A solitary run on painful feet...

Monday, January 9, 2012
I find it painful to sit in an office with a huge window opening up to a sun-drenched parking lot below and to know that it is almost 50 degrees…in January…and I’m stuck inside instead of riding.  Work…bills to pay…what a pain.  Can’t someone pay me to work out?  I suppose that’s my ‘Fantasy Island’.

I made my way to the park after work…there was not enough daylight to get in a ride that would satisfy me…to do a run instead.  My feet were still sore from the run I’d done two days earlier and I was starting to think that I would have to break down and buy a pair of shoes that afforded some cushion to see if it would make any difference.  I suspect it won’t…but I may have to try.  Anyway, it was so nice that I’d decided to run longer…at least 45 minutes.  The bridle trails were quite passable, but I elected to stay off the hiking trails…they would most certainly be a swamp.  I ran down past the swamp, finding no one on the trails and continued on in complete silence.  I managed to spook a group of deer, five grazing passively until my approach, but saw little else.  My feet were bothering me, but I was a long distance from the car and with no intentions of cutting it short.  I made the loop as interesting as I could, hoping to spot more wildlife and miss any fellow humans.  I succeeded in the latter and made it back to the car after fifty minutes of running and very tender feet.

I hobbled around the house all evening on feet that begged for comfortable shoes.  I suppose I have to quit being cheap and stubborn.  My body is sending me a message that, if I continue to ignore, will surely have me running less and less.  I don’t know that shoes will make a difference, but it is the first, and least expensive option I have.  I’ve been running in sturdy running shoes for over 30 years and it only stands to reason that my body…by feet…have made adaptations that I can’t ignore.  I suppose I need to get them healthy again, and then try introducing small increments of minimalist and barefoot running if I am to change.  I could also cut back on my running to 30 minutes or less, but over the winter when riding long is a limited option, running longer to compensate beckons.

Run Duration:  50 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 850.

Some times it just doesn't pay to be a good guy...

Sunday, January 08, 2012
I went to the North Chagrin Reservation for my Sunday morning workout wondering if I’d come close to my last performance on Friday.  I didn’t think so and wasn’t surprised when, after my first set of push-ups, felt lethargic.  I decided then and there to make the workout more about the lower body, sprints and power moves that would engage my aerobic system along with the normal sets for muscular endurance.

Over the next hour, I spent time on uphill sprints, Indian runs through the woods, sets of high skips, picnic table hops and an extra couple of sets of lifts and core work.  I was looking to compensate for my inability to lift for as many reps by doing more sets.  I would have gotten as much from doing the reduced counts on my sets provided I’d driven myself to the exhaustion point on each set…and I knew that at the time…but I kept feeling like a slacker whenever my totals weren’t as high as usual.  By the time I returned to the car, I’d been out about 15 minutes longer than usual and done more than I had in months.  I was shot…but it felt great.

Once home, the workout continued.  I moved about 30 boxes of Christmas decorations to the attic, filled the shed with outdoor Christmas stuff and helped vacuum and rearrange the house back to its pre-Christmas look. 

Later, as I sat watching the Steelers/Broncos playoff game, guilt began to set in.  Why was I just sitting and watching when I could be doing some exercise?   It’s a sickness for which there is no cure, so I went and pulled the trainer from the office and rode while watching the second half…a thirty minute half of football takes 90 minutes to be played, by the way.  I rode until the end of regulation…it was tied and headed for overtime…and during the brief intermission and coin toss to determine who would get the football first during overtime, I went to see how Holly was doing and if I could get her anything – she was still sick and in bed.

I returned five minutes later to watch the overtime only to find that they’d switched to the regularly scheduled show – 60 Minutes.  Really?  Skip overtime for 60 Minutes?  I don’t get any Cable stations that cost money – ESPN and the like – and figured that was where they were showing the overtime…and I was pissed.  I didn’t learn until the next morning when I opened the sports page that Denver had scored on the first play of overtime, ending the game.  While I was trying to earn some gallantry points with Holly…I missed the end of the game…and she didn’t want anything anyways!  Well…I tried to do the right thing.  Next time…I stay on the bike.  I was sorry to miss the Steelers losing, though.

Survival Workout: 75 minutes.  Bike duration: 75 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150 for SW and 120 for the bike.
Calories burned:  750 for SW, 1050 for the bike.

"Walter Johnson throws from the side!"

