Hi all,
For lots of reasons, I'm going to stop updating the blog. Mostly I'm feeling like there is a bit too much of me out on the internet. I'm picturing a future employer finding me whine about my job etc.
Look for me, swimming, biking and running at a triathlon near you.
Thanks
Friday, March 2, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
No new tale to tell
Nutrition update: After a very positive week last week, this week can only be called spotty. I don't have any real explanation, I just seem to have ran out of gas. After a week of daily salad, I probably only hit 3 days this week. Also ended up at McDonalds one day for no good reason. I guess the good news is a felt barfy after eating it. maybe my body is starting to reject it.
Anyway, I suspect my weight is steady at best. I've also avoided the scale which seems to be a behavior that crops up on these backslide weeks. I'll climb on tomorrow morning and see where I'm at. I might take a mulligan on weighing in at class though.
Exercise update: I seem to be in an exercise slump. If I don't make it to the gym today, this will have been a gym free week. It's not an activity free week, but no trips to the Y is unusual. I'm not sure what is going on there, except perhaps some sort of mid-winter doldrums.
I'm not real worried. I've walked the dog a lot and focused on getting less desk time at work by tracking my steps with my FitBit monitor.. I also have a pretty good ability to get back on track with exercise and I'm sure I will this week.
Random Musings: I have a complicated set of views on youth sports and athletics in general. I spent much of my childhood and early adulthood completely locked in on basketball. There was a lot of joy (and frustration, I am 5'8") that went with that but I also suspect that I missed out on developing some other interests and talents by being so myopic.
So my daughter's interest in playing has stirred mixed feelings in me too. She won't have the advantage of playing at a tiny high school where being slow and short can be overcome. I also don't want it to squelch her other budding interests. However she just wrapped up her 4th year in a developmental league at the YMCA and she enjoys it every year, regardless of her ability or limitations. In reality she gets better every year and has a positive regard for sports and competition. It's hard to find fault there (although there is a good amount of literature of competition being not so great, but I really like to compete).
All that philosophical stuff aside, we had a blast with her team this year. The kids are just old enough to be able to look like real ball and improve pretty quickly. I was able to co-coach with a dad that didn't make me crazy, in fact he was pretty cool and the girls really competed in a healthy way. It was awesome to see the change in my daughter, who still can't score in a game, but is willing to scrap and steal the ball and set screens on kids twice her size. The Y youth sports guy said she was a completely new player this year. I don't have any illusions about her future in the WNBA (or HS for that matter), but I'm still an awful proud Dad. Yesterday was our last game and we only had five players (and probably our 5 with the least ability). Hannah the asthmatic played all 40 minutes and competed all day. I counted 9 times she tied up someone for a jump ball and she played point guard when I asked her too and made sure we didn't turn the ball over. It was a revelatory day and I was proud of all 4'4" of her:)
The biggest change in me when working with young kids and sports is that 20 years ago I would have been talking to them endlessly about how to get better for HS. Now I realize that most of them won't play in HS and I just focus on having a really good year of 5th grade basketball. And we certainly did.... If I ever get back in a gym on a regular basis, I don't think I can ever put winning as the singular first goal again. I'd rather they have positive "forever memories" whether they win or lose and I think it can be done while still competing your brains out.
I wonder if that means I'm ruined.
Anyway, I suspect my weight is steady at best. I've also avoided the scale which seems to be a behavior that crops up on these backslide weeks. I'll climb on tomorrow morning and see where I'm at. I might take a mulligan on weighing in at class though.
Exercise update: I seem to be in an exercise slump. If I don't make it to the gym today, this will have been a gym free week. It's not an activity free week, but no trips to the Y is unusual. I'm not sure what is going on there, except perhaps some sort of mid-winter doldrums.
I'm not real worried. I've walked the dog a lot and focused on getting less desk time at work by tracking my steps with my FitBit monitor.. I also have a pretty good ability to get back on track with exercise and I'm sure I will this week.
Random Musings: I have a complicated set of views on youth sports and athletics in general. I spent much of my childhood and early adulthood completely locked in on basketball. There was a lot of joy (and frustration, I am 5'8") that went with that but I also suspect that I missed out on developing some other interests and talents by being so myopic.
So my daughter's interest in playing has stirred mixed feelings in me too. She won't have the advantage of playing at a tiny high school where being slow and short can be overcome. I also don't want it to squelch her other budding interests. However she just wrapped up her 4th year in a developmental league at the YMCA and she enjoys it every year, regardless of her ability or limitations. In reality she gets better every year and has a positive regard for sports and competition. It's hard to find fault there (although there is a good amount of literature of competition being not so great, but I really like to compete).
All that philosophical stuff aside, we had a blast with her team this year. The kids are just old enough to be able to look like real ball and improve pretty quickly. I was able to co-coach with a dad that didn't make me crazy, in fact he was pretty cool and the girls really competed in a healthy way. It was awesome to see the change in my daughter, who still can't score in a game, but is willing to scrap and steal the ball and set screens on kids twice her size. The Y youth sports guy said she was a completely new player this year. I don't have any illusions about her future in the WNBA (or HS for that matter), but I'm still an awful proud Dad. Yesterday was our last game and we only had five players (and probably our 5 with the least ability). Hannah the asthmatic played all 40 minutes and competed all day. I counted 9 times she tied up someone for a jump ball and she played point guard when I asked her too and made sure we didn't turn the ball over. It was a revelatory day and I was proud of all 4'4" of her:)
The biggest change in me when working with young kids and sports is that 20 years ago I would have been talking to them endlessly about how to get better for HS. Now I realize that most of them won't play in HS and I just focus on having a really good year of 5th grade basketball. And we certainly did.... If I ever get back in a gym on a regular basis, I don't think I can ever put winning as the singular first goal again. I'd rather they have positive "forever memories" whether they win or lose and I think it can be done while still competing your brains out.
I wonder if that means I'm ruined.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
200.2 and shrinking
200.2 is the number on the scale today. That is progress. I've been at 199.5 for much of the week, but yesterday's choices didn't help. Let me tell you what's been happening...
Nutrition update: If you recall last week I had failed miserably at a goal of adding 5 fruits a day to my diet. I'd realized that I just wasn't there and made the simpler pledge to have a daily salad over the next two weeks. Today is day 7 and the previous 6 have all included a salad:). I'll be enjoying today's salad later. It seems I've found an achievable goal and it's more veggies than I've had in ages.
It seems to have had a minor but positive impact on my weight as well. In fact, my diet has improved this week although with clear ups and downs. As an example I bought donuts for my office this week. Now, what could be positive about donuts? Well it's all relative because in past times I would have eaten 2-3 of the 2 dozen I'd brought in and that day I only had 1. And in fact, my weight held steady below 200 most of the week.
I held under 200 until today and I know why. My wife worked yesterday which puts me in charge of the kids and I used that as an excuse to get no exercise. It's not a good excuse, there was time and opportunity. I also bought bagels for us from Panera and wasn't as disciplined as I was with the donuts, even though bagels are carb and calorie laden. I managed to eat 2 1/2 of them over the course of the day. I also used the chaos of the weekend activity schedule to justify buzzing through a drive thru for lunch. Even though I threw away half of my french fries, my day obviously added up to a tougher day on the scale. The trick now is to make sure it was an isolated day and not a streak.
Exercise update: So if you've read this blog you know that I've always been a better fitness guy than diet guy. This week that wasn't true. I had good workouts on Tuesday and Friday and plan on one today. I can add running basketball practice on Wednesday and lots of walking at work early in the week to my list, but overall it was an average to average plus week for activity. I'm working on that, but I think it's ok for now since I know my area of emphasis has to be diet and sometimes too much exercise has hindered that. I am disappointed that I totally let yesterday go, but on to today.
I am starting to dream of summer triathlons and I think that Olympic Tri can happen this year. But I need to keep trimming up first. Hopefully I'll weigh in successfully at class tomorrow. Let's leave 200 lbs. behind forever.
Random Musings: I'm still not fully engaged in the A New Me program. They want a lot of food tracking and I seem to be reluctant to do that. I also haven't been reviewing the materials as thoroughly as I could. The act of attending the classes themselves seems to matter though. I'll try to engage a little more this week.
The big eye opener last week was our discussion of something called Metabolic syndrome. Essentially it is a combination of what seem like fairly inconsequential health risks that statistically double your odds of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. It can be having poor cholesterol numbers (check), borderline glucose measurements (check), slightly high blood pressure (riding the line), and a large waist (getting there).
It shook me up a little bit because even though I know I'm overweight, I don't always feel real unhealthy because I can will myself to be active. For heaven's sake I did a sprint triathlon last summer, but the cold hard fact is that my health indicators say I am doubling my odds of the things listed above if I don't get some changes made. Very motivating. Here's a link it you want to learn more.
More on Metabolic Syndrome
On the job front, I am pondering trying to work my way back to classroom in a few years. I recently found out that the odds of retiring anytime before Medicare are pretty low. If I'm going to work that long, I wouldn't mind getting a schedule with a larger block of time off. I'm also a little disillusioned with administration as a profession. I thought part of it would be leading new and innovative practices, but the budget has turned it into just trying to protect what we have and lose as little as possible. What's fun about that?
Of course, I also see a VP position at another college I think I'd be pretty competitive for and am intrigued. So I remain as indecisive as ever. And I am enjoying coaching my daughter's basketball team more than I have in years. The coaching bug lives strong in me and I'd love to get my hands on a college team again. Here's a photo of Hannah preparing a homework lesson where she taught her class how to shoot a basketball. I did the same lesson for a class in High School, but I never mentioned it to her.
Oh well as Van Morrison said, " It doesn't matter to which god you pray; precious time is slipping away." So in the words of Red from Shawshank "Get busy Livin' or get busy dyin'..."
Apparently today was quote day:)
Nutrition update: If you recall last week I had failed miserably at a goal of adding 5 fruits a day to my diet. I'd realized that I just wasn't there and made the simpler pledge to have a daily salad over the next two weeks. Today is day 7 and the previous 6 have all included a salad:). I'll be enjoying today's salad later. It seems I've found an achievable goal and it's more veggies than I've had in ages.
