Exercise Goals for 2009

The Town of Chelmsford was founded in 1652 and bears many of the marks
of an old New England town: roads that meander aimlessly and change
names without notice, a town common overshadowed by a white wooden
church, and old houses with placards telling their date of building
and original owner.

But that wasn't the part of town I was jogging through. Here the
houses were of the Cape Cod or ranch variety with basketball
backboards over the garage door. Streets were named after friends and
relations of the developer. As I turned onto Ruthellen Dr. from Raymond
St., I noticed a neatly painted sign by the door of a tidy little
ranch, "Joseph P. Collins House, 1961". I suspect the Chelmsford
Historical Society did not post that one.

It was an overcast day, dull as a banker's prospectus and slightly
warmer than his heart. I felt like I'd been slogging along forever.
Some days it's like that, no pace, no rhythm, no flow. Just get it
done. I had some time so I was doing a longer than usual run, five
point six miles. I left the neighborhood and entered the office park,
mentally calculating how much distance was left. About point six,
about a half, only a quarter mile . . . Ages later, I came to a stop
by the west entrance of the Widget Factory. The best that could be
said about this run was that it was over.

Yeah, way to go sozobe!! It's such a great feeling when you conquered yet
another breakthrough in strength and endurance, no?

Well George, you've made it to the Widget Factory all right. Do you have
facilities there to shower/change?

I strained my back lifting heavy pots and exercised anyways yesterday - now
I am afraid my back is even more strained, it hurts like hell. So I guess I will
take a rest today and hope all is well tomorrow.

I agree with you all that George's writing is the best part of this thread.

Woo-hoo Soz!

Take it easy, CJ. I hope you feel better with a day of rest. (And maybe some ibuprofen?)

ok everybody

speakers up loud!

get out of your chairs ('cepting for injured CJane) and let's go!

http://www.care2.com/send/card/6066

Thank you, mac - ibuprofen does help. I should be as good as new in a few days.

hehe, ehbeth, the tune is catchy.

CJane, I posted the youtube of it on squinney's affair thread - you can practice the handclaps with me til you're ready to slide and jump again

Fortunately for my co-workers, yes.

Laughing at your sig line, George...

How ya feelin', CJane?

Gymmed today, nothing fancy, just bike, weights, and ball crunches. 15/15/15 is no longer that difficult, not sure whether I should keep doing it or not... probably will for a bit, then ask for advice on where to go from there.

I'm getting there, thanks for asking. I take it easy with exercising though -
stationary bike instead of treadmill, and I've taken long walks. Tomorrow I'll
try walking on the treadmill again.

soz, perhaps an increase in time to 20 min each bike, weights and ball crunches
would tug on your endurance?

Dance class on the first work day of time change <thud>.

Made it through the 1.5 hours, but I could have just sprawled out on the floor and gone to sleep at almost any moment in the class.

You were brave though to have stuck it out for 1.5 hours. The mere thought
of it makes me yawn. Daylight savings time is the pits!

Brave or maybe crazy?

Over the last two weeks, I managed to bring my cardio work into a nice little cycle: Monday a one hour treadmill run, Tuesday a one hour ride on the "wave" (that's the skating machine I talked about earlier), Wednesday one hour ellipticalling. That repeats itself on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; on Sunday I rest. I meant to go through my one-hour weightlifting routine every day after the cardio, but in practice I get it together only three times a week. I hope to get better in this one.

Even so ...

... the surface of my body has developed six dents about an inch deep. They're kind of weird-looking -- as if my body was made of plasticine, and someone had boxed a fist into the side of each upper leg, each side of the hips, and about 5 inches left and right of the belly button. The weirdest part is, the dents move around on my body surface when I walk. But however weird they may look, my trainer tells me not to worry about them. All it means, he says, is that I'm doing a good job on the weightlifting, and that muscle is building up underneath the blubber. "As soon as you lose that fat, there will be a sixpack underneath." It's probably just trainer pep talk. Still: from his mouth to Arnold Schwarzenegger's ear!

Oh, I wasn't clear -- 15/15/15 is sets of ball crunches. (That was my original "assignment" -- to do three sets of fifteen -- but at first that was too hard, so I started with 10/10/10, then 10/12/10, then 12/10/12, then 12/12/12, then 12/15/12, then 15/12/15, and now finally 15/15/15.... which at this point isn't that hard.)

I do the bike for 20 minutes, then weights for another 20 or so. Ball crunches take maybe 5 minutes total? Not sure.

Glad you're feeling better, keep taking it easy though, good idea...

Go Beth (1.5 hours, thud) and Thomas (1 hour 6 days a week, thud).

I'm getting some dents too, mainly in the waist. We'll be like crushed cans soon enough.

I was in the fabric-covered cell I sometimes facetiously referred to
as my office all morning. I was working my way with increasing
weariness through a pile of technical documentation -- plans,
procedures, specifications and memos -- and by noon I felt like
Bartleby the Scrivener.

I changed into my running gear and went outside for a jog. The ground
was still covered with snow, but the sun was bright and the air was
warm. A jeep drove by with its windows down. Had I been younger, my
fancy would likely have turned to thoughts of love.

I soon settled into a slow, rhythmic pace. I realized that I was
happy. Happy to be outside, happy to be moving over uneven ground,
happy to be looking at trees in the distance. I've been injured often
enough and badly enough to appreciate just how fragile a human body
is. But today mine was as strong, fast and agile as I needed it to
be.

I jogged about four and a quarter miles and returned to work.

Gardening in progress: yesterday I took the clippers and then the saw to a large photinia shrub with entwined trunks/branches that I need to remove so that I can hide my trash can and potential future trash cans. A little more to do, and then the big dig..

i fail at working out.

bleh..

i just dont do it.

i need motivation.

summer is almost here and im SLACKING.

Don't make come out there, young man!