Two down!

I've been linked! And now everyone knows about my crazy idea!

Jank dropped by and wished me luck, and even dropped a link to my meager blog over on his. So if you clicked that link and stumbled onto me, I apologize for not having thrilling race stories or epic trail run photo montages. You'll have to make do with my little public diary.

I shared my ambition for August with my wife, over the phone. There was a fairly long silence, and I said to myself, "maybe this is a mad idea." But she's being supportive, even if she isn't going to tag along every day. I explained my basic idea to her -- I need to exercise, and if I'm not running regularly, I need to find other things to fill in the gaps. Forcing myself to do something active every day will break down the flimsy excuses I use to end up sitting on the couch.

So, the tally so far:

Day 1: Mowing the lawn. This is not as trivial as it sounds; we have almost an acre, and the grass had almost 2 weeks of prime growing on it. In the late day heat, I poured out my day's sweat pushing a heavy mower around. Not a run, but certainly as strenuous as my usual workout.

Day 2: Took my wife out for a sunset walk around the streets of my neighborhood. We took some side roads we've never been down before, and ended up on a lonely dirt road through some woods. Half the mosquitoes in Massachusetts evidently live in those woods, and we ended up running to avoid the swarm. Far from a strenuous workout, but it's a lot more than I would have done today if I didn't have this plan in mind.

(And I would have stayed out an extra 15 minutes if I knew some of you were going to try and keep me honest!)

Augustathon?

I've written about my running slump before, and while I have been running semi-regularly, I have yet to get back into an exercise groove. The flimsiest of excuses will stop me from exercising, and I know from personal experience that an active lifestyle is the only way I stay fit.

So, I got inspired by reading about some folks running an Augustathon. These folks are running every day for the month of August, 3 miles a day minimum. Now, that's not what my body is ready for, but I think I'll use August as a way of refocusing my fitness achievements. The fact that my birthday falls in August is a nice way to bring in some extra motivation.

So here's my August pledge. I will exercise every single day this month. My plan is to try a bunch of different things, forcing myself to stay creative to prevent injury and boredom. These are the types of things I will do:

• 30 minute runs
• 45 minute walks
• 60+ minute lawn work
  
• Kayaking
• Hiking
• Push-ups and other bodyweight training

This is a complete spur-of-the-moment idea, and the only way I'll actually see it through is if I post it here and hold myself accountable.

August begins today. Let's see where this crazy idea goes.

This generation's Lord of the Rings?

I was thinking about Harry Potter the other day, and wondering how it will be looked back upon in 20 years.

We know it's a huge commercial success, making JK Rowling more money than she can possibly hope to spend in her lifetime. And we know it's had a huge cultural impact, with nonsense words like muggles being meaningful to (probably) the majority of the population. We know it's getting kids to read again, though some folks question whether it's having any significant impact on children's reading.

I can't really call it this generation's LOTR, though. LOTR was counter-cultural. It took decades for a successful mass-market movie adaptation to be made. LOTR became, in some ways, a commercial success despite the intentions of its author -- Harry Potter, not so much.

No, I think it's more accurate to say Harry Potter is this generation's Star Wars. A huge commercial enterprise around something which, once you look deeply into it, is more fluff than substance, but fun fluff nonetheless.

Maybe in a couple decades these kids can have their "new trilogy" where Rowling writes a prequel about the early years of James, Lilly, and Severus.... And we can all smile knowingly when they whine about how it's ruined their memories of the pure originals.

Punished my legs on Sunday

So, I broke my non-running streak and went for a tough run on Sunday. After all, what better way to reintroduce your legs to running after a week than with a big hill? So, I can feel it in my legs today, but much more importantly I feel good about getting back on the road after a short break.

I hit a weight loss milestone this weekend too. I was hoping to hit this weight by my birthday (Aug 20) and I'm almost a month early. So, that's encouraging, and exciting.

In unrelated news, I spent much more time this weekend reading the new Harry Potter than you'd expect, given how nice it was outside. Oh well. Gotta read it before the ending is spoiled for me. I've already heard more than I want to just walking the halls at work....

A week without running

For the first time since I started aggressively working on my fitness this year, I've gone a week without running.

I'd like to say this is part of my big plan, and that I am saving up my energy or recovering from an injury. The fact is that I've been busy, and it hasn't been enough of a priority to push other things out of the way.

So I thought I'd write about it as a way of trying to understand why this is. Why was it that during my Couch-to-5K program, I made time 3x a week no matter what, but right now I've managed to not find time for seven consecutive days?

I think I can break it down into several factors:

1. Running outdoors has spoiled me; I look at the treadmill and think boredom (but don't necessarily have time to do other than the treadmill)
2. I'm doing well, fitness-wise, and am making progress without the exercise
3. I'm not tracking towards a planned objective

So, assuming that I want to be a better runner (and I am pretty sure I still do), what can I do to address those three points?

