Thursday, December 23, 2010
I was having a pretty good eating day. I’d started out with a double order of hot cereal – oat bran. I’ve found that I always have to move to the column for ‘two servings’ when preparing any kind of hot cereal since the ‘one serving’ couldn’t fill a 3-year old. For lunch, I ate a couple of apples and since Holly wasn’t around at dinner time, I made a couple of PBJ’s. Then Ash showed up with a present from Ollie’s grandmother. I opened it to find home made buckeyes. That’s right…peanut butter and chocolate. Is there anything better…or harder to resist? I didn’t try the ‘resisting’ thing and dug in immediately before I got a pang of conscience and decided against it. It was great and so I figured I’d do Holly and the rest of the family a favor and eat up all those hollow calories before they even knew they existed. I stopped after five…they were pretty rich.
I’m so glad I’m not Holly. I suppose she’s not unlike a lot of wives around the holidays…and I’m probably the typical guy. I don’t do much in preparation for Christmas because…well…she does it all and I’m not stopping her. She buys most of the presents for the kids, wraps them all, makes all the food, decorates the house and continues with her normal chores, as well. She also does her dad and Jason’s birthday celebrations, makes food for all the parties we attend, does the baking and cooking we all expect for our Christmas. This year, she added numerous trips to the hospital and rehab center to be with her mom as she struggled with a broken hip. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and there were still too many things to do so she elected to try and finish them by pulling an all-nighter. I am seriously thrilled that I’m a guy and could sleep through all this activity…with little or no guilt.
I did manage to do my one job. I rode another 60 minutes while watching another episode of ‘Lost’. I think the buckeyes may have put me in the plus-calorie column for the day, but not by much. I really think the only way for me to stay ahead of consumption at this time of year is with two-a-day work outs. It’s hard though, because I’m SOOOOO busy…
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Quality time with Jimmy...
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
I woke up with some stiffness in my back, but not nearly what I’d gone to sleep with the night before. I headed for work with fingers crossed that the pain was the one day wonder it was normally. Jimmy was back in town from Florida and was threatening to take me out to lunch. He’s the worst gambler in the world…we’ve bet mostly on track races over the years…and he’s never once won. We always bet lunch and he now owes me 87. I told him I’d wipe the slate clean if he’d take me to Slyman’s. He’s a blog reader, so he knows about the place, but has never been and didn’t really know what to expect. Like so many things with Jimmy, I needed to school him.
“Why do we have to wait in this line?” – he complained as we stood in the door upon arriving.
“It’s just what you do. It’s the best corned beef sandwich in the city and everybody wants one. There’s always a line, but it moves fast. Now quit your whining or someone will know you’re new,” I said.
He was actually being pretty good. If you’ve read about Jimmy on camping excursions, you know what a whiner he can be. He’s been off to grad school in Florida and has been teaching undergrads as part of the process. Poor kids. Anyway, he cleaned up his act…shaving his scraggily facial hair he thought was a beard , cutting his moppy hair, and putting on clothes that actually made some fashion sense. He was even wearing dress shoes.
We ordered our sandwiches and when they arrived, he reached for the catsup and aimed it for his sandwich. The couple at table next to us…there pretty close in Slyman’s…gasped in horror as I reached for his hand and said, “have you lost your mind? You can’t put catsup on that amazing sandwich! Horseradish or mustard or both…but catsup… well…you just can’t!”
He ignored me and started squirting it all over that beautiful corned beef. Our waitress saw him and went to get a picture. He’d be posted and never allowed in again…and I’d be guilty by association. I excused myself quickly to go to the bathroom to avoid the picture…and the shame.
After the amazing lunch, I dropped Jimmy off and headed for home and a bike ride. I put in my normal 60 minutes and with no back pain. Later that evening, Holly called me to meet her and maybe grab a bite to eat. She was shopping and wanted to tell me about all that she’d gotten. I was cool with that, but concerned about eating anything else that day. I met her at some wings place at Golden Gate Shopping Center and ordered a half pound burger. To lessen the caloric impact, I ordered a side of cold slaw…passing on the fries. It mattered little. I’d probably consumed a couple of thousand calories of meat that day…a nice start to the rest of the holiday calories I’d be facing shortly.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900
I woke up with some stiffness in my back, but not nearly what I’d gone to sleep with the night before. I headed for work with fingers crossed that the pain was the one day wonder it was normally. Jimmy was back in town from Florida and was threatening to take me out to lunch. He’s the worst gambler in the world…we’ve bet mostly on track races over the years…and he’s never once won. We always bet lunch and he now owes me 87. I told him I’d wipe the slate clean if he’d take me to Slyman’s. He’s a blog reader, so he knows about the place, but has never been and didn’t really know what to expect. Like so many things with Jimmy, I needed to school him.
“Why do we have to wait in this line?” – he complained as we stood in the door upon arriving.
“It’s just what you do. It’s the best corned beef sandwich in the city and everybody wants one. There’s always a line, but it moves fast. Now quit your whining or someone will know you’re new,” I said.
He was actually being pretty good. If you’ve read about Jimmy on camping excursions, you know what a whiner he can be. He’s been off to grad school in Florida and has been teaching undergrads as part of the process. Poor kids. Anyway, he cleaned up his act…shaving his scraggily facial hair he thought was a beard , cutting his moppy hair, and putting on clothes that actually made some fashion sense. He was even wearing dress shoes.
We ordered our sandwiches and when they arrived, he reached for the catsup and aimed it for his sandwich. The couple at table next to us…there pretty close in Slyman’s…gasped in horror as I reached for his hand and said, “have you lost your mind? You can’t put catsup on that amazing sandwich! Horseradish or mustard or both…but catsup… well…you just can’t!”
He ignored me and started squirting it all over that beautiful corned beef. Our waitress saw him and went to get a picture. He’d be posted and never allowed in again…and I’d be guilty by association. I excused myself quickly to go to the bathroom to avoid the picture…and the shame.
After the amazing lunch, I dropped Jimmy off and headed for home and a bike ride. I put in my normal 60 minutes and with no back pain. Later that evening, Holly called me to meet her and maybe grab a bite to eat. She was shopping and wanted to tell me about all that she’d gotten. I was cool with that, but concerned about eating anything else that day. I met her at some wings place at Golden Gate Shopping Center and ordered a half pound burger. To lessen the caloric impact, I ordered a side of cold slaw…passing on the fries. It mattered little. I’d probably consumed a couple of thousand calories of meat that day…a nice start to the rest of the holiday calories I’d be facing shortly.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900
Back pain...
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
As is usually the case, I have very little responsibilities for the purchase of Christmas presents…pretty much Holly’s and a couple for the kids…but I always put it off until the last couple of days. I seldom have something specific in mind…I kind of browse the stores waiting for something to jump off a shelf with a tag attached that says “Holly really wants this”. It never happens…but follow the process anyway.
I texted Heidi at work; asking when she needed to be picked. She had some shopping left as well and she’s always good for ideas on what I should get Holly. I arrived at Golf Galaxy as she was exiting the store…perfect timing…and we began our final Christmas quest.
My back had been bothering me throughout the day…a nagging soreness in the lower back that strikes about twice a year. I normally can’t attribute it to anything specific and this was no exception. One breath it’s not there…and the next, it is. Anyway, I figured it would go away before the day was over. Wrong.
We went to the Unique Thrift Store in Willowick because we both like to shop for deals. I’d been looking for ‘Schindler’s List’ on VHS and found it there. I don’t know what she found…but it was something. I told her I was heading for the car because my back was bothering me. From there, it was Pat Catan’s, where it really started to get ugly. I hadn’t done my ride yet and it was beginning to look unlikely as the night…and back pain…progressed that I’d be getting it in.
By the time we got home, I was looking forward to couch time. The bike was out and that was a major disappointment with the holiday junk calories looming on the horizon. I could just not eat them…but I knew that wasn’t happening. I decided to just go to bed to read and hope for the best the following morning.
As is usually the case, I have very little responsibilities for the purchase of Christmas presents…pretty much Holly’s and a couple for the kids…but I always put it off until the last couple of days. I seldom have something specific in mind…I kind of browse the stores waiting for something to jump off a shelf with a tag attached that says “Holly really wants this”. It never happens…but follow the process anyway.
I texted Heidi at work; asking when she needed to be picked. She had some shopping left as well and she’s always good for ideas on what I should get Holly. I arrived at Golf Galaxy as she was exiting the store…perfect timing…and we began our final Christmas quest.
My back had been bothering me throughout the day…a nagging soreness in the lower back that strikes about twice a year. I normally can’t attribute it to anything specific and this was no exception. One breath it’s not there…and the next, it is. Anyway, I figured it would go away before the day was over. Wrong.
We went to the Unique Thrift Store in Willowick because we both like to shop for deals. I’d been looking for ‘Schindler’s List’ on VHS and found it there. I don’t know what she found…but it was something. I told her I was heading for the car because my back was bothering me. From there, it was Pat Catan’s, where it really started to get ugly. I hadn’t done my ride yet and it was beginning to look unlikely as the night…and back pain…progressed that I’d be getting it in.
By the time we got home, I was looking forward to couch time. The bike was out and that was a major disappointment with the holiday junk calories looming on the horizon. I could just not eat them…but I knew that wasn’t happening. I decided to just go to bed to read and hope for the best the following morning.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Two helpings of fruit...
Monday, December 20, 2010
I’d picked up a Dutch apple pie from Patterson’s Fruit Farm for Sunday dinner, but hadn’t had a piece. Normally I’d have warmed it and added a couple of scoops of Breyer’s vanilla ice cream with natural bean specks, but I was so full from the eggnog milkshake…which is made with eggnog and Breyer’s vanilla ice cream with vanilla bean specks, that I held off. Amazing self control.
But there it was…sitting on the counter Monday morning. I needed something good for breakfast…and it had fruit in it. I left off the ice cream and polished off a hefty piece.
I stopped at Mimi’s and did a little calorie-burning work. She’s having the driveway plowed, but those rascals were leaving too much snow in front of the garage door and she’d been packing it down every time she drove in and out forming a twelve inch hump of snow and ice. I grabbed a spade and went to work chopping it down and in ten minutes; it was down to pavement again. I set a mouse trap for her and headed for home.
Dinner was leftover dumplings…or good-tasting, excess fatty calories. Holly had made a peanut butter chocolate cream and banana cream pie for Sunday’s party and there was still some banana cream left. Since I’d had my apples for breakfast, I went for the banana’s for dinner…there’s probably a whole one in two slices, I figured.
It was also our 35th anniversary. Yeah…I was a child groom and no…we didn’t do anything special. After her dad left, Holly had a lot of work to do preparing for Christmas and I had a bike to ride. I managed another 60-minute effort, though I don’t feel it’s enough to stave off the calories that keep finding me.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900
I’d picked up a Dutch apple pie from Patterson’s Fruit Farm for Sunday dinner, but hadn’t had a piece. Normally I’d have warmed it and added a couple of scoops of Breyer’s vanilla ice cream with natural bean specks, but I was so full from the eggnog milkshake…which is made with eggnog and Breyer’s vanilla ice cream with vanilla bean specks, that I held off. Amazing self control.
But there it was…sitting on the counter Monday morning. I needed something good for breakfast…and it had fruit in it. I left off the ice cream and polished off a hefty piece.
I stopped at Mimi’s and did a little calorie-burning work. She’s having the driveway plowed, but those rascals were leaving too much snow in front of the garage door and she’d been packing it down every time she drove in and out forming a twelve inch hump of snow and ice. I grabbed a spade and went to work chopping it down and in ten minutes; it was down to pavement again. I set a mouse trap for her and headed for home.
Dinner was leftover dumplings…or good-tasting, excess fatty calories. Holly had made a peanut butter chocolate cream and banana cream pie for Sunday’s party and there was still some banana cream left. Since I’d had my apples for breakfast, I went for the banana’s for dinner…there’s probably a whole one in two slices, I figured.
It was also our 35th anniversary. Yeah…I was a child groom and no…we didn’t do anything special. After her dad left, Holly had a lot of work to do preparing for Christmas and I had a bike to ride. I managed another 60-minute effort, though I don’t feel it’s enough to stave off the calories that keep finding me.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Horse trading for the tree...
Sunday, December 19/ 2010
It’s the holidays and every day is hectic…you know what I’m talking about. Anyway, I again started the morning on the trainer. I only had time for a 40-minute ride before church…so that’s what I did. I’d like to say I then went to church…and I kind of did…but not so much.
I took Jack there because he’s the babysitter and then Dakota and I went for a hike in the Metropark, which borders the church property. I know it’s not the same as being in the building, but I truly do find as much peace and serenity in the woods as I do in the church and I actually contemplated things affecting my spiritual side while walking. Since I’m often taking my pulse during the rote parts of the service…well…maybe the walk was better for my soul. I don’t know.
My father-in-law brought Jack home from church and we went together to the hospital again. As I did yesterday, I parked the car, entered the building and took the steps to the 8th floor. I looked up through the stairwell to determine how much further I could go and almost walked to the top, but decided against it. Maybe tomorrow. Turns out its 14 stories, which would take about 4 minutes altogether and would be an very intense workout. If I worked here, I could strap on a pack and do sets when getting ready for the Adirondacks. Maybe I’ll come and visit someone next summer when I’m getting ready for a backpacking trip.
It was a good thing I did the steps, hike, and bike. We were celebrating Jason’s birthday…he’s a Christmas Eve baby…and flat dumplings were on the menu. I ate conservatively, but later had an eggnog milkshake and a piece of pie. Whatever calories I’d burned off earlier, I put right back on…with a couple extra for good measure. I suppose I should be happy that I haven’t gained ten pounds since Thanksgiving…which is what I usually do this time of year.
We did manage to get the tree. I’m a ‘real tree’ kind of guy and I also like to get the best deal possible…which means Scotch Pine and holes in the side that faces the wall. They had the Frazier’s in the $75 range, which, for a guy who won’t pay for parking is beyond comprehension. I’ve been to this lot many times before and they know me…so when I pulled in, the attendants drew straws for who’d have the honor of helping us…
“I’m looking for a deal,” I said as soon as he walked up. “You able to do some horse trading or do I need someone else.”
He looked at me with some trepidation, but said he could deal…and deal we did. The girls…a little embarrassed, but used to my tactics…picked out a great tree. When they saw the price was $30, Heidi commented, “it’s such a great price that we don’t even need a discount.”
Horrified those words had come from an offspring of mine, I looked from her to the attendant. He saw something primal he didn’t like and said, “no…no…I’m thinking I can knock $5 off this here tree. Yeah…there’s kind of a hole here and…yeah…don’t worry…”
He went inside and did his thing…knocking five bucks off and throwing in the $1 bagging for free. I tipped him the five he’d saved me and went home a happy shopper.
