WEIGHT TRAINING EXAMPLES... ever wonder which exercises work best on various body parts, and how to perform them? Well, the ExRx Exercise & Muscle Directory contains listings of various muscle groups and recommended exercises for working each of them. In addition, they have short animations showing how the exercise is to be performed. This is a very handy site. Bookmark it!
8:49:04 PM

UNDISCOVERED MUSCLES ... lunges are a very simple exercise, intended to work the quadriceps (upper thigh). Simple enough .. you take a step forward, and at the same time, drop yourself down so that your front leg is at approximately a 90 degree angle and your back knee is almost (but not quite) touching the floor. Being somewhat uncoordinated, I sometimes have trouble keeping from tipping over. But the exercise certainly DOES work the quads. After doing 10 each with each leg, I'm just about done, and feeling it for a couple of days. I must say that it gets easier with each workout, and the after effects are less each time.

It reminds me of my first raquetball match, some 20 years ago. I took on a friend that was working at a Navy Lab in San Diego. He took it easy on me, but it gave me a great workout. And the next morning, I discovered that I had about a jillion muscles that I never knew I had, and all of them were crying out in protest at the same time. Another episode that comes to mind (and is a bit more current) took place while we were in Las Vegas in April. I was working out in the weight room at our condo, and was using the leg lift machine. I pushed myself, thinking nothing of it, and felt OK afterwards. The next morning, I could hardly stand upright in the shower without getting nauseated. It passed in a few hours, but I figured the cause was the workout I had given to muscles that hadn't been worked so hard in a long time.

It is best to take it easy, 'lest you want to find some of those undiscovered muscles.
8:00:39 PM

FATHER'S DAY ... got up at 5:30 AM to get ready for the aforementioned race. Man .. 5:30 on Father's Day .. oh, well. After tending to the pets, we drove to meet Vicki's sister. Together, we continue to the race site. The skies were clear and COOL in Pleasanton, CA. Race time temperatures were around 60 degrees - not bad, but when you are dressed in a t-shirt and light running shorts, it is a bit chilly. The race started on time, and went pretty much as expected. Vicki was following a regimen of jogging 4 minutes and walking 2 minutes. I was just trying to finish. The month or so that I "took off" for recovery had taken its toll. I just had a hard time keeping up a sustained period of jogging. Anyway, I finished the 6.2 miles in about 70 minutes - about 3 minutes behind Vicki, and very near the tail end of all of the 10K "runners".

However, I *did* finish. I did a quick "self diagnostic" after the race, and found that everything was in its place, functioning OK. There was no pain or discomfort, other than a small blister on my foot (from previous days).

So, I'm good to go. It looks like we may train for a marathon in the Fall. The medals they give the finishers are way cool. Of course, to finish a 26+ mile trek is a real accomplishment!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there.
12:47:46 PM

I'M GONNA DIE ... Vicki has us signed up for a 10K next weekend. Uh, that's probably a 10K Run , er... , well walkjog maybe. In any case, my step totals are just working back to the old levels. I went out last weekend and tried a little jogging. I seem to have the wind, just lask the stamina. The damn wind was blowing quite forcefully from the North, making a difficult chore that much more difficult. To make a long story short, I don't know that I am ready to jog 6.2 miles just yet. I'll see how I feel at race time...

9:44:00 PM

EASY DOES IT!! ... As I mentioned on the main page, I've been working out with light weights. I've found that the "SuperSlow" techniques can provide a very adequate workout using lighter weights. However, following last night's workout, I noticed some additional 'feelings' around the site of my prior incision. I wouldn't classify it as pain - more of a discomfort. I expect that as I ease back into things, I will recover fully. Overall, I'm feeling GREAT and ready for a long walk this weekend!!.
8:33:55 PM