Wednesday, August 31, 2011 Weight. Like so many of us, I’m motivated by it. All of my professional life, I’ve preached that it’s not the weight, but the composition…body fat…that counts. And that’s true. Still…I’m driven by the weight and the scale. No matter what my level of conditioning, I’m always happy to be losing…as most of us are.
As so many of you know, I’ve been following the Paleo Diet and emphasizing my Survival Workout for the last few months. This is a radical change for a guy who has never paid much attention to the diet and always placed the highest emphasis on the aerobic conditioning. “Burn more calories than you eat…and the way to burn the most calories is doing something aerobic,” I would say. And yes…when I ride 2 hours, I burn close to 2,000 calories while a typical Survival Workout is only burning 600. Yet…I’m losing weight like crazy, building muscle and strength, and seldom hungry or having cravings.
I finished tonight’s workout exhausted. The humidity and temperature were up once more and I’d elected to run my Clear Creek course to see if I could break my pr from last fall. I knew it would be a challenge for the same reasons it was a week ago. I’m not running much, so the endurance for running would be lacking and the heat/humidity would play a factor. My legs weren’t exactly fresh after yesterday’s long ride, either. Still, I started aggressively and was a couple of minutes ahead of my pr pace at the halfway point. This didn’t really surprise me…I’m 15 pounds lighter than I was last fall and the running felt easy. Shortly after the halfway point though, I began to labor. I went into survival mode…just hold a decent pace and I’d still beat the pr…but as I neared the 50-minute mark of the run and was only 30 seconds ahead of pace, I decided the effort would end there and be saved for another day.
I backed off because I could feel the heat and sweat loss taking its toll. I know my body well enough to hear what its saying. Beating that pr by a few seconds when I know I could crush it with the right conditions meant little. I walked over to Clear Creek and plunged in…quickly bringing my core temperature back down in the cool, spring water.
Once home, I stripped and headed for the scale…something I’ve been doing almost daily for a week. The ‘weight’ owns me lately and when the scale read 174.5, it made me extremely happy. I know part of that is water I just dropped on the run, but I consistently weigh in at the conclusion of workouts…a time when things for me are comparable. I suspect I’m closer to 177 right now and about 10 pounds from my peak triathloning weight, but again…what’s the body fat…what’s the condition level? I know they’re both damned good right now and that alone should keep me happy. Still…I just love losing weight.
Run workout: 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 800.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
"The Dude abides..."
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
I started out on my first ride in a week feeling that I’d take a long one. I’d mapped out a new route that would have me traveling east on Mulberry from Sperry Road, which would make that route over two hours and maybe closer to three. There was a strong head wind early in the ride which tends to tire me for the entire ride, but I fought through it and hit my 1-hour mark about where I always do. When I reached Mulberry and turned, I was in uncharted territory.
I noticed a hill rising before me, but much of the view of it was blocked by a turn in the road. Once on the hill and after the turn, I’d wished I hadn’t decided to come this way. I climbed it, dropped a little and found myself at the bottom of a second climb. This one had me gasping as I struggled over the final feet of the climb and again started down. I rounded a corner and found myself staring at the longest and steepest hill yet. To Lance, they were mole hills. I was feeling like my bike was on K2…again. I made the climb, but the series of three hills left me exhausted. I don’t think it was so much the hills as it was my lack of riding and maybe some lingering weakness from the weekend’s illness. When I reached an intersection with Wilson Mills, I stopped to access my condition and how long it would take me from this point. If I continued to follow my original plan, the ride would take close to three hours. I elected to cut it shorter and returned the most direct route…still managing a ride of well over two hours.
After cleaning up and having a dinner of some cold chicken breast and a huge smoothie, I headed next door for a guys night at the movies. We were watching ‘The Big Lebowski’, a Coen Brothers film comedy classic starring Jeff Bridges as 'The Dude'. I’d seen the movie once before and enjoyed it, but seeing it a second time and picking up more of the cleverness of the plot and outrageous humor, I think I will be moving this to my ‘must see’ list for those folks who trust my movie judgment.
Bike workout: 2 hours and 20 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2,000.
I started out on my first ride in a week feeling that I’d take a long one. I’d mapped out a new route that would have me traveling east on Mulberry from Sperry Road, which would make that route over two hours and maybe closer to three. There was a strong head wind early in the ride which tends to tire me for the entire ride, but I fought through it and hit my 1-hour mark about where I always do. When I reached Mulberry and turned, I was in uncharted territory.
I noticed a hill rising before me, but much of the view of it was blocked by a turn in the road. Once on the hill and after the turn, I’d wished I hadn’t decided to come this way. I climbed it, dropped a little and found myself at the bottom of a second climb. This one had me gasping as I struggled over the final feet of the climb and again started down. I rounded a corner and found myself staring at the longest and steepest hill yet. To Lance, they were mole hills. I was feeling like my bike was on K2…again. I made the climb, but the series of three hills left me exhausted. I don’t think it was so much the hills as it was my lack of riding and maybe some lingering weakness from the weekend’s illness. When I reached an intersection with Wilson Mills, I stopped to access my condition and how long it would take me from this point. If I continued to follow my original plan, the ride would take close to three hours. I elected to cut it shorter and returned the most direct route…still managing a ride of well over two hours.
After cleaning up and having a dinner of some cold chicken breast and a huge smoothie, I headed next door for a guys night at the movies. We were watching ‘The Big Lebowski’, a Coen Brothers film comedy classic starring Jeff Bridges as 'The Dude'. I’d seen the movie once before and enjoyed it, but seeing it a second time and picking up more of the cleverness of the plot and outrageous humor, I think I will be moving this to my ‘must see’ list for those folks who trust my movie judgment.
Bike workout: 2 hours and 20 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2,000.
Chicks dig guys doing the Survival Workout...don't they?
Monday, August 29, 2011
I was only feeling about 80 percent after my day of food poisoning, stomach virus or whatever it was. It was a day for the Survival Workout, though I often try to follow these with a ride…but not this day. I called Holly to tell her I was headed for the park and she decided to join me for the workout. Holly has been the biggest supporter of my efforts to recapture the conditioning of my peak years since it is her that I most inconvenience with all my training and when she’s willing to go with me, I want to impress her with what I have accomplished…like the old days when she was just this hot chick in front of whom I wanted to show off – it never goes away. Except with the way I was feeling, it wouldn’t exactly be the best day for showing off.
She arrived shortly after me and after a brief ‘hello’ she began doing step-ups while I did push-ups. She could see me doing them and I’m sure she was digging me…chicks dig guys doing push-ups…especially in tattered, sweat-stained t-shirts and baggy shorts. She joined me as I walked the trail and continued on and looped back to me when I stopped to do my sets. As much as she was digging me, I don’t think she really wanted to been seen with me when I had rocks in my hands…which chicks also dig…normally. At one of our stops, I saw her doing some step-ups with her side to the rock instead of facing it…and interesting approach to developing the muscles of the hip and working her balance. We arrived at the Girl Scout cabins where I managed another 50 push-ups and moved to the swing sets where I tried to show off my amazing strength by climbing the poles to the top with my legs dangling…something I absolutely know chicks dig…but she didn’t even look my way. She was busy walking and stepping and doing her own thing…something guys don’t dig.
We returned home and had a dinner of chicken breast, fresh tomatoes lightly seasoned in olive oil and something, and fresh sweet corn. I should mention at this point that I broke through the 180-pound weight barrier this past Friday. I thought it would have dropped more from the weekend of activity and food poisoning, but it’s held at 179 since then. Still…I am extremely surprised at how quickly I dropped through the 180’s…only eight weeks…but the slow and steady loss is the permanent loss and that’s what I’m all about.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
I was only feeling about 80 percent after my day of food poisoning, stomach virus or whatever it was. It was a day for the Survival Workout, though I often try to follow these with a ride…but not this day. I called Holly to tell her I was headed for the park and she decided to join me for the workout. Holly has been the biggest supporter of my efforts to recapture the conditioning of my peak years since it is her that I most inconvenience with all my training and when she’s willing to go with me, I want to impress her with what I have accomplished…like the old days when she was just this hot chick in front of whom I wanted to show off – it never goes away. Except with the way I was feeling, it wouldn’t exactly be the best day for showing off.
She arrived shortly after me and after a brief ‘hello’ she began doing step-ups while I did push-ups. She could see me doing them and I’m sure she was digging me…chicks dig guys doing push-ups…especially in tattered, sweat-stained t-shirts and baggy shorts. She joined me as I walked the trail and continued on and looped back to me when I stopped to do my sets. As much as she was digging me, I don’t think she really wanted to been seen with me when I had rocks in my hands…which chicks also dig…normally. At one of our stops, I saw her doing some step-ups with her side to the rock instead of facing it…and interesting approach to developing the muscles of the hip and working her balance. We arrived at the Girl Scout cabins where I managed another 50 push-ups and moved to the swing sets where I tried to show off my amazing strength by climbing the poles to the top with my legs dangling…something I absolutely know chicks dig…but she didn’t even look my way. She was busy walking and stepping and doing her own thing…something guys don’t dig.
We returned home and had a dinner of chicken breast, fresh tomatoes lightly seasoned in olive oil and something, and fresh sweet corn. I should mention at this point that I broke through the 180-pound weight barrier this past Friday. I thought it would have dropped more from the weekend of activity and food poisoning, but it’s held at 179 since then. Still…I am extremely surprised at how quickly I dropped through the 180’s…only eight weeks…but the slow and steady loss is the permanent loss and that’s what I’m all about.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Pooped...
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday’s story began about 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. We’d been sitting around the camp fire for a couple of hours after dinner sharing stories of camping do’s and don’ts…particularly as described and published by the ‘Leave No Trace’ organization…of which two of us were Master Educator’s. I was doing a lot of talking…nothing special there…and people were getting sleepy…nothing special there, either. We decided to call it a night and I began walking to the men’s room to brush my teeth and wash up. About half way there I began to think how I wished it was closer…the rumbling in my stomach was noisy and persistent and looking for a way out. I walked in with my cheeks squeezed tightly together and prayed one of the two stalls would be open. They both were…thankfully. I spent the next 20 minutes going through a cleansing session not unlike the ones I’d experienced prior to my colonoscopy’s, but slightly less pleasant. We’d eaten some spicy Mexican chicken thing which had burned my mouth on the way in…and was burning my butt on the way out. I cleaned up and went out for a walk knowing that I wasn’t through…returning in twenty minutes for round two.
This pattern continued until 3:30 a.m. after which time I managed to doze off for 20 to 30 minutes at a time, but was constantly awakened by grumblings that had me worried I’d soil myself…and worse…my beautiful down sleeping bag…neither of which I particularly wanted to do. I considered packing up the tent and sleeping gear and heading for home, but didn’t know if I could make the 45-minute drive without incident. I elected to stay.
By 6:30 a.m., Dave and Mike…the other trip leader were stirring. I quickly got up, packed up my gear and loaded it into the Jeep. They asked me how I’d slept…and I told them…in great detail. “I figured you’d have heard me getting up and down all night,” I said. Neither had…but I’m light on my feet and quite the church mouse. They were starting up breakfast…eggs, bacon, sausage and such…the thought of which made me want to puke. I stuck around though and talked to everyone for a couple of hours to be sure I could make the drive without incident.
On the drive home, I felt flu-like symptoms coming on. To that point, I’d figured food poisoning…I’d cut up raw chicken for dinner the night before and not washed my hands afterwards…but now? Once home, I put all my gear away and headed off to bed. I slept for 3 hours and got up to take the van to see Dan about the brakes. He determined quickly that they needed new pads and headed up to Auto Zone to make the purchase and install them then and there. I watched and tried to assist, but he could tell by my shade of green that I wasn’t doing well. He finished quickly and I returned home and hit the sack at 6 p.m. I awoke often and, with aches and chills, took some Advil around 10 p.m. after which I slept most of the remainder of the evening.
Oh…and I never worked out. I didn’t really care, either.
Sunday’s story began about 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. We’d been sitting around the camp fire for a couple of hours after dinner sharing stories of camping do’s and don’ts…particularly as described and published by the ‘Leave No Trace’ organization…of which two of us were Master Educator’s. I was doing a lot of talking…nothing special there…and people were getting sleepy…nothing special there, either. We decided to call it a night and I began walking to the men’s room to brush my teeth and wash up. About half way there I began to think how I wished it was closer…the rumbling in my stomach was noisy and persistent and looking for a way out. I walked in with my cheeks squeezed tightly together and prayed one of the two stalls would be open. They both were…thankfully. I spent the next 20 minutes going through a cleansing session not unlike the ones I’d experienced prior to my colonoscopy’s, but slightly less pleasant. We’d eaten some spicy Mexican chicken thing which had burned my mouth on the way in…and was burning my butt on the way out. I cleaned up and went out for a walk knowing that I wasn’t through…returning in twenty minutes for round two.
This pattern continued until 3:30 a.m. after which time I managed to doze off for 20 to 30 minutes at a time, but was constantly awakened by grumblings that had me worried I’d soil myself…and worse…my beautiful down sleeping bag…neither of which I particularly wanted to do. I considered packing up the tent and sleeping gear and heading for home, but didn’t know if I could make the 45-minute drive without incident. I elected to stay.
By 6:30 a.m., Dave and Mike…the other trip leader were stirring. I quickly got up, packed up my gear and loaded it into the Jeep. They asked me how I’d slept…and I told them…in great detail. “I figured you’d have heard me getting up and down all night,” I said. Neither had…but I’m light on my feet and quite the church mouse. They were starting up breakfast…eggs, bacon, sausage and such…the thought of which made me want to puke. I stuck around though and talked to everyone for a couple of hours to be sure I could make the drive without incident.
On the drive home, I felt flu-like symptoms coming on. To that point, I’d figured food poisoning…I’d cut up raw chicken for dinner the night before and not washed my hands afterwards…but now? Once home, I put all my gear away and headed off to bed. I slept for 3 hours and got up to take the van to see Dan about the brakes. He determined quickly that they needed new pads and headed up to Auto Zone to make the purchase and install them then and there. I watched and tried to assist, but he could tell by my shade of green that I wasn’t doing well. He finished quickly and I returned home and hit the sack at 6 p.m. I awoke often and, with aches and chills, took some Advil around 10 p.m. after which I slept most of the remainder of the evening.
Oh…and I never worked out. I didn’t really care, either.
Skunked.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
My nutritionist friend Bob met me in the park early Saturday morning to do the Survival Workout. Reza was supposed to join us, but I suspected that he might be feeling a little too sore from our Thursday workout to make it. I had some new wrinkles in the workout for Bob and took him to the pull-up tree to demonstrate the hip-circle mount (yeah…I’m a showoff) and the correct form for the pull-ups…as if he didn’t know. I always seem to do more of everything when he’s there…he’s in such good shape that I need my ‘A’ game to stay with or ahead of him…and managed a record 14 pull-ups after which I dropped to the ground and scored a record 60 push-ups. He was impressed with the pull-ups, but hit 85 on his push-ups…though I contested that he wasn’t dropping low enough. We continued through the workout talking nutrition, fitness and aging as we went…he’s such a well-read, fascinating guy…if you like that stuff. We pushed each other hard and I finished my last set of push-ups with a set of 40 and a three-set pr of 155. Like I said…competition brings out the best in me.
I got home, quickly showered and ate and then began the final preparations for my ‘Trip Leader’ overnight training course I was heading for. Things were close to on schedule…I needed to be on the road by 11 a.m., when I ran into a little snag. I’ve got two kayaks leaning against each other next to my shed out back and when I went to pull the one out I was taking on the trip, noticed something moving between them. I backed away quickly and good thing…as the black, furry tail raised and cut loose…missing me but dousing both kayaks. Bastard. I waited a couple of minutes before pulling it the rest of the way out and commencing with a de-skunking program…which was only marginally successful. Maybe hosing it off a final time while it was on the car and then letting it air dry on the drive to Kent would do the trick? My options were limited.
I met the group at Kent and after going over the checklist of gear and making a run to the local Wal-Mart for food purchases, we were on our way to Punderson State Park to set up camp. After this was done, we headed to LaDue Reservoir and our kayak training. It was then that everyone else in the group noticed how ineffective my skunk cleaning had been. They were stuck with my and my kayak…like it or not. And they didn’t.
Dave Herpy was running the training and explained that it would be complete negligence on the part of a trip leader to go into the water with a people whose skill level you didn’t know without testing their ability to do a wet exit of a kayak…meaning if it flips over with you in it, can you get out. I’d never flipped over in a kayak and wasn’t too anxious to do it now. We put our skirts on, which is just a garment that goes around the waist of the kayaker and attaches to the deck of the kayak around the opening in which you sit. Its intent is to keep water from splashing into the kayak in rough waters and keep it from filling inadvertently. I have only kayaked in such water once and have never used mine, so I wasn’t too sure how I’d do with it attached and upside down in the water. I didn’t have long to find out, though. I paddled out into four feet of water, went over the 5 steps to getting out of the kayak successfully when it was up side down…and rolled it. I took a deep breath before rolling, took my time and went through the different steps slowly. Being upside down under water is rather disorienting though, and I think I came out of the kayak in the wrong direction…though it seemed easy and I exited smoothly and surfaced. I received my ‘thumbs up’ and we proceeded to do a 2-hour trip on the southern, smaller end of the Reservoir. By 6 p.m., we had to get off the water if we were to make it back to our camp site in time to make dinner in day light…disappointing because the of the almost perfect kayaking conditions and beautiful summer evening we were experiencing. I’d burned a lot of calories though, and needed some food. Dinner always tastes better when camping out, too…though this was to be one I would remember for a very long time.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes. Kayak workout: 2 hours.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm for workout, 100 kayaking
Calories burned during workout: 600 for survival workout. 1,000 kayaking.
My nutritionist friend Bob met me in the park early Saturday morning to do the Survival Workout. Reza was supposed to join us, but I suspected that he might be feeling a little too sore from our Thursday workout to make it. I had some new wrinkles in the workout for Bob and took him to the pull-up tree to demonstrate the hip-circle mount (yeah…I’m a showoff) and the correct form for the pull-ups…as if he didn’t know. I always seem to do more of everything when he’s there…he’s in such good shape that I need my ‘A’ game to stay with or ahead of him…and managed a record 14 pull-ups after which I dropped to the ground and scored a record 60 push-ups. He was impressed with the pull-ups, but hit 85 on his push-ups…though I contested that he wasn’t dropping low enough. We continued through the workout talking nutrition, fitness and aging as we went…he’s such a well-read, fascinating guy…if you like that stuff. We pushed each other hard and I finished my last set of push-ups with a set of 40 and a three-set pr of 155. Like I said…competition brings out the best in me.
I got home, quickly showered and ate and then began the final preparations for my ‘Trip Leader’ overnight training course I was heading for. Things were close to on schedule…I needed to be on the road by 11 a.m., when I ran into a little snag. I’ve got two kayaks leaning against each other next to my shed out back and when I went to pull the one out I was taking on the trip, noticed something moving between them. I backed away quickly and good thing…as the black, furry tail raised and cut loose…missing me but dousing both kayaks. Bastard. I waited a couple of minutes before pulling it the rest of the way out and commencing with a de-skunking program…which was only marginally successful. Maybe hosing it off a final time while it was on the car and then letting it air dry on the drive to Kent would do the trick? My options were limited.
