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So last week, before our plyometrics class, our trainer told us he has a new job and probably won’t be able to train us any longer. I asked which gym he was going to, as I’d follow him there, but it turns out that he’s going into another field completely. So today was our last class with him. I’ve been in denial since he announced this last week, but will realize things will be different on Thursday when Jim’s not there.

I’ve trained with Jim for a little over a year now. When I first started with him, my form was horrible and I struggled with everything I did. Today, my form is better (not perfect) and I’m able to lift with more confidence.

The point I’m getting at is over the past year, not only have Jim and I worked together, but the group I now workout with has formed tight bonds. We get together regularly (rock climbing later this month; and a fellow gymrat is coming over Thursday night w/ his wife & daughter) and workout together on the days we don’t have class. So while we may be losing our trainer, the group will continue to be strong.

I’ve had workout partners before, but they only last a few months at most. But having a team that works together (there’s 14 of us in the class - when we get together, at least 8 of us show up), losing 1 member, even our trainer, won’t break us up. We may lose some people, but others will come in (one has signed up for the next session, after being absent from class for many months now).

Change is a part of life; you can deny it and be left behind, or embrace the change and continue moving forward.

This entry was posted by Eric on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 10:26 am and is filed under Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

I’ve been told yet again that I drink too much coffee. I always thought that was like that country song about having too much money or too much fun: just not possible.

It sounds bad when I say I drink about 12 cups a day, but those are CUPS, not mugs. A mug is at least 2 cups. But lately, I’ve been having terrible headaches, which may be due to not enough water. It’s not a caffeine headache - I know those all too well. This is far worse. One hit me last night, which pretty much laid me out from 6 last night ’til 7 this morning. Feels like someone hit me in the side of the head with a hammer.

So now I’m trying to drink a full glass of water everytime I refresh my coffee, or before a meal. If not, I guess I’ll go to the doctor, which is really just a waste of time & money, as my primary doctor will send me for some tests, which will come back OK and I’ll never hear from him again with other suggestions.

Completely unrelated, I finished my wingates this week which were 6, 30-second sprints. Next week is 7, then the following week down to 4! I can’t wait to go down to 4!!!

This entry was posted by Eric on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 11:14 am and is filed under Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

Wow - what a long week! I’m so glad it’s over. At least the weekend is starting, although that doesn’t mean any more free-time than during the week.

I was so happy when I finished my training at UB today. While it’s getting easier, the number of sprints I have to do keeps going up, so in the end, it’s not any easier. Today was 5, 30-second sprints again. Next week is 6. I do this Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but I also try to get to the gym those days to lift weights. I made it Monday and did a quick shoulder & bi’s routine, but skipped Wednesday. Today I did chest & back, and finished with abs. That would have been enough for me, but throwing wingate sprints on top of it was really hard! Our plyometrics class on Tuesday and Thursday was also pretty rough this week. Jim really pushed us…

Yesterday was nice & warm, so the kids got to get outside for a bit and ride bikes, scooters and drag out other stuff. This also gave me a chance to get into the compost bin, since its no longer frozen. Wow - the compost I have is amazing! I can’t wait to get it in the gardens. It’s fascinating putting banana peels, jack-o-lanterns, egg shells, lots of coffee grounds, apple cores and all sorts of stuff into a bin, then stir it up every now-and-again and get compost out of it.

We bought our seeds today, and I may start setting up the table in the back of the house where we’re going to try to start our vegetable plants from seed. Last week I drew a quick sketch of the backyard & where I want to plant all these veggies. It should be interesting, considering how small our yard is.

Tomorrow’s going to be a crazy day, with Laura and I trading kids on & off running here & there. I’ll be at Tops most of the day, collecting food for the St. Paul’s food pantry with the Cub Scouts. Becca gets to visit Lindbergh for the first time as they’re having a fun fair tomorrow.

Sunday should be a little calmer before we wrap up the weekend the same as always: dinner at the Bishops and relaxing in the hot tub.

This entry was posted by Eric on Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 8:43 pm and is filed under Family, Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

It’s been 2 weeks since I last ran, and I wanted to get out again, especially since the weather was pretty nice this weekend. Pretty nice in March in Buffalo is not snowing. Yesterday was about 33 but today topped out at 50, so I got out & did my usual 3.5 mile run. It was a little windy in spots, but overall an OK run. My pace was quicker than last time, 9:05 vs. 10:06 but it was a much shorter run. I wish I had someone to run with, as my pace the first mile was fast at times.

Other than that, Friday night we went to a party at a friends house & had a really good time. We played on the Wii a bit (now Laura wants one) and simply enjoyed good company. Many of the people I regularly workout with were there - it was strange seeing them all dressed up (ie: wearing pants).

I spent much of yesterday working on a project for Steve, then went to mass after dinner. This morning, after realizing April is just around the corner, I spent some time planning the garden for this year: picking out vegetables, figuring out planting dates, and sketching where things should go. This should cost us very little, as the only thing we’re buying is the seeds and some potting soil. Other than that, we’re using what we have around the house.

That’s it for now - going to the Bishops for dinner. I guess that should go on Twitter, eh? I still don’t know how to use Twitter the right way, but if you want to, follow me here.

This entry was posted by Eric on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at 4:21 pm and is filed under Family, Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

I caught Human Body: Pushing the Limits on the Discovery Channel the other night, and it was an amazing series. I hope it’s on again soon, so I can Tivo & watch it once more. There are 4 episodes: Sight, Strength, Sensation and Brain Power. I think I only caught Strength and Brain Power, but based on those the others must be good, too.

I have to admit when switching from live athletes / actors to the CGI models, where they took the skin off to show how the muscles worked, was pretty freaky. Probably because these things w/ no skin still had eyes.

But there’s a lot I learned about strength, muscles and bones. Like how bones are the strongest naturally created material on Earth, yet they can flex to avoid being broken. Or that when we use all of our strength, we’re only using about 1/3 of the muscle’s true power, but in life-or-death situations, our mind can override that and allow us to use the whole muscle.

If you see it in your TV listings, be sure to record it.

This entry was posted by Eric on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

I’ve really wanted to go running again lately, and after a some emails were exchanged yesterday, a few of the group I workout with decided we’d get together in the morning. They planned on going pretty far (in my book), so I was going to turn around mid-run and keep it short. But I felt great at my pre-determined turn-around point and decided to keep going. And going. And going.

When done, I had run for nearly 1-1/2 hours, covered over 8-1/2 miles, and used up 1,160 calories!

The furthest I had consecutively run before that was the 5-mile Turkey Trot. Even with the Turkey Trot’s warm-up & cool-down, it didn’t total 8-1/2 miles. Needless to say, I was quite tired and my legs are killing me. But it felt GREAT to get out & run again. Let’s hope the weather keeps improving so I can get out more often.

I’m looking forward to next Saturday & a chance to run again.

This entry was posted by Eric on Saturday, March 15th, 2008 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.