Week 4 Saturday

May 20, 2006
Activities/Actions:

• Ran to downtown with Wayne
• Toured the Loop by Train
• Biked to downtown
  

Stat:
Resting Hearth Rate: 58 BPM

Course condition:

How I felt:
(the 5-point scale)

• Physically 5
• Mentally 4
• About my nutrition 5
• About my sleep 4

How hard did I work? 7
(the 10-point scale)

Note and reflections:
Today contributes to one of those great days for outside activities. Wayne and I leave home around 8:15a and cruising along lakefront path to downtown. Many people crowd the path along the way. We take a break at Millennium Park for some snacks before going on CTA Loop Train tour. The tour is interesting, but the docent is not that enthusiastic. I like the lady who distributes tour tickets at Cultural Center much better. She is full of energies. We come back by our #6 Jeffrey Express. I take a 30-min power nap and clean up my place a bit afterwards.

After a short lab work, I take my bike and head to the loop again for a tapas dinner with Ya-wen, Pailing and Wayne. I am a bit late (hehehe..), but we have such a good time with all these Spanish dishes. It is not moot that savory tates bring me to a euphoric state. Biking home with a full stomach cannot take the speed to its maximum. Instead, I enjoy a slow ride until reach home.

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Week 4 Friday

May 19, 2006
Activities/Actions:

• Biked to lab
• Rest Day

Stat:
Resting Hearth Rate: 53 BPM

Course condition:

How I felt:
(the 5-point scale)

• Physically 4
• Mentally 4
• About my nutrition 4
• About my sleep 4

How hard did I work? n/a
(the 10-point scale)

Note and reflections:
Today is another rest day; I go to John Handcock with some friends (Tonghong, Wayne, and Wayne's friends). It is nice to be on a Chicago's rooftop. :)

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Week 4 Thursday -Resting Heart Rate

May 18, 2006
Activities/Actions:

• Biked to lab
• Ran for a mile
• played squash with Ya-wen, P' Tee and P' Lek; some games I played with left hand.

Stat:

Resting Hearth Rate: 52 beats a min (at 26 beats per 30 seconds)
[see here for some details about heart rates]

Course condition:

How I felt:
(the 5-point scale)

• Physically 4
• Mentally 3
• About my nutrition 4
• About my sleep 3

How hard did I work? 7
(the 10-point scale)

Note and reflections:

This is the first day with resting heart rate mornitor. The resting heart rate is low, which is good. Am I fit? Hey, it is not a sign of bradycardia!

Though my lab work is slowly progressing, I feel alright but need to complain about it to someone. Nonetheless, today workout is a good one. Playing squash with left hand reminds me that I can train my untrained (not often used) body part to do work. Just like running, we can train our body and mind for it.

THE HEART OF A RUNNER

"A low resting heart rate is generally regarded as the hallmark of fitness. A well-trained heart pumps more blood with each stroke, accomplishing more work with less energy expenditure. It has more time to rest between beats, an unmitigated good. People who are very fit often have resting heart rtes in the low fifties, sometimes even the forties. Anything below sixty beats per minute is lodged in my mind, anyway, as a kind of virtue, something akin to high moral character. It means that you've done your work."
-----John Jerome

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--Note on measuring Resting Hearth Rate (HR)--

The Resting HR should be used as an index to improve your cardiovascular fitness level, with a focus on decreasing it. The best time to measure your Resting HR is when you first arise from sleep in the morning. The palpation (beats) of the Radial Pulse is accurately measured in your wrist in line with the base of your thumb. Place the tips of your index and middle fingers over the Radial Artery and apply a light pressure to it. DO NOT USE YOUR THUMB. It has a pulse of it's own. You may count the beats for one full minute to get the HR, or for 30 seconds and multiply by 2 for the number of BPM.
(an excerpt from an article by Lisa Moser)

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Week 4 Wednesday

May 17, 2006
Activities/Actions:

• Stationary Biked for 15 mins
• Sat up for 10 mins & Stretched up
• Biked to lab

Stat:

Course condition:

How I felt:
(the 5-point scale)

• Physically 5
• Mentally 3
• About my nutrition 5
• About my sleep 4

How hard did I work? 6
(the 10-point scale)

Note and reflections:
A full dinner tonight with P' Lek and P' Tee at Chinatown pushes my workout a bit late today. Also, the rain and thunders come for a brief period in the evening, which makes out running not possible. Just want to put it... Another rest Day. Though, my coputer programs are still running.

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Week 4 Tuesday

May 16, 2006
Activities/Actions:

• Biked to lab
• Ran for a mile (8 laps in HCFH)
• Played squash for 3 games with P' Lek

Stat:

Course condition:

How I felt:
(the 5-point scale)

• Physically 5
• Mentally 4
• About my nutrition 5
• About my sleep 4

How hard did I work? 8
(the 10-point scale)

Note and reflections:
Not much for today. I stayed up very late last night (until 3a) doing work. However, this did not interfere today... I got up around 10a, though I awaked before then like 7a (could not force myself to get up). I forgot to take my resting heart rate this morning.

I have not followed the training program yet... just run for now...

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Week 4 Monday

May 15, 2006
Activities/Actions:

• Biked to lab
• Ran with Wayne on 5 mile (8K) Jackson Park Path (No. 2), passing through the Bob-O-Like Meadow.
• Stretched & Lifted Weight for ~ 1 hour

Stat:
Started 6:40p
~ 5 miles, 45 mins (9:00/mile)

Course condition: A bit windy, but we head south along the wind blowing direction.

How I felt:
(the 5-point scale)

• Physically 5
• Mentally 3
• About my nutrition 5
• About my sleep 4

How hard did I work? 6
(the 10-point scale)

Note and reflections:
The program sets Monday to be one of two rest days in a week, but I run anyway. I am thinking of pushing week 1 of the program a bit further since if I am training for Chicago Marathon, this will be too early for this 18 week training program. Anyway, the run slowly move to a nice section of Jackson Park. It is chilly and windy today, but this does not stop from pushing forwards.

A note on my work: My computer program still takes a long time to give me a result. I am waiting for the result... Let it run!

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Week 3 Highlights - A rainny week

Highlights/accomplishments for the week:
Though the week's weather has not been that nice (3 days of rains), I still run for 6 days. The most importance is illustrated by the morning run! I am really happy though this was the only one in the week!

Actions for next week:

• Need to keep a record of my heart rate
  
• Hydration watch needs to be effective
• Morning run is desirable!!!
• Start the first week of a Marathon Program for a novice.

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Week 3 Sunday

May 14, 2006
Activities/Actions:

• Ran 5 miles on the lakefront path

Stat:
Started 2:30p;
~ 5 miles, 40 mins

Course condition: Sunny and windy; a bit cold. I started at the apartment and ended on Campus at University Ave and 57th street. (I went to do grocery shopping afterward).

How I felt:
(the 5-point scale)

• Physically 5
• Mentally 5
• About my nutrition 3
• About my sleep 4

How hard did I work? 7
(the 10-point scale)

Note and reflections:
Finally the sun comes out after two days of rain or cloudy sky. I do not wait until the next storm to come so I take this opportunity to rush myself outside. The run is very refreshing. The sun after rain brights my mind up. .... To be continued...

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