Wednesday, April 27, 2011
I was walking back from the bottom of the driveway with the morning paper when I noticed a huge, clean spot in the back window of the van. I figured Jack had wiped a portion of it clean instead of writing ‘wash me’ in the dirt, but as I got closer, realized that it wasn’t a clean spot…but a missing spot. About a quarter of the rear window was missing…well…it was in the back of the van. The rest of the window was hanging on, but by a thread. Now…the van was in the garage and the door had been closed all evening until I opened it to retrieve the paper. I looked in the van through the missing window and saw that the GPS was still there and nothing seemed to be amiss. I checked the doors, which were unlocked meaning that breaking the rear window to enter the van would make no sense. I looked around the garage for anything missing or disturbed…including my car…but everything seemed fine. I dialed Dan to tell him what I was witnessing.
“Sometimes there’s a hairline crack in a window and they just go,” he said as way of an explanation for the unexplainable. I was having trouble with that theory because I know how tough windows are from my old B&E days….but what else was there? The window had been intact when the garage door was closed last evening and it was smashed now. Anyway…we called Guardian Glass per Dan’s advice and they came out and fixed it for $200, which I thought was extremely reasonable. Apparently, the installer told Holly the same nonsense Dan had said to me. Shit happens…no one knows why.
I was feeling really guilty about missing yesterday’s workout since it had finally been nice…so I went for a double. I started at the Metropark with a ‘Hike 56’ doing my push-ups, step-ups with thirty pounds on my back and much lifting of heavy objects. The knee is definitely getting better, though I’m not ready to run or jump…so I kept it to lifting and core work. I returned to the car and drove home for a bike ride…outside. Before leaving, I finished cutting the front lawn with the hand mower, which was still difficult because of the thick grass and wet lawn. I noticed I was getting an excellent upper body workout from this and was happy to have the mower for future use. I’m guessing it’ll take at least a couple of hours to do the half acre of grass we have when I’m able to do the whole thing at one time.
Anyway…that was a good warm-up for the bike ride, which became an 80-minute effort through Willoughby Hills and Waite Hill. I made it home by the predicted time, which was good because Holly was holding dinner on my account. She and Jack were having a Tuna Noodle Casserole, but I opted for a tuna steak, spinach/mushroom salad, and a bowl of acorn squash soup with fresh mushrooms added. After eating, I was full but far from satisfied. As I often do when training hard, I was craving sweet carbs and planning a trip to East Coast Custard. We never made it there, but being worthless and weak, I had a small piece of peanut butter cream pie and a glass of skim milk. It hit the spot…but I wish Holly would quit making these things…or that I’d get stronger about resisting them.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes. Bike duration: 80 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm for workout and 130 bpm for bike ride.
Calories burned during workout: 600 for workout and 1200 for bike ride.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
That soup needs bacon...
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
This is probably getting boring to read since I’m getting sick of writing it, but I was suffering from neck and shoulder soreness and another severe headache throughout the day. I headed for the Metropark after work planning to do the survival workout and then maybe getting in a ride afterwards since the sun was finally peeking through, but instead headed home and lay down. I stayed that way for an hour and felt a lot better, but my window of opportunity was gone. I had to do something…I thought…so I did some push-ups and headed outside to try my new (old) non-motorized hand mower to cut the front lawn. I pushed through eight inches of grass…which makes for a terrific workout…but had to give it up when I noticed the wheels were sinking in mud and the rotating blade was hitting turf.
Holly made some kind of butternut squash soup for dinner. She usually adds bacon to it, but decided we didn’t need the calories…or the taste. It was still pretty good, but when I emptied the leftover from the pan into a Tupper ware container without using a spatula to get every last morsel, she concluded that I didn’t like it enough to make it again. “Okay…you busted me. I still like it, but maybe we ought to go back to a little bacon next time,” I said. After all…bacon is a meat and meat is the foundation of the ‘paleo diet’…though I seem to remember reading somewhere that it should be lean…
This is probably getting boring to read since I’m getting sick of writing it, but I was suffering from neck and shoulder soreness and another severe headache throughout the day. I headed for the Metropark after work planning to do the survival workout and then maybe getting in a ride afterwards since the sun was finally peeking through, but instead headed home and lay down. I stayed that way for an hour and felt a lot better, but my window of opportunity was gone. I had to do something…I thought…so I did some push-ups and headed outside to try my new (old) non-motorized hand mower to cut the front lawn. I pushed through eight inches of grass…which makes for a terrific workout…but had to give it up when I noticed the wheels were sinking in mud and the rotating blade was hitting turf.
Holly made some kind of butternut squash soup for dinner. She usually adds bacon to it, but decided we didn’t need the calories…or the taste. It was still pretty good, but when I emptied the leftover from the pan into a Tupper ware container without using a spatula to get every last morsel, she concluded that I didn’t like it enough to make it again. “Okay…you busted me. I still like it, but maybe we ought to go back to a little bacon next time,” I said. After all…bacon is a meat and meat is the foundation of the ‘paleo diet’…though I seem to remember reading somewhere that it should be lean…
It's raining again...and again...and again...
Monday, April 25, 2011
The rains continued unabated. I read some depressing statistics about March and April being the wettest since they started keeping track of such useful information. Apparently, there has only been 5 days since March 1 when the temperature got above 50 degrees and it didn’t rain.
I was driving to the Metropark after work with the intention of doing a survival workout. It was raining, but with the way I sweat…so what? I figured I could get really muddy, which I enjoy…and I wouldn’t have to ride the trainer. Just as I was pulling into the Ranger station to change, the skies opened up...more. I waited for 10 minutes, but there was no let-up. There were literally no trails…they were underwater…and as goofy as I am, it didn’t seem like a good idea to try and slog through the swamps with a bad knee and an increased chance of slipping and twisting it. I headed for home and the trainer.
I’ve had to find something new to watch while riding since I’ve made my way through ‘Lost’ for a second time. It ended the same way…John Locke is evil and they all…well…I guess I shouldn’t say anymore in case someone is planning on watching. I wanted to learn more about Italian immigrants, their business acumen and family lives, so I’ve been watching the Soprano’s. The episodes average about 5 minutes longer than ‘Lost’ which means they allowed fewer commercials, I suppose. Anyway, I’m learning a lot.
I heated up some of Holly’s vegetable bean soup for dinner and added about 5 ounces of salmon that I’d baked. I’d had a spinach salad for lunch and a chicken thigh, banana and an orange for breakfast. I’d snacked throughout the day on apples. I must admit that I’m rarely hungry since following the ‘paleo diet’ since I’m constantly munching on some raw fruit or vegetable. I’m going to keep drinking a glass of skim milk a day even though dairy is not part of their plan…but I really am an 80/20 man…I’ll be on it 80% of the time. I did have some more of Holly’s egg custard, too. Can’t tolerate throwing that stuff away. There are laws against it.
Bike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 900.
The rains continued unabated. I read some depressing statistics about March and April being the wettest since they started keeping track of such useful information. Apparently, there has only been 5 days since March 1 when the temperature got above 50 degrees and it didn’t rain.
I was driving to the Metropark after work with the intention of doing a survival workout. It was raining, but with the way I sweat…so what? I figured I could get really muddy, which I enjoy…and I wouldn’t have to ride the trainer. Just as I was pulling into the Ranger station to change, the skies opened up...more. I waited for 10 minutes, but there was no let-up. There were literally no trails…they were underwater…and as goofy as I am, it didn’t seem like a good idea to try and slog through the swamps with a bad knee and an increased chance of slipping and twisting it. I headed for home and the trainer.
I’ve had to find something new to watch while riding since I’ve made my way through ‘Lost’ for a second time. It ended the same way…John Locke is evil and they all…well…I guess I shouldn’t say anymore in case someone is planning on watching. I wanted to learn more about Italian immigrants, their business acumen and family lives, so I’ve been watching the Soprano’s. The episodes average about 5 minutes longer than ‘Lost’ which means they allowed fewer commercials, I suppose. Anyway, I’m learning a lot.
I heated up some of Holly’s vegetable bean soup for dinner and added about 5 ounces of salmon that I’d baked. I’d had a spinach salad for lunch and a chicken thigh, banana and an orange for breakfast. I’d snacked throughout the day on apples. I must admit that I’m rarely hungry since following the ‘paleo diet’ since I’m constantly munching on some raw fruit or vegetable. I’m going to keep drinking a glass of skim milk a day even though dairy is not part of their plan…but I really am an 80/20 man…I’ll be on it 80% of the time. I did have some more of Holly’s egg custard, too. Can’t tolerate throwing that stuff away. There are laws against it.
Bike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 900.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
It's tough to work out on a holiday...
Sunday, April 24, 2011
It was Easter Sunday and I knew there would be little opportunity to fit in a workout. Church first, of course, though I woke up early and considered heading to the Metropark for a ‘Hike 56’. Jason was coming over to pick up Jack…they were playing football in the mud…and I elected to stay home so they could hunt for Easter baskets. Yes…amazingly…the Easter Bunny has yet to discover that Jason is 26 and probably should no longer be getting a basket…but I’m not telling. Anyway, he called to say he was running late and would have to leave as quickly as Jack could get into the car…which meant no basket or picture opportunity…and I’d missed a window to work out.
I stayed reasonably attentive throughout the service, checking my resting heart rate only twice. It’s hard to look out the window into the Metropark and watch runners, cyclists and hikers going by…and maintain contact with the rituals of the service. At least I tried…
Holly was preparing chicken and dumplings…which is to say she was preparing wonderfully fat and heavy calories. She also made peanut clusters, egg custard, banana cream and peanut butter chocolate crème pies. Of course there was a corn soufflé, and a jello salad made with whipped cream. I pulled open the ‘Paleo Diet’ book, checked the table of contents AND the index, but could find none of these foods listed anywhere. I was screwed.
Knowing the menu and my will power…I had a lunch of salmon, broccoli, grapes and sunflower seeds. I thought maybe I could fill myself up somewhat and not overate the dinner. It did keep me from going through baskets or eating any of the peanut clusters…a major breakthrough…but the custard still loomed…
So…I’m human. I had a serving of dumplings, corn soufflé, and the jello…and it was all good…and I DID feel guilty. That’s the weird part. Normally I’d just tell myself its only for today and move on. But I actually felt guilt. I did manage to get over it in time for dessert. The pies looked wonderful, but I went with the custard…which at least has some good stuff in it, though I can’t remember what at the moment.
Everyone was gone by 7 p.m. and I was thinking I might get in a ride when Holly, exhausted from two days of cooking and trying to make the perfect holiday for the entire family…sat down and asked if I’d just like to visit and have something hot to drink. I can read the lay of the land with the best of them. Workouts can wait…I figured quality time with Holly made more sense.
It was Easter Sunday and I knew there would be little opportunity to fit in a workout. Church first, of course, though I woke up early and considered heading to the Metropark for a ‘Hike 56’. Jason was coming over to pick up Jack…they were playing football in the mud…and I elected to stay home so they could hunt for Easter baskets. Yes…amazingly…the Easter Bunny has yet to discover that Jason is 26 and probably should no longer be getting a basket…but I’m not telling. Anyway, he called to say he was running late and would have to leave as quickly as Jack could get into the car…which meant no basket or picture opportunity…and I’d missed a window to work out.
I stayed reasonably attentive throughout the service, checking my resting heart rate only twice. It’s hard to look out the window into the Metropark and watch runners, cyclists and hikers going by…and maintain contact with the rituals of the service. At least I tried…
Holly was preparing chicken and dumplings…which is to say she was preparing wonderfully fat and heavy calories. She also made peanut clusters, egg custard, banana cream and peanut butter chocolate crème pies. Of course there was a corn soufflé, and a jello salad made with whipped cream. I pulled open the ‘Paleo Diet’ book, checked the table of contents AND the index, but could find none of these foods listed anywhere. I was screwed.
Knowing the menu and my will power…I had a lunch of salmon, broccoli, grapes and sunflower seeds. I thought maybe I could fill myself up somewhat and not overate the dinner. It did keep me from going through baskets or eating any of the peanut clusters…a major breakthrough…but the custard still loomed…
So…I’m human. I had a serving of dumplings, corn soufflé, and the jello…and it was all good…and I DID feel guilty. That’s the weird part. Normally I’d just tell myself its only for today and move on. But I actually felt guilt. I did manage to get over it in time for dessert. The pies looked wonderful, but I went with the custard…which at least has some good stuff in it, though I can’t remember what at the moment.
Everyone was gone by 7 p.m. and I was thinking I might get in a ride when Holly, exhausted from two days of cooking and trying to make the perfect holiday for the entire family…sat down and asked if I’d just like to visit and have something hot to drink. I can read the lay of the land with the best of them. Workouts can wait…I figured quality time with Holly made more sense.
Finally...a dry ride...outside
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Although John and I had predetermined we wouldn’t be doing the triathlon on this day, I held out hope that the weather would cooperate and I might get it in. Jack had a track meet starting at 10 a.m., but I thought I could get up and do the kayaking and/or a ‘Hike 56’ before going to the meet and then doing the ride afterwards. The forecast had been for thunderstorms throughout the day…but weather people are just guessing…as far as I can tell.
It was pretty cold and wet in the morning and I quickly gave up the idea of the kayaking. I suppose I’d like to at least enjoy my time in the water when I go and this weather, though wonderful for all types of waterfowl, left something to be desired for me. I went to Jack’s meet where he again ran a pr, getting his time in the 800 down to 2:15 but still struggling over the final 100 meters as a lack of stamina took its toll. He’s motivated by the fact that he’s getting better and earning his varsity letter, which he did by scoring team points in a Varsity race.
Marie was running as well, competing in the 4x1600, 4x400, and the sprint medley. She thought she’d run 5:20 in the mile, which I brusquely discounted. “You’re ready for sub-5:15 so quit holding back,” I said during our pre-race get together. She got the baton as the second runner and ran away from her competitors, turning in a 5:12 mile and leading the team to the win, a meet record and school record. She’s ready.
The sun was in an out throughout the meet with strong winds raking the track. I sat in the stands and read ‘The Paleo Diet’ over the four hours I was there. I came home with a nice sunburn on my face, though I didn’t notice it until later. With the roads finally dry, I prepared to take a bike ride. I began riding under a sky as gray as a battleship…but at least it wasn’t raining…yet. About 30 minutes into the ride I felt water hitting my legs, but figured it was probably my own sweat. I stayed in the saddle to climb hills to make it more difficult, but my left quad began cramping and I had to come up out of the saddle.
Damn…I’ve never had cramping like this for no apparent reason. I could understand the last time out when I was pushing hard and riding longer, but this made no sense. I crested the hill and began spinning the pedals while watching my legs pumping like pistons beneath me. To me, they looked like the same legs I’d been watching for the past forty years of riding…but were they? Maybe…and I hate to say this…but just maybe…I need to ratchet things back a notch or two. I’ve been hurting off and on since last fall and possibly the message my body is trying desperately to communicate is that I’m 56 and can’t train at the same intensity anymore. If that is the message, I suspect I’ll continue to ignore it. There is something deep inside that continues to push me…telling me not to give in to age…it’s only a state of mind. I think I can do more…and I think I can do it and stay healthy. Hopefully, I’ll have many more years to find out.
