Only a few people will probably get the reference in today's title. I looked and looked for video of an old Saturday Night Live skit called Middle Aged Man. I couldn't find it anywhere, but the joke is basically that a middle aged man does heroic things, but insecurely. His catch phrase is uttered right when a situation starts to calm down and whoever he helped says thank you, he replies angrily "You're looking my my gut aren't you!" He then claims to be "working on it..."
Seemed appropriate today as I made fitness gains but look in the mirror and see more mid-section than I care for. I know there is no such thing as spot reduction, but it would be nice if my belly would flatten a bit faster. I'm working on it:)
Exercise update: Today was my first "Brick" day in my triathlon plan. All brick means is that you run after biking. It's supposed to help you prepare for that transition in the race, which can be challenging because your legs don't want to respond at first when you run.
Today I rode my bike for 50 minutes and followed it up with a 20 minute run. It went pretty well, although they weren't truly back to back. One of our cars had a flat tire at home, so I got caught up in trying to do something about that. I was in great shape to change it until I realized that I will need to take steroids to move the lug nuts. So, I just reinflated it and we went to the tire store.
Even with the gap, I'm pretty pleased that I could complete both legs today. The triathlon is 4 weeks from today, so I think I'll be ready, ready but not fast, but I'm ok with that...for now.
Nutrition update: With all of the exercise today, I could eat pretty much as much as I wanted of course. The challenge has been to not take advantage of that. Right now it's a little after 8:00 at night and I'd give myself a B. Most of the day was pretty good and even my evening wasn't awful. The lower grade is because my wife came home from the tire store and the grocery store with some "oops I was hungry at the grocery store" supplies. Not that she isn't allowed to do that, but I didn't respond as well as I could. One of the treats was molasses cookies and while one would have been fine, I'm not sure I needed the two I had in quick succession. I also indulged in a Saturday night beer. Beer isn't out of bounds, but probably aren't my most useful calories either.
Tomorrow is a swim day, so I won't burn as many calories and I will continue to try to reduce my caffeine. I have a plan hatching around the dollar savings associated with some new behaviors and quitting soda will be step one.
Random Musings: I DVR'd On Golden Pond and watched it with my daughter tonight. I hadn't watched it in at least 10 (maybe 20 years) and I can clearly remember seeing it in the theater when I was about her age. My memory said it was very funny and kind of touching. It certainly was still quite funny to me and my daughter, but I wasn't ready for how it looks to the 40 year old eye. This middle aged man was watery eyed more than I expected.
If you haven't seen the movie I strongly recommend it. Besides being pretty darn funny, it's a great story about getting older and the damage old wounds do if you don't let them heal. And of course because it's Hollywood, it also teaches us that healing is always an option as long as we are upright and breathing. It's the only Oscar Henry Fonda ever won and it was his last film. You should watch it soon. I could feel mortality (not in a scary way) watching it with the next generation in my house.
Between On Golden Pond and the editor's letter in this month's Men's Health (there's a combo you don't often see), I feel like I'm getting closer to some truth. When you realize you can pick your path or you can just let it happen, things get much more complicated in ways. If I ever figure it out for myself, I'll let you know. I'm pretty sure it's about finding one's self inside yourself and not from external things, but who the hell really knows.
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