and now for something completely different...

So a good friend of mine is currently playing in 3 different hockey leagues and on the rare occasion he has a game that starts before I'm long asleep I go and watch him play. I may be a little biased here, but he is good. When he joined the 3 leagues he set a goal for himself of playing 50 games and having 50 goals (he later amended this goal indicated he'd also like 50 assists, giving him a total of 100 points). Now, he played hockey growing up (he's Canadian, he really had no say in the matter), but he hasn't played in almost 20 years...so his goal seemed reasonable, maybe a little lofty but reasonable. Apparently I have underestimated him (please forgive me, I should have known so much better than that by now).

He currently has played in 38 games and has 45 goals and 35 assists and has been voted on to an All-Star team for one of the leagues and will get to play in a game down at the "Q" before a Monsters hockey game (how effing sweet is that!!!!) Now the only question is which of his upcoming games will he hit that 50th goal in?... I am going to watch him play again next Wednesday, I am hoping he hits it then (he however is playing a game this evening and is hoping to get all 5 tonight).

So, as a little break from my tedious workout updates I am providing a copy of my little commentary that was written up from this past Wednesday's game... Please read, and Enjoy... (and his blog can be found here)

A Race To The Finish

Game started out fast and before the first 2 minutes was up Graham was upside down, on his head, in the opponents net. But followed shortly thereafter with the first goal of the game. The second team goal came shortly after and White B was off to a nice 2-0 lead. But you can't underestimate the Red team who quickly tied things up. Graham's second point came on a nice assist to put the team up by 1. But once again Red came back. End of first period tied 3-3. With 2 points for Graham and 1 point for arch scoring nemesis Red#77 . (side note Red #77 and Graham are in a race for the lead scoring position for this league.)

Three minutes into 2nd and White prevailed with another goal (4-3) while down a man. Once again Red went on the attack and two min later things were tied up again. Five and a half minutes in and Red took it's first (and only) lead of the game (4-5), but I missed who got the points (ends up Red #77 got an assist on that one). And now with 5 on the clock Graham was back on the ice to make things happen.... And things happened! He drew a double penalty on player 10. Then with 30 seconds, he shoots, he scores! (5-5).

Third Period. Graham on the ice to start things off and had a great drive but no goal. Great crazy shot by Phil to put things back into perspective (6-5), followed immediately by another White B goal (7-5). With just under 7 to go Red scores again (7-6). Then with just over 2 min, Phil came up with his 3rd goal of the game (8-6). Minute and a half left, down by 2 and Red calls for a time out... And with 30seconds and some pushing and shoving Graham drew another penalty but found himself in the penalty box as well.

Final score 8 - 6, White B WINS!

2 goals and 1 assist for Graham!
1 goal and 1 assist for Red #77

These two are now tied in stats with total points for this league:
Graham - 34 points 20 goals 14 assists
Red #77 - 34 points 21 goals 13 assists

Weekly Update...

The middle of January is upon us and so far it's been a great year!

Just as I adjusted to running on the treadmill, I've come to adjust to life on the elliptical, although I still long for a day when I can get outside and run... But, now is the time for building up strength and listening to trainer-Steve since he ALWAYS seems to be right about these things. I had a pretty good week and have really been focusing on 1)adding Sunday workouts and 2)getting in some long workout sessions on the weekends. Again both of these tasks are being achieved thanks to trainer-Steve coming in on his Sunday off day to work out with me! So here's what the middle of January looked like for me:

01/12
0.50 miles - treadmill, warm-up then 1 hr. PT session with trainer-Steve
7.20 miles - elliptical

01/13
4.00 miles - elliptical, after ab workout

01/14
4.00 miles - elliptical, after 1 hr. PT session with trainer-Steve

01/15
0.50 miles - treadmill, warm-up then light ab workout
6.00 miles - elliptical
1.15 miles - treadmill, first attempt back at running; run 1 min, walk 2 min.

