Hey...that was my idea!!

Saturday, March 13, 2010


The day started in the usual manner. I’m eating breakfast regularly again – something I was avoiding when I was gaining weight – and was reading the Cleveland Plain Dealer with my cereal when I noticed two stories of interest. One was about a sports writer for the paper, Dennis Manoloff. It was alerting readers to the fact that Dennis had stolen my idea – blogging about getting into shape – and where you could read about him. I went to the site to discover that he’s young, only 42, and that he’s working with a trainer at the newest fitness facility in town. I read the first couple of days of his program and I know as long as he sticks with the trainer and the program, he’ll achieve his fitness goal, which has something to do with aerobic bowling. I don’t know.

The other story was really just a note inviting people who are losing weight to write blogs that they would feature in their upcoming articles “fighting fat”. I wrote to them about my blog. Now…I’m wondering if they’ll want the likes of me in there…after they STOLE MY IDEA AGAIN!!!

It’s okay. I’m okay. The more people that are doing something about their health and fitness, the happier I should be, as a professional and all. Right?

You’d think so – but…nah…I just care about me.

Anyway, so, he has a trainer. I don’t have a trainer. I mean I am a trainer but I think there’s a saying that goes “anyone training himself has a fool for a client”…or something like that. I will tell you this for sure, though. A serious training partner with a similar or the same goal is more help than any personal trainer can ever be. Don’t get me wrong – paying someone to take you through a workout can be a beautiful thing. They’re definitely motivating and motivated, but get the right training partner and you’re in.

For years, it’s been me and John. He's the guy in my profile picture with hair. We’ve known each other since my days as the Athletic Director for the Cleveland Athletic Club where I’d create all kinds of strange competitions to keep people focused on working out, but having fun doing it. He liked strange and was always around. We really became close when we planned our first backpacking and climbing trip to the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. At least twice a week, we’d schedule long bike rides or hikes to be sure that we would be in shape when the time for the trip came. He enjoyed my company and I tolerated him. We pushed each other, laughed and made it fun and if one didn’t feel like working out, the other nagged until it happened. There’s something about knowing someone is waiting for you to keep you from blowing off a workout. There’s also something about an event deadline for which you MUST be ready that has a similar effect. Put them together and you’ll stay in shape. By the way, you’ll learn more about John in my upcoming book “P46’s: The Privies of the Adirondacks”. It’s a charming little story about the 46 best privies in the Adirondack Mountains and the people who have shit in all of them.
So…anyway…my workout for the day.

You gotta’ love Cleveland weather. Seventy and sunny on Friday and today, it topped out around 45 degrees with a cold mist falling all day. Tough, dedicated guys get on their bikes and ride anyway. Neither word would describe me today. I hate riding in cold, wet weather. Frankly, it’s a little treacherous. Brakes don’t function quite as well and guys with tires that match their heads (bald) don’t get the traction necessary for safe riding. Besides, I’ve got a trainer and can ride inside again. Crap.

I slipped in the movie “Flag of Our Fathers” – the story of the men who raised the flag in the famous photo on the island of Iwo Jima in 1944. It’s a great story and it kept me going for seventy minutes. I was actually pushing past the hour mark so I could burn up the necessary calories to take me over 1,000 for the day. I set my original weekly goal for calories burned at 3,500 or the approximate amount in one pound of fat, but I’ve easily exceeded that over the first three weeks. In fact, I burned 10,675 this past week – a number that will be hard to match until I can get outside on the bike all the time for longer rides. All in all…a great workout week.

Bike duration: Seventy minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 125 bpm.

Calories burned during workout: 1,050.