Risky

Today Dallin, Aerin, and Brennen invited me to join them in a game of Risk. It was rather silly. As Brennen regained control of North America for the second time:

Dallin: "Brennen has his continent back!"
Brennen: "My continence was never in question!"
Dallin: "Now the question is: Can he hold it?"

Uplifting Story

Woman wields wedgie to subdue suspect

My New (Used) Car Story

On the pain scale, buying a car from a dealer ranks between buying a house and severing a major tendon.

In some ways it was very simple: I went through my credit union's auto buying service (my third car this way), so there was no haggling over price. I came ready to pay cash. Goodness knows, the dealership was desperate to sell cars.

However, once they handed me over to the "finance manager" the total was over $4000 more than I expected. They had added the longest extended warranty they had, plus a couple thousand dollars of anti-theft services and devices. It took over an hour to convince them that I didn't want or need these things for an inexpensive used car.

They kept insisting that they were just trying to protect me and then they would lop $100 off. We went through this over and over again, but the price never got into the range I was prepared to pay. I suspected that the only way they were going to make any money on the deal was to sell me these extras, and I felt like a heel for holding my ground. Not.

To make a long story shorter, I convinced them, finally, that I wasn't going to budge, they drew up the forms, I spent a half hour signing and initialing, and I got my car.

And I really love my new (used) car.

A Twisted Sense Of Humor

As my Mother would say, these tickled me pink:

First, my brother Jason sent me the link to An Engineer's Guide To Cats. I won't spoil it.

Next, and oddly disturbing, is the best/worst/only collection of My Little Pony mods I have ever seen. What's disturbing is that I really, really liked these, especially the Chewbacca mod.

Well, there you have another peek into my twisted mind.

Little Hotties

Last week Tracy questioned a charge on our debit card for "Little Hotties". Luckily, said item arrived that day: 3 boxes of Little Hotties Hand Warmers for Brennen.

New Shoes and More

I ran 5 miles this week: three short runs. My foot feels pretty good. I am slooowwwwwly increasing the miles.

Amazingly, I am running on NB 1062s - neutral cushioning! They are the only neutral cushioning shoes I could find with enough in the heel that I don't bottom them out. They also have an insanely high and wide toe box, to accommodate my insanely high and wide toes.

Insane levels of stress the last couple of weeks have cranked up my anxiety level. I am catching myself eating for comfort. On the other hand, I am also catching myself speaking out more. I actually asked a person to move their car to the forward pump at Costo. Never would I have done that before. It's a little thing, but not really a little thing for me.

Combining Blogs

Going forward, I am combining The Bard Connotes into this blog. So, for continuity, here is the last entry from The Bard:

Clinically Depressed Poodle Mauls Former French President Chirac

If this resonates with your very soul, then we are one.

Who is Jeff?

Before delving into my embarrassingly public self-examination:

I ran two miles on Friday and again today. Saturday was yard day, which I count as a workout ever since I wore my heart monitor while mowing: 75% of max! Confession: Thursday, no workout. Cross-trained on the other days.

The theme for today is 'Who is Jeff?':

I am not my inner child. I have actually said that if I didn't have all these responsibilities, I would be lazy and do nothing at all. Yes, my inner child wants to do nothing except eat, sleep, and play. Duh! But that's not really me.

What have I done that is indicative of the "real" Jeff. Things done because I wanted to. Things not driven by the what others wanted, or by my inner child pitching a tantrum:

• Serving a mission
• Becoming an engineer
• Being a family man
• Losing over 100 lbs
• Cycling a century
• Running a marathon
• Keeping this blog

Except for losing 100 lbs, all of these happened purely because I wanted to. Losing the weight required a kickstart by a Dr., but I still believe that it's something I wanted to do. Since I have gained part of it back, I have to decide if living a healthy lifestyle is something I really want to do.

Ooh. Gotta think about this.

Still, Still Running

I have been running twice a week for a while now, and my foot doesn't hurt worse. This makes me happy. Even if I can only run 5Ks, my need for more bib numbers and race shirts will be satisfied.

The word of the week is 'permission'. The aha moment was realizing that I look outside myself for permission or validation before doing anything that might be confrontational or unpleasant or even just difficult. So, now I officially give myself permission to:

• Say no
• Speak up
  
• Ask for help
• Reward myself with other things besides food

Looking outside myself for validation before saying no or speaking up, for example, has caused me a lot of anxiety. Eating has been a way to deal with that anxiety.