I met the group at Kent and after going over the checklist of gear and making a run to the local Wal-Mart for food purchases, we were on our way to Punderson State Park to set up camp. After this was done, we headed to LaDue Reservoir and our kayak training. It was then that everyone else in the group noticed how ineffective my skunk cleaning had been. They were stuck with my and my kayak…like it or not. And they didn’t.
Dave Herpy was running the training and explained that it would be complete negligence on the part of a trip leader to go into the water with a people whose skill level you didn’t know without testing their ability to do a wet exit of a kayak…meaning if it flips over with you in it, can you get out. I’d never flipped over in a kayak and wasn’t too anxious to do it now. We put our skirts on, which is just a garment that goes around the waist of the kayaker and attaches to the deck of the kayak around the opening in which you sit. Its intent is to keep water from splashing into the kayak in rough waters and keep it from filling inadvertently. I have only kayaked in such water once and have never used mine, so I wasn’t too sure how I’d do with it attached and upside down in the water. I didn’t have long to find out, though. I paddled out into four feet of water, went over the 5 steps to getting out of the kayak successfully when it was up side down…and rolled it. I took a deep breath before rolling, took my time and went through the different steps slowly. Being upside down under water is rather disorienting though, and I think I came out of the kayak in the wrong direction…though it seemed easy and I exited smoothly and surfaced. I received my ‘thumbs up’ and we proceeded to do a 2-hour trip on the southern, smaller end of the Reservoir. By 6 p.m., we had to get off the water if we were to make it back to our camp site in time to make dinner in day light…disappointing because the of the almost perfect kayaking conditions and beautiful summer evening we were experiencing. I’d burned a lot of calories though, and needed some food. Dinner always tastes better when camping out, too…though this was to be one I would remember for a very long time.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes. Kayak workout: 2 hours.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm for workout, 100 kayaking
Calories burned during workout: 600 for survival workout. 1,000 kayaking.
Jim Thome returns...and life is good again.
Friday, August 26, 2011
“John…I’m at the Indians ticket office at ‘The Jake’ and they’re selling out for tonight for Thome’s return. I’m guessing you want to go,” Don said when I answered his call. Jim Thome, one of two players (the other being Omar Visquel) from the glory Indians teams of the late ‘90’s still playing baseball, had been re-signed by the Indians in an effort to help their pathetic line-up with some home run muscle. He has been my favorite big league player since he came to the Indians in the early 90’s and remains so to this day. He recently smacked his 600th Major League homer to join an elite few in baseball history to have scaled such heights…one of the few in recent history to do so without the taint of performance enhancing drugs. To me, he’s always been the kind of guy that plays for the love of the game and relishes the opportunity to be there when it’s all on the line. He seems like a genuinely nice guy…and ‘aw shucks’ kind of player…never overly impressed with what he has accomplished as a player and recognizing its just a game, after all. “I’m there, Don. Thanks for thinking of me,” I said.
I now had a change in plans for the evening. It was going to be a long ride night, but with a 7 p.m. start time and not wanting to miss Thome’s first at bat, I knew I’d have to do something faster…which pretty much meant a run. I decided on the same course I’d done a week ago when I’d cranked through the first 22 minutes before slowing noticeably from the lack of running. I hit my first check point about 15 seconds faster than I had a week ago, but this night I knew there would be no slowing. I wished I would have had the time to go the entire Clear Creek trail and crush my pr on it, but I had to settle with crushing this course…which I did by finishing it 90 seconds faster than I had a week ago.
I went home, showered, made a smoothie, grabbed a chicken breast and my camera and was winging my way to ‘The Jake’ by 6:15 p.m. I soon discovered that 43,000 other people were doing the same thing and had to drive around the flats below Ontario before finally finding a place to park for free (I refuse to pay for using pavement to store my car while at a game). I missed the top half of the first, but was in my seat in time to see Thome walking out to the on-deck circle to take his limbering, warm-up swings. The noise in the stadium grew to a deafening roar as he approached home plate and, through tears, I snapped pictures continuously during his at-bat. Somewhere deep inside of me, I felt the emotion the ’95 and ’97 Indians and Jim Thome had sparked in me coming out. I don’t know how to explain it…only that after suffering through over 25 seasons of losing baseball since moving to Cleveland, that team and this man had managed to shed the blanket of misery under which I and so many others in ‘The Tribe’ had resided for too many years. I don’t care if he never hits another homer or whether or not he helps us get into the playoffs again. I’m glad he’s here and hope he stays to take his final swings of his stellar career in an Indians uniform. Thanks for coming home, Thominator…I missed you.
Run workout: 33 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
“John…I’m at the Indians ticket office at ‘The Jake’ and they’re selling out for tonight for Thome’s return. I’m guessing you want to go,” Don said when I answered his call. Jim Thome, one of two players (the other being Omar Visquel) from the glory Indians teams of the late ‘90’s still playing baseball, had been re-signed by the Indians in an effort to help their pathetic line-up with some home run muscle. He has been my favorite big league player since he came to the Indians in the early 90’s and remains so to this day. He recently smacked his 600th Major League homer to join an elite few in baseball history to have scaled such heights…one of the few in recent history to do so without the taint of performance enhancing drugs. To me, he’s always been the kind of guy that plays for the love of the game and relishes the opportunity to be there when it’s all on the line. He seems like a genuinely nice guy…and ‘aw shucks’ kind of player…never overly impressed with what he has accomplished as a player and recognizing its just a game, after all. “I’m there, Don. Thanks for thinking of me,” I said.
I now had a change in plans for the evening. It was going to be a long ride night, but with a 7 p.m. start time and not wanting to miss Thome’s first at bat, I knew I’d have to do something faster…which pretty much meant a run. I decided on the same course I’d done a week ago when I’d cranked through the first 22 minutes before slowing noticeably from the lack of running. I hit my first check point about 15 seconds faster than I had a week ago, but this night I knew there would be no slowing. I wished I would have had the time to go the entire Clear Creek trail and crush my pr on it, but I had to settle with crushing this course…which I did by finishing it 90 seconds faster than I had a week ago.
I went home, showered, made a smoothie, grabbed a chicken breast and my camera and was winging my way to ‘The Jake’ by 6:15 p.m. I soon discovered that 43,000 other people were doing the same thing and had to drive around the flats below Ontario before finally finding a place to park for free (I refuse to pay for using pavement to store my car while at a game). I missed the top half of the first, but was in my seat in time to see Thome walking out to the on-deck circle to take his limbering, warm-up swings. The noise in the stadium grew to a deafening roar as he approached home plate and, through tears, I snapped pictures continuously during his at-bat. Somewhere deep inside of me, I felt the emotion the ’95 and ’97 Indians and Jim Thome had sparked in me coming out. I don’t know how to explain it…only that after suffering through over 25 seasons of losing baseball since moving to Cleveland, that team and this man had managed to shed the blanket of misery under which I and so many others in ‘The Tribe’ had resided for too many years. I don’t care if he never hits another homer or whether or not he helps us get into the playoffs again. I’m glad he’s here and hope he stays to take his final swings of his stellar career in an Indians uniform. Thanks for coming home, Thominator…I missed you.
Run workout: 33 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Annoying driver...
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Once upon a time I was an easily-stressed driver…honking my horn and flipping people off for making what I considered bad driving moves that involved infringing on my complete right to the road. I’m calmer now, but as Reza and I were driving back from the park after a Survival Workout, some moron pulled out of a parking lot…slowly…crossing my lane (I was in the turning lane of an approaching light) and forcing me to brake to avoid hitting him. I beeped my horn in disgust and since the light we were approaching was red, rolled down the window on the passenger side and called out to the guy. “Did you happen to notice I was driving down the road?” He had this shit-eating grin on his face, having prepared his clever retort. “What’s your hurry…it’s a red light up there?” His logic…it’s okay to cut people off when approaching a red light because they need to stop eventually…so why not early by braking to avoid slamming into his silly ass. “Did you realize you’d blocked my right-of-way…and knock that silly, simple smile off your face before I come over there and slap you around until you actually understand what a total dumb ass you are.” He kept smiling and said he knew he was wrong, but didn’t seem to really care. “I just wanted to make sure you saw my car…you drive like you didn’t,” I said as I pulled away. The really annoying thing is that shit-for-brains drove away thinking I’m irrational for having beeped at him to notify him he was driving with his head up his kiester. He’ll probably keep doing that kind of stupid stuff until he runs into someone who’ll have a little more road rage than me and pull him from his car to beat him…well…sillier than he already is.
Reza had joined me to re-introduce himself to the Survival Workout. Though I didn’t check, I’d guess he’s running about 80 miles a week and about as thick as the sticks I throw for Dakota when we’re hiking together. He’s interested in total body fitness though, and knows the Survival Workout can give it to him in the environment he enjoys the most…the North Chagrin Reservation. We started like I always do by heading for the pull-up branch. I ripped off my usual 12 while he was doing push-ups. When I told him I’d done 12, he looked amazed. “I’ll be happy with 3,” he said. I forced him to use the palm-away technique and when he determined that I expected him to get his chin above the branch he said, “that makes it a chin-up…not a pull-up.” He’s quite technical. “Tomato…tomahhto…quit stalling and knock out a few ‘chin’ ups, would you?” He pulled until the top of his head was level with the bottom of the branch…struggled…and lowered himself. We had some work to do. I knocked out 55 push-ups…he doubted my count…we did some dips and lifted a log before heading down the trail. I worked closely with him to be certain he lifted things with good form to assure a ‘no injury’ workout. On my second set of push-ups, I notched another 50…which he didn’t dispute. “If I get 41 for my third set, I’ll break my 3-set pr of 145,” I announced.
We finished the workout and returned to the car for that final push-up set. I dropped and popped another 45 for a new record of 150. “Now…give me 20…I think you’ve been sand-bagging me,” I said. “I’ll be happy with ten,” he said as he began and by six I could see he’d never get there. He squeezed out eight, but when you take in everything we’d done with the upper body over the previous 60 minutes, he’d done quite well for a first time out. “Twelve workouts over the next four weeks and you will be absolutely amazed at how much more you’re doing,” I told him knowing it was true. He’ll be sore tomorrow, but I’m sure he’ll be back for the Saturday morning workout.
I got home and after eating some fruit, went up for my shower. I looked at the scale and decided ‘no’. I always weigh in immediately following a long aerobic workout and not having eaten anything…for consistency and to get the lowest possible reading. Then I decided ‘what the hell’ and climbed aboard. It was a little dark in the room, but when I bent closer to read the number ‘180’ I was amazed. Had I gone out for that ride, I’d have come in at 178 and probably peed my pants with excitement. Still…a new low and now 28 pounds since the blog began. I’m happy.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
Once upon a time I was an easily-stressed driver…honking my horn and flipping people off for making what I considered bad driving moves that involved infringing on my complete right to the road. I’m calmer now, but as Reza and I were driving back from the park after a Survival Workout, some moron pulled out of a parking lot…slowly…crossing my lane (I was in the turning lane of an approaching light) and forcing me to brake to avoid hitting him. I beeped my horn in disgust and since the light we were approaching was red, rolled down the window on the passenger side and called out to the guy. “Did you happen to notice I was driving down the road?” He had this shit-eating grin on his face, having prepared his clever retort. “What’s your hurry…it’s a red light up there?” His logic…it’s okay to cut people off when approaching a red light because they need to stop eventually…so why not early by braking to avoid slamming into his silly ass. “Did you realize you’d blocked my right-of-way…and knock that silly, simple smile off your face before I come over there and slap you around until you actually understand what a total dumb ass you are.” He kept smiling and said he knew he was wrong, but didn’t seem to really care. “I just wanted to make sure you saw my car…you drive like you didn’t,” I said as I pulled away. The really annoying thing is that shit-for-brains drove away thinking I’m irrational for having beeped at him to notify him he was driving with his head up his kiester. He’ll probably keep doing that kind of stupid stuff until he runs into someone who’ll have a little more road rage than me and pull him from his car to beat him…well…sillier than he already is.
Reza had joined me to re-introduce himself to the Survival Workout. Though I didn’t check, I’d guess he’s running about 80 miles a week and about as thick as the sticks I throw for Dakota when we’re hiking together. He’s interested in total body fitness though, and knows the Survival Workout can give it to him in the environment he enjoys the most…the North Chagrin Reservation. We started like I always do by heading for the pull-up branch. I ripped off my usual 12 while he was doing push-ups. When I told him I’d done 12, he looked amazed. “I’ll be happy with 3,” he said. I forced him to use the palm-away technique and when he determined that I expected him to get his chin above the branch he said, “that makes it a chin-up…not a pull-up.” He’s quite technical. “Tomato…tomahhto…quit stalling and knock out a few ‘chin’ ups, would you?” He pulled until the top of his head was level with the bottom of the branch…struggled…and lowered himself. We had some work to do. I knocked out 55 push-ups…he doubted my count…we did some dips and lifted a log before heading down the trail. I worked closely with him to be certain he lifted things with good form to assure a ‘no injury’ workout. On my second set of push-ups, I notched another 50…which he didn’t dispute. “If I get 41 for my third set, I’ll break my 3-set pr of 145,” I announced.
We finished the workout and returned to the car for that final push-up set. I dropped and popped another 45 for a new record of 150. “Now…give me 20…I think you’ve been sand-bagging me,” I said. “I’ll be happy with ten,” he said as he began and by six I could see he’d never get there. He squeezed out eight, but when you take in everything we’d done with the upper body over the previous 60 minutes, he’d done quite well for a first time out. “Twelve workouts over the next four weeks and you will be absolutely amazed at how much more you’re doing,” I told him knowing it was true. He’ll be sore tomorrow, but I’m sure he’ll be back for the Saturday morning workout.
I got home and after eating some fruit, went up for my shower. I looked at the scale and decided ‘no’. I always weigh in immediately following a long aerobic workout and not having eaten anything…for consistency and to get the lowest possible reading. Then I decided ‘what the hell’ and climbed aboard. It was a little dark in the room, but when I bent closer to read the number ‘180’ I was amazed. Had I gone out for that ride, I’d have come in at 178 and probably peed my pants with excitement. Still…a new low and now 28 pounds since the blog began. I’m happy.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Trip Leader Training at Kent State
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
It was going to be a tight evening. I had to be at Kent State University by 7 p.m. to attend a pre-trip planning session for the weekend course I was taking on ‘Trip Leader Training’. We would be kayaking Saturday afternoon in LaDue Reservoir and then camping out at Punderson State Park. The course was designed to prepare trip leaders for all of the issues related to the planning and leading of outdoor/backcountry group trips. I’ve been taking small groups into the Adirondacks for several years and have taken the training to be a Master Educator for Leave No Trace Camping as well as Wilderness First Aid and Map Reading/Orienteering, but this would be a new twist…and an important one. Planning the food for the group is one of the biggest challenges, but more important is the pre-interview of the participants to learn as much as you can about their health and fitness levels. You don’t want to be learning about allergies to things like foods and bee stings when you’re in the back country and hours from any professional medical attention. I tend to these things lightly because in the past I have known all of the people I’m leading pretty well…but not well enough. The course will put structure to what I’m already doing and likely give me many valuable ideas to make trips safer and more fun. There’s nothing I enjoy more than taking new folks into the Adirondacks and giving them a chance to experience the beauty of the back country and anything I can learn that might enhance their experience…I’ll do.
Anyway…I had about 90 minutes to get in a workout and grab something to eat before making the drive down. I wasted little time changing into my biking clothes once arriving home and was headed out the driveway in about 10 minutes. There was a fierce wind blowing out of the south…which is unusual…and I was heading north on a long, flat stretch of SOM Center Road next to the North Chagrin Reservation. I noticed I was riding about 25 mph without trying too hard and decided I’d shift gears and see what speed I could maintain. I pushed it up to 31 mph and was able to hold that speed for about a mile before I had to turn. I’ve followed the Tour de France for years and know that those guys can ride a 30-40 mile time trial on the roads…alone…at average speeds of 35 mph. I did it for 5 minutes with gale-force winds at my back and wondered…are they human? The capabilities of the human body are quite amazing when proper training is combined with superior God-given talent. I’m privy to neither.
I rode reasonably hard for almost 90 minutes, cruising into the driveway with about 20 minutes to pollute my neighbor’s pool with my sweaty body, make a smoothie and grab something to eat for the trip to Kent. I completed the tasks with 5 minutes to spare and headed for my meeting.
By the way…I’ve started to calculate my ‘calories burned’ at a lower number per minute because of the weight loss. Weight and effort both have to figure into the equation. My effort has stayed the same with training heart rates in the 130-140 range, but because I’m carrying around less baggage (my missing fat), I’m burning less calories per minute. Small price to pay and I can make up the difference by just going a few minutes longer.
Oh...thanks to Rachel for the tip to try Ivy Dry. Apparently there's a way to slow the itching...though I'm kind of becoming used to it.
Bike workout: 86 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1200.
It was going to be a tight evening. I had to be at Kent State University by 7 p.m. to attend a pre-trip planning session for the weekend course I was taking on ‘Trip Leader Training’. We would be kayaking Saturday afternoon in LaDue Reservoir and then camping out at Punderson State Park. The course was designed to prepare trip leaders for all of the issues related to the planning and leading of outdoor/backcountry group trips. I’ve been taking small groups into the Adirondacks for several years and have taken the training to be a Master Educator for Leave No Trace Camping as well as Wilderness First Aid and Map Reading/Orienteering, but this would be a new twist…and an important one. Planning the food for the group is one of the biggest challenges, but more important is the pre-interview of the participants to learn as much as you can about their health and fitness levels. You don’t want to be learning about allergies to things like foods and bee stings when you’re in the back country and hours from any professional medical attention. I tend to these things lightly because in the past I have known all of the people I’m leading pretty well…but not well enough. The course will put structure to what I’m already doing and likely give me many valuable ideas to make trips safer and more fun. There’s nothing I enjoy more than taking new folks into the Adirondacks and giving them a chance to experience the beauty of the back country and anything I can learn that might enhance their experience…I’ll do.
Anyway…I had about 90 minutes to get in a workout and grab something to eat before making the drive down. I wasted little time changing into my biking clothes once arriving home and was headed out the driveway in about 10 minutes. There was a fierce wind blowing out of the south…which is unusual…and I was heading north on a long, flat stretch of SOM Center Road next to the North Chagrin Reservation. I noticed I was riding about 25 mph without trying too hard and decided I’d shift gears and see what speed I could maintain. I pushed it up to 31 mph and was able to hold that speed for about a mile before I had to turn. I’ve followed the Tour de France for years and know that those guys can ride a 30-40 mile time trial on the roads…alone…at average speeds of 35 mph. I did it for 5 minutes with gale-force winds at my back and wondered…are they human? The capabilities of the human body are quite amazing when proper training is combined with superior God-given talent. I’m privy to neither.
I rode reasonably hard for almost 90 minutes, cruising into the driveway with about 20 minutes to pollute my neighbor’s pool with my sweaty body, make a smoothie and grab something to eat for the trip to Kent. I completed the tasks with 5 minutes to spare and headed for my meeting.