Bike duration: 95 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1275.
Although John and I had predetermined we wouldn’t be doing the triathlon on this day, I held out hope that the weather would cooperate and I might get it in. Jack had a track meet starting at 10 a.m., but I thought I could get up and do the kayaking and/or a ‘Hike 56’ before going to the meet and then doing the ride afterwards. The forecast had been for thunderstorms throughout the day…but weather people are just guessing…as far as I can tell.
It was pretty cold and wet in the morning and I quickly gave up the idea of the kayaking. I suppose I’d like to at least enjoy my time in the water when I go and this weather, though wonderful for all types of waterfowl, left something to be desired for me. I went to Jack’s meet where he again ran a pr, getting his time in the 800 down to 2:15 but still struggling over the final 100 meters as a lack of stamina took its toll. He’s motivated by the fact that he’s getting better and earning his varsity letter, which he did by scoring team points in a Varsity race.
Marie was running as well, competing in the 4x1600, 4x400, and the sprint medley. She thought she’d run 5:20 in the mile, which I brusquely discounted. “You’re ready for sub-5:15 so quit holding back,” I said during our pre-race get together. She got the baton as the second runner and ran away from her competitors, turning in a 5:12 mile and leading the team to the win, a meet record and school record. She’s ready.
The sun was in an out throughout the meet with strong winds raking the track. I sat in the stands and read ‘The Paleo Diet’ over the four hours I was there. I came home with a nice sunburn on my face, though I didn’t notice it until later. With the roads finally dry, I prepared to take a bike ride. I began riding under a sky as gray as a battleship…but at least it wasn’t raining…yet. About 30 minutes into the ride I felt water hitting my legs, but figured it was probably my own sweat. I stayed in the saddle to climb hills to make it more difficult, but my left quad began cramping and I had to come up out of the saddle.
Damn…I’ve never had cramping like this for no apparent reason. I could understand the last time out when I was pushing hard and riding longer, but this made no sense. I crested the hill and began spinning the pedals while watching my legs pumping like pistons beneath me. To me, they looked like the same legs I’d been watching for the past forty years of riding…but were they? Maybe…and I hate to say this…but just maybe…I need to ratchet things back a notch or two. I’ve been hurting off and on since last fall and possibly the message my body is trying desperately to communicate is that I’m 56 and can’t train at the same intensity anymore. If that is the message, I suspect I’ll continue to ignore it. There is something deep inside that continues to push me…telling me not to give in to age…it’s only a state of mind. I think I can do more…and I think I can do it and stay healthy. Hopefully, I’ll have many more years to find out.
Bike duration: 95 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1275.
Too much of a good thing?
Friday, April 22, 2011
I have approached the Paleo diet with some vigor…maybe too much. I came home from work and rode the trainer for an hour and then put together a dinner of sautéed broccoli, onions and mushrooms and a spinach salad with sunflower seeds sprinkled generously on top. While waiting for everything to be ready, I had a banana, some raw broccoli and a handful of almonds. After eating everything, I hurried off to Good Friday services with Holly.
On the ride to the church, my stomach began to churn. Holly noticed and asked me if I was okay. “I’ve got a stomach ache and feel kind of gassy,” I said. She gave me that ‘TMI’ (too much information) look and said maybe I was changing my diet too drastically. She may be right. I tend to do things to extremes and everything I’m eating would, on the surface, appear to be great for me…but maybe too much of a good thing – and all that.
I sat on a sofa instead of going in for the service and just tried to let things settle down. Although Good Friday is a time for Christians to experience mild forms of discomfort in the form of skipping meals, not speaking or avoiding meat, I didn’t think anyone needed to be sharing the result of my discomfort…something they’d have trouble missing if they were sitting anywhere nearby.
We stopped at Holly’s parents and did some Easter bunny shopping after church and eventually my stomach quieted down. Roughage can be rough, but like all my training, I’ll just keep pushing it hard until something breaks. I don’t seem to know any other way…
Bike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 900.
I have approached the Paleo diet with some vigor…maybe too much. I came home from work and rode the trainer for an hour and then put together a dinner of sautéed broccoli, onions and mushrooms and a spinach salad with sunflower seeds sprinkled generously on top. While waiting for everything to be ready, I had a banana, some raw broccoli and a handful of almonds. After eating everything, I hurried off to Good Friday services with Holly.
On the ride to the church, my stomach began to churn. Holly noticed and asked me if I was okay. “I’ve got a stomach ache and feel kind of gassy,” I said. She gave me that ‘TMI’ (too much information) look and said maybe I was changing my diet too drastically. She may be right. I tend to do things to extremes and everything I’m eating would, on the surface, appear to be great for me…but maybe too much of a good thing – and all that.
I sat on a sofa instead of going in for the service and just tried to let things settle down. Although Good Friday is a time for Christians to experience mild forms of discomfort in the form of skipping meals, not speaking or avoiding meat, I didn’t think anyone needed to be sharing the result of my discomfort…something they’d have trouble missing if they were sitting anywhere nearby.
We stopped at Holly’s parents and did some Easter bunny shopping after church and eventually my stomach quieted down. Roughage can be rough, but like all my training, I’ll just keep pushing it hard until something breaks. I don’t seem to know any other way…
Bike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 900.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Paleo diet and survival workout equals better conditioning and health.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
I’ve been reading “The Paleo Diet” by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. and must admit that I find many of his arguments for changing the way we eat very compelling. I’ve published the basic principle before, but here it is again:
Avoid foods that were unavailable before the advent of agriculture and animal husbandry (like dairy and grains). Instead consume mostly meat, fish, fruits, veggies, and nuts.
Which is exactly what I’ve begun to do. I’ve been dabbling with dietary adjustments for the first two weeks, trying to learn more about the concept, but as I read, it seemed quite easy, really. There are many reasons why it is good for us and promotes better health and body fat loss, though I won’t get into that in one article, but rather spread it over time. I’ll try to point out the changes I’ve made…and why…as I go. For starters, I’ve eliminated my old breakfast of cereal, which would have been either some pre-sweetened disaster like Frosted Flakes or something to which I added at least 3 teaspoons of sugar (which, contrary to some rumors, I DID NOT do to my Frosted Flakes). This morning, I had four eggs scrambled with about a quarter cup of fresh mushrooms that I’d diced up and sautéed in olive oil added in. I sprinkled a little cheddar cheese on top to give it some fatty calories, which I figured would keep me full longer. I’m trying to avoid that ‘insulin spike’ that I would have normally gotten from the cereal breakfast, and which had my blood sugar rising rapidly and then crashing a couple of hours later leaving my very hungry…something that doesn’t happen with the scrambled eggs.
I also did the shopping at BJ’s last night and added things to the cart that would fit better with the paleo diet. I grabbed tuna steaks and salmon fillets, a bag of fresh broccoli; two bunches of bananas, two bags of fresh spinach, a gallon of olive oil, and a container of fresh mushrooms. I’m trying to eliminate all bread and grains and substitute in…well…you can see what I’m substituting.
I’ve also been spending my exercise time by doing more of the survival workout. In only 5 workouts, I’ve noticed that I’m getting back some upper body definition and strength and enjoying the challenge of looking for new and creative ways to build muscular endurance and trim the body fat…without running. I will put the running (sprinting), hill climbing and jumping back into the workout once the knee heals…whenever that might be. The good news is…I’m losing without the long bouts of aerobic exercise, which I attribute to the combination of the intensity of the survival workout and the change in eating.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600
I’ve been reading “The Paleo Diet” by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. and must admit that I find many of his arguments for changing the way we eat very compelling. I’ve published the basic principle before, but here it is again:
Avoid foods that were unavailable before the advent of agriculture and animal husbandry (like dairy and grains). Instead consume mostly meat, fish, fruits, veggies, and nuts.
Which is exactly what I’ve begun to do. I’ve been dabbling with dietary adjustments for the first two weeks, trying to learn more about the concept, but as I read, it seemed quite easy, really. There are many reasons why it is good for us and promotes better health and body fat loss, though I won’t get into that in one article, but rather spread it over time. I’ll try to point out the changes I’ve made…and why…as I go. For starters, I’ve eliminated my old breakfast of cereal, which would have been either some pre-sweetened disaster like Frosted Flakes or something to which I added at least 3 teaspoons of sugar (which, contrary to some rumors, I DID NOT do to my Frosted Flakes). This morning, I had four eggs scrambled with about a quarter cup of fresh mushrooms that I’d diced up and sautéed in olive oil added in. I sprinkled a little cheddar cheese on top to give it some fatty calories, which I figured would keep me full longer. I’m trying to avoid that ‘insulin spike’ that I would have normally gotten from the cereal breakfast, and which had my blood sugar rising rapidly and then crashing a couple of hours later leaving my very hungry…something that doesn’t happen with the scrambled eggs.
I also did the shopping at BJ’s last night and added things to the cart that would fit better with the paleo diet. I grabbed tuna steaks and salmon fillets, a bag of fresh broccoli; two bunches of bananas, two bags of fresh spinach, a gallon of olive oil, and a container of fresh mushrooms. I’m trying to eliminate all bread and grains and substitute in…well…you can see what I’m substituting.
I’ve also been spending my exercise time by doing more of the survival workout. In only 5 workouts, I’ve noticed that I’m getting back some upper body definition and strength and enjoying the challenge of looking for new and creative ways to build muscular endurance and trim the body fat…without running. I will put the running (sprinting), hill climbing and jumping back into the workout once the knee heals…whenever that might be. The good news is…I’m losing without the long bouts of aerobic exercise, which I attribute to the combination of the intensity of the survival workout and the change in eating.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600
Thursday, April 21, 2011
"VP Biden in town to promote Rolf, Slyman's"
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
I noticed the article in the PD below Joe Biden’s picture, but don’t normally read the blather coming out of politician’s mouths. It never seems to line up with what’s actually happening…so why bother…but then I saw a byline that said he’d made a stopover at Slyman’s Restaurant…I read. Turns out he was in town to help Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown raise money. They were eating a $5,000 lunch at the Terrace Club in Progressive Field…except they weren’t. Joe had stopped first at Slyman’s to have a corned beef sandwich, which probably cost him around ten bucks…and likely tasted better than anything he’s ever had for lunch before. He did all the talking I would have wanted to hear right there, being quoted as saying, “this place is every bit as good as John Rolf says it is.” The reporters, asking a redundant question, wondered how he knew that I’d reported on the quality…and quantity…of food at Slyman’s. “Seriously? All of Washington is reading his fitness blog. This country is in the throes of an obesity epidemic and he’s offering some of the most viable solutions to the issues facing overweight Americans in every corner of this great land of ours. There’s serious talk about creating a new agency called ‘Stop the bullshit…Get in Shape” with him as the ‘Bullshit Czar’. Read up…people…he’s got something to say that’s important to us all.”
Wow…I mean…WOW! I knew my stuff was good, but I’m slightly lightheaded with the praise. To be ‘Bullshit Czar’ would be such an honor. Well…I’ll keep you posted on how the appointment process goes. I suppose as long as I don’t need to be approved by the guys from Cuyahoga County…but they’re in jail so no big deal…
I did take another day off. Jack had a track meet…which I attended…in Cuyahoga Falls. It was cold and the wind was at hurricane levels. I sat and read ‘The Paleo Diet’ while watching races and trying to stay out of the wind…with little luck. Reza and I had taken Jack through a particularly grueling workout last Saturday, six-200’s in 30 seconds with a 200 jog for recovery, to begin the process of building his strength for the entire 800 meters of the race he runs. He’d petered out in the first race after about 450 meters and dropped like a stone. In today’s race, he hit the 600 meter mark and actually made a move to close within 10 meters of the leaders before starting to lose it with 100 meters to go. He faded to fourth, but ran 4 seconds faster and now believes I have the formula to make him really good. He’s got the formula…do the hard, fast training when you’re supposed to and don’t hold anything back. Then believe in yourself and your program and let it all hang out when you race. We’ll see…
I noticed the article in the PD below Joe Biden’s picture, but don’t normally read the blather coming out of politician’s mouths. It never seems to line up with what’s actually happening…so why bother…but then I saw a byline that said he’d made a stopover at Slyman’s Restaurant…I read. Turns out he was in town to help Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown raise money. They were eating a $5,000 lunch at the Terrace Club in Progressive Field…except they weren’t. Joe had stopped first at Slyman’s to have a corned beef sandwich, which probably cost him around ten bucks…and likely tasted better than anything he’s ever had for lunch before. He did all the talking I would have wanted to hear right there, being quoted as saying, “this place is every bit as good as John Rolf says it is.” The reporters, asking a redundant question, wondered how he knew that I’d reported on the quality…and quantity…of food at Slyman’s. “Seriously? All of Washington is reading his fitness blog. This country is in the throes of an obesity epidemic and he’s offering some of the most viable solutions to the issues facing overweight Americans in every corner of this great land of ours. There’s serious talk about creating a new agency called ‘Stop the bullshit…Get in Shape” with him as the ‘Bullshit Czar’. Read up…people…he’s got something to say that’s important to us all.”
Wow…I mean…WOW! I knew my stuff was good, but I’m slightly lightheaded with the praise. To be ‘Bullshit Czar’ would be such an honor. Well…I’ll keep you posted on how the appointment process goes. I suppose as long as I don’t need to be approved by the guys from Cuyahoga County…but they’re in jail so no big deal…
I did take another day off. Jack had a track meet…which I attended…in Cuyahoga Falls. It was cold and the wind was at hurricane levels. I sat and read ‘The Paleo Diet’ while watching races and trying to stay out of the wind…with little luck. Reza and I had taken Jack through a particularly grueling workout last Saturday, six-200’s in 30 seconds with a 200 jog for recovery, to begin the process of building his strength for the entire 800 meters of the race he runs. He’d petered out in the first race after about 450 meters and dropped like a stone. In today’s race, he hit the 600 meter mark and actually made a move to close within 10 meters of the leaders before starting to lose it with 100 meters to go. He faded to fourth, but ran 4 seconds faster and now believes I have the formula to make him really good. He’s got the formula…do the hard, fast training when you’re supposed to and don’t hold anything back. Then believe in yourself and your program and let it all hang out when you race. We’ll see…
Grete was great...
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
I thinking it’s a bad sign when I need the kayak to paddle to the end of the driveway to pick up the paper. It’s also a strong indicator that I’ll be riding indoors again.
