Solstice, full moon, and the year of The Tribe...

Monday, June 20, 2016

So…tomorrow is the longest day of sunshine for the year…the solstice I think they call it.  And it is also a full moon.  Big deal you say?  Well, actually it is and not because it happens only once every seventy years or so…no, no…something much more significant to those of us who are hoping to live long enough to see the Indians win the World Series.  The last time this phenomenon occurred was 1948.  If you don’t know the significance of that year, then you’re not really a deep and abiding fan of The Tribe.  It was, for all you neophytes, the last time the Indians won the World Series.  And here we are in 2016.  The Cavs have broken the spell of no major championships for Cleveland, the Indians are in first place, and it’s happening again…an equinox AND a full moon.  Coincidence?  Let me know.

It was an exhaustive day.  Temperatures in the low nineties and humidity high enough that I was wringing out my shirt like it was a sponge.  I was six feet down in a ditch for much of the day trying to get to the bottom of the leaking foundation on our rental house, but the narrowness of the trench and the rocks were making me work for every shovel full I pulled out and threw.  I was light headed by noon and after copious water and some lunch, returned to the hole until I received a distress call from the farm.

“There’s a bird in one of the furnaces in the large arena, John,” Gail said.

“And?” I asked.  There were hundreds of sparrows and barn swallows flying all over the indoor arena every day of the year.  For one of them to fly into one of the five overhead furnaces, currently turned way off, was not unusual.

“I guess the horses are afraid,” she said.

I climbed from the hole, changed back into my farm outfit (digging in shorts which is taboo gear on the farm) and headed for the arena.  Locating the offending furnace, I wondered out loud of the necessity of pulling a ladder and disassembling it for the sake of a chirping bird.

“It scares the horses,” I was told by the Equine Manager, wondering again why they weren’t disturbed by the ones chirping next to and all around the furnace as they flew in search of tasty insects…or to annoy me.

I don’t question what scares them too loudly and went about getting the ladder and pulling the bottom from the furnace (it’s suspended in the air way above where horses can run into it) to find that whatever bird had been in there had rediscovered its powers of flight and left through one of about fifty openings to the furnace.  I put everything away, notified everyone it had been a successful mission, and returned to my hole. 

I continued to feel like crap, but dug on until quitting time.  Exhausted and covered in filth, I went back to my shop, grabbed a change of clothes from the Jeep and took a shower.  I went home to meet up with Jason and drive ninety minutes to Poland, Ohio where we were to pick up lots of furniture and home accoutrements from my sister.  He’s a pack rat and we had to load the truck to the maximum before we could leave.

“I’m tired, hungry and getting angry.  Let’s please go!” I said to him and he finally stopped looking for useless trinkets to pack in his truck.

I walked a lot, dug a lot, sweat a lot and didn’t do a workout.  I didn’t need to.  

All the way with LBJ!!

Sunday, June 19, 2016

“Donnie…I’m telling you…it is IMPOSSIBLE!,” I said on our morning chat.

“John…have some faith!  All the way with LBJ and then the Indians are going to win the World Series,” he replied.

We’d been talking about the Cavs winning the NBA championship throughout the playoffs.  He is an avid LeBron fan…who isn’t...and had been making this prediction all season long.  I would constantly remind him that no team in Cleveland had won a championship since 1964, which meant around 150 straight seasons when you included all three Cleveland sports teams.

“There’s too much stress after all these years.  If a team gets close…a key player will have a meltdown.  Don’t you remember ’97?” I asked.

Donnie and I had gone to games six and seven in Florida in 1997 to see what we hoped would be the end of the championship drought if the Indians could defeat the Florida Marlins.  Instead, with a lead in the ninth inning of game seven and the Indians only two outs from the championship, Jose Mesa gave up the tying run and eventually we lost in the 11^th inning.  Heartbreaking.

“And if we did win, don’t you realize the earth would spin off its axis and we’d all be doomed to another ice age or something?”

He wasn’t buying it, and neither was LeBron James last night as the Cavs did the impossible, becoming the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit to clinch the title.  I will admit to tears of joy and more importantly, new found hope that the Indians CAN win a World Series in my lifetime.  Thanks, Cavs.  Go Tribe!

"Hey...slow down!"

Thursday, June 16, 2016
“I did a hike with the pack and managed 150 step-ups,” I bragged to John knowing full well his lazy ass hadn’t done a thing.

“My lazy ass hasn’t done a thing!  You said you were out of shape and wouldn’t be training for this trip,” he whined.  “You lied…again!”

