Kick Ass

(Sorry for the cuss word. But, since it seems like no one else is posting, that must mean that you all aren't even visiting the blog. Because, I mean, why would you visit and not post? So, if you aren't visiting, you'll never know I cussed.)

I'm kick ass.

I mean, it's a general feeling I have, but when I am alone at a bar on business travel, and I just finished my second glass of wine and my entree hasn't come yet, the feeling gets really powerful.

For this particular post, I'll tell you I'm kick ass because I jogged 5 miles in 47:13 this morning.

Beat that. (which means, by the way, that you'll need to actually POST in order to beat that.)

Spiderman (and woman)

Vegas, baby!

Sorry for the lack of posts that last few days - it's been hard to find time to post when I've been dragging Keith's butt around Vegas, trying to convince him to go for a jog or get any physical activity. But all the guy wants to do is sleep!


Of course, that's not entirely the truth.


We've had great jogs each morning in Vegas so far, probably going about 4.5 miles yesterday in 40 minutes. Lots of push-ups and trash, talk, too, so the blog has never been far from my mind!


Went rock wall climbing at the Venetian yesterday. Why do I let him talk me into these things?


Mike was at his conference, so just Keith and I climbed. I'm telling you - it was like watching Spiderman and Spiderwoman! Up and down the wall six times, and Keith only cried twice!

(Keith starting to cry after seeing the height of the wall.)

Of course, I made it over the hard ledge climb with no problem whatsoever. At least according to Debbie, who had perfect timing and walked up just as I crossed over - never seeing that I had actually hung there for four minutes before being able to pull myself over!

Keith made it over the ledge, too, but that was just because I was carrying him on my back.

Running late!

okay, bad pun! But, seriously, I am running late!

Wanted to post a link to City Running Tours, though. I'm in Chicago at a conference and joined with this group for a 3 mile run around downtown. So cool! They pointed out all the sites, you didn't have to worry about where you were headed, or getting lost, or anything! Evidently this group runs the tours in DC, Austin, NYC, San Fran, and some other places. It's awesome.

Light it up!

The blog hasn't gone dark!!!

I realize I've been updating my "google doc" but haven't been posting much here.

So... I'm in Chicago at a conference. Did 45 minutes on the elliptical, then 15 minutes jog outside (I got booted off the elliptical for being on it longer than 30 minutes. Jerk.). Finished the morning with 50 push ups.

Can I PLEASE ask for clarification on the photo? I just didn't even know how to ask. What the heck is that? When was that taken? Why was that taken? What were you thinking?

Enlighten us, please!

Anyone home??

The blog has gone dark. I asume one of the following has happened

A) stunned with how good my new hairdo looks
B) intimidated by my gaudy workout stats
C) Wearyof my bombastic pronouncements
D)busy earning a living

Please caste your vote

For me, I have the following to report.

Sunday
run 20 minutes
strength 35 min
abs/stretch 15
PU 50

Tuesday
Run 10 min
strength 25
abs/stretch 10

Vertical leap

While you guys have been dissing me on the blog, I've been busy getting ready for basketball season. I haven't played much since an unhappy incident in college involving my 4 year roommate. I'm sure it was my fault. I finally have the courage to move forward.
Thursday
weight 183
run 25 min
strength 30 min
abs/stretch 10
PU 50

Friday
weight 184
spin class 50
strength 30
abs/stretch 10
pu 50

That's the spirit!

Okay, now that's what I'm talking about! The "ratio issues" and jog in Green Bay, that's what this is all about. Of course, this is NOT about eating cheese curds!

Although, I might compete with that world record for sounds the worst but tastes the best! I'm prepping a Boston Butt pork shoulder to smoke tomorrow. Doesn't sound the best, but I do make a mean pulled pork BBQ!

So after posting the kick in the pants, I realized that I've been updating the Google Docs, but not posting it here! Had two great runs this week with a girlfriend who was in town - including almost 4.5 miles last night! Also hit my 100th visit to Curves, and got a free t-shirt. All in all, a good week!