Bike duration: 40 minutes. Hike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 70 hiking.
Calories burned during workout: 600 biking. 350 hiking.
It’s the holidays and every day is hectic…you know what I’m talking about. Anyway, I again started the morning on the trainer. I only had time for a 40-minute ride before church…so that’s what I did. I’d like to say I then went to church…and I kind of did…but not so much.
I took Jack there because he’s the babysitter and then Dakota and I went for a hike in the Metropark, which borders the church property. I know it’s not the same as being in the building, but I truly do find as much peace and serenity in the woods as I do in the church and I actually contemplated things affecting my spiritual side while walking. Since I’m often taking my pulse during the rote parts of the service…well…maybe the walk was better for my soul. I don’t know.
My father-in-law brought Jack home from church and we went together to the hospital again. As I did yesterday, I parked the car, entered the building and took the steps to the 8th floor. I looked up through the stairwell to determine how much further I could go and almost walked to the top, but decided against it. Maybe tomorrow. Turns out its 14 stories, which would take about 4 minutes altogether and would be an very intense workout. If I worked here, I could strap on a pack and do sets when getting ready for the Adirondacks. Maybe I’ll come and visit someone next summer when I’m getting ready for a backpacking trip.
It was a good thing I did the steps, hike, and bike. We were celebrating Jason’s birthday…he’s a Christmas Eve baby…and flat dumplings were on the menu. I ate conservatively, but later had an eggnog milkshake and a piece of pie. Whatever calories I’d burned off earlier, I put right back on…with a couple extra for good measure. I suppose I should be happy that I haven’t gained ten pounds since Thanksgiving…which is what I usually do this time of year.
We did manage to get the tree. I’m a ‘real tree’ kind of guy and I also like to get the best deal possible…which means Scotch Pine and holes in the side that faces the wall. They had the Frazier’s in the $75 range, which, for a guy who won’t pay for parking is beyond comprehension. I’ve been to this lot many times before and they know me…so when I pulled in, the attendants drew straws for who’d have the honor of helping us…
“I’m looking for a deal,” I said as soon as he walked up. “You able to do some horse trading or do I need someone else.”
He looked at me with some trepidation, but said he could deal…and deal we did. The girls…a little embarrassed, but used to my tactics…picked out a great tree. When they saw the price was $30, Heidi commented, “it’s such a great price that we don’t even need a discount.”
Horrified those words had come from an offspring of mine, I looked from her to the attendant. He saw something primal he didn’t like and said, “no…no…I’m thinking I can knock $5 off this here tree. Yeah…there’s kind of a hole here and…yeah…don’t worry…”
He went inside and did his thing…knocking five bucks off and throwing in the $1 bagging for free. I tipped him the five he’d saved me and went home a happy shopper.
Bike duration: 40 minutes. Hike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 70 hiking.
Calories burned during workout: 600 biking. 350 hiking.
Take the steps...
Saturday, December 18, 2010
I started the morning the right way. I was planning on taking my father-in-law to the hospital and visit with my mother-in-law and knew that the day would be crazy so I climbed out of bed and headed for the trainer. I managed 60 minutes while enjoying another episode of ‘Lost’ before he came.
We drove down and I dropped in front of the hospital. I won’t pay to park and went to E. 105th, where I’ve found that I can park on the street for free and walk to the hospital in under 2 minutes. Garage and $10 a day? Not happening. I walked to the bank of elevators. Her room was on the 8th floor and I was about to push the button for the ride up when I considered how many extra calories I could burn by walking. I hit the stop watch and started climbing. Two minutes later, I was on the 8th floor and my pulse was about 120. Okay…it’s a little thing, but it’s equivalent to the calories of at least one piece of something I’m likely to…but shouldn’t…eat before the day was over.
We returned in the early afternoon and I had some time before the party that evening, so I decided it was a good opportunity for Dakota and I to get in a little more exercise. We headed for the park and did an off-trail hike down to the marsh. The snow wasn’t very deep, but I did manage to sweat a little. I managed to almost bump into a pileated woodpecker and by the time I swung my camera into position, he was fifty yards away and thirty feet up the tree he’d selected.
The food at the party was good…and heavy…and I went at it with the uncontrolled zeal of a starving man…which I’m not. Calories in…calories out. The battle rages for control of my waistline…
Bike duration: 60 minutes. Hike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 70 hiking.
Calories burned during workout: 900 biking. 350 hiking.
I started the morning the right way. I was planning on taking my father-in-law to the hospital and visit with my mother-in-law and knew that the day would be crazy so I climbed out of bed and headed for the trainer. I managed 60 minutes while enjoying another episode of ‘Lost’ before he came.
We drove down and I dropped in front of the hospital. I won’t pay to park and went to E. 105th, where I’ve found that I can park on the street for free and walk to the hospital in under 2 minutes. Garage and $10 a day? Not happening. I walked to the bank of elevators. Her room was on the 8th floor and I was about to push the button for the ride up when I considered how many extra calories I could burn by walking. I hit the stop watch and started climbing. Two minutes later, I was on the 8th floor and my pulse was about 120. Okay…it’s a little thing, but it’s equivalent to the calories of at least one piece of something I’m likely to…but shouldn’t…eat before the day was over.
We returned in the early afternoon and I had some time before the party that evening, so I decided it was a good opportunity for Dakota and I to get in a little more exercise. We headed for the park and did an off-trail hike down to the marsh. The snow wasn’t very deep, but I did manage to sweat a little. I managed to almost bump into a pileated woodpecker and by the time I swung my camera into position, he was fifty yards away and thirty feet up the tree he’d selected.
The food at the party was good…and heavy…and I went at it with the uncontrolled zeal of a starving man…which I’m not. Calories in…calories out. The battle rages for control of my waistline…
Bike duration: 60 minutes. Hike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 70 hiking.
Calories burned during workout: 900 biking. 350 hiking.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Missed some calories...
Friday, December 17, 2010
It was the day of Holly’s favorite Christmas party because she would get to eat steak and lobster at the Kirtland Country Club. I knew it meant a lot of calories and although I’m not a big fan of steak – much preferring chicken – it was what they would be serving and I’d be eating. Probably after the appetizers and dessert, I’d check in around 1,000 calories.
I offset this with my what is becoming normal…and dull…60-minute bike ride. It’s getting easier to do since I discovered my DVD player on the laptop, but still…I’d much rather be outside running. I’m continuing to struggle with the holiday calories which constantly find their way into the house and…as a result…into my mouth. There is little will power at this time of year and I suppose that’s pretty normal, though wholly unacceptable.
Anyway, Holly’s mom was scheduled for surgery. Well…she’d been scheduled and rescheduled since yesterday afternoon…which can be quite disconcerting. We were trying to help her 90-year old father be there when it happened and the constant postponements were making very difficult on him, physically and emotionally. They had us convinced it would be happening that afternoon with a call that said “in about an hour”, but the reality had it happening at 8 p.m.
I suppose there is some good news in all of this. I didn’t go to the party after all and thus avoided some calories I didn’t really need. The surgery went very well, too. So…again…tomorrow I’ll plan to fit in a little extra since there is another party tomorrow night and my defenses are down.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900
It was the day of Holly’s favorite Christmas party because she would get to eat steak and lobster at the Kirtland Country Club. I knew it meant a lot of calories and although I’m not a big fan of steak – much preferring chicken – it was what they would be serving and I’d be eating. Probably after the appetizers and dessert, I’d check in around 1,000 calories.
I offset this with my what is becoming normal…and dull…60-minute bike ride. It’s getting easier to do since I discovered my DVD player on the laptop, but still…I’d much rather be outside running. I’m continuing to struggle with the holiday calories which constantly find their way into the house and…as a result…into my mouth. There is little will power at this time of year and I suppose that’s pretty normal, though wholly unacceptable.
Anyway, Holly’s mom was scheduled for surgery. Well…she’d been scheduled and rescheduled since yesterday afternoon…which can be quite disconcerting. We were trying to help her 90-year old father be there when it happened and the constant postponements were making very difficult on him, physically and emotionally. They had us convinced it would be happening that afternoon with a call that said “in about an hour”, but the reality had it happening at 8 p.m.
I suppose there is some good news in all of this. I didn’t go to the party after all and thus avoided some calories I didn’t really need. The surgery went very well, too. So…again…tomorrow I’ll plan to fit in a little extra since there is another party tomorrow night and my defenses are down.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900
Friday, December 17, 2010
Russo has a change of heart...
Thursday, December 16, 2010
“Russo changes mind, agrees to cooperate” was the headline greeting PD readers Thursday morning. I remember when I first read that Russo had pleaded guilty to 21 corruption-related charges and would be serving 22 years behind bars, but that, as part of his deal, he would not be testifying against Jimmy Dimora, or anyone else. I suppose, if Dimora was guilty, this would have emboldened him to continue to claim total innocence and vow to fight to clear his name.
Now…maybe after giving some hard thought to exactly how long 22 years is and what it means to spend that time locked away, Russo has had a change of heart. He’s ready to testify to what he knows about those who aided and abetted his criminal activities over the last dozen years or so, and I imagine Dimora is in his cross hairs. The Feds what that guy…and who could blame them? If Russo is their key, you can bet he’s going to get some serious time lopped from his sentence. I don’t know exactly how I feel about that yet, but I suppose it could save the taxpayers…the ones this scum has already pilfered for millions…a little money if Dimora pleads guilty and doesn’t go through with an expensive trial.
Russo offered an apology for his actions to the people of Cuyahoga County saying “my brothers and I were brought up to be honest and always act in an ethical way. I cannot identify the exact time that I strayed from this directive, but there came a point in my life when I made a decision to act in a fashion that I can now say was terribly wrong, which I truly regret.” He has been ordered to repay $7 million dollars, as well. I suppose it’s a good thing that he is apologizing, but wow…he stole $7 million dollars from the taxpayers? I’m having trouble getting my head around how he did it for so long and without someone knowing and blowing the whistle earlier. Anyway, I hope he does do the right thing going forward and rats the hell out of the others involved in his conspiracy and they all get what’s coming them. No honor amongst thieves.
My mother-in-law took a bad fall the other day and is in UH for hip replacement surgery as a result. Holly and I have spent a couple of days doing things we don’t normally do and sleeping less as a result. I offer this as my excuse for not getting to my workout, though it is weak. I was home yesterday evening with enough time to eat and watch some TV, but couldn’t muster the energy to ride the bike and went to bed instead. Life…and my lack of willpower…gets in the way from time to time.
“Russo changes mind, agrees to cooperate” was the headline greeting PD readers Thursday morning. I remember when I first read that Russo had pleaded guilty to 21 corruption-related charges and would be serving 22 years behind bars, but that, as part of his deal, he would not be testifying against Jimmy Dimora, or anyone else. I suppose, if Dimora was guilty, this would have emboldened him to continue to claim total innocence and vow to fight to clear his name.
Now…maybe after giving some hard thought to exactly how long 22 years is and what it means to spend that time locked away, Russo has had a change of heart. He’s ready to testify to what he knows about those who aided and abetted his criminal activities over the last dozen years or so, and I imagine Dimora is in his cross hairs. The Feds what that guy…and who could blame them? If Russo is their key, you can bet he’s going to get some serious time lopped from his sentence. I don’t know exactly how I feel about that yet, but I suppose it could save the taxpayers…the ones this scum has already pilfered for millions…a little money if Dimora pleads guilty and doesn’t go through with an expensive trial.
Russo offered an apology for his actions to the people of Cuyahoga County saying “my brothers and I were brought up to be honest and always act in an ethical way. I cannot identify the exact time that I strayed from this directive, but there came a point in my life when I made a decision to act in a fashion that I can now say was terribly wrong, which I truly regret.” He has been ordered to repay $7 million dollars, as well. I suppose it’s a good thing that he is apologizing, but wow…he stole $7 million dollars from the taxpayers? I’m having trouble getting my head around how he did it for so long and without someone knowing and blowing the whistle earlier. Anyway, I hope he does do the right thing going forward and rats the hell out of the others involved in his conspiracy and they all get what’s coming them. No honor amongst thieves.
My mother-in-law took a bad fall the other day and is in UH for hip replacement surgery as a result. Holly and I have spent a couple of days doing things we don’t normally do and sleeping less as a result. I offer this as my excuse for not getting to my workout, though it is weak. I was home yesterday evening with enough time to eat and watch some TV, but couldn’t muster the energy to ride the bike and went to bed instead. Life…and my lack of willpower…gets in the way from time to time.
I love PBS Nature shows...
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Why am I the last to find out about this stuff? As most of the rest of the world knows, there’s this internet site, hulu.com, where you can go and watch TV shows…for free! I really need something while I’m riding that trainer and the ‘Lost’ reruns don’t always cut it. I tried out hulu and discovered that I could be watching PBS nature shows, instead. I quickly searched through its menu and pulled up a show featuring the bears and wolves of Yellowstone Park, hit play and climbed aboard.
I suppose like a lot of backcountry campers and hikers, I have a fascination for the large carnivores with whom I may be sharing living and sleeping space. Though it seldom happens, folks like me could be their next meal and it pays to know and understand them, to the degree that we can, before entering their habitat…and we need to understand that it is THEIR habitat and we’re just visitors.
I know every evening as I’m drifting off to sleep that my sight will be visited by bears. They’re snooping for food that campers who ignore the bear canister requirement have placed or secured in some way that they will manage to get. I’ve had black bears in my campsite on three occasions when I was awake and it is a little unsettling. One scared easily and headed off as soon as I awoke, but in another incident, he couldn’t have cared less about me and took his time nosing around for food. I keep everything in a bear canister, which discourages a persistent bear and he did eventually leave. On another occasion though, we were sharing a lean-to with a couple that thought their food was safe tied off in a tree. They were wrong. The bear simply bit through the rope securing their food and when their bags fell to the ground, their trip was over and another bear was habituated to campsites and getting food the easy way.
It actually adds to the experience to share the woods with these animals and have no protection from them. I don’t know that I’d like the Adirondacks nearly as much if not for the black bears. They belong there and without them…well…it would just be a huge Metropark and where’s the excitement in that? I’ve had the pleasure of hearing coyotes howling and yelping as sat around a fire under clear, star-filled skies, which also has the ability to raise the hairs on the back of the neck and know that there have been sightings of mountain lions in the Adirondacks, it’s only a matter of time before their population increases to the point where we’ll have to take them into consideration when hiking and climbing. But wolves and grizzlies? – not yet, though hopefully some day.
I managed another hour on the bike and loved that I could do it all in my office and not have to dislodge or disturb anyone. When I get off that bike soaked to the bone, I just want to head for the shower and not have to fool with moving the equipment. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before my office starts to smell like a locker room, but until then…it’s perfect.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900
Why am I the last to find out about this stuff? As most of the rest of the world knows, there’s this internet site, hulu.com, where you can go and watch TV shows…for free! I really need something while I’m riding that trainer and the ‘Lost’ reruns don’t always cut it. I tried out hulu and discovered that I could be watching PBS nature shows, instead. I quickly searched through its menu and pulled up a show featuring the bears and wolves of Yellowstone Park, hit play and climbed aboard.
