It really worked

When I'm not persuing my passion of triathlon training I'm a geek. A computer geek. Specifically a Technical Architect with a specialty in enterprise Java application architecture and WebSphere Application Server administration / performance tuning.

In my efforts to consolidate applications and make better use of the HUGE hardware investment at my new employer (~6 months), I've been moving WAS instances around, usually with very little fanfare and much tedium in the WAS Admin Console.

One thing I hadn't done though, until today, is move the WAS Network Deployment Manager instance. We had JUST the dmgr running on an eight-way AIX server, waaaayyyyyy too much horsepower for dmgr.

After much google'ing, I stumbled upon this. It seemed a bit too easy to work, and despite my successes with IBM's Tivoli and MQ Series support, I was frankly skeptical.

We provisioned a two-way machine and I installed WAS 5.0 -> FixPack 2 -> JDK SR9 -> Cumulative Fix 16 then simply restored the backed-up config from our functional ND host and waited for the AIX admin to do his magic swapping hostnames and IP's. A quick bounce and a ./startManager.sh and we were in business on a new host.

Friday 4/28/06

Morning Workout: Weights (Power Cycle 3)

Super Cycle 1:

Bench Press:
6 @ 95lbs
4 @ 105lbs
3 @ 115lbs
2 @ 120lbs
3 @ 115lbs

Jockey Row *:
6 @ 75
4 @ 90
3 @ 95
2 @ 100
3 @ 100

Super Cycle 2:

Clean:
6 @ 75lbs
4 @ 95lbs
3 @ 100lbs
2 @ 105lbs
3 @ 100lbs

Back Extension Curl-Up:
6 @ +25lbs
4 @ +25lbs
3 @ +50lbs
3 @ +50lbs
3 @ +50lbs

* – The cable machine I use for this feels a lot heavier than the cable x-over machine at the same weight. I doubt it's in Kilo's, but it feels a lot heavier than pounds

Afternoon Workout: Swimming

Cut out of work early today and headed to the pool to get some laps in since I avoided it both Tuesday and Thursday mornings this week. My right hip hurts a bit so running or cycling is out of the question. I have a sports massage scheduled for tomorrow morning (my second ever massage, the first being after Ironman Wisconsin). Hopefully getting some deep tissue massage in my hips and low back will loosen them up a bit.

Anyways, hopped in the pool and did:

Warmup:
400m mixed easy
100m 6-beat free w/fins
100m 4-beat free w/fins
200m 2-beat free w/fins

Workout:
100m back
4×200m on 1:00 RI
100m back
200m steady state free*
4×50 very hard working on form, :30 RI

Cooldown:
100m mixed easy
* – had some pain in my right shoulder that didn't feel like the typical muscle pain from working hard, so I cut this short.

Thursday 4/27/06

Morning Workout: None

Skipped the pool again this morning. Really don't have any excuses other than being up slightly later than expected and the incredible lack of motivation to swim.

Evening Workout: Running Hill Repeats

Headed from work to Ridley Creek State Park to do repeats up the monster hill there, but realized halfway through my in-car changing routine that I forgot shorts. If I forget something, it's usually socks, and I can make due, but running in khaki's just ain't gonna happen.

Headed home and did repeats on Dutton Mill Road on the hill between Strasburg Road and Manley Road. The hill's roughly a 1/4 -> 1/3 mile long and at a decently steep pitch. Did 9 repeats up the hill at a ~6:30 pace, getting the HR nice and high and finishing strong. Finished the workout up by running easy back home, negotiating the construction they're doing on the road I live on.

Total run: 6.8 miles (includes run to and from hill and repeats)

Wednesday 4/26/06

Morning Workout: Weights (Power Cycle 2)

Headed to the gym and did workout #2 of the Power Cycle. After squats and cycling on Monday and running 10.5 not-flat miles last night, the dead lifts were sure to hurt this morning. I figured spending a few minutes on a spinning bike would help, and it did. I'd like to get out and run for 30 minutes or so before lifting, but daylight and weather (it was chilly this morning) weren't cooperative.

Super Cycle 1:

Dead Lifts:
6 @ 95lbs
4 @ 110lbs
3 @ 120lbs
2 @ 140lbs
3 @ 130lbs

Pronated Pull-Ups:
6 @ -40lbs (using assist machine)
4 @ 0lbs
3 @ +10lbs
2 @ +15lbs
3 @ +15lbs (accidentally dropped dumbbell during last rep).

Super Cycle 2:

Cable Woodchop:
6 @ 110lbs
4 @ 120lbs
3 @ 130lbs
2 @ 140lbs
3 @ 130lbs

Cable Reverse Woodchop:
6 @ 70lbs
4 @ 80lbs
3 @ 90lbs
2 @ 100lbs
3 @ 90lbs

Evening Workout: CompuTrainer

To prepare for the hilly Ironman Lake Placid bike course, I did a muscle strength/tension workout using big gears to simulate hills. The bulk of this workout is spent standing, roughly 42 minutes continuous, in either the 53/14 or 53/13 combo. The workout calls for 13 standing big gear 'jumps' from a cadence of 60 rpm to 80 (yeah, right), but I added two more and will continue to add more as the season progresses to work on generating more power in taller gearing.

This workout also includes three TT efforts: 1×15:00 and 2×4:00

15:00 Effort:
Power: 203W avg, 368W max
Heart Rate: 154/163
Speed/Dist: 20.6mph avg, 5.13 miles

4:00 Effort:
Power: 281W avg, 452W max
Heart Rate: 157 avg, 170 max
Speed/Dist: 22.9 mph avg, 1.52 miles

4:00 Effort:
Power: 272W avg, 437W max
Heart Rate: 159 avg, 171 max
Speed/Dist: 22.6mph avg, 1.50 miles

My legs felt completely shot by the end of the workout. I'm really not looking forward to running hill repeats tomorrow afternoon.

Tuesday 4/25/06

Morning Workout: None

Went to sleep way too late last night and was still feeling a bit under the weather so decided that 7.5 hours of sleep was better than 6 hours of sleep and 3K in the pool.

Evening Workout: Distance Run

The weekly 'long' run in Ridley Creek State Park on the multi-use path. Did two loops of the five mile path, one clockwise up the monster hill (~255 ft vertical in .6 miles) and one counter clockwise. Managed to negative split the loops but had some difficulty maintaining a steady pace. I kept trying to go faster but my lungs couldn't keep up with the 6:40 pace my legs wanted to go. Also had some cramping issues in my diaphragm despite drinking a couple of liters of gatorade this afternoon and salting my pre-run fuel.

10.4 miles in 1:21 (7:50/mile, 163 avg HR)

Slower than last weeks run (same distance @ 7:40/mile).