It seems to have had a minor but positive impact on my weight as well. In fact, my diet has improved this week although with clear ups and downs. As an example I bought donuts for my office this week. Now, what could be positive about donuts? Well it's all relative because in past times I would have eaten 2-3 of the 2 dozen I'd brought in and that day I only had 1. And in fact, my weight held steady below 200 most of the week.
I held under 200 until today and I know why. My wife worked yesterday which puts me in charge of the kids and I used that as an excuse to get no exercise. It's not a good excuse, there was time and opportunity. I also bought bagels for us from Panera and wasn't as disciplined as I was with the donuts, even though bagels are carb and calorie laden. I managed to eat 2 1/2 of them over the course of the day. I also used the chaos of the weekend activity schedule to justify buzzing through a drive thru for lunch. Even though I threw away half of my french fries, my day obviously added up to a tougher day on the scale. The trick now is to make sure it was an isolated day and not a streak.
Exercise update: So if you've read this blog you know that I've always been a better fitness guy than diet guy. This week that wasn't true. I had good workouts on Tuesday and Friday and plan on one today. I can add running basketball practice on Wednesday and lots of walking at work early in the week to my list, but overall it was an average to average plus week for activity. I'm working on that, but I think it's ok for now since I know my area of emphasis has to be diet and sometimes too much exercise has hindered that. I am disappointed that I totally let yesterday go, but on to today.
I am starting to dream of summer triathlons and I think that Olympic Tri can happen this year. But I need to keep trimming up first. Hopefully I'll weigh in successfully at class tomorrow. Let's leave 200 lbs. behind forever.
Random Musings: I'm still not fully engaged in the A New Me program. They want a lot of food tracking and I seem to be reluctant to do that. I also haven't been reviewing the materials as thoroughly as I could. The act of attending the classes themselves seems to matter though. I'll try to engage a little more this week.
The big eye opener last week was our discussion of something called Metabolic syndrome. Essentially it is a combination of what seem like fairly inconsequential health risks that statistically double your odds of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. It can be having poor cholesterol numbers (check), borderline glucose measurements (check), slightly high blood pressure (riding the line), and a large waist (getting there).
It shook me up a little bit because even though I know I'm overweight, I don't always feel real unhealthy because I can will myself to be active. For heaven's sake I did a sprint triathlon last summer, but the cold hard fact is that my health indicators say I am doubling my odds of the things listed above if I don't get some changes made. Very motivating. Here's a link it you want to learn more.
More on Metabolic Syndrome
On the job front, I am pondering trying to work my way back to classroom in a few years. I recently found out that the odds of retiring anytime before Medicare are pretty low. If I'm going to work that long, I wouldn't mind getting a schedule with a larger block of time off. I'm also a little disillusioned with administration as a profession. I thought part of it would be leading new and innovative practices, but the budget has turned it into just trying to protect what we have and lose as little as possible. What's fun about that?
Of course, I also see a VP position at another college I think I'd be pretty competitive for and am intrigued. So I remain as indecisive as ever. And I am enjoying coaching my daughter's basketball team more than I have in years. The coaching bug lives strong in me and I'd love to get my hands on a college team again. Here's a photo of Hannah preparing a homework lesson where she taught her class how to shoot a basketball. I did the same lesson for a class in High School, but I never mentioned it to her.
Oh well as Van Morrison said, " It doesn't matter to which god you pray; precious time is slipping away." So in the words of Red from Shawshank "Get busy Livin' or get busy dyin'..."
Apparently today was quote day:)
Sunday, February 5, 2012
I know I shouldn't and yet I do
Random Musings: First the good news. I am losing some weight. In fact, I think I'm down about 5 pounds from my peak. That feels pretty good and I'm close to getting my scale to regularly read below 200 lbs. I certainly hope that once I'm there, I don't stick my nose above 200 again. I need to get to 180 by Riverfest in July and I think I still can.
And now the bad news: This weight loss hasn't been from any real positive behavior change. While I can say I am eating less in general, the quality of what I'm eating has improved very little so far. I need to reduce calories in general, but I desperately need to increase fruits and vegetables. Just because you can lose lose weight on fast food doesn't mean it's a good idea. In addition, I spent 3 days pretty ill this week after a trip to Washington DC, and my lack of appetite was also a weight loss plan that can't be sustained.
In general, the last two weeks haven't been real great other than weight results. I went almost 2 weeks without working out because I let work stress win and then crashed with illness this week, so I feel like I'm only back on track as of Groundhog's Day. Hopefully that will launch me into a successful week with class and small group.
On the career front, I just found out my employer will no longer be providing any sort of health care benefit for early retirement. I didn't expect to retire at 55, but I did think part of the deal of taking a public sector salary was the opportunity to hang it up a bit early and do other things. Retirement was distant vision for me, but I am re-thinking how I'd like to spend my professional time between now and age 65. I'm fairly successful in my work, but it takes up a ton of my energy and excludes other things. I am pondering ways to improve that. Maybe it's finding a higher paying job with better benefits to try for an early retirement, or more likely find a way to balance things to make room for other interests. Easier said than done....
Nutrition update: I can't say I've done a good job changing my diet yet. As noted I'm eating less, but my real long term goal is to eat more of the good stuff. I had set a goal in class of 5 fruits daily and I can say I haven't come close to that in any of the 12 subsequent days. And I thought fruits would be easier than vegetables. The goal this week will be simpler. I'm going to eat a salad a day. That is the goal.
I am also reducing my soda intake. I had hoped to quit it in February (the beginning), but it will have to be by the end. Cold turkey means I get headaches and I'm a pain in the ass from caffeine withdrawal. This goal has sat out there for years. It is time to actually do it.
This will be my best nutrition week in years. I promise.
Exercise Update: As noted, did very poorly the week of the 23rd. Work was insane and I gave in and came home nightly to vegetate. I know I shouldn't and yet I do. That could be the title of my book:)
On Monday the 31st, I took a massive walk around Washington DC at night (highly recommend it if you get the chance) and then I didn't do a thing until Friday. Friday Saturday and Sunday have been positivies with 2 trips to the YMCA and a long walk with the dog. Hopefully I am back on track. The whippet thin health educator challenged us to make fitness and nutrition non-negotiables in our schedule. I am moving that way. It just seems the easy thing to sacrifice whenever there are issues. I struggle to say "I'm not available to meet, I have exercise class", but I am entitled to and should.
Much February exhaustion and confusion, but I'm glad to have lost a couple pounds and remain resolute.
Thanks for reading, it makes me feel oddly better.
And now the bad news: This weight loss hasn't been from any real positive behavior change. While I can say I am eating less in general, the quality of what I'm eating has improved very little so far. I need to reduce calories in general, but I desperately need to increase fruits and vegetables. Just because you can lose lose weight on fast food doesn't mean it's a good idea. In addition, I spent 3 days pretty ill this week after a trip to Washington DC, and my lack of appetite was also a weight loss plan that can't be sustained.
In general, the last two weeks haven't been real great other than weight results. I went almost 2 weeks without working out because I let work stress win and then crashed with illness this week, so I feel like I'm only back on track as of Groundhog's Day. Hopefully that will launch me into a successful week with class and small group.
On the career front, I just found out my employer will no longer be providing any sort of health care benefit for early retirement. I didn't expect to retire at 55, but I did think part of the deal of taking a public sector salary was the opportunity to hang it up a bit early and do other things. Retirement was distant vision for me, but I am re-thinking how I'd like to spend my professional time between now and age 65. I'm fairly successful in my work, but it takes up a ton of my energy and excludes other things. I am pondering ways to improve that. Maybe it's finding a higher paying job with better benefits to try for an early retirement, or more likely find a way to balance things to make room for other interests. Easier said than done....
Nutrition update: I can't say I've done a good job changing my diet yet. As noted I'm eating less, but my real long term goal is to eat more of the good stuff. I had set a goal in class of 5 fruits daily and I can say I haven't come close to that in any of the 12 subsequent days. And I thought fruits would be easier than vegetables. The goal this week will be simpler. I'm going to eat a salad a day. That is the goal.
I am also reducing my soda intake. I had hoped to quit it in February (the beginning), but it will have to be by the end. Cold turkey means I get headaches and I'm a pain in the ass from caffeine withdrawal. This goal has sat out there for years. It is time to actually do it.
This will be my best nutrition week in years. I promise.
Exercise Update: As noted, did very poorly the week of the 23rd. Work was insane and I gave in and came home nightly to vegetate. I know I shouldn't and yet I do. That could be the title of my book:)
On Monday the 31st, I took a massive walk around Washington DC at night (highly recommend it if you get the chance) and then I didn't do a thing until Friday. Friday Saturday and Sunday have been positivies with 2 trips to the YMCA and a long walk with the dog. Hopefully I am back on track. The whippet thin health educator challenged us to make fitness and nutrition non-negotiables in our schedule. I am moving that way. It just seems the easy thing to sacrifice whenever there are issues. I struggle to say "I'm not available to meet, I have exercise class", but I am entitled to and should.
Much February exhaustion and confusion, but I'm glad to have lost a couple pounds and remain resolute.
Thanks for reading, it makes me feel oddly better.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Week 1 notes
Random Stuff: My class started last Monday night. We have lots of women in there trying to get healthier and even 3 men!. Apparently that is 2-3 more than they usually get. I weighed myself that morning at home and clocked in at 203.5. My class weigh-in was higher, but that makes sense because it was at night. On Tuesday morning my home scale showed 205.0, not an auspicious moment. So I worked all week to get back to where I started the week... As of yesterday I was at 203.3 and I didn't weigh myself today. We weigh in at class tomorrow.
I wish I could say a switch had flipped and I was laser focused all week, but that wasn't the case. I didn't log food like we were directed and I backslid to McDonald's once (maybe twice I really can't remember). It felt like a bit of self sabotage.
On the plus side, I was much more aware of what I put in my body and how much activity I got, even when the choices weren't great. Week 2 should be better. Here's some details.
