Sunday, January 30, 2011
Holly’s mom is pretty amazing. A little over a month ago, she fell and broke her hip. Surgery and therapy followed and now she’s back in her home and getting around quite well. She lives in a two-story condo and the TV room was on the second floor, so when she returned home, we moved the TV downstairs to the bedroom so she could stick to one-floor living. Nothing doing. A week after moving the beast of a set downstairs, I was bringing it back up because she wanted to go up the stairs! And there’s no stopping her. Naturally, while she’s going up or down, someone stands behind her, ready to make a saving catch. “Get out of there…I’m not going to fall,” she says to me, but…well…better safe than sorry. By the way…the one normally trailing her is my 90-year old father-in-law. I’m hoping to be in as good shape…if or when I hit that mile stone.
John and I went to the Metropark for our Sunday afternoon hike. I wore only a windbreaker over my t-shirt since it was close to 40 degrees. The snow was deep though, and we had a good hike. We were fortunate enough to see…and photograph…three deer on the run through the deep snow, far back in the woods. We slid down to the marsh and were able to walk out on it though it didn’t look too secure with the temperature where it was.
We put in about 90 minutes, which was a decent calorie burner, but after a dinner of chicken, potatoes, dressing, noodles and everything slathered in gravy, I figured I needed a little more. I jumped on the bike after everyone left and put in a hard 45 minutes. Later that night Holly and I attempted a walk around the neighborhood, but he sidewalks were so slippery from the earlier thawing and then refreezing, that we aborted after 10 minutes. Still…not a bad day.
Bike duration: 45 minutes. Hike duration: 90 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 75 hiking.
Calories burned during workout: 600 biking. 500 hiking.
Monday, January 31, 2011
PR's are nice...
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Kim texted me from State College, Pa., where she’d just run a 3,000 meter race, that she’d run a 4-second pr and finished in 9:43 – about 5:10 mile pace for almost two miles. It doesn’t seem like much of an improvement – 4 seconds – but at her level, it’s huge. I know the excitement she must have felt…even though she didn’t win the race.
Achievement in fitness seems to seldom be about beating someone else. I compete against myself…and mostly in the here and now. Let’s face it...I’m 55 and I’m definitely not going to get faster than I was in my 30’s. Yet…I measure and compare all the time on the courses I run, ride, hike and kayak. I can’t help it. I just want to know if I’m do a little better than I was a month ago…and when I find that I am, it makes me want to try even harder.
Mostly, I peg my improvement by seeing how I’m doing on a favorite running course and I make sure not to challenge myself every day. Sometimes though, it’s on the bike or maybe hiking with the pack on my back. I time myself and if I get back a little quicker or maybe if I’ve done 20 more step-ups than ever before, I congratulate myself…pat myself on the back…shake my hand…and tell myself what a good job I’ve done. Well…there’s no one else around and who am I doing it for anyway? Self-motivation and congratulation is what it’s all about…and it keeps me going.
I ran 32 minutes on snow packed trails, slipping and sliding, but breaking a great sweat and getting a tough workout. I headed home and jumped on the bike for a 48 minute ride – it’s just when the episode I was watching ended. I needed the extra calorie burn because Holly was making hot dogs wrapped in Anne Ann’s pretzel dough and I always overeat when she makes them.
Holly and I went for a walk around the block later that night and the conditions…slippery with a few inches of snow on the sidewalks…made our normal 25-minute walk another 40-minute endeavor. A little snow certainly does a great job making simple workouts so much more.
Bike duration: 48 minutes. Hike duration: 45 minutes. Run duration: 32 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 75 hiking. 140 running.
Calories burned during workout: 720 biking. 225 hiking. 540 running.
Kim texted me from State College, Pa., where she’d just run a 3,000 meter race, that she’d run a 4-second pr and finished in 9:43 – about 5:10 mile pace for almost two miles. It doesn’t seem like much of an improvement – 4 seconds – but at her level, it’s huge. I know the excitement she must have felt…even though she didn’t win the race.
Achievement in fitness seems to seldom be about beating someone else. I compete against myself…and mostly in the here and now. Let’s face it...I’m 55 and I’m definitely not going to get faster than I was in my 30’s. Yet…I measure and compare all the time on the courses I run, ride, hike and kayak. I can’t help it. I just want to know if I’m do a little better than I was a month ago…and when I find that I am, it makes me want to try even harder.