1. Find time to run outside, even if it's just around my neighborhood. Accept that some workouts are just to maintain running fitness, not for fun, and sometimes the treadmill accomplishes that just fine.
2. Remember that I've never been successful at keeping weight off without maintaining exercise.
3. Plan an objective and track to it (pick a race, pick a training program to reach that race).

On the third point, many training programs are 9-12 weeks. So if I were to find a race in 2-3 months, I'd be able to track towards it. I've been talking about a fall race for a while, so maybe it's time to pick one and sign up. That should give me a motivation boost, no?

At the same time, I also want to open myself up to other options for point number two. If I'm just slumping on my running, I may need to pick up the slack elsewhere.

Series 3 "Lite"?

A few months back, I said that if the Series 3 TiVo was $299, I would have argued with myself but eventually bought it.

Well, looks like I may have to look at those words a bit more seriously, in light of some leaked news out of TiVo-land.

If the rumors are true, for $299 you're getting dual HDTV tuners, the big selling point of the TiVo S3. There are a bunch of other minor changes, but that's what it boils down to.

On the other hand, my cable box HDTV recently got its firmware upgraded. Most of the annoying bugs are fixed, and I've learned to deal with the feature gaps between the DVR and the TiVo. Is it worth $299 to close those gaps? Especially when we're talking about saving money? Probably not.

Probably not.

See what I read

I've added a new feature to the blog; a rolling list of items I've marked from my RSS reader. This is mainly stories I found interesting ... you probably won't :).

The best things in life are free

(or at least paid for by other people)

Last night, we got a last-minute invite to head over to a cabin by a lake in Phillipstown, owned by in-laws of in-laws. Said in-laws (Jess's brother and his family) were staying there for a couple nights. With no other plans, and an unexpected free evening, we took the long (well, 45 minutes) country drive (one of the more pleasant drives I've taken in this area) north, and ended up on a narrow dirt road that ended by a cabin on a lake.

We stayed for a bit over 3 hours, and in that time we fished, swam, sat by a fire, made s'mores, burned popcorn, and stood quietly on a dock watching lightning flash in the sky so far away we never heard thunder. The lightning-watching was especially memorable. We were looking up into the hills that surrounded the lake, seeing far-away lightning take a pitch-black sky and illuminate the shapes of distant clouds. Sometimes the lightnings would come with startling frequency, sometimes you could even make out the shapes of actual bolts of lightning. Other times it was just a vague flicker of light from afar. Either way, we realized we were seeing something special.

I can't remember a single more relaxing evening I've had on a work night. Those moments were precious, priceless even, and all it cost us was a willingness to say, "Sure, we'll go for a drive."

Who is that (un)masked man?

I'd had this goatee for six months now. I started it over the Christmas/New Years holiday, and maintained it until yesterday.

I'd been itching for a change, though. It kind of aggravated me, though it shouldn't have, that I had the same style facial hair as both my boss and his boss. And as it got warmer, the goatee got less and less appealing, trapping sweat and generally increasing the feeling of heat on hot humid days, especially days spent outdoors.

So in a fit of inspiration, I stepped out of the shower yesterday and cut the damn thing off.

I don't recognize myself in the mirror. It's honestly freaking me out. I see shapes and patterns in my facial structure which don't equate with "me". I reach for my face and pull back my hand quickly, in shock, like I touched something I unexpected and unpleasant.

I don't know how long it will take to get used to the clean face, but I know it's not going to be fun. I miss the scruffy bastard.

Outdoor running, revisited

In regards to my post below, extolling the benefits of outdoor running, I will add a second thing that outdoor running adds into the mix.

Hills.

And pain. In the knees.

Better today than yesterday, but still not planning to run today. I'll give my body an extra recovery day and run tomorrow. Long work day today anyway (and yesterday, ugh), so it's not like I'm brimming with extra energy to burn.

Outdoor running

So, I did my entire C25K program running on the treadmill in my basement. It was safe, the speed was controlled, and I could get more comfortable with my abilities that way. The benefits of treadmill running are very easy to understand and I don't need to spell them out here.

Since then, I've done a couple runs outside. Let me tell you -- it's a night and day difference. There's a certain confidence you get from saying, "look, I can run for 30 minutes straight." But the confidence of saying, "I can run from here to there, and back, without stopping," is entirely different. It's so much stronger and real.

Granted, there are cars to dodge, mosquitos biting, dogs barking, and all that. But it's worth it.

Today I feel like a fit man trapped with 30-40 extra pounds of fat on him. A few months ago I felt like a fat man wishing he was fit. It's a transformation I am very thankful to have made.

