The past few weeks have been an eye opener for me. All the work that I did before the Holidays is now been reversed. Gone are the good habits that were put into place every evening. Added are the couple of inches on my waist and the few pounds that I lost. Now it the time to get back in the saddle and start over, it was done once and can be done again.
There are a couple of sayings that will probably get repeated in the near future as mantras for what is or should be happening. The first is "Inches are sexier then pounds". The overall goal is to lose weight, but by focusing on the weight, overall health and wellbeing are missed. So to bring this mantra to the forefront, there is going to be a concentration on losing inches off the waist. I am sure that my eldest son will be more then willing to help with this. His idea of a sit up or a pushup is being able to ride on daddy's chest or back for a little extra weight. This puts an ever increasing load on me, but adds the fun factor with the kids. Anything that can be done with the kids is a bonus. It gives us some time together as well as teaches them healthy habits.
The second saying is "At the end of the year I'm going to wonder why I didn’t start today". This means that there is no time like the present to start. The idea will be to at least start every workout that is planned. No matter how tired I am at the time, at least start it. Some work is better then none. A couple of weeks ago, I started a workout regime that may have been a little too aggressive for my current state of fitness. Fortunately, I didn't get injured, but I burned out after a few workouts. It is time to back off, work up to where I want to be slowly. There is plenty of time before the events that I want to participate in.
So here is the workout plan for the next month. It's very simple, LSD.. Yep, long slow distances to build a base. That is the one thing that I haven't done in years, or haven't allowed myself to do is build a good base. It has always been right into the intervals, speed work etc, and relying on the base that I thought that I had, which has been non existent. Therefore, I press on and THIS TIME THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT.
How many people make it their New Year's Resolution to get into shape every year? Why is that so? Are there that many of us that are unhappy with the way we look? I for one want to be around for a long time. Before the kids were here, it may have been a different reason, but now that they are around, I want to be around for them as long as possible. I've written in the past that our mortality is our motivation and what we live for is our inspiration. Once again this rings true in my life. So it is time to get into the game and make small steps to a better healthier life.
Small Steps Are Better Then No Steps. So once again, it is back in the saddle. Let's try to make this the very last time.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Where Does The Time Go?
Just yesterday, I swear that I was only a kid running through the cornfields near my home. Now I am an adult with two kids of my own. These two kids keep me moving when ever we get to spend time together. As most people know, being an adult brings with it all kinds of responsibilities, like a home, cars, and all kinds of bills that go with them.
Fortunately, my two kids are young enough that we are not running them all over the place to soccer, swimming, hockey and the likes. Well that was the case until recently. Now we have Soccer on Saturdays, and swimming on Wednesdays. My wife and I have decided that we will not prevent our kids from trying any activity and we vow not to push them into any either. But, there are certain ones that we would like to expose them to. As an example, learning to swim is a younger age is much easier then learning as a teenager or adult, so we are getting them involved in swim lessons. But, if after they learn to swim, they don't want to swim on a team that is fine with us. Actually that would be one less event that we would have to chauffeur the kids to.
It is my hope that by have the kids be active, I will end up being active also. There are many articles that state just the opposite, i.e. when adults are active, kids are active. Let's hope that we can feed off each other and all of us will be active.
Last weekend, we had a family fun outing. Where all four of us went sledding. Fortunately, we have a hill in our yard that serve well for just that purpose. Not having to load up a car, drive to a hill and compete with others for the ride of a lifetime was a godsend. That was until the kids got so excited that they were running all around the house. This was the second time that our oldest had been out there and after literally having to drag him in the first time, I knew that he was going to have fun. Our youngest though, is almost too young to start sledding. Mommy even got out there and gave it a go. When we were done, three of the four of us had a great time. The little one didn't enjoy having to ride on daddy's lap and going so fast, so he would have to be the only one that didn't enjoy it. Both my wife and I discovered muscles that we normally don't use and once again, the big guy didn't want to quit. I am sure that there will be more days like this ahead and as a family we will enjoy them together.
Back to my original statement, where did the time go? I have to believe that life gets in the way of living. Where are the times that we would just run out and do something like head up north for a couple days, go skiing, go to the beach, etc? Now to do any one of those things, it takes an act of congress and 3 weeks to formulate a plan of attack. why can't we just through a bag together and head off for an overnight excursion. Or just head out for an evening of wandering the trails?
I apologize to those (if any) that read my posts. This one has done more for me venting then you would believe. My advise to others on this is, don't make a big deal about where you go, what you do or where you stay. The point is to "Just Do It". By doing anything, your doing something. Take and leave the stress behind, enjoy the time with friends and family, and be active.