By the way…I’ve started to calculate my ‘calories burned’ at a lower number per minute because of the weight loss. Weight and effort both have to figure into the equation. My effort has stayed the same with training heart rates in the 130-140 range, but because I’m carrying around less baggage (my missing fat), I’m burning less calories per minute. Small price to pay and I can make up the difference by just going a few minutes longer.
Oh...thanks to Rachel for the tip to try Ivy Dry. Apparently there's a way to slow the itching...though I'm kind of becoming used to it.
Bike workout: 86 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1200.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Testing the hip...
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I headed directly from work to the park…as I often do…but this time I was in a hurry. I wanted to do the Survival Workout and get home in time for a two-hour ride. The hip soreness was down…but not gone…and I wanted to test it with a bike ride. I need to get the cardio workout without stressing it further and riding is my best option. I had to know how it would respond since backpacking is so close. The next few days will likely determine where I will be camping when I go to the Adirondacks. I can’t afford to put on a heavy pack to hike in and create a base camp if I’m going to be too sore to climb the next day. One of the great things about the Adirondacks is that so much of the Park is open camping…hike in and get 150 feet from a trail or water source and plunk your gear down and set up camp. This of course isn’t all that easy since the woods are quite dense off-trail and finding a good place to pitch a tent can be problematic. Still…I may have to camp close to the car if I’m to climb.
I climbed a couple of steep hills during the workout and the hip felt pretty solid. I returned home and hopped on the bike with the intent of riding long…but easy. This time I kept it that way, taking an extra 10 minutes to ride a course that usually takes close to two hours. There were a couple of times when I felt the hip throbbing, but if I changed the position of my leg or sat back in the saddle, it went away. Not a great sign for carrying a pack, though I’m reasonably certain I’ll be able to climb.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes. Bike workout: 1 hour and 55 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm for workout, 130 biking.
Calories burned during workout: 600 for survival workout. 1,500 biking.
I headed directly from work to the park…as I often do…but this time I was in a hurry. I wanted to do the Survival Workout and get home in time for a two-hour ride. The hip soreness was down…but not gone…and I wanted to test it with a bike ride. I need to get the cardio workout without stressing it further and riding is my best option. I had to know how it would respond since backpacking is so close. The next few days will likely determine where I will be camping when I go to the Adirondacks. I can’t afford to put on a heavy pack to hike in and create a base camp if I’m going to be too sore to climb the next day. One of the great things about the Adirondacks is that so much of the Park is open camping…hike in and get 150 feet from a trail or water source and plunk your gear down and set up camp. This of course isn’t all that easy since the woods are quite dense off-trail and finding a good place to pitch a tent can be problematic. Still…I may have to camp close to the car if I’m to climb.
I climbed a couple of steep hills during the workout and the hip felt pretty solid. I returned home and hopped on the bike with the intent of riding long…but easy. This time I kept it that way, taking an extra 10 minutes to ride a course that usually takes close to two hours. There were a couple of times when I felt the hip throbbing, but if I changed the position of my leg or sat back in the saddle, it went away. Not a great sign for carrying a pack, though I’m reasonably certain I’ll be able to climb.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes. Bike workout: 1 hour and 55 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm for workout, 130 biking.
Calories burned during workout: 600 for survival workout. 1,500 biking.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Hip pain...
Monday, August 22, 2011
I felt the pain deep in my hip almost immediately as John and I began to hike yesterday. I really didn’t think it would amount to anything since I wasn’t overdoing it…I’d just started. Yet…a year ago I’d ended up with a stress fracture for putting 60 pounds on my back, doing multiple sets in the bleachers and coming down and running the track (without the pack) in between sets. I’d ignored that pain and kept running over the next several days and eventually…stress fracture. And here I was…still dumber than a box of rocks…using the same weight when not having carried a pack like this in over a year. What was I thinking? Or…why wasn’t I thinking?
Anyway…the hip was damned sore all day and I opted not to do a workout. I was ready to ride and when I texted John to tell him I was thinking of taking it off to let the hip heal, he texted back “what would Lance do?” Well…sure…he’d have ridden, but this time I didn’t do what Lance would have done. Instead, I sat in a chair and read ‘Younger Next Year’. And I intend to be. Younger next year, that is.
The poison ivy continues to spread as I enter day 10 of the affliction. I don’t know what the record is…I should google it and try to add that to my resume. Every morning I wake up and find it in a couple of more places. I should look in the sheets…I probably brought a leaf home with me from Mimi’s and deposited it in there somewhere. With this day off, I’ll likely do a double tomorrow with a Survival Workout followed by a long bike. I need to be ready for climbing in September…it’s almost here.
I felt the pain deep in my hip almost immediately as John and I began to hike yesterday. I really didn’t think it would amount to anything since I wasn’t overdoing it…I’d just started. Yet…a year ago I’d ended up with a stress fracture for putting 60 pounds on my back, doing multiple sets in the bleachers and coming down and running the track (without the pack) in between sets. I’d ignored that pain and kept running over the next several days and eventually…stress fracture. And here I was…still dumber than a box of rocks…using the same weight when not having carried a pack like this in over a year. What was I thinking? Or…why wasn’t I thinking?
Anyway…the hip was damned sore all day and I opted not to do a workout. I was ready to ride and when I texted John to tell him I was thinking of taking it off to let the hip heal, he texted back “what would Lance do?” Well…sure…he’d have ridden, but this time I didn’t do what Lance would have done. Instead, I sat in a chair and read ‘Younger Next Year’. And I intend to be. Younger next year, that is.
The poison ivy continues to spread as I enter day 10 of the affliction. I don’t know what the record is…I should google it and try to add that to my resume. Every morning I wake up and find it in a couple of more places. I should look in the sheets…I probably brought a leaf home with me from Mimi’s and deposited it in there somewhere. With this day off, I’ll likely do a double tomorrow with a Survival Workout followed by a long bike. I need to be ready for climbing in September…it’s almost here.
Monday, August 22, 2011
"It's a hip-circle mount..."
Sunday, August 21, 2011
With the poison ivy continuing to spread, I decided it was time to wash everything I’d come into contact with since last Saturday. I’ve got a car full of towels that I sit on after workouts to keep the sweat from saturating the seat, so I grabbed those, all my running and cycling gear and gave it all to Holly. Maybe poison ivy acts this way…continuing to erupt 8 days after contracting it…but I figured it couldn’t hurt to have clean clothes and towels.
John and I met at the park to do a hike in our new shoes and with packs on. He immediately began to give me grief about going to the doctor’s for some kind of shot to clear up the poison ivy. “Jack had a severe case this past Spring and when we took him in, they didn’t have any shot to give him. I’m not wasting money and time on a doctor’s visit so they can tell me to spread ointment on it and it will eventually go away,” I said. “Besides…Lance would ignore it…go hiking…and look for more to roll in.”
I pulled out my pack, loaded and weighing 60 pounds. I grabbed the 40-pound bag of salt I’d brought for John to put in his pack. “Geez…I don’t know if I want it to be that heavy,” he whined. I had another bag with about 25 pounds in it, which he elected to take.
John has been off of the Oreo’s for a few weeks now and is looking pathetically skinny. “You need some upper body development, John. Push-ups, pull-ups…that kind of stuff. You’re looking like a little girl,” I said. He was unconvinced, saying he could easily beat the 12 push-up number I’d reached the other day. “Give you a buck if you can,” I said as we walked over to the branch I use. He jumped up, grabbed hold and started pulling. The first three went pretty smoothly, four was a struggle and five was the limit. Actually, not too bad for starters. Then I told him about the new book ‘Younger Next Year’ which I’d just started reading. “It’s about how little you have to concede to the aging process if you’re willing to work out hard six days a week…amongst other things. I know it works…I’m living proof. I can do a hip-circle mount again and I haven’t done one of those things since I was in high school,” I said. He scratched his head. “A hip-cycle…what?” Clearly, he hadn’t taken gym class at Eastlake Junior High School. “A hip-circle mount,” I said reaching for the branch from which he’d just done his pull-ups. I jumped up, grabbing the branch as if to do a pull-up, while swinging my legs up, pointing my toes to the sky as I pulled up. My legs shot up past the branch until my hips were even with it at which point I curled my toes over and down until I was vertical again with my waist even with the tree branch. I swung back down and dropped to the ground like Kurt Thomas dismounting a horizontal bar. “Hip-circle mount,” I said again. I don’t think he was impressed, but I was thrilled with myself. It seems like there have been so many things I’ve been unable to do over the past 20 years as I’ve let myself age…things that I’ve just concluded were beyond the reach of a 56-year old…but not anymore. I don’t know exactly what I want to do with this new-found ability, I just like having the knowledge that I really can do about anything I could do in my youth…if I was willing to put in the effort.
We went on a 70-minute hike up hills and off-trail. It was slippery from all the rain and we were both careful to use our sticks and avoid falling with packs…never good for knees. At one point, we came upon the remains of a deer…a couple of thigh and jaw bones were all that remained. I had John put the jaw bones in my pack to see if they matched the skull I’d found over the winter. John was wearing his heart-rate monitor and actually registered a heart rate of 156 bpm while climbing one of the hills. Mostly though, it stayed a little over 100 bpm…still decent and a good reason to wear a pack while walking. I suppose I was running about 10-15 beats higher since I was carrying over twice the weight. I did notice some discomfort in the hip I’d hurt last summer though, and concluded that I should use less weight on the next time out.
Hike workout: 70 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
With the poison ivy continuing to spread, I decided it was time to wash everything I’d come into contact with since last Saturday. I’ve got a car full of towels that I sit on after workouts to keep the sweat from saturating the seat, so I grabbed those, all my running and cycling gear and gave it all to Holly. Maybe poison ivy acts this way…continuing to erupt 8 days after contracting it…but I figured it couldn’t hurt to have clean clothes and towels.
John and I met at the park to do a hike in our new shoes and with packs on. He immediately began to give me grief about going to the doctor’s for some kind of shot to clear up the poison ivy. “Jack had a severe case this past Spring and when we took him in, they didn’t have any shot to give him. I’m not wasting money and time on a doctor’s visit so they can tell me to spread ointment on it and it will eventually go away,” I said. “Besides…Lance would ignore it…go hiking…and look for more to roll in.”
I pulled out my pack, loaded and weighing 60 pounds. I grabbed the 40-pound bag of salt I’d brought for John to put in his pack. “Geez…I don’t know if I want it to be that heavy,” he whined. I had another bag with about 25 pounds in it, which he elected to take.
John has been off of the Oreo’s for a few weeks now and is looking pathetically skinny. “You need some upper body development, John. Push-ups, pull-ups…that kind of stuff. You’re looking like a little girl,” I said. He was unconvinced, saying he could easily beat the 12 push-up number I’d reached the other day. “Give you a buck if you can,” I said as we walked over to the branch I use. He jumped up, grabbed hold and started pulling. The first three went pretty smoothly, four was a struggle and five was the limit. Actually, not too bad for starters. Then I told him about the new book ‘Younger Next Year’ which I’d just started reading. “It’s about how little you have to concede to the aging process if you’re willing to work out hard six days a week…amongst other things. I know it works…I’m living proof. I can do a hip-circle mount again and I haven’t done one of those things since I was in high school,” I said. He scratched his head. “A hip-cycle…what?” Clearly, he hadn’t taken gym class at Eastlake Junior High School. “A hip-circle mount,” I said reaching for the branch from which he’d just done his pull-ups. I jumped up, grabbing the branch as if to do a pull-up, while swinging my legs up, pointing my toes to the sky as I pulled up. My legs shot up past the branch until my hips were even with it at which point I curled my toes over and down until I was vertical again with my waist even with the tree branch. I swung back down and dropped to the ground like Kurt Thomas dismounting a horizontal bar. “Hip-circle mount,” I said again. I don’t think he was impressed, but I was thrilled with myself. It seems like there have been so many things I’ve been unable to do over the past 20 years as I’ve let myself age…things that I’ve just concluded were beyond the reach of a 56-year old…but not anymore. I don’t know exactly what I want to do with this new-found ability, I just like having the knowledge that I really can do about anything I could do in my youth…if I was willing to put in the effort.
We went on a 70-minute hike up hills and off-trail. It was slippery from all the rain and we were both careful to use our sticks and avoid falling with packs…never good for knees. At one point, we came upon the remains of a deer…a couple of thigh and jaw bones were all that remained. I had John put the jaw bones in my pack to see if they matched the skull I’d found over the winter. John was wearing his heart-rate monitor and actually registered a heart rate of 156 bpm while climbing one of the hills. Mostly though, it stayed a little over 100 bpm…still decent and a good reason to wear a pack while walking. I suppose I was running about 10-15 beats higher since I was carrying over twice the weight. I did notice some discomfort in the hip I’d hurt last summer though, and concluded that I should use less weight on the next time out.
Hike workout: 70 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
"Is that really you?"
Saturday, August 20, 2011
It’s been 43 years since I’ve had to deal with poison ivy. I suppose I should consider that a remarkable accomplishment when considering how much time I spend in places it thrives. I’d contracted it as a young teen and had it so badly on my face that one of my eyes was swollen shut. This time I figured it would blister in a couple of spots, dry up and go away. Wrong. It’s been 8 days since I first touched it and everyday since I’ve had it pop out someplace new. Well…something else to whine about.
Holly and I went to the park first thing in the morning…her to walk and me for the Survival Workout. We headed off the trail in opposite directions…which completely confused Dakota. I called her to come with me, but she waited and watched as Holly disappeared from sight. I was feeling a little discomfort in my right elbow…a result of the strain from the pull-ups. Wisely, I laid off after 7, but it nagged me throughout the workout. I returned to the car in an hour to find that Holly had not finished so I headed up the trail she had taken, walking a steep hill before returning to the car without her. She’s so time challenged that telling her I’d be done in a hour was meaningless. She’d be back when she’d be back.
We returned home to chores. I elected to build the mailbox Holly had been asking me to make, figuring if I did this good deed, I’d be clear to ride my bike later. It worked to perfection and I was riding by late afternoon. I’d decided to take the same course I’d done the day before, but easier. I worked on spinning at a higher rate…riding in an easier gear and turning the pedals faster to make up the speed I lost to the gear shift. It’s supposed to save some wear and tear on the legs and is particularly beneficial to the triathlete who needs to run after a hard ride. I rode this way as I approached the 1-hour mark on the course only to realize I was getting there about 3 minutes faster than I had the day before…and I was supposed to be tired. I finished the ride strongly, riding it two minutes faster than I ever had before and feeling pretty good about the day. I did my quick clean-up in the neighbor’s pool again so that Holly, Heidi, and I could return to the Palace for a showing of ‘The Big Chill’. Heidi elected to skip the movie and went to the Starbucks across the street where we met her after the movie. She had her laptop out and I asked her to show me some of the pictures she’d shot of the Survival Workout from the week before. With Holly watching over my shoulder, she pulled they up. “Who’s that guy with all the muscles in that picture,” Holly asked. It was me…and not that muscular…but more than she was used to seeing since I was in the middle of straining to complete a lift. “It’s me. Did you think she’d photo shopped my head onto someone’s body?” She looked at the picture again and pulled back the sleeve on my t-shirt. “Make a muscle,” she said. So I did. “Hmmm…guess it is you,” she concluded.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes. Bike workout: 1 hour and 43 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm for workout, 130 biking.
Calories burned during workout: 600 for survival workout. 1,500 biking.
It’s been 43 years since I’ve had to deal with poison ivy. I suppose I should consider that a remarkable accomplishment when considering how much time I spend in places it thrives. I’d contracted it as a young teen and had it so badly on my face that one of my eyes was swollen shut. This time I figured it would blister in a couple of spots, dry up and go away. Wrong. It’s been 8 days since I first touched it and everyday since I’ve had it pop out someplace new. Well…something else to whine about.
Holly and I went to the park first thing in the morning…her to walk and me for the Survival Workout. We headed off the trail in opposite directions…which completely confused Dakota. I called her to come with me, but she waited and watched as Holly disappeared from sight. I was feeling a little discomfort in my right elbow…a result of the strain from the pull-ups. Wisely, I laid off after 7, but it nagged me throughout the workout. I returned to the car in an hour to find that Holly had not finished so I headed up the trail she had taken, walking a steep hill before returning to the car without her. She’s so time challenged that telling her I’d be done in a hour was meaningless. She’d be back when she’d be back.
We returned home to chores. I elected to build the mailbox Holly had been asking me to make, figuring if I did this good deed, I’d be clear to ride my bike later. It worked to perfection and I was riding by late afternoon. I’d decided to take the same course I’d done the day before, but easier. I worked on spinning at a higher rate…riding in an easier gear and turning the pedals faster to make up the speed I lost to the gear shift. It’s supposed to save some wear and tear on the legs and is particularly beneficial to the triathlete who needs to run after a hard ride. I rode this way as I approached the 1-hour mark on the course only to realize I was getting there about 3 minutes faster than I had the day before…and I was supposed to be tired. I finished the ride strongly, riding it two minutes faster than I ever had before and feeling pretty good about the day. I did my quick clean-up in the neighbor’s pool again so that Holly, Heidi, and I could return to the Palace for a showing of ‘The Big Chill’. Heidi elected to skip the movie and went to the Starbucks across the street where we met her after the movie. She had her laptop out and I asked her to show me some of the pictures she’d shot of the Survival Workout from the week before. With Holly watching over my shoulder, she pulled they up. “Who’s that guy with all the muscles in that picture,” Holly asked. It was me…and not that muscular…but more than she was used to seeing since I was in the middle of straining to complete a lift. “It’s me. Did you think she’d photo shopped my head onto someone’s body?” She looked at the picture again and pulled back the sleeve on my t-shirt. “Make a muscle,” she said. So I did. “Hmmm…guess it is you,” she concluded.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes. Bike workout: 1 hour and 43 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm for workout, 130 biking.
Calories burned during workout: 600 for survival workout. 1,500 biking.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
A two-hour ride and 'On Golden Pond'
Friday, August 19, 2011
Holly and I love going to the movies and the Palace Theater in Playhouse Square, a magnificent structure originally constructed for vaudeville acts and later modified for picture shows, was airing ‘On Golden Pond’, a wonderful movie about aging, making changes and caring for loved ones starring Jane and Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn. It’s in my 10 ten movie list and I was anxious to see it on the big screen. First though…I had to get in a ride.
The way I figured, I needed to be rolling back in the driveway by 7 p.m. if we were to make it on time. That would leave me with 5 minutes to jump in the neighbor’s pool, change, grab some fruit to eat and be ready to go…which left me exactly two hours to ride and I intended to use every minute. The closer I get to my goals, the more intense I can get about my workouts. In a little over three weeks, I’ll begin some intensive climbing in the Adirondacks…and I’m only 10 pounds from where I’d really like to be again. Both things are motivating me to put more effort and diligence into my training and eating. I’m getting mental and I know it. Since Mimi had called to tell me she hadn’t gotten the wood chips for our next project, I was also planning a tough double for tomorrow to make up for lost yard work conditioning.