Nutrition update: As mentioned above, my food was a mixed bag this week. I did stick to Lindy's for lunch a couple days and even had a PBJ and an apple one day. This contrasted with fast food on the other two days. My water intake was up and my soda intake was slightly down.
We were asked to use a journal to track our food and I didn't do that. Work is currently very stressful, but that's an excuse not a reason.
Healthy, consistent eating continues to be my greatest challenge.
Exercise update: Again this was mixed. On the positive side, I hit the Y twice and my home treadmill twice. Just power incline walking on the treadmill, but it got my heart rate up. I also paid attention to my overall activity more and was pleased to see me hit 10,000 or more steps on my Fitbit most days.
Still too much time seated or laying around, but as usual my exercise is ahead of my eating. I'm still too random with weight lifting, but I did some the two days at the Y.
Overall. I'd give myself a C+ for the week and I'll look forward to learning more tomorrow. We have class on Monday and then I have small group coaching at 6:15 on Tuesday morning. That's early:)
I wish I could say a switch had flipped and I was laser focused all week, but that wasn't the case. I didn't log food like we were directed and I backslid to McDonald's once (maybe twice I really can't remember). It felt like a bit of self sabotage.
On the plus side, I was much more aware of what I put in my body and how much activity I got, even when the choices weren't great. Week 2 should be better. Here's some details.
Nutrition update: As mentioned above, my food was a mixed bag this week. I did stick to Lindy's for lunch a couple days and even had a PBJ and an apple one day. This contrasted with fast food on the other two days. My water intake was up and my soda intake was slightly down.
We were asked to use a journal to track our food and I didn't do that. Work is currently very stressful, but that's an excuse not a reason.
Healthy, consistent eating continues to be my greatest challenge.
Exercise update: Again this was mixed. On the positive side, I hit the Y twice and my home treadmill twice. Just power incline walking on the treadmill, but it got my heart rate up. I also paid attention to my overall activity more and was pleased to see me hit 10,000 or more steps on my Fitbit most days.
Still too much time seated or laying around, but as usual my exercise is ahead of my eating. I'm still too random with weight lifting, but I did some the two days at the Y.
Overall. I'd give myself a C+ for the week and I'll look forward to learning more tomorrow. We have class on Monday and then I have small group coaching at 6:15 on Tuesday morning. That's early:)
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Bumps in the road
Exercise update: It's been a mixed week. I was traveling for work Sunday through late Wednesday. I did some solid planning and made sure I did lots of walking in the airport on Sunday to begin because I knew I'd be sitting in my car and on the plane to Houston (I flew out of Minneapolis, my favorite airport). I also had workout clothes for my stay in Texas and I'm pleased to report that I worked out Monday and Tuesday at the hotel with a mix of a tiny bit of outdoor running, elliptical, dumbbells and steep incline treadmill walking. So that's the good news...
I knew Wednesday was a lost cause as I went from class, to an airport shuttle, to a plane, to my car to drive home by 1:00 a.m. Not that big a deal because I had hit it hard the two prior days and could get back at it Thursday (oops), well Friday (nope), and no doubt Saturday (can't explain why but just didn't). So I didn't update my blog on Thursday (which breaks a committment to myself) and have somehow managed to get to Sunday morning and realize I haven't worked out beyond a dog walk since Tuesday.
Well my new favorite book Mindset, teaches that failure is just information, so I'll process the information and move on. The biggest piece of information is that I have lots of habits and routines built around my work that don't support my health. I need to work on breaking those and stop using work fatigue as an excuse to skip workouts and eat poorly. It's also interesting that the woman I live with who is related to me by marriage strongly encouraged me to work out today because apparently I'm not real pleasant right now. I didn't believe it and told her to go to hell... j/k, but I didn't realize my malaise was so obvious. So I'll probably hit the gym when she gets home, even if it means I watch the Packers from a treadmill or elliptical. That mood to exercise connection is particularly strong lately.
Nutrition update: My nutrition has followed the same up and down pattern over the last 10 days. I have done a great job of avoiding ice cream even though I crave it like a junkie, but I used fatigue and convenience to allow myself to eat fries 3 times in 10 days, so that's not great.
The lesson is the same, I need to plan not react or I make bad choices right now. It's just hard because I feel like I can't find time to do all that planning. Of course, bad health habits will shorten my time on the planet, so I need to make the time. Seems that my de-porking program tomorrow is coming at the perfect time. Many around me would say that nutrition is my nemesis, so I'm hoping to do good work in that area. I've even noticed I struggle to write much about nutrition, perhaps that means something.
Random Musings: The training in Houston was fantastic. It's about approaches to helping first generation students do better in college. If I have a professional passion, that's it right there. Now I just have to strip away enough BS at work to find time to work on being a crusader for helping people move from powerlessness to where they want to go. That feels like a mission.
Wish me well as I begin the 12 weeks to A New Me tomorrow night. And of course while I go to the gym today so I quit being crappy to people I love.
I knew Wednesday was a lost cause as I went from class, to an airport shuttle, to a plane, to my car to drive home by 1:00 a.m. Not that big a deal because I had hit it hard the two prior days and could get back at it Thursday (oops), well Friday (nope), and no doubt Saturday (can't explain why but just didn't). So I didn't update my blog on Thursday (which breaks a committment to myself) and have somehow managed to get to Sunday morning and realize I haven't worked out beyond a dog walk since Tuesday.
Well my new favorite book Mindset, teaches that failure is just information, so I'll process the information and move on. The biggest piece of information is that I have lots of habits and routines built around my work that don't support my health. I need to work on breaking those and stop using work fatigue as an excuse to skip workouts and eat poorly. It's also interesting that the woman I live with who is related to me by marriage strongly encouraged me to work out today because apparently I'm not real pleasant right now. I didn't believe it and told her to go to hell... j/k, but I didn't realize my malaise was so obvious. So I'll probably hit the gym when she gets home, even if it means I watch the Packers from a treadmill or elliptical. That mood to exercise connection is particularly strong lately.
Nutrition update: My nutrition has followed the same up and down pattern over the last 10 days. I have done a great job of avoiding ice cream even though I crave it like a junkie, but I used fatigue and convenience to allow myself to eat fries 3 times in 10 days, so that's not great.
The lesson is the same, I need to plan not react or I make bad choices right now. It's just hard because I feel like I can't find time to do all that planning. Of course, bad health habits will shorten my time on the planet, so I need to make the time. Seems that my de-porking program tomorrow is coming at the perfect time. Many around me would say that nutrition is my nemesis, so I'm hoping to do good work in that area. I've even noticed I struggle to write much about nutrition, perhaps that means something.
Random Musings: The training in Houston was fantastic. It's about approaches to helping first generation students do better in college. If I have a professional passion, that's it right there. Now I just have to strip away enough BS at work to find time to work on being a crusader for helping people move from powerlessness to where they want to go. That feels like a mission.
Wish me well as I begin the 12 weeks to A New Me tomorrow night. And of course while I go to the gym today so I quit being crappy to people I love.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Confronting the brutal facts
I've come to dislike books on leadership, but back when I still thought they were interesting, I read one called Good to Great by Jim Collins. It's about companies that made the leap from being good to being great and why and how that happened. Try to ignore the fact that this "greatness" was mostly associated with stock prices (offends my socialist soul:)), but there was interesting stuff in there. My favorite part was the observation that great success is often preceded by facing the "brutal facts" meaning an honest accounting of where you are.
Well today I went for a biometric screening that kicks off my A New Me program and I had to confront the truth. The truth is that after a summer of progress I have completely fallen apart until very recently. Let me share some numbers to illustrate what I learned.
On August 16th of 2011 (4.5 months ago), a similar screening showed the following:
Height - 5'8"
weight - 198 lbs
BMI - 30 (this is obese)
Blood pressure - 139/93
Total Cholesterol - 185
HDL (Good Cholesterol) - 29
LDL (Bad cholesterol) - 128
Blood Sugar - 94
Today (1/5/12) I showed the following measurements
Height - 5'8 1/2 " ( I think they misread and meant 5"7 1/2" but I'll take it)
Weight - 204.4 (up 6.4 pounds in 4 months...)
BMI - 30.6 (more obese and I think they gave me more height than I should get)
Blood Pressure - 112/80 (my only real good news)
Total Cholesterol - 220 (Holy Crap a 35 point jump in the wrong direction)
HDL - 37 (a minor gain, but under 40 is "at-risk")
LDL - 154 (Good Lord up 26 points)
Blood Sugar - 108 (this is pre-diabetic)
I also learned that I am at 28.1% body fat.
These are my brutal facts. They make me want to wallow and whine, but mostly they tell me to get busy living or I'll soon get busy getting sick and eventually dying (to paraphrase Shawshank).
I also need to get busy learning and that's the purpose of the class I'm taking starting the 16th. I need to learn to deal with stress some other way than fast food and slothdom, and I need to learn to eat like a 41 year old man/athlete.
I won't get these screenings again for a year in this program, but they will measure my weight and body composition in 12 weeks. I promise progress by then, mostly to myself, but I'll share it all.
So those are the brutal facts of my health and I think owning them starts me moving forward. It certainly justifies a focus on health for a while, rather than work or other extraneous crap. As they say, if you don't have your health...
I wonder what brutal truths others need to face to get unstuck in their lives?
Well today I went for a biometric screening that kicks off my A New Me program and I had to confront the truth. The truth is that after a summer of progress I have completely fallen apart until very recently. Let me share some numbers to illustrate what I learned.
On August 16th of 2011 (4.5 months ago), a similar screening showed the following:
Height - 5'8"
weight - 198 lbs
BMI - 30 (this is obese)
Blood pressure - 139/93
Total Cholesterol - 185
HDL (Good Cholesterol) - 29
LDL (Bad cholesterol) - 128
Blood Sugar - 94
Today (1/5/12) I showed the following measurements
Height - 5'8 1/2 " ( I think they misread and meant 5"7 1/2" but I'll take it)
Weight - 204.4 (up 6.4 pounds in 4 months...)
