Feeling a little unmotivated lately

Yes, I'm struggling with a little post-challenge lack of motivation.   I don't even know if it's the right way to describe it, but I feel like I deserve a few days off.   It's not even that I necessarily want a day of zero activity, because I don't, but it's hard to close those damn rings when you don't do much.  So, in order to make that happen I think I'm going to change some things up this month.   I'm goign to try and mix in a regular Yoga, or some other strength or stretching exercise.   Why?   Well, after seventeen months I think my legs need a few days off, just to heal and recover and more importantly I need to address the flexibility issues that came after my knee surgery in 2020.   I had knee surgery right before the covid lockdowns and I missed physical therapy and while my knee healed fine and I can walk etc... without pain, I don't have the same flexibility in my right knee and I want to address that.  I just have to figure out how to do this without sacrificing the other things I'm working towards.

By the way, Yankee game was great, they just swept Houston and are 4-0 to start the season.   Good times!

Let's recap March and see where we go from here:

• Maintain Weight 
• Ride 500 miles
• 14 walk or run activities 
• Run 2 miles consecutively by EOM
• 8 rowing activities
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Apple March exercise goal
• Gold in my March challenges
• Start swimming
• Register for the Tri

Weight results:

• Starting Weight: 215.9
• Ending Weight: 217.6

Exercise info:

• Number of rides: 91
• Time on exercise: 35h 46m
• Distance on rides: 572.3m
• Number of runs: 3
• Distance running: 5.2m 
• Number of walks: 5
• Time walking: 1h 42m
• Distance walking: 4.8
• Number of rows: 7
• Time rowing: 1h 51m

Results:

So how did I do?   Well, I think I did just fine.  I've been keeping my weight stable, and the smart scale thinks I'm getting leaner.   I rode 570+ miles, which beat my goal.   I ran just over 2 miles and am confident a 5k won't be an issue.  I completed the March apple fitness, although it was a photo finish :), I got gold in the challenges and I did in fact register for the tri.

Where did I miss?   Well, I didn't row eight times, I took a monday off to go do Yoga with Merinda which I thoroughly enjoyed, I didn't have fourteen run/walk activities, although I do run every week, and I still haven't signed up for a swimming membership.  I'm only concerned about the swimming because I need to get ready for that and I only have 6 weeks...   That seems a little close for comfort now so I'll need to get a move on, but for a month where I felt like it was a struggle to work out I think I did just fine.   You might notice I took away the weight loss and goal info there, why?   Well, I hit those goals so I just want to track where I start/finish the month to make sure I don't go in the wrong direction.   After settling in for a few months, I like where my weight is and I'm going to try to stay around 215-220.

So what's in store for April?  Let's set some goals shall we:

• Maintain Weight
• Ride 550 miles
• Weekly run and walk exercise.   At least two walks and one run per week.
• Weekly Yoga exercise
• Run 3 miles consecutively by EOM
• Weekly rowing activities - My goal is 8-10 for the month.
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Apple April exercise goal
• Gold in my April challenges
• Start swimming

Almost the same as last month, so these should look familiar.   I don't feel that any of these are too hard but I'll have to keep an eye on the apple fitness challenge and I definitely have to start swimming.   Need to get my tri suit too.  I'm physically fit enough to complete the tri, but my arms might die if I don't practice swimming...   Only other changes are that I'm setting goals of doing activities weekly instead of a hard count. 

Final thoughts:

Overall a good month.  Yes, I struggled with my motivation and probably will for a little bit.  I know a lot of people think that getting in shape, or losing weight is hard, and yes it is, but so is staying in shape, or maintaining a healthy weight.   It requires an equal amount of dedication and time and I had to push myself a bit to hit that Apple fitness challenge so I feel a little burned out.

Enough chatter, have a great month!

A short month and a short post...

