On 2026 and 2027

I figure it's finally time that I talk about 2025 and what's going on with my fitness into 2026.   I've been somewhat consumed by the ongoing chaos here in the US, and the feelings I have about where the country is going.  Not sure if I want to get into that, but it does weigh on me quite a bit, however I won't allow it to derail me from staying healthy.  I'd rather be healthy in a dystopian future instead of looking like Baron Harkonnen if you get my drift.

With that gloomy intro, how did 2025 end up?   If I had to pick a word it would be disappointing.   Maybe I set my bar too high, or maybe I didn't expect some of the challenges that hit last year, but overall it was just a disappointing year.

You might ask why, and that's a fair question, especially given I still accomplished quite a bit last year.  While that's true, I think I took a few steps backwards and I'm not sure how that happened.  Let me explain.  The easiest metric for me to point at is my weight.   While my weight was stable for part of the year, it began to trickle up and I finished the year 16 pounds above where I started it.  Yes, I put an effort into gaining muscle, which I think I did, but I did put some weight on that I'm not too happy about, so I am going to get back down this year.

Secondly, I rode the fewest amount of miles on the bike that I have since I bought it.   I had month after month where I missed goals, yes I always had an excuse, but when I look back at the results last year, that's all it was.   Excuses.

Third, I had my worst performance in a triathalon yet and skipped a number of events I registered for.   I'll excuse the last one, because I'd been struggling with injuries for a good chunk of last year, but the reality was I didn't put the effort in, and it showed.  I suspect it contributed to getting hurt and I've been paying the price for it all along.

Fourth, and probably the most impactful were the injuries.   I started the year pulling my hamstring in a race, still finished it mind you, and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the year.   I think I over compensated and planned too many events, but surprisingly I made it through most of them.   However, I really didn't anticipate my hip giving out in August.  Some days it's just a struggle to walk to the bathroom and quite frankly, I've never EVER, had this type of issue.   I suspect I'll be getting a new hip and knee(s) in the not so distant future, and I really hope I can back to moving without pain.   I had to accept the reality that running is out of the question right now, hell walking more than a quarter mile isn't an option right now and that just fucking sucks a lot.

Finally, I feel like I didn't put the work in last year.  Even if I didn't run any races from May on.  Even with all the travel, which really doesn't help.  Even with my dad passing away, I took shortcuts on exercises and did the bare minimum to get it done.   Yes, I closed my rings, but sometimes barely.  I used to do 60-120 minutes of exercise and feel great, now I do 30-45 and call it a day.

All of this comes back to why?  I wish I had a solid answer.  Some was a little bit of burnout.   Two years of hard work with almost no letup was a lot to ask.  Especially since I'm not a kid anymore, but I don't think I overdid it, instead I think I wasn't smart about it.  I will say that getting hurt and not being able to run anymore has been a real blow to my sense of invincibility.    Yes, I knew running was at best a "questionable" choice, but I like competition.   I crave goals and challenges, and I feel like those have been taken away from me prematurely.  I'm also at a loss as to where to find alternatives.  We had a lot going on last year too, we spent a lot of time up in VA, my dad died, we went on a ton of vacations, and I spent a week in Ireland.  All of that was competing for my time, and exercise found the back burner.

So...  What am I going to do this year?  Some of it I'm still unsure about.   Lately, my hip has been feeling better, so I'm optimistic that with continued rest I can maybe do some light walking.  In a perfect world I'd be able to start a light running program and maybe train for an event, but I think that's unlikely.  With that said, I've set what I think are some some realistic goals for this coming year.  I got used to missing goals and that needs to change.

So, here are my goals for 2026:

• Ride a minimum of 6000 miles
• Get my weight back down to 215-220
• Become Scuba certified
• Start rowing regularly again
• Start weight training after the distance challenge ends.
• Close my rings
• Monthly challenges
• Apple monthly challenges

Then I have a few other things I'm going to work on:

• Read a book every 2-4 weeks
• Start painting
• Pick up my guitars
• Get my hip/knees fixed
• Learn Spanish

How did I decide on this?  Well, in 2024 I rode over 6000 miles, I was FAR below that last year (4596), so I want to get back to working a little longer and harder.   Since I probaby won't be running this year, nor do I intend on doing any races, beyond cycling events, I can focus on riding again.   It doesn't bother my joints so I'm putting my effort into that.  It should help me lean out a bit and get my weight down the ~10 or so pounds I'd like to lose.