BMI - 30.6 (more obese and I think they gave me more height than I should get)
Blood Pressure - 112/80 (my only real good news)
Total Cholesterol - 220 (Holy Crap a 35 point jump in the wrong direction)
HDL - 37 (a minor gain, but under 40 is "at-risk")
LDL - 154 (Good Lord up 26 points)
Blood Sugar - 108 (this is pre-diabetic)
I also learned that I am at 28.1% body fat.
These are my brutal facts. They make me want to wallow and whine, but mostly they tell me to get busy living or I'll soon get busy getting sick and eventually dying (to paraphrase Shawshank).
I also need to get busy learning and that's the purpose of the class I'm taking starting the 16th. I need to learn to deal with stress some other way than fast food and slothdom, and I need to learn to eat like a 41 year old man/athlete.
I won't get these screenings again for a year in this program, but they will measure my weight and body composition in 12 weeks. I promise progress by then, mostly to myself, but I'll share it all.
So those are the brutal facts of my health and I think owning them starts me moving forward. It certainly justifies a focus on health for a while, rather than work or other extraneous crap. As they say, if you don't have your health...
I wonder what brutal truths others need to face to get unstuck in their lives?
Sunday, January 1, 2012
New Year, New Resolve
In my last posting, I talked about Reflecting, selecting and removing. Here's how it went.
Reflecting: I spent about 90 minutes reviewing old blog posts today looking for some insight. I can't say I found any, mostly it just felt repetitive. Maybe that's the insight? I'm repeating the same behaviors over and over and over.
When I looked for positive reflection, I did note that from April until July I exercised very regularly and got fit enough to do a triathlon, probably the high point of my fitness year. Unfortunately I also managed to train enough to develop a semi-serious foot injury which set me back for months and kept me from my Urbanathlon dreams. Still there was a lot of fitness added to my life this year.
On the downside would be the injury I mentioned and my remarkable inability to get my diet and weight under control. I might also add my continued anxiety of school and career choices.
So my only real insight is a reminder that we are what we repeatedly do and I'm going to try to find some positive behaviors to repeat this year instead of the same old tired choices I've made for years.
Selecting: There are literally dozens of choices I could make for goals this year, but the article I read said pick 2-3 that you will actually do. I'm going to cheat and combine a bit, but here are my 2012 goals.The top priority is health, health, health:
1. Stop eating French Fries beginning in January (today) and stop drinking soda by February.
2. Complete the A New Me program through my health insurance plan.
3. Get my weight to 180 lbs. or less by Riverfest so Hannah and I can go on the Bungee trampoline thing that I've been too heavy for for the last two years. That one wounds me just to type.
4. Urbanathlon and/or an Olympic distance triathlon.
Removing: I need to create space for the things I want to do so I've identified some useless things I do that could go away or reduce. Here they are:
1. No more games on Facebook (bye Zuma and Bejeweled)
2. Reduce blog updates to weekly
3. Reduce looking at grad school or other jobs to weekly
4. Reduce checking email at work to 4 times a day, every 90 minutes.
So, I'd hoped this might be a deeper post today but it's not there. Instead I hope this is practical path to meaningful change. If I'm doing this entry in a year, I hope that good health is a given and I can get on to other topics. I'll feel unstuck then.
Reflecting: I spent about 90 minutes reviewing old blog posts today looking for some insight. I can't say I found any, mostly it just felt repetitive. Maybe that's the insight? I'm repeating the same behaviors over and over and over.
When I looked for positive reflection, I did note that from April until July I exercised very regularly and got fit enough to do a triathlon, probably the high point of my fitness year. Unfortunately I also managed to train enough to develop a semi-serious foot injury which set me back for months and kept me from my Urbanathlon dreams. Still there was a lot of fitness added to my life this year.
On the downside would be the injury I mentioned and my remarkable inability to get my diet and weight under control. I might also add my continued anxiety of school and career choices.
So my only real insight is a reminder that we are what we repeatedly do and I'm going to try to find some positive behaviors to repeat this year instead of the same old tired choices I've made for years.
Selecting: There are literally dozens of choices I could make for goals this year, but the article I read said pick 2-3 that you will actually do. I'm going to cheat and combine a bit, but here are my 2012 goals.The top priority is health, health, health:
1. Stop eating French Fries beginning in January (today) and stop drinking soda by February.
2. Complete the A New Me program through my health insurance plan.
3. Get my weight to 180 lbs. or less by Riverfest so Hannah and I can go on the Bungee trampoline thing that I've been too heavy for for the last two years. That one wounds me just to type.
4. Urbanathlon and/or an Olympic distance triathlon.
Removing: I need to create space for the things I want to do so I've identified some useless things I do that could go away or reduce. Here they are:
1. No more games on Facebook (bye Zuma and Bejeweled)
2. Reduce blog updates to weekly
3. Reduce looking at grad school or other jobs to weekly
4. Reduce checking email at work to 4 times a day, every 90 minutes.
So, I'd hoped this might be a deeper post today but it's not there. Instead I hope this is practical path to meaningful change. If I'm doing this entry in a year, I hope that good health is a given and I can get on to other topics. I'll feel unstuck then.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Gaining momentum and making a plan
Exercise update: I made it to the Y today for some workout time. That means I hit the Y on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday so far this week. Pretty good. I am reminded today of how much better my mood is when get some movement. No wonder some people get to the habit of doing this stuff first thing in the morning. I've never been that guy, but maybe I'll get there. I didn't do anything fancy today, just 32 minutes on the elliptical and 1 set of lots of different weight things, but it all adds up. I'm scheduled for 12:15 spin class tomorrow, so I'll get cardio one way or another.
It also occurred to me that I haven't worked since last week so my mood may be influenced by that as well. I'm sure there's something to be learned there, but I'll save that for another time. I wonder how many people are sacrificing their health for their job? I wonder if you actually have to?
My head always jumps to the big goals, but let's just stick to moving more for now. Big goals can come later.
Nutrition update: No big news. Continued to work on reducing diet soda intake. Probably eating less junk because I'm not running out of the office for lunch, but I can't say I'm eating markedly better because I made sure there was plenty o' crap in the house. I'm getting back on the scale tomorrow, but for now I'm just trying to get in motion again rather than attach to a number. That will come with the program that starts in January.
Random Musings: I read a thing on a greatTwitter feed called the99percent (linked below, not about OWS) about New Year's resolutions. It talks about using a Reflect, Select, Remove approach. it made sense to me today. I'm going to work on reflecting on what has and hasn't worked in 2011, probably in a blog entry, and then select 2-3 impactful goals for 2012. And finally and most importantly, I'm going to remove some of the things that I'm doing that may prevent me from achieving my goals.
Obviously health and wellness will be a primary goal and one of the main impediments to achieving that is making time to do it. When I look for things to remove, I see the computer and the Internet and one of my time wasters. So I'll look for things to trim. Games on FB seems the easiest so good bye to Bejeweled Blitz, Zuma Blitz etc. I also want to use this blog in the best possible way, so I think it will be a weekly event starting on Sunday the 1st. That should keep me focused without stealing too much time from what really matters.
Enjoy your New year and I'll see you on the 1st. Here's a link to that site from Twitter I mentioned if you are interested. the99percent
It also occurred to me that I haven't worked since last week so my mood may be influenced by that as well. I'm sure there's something to be learned there, but I'll save that for another time. I wonder how many people are sacrificing their health for their job? I wonder if you actually have to?
My head always jumps to the big goals, but let's just stick to moving more for now. Big goals can come later.
Nutrition update: No big news. Continued to work on reducing diet soda intake. Probably eating less junk because I'm not running out of the office for lunch, but I can't say I'm eating markedly better because I made sure there was plenty o' crap in the house. I'm getting back on the scale tomorrow, but for now I'm just trying to get in motion again rather than attach to a number. That will come with the program that starts in January.
Random Musings: I read a thing on a greatTwitter feed called the99percent (linked below, not about OWS) about New Year's resolutions. It talks about using a Reflect, Select, Remove approach. it made sense to me today. I'm going to work on reflecting on what has and hasn't worked in 2011, probably in a blog entry, and then select 2-3 impactful goals for 2012. And finally and most importantly, I'm going to remove some of the things that I'm doing that may prevent me from achieving my goals.
Obviously health and wellness will be a primary goal and one of the main impediments to achieving that is making time to do it. When I look for things to remove, I see the computer and the Internet and one of my time wasters. So I'll look for things to trim. Games on FB seems the easiest so good bye to Bejeweled Blitz, Zuma Blitz etc. I also want to use this blog in the best possible way, so I think it will be a weekly event starting on Sunday the 1st. That should keep me focused without stealing too much time from what really matters.
Enjoy your New year and I'll see you on the 1st. Here's a link to that site from Twitter I mentioned if you are interested. the99percent
Monday, December 26, 2011
You just keep starting
Fitness update: Today has been ok. I took Cameron for a short hike and then got myself to the Y for 30 minutes on the elliptical plus some random weight lifting. It's not real focused but it is exercise and it's where I am right now. Once again, I noticed the positive effect getting some exercise has on my mood. Need to keep that learning in mind. I'm certainly not as fit as I was a couple months ago, but that is irrelevant, I just need to move more now.
Nutrition update: I have been drinking less soda since I've been away from work. Understand that my version of less is more than most anyone else would drink in a week, but I am reducing it and that's progress. I did weigh in this morning and I am large, no doubt. My holiday food choices have been mediocre, which probably qualifies as progress:) I'm choosing to not publish my weight until my biometric screening on January 5th. I figure that's a good place for a "before" moment. I'll probably include a picture then too. Between now and then, I'm just trying to do a little better than I have been.
Random Musings: I've had time to consume some media over my break so here's an update. I finally watched The Kids are All Right a couple nights ago. I thought it was fantastic. I laughed, I cried, I found catharsis. What more could you ask of a movie? The short synopsis is that it is about a family headed by two women in which the kids seek out the sperm donor they've never met. The interactions with the donor drive the movie, but what makes it sneaky good is all the lessons to be learned about family and marriage. I was struck by just how "normal" the main characters' marriage is even though it's same sex. Thank goodness people are trying to protect us from that (insert sarcasm here). What I saw is that being married and a parent is hard, no matter the circumstance. It's also funny and awkward and the best thing most of us will do. Anyway, I recommend the movie highly.
