August 2010 summary

August was a great month for me. Even though I had a vacation half way into it, I was able to stay active and at least maintain the average 375-plus calories burned per day that I have achieved for the last 4 months. I also broke both a monthly record and a daily record for exercise intensity. In fact, I broke my daily record twice. On Aug 7 I ran for 25 minutes at an intensity of 61.8 (see sidebar for a definition of exercise intensity). Then on Aug 28 I ran my first 5K race. My running time was 28:25 minutes but I didn't turn my heart monitor off for another few minutes so in total, I burned 530 calories that day during a 33-minute period at an intensity of 64.2. Combining the 2 record-breaking runs, 19 swimming days, 1 bike ride, 4 softball games, 4 hikes or walks, and a day with kayaking, I had a daily exercise intensity average of 26.4, which broke the old record of 25.5 set in June 2010. 

Though I couldn't do any weight-lifting while on vacation,  I still came in with an above-average gross lifting weight of 1,160 pounds per day. The running monthly average for this statistic is 1,101 pounds (n = 24 months).

Wow, I just realized I've been lifting weights for exactly 2 years now. I do not enjoy it as much as I used to but I have recently re-committed myself to lifting more often. If I had more readers of this blog it sure would help, because then I'd feel a little greater push to work toward this goal. So we'll see! As it turns out, I'm writing this blog tonight instead of lifting weights.

So let me mention one more thing that I did well this August and then I'll wrap up. I broke my monthly pull-up record, too. The pool where I swim has recently installed some pull-up bars along the wall next to the pool, so after a swim I often grab the bar and do a couple pull-ups. It is surprising how hard a pull-up used to be. Now I can do two without fatigue. I should do 3 now, shouldn't I? OK, I'll do that the next time. I promise. Now I've got to go do some bench presses, as it has been 6 days since I last did some. On Sept 2, 2010 I did two sets of 15 presses at 90 pounds. Tonight I shall do the same. Here I go!