With that in mind, I'm hoping to use some time on getting dive certified.   I went again in December and am 100% convinced I want to do this.   I'll have time I would have been running or race training to focus on that.   It's also low impact on joints so shouldn't bother my hips.

The other "fitness" goals are ones I hit regularly so no reason to drop those, but the remaining goals?   I think I've been so focused on exercise I've let a lot of my other interests drop, and it's time to get back at those.   Life is short and I want to make the most of it, so why shouldn't I play guitar again?   Why not try painting or read more books.   Those are good for the mind and I need to fix that.  

I'm also going to get back to journaling regularly.   I got in a bad habit of bottling up all I had to say, and with month after month of bad news, I was embarassed to post about weight gain, and missed goals, and joint issues.   No more, good bad or ugly, I'm going to share it here.

I'll close with the ugly, my weight peaked at 236 pounds when we got home.   I was a lot shocked by that, because I didn't think I ate that poorly over the holidays.  I know weight isn't the best indicator of health, but the sudden increase at the end of the year was unwelcome.   No more.  I worked too damn hard to get fat again.

I hope we all have a great 2026, and here's to a healthy year!

Cheers and talk soon...

Already seems like a lot going on...

Well....  I'd like to start by discussing the big topic on my mind, and that's the passing of Bob Weir.  I have a lot of mixed feelings about his death and what it means to me.  First and foremost, I am a fan of the Grateful Dead.  If you've been reading this for a while you know I went to the 60th anniversary shows in SF, and while I had no regrets afterwards, I would have felt a lot if I'd backed out.  I remember thinking Bob looked and sounded a little frail at the show.  I assumed it was lack of practice, but know the truth now, and he was pretty sick.  Regardless, I'm glad I saw the shows in SF, and a lot sad that I'll never get to see him perform again.  I just assumed he would be playing more shows.

You see I came late to the Dead.  Yes, I could have seen them with Jerry, but I never did.   When I was really into that type of scene none of my friends were deadheads, so nobody asked me to go see them, and when I tried to get tickets, I didn't think driving to Buffalo was a good idea.  Not to mention I'd have to convince my "normal" friends that driving to a show, with copious amounts of drugs involved, that was hours away was going to be fun.

Later on, when I probably should have gone I was just focused on school and I missed so many shows I would have loved, including shows at MSG, Boston Garden etc...  I missed the last run of Pink Floyd shows which I also greatly regret.   Any shot of seeing Layne Staley.

Long story short, I found the dead when D&C started, or maybe they found me.   Instead of feeling sorry for myself that I missed out, I took what was available and finally found my tribe.  I've often wondered what my life would have been like had I seen them in Foxboro or even Buffalo that summer.  I doubt I'd be living in Florida, or writing this blog, but you never know.  C'est la vie.  

Thanks for keeping it going as long as you did Bob.  I thought I had more to say but I'll leave you all with this:

Fare-thee-well now

Let your life proceed by its own design

Nothing to tell now

Let the words be yours, I'm done with mine

Is this thing still on?

I can't believe it's been three months since I wrote on here.   I know it's been a little while, but I assumed I'd posted at least once but c'est la vie.

A good amount going on and it's been a busy few months here at Chez-Duquette.   Honestly, it feels like Merinda and I have been travelling non-stop for most of the year and to be frank, I'm ready for a break,  Yes, it's fun to travel and do different things, but it just feels like a whirlwind of activity.  Let me try to catch you up...

• I hurt my hip when I was in SF, and haven't been able to run since.   It's still somewhat painful and I'm pretty sure that a new hip is in my future.   If anyone wants to donate one, I'll gladly accept it :)

• We went to VA to see our new grandson, and my MiL came over to visit too.   I got to fly home with her and spent a week in Ireland and finally got to do some sightseeing.   Giants Causeway is absolutely stunning and worth a visit.   I brought home a suitcase of crisps, which are finally gone.

• We spent a little more time up there because Merinda hurt her knee and had to get it sorted amongst other things.
• Merinda went on Celebrity for the first time

• We went on Carnival Vista so Merinda became diamond and had a great time.