Mostly, I peg my improvement by seeing how I’m doing on a favorite running course and I make sure not to challenge myself every day. Sometimes though, it’s on the bike or maybe hiking with the pack on my back. I time myself and if I get back a little quicker or maybe if I’ve done 20 more step-ups than ever before, I congratulate myself…pat myself on the back…shake my hand…and tell myself what a good job I’ve done. Well…there’s no one else around and who am I doing it for anyway? Self-motivation and congratulation is what it’s all about…and it keeps me going.
I ran 32 minutes on snow packed trails, slipping and sliding, but breaking a great sweat and getting a tough workout. I headed home and jumped on the bike for a 48 minute ride – it’s just when the episode I was watching ended. I needed the extra calorie burn because Holly was making hot dogs wrapped in Anne Ann’s pretzel dough and I always overeat when she makes them.
Holly and I went for a walk around the block later that night and the conditions…slippery with a few inches of snow on the sidewalks…made our normal 25-minute walk another 40-minute endeavor. A little snow certainly does a great job making simple workouts so much more.
Bike duration: 48 minutes. Hike duration: 45 minutes. Run duration: 32 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 75 hiking. 140 running.
Calories burned during workout: 720 biking. 225 hiking. 540 running.
More doping in the Tour?
Friday, January 28, 2011
I’ve been riding my bike for fun and sport since I was very young. I suppose the first long-distance trip I took was around the age of 10 when my cousin Donnie and I rode our bikes from his home in Massena, NY to visit our grandparents in Potsdam – a trip of around 20 miles. That doesn’t seem like all that much, but one of us was riding a banana seat (and if you don’t know what that is…you’re lucky…because you’re young).
I kept riding throughout my high school years…even after getting my driver’s license…and never really stopped. I’ve done a number of century rides (100 miles or more) over the years and probably logged over 50,000 miles by now. With al that riding…and maybe because of it… I’m still blown away by the Tour de France. For those of you who do not follow the sport of road cycling (99% of all Americans likely), it is probably the most grueling event in the world of sports with the competitors racing over 2,000 miles over the course of three weeks and climbing mountain roads my car would struggle to ascend.
It is also a sport that has been decimated by the performance-enhancing drugs for reasons I don’t completely understand. I suppose even the non-cycling sports fan has heard of Lance Armstrong, the only man to win the Tour seven times. Though he passed hundreds of drug tests during his seven-year reign as the world’s greatest cyclist, speculation about doping and cheating surrounds him still. He was most recently accused of cheating by 2006 winner and former teammate, Al Landis, but only after Landis admitted that he had, in fact, used the performance enhancing drug he was accused of using when he had his title stripped away after the 2006 win.
And now, four years later, Tour winner Alberto Contador is having his 2010 title stripped for having trace amounts of the banned drug, clenbuterol, in his system during the Tour. He is claiming that he is a victim of a tainted steak and in fairness; the hormone is used in beef cattle to increase the amount of meat they can produce.
I don’t know the answer to the drug issue and only hope that the day can come when tests for their presence (or absence) will be infallible…or better yet…everyone will just play fair…on every playing field. Welcome…to Fantasy Island.
I’d had a long day at work and only a mild headache for company. I drove to pick Heidi up in Kent before coming home and then managed a 45-minute bike ride…without performance enhancing drugs…including Advil. I’m trying to stay clean because you never know when someone is going to ask you to pee in a bottle for testing...and I have my image to protect.
Bike duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130.
Calories burned during workout: 675.
I’ve been riding my bike for fun and sport since I was very young. I suppose the first long-distance trip I took was around the age of 10 when my cousin Donnie and I rode our bikes from his home in Massena, NY to visit our grandparents in Potsdam – a trip of around 20 miles. That doesn’t seem like all that much, but one of us was riding a banana seat (and if you don’t know what that is…you’re lucky…because you’re young).
I kept riding throughout my high school years…even after getting my driver’s license…and never really stopped. I’ve done a number of century rides (100 miles or more) over the years and probably logged over 50,000 miles by now. With al that riding…and maybe because of it… I’m still blown away by the Tour de France. For those of you who do not follow the sport of road cycling (99% of all Americans likely), it is probably the most grueling event in the world of sports with the competitors racing over 2,000 miles over the course of three weeks and climbing mountain roads my car would struggle to ascend.
It is also a sport that has been decimated by the performance-enhancing drugs for reasons I don’t completely understand. I suppose even the non-cycling sports fan has heard of Lance Armstrong, the only man to win the Tour seven times. Though he passed hundreds of drug tests during his seven-year reign as the world’s greatest cyclist, speculation about doping and cheating surrounds him still. He was most recently accused of cheating by 2006 winner and former teammate, Al Landis, but only after Landis admitted that he had, in fact, used the performance enhancing drug he was accused of using when he had his title stripped away after the 2006 win.
