Hello, everyone. I've been wanting to write about my training for Steelhead for a few weeks now, but I've been so busy with school and my new daughter that I haven't had much time for writing.
Unfortunately, there's not much to say on that front, as I quit training a few days ago and will not be resuming it anytime soon.
I've always had bad knees, even when I was a teenager. They're so bad that I had to lie to the Army about them in order to join them back when I was 21 years old. The combination of long bike rides and long runs needed to do a half triathlon is too much for my knees to handle.
I'm disappointed that I won't be able to do the race. But there are some upsides to quitting.
For starters, I had to exercise for up to three hours a day. I have two daughters now, and I don't like spending that much time away from my family. I felt selfish leaving my wife behind with the two kids because my workout required me to go bike riding for 30 miles.
I also have a constant fear of injury. Last year I kept making the mistake of trying to train though the pain. Because of that, I went through two major injuries. The last of which, my shoulder, has yet to heal up completely and might never be fully healed. I've had steroid shots, physical therapy, and with all of that I have been able to regain a full range of motion in my right arm. There's still a little bit of pain though, and if I over exert myself I could end up back at square one. I will probably have to look at surgical options somewhere down the line. This fear has kept me from working as hard as I need to do a half triathlon.
I also want to do more weight training. I lost a lot of strength while I was healing from my injuries. It's been nine months since I've had a good weight lifting session.
So I've been looking at new options for exercise. I decided that I needed a workout that would meet the following requirements:
1. It has to involve weight training. I need to increase my strength.
2. I have to be able to do most of it at home. I want my oldest daughter to watch me lift weights so she can learn how to do them herself. I know there are some things I might need a gym for, but I want to be able to use my workouts as a way to bond with my family.
3. The workouts need to burn a maximum amount of calories while minimizing risk of injury.
So after doing some research, I decided that High-Intensity Interval Training would be right up my alley. I found a workout plan that uses weightlifting for the HIIT routine, with a low amount of weight (so I won't mess up my shoulder) and an insane number of reps to ensure that I can increase both my endurance and strength. I found another website that has alternative exercises I can do when I need to do an exercise that requires a special machine.
The plan is only six weeks long, which is good because that's normally the time I start getting bored and look for a new workout plan.
I'm also going to combine that with some standard cardio. I learned to love running, and I don't want to stop. When my knees heal up (I should be good in a few days), I'll start hitting the road again. I'll still do some swimming too. I just signed a year-long family contract with my high school to use their gym and pool, so I'll be able to justify my spending on that.
I also want to get back into MMA. Since I'm not going to be doing any races this year, it seems like something I should do to help keep me motivated to exercise. I love doing martial arts and I'm anxious to get back in it. I'll have to let whomever I'm grappling with know about my shoulder so they don't destroy it in an arm lock. I'll wait on that though, as I want to see if I'll need surgery to recover. Most dojos lock you into a year-long contract, and I don't want to be paying for something I can't use.