• Happy Thanksgiving, we actually got to spend it at home which was a relief.  Dinner was pretty tasty too :)

• We both went on Celebrity and it blew me away.  I doubt we'll be booking any more Carnival cruises for a while.  Not that Carnival is bad, it's not, but Celebrity is just nicer.  In almost every way.   The food, casino, boat are all substantially better than on Carnival.  The only thing I like better on Carnival is the Alchemy bar.  I already have offers from Celebrity and I expect we'll be going on them next year.

• I got to go scuba diving again.   Fucking amazing.   I *will* get certified after the holidays.

• We're going on Carnival again in February, and possibly for the last time.   This time I'll get diamond and we have drinks everywhere, so I'll be found at the alchemy bar.  

That's what we've been up to.   On the exercise front it's been a bit of a struggle.  I did the Ride for the Animals, but had a tire blowout at mile 50 and withdrew.   Yes, I could have patched the tire, but it was going to take a while and I was cramping.   I'll do better next year.

Not being able to run has severely impacted my exercise regimen.  I won't be doing any 5k's for the foreseeable future, nor any triathalons.   This has sapped my desire to push myself, but I've been trying to stay active.   Distance challenge is going on again, and I'm participating, but it's been a struggle.  I'm hoping that I can either heal, or get fixed, so I can do some training.   I really wanted to run the NYD 5k again this year, but it's just not a good idea.  It will allow me to get dive certified, which is something I very much want to do.

Weight has been mostly stable.  I did pick up a few pounds, but I don't think it's a concern.   I'm starting to focus on a lot of endurance and zone 2/3 training which should help me lean out again.

Other than that it's been a lot of the same.   Very disillusioned with some of my "friends" and even more concerned about the state of the country.   I'm optimistic that things will improve but sometimes it can be hard to stay that way.

I'm just in a kind of malaise, and not sure how to get out of it.  I haven't felt like writing for a while and I've been feeling overwhelmed with life and don't know how to deal with it.  I'm just hoping 2026 will be a better year.  I'm going to try and get back to journaling again and moving in a positive direction.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Festivus or whatever you celebrate.   I'll be back soon.

Let's not forget

 Twenty four years ago I was up visiting my mom.  About this time she was making breakfast, and this was before the age of smartphones, so I wasn't doom scrolling social media, in fact we had no idea what was happening in NYC or DC.   The furnace guy said someone called him about "something in NY" and I turned on the news and that was that.   I think I watched the news all day.  

I loved the WTC, yes they were somewhat ugly buildings, but they defined NY and the city has never looked right to me subsequently.

Even in Vermont we noticed the lack of planes overhead and I'll never forget seeing the smoke plume from the city...

That said, I wish we could find some national unity today.  Love or hate him Bush at least tried to bring the country together in grim time, and that's a stark change from the address the President gave about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Listen Maga people, he wasn't JFK, RFK, MLK etc...   He wasn't a national hero, in fact he was no more OR less important than any other person who was killed yesterday.  There was yet another school shooting yesterday and I don't see your rage about that.

We don't know who killed him, or more importantly WHY, so let's stop blaming people.   Yes it was tragic.  Yes I feel for his family, I lost my dad recently so I particularly feel for his kids, who will grow up without a father.

Political violence has no place here, but having a large part of the country foaming at the mouth to blame people, with no evidence, simply because it's convenient and easy.   We need to work together as one nation to solve these problems, instead of dividing even further.

  

Life just rolls on...

It's weird, but life just keeps rolling on, no matter what goes on.   It's kind of surreal that my parents are all gone and yet everything just keeps going.   September is going to be an insane month for Merinda and I with travel to Ireland, Virginia, Ireland and home.  First she goes to get her mom tomorrow, then they fly to VA to meet Matteo, then I drive to VA to hopefully meet Matteo, then I fly her home, then I fly home and it's going to be October...  In between all that, I need to deal with Dad stuff, the house, work and everything else.  Ugh.

On top of all that, I'm still trying to stay focused and motivated for exercise.  I'm actually feeling motivated, but the hip pain I've been feeling since my trip to Cali has made it a challenge to do much of everything.  Then if we add in whatever happened to my knee the night Dad died, and it's become a horrorshow.  I'm hoping some rest and low impact time will let me heal up because otherwise I'm going to need some kind of surgery or something.