I figured out a way to extend my Waite Hill/Kirtland Hills ride to add 15 minutes more and cruised in the driveway exactly hours after starting. I hit the pool, made a smoothie and was in the car with minutes to spare. The movie struck emotional cords for both Holly and me…the sign of a great movie. Afterwards, we headed to Edgewater Park to walk the beach, but didn’t stay long as my poison ivy…which continues to spread and get worse…had me heading for home.
Bike workout: Two hours.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,800.
Holly and I love going to the movies and the Palace Theater in Playhouse Square, a magnificent structure originally constructed for vaudeville acts and later modified for picture shows, was airing ‘On Golden Pond’, a wonderful movie about aging, making changes and caring for loved ones starring Jane and Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn. It’s in my 10 ten movie list and I was anxious to see it on the big screen. First though…I had to get in a ride.
The way I figured, I needed to be rolling back in the driveway by 7 p.m. if we were to make it on time. That would leave me with 5 minutes to jump in the neighbor’s pool, change, grab some fruit to eat and be ready to go…which left me exactly two hours to ride and I intended to use every minute. The closer I get to my goals, the more intense I can get about my workouts. In a little over three weeks, I’ll begin some intensive climbing in the Adirondacks…and I’m only 10 pounds from where I’d really like to be again. Both things are motivating me to put more effort and diligence into my training and eating. I’m getting mental and I know it. Since Mimi had called to tell me she hadn’t gotten the wood chips for our next project, I was also planning a tough double for tomorrow to make up for lost yard work conditioning.
I figured out a way to extend my Waite Hill/Kirtland Hills ride to add 15 minutes more and cruised in the driveway exactly hours after starting. I hit the pool, made a smoothie and was in the car with minutes to spare. The movie struck emotional cords for both Holly and me…the sign of a great movie. Afterwards, we headed to Edgewater Park to walk the beach, but didn’t stay long as my poison ivy…which continues to spread and get worse…had me heading for home.
Bike workout: Two hours.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,800.
Missed a chance to ride...found some good books
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Holly called from Borders I as was heading home to hop on my bike. “They’re going out of business and everything in the store is half off and I thought you’d meet me and we could do a little shopping,” she said. Well…shopping with Holly…riding the bike…again…one of those times when you do something that keeps you married for so long. “Yeah…I’ve been wanting to get a copy of ‘The Paleo Diet’ book so I guess I’ll be there in about 20 minutes.
I couldn’t find the book Bob had loaned me but found another by the same author titled ‘Paleo Diet for the Athlete’. Okay…maybe I’m not an athlete, but I train like one and so much of the Paleo Diet is for someone trying to lose a lot of weight. Maintenance is as important…though the eating should be the same, but energy to work out is essential and comes from food…so I’m interested to see what’s its got to offer. I also found a book my Navy friend and former fellow bike hiker Todd had recommended. It’s called ‘Younger Next Year’ and is written for guys like us…trying to do things maybe we should have stopped trying some years ago (in some folks’ estimation). You can be sure I’ll post updates as I get into it.
I thought if I hurried through the purchases, there might still be time for a ride when Holly asked if I’d like to go out to eat.
So…I went from burning 1,000 calories to eating them instead. At least I had done my Survival Workout that morning and managed a new pull-up pr with 12. Some times you do the smart thing when you want to exercise…and you don’t.
Survival Workout duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 800.
Holly called from Borders I as was heading home to hop on my bike. “They’re going out of business and everything in the store is half off and I thought you’d meet me and we could do a little shopping,” she said. Well…shopping with Holly…riding the bike…again…one of those times when you do something that keeps you married for so long. “Yeah…I’ve been wanting to get a copy of ‘The Paleo Diet’ book so I guess I’ll be there in about 20 minutes.
I couldn’t find the book Bob had loaned me but found another by the same author titled ‘Paleo Diet for the Athlete’. Okay…maybe I’m not an athlete, but I train like one and so much of the Paleo Diet is for someone trying to lose a lot of weight. Maintenance is as important…though the eating should be the same, but energy to work out is essential and comes from food…so I’m interested to see what’s its got to offer. I also found a book my Navy friend and former fellow bike hiker Todd had recommended. It’s called ‘Younger Next Year’ and is written for guys like us…trying to do things maybe we should have stopped trying some years ago (in some folks’ estimation). You can be sure I’ll post updates as I get into it.
I thought if I hurried through the purchases, there might still be time for a ride when Holly asked if I’d like to go out to eat.
So…I went from burning 1,000 calories to eating them instead. At least I had done my Survival Workout that morning and managed a new pull-up pr with 12. Some times you do the smart thing when you want to exercise…and you don’t.
Survival Workout duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 800.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Running again...
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
My brother-in-law called to say he was going out on the boat but would be anchoring just off Fairport Beach so they could scrub the underside of the sailboat in preparation for some racing they were going to do this weekend. I agreed to go along for the chance to do another life jacket assessment of passing boats and to help with the cleaning. Since I wouldn’t have much time before heading to the boat, I decided it was time for a run…and a test of the knee.
I started on the trail I enjoy so much, but with the thought that, depending on how it was going, I might go into my Clear Creek Trail run and see how fit I was. It’s the only trail on which I keep a pr time and I know splits along the trail to see how I’m progressing. I hit my first split about 30 seconds faster than my I did on my pr time for the course and since I haven’t been running, can attribute this only to the lost weight. I wondered how much longer I would be able to hold the pace since I lacked any base…but I didn’t have to wonder long. At the 23-minute mark reality began to set in. I really shouldn’t have been trying to run a course that would take me over 50 minutes when I haven’t been running at all…and have a torn meniscus. I kept telling myself I’d ridden over three hours the night before, but the fact is…that shit don’t matter. To be in shape for running…you must run. I slowed, turned and finished the run fairly strongly, but having gone only 35 minutes…a reasonable amount. The good news is the knee felt strong…and I’m going to crush my previous pr when I return from the Adirondacks.
I arrived at the dock and hopped on board a little after 6 p.m. There was absolutely no breeze, so it looked like we’d be motoring out of the river and into the harbor with little chance of sailing after the hull cleaning. Once anchored, I dove into the water with goggles in hand and prepared for the scrubbing. The water wasn’t clear enough to see the hull, so we dove beneath it and felt for the scum we needed to scrub off for the boat to perform most efficiently in the coming races. I must have held my breath and made fifty trips beneath the boat before we were finished…which is some kind of workout though not one I’m sure how to classify. The biggest challenge was getting back on the deck of the boat…which sat about five feet above the water…without using the ladder. I got both hands on the deck and once I did that, knew I’d be able to make it. I was able to pull my chest even with the deck and swing a leg up and on it. After that, it was only a matter of time before I’d pulled the rest of my body from the water. There is no way I could have done this two months ago…the Survival Workout and all the pull-ups and lifting was the difference. It didn’t hurt that I’ve lost 20 pounds either.
I tried to do some paddle boarding, which is standing on something about the size of a surf board and paddling while you stand. The balance is tricky in waves…at least for me it was…and I couldn’t get the speed I did when kayaking so for me there was little attraction. I’m told it’s a great workout for the core, though I didn’t really see that in the short time I was on it, but it certainly works the balancing muscles. The good boards run well north of $1,000…for which I could get a decent sea kayak which I would find to be much more versatile. I like carrying camping gear on occasion and I particularly like to have my camera along for tooling down a river and shooting wild life…neither of which would be practical on the paddle board. I suppose they have a limited use and if you’ve got the discretionary dough…okay.
I finished the night with an interesting Paleo dinner. I baked some tuna, scrambled some eggs and cut up a garden fresh tomato and put it all together. Not too bad…filling and low calorie.
Run workout: 35 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
My brother-in-law called to say he was going out on the boat but would be anchoring just off Fairport Beach so they could scrub the underside of the sailboat in preparation for some racing they were going to do this weekend. I agreed to go along for the chance to do another life jacket assessment of passing boats and to help with the cleaning. Since I wouldn’t have much time before heading to the boat, I decided it was time for a run…and a test of the knee.
I started on the trail I enjoy so much, but with the thought that, depending on how it was going, I might go into my Clear Creek Trail run and see how fit I was. It’s the only trail on which I keep a pr time and I know splits along the trail to see how I’m progressing. I hit my first split about 30 seconds faster than my I did on my pr time for the course and since I haven’t been running, can attribute this only to the lost weight. I wondered how much longer I would be able to hold the pace since I lacked any base…but I didn’t have to wonder long. At the 23-minute mark reality began to set in. I really shouldn’t have been trying to run a course that would take me over 50 minutes when I haven’t been running at all…and have a torn meniscus. I kept telling myself I’d ridden over three hours the night before, but the fact is…that shit don’t matter. To be in shape for running…you must run. I slowed, turned and finished the run fairly strongly, but having gone only 35 minutes…a reasonable amount. The good news is the knee felt strong…and I’m going to crush my previous pr when I return from the Adirondacks.
I arrived at the dock and hopped on board a little after 6 p.m. There was absolutely no breeze, so it looked like we’d be motoring out of the river and into the harbor with little chance of sailing after the hull cleaning. Once anchored, I dove into the water with goggles in hand and prepared for the scrubbing. The water wasn’t clear enough to see the hull, so we dove beneath it and felt for the scum we needed to scrub off for the boat to perform most efficiently in the coming races. I must have held my breath and made fifty trips beneath the boat before we were finished…which is some kind of workout though not one I’m sure how to classify. The biggest challenge was getting back on the deck of the boat…which sat about five feet above the water…without using the ladder. I got both hands on the deck and once I did that, knew I’d be able to make it. I was able to pull my chest even with the deck and swing a leg up and on it. After that, it was only a matter of time before I’d pulled the rest of my body from the water. There is no way I could have done this two months ago…the Survival Workout and all the pull-ups and lifting was the difference. It didn’t hurt that I’ve lost 20 pounds either.
I tried to do some paddle boarding, which is standing on something about the size of a surf board and paddling while you stand. The balance is tricky in waves…at least for me it was…and I couldn’t get the speed I did when kayaking so for me there was little attraction. I’m told it’s a great workout for the core, though I didn’t really see that in the short time I was on it, but it certainly works the balancing muscles. The good boards run well north of $1,000…for which I could get a decent sea kayak which I would find to be much more versatile. I like carrying camping gear on occasion and I particularly like to have my camera along for tooling down a river and shooting wild life…neither of which would be practical on the paddle board. I suppose they have a limited use and if you’ve got the discretionary dough…okay.
I finished the night with an interesting Paleo dinner. I baked some tuna, scrambled some eggs and cut up a garden fresh tomato and put it all together. Not too bad…filling and low calorie.
Run workout: 35 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Longest ride in years...
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
It was a day for the Survival Workout and I’d made up my mind to do some extra running, as well. I did all the usual stuff when I exited the car and then began jogging down the trail. When I reached the steepest bridle trail in the park, I tried the side stepping running heading up. As I was doing this motion, it occurred to me that it was likely the kind of twisting on the knee a torn meniscus would find objectionable…and then I felt a tweak. I stopped and finished the hill walking, but tried jogging again when I reached the top. Nothing doing. I could feel some pain and figured making it worse had no upside. I completed the workout without further lower body moves to play it safe.
I returned home feeling less than satisfied and since it was such a perfect night, elected to go on a long ride. I decided on my Old Mill Road to Pekin course and took it to my 54-mile turn-around but on the return trip, lengthened the course by a couple of miles by bringing it back through the park. I thought it was going to be 60 miles, but ‘Map My Ride’ only confirmed 57 of them. Still, it was the longest ride I’ve taken since beginning the blog and probably the longest in 5 years or so. That, and I did it on the heels of a tough Survival Workout that had included at least some running.
I’d been eating poorly over the weekend with the Peach Cobbler and all…and then I’d had about a pound of ribs on Monday. I was sue the weight was up, but after a double…well…weigh in time. As I climbed aboard the box of truth something told me I was in the 181 neighborhood so when I saw 181.5, I pumped my fist in the air and let out a ’yes’! Holly is getting sick of hearing about my weight loss…she was in the room…so I told her anyway. “Down another half a pound,” I exclaimed. “Whoopy poo for you,” she said…only it wasn’t poo she said.
On the negative side, I’ve been scratching at blotches over various parts of my body that I’ve been trying to convince myself were multiple mosquito bites. I finally had to concede that it was poison ivy. I’d been cleaning up the weeds Mimi was pulling…with gloves…on Saturday and she’d told me to be careful of the stuff, but I’d forgotten. Well…I’m paying the price now for my stupidity and forgetfulness. Leaves of three…let it be.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes. Bike workout: 3 hours and 25 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm for workout, 130 biking.
Calories burned during workout: 600 for survival workout. 3,000 biking.
It was a day for the Survival Workout and I’d made up my mind to do some extra running, as well. I did all the usual stuff when I exited the car and then began jogging down the trail. When I reached the steepest bridle trail in the park, I tried the side stepping running heading up. As I was doing this motion, it occurred to me that it was likely the kind of twisting on the knee a torn meniscus would find objectionable…and then I felt a tweak. I stopped and finished the hill walking, but tried jogging again when I reached the top. Nothing doing. I could feel some pain and figured making it worse had no upside. I completed the workout without further lower body moves to play it safe.
I returned home feeling less than satisfied and since it was such a perfect night, elected to go on a long ride. I decided on my Old Mill Road to Pekin course and took it to my 54-mile turn-around but on the return trip, lengthened the course by a couple of miles by bringing it back through the park. I thought it was going to be 60 miles, but ‘Map My Ride’ only confirmed 57 of them. Still, it was the longest ride I’ve taken since beginning the blog and probably the longest in 5 years or so. That, and I did it on the heels of a tough Survival Workout that had included at least some running.
I’d been eating poorly over the weekend with the Peach Cobbler and all…and then I’d had about a pound of ribs on Monday. I was sue the weight was up, but after a double…well…weigh in time. As I climbed aboard the box of truth something told me I was in the 181 neighborhood so when I saw 181.5, I pumped my fist in the air and let out a ’yes’! Holly is getting sick of hearing about my weight loss…she was in the room…so I told her anyway. “Down another half a pound,” I exclaimed. “Whoopy poo for you,” she said…only it wasn’t poo she said.
On the negative side, I’ve been scratching at blotches over various parts of my body that I’ve been trying to convince myself were multiple mosquito bites. I finally had to concede that it was poison ivy. I’d been cleaning up the weeds Mimi was pulling…with gloves…on Saturday and she’d told me to be careful of the stuff, but I’d forgotten. Well…I’m paying the price now for my stupidity and forgetfulness. Leaves of three…let it be.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes. Bike workout: 3 hours and 25 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm for workout, 130 biking.
Calories burned during workout: 600 for survival workout. 3,000 biking.
Goals & Objectives: Can't make it without them.
Monday, August 15, 2011
When I’d seen Mimi’s son Tim on Saturday, we got to talking about my conditioning program. He was interested in making a change in his life and was looking for a little professional guidance. Normally a smart move…but he was about to get his advice from me. I’d told him that I’d be happy to map out a strategy to get him started, but since he lived in Michigan, it would be harder to keep tabs on him. We agreed to meet on Monday and strategize.
I sat down with him and went over his injury history…which was all about a torn quadriceps that sounded really nasty. Like so many Americans in their 40’s, he’d spent a lot of time working, little time exercising and put plenty of effort into eating poorly. The combination had him way over the weight he wanted to be. I gave him my usual speech…because I believe it to my core. “I’ve found that anyone who really succeeds has an achievable goal…and it’s best when it’s something you intend to do at a particular time…like running a 5K on Thanksgiving. It gives you a date to be ready and the need to follow a routine to make it.” He knew what I was saying. He has a goal now, but lacked the objectives…the smaller steps necessary to achieve the goal. I wrote the smaller steps on a training schedule and handed it over to him. “We’ll meet in three weeks and I’ll give you that fitness test so you’ll have a baseline to work against. Then we’ll retest you whenever you’re in town,” I promised.
I know it works. Set a goal…and really, really mean it. Then…map out the strategy. Its not so difficult to do, but it may take the help of someone who knows how to do these things. I mean I can do some of the fix-it jobs around the house, but if I’ve got a serious plumbing, building, or electrical issue…I get a hold of a pro that I trust.
Speaking of which, Dan called to say the Jeep was ready. Since his bike was done, I hopped aboard for the ride to his place. It would be dark in an hour, so I had to take the direct route…quickly…which meant heading up the Wilson Mills hill I like to head down at 50-plus mph. I knew his gears were designed for speed and not climbing, but when I reached that hill, I found out just how right I was. I consider myself a strong climber, but this was ridiculous. On my bike, I’d have had at least one gear to spare and could have ridden the hill in the saddle. With his set up, I was out of the saddle for almost the entire hill (you can take tough hills better standing on the pedals instead of sitting on the seat) with thighs screaming for oxygen. I made it to the top, but barely, and labored the rest of the way to his house in Chardon. It was the most intense 50-minute ride I’ve had in a long time and I’m sure my heart rate was 10 beats higher than I normally ride. I pulled in his driveway as dark was settling in and told him he needed the new gearing asap. “Other than that, you’ve go no excuse not to ride with me,” I told him…and he agreed. “I’ve been thinking a lot about riding since we got this out of the attic. Thanks for getting me moving again,” he said and I know he meant it. His goal…ride to work in Beachwood. I warned him that I didn’t think he could take the hill until he got in better riding shape. “Oh yeah? I’ll take that as a challenge.” Just what I was hoping for.
Bike workout: 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 800.
When I’d seen Mimi’s son Tim on Saturday, we got to talking about my conditioning program. He was interested in making a change in his life and was looking for a little professional guidance. Normally a smart move…but he was about to get his advice from me. I’d told him that I’d be happy to map out a strategy to get him started, but since he lived in Michigan, it would be harder to keep tabs on him. We agreed to meet on Monday and strategize.
I sat down with him and went over his injury history…which was all about a torn quadriceps that sounded really nasty. Like so many Americans in their 40’s, he’d spent a lot of time working, little time exercising and put plenty of effort into eating poorly. The combination had him way over the weight he wanted to be. I gave him my usual speech…because I believe it to my core. “I’ve found that anyone who really succeeds has an achievable goal…and it’s best when it’s something you intend to do at a particular time…like running a 5K on Thanksgiving. It gives you a date to be ready and the need to follow a routine to make it.” He knew what I was saying. He has a goal now, but lacked the objectives…the smaller steps necessary to achieve the goal. I wrote the smaller steps on a training schedule and handed it over to him. “We’ll meet in three weeks and I’ll give you that fitness test so you’ll have a baseline to work against. Then we’ll retest you whenever you’re in town,” I promised.
I know it works. Set a goal…and really, really mean it. Then…map out the strategy. Its not so difficult to do, but it may take the help of someone who knows how to do these things. I mean I can do some of the fix-it jobs around the house, but if I’ve got a serious plumbing, building, or electrical issue…I get a hold of a pro that I trust.