“That’s what I do…lie and train,” I said.

But I really haven’t done nearly enough to consider myself in shape.  Yet I am pleased that despite not hiking with a pack since last fall and not having done much with the Survival Workout, neither has left me sore this past week.  I have been particularly active both at the farm and on my second jobs, but I’m surprised at my level of conditioning for not having trained.

We discussed the itinerary, which would include camping on the Bouquet River just outside of Keene Valley and eating at the Noonmark.

“It’s a short trip and I’m not sure I feel like lots of dehydrated foods since we won’t be in the back country,” I said.  John was all in.

I had another grueling day dealing with issues at the farm, exacerbated by torrential rains.  I’ve been trying to waterproof the basement on our rental house by digging out the foundation and then patching, but the giant hole is collecting water and sending it into the basement faster than ever without any soil to slow its progress.  It’s also a horrible idea to pick up bags of cement, put them in the back of an open truck, and then have it rain like hell on them.  When I tried to pull them from the bed, they broke open and spilled their sixty-pound contents on the ground.  Oh…and it gets hard when mixing with water.

I went to scrape the inside of a garage to try and clear it of loose plaster and black mold after leaving the farm, which  didn’t work out so well.  I should pull the wall down and start over, but the owners want a band aide…not surgery.  I picked up salmon, ground turkey meat, spinach and other vegetables on the way home and cooked up bunches of good paleo meals until 8 p.m. when I finally collapsed and rested.

So…another day without a formal workout.  John should be happy, but I’m functioning on overdrive and may walk him into the dirt in the mountains.  That, or I’ll kill myself.
Bonus: 10,400 steps.

Sore foot...

Wednesday, June 15, 2016
To every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction…or so I’ve heard.  Anyway, I had considerable pain across the TOP of my surgically repaired foot all day and I think I can attribute that to the hiking with a pack from the night before.  I had been feeling some pain in that area prior to the hike, but it was certainly intensified after.  I don’t regret trying because I need to test it and neither the weight I was carrying nor the amount of step-ups and hiking I did were excessive – by my standards – and so I will just ice and see where it goes.

I had a very full day at the farm and was on my feet throughout.  From there, I went to a side job where I was on and off ladders for five hours and it is little wonder that by day’s end I was exhausted and hurting.  I didn’t even think about working out.  I did have a Paleo dinner and once my head hit the pillow, I didn’t stir until six the next morning.
Bonus: 10,700 steps.

Step-ups with a pack...

Tuesday, June 14, 2016
I knew that the Survival Workout was important to my overall fitness and that it was also a perfect night for a bike ride, but with a trip to the Adirondacks looming and regardless of how tough a peak I hoped to encounter, I needed to get to the park…or the bleachers…with a pack on my back and do some hiking.

I pulled my pack from storage, placed thirty pounds of salt in it and with the sleeping bag and its own weight, was carrying around forty pounds once I strapped it to my back at the North Chagrin Reservation.  I started with 30 step-ups on the boulder next to my car before marching off down (up) the bridle path.  I noticed some fatigue as I climbed that first, steep hill and even more when I found a log just off the path on which I did my second set of step-ups.  In all, I did 150 step-ups, broke a very good sweat, pushed my heart rate to 120 beats per minute, and had some trembling, fatigued leg muscles by the time I returned to the Jeep and dumped my pack in the back.

Sports specific training cannot be over-emphasized and I will do some more of this before the next trip.  Painting late is no excuse.  I have the pack in the Jeep and can stop at the Mayfield track and hit the bleachers any night.  Tired?  Sure…I’m beat, but enjoying the Adirondacks the way I like to demands a certain level of conditioning and I’m sorry to say I’ve ignored that for too long. 
Hike: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-120 bpm.
Calories Burned: 600
Bonus:14,000 steps for the day.

Paleo Diet and Survival Workout...

Monday, June 13, 2016
A couple of years ago, I decided to try the Paleo Diet to see if it could have any impact on my ability to tone and lose weight.  It was the first time I’d ever followed any structured diet plan, though it really isn’t structured, in my life.  As a simple reminder, the Paleo Diet is designed to mirror our ancestors dietary habits before true civilization as we now know it had evolved.  Humans were hunter/gatherers before they learned about agriculture and raising livestock for food.  The Paleo Diet tries to mimic this by sticking to lean meats, fruits and vegetables, with all foods being low on the glycemic index (sugar content).  I had to radically change my dietary habits, eliminating cereal for breakfast, pastas, legumes, and most of all…sugar!