I suppose like a lot of backcountry campers and hikers, I have a fascination for the large carnivores with whom I may be sharing living and sleeping space. Though it seldom happens, folks like me could be their next meal and it pays to know and understand them, to the degree that we can, before entering their habitat…and we need to understand that it is THEIR habitat and we’re just visitors.
I know every evening as I’m drifting off to sleep that my sight will be visited by bears. They’re snooping for food that campers who ignore the bear canister requirement have placed or secured in some way that they will manage to get. I’ve had black bears in my campsite on three occasions when I was awake and it is a little unsettling. One scared easily and headed off as soon as I awoke, but in another incident, he couldn’t have cared less about me and took his time nosing around for food. I keep everything in a bear canister, which discourages a persistent bear and he did eventually leave. On another occasion though, we were sharing a lean-to with a couple that thought their food was safe tied off in a tree. They were wrong. The bear simply bit through the rope securing their food and when their bags fell to the ground, their trip was over and another bear was habituated to campsites and getting food the easy way.
It actually adds to the experience to share the woods with these animals and have no protection from them. I don’t know that I’d like the Adirondacks nearly as much if not for the black bears. They belong there and without them…well…it would just be a huge Metropark and where’s the excitement in that? I’ve had the pleasure of hearing coyotes howling and yelping as sat around a fire under clear, star-filled skies, which also has the ability to raise the hairs on the back of the neck and know that there have been sightings of mountain lions in the Adirondacks, it’s only a matter of time before their population increases to the point where we’ll have to take them into consideration when hiking and climbing. But wolves and grizzlies? – not yet, though hopefully some day.
I managed another hour on the bike and loved that I could do it all in my office and not have to dislodge or disturb anyone. When I get off that bike soaked to the bone, I just want to head for the shower and not have to fool with moving the equipment. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before my office starts to smell like a locker room, but until then…it’s perfect.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Cliff Lee says 'no' to the Yankees...
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
So…the Yankees offered the 2008 Cy Young award winner and former Cleveland Indian, Cliff Lee and 7-year, $150 million contract. The Yankees have the money, the name, the dynasty and they pretty much get whatever they want on the free agent market…to the disgust of most of the rest of he baseball world…me included. They already had our other Cy Young guy, C.C. Sabathia, which would make for quite a pitching staff. Damn the rich folk.
But…Cliff said ‘no’ to the big, bad Yanks and instead signed with the Phillies for $120 million over five years. TV and newspapers report that Lee walked away from over $30 million to play in Philadelphia, admiring his will to leave the big dollars behind for a better playing and living environment…or something like that.
And at first, it sounds logical…but let’s do the math for just a second before we get too crazy. The Yankees offer amounted to $21.4 million dollars a season. The Phillies, on the other hand, have agreed to pay Cliff $24 million per year. That’s right…about $2.6 million more than the Yankees. Oh...I know the Yankees agreed to seven years so the contract is actually worth more in total, but as far as Lee is concerned, he could reach the end of his five year deal with he Phils and sign another contract, like the 38-year old Mariano Rivera just did, for…who knows…$30 million an year. In the end, he’s got nothing to lose. I mean…if he plays only the five years and blows out an elbow or just gets old and loses his good stuff, he’ll still have made $120 million and I don’t think he’ll have any trouble suffering through the retirement years. Let’s face it…how much does your life change if you’re earning $120 million verses $150 million? Not a whole hell of a lot, I’m guessing. Bottom line? I’m thrilled for Cliff and the fact that he’s not going to the Yankees, but I don’t think for a second he’s left any money on the table. He’s a smart, talented guy. In the end, he’ll maximize his dollars and not play for the Evil Empire.
I discovered that I could plug a DVD into my laptop and watch an episode of ‘Lost’ in my office while sitting on the trainer. That means I no longer have to schlep the bike on the trainer from my office to the family room and back again after having ridden. I can’t leave it in the family room between rides because Holly’s kind of funny about having furniture and not bicycles in there. I kind of get it…I do sweat and stink and make a mess where I’m riding. Anyway, now I can just leave the whole setup in place and be ready to ride whenever I want to without inconveniencing anyone. I suspect I’ll get in more rides this way…and that’s a good thing.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900
So…the Yankees offered the 2008 Cy Young award winner and former Cleveland Indian, Cliff Lee and 7-year, $150 million contract. The Yankees have the money, the name, the dynasty and they pretty much get whatever they want on the free agent market…to the disgust of most of the rest of he baseball world…me included. They already had our other Cy Young guy, C.C. Sabathia, which would make for quite a pitching staff. Damn the rich folk.
But…Cliff said ‘no’ to the big, bad Yanks and instead signed with the Phillies for $120 million over five years. TV and newspapers report that Lee walked away from over $30 million to play in Philadelphia, admiring his will to leave the big dollars behind for a better playing and living environment…or something like that.
And at first, it sounds logical…but let’s do the math for just a second before we get too crazy. The Yankees offer amounted to $21.4 million dollars a season. The Phillies, on the other hand, have agreed to pay Cliff $24 million per year. That’s right…about $2.6 million more than the Yankees. Oh...I know the Yankees agreed to seven years so the contract is actually worth more in total, but as far as Lee is concerned, he could reach the end of his five year deal with he Phils and sign another contract, like the 38-year old Mariano Rivera just did, for…who knows…$30 million an year. In the end, he’s got nothing to lose. I mean…if he plays only the five years and blows out an elbow or just gets old and loses his good stuff, he’ll still have made $120 million and I don’t think he’ll have any trouble suffering through the retirement years. Let’s face it…how much does your life change if you’re earning $120 million verses $150 million? Not a whole hell of a lot, I’m guessing. Bottom line? I’m thrilled for Cliff and the fact that he’s not going to the Yankees, but I don’t think for a second he’s left any money on the table. He’s a smart, talented guy. In the end, he’ll maximize his dollars and not play for the Evil Empire.
I discovered that I could plug a DVD into my laptop and watch an episode of ‘Lost’ in my office while sitting on the trainer. That means I no longer have to schlep the bike on the trainer from my office to the family room and back again after having ridden. I can’t leave it in the family room between rides because Holly’s kind of funny about having furniture and not bicycles in there. I kind of get it…I do sweat and stink and make a mess where I’m riding. Anyway, now I can just leave the whole setup in place and be ready to ride whenever I want to without inconveniencing anyone. I suspect I’ll get in more rides this way…and that’s a good thing.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900
Forget about spot reducing...
Monday, December 13, 2010
I’m sorry to disappoint any of you who think you can spot reduce fat on your body. You can’t and any video, equipment ad, club, or person who tells you that you can…is full of shit.
Look…if spot reducing worked, what guy would walk around with love handles and a gut or woman would have hips and thighs larger than they wanted? If you answered “um…I wouldn’t for one” …you’d be spot on. I’m mean really…don’t you have a dominant hand and don’t you use that hand/arm to do more things than the less dominant one? Well…if you could spot reduce, wouldn’t it stand to reason that there would be less fat on the dominant arm since it’s ‘exercising’ more throughout your day? Guess what…the fat content of each arm is identical. Spot reducing is all about false hope…trying to get you to buy something or join somewhere for the quick fix. It ain’t happening…so don’t waste your money or fall for the line.
I read an article in the PD health section comparing the equipment at two women’s only health clubs. ‘Curves’ features hydraulic weight resistant equipment while ‘Contours’ features more traditional weight training equipment featuring stacks of weights. The author was suggesting…and correctly…that both will do the job to tone and strengthen muscles if used correctly…and here’s the rub. Hydraulic equipment meets your effort with resistance. If you push or pull easy…it doesn’t fight you too hard and the resulting workout is…well…less than optimum. Select a given amount of weight on a plate-loading piece of equipment though and either you put in the effort…or it ain’t moving. Improving your strength is all about challenging yourself and taking muscles to failure…you know…the point where they’re too tired to lift any more. I’m all about measuring and setting goals and frankly I think it’s so much easier as both a trainer and as a person working out to have the amount of weight known to me. Now I can see how hard I’m working and how much I’ve improved over the last workout or since I began my program. At best, this is more challenging with hydraulics.
The snows came hard and I had to shovel three different times. In between shovelings, I headed for the park and took a long hike through the deep snow off-trail. I came upon a deer bedding area and scared up over 15 slumbering animals. I’ve never seen so many in one place in the park and couldn’t help but think ‘what are all you guys going to be eating this winter?’
I returned from the park to find that the bottom of the driveway had been plowed in by the city…again. I grabbed my shovel and had pushed some of the heavy mess to the side and was lifting it when a pick-up truck with a plow attachment came to a stop in front of the drive. He quickly dropped his blade and pushed the mess up over the curb and off my drive. He rolled down the window and said “that should save your back some.” I called my thanks as he drove off. Nice guy.
Hike duration: 70 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 80
Calories burned during workout: Maybe 500
I’m sorry to disappoint any of you who think you can spot reduce fat on your body. You can’t and any video, equipment ad, club, or person who tells you that you can…is full of shit.
Look…if spot reducing worked, what guy would walk around with love handles and a gut or woman would have hips and thighs larger than they wanted? If you answered “um…I wouldn’t for one” …you’d be spot on. I’m mean really…don’t you have a dominant hand and don’t you use that hand/arm to do more things than the less dominant one? Well…if you could spot reduce, wouldn’t it stand to reason that there would be less fat on the dominant arm since it’s ‘exercising’ more throughout your day? Guess what…the fat content of each arm is identical. Spot reducing is all about false hope…trying to get you to buy something or join somewhere for the quick fix. It ain’t happening…so don’t waste your money or fall for the line.
I read an article in the PD health section comparing the equipment at two women’s only health clubs. ‘Curves’ features hydraulic weight resistant equipment while ‘Contours’ features more traditional weight training equipment featuring stacks of weights. The author was suggesting…and correctly…that both will do the job to tone and strengthen muscles if used correctly…and here’s the rub. Hydraulic equipment meets your effort with resistance. If you push or pull easy…it doesn’t fight you too hard and the resulting workout is…well…less than optimum. Select a given amount of weight on a plate-loading piece of equipment though and either you put in the effort…or it ain’t moving. Improving your strength is all about challenging yourself and taking muscles to failure…you know…the point where they’re too tired to lift any more. I’m all about measuring and setting goals and frankly I think it’s so much easier as both a trainer and as a person working out to have the amount of weight known to me. Now I can see how hard I’m working and how much I’ve improved over the last workout or since I began my program. At best, this is more challenging with hydraulics.
The snows came hard and I had to shovel three different times. In between shovelings, I headed for the park and took a long hike through the deep snow off-trail. I came upon a deer bedding area and scared up over 15 slumbering animals. I’ve never seen so many in one place in the park and couldn’t help but think ‘what are all you guys going to be eating this winter?’
I returned from the park to find that the bottom of the driveway had been plowed in by the city…again. I grabbed my shovel and had pushed some of the heavy mess to the side and was lifting it when a pick-up truck with a plow attachment came to a stop in front of the drive. He quickly dropped his blade and pushed the mess up over the curb and off my drive. He rolled down the window and said “that should save your back some.” I called my thanks as he drove off. Nice guy.
Hike duration: 70 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 80
Calories burned during workout: Maybe 500
More on childhood obesity...
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Once again, a story about childhood obesity in greater Cleveland made the front page of the Plain Dealer. As reported earlier in the year, forty percent of 5th graders are overweight or obese. ‘So what’ you might say, ‘they’ll grow out of it’…but they won’t. Habits are developed in these formative years and they include choices about how to spend your leisure time and the way you eat. When you’re making the wrong decisions early, you’re more likely to keep making them throughout your life…which translates into staying obese. Schools need to move front and center on this, but as I’ve said before…the real difference is made at home and by the parents. Leading by example, doing outdoor activities together and determining the food choices your kids make at home and what they pack for a lunch is all about parenting. School just doesn’t have them enough and too many budgets are being squeezed for us to expect them to handle this.
Still, schools are working at it and some are getting quite creative…which I admire although thinking back to being a kid, I’m not too sure about two ideas Glendale Primary School in Bedford has implemented. One is a outdoor walking track for kids. I never walked anywhere when I was a kid if I was moving “ah was runnin” to quote my friend Forrest…Forrest Gump. We had recess for 10 minutes every morning and then about 45 minutes after we ate our lunches. We played…and fewer of us were obese.
The school has also implemented a ‘Jammin’ Minute’ program whereby kids are encouraged to perform six choreographed moves when they have a free minute…as when they’re standing in line to go to the bathroom. Now again…I could be the unusual child…but when I was young, I played and played until I reached the point where I had to burst. Standing in line to pee was bad enough, but if you asked me to start jumping around while waiting…well…let’s just say that I probably wouldn’t need to wait in line to go to the bathroom any more.
I did get in front of the TV with the trainer. The Browns were playing Buffalo through some nasty, lake-effect weather and the action was boring, at best. Still, I managed to log an hour of riding. I sense there will be a lot more riding this winter and I’m not looking forward to it…though I am looking forward to getting healthy enough to run and it appears that time off is the only way.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Heart rate: 130 bpm
Calories burned during workout: 900
Once again, a story about childhood obesity in greater Cleveland made the front page of the Plain Dealer. As reported earlier in the year, forty percent of 5th graders are overweight or obese. ‘So what’ you might say, ‘they’ll grow out of it’…but they won’t. Habits are developed in these formative years and they include choices about how to spend your leisure time and the way you eat. When you’re making the wrong decisions early, you’re more likely to keep making them throughout your life…which translates into staying obese. Schools need to move front and center on this, but as I’ve said before…the real difference is made at home and by the parents. Leading by example, doing outdoor activities together and determining the food choices your kids make at home and what they pack for a lunch is all about parenting. School just doesn’t have them enough and too many budgets are being squeezed for us to expect them to handle this.
Still, schools are working at it and some are getting quite creative…which I admire although thinking back to being a kid, I’m not too sure about two ideas Glendale Primary School in Bedford has implemented. One is a outdoor walking track for kids. I never walked anywhere when I was a kid if I was moving “ah was runnin” to quote my friend Forrest…Forrest Gump. We had recess for 10 minutes every morning and then about 45 minutes after we ate our lunches. We played…and fewer of us were obese.
The school has also implemented a ‘Jammin’ Minute’ program whereby kids are encouraged to perform six choreographed moves when they have a free minute…as when they’re standing in line to go to the bathroom. Now again…I could be the unusual child…but when I was young, I played and played until I reached the point where I had to burst. Standing in line to pee was bad enough, but if you asked me to start jumping around while waiting…well…let’s just say that I probably wouldn’t need to wait in line to go to the bathroom any more.