Excuse Me?

Its true! I am guilty. I haven't been doing my part in the posting or the working out. The guilt is accepted. But not the procrastination. I was gonna procrastinate but then I decided I could just do that tomorrow. I didn't get a chance to run today, but I did just finish my 150th push up for the day. I don't think that gives me the points I need but getting back up to speed is a slow process. I do plan to run in the morning in chilly Green Bay, Wisconsin. It is supposed to be in the high 40's in the morning. Should be awesome. I need to run extra cause I ate "fried cheese curds" tonight! Fried Cheese Curds holds the Genius Work Record for the largest difference in how good it actually is compared to how good the name makes you think it is. Yuk name but Yum! Yum! They seem like they should be served only at the state fair. Thanks for the kick in the pants Maureen, I am back on the Schedule. Try not to pressure Scott though, cause I think he has some ratio issue based on the physical space between his ears compared to the lack of matter contained in the same space. And yes, that is why he hears everything in an echo - 0 - 0 - 0!

The point of this blog...

... is to guilt us all into working out. The fact that no one is posting should be the GUILT in this equation, people. And, again, I'm not. the. numbers. person.

Just because Scott and Barbara are hosting a slew of family, and just because Keith's busy at work (wait, Keith's not busy at work. He's probably just procrastinating.), doesn't mean you can't be working out! If I were down there in Texas, I'd round you all up and make you go for a bike ride! Now, come on. Post. Make fun. Put others down. You're GOOD at this, people!

OMG!

I swear, I didn't see this comic in the paper today until after my earlier post.

Not a numbers person

I know I'm not the numbers person of the group. But explain to me how this happened...

(secret, I weigh myself religiously every morning before getting in the shower. I just don't post the numbers up here like Scott! So besides not being a numbers person, I'm also not a brave person!)

How could it be that in addition to hitting my goal of 65 points yesterday, I actually did EXTRA working out through a second walk with the dog, and yet, the scale was higher today than it was yesterday morning?

That doesn't exactly help with the motivation today!

My numbers for this morning:

weight 184
Run 10 min(utter lack of motivation)
strength 30 min
abs/stretch 10 min
PU 50

Keith and I have discussed the fact that some days you feel great and some days you just don't have it. Today was a don't have it day. Not sure why. I think I was rested and hydrated. Actually more rested than yesterday but much less motivation. Did have a large meal last night which is a possibility. We'll see how tomorrow morning is. In the meantime, I will be working on my golf game in absolutely perfect, spectacular weather today! Ain't no flies on that...

Tonnage

Here are my numbers . Been sketchy in reporting the past few days. We've had evacuees (barbara's family)from Beaumont due to Ike the past few days so I've been eating extra comfort food in support of the family. Can't seem to get much traction on reducing my tonnage. Focus, focus, focus.

Saturday
183 lbs
run 2 miles 16:12 level.5
strength 30 min
PU 50
abs/stretch 10 min

Sunday
Bike 1hr 10 min (outside some hills)

Tuesday
184 lbs
Bike -spin class 45 min
PU 50
abs/stretch 10 min

Nashville

In Nashville this weekend (cross Tennessee off the list of states I've never been to!). Embarrassed with the lack of work out yesterday, but got a good jog in this morning at a park near Vanderbilt. Of course, I've also been eating like perhaps today is my last day on earth (can we say several cup cakes from the bakery across the street?). I also want to know if contending with a mild concussion can count as points on my "miscellaneous" column?