And now, four years later, Tour winner Alberto Contador is having his 2010 title stripped for having trace amounts of the banned drug, clenbuterol, in his system during the Tour. He is claiming that he is a victim of a tainted steak and in fairness; the hormone is used in beef cattle to increase the amount of meat they can produce.
I don’t know the answer to the drug issue and only hope that the day can come when tests for their presence (or absence) will be infallible…or better yet…everyone will just play fair…on every playing field. Welcome…to Fantasy Island.
I’d had a long day at work and only a mild headache for company. I drove to pick Heidi up in Kent before coming home and then managed a 45-minute bike ride…without performance enhancing drugs…including Advil. I’m trying to stay clean because you never know when someone is going to ask you to pee in a bottle for testing...and I have my image to protect.
Bike duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130.
Calories burned during workout: 675.
Friday, January 28, 2011
'Kid Kucinich' is back in the news...
Thursday, January 27, 2011
It must have been a slow news day since one of the stories in the Plain Dealer was about that crazy ‘Kid Kucinich’ (I remember him from his mayoral days and recall elections) and a $150,000 lawsuit. Apparently, he’d gone to a cafeteria in the House of Representative back in 2008 and ordered a veggie wrap…which he received, but also included an olive pit…at no extra charge. When he bit into the pit and caused some kind of damage to his teeth…and his serenity…he sued the cafeteria for serving him a meal “containing a dangerous substance, namely an olive pit.”
I’m not trying to make light of this…I’m sure he incurred some pain, discomfort, inconvenience and expense and deserves some remuneration. But $150,000? Really?? And he wanted to be president…of the country?
I rode 40 minutes while Holly was making dinner. It was some kind of rice concoction with spinach, acorn squash, garlic and other, unidentifiable but tasty stuff. Later that night, she asked me to go for a walk. She’s been skipping her walks because the cold plays havoc with her hands and feet…and the sidewalks, though plowed, are pretty slippery. We did our normal 20 minute route, but it took closer to 40 with the limited traction and about 2 inches of new snow in our path. Like any program…you just have to get started.
Bike duration: 40 minutes. Walk duration: 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 65 walking.
Calories burned during workout: 600 biking. 200 walking.
It must have been a slow news day since one of the stories in the Plain Dealer was about that crazy ‘Kid Kucinich’ (I remember him from his mayoral days and recall elections) and a $150,000 lawsuit. Apparently, he’d gone to a cafeteria in the House of Representative back in 2008 and ordered a veggie wrap…which he received, but also included an olive pit…at no extra charge. When he bit into the pit and caused some kind of damage to his teeth…and his serenity…he sued the cafeteria for serving him a meal “containing a dangerous substance, namely an olive pit.”
I’m not trying to make light of this…I’m sure he incurred some pain, discomfort, inconvenience and expense and deserves some remuneration. But $150,000? Really?? And he wanted to be president…of the country?
I rode 40 minutes while Holly was making dinner. It was some kind of rice concoction with spinach, acorn squash, garlic and other, unidentifiable but tasty stuff. Later that night, she asked me to go for a walk. She’s been skipping her walks because the cold plays havoc with her hands and feet…and the sidewalks, though plowed, are pretty slippery. We did our normal 20 minute route, but it took closer to 40 with the limited traction and about 2 inches of new snow in our path. Like any program…you just have to get started.
Bike duration: 40 minutes. Walk duration: 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 65 walking.
Calories burned during workout: 600 biking. 200 walking.
A beautiful run...
Wednesday, January 26
There was a light snow falling as I drove to the Metropark and maybe a fresh inch or so on the trails. Perfect weather for a run. The trails have been reasonably packed by skiers, hikers and runners and the fresh snow just makes it so pretty…covering up the yellow snow you shouldn’t eat.
I was planning on doing a 20-25 minute run and hoping for a pain-free calf. I’m figuring on getting the running back to a little over 30 minutes and holding it there for three weeks or so to be certain that I’m healthy before Spring gets here. I’m really getting tired of the running-related injuries and I believe that the best surface for me is the uneven, snow-covered trails. We’ll see.
I was in a t-shirt and shorts with socks on my hands, but not even a little cold. There weren’t many people around, but I got the ‘are you really that stupid?’ look from everyone I encountered. If I’d been running longer, I might have put on a long-sleeved t-shirt but why have the encumbrance for a shorty? No reason.
The run went well and was very enjoyable. Snow covered everything and the flakes falling against my skin made me feel more alive. I finished in 26 minutes, but felt that I could have run much further.