I did get in front of the TV with the trainer. The Browns were playing Buffalo through some nasty, lake-effect weather and the action was boring, at best. Still, I managed to log an hour of riding. I sense there will be a lot more riding this winter and I’m not looking forward to it…though I am looking forward to getting healthy enough to run and it appears that time off is the only way.
Bike duration: 60 minutes
Heart rate: 130 bpm
Calories burned during workout: 900
Height has some real disadvantages...
Saturday, December 11, 2010
I like to find unusual places to shop for Christmas presents and did on a trip to Amish country some years ago. I convinced Savannah, Ash and Ollie to come with me and headed east on old Rt. 422 to Parkman, Ohio and Auntie’s Antique Market. I like shopping there because I like to find deals, unusual items and old stuff. They have a lot of these things. Savannah and Ash were impressed with the collection of stuff and Ollie…well…I think the operators were thrilled to see a 3-year old in a tightly packed antique market.
I can’t help walking through these places and identifying so many things that my mom used to hoard in our house. I saved so much old stuff from my grandparents and parents and get a kick out of seeing similar things and the prices they’re asking for it. It makes me feel a little better about the clutter back home.
I found the item for which I’d been searching…Jason will love it and we headed back home. I have a good friend in the hospital and needed to spend the afternoon with him. We had a Christmas party later that night and I was beginning to doubt that I’d have time in between to do a workout. In my head, I saw myself coming home from the party, setting up the trainer, and riding for an hour…in my head.
The party was another graze through the calories. People had brought different dishes, which were put out throughout the evening, forcing me to return regularly to the table to be certain I didn’t miss anything. I didn’t…and the walks to the table weren’t long enough to burn the calories in a carrot stick. I was packing it on…again.
Holly and I were sitting, eating, and people watching…something we do amazingly well. The tallest man I’ve ever seen outside of a basketball uniform entered the room and began a conversation with a couple of women in front of us. She looked at him and commented, “I’d hate to be that tall. Anyone talking to me would be able to look up my nose and see my nose hairs.” Everyone has their issues. Holly’s is ‘nose hairs’. Since becoming folically challenged, I grow hair in all the places you don’t want it…nose and ears are strong growth areas for me.
“Good point. Bet he keeps them closely trimmed. Want to go meet him and check it out?” She declined my offer. We stayed, ate, and talked some more so that by the time we left, I was stuffed with crap and unwilling to board the trainer upon my arrival at home. I’m starting to push against the belt notches I’ve been using since losing weight and that’s unacceptable. If I can only make it the next two weeks…
I like to find unusual places to shop for Christmas presents and did on a trip to Amish country some years ago. I convinced Savannah, Ash and Ollie to come with me and headed east on old Rt. 422 to Parkman, Ohio and Auntie’s Antique Market. I like shopping there because I like to find deals, unusual items and old stuff. They have a lot of these things. Savannah and Ash were impressed with the collection of stuff and Ollie…well…I think the operators were thrilled to see a 3-year old in a tightly packed antique market.
I can’t help walking through these places and identifying so many things that my mom used to hoard in our house. I saved so much old stuff from my grandparents and parents and get a kick out of seeing similar things and the prices they’re asking for it. It makes me feel a little better about the clutter back home.
I found the item for which I’d been searching…Jason will love it and we headed back home. I have a good friend in the hospital and needed to spend the afternoon with him. We had a Christmas party later that night and I was beginning to doubt that I’d have time in between to do a workout. In my head, I saw myself coming home from the party, setting up the trainer, and riding for an hour…in my head.
The party was another graze through the calories. People had brought different dishes, which were put out throughout the evening, forcing me to return regularly to the table to be certain I didn’t miss anything. I didn’t…and the walks to the table weren’t long enough to burn the calories in a carrot stick. I was packing it on…again.
Holly and I were sitting, eating, and people watching…something we do amazingly well. The tallest man I’ve ever seen outside of a basketball uniform entered the room and began a conversation with a couple of women in front of us. She looked at him and commented, “I’d hate to be that tall. Anyone talking to me would be able to look up my nose and see my nose hairs.” Everyone has their issues. Holly’s is ‘nose hairs’. Since becoming folically challenged, I grow hair in all the places you don’t want it…nose and ears are strong growth areas for me.
“Good point. Bet he keeps them closely trimmed. Want to go meet him and check it out?” She declined my offer. We stayed, ate, and talked some more so that by the time we left, I was stuffed with crap and unwilling to board the trainer upon my arrival at home. I’m starting to push against the belt notches I’ve been using since losing weight and that’s unacceptable. If I can only make it the next two weeks…
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Curses...foiled again.
Friday, December 10, 2010
I made my way to the Metropark in a spirit of optimism. I’d run four days in a row and my achilles had felt pretty good, then taken a day off from running. Now I was thinking I was ready for a 40-minute run. Why not? I’d progressed slowly and sensibly back to this point.
The bridle and hiking trails were completely snow covered and difficult to traverse because of frozen imprints of previous hikers. I don’t really like running on this surface, as it seems to bend and twist my ankles. Instead, I went to the all-purpose, paved trails because the park plows them. They had a covering of snow/ice…they don’t and shouldn’t salt…which I thought would make the surface a little softer and more like the bridle trail when it wasn’t snow covered. I’ve been staying off of pavement for a long time figuring that the hard pounding that represents is no good for any part of my old, decrepit body.
I could feel the achilles with each step, but kept thinking it would go away. Then…without warning at the 18-minute mark…I had an extremely sharp pain in the achilles that radiated up into my calf. I stopped immediately…and cursed out loud. No big deal since there was no one around. I was over two miles from the car and wearing shorts, a short-sleeved t-shirt and socks on my hands. Nothing on my head. It was cold and I was wet and the walk back would take over 30 minutes. I’ve done this before and you would think I would have learned something by now…well…you’d think that if you didn’t know me at all.
I was limping badly and thinking about hypothermia…and being stupid. After 5 minutes of walking, I was shivering and looking stupid as hell. I mean if you’re running dressed as I was, folks would think “he’s a little eccentric” but when you’re just walking through snow in shorts and a t-shirt…well…there’s really no good explanation. I exaggerated the limp when I saw someone coming my way on the trail…kind of saying “I’m not as stupid as I look…just injured”. Ah…what the hell.
I started this funny running thing. Short, choppy steps and trying to land flat-footed on the right and not push off. Awkward…but I was moving faster and starting to warm up. I continued in this fashion all the way back to the car, making it in about 25 minutes after I’d first stopped. Naturally, I rode home completely discouraged. Things have not gone well with my running for about 5 months now. I really am getting ready to give it up for 3-4 weeks and just see if everything will heal. I’m going to contact Nilesh, the sports doc, and find out his spin on what I should do.
I returned home and hopped on the trainer to complete my planned double. The achilles actually hurt while pedaling…and that’s not good. Still, I managed 43 minutes and a good calorie burn…something I really needed since I had a party that night and another tomorrow. I’d be grazing my way through a ton of hollow calories, I was sure. I’ll just continue to play the injury factor the best I can. I’m not giving in…not yet anyway.
Run duration: 33 minutes. Bike duration: 43 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm running and 130 bpm biking.
Calories burned during workout: 1,200.
I made my way to the Metropark in a spirit of optimism. I’d run four days in a row and my achilles had felt pretty good, then taken a day off from running. Now I was thinking I was ready for a 40-minute run. Why not? I’d progressed slowly and sensibly back to this point.
The bridle and hiking trails were completely snow covered and difficult to traverse because of frozen imprints of previous hikers. I don’t really like running on this surface, as it seems to bend and twist my ankles. Instead, I went to the all-purpose, paved trails because the park plows them. They had a covering of snow/ice…they don’t and shouldn’t salt…which I thought would make the surface a little softer and more like the bridle trail when it wasn’t snow covered. I’ve been staying off of pavement for a long time figuring that the hard pounding that represents is no good for any part of my old, decrepit body.
I could feel the achilles with each step, but kept thinking it would go away. Then…without warning at the 18-minute mark…I had an extremely sharp pain in the achilles that radiated up into my calf. I stopped immediately…and cursed out loud. No big deal since there was no one around. I was over two miles from the car and wearing shorts, a short-sleeved t-shirt and socks on my hands. Nothing on my head. It was cold and I was wet and the walk back would take over 30 minutes. I’ve done this before and you would think I would have learned something by now…well…you’d think that if you didn’t know me at all.
I was limping badly and thinking about hypothermia…and being stupid. After 5 minutes of walking, I was shivering and looking stupid as hell. I mean if you’re running dressed as I was, folks would think “he’s a little eccentric” but when you’re just walking through snow in shorts and a t-shirt…well…there’s really no good explanation. I exaggerated the limp when I saw someone coming my way on the trail…kind of saying “I’m not as stupid as I look…just injured”. Ah…what the hell.
I started this funny running thing. Short, choppy steps and trying to land flat-footed on the right and not push off. Awkward…but I was moving faster and starting to warm up. I continued in this fashion all the way back to the car, making it in about 25 minutes after I’d first stopped. Naturally, I rode home completely discouraged. Things have not gone well with my running for about 5 months now. I really am getting ready to give it up for 3-4 weeks and just see if everything will heal. I’m going to contact Nilesh, the sports doc, and find out his spin on what I should do.
I returned home and hopped on the trainer to complete my planned double. The achilles actually hurt while pedaling…and that’s not good. Still, I managed 43 minutes and a good calorie burn…something I really needed since I had a party that night and another tomorrow. I’d be grazing my way through a ton of hollow calories, I was sure. I’ll just continue to play the injury factor the best I can. I’m not giving in…not yet anyway.
Run duration: 33 minutes. Bike duration: 43 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm running and 130 bpm biking.
Calories burned during workout: 1,200.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Blocking the Box
Thursday, December 9, 2010
What is it about falling snow, motorized vehicles, and a compelling need to be an inconsiderate ass? How long did it take you to get home last night in our first real, area-wide snow storm of the season? If you were coming from downtown Cleveland, the answer would be “too f…ing long!” The thing is…it was more than the snow that caused the delay.
Much of the slow drive home resulted from so many drivers ‘blocking the box’ or pulling into an intersection when they don’t have enough room to actually make it through. Every time it happens to me and some slimebucket has me blocked, I wish I had a Hum-Vee and could just push their sorry ass through the intersection and deposit them in a snow bank on the other side. Wisely, God did not give me a Hum-Vee.
There’s a law designed to prevent swine from pulling this stunt, but it’s pretty much unenforceable. Officers are too busy dealing with trying to keep traffic flowing at intersections or handling accidents to be able to pull over and ticket the folks who, lacking any common sense or decency, think they should proceed into an intersection and block it, to the inconvenience of the rest of the world. In case you are one of those people and don’t quite get the concept I’m discussing, it goes like this:
“No driver shall enter an intersection or marked crosswalk or drive onto any railroad grade crossing unless there is sufficient space on the other side to accommodate the vehicle without obstructing the passage of other vehicles, notwithstanding any traffic control signal indication to proceed.”
If I had written the law, it would have been a little clearer and gone something like:
“Any asshole blocking an intersection because they think where they’re going is somehow more important than where I’m going, will be dragged from their car and beaten with a cane until they say they’re sorry and promise to never do it again.”
I started the day with a light, shoveling workout. The plows had moved all extra snow from the street into the bottom of my driveway overnight, but it only took about 10 minutes to clear. I took a night off from running and climbed instead onto the trainer and rode while watching another episode of ‘Lost’. Tomorrow…a double. I’m going to two holiday parties over the weekend and that can only spell excess fat calories. I’ll need the extra workout time.
Bike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 900.
What is it about falling snow, motorized vehicles, and a compelling need to be an inconsiderate ass? How long did it take you to get home last night in our first real, area-wide snow storm of the season? If you were coming from downtown Cleveland, the answer would be “too f…ing long!” The thing is…it was more than the snow that caused the delay.
Much of the slow drive home resulted from so many drivers ‘blocking the box’ or pulling into an intersection when they don’t have enough room to actually make it through. Every time it happens to me and some slimebucket has me blocked, I wish I had a Hum-Vee and could just push their sorry ass through the intersection and deposit them in a snow bank on the other side. Wisely, God did not give me a Hum-Vee.
There’s a law designed to prevent swine from pulling this stunt, but it’s pretty much unenforceable. Officers are too busy dealing with trying to keep traffic flowing at intersections or handling accidents to be able to pull over and ticket the folks who, lacking any common sense or decency, think they should proceed into an intersection and block it, to the inconvenience of the rest of the world. In case you are one of those people and don’t quite get the concept I’m discussing, it goes like this:
“No driver shall enter an intersection or marked crosswalk or drive onto any railroad grade crossing unless there is sufficient space on the other side to accommodate the vehicle without obstructing the passage of other vehicles, notwithstanding any traffic control signal indication to proceed.”
If I had written the law, it would have been a little clearer and gone something like:
“Any asshole blocking an intersection because they think where they’re going is somehow more important than where I’m going, will be dragged from their car and beaten with a cane until they say they’re sorry and promise to never do it again.”
I started the day with a light, shoveling workout. The plows had moved all extra snow from the street into the bottom of my driveway overnight, but it only took about 10 minutes to clear. I took a night off from running and climbed instead onto the trainer and rode while watching another episode of ‘Lost’. Tomorrow…a double. I’m going to two holiday parties over the weekend and that can only spell excess fat calories. I’ll need the extra workout time.
Bike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 900.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Finally...some real accumulation
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
If you don’t belong to a club or work out indoors, there is no doubt that it’s tougher to stick with an exercise program through the winter months in Northeast Ohio. Let’s face it…only the true diehards stay on a bike in these conditions. Walking in the neighborhood can be very problematic when few people shovel their walks, waiting instead for city-owned sidewalk vehicles to perform the task – if their municipality even does it. And once they do, the sidewalks are slick as hell. The Metroparks are challenging, too, and I see about 10% of the usage in the winter that I’ll experience in the summer and fall months.
But…calories don’t take this time off. In fact, they seem to accelerate their assault on our will power all through the month of December. They do at our house, anyway. I’ve recently moved to an apple diet. I have one for breakfast and take two more for lunch. I’ll do this three days a week to see if I can keep the consumption of hollow calories at bay for at least part of the holidays. Not really a good plan…but that’s me.