This is definitely a work in progress, but it feels good to be making some progress.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Much has happened:

• I ran the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 5k this morning. My first race in 11 months. My foot hurts a bit, but ice is my friend.
  
• After avoiding seeing my cardiologist for 9 months, I got the lecture from him about my weight gain that I was dreading and hoping for. So ...
  
• I am seeing a therapist about my anxiety induced overeating. My Dr. said I have to lose the weight or accept more medication, so I really want to deal with this.
• I am still working out 5 or 6 times a week. Thank heavens that's a habit.

Best wishes.

Chubby Challenge Update

I haven't lost. I haven't gained.

What have I done? I have cut 100 Cal. from breakfast, and added one run a week, so now I do one run and 5 X-training workouts. That only translates into about 150 more Cal. a week burnt.

What do I need to do? Cut down evening eating. I will also target 350 calories burned for each X-training workout, rather than the current 250.

Go team!

The challenge

My sister, brother, and sister-in-law, and I, have challenged each other to lose 20 lbs. by Christmas. For the record I weighed 232 tonight, fully dressed.

The gauntlet is cast. 8-)

Cross-training five days a week, with one day for lawn mowing, continues to be my program. I want to add some road cycling, because the cross-training by itself gets a bit boring. I want to continue doing weightwatchers, but I think I will do it at the Almaden Center, for a change a pace.

Where's Jeff's Head?

Cross-training continues. Foot still hurts. Weight not where I want it.

My salvation is that I love to exercise now. Otherwise I would weigh pounds. Too much nervous eating hurts, though. I am looking for motivation.

Five Days

I cross-trained five days this week. Saturday, I felt really draggy, so took a day off.

One new thing: The YMCA has two Expresso stationary bikes now. Too much fun.

Delinquent

To catch up:

• I am back actively going to Weight Watchers and tracking what I eat
  
• My foot injury flared up after 5 weeks of running, so I am back to cross-training 6 times a week
  
• The elliptical is bothering my foot now too, so mostly I cycle for cardio
  
• I have added upper body strengthening to my workout
• I am tracking my workouts through Fitlinxx, which is integrated into the equipment at the YMCA. Hey, it's a way to earn free t-shirts

Down, but not out.

Slogging On

My heel is tender, but recovers between runs. Mostly.

On Monday it was still a bit sore from running Saturday, so I switched after 10 minutes of running to cycling. Tuesday I ran 5K. Today I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, and lunges.

I think my heel is still a little too sensitive for speedwork.

Yesterday I spoke with my brother Joel. He recommended adding some weights to my cross-training days to build up more upper-body lean muscle mass to help with weight control. Personally, I prefer the narrow shouldered, spindly armed look, but told him to send me his workout recommendation. 8-)

Sore, but ...

I am running 5Ks under 30 minutes now, but also am a bit sorer in my right heel. Running every other day is allowing for pretty good recovery, though. Ice remains my friend.

Saturday was a 2.5 mile run.

Monday was yaaaard wooork, which killed my back.

Tuesday was a 5K run.

Yesterday was an non-running day. I rode my bike for a half hour in the morning and a half hour in the afternoon. My thighs! They burn!

Today will be another 5K run.

If my heel still feels well next week, I will start speed work.

Still Running

Monday, and again today, I did 5K's at a 10 minute/mile pace. My heel is a bit sore, but not too bad. I am amazed how quickly conditioning went to pot: I was floppy-legged by the end of these runs.

On the light days, I did 1/2 hour of cardio, some core, and lunges.

Another 'duh' moment: If I don't do lunges I get cramps on the inside of the thighs. I wasn't doing lunges because they left my legs sore. However, I recently found that I could back off on the reps and still avoid the cramping. Gradually I am increasing the reps. I am guessing that my inner thigh muscles are unusually weak, since stretching didn't help.

Running - Slowly

I am still running, but building up slowly. Last week I did three run/walks: 3 minutes walking alternating with 3 minutes running. I have built up to a half hour of this, and have increased the running pace to 6 mph.

My heel hurts first thing in the morning and after sitting, but nothing like it was hurting before. Ice is my friend.

On the non-running days, I did a half hour of cross-training.

Good News

Yesterday, the Dr. cleared me to start running again! I am to build up slowly, so yesterday I ran 2X400M with 400M walking between. Not very much, but it's a start. Today was a cross-train day.