Tag Archives: exercise

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recommendations for Phase II fitness program reading.

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i’ve ran over 2,011 miles after 67 wks which is close to the shortest distance across US ( 1,722 miles in 2012! ) and i’m within pounds of hitting my goal of losing 90 pounds by the new year! hurray! huzzah for long term goals! i still plan on losing a few more pounds, but Phase I of The Snowdeal Fitness Plan ( i.e. Lose A Lot of Weight Plan ) is nearly complete and i’m definitely looking forward to running less and starting a Phase II fitness program focused on strength training.

trouble is, i know even less about strength training than i do about running. i mean, i know folks who love p90x or crossfit and those are probably wonderful and might be part of the answer, but i’m more of a everything you know about fitness is a lie kind of guy with modest goals. i’m looking for something that doesn’t require a lot of expensive equipment ( maybe a few dumb bells), that can be done a few times a week for relatively short periods of time ( 30-60 minutes ) that will play well with running ( i.e. not looking to bulk up ).

something like this kettlebell exercises for runners looks like it might fit the bill, but you all surely must have some recommendations that i can read up on!

so feel free to send me your favorite articles or books about this or that fitness program so i can be sure to pick things that confirm my bias that everything i know is wrong!

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going for a leisure run in a blizzard. and a sign from the thrash metal gods.

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going for a leisure run in a blizzard. and a sign from the thrash metal gods.

the first really good storm of the season hit southwest wisconsin with predictions of up to 18 inches of snow, sustained 25-30mph winds with gusts of up to 40mph and wind chills in the low teens.

perfect running weather!

just me and deserted streets, conveniently emptied so that i could run right down the middle while only having to keep an eye out for the snow plows and their operators who love to give a one fingered wave ( not the middle finger! )

turns out you can set a pretty good pace with a 30mph winds to your back. but eventually you have to turn around. AND THEN IT’s BRUTAL.

and in a perfectly perfect twist towards the end of the first loop back the to house, “trapped under ice” came on the ol’ ipod and i almost slipped on an ice patch, but somehow managing to prevent myself from going into a cartoonish feet above head fall to the ground.

i took it as sign from the thrash metal gods that 3 miles in a blizzard was enough.

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the definition of perseverance. or insanity?

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the definition of perseverance. or insanity?

not sure if it’s the definition of perseverance, or insanity, to run 10 miles the day after running 11 miles. in 28°F temps. with 20mph wind gusts. in the first snowstorm of the season.

on the upside, i’ve now lost 80 pounds which is 5 more than the the recent fitness milestone and means i’m still on track to hit 90 by the new year! it’ll be a squeaker.

i’ve now lost so much weight that it’s getting harder and harder to maintain losing 3-4 pounds a week. i think i now have to run 10 miles more a week to make up for how many less calories i burn now that i don’t have to lug around all that extra weight!

conflux

is too much running bad for your health?

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everyone and their brother is asking me if i have seen the wsj article “One Running Shoe in the Grave” with the eye-catching quote from an editorial to be published next month in the british journal heart, “Running too fast, too far and for too many years may speed one’s progress toward the finish line of life…” yikes! the folks at runner’s world provide some context to the research in their response, “The Too-Much-Running Myth Rises Again” with the “well, duh” conclusion, “if you exercise for an hour a day, you’re likely to live longer than if you exercise less than an hour a day.” ( i run, on average, 45-60 minutes a day ).

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a big fitness milestone.

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yup, i’m still running. and i’ve now lost 75 pounds! which means i’ve erased 14 years of weight gains. which means i now weigh what i weighed when kris and i got married and i wanted ( but failed ) to lose 10 pounds 🙂

it’s interesting to note that over the past 63 weeks of running ( and particularly since august ), i’ve really tuned the program and pretty much know what i have to do to lose 3-4 pounds *a week* ( when i started i was happy to lose 5 pounds *a month* ).

so, if all goes according to plan and i don’t fall off the exercise and eating wagon during the holiday season, i should hit my Big Goal of losing 90 pounds by the new year.

and then, instead of making a new years resolution to lose 90 pounds, maybe i’ll rest for a few weeks 🙂

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still running! and a milestone after 62 weeks.

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i ran 8 miles today and 44 for the week which is an all time weekly high after 62 weeks of running ( and i’ve covered 1,782 miles since starting up again )! at some point i suppose i can probably relax a bit and lose the now very irrational fear that if i miss a day or two i’ll fall off the running wagon and it’ll take me another seven years to get back on again.

today’s runner’s high enjoyed that much more while listening to nusrat fateh ali khan & eddie vedder – face of love.

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meditations and self realizations to the sounds of stoner music on a cold evening run

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i’m out on an evening run in the brisk 37°F night air, endorphins are starting to kick in and i’m meditating in a way while watching my breaths crystallize in the beam of my headlamp while simultaneously deep in my head wondering why i so thoroughly enjoy listening to UNKLE with thom yorke – rabbit in Your headlights which might be the most inappropriate song to enjoy running to on a cold, dark night ( watch the video if you haven’t seen it ). and then out of nowhere all i can hear is the voice of someone who, after recently listening to a few songs on my playlist said matter-of-factly, “dude, you only listen to stoner music.”

gah. click. pink floyd – shine on you crazy diamond. ( the voice, “stoner music” ). gah. click. david byrne & brian eno – regiment. ( the voice, “stoner music” ). gah. click. supergrass – tales of endurance. ( the voice, “stoner music” ). gah. click. blonde redhead – 23. ( the voice, “stoner music” ). gaaaaaah. click.

kruder & dorfmeister – 1st of tha Month. ( the voice, “stoner music” ).

gaaaaaaaah…total endorphin buzzkill.