam roller and did the recommended exercise as well as a few found on youtube for calves and IT band. I had no idea I had that much tenderness in all the areas. It’s going to take a while to work through all the pain…

8:00pm: Dinner: I was exhausted when I got home and didn’t feel at all like cooking. I had more leftover pork, beets, and black beans

Saturday, March 3, 2012

7:20am: Wake. Not my preferred weekend start time, but for good reason.

7:40am: Breakfast – Banana, cinnamon raisin bagel, coffee

8:10am: 16 mile, torturous, crazy, hill run through Nashua and Dunstable, MA. Total elevation gain of 1,158 feet! Ran with a group of Striders. The roads were slushy and full of puddles. It was raining the entire time. My feet were wet as soon as we started. Despite all that, a group of friends will make it easier to get through. We did the 16 miles in 2:08. My left foot felt like it was about to rip in half around the 8 mile mark and I didn’t think I was going to make it the whole way. I ran through the pain and it went away about a mile later.

10:45am: Awesome/painful shower

11:15am: Extra large breakfast – eggs, mixed veggies, beans, salsa, cottage cheese

11:25am: Worked whole body with foam roller

2:00pm: Lunch – Grilled chicken, butternut squash, black beans. I also made a batch of port brownies. The reason I run is so I don’t feel too guilty about eating stuff like this! OMG, they are so delicious! I take an already delicious brownie recipe, cut some of the butter and eggs, and replace with 1 cup of Port wine. Richest, moistest brownies evar!

8:00pm: Dinner – Leftover chicken, squash, beans and a brownie Body is pretty stiff from the run and my hamstring cramped up briefly. Need to do more foam roller work and get a massage scheduled!

My first week of training is almost complete and it is going very well. There are a wide range of students in the class, such as a VP from Comcast, an employee from the Army CRC, a Blue Cross/Blue Shield rep and many others. It brings a good perspective to the class so that you can see an topic in a wide range of applications.

As for the city of Atlanta, it is damn hot! I went for this run today. In Waltham this would be a quick run around the block. In Atlanta it was a brutal and grueling course. I had to stop and walk a few times because of the heat. I’ve also found that there is no such thing as a block in Atlanta. I went for a walk around the “block” on the first day of training at lunch, and wound up on the other side of the highway, making me 10 minutes late for class. The first time I tried to go for a quick run, the “block” turned out to be a 2.5 mile long triangle. My iPhone has saved me a few times.

The traffic in Altanta is also ridiculous. Most of the streets are 3 lanes wide per side and still they’re packed. The highway is 7 lanes on each side and it gets completely jammed at rush hour. Unfortunately, the lack of decent public transportation makes Atlanta a driving city, hence the traffic.

Its not all negative though. I’ve found that the food is very good, I haven’t had a bad experience yet. Also, its true what they say about Southern girls, they are very cute and well put together. I’ve seen many Southern Belles.

However, despite the positives, I don’t see myself ever living in or around this city.

I’ll be going to the Cape the weekend, I might put one of my promised posts up then. If not, it’ll be done by Monday night!