Take care of yourself

Right now, I mostly do it on the treadmill. I usually do 6 miles, alternating between 8 and 6 mph. When I’m on the road, I usually jog a mile and then sprint a quarter to half, and do that a half-dozen times.

On the bike, I just up the resistance and try to stay on a 4:00 pace no matter what.

 

Anyone here have any experience with yoga? I’m seriously thinking of signing up. I’m just totally stiff — especially in my hips — after every workout. I’ve heard it’s great for overall fitness as well as stretching and flexibility.

 

Don’t laugh: DDP Yoga is excellent. Especially if you have old or nagging injuries.

 

No specific injuries, but I am old and nagging.

 

8 years ago in Trenton, I signed up for yoga thru my gym. It was free. I signed up for the hardest one apparently, where you sweat your ass off, and for the first week or two it kicked my ass 7 ways till Sunday. But then I adapted and got used to it and the next 4 weeks were great. Those were the 6 best weeks of my life in terms of being relaxed and sleeping like a baby. And then I stopped. Haven't slept well since.

My advice is to give it a shot. Few things in life better than going about your day after you've stretched out all of the muscles.

 

Then it’s perfect. It doesn’t get terribly advanced with all the handstands and shit, but it stretches you out and gets your heart rate up.

My back actually feels decent for the first time in years.

 

At Christmas I topped out at 263 pounds (I'm 5-5). Bad diet, eating large meals twice a day, snacking constantly and was working a desk job so I didn't get moving much. Had an appointment with my doctor a couple weeks later and he really got on my case for my weight. He gave me some simple suggestions like minding portion sizes (not worrying about counting calories just making sure what I eat isn't too large), try snacking on veggies if need something between meals and try being a little more active. I was down to try all of those as it was but when he said I was a candidate for surgery, that really got my goat. I made a challenge to myself to see him a year later for my annual checkup and weigh below 200 pounds. This morning I tipped the scales at 223 pounds.

My acid reflux is basically gone. If I put my hands to my side my arms no longer stick out because of my chest fat. My golf game has improved from getting out more. Feel much better. I've also switched careers (not because of my weight but because I needed to move on from where I was) and that requires me to be on my feet for a good three or four hours a day which helps.

I still bow before the effort of Songbird what you're doing is impressive!

 

Great job. I know how difficult it is to alter your diet. Keep plugging and you'll get to where you want to be in a short amount of time.

Today, a local guy came into the gallery with his daughter and granddaughter from Lexington Kentucky. It's his 73rd birthday tomorrow and they all celebrated with cake from a popular bakery near RPI. They told me what kind of cake it is and I jokingly said that I'd love a piece of that. They all left and that was going to be that. Or so I thought. 15 minutes later, the daughter and granddaughter came back with ... a honking ass piece of the cake with raspberry filling and a mountain of frosting. I wanted to dive into it right then and there. I thanked them and said I owe them one. The daughter said to pass it forward.

As you can see, I can't eat that because of the diabetes, even a small piece, because a small piece would be the entire thing in about 2 minutes. So, I passed it forward to my goddaughters ... and then ate a handful of baby carrots. Making the right choice sucks.

 

Just a word of warning....

 

I like to hike/climb.

I want zero part of that death trap.

 

Yesterday was probably the most miserable run of my life, though there were a few in the cold that are up there, too. It was 35 degrees and rained for all three-plus hours of my 21 miles. Just freaking miserable. So miserable it was actually kind of fun.

It was the last of my eight 20-plus mile runs in preparation for the marathon, and my final 80-mile week. This week I drop down to ~65, next week ~50. I'll still be mixing in some speed work. Hopefully I start to feel stronger and stronger leading up to race day. I've worked damn hard for this for a long time.

 

Good luck Dick. Hope to follow in your footsteps soon.