There was a sad note coming out of the sports world from Norway. Grete Waitz, the first lady of women’s marathoning died after a 6-year struggle with cancer. She was 57. I remember her as the invincible lady of the Marathon. She ran her first one in New York City in 1978 at a time when women were still considered too fragile by the International Olympic Committee to run more than 3 miles. At that time, she was a two-time Olympian and the world record holder at 3,0000 meters. She was actually running the race only to serve as a ‘rabbit’…someone in the race to set a fast pace early to help other runners to a fast time, but having no intentions of running the entire distance. She did run it all, suffering tremendously from the lack of training for that distance…but winning the race AND setting a world’s record. Over the next ten years, she would win the race eight more times.
She went on to win the World Championship in 1983 in the Marathon, then traveled to Los Angeles and the ’84 Olympics for the first-ever women’s Olympic marathon (they figured out ladies were pretty tough after all). She had a classic race with American champion, Joan Benoit, but had to settle for the silver medal as Joan captured the gold.
Grete was the complete package. She won on the roads, the track, and was a five-time winner of the world cross-country championship, as well. She did so much to bring attention to the sport of running for women, something so many benefit from today. The sport will surely miss her.
If I could run, I’d have headed out the door…but as much as I admire Grete, I’m still struggling with pain in my knee and stuck on the trainer. I rode 45 minutes before John arrived at the house with a birthday gift. He constantly complains about the state of my cycling shorts…my sweat is tough on them and he says they’re too thin which he hates to deal with when riding behind me…so he got me two new pairs. The old ones are still okay though, so I’m going to wear them until there’s actually a blowout. Sorry, John.
Bike duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 675.
I thinking it’s a bad sign when I need the kayak to paddle to the end of the driveway to pick up the paper. It’s also a strong indicator that I’ll be riding indoors again.
There was a sad note coming out of the sports world from Norway. Grete Waitz, the first lady of women’s marathoning died after a 6-year struggle with cancer. She was 57. I remember her as the invincible lady of the Marathon. She ran her first one in New York City in 1978 at a time when women were still considered too fragile by the International Olympic Committee to run more than 3 miles. At that time, she was a two-time Olympian and the world record holder at 3,0000 meters. She was actually running the race only to serve as a ‘rabbit’…someone in the race to set a fast pace early to help other runners to a fast time, but having no intentions of running the entire distance. She did run it all, suffering tremendously from the lack of training for that distance…but winning the race AND setting a world’s record. Over the next ten years, she would win the race eight more times.
She went on to win the World Championship in 1983 in the Marathon, then traveled to Los Angeles and the ’84 Olympics for the first-ever women’s Olympic marathon (they figured out ladies were pretty tough after all). She had a classic race with American champion, Joan Benoit, but had to settle for the silver medal as Joan captured the gold.
Grete was the complete package. She won on the roads, the track, and was a five-time winner of the world cross-country championship, as well. She did so much to bring attention to the sport of running for women, something so many benefit from today. The sport will surely miss her.
If I could run, I’d have headed out the door…but as much as I admire Grete, I’m still struggling with pain in my knee and stuck on the trainer. I rode 45 minutes before John arrived at the house with a birthday gift. He constantly complains about the state of my cycling shorts…my sweat is tough on them and he says they’re too thin which he hates to deal with when riding behind me…so he got me two new pairs. The old ones are still okay though, so I’m going to wear them until there’s actually a blowout. Sorry, John.
Bike duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 675.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
No 'birthday triathlon' as monsoons continue...
Monday, April 18, 2011
I hate to say John was right…but the weather couldn’t have been much worse for a birthday triathlon. I concluded early that this was not to be the day and that maybe…well…I just won’t say when since that has jinxed every day I’ve picked for the past two years.
I just had to do something though, and chose another ‘Hike 56’. This time, I brought along the TRX bands and managed some of my upper body lifting using them. They’re great for rowing and the back muscles, bicep curls, and shoulder work. I also lifted more logs and rocks in-between sets of push-ups and crunches. I managed to get the entire workout done in around 56 minutes, which is actually a little long, but I included extra walking.
Writing this blog has had some unexpected benefits for me. One is reconnecting with an old high school buddy, Randy, who’s living in Florida now but reading religiously. When he came north for a visit last fall, we got together and did a lunch at Slyman’s and then a workout in the Metropark so he could visit the places I’d been writing about. I handed off our senior yearbook during the visit so he could walk down memory lane and we could compare notes on who we’d managed to keep in touch with.
He called me on my birthday to wish me well and since he’d asked me about coaching him to a better 5K time, I went into the details of what I would do to make him fast. “I was looking through your yearbook last fall and didn’t see where I’d signed it,” he said. “I had to go to some obscure page in the advertisements…and there it was…page 164. Do you have the yearbook handy?” I told him I did and went to retrieve it. I opened it to page 164, as instructed, and found two gift cards there. They were both to East Coast Custard…one for my birthday and one for agreeing to coach him. “What if I’d said ‘no’ to helping you? I’d have the gift cards and I’d eat the ice cream anyway. I have no morals when it comes to ECC,” I said. He knew me well enough to know I’d be all over a chance to help someone run faster…especially a Willoughby South Rebel. He’s targeting a fall 5K with a goal of seven and a half-minute mile pace. “No sweat, Randy. Pick the date and I’ll design the last 8 weeks of training. You’ll hit the time…and curse me for the workouts I give you to do to make it.”
So…it was a quiet birthday at home with Jack and Holly. I ate turkey dinner leftovers and enjoyed the movie “I Am Sam” with them. The triathlon will happen…it’s my mission. It may be June before I get a weekend day when the weather permits…but it will happen.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600
I hate to say John was right…but the weather couldn’t have been much worse for a birthday triathlon. I concluded early that this was not to be the day and that maybe…well…I just won’t say when since that has jinxed every day I’ve picked for the past two years.
I just had to do something though, and chose another ‘Hike 56’. This time, I brought along the TRX bands and managed some of my upper body lifting using them. They’re great for rowing and the back muscles, bicep curls, and shoulder work. I also lifted more logs and rocks in-between sets of push-ups and crunches. I managed to get the entire workout done in around 56 minutes, which is actually a little long, but I included extra walking.
Writing this blog has had some unexpected benefits for me. One is reconnecting with an old high school buddy, Randy, who’s living in Florida now but reading religiously. When he came north for a visit last fall, we got together and did a lunch at Slyman’s and then a workout in the Metropark so he could visit the places I’d been writing about. I handed off our senior yearbook during the visit so he could walk down memory lane and we could compare notes on who we’d managed to keep in touch with.
He called me on my birthday to wish me well and since he’d asked me about coaching him to a better 5K time, I went into the details of what I would do to make him fast. “I was looking through your yearbook last fall and didn’t see where I’d signed it,” he said. “I had to go to some obscure page in the advertisements…and there it was…page 164. Do you have the yearbook handy?” I told him I did and went to retrieve it. I opened it to page 164, as instructed, and found two gift cards there. They were both to East Coast Custard…one for my birthday and one for agreeing to coach him. “What if I’d said ‘no’ to helping you? I’d have the gift cards and I’d eat the ice cream anyway. I have no morals when it comes to ECC,” I said. He knew me well enough to know I’d be all over a chance to help someone run faster…especially a Willoughby South Rebel. He’s targeting a fall 5K with a goal of seven and a half-minute mile pace. “No sweat, Randy. Pick the date and I’ll design the last 8 weeks of training. You’ll hit the time…and curse me for the workouts I give you to do to make it.”
So…it was a quiet birthday at home with Jack and Holly. I ate turkey dinner leftovers and enjoyed the movie “I Am Sam” with them. The triathlon will happen…it’s my mission. It may be June before I get a weekend day when the weather permits…but it will happen.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Thanksgiving 'Paleo' diet...
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Today’s workout was scheduled to be held in the dining room. We were having my birthday dinner because Savannah had come home from Ohio State for Heidi’s show and to watch me getting older and had to head back. I’d requested a Thanksgiving dinner…I really love turkey…and that’s what we were having. Since I was working on the paleo diet, I’d decided to forgo much of the meal and focus hard on the things I really enjoyed…dark meat and sweet potatoes. I passed on the mashed potatoes, dressing, noodles and gravy…but hit the sweet potatoes hard. Dessert was banana cream pie (fruit), chocolate/peanut butter pie (peanuts are okay…chocolate is a vegetable) and some kind of custard thing with coconut on top (big nut…or is it fruit?). Anyway, it’s my birthday dinner and I continue to move on the 80/20 plan…doing well 80% of the time (or is it 20% of the time?).
I spent two hours at a training seminar to be a Park Ambassador for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park before dinner and thus had little time for a workout even if I’d had a mind to. I didn’t. My leg was sore and I was going for the birthday triathlon tomorrow regardless of weather. John sent me a whiny text saying that the weather was going to be bad on Monday. And your point? I did manage to get in a walk in the morning with Holly, though I’m not trying to pass it off as a workout. Still…it was something.
Today’s workout was scheduled to be held in the dining room. We were having my birthday dinner because Savannah had come home from Ohio State for Heidi’s show and to watch me getting older and had to head back. I’d requested a Thanksgiving dinner…I really love turkey…and that’s what we were having. Since I was working on the paleo diet, I’d decided to forgo much of the meal and focus hard on the things I really enjoyed…dark meat and sweet potatoes. I passed on the mashed potatoes, dressing, noodles and gravy…but hit the sweet potatoes hard. Dessert was banana cream pie (fruit), chocolate/peanut butter pie (peanuts are okay…chocolate is a vegetable) and some kind of custard thing with coconut on top (big nut…or is it fruit?). Anyway, it’s my birthday dinner and I continue to move on the 80/20 plan…doing well 80% of the time (or is it 20% of the time?).
I spent two hours at a training seminar to be a Park Ambassador for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park before dinner and thus had little time for a workout even if I’d had a mind to. I didn’t. My leg was sore and I was going for the birthday triathlon tomorrow regardless of weather. John sent me a whiny text saying that the weather was going to be bad on Monday. And your point? I did manage to get in a walk in the morning with Holly, though I’m not trying to pass it off as a workout. Still…it was something.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Hike 56
Saturday, April 16, 2011
My phone was vibrating with a text from John by 9 a.m. He’d been telling me all week that Saturday was supposed to be horrible weather and that we should re-schedule the ride for Monday afternoon. I was determined to do the triathlon on Saturday – weather permitting. A year ago, he’d given me endless shit for not riding in the snow because he’d just bought some new gear that he’d wanted to try out. Funny how things change. I called him back instead of texting. “I’ve got blue skies and no rain here…what’s your problem?” He sputtered some before answering, “it’s supposed to rain this afternoon and the wind’s blowing so hard we might end up in Kansas.”
He had a point about the wind. It was gusting up to 50 mph and as every experienced rider knows…it’s always in your face. I told him I’d go for my ‘Hike 56’ and do the kayaking and then see what was going on with the weather regarding our 56-mile ride. He seemed placated and I got Dakota and headed for the Metropark.
Since I knew I wouldn’t be running, I’d decided to change that leg of the triathlon to a survival workout hike. We started into the woods, immediately descending into a gorge. The going was quite slippery from the overnight rains…and the drizzle that had begun to fall. I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, but had packed my rain jacket in my day pack and slung it over my back. A good deal more effort is expended trying to climb out of steep gorges when your feet are slipping on wet leaves and mud…and your dog thinks she should grab and shake the other end of any stick you’re holding to help you climb.
My plan was to do 56 push-ups, 56 crunches, step-ups in sets of 56 and to lift heavy rocks and dirty logs to totals of 56 as I traveled up and down through the gorges surrounding the marsh. There are so many good things to be done with a heavy jog…I was discovering ways to work the core, upper back, shoulders, quads, hips and the muscles of the arms that I hadn’t previously figured out. By the time I reached Snowman’s Ridge, my upper body was pretty exhausted, so I dropped to the ground under a pine tree to avoid some of the precipitation and did my crunches. After climbing to my feet and brushing some of the debris from my clothes, I hoisted a thirty pound rock to my chest and proceeded to push it overhead for my last set of shoulder presses. When I’d struggled to raise it the final time, I tossed it to the ground. To my shock, it hit something small and hard and launched it back at my face. In the split second before impact, I was lucky enough to close my eye, but it smashed nicely on the lid and brow causing me to see stars…and thank them…that it hadn’t come in about a quarter of an inch lower. I may have to start wearing safety goggles on future trips.
We returned to the car after about 90 minutes of hiking, stepping and working out. My upper body was so tired that I struggled to get my arms over my head to strip off my dirty shirt for a clean one. The rain was pelting hard at this point and I knew the rest of the day would be lost to the weather. Once again, I would have to hope for better weather and try to do the triathlon on Monday. I think John was right…I should have been born in June if I was going to expect good weather for a birthday triathlon in Northeast Ohio.
Survival Workout duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,000
My phone was vibrating with a text from John by 9 a.m. He’d been telling me all week that Saturday was supposed to be horrible weather and that we should re-schedule the ride for Monday afternoon. I was determined to do the triathlon on Saturday – weather permitting. A year ago, he’d given me endless shit for not riding in the snow because he’d just bought some new gear that he’d wanted to try out. Funny how things change. I called him back instead of texting. “I’ve got blue skies and no rain here…what’s your problem?” He sputtered some before answering, “it’s supposed to rain this afternoon and the wind’s blowing so hard we might end up in Kansas.”
He had a point about the wind. It was gusting up to 50 mph and as every experienced rider knows…it’s always in your face. I told him I’d go for my ‘Hike 56’ and do the kayaking and then see what was going on with the weather regarding our 56-mile ride. He seemed placated and I got Dakota and headed for the Metropark.
Since I knew I wouldn’t be running, I’d decided to change that leg of the triathlon to a survival workout hike. We started into the woods, immediately descending into a gorge. The going was quite slippery from the overnight rains…and the drizzle that had begun to fall. I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, but had packed my rain jacket in my day pack and slung it over my back. A good deal more effort is expended trying to climb out of steep gorges when your feet are slipping on wet leaves and mud…and your dog thinks she should grab and shake the other end of any stick you’re holding to help you climb.
My plan was to do 56 push-ups, 56 crunches, step-ups in sets of 56 and to lift heavy rocks and dirty logs to totals of 56 as I traveled up and down through the gorges surrounding the marsh. There are so many good things to be done with a heavy jog…I was discovering ways to work the core, upper back, shoulders, quads, hips and the muscles of the arms that I hadn’t previously figured out. By the time I reached Snowman’s Ridge, my upper body was pretty exhausted, so I dropped to the ground under a pine tree to avoid some of the precipitation and did my crunches. After climbing to my feet and brushing some of the debris from my clothes, I hoisted a thirty pound rock to my chest and proceeded to push it overhead for my last set of shoulder presses. When I’d struggled to raise it the final time, I tossed it to the ground. To my shock, it hit something small and hard and launched it back at my face. In the split second before impact, I was lucky enough to close my eye, but it smashed nicely on the lid and brow causing me to see stars…and thank them…that it hadn’t come in about a quarter of an inch lower. I may have to start wearing safety goggles on future trips.
