Slogging

I just felt like hitting the bricks for a while, so I went for a VERY slow initial jog.  Hil was a bit concerned because I’ve had so many episodes of palpitations lately, but I got through it.  Weighed myself this morning – 350lbs.
Four(4) laps around the school yard.  Maybe, one(1) mile.  Five minutes of stretching afterwards and twenty-five incline push-ups.  Maybe a total of 30 minutes.  It felt good afterwards.  We’ll see how I feel tomorrow…  LOL!
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On This Day In:
2015	Memorial Day – 2015
	Content People Love To Share
2014	I Resemble That Remark
2013	Long Range Exploration
2012	UBI
2011	Opportunity

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Back On The Bricks

Yesterday, I started jogging again.  Today was day two.  As of yesterday, I am a “runner” again…  Like most things / types of activity, you can only “be” it if you “do” it.  In this case, in my case, running – or more precisely very slow jogging – which I call “slogging”.  (Not very original, I know.)  I am not timing myself yet.  I am counting the laps (around the schoolyard across the street from where I live) with my little “clicker” and my “Fitbit” says it’s about 5 miles.  I reckon it’s closer to 3 miles, but whatever, I’m back in my shoes and beatin’ feet!
I started one of my hundreds of diets back in July and lost 35 pounds by the end of August.  As of today, I am still down 20 of those.   And so the beat goes on…  I joined the “YMCA” back in September, but injured my left knee pretending to play basketball.  And by “pretend”, I mean literally pretending: I was playing by myself, missed a shot and was challenging for a rebound under the basket.  When I landed, my knee gave out (quite painfully) and I had to limp to the locker room to get my stuff and go home.  My knee cap swoll-up the size of a grapefruit and I couldn’t extend my leg straight for about a week.  The pain has mostly (now) gone but I’m still not able to push off of that leg the way I used to.  But I have been walking 40 to 60 minutes each day and I’ve now been able to begin jogging – slow but steady.
So, I am a runner again.  One day at a time.  One step at a time.  And today is day two.
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On This Day In:
2014	Changing Frequently
2013	Trifles
2012	Simple, Ordinary And Wonderous
2011	Humane Writers

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Chillin’

Today we (Hil, Sarah and I) went to the theater to see the new Disney movie: “Frozen“.  Wow!  This is a terrific movie!  It’s animation and it’s a musical, but it is still one of the best movies I’ve seen in some time…
There’s the princesses and the handsome hero.  The goofy sidekick and the animal friend.  There is magic, and singing, and incredible art.  And of course, since it IS a Disney movie, you know how it ends.
This is a movie which celebrates “girl power” but it does it in a very heartfelt way.  If you want to take you daughter or niece to a movie where the “heroes” are the girls, then this is the movie for you.  Definitely a highly-recommended and I can hardly wait for the DVD so I can watch it again.
Oh, yeah…  As a musical, the songs are both funny and powerful (in turn).  The lyrics are generally more mature than “The Lion King“, but every bit as catchy and, dare I say it, performed better.  That’s saying quite a bit because I’ve seen “The Lion King” dozens of times.
Other news:
I had to go to the dentist today.  I’m getting a crown and my temporary cracked and came out yesterday.  Fortunately, there was no pain involved.
I’m rapidly approaching 200 miles on my jogging.  I started back up again on 28 Dec ’13 and have been going steadily ever since.  My goal for 2014 is to jog 1,000 miles.  That’s about three times my best miles  in a year from the recent past few years.  We’ll see if I can keep it going…
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On This Day In:
2013	The Lucky Few
2012	A Post-Valentine’s Day Message
2011	Risk, Lyrics, Starting Over, And My Trip To The ER
	Lucky Choice

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1,002

Back in the gym (at work) this morning.  First time since the end of December, 2010 (see blog post: 1,001).  Since then, I’ve been in an Emergency Room twice and a cardiac intensive care unit overnight.  All in all, I guess I should be happy to be here at all let alone commenting on how I’ve finally gotten to my 1,000th and 2nd workout.  (I’m still not counting my home / schoolyard jogs and walks.)
 

So, I’m back in the gym and struggling to do my slow jog.  My legs are dead.  I made it through the two miles (my goal for the workout), but it was in a fairly pitiful 38 minutes.  To think, just a few months ago I was doing two miles in just under 24 minutes.  As I was showering, I thought back to my Army days when you had to run 2 miles in under 18 minutes or you failed your PT test.  Anyway, I got through the jog.  I then added in a couple of sets of crunches (2X25).  I’m so out of shape now, even that little bit was gut busting.  Still, each day I’ll get better.  My goal is four sets of 50 for 200 reps a workout.  That’s pretty much how I started out thirteen years ago in Saudi, except then, I started with three sets of ten.  Of course, within a couple of weeks I was up to four sets of twenty-five.  I did a little light stretching and that was it for my first visit back.
 

The bad news is I’m almost exactly where I was two years ago, when I started the Fat Smash Diet – 330 lbs.  Very discouraging.  I got down to 292, before my little (and not so little) injuries and illnesses started adding up.  My unofficial high was actually 337 lbs.  I dropped the seven pounds before I went on my “official” weigh in.  So, I’m still down by seven pounds now that I’m starting this new cycle.
 