I quickly noticed a difference as my pants started to get looser.  Over the next month, fat seemed to melt from my body and in the end, I’d dropped twenty pounds.  I made some modifications, working in a healthier cereal that I covered with a banana and almond milk, and eventually worked back into a more traditional diet that did include pastas again.  I maintained things like my smoothies, but eventually found ten of those pounds I’d lost. 

I bring all this up now because I have decided to give the Paleo another serious and more lasting effort.  I want to be leaner and stay that way.  I’ve rededicated myself to the Survival Workout…a key ingredient to maintaining low body fat and good fitness levels, as well as getting the cardio going.  Scheduling time in the Adirondacks and taking a serious look at doing some fitness training with clients has put my head where it needs to be.  I do it well and should never have gotten so far afield. 

I went to the park Sunday afternoon to do the Survival Workout and began with the usual push-ups.  I’d only managed 75 my last time out and was expecting something in that neighborhood, but when I hit 70, I knew I was strong and managed to push through to 90 before collapsing in a heap.  The rest of the workout when extremely well and by the time I’d returned to the Jeep, my whole body was quivering from the effort. 

Paleo Diet, Survival Workout, and hiking with a pack.  Look out, Johnnie, I’m going to be ready for our trip to the Adirondacks.  And Kimberly, don’t forget what you promised.
Survival Workout: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 100-150 bpm.
Calories Burned:  600
Bonus: 12,000 steps

Odd job mania...

Sunday, June 12, 2016
I’d had a pretty full day on Saturday working…and leaving no time to work out.  I started at Mimi’s and worked through the early morning hours pulling weeds and working in the gardens.  The thermometer was heading for ninety and I wanted to be done with that and move on to painting the condo, which was indoors and air conditioned, which I did for the rest of the day and into the early evening.  Then I stopped my old friend Kathy’s place, which was a few miles from the condo to help her in the final phase of preparing her house as a rental property.  She would be moving out Monday and she had a list.

“I work for food, but this is a pretty long list,” I said when she went over what she hoped to get done.  On top of that, she fed me first…a paleo dinner of steak, fruit and vegetables…so I could have bailed since I was getting tired.

Instead, I pulled a door off its hinges in the bathroom and took it outside to sand and paint.  It needed one color on the hall side and another on the bathroom side.  I then drilled a hole through ceramic tile in the kitchen…a task that sounds easy but has to be done carefully to avoid cracking the tile.  Kathy wanted to help, and she is extremely handy, but not at this particular moment.

“Hand me that screw for the molly,” I asked.

She moved next to the stove to hand it to me…and then dropped it.  Of course it fell in the crack between the half wall on the side of the stove and the stove, which meant I now needed to pull the stove out to retrieve it.  Once I did that, I asked her to stop helping.

Heavy boxes were dragged from her second floor out to a storage area in the back of the garage where a lock was not functioning and needed to be fixed…which I did. A cabinet and heavy mirror were loaded in the car and by about 10 p.m., all chores were complete and I got the chance to swim in the pool I’d closed up the previous fall.  I’d easily lost several pounds to sweat throughout the day and it felt wonderful.

I ate well and I worked hard.  I did nothing to really improve my conditioning for climbing mountains, but I didn’t hurt my chances either.  I’m pretty sure John is doing little or nothing, so I guess as long as I’m ahead of him, I’ll be alright. 
Bonus: 13,000 steps.

Play...it's always better

Friday, June 10, 2016
I happened to find myself part of a conversation where a parent was being criticized for not involving her daughter in more summer structured activities like dance classes, gymnastics and soccer.  The little girl was five.

I thought back to my own childhood and what things I did when I was five and I can assure you my parents signed me up for nothing…except ‘go outside and play’.  And that’s what I did.  I played with the neighbor kids at hide and seek, kicking a ball, riding my little bike, catching ants, crawling in the dirt, and playing in our sand box.  If my parents had grabbed me from any of these activities to go to a soccer match, wear a uniform, run in the hot sun until a coach told me to stop, I’d certainly have wished I could be back in my yard looking under rocks for salamanders.

Oh yeah…there was no ‘childhood obesity’ epidemic at the time, either.  And yes…I was probably eating things that, by today’s standards, were absolutely unhealthy.  And when I got a little older, I played baseball, football, kickball, crocket, pickle, badminton and about anything else you could imagine…with the kids in the neighborhood, no parents for an audience, no uniforms and lots of arguments and fights.  I had fun, learned how to compromise, and was fit and healthy.  Am I missing something?