Speaking of which, Dan called to say the Jeep was ready. Since his bike was done, I hopped aboard for the ride to his place. It would be dark in an hour, so I had to take the direct route…quickly…which meant heading up the Wilson Mills hill I like to head down at 50-plus mph. I knew his gears were designed for speed and not climbing, but when I reached that hill, I found out just how right I was. I consider myself a strong climber, but this was ridiculous. On my bike, I’d have had at least one gear to spare and could have ridden the hill in the saddle. With his set up, I was out of the saddle for almost the entire hill (you can take tough hills better standing on the pedals instead of sitting on the seat) with thighs screaming for oxygen. I made it to the top, but barely, and labored the rest of the way to his house in Chardon. It was the most intense 50-minute ride I’ve had in a long time and I’m sure my heart rate was 10 beats higher than I normally ride. I pulled in his driveway as dark was settling in and told him he needed the new gearing asap. “Other than that, you’ve go no excuse not to ride with me,” I told him…and he agreed. “I’ve been thinking a lot about riding since we got this out of the attic. Thanks for getting me moving again,” he said and I know he meant it. His goal…ride to work in Beachwood. I warned him that I didn’t think he could take the hill until he got in better riding shape. “Oh yeah? I’ll take that as a challenge.” Just what I was hoping for.
Bike workout: 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 800.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Photographing the Survival Workout
Sunday, August 14, 2011
I’d been bugging Heidi for some time about coming to the Metropark with me and taking pictures of the Survival Workout. She’d agreed to Sunday morning and had enlisted her boyfriend, Matt, to join us in the endeavor. He’s only 23 and in good shape, so I figured he’d look good in the pictures…which is all I really wanted…otherwise they would be of me.
We started in my usual place and I began by explaining to Matt what he was getting into. He didn’t seemed concerned and so after a little stretching (by him…not me) we began with the pull-ups from the tree branch. I went first and when he saw my palm-away grip, he started to worry. “I do them with my hands in,” he said. I explained that those were easier and involved the biceps more at the top of the pull and I wanted the emphasis to stay on the back. He went with it and looked good doing them. We moved to the push-ups and then the log lift…which is where his troubles began.
I outweigh Matt by…oh…40 pounds or more and I’ve been doing this for some time. The log is heavy and when he went to work with it, felt a twinge in his back from a previous injury he’d not told me about. Heidi would tell me later that he didn’t want to disappoint me and seem like a wimp by not doing the things I was doing. I suppose he had a right to fear my mocking…I do it all the time…but never of him. Oh well.
We moved down the trail for more exercise and pictures and on the second rock lift, his back told him enough was enough. Wisely, he opted out of further low back work, but did all the other moves including the cliff climb, high skips, 50-yard sprints, log lifts and carries, pole climbs-arms only, push-ups in the stream, and the fireman’s carry…to name a few. Normally, I wouldn’t do all of these in one workout, but I at least wanted to get pictures of all the different exercises we perform in the woods. Heidi ended up with over 500 pictures before we were done.
I was sorry Matt hurt his back…but we got some great shots and he’s young and will heal. I was particularly encouraged by the sprints we did. My knee was feeling rock solid and we were doing some all-out efforts. Add to that the high skips, jump ups and some other interesting side-step running we were doing uphill, and I was feeling like I was ready to run. I’ll give that a try soon.
I wasn’t so good at the dinner table, though. Holly made a lot of evil food…like mashed potatoes and fried noodles…which I sampled. The real issue came after dinner. She’d made some fresh peach cobbler and I had a large serving with whipped cream on top. I’m not weighing in for a while.
Survival Workout duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 800.
I’d been bugging Heidi for some time about coming to the Metropark with me and taking pictures of the Survival Workout. She’d agreed to Sunday morning and had enlisted her boyfriend, Matt, to join us in the endeavor. He’s only 23 and in good shape, so I figured he’d look good in the pictures…which is all I really wanted…otherwise they would be of me.
We started in my usual place and I began by explaining to Matt what he was getting into. He didn’t seemed concerned and so after a little stretching (by him…not me) we began with the pull-ups from the tree branch. I went first and when he saw my palm-away grip, he started to worry. “I do them with my hands in,” he said. I explained that those were easier and involved the biceps more at the top of the pull and I wanted the emphasis to stay on the back. He went with it and looked good doing them. We moved to the push-ups and then the log lift…which is where his troubles began.
I outweigh Matt by…oh…40 pounds or more and I’ve been doing this for some time. The log is heavy and when he went to work with it, felt a twinge in his back from a previous injury he’d not told me about. Heidi would tell me later that he didn’t want to disappoint me and seem like a wimp by not doing the things I was doing. I suppose he had a right to fear my mocking…I do it all the time…but never of him. Oh well.
We moved down the trail for more exercise and pictures and on the second rock lift, his back told him enough was enough. Wisely, he opted out of further low back work, but did all the other moves including the cliff climb, high skips, 50-yard sprints, log lifts and carries, pole climbs-arms only, push-ups in the stream, and the fireman’s carry…to name a few. Normally, I wouldn’t do all of these in one workout, but I at least wanted to get pictures of all the different exercises we perform in the woods. Heidi ended up with over 500 pictures before we were done.
I was sorry Matt hurt his back…but we got some great shots and he’s young and will heal. I was particularly encouraged by the sprints we did. My knee was feeling rock solid and we were doing some all-out efforts. Add to that the high skips, jump ups and some other interesting side-step running we were doing uphill, and I was feeling like I was ready to run. I’ll give that a try soon.
I wasn’t so good at the dinner table, though. Holly made a lot of evil food…like mashed potatoes and fried noodles…which I sampled. The real issue came after dinner. She’d made some fresh peach cobbler and I had a large serving with whipped cream on top. I’m not weighing in for a while.
Survival Workout duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 800.
Maxing out at Mimi's.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
With the Jeep at Dan’s and Savannah driving the Honda to Columbus for the weekend, I found myself needing to ride the bike to Mimi’s for my Saturday workout in her yard. It’s only 20 minutes away and all downhill, but it would be a good warm-up for the day.
I arrived at 8 a.m. and after our obligatory coffee and small talk, began the task of weeding out a portion of her front yard around couple of trees that was supposed to be landscaped, but had gone wild over the past few years. She had three yards of mulch on the way, which I would be spreading when the weeks were gone. Some of the weeds included poison ivy, which she pulled with her gloves and cautioned me about for when I hauled it away…something I failed to do.
The mulch arrived and in a little over two hours, I had it moved and spread and looking good. It was a little after one and I looked at those two stumps I hadn’t been able to get out during the heat of the previous Saturday. It wasn’t nearly so hot now…and I went at it with mattock and shovel. I pulled the first one from the ground after 45 minutes of swinging, digging and cursing. It weighed about eighty pounds I’d guess as I wrestled it into the wheelbarrow. The final one was the blue whale of the group and took considerably more effort, but it too finally broke free and with the help of Mimi’s son, Tim, I maneuvered it into the wheelbarrow, as well. As I wheeled it into the woods, I noticed my quads were quivering and my upper body was just one big twitch. I…was…whipped…and I still had to ride the bike home…uphill. John was coming to meet me so we could go out to the Backpacker’s Store and try to find the Garmont shoes we wanted and I considered telling him to stop by and pick me and my bike up, but then asked myself “what would Lance do?” Well…he’d have hired someone to do the yard work and ridden all day…but in this particular situation…he’d ride. I hosed the mud from my body, sat down and had a Snapple Iced Tea and rested for 20 minutes…then boarded the bike for home.
It was uphill…and into the wind…and I took my time. I could hardly function by the time I reached home and when John arrived for our shopping trip, I felt like sleeping for the ride. Savannah called me from Columbus as we drove because the engine light for the Honda was coming on and she didn’t know what to do. I told her about oil and how it’s pretty important to an engine and how to lift the hood, check the dipstick and put some in. Though she’s been through this before, I could tell it was a foreign concept…and she’s an engineer.
The Backpacker’s Store had Garmont shoes…but not in sizes that would fit anyone who wasn’t a Smurf or Herman Munster. We were shopping through the clearance stuff when John noticed shoes…Garmont shoes. We both found what we were looking for in human sizes and when the clerk that had been helping us saw us there, commented that he’d forgotten there were shoes back here. “I’m thinking this store isn’t so big that I’d lose track of a quarter of it and that, if I was selling shoes, would forget where half of them were,” I said. Well…we got what we needed and for only $70.
That night, I turned in early. I had not done a traditional workout, but was more whipped than I’ve been from anything in a long time. Some days you just find the opportunity to burn calories while actually doing something constructive. What a concept.
Yard work duration: 5 hours. Bike workout: 50 minutes.
Training heart rate: 80 to 150 bpm for yard work. 130 biking.
Calories burned during workout: 2,500 for yard work. 700 biking.
With the Jeep at Dan’s and Savannah driving the Honda to Columbus for the weekend, I found myself needing to ride the bike to Mimi’s for my Saturday workout in her yard. It’s only 20 minutes away and all downhill, but it would be a good warm-up for the day.
I arrived at 8 a.m. and after our obligatory coffee and small talk, began the task of weeding out a portion of her front yard around couple of trees that was supposed to be landscaped, but had gone wild over the past few years. She had three yards of mulch on the way, which I would be spreading when the weeks were gone. Some of the weeds included poison ivy, which she pulled with her gloves and cautioned me about for when I hauled it away…something I failed to do.
The mulch arrived and in a little over two hours, I had it moved and spread and looking good. It was a little after one and I looked at those two stumps I hadn’t been able to get out during the heat of the previous Saturday. It wasn’t nearly so hot now…and I went at it with mattock and shovel. I pulled the first one from the ground after 45 minutes of swinging, digging and cursing. It weighed about eighty pounds I’d guess as I wrestled it into the wheelbarrow. The final one was the blue whale of the group and took considerably more effort, but it too finally broke free and with the help of Mimi’s son, Tim, I maneuvered it into the wheelbarrow, as well. As I wheeled it into the woods, I noticed my quads were quivering and my upper body was just one big twitch. I…was…whipped…and I still had to ride the bike home…uphill. John was coming to meet me so we could go out to the Backpacker’s Store and try to find the Garmont shoes we wanted and I considered telling him to stop by and pick me and my bike up, but then asked myself “what would Lance do?” Well…he’d have hired someone to do the yard work and ridden all day…but in this particular situation…he’d ride. I hosed the mud from my body, sat down and had a Snapple Iced Tea and rested for 20 minutes…then boarded the bike for home.
It was uphill…and into the wind…and I took my time. I could hardly function by the time I reached home and when John arrived for our shopping trip, I felt like sleeping for the ride. Savannah called me from Columbus as we drove because the engine light for the Honda was coming on and she didn’t know what to do. I told her about oil and how it’s pretty important to an engine and how to lift the hood, check the dipstick and put some in. Though she’s been through this before, I could tell it was a foreign concept…and she’s an engineer.
The Backpacker’s Store had Garmont shoes…but not in sizes that would fit anyone who wasn’t a Smurf or Herman Munster. We were shopping through the clearance stuff when John noticed shoes…Garmont shoes. We both found what we were looking for in human sizes and when the clerk that had been helping us saw us there, commented that he’d forgotten there were shoes back here. “I’m thinking this store isn’t so big that I’d lose track of a quarter of it and that, if I was selling shoes, would forget where half of them were,” I said. Well…we got what we needed and for only $70.
That night, I turned in early. I had not done a traditional workout, but was more whipped than I’ve been from anything in a long time. Some days you just find the opportunity to burn calories while actually doing something constructive. What a concept.
Yard work duration: 5 hours. Bike workout: 50 minutes.
Training heart rate: 80 to 150 bpm for yard work. 130 biking.
Calories burned during workout: 2,500 for yard work. 700 biking.
End of a running era...Lorentz's leaving for college.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Once again I found myself driving Savannah’s Jeep and meeting with complications. It has been sucking down oil…I suppose not too surprising for a vehicle with 182,000 miles on it, but it was making some God-awful sounds under the hood, as well. I made it home and threw my bike in the back so I could go and visit Dan. I suspected I’d be riding home…which was okay but would keep me from doing the Survival Workout with Kim. I had wanted to take her through the paces so she could see what I’d been doing with my summer and teach her some tricks she could incorporate into her workouts in Florida as she began graduate school.
I arrived at Dan’s and lifted the hood…though we could hear the offending noise quite nicely with it latched. He took a quick look and said, “air conditioning pump.” He made a call and presented me with my options. “I could get a new pump for $400 or eliminate it for $60,” he said. It didn’t take me long to answer. “Summer’s almost over and she knows how to operate the windows for air flow. Let’s do the $60 fix.” I unloaded the bike and told him he could have the Jeep for the weekend and when I returned, I’d be riding his reconditioned bike so that he wouldn’t have any more excuses for not riding with me.
I had about two hours of daylight and planned on riding every minute of them. Since I couldn’t take Kim through the Survival Workout, I figured I could at least swing by her place and say goodbye to her and Marie…Marie was leaving for Purdue in the morning where she’d be studying Mechanical Engineering and running for the Boilermakers. I hadn’t seen Marie all summer so when I rode into their driveway and she came out of the house, she seemed surprised to see it was me. “You look so fit, Mr. Rolf. I almost didn’t recognize you.” Well…that felt good coming from a high school kid. I’ve probably lost 15 pounds since she saw me last and done a boat load of Survival Workouts, giving me and entirely new…and fitter…look. That…and I was wearing my form-fitting cycling jersey…which really makes me look like Lance.
After a 30-minute visit, I finished the short ride home but had managed a 30-mile ride. I’m going to miss those two girls. Between them, I’ve been coaching and cheering their efforts for over 7 years during which time them have run some amazing times and races. This will be the first fall in many years that I don’t have a Cross Country athlete with whom I’m working…Jack has declined the opportunity to run. It is one of the things I really enjoy and will miss it. Hopefully, some athlete looking to get more from their running talent will come knocking on my door sometime soon.
Bike workout: One hour and 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,400.
Once again I found myself driving Savannah’s Jeep and meeting with complications. It has been sucking down oil…I suppose not too surprising for a vehicle with 182,000 miles on it, but it was making some God-awful sounds under the hood, as well. I made it home and threw my bike in the back so I could go and visit Dan. I suspected I’d be riding home…which was okay but would keep me from doing the Survival Workout with Kim. I had wanted to take her through the paces so she could see what I’d been doing with my summer and teach her some tricks she could incorporate into her workouts in Florida as she began graduate school.
I arrived at Dan’s and lifted the hood…though we could hear the offending noise quite nicely with it latched. He took a quick look and said, “air conditioning pump.” He made a call and presented me with my options. “I could get a new pump for $400 or eliminate it for $60,” he said. It didn’t take me long to answer. “Summer’s almost over and she knows how to operate the windows for air flow. Let’s do the $60 fix.” I unloaded the bike and told him he could have the Jeep for the weekend and when I returned, I’d be riding his reconditioned bike so that he wouldn’t have any more excuses for not riding with me.
I had about two hours of daylight and planned on riding every minute of them. Since I couldn’t take Kim through the Survival Workout, I figured I could at least swing by her place and say goodbye to her and Marie…Marie was leaving for Purdue in the morning where she’d be studying Mechanical Engineering and running for the Boilermakers. I hadn’t seen Marie all summer so when I rode into their driveway and she came out of the house, she seemed surprised to see it was me. “You look so fit, Mr. Rolf. I almost didn’t recognize you.” Well…that felt good coming from a high school kid. I’ve probably lost 15 pounds since she saw me last and done a boat load of Survival Workouts, giving me and entirely new…and fitter…look. That…and I was wearing my form-fitting cycling jersey…which really makes me look like Lance.
After a 30-minute visit, I finished the short ride home but had managed a 30-mile ride. I’m going to miss those two girls. Between them, I’ve been coaching and cheering their efforts for over 7 years during which time them have run some amazing times and races. This will be the first fall in many years that I don’t have a Cross Country athlete with whom I’m working…Jack has declined the opportunity to run. It is one of the things I really enjoy and will miss it. Hopefully, some athlete looking to get more from their running talent will come knocking on my door sometime soon.
Bike workout: One hour and 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,400.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Three thousand mile bike ride...done that.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
After a hard night of bike riding, I decided it was time to take a night off and do my part-time job checking for boaters wearing life jackets on watercraft. I went to the break wall along the mouth of the Grand River in Fairport Harbor and took up a strategic position where I could observe all watercraft coming in out and out the river and still see boaters in harbor just off of Fairport Beach. I was able to document 33 boats and actually saw some life jackets on one sailboat of three adults and two others with young children wearing (but not the adults). Statistically, that was only 10 life jackets on 120 boaters…about average for the nation.
My sister was trying out the newest craze on the water…stand-up paddle boards. She invited me to try them, which I wanted to do and said I would if they were still out when I returned from my observation point. They weren’t. I talked to the guy who owned the boards…and avid canoe/kayak guy and he said he thought it might actually be a better way to cross the Lake on my triathlon. “You can change positions so you won’t get so sore just sitting in a kayak all that time. Standing obviously, but you can sit, lie down and move all around…and it’s just as fast,” he said. I was having troubles imagining that it could be as fast since you couldn’t put a one blade paddle in the water as quickly as a double blade, but he’s done both and I’ll have to give it a try. He claims it’s a great core workout, as well.
Kim stopped by late to share her stories of a 3,000 mile cycling trek and the many pictures she had taken. She’d finished her ride in Utah because she needed to get home and on to graduate school and would be leaving Saturday morning. I could tell she’d had the time of her life…she was so animated when describing what I was seeing in the pictures…and sad that she was no longer on the road. I’ve had similar feelings every time I leave a longer backpacking trip. It gets under your skin and you never want to stop. She’s already planning her next trip. She commented that the cyclists she was seeing on the road were all older. “There was hardly anyone my age…they were all old…like you,” she said. She really felt that anyone could do what she had done. Sure…a little training was necessary, but if a person paced themselves, there was nothing so physically demanding that it couldn’t be done. “I think the time it takes and the discomforts of the road are what would keep most folks away from such a trip,” I said, “but if they could only know the feeling of fulfillment and achievement that comes with the effort…they’d give it a try.” I told her the next big adventure should be backpacking the Pacific Coast Trail. “That’s the trip I want to take,” I said.
I know her trip was a lot to do and that few are willing to…or interested in…the kind of commitment it takes to achieve. Still, there are so many opportunities to create your own smaller, less time-consuming adventure trips that would commit you to a level of fitness hard to achieve in any other way. Bike, backpack, hike, kayak/canoe trips of one to two weeks would necessitate a commitment to training and a conditioning level that would leave most people pleased with themselves. Finding the time…committing completely to something for yourself and your good health…hard to make yourself do, I know.
After a hard night of bike riding, I decided it was time to take a night off and do my part-time job checking for boaters wearing life jackets on watercraft. I went to the break wall along the mouth of the Grand River in Fairport Harbor and took up a strategic position where I could observe all watercraft coming in out and out the river and still see boaters in harbor just off of Fairport Beach. I was able to document 33 boats and actually saw some life jackets on one sailboat of three adults and two others with young children wearing (but not the adults). Statistically, that was only 10 life jackets on 120 boaters…about average for the nation.
