The day after I post my resolutions I get hit square in the face with needing to make sure I follow through on one, #2. I had a doctor's appointment and in their routine they make each patient jump on the scale on the way to the private room. I knew I wasn't going to like this number, but I wasn't ready for what it read. I can now officially say I weigh more than I ever have in my lifetime. Not a proud moment. I knew I was slacking off these past 4 months, but I guess I didn't realize to what extent until the last day of the year. These next couple of weeks are going to be crucial in getting back down to where I want and need to be. Want, because I feel like a slug right now and it's not a good feeling. Need, because I know it can't be healthy for me to be up this high. If I can get past the disappoint of where I've let myself get to and into the positive realm and start to see some result, it would make things easier from there on out! There are some family genetics working against me so I can't help the bad guys out by letting my shape get away from me. The more in shape I can maintain, the more at bay I can keep those genes.
It's all good though, this negative realization has helped me focus on another resolution as well, #4. I got a little more serious about picking out my spring marathon and now have it narrowed down to 2 options - Lawrence, KS and Lincoln, NE. They are 2 weeks apart so depending on how my training goes these first 2 months will probably determine which one I'll do. Hopefully it'll be KS though. That's the earlier one so it'll give me more time in-between events so I don't suffer from burn-out like I did last season by scheduling things too close together. I'm not going to worry about my results during this spring marathon though. I know I won't be at my peak physical best so I can't expect to set a PR or anything. I'll just go out there to enjoy it and cross another state off the list. Hopefully, if I can find my working out mojo again, my fall marathon (IA) will test that PR.
I was talking today with someone about another resolution. Mainly hers, but it got me thinking about mine too, #3, and what I want out of it. There are definitely some different views out there about dating and what it's all about. I think I need to do some inner searching on who I'm looking for and how to go about finding her. It's not too hard to draw the conclusion that I haven't done it right yet considering I'm 41 and single.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Out With The Old (way of thinking)
Wow, it's been awhile since I've been here! No real reason why, just life I guess. I won't bore you all (for anyone still checking in) with a recap of everything that's happened the past 8 months, but I'll reserve the right to look back on occasion if I get back to this blogging more frequently.
I think one of the reasons I'm here now is the whole New Year's thing and making resolutions and all that jazz. I've never really been one to make resolutions and then do everything I can to see them through. I usually just think to myself "let's try to do this, this and maybe this during the year" and then just go from there. If they come to fruition then great, if not, no big deal. It's not that I have anything against resolutions of this sort, but I guess I don't like failure and it seems so many new year's resolutions end up not working out. So, with that being said, I'm setting some resolutions for 2010! How's that for double-speak?! For now, I'm going to keep them semi-private, but since you're just dying to know what they are I can at least tell you something about some of them:
1. Try to get back to blogging more regularly. I actually miss this "writing", if I can use that term loosely for what I'm doing here (I won't tell you how often my resolution calls for)
2. Yup, lose some weight and health-related goals (I won't tell you how much my resolution calls for)
3. Something in the romance field (I won't tell you to what degree my resolution calls for)
Are you sensing a pattern here with what I'll tell you and what I won't? ;)
4. Maybe some race time/results goals, but we'll have to see how training goes before I get too semi-serious to be setting time goals.
5. A financial goal (I won't tell you what or how much my resolution calls for)
6. A parental goal (there isn't any one specific thing in mind, just some general thoughts on how I can be a better father for my children).
7. A family goal for myself with my siblings and parents (this could involve a personal change so this one might be tougher to accomplish on my end)
And so it goes. These aren't in any particular order and there may be another resolution or two that pops up over the next day or so so this isn't necessarily a finite list. Just typing these out has me thinking about all of them already so maybe that's the whole purpose of making resolutions - just getting them in your stream of consciousness (thanks, Childress, for that terminology). Hmmm, time to ponder and get a little more specific (offline) about some of these. Hopefully I'll be able to sit here 366 days from now and check off the ones I was able to accomplish. Adios 2009, Hola 2010!
I think one of the reasons I'm here now is the whole New Year's thing and making resolutions and all that jazz. I've never really been one to make resolutions and then do everything I can to see them through. I usually just think to myself "let's try to do this, this and maybe this during the year" and then just go from there. If they come to fruition then great, if not, no big deal. It's not that I have anything against resolutions of this sort, but I guess I don't like failure and it seems so many new year's resolutions end up not working out. So, with that being said, I'm setting some resolutions for 2010! How's that for double-speak?! For now, I'm going to keep them semi-private, but since you're just dying to know what they are I can at least tell you something about some of them:
1. Try to get back to blogging more regularly. I actually miss this "writing", if I can use that term loosely for what I'm doing here (I won't tell you how often my resolution calls for)
2. Yup, lose some weight and health-related goals (I won't tell you how much my resolution calls for)
3. Something in the romance field (I won't tell you to what degree my resolution calls for)
Are you sensing a pattern here with what I'll tell you and what I won't? ;)
4. Maybe some race time/results goals, but we'll have to see how training goes before I get too semi-serious to be setting time goals.