We returned to the car after about 90 minutes of hiking, stepping and working out. My upper body was so tired that I struggled to get my arms over my head to strip off my dirty shirt for a clean one. The rain was pelting hard at this point and I knew the rest of the day would be lost to the weather. Once again, I would have to hope for better weather and try to do the triathlon on Monday. I think John was right…I should have been born in June if I was going to expect good weather for a birthday triathlon in Northeast Ohio.
Survival Workout duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,000
Setting trends...
Friday, April 15, 2011
I had known for a long time that this was likely to be a day that I would have to schedule off. It was the day of Heidi’s senior show. She’s just completing her degree from Kent State in Visual Communication and Design and like all the seniors in the program…only ten or so had made the cut…would be displaying some of their creations for potential employers, family and friends. It was a really big deal and something for which I couldn’t afford to be late. With the traffic so crazy on I271 south at the I480 interchange, I knew we’d have to be on the road before five to get to Kent by 6 p.m.
We made it with 5 minutes to spare and spent the evening talking to old friends and reveling in the creative excellence of our daughter…she’s quite talented and extremely hard working. The food fare…a baseball theme…offered some of the most tasteless hot dogs I’d ever had. I found out later they were some kind of vegetarian thing…well…there were some mixed in and that’s probably what I’d speared. I had it without the bun and loaded up on the raw vegetables in an effort to be true to the paleo diet principles (I’m almost sure they had ballpark dogs in the Paleolithic era…though condiments were limited).
We went to the Wine Bar where Jason was working after the show to get something more palatable. I ended up eating a burger with some kind of vegetable and we had an interesting conversation about the definition of a hipster. “A hipster is someone who wears flannel and rides a bike,” one of Heidi’s friends who had been at the senior show said as a way of explanation. “Well then I’m totally a hipster. I wear flannel quite regularly throughout the winter and I ride a lot of bike,” I said.
Jason was sure I was not a hipster…and didn’t want to be. He told me that hipsters ride one-gear bicycles…mine has 16…and so I didn’t meet that particular criteria. Another person in the group said hipsters are always trying to follow the latest trend…followers of sorts…and concluded that, “you’re more of a trend setter than a follower, Mr. Rolf.” He’s right about that.
I had known for a long time that this was likely to be a day that I would have to schedule off. It was the day of Heidi’s senior show. She’s just completing her degree from Kent State in Visual Communication and Design and like all the seniors in the program…only ten or so had made the cut…would be displaying some of their creations for potential employers, family and friends. It was a really big deal and something for which I couldn’t afford to be late. With the traffic so crazy on I271 south at the I480 interchange, I knew we’d have to be on the road before five to get to Kent by 6 p.m.
We made it with 5 minutes to spare and spent the evening talking to old friends and reveling in the creative excellence of our daughter…she’s quite talented and extremely hard working. The food fare…a baseball theme…offered some of the most tasteless hot dogs I’d ever had. I found out later they were some kind of vegetarian thing…well…there were some mixed in and that’s probably what I’d speared. I had it without the bun and loaded up on the raw vegetables in an effort to be true to the paleo diet principles (I’m almost sure they had ballpark dogs in the Paleolithic era…though condiments were limited).
We went to the Wine Bar where Jason was working after the show to get something more palatable. I ended up eating a burger with some kind of vegetable and we had an interesting conversation about the definition of a hipster. “A hipster is someone who wears flannel and rides a bike,” one of Heidi’s friends who had been at the senior show said as a way of explanation. “Well then I’m totally a hipster. I wear flannel quite regularly throughout the winter and I ride a lot of bike,” I said.
Jason was sure I was not a hipster…and didn’t want to be. He told me that hipsters ride one-gear bicycles…mine has 16…and so I didn’t meet that particular criteria. Another person in the group said hipsters are always trying to follow the latest trend…followers of sorts…and concluded that, “you’re more of a trend setter than a follower, Mr. Rolf.” He’s right about that.
Friday, April 15, 2011
First race of the season...
Thursday, April 14, 2011
I attended Jack’s first track meet of the season. He was running the 800…a race that requires both endurance and speed. He’d been sick the entire previous week, missing the team’s first meet and losing some valuable conditioning. I didn’t have high expectations for him to be ready. He’d told me his race plan was to go out hard and see what happens.
The gun fired and 16 runners came charging around the first turn and into the backstretch. Jack is very fast and was leading from the start. He held this lead through 400 meters, running a very quick 58 seconds…too quick. By the 500 meter mark, his weakness from the illness and lack of conditioning began to tell and he fell back. He managed to come home in 5th place, struggling mightily over the final 100 meters.
As a coach, I like to see aggressive runners. They let it all hang out…unafraid to suffer the consequences. There is seldom anything left in the tank when they cross the finish line. Jack is new to racing and has tremendous God-given talent, but will have to learn that a lot of hard work and smart racing goes into getting the most from that talent. He will…in fact he wants me to take him through a special workout this weekend so he can learn more about pacing and to develop the strength he needs to finish the race strongly. Later, he ran a leg of the 4x400 in a very respectable 55 seconds. I’ll try not to over over-coach…in fact I’ll probably under coach just to be cautious.
I went out on the bike for a longer ride. I headed for Willoughby…riding to the house of my childhood…just to break the monotony of doing the same old courses. I like riding past old haunts, friend’s homes, and the home of so many fond memories. My hamstring began to bother me as I pushed through Willoughby and I started cursing out loud wondering what I would be able to do if I couldn’t at least ride. The cursing had the desired affect…or maybe it was the reduction in gearing and speed I was riding…and I continued home with no further issues. I packed my knee in ice upon my return and lounged around feeling the soreness of the underutilized muscles I’d stressed the previous day with my survival workout. It’s a good soreness…unlike the knee. John phoned to suggest a change of day for the triathlon since the forecast for Saturday was cold and wet…and I’d have a little more time to recuperate. “Any time I have to recuperate, I’ll probably use to hurt myself more. If the weather’s close to okay…I’m going,” I said. Well…we’ll see.
Bike duration: 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1575.
I attended Jack’s first track meet of the season. He was running the 800…a race that requires both endurance and speed. He’d been sick the entire previous week, missing the team’s first meet and losing some valuable conditioning. I didn’t have high expectations for him to be ready. He’d told me his race plan was to go out hard and see what happens.
The gun fired and 16 runners came charging around the first turn and into the backstretch. Jack is very fast and was leading from the start. He held this lead through 400 meters, running a very quick 58 seconds…too quick. By the 500 meter mark, his weakness from the illness and lack of conditioning began to tell and he fell back. He managed to come home in 5th place, struggling mightily over the final 100 meters.
As a coach, I like to see aggressive runners. They let it all hang out…unafraid to suffer the consequences. There is seldom anything left in the tank when they cross the finish line. Jack is new to racing and has tremendous God-given talent, but will have to learn that a lot of hard work and smart racing goes into getting the most from that talent. He will…in fact he wants me to take him through a special workout this weekend so he can learn more about pacing and to develop the strength he needs to finish the race strongly. Later, he ran a leg of the 4x400 in a very respectable 55 seconds. I’ll try not to over over-coach…in fact I’ll probably under coach just to be cautious.
I went out on the bike for a longer ride. I headed for Willoughby…riding to the house of my childhood…just to break the monotony of doing the same old courses. I like riding past old haunts, friend’s homes, and the home of so many fond memories. My hamstring began to bother me as I pushed through Willoughby and I started cursing out loud wondering what I would be able to do if I couldn’t at least ride. The cursing had the desired affect…or maybe it was the reduction in gearing and speed I was riding…and I continued home with no further issues. I packed my knee in ice upon my return and lounged around feeling the soreness of the underutilized muscles I’d stressed the previous day with my survival workout. It’s a good soreness…unlike the knee. John phoned to suggest a change of day for the triathlon since the forecast for Saturday was cold and wet…and I’d have a little more time to recuperate. “Any time I have to recuperate, I’ll probably use to hurt myself more. If the weather’s close to okay…I’m going,” I said. Well…we’ll see.
Bike duration: 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1575.
Workout in the woods...
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Since my knee seems to be pretty seriously damaged, I’ve decided I’ll have to nurse it through the weekend and then go see the doc. I thought I’d try another Back to Basic workout, focusing on the upper body, though. I thought I had my TRX bands in my back pack, but when I found they were missing, remembered Jason had borrowed them. Since I had the pack out, I threw it on my back determined to carry the 30 pounds and make the walking a little more strenuous. Bad decision.
I began walking looking for places to do push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups and for logs and rocks to lift, carry, throw or move. I came across a tree with a limb just out of jumping reach (my vertical is about 3 inches), but I did manage to grasp it after climbing part way up the tree. I did some pull-ups, dropped to the earth and continued the hike. I found a heavy log by the side of the road…one I’d used a couple of days earlier…and hoisted one end to shoulder height before beginning a series of overhead presses. It was muddy and the debris was covering my hands and falling on my head…in other words…I was looking good. I lifted it about 8 times before exhausting myself and dropped it to the ground being careful not to let it land in the mud so that I wouldn’t have to get quite so messy the next time I picked it up.
I saw a rock about the size of a foot stool and managed to pick it up to my waist. It wasn’t going any higher…at least not with any strength I had to offer, but I could hold it waist-high and walk, which I did for about 100 feet. These are all little things, but my forearms and hands were feeling the fatigue associated with picking up and carrying heavy things. I did 30 push-ups and continued on my way. When I arrived at the cabins, I found my rock and did another 10 overhead presses. I located a lighter rock in the creek bed, which used to do biceps curls and followed this with some abdominal crunches and bicycles for the lower abs. I did some more push-ups with the pack on, which limited me to 10 reps.
I headed back towards the car, continuing to find opportunities to lift and throw things. When I arrived back and stripped off the pack, I found my limbs quite spent. There was no cardio in the workout and I couldn’t do the sprinting or jumping that I would normally do, but I did what I could. The knee, of course, was quite sore, but I’d ice that up at home and deal with it.
Since my knee seems to be pretty seriously damaged, I’ve decided I’ll have to nurse it through the weekend and then go see the doc. I thought I’d try another Back to Basic workout, focusing on the upper body, though. I thought I had my TRX bands in my back pack, but when I found they were missing, remembered Jason had borrowed them. Since I had the pack out, I threw it on my back determined to carry the 30 pounds and make the walking a little more strenuous. Bad decision.
I began walking looking for places to do push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups and for logs and rocks to lift, carry, throw or move. I came across a tree with a limb just out of jumping reach (my vertical is about 3 inches), but I did manage to grasp it after climbing part way up the tree. I did some pull-ups, dropped to the earth and continued the hike. I found a heavy log by the side of the road…one I’d used a couple of days earlier…and hoisted one end to shoulder height before beginning a series of overhead presses. It was muddy and the debris was covering my hands and falling on my head…in other words…I was looking good. I lifted it about 8 times before exhausting myself and dropped it to the ground being careful not to let it land in the mud so that I wouldn’t have to get quite so messy the next time I picked it up.
I saw a rock about the size of a foot stool and managed to pick it up to my waist. It wasn’t going any higher…at least not with any strength I had to offer, but I could hold it waist-high and walk, which I did for about 100 feet. These are all little things, but my forearms and hands were feeling the fatigue associated with picking up and carrying heavy things. I did 30 push-ups and continued on my way. When I arrived at the cabins, I found my rock and did another 10 overhead presses. I located a lighter rock in the creek bed, which used to do biceps curls and followed this with some abdominal crunches and bicycles for the lower abs. I did some more push-ups with the pack on, which limited me to 10 reps.
I headed back towards the car, continuing to find opportunities to lift and throw things. When I arrived back and stripped off the pack, I found my limbs quite spent. There was no cardio in the workout and I couldn’t do the sprinting or jumping that I would normally do, but I did what I could. The knee, of course, was quite sore, but I’d ice that up at home and deal with it.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Becoming more cavemanish...
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
It took me a while, but I decided I needed a day off for knee recovery…and that’s not exactly true. I’ve been spending considerable time working on ideas to change my fitness regimen to include more of the Back to Basics ideas of utilizing my own body weight and things I find outdoors to improve my overall conditioning. I’ve been reading more about Erwan Le Corre and his ‘natural movement’ training methods as well as the ‘paleo diet’ he promotes and follows as a way to combat fat storage (you can read more about his unusual training methods on his web site – MovNat). I’ve been working out religiously for well over a year and am not completely satisfied with the results. I’ve been consulting with nutrition expert, Bob Iafelice…he’s 52 and runs at about 4% body fat…on the diet and exercise topic…to come up with the plan that best fits my needs and situation. I forwarded him some information on both for his opinion…including the little excerpt below which, in a nutshell, is the core of the program:
1. Avoid foods that were unavailable before the advent of agriculture and animal husbandry (like dairy and grains). Instead consume mostly meat, fish, fruits, veggies, and nuts.
2. Exercise like early man. Perform short, intense bouts of whole-body exercises a few times a week: sprint, climb, swim, lift heavy things, wrestle, jump, and tumble. Most important, get dirty and have fun.
3. Focus on skills that have a real-world application. Instead of mindlessly working out, throw things, catch things, climb trees, jump from rock to rock, practice holding your breath, play with your dog, etc.
4. Stress your system. Skip a meal once a week or so. Try working out first thing in the morning without breakfast. Participate in something competitive, like a race or a game.
“So…what do you think of the ‘paleo’ diet thing?” I asked Bob. He paused and then said, “actually…I think it’s pretty solid. The important thing is to eat more foods that don’t induce an insulin reaction, which leads to fat storage of calories…and this diet accomplishes that. He blathered on with a lot of other stuff that, I’m sure, was interesting to other Nutritionist nerds…but I wasn’t following so well. “What I think you need to do is put some of that confusing stuff you just said to me into a simple guidelines kind of format so that plain, old folks like me could follow it without having an aneurism,” I suggested.
He agreed and when he does, I’ll post it and then make fun of him some more. I took a hike in the Metropark to search for more rocks and logs to lift, carry and throw during workouts. I climbed one particularly steep hill from the cabins, but found my knee to be quite sore by the time I reached the top. I did some more push-ups when I reached the top anyway…figuring it wouldn’t bother the knee any. I also found a nice log up there that I could squat under and hoist to my shoulders from where I commenced doing shoulder presses. I got nice and dirty…another important ingredient of LeCorre’s training and something for which the little boy in my has never lost interest.
Holly made us a perfect ‘paleo’ meal…a soup with vegetables, chucks of some kind of beef, kidney beans, and some noodle things. I suppose the noodle things wouldn’t fit exactly, but everything else was good…and I love it.
Hike duration: 70 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 80 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 400.