This Week's Cumulative #'s So Far

I do still exist! Spinning 110 minutes, elliptical 62 minutes, upper weights 42 minutes, lower weights 44 minutes, pushups 125 (50 of those were today at the club), and various situps, squats, etc. Hopefully will get to the club tomorrow a.m. early. Katy and Scott and I went to the club this morning, while my other sister said "I hope you enjoy your physical culture! (that is, exercise)". Both sisters are here up from the evacuation from Beaumont because of Hurricane Ike. The rest of my family is okay, but will be without power for WEEKS. I'm hoping if they can get out that the rest of them will come to Dallas. They all filled up with gas before the storm. Conditions are worse than when Rita hit 3 years ago.

My #s for thursday/Friday

Thursday stats

weight 185
Run 23 minutes (outside)
abs/stretch 15 min
PU 50

Friday
184
Spin class 50 min
abs/stretch 10
PU 50

I'll be back later with more smack talk!

Do I look like a wide receiver?

I can't seem to get away from football at the high school track.

There was no game going on tonight, so I got a good jog in. But, the quarterback was doing a bit of solo practice in the middle of the field (which the track circles). There was also one other woman jogging on the track.

The quarterback was doing a lot of running and turning, and throwing the ball as far as he could down the field.

At some point, he started to "play" with me and the other jogger. Whenever we'd get to certain points around the track, he'd turn around, run, then spin and fake throw right at us. Like he was trying to guess where we'd end up if we were moving and he was moving and he had to throw the ball to us.

When I told this story to Mike, he said I'd be considered a wide receiver.

Personally, I prefer tight end.

Tuesday update

Good news! Today's pace was a little faster.  I actually passed two women who were mall walking.  Okay, they were very old, had their polyester pants pulled up under their bust line and had on orthopedic shoes, but still... a success.  I didn't count how many people passed me.  Didn't seem to be important information, besides I was walking and couldn't use my toes to count.

Good thinking

I like Debbie's way of thinking. In fact, I took her question about rainy day work outs a bit further. For example, if you have a really good workout, that means you can pig out, right?

Didn't have much time between work and my golf lesson tonight, since I had to make last night's dinner (jump to my other blog for that full story!). But I had been at my desk all day, hadn't been outside at all, and a majority of my work was very, very, very important cutting and pasting. (It's a glamorous job, but someone needs to do it.)

So I wanted to walk Goldie to the track, jog, and jog home.

Only I walked to the track and... darn high schoolers! Playing football on their own field! The nerve!

So I tried to jog Goldie home, but she was literally pulling her head back, and the full leash length behind me the entire mile. So that mile too just under 11 minutes.

I dropped her at home and went my morning walk, only ran it. Oh, i didn't jog it. I ran it. Full on, ipod at top volume, my arms raised up and keeping the beat. I pumped out 1.9 miles in 17 minutes and 39 seconds. For me, not on a treadmill, including a few hills, that's fast.

Also hit really well at the driving range.

Which means (this is where I'm furthering Debbie's theory)... we stopped for ice cream on the way home. Oops.

rainy days and tuesdays

Mondays are bad.  I have nothing good to say about that day of the week except it is eventually over.  Mom and I met at Collin Creek mall.  Mondays are bad for her too.  We dithered for a while but eventually walked a lap and a half.  Walked being a loosely defined term.  I propose the following levels of "walking" for my exercise purposes.

walking: speed high enough to get moist (since girls don't sweat), dry my mouth (damn Sjogren's) and kick up a few asthma coughs.  Now if that doesn't sound pitiful.

strolling: slightly slower pace. Involves occasional detours to admire store windows and stops for sips from the diet coke.  Frequently passed by moms with double strollers and 80 year old men with walking shoes on.

trudging: slower still.  Usually involves muttering under breath about how much I dislike my mom who has dragged me out to walk totally against my will through guilt tactic.  Passed by 90 year old men with canes.

shuffling: slowest pace possible.  Involves feet not leaving floor.  Includes consideration of how long it would take Keith to get to where I am and roll me out to the car on my walker.  Usually the result of thinking one more lap is a good idea when it is clearly not.  Most frequently occurs when my mom and I walk together.  On a really bad day can actually descend to contemplation of crawling.  Passed by potted plants.

