Jan 9, 2014

Well it's progress.....

Walked 55 minutes yesterday morning.  Got up at 6am and did 1:02.  It was plenty cold but it warmed up nicely after a couple of miles.

Gonna hit it again tomorrow.  Spinning doesn't do it.  Want to stay after it and by spring should be able to run, not like the old days, but run.  I can't wait.

Dec. 2, 2013

Had a GREAT Thanksgiving.  Did the Von Franken Family Food Run.  Cooked pancakes and served as the M.C. for the event. Jo Ann got up at 5am to do the cooking.  We had family in and had a wonderful meal. Did okay on the food but sadly, had too much pecan pie.

Nov. 29th - Walked on Friday for about 40 minutes. 

Nov. 30th - I raked for about 6 hours.  Got a great workout! 

Dec. 1st -  I dusted off the bike and spun.  I was able to spin for about 20 minutes, then lifted weight for another 30.  I feel it today.

Dec. 2nd - Despite the fog, walked for 1:01:43.  While it's mostly walking, I'm still trying to work in a few more short runs.  Got the ol' heart beating pretty good. 

With colder weather coming, I am anxious to get back on the bike to spin during the days I am too wimpy to run.

Nov. 27, 2013

I "slept in" until 6:45am before getting out there.  Did a slow 55:14 walk/run this morning in the cold.  I am estimating this is about a 3+ mile loop. 

Still worried about doing too much.  Anytime my heart rate starts picking up, I start walking.   Just don't want to over do it.... for now.  Being out of shape, heavy, and in the cold is not a great combination.

This old ticker is pretty amazing.  I read where your heart can pump blood to every cell in your body.....and it does it in less than a minute!

In 24 hours it beats about 100,000 times and pumps 2,000 gallons of blood many times through your blood vessels. It's an amazing little fist size muscle!

Nov. 26, 2013

Got up at 6am and was walking/running by 6:20am.  Did 54:33 in the cold.  Have a full ski mask,

Which looks like I am ready to rob a bank.  Still, it's keeping me warm.  I pull it up before I near someone so they don't worry about me.

Had a crazy thought today (must have been the 25 degree weather) the OKC Memorial Marathon is at the end of April.  Hmmmm    A bit ambitious at this point, but why not have a goal?  Just did the math and that's about 150 days away.  Perhaps something to aim for?

Nov. 25, 2013

My running/walking has been much more consistent than my blogging.  Getting up at 6am to make sure I get some morning exercise.  I got in 54 minutes this morning.  Temps were in the mid 20s with little to no wind.  Had some light sleet north of where I walked.

Goals: to get a streak going

Oct. 14th

Once again I have gotten behind on my blogging.  The good news: I am still walking/running.

This morning, despite a light rain, did 47:32.  Mostly walking still, but a couple of "long" runs mixed in.  Getting stronger, but it's still slow progress.

Will hit it again tomorrow.

This is going to be difficult.  Attempting to continue to work out, while getting ready for the Tulsa State Fair.  It begins in 8 days.  The more difficult thing, will be once it starts.  I've got to monitor my eating while there, and then my sleep and exercise when not there.  I expect 2 weeks of 12 hour days.

This morning I did a walk/run for 1:15:35.  Had light sprinkles as I went down the trail to the McDonalds.  I call this the McLoop.  I estimate it's 4.5 miles or so.  Will try to get the bike out and measure it at some point.

Got in a nice run yesterday. 

This morning I swam 36 laps in about 40 minutes.  Felt good!

Wow.  A lot has happened since my last update.  New job with new hours!  I'll have much more control of when I work.  For the first time in many years will not be on call 24/7.  It's a new life and I am excited about the future! 

So...got up this morning and walked/rain a total of 57:29. 

Did 56:13 this morning of walk/run/walk.  Hit the trail at 7:15am, to avoid the heat.  It was biting at my heals by the time I got home.  To burn a few more I mowed.  Not all of the yard but about half of it.  Felt beat up by 11am. Showered and ate lunch.  

Will try to go to Saturday night church so as to allow me to ride Sunday morning.

So this morning I hit the pool right at 7am with the idea of breaking a 40 minute mile.  Didn't happen.  Final time was 43 and change.  I realized it wasn't going to happen about 15 laps in.  So I decided to start practicing bilateral breathing.  It's basically breathing on both sides. Here's a link if you want to learn more about it:   http://www.swimsmooth.com/bilateral.html

It will do a couple of things.  #1 help me in choppy waters during open water swims and also allow me to do more stokes per breaths.  If I can't be fast I might as well work on looking like a real swimmer!  Had a rough day at work and I hope to get in a long walk/run Saturday.

