Cleveland Clinic trys to push employees towards better health...

Monday, February 13, 2012
“Clinic nudges its workers towards a healthy life style” was the title of the article on the front page of the Plain Dealer.  Naturally…I read it.  I’m familiar with the Clinic’s ‘Healthy Choice’ program its had in place for several years targeting their 29,000 employees in an effort to make them healthier…and reduce their health care costs.  The program attempts to address what the Clinic calls the six chronic health issues; high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, asthma, and smoking.  They access employees and if they have any one of the six, they’re given goals to achieve and ways to achieve them.  They offer free memberships to their Clinic Fitness Centers provided employees use them at least 10 times per month.  The Clinic also pays for female employees to join Curves and any employee who wants to join Weightwatchers.   Over 16,000 have taken advantage of the program…and shared in health care cost reductions.  The latest increase is going to be 21%, but people in the program will pay only 4%...and still13,000 don’t participate!

Apparently there are many unhappy employees that feel like ‘Big Brother’ is watching and don’t like the Clinic’s heavy hand.  A Clinic spokesperson said that they feel as the employer paying the increased bills resulting from employees who won’t take care of themselves, that they have some rights.  I find it hard to disagree with their thinking.  I suppose employees have the right to be a physical mess…smoke, don’t exercise, eat poorly and have one or more of the chronic health issues, which will naturally lead to increased health care costs, but at some point they have to accept that someone…not them…is paying the major portion of the freight.   I am impressed with how much the Clinic does offer to help people help themselves…and shocked at how many people are content to turn their backs on these programs.  Someday, when it will be too late, they’ll wish they’d participated.

Sometimes I just love Facebook.  I’d been converting my dad’s old slides to digital and was coming across so many pictures from the old neighborhood in Bristol, Ct. and the friends I’d left behind.  I fixated on one person in particular, Linda Ruiu from across the street, and tried to find her.  And there she was…on Facebook and looking like she hadn’t aged…as much as me at least…in 44 years.  I ‘friend requested’ her and posted some pictures and hopped on the trainer to do my ride.

I’m through the ‘Everest’ series and still looking for someone to pay for me to accompany them to the peak.  I’m available from now until…forever.  I selected a Russell Crowe movie and began the ride.  Part way through, I could see that I’d received a confirmation from Linda and was excited to again be connected to someone so important to me in my early years.  Thanks Facebook.

Bike Duration:  90 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1250.

Netflix breakdown...

Sunday, February 12, 2012
I need to come up with an alternative plan for Netflix.  I was ready to ride my usual 90 minutes and was logging on to find something to watch when  an error message popped up saying too many users were on.  That could only mean Jason was using his own site…without checking my exercise schedule…and now I was locked out.  Jack suggested I watch some old DVD, but he doesn’t quite understand my need to completely distract myself while riding the trainer…something a movie I’ve already seen cannot accomplish.  I pouted some before making a mental commitment to do it after dinner…quite unlikely.

At least I’d made it to the park earlier in the day with Dakota.  The snow was still on the trails and our hike was slightly rigorous…but not nearly a workout.  It was done when I was sure I’d be riding later, so it lacked any real intensity.

I never did get on the bike.  I could have run once I knew the ride was out, but I seem to lock in on something and often lack the ability to adjust.  Maybe I was just having a lazy day…I don’t know…but I finished the day feeling worthless and weak.  I suppose that’s okay because it helps keep my focused and on task…for the next workout.

Hike Workout: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 80.
Calories burned:  150.

Survival Workout snow modifications...

Saturday, February 11, 2012
The snow was falling fast and provided me with one of the season’s few shoveling workouts.  Both my neighbors were out and shoveling, as well, so I did mine quickly and went to help them to add to the effort…which still wasn’t much.  With the snow still flying, I made my way to the park to see how much of the Survival Workout I could manage.

My parking spot hadn’t been plowed, so I went off Rogers Road and began the workout without some of my well-placed props.  I cleared a spot in a snowy field next to my car as the wind whistled across a meadow blanketed in six inches of soft powder.  The temperature was in the teens with a wind chill probably below zero.  I had on a t-shirt and sweatshirt, gloves, hat and my boots and after squeezing out another 100 push-ups, felt plenty warm.  It’s funny that it took so long to achieve 100 and now I’ve managed to hit it on four consecutive workouts.  Three of those four I’ve done exactly 100…and couldn’t have done another no matter how I’d struggled. 

I started across the open meadow, headed in the direction of my first rock pile about a half mile away, when I decided running would be a good idea.  It wasn’t.  In the heavy boots and with six inches of snow to plow through with each step, I managed about 90 seconds before succumbing to lungs ready to burst.  I quickly figured this would be as good as…or better than…picnic table hops and probably safer on a day when they’d be icy and under plenty of snow.