Anyway, I couldn’t help but to chime in and suggest that all parties read ‘Last Child in the Woods’, Robert Louv’s wonderful book on nature deficit disorder and the need for everyone to get outside…in the woods, the creeks, under the rocks, and in the dirt.  If we all did, we’d be in better shape, happier and more stress-free.  And I really think if you ask the average five-year old if they’d like to go every day to a dance class or just hang out in the yard and play with their friends, they’d pick the latter.  In the end, the kids may know better than us about what’s good for them.

No workout...

Thursday, June 09, 2016
Though another very active, busy day, it was again one without a formal workout.  On the 24^th of this month, I will be asking my body to climb some reasonably steep peak in the Adirondacks and I have a feeling it is going to say, ‘you screwed up!  You should have done more training.’  Well…oh well…I’ll hurt the next day and then climb something else until the pain subsides.

I did buy some new shoes.  I picked up my first pair of Merrill hiking, low-cut shoes and they do have vibrum soles.  I’ve been breaking them in around the farm and the heel is feeling pretty good.  The true test, of course, is always descending on steep rock face and whether or not they stay in contact with the rock…or my butt does when they’ve slipped. 

I met up with Todd Miller, my riding buddy from my trip to New York to visit my grandparents just after we graduated from high school in 1973 and again on Tour Ohio two years ago.  Both trips were around 1,100 miles of riding.  He is always in peak form.

“Rode about 3,000 miles so far this year, John.  How much have you done?””
“Let me see if I can add it up…hmm…I’d say 90-91 miles,” I replied.  He was judging me.

“You need to get your ass in gear,” he said.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.  The side jobs are eating up time, but you’ve heard that excuse before…and it sucks.  As soon as I finish painting Henry’s condo, I think I’ll be able to turn that around.  This weekend should be the big push to finish it off. 

Bonus: 11,000 steps  

Forty percent of American women are found to be obese...

Wednesday, June 08, 2016
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention released its latest findings on the levels of obesity in America and women, as a group, have topped 40%!  Men aren’t far behind at 35.7%.  Now…this is based on being above 30% fat on a body mass index (BMI) chart, which is the age-old, and in many cases terribly inaccurate, height to weight chart utilized in the insurance and medical industry when and where taking a more accurate indicator…a body fat assessment done correctly…is not in the cards. A man weighing 210 pounds and 5’10” tall would be considered obese, even if he had a 32” waist and was a solid piece of muscle.  The chart can’t quite figure out the difference between muscle and fat, as a pair of body fat calipers can.  Having said all that, truly there are too many overweight, underactive people in this country.  The National Institute of Health makes the following statement:

Causes of Overweight and Obesity

Overweight and obesity result from an energy imbalance. The body needs a certain amount of energy (calories) from food to keep up basic life functions. Body weight tends to remain the same when the number of calories eaten equals the number of calories the body uses or “burns.” Over time, when people eat and drink more calories than they burn, the energy balance tips toward weight gain, overweight, and obesity.

Too true.  I have, and will continue to, preach activity.  Trying to monitor caloric intake and balance it against how many you burn in a day is almost impossible.  Rather you should do something every day to increase the amount of calories you burn AND follow a routine that has you increasing the amount of muscle on your body, which is metabolically more active and will burn calories for you even while you sleep.  Yes…weight resistance of some kind is critical though, as you know if you follow this blog, can be done without a gym or weights such as I do when I do the Survival Workout.  Muscle tone, exercise that emphasizes muscular endurance, will suffice. 

Diet…what we eat…is important and again, some version of the ‘Paleo Diet’ where an emphasis is placed on reducing foods with a high glycemic index (the wrong sugars) will always work.  Lean meats, fruits and vegetables for 80% of your intake and then a routine of exercise and poof…no more obesity.  Get the discipline.  Give it a try.   

I had an off-day from exercise again, but burnt tons of calories walking over 10,000 steps, digging a hole for two hours and painting for three.  It did nothing to prepare me for a walk in the Adirondacks though, but I just ran out of time. 

A fitness test...an IPhone cover...

Tuesday, June 7, 2016
I was sitting in the Verizon store waiting for my old phone to download all its information so it could be uploaded to the new IPhone I’d been forced to get (I have insurance, but the deductible was $150) because it would no longer charge.  An $800 phone that, in eight short months, had failed because I could no longer plug it in.  I wasn’t happy, but I was trying not to take it out on anyone.