My sister was trying out the newest craze on the water…stand-up paddle boards. She invited me to try them, which I wanted to do and said I would if they were still out when I returned from my observation point. They weren’t. I talked to the guy who owned the boards…and avid canoe/kayak guy and he said he thought it might actually be a better way to cross the Lake on my triathlon. “You can change positions so you won’t get so sore just sitting in a kayak all that time. Standing obviously, but you can sit, lie down and move all around…and it’s just as fast,” he said. I was having troubles imagining that it could be as fast since you couldn’t put a one blade paddle in the water as quickly as a double blade, but he’s done both and I’ll have to give it a try. He claims it’s a great core workout, as well.
Kim stopped by late to share her stories of a 3,000 mile cycling trek and the many pictures she had taken. She’d finished her ride in Utah because she needed to get home and on to graduate school and would be leaving Saturday morning. I could tell she’d had the time of her life…she was so animated when describing what I was seeing in the pictures…and sad that she was no longer on the road. I’ve had similar feelings every time I leave a longer backpacking trip. It gets under your skin and you never want to stop. She’s already planning her next trip. She commented that the cyclists she was seeing on the road were all older. “There was hardly anyone my age…they were all old…like you,” she said. She really felt that anyone could do what she had done. Sure…a little training was necessary, but if a person paced themselves, there was nothing so physically demanding that it couldn’t be done. “I think the time it takes and the discomforts of the road are what would keep most folks away from such a trip,” I said, “but if they could only know the feeling of fulfillment and achievement that comes with the effort…they’d give it a try.” I told her the next big adventure should be backpacking the Pacific Coast Trail. “That’s the trip I want to take,” I said.
I know her trip was a lot to do and that few are willing to…or interested in…the kind of commitment it takes to achieve. Still, there are so many opportunities to create your own smaller, less time-consuming adventure trips that would commit you to a level of fitness hard to achieve in any other way. Bike, backpack, hike, kayak/canoe trips of one to two weeks would necessitate a commitment to training and a conditioning level that would leave most people pleased with themselves. Finding the time…committing completely to something for yourself and your good health…hard to make yourself do, I know.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Perfect riding weather...
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
It was an absolutely perfect night for riding…or anything for that matter. The temperature was in the 70’s, the humidity was low and the chance of rain was low. I decided to go long…doing the 48-mile course John and I had ridden two weeks ago when he’d bonked. It was a challenging, hilly course and perfect for the endurance I was trying to build for the upcoming climbs in the Adirondacks. The days are getting shorter and I need to take advantage of evenings like this anyway.
I found a cycling shirt in the back of my car…don’t know where it came from and I’ve never worn one, always opting for your standard-issue t-shirt. I’ve always thought they looked a little too preppy or professional or something…and I’m neither of those things. John likes them and claims they wick the sweat better leaving him drier during rides. I know this, but with the way I sweat, no amount of wicking is sufficient to keep pace. Still…it was there and kind of clean…so I donned it.
After so many weeks of working out in sweltering conditions, the cool evening air had me feeling like I could ride forever and effortlessly. I cruised through the hills of Waite and Kirtland Hills and found myself on Auburn heading south about 10 minutes faster than John and I had done it two weeks earlier. Auburn’s a reasonably busy road and I stuck with it until I hit Rt. 87 before turning back west and heading for home. I somehow managed to ride long stretches of 87 without any passing cars…amazing for a state route but one of the great things about riding out east where they seem to have more horses than cars.
I completed the course about 15 minutes faster than my previous trip, confirming the ideal riding conditions and my lack of cramping. By now I was ravenous and pulled about a pound of salmon from the freezer to thaw while I showered. I baked it for 30 minutes and made a giant smoothie with a banana, blue berries, strawberries, an apple, yogurt and apple cider. I was delicious and I was stuffed.
I can see I’m going to have to make myself put on the pack and do some bleachers and hiking. This weather begs to be ridden in and I’ll opt for that every time. It’s great to get out for three hours of hard work while being able to enjoy the great landscape the eastern rural areas have to offer. The woods are good, too, and I need it. This weekend for sure.
Bike workout: Two hours and 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2,400.
It was an absolutely perfect night for riding…or anything for that matter. The temperature was in the 70’s, the humidity was low and the chance of rain was low. I decided to go long…doing the 48-mile course John and I had ridden two weeks ago when he’d bonked. It was a challenging, hilly course and perfect for the endurance I was trying to build for the upcoming climbs in the Adirondacks. The days are getting shorter and I need to take advantage of evenings like this anyway.
I found a cycling shirt in the back of my car…don’t know where it came from and I’ve never worn one, always opting for your standard-issue t-shirt. I’ve always thought they looked a little too preppy or professional or something…and I’m neither of those things. John likes them and claims they wick the sweat better leaving him drier during rides. I know this, but with the way I sweat, no amount of wicking is sufficient to keep pace. Still…it was there and kind of clean…so I donned it.
After so many weeks of working out in sweltering conditions, the cool evening air had me feeling like I could ride forever and effortlessly. I cruised through the hills of Waite and Kirtland Hills and found myself on Auburn heading south about 10 minutes faster than John and I had done it two weeks earlier. Auburn’s a reasonably busy road and I stuck with it until I hit Rt. 87 before turning back west and heading for home. I somehow managed to ride long stretches of 87 without any passing cars…amazing for a state route but one of the great things about riding out east where they seem to have more horses than cars.
I completed the course about 15 minutes faster than my previous trip, confirming the ideal riding conditions and my lack of cramping. By now I was ravenous and pulled about a pound of salmon from the freezer to thaw while I showered. I baked it for 30 minutes and made a giant smoothie with a banana, blue berries, strawberries, an apple, yogurt and apple cider. I was delicious and I was stuffed.
I can see I’m going to have to make myself put on the pack and do some bleachers and hiking. This weather begs to be ridden in and I’ll opt for that every time. It’s great to get out for three hours of hard work while being able to enjoy the great landscape the eastern rural areas have to offer. The woods are good, too, and I need it. This weekend for sure.
Bike workout: Two hours and 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2,400.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Back to running on the Survival Workout
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Jack and I were taking Savannah to the Indians game and we wanted to see the opening pitch, so I had to move fast to get in my Survival Workout. My knee had been feeling so good that I felt it was time to try running between stations, which would stress the knee in a way to help get it ready for the
Adirondacks and get the workout over faster. I did my first four sets where I park the car and then started at a trot down the bridle trail. I’ve done this before, but never after four sets of upper body exercises, which tend to pool large amounts of blood in the muscles of the upper body. As I began to run, I noticed this blood pooling…my upper body feeling strangely heavy and my lower body wondering where the blood was it needed to keep oxygen coming to the leg muscles. It arrived about the time I stopped to do my next three sets and this pattern continued throughout the workout, making all the running quite labored. The good news…I got the workout done in 45 minutes and was headed home in time to catch a shower, grab some food and head for the game.
This was the second time Savannah and I have gone to a game with Jack and both times it has rained cats and dogs. Clearly, he’s a jinx. We left after two innings…a good decision since the delay lasted two hours and then the game went to 14 innings. We stopped at East Coast Custard on the way home and I had peach custard in a waffle cone. It was excellent and I’m eating a little junk…like the Postman suggested…but not so much that I undo the efforts of the Paleo Diet.
Survival Workout duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500
Jack and I were taking Savannah to the Indians game and we wanted to see the opening pitch, so I had to move fast to get in my Survival Workout. My knee had been feeling so good that I felt it was time to try running between stations, which would stress the knee in a way to help get it ready for the
Adirondacks and get the workout over faster. I did my first four sets where I park the car and then started at a trot down the bridle trail. I’ve done this before, but never after four sets of upper body exercises, which tend to pool large amounts of blood in the muscles of the upper body. As I began to run, I noticed this blood pooling…my upper body feeling strangely heavy and my lower body wondering where the blood was it needed to keep oxygen coming to the leg muscles. It arrived about the time I stopped to do my next three sets and this pattern continued throughout the workout, making all the running quite labored. The good news…I got the workout done in 45 minutes and was headed home in time to catch a shower, grab some food and head for the game.
This was the second time Savannah and I have gone to a game with Jack and both times it has rained cats and dogs. Clearly, he’s a jinx. We left after two innings…a good decision since the delay lasted two hours and then the game went to 14 innings. We stopped at East Coast Custard on the way home and I had peach custard in a waffle cone. It was excellent and I’m eating a little junk…like the Postman suggested…but not so much that I undo the efforts of the Paleo Diet.
Survival Workout duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Sports-specific training...
Monday, August 8, 2011
Alaska Paul called last night which reminded me how close the next trip to the Adirondacks is. I’m planning on going up with the girls and some of their friends on September 11th (appropriate for me since I was in the mountains when the planes hit the towers) to climb Giant Mt. and Rocky Peak Ridge. I’ll return home in two days only to turn around and head back up with John and Alaska Paul, if he can swing the dates and get here, to climb three more peaks. Though I’m in very good shape at this time, I’ll feel better about all the climbing if I do some step-up and bleacher workouts with a backpack strapped on. Cycling is great and gives me the endurance I need to climb all day, but nothing beats sports-specific training…trying to mimic what you will actually be doing.
I boarded the bike after cutting the grass to a perfect riding evening. I can’t remember the last time it was so pleasant…maybe high 70’s at most. I decided to ride the course John and I did the day before and maybe hit it a little faster. I tend to want to talk when John and I ride, which keeps me from pushing as hard as I might. After about 30 minutes of riding though, I realized it wouldn’t be a particularly fast ride as I was feeling the fatigue of riding long two days in a row. The effort was there…but the speed was down. It was such a pretty evening that I just tried to enjoy the scenery though I still pushed hard up the hills. The ride ended up taking me about 5 minutes less than we’d done the day before, which pleased me since I was pretty sure I was going slower.
Later that evening, Holly asked me to walk the block with here. I agreed, but noticed the fatigue in my legs immediately. Exercise can humble you. With all the biking I’ve been doing, I’ve ignored weight-bearing aerobic exercise and really need to take a couple of runs and long hikes. I’ve been avoiding that kind of work for a good reason…keep the knee healthy until after the mountains…but the mountains won’t care about my reason for not training correctly…they’ll just humble me.
Bike workout: One hour and 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,500.
Alaska Paul called last night which reminded me how close the next trip to the Adirondacks is. I’m planning on going up with the girls and some of their friends on September 11th (appropriate for me since I was in the mountains when the planes hit the towers) to climb Giant Mt. and Rocky Peak Ridge. I’ll return home in two days only to turn around and head back up with John and Alaska Paul, if he can swing the dates and get here, to climb three more peaks. Though I’m in very good shape at this time, I’ll feel better about all the climbing if I do some step-up and bleacher workouts with a backpack strapped on. Cycling is great and gives me the endurance I need to climb all day, but nothing beats sports-specific training…trying to mimic what you will actually be doing.
I boarded the bike after cutting the grass to a perfect riding evening. I can’t remember the last time it was so pleasant…maybe high 70’s at most. I decided to ride the course John and I did the day before and maybe hit it a little faster. I tend to want to talk when John and I ride, which keeps me from pushing as hard as I might. After about 30 minutes of riding though, I realized it wouldn’t be a particularly fast ride as I was feeling the fatigue of riding long two days in a row. The effort was there…but the speed was down. It was such a pretty evening that I just tried to enjoy the scenery though I still pushed hard up the hills. The ride ended up taking me about 5 minutes less than we’d done the day before, which pleased me since I was pretty sure I was going slower.
Later that evening, Holly asked me to walk the block with here. I agreed, but noticed the fatigue in my legs immediately. Exercise can humble you. With all the biking I’ve been doing, I’ve ignored weight-bearing aerobic exercise and really need to take a couple of runs and long hikes. I’ve been avoiding that kind of work for a good reason…keep the knee healthy until after the mountains…but the mountains won’t care about my reason for not training correctly…they’ll just humble me.
Bike workout: One hour and 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,500.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Holly tries the Survival Workout...
Sunday, August 7, 2011
I was dragging a bit as moved around the house through the morning. I was thinking I’d get the bike back together (I’d stripped it down to do some cleaning) cut the grass and a couple of other chores around the house before going for a ride with John. Then Holly suggested we go to the park for a walk…which pretty much puts me in the park for a walk.
As we drove, I convinced her it would be a good idea to try out portions of the Survival Workout. She was somewhat reluctant but curious, and agreed. I figured I’d keep it pretty basic…have her do only a few of the exercises…just to whet her appetite and to assure her continued health (and mine). I started her with ten step-ups on the boulder next to my car…a good 12 inches high and an excellent start to a workout because it raises the heart rate and works the large muscles of the gluteus. She did this while I did pull-ups after which I had her doing triceps dips on a gate and push-ups against a fence.
We hiked and talked and stopped at different stations where she gamely tried the exercise and lifts I described. “I don’t like my hands getting dirty,” she said after putting a rock down I’d given her to do rowing exercises for the back muscles. I knew she’d feel this way, but didn’t see myself going ahead of her to find clean rocks…so I let her deal with it. We climbed one steep bridle trail where she incorporated some lateral walking to emphasize different muscles in the legs and hips while I walked as a normal person (man) would do. In all, she attempted 8 different upper body exercise over the hour hike, refusing to do the abdominal stuff…”you don’t expect me to sit in the wet grass to do crunches, do you?” I did…but didn’t push it. On the drive home she said her arm felt a little dead…a good sign that she’d pushed herself.
John arrived ready for a hard ride, but I cautioned him I was still feeling the effects of yesterday’s heat and was thinking of riding a little less today. We were hopping on the bikes at 1:30 p.m. and in the heat of the day. I was sweating just sitting in the shade putting my bike back together and had already done some major sweating in the park an hour earlier. We headed east into Waite Hill and up through Kirtland Hills before turning south on Sperry up near the Holden Arboretum and the return home. I rode the hills hard, but cruised the level stretches to spell myself and had no cramping or heat-related issues.
Holly made some kind of killer dessert/pastry thing that I was forced to taste…and taste. Later that evening, Jack got me to take him to East Coast Custard where I ordered a smoothie…my third of the day. I also had a large helping of spaghetti and meatballs, though passed on the bread. It was a reasonably bad eating day but I was in a calorie-deficit position from the activities of the weekend I was reasonably certain. I never felt full, but I did eat more than I like to…and have since the Paleo Diet began. Weekends are a challenge with guests around and bad food to eat…but if it was easy, everyone would be thin.
Bike workout: One hour and 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,500.
I was dragging a bit as moved around the house through the morning. I was thinking I’d get the bike back together (I’d stripped it down to do some cleaning) cut the grass and a couple of other chores around the house before going for a ride with John. Then Holly suggested we go to the park for a walk…which pretty much puts me in the park for a walk.
As we drove, I convinced her it would be a good idea to try out portions of the Survival Workout. She was somewhat reluctant but curious, and agreed. I figured I’d keep it pretty basic…have her do only a few of the exercises…just to whet her appetite and to assure her continued health (and mine). I started her with ten step-ups on the boulder next to my car…a good 12 inches high and an excellent start to a workout because it raises the heart rate and works the large muscles of the gluteus. She did this while I did pull-ups after which I had her doing triceps dips on a gate and push-ups against a fence.
We hiked and talked and stopped at different stations where she gamely tried the exercise and lifts I described. “I don’t like my hands getting dirty,” she said after putting a rock down I’d given her to do rowing exercises for the back muscles. I knew she’d feel this way, but didn’t see myself going ahead of her to find clean rocks…so I let her deal with it. We climbed one steep bridle trail where she incorporated some lateral walking to emphasize different muscles in the legs and hips while I walked as a normal person (man) would do. In all, she attempted 8 different upper body exercise over the hour hike, refusing to do the abdominal stuff…”you don’t expect me to sit in the wet grass to do crunches, do you?” I did…but didn’t push it. On the drive home she said her arm felt a little dead…a good sign that she’d pushed herself.
John arrived ready for a hard ride, but I cautioned him I was still feeling the effects of yesterday’s heat and was thinking of riding a little less today. We were hopping on the bikes at 1:30 p.m. and in the heat of the day. I was sweating just sitting in the shade putting my bike back together and had already done some major sweating in the park an hour earlier. We headed east into Waite Hill and up through Kirtland Hills before turning south on Sperry up near the Holden Arboretum and the return home. I rode the hills hard, but cruised the level stretches to spell myself and had no cramping or heat-related issues.
Holly made some kind of killer dessert/pastry thing that I was forced to taste…and taste. Later that evening, Jack got me to take him to East Coast Custard where I ordered a smoothie…my third of the day. I also had a large helping of spaghetti and meatballs, though passed on the bread. It was a reasonably bad eating day but I was in a calorie-deficit position from the activities of the weekend I was reasonably certain. I never felt full, but I did eat more than I like to…and have since the Paleo Diet began. Weekends are a challenge with guests around and bad food to eat…but if it was easy, everyone would be thin.
Bike workout: One hour and 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,500.
Whipped by some bushes...
Saturday, August 6, 2011
I’d done a couple of late-night walks the night before. The first with Jack and the second with Holly. Jack had wanted to just talk and walk and we went about 45 minutes on the side streets in the neighborhood. He’s an interesting 17-year old and I’m always happy when my kids want to talk to me and keep my posted on what’s happening in their lives. We were talking about the universe…how big it was…how it was formed…did I believe in God…you know…big picture stuff when suddenly Jack said “who’d win in a fight…James Bond or Clint Eastwood.” Any wonder why we call him ‘Random Jack’? Anyway…I drilled down to the essence of the question. “James Bond is a character and Clint is a real person. Are you talking Clint as let’s say ‘Dirty Harry’? And which ‘James Bond’ are we talking here?” These were not unimportant questions. I mean I’d put Barney up against the Clint in the ‘Bridges of Madison County’ but no James Bond could touch Will Money from ‘Unforgiven’. Jack settled on ‘Dirty Harry’ which I gave to Clint…hands down. He struggled with Spiderman verses the Hulk because he seemed to think Spiderman would break the Hulk’s neck when he was just a puny human.
By the time I returned from my second walk…Holly offered no opinion on the James Bond verses Clint thing…it was way past my bedtime and so I started the day by not getting up at 7 a.m. to get to Mimi’s. I did make it by 8:30 a.m. and after having some coffee, got to work sawing down three Viburnum bushes that had morphed into small trees. In less than 5 minutes, I was soaked, filthy, and getting a great workout. I had the trees down and dragged to the chipping station in a couple of hours and began the more difficult process on trying to dig out the stumps. This required digging and chopping with a mattock…very difficult work but something I love doing. I attacked the first with gusto and had it out after thirty minutes of grunting and sweating. It was the smallest of the three and by the time I’d managed to cut through about half the roots on the second and largest stump, I was beginning to fade in the sweltering heat. Mimi came out to watch and immediately began telling me I should stop. I suppose I was quite a site…totally saturated in sweat with mud caked all over my legs and torso from the efforts of making the hole around the stump. I told her I was okay, but noticed that I needed a break about every 6-8 minutes when I decided I was pushing up against heat illness and decided I should take on my other job for the day…painting an old Victorian table…which I could do in the shade while sucking down some diet Coke.