My rocks…no longer sitting directly on the ground since I’d placed them on top of smaller rocks…were not frozen to the turf and quite usable.  I managed my rows and overheads before moving on to a dip station.  Along the way, I fit in some more sprint efforts…I had the sprint effect while moving more like the tortoise.

The wind was blowing hard even through the deep woods, so when I was forced to take off my gloves to gain a better grip on some rocks, they quickly began to become uncomfortably cold.  I was getting a mild taste of what the Everest climbers experienced when they removed theirs for any reason…instant frost bite.

I put them back on quickly and kept them on until I reached the swing set, where I again removed them and climbed the pole.  Big mistake.  Though I made it to the top, my hands paid the price and were extremely cold after only one climb.  Enough of that foolishness, I concluded and kept them on for the remainder of the workout.

Three more sprints through open fields really added a nice dimension to the workout.  It’s kind of like running in a few inches of water…a little resistance goes a long way to increasing the effort.  Though I couldn’t get in all of my lifts, I managed 18 different exercise episodes and turned a snowy day into another unique workout opportunity. 

Survival Workout: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150.
Calories burned:  600.

Homeless man scares off diners...

Friday, February 10, 2012
I looked at my cell to see the incoming call was from Savannah which normally meant one thing…trouble with the jeep.  Otherwise, she texts.

“Dad…mom was too busy to hear this story, but I know you’ll appreciate it,” she began in her normal, machine-gun sentence delivery.

She went on to tell me that she and her boyfriend, Kyle, were backing out of a restaurant parking spot when he crunched into another parked car.  He saw that the damage was worthy of a note and was looking in his car to find paper and a pen when the owners of the car came out of the restaurant and got in…not noticing any damage.  He quickly went to the car to give them his information. 

“Excuse me…hello…I need to tell you something,” he said, indicating to the driver that they should roll the window down. 

He’s a scruffy looking fellow with a thick beard and wild hair and they were in a part of town where panhandling is not unheard of.  The driver…a young woman…waved him away and began pulling out.  He stood aside and watched as they sped off…happy to have avoided saying “no” to a bum.

“They’re going to get home and see the damage to the side of the car, and then they’re going to figure out that he wasn’t a bum,” she finished, laughing.  And I suppose it was funny though I’m wondering about Kyle’s driving skills…and whether he needs to visit the barber again.

I rode another 90 minutes on the trainer and watched the final two episodes of ‘Everest: Beyond the Limit.’  One of the climbers was there because a close friend had paid his $60,000 to climb.  They wanted to do it together and the poorer friend was a good climber and would motivate his richer buddy.  I know I’ve said I don’t want to be on Everest…that there is no appeal for me…but I suppose I’ve been kidding myself.  The views there are to die for and they get to climb and camp for up to sixty days.  I guess what I’m saying is that if anyone wants to pay my way to go with them…I won’t say no.  The challenge of standing on top of the world certainly has its appeal.

Bike Duration:  90 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1250.

Back inside...

Thursday, February 9, 2012
As I exited the car for a Survival Workout, I noticed how sore my hips were from yesterday’s hour-plus run.  Running brings on the aches like no other activity I do…and particularly when I do them too long.  It tends to put a damper on my interest in working out, and this day was no exception.  I decided it would be a better day for a deer antler hike and then a ride on the trainer was back home.

I started by heading off-trail and soon found myself nose to the ground doing a set of push-ups.  I struggled but reached 100 again and then found a downed log from which I could do my dips.  I didn’t want to completely abandon the Survival Workout.  There was no sign of antlers and little sign of the deer herd.  I was on a ridge they bedded down on often…I could see where they’d been a few nights earlier, but there was no telltale droppings and I wondered if the recent culling had them relocating to another area.  If people were shooting at me…I’d move.  I made my way to Snowman’s Ridge and sat quietly on a bluff high over the marsh and watched for my eagles and beaver activity, but could only make out the ducks and geese on the water.  I’d sat quietly for 15-20 minutes when I realized I’d been still long enough that the birds were now all around me.  Human noise scares them off, but they’ll return if you give them time.  I held out my hand, but was unable to get any chickadees to light.

I made my way back to the car and home for a turn on the trainer.  It’s been some time since I’ve had to do this and I kind of missed the Everest series.  I managed another couple of episodes which helped me through 90 minutes of riding…something I could never do without the distraction of AV.  The forecast says I’ll be inside on the trainer for the next few days, but maybe I’ll get some good exercise moving snow.  I’ll have that going for me.