There is no good answer. You simply have to keep it up to keep the pounds off. I shovel my drive and always will. Just one more way to get in a workout. Sometimes I go next door and start on the neighbors. They’ve never asked me to leave. I suppose I take some measure of pride from being the nut that’s doing all the shoveling or the kook that’s running through deep snow in shorts and a t-shirt. I use the snow to my advantage in other ways, as well. I don’t own snow shoes or cross country skis…and I should…but I still can put on the pack and with a good pair of boots, just walk through deep snow. I’ll head off-trail hiking and even without the pack, can generate heart rates easily high enough to achieve a solid work out. That…and the serenity factor raises dramatically since no one else is doing it…you’ll be alone. Even in my advanced years, I continue to get the sleds out and head for the hills in the Metroparks. It’s fun and you really do have to labor some to get back up the hill.
I managed a fourth consecutive day of running. The snow as falling madly as I began and I knew I’d have some fantastic shoveling to do when I got home and for the rest of the evening, most likely. I ran in the tire tracks on the bridle trails and managed to hit 32 minutes on a day I was planning for 20. The heel continues to show improvement, though I think I’ll give it tomorrow off and try the trainer.
I wasn’t disappointed when I got home. I had about 3 inches in the drive, which I pushed in 20 minutes. Two hours later, I had to shovel out the bottom of the drive and 3 more inches and conducted a final shoveling around 11 p.m. I broke a decent sweat on every trip outside. I love that lake-effect stuff.
Run duration: 32 minutes. Shoveling duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm running, 100 shoveling.
Calories burned during workout: 545 running, 600 shoveling.
If you don’t belong to a club or work out indoors, there is no doubt that it’s tougher to stick with an exercise program through the winter months in Northeast Ohio. Let’s face it…only the true diehards stay on a bike in these conditions. Walking in the neighborhood can be very problematic when few people shovel their walks, waiting instead for city-owned sidewalk vehicles to perform the task – if their municipality even does it. And once they do, the sidewalks are slick as hell. The Metroparks are challenging, too, and I see about 10% of the usage in the winter that I’ll experience in the summer and fall months.
But…calories don’t take this time off. In fact, they seem to accelerate their assault on our will power all through the month of December. They do at our house, anyway. I’ve recently moved to an apple diet. I have one for breakfast and take two more for lunch. I’ll do this three days a week to see if I can keep the consumption of hollow calories at bay for at least part of the holidays. Not really a good plan…but that’s me.
There is no good answer. You simply have to keep it up to keep the pounds off. I shovel my drive and always will. Just one more way to get in a workout. Sometimes I go next door and start on the neighbors. They’ve never asked me to leave. I suppose I take some measure of pride from being the nut that’s doing all the shoveling or the kook that’s running through deep snow in shorts and a t-shirt. I use the snow to my advantage in other ways, as well. I don’t own snow shoes or cross country skis…and I should…but I still can put on the pack and with a good pair of boots, just walk through deep snow. I’ll head off-trail hiking and even without the pack, can generate heart rates easily high enough to achieve a solid work out. That…and the serenity factor raises dramatically since no one else is doing it…you’ll be alone. Even in my advanced years, I continue to get the sleds out and head for the hills in the Metroparks. It’s fun and you really do have to labor some to get back up the hill.
I managed a fourth consecutive day of running. The snow as falling madly as I began and I knew I’d have some fantastic shoveling to do when I got home and for the rest of the evening, most likely. I ran in the tire tracks on the bridle trails and managed to hit 32 minutes on a day I was planning for 20. The heel continues to show improvement, though I think I’ll give it tomorrow off and try the trainer.
I wasn’t disappointed when I got home. I had about 3 inches in the drive, which I pushed in 20 minutes. Two hours later, I had to shovel out the bottom of the drive and 3 more inches and conducted a final shoveling around 11 p.m. I broke a decent sweat on every trip outside. I love that lake-effect stuff.
Run duration: 32 minutes. Shoveling duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm running, 100 shoveling.
Calories burned during workout: 545 running, 600 shoveling.
A comeback for the CAC?
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
I spent the majority of my adult working life serving as the Athletic Director and later the General Manager of the Cleveland Athletic Club. In 1998, I left the Club when it fell to private ownership and pursued other avenues of employment. Ten years later and one shy of celebrating its 100th anniversary; the CAC closed its door – no longer able to sustain itself.
There were many factors contributing to the demise of the CAC. The economy took it toll, as did the exodus of major employers moving from the city. Probably the final nail in the coffin was the reconstruction of Euclid Avenue, which left access to that storied building at 1118 problematic, at best. I was there on New Year’s Eve in 2008 for its final day to have a last look around, speak to old friends and reminisce about the impact it had had on my life and my memories.
So when a developer interested in revitalizing the entire building contacted me to help him with his efforts to obtain financing, I jumped at the chance. He is hoping to reopen the entire CAC building (the first five floors of the 15-floor building were dedicated to office space) that would feature a Trader Vic’s Restaurant on the ground floor, a 180-room hotel on floors 2-10, and the return of the Cleveland Athletic Club on floors 11-15. It is an exciting idea which, I believe, will come to fruition. There are ongoing discussions to include a major health care provider in the mix to assure that the Club’s dedication to health and wellness will be the model for other Clubs in the Northeast Ohio and the country to emulate. The area of Euclid Avenue the CAC Building calls home needs this project and I hope the developer completes his financing and makes it happen.
I made it to the Metropark for a try at running a third day in a row. I was thinking I’d go around 25 minutes to test the achilles. It’s still a little tender when walking, as are my feet, but still on the mend. The trails were now frozen and provided difficult footing. A vehicle had driven over much of the bridle trails in an effort to pack down snow for easier hiking…at least that’s what I think the park staff is attempting. And it is a little easier to run in the tire tracks the first day…but after that, those tracks tend towards ice and not packed snow, which makes them an even more difficult surface on which to run.
Anyway, it’s still better than running the roads, so I slipped and slid my way to a 31-minute run, taking the extra time just because it was such slow going. I was surprised to pass the sledding hill and find only one family on it…and they were surprised to see a solitary runner plowing through the snow in a pair of shorts. No matter the conditions, I’m still sweating and find that running in shorts is comfortable on all but the most frigid days…that and the fact that John some how has my running pants in his backpack gear from our camping trip in September assured that I would keep running in shorts. Tomorrow should be even more fun if the weather reports are accurate and we get the snow they’re promising. I’ll get to add shoveling to my workouts, too.
Run duration: 31 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 525.
I spent the majority of my adult working life serving as the Athletic Director and later the General Manager of the Cleveland Athletic Club. In 1998, I left the Club when it fell to private ownership and pursued other avenues of employment. Ten years later and one shy of celebrating its 100th anniversary; the CAC closed its door – no longer able to sustain itself.
There were many factors contributing to the demise of the CAC. The economy took it toll, as did the exodus of major employers moving from the city. Probably the final nail in the coffin was the reconstruction of Euclid Avenue, which left access to that storied building at 1118 problematic, at best. I was there on New Year’s Eve in 2008 for its final day to have a last look around, speak to old friends and reminisce about the impact it had had on my life and my memories.
So when a developer interested in revitalizing the entire building contacted me to help him with his efforts to obtain financing, I jumped at the chance. He is hoping to reopen the entire CAC building (the first five floors of the 15-floor building were dedicated to office space) that would feature a Trader Vic’s Restaurant on the ground floor, a 180-room hotel on floors 2-10, and the return of the Cleveland Athletic Club on floors 11-15. It is an exciting idea which, I believe, will come to fruition. There are ongoing discussions to include a major health care provider in the mix to assure that the Club’s dedication to health and wellness will be the model for other Clubs in the Northeast Ohio and the country to emulate. The area of Euclid Avenue the CAC Building calls home needs this project and I hope the developer completes his financing and makes it happen.
I made it to the Metropark for a try at running a third day in a row. I was thinking I’d go around 25 minutes to test the achilles. It’s still a little tender when walking, as are my feet, but still on the mend. The trails were now frozen and provided difficult footing. A vehicle had driven over much of the bridle trails in an effort to pack down snow for easier hiking…at least that’s what I think the park staff is attempting. And it is a little easier to run in the tire tracks the first day…but after that, those tracks tend towards ice and not packed snow, which makes them an even more difficult surface on which to run.
Anyway, it’s still better than running the roads, so I slipped and slid my way to a 31-minute run, taking the extra time just because it was such slow going. I was surprised to pass the sledding hill and find only one family on it…and they were surprised to see a solitary runner plowing through the snow in a pair of shorts. No matter the conditions, I’m still sweating and find that running in shorts is comfortable on all but the most frigid days…that and the fact that John some how has my running pants in his backpack gear from our camping trip in September assured that I would keep running in shorts. Tomorrow should be even more fun if the weather reports are accurate and we get the snow they’re promising. I’ll get to add shoveling to my workouts, too.
Run duration: 31 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 525.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
More 'stupid heads' in County government
Monday, December 06, 2010
I suppose that it’s no surprise to anyone in Cuyahoga County to hear that we had one of the most corrupt governing bodies in the history of County politics. Thank you Frank Russo, Jimmy Dimora and company…you made us all so proud that we decided to throw out the old form of county government and put your sorry asses in jail…if possible. The voters went to the polls a month ago and eliminated a system where three commissioners called the shots and created one where 11 newly elected council members would work with a newly elected County Executive. Voters were sick of the corruption and secrecy…and the council members ran on platforms that said they would make sure it would no longer be ‘business as usual’ in Cuyahoga County politics.
Right. Six newly elected democratic council members gathered last Friday…in secret…to determine who would be the new council president and vice president. Six of the eleven members…in secret.
Seriously…how stupid can you get? Naturally, word of the meeting and its decision leaked and other members of the council and good old fashioned voters…like you and me…were rightly outraged. If this is reform in action…maybe the group should just pass ‘go’ and go directly to jail. It might save us all a lot of time and money when you consider how long and how much it will take to put their predecessors where they belong. Maybe it just comes with the territory, but if elected officials would concentrate on doing something instead of focusing how to perpetuate themselves…well…the governed would a lot better off.
Okay…sorry about the politics, but headlines in the PD have been about stupid heads for so long that I just had to comment.
It was a great workout day…beginning with our first snowfall to require shoveling. I pushed about 3 inches from my driveway as a warm up, and then headed for the park for a run. I’d spent some time setting up the trainer in front of the TV before leaving so that on my return, I could complete a double. I ran for 30 minutes on trails blanketed in three inches of the white stuff, which made it slow going, but strenuous. I hurried home and immediately boarded the bike and turned on an episode of ‘Lost’. This helped me through a 40-minute ride and the first 1,000 calorie burn day that I’ve had in well over a month. I needed it, too. Though I haven’t been on the scale, I can tell that I’ve put a couple of pounds back on since returning from the Adirondacks. Not that I’m surprised since injuries have kept me very inconsistent with my workouts. If I can stay healthy…that is over.
Run duration: 30 minutes. Bike duration: 41 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm running and 130 bpm biking.
Calories burned during workout: 1,125.
I suppose that it’s no surprise to anyone in Cuyahoga County to hear that we had one of the most corrupt governing bodies in the history of County politics. Thank you Frank Russo, Jimmy Dimora and company…you made us all so proud that we decided to throw out the old form of county government and put your sorry asses in jail…if possible. The voters went to the polls a month ago and eliminated a system where three commissioners called the shots and created one where 11 newly elected council members would work with a newly elected County Executive. Voters were sick of the corruption and secrecy…and the council members ran on platforms that said they would make sure it would no longer be ‘business as usual’ in Cuyahoga County politics.
Right. Six newly elected democratic council members gathered last Friday…in secret…to determine who would be the new council president and vice president. Six of the eleven members…in secret.
Seriously…how stupid can you get? Naturally, word of the meeting and its decision leaked and other members of the council and good old fashioned voters…like you and me…were rightly outraged. If this is reform in action…maybe the group should just pass ‘go’ and go directly to jail. It might save us all a lot of time and money when you consider how long and how much it will take to put their predecessors where they belong. Maybe it just comes with the territory, but if elected officials would concentrate on doing something instead of focusing how to perpetuate themselves…well…the governed would a lot better off.
Okay…sorry about the politics, but headlines in the PD have been about stupid heads for so long that I just had to comment.
It was a great workout day…beginning with our first snowfall to require shoveling. I pushed about 3 inches from my driveway as a warm up, and then headed for the park for a run. I’d spent some time setting up the trainer in front of the TV before leaving so that on my return, I could complete a double. I ran for 30 minutes on trails blanketed in three inches of the white stuff, which made it slow going, but strenuous. I hurried home and immediately boarded the bike and turned on an episode of ‘Lost’. This helped me through a 40-minute ride and the first 1,000 calorie burn day that I’ve had in well over a month. I needed it, too. Though I haven’t been on the scale, I can tell that I’ve put a couple of pounds back on since returning from the Adirondacks. Not that I’m surprised since injuries have kept me very inconsistent with my workouts. If I can stay healthy…that is over.
Run duration: 30 minutes. Bike duration: 41 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm running and 130 bpm biking.
Calories burned during workout: 1,125.
Monday, December 6, 2010
The best chair.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
I guess I’m just a sentimental guy. I headed out to Jim’s old place to pick up a couple of beat-up chairs. One came with a foot stool and was the favorite place to sit every Christmas Eve at my parents’ house. Dad would usually claim it, but after mom died, he gravitated to her favorite chair and Jim, as the oldest and heir apparent, laid claim to it. When dad died two years ago, Jim took the chair home with him, which is where it was the day he died.
It’s not in great shape…a little dirty and worn and the colors are kind of ugly. I had told Ash she could have it for her apartment when she moved out, but the more I got to thinking about it and the more pictures I saw it in with people I loved sitting in it, the more I felt like I needed to keep it.
Our house is full of furniture I feel like I need to keep and I really pity Holly, who would like a couple of new pieces or at least things that had some colors that hinted the person who’d picked them out had a clue…instead of appearing that they were color blind. ‘For better or for worse’ gets overworked in our situation… she keeps allowing me to bring these things home. Anyway, I went to pick it up along with a recliner that had also been my dad’s and Jim had taken. It was in better shape than the one we had in the living room because Dakota had managed to shred that one by jumping in it to bark at all people using the sidewalks in front of our house…something she felt needed to be addressed. It was at least a color somewhat resembling the scheme Holly was going for…so maybe it would be an improvement.
I drove out to Perry and as soon as I started down Main Street, looking at all Jim’s familiar haunts, I began to tear up. It’s really hard to accept that he’s no longer here and when I go to his place…something I suppose I should avoid…it overcomes me. I know it will never change, either. I get the same way when I go to my grandparents’ home town and pass their old house in New York. Big brothers are harder to lose though, so I was glad no one was there when I pulled into his old driveway.
Once back home, I brought the chair and stool into the rec room and put in down by the TV. Jack plopped in it and said, “wow…this really is comfortable. How come I never got to sit in it before?”
“You were so far down the pecking order that we figured it would only be cruel to let you try it when you’d never actually be able to use it,” I said…which just confused him. Sarcasm often does.