Once home, I discovered just how tired I was. I’d probably dropped ten pounds of fluids during the four hours I’d spent cutting and digging, which had really drained me. I had to take Heidi back to Akron and by the time I got back, there was no time to ride…which was probably a good thing. I’d gotten plenty of aerobic and strength training earlier in the day and more would be superfluous. I helped Jack pitch tents in the back yard for his buddies, grilled lamb chops and catfish on the grill for Holly and me and enjoyed a delicious smoothie to finish out the evening. Before turning in, I went out to talk to the boys…gathered around the campfire I’d built…about the ground rules for the evening. When I mentioned sticking to the confines of the yard, Jack asked me to tell them about the time I’d been sleeping out and went for a walk-about only to end up in the back of a Mentor squad car. “The bad news was…we got caught. The good news was…I’m here today to tell you this story because my parents never found out. Now…if you guys were to do something dumb like that…which I’m sure you wouldn’t…you can bet I’d know,” I said and headed off to bed.
Yard work duration: 4 hours.
Training heart rate: 80 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2,000.
I’d done a couple of late-night walks the night before. The first with Jack and the second with Holly. Jack had wanted to just talk and walk and we went about 45 minutes on the side streets in the neighborhood. He’s an interesting 17-year old and I’m always happy when my kids want to talk to me and keep my posted on what’s happening in their lives. We were talking about the universe…how big it was…how it was formed…did I believe in God…you know…big picture stuff when suddenly Jack said “who’d win in a fight…James Bond or Clint Eastwood.” Any wonder why we call him ‘Random Jack’? Anyway…I drilled down to the essence of the question. “James Bond is a character and Clint is a real person. Are you talking Clint as let’s say ‘Dirty Harry’? And which ‘James Bond’ are we talking here?” These were not unimportant questions. I mean I’d put Barney up against the Clint in the ‘Bridges of Madison County’ but no James Bond could touch Will Money from ‘Unforgiven’. Jack settled on ‘Dirty Harry’ which I gave to Clint…hands down. He struggled with Spiderman verses the Hulk because he seemed to think Spiderman would break the Hulk’s neck when he was just a puny human.
By the time I returned from my second walk…Holly offered no opinion on the James Bond verses Clint thing…it was way past my bedtime and so I started the day by not getting up at 7 a.m. to get to Mimi’s. I did make it by 8:30 a.m. and after having some coffee, got to work sawing down three Viburnum bushes that had morphed into small trees. In less than 5 minutes, I was soaked, filthy, and getting a great workout. I had the trees down and dragged to the chipping station in a couple of hours and began the more difficult process on trying to dig out the stumps. This required digging and chopping with a mattock…very difficult work but something I love doing. I attacked the first with gusto and had it out after thirty minutes of grunting and sweating. It was the smallest of the three and by the time I’d managed to cut through about half the roots on the second and largest stump, I was beginning to fade in the sweltering heat. Mimi came out to watch and immediately began telling me I should stop. I suppose I was quite a site…totally saturated in sweat with mud caked all over my legs and torso from the efforts of making the hole around the stump. I told her I was okay, but noticed that I needed a break about every 6-8 minutes when I decided I was pushing up against heat illness and decided I should take on my other job for the day…painting an old Victorian table…which I could do in the shade while sucking down some diet Coke.
Once home, I discovered just how tired I was. I’d probably dropped ten pounds of fluids during the four hours I’d spent cutting and digging, which had really drained me. I had to take Heidi back to Akron and by the time I got back, there was no time to ride…which was probably a good thing. I’d gotten plenty of aerobic and strength training earlier in the day and more would be superfluous. I helped Jack pitch tents in the back yard for his buddies, grilled lamb chops and catfish on the grill for Holly and me and enjoyed a delicious smoothie to finish out the evening. Before turning in, I went out to talk to the boys…gathered around the campfire I’d built…about the ground rules for the evening. When I mentioned sticking to the confines of the yard, Jack asked me to tell them about the time I’d been sleeping out and went for a walk-about only to end up in the back of a Mentor squad car. “The bad news was…we got caught. The good news was…I’m here today to tell you this story because my parents never found out. Now…if you guys were to do something dumb like that…which I’m sure you wouldn’t…you can bet I’d know,” I said and headed off to bed.
Yard work duration: 4 hours.
Training heart rate: 80 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2,000.
Reaching small objectives keeps motivation high...
Friday, August 05, 2011
I drove to Akron after work to pick up Heidi and on the way home, tried to convince her she should join me in the woods for the Survival Workout. I wanted her to experience it, but I also want her to photograph the different exercises I perform for a brochure and web site I’m creating. “Next weekend for sure,” she said as a way of mollifying me. It was hot and she was supposed to join Savannah on a baby sitting tour, which to her way of thinking was a better gig.
I got to the park late, which is good in that its cooler and on a Friday night, there are few people around…providing more serenity. I started with pull-ups and hit double digits…10…though barely. Still…I was thrilled since I couldn’t do one when I started the blog. I’m always looking for ways to measure improvement. We need positive feedback and knowing I can do a couple of more of anything helps keep me focused and excited that my program is working.
It turned out to be a good…not a great…workout. I just wasn’t getting the reps I wanted to, but did what I could. Maybe the heat…maybe just a little tired from hard workouts in the heat earlier in the week. No big deal because tomorrow should be a tough double of chopping trees and digging out roots at Mimi’s followed by a ride of some duration. The forecast unfortunately remains “hot as hell”.
I received information from John that I reported incorrectly on his Oreo consumption in a previous blog. As readers know…I strive for accuracy. He claims he eats no more than half a pack of cookies each night, which I challenged. “Well…maybe two-thirds some nights.”
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600
I drove to Akron after work to pick up Heidi and on the way home, tried to convince her she should join me in the woods for the Survival Workout. I wanted her to experience it, but I also want her to photograph the different exercises I perform for a brochure and web site I’m creating. “Next weekend for sure,” she said as a way of mollifying me. It was hot and she was supposed to join Savannah on a baby sitting tour, which to her way of thinking was a better gig.
I got to the park late, which is good in that its cooler and on a Friday night, there are few people around…providing more serenity. I started with pull-ups and hit double digits…10…though barely. Still…I was thrilled since I couldn’t do one when I started the blog. I’m always looking for ways to measure improvement. We need positive feedback and knowing I can do a couple of more of anything helps keep me focused and excited that my program is working.
It turned out to be a good…not a great…workout. I just wasn’t getting the reps I wanted to, but did what I could. Maybe the heat…maybe just a little tired from hard workouts in the heat earlier in the week. No big deal because tomorrow should be a tough double of chopping trees and digging out roots at Mimi’s followed by a ride of some duration. The forecast unfortunately remains “hot as hell”.
I received information from John that I reported incorrectly on his Oreo consumption in a previous blog. As readers know…I strive for accuracy. He claims he eats no more than half a pack of cookies each night, which I challenged. “Well…maybe two-thirds some nights.”
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600
Friday, August 5, 2011
"Honda's done..."
Thursday, August 4, 2011
I called Dan late in the day and he indicated he’d have the Honda done before dark. “I’m just gonna take a long ride out to see you then and I’ll get there around 8. What’ll I do if you’re not done?” He’s always done when he says he will be…but if he wasn’t, it would be too dark to ride home. “Guess I’ll give you a ride,” he said. He says little, which is okay because I say so much.
I left around 6:30 p.m. and took a route that would take around 90 minutes. It gets dark by 8:30 p.m. now, so I was cutting it close…I don’t ride in the dark. Things were going well and I was riding strong about 45 minutes from his place when I felt the back tire going flat. I can get flats when I’ve got my bike in the car, but this was the first one since John gave me his bike. The rear tire…its always the rear tire because its such a bitch to change…was flat. Fortunately, I’d purchased two tubes on my last trip to the bike store and quickly went about changing it out. I quickly noticed the tire was thread bare…why I hadn’t seen this earlier I don’t know…and hoped the new tube would make it to Dan’s. I re-inflated…able to put about 90 pounds with a hand-held pump and well below the 125 psi I prefer…and got on the road. Having low pressure in the back tire slows you down since the tire is now flattening out more and putting more rubber in contact with the road…friction slows you. I was worried I’d never get to Dan’s before dark, so started pushing harder. I came across a pack of four riders working together and hammered past them. I pulled into Dan’s drive as dark was closing in around us. I was feeling twitchy and asked him for something to drink with sugar and salt in it. “Got water,” he said. “You don’t have anything else? What do you put on your cereal in the morning,” I wondered. He looked at me as if I’d gone daft. “Water,” he said…again.
I left Dan for home…a civilized place where people put milk on their cereal…and made a great smoothie and fried up some catfish fillets in an egg and corn meal batter. It was actually pretty good. I’d weighed in after my shower…the first time in over a week because I was sure I was up some from all the dessert I’d eaten over the weekend…but again I was down. I’m not at 182 pounds and the 170’s are seeming like a reality. My friend Randy is concerned that I’m placing too much emphasis on the weight and should re-introduce some junk food into my diet, but I explained to him (we were texting) how the smoothies were my junk, which I loved, and the weight was coming off without a lot of effort. His texts suggested that I should also relax and enjoy the workouts instead of pushing so hard all the time…but I don’t push the biking so much though I do try to beat old pr’s on the Survival Workout.
His points were well made, though. Often time’s people get too wrapped up in pushing all the time and injuries follow. Or the intensity is so great…diet or exercise…that it can’t be maintained. I’m not feeling that way on either front…which is good. Thanks for worrying, Postman…and do your run today.
Bike workout: One hour and 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,500.
I called Dan late in the day and he indicated he’d have the Honda done before dark. “I’m just gonna take a long ride out to see you then and I’ll get there around 8. What’ll I do if you’re not done?” He’s always done when he says he will be…but if he wasn’t, it would be too dark to ride home. “Guess I’ll give you a ride,” he said. He says little, which is okay because I say so much.
I left around 6:30 p.m. and took a route that would take around 90 minutes. It gets dark by 8:30 p.m. now, so I was cutting it close…I don’t ride in the dark. Things were going well and I was riding strong about 45 minutes from his place when I felt the back tire going flat. I can get flats when I’ve got my bike in the car, but this was the first one since John gave me his bike. The rear tire…its always the rear tire because its such a bitch to change…was flat. Fortunately, I’d purchased two tubes on my last trip to the bike store and quickly went about changing it out. I quickly noticed the tire was thread bare…why I hadn’t seen this earlier I don’t know…and hoped the new tube would make it to Dan’s. I re-inflated…able to put about 90 pounds with a hand-held pump and well below the 125 psi I prefer…and got on the road. Having low pressure in the back tire slows you down since the tire is now flattening out more and putting more rubber in contact with the road…friction slows you. I was worried I’d never get to Dan’s before dark, so started pushing harder. I came across a pack of four riders working together and hammered past them. I pulled into Dan’s drive as dark was closing in around us. I was feeling twitchy and asked him for something to drink with sugar and salt in it. “Got water,” he said. “You don’t have anything else? What do you put on your cereal in the morning,” I wondered. He looked at me as if I’d gone daft. “Water,” he said…again.
I left Dan for home…a civilized place where people put milk on their cereal…and made a great smoothie and fried up some catfish fillets in an egg and corn meal batter. It was actually pretty good. I’d weighed in after my shower…the first time in over a week because I was sure I was up some from all the dessert I’d eaten over the weekend…but again I was down. I’m not at 182 pounds and the 170’s are seeming like a reality. My friend Randy is concerned that I’m placing too much emphasis on the weight and should re-introduce some junk food into my diet, but I explained to him (we were texting) how the smoothies were my junk, which I loved, and the weight was coming off without a lot of effort. His texts suggested that I should also relax and enjoy the workouts instead of pushing so hard all the time…but I don’t push the biking so much though I do try to beat old pr’s on the Survival Workout.
His points were well made, though. Often time’s people get too wrapped up in pushing all the time and injuries follow. Or the intensity is so great…diet or exercise…that it can’t be maintained. I’m not feeling that way on either front…which is good. Thanks for worrying, Postman…and do your run today.
Bike workout: One hour and 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,500.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Giving up Oreos and losing nine pounds...
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
John and I were talking about his recent trip to Fenway Park and our last bike ride when he mentioned his weight. “I’m down nine pounds in nine days,” he said. I know this seems impossible unless you know John and his addiction to Oreo cookies. “Dude…I sit down to the computer around 10 p.m. every night and eat an entire package of them…with milk, of course,” he told me recently. “Seriously? Every night? An entire package?” I found it hard to believe, but he assured me it was true. And we’re talking one of those packages with three rows of cookies…I don’t know…60 or so? Why the guy isn’t a diabetic I don’t know. Why he doesn’t weigh more than 160 pounds when he IS eating them…I really don’t understand. Anyway…he hasn’t eaten any in nine days and I sense a crash on the horizon.
Then I’m riding home with my nephew and his two friends last Friday and they get to talking about Chicken McNuggets…the 50-pak. “Wait…what? Did you say you ate a 50-pak at one sitting?” Matt responded that he’d been challenged by Nathan and had to answer the challenge. They’d been at Cedar Point and stopped after leaving the park. He was given the ride home to Mentor to complete the task…which he did as they were exiting. I looked up the nutritional information on a McNugget…and it’s ugly. Each piece has 46 calories, 2.9 grams of fat and 101 mg of sodium. That’s 2,300 calories and 145 grams of fat in one hour! Oh…and the guy’s a rail, though I don’t think he eats this way too often. Still…I’m gagging thinking about it.
I got back to the park for the Survival Workout and was pleased to do nine pull-ups at the start. Double digits just around the corner. I’d had a couple of days away from the routine since losing my car so I figured to be fresh and pop off some big numbers on my lifts. Instead, I found that because of the rain, the rocks and logs were too slippery for me to keep a good grip and I was doing fewer reps, instead. My knee has been feeling really strong of late, so I did work in the picnic table hops…though I kept it to only 10 repeats to see what tomorrow brings. I also managed to break my three-set push-up record with 142 repetitions.
Later that night, I discovered Jack had consumed the last banana…which I’ve found to be critical to the smoothie recipe. I needed something though, so I started loading the blender. I put in an orange, a mushy apple, yogurt, some blueberries and apple cider. I figured the combination of fruit would be a bad taste but good for me and was surprised to find that it was really tasty. Maybe I don’t have to have bananas.
A final note: Kim texted to say she was riding through canyon lands and desert near Hanksville, Utah. She has five more days on the bike before going to Las Vegas to catch a flight home. If there not already, they’ll soon be over 3,000 miles of riding.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600
John and I were talking about his recent trip to Fenway Park and our last bike ride when he mentioned his weight. “I’m down nine pounds in nine days,” he said. I know this seems impossible unless you know John and his addiction to Oreo cookies. “Dude…I sit down to the computer around 10 p.m. every night and eat an entire package of them…with milk, of course,” he told me recently. “Seriously? Every night? An entire package?” I found it hard to believe, but he assured me it was true. And we’re talking one of those packages with three rows of cookies…I don’t know…60 or so? Why the guy isn’t a diabetic I don’t know. Why he doesn’t weigh more than 160 pounds when he IS eating them…I really don’t understand. Anyway…he hasn’t eaten any in nine days and I sense a crash on the horizon.
Then I’m riding home with my nephew and his two friends last Friday and they get to talking about Chicken McNuggets…the 50-pak. “Wait…what? Did you say you ate a 50-pak at one sitting?” Matt responded that he’d been challenged by Nathan and had to answer the challenge. They’d been at Cedar Point and stopped after leaving the park. He was given the ride home to Mentor to complete the task…which he did as they were exiting. I looked up the nutritional information on a McNugget…and it’s ugly. Each piece has 46 calories, 2.9 grams of fat and 101 mg of sodium. That’s 2,300 calories and 145 grams of fat in one hour! Oh…and the guy’s a rail, though I don’t think he eats this way too often. Still…I’m gagging thinking about it.
I got back to the park for the Survival Workout and was pleased to do nine pull-ups at the start. Double digits just around the corner. I’d had a couple of days away from the routine since losing my car so I figured to be fresh and pop off some big numbers on my lifts. Instead, I found that because of the rain, the rocks and logs were too slippery for me to keep a good grip and I was doing fewer reps, instead. My knee has been feeling really strong of late, so I did work in the picnic table hops…though I kept it to only 10 repeats to see what tomorrow brings. I also managed to break my three-set push-up record with 142 repetitions.
Later that night, I discovered Jack had consumed the last banana…which I’ve found to be critical to the smoothie recipe. I needed something though, so I started loading the blender. I put in an orange, a mushy apple, yogurt, some blueberries and apple cider. I figured the combination of fruit would be a bad taste but good for me and was surprised to find that it was really tasty. Maybe I don’t have to have bananas.
A final note: Kim texted to say she was riding through canyon lands and desert near Hanksville, Utah. She has five more days on the bike before going to Las Vegas to catch a flight home. If there not already, they’ll soon be over 3,000 miles of riding.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Another long ride...
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
With the car in the shop I found myself stranded until my neighbors’ with the pool came to the rescue. They have this extra car sitting in the driveway that only seems to get used in inclement weather…when Pat doesn’t want to take out the sports car or one of his motorcycles. We’ve got a pretty special friendship and when I asked about using the car, they were happy to lend it. Now…I’ll take my own car to the park, do a workout, and climb back in all sweaty after placing a couple of layers of towels on the seats…but I didn’t want to do that to their car so I skipped the Survival Workout and came home after work. This is usually a bad idea for me…I start to get caught up in what’s happening around the house and never do a workout…but I wasn’t going to let that happen. Holly was gone to Akron with the remaining vehicle so I had no good way to get to the park (I could ride but I don’t want to leave the bike unattended while I do the workout) so I decided I’d ride the bike.
I opted for the Auburn Road route and when I reached the intersection of Auburn and Wilson Mills, decided that Dan probably needed a visit from me so I could check the progress on the Honda. I pulled in his driveway to see he wasn’t there and the Honda was on the blocks and disassembled. I called him and he informed me it was definitely the water pump and he’d probably have it together the next day. “Are you riding my bike?” he asked. I assured him the 20 years he’d left it collecting dust in his attic had done nothing good for it and that I’d have it for a little while longer before anyone rode it…safely. “You and I will be riding together before this summer is over,” I warned before hanging up to finish the ride.
I’d had some cramping in my quads for the first time in a long time during my ride with John on Sunday, so I was expecting to get some more. I rode pretty hard and was three minutes ahead of what he and I had done after climbing the monster hill up Kirtland/Chardon Road. I stopped at the cemetery briefly to fill my water bottles and pushed on. Surprisingly, I completed the ride with no cramping despite the extreme humidity and the length (2 hours and 30 minutes) of the ride. I went for an immediate swim once home and then started eating all the wrong foods. I had a couple of pieces of pizza and two turkey breast and tomato sandwiches. The sandwiches weren’t too bad…I shouldn’t have eaten the bread, but I’d let myself get too hungry and had nothing real Paleo in the house. I did wash it down with an excellent smoothie I made with a banana, a cup of blueberries, yogurt and apple cider. Long bike rides tend to cover a lot of eating sins.
Bike workout: Two hours and 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2,200.