“Are you in construction?” Darian, the sales guy was asking.  I looked puzzled so he continued,” there’s so much dirt in these openings for your cords so I figured you do a job where you get dirty.”

And then it hit me.  Of course I could no longer plug in my phone and get a good connection.  Tiny bits of hay, dirt, manure and whatever else I climbed into and worked with, which often found its way into my pockets where I stored my phone, had naturally found its way into my phone, as well.  Shit, damn…

“You should have one of these waterproof cases on it, which seals it entirely, so you’re not back here in eight months spending another $150,” Darian said.

The bastard!  I hate when people are right if it’s going to cost me money.  “How much?” I asked.

“Eighty dollars,” he said, like I was grabbing a Snickers bar to add to my tab.

“Well holy, f&^%kin” shit,” I said.  “Sign me up for two!”

I did buy one, though.

And then I drove quickly home to give Kimberly her first ever fitness test.  She was less than thrilled about the body fat analysis, having the same objection I’d heard a thousand times before.

“I know I’m fat,” she lamented.

I assured her she was not, and she wasn’t, but that it was important to have a baseline.  Like using a map, you can’t know how to get where you’re going if you don’t know where you are.  Besides, I explained, now she could quantify exactly what she had and, more importantly, have a deeper understanding of the best way to change her body composition.  A retest would also demonstrate the value of the program I was about to map out for her, too.  In the end she decided she didn’t hate me and it was useful information.

She and I are working on a business plan to work with people suffering from depression.  She is a Life Coach in this area and I will be the one working with them to help them achieve their fitness and healthy living related goals.  I wanted her to understand my approach, hence the fitness test and the corresponding program design with goals and an objective; in her case climbing a peak in the Adirondacks in four weeks and doing a Warrior Dash at the end of the summer.  Much more to come on these topics…

My own workout skipped a beat.  I did take 11,000 steps throughout the day and had some hard physical labor, but it was no substitute for the necessary training to put me back in the Adirondacks and on top of my game – as someone should be who is advising…and inspiring…others.  I am determined, however.
Bonus: 11,000 steps

Back again...

Monday, June 6, 2016
I won’t write this with some conviction that this will again become a regular publication as I have had many stops and starts over the past year.  I will write it to inform readers that I have personally recommitted to getting my fitness and wellness back to the top of my priority list.

For way too long, I’ve been hit or miss, consoling myself that my very active job and my side jobs would keep me fit…or at least slim.  They do the ‘slim’ part, but fitness is another story.  I have always needed a goal and recent events have put those back into play.  My longtime hiking buddy and friend, John, is certainly part of that.

“Man…I need a mental health break,” he told me in a recent conversation.  For a variety of reasons I may or may not get into later, so did I.

“Adirondacks, John.  Let’s go.  Soon,” I countered.

“Totally out of shape,” he lamented.

And so was I for any serious climbing or backcountry camping, but there is more available in six million acres.  I reminded him of that and we vowed to go up the weekend of the 24^th for some serene camping and manageable day hikes and climbs.  I have been on several peaks with spectacular views that I could do if I weighed 100 pounds more.  I’ll take him there.

So…I need to do some riding and I particularly want to get back to the Survival Workout and the tone I’ve lost.  I’m also working on a business plan that would utilize my skills as a coach and trainer and so must again walk the talk.  More on that later.

I arrived at the park after painting ten hours Saturday and another eight on Sunday.  I’d stopped to cut Kimberly’s lawn in the rain, as well.  I had loaded the mower back in the Jeep and was ready to drive home when I decided I was a complete mess and the driving rain might feel good while working out. 

It did.  I started with 75 push-ups…rather encouraging since I’d not done one in three weeks, and then dips, pull-ups, curls and crunches followed.  I tried my surgically repaired heel with a run across the rugby field to the woods beyond, a trip of about four hundred yards.  It felt okay, but my breathing was heavy.

I lifted rocks and logs and did many more sets of upper body work, but noticed my endurance slipping away quickly.  I squeezed out only 35 push-ups in the second set and barely 25 in the third.  The layoff had totally sapped my ability to do repeated movements over extended time.  Naturally.  That’ll come back quickly.

I finished the workout barely able to move and nixed the idea of going to the bleachers on the way home.  Enough was enough and I knew I’d feel it all the next day.
Survival Workout: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 100-150 bpm.
Calories Burned:  600