01/16
7.50 miles - elliptical

01/17
0.50 miles - treadmill, warm-up then 1 hr. PT session with trainer-Steve
9.76 miles - elliptical

01/18
3.75 miles - elliptical
1.57 miles - treadmill, run 1 min, walk 2 min
1.00 miles - treadmill
(this was a solo Sunday workout w/instructions of no more than 60 minutes of cardio; which I actually followed)

TOTALS 47.43 miles


Now in looking at my numbers I completed the total miles in about 7 1/2 hours which leaves me averaging around 10 minutes/mile for the elliptical... but that seems a little high, my hours or working out may be wrong since I typically complete a mile on the elliptical in about 9 minutes. But anyhow, the real question is will this have any effect at all on my running time? I was averaging about a 10 minute mile on the treadmill and coming in at about a 10-11 minute mile in my 5k's. I so would like to be faster. However, that being said, going 7 1/2 weeks without being able to run at all... well, it sort of put the whole "speed"complex I have into perspective.

Will most likely finish out the month of January taking it easy with the running and working on the run 1 min, walk 2 min with increasing the amount of time I'm actually on the treadmill (first two times was 20 minutes, and the third time was for 30 minutes). Would like to sign up for my first race in February, but realistically it may not be until March or maybe even April...I don't know, we will have to see. For right now it is just getting through one step at a time...

Great Day for Running

I didn't care that it was only 6 degrees when I got up this morning, because I knew what the day had in store for me and I knew it was going to be GREAT! Ok, maybe not earth shattering and basically it would go unnoticed by all but me.

But today was it.

Today's the day I'd been waiting for....

After 7+ weeks - 53 days, today I got to RUN.

It wasn't for long and it was really super slow (12 minute pace)and may have been on the treadmill, but I was running again. And it felt great to be back and the best news being the pain in my foot was minimal and had subsided after a few hours.

YEAH.

Judgement Day

The end of December left me about a week to put in some great long workouts.

12/29 - 6.00miles on elliptical after session with trainer-Steve
12/30 - 7.52miles on elliptical
2.48miles on treadmill, walking
12/31 - 5.00miles on elliptical after session with trainer-Steve; checked weight and still 2 pounds from goal; kept things in check for New Years Eve and was in bed around 10pm!
01/01 - 0.60miles on treadmill for a quick warm-up
6.00miles on elliptical after LOTS of ab work; total time at gym = 4hours! Great start for the new year!
01/02 - 8.00miles on elliptical after More abs
01/03 - 1.00miles on treadmill
7.76miles on elliptical followed by some lifting and abs and another 3 1/2 hour workout all after measurements.
01/04 - 1.00miles on treadmill; abs and then a food hour working out side by side with trainer-Steve (think this was tougher than his training sessions)
4.21miles on elliptical
1.00miles on treadmill while trainer-Steve ran
50.66miles for the week elliptical and trainer combined

So January 3rd was my judgement day and time to see if this last round of hard work has paid off and to what extent... Missed my target weight goal by 2 pounds (again, missed by the same 2 back in November). So totals to date - 43 pounds lighter. 43!!! And my waist is down by 6 inches and I'm down about 3 dress sizes (think it's time to go shopping!!!!!). And (drum roll please) my body fat is down to 18%,which is down A LOT from where I had started. What a great journey this has been. And, one last note....new goal, 12 pounds over the next 12 weeks. These are going to be the toughest ones yet, but now is no time to back down from a challenge.

The first full week of the new year was off to a good start, my orthotics were finally in and my doctor even dropped them off at my house for me! So, about a week of breaking in and I just may be back to running around mid-month. Unfortunately the week didn't end up quite as productive as I'd originally hoped but sometimes a week of rest is good. Right?

01/05 - 5.07miles on elliptical
01/06 - skipped gym up late the night before watching OSU game.
01/07 - 4.00miles on elliptical after an hour with trainer-Steve, not feeling 100%.
01/08 - 4.21miles on elliptical with trainer-Steve and some abs.
01/09 - skipped workout, trainer-Steve sent me home from gym, ended up back in bed and sleeping for another couple hours.
01/10 - 0.51miles on treadmill, followed by abs and some lifting
8.28miles on elliptical
0.46miles on treadmill
22.58miles for the week elliptical and treadmill combined

This next week finally allows me to start doing some light impact work during my training sessions and see how 7 weeks of rest has paid off. Fingers and toes crossed!

Hope to update again soon with more great news!