It took me a while, but I decided I needed a day off for knee recovery…and that’s not exactly true. I’ve been spending considerable time working on ideas to change my fitness regimen to include more of the Back to Basics ideas of utilizing my own body weight and things I find outdoors to improve my overall conditioning. I’ve been reading more about Erwan Le Corre and his ‘natural movement’ training methods as well as the ‘paleo diet’ he promotes and follows as a way to combat fat storage (you can read more about his unusual training methods on his web site – MovNat). I’ve been working out religiously for well over a year and am not completely satisfied with the results. I’ve been consulting with nutrition expert, Bob Iafelice…he’s 52 and runs at about 4% body fat…on the diet and exercise topic…to come up with the plan that best fits my needs and situation. I forwarded him some information on both for his opinion…including the little excerpt below which, in a nutshell, is the core of the program:
1. Avoid foods that were unavailable before the advent of agriculture and animal husbandry (like dairy and grains). Instead consume mostly meat, fish, fruits, veggies, and nuts.
2. Exercise like early man. Perform short, intense bouts of whole-body exercises a few times a week: sprint, climb, swim, lift heavy things, wrestle, jump, and tumble. Most important, get dirty and have fun.
3. Focus on skills that have a real-world application. Instead of mindlessly working out, throw things, catch things, climb trees, jump from rock to rock, practice holding your breath, play with your dog, etc.
4. Stress your system. Skip a meal once a week or so. Try working out first thing in the morning without breakfast. Participate in something competitive, like a race or a game.
“So…what do you think of the ‘paleo’ diet thing?” I asked Bob. He paused and then said, “actually…I think it’s pretty solid. The important thing is to eat more foods that don’t induce an insulin reaction, which leads to fat storage of calories…and this diet accomplishes that. He blathered on with a lot of other stuff that, I’m sure, was interesting to other Nutritionist nerds…but I wasn’t following so well. “What I think you need to do is put some of that confusing stuff you just said to me into a simple guidelines kind of format so that plain, old folks like me could follow it without having an aneurism,” I suggested.
He agreed and when he does, I’ll post it and then make fun of him some more. I took a hike in the Metropark to search for more rocks and logs to lift, carry and throw during workouts. I climbed one particularly steep hill from the cabins, but found my knee to be quite sore by the time I reached the top. I did some more push-ups when I reached the top anyway…figuring it wouldn’t bother the knee any. I also found a nice log up there that I could squat under and hoist to my shoulders from where I commenced doing shoulder presses. I got nice and dirty…another important ingredient of LeCorre’s training and something for which the little boy in my has never lost interest.
Holly made us a perfect ‘paleo’ meal…a soup with vegetables, chucks of some kind of beef, kidney beans, and some noodle things. I suppose the noodle things wouldn’t fit exactly, but everything else was good…and I love it.
Hike duration: 70 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 80 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 400.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Maybe it's the seat height...
Monday, April 11, 2011
My knee was still way too sore to consider anything other than cycling. It had been raining off and on throughout the day, but I still held out hope that the weather might break long enough to get in a ride outdoors. I picked up Jack after track in a light drizzle and began to strengthen my resolve to climb on the trainer. I was preparing to do that when John called. “How’s the knee, man,” he asked.
“It’s still sore, but I think its slowly getting better,” I said. He knows me as well as anyone and laid into me. “Look…take a couple of days off. You can’t ride in this weather and you hate the trainer. Give it a break. You felt lousy yesterday and with all the cramping, maybe someone’s trying to tell you something. Besides…you’re old.”
I know he has good intentions…and it is exactly the advice I would give to anyone I’m training that was going through similar issues…but I’ve never followed good advice or used common sense in these matters before…and I probably am too old to change. “I’m at least going to put some time on the trainer. I took two days off last week…I can’t do it again.” He gave up. He mentioned that the sun was actually poking out where he was before hanging up.
The sun poking out? Yeah…he was in Twinsburg and I was all the way up in Highland Heights, but could the roads be drying? I looked out the window and make a quick decision…get a little wet.
Actually, the roads weren’t bad at all. The wind was blowing hard and had dried them pretty effectively. I started my ride thinking about yesterday’s leg cramps though, since my legs felt bunched up in the position I was riding. Then it dawned on me. I’d changed the seat height on John’s bike when I’d gotten it…and it was probably a hair too low. I hopped off and raised it about an inch and started back. I immediately noticed the difference. I was getting more extension in my leg and felt I was getting more power with each stroke. I sped off, determined to ride the course I’d done on Saturday and compare the times to completion.
It went well…I was able to push hard even while climbing and managed to do the circuit 4 minutes faster than I had on Saturday…which had actually been a respectable ride. Some of it may have been my frame of mind…I was determined to ride hard…but I suspect the seat height made a difference, as well. I called John to tell him I’d ridden…and give him the chance to give me some more shit. He did…which made me happy.
Bike duration: 76 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1200.
My knee was still way too sore to consider anything other than cycling. It had been raining off and on throughout the day, but I still held out hope that the weather might break long enough to get in a ride outdoors. I picked up Jack after track in a light drizzle and began to strengthen my resolve to climb on the trainer. I was preparing to do that when John called. “How’s the knee, man,” he asked.
“It’s still sore, but I think its slowly getting better,” I said. He knows me as well as anyone and laid into me. “Look…take a couple of days off. You can’t ride in this weather and you hate the trainer. Give it a break. You felt lousy yesterday and with all the cramping, maybe someone’s trying to tell you something. Besides…you’re old.”
I know he has good intentions…and it is exactly the advice I would give to anyone I’m training that was going through similar issues…but I’ve never followed good advice or used common sense in these matters before…and I probably am too old to change. “I’m at least going to put some time on the trainer. I took two days off last week…I can’t do it again.” He gave up. He mentioned that the sun was actually poking out where he was before hanging up.
The sun poking out? Yeah…he was in Twinsburg and I was all the way up in Highland Heights, but could the roads be drying? I looked out the window and make a quick decision…get a little wet.
Actually, the roads weren’t bad at all. The wind was blowing hard and had dried them pretty effectively. I started my ride thinking about yesterday’s leg cramps though, since my legs felt bunched up in the position I was riding. Then it dawned on me. I’d changed the seat height on John’s bike when I’d gotten it…and it was probably a hair too low. I hopped off and raised it about an inch and started back. I immediately noticed the difference. I was getting more extension in my leg and felt I was getting more power with each stroke. I sped off, determined to ride the course I’d done on Saturday and compare the times to completion.
It went well…I was able to push hard even while climbing and managed to do the circuit 4 minutes faster than I had on Saturday…which had actually been a respectable ride. Some of it may have been my frame of mind…I was determined to ride hard…but I suspect the seat height made a difference, as well. I called John to tell him I’d ridden…and give him the chance to give me some more shit. He did…which made me happy.
Bike duration: 76 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1200.
Monday, April 11, 2011
The Indians are in first...and I can't watch them...
Sunday, April 10, 2011
I’m too cheap to pay for cable TV, so we only get about 12 channels, but have been able to get Sports Time Ohio…home of the Indians…right along…which made me happy. Suddenly last Tuesday, I lost the station. Nothing but royal blue appears where once the Indians played…channel 76. Jack had plugged his video game into the TV that day…something he never does, since he has his own…and I was sure there was a connection. He said he hadn’t done anything, but I couldn’t get the channel back. When I told my frustrations to an Indians fan at the office, he said STO had moved to another station and I was probably out of luck. OH…MY…GOD…a whole summer without watching an Indians game on the tube? This was unthinkable…and so I stopped thinking about it.
Then I get the paper this morning to find the Indians have won their sixth in a row and are alone in…FIRST PLACE. Too cool and I love the way they’re winning. Travis is thumping the ball again…something that had to happen if they were to have a chance…and the young guys are really pitching well. Okay…it’s only eight games into the season and I’m not getting too excited, but I’d rather win six in a row that lose them any day.
The TV situation has had one good result though. I’ve rediscovered the absolute best way to follow a baseball game…other than being there…which is to listen to Tom Hamilton call the play by play on the radio. I have always liked the radio broadcast better than TV…maybe because that’s the way I first followed the Red Sox back in the early sixties. It was great to be out in the yard throwing the ball, playing ‘running bases’ or even playing a game, with the radio on and the game tuned in. If something exciting happened…play stopped and we’d all listen. The sounds of the stadium in the background made it feel like we were there watching Yaz trying to win one for the Sox. I continued this pattern with the Indians and often had the radio on while out in the yard as I performed whatever yard chores I had to do. Somewhere along the way, Savannah caught the bug and listens faithfully down at Ohio State. So…maybe…I’ll be okay. We’ll see.
John came over for our ride around 1 p.m. “How’s the knee?” he asked as he was unloading his primo bike from his car. “A little sore after the ride yesterday…but about as good as its felt in a week. It’ll give me something other than the wind to complain about,” I said.
We headed out and I took the lead, riding fairly hard into a very strong wind over the first five miles. We blazed down Old Mill Road…I was up around 46 mph…but ascending the other side towards County Line Road was a struggle. John was breezing up…talking the whole time as a pushed and sweated my way to the top. I was dropping lots of water and my legs were feeling overly tired…but the knee didn’t hurt too badly. I have some checkpoints on the course we were riding and I could tell I was falling behind as we passed them. I didn’t care too much…this was just a ride to see how the leg would hold up and to have us ready for the 56-miler we’d be doing in six days. We rode out to Auburn Road on Pekin before turning around and it was shortly after that I caught my first cramp. It was in my thigh and pretty severe. I reduced gears, went easily and it subsided…but not for long. On another ascent, both quads began to spasm and I had to stop and get off the bike. I thought the day was over, but after a couple of minutes, climbed back on the bike and made it the rest of the way home…pedaling as easily as I could and crying like a little girl.
So…knee was okay but everything else is falling apart. Not a good confidence builder for next Saturday, but I can push through mild discomfort. Hopefully, I’ll be able to put some better time on the bike this week as the forecast says sunny and warmer.
Bike duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2500.
I’m too cheap to pay for cable TV, so we only get about 12 channels, but have been able to get Sports Time Ohio…home of the Indians…right along…which made me happy. Suddenly last Tuesday, I lost the station. Nothing but royal blue appears where once the Indians played…channel 76. Jack had plugged his video game into the TV that day…something he never does, since he has his own…and I was sure there was a connection. He said he hadn’t done anything, but I couldn’t get the channel back. When I told my frustrations to an Indians fan at the office, he said STO had moved to another station and I was probably out of luck. OH…MY…GOD…a whole summer without watching an Indians game on the tube? This was unthinkable…and so I stopped thinking about it.
Then I get the paper this morning to find the Indians have won their sixth in a row and are alone in…FIRST PLACE. Too cool and I love the way they’re winning. Travis is thumping the ball again…something that had to happen if they were to have a chance…and the young guys are really pitching well. Okay…it’s only eight games into the season and I’m not getting too excited, but I’d rather win six in a row that lose them any day.
The TV situation has had one good result though. I’ve rediscovered the absolute best way to follow a baseball game…other than being there…which is to listen to Tom Hamilton call the play by play on the radio. I have always liked the radio broadcast better than TV…maybe because that’s the way I first followed the Red Sox back in the early sixties. It was great to be out in the yard throwing the ball, playing ‘running bases’ or even playing a game, with the radio on and the game tuned in. If something exciting happened…play stopped and we’d all listen. The sounds of the stadium in the background made it feel like we were there watching Yaz trying to win one for the Sox. I continued this pattern with the Indians and often had the radio on while out in the yard as I performed whatever yard chores I had to do. Somewhere along the way, Savannah caught the bug and listens faithfully down at Ohio State. So…maybe…I’ll be okay. We’ll see.
John came over for our ride around 1 p.m. “How’s the knee?” he asked as he was unloading his primo bike from his car. “A little sore after the ride yesterday…but about as good as its felt in a week. It’ll give me something other than the wind to complain about,” I said.
We headed out and I took the lead, riding fairly hard into a very strong wind over the first five miles. We blazed down Old Mill Road…I was up around 46 mph…but ascending the other side towards County Line Road was a struggle. John was breezing up…talking the whole time as a pushed and sweated my way to the top. I was dropping lots of water and my legs were feeling overly tired…but the knee didn’t hurt too badly. I have some checkpoints on the course we were riding and I could tell I was falling behind as we passed them. I didn’t care too much…this was just a ride to see how the leg would hold up and to have us ready for the 56-miler we’d be doing in six days. We rode out to Auburn Road on Pekin before turning around and it was shortly after that I caught my first cramp. It was in my thigh and pretty severe. I reduced gears, went easily and it subsided…but not for long. On another ascent, both quads began to spasm and I had to stop and get off the bike. I thought the day was over, but after a couple of minutes, climbed back on the bike and made it the rest of the way home…pedaling as easily as I could and crying like a little girl.
So…knee was okay but everything else is falling apart. Not a good confidence builder for next Saturday, but I can push through mild discomfort. Hopefully, I’ll be able to put some better time on the bike this week as the forecast says sunny and warmer.
Bike duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2500.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
"You brought a snack to your body fat assessment?!"
Saturday, April 9, 2011
I’ve been spending a lot of time in the office putting together all the information I need to upgrade my fitness test. Since graduating from school, I’ve been conducting my fitness evaluations using the test developed by Dr. Jim Klinzing of Cleveland State. We used it during our graduate program to access ourselves and design a complete exercise program to address all of the components of a complete fitness program, which we had to follow for 10 weeks. We were retested at the end of the class to determine how solid our program was…and how well we’d followed it. I was training for the Iron Man Triathlon at the time and figured I was in outstanding shape and didn’t need any improvement. I did pretty well, but discovered that I had weaknesses and was able to improve them all during the 10-week period.
Upon graduating, I asked Doc if I could borrow the test and use it in trying to find a job with a health club. “Go for it, John. I think you’ll find few clubs doing any testing, which is a big mistake. How can anyone know where they’re going if they don’t know where they are?” I brought the test information with me to an appointment I’d scheduled with Tony Martin, CEO for American Courts/The Back Wall and he hired me on. I set up shop in two of the clubs and was so busy that we quickly hired more Fitness Directors and were eventually offering the service in all 10 clubs.
That test has served me well, but had some shortcomings. First…it wasn’t completely mobile. It included evaluations for muscular endurance which I performed using a bench press and leg extension weight lifting machines. I also conducted a step test using a box 16 inches tall, which I have found to be difficult to handle for people in the worst condition…the ones who need the most help.
I’ve made some moves to redesign the test and have incorporated push-ups, curl-ups, and the YMCA 3-minute step test, which is performed on a 12-inch step box. This has necessitated the redesign of the unique point scoring system Don Alexander and I developed as a way to ‘score’ the test and give participants something concrete to help them understand how they’d performed and upon which they could improve. To do that effectively though, I need data…people willing to be evaluated.
“Hey Holly…how about taking the fitness test. I’ve got some new things I’d like to try out,” I said. Holly has done the test before and has had her body fat measured often. She’s way out of shape for her right now and I know she really wants a kick start to get moving in a positive direction. Testing her now…when she’s at her worst should motivate her to do more…or so the theory goes. “Okay…give me ten minutes to get myself ready.”
