Day 561 - Exercise and weight loss

It's been a VERY long time again since I have posted.  In this case, I figured it's long past time for me to report on a few items in my Exercise category:

42. Walk 20 min, 3 days a week for 12 weeks. (0/12)
43. Exercise at least 2x/week for 12 weeks Set a schedule.
44. Lose 10 pounds.
47. Keep the 10 pounds off for at least 12 weeks.

I have completely blown away Item 43.  In my last post, I talked about starting to run.  I have kept it up.  Now, as of mid-December, I have logged 137 runs (mostly runs) and covered 512 miles.  I have done at least 3 runs a week since I started in May. Usually doing 4 or 5 runs a week.  Item 43 is done, but that won't stop me running!

Throughout these months, I have lost around 25 pounds compared to where I was at last January.  That is quite a bit more than the goal set in Item 44 of only 10 pounds.  I have been more careful to watch my food intake, especially quantity, but I have not been on a "diet" and haven't felt like I've been dieting.

I have kept that weight off and continuing trimming it for well over 12 weeks. I've continued to trim pounds even since my return from Philmont in August. So if you count losing 10 lbs. somewhere by May or June, it's been more like 5 or 6 months of keeping off the weight.

I'm also going to mark-off Item 42.  I've done quite a bit more than "walk" twice a week! 

Day 404 - Exercising

I'm in week 9 of my exercise plan for Item #43, Exercise at least 2x/week for 12 weeks.

This has been the perfect time, because I started shortly after returning from India and about 12 weeks before I go to Philmont again.  My goal is losing a bit of weight and being in as good of shape as possible to be able to backpack comfortably at 8000-11000 ft. elevation with a bunch of 14 year-olds for 10 days.  

On June 23rd, my company is sponsoring the Heart of Summer 5k/10k.  At work we have an employee-lead 10 week training program for people targeting walk-to-run, 5k, and 10k.  I was going to do walk-to-run, but a colleague of mine was doing the 5k, so I thought I'd step up my plans a bit and go for that.

So, I'm running.  I didn't think I'd ever be a "runner" and I'm not certain I'm actually one yet. 

I have been exercising sometimes 4 and no less than 3 times each week for the past 8 weeks and I'm working on week 9. You can see my exercise log here on the right. This is a plot of Total Miles each Week.

You'll notice there has been a large increase in the miles the last two weeks. I have been trying to find out just how far my body can go. Unfortunately, I think I've found that.

I didn't realize that I was increasing my mileage so quickly. I simply went from about 3 miles each run to 4-5 miles each run. It did add up and my shins have definitely been feeling it. The last few days they have been sore, but haven't recovered before it was time to run again. I've scaled back so that I don't hurt myself. I'll need to pay more attention to increasing my distance more slowly.

I ran a little yesterday and it was tough. I felt a little better after the run though, having stretched those muscles.  I also iced them down for a half hour or so.  This is manageable and I'm not too worried.  I don't really *want* to scale back, but it's necessary.  The 5k is coming up in just over a week and I'd like to do as well as possible on that.  Then Philmont is 2 weeks later.

Day 400 - The 20th Year Reunion

Whoa. Day 400!? Where did the time go? It's been about 9 months since my last post. I figured I should fix that.  I will update the list, but don't have time to post about everything on it.  I have completed a number of things though, and the 40-by-40 has not escaped my mind.


The most recent item completed was #75 Make every effort to attend my 20 year high school reunion in 2011.  The reunion was this last Saturday, July 9, 2011.

I went to the Friday night gathering at Christy's Place, a local bar and spent the evening with a number of people there.  The main event was Saturday evening at the Countryside Banquet facility in Washington.

The reunion committee (Jen, Brett, Anne, Kara, and a few others) planned a great night.

• 5:45-6:30 cocktail social hour
• 6:30 dinner
• 7:15 door prizes
• 9:45 raffle drawing
• Midnight end of festivities

Dinner was roast beef or chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and salad.  During dinner, there was a video put together with a variety of trivia about ourselves that we could submit.  It included a segment of "You know you grew up in the '80's if you remember...." It also included the speech from our 1991 graduation ceremony by Wendy, a classmate who took her own life this last year suffering from PTSD from her time in the military.

I was chosen as a competitor in a game where we had to go into the audience and do and/or get something. The last one back to their seat was forced out each round.  Out of the 11 participants, I made it through about half.

Door prizes... and then FUN awards such as: the longest married, the most recently born baby, the youngest spouse, who changed the least in 20 years, who changed the most, who had the most gray hair, who traveled the furthest, who lived in the most places, etc.  I was granted the person with the most gray hair--and that's pretty accurate.

Fun times!  I'm glad I put this on my list -- it gave me extra encouragement.  I'm glad I went both nights.

Day 142 - Backpacking the Ice Age Trail in August

This is the first entry on backpacking for this project, so some background might be helpful.

