So, I heard a story about a man who took his family sightseeing. They had spent most of the morning wandering about the grounds of a ruined castle. Maybe one not unlike this one. Luckily, the castle had a reasonably priced restaurant where he was able to buy the family some lunch.
Soon lunch finished and it was time for the best part of a meal with the family:
"Son do you need to use the toilet?" he asked.
"No Daddy," was, of course, the reply.
"Well, let's go anyway, just to be sure."
A reasonable tactic, no?
So,father and son head off to the WC.
Hmmmm, thinks the father, I've seen cleaner toilets in a third world bus depot.
"Okay son, let's make sure we don't touch anything in here." There, that should solve that problem, right?
So, since our hero's son is extraordinarily well behaved, things did go well. A couple of reminders "Son, don't pick that up off the floor," "Son, yes, that's just water we're stepping in, don't worry about it," were required but other than that, no problems.
Ah, success.
Sure. You'd think so.
My good friend now finishes the story about this poor man:
"Daddy, my shoelace is untied." And, yes, the shoelace was sopping.
I'm glad this story isn't about me.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Radical (retro) Weight Control Plan
Quite a few regular readers of this blog are interested in weight control or weight loss. It seems in our years of technological advancement, we've lost track of some old-timey secrets. Somehow, though, I'm not sure this one would receive FDA approval.
But if that doesn't work, there's always this:
But if that doesn't work, there's always this:
Sunday, January 6, 2008
New Years
So, after spending a few months away from the family, I've taken advantage of the holidays by doing absolutely nothing when it comes to fitness. Yes. Nothing. I finally got tired of being a slug, and announced to the family "That's it, I think I'm going for a run today." It drew the immediate response from my son: "No, Daddy, don't go!!!" as he ran across the room to give me a big hug.
So I'm running tomorrow.
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2007 Summary:
Total miles (since I started tracking): 250.7 miles
Races: 6 (3x5k, 3x10k)
2008 Goals:
1) Broaden my fitness horizon to more than running. I did a lot of running in 2007, but not enough cross training. I kept telling myself that once I improved my cardiovascular fitness enough, I'd start doing more cross training. I didn't. So I want to do that this year.
2) Run something other than a 5 or 10 k. I had a lot of fun running them this past year. I'm thinking either something trail oriented or something longer. It will require a bit more thought and research.
So I'm running tomorrow.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2007 Summary:
Total miles (since I started tracking): 250.7 miles
Races: 6 (3x5k, 3x10k)
2008 Goals:
1) Broaden my fitness horizon to more than running. I did a lot of running in 2007, but not enough cross training. I kept telling myself that once I improved my cardiovascular fitness enough, I'd start doing more cross training. I didn't. So I want to do that this year.
2) Run something other than a 5 or 10 k. I had a lot of fun running them this past year. I'm thinking either something trail oriented or something longer. It will require a bit more thought and research.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Race Results.
I ran what will be my last race of 2007 this morning. It was pretty nasty out. About 40F, foggy, misty and drizzling on and off. Really great conditions.
Now I recognize those conditions are not arctic by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not exactly tropical either. I ended up in layered shirts with a jacket, long pants and hat and gloves and was pretty comfortable. However, as you may expect there were numerous people out in t-shirts and shorts and even two women out in jog-bras. Is this supposed to be a sign of toughness? I think it may be a sign of something else.
I've still yet to be as impressed with race organization as I was in London (If you ever find yourself in the UK, the "Great Run" series is just that. They have one in most major cities and the organization is superb. Although the Great North Run has an unfortunate reputation as a killer. Literally.) It seemed to me about half the mile markers missing, and there were definitely not enough pre-race porta-johns. At least this time I was ready for the mile (instead of kilometer) markers, although it still bothers me.
It was a fun race, lots of Santas, reindeer, a snowman and evidently the mayor of Washington, DC. At packet pickup they handed out bells to tie to your shoes so there was a nice jingly sound throughout most of the race. My parents came down to watch which always makes it more fun, especially since I'm leaving the country this week.