5. A financial goal (I won't tell you what or how much my resolution calls for)
6. A parental goal (there isn't any one specific thing in mind, just some general thoughts on how I can be a better father for my children).
7. A family goal for myself with my siblings and parents (this could involve a personal change so this one might be tougher to accomplish on my end)
And so it goes. These aren't in any particular order and there may be another resolution or two that pops up over the next day or so so this isn't necessarily a finite list. Just typing these out has me thinking about all of them already so maybe that's the whole purpose of making resolutions - just getting them in your stream of consciousness (thanks, Childress, for that terminology). Hmmm, time to ponder and get a little more specific (offline) about some of these. Hopefully I'll be able to sit here 366 days from now and check off the ones I was able to accomplish. Adios 2009, Hola 2010!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
It's Shorts Weather!
Just wanted to comment quick about what a gorgeous evening it was tonight for a run - mid 60's, cloudless! I wasn't the only one who thought this either as the paths around L. Calhoun were busy. I was doing my best Dale Earnhardt impression weaving in and out of pedestrians - passing on the left, passing on the right, even did some drafting off a faster runner for a bit. The TNT marathon team met tonight for our run. There are some strong runners on the team this year and it's been nice to push my limits with them. I think (hope) it's making me a stronger/faster runner. We'll see come race day I suppose. I hit the pool after the run for 2300 yds of liquid enjoyment. No cramping tonight so we'll call the swim workout a success as well. I need to continue to work on my stroke though. Coach pointed out I was crossing over center which isn't effective so I have to continue to concentrate each and every stroke. That can make it hard to remember what lap I'm on, but thankfully there was someone else in my lane with me so I just let her lead and stopped when she stopped after each set. How chivalrous of me, huh? ;) The swim portion of a triathlon is nice in that regard - you just swim from one buoy to the next and eventually back to shore. You don't have to worry about how many laps you've done and how many you have to go. Now, if they'd just put visible lane lines in the lakes we'd be all set. Hour and a half spin session tomorrow so that'll be another fun night.
Blogging teaser - I have a couple of parental type subjects to write about, but not tonight. For any parents out there put on your advice hat and feel free to let me know your opinions. For you others, feel free to chime in as well, just because we're parents doesn't mean we have all the answers (just don't tell my kids I said that). I'll write about these subjects this week yet so check back.
Until then...
Blogging teaser - I have a couple of parental type subjects to write about, but not tonight. For any parents out there put on your advice hat and feel free to let me know your opinions. For you others, feel free to chime in as well, just because we're parents doesn't mean we have all the answers (just don't tell my kids I said that). I'll write about these subjects this week yet so check back.
Until then...
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Jockstrap Jon
It was a fun, busy weekend.
Saturday morning started off with a tri group run. It was the first time I've been to this group's run because I'm usually running with the marathon group over the weekend, who ran on Sunday (read later) so I was able to get to the tri group run. It was fun to shake things up a bit and run with new people and see how they're all doing. It was also a Zone 2 run which I admit I don't do so it was nice to be forced to do that.
After the run a group of us went to Fuddrucker's for a not so healthy lunch, but we were all given a pass on that today. It was for a fundraiser a teammate and I had - Fuddrucker's donated 20% of their sales for each person who brought in a flyer that we distributed. We won't know for a few days how we actually did, but let's hope there were a lot of people who came in with flyers!
Today was the "tougher" of the 2 days. After an overnight dusting of snow (grrrr, I dislike snow in April) the marathon group met for an easy jaunt of just 14 miles. It actually wasn't too bad out there as the paths were clear, but the wind wasn't exactly our friend. It was a good run and I felt strong.
After cleaning up after the run it was off to do something I haven't done in nearly 3o years - dodgeball. Another tri team teammate was hosting a dodgeball tournament so I got thrown on a team and we represented. I have to say we did pretty well! We got 2nd in both the 1st and 2nd sessions, losing to the same team both times, so obviously 2nd place overall. Not bad for a bunch of wanna-bes! Our claim to fame though isn't in dodgeball, but in sippy cup competition. Once you lose a dodgeball match you're automatically entered into the sippy cup tourney which masquerades as the dodgeball losers bracket. If you win the sippy cup tourney you get back into the dodgeball. We ruled in sippy cup and couldn't be beat - we were 5-0! Unfortunately we couldn't carry that over to the Championship round for what we were there for in the first place! Oh well, no one (me included) expected us to get that far! There were some interesting outfits worn (maybe by yours included) so I'll try to get pictures posted once I receive them.