So, how was August?  In a word emotional.  I had the complete high of the trip to SF, the shows, the city and everything else.   Then the return home, the letdown after a great time and the pain...  Lots of pain.  My hip flexors are still shredded and some times I can barely lift my feet to put on clothing.  At least I can gently cycle to get some exercise and then the knee injury (probably meniscus tear) and Dad.  Add in some friends, who forgot what it means to be a friend, and my month imploded.   I lost a week up in VA where I only did stretching, meditation and some light walking so I fell pretty far behind on my monthly goal, missed another race and feel like I'm going backwards on my health journey.   Instead of talking about it all here, let's look at what happened.

August Goals:

• Get under 220
• Ride 400 miles
• Weather permitting ride outdoors every week
• Focus on distance and endurance to train for my ride in November
• August Perfect Month in Apple
• Gold in my August challenge
• Apple August Challenge
• Restart weight workouts.   Either through bootcamps or fitpass
• All the bonus points in #mc56
• Run the 5k here on the 23rd

Weight Results:

• Starting Weight:  223.2
• Ending Weight:  229.1

Exercise Info:

• Number of rides:  59
• Time on exercise:  18:18:59
• Distance on rides:  275.24
• Number of runs:  0
• Distance running:  0
• Number of walks:  6
• Time walking: 2:07:04
• Distance walking:  4.13
• Number of rows: 0
• Time rowing: 0
• Distance Rowing:  0
• Number of swims:  0
• Distance swimming:  0
• Weight Workouts: 1

Let me be clear, even if I hadn't lost last week in VA I would have missed my mileage target again.  I lost almost a full week in SF and last week and with my hips/knees that doomed any chance of me making up the distance.   I also failed to ride outdoors, but the weather has been shitty, so that's ok.   I'm really more disappointed in my weight.  I felt like I was trending in the right direction early in the month, but once again, managed to fatten myself up by the end of the month.   I just can't seem to summon the willpower to keep myself from junk food.   I'll have to do better because I just will not get fat again.  I'm ok with missing goals because of Dad, or that I'm hurt, because those are out of my control.  It wasn't by choice that I missed the 5k on the 23rd.   My knee siezed up on Wednesday night and at that point I decided it wasn't worth it to run a 5k.  Add in some heavy rain and it was an easy, albeit disappointing choice.

Ok, so what am I going to do this month?  That's a good question and let's dive into it.

• Get under 225/220
• Ride 200 miles
• Weather permitting ride outdoors
• Focus on distance and endurance to train for my ride in November
• September Perfect Month in Apple
• Gold in my September challenge
• Apple August Challenge
• Restart weight workouts.   Either through bootcamps or fitpass

With being away for half the month I've cut my mileage target to 200.  Yes it's silly low, but a week in VA, and a week in Ireland and travel time and I won't be cycling much.   I'd rather exceed it, than see red again for a month.  I'd like to see my weight get below 225 consistently.  Merinda is going away, so I'll eat lighter (hopefully) and I can maybe get my weight down.  I feel like it's more of an appetite issue right now.  If the rest look like last month it's because they are.   I've pared it down a bit to try and make it fit with my knees/hips and hopefully that's not going to be a problem.  

That's enough rambling for today.  Still dealing with a lot so this was a nice break.  Hope to talk soon!

RIP Dad...

My dad died today...   He's been suffering from dementia for a while now, so from my point of view he's been gone for a while, but this is different.  I don't feel the overwhelming grief I felt when mom died, but her death was unexpected.

Feeling lonely today...  Love you dad and hope you're finally at peace...

I'm trying to get back on track

It's been quite a month already...   Sorry that I'm late with this, but I expected to be a little late due to going to GD60, and that's a great place to start.

Cali was, in a word, awesome.   I love San Francisco.   Look, I'm a NY guy, have been for 50 years.  I grew up in NY and was a city kid, but sadly that city is just a memory.   NY has changed, and not necessarily for the better but SF reminds me of the place I grew up in.   A city that had neighborhoods, and local shops etc...   SF just has a "vibe" that is unique and I think that in a different life I would have loved to grow up there.   Maybe if we win the lottery I'll buy a place there.   Lots of cool houses which would be a great summer home for this Florida man :)   The concerts were fantastic.   D&C had a kind of rough start on Friday, but they turned it around in no time and the whole weekend wend by in a blur of music, colors and great food.   I would do the entire trip again in a second.