Success is a motivator

21 pounds down.
Running 3 miles a day, every other day.
Feeling better than I have in a year.

There's a sense of accomplishment there, but I have to weigh it against knowing how much more I have ahead of me. To just return to the level of fitness I had will take many more months. But there are no mysteries on the road there; I have the map, I have driven the course before, and I've put in solid time on it and know what's what.

And I find myself itching for a bigger push.

I'm in a dangerous spot with my running fitness, where I feel more fit than I am. I can and should add more miles, but not yet. I can and should work on running faster, but not yet. It's just out of reach. Two weeks more, or so, and I'll be up for that.

In the meantime, I should do what I keep saying I'll do, and that's start on some bodyweight exercises. I hate going to the gym at work, and don't always have time to anyway. But there's always time to add some bodyweight exercises. The main concern people have with bodyweight routines is that you can't push yourself to your limits -- however, being untrained this is not a big concern to me. My secret bodyweight goal? To be able to do a solid set of pullups/chinups. From childhood that's always been something I could never do, so in my mind it's as far away and impossible as running a marathon.

The ubiquity of information

It's Saturday afternoon. Jessica and I are in a motel room in New Jersey, getting ready for the wedding we have to attend in a few hours. I'm flipping channels on the TV. I come across a program focused on animal life in Death Valley. It catches our interest, and we see the tail end of a segment which is obviously about some kind of road race that is run there, which sounded pretty awful.

I pulled out my Blackberry, which I had brought to be able to retrieve maps online on the go. I did a quick search on the terms "death valley ultramarathon" and within seconds I was reading the wikipedia article on the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile race where runners have to face a 13,000 feet elevation gain (running from below sea level to near the summit of Mt. Whitney). I had a great chuckle when they said that nobody had died on the race "yet."

Putting the Internet into our hands at every moment isn't just about being able to buy movie tickets or get directions to the closest pizza joint, no matter what the marketing suits tell you. Sometimes it's just about being able to satisfy your curiosity the moment it arises.

Don't get me wrong. I did use the Blackberry for more traditional things as well. We needed to find a specific clothing store on the way down to NJ, and we found one at a mall right by the highway we were traveling. And I even earned some points among the extended family by not just finding the closest Denny's for them, but giving them directions as well. And while I didn't need the Internet to tell me how crazy it would be at Denny's as part of a party of 11 with 3 children under 5, I could have blogged about it while it was happening, had I thought of it :).

Stop wondering and start doing

Another "day in the life" of a man who regularly realizes he's smarter than he realizes if he just did the things he always talks about doing.

Yesterday, I had a bit of a headache towards the end of the day. My muscles were still sore from my last run and my weekend of playing with my nephews (playing catch and baseball with a couple pre-teens takes more out of you than you'd think). I went to bed a bit early, thinking, "I probably won't run tomorrow, my body might need the rest."

This morning, I felt fine. Not sore, not overly tired, etc. But I immediately started over-analyzing. Maybe I need to rest, maybe my body needs an extra day to recuperate, maybe I should wake up a bit more and make sure I'm not sore.

No, dumbass, you should just get your running clothes on and get on the treadmill (yes, it's beautiful out there, I'm holding off on running outside until I complete this training program).

I finally did the run, and it was one of the best runs I've had in a few weeks.

Stop thinking about it, and just keep doing it. Don't be so afraid of failing that you don't try, because trying and failing is a better end than not trying at all, and more often than not you won't fail anyway.

How many times do I have to re-learn this lesson (in matters small and large)?

(Fifteen pounds down ... four runs left in my training program ... so far, so good.)

Spring hits Podunk

One week ago, it was gloom and doom. This weekend, the weather was amazing.

Saturday, we set up our hammock in the back yard, and spent about an hour just laying in the sun. Stress falls away pretty quick in that environment -- and in the peace and quiet of the warm spring breeze I once again had a bit of a "reset button" moment. I need these, periodically, to remind myself what I work for. My own yard, on a quiet street, surrounded by trees -- this is why I endure all the stress I face at work.

The whole area is more alive right now -- you can see the early beginnings of buds on trees, things are sprouting in gardens, the spring birds are back, and people are out and about. The parking area near the pond was completely full this weekend, and the entire surface of the pond was dotted with boats.

And, of course, the bugs are starting to come back. We saw several hornets buzzing about the house. Some things never change.

Positive Thinking

On my commute home yesterday, I drove past the pond and saw two large blue herons flying over it. They were the first ones I've seen this year, and seeing them always brings a smile to my face. Spring is coming. The birds know it, but maybe someone should tell the skies.

