A comparison of fitness and health

Job hunting is in full swing. The interview I had on last Tues (my b-day), they hired someone with more industry experience...(nuts). What can you do except get back on the saddle.

Today I met with an employment agency. I have two more appointment with different agencies. One tomorrow and one Thrusday. I don't get much result from them but hey, at least it is something to get me busy.

Tomorrow I am meeting with a woman from church. She was telling me to go spam the company in Mississauga. That's how her son got a job. I am going to sit down with her and have her look over my resume. I figure since I am into the field of marketing I might as well market MYSELF.

Anyway...back to training. Today I had an amazing session. Bike for 1:05 and it went like this:

Warm up: 10 min
Main Set: 3 X 10 min in just below Z4 (w/ 5 min spin)
Cool Down: 10 min

My bikey is in for tune up so I went to the local gym. I had very little confidence in myself for doing this session. My legs were a bit achy from Mon's workout. As it turned out, my body surprised me. It handled the main set very well. I grinded the 10 min and the legs kept on giving. I literrally poured on their trainer. I wiped afterwards (of course).

As I was doing my swim tonight, I was comparing myself from exactly last year.

Overall - last year I train more consistent than this year. With leading fellowship, going back to Hong Kong and coming up with a stomach flu, my schedule is all over the place. Last year though, I did experience a few times that I almost burn out. This year, I try to keep things on the conservative side. I don't think it worked well considering I am getting burn out from other life stuff.

2007 I also started training in zones and in lower heart rate than 2006. I hope to see some improvement from the low end.

Strength - last year I was stronger. Why? B/c this year I did not went to the gym at all! Weight training was the first thing out the door when my schedule is packed. I am going to start doing some maintenance work to keep the injury at bay.

Swim - last year I would be in joy if I swim 2 km. This year, my volume had gone up. Each time I hit the pool, I swim at least 2 km. This year, I stop seeing my swim coach ($$ reason) and so my technique hadn't improve significantly.

Bike - last year by now, I did a 200 km. This year, not much. Although this year, each time I spent on the trainer is significant longer than last year.

Run - About the same, last year my long run stretches to 2 - 2.5 hr from Jan till Apr. This year, I only start amping up that kind of long run around March.

Health - Doctor told me my liver number is normal. It hadn't been normal for a year and a half. Blood pressure is normal as oppose to high. So overall is good. Diet wise, last year I am way more discipline in jotting down everything I eat and keep the junk food away.

Weight - Last year, I weight around 147 lbs. Right now I weight 144 lbs. This doesn't mean my diet is working. When I had my stomach flu, I lost 8 lbs (dropped to 140 lbs). Weight, alone, can be deceptive. I don't recommend doing what I do to lose weight. But since the weight is off, I plan to keep it off (as long as I eat healthy).

2006 Jan - Apr - I push much harder. More consistent. In general, I almost burn out.
2007 Jan - Apr - I should have push a bit more. Not as consistent. Right now, I am very motivated to get back into the game. My goal is to keep this motivation in the next few weeks as I continue to increase the volume and build up the engine for Ironman.

Going to bed now......tomorrow is a busy day.