February is a short month and since we're going to see the Yankees play tonight I'll try to keep this brief because I'm going to try and get Merinda moving...   Wish me luck :)

I have to say this was another strong month.  The distance challenge I entered ends on Sunday so I'm pushing hard to hit 2,700 miles for the challenge.   I'm 63 miles away with the weekend to go, so barring an injury I should hit that especially since I'll be watching Tyler play tomorrow so I can pedal away during that.   Other high points this month was running a mile and realizing that the Tri is going to happen.  I feel like I'm on a roll with my fitness and while I'll miss the challenge, and my teammates, I'm looking forward to changing up my routine a little bit and maybe do more "fitness" focused workouts and a few less "kick the shit out of john" bike workouts.   We'll see.

So, let's talk about my goals for February and the results:

• Maintain Weight
• Ride 500 miles
• 14 walk or run activities
• 8-10 rowing activities
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Apple February exercise goal
• Gold in my February challenges

Weight results:

• Starting Weight: 221.1
• Ending Weight: 216.8
• Net Loss: (4.3)
• Total Loss: (11.3)

Exercise info:

• Number of rides: 72
• Time on exercise: 01:06:39:44
• Distance on rides: 534.28
• Number of walks: 8
• Time walking: 3h 7m
• Distance walking: 9.4
• Number of rows: 7
• Time rowing: 2h 21m

Results:

The good - I hit almost all my goals.   I came up a little short on the walking, but since I've started running I'm ok with it, and I think I might have been a workout or two short on rowing, but I feel pretty good about that too.   It's become part of my Monday routine, and I like it, so we're going in a good direction.   I wasn't sure I'd make gold in my challenge, because I had no team for most of the month, but got that thanks to some late additions :)  I also wasn't sure I'd get to 500 miles this month since I couldn't record the miles I worked on the cruise and I've stuck to taking Monday as a rest day, so I only had 22 days this month, but I passed that too.

Lets set my goals for March:

• Maintain Weight
• Ride 500 miles
• 14 walk or run activities 
• Run 2 miles consecutively by EOM
• 8 rowing activities
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Apple March exercise goal
• Gold in my March challenges
• Start swimming
• Register for the Tri

Again, these are familiar.  I might bump up the cycling mileage next month, and thats what I originally set, but we'll see how that goes.   Otherwise lets work on being fit and prepping for the Tri.

Final thoughts:

Great month.   Back to where I want to be weight wise, and I've seen a tremendous uptick in my overall endurance.  Running a mile was a real shock, and feeling fine the next day was an even bigger surprise.  Otherwise, not much else to say other than lets go yankees!  talk soon.

Linux

 Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it...  At least I got it to boot again, but an upgrade shouldn't be that difficult.  Hopefully, I'll remember these steps next time.

Indecision 2024 - Electile Dysfunction

 

I don't think I've ever been as disillusioned with the prospects of an election in my lifetime.   Maybe four years ago, but the country was so mad about Trump that I thought he would lose.   Now?   I don't think it's possible that he loses and that concerns me.  I'm equally concerned if Biden wins.  Not that I think he's going to slide us further away from what we're supposed to be, but just the malaise that comes from a weak, ineffective president.  I voted for Biden because I know Trump was an awful President and he will be an awful president if he wins again, but good god, we can't have a senile President.

Republicans get your shit together....  Democrats get your shit together....

And a difficult decision

I'll be the first to admit I was late in discovering the magic of the Grateful Dead.   Yes, I tried to get tickets one summer for a show at Foxboro, but it sold out and I didn't appreciate being offered tickets for the next show in Buffalo.   If only I knew then what I know now.... but that's water under the bridge.

Regardless, I just can't rationalize spending the money to go see a show in Vegas.   I want to, I really do, and I'm crushed I missed them last summer, but I can't justify spending well north of a grand to go see a few shows in Vegas.   I'm pretty sure we're close to the last times these guys go on stage, but it's just not a good choice for us.

Instead we're going to go to Red Rocks this summer and see Stick Figure.   This is something Merinda and I discussed before the Sphere shows were mentioned.  We both want to do this and it's going to be an amazing time, not that the Sphere wouldn't be, but amazing in a different way.  Red Rocks is a bucket list place for both of us and, if I'm being completely honest, is somethign I personally prefer to do over Vegas.  Of course I say that having never been to Vegas so it might end up being a decision I regret, but when Jerry said he wanted to bring his wife that sealed it for me.  It's not that I don't want to bring Merinda, of course I do, but she's not that into the music and we don't have the money for gambling, and I can't say "lets go to Vegas and not gamble".   That's not fair to her.

