Day 3 complete! Lots of sweat but I feel some improvement in endurance.
One definite help by this point is realizing how to pace yourself better (as well as making sure you have plenty of water and a sweat towel handy). My pace usually ends with me at ~185-190 heart rate for each break. I'm definitely slower than the trainers but able to complete the sets.
The hardest move for me seemed to be the 'floor sprints' (aka mountain climbers). These are the ones where you're in a push up position but you run with your legs bringing your knee in. Something I need to practice, either in form or building up the muscles involved (my quads most likely).
Btw: I started the diet for the program a day early to rehearse how I was going to eat 5 times a day. I weighed 199.0 pounds. This morning (4th day on diet, 3rd day of insanity but before 3rd workout) I was at 195.8, so definitely some weight loss improvement, either from just the diet or both.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Insanity Workout - Day 2
Just finished Day 2 of Insanity! Yay!
After my experience on Day 1 (puking at end), I read up on others similar experiences and concluded it was because my heart rate got too high. I picked up a heart rate monitor as others suggested and this time paused the DVD whenever my heart rate was in the 190s. I only paused for a minute though to make sure my heart rate got back to 170 and breath caught up. I think this was key because even doing that I had a burp or two similar to day 1 where on that day I eventually threw up. But this time, none of that. The workout was still a struggle though even with the extra pauses.
I believe this workout identified my biggest challenge - leg strength. I found through the first 20 minutes or so, my upper body felt great but my legs were turning mushy. I think I'll start doing much better all around once they get some improvement.
Lots of sweat and struggle so I got a great work-out. But there's a LOT of room for improvement and I'm looking forward to being able to keep up in the future and power through the entire session.
PS: Even though it feels like cheating with the pauses, it seems like the right thing to do if your heart rate is really high so I'd recommend that to others. If I kept going instead of pausing today I wouldn't have continued the moves as strongly. And even with pausing, it's still high intensity interval training, just with a longer interval (they only give 30 seconds which feels like just enough to water up and wipe sweat off).
Hang in there!
After my experience on Day 1 (puking at end), I read up on others similar experiences and concluded it was because my heart rate got too high. I picked up a heart rate monitor as others suggested and this time paused the DVD whenever my heart rate was in the 190s. I only paused for a minute though to make sure my heart rate got back to 170 and breath caught up. I think this was key because even doing that I had a burp or two similar to day 1 where on that day I eventually threw up. But this time, none of that. The workout was still a struggle though even with the extra pauses.
I believe this workout identified my biggest challenge - leg strength. I found through the first 20 minutes or so, my upper body felt great but my legs were turning mushy. I think I'll start doing much better all around once they get some improvement.
Lots of sweat and struggle so I got a great work-out. But there's a LOT of room for improvement and I'm looking forward to being able to keep up in the future and power through the entire session.
PS: Even though it feels like cheating with the pauses, it seems like the right thing to do if your heart rate is really high so I'd recommend that to others. If I kept going instead of pausing today I wouldn't have continued the moves as strongly. And even with pausing, it's still high intensity interval training, just with a longer interval (they only give 30 seconds which feels like just enough to water up and wipe sweat off).
Hang in there!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Insanity Workout - Day 1
Ok like others who have done this and posted online about it, I now too have officially gotten my butt kicked by Shaun T and his Insanity Workout program!
I was a little intimidated how all the comments I read warned about "lying on the floor gasping for air" and even "puking on the floor." But I figured I'd just end up like what others described as a "pool of sweat."
Well, I ended up in the category of all three! At the end I was very sweaty and literally on the floor just trying to get in air. And after getting up a little too soon to wander over for a drink, ended up vomiting!
However, a few moments later after my heart finally stopped racing and I got enough air, I felt great, LOL. I filled up on some water and a post workout drink (Myoplex Lite).
I may have to pace myself better on Day 2 as this is an intense workout.
I was a little intimidated how all the comments I read warned about "lying on the floor gasping for air" and even "puking on the floor." But I figured I'd just end up like what others described as a "pool of sweat."
Well, I ended up in the category of all three! At the end I was very sweaty and literally on the floor just trying to get in air. And after getting up a little too soon to wander over for a drink, ended up vomiting!
However, a few moments later after my heart finally stopped racing and I got enough air, I felt great, LOL. I filled up on some water and a post workout drink (Myoplex Lite).
I may have to pace myself better on Day 2 as this is an intense workout.
Jackson
It's been a long time again in between blogs - again mostly due to Facebook being the primary information sharing among friends these days.
Our 3rd child Jackson is 7 weeks now and everything is great. He's been giving us smiles and coos a lot lately and taking a liking to his sister a lot, staring at her intently (we think it's her long hair). He hasn't been fussy much and if he gets that way, he's easy to satisfy (one of diaper, food, or just wants to be held). And like all kids goes asleep immediately if you put him in a car seat, LOL.