If you are wondering about today's title, it's based on a concept my Dad plowed into my head. He always talked about the only way to quit smoking was to keep quitting, meaning that if you slipped one day you just quit again after that. Seems to make sense to me with health too. Yesterday is just sunk costs if it didn't go well, you just start again today. Sounds suspiciously like AA, but long-time readers will know that I think my behavior reeks of addiction anyway, so maybe that's why one day at a time appeals to me. I started taking better care of myself today and I'm sure I'll start again tomorrow.
Happy Boxing Day
Nutrition update: I have been drinking less soda since I've been away from work. Understand that my version of less is more than most anyone else would drink in a week, but I am reducing it and that's progress. I did weigh in this morning and I am large, no doubt. My holiday food choices have been mediocre, which probably qualifies as progress:) I'm choosing to not publish my weight until my biometric screening on January 5th. I figure that's a good place for a "before" moment. I'll probably include a picture then too. Between now and then, I'm just trying to do a little better than I have been.
Random Musings: I've had time to consume some media over my break so here's an update. I finally watched The Kids are All Right a couple nights ago. I thought it was fantastic. I laughed, I cried, I found catharsis. What more could you ask of a movie? The short synopsis is that it is about a family headed by two women in which the kids seek out the sperm donor they've never met. The interactions with the donor drive the movie, but what makes it sneaky good is all the lessons to be learned about family and marriage. I was struck by just how "normal" the main characters' marriage is even though it's same sex. Thank goodness people are trying to protect us from that (insert sarcasm here). What I saw is that being married and a parent is hard, no matter the circumstance. It's also funny and awkward and the best thing most of us will do. Anyway, I recommend the movie highly.
If you are wondering about today's title, it's based on a concept my Dad plowed into my head. He always talked about the only way to quit smoking was to keep quitting, meaning that if you slipped one day you just quit again after that. Seems to make sense to me with health too. Yesterday is just sunk costs if it didn't go well, you just start again today. Sounds suspiciously like AA, but long-time readers will know that I think my behavior reeks of addiction anyway, so maybe that's why one day at a time appeals to me. I started taking better care of myself today and I'm sure I'll start again tomorrow.
Happy Boxing Day
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Thoughts on Christmas Eve Morning
Random Musings: It's Christmas Eve. It is a day of wildly mixed feelings including the joy of seeing your kids get something they really wanted and the smoldering anger when it is apparent they got something they didn't (I mean don't they know there are kids with nothing! Yes I'm a cliche). There is hope though. My 10 year old seems far less self-centered than my 7 year old, so perhaps time=progress?
If you are lucky like we are this year, you get some time with extended family. Of course my family is extended in so many directions, I'll never see them all, so someone always feels left out I suppose. Like I said, the holiday season is a mixed blessing.
As for my health and fitness, I'm still stuck a bit in neutral. There has been marginal improvement in my blood pressure, but my weight has actually increased and my diet is still a nightmare. I also managed to not get any real exercise for two weeks, Rather than write another "now I'm making a stand" blog posting. I'll just get on with the business at hand.
Exercise update: As noted earlier, I haven't been doing much other than walking my dog and going to my daughter's basketball practices this month. I am pleased to say that I got myself to go to the Y yesterday and just did 30 minutes on the elliptical. It was eye opening. I have really been struggling with mood lately. In fact, I'd say I'm struggling with some moderate depression. This is a particularly stressful year at work and my reaction is always to get tunnel vision and drop everything to get through what needs getting through. At first this feels ok as I eat junk, sleep poorly, and skip exercise in a faux heroic effort to shuffle paper or get through grant season or whatever ginned up crisis I have at work. However in hindsight, I get moody and difficult at home and my health (mental and physical) goes south.
I was struck yesterday at the palpable positive change in my mood from just 30 minutes of cardio. It is certainly a lesson worth holding onto. Walking the dog doesn't relieve stress and depression, but getting the heart rate up in the 150's does. Of course the Y is closed today but the lesson remains.
Nutrition update: In the spirit of doing something different, I have signed up for a rather pricey health promotion program through my company health plan. Starting in January, I will be attending classes called A New Me. it has weekly classes and bi-weekly small group coaching to help you make the positive changes that lead to better health. In other words, it's a de-porking program:). The part I really like is that there is a lot of bio-metric screenings and measurements over a year, even after the classes end in April. The coach in me likes to have numbers to try to beat.
Here's to hoping I finally realize I need to eat differently and act differently to be healthy, much less to be the middle aged athlete I want to be.
I'm sure you'll hear lots of New Me updates in the blog.
Anyway, sorry for the gigantic gap between posts. I'm working on it.
Happy Holidays
If you are lucky like we are this year, you get some time with extended family. Of course my family is extended in so many directions, I'll never see them all, so someone always feels left out I suppose. Like I said, the holiday season is a mixed blessing.
As for my health and fitness, I'm still stuck a bit in neutral. There has been marginal improvement in my blood pressure, but my weight has actually increased and my diet is still a nightmare. I also managed to not get any real exercise for two weeks, Rather than write another "now I'm making a stand" blog posting. I'll just get on with the business at hand.
Exercise update: As noted earlier, I haven't been doing much other than walking my dog and going to my daughter's basketball practices this month. I am pleased to say that I got myself to go to the Y yesterday and just did 30 minutes on the elliptical. It was eye opening. I have really been struggling with mood lately. In fact, I'd say I'm struggling with some moderate depression. This is a particularly stressful year at work and my reaction is always to get tunnel vision and drop everything to get through what needs getting through. At first this feels ok as I eat junk, sleep poorly, and skip exercise in a faux heroic effort to shuffle paper or get through grant season or whatever ginned up crisis I have at work. However in hindsight, I get moody and difficult at home and my health (mental and physical) goes south.
I was struck yesterday at the palpable positive change in my mood from just 30 minutes of cardio. It is certainly a lesson worth holding onto. Walking the dog doesn't relieve stress and depression, but getting the heart rate up in the 150's does. Of course the Y is closed today but the lesson remains.
Nutrition update: In the spirit of doing something different, I have signed up for a rather pricey health promotion program through my company health plan. Starting in January, I will be attending classes called A New Me. it has weekly classes and bi-weekly small group coaching to help you make the positive changes that lead to better health. In other words, it's a de-porking program:). The part I really like is that there is a lot of bio-metric screenings and measurements over a year, even after the classes end in April. The coach in me likes to have numbers to try to beat.
Here's to hoping I finally realize I need to eat differently and act differently to be healthy, much less to be the middle aged athlete I want to be.
I'm sure you'll hear lots of New Me updates in the blog.
Anyway, sorry for the gigantic gap between posts. I'm working on it.
Happy Holidays
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Not a flying start
At the beginning of the month I set out some pretty good objectives. For the better part of the month I didn't meet them. I aspired to work out 4 days a week and never did hit that one until this week.
So, I need to once again regroup. I feel like I'm off to a pretty good start over the holiday. I went from a real workout on Tuesday, to leading basketball practice on Wednesday evening. That in turn led to a 2 mile Turkey Trot with my nephew and family Thanksgiving morning. Friday was an off day and yesterday I did a decent workout at the YMCA. Today was a 60 minute hike with my son. Shockingly, I felt better today than I had in while, stunning...
Activity level is up, but I'm just getting started. I am a 41 year old man with a weight problem, high blood pressure and bad knees. I often say I need to attack this project like someone with a real health crisis. I wonder why I pretend that is hypothetical...
So my objectives for November just became my objectives for December, as a reminder they are:
So, I need to once again regroup. I feel like I'm off to a pretty good start over the holiday. I went from a real workout on Tuesday, to leading basketball practice on Wednesday evening. That in turn led to a 2 mile Turkey Trot with my nephew and family Thanksgiving morning. Friday was an off day and yesterday I did a decent workout at the YMCA. Today was a 60 minute hike with my son. Shockingly, I felt better today than I had in while, stunning...
Activity level is up, but I'm just getting started. I am a 41 year old man with a weight problem, high blood pressure and bad knees. I often say I need to attack this project like someone with a real health crisis. I wonder why I pretend that is hypothetical...
So my objectives for November just became my objectives for December, as a reminder they are:
#1. Blood pressure needs to measure 120 over 80 consistently or I go see my Doc to address it medically
#2. Get my weight under 200 pounds and quit drinking soda (these support objective 1)
#3. Workout at least 4 times a week and include strength training at least twice a week.
I must say if the blood pressure isn't under control by January 1, anyone left reading this should harass me to get to the doctor.
That's all for now, but look for more frequent updates as I shift my focus to health rather than the 27 other things I let steal my focus. It's a cliche, but I can't help with anything or anyone else until I get myself ok.
I must say if the blood pressure isn't under control by January 1, anyone left reading this should harass me to get to the doctor.
That's all for now, but look for more frequent updates as I shift my focus to health rather than the 27 other things I let steal my focus. It's a cliche, but I can't help with anything or anyone else until I get myself ok.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
A brief update
So things are going Ok. I've dropped a couple pounds, mostly from not eating ice cream late at night. My workouts are erratic at best, but that is sort of ok for now since we've established that I know how to exercise. I just choose not to manage the rest of my health picture very well and that choice is where my focus has been recently. I will add that I haven't done well the last 5 days or so. We had a death in the family and I used that reason to take less good care of myself. I have no idea if that's right or wrong, I just know it happened.
So I need some November objectives (not goals, goals don't work)
#1. Blood pressure needs to measure 120 over 80 consistently or I go see my Doc to address it medically
#2. Get my weight under 200 pounds and quit drinking soda (these support objective 1)
#3. Workout at least 4 times a week and include strength training at least twice a week.
Those look a lot like goals, but whatever.