Alaska Paul stopped over later to meet visit with John and me. We convinced him that he needed to return next September to join us for a trip to the Adirondacks. He’s planning a 40-day canoe trip from Minnesota to Hudson Bay via the Red River this summer, but what’s another week in the back country? When he went to leave, he decided that, instead of asking Jason to move his car so that he could get out of the driveway, he’d maneuver around it. You’d think a guy from Alaska would have enough experience with snow to know that you can’t drive up and over snow banks without getting stuck…but apparently he spends more time on a snow machine than behind the wheel of a car…and it took three of us to get him off the lawn.
Run duration: 26 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 140
Calories burned during workout: 450.
There was a light snow falling as I drove to the Metropark and maybe a fresh inch or so on the trails. Perfect weather for a run. The trails have been reasonably packed by skiers, hikers and runners and the fresh snow just makes it so pretty…covering up the yellow snow you shouldn’t eat.
I was planning on doing a 20-25 minute run and hoping for a pain-free calf. I’m figuring on getting the running back to a little over 30 minutes and holding it there for three weeks or so to be certain that I’m healthy before Spring gets here. I’m really getting tired of the running-related injuries and I believe that the best surface for me is the uneven, snow-covered trails. We’ll see.
I was in a t-shirt and shorts with socks on my hands, but not even a little cold. There weren’t many people around, but I got the ‘are you really that stupid?’ look from everyone I encountered. If I’d been running longer, I might have put on a long-sleeved t-shirt but why have the encumbrance for a shorty? No reason.
The run went well and was very enjoyable. Snow covered everything and the flakes falling against my skin made me feel more alive. I finished in 26 minutes, but felt that I could have run much further.
Alaska Paul stopped over later to meet visit with John and me. We convinced him that he needed to return next September to join us for a trip to the Adirondacks. He’s planning a 40-day canoe trip from Minnesota to Hudson Bay via the Red River this summer, but what’s another week in the back country? When he went to leave, he decided that, instead of asking Jason to move his car so that he could get out of the driveway, he’d maneuver around it. You’d think a guy from Alaska would have enough experience with snow to know that you can’t drive up and over snow banks without getting stuck…but apparently he spends more time on a snow machine than behind the wheel of a car…and it took three of us to get him off the lawn.
Run duration: 26 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 140
Calories burned during workout: 450.
I made a typo?
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
It was not a good day. I’ve been struggling with headaches over the past several months…something that starts in the back of the head and at the top of my neck. I could see a doctor, but that would be the smart thing to do. Instead, I take some Advil and wait for it to go away.
Well…I took the Advil and headed for the bike. I needed to get something short in and with the way I was feeling, short was good. I managed 30 minutes and called it a workout. Holly had gone to Kent to nurse Heidi, who was suffering through the flu, back to health, so there was no point in whining or lying around looking for sympathy…not that she’d have given me any. Still…I lay around pretty well, so I plugged in a movie and waited for the Advil to do its thing.
I went to my email and saw I had a comment on one of my postings…which I find rather exciting. I was struck by the fact that it was made on my posting from July 8, 2010…and it was about a spelling mistake! I’d written that I was ‘humping’ down the road…in my car…instead of humming. I suppose that was rather inappropriate and went back and fixed it. It got me to thinking though…why was the person reading a posting from July 8th of last year in January when it occurred to me…they probably enjoyed my writing so much that they were going through for a second or third time! Sure…that’s the ticket…
Bike duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking.
Calories burned during workout: 450 biking.
It was not a good day. I’ve been struggling with headaches over the past several months…something that starts in the back of the head and at the top of my neck. I could see a doctor, but that would be the smart thing to do. Instead, I take some Advil and wait for it to go away.
Well…I took the Advil and headed for the bike. I needed to get something short in and with the way I was feeling, short was good. I managed 30 minutes and called it a workout. Holly had gone to Kent to nurse Heidi, who was suffering through the flu, back to health, so there was no point in whining or lying around looking for sympathy…not that she’d have given me any. Still…I lay around pretty well, so I plugged in a movie and waited for the Advil to do its thing.
I went to my email and saw I had a comment on one of my postings…which I find rather exciting. I was struck by the fact that it was made on my posting from July 8, 2010…and it was about a spelling mistake! I’d written that I was ‘humping’ down the road…in my car…instead of humming. I suppose that was rather inappropriate and went back and fixed it. It got me to thinking though…why was the person reading a posting from July 8th of last year in January when it occurred to me…they probably enjoyed my writing so much that they were going through for a second or third time! Sure…that’s the ticket…
Bike duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking.
