2012-07-02

Week 3: Broadening Horizons And A New FRIO!

I Received My New FRIO This Week
On Friday, I received a prompt shipment in the mail: a brand new FRIO Insulin Cooling Case much like the one you see below:

I'm incredibly excited about this. This case means a new level of freedom for me. Until now, I've been somewhat paralyzed during the summer months by the fact that if I spend any significant time walking around outside (say, while shopping or hiking or at a picnic), I have had to either stuff my insulin in an ice chest and carry it around with me, or just accept the fact that my insulin is going to decay in the heat and soon become useless.

Neither prospect was particularly appealing to me, of course. So I finally made the sane decision of investing in a FRIO. I'm really glad I did.

These cases are kind of amazing. The main envelope is filled with little crystals which turn to gel when you soak the FRIO in cold water. The gel acts as insulation, and more. As the gel slowly dries out, it creates an evaporation feedback loop inside the case, which acts to cool the insulin. It sounds unlikely to be very cool, but in fact it has been keeping my insulin very cool. I'm impressed.

Furthermore, the cooling action apparently lasts for over 40 hours in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. Pretty awesome. I highly recommend this to any diabetic. They are seriously cool products.

Week 3 Workout:
Working out was a bit of an extra challenge this past week, because I was out of town on business. Nevertheless, I managed to stay on top of things. I brought my resistance bands with me, which I did make use of. But Austin was incredibly hot last week, so most of my workout time was spent in the hotel gym. Rather than running outside in 100+ degree heat, I decided to try out some elliptical training.

Unlike my use of the elliptical machines during winter training, this past week I tried out a tempo "run" and a fartlek workout on the elliptical. Finally, I capped the week off with a long "run" on the recumbant bicycle yesterday. I can report that all of these workouts were highly successful. While my legs didn't get much of a workout - consequently, these machines are not to be considered good replacements for actual running - I was able to increase my heartrate, get my lungs working, and get some excellent cardiovascular workouts in over the week.

So, yes, it was highly successful as a cross-training week.

More importantly, I reminded myself of the value of taking a more relaxed, less-regimented approach to working out. I am not really approaching my summer training with a "plan" this year, because I am not training for any race in particular. Not only am I focusing more of my efforts on music this year, I am also in the middle of a major geographic relocation. Therefore, racing isn't a major priority right now.

Nevertheless, working out once or twice a day never stops being important for me. Not having a regimen means I am forced to get a little creative with my weekly plan, or risk falling into a rut and doing the same thing over and over again. That's not healthy.

These past weeks, and continuing into this week, I have had the freedom to try things out virtually on a day-to-day basis and see how I like them. It's been fun.

So, let's keep it going this week.

The Week 3 Plan:

Strength Training - Tues, Thurs: See last week's killer workout.

Strength Training - Sat: Let's do something lighter one day this week. How about 4 sets of 50 jumping jacks, 50 crunches, 40 push-ups. Try to do 45 push-ups this week, if you can. Just see how it goes.

Cardio:
  • Mon = 45 minute light run
  • Tue = 30 minute fartlek workout
  • Wed = 45 minute light run
  • Thu = 30 minute fartlek workout
  • Fri = 45 minute light run
  • Sat = 60 minute long run
  • Sun = Rest
Do take that rest day this week.

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