Late-night runs

Just got back from the first run since last Sunday. Das infernal maschine has downgraded my level and is now offering less exercise per week, but fortunately I know better. I think it might just be better to listen to the machine and try to finally get around to keeping rates down and stuff. But where's the fun in that? Instead I got myself a copy of The Crystal Method's Drive: Nike+ Original Run and ran a rather sweaty 40-minute jog. And I'm certain that the machine will shout at me, but I planned to hit the company gym tomorrow (or later today, in fact). Eat that, you silly technical contraption! I'll kill myself with this training routine or die trying, and no machine will stop me! :)

Oh, and the aformentioned Crystal Method album is actually quite brilliant. I guess I'll need to start looking into making some playlists for jogs, since it really seemed that I the rates were following the tempo of the music. Maybe I can try to influence my training intensity this way, since it's apparent that staring at the monitor doesn't help me one bit.

Convertible cuffs

What's the point with convertible cuffs - especially if they're barrel cuffs. Completely and utterly useless as they're just barrel cuffs that are cut entirely through. Can't really use any sort of cufflinks with them without looking like a complete moron. That said, I actually got a shirt type called The Traveller recently and the features included a cotton variant that has (apparently) been treated in some way and resists creases, a hidden pocket in the helm of the shirt and a *gasp* convertible double cuff. But in this case the button is hidden away quite well and doesn't show at all. I don't really know why I would ever close said cuff with a button, but I guess it's nice to have it in place if you happen to forget your cufflinks somewhere. Oh, and it really doesn't crease.

The Training. Updated.

Ok, I've been seriously neglecting to post updates on my jogging project. I guess mainly because there's nothing really to report. My last couple of weeks have mainly contained about two jogs a week; typically once around the island and then one shorter one. And then gym with low weights and a high number of reps once a week. So business as usual. And I'm still having trouble controlling the heartrate, but I guess I haven't really tried either.

Last night I went for another jog around the island, this time without cutting any corners so that makes it about 13ish kilometers. A friend of mine joined me, but alas he appears to be in much better shape than what I am in and he was setting the pace. Granted, 13 kilometers in a bit less than 60 minutes is not that bad, but the heartrate was all over the place and at the end I don't know if I could've kept the pace up at all. The Suunto t4 (unofficially dubbed as das infernal maschine) has been whining at me again telling me to do exercises with lower heartrates and as a result of last night it has banned me from exercising for the next five days. Fortunately I know better and it's gym day tomorrow. Then maybe try a bit of walking on Thursday.

The Original. Updated.

That's actually a fairly clever idea for a commercial.

Cars

I might've touched upon this subject already, but oh well. Anyway, a while back I had an interesting discussion about cars with a friend of mine. I personally like cars like the BMW 3-series (the sedans) and the Audi A4/S4 lines. My friend, however, didn't. Apparently they are too common, boring, and so on. I guess I sort of agree with that, but that's precisely why I like them so much. From a technological standpoint they are brilliant German cars. The brands are very strong and communicate this certain sense of reserved style (more so with the Audi these days). And then when you slap in a big engine and trim the car a bit overall, you get a car that behaves brilliantly, goes fast, and is incredibly understated. I don't want a car to pose in that much (well, ok, I wouldn't mind have an Aston...). That said, cars are always in the end about passion and feeling instead of rationality, and in that sense I guess the BMW/Audi axis of brands are what attracts me personally. And car-wise I like the smaller cars that are more discrete and less bling than the bigger ones. I wonder if that makes me a boring person who lacks imagination entirely. Chances of that are quite big now, I suppose.

Training summary for week 35

Ok, training slipped a bit; during last week I only did a 40 minute jog on Wednesday and then two gym sets (with a high number of reps and sets with low weights, though). Again I guess I ran a bit too fast.

Then last night (does Sunday constitute as the start of a new week or the end of the old week, anyway?) I went for a jog around Lauttasaari again, but had to cut it a bit short and only did 11km. Again I guess the heart rate was sort of high, but interestingly enough at no point did I feel like getting too tired. The run took a bit more than 60 minutes. So I'm hoping that some improvement is actually happening and maybe my heart rate is just a bit higher by default? Dunno, still need to try to keep it down and maybe do some fast-paced walking at some point. The funny thing about the Sunday jog was that I actually even got lost at one point. I guess living on the same island for three years is by no means enough to get you acquainted with your surroundings...