Bike Duration:  90 minutes.  Hike Duration: 30 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 120 biking and 80 hiking.
Calories burned during workout: 1250 biking and 150 hiking.

Sand Run Metro Park kills me again...

Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Last November I wrote that I’d run one of the toughest courses in my life...a hilly, unrelenting hiking trail in Sand Run Metro Park.  I’d encountered three hills twice as long as and steeper than anything I would run in the North Chagrin Reservation.  It was only a 40 minute effort, but it thoroughly enjoyed completely kicking my butt.  I swore I’d never return.

I’ve often suggested that if men had the babies, there would never be more than one per family...we’d remember the pain and knowing we couldn’t do it twice, would stop.  I thought this running course was like that for me and I’d be smart enough to never return.  Like women and pregnancy, I seemed to have forgotten all that agony and since I was in Akron picking up my daughter Heidi, decided to go there for a run.  I changed in the car and began the run with a nagging feeling that something was wrong.  I turned off the main path for a hiking trail when it hit me...hard.  I climbed from that point and continued to climb for a period of time that converted my legs to Jell-o and made me feel like I was on Everest.  I reached the top and began to do something that resembled running again, but quickly found myself slipping down the mud-covered trail to the bottom.  It hit me then...this was going to happen a bunch more times and I was going to want to puke.

I ran these ups and downs for thirty minutes...my brain was functioning on low oxygen and I was not thinking clearly...because I’d decided to make it a one-hour run.  Had I been thinking clearly, I would have realized that, at the half way point, I’d be turning around and repeating the hills I’d just slogged up for a second time.  I was in that happy, euphoric, blissful, endorphin-fed place that makes reasoning illogical...so I  continued to screw up.  I could have taken the trail that parallels the road back to my car...like everyone else in the park was doing...but I again headed up the hiking trails, taking 2 minutes longer to return than it had taken me to hit the halfway point.

When I finally reached my car, I was drenched in sweat as I would be on a sultry July day.  I was also having troubles standing up.  I was in pain...but I suppose it would be that ‘good pain’ I’ve mentioned before...the kind that doesn’t break you, but makes you stronger.  I had definitely left my comfort...and sanity...zone (they go hand-in-hand)...and had done what you have to do to improve performance.  I’d done it by accident and wouldn’t repeat it, but it reminded me of the workouts I design for elite runners who face this challenge two times a week.  God bless them...and women who deliver babies.  I’m going to try and be smarter the next time I drive anywhere near this park and NOT get out of my car to run...or if I do...remember not to take the hiking trails that go up and down the hills.  Thank you Sand Run Metro Park...you’ve destroyed me again.

Run Duration:  62 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1050.

Big Don validates push-up madness...

Tuesday, February 7, 2012
I’d just returned home from my Survival Workout at the park when I ran into Holly.  I’d sent her a text earlier telling her she should read the blog from the day before since she was quoted in it.

“I read your blog and although I thought it was funny, I think your push-up ‘thing’ is getting to be a sickness,” she said…kind of kidding.

So I was thinking ‘don’t share today’s workout with her…she doesn’t get it.’  But I needed someone to validate what I’d been doing and who would appreciate the effort…and the mentality that went into it.  There are a couple who fit this description on my speed dial, but only one who would take it to this extreme…and find it…well…sensible.

“Big Don!  I know you don’t understand the computer well enough to read my blog, so I just wanted to tell you I hit the push-up century the other day, and today managed to do 106 in my first set and to crush my 3-set pr with a 276…old record was 261,” I said.

“John…man…that is SO cool.  You gotta be in the one-tenth of one percent of the population that can do that!  Okay…okay…tell me how you do them.  Fast?  How are your feet spread?  Where do you put your hands…”  We went on discussing the different types of push-ups, how I fit the three sets into my workout, what their value is and other kinds of important push-up related information for 30 minutes, completely validating my accomplishment.  We finished by talking about getting together in a couple of nights to view Inning Three of the baseball documentary by Ken Burns and to continue our discussion.  I shared my plan with Holly.

“I am totally going out THAT evening.  You guys talk so loud…and non-stop…and about what…running?  Baseball?  Camping?  God…you two are boring,” she said.  She’d just mentioned three of the most life-fulfilling things a person could do in the same sentence with the word ‘boring’…how have we made it 36 years?  It must be my charm.

Anyway…I had gone after the Survival Workout with a vengeance earlier that day.  I wanted to verify the push-up century and by the time I hit 70, I knew I’d crush it.  I added a couple of sets of picnic table hops, got back to lifting the log, did the high skips, climbed the swing set pole, and managed some pull-ups even after my final set of push-ups to complete the exhausting, but fulfilling workout. 

Survival Workout: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150.
Calories burned:  600.