Sara is doing great herself, and has a good routine going with him. We couldn't be happier with how everything has been.
Our 3rd child Jackson is 7 weeks now and everything is great. He's been giving us smiles and coos a lot lately and taking a liking to his sister a lot, staring at her intently (we think it's her long hair). He hasn't been fussy much and if he gets that way, he's easy to satisfy (one of diaper, food, or just wants to be held). And like all kids goes asleep immediately if you put him in a car seat, LOL.
Sara is doing great herself, and has a good routine going with him. We couldn't be happier with how everything has been.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Enterprise Library and custom Exception Handler
If you are using the Microsoft Enterprise Library, trying to implement IExceptionHandler, and your custom exception handler is not firing, then this post is for you.
Check the following things:
1 - Make sure your IExceptionHandler class is prefixed by the attribute [ConfigurationElementType(typeof(CustomHandlerData))]
2 - Make sure your IException Handler class has not only a public constructor, but a public constructor that accepts a NameValueCollection argument. I.e.
public MyHandlerClass(NameValueCollection collection) {}
3 - Are you calling ExceptionPolicy.HandleException(exc, "YourExceptionPolicyName") ? If not, add that to where you catch exceptions globally, such as Global.asax's Application_Error in a web application.
4 - Check your web.config setup. The add node has a type="X, Y" property where X is the name of your class and Y is the assembly.
Check the following things:
1 - Make sure your IExceptionHandler class is prefixed by the attribute [ConfigurationElementType(typeof(CustomHandlerData))]
2 - Make sure your IException Handler class has not only a public constructor, but a public constructor that accepts a NameValueCollection argument. I.e.
public MyHandlerClass(NameValueCollection collection) {}
3 - Are you calling ExceptionPolicy.HandleException(exc, "YourExceptionPolicyName") ? If not, add that to where you catch exceptions globally, such as Global.asax's Application_Error in a web application.
4 - Check your web.config setup. The add node has a type="X, Y" property where X is the name of your class and Y is the assembly.
<exceptionHandling>
<exceptionPolicies>
<add name="My Exception Policy">
<exceptionTypes>
<add name="All Exceptions" type="System.Exception, mscorlib, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089"
postHandlingAction="None">
<exceptionHandlers>
<add type="CustomExceptionHandler, MyAssemblyThatContainsHandler, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null"
name="CustomExceptionHandler" />
</exceptionHandlers>
</add>
</exceptionTypes>
</add>
</exceptionPolicies>
</exceptionHandling>
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Final Fantasy XIV
I picked up the collector's edition of Final Fantasy XIV. I originally pre-ordered through Best Buy but they didn't have it on the day it was expected, so after a long day dealing with the customer service, cancelled and just bought it at the local GameStop.
The game was a bit buggy and really slow for me. Supposedly this is to be expected for the launch day of a new MMO. But I expected it to be a little more polished than it was. A lot of jerky motion plus quite a few crashes.
Since my video card wasn't top-notch, I went ahead and bought an upgrade (along with a new power supply) to run it. For reference to anyone with a similar machine, here's what I did:
I have a Gateway GM5632E machine and wanted to get a GTX 460 graphics card. The card recommends a power supply of 450W and this machine came with only a 400W (Delta DPS-400rb). I picked up a Corsair 650W and installed it along with the new graphics card. Everything worked perfect and I could tell a dramatic difference in FFXIV. However, after just 1 day the computer shut down. I noticed power wasn't getting to my case fan and after testing with the old power supply, verified the new power supply was toast! I returned that one and got a Corsair 750W and it has been working fine.
The game was a bit buggy and really slow for me. Supposedly this is to be expected for the launch day of a new MMO. But I expected it to be a little more polished than it was. A lot of jerky motion plus quite a few crashes.
Since my video card wasn't top-notch, I went ahead and bought an upgrade (along with a new power supply) to run it. For reference to anyone with a similar machine, here's what I did:
I have a Gateway GM5632E machine and wanted to get a GTX 460 graphics card. The card recommends a power supply of 450W and this machine came with only a 400W (Delta DPS-400rb). I picked up a Corsair 650W and installed it along with the new graphics card. Everything worked perfect and I could tell a dramatic difference in FFXIV. However, after just 1 day the computer shut down. I noticed power wasn't getting to my case fan and after testing with the old power supply, verified the new power supply was toast! I returned that one and got a Corsair 750W and it has been working fine.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
March 2009 Update
After joining Facebook, I've really neglected this blog. :)
A ton of updates since last so may have to spread this across several posts.
