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Ok, physical therapy is getting really hard. First the usual stuff - marching bridges, leg lifts, etc. Then I had to do two sets of these horrible, torturous crab walks, wherein my ankles are connected to each other with an elastic tube and I'm supposed to walk sideways all the way across the physical therapy center. And back. Twice. I'm not sure which muscles it is that this really kills me on, but they hurt. If in fact they're still there. I'm not sure, but I may have worked them right off of my body. Ok, they're the tensor fasciæ latæ, and they hurt. A lot. And then this other thing I think my physical therapist invented on the spot to continue the torture - this crazy walking with legs bent, ankles attached with elastic, and wide, sweeping steps.

To top that off, then I had to work on the slide board. The thing that makes you make a motion like you're skiing, skating, or rollerblading. Several minutes worth. Twice. Guess what muscle this motion tends to work? That's right. Same ones as that crazy crab walk. Then these ludicrous walking lunges all the way across the physical therapy center. And back. But while down in the lunge position, hold a medicine ball out at arms' length and twist my torso 90º both ways.

And maybe some other stuff, but I'm too tired to remember it.

Then I get home, eat some dinner, check a little email, and I guess I wasn't feeling beat up enough, so I decided to do my next set of pyramids. 1-2-3-4-5-6-6-5-4-3-2-1. Total of 42 chin ups, 126 push ups, and 210 sit ups. All with really good form, except for maybe about 8-10 of the chin ups where I cheated a little.

If all of the above isn't enough, I'm thinking that if I'm still able to walk tomorrow, I'm going to do 9 sets of the jog/walk intervals from the 5K for beginners running plan, instead of the 8.

This is just insane. Someone needs to put a stop to this.

So, I was true to my word, and did some pyramids today.

I had done the 100 push ups (and 100 chin ups) thing for about 8 weeks. I made some progress, but it felt like I was stalling. So I did something different.

The routine is essentially this: 1 chin up, 3 push ups, and 5 crunches. Then multiply everything by 2: 2 chin ups, 6 push ups, and 10 crunches. Then by 3: 3, 9, and 15. And so on, until I've done 6 chin ups, 18 push ups, and 30 crunches. Then work my way back down: 5 chin ups, 15 push ups, 25 crunches. And so on. By the time I'm all finished, I've done 36 chin ups, 108 push ups, and 180 crunches.

This is the routine where I used to be able to work my way up to 10, 30, and 50, for a total of 100, 300, and 500. I'm not quite there yet.

But there are some good notes.

1) I was really concentrating on form. Powering through the 40 consecutive push ups had me cheating a bit - I wasn't going all the way down and having my chest touch the floor. Now I am. I've already mentioned how I've cheated on the chin ups - this time I bent my knees and didn't let my feet touch the floor (until near the very end).

2) This feels good. Granted, I had been doing a greater number of both chin ups and push ups with the 100 push ups program, but my form was sloppy and I was getting tired and discouraged.

3) A little more about that form. I had realized a week or two ago that it is entirely possible that I had been doing crunches and working only my rectus abdominals, and not my transverse abdominals (which seem so important to help mitigate my back pain). Now that I know how to engage my transverse abdominals, I'm concentrating on doing exactly that throughout the range of motion for the crunches.

So I figure I'll do these for a little while and work my way up.

Todays routine, for brevity in notation, looked like this: 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2-1 (OK, maybe not so brief). Next time I'll probably repeat the 6 set (1-2-3-4-5-6-6-5-4-3-2-1) and work back down, for a total of 42 chin ups, 126 push ups, and 210 sit ups. And the next time I'll go up to 7. Or so I hope.

Will I keep at these until I hit the old mark? I'm not sure yet. I guess it depends on how I feel as I go along. This may just be a week, or a few weeks, or possibly more. I'm still kind of itching to hit some real weights again.

Heh. I complain about falling off of posting to my blog, and then I'm silent for nearly 6 days. So what's the story? Have I really stopped everything? Have I just gotten lazy in posting again?

Well, a little of both.

I mentioned I was getting discouraged with my inability to hit the targets for the push ups and chin ups. So I'm taking a break. I don't plan to stop altogether. I've been kicking around the idea of doing the pyramid push ups/chin ups/sit ups thing again. For a little while. Just to change things up for a bit.

I've been going to my physical therapy, and I bought a few things (ankle weights, lighter dumbbells) to help me do my physical therapy exercises at home. I also dusted off my stability ball and used that a bit, too.

I've also gotten out on my bike - with all the miles and miles of unridden road around me, I can't stay off my bike on the weekends.

Sunday I rode from my house, to Elmwood Park, River Forest, Oak Park, then up to nearly Evanston, Lincolnwood, Skokie, and then back home. It was about 41 miles, and looks pretty impressive on a map:

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I've already got a route mapped out for next weekend that should take me through Park Ridge, Des Plains, Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Itasca, Wood Dale, Elmhurst, Melrose Park, and then back home. This one will look really impressive, and will span about 48 miles.