With that, there was one pretty substantial downer from the trip.   I don't know what it was, maybe the ~30 miles of hiking up and down Nob Hill, but I really tweaked my hips while I was there.   I got home and walking was difficult.   I'm in pretty good shape, and have been running even if I was taking a break, but didn't expect to be THAT sore.   The good news is a week of rest, low impact yoga, sports cream and my massage gun, and I'm finally feeling more normal.  I guess I just wasn't really in shape for that afterall, but it's made August get off to a slow start.

That's enough about that, so let's talk about July.   As always, here were my goals:

• Get closer to 215 again
• Ride 400 miles
• Ride the TDE!  
• Live as often as possible
• Stay current
• July Perfect Month in Apple
• Gold in my July challenge
• Apple July Challenge
• Continue weekly weight workouts
• All the bonus points in #mc55
• Beat last years time in the 4 on the 4th

Weight Results:

• Starting Weight:  226.10
• Ending Weight:  226.60

Exercise Info:

• Number of rides:  83
• Time on exercise:  32:25:01
• Distance on rides:  527.06
• Number of runs:  0
• Distance running:  0
• Number of walks:  3
• Time walking: 1:23:12
• Distance walking:  2.69mi
• Number of rows: 0
• Time rowing: 0
• Distance Rowing:  0
• Number of swims:  0
• Distance swimming:  0
• Weight Workouts: 0

 This was kind of a transition month.  I'd like to focus on what went well, rather than where I failed.   I crushed the TDE.   Yes, I have one stage left to do and I didn't do it live because I was in California when it went live, but other than that, I stayed current and did as many live classes as I could.   Big thanks to Echelon for loading the OD classes quickly so I could typically do them OD.  That made a huge difference.  I set two PB's, both on hills classes, and think I would have done more if I had been able to take more classes live, and fini.   With the exception of one Endurance ride, I finished in the top 20 and frequently in the top 10 for live classes.   For the record, I'll do the final ride on Saturday so I get my finisher badge and pin.   I also got a gold in my challenge etc....   Typical stuff but important for accountability and I finally beat my mileage target for a month.   Felt good to get that off my back again!

So where did I fall short?   Well, I missed the 4 on the 4th race.   Too much fun at Stick Figure, plus some shitty weather killed my desire to get up at the ass crack of dawn and drive to St. Pete.   There's always next year.  I did sign up for a 5k in 2 weeks here in Dunedin, and I'm grateful that I'm able to walk somewhat normally again.  I also missed the bonus points in #mc55.   Some of those just didn't jive with TDE, but I'd made a decision to only ride the TDE classes.   It was hard enough to keep up with that without adding in additional workouts.   No reason to kill myself, and with that, my weight held constant.   No excuses on that.  I am already doing better (had my first sub 220 weigh in in a while today).

However, I am pretty pleased with July.  I wish I'd done the race, but c'est la vie, and otherwise it wasn't that bad.

• So...  Where do I go from here?   Glad you asked:
• Get under 220
• Ride 400 miles
• Weather permitting ride outdoors every week
• Focus on distance and endurance to train for my ride in November
• August Perfect Month in Apple
• Gold in my August challenge
• Apple August Challenge
• Restart weight workouts.   Either through bootcamps or fitpass
• All the bonus points in #mc56
• Run the 5k here on the 23rd

I think these are all pretty reasonable and attainable.  I might have a tough time with the distance because I lost a week or so due to travel and injury, but I'll do the best I can.   The rest should be ok.  I need to rewrap the bar tape on my bike so maybe this will push me to get that done.   I've already started some weight work and can tell it's been a while due to how fucking sore I am...

On a final note, Monday was my Dad's birthday.  If you didn't know he has dementia and is pretty far gone.  We called him but he wasn't talking on Monday so I never got to speak to him which was hard.  Dementia/Alzheimers are cruel diseases and I feel like my Dad died a few years ago.  Yes, I know he's still "alive" but it's just his body, his mind is long gone.   I miss you Dad.   Hell, I miss both of my parents...

With that it's time to get back to work.  Til next time!