True story… she laughs every single time I run… I’m glad she’s finally vocalized what’s so funny (you know… besides fat man running), but there’s not much I can do about it.

I went for a brief (30 minute) run this afternoon apres travail, but there’s not much to say about it.  I certainly didn’t pounce on any Stegasaurus or any such thing…. I would have run longer, but it can’t seem to make up its mind if it wants to rain or not, so I thought I’d have a longer run in the morning (indoor or out depending upon the rain).

So yeah… I’m a T-rex… not sure what to do with that…  I don’t mind as it’s Laurie.  If it was someone else in the extended family, it might annoy me, but it is what it is… and family members are always going to talk.  I suppose being fat just gives them something obvious to peck at… could be worse… I could be the smelly guy in the family.  If family can’t say some of the inappropriate, borderline sadistic things then who can?  Sometimes they need to be heard.

Sometimes…

Meh… best to stick with the motto that I am what I am, and I don’t give a rat’s arse what people think…

Hmmm… my diet is pissing me off/going nowhere fast, and I’m beginning to growl (not entirely unlike a T-rex)… best to end this post before I get down right moody.  So, I’ll leave you with a little ditty that expresses the sort of positive message we can all use from time to time…

I kid, of course, but if you’ve ever been to a Great Big Sea concert then you know.  You pay for a seat, but you really aren’t allowed to use it much (which is just as well, as the seats in the Michigan theater are wicked narrow compared to me arse).  You are up and bouncing the entire time… I keep thinking it might be fun to wear my heart rate monitor to one of their shows… just to see… it’s a goodly burn!  Regardless, show tonight.  I will absolutely be there.

I did get some actual exercise today.  as indicated yesterday, I went for a run… and it really did hurt.  As you can see from the chart above, it was so so… the red peaks represent speed sessions… the valleys can be considered the sort of slow run/fast shamble that fat guys and oldsters are known for… but the knee was pretty pain-free, so good.  Plus I get an actual fake calorie number… the Garmin says I burned 540 calories… I feel good about those.

No food report today as it’s early, and I’ll be out tonight.  I did go for a red-green smoothie for breakfast:

• 1 medium beet
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/4″ ginger
• 1 fuji apple
• 1.5 cups water
• 1 cup ice

Blend, blend, blend!  Very red.  Not bad tasting… might add some almond milk next time for protein… and double the ginger.  Filling and rings in well under 200 calories.  Lunch was just a banana and a leftover piece of chicken… probably a sandwich or salad for dinner… not sure yet.

So, by now you’ve all heard about the goings on in Boston.

I couldn’t watch the news anymore, but I couldn’t get it out of my head either, so let’s chalk this up to therapeutic drawing…

There’s not a lot to be said at this point.  The only thing we really know is that it was definitely a bombing, but there is zero indication of who.  Domestic terror?  International?  Wack-a-doodle?  Don’t know.

I guess the only thing to say is that our thoughts and prayers are going out to those in Boston and those affected by the ripples of today’s events.  We’ll have to wait for answers.  Until then, life goes on.  The sun comes up tomorrow as it always does.   In the morning, I, like so many others around the world, will pull on my running shoes and start chasing life down that painted strip…  It will hurt; my lungs will burn; and my legs will complain, and I’ll be happy to be out there.

In the end, what else is there?

So much for the plateau… figures that it would break after a holiday weekend of… well… there was chocolate!

It was funny, I knew I’d be in the car all weekend, so I prepped to go for a run before climbing into the car Saturday morning.  However, once I crawled out of bed, dressed and stepped outside… well, it was 22°F!!!  Forget that!  If I have to wear a coat, I really don’t want to run.  Rather than just miss the workout, though, I hopped in the car and headed to the gym.

I considered it a victory just getting into the car, but I actually had a good workout.  As you can see from the treadmill section, I pushed a higher speed for longer durations and finally got the ol’ heart rate above 160.  I pushed pretty hard though, so my performance ended up lagging a bit on the bike.  Not bad, but I was fully drained at that point.  After that, of course, Easter weekend and family!!!  Did you guys do anything fun?

So, I did not go to the gym yesterday.  I had certainly planned on going, but 5 am came along… and apparently moved quietly by… not that I use an alarm clock, usually I just tell myself when to get up when I lay down, but the internal alarm failed…

Of course, it’s not as simple as that.  I kept waking up about every 20 minutes that night… it wasn’t until about 3am that I was aware enough to realize why… a smoke detector was emitting a short burst of 5 beeps… about every 10 minutes.  So, I headed out of bed to find the culprit, but we have 5 detectors here, so it wasn’t until about 3:25 that I found the culprit, determined it was a batter failure and shut the thing up.