For purposes of this blog, Monday's activity was a trudge.  Hopefully today will be more energy filled.  By the way, does the group work out when it is raining or is this considered a non-work out day?  Just interested since it has started to sprinkle outside the study window and I would not want to commit a work out faux pas.  A nap sure sounds good.  

No S%$t!

Well, I wasn't gonna say anything. But someone with the initials Keith Hall brought it up himself.

(ever heard of the phrase, whoever smelt it, dealt it? Well, whoever brings up "there's no man crush..."! I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.)

Keith got a lot of workout time in at the exhibit hall we were at in Chicago, mostly running away from his man crush. Lot's of core work as he hid under the table for hours at a time as the man crush kept finding reasons to come up to our booth (seriously, dude, how many pens can you need?).

And it all started, after Keith's seminar, when the man crush came up to the booth, put his hand high in the air to bring down to a hard hand slap with squeeze, and said, "No Shit! Man! That was the best seminar of the conference!"

Need I remind you... it was a tax seminar.

I should also point out that this man crush was not a bad-looking kid. Yes! Kid! He was probably 27! Not my type, but not bad-looking! In shape, hair cut short, short - totally urban-looking with his style of clothing.

But, uh, like Keith said - no man crush whatsoever.

Pushups and non sinkage

Ok, I have some concerns about you people. Amidst all of the light hearted banter, I sense a lack of genuineness related to pushups. My concern is that most of you don't use proper form when doing them. I thought it might be the proper time to demonstrate the correct form. While I haven't polled each of you individually, I am probably considered by the group to be the most committed, athletic(remember the ratios)...and I'll go ahead and say it...humble group member.

On to the workout for Tuesday morning

weight 184

run 22 min

swim 400 meters

speaking of pushups 0

I swam for the first time in a loong time today. My cadaver graft held as far as I could tell...and... as a bonus, I did not immediately sink to the bottom. All in all a good day.

I'm Back Too!

Way to go Scott! Under 8 minute mile pace, that is awesome. 8 minute miles translates into 49:36 in the 10K! Outstanding! As usual I will need you to put your race number on the back of your shirt instead of the front so that I can see it. Great Job! I too, am back now. I have been on the road and therefore not that diligent at working out and even less diligent at posting.

Just for the record, any posting here about any "Monkish" tendencies on my part are grossly over estimated. When I was using the GPS to plot Debbie's walking course I distinctly remember saying "about" .084303 miles. I am in no way a stickler for too much detail and am totally comfortable with rounding that actual number to .084. Further, walking the route three more times after Debbie was in bed solely to verify the distance, variance, standard deviation, and the effect of axis nutation on the overall distance was strictly routine and would have been done by anyone one of us here on this blog. So don't bring that Monk stuff in here, thank you very much.

One more for the record comment. Any totally exaggerated comments from a member of this blog whose initials are Maureen Petron about some so-called tax groupie or man-crush insinuations are totally fabricated and unsupportable. Bill Clinton's "I did not have sex with that woman!" is completely unrelated to my statement "There is no man crush! There is no groupie! Read my lips!"

Okay! Now that the record is straight I can tell you that I did have a very good run on Friday. I ran 3 miles in just over 24 minutes and felt like I could run forever even though I am not sure if forever is enough. Did 100 push ups that morning in four sets, so it was a good day. Ran four miles on Sunday afternoon and thought I was gonna die so I won't even mention the time. Also ran 3 miles today in 24:56 and lifted the weight so I am back on track. Did I mention there is no man crush and that I am totally comfortable with about .084?

Keep up the good work everyone! The blog is working for me! Thanks everybody!

I'm back!

