Personal Bests & Races

CONTENTS
Races: Sprint Triathlon / 5-K Runs / Bike Races / Masters Swim Meets
Daily Maximums: Bench press / Gross weight lifted / Abdominal crunches / Pull-ups
Daily Averages: Gross weight lifted / Abdominal crunches / Pull-ups / Calories burned / Exercise intensity

RACES
  • Olympic-length Triathlon:
    • July 29, 2012. -[location]-. Swim--1.5 km in a river in 27:21; Bike--40 km on a highway in 1:24:21; Run--10 km on flat trail in 1:01:12. Overall time: 2:59:15. I came in 27th place out of 29 in my gender-age group and 278th place overall out of 358 participants (22nd percentile).
  • Sprint Triathlons:
    • June 18, 2011. -------. Swim--200 yards in a pool; Bike--11 miles on country roads; Run--5 km on flat terrain in 30:30; total time was 1:19:19. I came in 13th out of 13 in my gender-age group and 45th place out of 76 adult participants (41st percentile).
    • October 2, 2011. ---------. Swim--400 meters in a pool; Bike--10.5 miles on local streets; Run--5 km on pavement in 27:49; total time was 1:17:01. I came in 5th out of 8 in my gender-age group and 27th place overall out of 54 participants (50th percentile).
    • August 12, 2012. ---------. Swim--700 meters in a pool; Bike--12 miles on local roads; Run--5 km on forest trail in 28:48; overall time: 1:26:23. I came in 12th out of 26 in my gender-age group and 154th place overall out of 411 particiants (62nd percentile).
    • August 25, 2012. ---------. Swim--616 yards in a bay in 13:34; Bike--13 miles on flat road in 37:09; Run--3.5 miles on flat path in 30:04. Overall time: 1:24:47. I came in 12th out of 25 in my age group and 100th out of 356 total participants (72nd percentile).
  • 5K Runs:
    • August 28, 2010. -[location]-. Hilly fitness path.  My time was 28:25. I came in X place out of 130 participants.
    • My fastest 5K race was on August 27, 2011. The running course was identical to the one listed for 2010.  My running time was 28:09, which represents a 1% improvement since last year.  I came in 83rd place out of 120 (31st percentile). 
  • Bike Races:
    • I participated in an unusual kind of race using stationary bikes at my workplace. I pedalled 5 miles in 9:48 on October 29, 2010. I "raced" for a second time on a stationary bike on April 17, 2011 and finished off 5 miles in 9:17, which represents a 5% improvement over approximately 6 months.
    • I was part of a Sprint Triathlon team on August 7, 2011, where I rode 12.5 miles on my bicycle in 39:59. This time includes both the swim-bike and bike-run transitions. This race time would rank me around 17th place out of 29 in my gender-age group, though I am comparing my time with those who completed the full race. My team came in 5th out of 16 teams.
  • 25-yard Freestyle Swim:
    • 14.12 seconds on October 9, 2011.
    • 15.31 seconds at a Masters Swim Meet on March 6, 2011.
    • 15.86 seconds completed as part of a Masters Swim Meet on January 9, 2011.
  • 50-yard Freestyle Swim:
    • 30.85 seconds on November 6, 2011.
    • 34.15 seconds completed as part of a Masters Swim Meet on December 5, 2010.
  • 50-meter Freestyle Swim (LC):
    • 37.27 seconds completed at the Masters Swim meet on August 28, 2011.
  • 100-yard Freestyle Swim:
    • 1:09.00 on November 6, 2011.
    • 1:12.55 completed as part of a Masters Swim Meet on February 20, 2011.
  • 100-meter Freestyle Swim (LC):
    • 1:27.84 completed at a Masters Swim meet on August 28, 2011.
  • 200-yard Freestyle Swim:
    • 2:52.73 on October 23, 2011.
    • 2:57.00 on October 9, 2011.
    • 3:12.15 completed as part of a Masters Swim Meet on January 9, 2011. 
  • 1,650-yard Freestyle Swim:
    • 29:30.04 completed as a Masters Swim Meet on January 29, 2011.
  • 25-yard Breaststroke Swim:
    • 18.53 seconds at a Masters Swim Meet on March 6, 2011.
  • 50-yard Breaststroke Swim:
    • 39.41 seconds on November 6, 2011.
    • 39.72 seconds completed as part of a Masters Swim Meet on December 5, 2010.
    • 39.79 seconds completed as part of a Masters Swim Meet on February 20, 2011.
  • 25-yard Butterfly Swim:
    • 15.80 seconds on November 6, 2011.
    • 16.90 seconds at a Masters Swim meet on February 20, 2011.
  • 50-yard Butterfly Swim:
    • 37.25 seconds on October 23, 2011.
    • 38.42 seconds on October 9, 2011.
  • 50-meter Butterfly Swim (LC):
    • 43.04 seconds at a Maters Swim meet on August 28, 2011.
  • 100-yard Individual Medley Swim:
    • 1:21.15 on October 23, 2011.
    • 1:28.26 at a Masters Swim Meet on March 6, 2011.
    • 1:33.25 on October 9, 2011.

