A personal training & food journal. Read about our weight loss progress at Train With Ron in Chicago, our nutritional habits and the life changes we're making to get in shape and stay healthy!

Hi All!

I’ve been very busy with work lately, so less writing, but found a few minutes tonight and am happy to report that the Biggest Loser Challenge just completed Week 3 and since the PM team won the week, I get to write the blog this week!  (Nyaa, nyaa, Monika!)  Ron, Matt, and DB have come up with some pretty cool challenges and events for this contest and so far, everyone really seems to be into it!  I know I am!

So first – I did very well in the previous week’s challenge even though we (the PM team) lost. In 5 minutes:

Ski Machine: 1259m (pretty good but I thought I was going to die)
Airdyne Bike: 3186m (1.98 miles – I SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN TWO!)
Rowing Machine: 1417m (#1 overall – I seem to do better on this machine than any of the others as a rule)
Grand Total: 5862m – wow!

This was better than I could have hoped for but it did not come without a cost – I was wiped out after this week. REALLY wiped out. After I did the bike (Thursday) I couldn’t work out – partially because I was experiencing what I have come to know as an “ocular migraine” but more on that later – I was just completely spent and could not go on.

This week, both Monika and I were dreading the Haynesworth Challenge.  This consists of running 300 yards, taking a 3.5 minute break, and then running the 300 yards again. Because of the way the gym is situated, we run the yards in 40 yard “flights” (the walls that contain the straightaway are 40 yards apart, approximately).  This makes it a little bit easier than the REAL Haynesworth challenge, because in Mike Shanahan’s conditioning test, the flights are run in 25 yard increments – meaning more times stopping, turning 180 degrees, and having to immediately accelerate to top speed.  Once you have made the run twice, you take the average of your two runs and subtract it from 71.5 seconds.  We got two points for each half second our average was under 71.5 seconds.

The way I psyched myself up for it was, “Hey, I went ALL OUT for 5 minutes last week… I can SURELY go all out for two minutes, with a 3.5 minute break in between, this week!”  That worked well for me and when I got to the gym, I was ready to burn it out.  I did the run with Klint and Mitch, two friends from TWR.  Both are great guys.  Klint got the best times of the three of us, 55 and 61 seconds. I ended up getting 58 and 63 for an average of 60.1 seconds – a score of 27.

The competition for the winning team came down to the last day, but we got just enough of the PM people in on Saturday who completed the challenge and that put us over the top!  The AM team leads 2 weeks to 1, and they have a big point lead on us, but I think we’ll be able to tie it up this week.  The PM team has the momentum and we are motivated to get it DONE!

Parting shot – this ocular migraine thing.  I’d never had a migraine. In fact, I don’t get headaches very often. But on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I got these “blockages” in my vision that started right in the center of my field of view, then slowly migrated out towards my peripheral area. The blockages are kind of like what you experience if you stare at the sun too long, bright “blobs” that basically block your vision.  After the “migration”, I ended up with some really ridiculous headaches that got progressively worse.  I haven’t had any since, but if they continue I’m going to have to get it checked out.

I’ve also been very sore – especially my back – and had some trouble sleeping. Nothing new there, though. I hope YOU have a great week and hopefully I will get to write the next blog after the PM team goes on a two game winning streak!