My first experience backpacking was as a youth in Boy Scouts. I had signed up for a trip to Philmont and definitely needed some practice. I remember one trip to the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois, lots of practicing around the neighborhood, and finally the trip to Philmont. I made a similar trip a few years later because it was sch a great experience.

Now, for the last few years I've been taking one backpacking trip each summer. This year I got in two short-ish ones. This is the first.

The main goal of this trip was to get our scouts prepared for a trip to Philmont next August. We crammed in this trip right before school started.

The Ice Age Trail is: "The Ice Age Trail, one of only eleven National Scenic Trails in the United States, is a thousand-mile footpath highlighting Wisconsin's world-renowned Ice Age heritage and scenic beauty."

There is a lot of the trail that is not yet developed. We chose a section of the trail that was fully developed in the Chequamegon National Forest about 50 miles northeast of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. This was a nice choice because it would give us flexibility and be only a couple of hours drive away.

There were 10 of us in total: 8 scouts, another adult, and myself.  I have backpacked with all of these folks before, except for 2 of the scouts.  This was their first backpacking trip.



The itinerary for the trip was:

• Wednesday - leave at 6:00, camp near the vehicles
• Thursday - hike
• Friday - hike
• Saturday - hike, arrive at the national forest camp ground
• Sunday - drive home

Wednesday:

• We departed at exactly 6:00 PM.  On the drive the sky was clear and we were headed due east.  As dusk was setting in , we saw the full moon on the horizon.  It was at just the right height and mingled in with some buildings that it looked like a water tower in the distance.  
• We arrived at the Hwy 64 parking lot at exactly 8:38 PM, perfectly according to the Google Maps estimated time.  Prior to the trip, I was amazed to see the parking lot on Google Maps street view.  
• We explored just a little, but determined the best place to camp is in the grass parking lot right next to the vehicles. There was quite a bit of road noise that evening and next morning since we were within a few hundred feet of a state highway.  It was however a good choice, was in-line with the park's regulations, and in-line with Leave-No-Trace since we were camping in a high-impact area.
• I brought very yummy triple chocolate cookie bars that I made earlier in the day.

Thursday:

• We were up early so that Kurt (other adult) and I could shuttle a car to the other end of the trail.  We found the parking area in the National Forest camp ground and talked with the concessions owner there.  Kurt had his necessary coffee.
• Despite us getting up early, we still didn't hit the trail until around 9:20 AM.  The first day always has lots of stops, when hiking with new backpackers... gear, boots, pack, bathroom breaks, etc. 
• We got into the campsite around dusk at 7:15 PM.  This was a beautiful camping site up on a hill/ridge between two lakes.  Very calm and quiet.  Supper was chili with cheese. 

Friday:

• Today was another long day.  It nearly broke the two new scouts.  I've never had a scout break-down sobbing, but today each of them did at least once.  The other scouts and I took it in stride, didn't make a big deal of it, took a break, offered food and encouragement.  One was homesick and both were tired and sore.  Both walked extremely slow most of the time, despite coaching.
• We made it to Sailor's Creek.  This was necessary for water supply.  Luckily there was a camp site established close by, even though it wasn't marked on the map.  In this national forest, backcountry camping is allowed nearly all the way along the trail.  Had there not been an established site there, we were prepared to do Leave-No-Trace backcountry camping.  

Saturday:

• Today was a strong finish as we hiking into the Mondeaux Flowage area.  
• We awoke early, at 6 AM and the scouts' challenge was to be ready to leave with packs on in 1 hour. It's doable, but is difficult.  The reward was a stop at DQ on the way home, paid for by the troop.  They made it in 1 hour, 15 minutes.  Pretty good, but no reward.   
• We cut out some trail miles today, by taking a couple of forest roads instead of the regular trail.  We really needed to do this given the two scouts that were having difficulties.  Not only did this cut out a mile or two, but it was also easy walking (which meant faster) for the distance we did cover.
• We had a great lunch at Picnic Point.  This was the best view of any we had the entire trip.  The pump well here was out of service, so after lunch we hiked on to the next camping area.  There we pumped water from the well.  It was the best water we'd had since the start of the trip!  Everything else had come from streams, had a bit of a algae taste, and wasn't all that cool.
• We made it to Spearhead Point campground around 4 PM.  Kurt and I got a ride from the next door neighbor in our campground for the extra mile to get my car.  Then we shuttled the vehicle back from the start of the trail.
• The scouts cooked supper, we made a campfire, and I made an end-of-hike treat cheesecake.

Sunday

• We were up fairly early, packed up, and departed around 8 AM.  That put us home an hour early, rolling into the parking lot around noon.

Each day we hiked about 12 miles and it took around 10 hours (all stops/lunch included).  This was longer than other scout backpacking trips we've done.  However, there was not much elevation change along the trail.  There were small hills, but nothing significant that even stands out in my mind.   This distance, over this kind of terrain really should have only taken 6-7 hours. It was clear that Kurt, the other scouts, and I would have had that pace, were it not for the two new backpackers.  That was, however, part of the point of this trip... to get these guys some experience and understand where the limits were.  Better to do this a year before Philmont on a 5 day trip within a couple of hours of home that costs $70 instead of a 12 day trip that costs $1200.