Random Musings: I mentioned above that my grandmother passed away last week. I could write a long tortured piece all about that, but that's not really where I'm at. I'm more struck by what you could learn at most funerals. In sum, you don't have to be a big deal to be a big deal. My Grandma never had a college degree or a high powered career. She always lived in a small town and as the years went on, she stayed closer and closer to that little town and her little house. And yet, I spent two days at a wake and a funeral seeing how much she mattered to people simply because she was in their life. I could have learned the same lesson from my maternal grandfather 20 + years ago, but I wasn't ready. He was a farmer who left school in 8th grade and spent the last 20 years of his life very disabled and yet, I met a church full of people who felt his impact in their lives too.
So, what have I learned (as all educators ask). Well, I feel like most of my ambition has flown out the window, at least in a career sense. In my little work world, I'm a bit of an important person (sort of, it seems weird to say), and it doesn't bring me much joy. My joy is when I can use my role and my resources to help someone; other than that being "important" kind of sucks.
My ambitions are changing. I know they have something to do with deeper human connection and re-discovering some of the confidence the tumult of my 20's stole from me. That's about how far I've gotten:)
Oh yeah, there were lots of pictures of younger me at the funeral. Not only have a gotten tubby, I'm not sure anyone ever aged more in a decade than I did from 30-40. I guess that refocuses me on the work of this blog...
Monday, October 24, 2011
Resurrection
Hi. I'm back.
A few weeks ago, I suspended my blog because it felt a little bit like the hamster on a wheel show. In other words, I was just writing about not getting anywhere. My hope was that I would get a little more focused and could return to this blog with renewed optimism. I had also just about reached the end of my rope with my health, meaning that training for the Urbanathlon was not allowing my foot to heal, if it even could. So, I decided to back off from training, blogging etc. Let me update you on how that has worked out.
The Good News: My foot feels a lot better. Not perfect, but a lot better. I'm glad to say that giving it rest has been successful in getting rid of the point specific pain which was starting to be a major issue. I was afraid that level of pain might have been permanent and while there is still stiffness, the acute pain has gone away. I have hope that if I get my body where it needs to be, I can run again someday. I was really afraid I had done permanent damage, but rest was still the cure.
The bad news: Although I had great intentions of staying with my fitness plan (just no running) when I backed off Urbanathlon training...I just haven't. In fact I'm 6 pounds heavier than I was 6 weeks ago. It's not that I stopped exercising entirely; I just did it sporadically. This once again demonstrates that my approach has always been flawed. Prior to this time off, I had ramped up my exercise to a pretty impressive level, but my weight loss had been minimal. Obviously that means I was allowing my food intake to grow also. And then, when you back off on the exercise, you are able to gain weight pretty damn rapidly. This is actually a pretty profound insight for me. It makes me see why my "exercise your way to fitness" plan has always failed over time.
Also on the bad news front, life has gotten a little complicated this fall. I've been asked to take on some pretty significant new responsibilities at work, some temporary and some permanent. I do appreciate being seen as someone who can do these things, but it's a lot and I'm spread as thin as I ever have been. In addition, my grandmother is terminally ill which has been difficult for all in my extended family. From my selfish stand point, it has simply meant that I'm not meeting anyone's needs recently. I'm not available at work as much as folks want because there are just so many projects and people right now. I'm working very long hours, so I'm not home as much as I want and I have almost no free time (oh yeah my wife works every other weekend, so we have 4 days per month where my whole family is home together) so I'm feeling like I'm not doing everything I could for family in relation to grandma. The logical part of my brain knows you can't meet all those obligations, but logic and guilt aren't friends. Anyway, for me it means stress and stress means food...
My blood pressure is iffy, my sleep sucks and I need to get a handle on all of that.
The Plan: The plan for the next couple months is simply to lose some weight and take better care of myself in general. I still have dreams of events and the title of the blog holds, but reality is I keep getting hurt at my current weight. I will focus on elliptical machines and rowers and bikes for a while. In addition, I'm going to try to get more serious about strength training. It seems very clear that I am missing that from my fitness history and every article I read says it is the key to weight maintenance.
Around the New Year I'll reevaluate to see if I'm ready to start training for anything in specific. My dad is a regular reader of my blog and suggested that maybe I just focus on biking, since I seem to enjoy that so much. It's an idea of merit and we'll see where it goes. I still like the multi-sport stuff, but as I head for 42 we'll see if this body can do that. Honestly, right now I just want to look better naked and get my health back to a better place.
I keep telling myself to act like I have a health crisis and when you look at my BMI and Blood pressure, it's not acting.
This will also be a good period to see what I want to do with work. If I'm honest, there are parts of it I really like, but none worth dying young for. I meet too many people my age, particularly men, who seem to be trading health for money. It seems I've spent 10 years debating a change, perhaps this year can be the one where I either make one or settle in.
Anyway, I can whine about work somewhere else, this is about trying to be the pig in the bacon and egg breakfast of my health. You remember, the chicken is interested, the pig is committed.
Thanks for your interest and wish me luck or just laugh at my futility in trying again...
A few weeks ago, I suspended my blog because it felt a little bit like the hamster on a wheel show. In other words, I was just writing about not getting anywhere. My hope was that I would get a little more focused and could return to this blog with renewed optimism. I had also just about reached the end of my rope with my health, meaning that training for the Urbanathlon was not allowing my foot to heal, if it even could. So, I decided to back off from training, blogging etc. Let me update you on how that has worked out.
The Good News: My foot feels a lot better. Not perfect, but a lot better. I'm glad to say that giving it rest has been successful in getting rid of the point specific pain which was starting to be a major issue. I was afraid that level of pain might have been permanent and while there is still stiffness, the acute pain has gone away. I have hope that if I get my body where it needs to be, I can run again someday. I was really afraid I had done permanent damage, but rest was still the cure.
The bad news: Although I had great intentions of staying with my fitness plan (just no running) when I backed off Urbanathlon training...I just haven't. In fact I'm 6 pounds heavier than I was 6 weeks ago. It's not that I stopped exercising entirely; I just did it sporadically. This once again demonstrates that my approach has always been flawed. Prior to this time off, I had ramped up my exercise to a pretty impressive level, but my weight loss had been minimal. Obviously that means I was allowing my food intake to grow also. And then, when you back off on the exercise, you are able to gain weight pretty damn rapidly. This is actually a pretty profound insight for me. It makes me see why my "exercise your way to fitness" plan has always failed over time.
Also on the bad news front, life has gotten a little complicated this fall. I've been asked to take on some pretty significant new responsibilities at work, some temporary and some permanent. I do appreciate being seen as someone who can do these things, but it's a lot and I'm spread as thin as I ever have been. In addition, my grandmother is terminally ill which has been difficult for all in my extended family. From my selfish stand point, it has simply meant that I'm not meeting anyone's needs recently. I'm not available at work as much as folks want because there are just so many projects and people right now. I'm working very long hours, so I'm not home as much as I want and I have almost no free time (oh yeah my wife works every other weekend, so we have 4 days per month where my whole family is home together) so I'm feeling like I'm not doing everything I could for family in relation to grandma. The logical part of my brain knows you can't meet all those obligations, but logic and guilt aren't friends. Anyway, for me it means stress and stress means food...
My blood pressure is iffy, my sleep sucks and I need to get a handle on all of that.
The Plan: The plan for the next couple months is simply to lose some weight and take better care of myself in general. I still have dreams of events and the title of the blog holds, but reality is I keep getting hurt at my current weight. I will focus on elliptical machines and rowers and bikes for a while. In addition, I'm going to try to get more serious about strength training. It seems very clear that I am missing that from my fitness history and every article I read says it is the key to weight maintenance.
Around the New Year I'll reevaluate to see if I'm ready to start training for anything in specific. My dad is a regular reader of my blog and suggested that maybe I just focus on biking, since I seem to enjoy that so much. It's an idea of merit and we'll see where it goes. I still like the multi-sport stuff, but as I head for 42 we'll see if this body can do that. Honestly, right now I just want to look better naked and get my health back to a better place.
I keep telling myself to act like I have a health crisis and when you look at my BMI and Blood pressure, it's not acting.
This will also be a good period to see what I want to do with work. If I'm honest, there are parts of it I really like, but none worth dying young for. I meet too many people my age, particularly men, who seem to be trading health for money. It seems I've spent 10 years debating a change, perhaps this year can be the one where I either make one or settle in.
Anyway, I can whine about work somewhere else, this is about trying to be the pig in the bacon and egg breakfast of my health. You remember, the chicken is interested, the pig is committed.
Thanks for your interest and wish me luck or just laugh at my futility in trying again...
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Capitulation and reloading
I can't do the Urbanathlon (at least not well)... In my current health, I'll never do a longer distance triathlon either. This is the reality I've had to face this week. I have lots of guilt and regret over the Urbanathlon, but I've been fooling myself to try to get to it.
A few bottom lines have emerged:
- When I rest my foot hurts less (but has never completely recovered) and every time I run it hurts more. Truthfully it hurts most of the time and I'm creating other issues by protecting it when I walk.
- Every time I get past 3 miles on a run, I seem to hurt myself
- My blood pressure is out of whack and it ain't just caffeine (been monitoring at work and it is generally 130 something over 90 something)
- Without a doubt, I can no longer use event training in isolation as my weight loss program.
- Limping through Sprint triathlons brings limited joy
- As fit as I may or may not be, I'm not pleased with how I look. My BMI says I'm obese and while that may be dubious, the fact that I am too heavy is not debatable.
Bottom bottom line... I weigh too much and it impacts my health at every turn
So those are my current outcomes from my current methods and as we know you don't get new results with old methods.
So, I'm shifting again.
I have no events on the calendar and I'm not adding any for now. My sole health focus will be doing things that lead to achieving a healthier weight. For now, that will be biking, swimming, and other low impact activities. This way I can see if my foot is ever going to heal. I can see if my BP can be managed. I can get my stress under control and build a diet that befits a 41 year old man, not a 20 year old miscreant. I also will use my fitbit tracker to see if I can add activity to my day in general, rather than rely on a workout to make-up for the bad behavior of the other 23 hours of the day.