It ended up about three feet from the TV and wedged between a futon and the foosball table. I was sure Holly would get one look at its placement and blow a gasket. I told Jack not to get too attached. To her credit, when she did see it…she said maybe we needed to lose the foosball table. She knows me well and understood why I wanted it. “We’ll do some rearranging once I empty all those Christmas boxes," was her final take on the situation.
I went to the park for a run before having to pick up Heidi. I was running low on time…only enough for 25 minutes and that’s what I did. I got back in the car, turned on the heat and was getting comfortable when I noticed I had a voicemail. It was Holly calling to tell me Jason was picking Heidi up. Damn. I could get back out of the car and run the additional 5 minutes that I had originally planned for today…but what a bother! Instead, I decided I’d add that same lost 5 minutes onto a run I would do tomorrow when I tried my first back-to-back runs since hurting my foot. I think I’m starting to put on a little holiday weight, so I have to get the running in full swing again. The battle with holiday calories is quickly morphing into a full-scale war.
Run duration: 25 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 450.
I guess I’m just a sentimental guy. I headed out to Jim’s old place to pick up a couple of beat-up chairs. One came with a foot stool and was the favorite place to sit every Christmas Eve at my parents’ house. Dad would usually claim it, but after mom died, he gravitated to her favorite chair and Jim, as the oldest and heir apparent, laid claim to it. When dad died two years ago, Jim took the chair home with him, which is where it was the day he died.
It’s not in great shape…a little dirty and worn and the colors are kind of ugly. I had told Ash she could have it for her apartment when she moved out, but the more I got to thinking about it and the more pictures I saw it in with people I loved sitting in it, the more I felt like I needed to keep it.
Our house is full of furniture I feel like I need to keep and I really pity Holly, who would like a couple of new pieces or at least things that had some colors that hinted the person who’d picked them out had a clue…instead of appearing that they were color blind. ‘For better or for worse’ gets overworked in our situation… she keeps allowing me to bring these things home. Anyway, I went to pick it up along with a recliner that had also been my dad’s and Jim had taken. It was in better shape than the one we had in the living room because Dakota had managed to shred that one by jumping in it to bark at all people using the sidewalks in front of our house…something she felt needed to be addressed. It was at least a color somewhat resembling the scheme Holly was going for…so maybe it would be an improvement.
I drove out to Perry and as soon as I started down Main Street, looking at all Jim’s familiar haunts, I began to tear up. It’s really hard to accept that he’s no longer here and when I go to his place…something I suppose I should avoid…it overcomes me. I know it will never change, either. I get the same way when I go to my grandparents’ home town and pass their old house in New York. Big brothers are harder to lose though, so I was glad no one was there when I pulled into his old driveway.
Once back home, I brought the chair and stool into the rec room and put in down by the TV. Jack plopped in it and said, “wow…this really is comfortable. How come I never got to sit in it before?”
“You were so far down the pecking order that we figured it would only be cruel to let you try it when you’d never actually be able to use it,” I said…which just confused him. Sarcasm often does.
It ended up about three feet from the TV and wedged between a futon and the foosball table. I was sure Holly would get one look at its placement and blow a gasket. I told Jack not to get too attached. To her credit, when she did see it…she said maybe we needed to lose the foosball table. She knows me well and understood why I wanted it. “We’ll do some rearranging once I empty all those Christmas boxes," was her final take on the situation.
I went to the park for a run before having to pick up Heidi. I was running low on time…only enough for 25 minutes and that’s what I did. I got back in the car, turned on the heat and was getting comfortable when I noticed I had a voicemail. It was Holly calling to tell me Jason was picking Heidi up. Damn. I could get back out of the car and run the additional 5 minutes that I had originally planned for today…but what a bother! Instead, I decided I’d add that same lost 5 minutes onto a run I would do tomorrow when I tried my first back-to-back runs since hurting my foot. I think I’m starting to put on a little holiday weight, so I have to get the running in full swing again. The battle with holiday calories is quickly morphing into a full-scale war.
Run duration: 25 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 450.
"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Saturdays leading up to Christmas are always busy…and they become even busier when you put off some things early in December that you should have been doing. That’s me. I still had to get stuff out of the attic to decorate the house…including the large, white plastic, manger figures that I’d place outside, in front of the picture window. It’s really about all I have to do to decorate for Christmas…I don’t string lights or decorate inside…but I always drag my feet on it. Well…this year was going to be different.
I grabbed Ash and Jack and prepared to empty boxes from the attic to the rec room…the designated location from which Holly would empty them and decorate the house over the next week. I took Jack down and pointed to the specific places I wanted him to put the boxes since I would be in the attic feeding them down and unavailable for consultation about this important issue. I should have taped off the area like they do for dead bodies…because he got it wrong. He was talking about some video game while I was explaining…and that should have been my clue. Oh well.
The attic was empty and the rec room full in a little over 15 minutes. If it was my job to decorate, everything would fit in a box the size my cereal came in. Thank God it isn’t…because I love the way the house looks when Holly’s done. I brought my boxes with manger stuff out front and did what I had to do…which is very little. I have a ‘Mary’, ‘Joseph’, ‘a shepherd, Three Kings, a couple of barn animals and, of course, a ‘baby Jesus’. I’ve built a little cradle/bed thing for the baby to lie in and each piece lights up. My biggest challenge is plugging them all in and wrapping the power strips so that snow doesn’t soak the whole operation. It really shouldn’t take that long…but it does. I move them around a few times, have to replace burned out bulbs, and wrap the cords in white garbage bags. Then Holly has to come up and tell me what I’ve done wrong…which is always something…I’m a man, after all.
I finished up and headed in to put some time on the trainer. I’m re-watching the first five season’s of ‘Lost’ since there so many times when, after watching an episode I said “huh?” It’s an hour show so I figured I’d be riding for at least 50 minutes…no commercials…so I was quite surprised when it ended to see that I’d only logged 39 minutes. That’s right…for those who watched this particular episode when it was aired…they spent 21 minutes not watching ‘Lost’. I put in a couple of minutes more and called it a workout. Hopefully tomorrow I’d get back to the park for another run. I want to start getting them back to back to see how the ‘old man’ injuries are doing.
Bike duration: 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
Saturdays leading up to Christmas are always busy…and they become even busier when you put off some things early in December that you should have been doing. That’s me. I still had to get stuff out of the attic to decorate the house…including the large, white plastic, manger figures that I’d place outside, in front of the picture window. It’s really about all I have to do to decorate for Christmas…I don’t string lights or decorate inside…but I always drag my feet on it. Well…this year was going to be different.
I grabbed Ash and Jack and prepared to empty boxes from the attic to the rec room…the designated location from which Holly would empty them and decorate the house over the next week. I took Jack down and pointed to the specific places I wanted him to put the boxes since I would be in the attic feeding them down and unavailable for consultation about this important issue. I should have taped off the area like they do for dead bodies…because he got it wrong. He was talking about some video game while I was explaining…and that should have been my clue. Oh well.
The attic was empty and the rec room full in a little over 15 minutes. If it was my job to decorate, everything would fit in a box the size my cereal came in. Thank God it isn’t…because I love the way the house looks when Holly’s done. I brought my boxes with manger stuff out front and did what I had to do…which is very little. I have a ‘Mary’, ‘Joseph’, ‘a shepherd, Three Kings, a couple of barn animals and, of course, a ‘baby Jesus’. I’ve built a little cradle/bed thing for the baby to lie in and each piece lights up. My biggest challenge is plugging them all in and wrapping the power strips so that snow doesn’t soak the whole operation. It really shouldn’t take that long…but it does. I move them around a few times, have to replace burned out bulbs, and wrap the cords in white garbage bags. Then Holly has to come up and tell me what I’ve done wrong…which is always something…I’m a man, after all.
I finished up and headed in to put some time on the trainer. I’m re-watching the first five season’s of ‘Lost’ since there so many times when, after watching an episode I said “huh?” It’s an hour show so I figured I’d be riding for at least 50 minutes…no commercials…so I was quite surprised when it ended to see that I’d only logged 39 minutes. That’s right…for those who watched this particular episode when it was aired…they spent 21 minutes not watching ‘Lost’. I put in a couple of minutes more and called it a workout. Hopefully tomorrow I’d get back to the park for another run. I want to start getting them back to back to see how the ‘old man’ injuries are doing.
Bike duration: 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
Poop before you run...
Friday, December 03, 2010
I like movies. I tend to watch them more than I should and then quote things from them in almost every conversation. I also like to get others to watch things that I’ve found to be good and at Christmas, always find myself in the ‘Half Price’ type places that have old, used movies for sale.
I go straight to the VHS’s. I find them to be more dependable over time. At my house, DVD’s start out in their cases, but once placed in a DVD player, never seem to return…except my mine or Holly’s hand. As a result they end up getting scratched and smudged, which of course makes their ability to play suspect. And it pisses me off…hence the VHS.
Anyway, I was in such a store doing some Christmas shopping for family members, but managed to pick up 7 movies for $7…probably for me. Some are movies we used to have in the house, but have left with my kids. They tell me they belonged to them…but I have my doubts. Still…if I can get them for a buck…I’m grabbing them. I picked up quality stuff like “My Cousin Vinny”, “A Few Good Men”, “Frequency”, and “Dead Again”. I look at it as an investment in my training, too. I can’t stand to sit on the trainer without something to distract me on the TV and since we aren’t willing to pay for the cable, network TV can be pretty thin when I want to ride. I actually did get a couple of things that weren’t for me, too.
I drove to the park for my run through a gentle snowfall. I enjoy running in the snow and cold and I figured this would be a particularly pretty run with only an inch or less on the trails and likely no one to interrupt my serenity. I was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved t-shirt, socks on my hands and my ear protector on my head. I’ve decided to grow back some of my hair (I say ‘some’ because others of it don’t want to grow back) in an attempt to keep my head a little warmer on my winter runs. The top is still exposed though, and I’ll probably have to wear a hat at some point.
The snow was gathering on the bare part of my arms and was pretty cold, but manageable. I had been running about 5 minutes when I began to question the wisdom of not using the bathroom before leaving. By 8 minutes, there was no more questioning…I HAD to go.
I’ve been up against this many times in my running career and to answer the question “do runners shit in the woods”…I would reply “um…all the time”. I was running in an area that didn’t feature port-a-john’s, so what was I going to do? I knew the closest park facility was about half a mile away…and with the way I was squeezing, may as well have been a hundred miles away…I wasn’t getting there. I moved a distance off the trail and did what I had to do, utilizing what God had placed within easy reach…leaves, smooth sticks, a rock – all covered in snow…for the clean-up. It was painful and cold, but you make do. I returned to the trail and headed down a slope into a parking lot…about a hundred yards from my bathroom break. There…sitting next to, and partially obscured by a dumpster…was a port-a-john. I used a couple of my bad words and went inside to find the toilet paper I’d been missing. Sometimes…you just have to squeeze a little longer.
Run duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
I like movies. I tend to watch them more than I should and then quote things from them in almost every conversation. I also like to get others to watch things that I’ve found to be good and at Christmas, always find myself in the ‘Half Price’ type places that have old, used movies for sale.
I go straight to the VHS’s. I find them to be more dependable over time. At my house, DVD’s start out in their cases, but once placed in a DVD player, never seem to return…except my mine or Holly’s hand. As a result they end up getting scratched and smudged, which of course makes their ability to play suspect. And it pisses me off…hence the VHS.
Anyway, I was in such a store doing some Christmas shopping for family members, but managed to pick up 7 movies for $7…probably for me. Some are movies we used to have in the house, but have left with my kids. They tell me they belonged to them…but I have my doubts. Still…if I can get them for a buck…I’m grabbing them. I picked up quality stuff like “My Cousin Vinny”, “A Few Good Men”, “Frequency”, and “Dead Again”. I look at it as an investment in my training, too. I can’t stand to sit on the trainer without something to distract me on the TV and since we aren’t willing to pay for the cable, network TV can be pretty thin when I want to ride. I actually did get a couple of things that weren’t for me, too.
I drove to the park for my run through a gentle snowfall. I enjoy running in the snow and cold and I figured this would be a particularly pretty run with only an inch or less on the trails and likely no one to interrupt my serenity. I was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved t-shirt, socks on my hands and my ear protector on my head. I’ve decided to grow back some of my hair (I say ‘some’ because others of it don’t want to grow back) in an attempt to keep my head a little warmer on my winter runs. The top is still exposed though, and I’ll probably have to wear a hat at some point.
The snow was gathering on the bare part of my arms and was pretty cold, but manageable. I had been running about 5 minutes when I began to question the wisdom of not using the bathroom before leaving. By 8 minutes, there was no more questioning…I HAD to go.
I’ve been up against this many times in my running career and to answer the question “do runners shit in the woods”…I would reply “um…all the time”. I was running in an area that didn’t feature port-a-john’s, so what was I going to do? I knew the closest park facility was about half a mile away…and with the way I was squeezing, may as well have been a hundred miles away…I wasn’t getting there. I moved a distance off the trail and did what I had to do, utilizing what God had placed within easy reach…leaves, smooth sticks, a rock – all covered in snow…for the clean-up. It was painful and cold, but you make do. I returned to the trail and headed down a slope into a parking lot…about a hundred yards from my bathroom break. There…sitting next to, and partially obscured by a dumpster…was a port-a-john. I used a couple of my bad words and went inside to find the toilet paper I’d been missing. Sometimes…you just have to squeeze a little longer.
Run duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
Friday, December 3, 2010
LeBron's back...
Thursday, December 2, 2010
So…in case you’re living under a rock and don’t know it…LeBron is in town. I admit that I’m not a big basketball fan and although I liked having him here and always root the hometown, I just don’t miss him that much. We won before he was here and we will win again. I was fortunate enough to have witnessed the ‘Miracle of Richfield” season where, if we hadn’t lost our starting center Jim Chones, I am convinced we would have won the NBA championship in 1976.
Anyway, I’ve read all about what LeBron did though I never saw the broadcast. Everything I have read and all that I’ve heard on the subject makes me think that most folks don’t blame him for leaving town…only for the way he announced his decision to leave town. I must admit that I’ve been rather impressed with the way he’s conducted himself throughout his career. I can only imagine what it would have done to me to have had 100 million dollars at the age of 18…and I’m thinking I would not have been quite so mature. I’d expected some kind of screw-up to have happened in the seven years since then…but nothing. He seemed to play well (forgetting the Boston series last year) and brought us tantalizingly close to an NBA championship during his stay, represent Cleveland in a positive manner (exception: Yankees ballcap), and contributed much to the community with both time and money.
So…yeah…throw some boo’s his way and nothing more. He made a mistake…a doozy…but it’s done. Let’s get on with it. After all…it’s not like it’s baseball…
I took Dakota and went to the park for a hike. It was getting dark as we climbed from the car, but I figured I walk the marsh trail…something I believe I can do in the dark. I planned to return to the car and tack on a 15-minute run, as well.