Overall, a fun weekend, but alas, it's nearly over so now I better recoup for my 3 day work week this week (taking Thurs. and Fri. off).
Let's hope this was the last snowfall of the season!
Saturday morning started off with a tri group run. It was the first time I've been to this group's run because I'm usually running with the marathon group over the weekend, who ran on Sunday (read later) so I was able to get to the tri group run. It was fun to shake things up a bit and run with new people and see how they're all doing. It was also a Zone 2 run which I admit I don't do so it was nice to be forced to do that.
After the run a group of us went to Fuddrucker's for a not so healthy lunch, but we were all given a pass on that today. It was for a fundraiser a teammate and I had - Fuddrucker's donated 20% of their sales for each person who brought in a flyer that we distributed. We won't know for a few days how we actually did, but let's hope there were a lot of people who came in with flyers!
Today was the "tougher" of the 2 days. After an overnight dusting of snow (grrrr, I dislike snow in April) the marathon group met for an easy jaunt of just 14 miles. It actually wasn't too bad out there as the paths were clear, but the wind wasn't exactly our friend. It was a good run and I felt strong.
After cleaning up after the run it was off to do something I haven't done in nearly 3o years - dodgeball. Another tri team teammate was hosting a dodgeball tournament so I got thrown on a team and we represented. I have to say we did pretty well! We got 2nd in both the 1st and 2nd sessions, losing to the same team both times, so obviously 2nd place overall. Not bad for a bunch of wanna-bes! Our claim to fame though isn't in dodgeball, but in sippy cup competition. Once you lose a dodgeball match you're automatically entered into the sippy cup tourney which masquerades as the dodgeball losers bracket. If you win the sippy cup tourney you get back into the dodgeball. We ruled in sippy cup and couldn't be beat - we were 5-0! Unfortunately we couldn't carry that over to the Championship round for what we were there for in the first place! Oh well, no one (me included) expected us to get that far! There were some interesting outfits worn (maybe by yours included) so I'll try to get pictures posted once I receive them.
Overall, a fun weekend, but alas, it's nearly over so now I better recoup for my 3 day work week this week (taking Thurs. and Fri. off).
Let's hope this was the last snowfall of the season!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Remember me?
Hello old friend Blogspot! I'm back after an unknown hiatus. I'm sure I've lost whatever audience I had so it might just be you and me for awhile. So much to tell, but don't know where to start. I won't try to get you caught up on everything for the past month and a half, but suffice it to say there hasn't been a whole lot of down time.
I think I subconsciously chose today to check back in because it's normally one of my most fun days of the year - April Fool's Day! If you know me, you might have reason to think I'm somewhat of a jokester. I say it's normally one of my most fun because the sad thing about this year's AFD is that it kind of snuck up on me and I didn't have time to plan anything really worth reporting. Not that it was a bad day, just not as fun as I could have made it. I did send out an email though to my department telling them there were DQ dilly bars in the breakroom when there weren't, but that's about it. I think I got a couple of them mad at me for that. You don't joke about free food in the workplace, especially desserts! Anybody could bring anything in, edible or not, and it would be gone by the end of the day.
How's this for a day living up to its reputation - 10 years ago today, 4/1/1999, I became engaged. Yup, I proposed on April Fool's Day. I guess the joke was on me since we all know how that marriage worked (or didn't). :)
Marathon and triathlon training are going well. The ol' body is holding up thus far and I'm feeling stronger so we're on the right track. Coming off a chest cold last week though so my breathing isn't 100% on my runs, but each time out is a little better than the last. I had a 6 mile run tonight and then headed over to the pool for an 1800 yd swim. Not the longest swim I've done, but a mile's a mile.
Well, that's all for tonight. I gotta ease back into this blogging thing. ;) I'll talk to ya again soon and promise it won't be another 6 week break!
I think I subconsciously chose today to check back in because it's normally one of my most fun days of the year - April Fool's Day! If you know me, you might have reason to think I'm somewhat of a jokester. I say it's normally one of my most fun because the sad thing about this year's AFD is that it kind of snuck up on me and I didn't have time to plan anything really worth reporting. Not that it was a bad day, just not as fun as I could have made it. I did send out an email though to my department telling them there were DQ dilly bars in the breakroom when there weren't, but that's about it. I think I got a couple of them mad at me for that. You don't joke about free food in the workplace, especially desserts! Anybody could bring anything in, edible or not, and it would be gone by the end of the day.