I started with the step test, and although she’s gained some weight since we did it last, she still performed in the ‘above average’ category with a 1-minute post-stepping heart rate of 104 beats. She has an amazing cardiovascular system, but has never been interested in the kind of endurance sports in which she would likely excel. I want to stay married and just leave it alone. Next, we did the flexibility and she reached 3 inches past her toes…a little below average. We tried the curl-ups, a form of a crunch, which bothered her neck until I allowed her to put her hands behind her head with fingers locked (not protocol, but you have to know how to adapt in the field). We were going to take her body fat, but she decided to take a break first and ran to check her email. When she returned to my office, she was carrying a handful of peanuts.
“I think I’ve got an idea why you’ve gained some weight. I’ve done thousands of these things and you’re the first person to ever bring a snack to a body fat assessment,” I said. She thought that was pretty funny…a good thing because criticizing your wife during fitness tests you’re administering could easily create issues. When I tried to do the skin fold measurement next to her naval, she started to whine. “Hey…that hurts,” she said wiggling and pulling away. “Seriously? Are you the same woman I watched give birth to four children without any drugs? Now…knock it off so I can get this reading.” It took me a couple of tries, but I finally got her to deal with the pain…which is really non-existent.
We finished the tests and I reviewed the results. She wasn’t too pleased, but I think she’s motivated to really try something new…and stick with it. I’m going to try and develop a training regimen she will enjoy…which greatly increases the likelihood of sticking with it. “When can I do a retest to see if it’s working?” she asked…which is just the right question. I told her probably 6 weeks could show so major changes…if she got serious.
I went out for a ride in the late afternoon. John was coming the next day for a long ride and I felt I had to know how the knee was doing. I pushed hard on my Waite Hill course and after 80 minutes of riding, felt pretty good. The knee did hurt whenever I found myself working hard…as in hill climbing, but was pretty solid for the rest of the evening. I’m concerned about running next Saturday, though. I’ll do the kayaking first and was thinking of heading right into the run before the ride. If I hurt the knee running…the ride’s out and I don’t want that to happen. Getting old is such a bitch…
Bike duration: 80 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1200.
I’ve been spending a lot of time in the office putting together all the information I need to upgrade my fitness test. Since graduating from school, I’ve been conducting my fitness evaluations using the test developed by Dr. Jim Klinzing of Cleveland State. We used it during our graduate program to access ourselves and design a complete exercise program to address all of the components of a complete fitness program, which we had to follow for 10 weeks. We were retested at the end of the class to determine how solid our program was…and how well we’d followed it. I was training for the Iron Man Triathlon at the time and figured I was in outstanding shape and didn’t need any improvement. I did pretty well, but discovered that I had weaknesses and was able to improve them all during the 10-week period.
Upon graduating, I asked Doc if I could borrow the test and use it in trying to find a job with a health club. “Go for it, John. I think you’ll find few clubs doing any testing, which is a big mistake. How can anyone know where they’re going if they don’t know where they are?” I brought the test information with me to an appointment I’d scheduled with Tony Martin, CEO for American Courts/The Back Wall and he hired me on. I set up shop in two of the clubs and was so busy that we quickly hired more Fitness Directors and were eventually offering the service in all 10 clubs.
That test has served me well, but had some shortcomings. First…it wasn’t completely mobile. It included evaluations for muscular endurance which I performed using a bench press and leg extension weight lifting machines. I also conducted a step test using a box 16 inches tall, which I have found to be difficult to handle for people in the worst condition…the ones who need the most help.
I’ve made some moves to redesign the test and have incorporated push-ups, curl-ups, and the YMCA 3-minute step test, which is performed on a 12-inch step box. This has necessitated the redesign of the unique point scoring system Don Alexander and I developed as a way to ‘score’ the test and give participants something concrete to help them understand how they’d performed and upon which they could improve. To do that effectively though, I need data…people willing to be evaluated.
“Hey Holly…how about taking the fitness test. I’ve got some new things I’d like to try out,” I said. Holly has done the test before and has had her body fat measured often. She’s way out of shape for her right now and I know she really wants a kick start to get moving in a positive direction. Testing her now…when she’s at her worst should motivate her to do more…or so the theory goes. “Okay…give me ten minutes to get myself ready.”
I started with the step test, and although she’s gained some weight since we did it last, she still performed in the ‘above average’ category with a 1-minute post-stepping heart rate of 104 beats. She has an amazing cardiovascular system, but has never been interested in the kind of endurance sports in which she would likely excel. I want to stay married and just leave it alone. Next, we did the flexibility and she reached 3 inches past her toes…a little below average. We tried the curl-ups, a form of a crunch, which bothered her neck until I allowed her to put her hands behind her head with fingers locked (not protocol, but you have to know how to adapt in the field). We were going to take her body fat, but she decided to take a break first and ran to check her email. When she returned to my office, she was carrying a handful of peanuts.
“I think I’ve got an idea why you’ve gained some weight. I’ve done thousands of these things and you’re the first person to ever bring a snack to a body fat assessment,” I said. She thought that was pretty funny…a good thing because criticizing your wife during fitness tests you’re administering could easily create issues. When I tried to do the skin fold measurement next to her naval, she started to whine. “Hey…that hurts,” she said wiggling and pulling away. “Seriously? Are you the same woman I watched give birth to four children without any drugs? Now…knock it off so I can get this reading.” It took me a couple of tries, but I finally got her to deal with the pain…which is really non-existent.
We finished the tests and I reviewed the results. She wasn’t too pleased, but I think she’s motivated to really try something new…and stick with it. I’m going to try and develop a training regimen she will enjoy…which greatly increases the likelihood of sticking with it. “When can I do a retest to see if it’s working?” she asked…which is just the right question. I told her probably 6 weeks could show so major changes…if she got serious.
I went out for a ride in the late afternoon. John was coming the next day for a long ride and I felt I had to know how the knee was doing. I pushed hard on my Waite Hill course and after 80 minutes of riding, felt pretty good. The knee did hurt whenever I found myself working hard…as in hill climbing, but was pretty solid for the rest of the evening. I’m concerned about running next Saturday, though. I’ll do the kayaking first and was thinking of heading right into the run before the ride. If I hurt the knee running…the ride’s out and I don’t want that to happen. Getting old is such a bitch…
Bike duration: 80 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1200.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Manny being Manny...no more.
Friday, April 8, 2011
I suppose I’ve been a part of the ‘Red Sox Nation’ since the day I was born almost 56 years ago. I started life in Bristol, Ct., home of one of the minor league teams for the Boston Red Sox. I can’t say it was fashionable for kids to root for the Sox in the early 60’s…they were a pretty pathetic team and kids do like winners (actually…so do adults), but I sucked it up and cheered for them mightily.
I continued living and breathing Red Sox baseball even after my family moved to Cleveland. It became more fashionable after the miracle finish to the ’67 season and a heart-breaking World Series loss in seven games to the Cardinals. Carl Yastrzemski, baseball’s last Triple Crown winner and American League MVP, was my hero.
The years went by and I came to love the Indians first and the Red Sox second, hoping that one of them would win a World Series in my lifetime. The Indians had won their last Series in 1948 and the Red Sox went back to 1918…the last season Babe Ruth wore a Sox uniform. Trading him to the Yankees had invoked ‘the curse of the Bambino’ which was supposed to prevent the Red Sox from ever winning the Series again. but then came 2004 and Manny Ramirez. Manny, the beloved Cleveland Indian, had helped us return to the World Series in 1995 and again in ’97. He moved to Boston in 2000 and had an incredible season in ’04, helping lead the Red Sox from a 3 games to nothing deficit to the defending World Champion New York Yankees to an improbable seven-game series victory and then to a sweep of the Cardinals in the World Series, where he was the MVP. I cried that night watching the Red Sox end the curse and called my childhood buddy in Connecticut, Mike Barry, to share the moment. The curse was broken. Manny had done it and the Red Sox were champions of the world. He would again lead them to a World Series victory in ’07, coming back from a 3 to 1 deficit in games to beat my beloved Indians in the process.
Yesterday, Manny failed a test for performance enhancing drugs for the second time in two years. He was suspended from playing baseball for 100 games, but decided instead that he should retire. Steroids has tainted the game and brought into question the accomplishments of so many of its biggest stars. Manny, like Barry Bonds, would have been a Hall of Fame player without the drugs. He may have been the best hitter in Major League Baseball over the last 20 years…he was that gifted. I know many players turned to steroids because they felt they needed them to keep up with all the other players using them, but once baseball banned their use…they needed to stop. Manny didn’t. I’m not sure why he thought he wouldn’t get caught…Manny being Manny is one explanation, and maybe he just didn’t care. I know I’ll miss seeing his sweet swing and watching him run the bases…you never knew what he was thinking after he hit the ball. Thanks for the wonderful moments you gave me on the field, Manny…you’ll be missed.
I climbed on the trainer to give the knee a try. I’d been sore all day, but wasn’t limping and decided I needed to know. I wanted to ride outside on the weekend, but figured it would be better to be home when things went wrong instead of twenty miles away on Pekin Road. It actually went pretty well…some pain, but nothing to serious. I wrapped it in ice a couple of times before bed to aid the healing process and will attempt a twenty miler tomorrow.
Bike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 900.
I suppose I’ve been a part of the ‘Red Sox Nation’ since the day I was born almost 56 years ago. I started life in Bristol, Ct., home of one of the minor league teams for the Boston Red Sox. I can’t say it was fashionable for kids to root for the Sox in the early 60’s…they were a pretty pathetic team and kids do like winners (actually…so do adults), but I sucked it up and cheered for them mightily.
I continued living and breathing Red Sox baseball even after my family moved to Cleveland. It became more fashionable after the miracle finish to the ’67 season and a heart-breaking World Series loss in seven games to the Cardinals. Carl Yastrzemski, baseball’s last Triple Crown winner and American League MVP, was my hero.
The years went by and I came to love the Indians first and the Red Sox second, hoping that one of them would win a World Series in my lifetime. The Indians had won their last Series in 1948 and the Red Sox went back to 1918…the last season Babe Ruth wore a Sox uniform. Trading him to the Yankees had invoked ‘the curse of the Bambino’ which was supposed to prevent the Red Sox from ever winning the Series again. but then came 2004 and Manny Ramirez. Manny, the beloved Cleveland Indian, had helped us return to the World Series in 1995 and again in ’97. He moved to Boston in 2000 and had an incredible season in ’04, helping lead the Red Sox from a 3 games to nothing deficit to the defending World Champion New York Yankees to an improbable seven-game series victory and then to a sweep of the Cardinals in the World Series, where he was the MVP. I cried that night watching the Red Sox end the curse and called my childhood buddy in Connecticut, Mike Barry, to share the moment. The curse was broken. Manny had done it and the Red Sox were champions of the world. He would again lead them to a World Series victory in ’07, coming back from a 3 to 1 deficit in games to beat my beloved Indians in the process.
Yesterday, Manny failed a test for performance enhancing drugs for the second time in two years. He was suspended from playing baseball for 100 games, but decided instead that he should retire. Steroids has tainted the game and brought into question the accomplishments of so many of its biggest stars. Manny, like Barry Bonds, would have been a Hall of Fame player without the drugs. He may have been the best hitter in Major League Baseball over the last 20 years…he was that gifted. I know many players turned to steroids because they felt they needed them to keep up with all the other players using them, but once baseball banned their use…they needed to stop. Manny didn’t. I’m not sure why he thought he wouldn’t get caught…Manny being Manny is one explanation, and maybe he just didn’t care. I know I’ll miss seeing his sweet swing and watching him run the bases…you never knew what he was thinking after he hit the ball. Thanks for the wonderful moments you gave me on the field, Manny…you’ll be missed.
I climbed on the trainer to give the knee a try. I’d been sore all day, but wasn’t limping and decided I needed to know. I wanted to ride outside on the weekend, but figured it would be better to be home when things went wrong instead of twenty miles away on Pekin Road. It actually went pretty well…some pain, but nothing to serious. I wrapped it in ice a couple of times before bed to aid the healing process and will attempt a twenty miler tomorrow.
Bike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 900.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Dimora credits Rolf with weight loss...
Thursday, April 7, 2011
“Dimora pleads not guilty to racketeering”. So…big surprise. Jimmy was first indicted on 31 different counts of ‘doing bad things’ in office with Cuyahoga County taxpayer’s money. He complained then that the media was picking on him and that the FBI acted unconstitutionally when they tapped his phones and heard him running his criminal empire…those bastards.
And just when Jimmy didn’t think it could get any worse…it did. Jimmy had a new indictment…up to 34 counts…and including charges of racketeering. His attorney tried to muffle him in front of the courthouse on his way out this time. He normally holds court after court and goes over how everyone is lying and that he’s totally…totally… innocent. And maybe he is…and maybe my sarcasm is misguided…and maybe Jennifer Aniston wants to go backpacking with me in the Adirondacks this summer…and maybe not. Jimmy struggled with the muzzle thing though, and finally blurted a couple of statements before getting dragged away by his lawyer. “I’m down nine pounds,” he said. “I’ve been reading that Commie fitness goober John Rolf’s blog…he’s always picking on me…but I have to admit he did have some good ideas for ways to get in shape and I’ve been trying them out.”
Well Jimmy…thanks for that plug. I’m happy you’re down nine pounds though I have a feeling that some time in the not-too-distant future, you’re going to be going on a very restricted diet and may be losing even more weight. As for working out in wherever you find yourself after your trial…probably a little room with all of life’s essentials for your future happiness…consider doing a push-up for every dollar you stole over the past 10 years. You’ll knock off another 200 pounds and be hard as nails…you’ll have that going for you, at least.
What do I have going for me? Well…the knee was improving throughout the day but not nearly ready for any exercise. I’m hoping that I can get on the trainer tomorrow and try spinning easily for 30 minutes or so. The forecast for Sunday is sunny and warm…in the 80’s…and I’m hoping for a decent ride. It will give me a chance to really baptize John’s bike with my sweat.
“Dimora pleads not guilty to racketeering”. So…big surprise. Jimmy was first indicted on 31 different counts of ‘doing bad things’ in office with Cuyahoga County taxpayer’s money. He complained then that the media was picking on him and that the FBI acted unconstitutionally when they tapped his phones and heard him running his criminal empire…those bastards.
And just when Jimmy didn’t think it could get any worse…it did. Jimmy had a new indictment…up to 34 counts…and including charges of racketeering. His attorney tried to muffle him in front of the courthouse on his way out this time. He normally holds court after court and goes over how everyone is lying and that he’s totally…totally… innocent. And maybe he is…and maybe my sarcasm is misguided…and maybe Jennifer Aniston wants to go backpacking with me in the Adirondacks this summer…and maybe not. Jimmy struggled with the muzzle thing though, and finally blurted a couple of statements before getting dragged away by his lawyer. “I’m down nine pounds,” he said. “I’ve been reading that Commie fitness goober John Rolf’s blog…he’s always picking on me…but I have to admit he did have some good ideas for ways to get in shape and I’ve been trying them out.”