I weighed myself this morning and clocked in at 197.3. That's actually lower than expected, but not healthy. I would like to weigh 170 pounds eventually, but for now I'd like to see what losing 5 more pounds does for my health.
I have to admit the Blood Pressure thing unnerves me a bit. It's been going on for a couple years, but I've always been able to get enough good readings to convince myself I'm ok. That is less true since January and not at all the last week. I'm going to continue to monitor it daily and if I don't see progress by the end of the month, I'll see my doctor.
My dreams of triathlons etc. have not gone away, they are just postponed until I can improve my overall health. Doing some things differently is so tough, the inertia of life keeps you in the same patterns. I use the following quote on my work emails and it strikes me as too true today.
"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones"
I think I'll keep updating this blog, but you can expect it to much more about weight loss for a while. I'm sure I'll randomly muse as well. My work has been great fodder lately, but more another time on that.
Wish me luck. I still believe you don't have to give into getting older and accepting lesser health, you just need a new plan. Just like Stalin, I'm good with new plans, my room for improvement is on the implementation side:)
A few bottom lines have emerged:
- When I rest my foot hurts less (but has never completely recovered) and every time I run it hurts more. Truthfully it hurts most of the time and I'm creating other issues by protecting it when I walk.
- Every time I get past 3 miles on a run, I seem to hurt myself
- My blood pressure is out of whack and it ain't just caffeine (been monitoring at work and it is generally 130 something over 90 something)
- Without a doubt, I can no longer use event training in isolation as my weight loss program.
- Limping through Sprint triathlons brings limited joy
- As fit as I may or may not be, I'm not pleased with how I look. My BMI says I'm obese and while that may be dubious, the fact that I am too heavy is not debatable.
Bottom bottom line... I weigh too much and it impacts my health at every turn
So those are my current outcomes from my current methods and as we know you don't get new results with old methods.
So, I'm shifting again.
I have no events on the calendar and I'm not adding any for now. My sole health focus will be doing things that lead to achieving a healthier weight. For now, that will be biking, swimming, and other low impact activities. This way I can see if my foot is ever going to heal. I can see if my BP can be managed. I can get my stress under control and build a diet that befits a 41 year old man, not a 20 year old miscreant. I also will use my fitbit tracker to see if I can add activity to my day in general, rather than rely on a workout to make-up for the bad behavior of the other 23 hours of the day.
I weighed myself this morning and clocked in at 197.3. That's actually lower than expected, but not healthy. I would like to weigh 170 pounds eventually, but for now I'd like to see what losing 5 more pounds does for my health.
I have to admit the Blood Pressure thing unnerves me a bit. It's been going on for a couple years, but I've always been able to get enough good readings to convince myself I'm ok. That is less true since January and not at all the last week. I'm going to continue to monitor it daily and if I don't see progress by the end of the month, I'll see my doctor.
My dreams of triathlons etc. have not gone away, they are just postponed until I can improve my overall health. Doing some things differently is so tough, the inertia of life keeps you in the same patterns. I use the following quote on my work emails and it strikes me as too true today.
"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones"
I think I'll keep updating this blog, but you can expect it to much more about weight loss for a while. I'm sure I'll randomly muse as well. My work has been great fodder lately, but more another time on that.
Wish me luck. I still believe you don't have to give into getting older and accepting lesser health, you just need a new plan. Just like Stalin, I'm good with new plans, my room for improvement is on the implementation side:)
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
A brief note
Exercise update: I ran my four miles on the treadmill while Hannah was at log-rolling class. It felt ok, but I am anxious to see how my foot feels in the morning. Time will tell I guess
I also have bike commuted this week to work, which is a nice way to add a little activity to the day. I hope it all starts to make a difference. I've been monitoring by blood pressure at work and it is not good. I'm going to work at it for the month and if I don't get it back to normal, I guess it's time to give in and see my doctor. Must lose weight, reduce stress and get caffeine out of my diet.
Nutrition update: Still too much soda, but less. Also, I ate marginally better today. Maybe I'll get serious yet. I had a disastrous weigh in this morning that reflected my behavior over the long weekend. I was back up over 200 pounds for the first time on the new scale. Hopefully it was a pendulum swing and I can get momentum moving the other direction. I'm trying to convince myself that it is life and death, because who knows, it just might be.
Random Musings: I'm still targeting Saturday as D-Day for the Urbanthlon, but the scale today and my BP readings over the last year are giving me a longer term focus. I just need to get healthier, darn it.
Work has been ok, but I'm still overbooked and can't be as effective as I wish I was. I'm trying to get a handle on things and focus on what has impact and meaning for me. No one else is helping me prioritize, so I'll use my own methods. My family has lots of fun stuff planned this year, so I'm looking forward to that too.
And this ends a fairly weak blog entry, but at least I blogged two days in a row. Routine seems to put me in a better place (says the man who feels a need for change:)).
I also have bike commuted this week to work, which is a nice way to add a little activity to the day. I hope it all starts to make a difference. I've been monitoring by blood pressure at work and it is not good. I'm going to work at it for the month and if I don't get it back to normal, I guess it's time to give in and see my doctor. Must lose weight, reduce stress and get caffeine out of my diet.
Nutrition update: Still too much soda, but less. Also, I ate marginally better today. Maybe I'll get serious yet. I had a disastrous weigh in this morning that reflected my behavior over the long weekend. I was back up over 200 pounds for the first time on the new scale. Hopefully it was a pendulum swing and I can get momentum moving the other direction. I'm trying to convince myself that it is life and death, because who knows, it just might be.
Random Musings: I'm still targeting Saturday as D-Day for the Urbanthlon, but the scale today and my BP readings over the last year are giving me a longer term focus. I just need to get healthier, darn it.
Work has been ok, but I'm still overbooked and can't be as effective as I wish I was. I'm trying to get a handle on things and focus on what has impact and meaning for me. No one else is helping me prioritize, so I'll use my own methods. My family has lots of fun stuff planned this year, so I'm looking forward to that too.
And this ends a fairly weak blog entry, but at least I blogged two days in a row. Routine seems to put me in a better place (says the man who feels a need for change:)).
Monday, September 5, 2011
The roller coaster
Exercise update: I've been lax in updating, so I'll catch up a bit here. My last "serious" workout was Saturday. I ran 2+ miles on my treadmill because itwas cruddy outside weather wise. It was the end of a week of low mileage dictated by the Hal Higdon program I'm following this go round. I have to say that my run felt crappy and so did the one on the Thursday prior. As I've mentioned in other posts, I'm attributing it to dietary slippage. At least I hope that's the case.
This week is a big week for me. I have a 4 miler scheduled on Tuesday and a 5 miler on Saturday (Thursday is just 3). I'm going to try to reduce soda and other crap and see how the runs go. I've committed to making a final call on the Urbanathlon by Saturday so this should be telling. If I can do 5 miles on Saturday with minimal discomfort, then I'm locking in and making travel plans etc. If I feel like crap or if more importantly my foot feels like it's going to fall off, then it's back to the drawing board.
The foot thing is eroding my morale and confidence. Just when I think it's improving, I'll have a day where it is beyond stiff and sore when I wake up. I suspect rest will improve it, but I'm also afraid that I'm just going to have arthritis in my foot for the rest of my life, a less than pleasing thought. At some point, I'll give it an extended break from impact exercise and we'll find out. It's just figuring out whether that starts now or post-Urbanathlon that is difficult. I'm sure that shedding 20 lbs. wouldn't hurt it a bit either.
Oh well, big week I guess and I'll know way more by Saturday night.
Nutrition update: I'm am still a self-sabotaging non-serious person when it comes to food. It is with remarkable ease that I slip into my old habits of exercise a lot and eat what I want. In political parlance, I am fighting the last war not the current one. This time tested strategy of mine has only led to being large and fit, with a foot that may fall off at some point.
I'll write more if I ever grow up about food.
Random Musings: My trainer and I parted ways this week. We probably should have months ago because our schedules never lined up. She is free for small windows during weekdays and I have to find a way to escape the office every time we try to meet. She also has a very young son and a fireman husband who make her schedule complicated and we've had to cancel on each other several times. In fact, I finally realized we had only trained 10 times in 12 months. If I'd done the math sooner, maybe I'd have pulled the plug sooner. She was very nice about it and I'm suspecting she'll be famous someday, like in a Biggest Loser kind of way. But in the meantime, I'm back to training myself; a place that's pretty comfortable really.
Having a bit of a melancholy Monday, but this too shall pass. The Olympic triathlon that inspired this blog seems pretty distant, but I'll get there. I've also come to believe that you better not count on your work for fulfillment (too many factors you don't control), but that's not so depressing, it just means I need to look at a broader palate of options for personal growth. There seem to be some out there and I'll write more about them sometime. I have a serious urge to change stuff and when you've settled in a community and career and you like it there, you have to work a little harder to find the novelty that makes life interesting.
This week is a big week for me. I have a 4 miler scheduled on Tuesday and a 5 miler on Saturday (Thursday is just 3). I'm going to try to reduce soda and other crap and see how the runs go. I've committed to making a final call on the Urbanathlon by Saturday so this should be telling. If I can do 5 miles on Saturday with minimal discomfort, then I'm locking in and making travel plans etc. If I feel like crap or if more importantly my foot feels like it's going to fall off, then it's back to the drawing board.
The foot thing is eroding my morale and confidence. Just when I think it's improving, I'll have a day where it is beyond stiff and sore when I wake up. I suspect rest will improve it, but I'm also afraid that I'm just going to have arthritis in my foot for the rest of my life, a less than pleasing thought. At some point, I'll give it an extended break from impact exercise and we'll find out. It's just figuring out whether that starts now or post-Urbanathlon that is difficult. I'm sure that shedding 20 lbs. wouldn't hurt it a bit either.
Oh well, big week I guess and I'll know way more by Saturday night.
Nutrition update: I'm am still a self-sabotaging non-serious person when it comes to food. It is with remarkable ease that I slip into my old habits of exercise a lot and eat what I want. In political parlance, I am fighting the last war not the current one. This time tested strategy of mine has only led to being large and fit, with a foot that may fall off at some point.