I managed to complete the hike, though I did a lot of stumbling. I guess my night vision lenses were off a hair. I decided against the run, figuring that I’d go longer in the morning since I had the day off. I’ve got some personal time that, if I don’t use by the end of the year, I’ll forfeit. Maybe sleep in, go to the park for a longer run and then a leisurely breakfast with the paper and the chance to read all about the Cavs, LeBron, and the maniac fans.
Hike duration: 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 250.
So…in case you’re living under a rock and don’t know it…LeBron is in town. I admit that I’m not a big basketball fan and although I liked having him here and always root the hometown, I just don’t miss him that much. We won before he was here and we will win again. I was fortunate enough to have witnessed the ‘Miracle of Richfield” season where, if we hadn’t lost our starting center Jim Chones, I am convinced we would have won the NBA championship in 1976.
Anyway, I’ve read all about what LeBron did though I never saw the broadcast. Everything I have read and all that I’ve heard on the subject makes me think that most folks don’t blame him for leaving town…only for the way he announced his decision to leave town. I must admit that I’ve been rather impressed with the way he’s conducted himself throughout his career. I can only imagine what it would have done to me to have had 100 million dollars at the age of 18…and I’m thinking I would not have been quite so mature. I’d expected some kind of screw-up to have happened in the seven years since then…but nothing. He seemed to play well (forgetting the Boston series last year) and brought us tantalizingly close to an NBA championship during his stay, represent Cleveland in a positive manner (exception: Yankees ballcap), and contributed much to the community with both time and money.
So…yeah…throw some boo’s his way and nothing more. He made a mistake…a doozy…but it’s done. Let’s get on with it. After all…it’s not like it’s baseball…
I took Dakota and went to the park for a hike. It was getting dark as we climbed from the car, but I figured I walk the marsh trail…something I believe I can do in the dark. I planned to return to the car and tack on a 15-minute run, as well.
I managed to complete the hike, though I did a lot of stumbling. I guess my night vision lenses were off a hair. I decided against the run, figuring that I’d go longer in the morning since I had the day off. I’ve got some personal time that, if I don’t use by the end of the year, I’ll forfeit. Maybe sleep in, go to the park for a longer run and then a leisurely breakfast with the paper and the chance to read all about the Cavs, LeBron, and the maniac fans.
Hike duration: 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 250.
I love step-ups...
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
I’d gotten Holly a Garmin GPS for her birthday. She had mentioned that Wal-Mart had the one we’d had stolen for $50 less than we’d paid for it…which was $150. I went to get it, but she’d also mentioned the more expensive one…which was now the price of the cheaper one that had been stolen…and so that’s what I got. After giving it to her she did what all prudent wives do…checked the price against the same product at Staples. It was $60 cheaper there. Needless to say…we took back the Wal-Mart version.
I kind of hate that at Christmas time. I can’t buy anything without thinking that it’s going to be somewhere else a lot cheaper. I also hate how the prices plummet just after Christmas…a time I’m not willing to spend at stores fighting crowds to make returns and get the best deals. I’m just not a good shopper and I know it. I’m the guy retailers count on to make a profit. I hate being that guy…but if it wasn’t for me, prices would be higher for everyone else out there…so just say ‘thanks’ and leave it at that.
I decided on a walk with the pack workout and headed for the South Chagrin Reservation after work. I planned to do step-ups and was looking for something a little different. I don’t know my way through this park anywhere nearly as well as North Chagrin, so I stayed with the bridle path straying a short distance into the woods to do my step-ups on downed logs or small boulders. I only had 30 pounds in the pack so I figured to do more and faster step-ups when I stopped and by the time I returned to the car an hour later, had completed 300. Even with the lighter weight, I knew I was in for some sore hamstrings and butt muscles over the next couple of days. I didn’t really care. I wanted to feel some of that soreness you get whenever doing an activity with muscles that don’t get used that often. It’s a pain…but a good pain and I could use some ‘good pain’ for a change.
Hike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
I’d gotten Holly a Garmin GPS for her birthday. She had mentioned that Wal-Mart had the one we’d had stolen for $50 less than we’d paid for it…which was $150. I went to get it, but she’d also mentioned the more expensive one…which was now the price of the cheaper one that had been stolen…and so that’s what I got. After giving it to her she did what all prudent wives do…checked the price against the same product at Staples. It was $60 cheaper there. Needless to say…we took back the Wal-Mart version.
I kind of hate that at Christmas time. I can’t buy anything without thinking that it’s going to be somewhere else a lot cheaper. I also hate how the prices plummet just after Christmas…a time I’m not willing to spend at stores fighting crowds to make returns and get the best deals. I’m just not a good shopper and I know it. I’m the guy retailers count on to make a profit. I hate being that guy…but if it wasn’t for me, prices would be higher for everyone else out there…so just say ‘thanks’ and leave it at that.
I decided on a walk with the pack workout and headed for the South Chagrin Reservation after work. I planned to do step-ups and was looking for something a little different. I don’t know my way through this park anywhere nearly as well as North Chagrin, so I stayed with the bridle path straying a short distance into the woods to do my step-ups on downed logs or small boulders. I only had 30 pounds in the pack so I figured to do more and faster step-ups when I stopped and by the time I returned to the car an hour later, had completed 300. Even with the lighter weight, I knew I was in for some sore hamstrings and butt muscles over the next couple of days. I didn’t really care. I wanted to feel some of that soreness you get whenever doing an activity with muscles that don’t get used that often. It’s a pain…but a good pain and I could use some ‘good pain’ for a change.
Hike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
The last of the turkey...
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
I went to the park to put in a 20-minute run. My right achilles and both feet were sore all day long, but it the achilles that has my attention. If that thing should pop, I know I would be out for a long time and I don’t want that. Still, I need to run so I’m trying one day on/two days off until I get over this.
It was still reasonably warm and I decided to run on a flat course. It’s amazing how quickly you can lose your conditioning for any particular activity…I’ve been doing a mix of things, but little running. I hadn’t gone 5 minutes, but knew it would be a struggle. I’d blame it on the humidity if it was July, but this feeling was clearly about the fact that I was running only a couple of times a week and when I did, only short distances. De-conditioning can be discouraging, but I don’t let it get me down because I know that, with two healthy weeks, I’ll be right back where I was. Experience has taught me that.
I reached my turnaround ten minutes down the trail and knew how bad it was by how often I was checking my watch. When I’m running smoothly I don’t care about time and seldom check it. When I’m struggling, I’m checking every couple of minutes praying for the time when I will be back at the car; the pain will be over and I have enough done to write it in my blog. That was today, for sure.
I trudged back to the car and collapsed into it for the ride home. I was thinking that I should get there and put the disabled bike on the trainer and put in some more time, but instead cleaned up and went to the workshop to put the finishing touches on the folding shelf I had built for my office to house my laptop while writing the blog. I normally put it on my desk, but I have found that to be too high creating pain in my shoulders that makes typing difficult. The shelf would be mounted to the wall directly behind my desk and at a level that would put the computer about lap high…my best typing position.
Dinner was a sad affair. I pulled the last of the turkey from the tupperware bowl and made a sandwich. Holly had said she’ make another turkey dinner for Christmas though, so I only have 25 days to wait.
Run duration: 20 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 350.
I went to the park to put in a 20-minute run. My right achilles and both feet were sore all day long, but it the achilles that has my attention. If that thing should pop, I know I would be out for a long time and I don’t want that. Still, I need to run so I’m trying one day on/two days off until I get over this.
It was still reasonably warm and I decided to run on a flat course. It’s amazing how quickly you can lose your conditioning for any particular activity…I’ve been doing a mix of things, but little running. I hadn’t gone 5 minutes, but knew it would be a struggle. I’d blame it on the humidity if it was July, but this feeling was clearly about the fact that I was running only a couple of times a week and when I did, only short distances. De-conditioning can be discouraging, but I don’t let it get me down because I know that, with two healthy weeks, I’ll be right back where I was. Experience has taught me that.
I reached my turnaround ten minutes down the trail and knew how bad it was by how often I was checking my watch. When I’m running smoothly I don’t care about time and seldom check it. When I’m struggling, I’m checking every couple of minutes praying for the time when I will be back at the car; the pain will be over and I have enough done to write it in my blog. That was today, for sure.
I trudged back to the car and collapsed into it for the ride home. I was thinking that I should get there and put the disabled bike on the trainer and put in some more time, but instead cleaned up and went to the workshop to put the finishing touches on the folding shelf I had built for my office to house my laptop while writing the blog. I normally put it on my desk, but I have found that to be too high creating pain in my shoulders that makes typing difficult. The shelf would be mounted to the wall directly behind my desk and at a level that would put the computer about lap high…my best typing position.
Dinner was a sad affair. I pulled the last of the turkey from the tupperware bowl and made a sandwich. Holly had said she’ make another turkey dinner for Christmas though, so I only have 25 days to wait.
Run duration: 20 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 350.
"Bad Bike!"
Monday, November 29, 2010
It was an amazing day considering it was almost December. The temperature was hovering in the mid-50’s and the sun was shining. I got home and took the bike off the trainer and quickly prepared for an outdoor ride. I figured I had an hour of daylight and knew I wouldn’t get too many more days this nice. I rode to the end of the street and was about to hop on to Wilson Mills when I noticed my rear brake wasn’t functioning. I remembered that I’d had some trouble with them on my last ride, but that had been some time ago and I’d completely forgotten. I don’t use the brakes much on the trainer…so forgetting was easy.
I hopped off and began to investigate, but with little success. They were locked and there was nothing I could do to release them. I got the bike back to the house and began trying to remedy the problem. Daylight was burning and I was still thinking I could get in a ride if I hurried…but hurrying is never good when doing work on a bike that you’ve never done before. I disassembled the brake and tried to feed the cable back through the housing, but the cable was rusted so it wouldn’t go. At this point, I knew I wouldn’t be riding outdoors so I slowed down and tried to get it apart correctly. I was working under the main tube that runs from the seat to the handlebars. The brake and gear shift cables run along the underside of this bar and by trying to remove the cable, I noticed just how bad the rust on my bike had gotten…which was really bad.
If you don’t already know this…I sweat…a lot. I have already destroyed two bikes over the years due to excess corrosion resulting from the sweat I generate on long rides. It tends to find its way into all of the components of the bike as well as attacking the joints and butts of metal. I had gone to an aluminum frame when I was racing and put a lot of money into that bike, but it currently hangs from the hooks in my garage because it has a crack in the frame most likely the result of poor manufacturing…and that’s another story.
In any event, I knew that I shouldn’t be riding this bike any longer whether I got the brakes fixed or not. It would, however, be perfect for the trainer. I could ride it all winter and not worry about the effect of rust since I wouldn’t be hitting any bumps and racing down any hills. By spring time, I’d have to figure out what to do, though. I’ve never been without a bike.
I was heading for the trainer when I received a call that sent me to the hospital to visit a friend. By the time I returned home, it was…for me…beyond workout time. I’d been consistent since getting off the crutches, so I suppose one day won’t matter.
It was an amazing day considering it was almost December. The temperature was hovering in the mid-50’s and the sun was shining. I got home and took the bike off the trainer and quickly prepared for an outdoor ride. I figured I had an hour of daylight and knew I wouldn’t get too many more days this nice. I rode to the end of the street and was about to hop on to Wilson Mills when I noticed my rear brake wasn’t functioning. I remembered that I’d had some trouble with them on my last ride, but that had been some time ago and I’d completely forgotten. I don’t use the brakes much on the trainer…so forgetting was easy.
I hopped off and began to investigate, but with little success. They were locked and there was nothing I could do to release them. I got the bike back to the house and began trying to remedy the problem. Daylight was burning and I was still thinking I could get in a ride if I hurried…but hurrying is never good when doing work on a bike that you’ve never done before. I disassembled the brake and tried to feed the cable back through the housing, but the cable was rusted so it wouldn’t go. At this point, I knew I wouldn’t be riding outdoors so I slowed down and tried to get it apart correctly. I was working under the main tube that runs from the seat to the handlebars. The brake and gear shift cables run along the underside of this bar and by trying to remove the cable, I noticed just how bad the rust on my bike had gotten…which was really bad.
If you don’t already know this…I sweat…a lot. I have already destroyed two bikes over the years due to excess corrosion resulting from the sweat I generate on long rides. It tends to find its way into all of the components of the bike as well as attacking the joints and butts of metal. I had gone to an aluminum frame when I was racing and put a lot of money into that bike, but it currently hangs from the hooks in my garage because it has a crack in the frame most likely the result of poor manufacturing…and that’s another story.
In any event, I knew that I shouldn’t be riding this bike any longer whether I got the brakes fixed or not. It would, however, be perfect for the trainer. I could ride it all winter and not worry about the effect of rust since I wouldn’t be hitting any bumps and racing down any hills. By spring time, I’d have to figure out what to do, though. I’ve never been without a bike.
I was heading for the trainer when I received a call that sent me to the hospital to visit a friend. By the time I returned home, it was…for me…beyond workout time. I’d been consistent since getting off the crutches, so I suppose one day won’t matter.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
A change of pace...
Sunday, November 28, 2010
I’ve been in a bit of a rut with my workouts for a while. I just can’t seem to get excited about doing anything. This happens when I’ve nothing left to train for…typically the winter months. Days are shorter and colder which cramps my riding, injuries are piling up which cramps my running, kayaking if a fading memory…and calories are everywhere. I needed to shake it up some.
I went to the high school and headed for what I suspect was the culprit in my summer stress fracture…the bleachers with a backpack. My plan was different, though. Moderation, I figured, was the key. I’d do fewer repeats with less weight and running. I strapped on 30 pounds and entered the stadium.
I completed 10 trips up and down taking steps two at a time, but just at a steady walk pace…no attempt to run up. The heart rate was over 150 and I was into a great sweat as I headed for the track and a mile jog without the pack. This seemed extremely difficult as the legs were not even close to recovered from the bleacher work. I was still thinking about the achilles and trying to go easy on the running, but I had felt it even when climbing the bleachers. Still I reasoned that I had to do something and would just have to deal with a little pain. I put the pack back on and did another 7 flights in the bleachers before walking to the car. I was planning on hopping on the trainer upon my return home and riding enough time to make the entire workout at least an hour. The Browns were playing and would offer a distraction…or make me want to puke…depending on how they were playing. The bleachers and run had taken 33 minutes, so that meant only half an hour on the trainer. Quite manageable.