Saturday, January 7, 2012
I was in the car and driving to Strongsville to join Don Alexander in watching the Second Inning of the Ken Burns baseball documentary.  I gave him a call to tell him on was on my way, knowing we’d then talk for the entire 40-minute drive.  “John…got a special dinner for you,” he began in his normal, machine-gun pattern of speaking.  “I’ve gone vegan and we’re having soup with all kinds of great stuff that a ‘Paleo’ guy would love.”  He told me about the beans…and I explained that legumes were not part of a paleo diet since they raised the glycemic (blood sugar) index…something I always tried to avoid. 

“But its low in calories…it has to be good,” he said…this coming from a 56-year old man weighing in around 120 pounds and a body fat of 10%. 

“Seriously…Don…why are you following this diet?” I asked.  Not that there was anything wrong with it…in fact it was good for anyone, but I wanted to know his motivation.  He’s a total hypochondriac and certifiable obsessive compulsive, so I had to hear him say it…because I knew it would make me laugh.

“Well…my total cholesterol is hovering around 200 and every once in awhile I’ll take my blood pressure and its above 120.  I don’t want my doc putting me on cholesterol and blood pressure medication,” he said.

Now…this might make some sense if it was coming from a complete medical novice…but that’s not Don.  He’s spent the last 25 years working as a pharmaceutical salesman and knows more about cholesterol and blood pressure medication…and when it truly ought to be prescribed…than any doctor.  When I confronted him with this information…and the fact that his good cholesterol numbers…HDL’s…were fabulous…he chuckled a little and admitted to his OCD behavior taking over his thinking…again.

The soup was good and the Second Inning was even better.  It was fun to see how excited Don got when they aired the first footage either of us had ever seen of both Ty Cobb and Walter Johnson playing the game of baseball.  They were two of the most dominant players ever to grace a baseball diamond, both making their debuts in the first years of the 1900’s when film making was in its infancy.  “Walter Johnson throws from the side!” Don exclaimed as he watched him deliver one of his overpowering fastballs.  “I’ve always pictured him throwing overhand (who pictures a man who’d thrown his last pitch 50 years before you were born to begin with?  Only Don)…and he came from the side…this…is…amazing!”  I had to agree…it truly was.

I’d sacrificed workout time earlier in the day to help my brother-in-law and nephew move heavy, metal shelves.  They were opening a marine supply sales store in downtown Fairport and had about four truckloads of abandoned retail shelves they’d been storing at my nephew’s farm (the same one who’s in training for the World’s Strongest Man competition) which needed to be relocated to the store.  As we were finishing the second load, Jonathon reminded us we needed to save some space for the bar in the basement, which was to be used as a sales counter in the new store.  "We might need Nathan to help us," he said.  There were already four of us there...so this comment got me to thinking...and worrying

“How heavy is this thing if a guy who can flip an 800-pound tire for forty yards down a football field needs ANYone else to move it?” I inquired.

“It’s just a little awkward, Uncle John, or I’d have you lay down on it while I brought it up the stairs,” my nephew replied...only half-joking. 
They let me do all the climbing in and out of the trucks as we loaded and unloaded the shelves…part of my workout and the other two guys were older…physiologically speaking.  I also found that the previous leasers of the space had been a karate group and they’d left behind all kinds of fitness stuff, including two heavy bags, a speed bag, boxing and striking gloves, exercise mats and balls and other miscellaneous exercise stuff that no one had any interest but me…which I gladly loaded in my car before leaving.  I’m willing to sacrifice workout time to help friends and family…particularly when it involves manual labor…which is kind of like a workout.

Shelf moving Workout: 5 hours.
Training Heart Rate: Maybe 80.
Calories burned:  1,000 or so.

Push-up century is nine away...

Friday, January 6, 2012
Jason had stopped by to grab a quick shower on his way to a date.  The car wash business was good that day and he’d been working late.  He came down the stairs and was heading out the door when he commented that the toilet was plugged in the bathroom.  “I sure am disgusted with Jack.  He never plunges the thing,” he said as he left.

I was right behind him, on my way to pick up Jack from work.  A couple of plunges usually solved the problem and I’d get to it when I returned.  When I did, I found Holly sitting on the steps and looking more than sick…like pissed.

“I can’t understand why none of you will take the time to unplug that toilet.  It overflowed and now my laundry room is soaked and a day’s worth of clean clothes needs to be rewashed,” she said as a way of greeting.  The laundry room is below the kid’s bathroom and if their toilet overflows…well…it goes downhill.  She was already extremely sick…I’m guessing getting out of her sick bed to investigate strange sounds coming from downstairs and finding water pouring through the ceiling hadn’t improved her mood…and she took it out on me.  I reminded her that I’d left to pick up Jack and that the toilet never overflowed when plugged…unless someone was dumb enough to flush it in that condition…Jason.