I'll write more if I ever grow up about food.
Random Musings: My trainer and I parted ways this week. We probably should have months ago because our schedules never lined up. She is free for small windows during weekdays and I have to find a way to escape the office every time we try to meet. She also has a very young son and a fireman husband who make her schedule complicated and we've had to cancel on each other several times. In fact, I finally realized we had only trained 10 times in 12 months. If I'd done the math sooner, maybe I'd have pulled the plug sooner. She was very nice about it and I'm suspecting she'll be famous someday, like in a Biggest Loser kind of way. But in the meantime, I'm back to training myself; a place that's pretty comfortable really.
Having a bit of a melancholy Monday, but this too shall pass. The Olympic triathlon that inspired this blog seems pretty distant, but I'll get there. I've also come to believe that you better not count on your work for fulfillment (too many factors you don't control), but that's not so depressing, it just means I need to look at a broader palate of options for personal growth. There seem to be some out there and I'll write more about them sometime. I have a serious urge to change stuff and when you've settled in a community and career and you like it there, you have to work a little harder to find the novelty that makes life interesting.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Soda Bad
Nutrition update: I've been a bit of a mess for the last couple weeks. I have completely fallen into the trap of eating whatever I want because I feel like my exercise has increased. I have exacerbated that recently by a backslide on caffeine intake through soda. As an example today, I drank two 20 Oz. bottles and another smaller bottle with lunch. Some is regular and full of sugar and calories and some of it is diet full of Nutrasweet and death. Neither makes me feel very good.
Bottom line is my running didn't feel good today and my weight has crept up 1.5 pounds in a week or so. My current habits suck and need work. I'll start tonight by making sure I don't top off my day with ice cream.
Exercise update: My running program has been lighter this week. I think that is to let my muscles acclimate and strengthen. Tonight was just my 2nd 2 mile run of the week. Unfortunately this one was a struggle, which was a stark contrast to Tuesday night, which felt great. Maybe it was the heat or maybe it was the soda overdoes or maybe it was a combo of both, but it felt crappy.
I'm not taking a rest day tomorrow. Instead I'm meeting with my trainer over my lunch hour. That should be a good kick in the pants and a good launch into fall. I also promised my daughter a sporty band (sold by my trainer), so I hope I remember to get one. I'm sure I'll get shredded, but I'm actually looking forward to it. Hopefully my foot will stay just sort of bad, like it is now.
Random Musings: It's been an interesting time at work. I'm always a bit overwhelmed the first week or two because the pace gets so frantic. There have been real contrasts, where one moment I'm leading a team that might get a grant that will really help students and two hours later I can't get a team to talk about coordinating snacks for students in their classroom. It's hard to feel like a difference maker and then immediately feel totally ineffective in the same day.
Someone sent me an intriguing job posting from out of town and I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it. We aren't inclined to move, but it might be fun to see if I could even get in the mix for this sort of job. More thoughts to come soon I'm sure.
And then many days, I look for simpler paths too. My lunacy is never too far away:)
Bottom line is my running didn't feel good today and my weight has crept up 1.5 pounds in a week or so. My current habits suck and need work. I'll start tonight by making sure I don't top off my day with ice cream.
Exercise update: My running program has been lighter this week. I think that is to let my muscles acclimate and strengthen. Tonight was just my 2nd 2 mile run of the week. Unfortunately this one was a struggle, which was a stark contrast to Tuesday night, which felt great. Maybe it was the heat or maybe it was the soda overdoes or maybe it was a combo of both, but it felt crappy.
I'm not taking a rest day tomorrow. Instead I'm meeting with my trainer over my lunch hour. That should be a good kick in the pants and a good launch into fall. I also promised my daughter a sporty band (sold by my trainer), so I hope I remember to get one. I'm sure I'll get shredded, but I'm actually looking forward to it. Hopefully my foot will stay just sort of bad, like it is now.
Random Musings: It's been an interesting time at work. I'm always a bit overwhelmed the first week or two because the pace gets so frantic. There have been real contrasts, where one moment I'm leading a team that might get a grant that will really help students and two hours later I can't get a team to talk about coordinating snacks for students in their classroom. It's hard to feel like a difference maker and then immediately feel totally ineffective in the same day.
Someone sent me an intriguing job posting from out of town and I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it. We aren't inclined to move, but it might be fun to see if I could even get in the mix for this sort of job. More thoughts to come soon I'm sure.
And then many days, I look for simpler paths too. My lunacy is never too far away:)
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday magic
Random Musings: As I've mentioned here before, the fitness level you get from running is just different. It is problematic in many ways, but just feels like a more fit place than other cardio I've done and I've done lots of cardio.
I was reminded of this over the last 3 weeks when I've shifted to run centered program. Basically I just run on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then go for a "long" run on Saturdays. I cross train 2-3 other days and rest on Fridays, but the bulk of the work is the three running days. Much as it was when I trained for a 1/2 marathon in 2006, I am stunned at the gains you make in just a three day a week program. I ran my longest run in months yesterday and felt pretty great (with the exception of my foot, which I'll say more about later). I am pretty certain I'll make to to the Urbanathlon in October, but after that I think I'll need to get in the pool and to spin class for long enough to let this thing actually get better, if it can.
On a totally unrelated note, I was just visiting with my daughter as I was typing this and she was describing her anger at someone who uses a shock collar on their dog. We've talked about it lots of times, but today I was struck by the beauty of the certainty of a 10 year old. She just "knows" that it is wrong, period.
Although I am arguably wiser now that I am older, I really miss the certainty of youth. I used to know so many things that I just knew were true and now it seems there are no real truths out there, just continuums to fall upon somewhere. Maybe that's why people find religion or only watch the news channel from "their side"; it is just so much more comforting to be absolutely sure. Of course as a former history major, I know that people who were absolutely certain of their beliefs were usually the most dangerous historically. See what I mean, everything has multiple sides...
Exercise update: Yesterday I completed the four mile run on my schedule. It's the longest run I've been on since probably June or so. It felt pretty good. I've elected to use the Galloway method on my long runs, which means I just schedule walk breaks in from the beginning rather than running to exhaustion. In this case, I ran four minutes and them walked a minute and then repeated that for 4+ miles. I'm not tracking as scientifically as I usually would, but the whole run took less than 40 minutes, so I'm ok with the pace as well. I'd love to run 7 minute miles, but for now, under 10 will do.
Unfortunately, my foot hurts today (the day after), worse than it has for a couple of weeks. Lots of stiffness and some point specific pain returned. I'm going to bike for cross training today and rest tomorrow. If I can get in to the chiro tomorrow and stay off the foot til Tuesday, I'm hoping it will bounce back. As I've said, it's an on-going struggle.
I'm also glad to say that I'm re-connecting with my trainer on Friday. We were both very busy this summer, so it's been months, but it seems like a good way to keep momentum going into fall. I'll work harder with her than I would on my own.
One more thing, I did cross the monkey bars at Myrick Park this week, so I have hope for October:)
Nutrition update: Not much to say here, because all evidence would indicate I'm not a serious person about nutrition. I'm still trying to compensate with exercise and now a few vitamins. I am frustrated that with months of exercise and fitness goals, my weight loss has been minimal and this is the obvious culprit. The question as always is when will I actually do something about it? I'll update you if I ever do.
I was reminded of this over the last 3 weeks when I've shifted to run centered program. Basically I just run on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then go for a "long" run on Saturdays. I cross train 2-3 other days and rest on Fridays, but the bulk of the work is the three running days. Much as it was when I trained for a 1/2 marathon in 2006, I am stunned at the gains you make in just a three day a week program. I ran my longest run in months yesterday and felt pretty great (with the exception of my foot, which I'll say more about later). I am pretty certain I'll make to to the Urbanathlon in October, but after that I think I'll need to get in the pool and to spin class for long enough to let this thing actually get better, if it can.
On a totally unrelated note, I was just visiting with my daughter as I was typing this and she was describing her anger at someone who uses a shock collar on their dog. We've talked about it lots of times, but today I was struck by the beauty of the certainty of a 10 year old. She just "knows" that it is wrong, period.
Although I am arguably wiser now that I am older, I really miss the certainty of youth. I used to know so many things that I just knew were true and now it seems there are no real truths out there, just continuums to fall upon somewhere. Maybe that's why people find religion or only watch the news channel from "their side"; it is just so much more comforting to be absolutely sure. Of course as a former history major, I know that people who were absolutely certain of their beliefs were usually the most dangerous historically. See what I mean, everything has multiple sides...
Exercise update: Yesterday I completed the four mile run on my schedule. It's the longest run I've been on since probably June or so. It felt pretty good. I've elected to use the Galloway method on my long runs, which means I just schedule walk breaks in from the beginning rather than running to exhaustion. In this case, I ran four minutes and them walked a minute and then repeated that for 4+ miles. I'm not tracking as scientifically as I usually would, but the whole run took less than 40 minutes, so I'm ok with the pace as well. I'd love to run 7 minute miles, but for now, under 10 will do.
Unfortunately, my foot hurts today (the day after), worse than it has for a couple of weeks. Lots of stiffness and some point specific pain returned. I'm going to bike for cross training today and rest tomorrow. If I can get in to the chiro tomorrow and stay off the foot til Tuesday, I'm hoping it will bounce back. As I've said, it's an on-going struggle.
I'm also glad to say that I'm re-connecting with my trainer on Friday. We were both very busy this summer, so it's been months, but it seems like a good way to keep momentum going into fall. I'll work harder with her than I would on my own.
One more thing, I did cross the monkey bars at Myrick Park this week, so I have hope for October:)
Nutrition update: Not much to say here, because all evidence would indicate I'm not a serious person about nutrition. I'm still trying to compensate with exercise and now a few vitamins. I am frustrated that with months of exercise and fitness goals, my weight loss has been minimal and this is the obvious culprit. The question as always is when will I actually do something about it? I'll update you if I ever do.
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