This is actually another argument in favor of Planet Fitness as opposed to my current gym (the central campus student fitness facility).  At 3:25, I was wide awake, and felt fine.  PF is 24 hours, and I could have just gone and had my workout, and gotten on with my day (one assumes with a nap in there somewhere).  As the CCRB doesn’t open until 6 am, however, I opted to go lay back down… rolled around until about 4:30, and then Laurie shook me awake at 7:40, so that was that.

Now, I could have had my workout in the afternoon, but I really don’t like going to the CCRB past say, 8 in the morning.  Not because it’s somewhat disheartening being the old fat guy in a sea of the uber-fit (it is), but rather, I have no tolerance for standing around waiting for machines.  That place is thick in the afternoon.  You are either waiting for a machine, or you’re using a machine with some olympic wannabe standing there next to it trying to will you off of the bloody thing.  I pass.

Food Intake:

• Breakfast – Brown Cow yogurt – 150 calories
• Post-workout snack – 1 medium banana – 100 calories
• Lunch – MHealthy Tuna and apple lavash – 360 calories
• Afternoon snack – smoked salmon – 150 calories
• Afternoon snack – Peanut butter crackers – 130 calories
• Dinner – Sauteed cod with sugar snap peas and mac and cheese – 700 calories
• Evening Treat – Chocolate Long John (Laurie brought it) – 370 calories

So even with the donut, that’s 1960 calories for the day which is nicely within my 2000.  Huzzah.  Very peckish today for some reason, but good choices (except the donut).  Weird about the fish though… I certainly didn’t expect to have three portions of fish today.

That MHealthy sandwich… I could have done without.  Normally the MHealthy sammiches are quite good, but this one went another way… ick… strong tuna with an apple slice on a green lavash… dry, fishy and ick…

Exercise:

I said I didn’t exercise yesterday.  Today I got my butt out of bed.  I only had four hours of sleep, but felt good running the intervals.  Pushed a bit harder and faster than last time.  Sadly 3 of the 4 treadmills with the bed-sized belt were broken, so I ended up on a Lifestyle unit which tried to kill me three times.  The first two were from stepping off of the belt (it’s off center, so you have to consciously try to run to one side of the unit).  The third time was when the darn thing rebooted on me.  Rebooted means the console blanks, the belt stops dead and then it boots back up.  Fun!

I did have a nice chat with the equipment lady afterwards about how to run without screwing up one’s knees.  (I know, I know, but tearing things when you slam into a pothole doesn’t count…)

Good workout, but now… bed!

So I finally found my strap… it was about five feet away from my desk in a place which, now at least, seems obvious… what are you going to do?

…keep my work area a bit cleaner, I suppose.

Anyways… no I didn’t forget to update the ticker… just a bit stuck.

…but I have my strap now, so I’ve got my motivational tool, so I’m sure I’ll break through this lickety-split!

Food Intake:

• Breakfast – Archer Farms Blueberry Granola and Flax cereal with skim milk – 290 calories
• After workout snack – a banana – 100 calories
• Lunch – MHealthy Turkey sandwich on whole grain plus veggies with a bit of hummus – 550 calories
• Afternoon snack – Peanut butter crackers – 130 calories
• Dinner – Qdoba burrito on whole wheat – 645 calories

1715 calories total which is pretty good.  I feel like I would eat a cow if it happened to stroll by (always a sign of a good workout), but this ain’t cattle country, so I’ll probably be fine.  The cereal was problematic.  It was very delicious, and had a goodly helping of whole grains and flax seeds (though only 1 blueberry), but waaaaaaay too much sugar.  It was just a single-serving sampler, though, so while tasty, I will not be buying a box.

Exercise:

See?!?  I told you I found my strap!  I don’t know what it is about me and numbers, but just having that thing showing me my heart rate constantly really seemed to make me intensify my workout.  I was awash with the noble sweat.  I did end up switch treadmills to another brand where the belt size matched the bed so as to prevent any injury.  The bike hill climb was good… took me a bit to find a working bike, though… I don’t know what the deal is with gyms and fitness centers, but man, everything can be working, but when you get to the bike, you can count on the resistance unit being shot… tres annoying… I almost had to switch to an elliptical, and no one wants that!!!

So, it’s nice to be using the monitor again, but being GPS-based, it does not, of course, provide any calorie info unless it records you actually… you know… moving.  So, just heart rate for now, but soon it’ll be time to run and bike to work (waiting for it to stay above freezing), and then we’ll have that info too…

Please Help!!!!

