Not quite finished

16. February 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: kids, snow, winter

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Winter has decided to stick around for at least a while longer. Of course, we do live in New England, so it is certainly expected that by mid-February that winter is far from being over. My wife has determined that The Farmer’s Almanac has been spot on for this winter and that we’re scheduled to have a huge late winter storm while she is in Florida in late March. I certainly hope that the Almanac is wrong on this one. At least this morning’s snow is light and under an inch, sure to be gone by mid-day and certainly not sufficient to shovel.

I headed to Boston late on Thursday to pick up my youngest who came home for a long weekend. She’ll head back on Sunday via a classmate that lives near Boston. Using Boston as a point of transfer (via friend or the MBTA / Amtrak system) is significantly more convenient than heading up I-495 and into Maine. It not only saves gas and tolls, but hours of driving. I do love that I get to pick her up more than drop her off. Picking her up is always filled with joy, warm hugs, and a drive that allows us to catch up. Dropping her off is still tough for me, although getting easier as I see that she is happier as time goes on. I should be very glad that she finds home so comforting and desirable as a destination, but know that I need to be the supportive parent that wants to kick her out of the proverbial nest for her own growth and her own good. But, she remains, and always be my baby girl.

Our son started work at a large sporting goods company (outfitter) recently. While he is a full time student at our local community college, he’s been working 20+ hours each week at the store. So far, he is thrilled with what he is doing although finding the life balance a bit challenging. I feel for him, but know that both his mom and I have done the exact same thing and he will figure it all out. I suspect that he will do his best to continue working there for some time after he graduates while waiting for another, more permanent opportunity. I also have no doubt that his employer is thrilled to have him working there – he follows the rules to the letter and goes above and beyond what anyone expects.

One thing that we have noticed this winter, unlike others, is that we have actually taken a few days (or late part of some days) to just, sorry for the pun, chill. We’ve watched a few movies on TV, gone to bed a bit earlier, and even skipped the gym a time or two to sleep in. All in all, we’ve settled into late winter and are ready for spring to come as soon as Mother Nature allows – we’re just not in a hurry this year. And that is a nice change.

The Blizzard of 2013

09. February 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: fuelband, goals, snow · Tags:

The blizzard of 2013 hit yesterday afternoon and blasted us with snow through this morning. We ended up with something between 22 and 26 inches, depending on where around the house you measure. The snow was somewhat heavy, although not a packable snow. We did not lose power – which was a big fear.

After we got a cup or so of coffee, I headed out to shovel a quick path around the house so I could open the rear sliding door. That was a difficult 20 minute effort. Then, it was time to fire up the snowblower and attempt to plow through the snow in the driveway. The street hadn’t been plowed and there was still a ban on driving on every roadway in the state so no tire tracks or plow marks to actually show where the driveway ends and the street begins. The snowblower has a 22″ clearance – so it will clear 22″ of snow but nothing more. So with over 22″ to clear, I couldn’t get through all of the snow in one path. Back and forth, cutting a few inches at a time allowed the driveway to get cleared in just a couple of hours.

One note is that lugging around the snowblower apparently uses lots of energy since my Nike Fuelband showed that I doubled my daily goal of 2500 points – likely the highest number of points since getting the Fuelband in late December. I think this may be why I was ready to take a nap this afternoon!

A Doozie of a Storm

09. February 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: snow, weather, winter · Tags:

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Running Faster

09. February 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: Galloway, GymBoss, treadmill

This morning, I thought that I would go to the gym ahead of the big storm. I was planning on working from home due to the storm since that was requested by my employer, so slept in a little, checked my email, then headed to the gym. I loved the fact that the gym was practically empty at 7 am, so hopped on the treadmill of choice to get my four miles in.

Almost as soon as I started, I decided to crank up the speed and get it done quickly. I decided to use a 4/1 run /walk ratio, rather than the 3/1 that I have been using. This makes for an interesting challenge since a mile comes around 9:30, and right in the middle of the second walk break. Run during minutes 1-4, walk minute 5, run minutes 6-9, and walk during the tenth minute. During the first mile today, I finished the mile before the second walk break started with a sub-9:00 mile @ 8:50. The second mile came in at 9:02, close to the first mile time. Miles 3 & 4 were fast, just not quite as good as the first two.