This wasn't the most amazing backpacking that I've done. The scenery was limited and the days were pretty long. It did however serve it's purpose as a preparation trip.

Day 127 - Blood Oath: The President's Vampire

A couple of weeks ago I wrapped up my 7th book, Blood Oath: The President's Vampire by Christopher Farnsworth.

I was browsing the CD audio books at the library while the girls were getting a few books for themselves.  I had just completed my previous audio book and wondered if I could find another in a short amount of time.  I did.

When I saw the title, I recalled that I had heard a blip about this on NPR a few months ago.  It's a newly published book this year, so I was surprised to already see it in audio book form and actually on the shelf at the library.  Google helped me find the book review I had heard on All Things Considered, June 7, 2010, Robert Siegel, host and book review by NRP's Margot Adler.  I listen to NPR mostly when I'm in the car commuting to-and-from work.  Ironically, listening to the audio books means less listening to NPR.

I recalled that this seemed like a pretty unique vampire novel so it went home with me.  Apparently some of my reading has been coming in 2's (two mountaineering books, now two vampire books).

This is a pretty unique premise for a novel: a vampire that is bound to the office of the President to serve and protect him and the nation from all sorts of evils.  The book moves pretty well and had a good plot.  You get to see humanity through the eyes of this vampire and see the moral struggles he has throughout this novel.  It's a vampire novel interlaced with political intrigue.  You can see the trailer on Amazon.

Apparently this is the first of a series.  I look forward to the next one!

Day 127 - Visiting Muir Woods National Monument

This is a post catching up from a trip a couple of months ago. This actually occurred on Day #68.

In August, I found myself in San Francisco on a business trip to visit a supplier.  I was able to drive up the evening before our meetings started to the Muir Woods National Monument.  While many people were already leaving after spending the day and the park was quieting down, I was able to spend a couple of hours in the evening before the sun set.

I knew that the trees would be big, of course, but there isn't anything like them that I've seen before. Absolutely amazing. 

These are the coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), a slightly different tree than their relatives the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron).  These coastal redwoods are taller, but have less overall volume that then giant sequoia.  

You could inhale the wonderful scent of the pine grove.  It was as if the entire park had a pine scent wall plug-in, but it wasn't overpowering and it was certainly all natural.

I took a hike that was about a mile and a half through the main part of the park.  At the far end of the loop, I sat in quiet and contemplated.  It was a wonderful evening spent among the tallest living things in the world.

Here, sown by the Creator's hand,

In serried ranks, the Redwoods stand;

No other clime is honored so,

No other lands their glory know.

The greatest of Earth's living forms,

Tall conquerors that laugh at storms;

Their challenge still unanswered rings,

Through fifty centuries of kings.

The nations that with them were young,

Rich empires, with their forts far-flung,

Lie buried now - their splendor gone;

But these proud monarchs still live on.

So shall they live, when ends our day,

When our crude citadels decay;

For brief the years allotted man,

But infinite perennials' span.

This is their temple, vaulted high,

And here we pause with reverent eye,

With silent tongue and awe-struck soul;

For here we sense life's proper goal;

To be like these, straight, true and fine,

To make our world, like theirs, a shrine;

Sink down, oh traveler, on your knees,

God stands before you in these trees.”

- Joseph B. Strauss

Day 119 - Nine out of ten dentists recommend...

Actually, I hope all 10 of the dentists recommend flossing.  Flossing is good.  Of course.  So is brushing your teeth, exercise, eating healthy, and all those kinds of things.  It's kind of a motherhood-and-apple-pie thing.  However, I certainly didn't get apple pie every day!

Despite all the reasons why I should floss, I have rarely flossed all of my life.  Luckily and despite that, I'm blessed with pretty darn good teeth and gums and that never have caused any troubles.  I have only 1 filling from a long-long-time ago. I brush twice a day and faithfully get to the dentist every six months.

I posted earlier, a little bit after I began this task.  Therefore, the task is to floss 4 times a week (easy enough) for 12 weeks (long enough to create a lasting habit, I hope).  I put a reminder up and check-off chart on my bathroom mirror as well as leaving the floss container out on the counter.

Began 24-June-2010

Completed 12 weeks, at least 4x per week as of 30-Sep-2010.

• There was one week where I only got in 3 flosses, so that week was discarded.  Note that the goal never said they had to be 12 consecutive weeks!
• There were a couple of weeks where I just barely got in the 4 flosses.
• There were a total of 76 flossing days (over the 99 days, that's a 76.7% percentage)

Overall, I declare this a grand success!  I'm certain that in the last 3 months I have flossed more than the rest of my life combined.  I'm keeping the chart up on my mirror and keeping going, despite the task on this list being completed.  The real test will come at my next dentist appointment.  I'm hoping for the fastest and easiest cleaning that I've ever experienced.  We'll see.  it's not until January.  I'll post an update then.