I went upstairs first to stop the water…which was still running since the tank had not stopped trying to fill.  I plunged it a couple of times and the plug was gone.  That alone raised my temperature a few degrees since I couldn’t help but wonder why two grown boys hadn’t taken the seconds to do what I’d just done.  When I arrived in the laundry room and saw the extent of the damage, I completely understood Holly’s frustration…which I shared with Jack with words you’ll never find in Webster’s.

Clean-up took an hour or so and I have no good formula for calculating the calories I burned while completing this task.  I know my heart rate was up the entire time and for sure my blood pressure was in the danger zone…but I’m not going to list it because I’m thinking…praying…it’s a passing fancy and not something that will catch on as a workout.

Speaking of workouts…I’d been to the park earlier that day to do the Survival Workout.  It has been some time since I set my push-up pr of 88 and three set total of 244.  I was hoping to crack 100 by the end of the year, but once the dizziness kicked in, I never had a chance.  I haven’t actually been burning up the woods with my workouts since, and didn’t have high expectations as I began my first set on this day.  As I approached 80 though, I knew I had a chance.  I squeezed out 90 and 91 and fell to the earth trying for 92.  Once I had the strength to get my nose out of the mud, I regained my feet and pumped my fist in the air.  The down side to this was…I now had to challenge my three set pr, which meant two more sets averaging 78…and that meant lots of pain.  I did 76 on my second set at the cabins and by the time I returned to the car for my third and final set, my arms were swollen from the rest of the workout and feeling dead.  I attacked it anyway, knowing I may not be this close again for awhile and managed to hit 82 and 249 for the three set total.

Push-ups keep me going.  They’re the gauge that reminds me I’m continuing to improve and the baseline against which I can check my progress from last May when I began the Survival Workout in earnest with a three set total of 61 push-ups and 26 for a one set max.  It motivates me to know that at age 56, I’m still able to set fitness pr’s and that the book ‘Younger Next Year’ really applies to me.  I’ll keep listing the numbers…not to brag (though there is that)…but to encourage.  Holly will be happy to confirm…I’m nothing special and I’m doing it, so pretty much anyone can.  I know it’s hard to do…but the results are there for anyone to gain…you just have to stay the course.  It’s really all I’ve done that is special.

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

"How'd you make that smoothie again?"

Thursday, January 5, 2012
Was it really January?  The temperatures were hovering in the mid 40’s and the sun was shining…and it was Northeast Ohio…or was supposed to be.  I drove home thinking ‘ride outside’ and what I’d have to do and how quickly if I was to have some daylight to get it done.  Then I got inside and found Holly in bed…and quite sick.  Fortunately my brain got ahead of my mouth and I didn’t mention thoughts of heading out the door for a ride.  Instead I said, “Can I get you anything?”

She looked at me to judge the sincerity in my voice and eyes…I’m a practiced liar…and smiled.  “I’m really hungry, but everything I think about eating sounds horrible,” she said.  I’ve been sick a few times in my life, but can’t remember ever feeling like I couldn’t eat.  I’ve heard of this though and offered a suggestion.

“How about warm chocolate pudding?”  Her eyes lit up and I headed for the kitchen to see if we had any of the stuff.  I brushed off my culinary skills, opened a box of Jell-o pudding mix and dumped it into two cups of milk, stirring as I brought it to a boil.  Try as I might, if I stayed and stirred, I would be unable to screw it up…so I stayed…and I stirred.  I served it with a glass of milk and sat with her and watched another hysterical episode of ‘Modern Family’.  I even had a little pudding myself…just to be social.  I was a hero, but in the process I missed a workout.  There is a place for such people in heaven…I hope.

Jimmy and Reza had been over the house earlier in the week and I had served up one of my fantastic smoothies.  Jimmy is studying for his Ph.D.  in whining and complaining, kept commenting on the thickness or texture or something only his brain could fathom…but of course, kept drinking.  He called me last night and began asking me how I’d made it so he could duplicate it for some friends.  “I thought you didn’t like it…you were carrying on like a spoiled, bratty little girl when I made it the other night,” I said.  He just laughed and continued to take down the information.  He’ll try and make it…and mess it up because he wasn’t really listening…and then it will be my fault.  Good luck, Jimmy…try to make it right.

Snow covered trails increase the effort...and the serenity.