Have intended to Blog but have been playing catchup for a few days.

last Thursday
weight 184
run 20 minutes
strength 30 min
abs/stretch 15
pushups 50

last friday
weight 183
spin class 50
abs/stretch 10
pushups 50

Today
weight 185
run 2 miles 15:48 level.5
strength 20 min
abs/stretch 10
pushups 50

Mo's numbers

Not too exciting today! Just my normal walking and Curves. My arms are beat, and I could only pull out 25 push ups, so I walked a little extra this evening to get to my goal. (Of course, my one zero is still bringing down my average!)

I had a great run yesterday morning that I didn't post about - 3 miles on the track in 27:48, then a mile on the street back home. Felt great.

Keep posting, everyone!!!

report for Saturday and Sunday

Saturday: Walked to brick mailbox in front of house. Did cool down.

Sunday: Asked Keith to drive the route I wanted to walk as we came home from dinner.  Of course this was not nearly accurate enough for Mr. Numbers.  He got his GPS out and determined what the starting point was... tens of yards from my closet where I slipped on my shoes which is my starting point.  As we walked he tracked pace speed, wind direction, breathing rates, mileage, elapsed time, distance from the new moon, change in elevation (in our flat subdivision), and on and on.  After we had done a lap, I asked him to measure how far it was to the end of our street and back.  At the end of the block we had to stop precisely where we had crossed on our previous lap. He said the additional amount added .08 miles to the walk.  I said "Good, now if I want to add an extra tenth of a mile I can walk to the end of the block".  Of course, i was corrected and told that I would be adding .08 of a mile.  I am married to Monk.  Walked about half a mile in a little over 15 minutes.  I am sure a correction will be forth-coming to improve the accuracy of this posting.

No problem!

I'd like to put the newest member of the blog at ease. Her questions are no problem!

That's the beauty of the Google Docs spreadsheets! We've assigned points or calories to all the different activities that we do, and even though we all do different stuff, we can track what we want! So I came up with riding in a cart for 18 holes of golf equaling 25 points.

You can come up with your own! Walking with a can of Diet coke - 1 point. Walking with a 20 ounce bottle - 2 points! Putting up with Keith's distractions while you're on the phone with me - 75 points! (hey, out of all those things, which do you think increases your heart rate and blood pressure the fastest?)

Burning workout issues

I have some serious issues to bring before the group which I believe have been ignored by previous posts.  Does it count as lifting weights if you carry a diet coke or ice tea with you while you walk? How can one be sure that you are breaking a sweat from the effort of walking or from the friction heat of your thighs rubbing together? Do escalators count in your walking distances? Maybe up escalators do but down escalators don't?  Is pushing my walker when it is loaded with shopping sacks a core exercise?  

I appreciate any insights that you might have to offer on these troubling questions.  When the issues are resolved to my satisfaction, I may contemplate beginning an exercise routine.  I wouldn't want to jeopardize any future evaluations by jumping too precipitously into an ill-defined activity. 

My first zero!

I'm blaming it on Keith. I wanted to work out. I even thought I had scheduled it. But he wanted to drive to Indiana and Wisconsin. Said we'd work out when we got back. I know I should never listen to his advice.

So, I got my first zero yesterday!

Had a great work out today though, running 4 miles and 75 push ups!

Waiting in the O'Hare airport to get back home.

Da Bears! Go Cubs!

The new me

Several days late on the posting

Wednesday

weight 185
run 15 minutes
strength 30 minutes
abs/stretch 15 min

50 PU

Thursday
weight 184
Run 2 miles time 15:42 level 0
strength 30
abs/stretch 15min
50 PU

So I'm thinking of retooling my running program. Going to try increasing cadence, stride length and smooth form. Run for time once or twice a week then longer runs on other days...hence my 2 mile run on the treadmill today. We'll see how it goes.

Happy Birthday Scott!

Um, that’s about the extent of my post today!

Walked the dog yesterday, and went to Curves. No push ups. Not because I didn’t feel like doing them. But because… I forgot. Really. Push ups actually never crossed my mind yesterday. Hm. Hope that doesn’t mean I need to do 100 today…

Clip out! Clip out!