DAILY MAXIMUMS
  • Bench Press, maximum combination of weight and repetitions:
    • I lifted 120 pounds (one set of 10 repetitions) for the first time on August 26, 2009. I increased the number of repetitions (in one set) up to 15 by October 13, 2009, when in fact I lifted for a set of 15 followed by 4 more for a total of 19 repetitions. Later the next month I injured my shoulder and I've not pushed beyond 110 pounds per lift since.
  • Gross Weight Lifted in a single day:
    • September 8, 2010 when I lifted 6,450 pounds. This figure represents the sum of all exercises completed during a single workout accounting for the weight lifted for each and the number of repetitions performed. The figure cited above is based on the following equation: 30 bench presses @ 90 pounds + 40 chest punches @ 12.5 pounds + 30 upright rows @ 80 pounds + 40 dumbbell shrugs @ 17.5 pounds + 150 pounds to represent use of a hand-grip tool
  • Abdominal Crunches, completed in a single day:
    • December 29, 2010 when I completed 68 crunches in a row. The figure includes any of several varities of crunches that I performed, including crunches done on a weight bench set at a negative 30 degree angle and leg lifts performed on a weight bench at a 60 degree inclined angle.
  • Pull-Ups, completed in a single day:
    • January 2, 2010 when I did 6 pull-ups in a row. I injured my shoulder that day, so I've never done more since that date.


DAILY AVERAGES (stopped calculating these in June 2011)
  •  Gross Weight Lifted, month with highest daily average:
    • June 2009 when I lifted an average of 1,855 pounds per day. This figure represents the product of all weight lifting exercises and the number of repetitions I performed each, summed over the month, and then divided by the number of days in the month. The denominator includes both days when I lifted weights and days when I did not, so the figure above will most certainly be lower than the amount of weight I lift on a given day.  
  • Abdominal Crunches, month with highest daily average: 
    • May 2009 when I completed an average of 30 crunches per day. This figure represents the number of repetitions I performed over the month, divided by the number of days in the month. The denominator includes both days when I did crunches and days when I did not, so the figure above will most certainly be lower than the amount of crunches done during a workout. The figure includes any of several varities of crunches that I perform.
  • Pull-Ups, month with highest daily average:
    • September 2010 when I completed an average of 1.2 pull-ups per day. This figure represents the number of repetitions I performed over the month, divided by the number of days in the month. The denominator includes both days when I did pull-up and days when I did not, so the figure above will most certainly be lower than the amount of pull-ups done during any one workout. 
  • Calories Burned, month with highest daily average:
    • May 2010 when I burned an average of 710 calories per day during my workouts (running, cycling, swimming, hiking, softball, etc.). This figure represents the number of calories burned over the month during separate workouts, divided by the number of days in the month. The denominator includes both days when I did exercise and days when I did not, so the figure above tends to underestimate the number of calories burned during any one workout.
  • Exercise Intensity, month with highest daily average:
    • August 2010 when a daily value of 26.4 was generated. For each workout I assign a value that characterizes the intensity of the exercise using the following equation:
    • EI = (Calories Burned / Duration) x HRV
      • calories are determined using a fitness website, or from my heart rate monitor (when I wear it), or from my bicylce speedometer (when used, obviously). If I have an estimate from more than one of these, then I find the average of the values used.
      • duration is given in minutes and must exceed 15 minutes or else EI is made equal to zero.
      • heart rate value (HRV) is a discrete value between 1 and 4 that represents the greatest heart rate reached during the activity. Greatest heart rate is obtained from a heart rate monitor (when I wear it), or by feeling for my pulse. Sometimes I forget to measure heart rate, in which I guess what the highest value was based on how hard I was breathing and/or how much I was sweating.
        • A value of 1 is assigned when my highest heart rate during low-grade exerise failed to reach 127 bpm (60% effort).
        • A value of 2 is assigned for a heart rate that reaches 127 bpm but is less than 148 bpm (70% effort).
        • A value of 3 is assigned for a heart rate that reaches 148 bpm but is less than 170 bpm (80% effort).
        • A value of 4 is assigned for a heart rate that reaches 170 bpm or higher.
        • If the duration of exercise is greater than 60 min, then the heart rate must be elevated above 130 bpm for at least 25 min ("time in zone" is calculated by my heart rate monitor). Otherwise, the HRV is reduced by one to signify that the exercise was probably not as intense as the highest heart rate would normally indicate.
    • Like all the other daily averages, the EI figure cited above represents a daily average, which includes both days I exercised and days I did not. So it will typically be an underestimate of the intensity level acheived during any one workout.