I am trying to win a new sewing machine (a sweet Viking Rose 250C).  The contest is on facebook.  If you have an account could you please (please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please) pop over there and vote for my project?!?   Thanks, and please feel free to tell your friends!

Well, there’s $25 that I’ll never see again.  I guess the moral of the story is that one shouldn’t be opening staple-secured packages in the same room one keeps one’s pilates ball… or if one does, they should look really carefully for any stray staples… and how exactly does one miss a giant copper staple lying on the floor in the first place?!?

Oh well…  good proof of principle… probably worth ordering a new one for home.

Just a few seconds at the moment, so let me ask you all this.  Has anyone ever been a member of Planet Fitness?  They’re opening one in town, and they have better hours and are much cheaper than the gym here at work.  Any thoughts are appreciated.

So, I’ve discussed before my tendency to dehydrate during the day as I will have a glass of water (or smoothie) when I wake up but will drink almost nothing during the day whilst at work.  The result is dehydration and spending the evening downing 32 oz glasses of water.  Well, this week I’ve been consciously trying to alter that behavior by drinking throughout the day with some success.  However, Hotchy Motchy, I pee a lot.  I suppose if the 32 oz glass wasn’t my chosen vessel this would not be quite as big an issue, but if you hydrate… well, just don’t wander too far from the bathroom.

I’ve also started adding a spoonful of chia seeds to my lunches for the omega-3s and the extra fiber.  Costs me about 50 calories, but the benefits seem well worth it.  They’re pretty flavor neutral (unless you roast them… which I don’t in my office), so they can be added to most anything.  Be warned, however, if you are in a dry climate, the static electricity will make those things FLY around the office.  Maybe I should install a humidifier so that I can eat my lunch… who knows…

I’m thinking it’s time to reincorporate my Garmin into my workouts.  As you may recall from last year’s Ann Arbor (Half) Marathon, I learned that heart rate monitor straps CHAFF after about ten miles or so, and haven’t really touched it since.  However, I do find that I put more effort and (post-workout) reflection into my workouts when I can see some results on the screen.  Who knows.  I’ve charged it up though, and will likely bring it to the gym tomorrow.

After that very warm weekend for the 5k, we’re back in the 20′s and 30′s, so no running to work.  However, if I get to campus by 6am, I can park at the Cancer Center, change into workout duds, walk across campus to the gym, workout, walk to the BSRB, shower, walk back to the Cancer Center and change into my workin’ duds… which works in a campus-crossing sort of way.

So yeah… pretty much every muscle from my nipples down is hard as a rock and oh-so-very sore!  Don’t get me wrong… sore in a good way… in a righteous, “yeah… I did that” sort of way… but maybe, just maybe some training before hand is advisable.

Ouch…

That said, the Shamrock and Shenanigans 5k is a blast!  I really should have wore my kilt, but it didn’t occur to me until I was already there… the sporran would have probably caused bruising, in any case!  There was a surprisingly big crowd for a March run… Just over two thousand, in fact… even with the whole DST issue… beautiful day for a run too…

A View from the Back of the Pack

[Editor's Note: Sorry to drop a Saggy on that poor lady, but it was a very clear picture of her face, and I don't really know whether she wants to appear on a site called Saggy Man Breasts!]

In any case, it was a challenging day.  I was seriously re-thinking my decision to run by about mile #2, but I soldiered on… oh so slowly… under an hour though, so good enough for our purposes.  Proof of principle that I *can* in fact still run.  I’m going to manage the training differently this year, though.  Alternating running to work with with riding to work/hitting the gym.  Not today though… way too sore.  The goal is to be less focused on one exercise/movement and try to avoid the DL list by this fall.

Food Intake:

• Breakfast – Stonyfield Chocolate Underground yogurt and a cutie
• Lunch – Black Bean burger with a pinapple slice, onions, mustard, ketchup and green olives with a side salad
• Dinner – 1 stuffed pork chop with a green salad

No calorie count as I forgot to look for nutritional information at Bagger Dave’s where the burger was concerned.  It was a birthday outing in the lab today.  When Sean chose Bagger Dave’s, I opted to avoid the meat patty and fries.  When they all went for dessert, I gave that a miss as well (even though there were Peanut Butter Shakes!!!!!).  I was actually very surprised with the bean patty.  They can be iffy at times, but it was delightful.  Two thumbs up.

Okay… well, I’m off to bed.  See you all tomorrow.