Well Jimmy…thanks for that plug. I’m happy you’re down nine pounds though I have a feeling that some time in the not-too-distant future, you’re going to be going on a very restricted diet and may be losing even more weight. As for working out in wherever you find yourself after your trial…probably a little room with all of life’s essentials for your future happiness…consider doing a push-up for every dollar you stole over the past 10 years. You’ll knock off another 200 pounds and be hard as nails…you’ll have that going for you, at least.
What do I have going for me? Well…the knee was improving throughout the day but not nearly ready for any exercise. I’m hoping that I can get on the trainer tomorrow and try spinning easily for 30 minutes or so. The forecast for Sunday is sunny and warm…in the 80’s…and I’m hoping for a decent ride. It will give me a chance to really baptize John’s bike with my sweat.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
"Someone left there car running in the parking lot..."
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Normally a night in bed begins the healing process for me…normally. I woke up with my knee hurting as much if not more than it had the night before. I hobbled off to work looking like an old cripple and things got worse as the day went on. I had to go out to Bob’s Lat-In-Shape class to do some filming and to talk to a couple of clients, but stopped at the house and climbed on the trainer to see if I could at least rotate the knee and thus ride the bike. I made a couple of revolutions with a lot of pain and figured I was out of commission for anything more vigorous than pulling the lever on my recliner to elevate my feet.
Bob and I were creating a DVD with information and a demonstration of the ingredients to the Fitness Test. I made him do the step test, sit-ups, and push-ups while I looked professional and knowledgeable as the Exercise Physiologist…something I do well. After viewing the tape, I realized I’d have some major editing to do if I was to make it look like I was actually healthy enough to be giving advice about being healthy. By the way, we made an informative video of Bob’s Lat-In-Shape and I’ll be posting it up on ‘YouTube’ in the near future…for those interested in alternative work out opportunities.
As I was getting ready to leave so that I could go home and wrap my knee in ice, my friend Val walked in. She had a friend along who was interested in doing the fitness test I’d given Val two weeks earlier. “By the way…how are you doing with the program I wrote up?” I asked her. “I’m a loser,” she replied. “Excellent…how much have you lost?” I asked. “No…umm…I’m a…um…loser because I haven’t been doing anything,” she said…feeling my withering stare. She seemed a bit frazzled…her work will do that…so I cut her some slack and let her head into the class.
I walked out to my car and saw Val’s parked next to it and happened to notice the wipers were moving. It was raining…but somehow I was thinking she hadn’t meant to leave them on so I went to the car to check the door only to discover a little more than the wipers were on. Whenever I leave the car running, wipers on and my laptop on the front seat of the car, I make sure to leave the door unlocked. I mean if someone’s walking by and notices all that and the doors locked, they’re likely to break a window to get in and steal everything…and that’s what Val had done. I locked the door and took the keys to Val, but not before announcing to the entire group what I’d just done. “It’s been a hard day, John…give me a break,” she said. By that I think she meant that I shouldn’t include the incident in my blog…but she never said it.
I spent the rest of the evening lounging and icing my knee. It’s a mess for now and I can only hope whatever it is that it fixes itself as quickly as it came on and I’ll be able to get some riding and running in soon for the Birthday Triathlon.
Normally a night in bed begins the healing process for me…normally. I woke up with my knee hurting as much if not more than it had the night before. I hobbled off to work looking like an old cripple and things got worse as the day went on. I had to go out to Bob’s Lat-In-Shape class to do some filming and to talk to a couple of clients, but stopped at the house and climbed on the trainer to see if I could at least rotate the knee and thus ride the bike. I made a couple of revolutions with a lot of pain and figured I was out of commission for anything more vigorous than pulling the lever on my recliner to elevate my feet.
Bob and I were creating a DVD with information and a demonstration of the ingredients to the Fitness Test. I made him do the step test, sit-ups, and push-ups while I looked professional and knowledgeable as the Exercise Physiologist…something I do well. After viewing the tape, I realized I’d have some major editing to do if I was to make it look like I was actually healthy enough to be giving advice about being healthy. By the way, we made an informative video of Bob’s Lat-In-Shape and I’ll be posting it up on ‘YouTube’ in the near future…for those interested in alternative work out opportunities.
As I was getting ready to leave so that I could go home and wrap my knee in ice, my friend Val walked in. She had a friend along who was interested in doing the fitness test I’d given Val two weeks earlier. “By the way…how are you doing with the program I wrote up?” I asked her. “I’m a loser,” she replied. “Excellent…how much have you lost?” I asked. “No…umm…I’m a…um…loser because I haven’t been doing anything,” she said…feeling my withering stare. She seemed a bit frazzled…her work will do that…so I cut her some slack and let her head into the class.
I walked out to my car and saw Val’s parked next to it and happened to notice the wipers were moving. It was raining…but somehow I was thinking she hadn’t meant to leave them on so I went to the car to check the door only to discover a little more than the wipers were on. Whenever I leave the car running, wipers on and my laptop on the front seat of the car, I make sure to leave the door unlocked. I mean if someone’s walking by and notices all that and the doors locked, they’re likely to break a window to get in and steal everything…and that’s what Val had done. I locked the door and took the keys to Val, but not before announcing to the entire group what I’d just done. “It’s been a hard day, John…give me a break,” she said. By that I think she meant that I shouldn’t include the incident in my blog…but she never said it.
I spent the rest of the evening lounging and icing my knee. It’s a mess for now and I can only hope whatever it is that it fixes itself as quickly as it came on and I’ll be able to get some riding and running in soon for the Birthday Triathlon.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Finding new ways to hurt myself...
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you’ve noticed that I tend to injure myself on a regular basis. When I do, I can typically look over my log and figure out what led to the problem. A week ago I went to bed feeling pretty good. I got up in the morning and my left knee hurt like hell. When I reviewed what I’d done since my last workout, the toughest thing I could target was…getting up from my recliner. It was that or sleeping…but neither is something I’m not well conditioned to perform. Maybe it’s an overuse injury.
Anyway…I’ve been ignoring it for a week figuring if you hurt yourself sleeping, it’ll probably go away quickly. It didn’t. It wasn’t debilitating…but it was annoying.
I was driving to the Metropark for a run last night because I’d convinced myself it was too cold for a ride. I had called John and was complaining about the rain and cold and how little riding I’d been doing and he said it was 45 degrees on his car thermometer. “But it’s cold as hell. Maybe one day in the 60’s got me soft,” I said.
As I was pulling into the park, I saw a girl running in a tank top. “Is she cute?” John asked. “You’re missing the point…I’ve got on a long-sleeved t-shirt and she’s running in a tank top. I’m supposed to be the tough one…sweaty and running in shorts when it’s ten degrees. What’s up with that?” I asked.
I parked and got out of the car. The sun was shining and there was a beautiful, deep blue sky overhead. It looked warm so I stripped off the long-sleever and grabbed a light-weight, short-sleeved t-shirt. And I was fine. The bridle trails were actually in pretty good shape, but the hiking trails were still muddy as hell. I put in 50 minutes of running with about 15 minutes of it on the road. It was slow and ugly, but I got it done. I drove home, plugged in a ‘Lost’ and rode another 40 minutes. I would have gone longer, but I was bored out of my skull.
Things went well for the remainder of the evening…I spent some time with my legs propped up and watching the Tribe beat the Red Sox. When I finally got up to go to bed, my knee reacted violently. I hobbled to bed, but had trouble getting comfortable…it hurt that much. I don’t know what’s happening to the body, but I’m thinking I really need to get younger. Soon.
Run duration: 50 minutes. Bike duration: 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 145 bpm running, 130 bpm biking.
Calories burned during workout: 850 running. 600 biking.
If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you’ve noticed that I tend to injure myself on a regular basis. When I do, I can typically look over my log and figure out what led to the problem. A week ago I went to bed feeling pretty good. I got up in the morning and my left knee hurt like hell. When I reviewed what I’d done since my last workout, the toughest thing I could target was…getting up from my recliner. It was that or sleeping…but neither is something I’m not well conditioned to perform. Maybe it’s an overuse injury.
Anyway…I’ve been ignoring it for a week figuring if you hurt yourself sleeping, it’ll probably go away quickly. It didn’t. It wasn’t debilitating…but it was annoying.
I was driving to the Metropark for a run last night because I’d convinced myself it was too cold for a ride. I had called John and was complaining about the rain and cold and how little riding I’d been doing and he said it was 45 degrees on his car thermometer. “But it’s cold as hell. Maybe one day in the 60’s got me soft,” I said.
As I was pulling into the park, I saw a girl running in a tank top. “Is she cute?” John asked. “You’re missing the point…I’ve got on a long-sleeved t-shirt and she’s running in a tank top. I’m supposed to be the tough one…sweaty and running in shorts when it’s ten degrees. What’s up with that?” I asked.
I parked and got out of the car. The sun was shining and there was a beautiful, deep blue sky overhead. It looked warm so I stripped off the long-sleever and grabbed a light-weight, short-sleeved t-shirt. And I was fine. The bridle trails were actually in pretty good shape, but the hiking trails were still muddy as hell. I put in 50 minutes of running with about 15 minutes of it on the road. It was slow and ugly, but I got it done. I drove home, plugged in a ‘Lost’ and rode another 40 minutes. I would have gone longer, but I was bored out of my skull.
Things went well for the remainder of the evening…I spent some time with my legs propped up and watching the Tribe beat the Red Sox. When I finally got up to go to bed, my knee reacted violently. I hobbled to bed, but had trouble getting comfortable…it hurt that much. I don’t know what’s happening to the body, but I’m thinking I really need to get younger. Soon.
Run duration: 50 minutes. Bike duration: 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 145 bpm running, 130 bpm biking.
Calories burned during workout: 850 running. 600 biking.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Here's a surprise...it rained.
Monday, April 4, 2011
If I could trade in an April for a second May, I’d do it in a New York minute. March always has a couple of nice days and I get the bike out and start acting like Summer is here. I’ve been doing this for the past 40 years or so…but I never learn. It’s Northeast Ohio and the weather just plain sucks in April for everything without webbing between their toes.
So anyway, its 60 degrees as I head off to work thinking…I’m riding tonight, baby. But the rains came and never stopped, so I headed for the Metropark thinking ‘run’. I drove along River Road checking out the trails as I did, but all I saw were streams where there once was dirt. I mumbled stuff to myself…whining basically…and drove home for a ride on the trainer. It probably was a good decision since the cough hadn’t let up any, but…well…I hate that trainer.
I plugged in a ‘Lost’ episode and started spinning. Seventy-five minutes later, I’d managed an episode and a half, soaked myself and the towels under the bike, and felt pretty good about the effort. I cleaned up and spent some time watching the Butler Bulldogs try to win their first National Championship. It became apparent early on that they were giving up too much size in the paint and although they went into the locker at halftime with a lead, I felt it couldn’t hold. It didn’t and they lost to UConn by 11 points. Still...what a great program they have and I’m sure we’ll hear more from them in the coming years.
Bike duration: 75 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1125.
If I could trade in an April for a second May, I’d do it in a New York minute. March always has a couple of nice days and I get the bike out and start acting like Summer is here. I’ve been doing this for the past 40 years or so…but I never learn. It’s Northeast Ohio and the weather just plain sucks in April for everything without webbing between their toes.
So anyway, its 60 degrees as I head off to work thinking…I’m riding tonight, baby. But the rains came and never stopped, so I headed for the Metropark thinking ‘run’. I drove along River Road checking out the trails as I did, but all I saw were streams where there once was dirt. I mumbled stuff to myself…whining basically…and drove home for a ride on the trainer. It probably was a good decision since the cough hadn’t let up any, but…well…I hate that trainer.
I plugged in a ‘Lost’ episode and started spinning. Seventy-five minutes later, I’d managed an episode and a half, soaked myself and the towels under the bike, and felt pretty good about the effort. I cleaned up and spent some time watching the Butler Bulldogs try to win their first National Championship. It became apparent early on that they were giving up too much size in the paint and although they went into the locker at halftime with a lead, I felt it couldn’t hold. It didn’t and they lost to UConn by 11 points. Still...what a great program they have and I’m sure we’ll hear more from them in the coming years.
Bike duration: 75 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1125.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Nice deal, Mr. Sokol.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
I’m no stock market guy…not by a long shot…but I do read a lot and now I have a couple of questions. My father and father-in-law both worked for the Lubrizol Corporation until they retired and so any time I see something in the business section about the company, it catches my eye. Lots of folks are aware that Warren Buffett has made a $9.7 billion offer to buy the chemical additives giant and that their stock soared from around $105 per share to $135 per share on this announcement. A couple of weeks later, Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., announced that the man who started confidential talks with Lubrizol about a month before the offer and proposed the idea of the purchase to Mr. Buffett, David Sokol, had resigned from the company. Oh yeah…and David bought 96,000 shares of Lubrizol stock less than two weeks before the announcement, which will turn a tidy profit of $3 million for David if the sale goes through.
This bothers me on a couple of different levels. First…that the guy had $10 million to make the purchase. I hate it when people have that much discretionary income because I figure they were being overpaid somewhere along the line and lots of smaller folks suffered as a result. Second…how in God’s name could this not be insider trading of some kind? I mean maybe he makes $10 million purchases as a regular occurrence and if it hadn’t been Lubrizol, it would have been something else, but if not…well…its looking just a little suspicious. Third…why is he quitting after making the recommendation to purchase Lubrizol? He earns around $12 million a year (with an occasional $3 million bonus for making a crafty stock purchase) so I’m thinking it’s not for a better job. Does he think it was a bad idea and doesn’t want to be around to deal with it? I don’t know.
Well…I kind of got skunked on my workout. I was supposed to take Heidi back to Kent and for the entire drive there and back, I was watching the skies and hoping the rain would hold off so I could go for a 2-hour ride. It did…until I was 3 minutes from the house. I suppose that’s a good thing since I wouldn’t have wanted to have been out 10 miles when the skies opened up. I could have gotten on the trainer, but the thought of that when I was so close to riding outside really depressed me…that and I was feeling so poorly that I laid down and passed out for 2 hours. Bottom line…I didn’t work out and I’m still fighting something. I suppose yesterday’s double took its toll, so maybe I need a little more recuperative time. We’ll see what tomorrow brings and if I can get David’s number for some more hot stock tips, I’ll pass it along.
I’m no stock market guy…not by a long shot…but I do read a lot and now I have a couple of questions. My father and father-in-law both worked for the Lubrizol Corporation until they retired and so any time I see something in the business section about the company, it catches my eye. Lots of folks are aware that Warren Buffett has made a $9.7 billion offer to buy the chemical additives giant and that their stock soared from around $105 per share to $135 per share on this announcement. A couple of weeks later, Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., announced that the man who started confidential talks with Lubrizol about a month before the offer and proposed the idea of the purchase to Mr. Buffett, David Sokol, had resigned from the company. Oh yeah…and David bought 96,000 shares of Lubrizol stock less than two weeks before the announcement, which will turn a tidy profit of $3 million for David if the sale goes through.