What this tells me is that I must slow down early in my run and push hard later on. It also tells me that I need to have a few long slow runs where I am not pushing up the speed at all.

Blizzard warning

07. February 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: Home, snow, weather · Tags:

Between tomorrow (Friday) at noon and Saturday at 4 PM, we will be under a blizzard warning. This does not bode well for a commute home and a quiet Saturday. We’re well stocked with the needed goods and have a couple of gas fireplaces hooked to a nearly full 80 gallon propane tank. We’ll be warm, even if we don’t eat well. We have talked about purchasing a generator for several years now, so think that this summer we will complete that, even if it’s just a mid-sized one that will cover the pump for the well, the furnace, and a few lights.

Our neighbors told us when we moved in that they had lost power only a few times in 15 years, never for more than a couple of hours. We’ve gone days since then and had many shorter outages where a generator would have been very handy. This may finally be the impetus needed to spend the money and get the generator purchased and properly connected.

Lifting, then giving back

05. February 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: YMCA

This morning was the first time that Sue and I had lifted in almost a month. It was somewhat painful for the arm-focused exercises, although not too bad for the leg ones. The legs obviously get a good workout on the treadmill, so nothing out of the expected there. Since we were on the treadmill on Monday, today was just the weight circuit. I’m positive that my arms will be screaming at me tomorrow.

After lifting, I grabbed some breakfast and coffee, then headed into an hour long meeting before meeting my obligations to give blood. I have given multiple gallons over the years, never liking but always knowing that my blood can help dozens. The combination of lifting and donating were enough to make me feel every movement.

Time to get back to the treadmill!

Rich food, treadmill payback

04. February 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: food · Tags:
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A staple of the Super Bowl

A bunch of these hot wings (baked, not fried) were one of the reasons I wasn’t looking forward to the treadmill this morning. All said, I didn’t eat nearly as many as I used to and the treadmill was a bit more forgiving than I feared!

An interesting Super Bowl

04. February 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: running, treadmill · Tags:

I am not a big fan of most sports. Every year, I watch college basketball during the sweet 16, I watch a couple of Red Sox games, maybe a game or two of the World Series, and at least one NASCAR race because it’s a great way to fall asleep. But the one game I watch without fail is the Super Bowl. Mostly, I don’t care about the outcome but love the commercials and mildly care that it’s a good game and worthy of the hype.

Tonight, I stayed up way too late watching a game where I didn’t give a flip about the final score and will pay for that choice all week. The fact that I’m heading to the gym in just five hours doesn’t help. Maybe I’ll ride on the adrenalin rush I’m sure to get with four miles on the treadmill. It might be easier if I hadn’t run five miles today. I’m too old to be running every day!

Re-doing my blog

03. February 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: Home · Tags:

I have moved my primary domain (salexander.com) from GoDaddy to 1&1 so also am in the process of moving my blog to this new site. Hopefully, with the mobile publishing apps available, I will be blogging a bit more.

A month of using my Fuelband

29. January 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: fuelband, Nike+ · Tags: ,

It’s been a bit over the month since I’ve had my Nike+ Fuelband. I’ve hit a few lows but mostly some pretty serious high numbers on it. With my goal bumped up to 2500, I needed to have at least moderate activity daily to make the goal.

One thing that will keep the numbers down – sitting on your butt. I was fighting a sinus infection and, what I believe was a mild case of the flu during one of the weeks this month. The gals in my life were on a cruise during that week, so it was easy to not hit the gym considering I really couldn’t breathe and couldn’t walk, let alone run, without hacking. Since no one at the gym would understand that it was a non-infectious sinus infection, I decided to skip the gym and treadmill most days.

I have been averaging around 22,000 points per week, and am currently riding an 8-day streak of reaching my goal. What that doesn’t say is that a few days, my goal has been barely reached – squeaking by at the last minute. What is also doesn’t tell you is that a few days have allowed me to blow away my goal with huge numbers. For example, yesterday, I hit just under 4900 points for the day (best Monday yet) and on January 9th, I blew away my goal with over 5500 points. The weird part is that the 5500 point day was in the middle of my sick week – and I think that this pushed me into the worst of my illness. Pushed just a bit far? Yup.

So for now, I will keep my goal at 2500 points just to see the easy wins day after day. However, in another week or so, unless something drastically changes, I will bump my daily goal to 3000, making it less often but likely pushing me a bit further on my lazy days!

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