One of the many dangers of cycling is the possibility of a crash. This normally happens when one is traveling a a high rate of speed...or perhaps a small child runs into the path of the cyclist. The injury below is typical of a cyclist unfamiliar with the concept that you can't be clipped into your pedals without forward momentum. Most folks learn this concept early on. The party depicted in this photo shall remain unidentified....but this person is a regular blogger here.

It's my Birthday I must say

We finished the birthday ride with no casualties...well mostly. We rode around White Rock Lake, an approximately 10 mile loop. The goal was 49 miles since we all turn 49 this next year. So we did 5 laps around the lake. Perhaps I can enlighten those readers of the blog about our experience... the way I remember it...10 miles at a time.

START Keith was late, something about not doing the route he wanted.
MILE 10 things were going well, until me, Barbara, my brother Keith and Jelka got tired of riding at 6 miles an hour, apparently the pace Keith wanted to maintain. Since I am such a giving person, I had to maintain calm among all the parties.
MILE 20 getting warmer, Keith getting tired and cranky, the rest of us wanting to go faster.
MILE 30 Keith and Jelka finish riding...decide to RUN a 5K to finish the workout.
MILE 40 In an unbelievable bit of bad luck I miss getting to see Keith fall over from a dead stop because I was helping Barbara with her bike chain.Luckily, I did take a photo to document that this really did happen.
MILE 49 Hi fived as we passed 49 miles. Wishing we had talked Debbie into firing up a BBQ grill to have burgers and Brats at the finish. Made note to correct this oversight for next year!

Was a great ride with great people and a lot of fun. Other than my neck pain, back pain quad pain and foot pain and ...well...full body pain I'm doing well. Ready for next year 50 miles!

39

Well, here goes. Fun ride today, but 39 was what I eeked out. Like I texted Maureen earlier, it was extremely enjoyable after 39 miles to sit on a shaded bench, drink a cool beverage, take in the beautiful scenery at the lake and watch everyone else still working out! After I left my text to you Maureen, some random guy rode by, waved and cheerfully said "Break's over!". I waved back and blithely continued enjoying doing nothing after the ride! Seriously, we had a great time, hope you can join us soon on a ride! Oh by the way, my birthday is coming up. We have a few weeks to get ready... the pressure's on for me to ride my real age, but who's counting...

49 miles!!!

We made it!  The September birthday ride is in the books for another year.  Perfect day, perfect spot, perfect course, and perfect friends.  It was totally great. I actually thought I would be more tired than I am but who knew!  I didn't anticipate that my legs would be so tired and I didn't anticipate that my lower back would be aching like it is.  I also didn't anticipate the pain between my shoulder blades or that my feet would be hurting so much.  I didn't anticipate having this much trouble just standing from a sitting position or in sitting from a standing position. I haven't laid down yet but I am almost sure that I would be able to get back up.  Well, eventually.  Other than those few things I guess I was largely unaffected by that the whole ride.  Who knew?  We don't have any pictures to show because Scott was taking them and we discovered too late that he had the camera lens turned toward his face instead of at the target.  But Hey! We made it!

My number of the day: 120

Big day for me today - I kept score playing golf. That's huge! Shot a 120! (hahahaha!) But, I pared one hole! Without any foot wedges or anything!

(side note - check out the picture. There were deer everywhere on this course, and they let us get so close!)

Can't wait to hear about the bike ride today!

And Keith, we need chart help! It's a new month! What do we do!?!?!

Labor Day?

Isn't this supposed to be a day of rest? Hello! McFly! OMG, 49 miles on the bike is definitely labor. I ran three miles each of the weekend days so I finished August without missing a day running. It looks like September will start off without a run, but I hope 49 miles will be a reasonable substitute. I am guessing it will be about 3 hours plus to get the miles done, oh man, did I just say that! Eeeeekkkk! The bike is in the truck and there is no turning back. I should have picked younger friends to hang out with.