This bothers me on a couple of different levels. First…that the guy had $10 million to make the purchase. I hate it when people have that much discretionary income because I figure they were being overpaid somewhere along the line and lots of smaller folks suffered as a result. Second…how in God’s name could this not be insider trading of some kind? I mean maybe he makes $10 million purchases as a regular occurrence and if it hadn’t been Lubrizol, it would have been something else, but if not…well…its looking just a little suspicious. Third…why is he quitting after making the recommendation to purchase Lubrizol? He earns around $12 million a year (with an occasional $3 million bonus for making a crafty stock purchase) so I’m thinking it’s not for a better job. Does he think it was a bad idea and doesn’t want to be around to deal with it? I don’t know.
Well…I kind of got skunked on my workout. I was supposed to take Heidi back to Kent and for the entire drive there and back, I was watching the skies and hoping the rain would hold off so I could go for a 2-hour ride. It did…until I was 3 minutes from the house. I suppose that’s a good thing since I wouldn’t have wanted to have been out 10 miles when the skies opened up. I could have gotten on the trainer, but the thought of that when I was so close to riding outside really depressed me…that and I was feeling so poorly that I laid down and passed out for 2 hours. Bottom line…I didn’t work out and I’m still fighting something. I suppose yesterday’s double took its toll, so maybe I need a little more recuperative time. We’ll see what tomorrow brings and if I can get David’s number for some more hot stock tips, I’ll pass it along.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
"Time for a fitness test, Jeff..."
Saturday, April 2, 2011
For the second straight year, the Butler Bulldogs are in the NCAA Championship basketball game. Last year, labeled a Cinderella team, they took one of the most storied basketball programs in the history of College basketball, the Duke Blue Devils, to the final buzzer before succumbing. Most folks outside and lots inside the basketball world are saying ‘huh?’, but maybe now its time to recognize that the conference in which they play, the Horizon League, deserves a little more respect. Like the MAC, another underrated conference made up of so-called second tier teams from the mid-West, only one team comes out of the league to make the NCAA basketball championship, and that’s the team that wins their league championship tournament…which was Butler. All others fall to the wayside. Traditional leagues, like the Big Ten, might have 7 teams make the tournament simply because they win close to 20 games for the season…and they’re in the Big Ten. Quality ball clubs like Kent State, Ball State, and Cleveland State are not given much consideration (teams are selected to the NCAA tournament based on their season records and the conferences in which they play) because they play…and lose…to second tier teams like…oh…Butler. I’ll be rooting hard for Butler to put the Horizon League permanently on the college basketball map by winning the National Championship this Monday when they face off against traditional powerhouse, the University of Connecticut.
Jeff and I met in the Metroparks for a little hike before we would be heading back to the house for him to get a fitness assessment. Jeff is an old friend, and it’s his father that got me interested in hunting deer antlers. Jeff wants to lose a bunch of weight and has set a goal of losing a good portion of it in time for a big Elk hunt he has scheduled for the end of August. He’s been reading the blog and is convinced that I can give him the formula that will take it off slowly…and keep it off. “You know what I think, Jeff…can’t know how to get where you’re going if you don’t know where you are…and that means a fitness evaluation,” I told him when he asked for my help.
“I had a BMI (body mass index) reading and they said I could weigh 185 pounds,” he told me, but when I questioned him about how it was done, he replied, “umm…took my height and weight and looked on a chart.” That’s about as useful as…oh…guessing, I told him…maybe a little more, but not much. “They use those useless charts because it takes to much time and skill to access body fat correctly. You’re not going to have that problem, though,” I said.
We hiked off-trail for close to two hours, never finding an antler, but giving me plenty of time to preach the value of goal-setting, Back to Basics, cross-training and other things I profess to know lots about. He mostly listened…good fella. We returned to the house and I took the measurements and designed him a program for the next eight weeks that included hiking, biking, bleacher work and step-ups. I want him to knock off twenty pounds and get his lower body and cardiovascular system in decent shape for step-two. I don’t want to say what that is because he’ll be reading this and I don’t want to scare him away.
Later in the afternoon, I again boarded the bike for a chilly ride. The outfit was the same as yesterday’s, but I put the bandanna on to protect my skull from freezing. It worked well and managed to stay reasonably warm for an 80-minute ride.
Bike duration: 1 hour and 20 minutes. Hike duration: 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 80 hiking.
Calories burned during workout: 1200 biking. 350 hiking.
For the second straight year, the Butler Bulldogs are in the NCAA Championship basketball game. Last year, labeled a Cinderella team, they took one of the most storied basketball programs in the history of College basketball, the Duke Blue Devils, to the final buzzer before succumbing. Most folks outside and lots inside the basketball world are saying ‘huh?’, but maybe now its time to recognize that the conference in which they play, the Horizon League, deserves a little more respect. Like the MAC, another underrated conference made up of so-called second tier teams from the mid-West, only one team comes out of the league to make the NCAA basketball championship, and that’s the team that wins their league championship tournament…which was Butler. All others fall to the wayside. Traditional leagues, like the Big Ten, might have 7 teams make the tournament simply because they win close to 20 games for the season…and they’re in the Big Ten. Quality ball clubs like Kent State, Ball State, and Cleveland State are not given much consideration (teams are selected to the NCAA tournament based on their season records and the conferences in which they play) because they play…and lose…to second tier teams like…oh…Butler. I’ll be rooting hard for Butler to put the Horizon League permanently on the college basketball map by winning the National Championship this Monday when they face off against traditional powerhouse, the University of Connecticut.
Jeff and I met in the Metroparks for a little hike before we would be heading back to the house for him to get a fitness assessment. Jeff is an old friend, and it’s his father that got me interested in hunting deer antlers. Jeff wants to lose a bunch of weight and has set a goal of losing a good portion of it in time for a big Elk hunt he has scheduled for the end of August. He’s been reading the blog and is convinced that I can give him the formula that will take it off slowly…and keep it off. “You know what I think, Jeff…can’t know how to get where you’re going if you don’t know where you are…and that means a fitness evaluation,” I told him when he asked for my help.
“I had a BMI (body mass index) reading and they said I could weigh 185 pounds,” he told me, but when I questioned him about how it was done, he replied, “umm…took my height and weight and looked on a chart.” That’s about as useful as…oh…guessing, I told him…maybe a little more, but not much. “They use those useless charts because it takes to much time and skill to access body fat correctly. You’re not going to have that problem, though,” I said.
We hiked off-trail for close to two hours, never finding an antler, but giving me plenty of time to preach the value of goal-setting, Back to Basics, cross-training and other things I profess to know lots about. He mostly listened…good fella. We returned to the house and I took the measurements and designed him a program for the next eight weeks that included hiking, biking, bleacher work and step-ups. I want him to knock off twenty pounds and get his lower body and cardiovascular system in decent shape for step-two. I don’t want to say what that is because he’ll be reading this and I don’t want to scare him away.
Later in the afternoon, I again boarded the bike for a chilly ride. The outfit was the same as yesterday’s, but I put the bandanna on to protect my skull from freezing. It worked well and managed to stay reasonably warm for an 80-minute ride.
Bike duration: 1 hour and 20 minutes. Hike duration: 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 80 hiking.
Calories burned during workout: 1200 biking. 350 hiking.
Baseball is back!
Friday, April 1, 2011
It was the Home Opener, which for most Indians fans is a time when hope springs eternal that this will be the year they finally win the World Series. Okay…maybe not this particular year…but at least before the first game is played most of the diehard Indians fans can fantasize to some degree about how they will perform this season…which is likely better than the reality of September will prove to be.
I spent many seasons attending the Opener, most recently with Savannah as her interest in the Indians grew with each passing year since she was about twelve. She’s away at Ohio State now, but insists that we see a game as soon as she returns. Without her here, it was not nearly as important for me to attend, but I did at least watch the game on TV. As I watched, I was quickly reminded of things that happen at the Ballpark which really tend to annoy me. I know things have changed dramatically in the world of communication and entertainment and ballparks are not exempt. Music, flashing scoreboards, movie clips, people dressed up in Hot Dog suits and having races, giant stuffed animals dancing and launching t-shirts into the stands with powerful rubber bands, to name a few. None of them add anything to the game for me…in fact they are a huge, annoying distraction.
Anyway…if you were attending…or watching…the Opener, you may know at one point the Indians were trailing the White Sox by two touchdowns – 14 to 0. The Indians were up, had one out and nobody on base when the PA system sent the music for “charge” ringing across the stadium…and into my brain. I…mean…really – they think the fans are so ignorant that they’re going to start yelling 'charge' when we're down my fourteen runs and not even a hint of a rally brewing? Do they really suppose they can manufacture excitement out of nothing? Knowledgable fans react to what is happening ‘on’ the field and not simply in a sound byte? Holy crap, PA people…get a clue!
I managed a good 30-minute run, which is to say nothing hurt too badly, I didn’t cough uncontrollably and my hips were dog-tired at the end of the run. I came home from the park and decided it was a good day for a double, so I began preparations for a ride. I say this because it was in the low 40’s, which is quite chilly for me to be riding. I put on a long-sleeved t-shirt over a short-sleeved, actually wore socks, put a head band over my ears and searched for some lighter-weight gloves to wear. Finding nothing rider-appropriate, I grabbed my Isotoner’s out of the closet and went with them. I was a very styling cyclist, but was missing something rather important, of which I became very aware as I raced down a hill over 40mph…hair. I felt pricks of cold as ice began to form on the top of my head…I suppose the chill factor at that speed is around zero…and wished I’d worn my bandanna. There’s always tomorrow to correct those apparel guffaws…
Run duration: 30 minutes. Bike duration: 85 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm running, 130 bpm biking.
Calories burned during workout: 500 running. 1275 biking.
It was the Home Opener, which for most Indians fans is a time when hope springs eternal that this will be the year they finally win the World Series. Okay…maybe not this particular year…but at least before the first game is played most of the diehard Indians fans can fantasize to some degree about how they will perform this season…which is likely better than the reality of September will prove to be.
I spent many seasons attending the Opener, most recently with Savannah as her interest in the Indians grew with each passing year since she was about twelve. She’s away at Ohio State now, but insists that we see a game as soon as she returns. Without her here, it was not nearly as important for me to attend, but I did at least watch the game on TV. As I watched, I was quickly reminded of things that happen at the Ballpark which really tend to annoy me. I know things have changed dramatically in the world of communication and entertainment and ballparks are not exempt. Music, flashing scoreboards, movie clips, people dressed up in Hot Dog suits and having races, giant stuffed animals dancing and launching t-shirts into the stands with powerful rubber bands, to name a few. None of them add anything to the game for me…in fact they are a huge, annoying distraction.
Anyway…if you were attending…or watching…the Opener, you may know at one point the Indians were trailing the White Sox by two touchdowns – 14 to 0. The Indians were up, had one out and nobody on base when the PA system sent the music for “charge” ringing across the stadium…and into my brain. I…mean…really – they think the fans are so ignorant that they’re going to start yelling 'charge' when we're down my fourteen runs and not even a hint of a rally brewing? Do they really suppose they can manufacture excitement out of nothing? Knowledgable fans react to what is happening ‘on’ the field and not simply in a sound byte? Holy crap, PA people…get a clue!
I managed a good 30-minute run, which is to say nothing hurt too badly, I didn’t cough uncontrollably and my hips were dog-tired at the end of the run. I came home from the park and decided it was a good day for a double, so I began preparations for a ride. I say this because it was in the low 40’s, which is quite chilly for me to be riding. I put on a long-sleeved t-shirt over a short-sleeved, actually wore socks, put a head band over my ears and searched for some lighter-weight gloves to wear. Finding nothing rider-appropriate, I grabbed my Isotoner’s out of the closet and went with them. I was a very styling cyclist, but was missing something rather important, of which I became very aware as I raced down a hill over 40mph…hair. I felt pricks of cold as ice began to form on the top of my head…I suppose the chill factor at that speed is around zero…and wished I’d worn my bandanna. There’s always tomorrow to correct those apparel guffaws…
Run duration: 30 minutes. Bike duration: 85 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm running, 130 bpm biking.
Calories burned during workout: 500 running. 1275 biking.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Higher rates...
Thursday, March 31, 2011
The last time we needed a new washing machine, we went with one of those front-loading jobs that uses less water. I remember discussing the purchase with Holly and how we both thought that even if we had to pay more for the machine, there was some sense in using something a little more green. Water, after all, is a precious commodity and using less of it is a good thing…right?
Well…it appears the Cleveland Water Department wants a rate hike. Seems that we’re not the only ones getting smarter and more economical about our water use. In fact since 1980, the average household served by the Water Company has reduced its annual water consumption from 98,000 gallons to about 57,000 gallons per year. There are a number of factors leading to this dramatic decrease – more efficient toilets, dishwashers, showerheads and washing machines, smaller families, and just plain old conservation efforts and all that’s good…except for the Water Company. By folks being green, investing in better and more cost efficient appliances and whatever else they’ve done to reduce their bills…well…they’ve hurt revenues for the Water Company and so…raise the rates. Something is screwed up here and I’m not sure exactly what. I do know when I worked in the manufacturing business that any decrease in sales would have to be met with a decrease in spending and probably layoffs. Maybe it’s not the same with a Utility company, but encouraging people to conserve and then whacking them with higher bills to offset the efforts of their conversation seems backasswards...
I spent another night sitting around. After a day of hacking and coughing, I found myself bone-tired and ready for bed before 6 p.m. Instead, I tried to keep myself up so that I would be able to sleep through the night. Holly opted for Savannah’s room again and I kept myself awake coughing. I’m feeling better though and see a run in my near future.
The last time we needed a new washing machine, we went with one of those front-loading jobs that uses less water. I remember discussing the purchase with Holly and how we both thought that even if we had to pay more for the machine, there was some sense in using something a little more green. Water, after all, is a precious commodity and using less of it is a good thing…right?
Well…it appears the Cleveland Water Department wants a rate hike. Seems that we’re not the only ones getting smarter and more economical about our water use. In fact since 1980, the average household served by the Water Company has reduced its annual water consumption from 98,000 gallons to about 57,000 gallons per year. There are a number of factors leading to this dramatic decrease – more efficient toilets, dishwashers, showerheads and washing machines, smaller families, and just plain old conservation efforts and all that’s good…except for the Water Company. By folks being green, investing in better and more cost efficient appliances and whatever else they’ve done to reduce their bills…well…they’ve hurt revenues for the Water Company and so…raise the rates. Something is screwed up here and I’m not sure exactly what. I do know when I worked in the manufacturing business that any decrease in sales would have to be met with a decrease in spending and probably layoffs. Maybe it’s not the same with a Utility company, but encouraging people to conserve and then whacking them with higher bills to offset the efforts of their conversation seems backasswards...
I spent another night sitting around. After a day of hacking and coughing, I found myself bone-tired and ready for bed before 6 p.m. Instead, I tried to keep myself up so that I would be able to sleep through the night. Holly opted for Savannah’s room again and I kept myself awake coughing. I’m feeling better though and see a run in my near future.
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