How's this for a day living up to its reputation - 10 years ago today, 4/1/1999, I became engaged. Yup, I proposed on April Fool's Day. I guess the joke was on me since we all know how that marriage worked (or didn't). :)
Marathon and triathlon training are going well. The ol' body is holding up thus far and I'm feeling stronger so we're on the right track. Coming off a chest cold last week though so my breathing isn't 100% on my runs, but each time out is a little better than the last. I had a 6 mile run tonight and then headed over to the pool for an 1800 yd swim. Not the longest swim I've done, but a mile's a mile.
Well, that's all for tonight. I gotta ease back into this blogging thing. ;) I'll talk to ya again soon and promise it won't be another 6 week break!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Hump Day Is History
I made it through Wednesday and I'm still alive so that makes me happy. Today was the grueling day of the 3 previous so it should be smooth sailin' from here through Sunday. Monday started out with a great run with my LTF group. Just a shorter 5 miler, but at a decent pace. I ran the last 3 with another new runner to the group. It was kinda funny because when we got done we both confessed we were pushing it, but neither of us wanted to ask the other to slow it down any. That's what happens when you run with new people and the competitive side of someone shows its head. I didn't want to look like the slacker so I wasn't about to say anything and neither did she. I did tell her once we were done that if we run together again I probably still won't say anything if she's going to fast, but I'll probably be thinking it so she can just assume it and that I expect her to slow down then.
Tuesday was an awesome spin class for an hour. I'd tell you where, but the class fills up before it starts so I don't need to advertise it and risk not getting a bike. I can only make this class every 2 weeks (parental schedule) so I don't want to give it up. Yup, I'll admit to being selfish over a spin class. After only a couple of sessions with this instructor I can already feel some improvement. I know some of that has to do with my other workouts, but I was pedaling at a higher cadence with more tension than what I have in the past.
Tonight was the doozy. After a long day at work I had a double workout planned. It started with another 5 mile run, but tonight's difference is that it was nearing 0 degrees with the blustery wind. There was a decent turnout for the marathon team considering the temps so that was great to see. After the run I jumped in the car right away (thanks Kristen for carpooling) and headed over to the triathlon team's swim workout. About 1,000 yards into the workout I was the lucky recipient of a calf cramp. I guess that's what I get for not stretching after the run. This has happened before so you'd think I'd learn. Oh well. Wanna take bets on when it'll happen again?
Tomorrow night is another spin class, Friday is a rest day (woo hoo!) and then a group run Saturday morning. I should be able to handle those workouts without too much drama (as long as the cramping doesn't come back).
On the fun side of things, I have another fundraising event coming up so check your calendars and maybe swing by. Along with another teammate, we have set it up with Fuddrucker's in Bloomington that for everyone who comes in with our flyer on Tuesday, March 10th, Fudd's will donate 20% of those sales to LLS. Pretty easy and low maintenance so let's hope it raises lots of moola for a great cause. I'll try to get the flyer posted here, but can't seem to do so right now. If you think you might come out and support this effort just email me and I'll email you back with the flyer.
Tuesday was an awesome spin class for an hour. I'd tell you where, but the class fills up before it starts so I don't need to advertise it and risk not getting a bike. I can only make this class every 2 weeks (parental schedule) so I don't want to give it up. Yup, I'll admit to being selfish over a spin class. After only a couple of sessions with this instructor I can already feel some improvement. I know some of that has to do with my other workouts, but I was pedaling at a higher cadence with more tension than what I have in the past.
Tonight was the doozy. After a long day at work I had a double workout planned. It started with another 5 mile run, but tonight's difference is that it was nearing 0 degrees with the blustery wind. There was a decent turnout for the marathon team considering the temps so that was great to see. After the run I jumped in the car right away (thanks Kristen for carpooling) and headed over to the triathlon team's swim workout. About 1,000 yards into the workout I was the lucky recipient of a calf cramp. I guess that's what I get for not stretching after the run. This has happened before so you'd think I'd learn. Oh well. Wanna take bets on when it'll happen again?
Tomorrow night is another spin class, Friday is a rest day (woo hoo!) and then a group run Saturday morning. I should be able to handle those workouts without too much drama (as long as the cramping doesn't come back).
On the fun side of things, I have another fundraising event coming up so check your calendars and maybe swing by. Along with another teammate, we have set it up with Fuddrucker's in Bloomington that for everyone who comes in with our flyer on Tuesday, March 10th, Fudd's will donate 20% of those sales to LLS. Pretty easy and low maintenance so let's hope it raises lots of moola for a great cause. I'll try to get the flyer posted here, but can't seem to do so right now. If you think you might come out and support this effort just email me and I'll email you back with the flyer.
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