I was fortunate enough to catch the first half of the game, which featured Peyton Hillis pounding the ball into the end zone three times for touchdowns. By half time, I’d completed enough time to fill my hour workout, so I turned off the game and got ready for Marie’s arrival. We were getting together to plan her winter workout schedule, which would include running some indoor meets in preparation for the indoor state meet in mid-March. I felt that she needed to have some good times and speed work under her belt by the beginning of the outdoor season if she was to have a legitimate shot at the state championship in the 1,600 meter race…her objective. She would need to run 4:50 or faster for that distance though I had some ideas about it turning into a tactical race. If that happened, I assured her that no one in the state could stay with her over the last 200 meters. She smiled…she knew I was right.
We planned the workouts to get her race ready for the indoor meets that began in late January. It would include long runs for strength, blasters and 1,000’s for speed and the ability to hold a difficult pace, and bleachers and Back to Basics workouts to enhance the power of her lethal kick. Prepare the body…and then the mind. Can’t win the big one without both. She’d have it together when it counted most.
The smell of turkey stew was making me drool while we worked and, for the first time since the holidays began, I had seconds during a meal…it was too good to stop. I probably should have ridden for two hours…the way I was eating…but I still would have taken in more than I’d burned. It’s an ugly pattern…but it’s turkey. I’m powerless for now. In the coming week, I’ll have fruit for breakfast…passing up a date with Tony…which should help get me back in balance. The real key is getting entirely healthy for running. It’s still my best defense against excess calories.
Bleacher/run duration: 30 minutes. Bike duration: 33 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120-150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,000.
I’ve been in a bit of a rut with my workouts for a while. I just can’t seem to get excited about doing anything. This happens when I’ve nothing left to train for…typically the winter months. Days are shorter and colder which cramps my riding, injuries are piling up which cramps my running, kayaking if a fading memory…and calories are everywhere. I needed to shake it up some.
I went to the high school and headed for what I suspect was the culprit in my summer stress fracture…the bleachers with a backpack. My plan was different, though. Moderation, I figured, was the key. I’d do fewer repeats with less weight and running. I strapped on 30 pounds and entered the stadium.
I completed 10 trips up and down taking steps two at a time, but just at a steady walk pace…no attempt to run up. The heart rate was over 150 and I was into a great sweat as I headed for the track and a mile jog without the pack. This seemed extremely difficult as the legs were not even close to recovered from the bleacher work. I was still thinking about the achilles and trying to go easy on the running, but I had felt it even when climbing the bleachers. Still I reasoned that I had to do something and would just have to deal with a little pain. I put the pack back on and did another 7 flights in the bleachers before walking to the car. I was planning on hopping on the trainer upon my return home and riding enough time to make the entire workout at least an hour. The Browns were playing and would offer a distraction…or make me want to puke…depending on how they were playing. The bleachers and run had taken 33 minutes, so that meant only half an hour on the trainer. Quite manageable.
I was fortunate enough to catch the first half of the game, which featured Peyton Hillis pounding the ball into the end zone three times for touchdowns. By half time, I’d completed enough time to fill my hour workout, so I turned off the game and got ready for Marie’s arrival. We were getting together to plan her winter workout schedule, which would include running some indoor meets in preparation for the indoor state meet in mid-March. I felt that she needed to have some good times and speed work under her belt by the beginning of the outdoor season if she was to have a legitimate shot at the state championship in the 1,600 meter race…her objective. She would need to run 4:50 or faster for that distance though I had some ideas about it turning into a tactical race. If that happened, I assured her that no one in the state could stay with her over the last 200 meters. She smiled…she knew I was right.
We planned the workouts to get her race ready for the indoor meets that began in late January. It would include long runs for strength, blasters and 1,000’s for speed and the ability to hold a difficult pace, and bleachers and Back to Basics workouts to enhance the power of her lethal kick. Prepare the body…and then the mind. Can’t win the big one without both. She’d have it together when it counted most.
The smell of turkey stew was making me drool while we worked and, for the first time since the holidays began, I had seconds during a meal…it was too good to stop. I probably should have ridden for two hours…the way I was eating…but I still would have taken in more than I’d burned. It’s an ugly pattern…but it’s turkey. I’m powerless for now. In the coming week, I’ll have fruit for breakfast…passing up a date with Tony…which should help get me back in balance. The real key is getting entirely healthy for running. It’s still my best defense against excess calories.
Bleacher/run duration: 30 minutes. Bike duration: 33 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120-150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,000.
Happy 55th, Holly
Saturday, November 27, 2010
To many Ohioans, this is one, huge day. Buckeyes verse Michigan…in the horseshoe. Savannah had returned for the game since she had a ticket and had decided not to sell it when she found out that she couldn’t get more than a couple of hundred bucks for it. It would be her first Michigan game and I suppose, if you have the chance, it’s something you ought to experience. I enjoy the game, but not with the rabid fierceness that so many do. I did consider it as an excellent distraction for a potential workout on the trainer, though.
First things first. It was Holly’s birthday and I convinced her that it would be nice to go to Patterson’s Fruit Farm and sit in their snack shop with a nice cup of coffee and some pastry from their bakery while looking out their window at the expansive view over the park and all the way to Lake Erie. We arrived there to discover that the snack shop closes for the season in the beginning of November. I wasn’t done with fun things, though…I took her to the post office so she could wait in a line to mail some junk and to the grocery store so she could pick up some stuff for dinner tomorrow. It was really shaping up as a special day. We did stop at Caribou where she got her free birthday drink, though. I didn’t get anything…it wouldn’t have been a free day if I had and I surely didn’t need the calories. We were having a birthday party later and I’d purchased an ice cream log thing from Dairy Queen for the occasion. I’d be getting plenty of calories before the day was over.
By the time we returned home and I tuned in the game, the Buckeyes had pretty much put it away…having built a lead of 20 points. I watched for a short time, but decided I’d rather go to the park for a hike with the pack than get on the trainer for the final 20 minutes of the game. Dinner was scheduled for 6 p.m. and I allowed myself time to hike an hour and still get home thirty minutes before company arrived. When I returned to my car after hiking, I had three missed calls and a voicemail telling me that they’d decided to push the time up and that company was already there. “We didn’t know that you weren’t here, dad,” Heidi told me when I called.
“How could you not know that I wasn’t there? I’m somewhat conspicuous…wouldn’t you agree?”
“Um…yeah…I suppose I wasn’t thinking too clearly,” she conceded. I mean…you can’t help but notice when I’m not there. I tend towards obnoxious and loud…I’m no wall flower. Oh well…I hurried home.
Dinner was the first non-turkey meal I’d had (other than Tony the Tiger) for three days. Heidi and Ash had prepared a pasta/shrimp/spinach thing…and it was great. I’d gotten Holly a new Garmin GPS to replace the one we’d had stolen on our visit to Playhouse Square over the summer, which thrilled her since she hadn’t been able to find her way anywhere since then. I tried the ice cream log and finished the day with one more day of more calories in than out. Tomorrow was family dinner night, which was scheduled to be turkey stew and little chance of changing the pattern.
Hike duration: 70 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 90 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 550.
To many Ohioans, this is one, huge day. Buckeyes verse Michigan…in the horseshoe. Savannah had returned for the game since she had a ticket and had decided not to sell it when she found out that she couldn’t get more than a couple of hundred bucks for it. It would be her first Michigan game and I suppose, if you have the chance, it’s something you ought to experience. I enjoy the game, but not with the rabid fierceness that so many do. I did consider it as an excellent distraction for a potential workout on the trainer, though.
First things first. It was Holly’s birthday and I convinced her that it would be nice to go to Patterson’s Fruit Farm and sit in their snack shop with a nice cup of coffee and some pastry from their bakery while looking out their window at the expansive view over the park and all the way to Lake Erie. We arrived there to discover that the snack shop closes for the season in the beginning of November. I wasn’t done with fun things, though…I took her to the post office so she could wait in a line to mail some junk and to the grocery store so she could pick up some stuff for dinner tomorrow. It was really shaping up as a special day. We did stop at Caribou where she got her free birthday drink, though. I didn’t get anything…it wouldn’t have been a free day if I had and I surely didn’t need the calories. We were having a birthday party later and I’d purchased an ice cream log thing from Dairy Queen for the occasion. I’d be getting plenty of calories before the day was over.
By the time we returned home and I tuned in the game, the Buckeyes had pretty much put it away…having built a lead of 20 points. I watched for a short time, but decided I’d rather go to the park for a hike with the pack than get on the trainer for the final 20 minutes of the game. Dinner was scheduled for 6 p.m. and I allowed myself time to hike an hour and still get home thirty minutes before company arrived. When I returned to my car after hiking, I had three missed calls and a voicemail telling me that they’d decided to push the time up and that company was already there. “We didn’t know that you weren’t here, dad,” Heidi told me when I called.
“How could you not know that I wasn’t there? I’m somewhat conspicuous…wouldn’t you agree?”
“Um…yeah…I suppose I wasn’t thinking too clearly,” she conceded. I mean…you can’t help but notice when I’m not there. I tend towards obnoxious and loud…I’m no wall flower. Oh well…I hurried home.
Dinner was the first non-turkey meal I’d had (other than Tony the Tiger) for three days. Heidi and Ash had prepared a pasta/shrimp/spinach thing…and it was great. I’d gotten Holly a new Garmin GPS to replace the one we’d had stolen on our visit to Playhouse Square over the summer, which thrilled her since she hadn’t been able to find her way anywhere since then. I tried the ice cream log and finished the day with one more day of more calories in than out. Tomorrow was family dinner night, which was scheduled to be turkey stew and little chance of changing the pattern.
Hike duration: 70 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 90 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 550.
The morning after...
Friday, November 26, 2010
There’s something weird about the way smell travels in our house. For some reason, all of the great cooking smells associated with cooking don’t seem to linger in the kitchen, or anywhere on the first floor, for that matter. They do, on the other hand, make it to the top of the stairs and my bedroom door just beyond, with no problem. And that’s where they were when I woke up. Turkey soup simmering on the stove and I was gaining weight just breathing. Damn…I hate when that happens.
My plan was to hold off eating anything fat until lunch. It was a good plan. Tony and I reunited for another breakfast of Frosted Flakes. It was Black Friday and I had no intention of going anywhere near a shopping institution, other than to drop Heidi at Golf Galaxy so she could work with the shopping maniacs that populated all retail stores on this day. Not me. Jack wanted to buy some running shoes at Beachwood Place and Holly said that was my job, but I stated flatly “not today, boss.” She would end up taking him later in the afternoon since he was insisting there was a 50% discount on the shoes he wanted. I highly doubted that.
I headed for the park with Dakota in the early afternoon for a hike. I just couldn’t see myself on the trainer a second day in a row…not on a sunny, cool day with the park 10 minutes away. I grabbed my camera, but left the pack in the trunk. I knew the trails would be muddy and slick from the rains we’d gotten yesterday and didn’t want to be slipping and sliding with 30 pounds on my back making me more unstable. I saw no one on the hour plus hike…except for Kim who was in the middle of a 90-minute run. She was looking lean and fast…she is…and showing no signs of having overeaten the previous day. Very un-American.
I returned home to eat a lunch of leftovers, but kept myself in check since I knew I was going to my sister’s for a post-Thanksgiving dinner party where I would graze my way through another 5,000 calories. As we were preparing to leave, Jack – who had decided to stay home – asked if we could go to a store and buy a football. He had a renewed interest in the game since I’d told him the football coaches inquiry about his playing. I looked at him like he was a character from one of his video games.
“Jack…two things. One…we’re going to Aunt Cecilia’s in five minutes, and two…IT’S STILL BLACK FRIDAY AND I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE NEAR A STORE!!”
He was unfazed by my response and replied, “how about tomorrow?” We’d have a discussion a little later about the proximity to Christmas and the likelihood of getting non-essentials in the three weeks leading up to that date…and knowing him…probably more than once.
I tried to restrain myself somewhat at my sister’s, but with only partial success. She had sweet potatoes…and about 15 other selections, which I found myself tasting. There should be a law that if you only take a taste…decide you don’t want anymore and move on…that the taste calories don’t count. There should be…but there isn’t. I probably had about 2,000 calories doing this. Well…I’ll stick to the excuse it’s the holidays and I have to eat like this. I’ll keep trying to limit myself and get in some form of exercise every day. It’s a plan…not a great one…but it’s a plan.
Hike duration: 70 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 350.
There’s something weird about the way smell travels in our house. For some reason, all of the great cooking smells associated with cooking don’t seem to linger in the kitchen, or anywhere on the first floor, for that matter. They do, on the other hand, make it to the top of the stairs and my bedroom door just beyond, with no problem. And that’s where they were when I woke up. Turkey soup simmering on the stove and I was gaining weight just breathing. Damn…I hate when that happens.
My plan was to hold off eating anything fat until lunch. It was a good plan. Tony and I reunited for another breakfast of Frosted Flakes. It was Black Friday and I had no intention of going anywhere near a shopping institution, other than to drop Heidi at Golf Galaxy so she could work with the shopping maniacs that populated all retail stores on this day. Not me. Jack wanted to buy some running shoes at Beachwood Place and Holly said that was my job, but I stated flatly “not today, boss.” She would end up taking him later in the afternoon since he was insisting there was a 50% discount on the shoes he wanted. I highly doubted that.
I headed for the park with Dakota in the early afternoon for a hike. I just couldn’t see myself on the trainer a second day in a row…not on a sunny, cool day with the park 10 minutes away. I grabbed my camera, but left the pack in the trunk. I knew the trails would be muddy and slick from the rains we’d gotten yesterday and didn’t want to be slipping and sliding with 30 pounds on my back making me more unstable. I saw no one on the hour plus hike…except for Kim who was in the middle of a 90-minute run. She was looking lean and fast…she is…and showing no signs of having overeaten the previous day. Very un-American.
I returned home to eat a lunch of leftovers, but kept myself in check since I knew I was going to my sister’s for a post-Thanksgiving dinner party where I would graze my way through another 5,000 calories. As we were preparing to leave, Jack – who had decided to stay home – asked if we could go to a store and buy a football. He had a renewed interest in the game since I’d told him the football coaches inquiry about his playing. I looked at him like he was a character from one of his video games.
“Jack…two things. One…we’re going to Aunt Cecilia’s in five minutes, and two…IT’S STILL BLACK FRIDAY AND I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE NEAR A STORE!!”
He was unfazed by my response and replied, “how about tomorrow?” We’d have a discussion a little later about the proximity to Christmas and the likelihood of getting non-essentials in the three weeks leading up to that date…and knowing him…probably more than once.
I tried to restrain myself somewhat at my sister’s, but with only partial success. She had sweet potatoes…and about 15 other selections, which I found myself tasting. There should be a law that if you only take a taste…decide you don’t want anymore and move on…that the taste calories don’t count. There should be…but there isn’t. I probably had about 2,000 calories doing this. Well…I’ll stick to the excuse it’s the holidays and I have to eat like this. I’ll keep trying to limit myself and get in some form of exercise every day. It’s a plan…not a great one…but it’s a plan.
Hike duration: 70 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 350.
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