06:00 Warm up

• Bwt 215.0

CrossFit WOD 071230

• Warm up
• 500 m Row
• 50 Squats
• 30 Back Extensions

09:15 Post op check up for my knee. Dr. Cananaugh is pleased with my progress.

10:00 WOD @ Longmont YMCA

• Scaled to half squats
• Substituted push ups for back extensions
• 15:23

While the Tesla Roadster is quite tempting, the lack of infrastructure for electric cars poses some problems. It's 200+ mile range is fine for commuting, and adequate for many day trips, but cross country travel would be severely limited. It also lacks sufficient cooling for use as a track toy. Pity.

05:50 Warm-up

07:00 Breakfast

09:00 WOD @ Boulder Crossfit

• Warm-up

• Potluck Tabata

  Squat (1/2)	116
  Kettlebell Swing (12 kg)	64
  Pull-up	21
  Wallball	62
  Sit-up	60
  Step-up (8")	47
  Push-up	110

• I got to taste breakfast a second time between the 7th and 8th push-up intervals. NB. Eat breakfast earlier next time.

An article at MSN.com talks about the poor results seen by patrons of the large commercial gyms. Most would-be exercisers join for a year, work out a few times before losing interest, and don't renew their memberships. These gyms are dependent upon this and aggressively recruit new members to support their large investment in expensive specialized strength and cardio machines, high traffic locations, and large, glittery buildings. They typically have many more members on the books than they could support if most of them continued to work out regularly.

Those who do continue to patronize the large commercial gyms often fail to achieve the results that they desire because the isolation movements forced by the exercise machines and body building style workouts are less effective than functional exercises like squats, dead-lifts, standing presses, pull-ups, push-ups, throwing, catching, jumping, and climbing. One reason that I prefer to work out at YMCAs and military gyms is that they're more like to have free weights, pull-up bars, climbing ropes, tracks, and swimming pools.

When I discovered CrossFit a couple of months ago, I was intrigued. They're heading in the same direction that I have been, but are farther down the path. I've done some workouts at a local CrossFit affiliate and begun to upgrade our basement gym for more CrossFit style exercises. CrossFit seems like a very efficient and fun way to develop functional strength, speed, and endurance.

Finished shoveling yesterday's snow.

16:30 - Worked out at Boulder Crossfit:

• Warm-up
• Row 5K in 27:12 (PR)
• 100 Push-ups in 2:22 (50, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

Bwt: 214.5

The One Laptop Per Child XO is getting more interesting. IPython is included in the default builds, though it doesn't seem to be optimally configured. Most of the XO's software is written in Python, and IPython's enhanced introspection fits well with the OLPC goal of a highly discoverable system.

Worked out at Boulder Crossfit this afternoon. "Barbara" - 5 rounds of 20 pull-ups, 30 push-ups, 40 sit-ups, and 50 squats, time each round and rest 3 minutes between rounds.

Stopped after two rounds, as the knee was getting tired and I didn't want to risk re-injuring it. Pull-ups were singles at a rate of 4 per minute. Push-ups and squats were unbroken.

Bwt: 212.5#

There's a nice article in Wired about the Automotive X Prize. The X Prize Foundation is offering at least ten million dollars in a green "Great Race" type competition across the United States intended to spur innovation in personal transportation.

One of the innovative cars expected to compete is the Aptera, expected to be in production in about a year. A three wheel vehicle, with hybrid and pure electric versions planned, the Aptera is legally classified as a motorcycle in the U.S. It very light weight and streamlined, with 2+1 seating and room under the hatch for two 7 foot surf boards. Looking like a small aircraft, it's really cool, and at about $30,000, its much more likely to see the inside of my garage than a Tesla Roadster.

I didn't do too much damage at the Christmas feast. My weight is holding at 214 pounds.

Worked out at Boulder Crossfit this afternoon, three rounds of 500 meter row and 30 push-ups for time. Completed in 11:57.

We participated in the Christmas Eve candlelight service at St. Stephen's and exchanged stockings after we returned home.

Merry Christmas to all, especially the military, police, fire, and other professionals keeping watch tonight.

The knee is doing better. Warm-up for today's workout included quarter squats with minimal discomfort. The main WOD was as many rounds as possible of pull-ups and dips with 70# assist, starting with 10 reps each per round.

Finished off with:

• left leg extensions, sets of 10 with 50, 70, 90, 110# each
• back extensions, 4 sets of 10
• hanging leg lifts, 3 sets of 10

I've experienced more post-op pain than I did with my previous arthroscopies. Didn't get much sleep Thursday night, but slept 10 hours Friday.

Did my first post-op workout this morning, focusing on upper body.

• Pull-ups - 7, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

• First set was for maximum reps. Back in February, when I decided that I really needed to lose weight, I weighed 237 pounds and could do 2 pull-ups. I'm now at 214 pounds.

• Bench Press - 45# bar for 30 reps focusing on form and range of motion
• Quad Extension - Left leg sets of 10 with 50, 70, 90, and 110#

• Right knee didn't like 10#, so I skipped it.

• Back Extension - 10, 10, 10, 10
• Hanging Leg Lift - 10, 10

After lunch we went to the mall so I could finish my Christmas shopping. I was pretty much beat afterward.

Arthroscopy on my right knee went well today. Cleaning it up should allow more activity so that I can get some more mileage out of it.

I love eggnog, but I'm cutting back on sugar, and the commercial ones are loaded with it. Googling for "eggnog recipe" turned up this easy eggnog recipe which seemed like a good place to start. I tried it, substituting stevia for the sugar.

The recommended stevia substitution for sugar was 2 tablespoons, which was too sweet and left a bitter aftertaste for me. I'm still experimenting, but it looks like this will do the trick.

• 8 eggs
• 2 pints half and half
• 2 teaspoons stevia
• 3 teaspoons vanilla essence
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Beat eggs in a large bowl; add milk and stevia and continue beating; add vanilla and nutmeg, then cover and refrigerate.