The best news is I felt pretty good for the rest of the day.  So, here’s to making progress to 2,000 visits and getting back below 300 lbs!

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Back On The Asphalt

Got home from work and went out back to help my daughter Sarah practice her bench presses.  She’s taking a class in weight lifting in high school PE and she needs to increase her lifts to get a decent grade.  Her max is 70 lbs X 5 reps.  Today she was able to do 60 lbs about five times and 50 lbs ten times.  She’s making very good progress.  I also had her doing some crunches and back strengthening.  I’m hoping to have her up to 90 lbs X 5 reps by the end of March.
 

After helping Sarah, I went across the street to the schoolyard for a slow jog.  I did my normal 70 minutes; about 4 miles.  It wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t easy either.  Today was my first day back since my trip to the ER on Valentine’s Day.  Eight days ago…   Anyway, no vertigo and it helped my confidence to get through a jog.  As I so fondly say – slowly, slowly…

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Easy Like Sunday Morning

A very relaxing day to make up for the OT yesterday.  I slept in until 9!  Actually, I got up at 6 to get in my early morning / dawn jog and Hil insisted I come back to bed…  She didn’t have to twist my arm too hard!
 

After the sleep in, it was breakfast in bed (oatmeal, toast and Bailey’s Coffee) – life is good, – and then read until 11:15 when it’s time to get up for Sunday noon Mass.  After that, some quick shopping at Safeway and off to have lunch with Donnie (my son’s Godfather).  We went back to the Japanese/Chinese all you can eat buffet (Todai) and Hill got to try some sushi and other more exotic dishes.  She also had most of her normal ones too.
 

At the end, we were all three stuffed and we went home.  Hil commented she likes going out to eat with Don because he’s never in a hurry to leave and he always wants to talk, so it lifts the burden off of us to find something to discuss. 
 

After getting home, I passed out for a little nap.  Then I got up and scheduled another week’s worth of quotes.  Around 8:30, my stomach was settled enough I felt like going out to get in my jog.  Given the time and work tomorrow, I decided to just do the 2 miles.
 

Yup, nothing like an easy Sunday!

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This And That

Another day of overtime.  I spent most of the day coding.  It’s unusual to find an activity which is both exhausting and exhilarating at the same time – but coding is definitely it for me.  I have an application at work which I developed about 6 years ago and which is still in use.  I needed to to do a non-trivial update to it and I really wasn’t looking forward to it.  These things can take weeks or months when you’re trying to squeeze development time into a normally busy day.  The depth of thought required does not lend itself to well to frequent interruptions and otherwise fire-fighting.  What took about six hours of just sitting there and getting it done, probably would have taken as many weeks – so I’m glad there was budget to cover the time.
After work, I dropped by a friend’s house to help him with his taxes. He had some questions and I walked him through TurboTax.  He had 98% of it done, and probably could have figured out the rest, but I managed to save him a bit of time.
Hil got her hair done.  Then she cooked up a lovely steak for dinner tonight.  It was our little “early” Valentine’s Day dinner together.  Candles, red wine and everything.  I’ve already written my little message to her in her card, which I’m planning to put on her pillow in a bit.  We’re all human and nobody is perfect – but she’s pretty perfect for me…  Ok, cancel that last bit.  Hil is definitely perfect!  She just brought me some warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream for my afters!!  Eat your hearts out, dear readers…
I managed to squeeze my evening jog in between helping my friend and Hil cooking dinner.  I’m closing in on a two-week streak (I hope I haven’t jinxed myself).  If I can just keep it up a for 4 to 6 more weeks, maybe it’ll become a habit and I’ll keep going for a good long while.  I wouldn’t hold my breath though, as I’m normally a person of moderation and don’t slip into many “good” habits.  Even at my best, I’m only one day off away from slipping into bad habits.  A day’s rest becomes a week, and then a couple, and then a month – and before you know it, you’re starting from scratch again.
The jog itself wasn’t too bad.  The night is cool and clear and the school yard wasn’t busy. My legs felt “heavy” today.  I don’t know if it’s 10 straight days of jogging or the intervals from last evening.  I’m hoping to get up a little earlier tomorrow to get my jog out of the way before we go to Mass.  If I can force myself out of bed early enough, I might be able to get a full two hours in as the sun rises.  I like the explosion of sounds as the baby birds all start to wake up and call for food.  It’s also nice to see the sky change color and the grass and trees seem to come alive.
My friend (above) has asked Hil and me out for lunch.  He treated us a couple of weeks ago and he didn’t feel we got our money’s worth, so he called Hil during the week to arrange a “re-match”.  He’s always good for a belly laugh (or two) so I’m always happy to spend time with him.
On the world news front: Mubarak has resigned and Egypt is facing the hard part of being free – now you have to actually run a country for the benefit of the people – instead of the few.  I pray for you, still.  It will take long and the road may be muddy and rough but you’ll get there (Inshallah!!)  Remember, you can have peace AND freedom.
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