Wednesday, January 04, 2012
It was eerily quiet as I made my way down the snow-packed bridle trail for my evening run.  There seemed to be no one in the park and the only sounds I could hear was the crunch of my foot as I attempted to find some traction on the frozen mud and snow.  I was planning a 30-minute effort…this would be the third day of running with only a day off in between since suffering my last calf injury.  I thought I’d have to stick to the bridle trails, but decided to venture on the hiking trails which, during my last visit, were more mud than trail.  Things went well, though, since they were frozen enough to keep me from sinking to my ankles.  I had to move slowly because it was difficult to spot the roots and rocks waiting to trip me up and send me sprawling.  This…and the lousy footing…slowed me significantly, but increased significantly the effort of each step and generated a high training heart rate.  I feel like I get as much from a 30-minute run in these conditions as I would normally from an run closer to an hour.

I was approaching my turn-around point when I decided I was feeling too strong to stop.  I picked up an extra trail and added 10 more minutes to the run before returning to the car.  Once home, I quickly boarded the trainer and started a planned 30-minute ride.  I was watching ‘Homeland’…a story about Native American activists fighting in four separate communities to prevent environment disasters from being visited on their lands by their governments and energy companies.   I made it easily to 30 minutes and since the topic had me fascinated and they were filming in Arctic Village, Alaska, the furthest north settlement in the United States, I couldn’t stop.  Thank God for Netflix and good programming or I’d never get through the terribly tedious task of spinning the pedals on my bike…and going nowhere.

Run Duration:  40 minutes.  Bike Duration:  60 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 140 running and 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 675 running and 850 biking.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012
I met with Bill Bodnar, another of my Rite Aid runners, to perform the fitness test and write his program for completing the half marathon in May.  He’d already been reading my blog and when he’d seen the entry about watching the documentary ‘Baseball’, knew that I was a diehard.  “I play on an ‘over forty’ team and wondered if you’d like to play with us,” he asked.  And I would love to.  I’ve still got a pretty good arm, can run well enough…but my hitting’s for shit. 

“Actually…I’d love to play again.  But there is no way I’m going to do it unless I’m ready and there’s no way I can commit the time I’d need to get ready…and play the schedule…if I didn’t give up something from my routine…and that’s something I’m not willing to do,” I said.  The thing I enjoy the most about the way I work out is that I’m on no one’s schedule but my own.  I like to put in long rides through the summer and to be able to take impromptu trips to the mountains for camping and climbing.  All that would change if I committed to a baseball schedule…but I admire the old farts like me who are still playing baseball…like Bill.

In fact, it was during games when he was trying to make the run from first to third that he first became aware of his shortness of breath.  He mentioned it to his doctor who did some testing, which eventually discovered he had 70% blockage in a coronary artery.  Bypass surgery was recommended.  “I didn’t like that diagnosis, John, and so I went to another guy who suggested I make some significant lifestyle changes…like the ones suggested in the book ‘Eat More, Weigh Less’ written by the cardiologist, Dean Ornish.   He stresses regular exercise and a plant-based diet and has shown that people can reverse coronary artery disease.  I’ve been following it since last July and I’ve lost 20 pounds!”

He began running after a 27-year hiatus from the sport, but got back into it quickly.  He wears a heart rate monitor during all of his exercise and makes sure to keep it below 85% of his age predicted maximum…which may mean that he needs to stop running at times and walk a distance until his heart rates returns to his suggested rate…a good precaution for a guy with 70% blockage.  Still…he’s determined to avoid the surgery…and run a half marathon.  All that…and he plays baseball at age 57.

Kim and I took on the snow and freezing weather so she could do a final Survival Workout before returning to Florida and her graduate studies.  We found ourselves parking in a different part of the park…they still don’t know to plow my spot at the bottom of Ox Lane so I can begin my work out there.  Lost the memo again, I suppose.  We were both wearing boots, which made running awkward but made every step through the snow that more challenging.  They also tend to get in the way for climbing poles, leg lifts and abdominal work, and hopping up and down on things I’m not supposed to hop up and down on.  We did climb out of the valley on the steep hill behind the Oak Pavilion and then slipped and slid down the other side, trying to avoid smashing into a tree and stay on our feet as we descended.  There must be 20 ridges and ravines in the North Chagrin Reservation and I intend to take one Saturday this winter and climb in and out of everyone.  It should be a killer workout…something I just love.

Most of the rocks we used were frozen to the ground and when I broke them loose, I brought frozen earth with them…which added considerably to their weight and the ability to hold and balance them.  I found it necessary to cut some of my reps and look for other things to lift…but there’s a pretty endless amount of things to do in the woods to get a work out if you just use a little imagination…something I seem to have in large quantities.  Can’t let a little snow chase me away from my workout. 

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