- The biggest update is our Kilimanjaro trip in Jan 2009. Our party of 6 all made the Uhuru peak summit successfully! We used Thompson Safari with Andrew Kitema as our guide. We took the 'Western Approach' route. It was a really nice experience and I recommend it for everyone to do at least once in their life. Not only is the climb fun, but the people there make the experience more rewarding. We have over 3000 pictures and quite a few videos from the trip - took a while to go through them all to make a family DVD.
- Interestingly side-note. The camera I brought with me to take videos got stolen during the flight home (out of my checked luggage). I didn't care much about the camera, but the memory card inside it had all the video clips from the Barranco wall to the summit unfortunately (with some pretty funny stuff along the way). I filed a claim with US Air hoping for a miracle chance of recovering it, but not really expecting anything. Although the camera was not found, to my surprise though US Air sent a check for $345 as a settlement for the loss (I didn't even have to submit any receipts). Doesn't replace the memories, but improved my opinion of US Air a lot. FYI: This was from a Washington Dulles to Charlotte flight where it was lost. Humorously, the package had travelled without incident before-hand from Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, and Rome - only running into trouble right when we got to the US. Don't get me wrong though, we were extremely happy to be back (and all made a dash to the closest fast food at the Dulles airport which was a Wendy's). :)
- I'm getting real interested in photography now, especially videos. To start with, I bought a Canon HV30 with a few accessories (tripod, external mic, wide angle lens, filters, etc). Also purchased Sony Vegas Movie studio. I've been happy so far with the HV30 video quality - an amazing difference from what I've been used to taking videos with. We'll see how my interests hold up. Sony Vegas software has worked out well so far and I like it. Most of all, it's really cheap compared to the alternative products (e.g. $100 vs $1000). I'd rather spend that difference on a Steadicam Merlin! Here's a link to my first test with it:
http://www.vimeo.com/3523016
- The iPhone app side project has worked out really well. I'm happy with the results so far and am looking forward to releasing my next application (mostly finished). That work was put on hold with family obligations and Kilimanjaro trip, but now I'm ready to work more on it. I really dislike the XCode/Mac environment but it's a necessary evil. I'm not sure if Visual Studio .NET and Windows have spoiled me, or if it's just because I'm not "used to it" as much. Right now, I'm much more productive materializing an idea with VS.NET than XCode.
A ton of updates since last so may have to spread this across several posts.
- The biggest update is our Kilimanjaro trip in Jan 2009. Our party of 6 all made the Uhuru peak summit successfully! We used Thompson Safari with Andrew Kitema as our guide. We took the 'Western Approach' route. It was a really nice experience and I recommend it for everyone to do at least once in their life. Not only is the climb fun, but the people there make the experience more rewarding. We have over 3000 pictures and quite a few videos from the trip - took a while to go through them all to make a family DVD.
- Interestingly side-note. The camera I brought with me to take videos got stolen during the flight home (out of my checked luggage). I didn't care much about the camera, but the memory card inside it had all the video clips from the Barranco wall to the summit unfortunately (with some pretty funny stuff along the way). I filed a claim with US Air hoping for a miracle chance of recovering it, but not really expecting anything. Although the camera was not found, to my surprise though US Air sent a check for $345 as a settlement for the loss (I didn't even have to submit any receipts). Doesn't replace the memories, but improved my opinion of US Air a lot. FYI: This was from a Washington Dulles to Charlotte flight where it was lost. Humorously, the package had travelled without incident before-hand from Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, and Rome - only running into trouble right when we got to the US. Don't get me wrong though, we were extremely happy to be back (and all made a dash to the closest fast food at the Dulles airport which was a Wendy's). :)
- I'm getting real interested in photography now, especially videos. To start with, I bought a Canon HV30 with a few accessories (tripod, external mic, wide angle lens, filters, etc). Also purchased Sony Vegas Movie studio. I've been happy so far with the HV30 video quality - an amazing difference from what I've been used to taking videos with. We'll see how my interests hold up. Sony Vegas software has worked out well so far and I like it. Most of all, it's really cheap compared to the alternative products (e.g. $100 vs $1000). I'd rather spend that difference on a Steadicam Merlin! Here's a link to my first test with it:
http://www.vimeo.com/3523016
- The iPhone app side project has worked out really well. I'm happy with the results so far and am looking forward to releasing my next application (mostly finished). That work was put on hold with family obligations and Kilimanjaro trip, but now I'm ready to work more on it. I really dislike the XCode/Mac environment but it's a necessary evil. I'm not sure if Visual Studio .NET and Windows have spoiled me, or if it's just because I'm not "used to it" as much. Right now, I'm much more productive materializing an idea with VS.NET than XCode.
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