Calories burned during workout: 450 biking.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The greatest man of fitness - Jack LaLanne
Monday, January 24, 2011
The first and greatest man of fitness, Jack LaLanne, died yesterday. He was 96 and still working out daily. I couldn’t have been more than six when I first tuned in his fitness show and got inspired. I was staying at my grandparents’ home just north of New York city, for an extended two-week visit…it was my turn…and they got – like – twelve or thirteen stations on their TV (we only had three at home and I wasn’t allowed to watch TV except on Saturday mornings and Sunday nights anyway), which was pretty much heaven. I was channel surfing (we called it ‘changing the channel’ back then and I had to stand in front of the set and do it manually) when I came across this really buff guy wearing some funny leotards and doing exercises with a chair and a towel. He was also telling me to go and get my mother and tell her to come and do the exercises with him…and me.
If we’d gotten this channel at home and I had gone and tried to get my mother up to come and work out with Jack…well…that wouldn’t have been a very good idea and I wouldn’t be writing this blog today. But grandma…now that’s another story. I think she kind of liked him and she tried to do some of the things he was doing. Somehow…the way he spoke so enthusiastically, moving his arms and flexing those biceps…he just made you want to try.
His show began in 1951 and for the next 35 years, he came into our homes every day. It was the longest running fitness show in the history of TV. I remember reading about his swimming exploits as he aged and it was his birthday antics that inspired me to try and do something challenging each year to celebrate getting older. For his 70th, while handcuffed, shackled, and fighting strong winds and currents, he towed 70 rowboats, one with several guests, from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary, 1 mile. I’m not even in his league when it comes to fitness or nuttiness. He is truly a legend, though, and the world of fitness will miss their Founding Father.
I went to the Metropark for a short run and as I was getting ready to start, I noticed Marie across the parking lot. “I was wondering who the nut in the shorts was,” she said when she recognized me.
“You know how I sweat…so it’s no big deal. Besides, I’m only going a couple of miles.” I was wrong about that…the shorts thing, I mean. It was really, really cold though I have to admit that only my hands, covered in socks, were feeling it. The trails were passable…packed by hikers and skiers…and I managed to get in 16 minutes pain-free. I hurried home after the run and put another hour on the bike…so…not a bad workout day. It was the least I could do to honor Jack.
Bike duration: 60 minutes. Run duration: 16 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 140 running.
Calories burned during workout: 900 biking. 250 running.
The first and greatest man of fitness, Jack LaLanne, died yesterday. He was 96 and still working out daily. I couldn’t have been more than six when I first tuned in his fitness show and got inspired. I was staying at my grandparents’ home just north of New York city, for an extended two-week visit…it was my turn…and they got – like – twelve or thirteen stations on their TV (we only had three at home and I wasn’t allowed to watch TV except on Saturday mornings and Sunday nights anyway), which was pretty much heaven. I was channel surfing (we called it ‘changing the channel’ back then and I had to stand in front of the set and do it manually) when I came across this really buff guy wearing some funny leotards and doing exercises with a chair and a towel. He was also telling me to go and get my mother and tell her to come and do the exercises with him…and me.
If we’d gotten this channel at home and I had gone and tried to get my mother up to come and work out with Jack…well…that wouldn’t have been a very good idea and I wouldn’t be writing this blog today. But grandma…now that’s another story. I think she kind of liked him and she tried to do some of the things he was doing. Somehow…the way he spoke so enthusiastically, moving his arms and flexing those biceps…he just made you want to try.
His show began in 1951 and for the next 35 years, he came into our homes every day. It was the longest running fitness show in the history of TV. I remember reading about his swimming exploits as he aged and it was his birthday antics that inspired me to try and do something challenging each year to celebrate getting older. For his 70th, while handcuffed, shackled, and fighting strong winds and currents, he towed 70 rowboats, one with several guests, from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary, 1 mile. I’m not even in his league when it comes to fitness or nuttiness. He is truly a legend, though, and the world of fitness will miss their Founding Father.
I went to the Metropark for a short run and as I was getting ready to start, I noticed Marie across the parking lot. “I was wondering who the nut in the shorts was,” she said when she recognized me.
“You know how I sweat…so it’s no big deal. Besides, I’m only going a couple of miles.” I was wrong about that…the shorts thing, I mean. It was really, really cold though I have to admit that only my hands, covered in socks, were feeling it. The trails were passable…packed by hikers and skiers…and I managed to get in 16 minutes pain-free. I hurried home after the run and put another hour on the bike…so…not a bad workout day. It was the least I could do to honor Jack.
Bike duration: 60 minutes. Run duration: 16 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 140 running.
Calories burned during workout: 900 biking. 250 running.
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