Maybe we'll win the lottery and do both...

A welcome development

 As a pleasant surprise I decided to try and run, well really jog, last night.   I was out walking and felt good so I thought "why not?".   Despite feeling like I have no spring in my step, I was able to run for maybe 1/2 a mile and not feel like Tonya Harding had it out for me.   Even better was I woke up this morning and my knees, and hip, feel fine.    This made me feel like my goal of competing in that sprint triathalon is a real possibility, so I think I'll continue to build on that and see where it goes.

More to come...

A little late this month...

Sorry that I'm a little late with an update this month, we were on vacation and didn't get back until Sunday and I forgot to post...   We had a great time on the cruise, yes the new boats are definitely nicer, and I was very pleasantly surprised to find they had an actual spin studio on the boat and classes with a live instructor.   Needless to say I took a spin class every day they offered one, and my only complaint was they were all at 9am so I had to get up early.   

The other awesome part of the cruise was I finally got to try scuba.  Unfortunately, I didn't bring a gopro, nor did I feel like dropping 400+ for a new one, but it's safe to say that, going forward, I am for scuba :)

Regarding my fitness journey, January was very positive month as well.   I think my biggest NSV was that I had a checkup with my Doctor and he said I was healthy enough that he no longer needs to see me more than once a year.   He also thinks I might be able to cut my blood pressure meds again, which is a real plus.   Of course it relies on me maintaining my activity, but I don't forsee that changing.  

With that said, let's talk about my actual goals I set for January

• Maintain Weight
• Ride 500 miles
• Walk 20 miles
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Apple January exercise goal
• Gold in my January challenges
• New Years Apple challenge
• Start using the rower

Weight results:

• Starting Weight: 228.1
• Ending Weight: 221.1
• Net Loss: (7.00)
• Total Loss: (7.00)

Exercise info:

• Number of rides: 90
• Time on exercise: 01:10:22:48
• Distance on rides: 612.42
• Number of walks: 12
• Time walking: 4h 45m
• Distance walking: 13.3 

Results:

Again, this was a very positive month.   I crushed every goal except one and to be honest, with the amount of steps I took on the boat, I would argue that I hit them all.   I'm having a difficult time having my walking distance recorded as a whole for the month because it doesn't get logged as a "workout" unless I start an activity and won't show in Strava.   I can manually tally it, it would be nice to see it as an aggregate and the watch gets confused and thinks spin includes steps etc...   I think I'll probably change to a so many run/walk activities per month.   I also managed to get some swimming time in this month when I went scuba diving so that might resurface at some point.

Since I was late starting this, lets talk about February goals:

• Maintain Weight
• Ride 500 miles
• 14 walk or run activities
• 8-10 rowing activities
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Apple February exercise goal
• Gold in my February challenges

Now that I'm in maintenance mode these should look pretty familiar.  I'd like to see myself running instead of walking, but so far my attempts to run have been miserable, however based on issues recording walking "distance" I think just picking a number of activities is fair and doing that every other day should be achievable.   I'm behind, but I can catch up pretty easily.   Whether or not I can run might kill being competitive in the Triathalon but so be it.   I can't control how my knees feel and the last thing I want to do is end up hurting myself because I'm too proud to accept a physical limitation.   Otherwise I think I can hit all these if I work hard.

Final Thoughts:

Again, I think this was a great month.  We went on vacation and I ate what I wanted and even pigged out a bit.   I was thinner before we left, but I promised myself I wouldn't worry about it, and I'll drop the vacation weight before long.  I did exercise every day on vacation so it was good to stay on track and I actually enjoyed it.  Even today, which was my first day back to a "live" exercise, I had a headache all night, took advil at 6am or so and still woke up with the headache.   After my class I felt markedly better and the headache was gone.    TLDR - exercise is good for you....   Have a great month and talk soon!