I was also very happy with my time. I hit the first mile marker at 8:30 (by my watch). There was a lot of traffic at the start and while the course wasn't excessively narrow, there were 2900 people trying to run down Ohio Ave so there was congestion. (The race organizers also didn't have signs to help runners get to the starting line in roughly the order they thought they'd finish.) I kept trying to keep pushing the pace (as some may remember, I did some extra 'tempo' work this week, but kept the miles down overall). At the 5k point (which was marked, but the 4 mile point wasn't....) my watch showed about 24:30. I had some trouble on the second half. The course was out and back, with the start and finish co-located. And I swear they moved the finish back after the start. I kept thinking it was "just around the corner" and it wasn't. My legs were burning pretty bad, but I crossed the line beating my previous personal best by over 2 minutes! Then we walked back in the rain to the car, so I'm sure I'll be nice and sick for my trip this week.
Now I recognize those conditions are not arctic by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not exactly tropical either. I ended up in layered shirts with a jacket, long pants and hat and gloves and was pretty comfortable. However, as you may expect there were numerous people out in t-shirts and shorts and even two women out in jog-bras. Is this supposed to be a sign of toughness? I think it may be a sign of something else.
I've still yet to be as impressed with race organization as I was in London (If you ever find yourself in the UK, the "Great Run" series is just that. They have one in most major cities and the organization is superb. Although the Great North Run has an unfortunate reputation as a killer. Literally.) It seemed to me about half the mile markers missing, and there were definitely not enough pre-race porta-johns. At least this time I was ready for the mile (instead of kilometer) markers, although it still bothers me.
It was a fun race, lots of Santas, reindeer, a snowman and evidently the mayor of Washington, DC. At packet pickup they handed out bells to tie to your shoes so there was a nice jingly sound throughout most of the race. My parents came down to watch which always makes it more fun, especially since I'm leaving the country this week.
I was also very happy with my time. I hit the first mile marker at 8:30 (by my watch). There was a lot of traffic at the start and while the course wasn't excessively narrow, there were 2900 people trying to run down Ohio Ave so there was congestion. (The race organizers also didn't have signs to help runners get to the starting line in roughly the order they thought they'd finish.) I kept trying to keep pushing the pace (as some may remember, I did some extra 'tempo' work this week, but kept the miles down overall). At the 5k point (which was marked, but the 4 mile point wasn't....) my watch showed about 24:30. I had some trouble on the second half. The course was out and back, with the start and finish co-located. And I swear they moved the finish back after the start. I kept thinking it was "just around the corner" and it wasn't. My legs were burning pretty bad, but I crossed the line beating my previous personal best by over 2 minutes! Then we walked back in the rain to the car, so I'm sure I'll be nice and sick for my trip this week.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Treadmills
So the weather today was just like yesterday, only snowing and colder. So I elected to run on a nearby treadmill. It ended up being a good idea as the snow just kept getting stronger.
I don't particularly care for treadmills too much. I just think it's kind of boring. I also have a problem with them. And not just because the one I was on seemed to half-stall every 5 minutes or so, kind of a stutter-step, nothing too terribly serious. My real problem with them is psychological. I always end up running too hard and too long. I went out to do about 30 minutes and just get a little exercise. I ended up with a 45 minute run, doing pyramids at up to a 6 minute mile pace for a couple of minutes here and there.
I think I fall prey to the fact that you can very exactly control your pace, and I just feel I have to. So tomorrow, I'm going to run outside, or I will very seriously, honestly NOT push my self on the treadmill.
I don't particularly care for treadmills too much. I just think it's kind of boring. I also have a problem with them. And not just because the one I was on seemed to half-stall every 5 minutes or so, kind of a stutter-step, nothing too terribly serious. My real problem with them is psychological. I always end up running too hard and too long. I went out to do about 30 minutes and just get a little exercise. I ended up with a 45 minute run, doing pyramids at up to a 6 minute mile pace for a couple of minutes here and there.
I think I fall prey to the fact that you can very exactly control your pace, and I just feel I have to. So tomorrow, I'm going to run outside, or I will very seriously, honestly NOT push my self on the treadmill.
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