Fortunately, my two kids are young enough that we are not running them all over the place to soccer, swimming, hockey and the likes. Well that was the case until recently. Now we have Soccer on Saturdays, and swimming on Wednesdays. My wife and I have decided that we will not prevent our kids from trying any activity and we vow not to push them into any either. But, there are certain ones that we would like to expose them to. As an example, learning to swim is a younger age is much easier then learning as a teenager or adult, so we are getting them involved in swim lessons. But, if after they learn to swim, they don't want to swim on a team that is fine with us. Actually that would be one less event that we would have to chauffeur the kids to.
It is my hope that by have the kids be active, I will end up being active also. There are many articles that state just the opposite, i.e. when adults are active, kids are active. Let's hope that we can feed off each other and all of us will be active.
Last weekend, we had a family fun outing. Where all four of us went sledding. Fortunately, we have a hill in our yard that serve well for just that purpose. Not having to load up a car, drive to a hill and compete with others for the ride of a lifetime was a godsend. That was until the kids got so excited that they were running all around the house. This was the second time that our oldest had been out there and after literally having to drag him in the first time, I knew that he was going to have fun. Our youngest though, is almost too young to start sledding. Mommy even got out there and gave it a go. When we were done, three of the four of us had a great time. The little one didn't enjoy having to ride on daddy's lap and going so fast, so he would have to be the only one that didn't enjoy it. Both my wife and I discovered muscles that we normally don't use and once again, the big guy didn't want to quit. I am sure that there will be more days like this ahead and as a family we will enjoy them together.
Back to my original statement, where did the time go? I have to believe that life gets in the way of living. Where are the times that we would just run out and do something like head up north for a couple days, go skiing, go to the beach, etc? Now to do any one of those things, it takes an act of congress and 3 weeks to formulate a plan of attack. why can't we just through a bag together and head off for an overnight excursion. Or just head out for an evening of wandering the trails?
I apologize to those (if any) that read my posts. This one has done more for me venting then you would believe. My advise to others on this is, don't make a big deal about where you go, what you do or where you stay. The point is to "Just Do It". By doing anything, your doing something. Take and leave the stress behind, enjoy the time with friends and family, and be active.
Monday, January 11, 2010
New Year with a New Beginning
I apologize for not posting more frequently, that is if anyone actually reads my posts. I'll try to do better, as this is a way for me to log my workouts. I will also try to post my goals for the next 4 weeks very soon.
With the beginning of the year comes the beginning of the serious training. I have started a 13 week training plan for a 10k. The beginning of it calls for easy runs and a little cross training. So far this has not been an issue to get in. I am able to get on the treadmill for the runs and my bike is on a trainer for the cross training after the kids are asleep. This setup works very well. There are no weather concerns, I'm not running in the dark or dodging traffic, the hockey game is usually on the big screen so time really flies.
My only concern during the runs is my heart rate. My runs start with walking for 5 minutes to warm up. Then the run starts with my heart rate rather low. As the time ticks by, my heart rate gradually increases to above 90% by the end of the run. This may or may not be good. That is the question I am trying to get answered. My perceived exertion in not bad at all, I feel like I can still hold a conversation throughout the entire run. The plan is to give it another week to see if my heart rate settles down.
Someone has questioned if my heart rate monitor is working correctly. That may be the case, so if anyone has recommendation on a heart rate monitor that works well for triathlon training, please post a comment. I've never had one with a ton of bells and whistles, I'm not sure I would know what to do with a high end one if I had one.
A new approach to this year is calling for a new attitude. The first one that I am going to work on is a positive outlook. I catch myself complaining about the way things are or aren't all the time, even through small comments or jokes here or there. When this happens, I stop myself or remind myself to be positive.
Life is good when you make small steps instead of no steps.
With the beginning of the year comes the beginning of the serious training. I have started a 13 week training plan for a 10k. The beginning of it calls for easy runs and a little cross training. So far this has not been an issue to get in. I am able to get on the treadmill for the runs and my bike is on a trainer for the cross training after the kids are asleep. This setup works very well. There are no weather concerns, I'm not running in the dark or dodging traffic, the hockey game is usually on the big screen so time really flies.
My only concern during the runs is my heart rate. My runs start with walking for 5 minutes to warm up. Then the run starts with my heart rate rather low. As the time ticks by, my heart rate gradually increases to above 90% by the end of the run. This may or may not be good. That is the question I am trying to get answered. My perceived exertion in not bad at all, I feel like I can still hold a conversation throughout the entire run. The plan is to give it another week to see if my heart rate settles down.
Someone has questioned if my heart rate monitor is working correctly. That may be the case, so if anyone has recommendation on a heart rate monitor that works well for triathlon training, please post a comment. I've never had one with a ton of bells and whistles, I'm not sure I would know what to do with a high end one if I had one.
A new approach to this year is calling for a new attitude. The first one that I am going to work on is a positive outlook. I catch myself complaining about the way things are or aren't all the time, even through small comments or jokes here or there. When this happens, I stop myself or remind myself to be positive.
Life is good when you make small steps instead of no steps.
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