I swam like a pig toay

I believe you can learn more from a bad workout than a good one.  Here's what I mean:  when everything is going well, there is nothing to correct, nothing to push you, nothing to bring you to the next level. 

This morning I felt like a pig trying to swim.  It wasn't pretty.   After about 10 laps nothing felt right.  I was sluggish and had zero energy.   I wanted to quit, but I didn't.  I did 5 more, then 5 more, then started feeling better.  I was slow (like a pig) but focused on completing the task.

Here is what I learned: don't give up.  Some days your body fights back and doesn't do exactly what you tell it to do. Slow down, be patient, re-focus, and stay with it.   As I get older, I think this will be more important.   Today I did and even though my 44 lap time was a slow 48 minutes, I was fine with that.  I didn't quit.

Now If I can just keep this in mind when I try to starting riding long distances again......

July 14 Run

July 12th - mowed the yard.


July 14th - ran.

Walked/run a total of 1:23:15.   Ran one mile in 9:17 later another full mile in 9:23.  Several short runs of less then a mile, but a lot of walking.  Felt good.

Will get up in the morning and run some more.

This morning I swan 44 laps (one mile) in 43:49.  The good news: was moving along just "fast" enough that no one thought I was drowning.  The bad news: I've hit a bit of a threshold.  Haven't been able to break the 40 minute mile, at least not in this short pool. Sounds like an excuse to me. Would love to get in an Olympic size pool and see how I'd do. 

So now, it's time to do a bit more running. Ahhh my first love.  Still slow as sin, but the swimming has certainly helped. Probably unrealistic, but I would love to do the Austin Ironman 70.3 at the end of October.  In fact, in a moment of late night weakness about 4 months ago, I signed up (and paid)  entry fee for this.  I had fully expected my running and cycling much more by now.

The swim I could do today. It's 1.2 miles in a lake. That's the easy leg.   The bike wouldn't be pretty but I could do 56 miles very slowly.  The sad part is I can't run 13.1 miles.  I could walk/run about 10 but wouldn't make the cut off times.  So it's time to get this big flabby butt in gear. 

It's sort of odd to me, that 3 years ago I could run 50 miles without breaking a sweat, now I am building up to run 13.1.  Maybe odd isn't the word, maybe ironic....or perhaps pathetic.  Whatever you call it - I love a challenge.

Time to catch up:

Saturday, July 6
Rode the bike 12 miles.  Didn't get an accurate time.  Derailleur need adjusting. Clatters between 2 and 4th gear. 

Sunday, July 7
Ran/walked 3 miles.  Didn't have much time as we were trying to make 9am church service.  Felt pretty good.

Monday, July 8
Swam 44 laps in 45:50. A little sluggish this morning.

A great morning

These mild temperatures have been so helpful.  Got in 54:25 in a walk/run/walk this morning.  Did 1 mile in 9:10 then walked 10 minutes and did another mile in 9:14.  Slow but doing more running and less walking.   Hope to dust of the bicycle and get a ride in Saturday morning!

July 2nd

Decided to walk/run today.  Hit it around 7am, while temps were cool.  Did a total of 1:17:35.  I walked the first 15 minutes then ran 1 mile at about a 9:15 pace, then walked another 15 minutes.  Repeated the sequence until I got home.  Felt pretty tired but happy the running is coming along.  Still slow, but it's progress.

Welcome to July!

Not a bad way to start July!  Mild temperatures have been a blessing.  Hoping to run more this week.

This morning it was back to the pool  The elusive 40 minute mile still beyond reach.  Did 44 laps (one mile) in 43:32 this morning.  Getting easier to do a mile, just not getting faster.  Hope to run tomorrow morning.

Swam 44 laps in 42 minutes Friday.  Felt good but got pretty tired.

Sunday I walked 4.5 miles with a few short runs mixed in.  The longest run was 1/2 mile.  Felt pretty good because of the cooler temps. 

Overall feeling stronger.  Tulsa Run is a definite possibility!

Hope to swim in the morning and still have a 40 min. goal for 1 mile.

Did 44 laps (1 mile) in 46:16.  The good news; I did the first 20 laps non-stop.  The bad news;  I really slowed in the last 10 laps.  Still I will count this as progress.



In this picture, the pool looks dirty, but it wasn't. Must have been the lighting or something.  It's always good to be the first one in the pool at 7am.