This morning I went and killed that run that killed me Wednesday. It was still hard, but I ran it a little slower and was able to pound it out. Mission accomplished, though I'm still nervous about the rest of my runs being this difficult. Jess is enjoying the fact that she's having an easier time of running than I am, so I guess there's some benefit to my struggle.

I'm going to head over to PR Running on Monday and get my shoe choice double checked. I'm also going to incorporate increased stretching into my routine. I read some great advice -- do stretches on your off days to make sure you give them the attention they deserve. A full set of stretches can run you 20 minutes, and I know I don't have the patience to do that before/after a run. I'm lucky if I spend 2 minutes stretching. But if it's my off day, I can stretch in place of a run and still get some benefit.

My Monday is going to be very busy, for a day off. Dentist appointment, running shoe shopping, grocery shopping with my mother, and possibly lunch with Jess. The Marathon could well be over by the time I get home and pop on the TV to see how it's going.

A many-stepped journey

I know I'd be a happier person if I took my own advice more often. For example: don't sweat the small stuff.

Today I had a particularly stressful phone conversation with my manager, for reasons I won't go into here (nothing bad, just the usual). I immediately went down to the treadmill for my Week 6 Day 3 run of my C25K plan. Things went okay until about 15 minutes into the running portion. With ten minutes remaining, I wasn't sure I had it in me to finish.

Five minutes went by, and what had started as a slight nagging in my legs had turned into a burning pain in each calf. I was counting the seconds, and had 300 to go. I tried to push it out but after another 30 seconds I realized how stupid I was being. Pain like that, that gets worse as you continue the exercise, is usually not something you want. I dropped back to walk pace immediately, walked for 5 minutes, and then stretched for a few minutes.

The pain is gone, but it's still tight. And I'm pissed that I couldn't complete my workout. But this is just one step on a long journey -- one training run that didn't complete as expected is hardly reason to get upset.

But such is the paranoia of the man who isn't fully confident he can do what he's attempting (even though he's done it before). Every tiny setback is examined from all possible angles.

Dave, don't sweat the small stuff. You still got a great workout in.

The question: was it just random chance? Unstretched legs? New running shoes? Too fast?

What do I change next time?


My plan: stick with the new shoes, drop my pace a bit, and try again in a couple days. If the pain returns, go to the running store on Monday and see if there's a different shoe I should be using.

Easter Birth Control

So yesterday we hosted the family Easter dinner, a surprisingly non-religious affair given how religious most of the attendees (but not the hosts) were. In any case, after an easter egg hunt, an easter basket hiding game, a huge meal, and several hours of 3 sugar-crazed kids, my house looked like some kind of tornado went through it.

I walked into the kitchen and jokingly said, "What happened to my house?"
My sister-in-law replied, "Birth control showed up."

In unrelated news, I got some new running shoes yesterday which I am looking forward to trying out. I've been running in 2 to 3 year-old shoes with a lot of rough miles on them. These are fresh and new, and I got a great deal on them online.

Two digit losses

No, I'm not talking about investments or work revenues. I'm talking about my recent fitness initiative!

As of this morning, I'm down ten pounds from when I made the decision that it was time to start this up again. I've completed five weeks of my running program, I'm down ten pounds, and I can feel the difference in my clothes.

A good start!

On pushing your limits

I don't talk about work much in this blog, for a few reasons. The biggest is the most obvious: I don't want this showing up on some corporate legal radar. The last thing I need is the guys in suits actually thinking I'm a liability (or more of a liability than they know I am!).

So. I'm finally taking one of the classes that lots of managers here take -- it tries to cram in all aspects of being a manager into 3 days. Leadership, business acumen, personal growth, all of it. And the pre-requisite (not required, but strongly recommended) is a "skills assessment."

The assessment takes the form of a 5-hour simulation of being a manager. You sit at your desk and handle email, calendar, and telephone. You have dissatisfied employees, demands from peer managers, all kinds of problems. It seems that the goal is to put you under enough simulated pressure to expose your weak areas, so you know what to focus on.

This does not sound, in the least bit, fun.

And yet my manager sings its praises, nearly constantly. He says the simulation was more important for his development than the follow-up course.

This is coming up in a couple weeks. I'm fairly nervous about it, for a lot of reasons. But it boils down to, "what if they tell me I suck at this?".

What's odd is that I would have no such fears about a technical challenge of this nature. If I took a 5-hour assessment of my technical skills and learned that I am good at half of it and suck at the other, I'd be glad to know that, so I could start working on the other half. But that's because I've known I'm good at the technical side of things, for a long time. Maybe if such a test had been handed out in my freshman year of college I would be just as nervous. Or maybe it's because management is made up of "soft" skills, and I have it in my head that if I'm bad at them, there's no improving it.

It doesn't make much sense, but there it is.