With the car in the shop I found myself stranded until my neighbors’ with the pool came to the rescue. They have this extra car sitting in the driveway that only seems to get used in inclement weather…when Pat doesn’t want to take out the sports car or one of his motorcycles. We’ve got a pretty special friendship and when I asked about using the car, they were happy to lend it. Now…I’ll take my own car to the park, do a workout, and climb back in all sweaty after placing a couple of layers of towels on the seats…but I didn’t want to do that to their car so I skipped the Survival Workout and came home after work. This is usually a bad idea for me…I start to get caught up in what’s happening around the house and never do a workout…but I wasn’t going to let that happen. Holly was gone to Akron with the remaining vehicle so I had no good way to get to the park (I could ride but I don’t want to leave the bike unattended while I do the workout) so I decided I’d ride the bike.
I opted for the Auburn Road route and when I reached the intersection of Auburn and Wilson Mills, decided that Dan probably needed a visit from me so I could check the progress on the Honda. I pulled in his driveway to see he wasn’t there and the Honda was on the blocks and disassembled. I called him and he informed me it was definitely the water pump and he’d probably have it together the next day. “Are you riding my bike?” he asked. I assured him the 20 years he’d left it collecting dust in his attic had done nothing good for it and that I’d have it for a little while longer before anyone rode it…safely. “You and I will be riding together before this summer is over,” I warned before hanging up to finish the ride.
I’d had some cramping in my quads for the first time in a long time during my ride with John on Sunday, so I was expecting to get some more. I rode pretty hard and was three minutes ahead of what he and I had done after climbing the monster hill up Kirtland/Chardon Road. I stopped at the cemetery briefly to fill my water bottles and pushed on. Surprisingly, I completed the ride with no cramping despite the extreme humidity and the length (2 hours and 30 minutes) of the ride. I went for an immediate swim once home and then started eating all the wrong foods. I had a couple of pieces of pizza and two turkey breast and tomato sandwiches. The sandwiches weren’t too bad…I shouldn’t have eaten the bread, but I’d let myself get too hungry and had nothing real Paleo in the house. I did wash it down with an excellent smoothie I made with a banana, a cup of blueberries, yogurt and apple cider. Long bike rides tend to cover a lot of eating sins.
Bike workout: Two hours and 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2,200.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Gotta love old cars...
Monday, August 1, 2011
It was another hot, sultry day and driving in dress clothes to an appointment, I found it necessary to turn on the air conditioning in the Honda…only the Honda didn’t think this was such a good plan. I’d noticed that it wasn’t particularly cold air that was shooting into my face from the vent when my eyes wandered to the temperature gauge and noticed it was flirting with the red zone. I immediately pulled over the car in some shade and went about investigating the cause. The radiator was down a quart even though it was only a month old, so I filled it and called Dan. “Are the fans working when it gets hot? Maybe I forgot to plug it back in when I put in the new radiator,” he said…a little worried he’d screwed up. He hadn’t and it was working. We agreed I’d stop out that night for him to have a look.
With the air conditioning off, I made my way to my next appointment without incident. At the day’s end, I headed for Mimi’s to see what interesting work she had for me. She wanted me to take down what she’d called trees and I called big bushes…with a chainsaw. I looked at them…and at her…and said I could bite through them. “I don’t want you hurting yourself,” she kept saying but I guess she forgets what a finely tuned physical specimen I am. “I’m a finely tuned physical specimen, Mimi…this is no big deal. Get a dump truck to drop 5 yards of mulch in the driveway too and I’ll spread it after I’ve pulled out these ‘trees’,” I told her.
With that, I left for Dan’s. I wanted to get there quickly and get back to the park to do the Survival Workout before dark. He hopped in the car after checking under the hood and seeing nothing so we could put it to the test. With the air conditioning on full tilt, we went for a ride. Of course it worked perfectly and there was no sign of overheating. I was backing out of the driveway to go home when I saw Dan bending to the ground, putting his finger into something where my car had been, and waving me back into the driveway. In short order, he discovered the water pump was leaking…and the Honda was staying. “Should have brought your bike,” he said as I called Holly to come and rescue me. While we were waiting for her to arrive, I made Dan climb over his garage in the storage area and pull his bike out. It was a beautiful Univega with Dura Ace components…which are the best. I told him I’d take it home and get it road ready while he was fixing the car and then we’d ride. “Deal,” he said.
Holly and I drove to Chagrin Falls for dinner at Joey’s, but once seated and having reviewed the menu, decided that it was too pricey. I’m not cheap, but I hate paying $20 for a piece of lasagna. I do know what goes into it…and it ain’t worth THAT much. We ended up at Yours Truly instead where I ate salmon, a salad and the oriental vegetables…very Paleo.
Bottom line…no exercise though I have now set up Saturday to be a major calorie burner in Mimi’s yard. If I add a bike or Survival Workout to that day, I’ll easily make up for missing today. Sometimes…shit happens.
It was another hot, sultry day and driving in dress clothes to an appointment, I found it necessary to turn on the air conditioning in the Honda…only the Honda didn’t think this was such a good plan. I’d noticed that it wasn’t particularly cold air that was shooting into my face from the vent when my eyes wandered to the temperature gauge and noticed it was flirting with the red zone. I immediately pulled over the car in some shade and went about investigating the cause. The radiator was down a quart even though it was only a month old, so I filled it and called Dan. “Are the fans working when it gets hot? Maybe I forgot to plug it back in when I put in the new radiator,” he said…a little worried he’d screwed up. He hadn’t and it was working. We agreed I’d stop out that night for him to have a look.
With the air conditioning off, I made my way to my next appointment without incident. At the day’s end, I headed for Mimi’s to see what interesting work she had for me. She wanted me to take down what she’d called trees and I called big bushes…with a chainsaw. I looked at them…and at her…and said I could bite through them. “I don’t want you hurting yourself,” she kept saying but I guess she forgets what a finely tuned physical specimen I am. “I’m a finely tuned physical specimen, Mimi…this is no big deal. Get a dump truck to drop 5 yards of mulch in the driveway too and I’ll spread it after I’ve pulled out these ‘trees’,” I told her.
With that, I left for Dan’s. I wanted to get there quickly and get back to the park to do the Survival Workout before dark. He hopped in the car after checking under the hood and seeing nothing so we could put it to the test. With the air conditioning on full tilt, we went for a ride. Of course it worked perfectly and there was no sign of overheating. I was backing out of the driveway to go home when I saw Dan bending to the ground, putting his finger into something where my car had been, and waving me back into the driveway. In short order, he discovered the water pump was leaking…and the Honda was staying. “Should have brought your bike,” he said as I called Holly to come and rescue me. While we were waiting for her to arrive, I made Dan climb over his garage in the storage area and pull his bike out. It was a beautiful Univega with Dura Ace components…which are the best. I told him I’d take it home and get it road ready while he was fixing the car and then we’d ride. “Deal,” he said.
Holly and I drove to Chagrin Falls for dinner at Joey’s, but once seated and having reviewed the menu, decided that it was too pricey. I’m not cheap, but I hate paying $20 for a piece of lasagna. I do know what goes into it…and it ain’t worth THAT much. We ended up at Yours Truly instead where I ate salmon, a salad and the oriental vegetables…very Paleo.
Bottom line…no exercise though I have now set up Saturday to be a major calorie burner in Mimi’s yard. If I add a bike or Survival Workout to that day, I’ll easily make up for missing today. Sometimes…shit happens.
Monday, August 1, 2011
John hits a wall...
Sunday, July 31, 2011
John has been consistently kicking my butt on our rides since he go his new, ultra lightweight bicycle a couple of months ago. As Lance would say though “it’s not about the bike” and it isn’t entirely. I’m riding as well as I have in years, but John has been training diligently and it’s paying off. Still…I’d like to kick his ass on a ride again.
We headed out in the heat of the afternoon for a long ride. My plan was to take the Waite Hill course and continue on to Auburn Road south and come back along Pekin. This could take 3 hours and included a lot of hills. I was feeling strong at the start, but purposely held back…trying to spin the legs and avoid the cramps I’ve been getting in my quads when I go out too hard. John has always been the hare…he goes hard early. We made our way to the monster hill on Kirtland/Chardon Road and he motored ahead. Towards the top of the 1.5 mile climb, I noticed I was reeling him in. We pulled into All Souls Cemetery to refresh our water bottles and short break. When the break ran to ten minutes, I suspected John wasn’t feeling well, though he didn’t say anything. We headed out, picking up Auburn south and making our way towards Pekin. On another long climb, I noticed he was dropping way back. Now…my first reaction was to bury him entirely…but I’m not that kind of guy so I slowed at the top and allowed him to catch up. “I’m bonking dude…is there anywhere we can get some Gatorade or something?” We were kind of in the middle of no-freaking-where and I said, “we’re kind of in the middle of no-freaking-where” when I remembered there was Speedway service station with a grocery at the intersection of Auburn and Rt. 87. “We’ll have to ride another mile out of the way and up some more hills…but for you, I’ll do it,” I said.
We rode slowly and were almost there when I asked John if he had any money. “Oh…shit…I think maybe…” he said. Once we stopped, he found a ten-dollar bill in his bag so we went inside and grabbed fruit drinks and a Cliff Bar. He drank two bottles and rested in the shade for 30 minutes before we began again…still 20 miles from home.
Bonking is unpleasant. It occurs when you’ve been doing some kind of aerobic exercise for an extended period of time…let’s say two hours of hard riding over a hilly terrain…and your blood sugar levels are running low. The energy you need to keep your leg muscles firing hard begins to wane and your performance suffers quickly. I’ve been there on more than one occasion and once it hits, there is little you can do except to slow down and try to replace the carbs. The ride home would be long and painful, but he’d get through…and he did.
We arrived back home after 3 hours of riding and headed for the pool. I made John a smoothie to complete his recovery and sent him home. I continued to burn calories though as I cleaned out my shed so that I could move things from the garage to make way for my new exercise station I was building there…more on that later. I continued to pour sweat as I worked and did so for the next two hours. In all, I probably dropped 10 pounds of water throughout the day and would have to be careful to replace it all before another bout in the unrelenting heat wave that has smothered the city.
Oh yeah…I had more of Holly’s dessert, too.
Bike workout: Three hours.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2,500.
John has been consistently kicking my butt on our rides since he go his new, ultra lightweight bicycle a couple of months ago. As Lance would say though “it’s not about the bike” and it isn’t entirely. I’m riding as well as I have in years, but John has been training diligently and it’s paying off. Still…I’d like to kick his ass on a ride again.
We headed out in the heat of the afternoon for a long ride. My plan was to take the Waite Hill course and continue on to Auburn Road south and come back along Pekin. This could take 3 hours and included a lot of hills. I was feeling strong at the start, but purposely held back…trying to spin the legs and avoid the cramps I’ve been getting in my quads when I go out too hard. John has always been the hare…he goes hard early. We made our way to the monster hill on Kirtland/Chardon Road and he motored ahead. Towards the top of the 1.5 mile climb, I noticed I was reeling him in. We pulled into All Souls Cemetery to refresh our water bottles and short break. When the break ran to ten minutes, I suspected John wasn’t feeling well, though he didn’t say anything. We headed out, picking up Auburn south and making our way towards Pekin. On another long climb, I noticed he was dropping way back. Now…my first reaction was to bury him entirely…but I’m not that kind of guy so I slowed at the top and allowed him to catch up. “I’m bonking dude…is there anywhere we can get some Gatorade or something?” We were kind of in the middle of no-freaking-where and I said, “we’re kind of in the middle of no-freaking-where” when I remembered there was Speedway service station with a grocery at the intersection of Auburn and Rt. 87. “We’ll have to ride another mile out of the way and up some more hills…but for you, I’ll do it,” I said.
We rode slowly and were almost there when I asked John if he had any money. “Oh…shit…I think maybe…” he said. Once we stopped, he found a ten-dollar bill in his bag so we went inside and grabbed fruit drinks and a Cliff Bar. He drank two bottles and rested in the shade for 30 minutes before we began again…still 20 miles from home.
Bonking is unpleasant. It occurs when you’ve been doing some kind of aerobic exercise for an extended period of time…let’s say two hours of hard riding over a hilly terrain…and your blood sugar levels are running low. The energy you need to keep your leg muscles firing hard begins to wane and your performance suffers quickly. I’ve been there on more than one occasion and once it hits, there is little you can do except to slow down and try to replace the carbs. The ride home would be long and painful, but he’d get through…and he did.
We arrived back home after 3 hours of riding and headed for the pool. I made John a smoothie to complete his recovery and sent him home. I continued to burn calories though as I cleaned out my shed so that I could move things from the garage to make way for my new exercise station I was building there…more on that later. I continued to pour sweat as I worked and did so for the next two hours. In all, I probably dropped 10 pounds of water throughout the day and would have to be careful to replace it all before another bout in the unrelenting heat wave that has smothered the city.
Oh yeah…I had more of Holly’s dessert, too.
Bike workout: Three hours.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2,500.
Please don't be a kidney stone...
Saturday, July 30, 2011
I rolled out of bed around 7 a.m. to head for the park and a meeting with my nutritionist, Bob, for a Survival Workout. He’s in great shape and I knew I’d be pushing harder than usual both to assure him of a good workout…and to do more than him. I was changing when I began to feel a dull ache in the right side of my lower back…about the place where the kidney resides. I’ve gone through kidney stones on two separate occasions and know the pain pretty well and this was feeling a lot like that. As I drove to the park, the pain became more acute, but I continued on hoping it was something else. Bob called to say he was running late…he always is…so I started doing some of the workout hoping it would alleviate the pain. Amazingly, it seemed to. By the time Bob arrived, I’d done a set of push-ups, dips and rows with my log. I showed him what to do and he jumped in. I spotted the perfect pull-up limb across from our cars…it’s been there since I started coming here and I don’t know how I’ve missed it…so we both did a set. I managed a new pr with 8 and he could only do 6…excellent. He was a little disappointed in the performance but I reminded him he’d already done over 60 push-ups, 40 triceps dips and rowing with a 100-pound log. “Besides that Bob…I’m close to 60 and you’re not that far behind,” I reminded him.
We headed down the trail where, after demonstrating the high hop I perform as a power move for the gluts, discovered he had a two-inch vertical. “Seriously…that’s all the higher you can jump? Watch me again and do this,” I scolded. He watched and tried some more…but despite a body fat of about 7 percent and having excellent conditioning, he couldn’t go up.
We lifted rocks and logs (he brushed dirt from his hands like a little girl) as we proceeded down the trail. When we reached the point for abdominal work, I noticed him scanning the ground for the least dirty place to plant himself. “Bob…its all dirt and that’s part of the workout. Just drop and go,” I said, covered in sweat and mud and not caring a hoot. Reluctantly he found a spot and went to work. I had him doing some more jump ups while I watched…still avoiding explosive moves that could inflame the meniscus…and egging him on to do more, faster. I wanted to puke him out and I know I can…he’s in that good of shape. We made our way back to the car and Bob passed on the last sets of lifts claiming that his neck hurt a little from the overhead rock press. I cut him some slack, but continued to do all my sets…more to show off than anything. Once back to the cars, he complimented me on the workout and commented on my conditioning. “You can really see that you’ve lost a lot of fat from the workouts and the Paleo Diet. I can see the cut again,” he said. I beamed inside from the compliment. Bob has known me since my triathloning days…so he knows what I’m aiming for.
As I drove home, the back pain returned. I had to get to the Beaver Marsh for my volunteer work as a Wildlife Watcher for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, but I was beginning to wonder if that would happen. I drove there in some pain, but it never seemed to get any worse so I went with it. If it is a kidney stone, it could be the result of all of the sweating and not getting proper rehydration. I continued to sweat for the next two hours in the sun though I had remembered to bring water and went through 32 ounces.
That night Holly and I joined a couple at Blossom for the Cleveland Orchestra where I managed to eat poorly. Holly had made some amazing dessert that included two kinds of pudding, peanut butter, butter, chocolate fudge and a graham cracker and something crust. It was heavenly and I couldn’t resist…well didn’t anyway. I knew I’d be riding long tomorrow with John and just decided what the hell…I’d burn it off then. Sometimes…I do these things, but now the focus is there and it will be okay.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600
I rolled out of bed around 7 a.m. to head for the park and a meeting with my nutritionist, Bob, for a Survival Workout. He’s in great shape and I knew I’d be pushing harder than usual both to assure him of a good workout…and to do more than him. I was changing when I began to feel a dull ache in the right side of my lower back…about the place where the kidney resides. I’ve gone through kidney stones on two separate occasions and know the pain pretty well and this was feeling a lot like that. As I drove to the park, the pain became more acute, but I continued on hoping it was something else. Bob called to say he was running late…he always is…so I started doing some of the workout hoping it would alleviate the pain. Amazingly, it seemed to. By the time Bob arrived, I’d done a set of push-ups, dips and rows with my log. I showed him what to do and he jumped in. I spotted the perfect pull-up limb across from our cars…it’s been there since I started coming here and I don’t know how I’ve missed it…so we both did a set. I managed a new pr with 8 and he could only do 6…excellent. He was a little disappointed in the performance but I reminded him he’d already done over 60 push-ups, 40 triceps dips and rowing with a 100-pound log. “Besides that Bob…I’m close to 60 and you’re not that far behind,” I reminded him.
We headed down the trail where, after demonstrating the high hop I perform as a power move for the gluts, discovered he had a two-inch vertical. “Seriously…that’s all the higher you can jump? Watch me again and do this,” I scolded. He watched and tried some more…but despite a body fat of about 7 percent and having excellent conditioning, he couldn’t go up.
We lifted rocks and logs (he brushed dirt from his hands like a little girl) as we proceeded down the trail. When we reached the point for abdominal work, I noticed him scanning the ground for the least dirty place to plant himself. “Bob…its all dirt and that’s part of the workout. Just drop and go,” I said, covered in sweat and mud and not caring a hoot. Reluctantly he found a spot and went to work. I had him doing some more jump ups while I watched…still avoiding explosive moves that could inflame the meniscus…and egging him on to do more, faster. I wanted to puke him out and I know I can…he’s in that good of shape. We made our way back to the car and Bob passed on the last sets of lifts claiming that his neck hurt a little from the overhead rock press. I cut him some slack, but continued to do all my sets…more to show off than anything. Once back to the cars, he complimented me on the workout and commented on my conditioning. “You can really see that you’ve lost a lot of fat from the workouts and the Paleo Diet. I can see the cut again,” he said. I beamed inside from the compliment. Bob has known me since my triathloning days…so he knows what I’m aiming for.
As I drove home, the back pain returned. I had to get to the Beaver Marsh for my volunteer work as a Wildlife Watcher for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, but I was beginning to wonder if that would happen. I drove there in some pain, but it never seemed to get any worse so I went with it. If it is a kidney stone, it could be the result of all of the sweating and not getting proper rehydration. I continued to sweat for the next two hours in the sun though I had remembered to bring water and went through 32 ounces.
That night Holly and I joined a couple at Blossom for the Cleveland Orchestra where I managed to eat poorly. Holly had made some amazing dessert that included two kinds of pudding, peanut butter, butter, chocolate fudge and a graham cracker and something crust. It was heavenly and I couldn’t resist…well didn’t anyway. I knew I’d be riding long tomorrow with John and just decided what the hell…I’d burn it off then. Sometimes…I do these things, but now the focus is there and it will be okay.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600
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