Here's why I was a winner and a loser

I took a new job on Aug. 22nd.  That required a lot of my mental focus and energy and time.  I let that throw me off track.

Secondly, I spent some time with some new people who are into some different things.  That is also part of a healthy lifestyle.  And I am happily investing free time in that.

Third, and most devastatingly, I had to travel for the week immediately leading up to my 42nd birthday.  There is no snow on the ground in Minnesota right now, so no cross-country skiing option.  I haven't been working out a lot and had to stop the running due to back issues.  I didn't sub anything in.  I sort of talked about it and never committed. 

I totally unravelled right in the last month.  The most important month.  Ever since I finished my epic 42 bike rides on Labor Day, I admit that I lost focus. 

HOWEVER, :)
I showed up pretty well this year.  I had never done anything like Warrior Dash and I undertook that daunting task with enthusiasm.  I had never biked so much or with such purpose, and that was a wonderful experience.  I have re-gained a little fat, but I am still in size 8 clothes and I'm aware of my error in ways. 

Setting BDC goals was a fun way to motivate myself, and I will concoct another set for this year and try again.  The measure of a person is not only how we behave when we succeed, but also how we behave when we fail.  I'll learn from my derailment and get back up and try again!

Veggies, yes, climactic finish to my 42BDC, no

Eating 10 servings of raw veggies per day was a piece of cake.  Started every morning with a green smoothie:

Convenient, tasty, three easy servings of veggies.

Snacked on veggies and had some kick ass salads for lunches and dinners.  Experimented with raw squash, raw beet, and some other veggies.

This doesn't look like a chore, does it?  I never got sick of eating vegetables during this 42 days eating ala La Lanne. 

Problem was, I did not lose any weight.  In fact, I gained a few pounds.  I think psychologically my guard and vigilance was down about everything else I was eating.  How could my diet NOT be healthy with all those raw veggies? 

Apparently, that was an effed up way to spend the 42 days, b/c I thought I would get wicked lean, and instead I got a little muffin top.  Damn it. 

Fitness in Japan

Japanese people are pretty healthy folks.  In Okinawa, military men and women are up early working out, and I had a run along the sea wall alongside Marines while the sun was rising on the other side of the island. 

The food is excellent, but I was surprised by the high ratio of carbs to veggies.

Before, well, except for the tofu/tomato salad.  I already ate that.

After.  No idea what kind of fish this was, but it was fresh.

I also swam laps in the East China sea a couple of times and rode a crappy old, rusty bicycle around, thereby proving that one can stay reasonably active while on vacation.  I actually didn't 'recover' from the jet lag until after I worked up a good sweat on day 3.

The sea wall is covered in 'jacks' like the ones, above, to protect the coastline.  I'm holding a crab, you can see my awesome bike set-up there, too.

This was an unplanned part of my 41st year, so doesn't have any 42 BDC in it, but I did commit to and succeed in finishing all 42 bike rides to the Cedar Ave bridge PRIOR to my departure. 

4 runs in and feeling alright, but...

My 4th three-mile run felt good, and I ran it at 8:33/mile, which isn't as lame as prior runs.  But my back the next day gave me pause about continuing.  Trying to think of a good substitute and missing my bicycle lately.

Then Yom Kippur came, and I fasted and atoned.  Feeling serene and thirsty, I decided to focus on the raw veggie challenge starting at the end of the month.
Mine is hot pink, though.  way cooler.
I am enjoying a smoothie made in my one serving, hot pink, blend and go smoothie maker. 
It contains:

• the awesomest, high protein Greek nonfat unsweetened yogurt of all time (23 g protein/130 cal per cup, Fage brand)
• 1/3 cucumber
• 1 whole carrot
• some fresh cranberries
• splash of grape juice and a cup of water
• ~ a tbsp of sugar free instant vanilla pudding powder

Delicious!  Trying to incorporate raw veggies in a snack or b-fast item. 

Also made a raw squash salad with winter squash from local farmer's share.  It was hard to peel the raw squash, but once grated, mixed with green onion, chopped eggplant, chopped heirloom tomato, a few dried cranberries and some light balsamic dressing; yum. 

Also took a trip that allowed me to swim laps in the East China sea, run along the sea wall at 5:30 a.m. with Marines, and road my bike all over.  But that's for a different post.  Today is all about the new smoothie maker -- Huzzah!

42 bike rides, a run and a picnic

The bike riding to the Old Cedar Ave bridge was kick ass.  Finished on Labor Day and the kids met me down there for a celebratory picnic. 

Even though my spinal surgeon says no running, ran my first 3 mile run and it didn't hobble me. 

The weather is changing and I'm going to have to think of good activities as the environment becomes hostile.   Looking forward to the ten veggie challenge!

Biking in August is so awesome, it makes us jump for joy

42 trips to the bridge continues

I've got Max along most of the time, too.  It's such a great bike ride.  Riding down into the valley is beautiful, then the wetlands are peaceful and lovely, and the ride back up and home is challenging.  I'm not tired of it at all, and we are more than half way done.

We took two rides in one Saturday; one at sunrise and one at sunset.  We've had many hot and humid days, but we rode anyway.

Half way done, on the pylons beneath the bridge. 

Today, 75 deg F and gorgeous outside!

Warrior Dash, July 23rd, 2011, Afton Alps Ski hills

Me, before the race. 

Cannonball into mud pit during the race

Crawling under barbed wire

Mud in my teeth!

43:56.  Dang.  And I dressed for success, too.  This is a mild disappointment, but I feel that I made up for my 1:56 of slowness by my enthusiasm on the obstacles.  I had to walk some of the ski slopes, the steepness was out of hand and I was worried about my lower back on the downhills.  Back in the day, I would have stretched out my legs and glided down those hills, but these days I have to stutter/hop to control myself.  But I ran up and leaped on those ropes and walls and tires like a ninja. 

117^th in my age& gender category out of 636 .  18.4% finished faster than me. 

3618^th place overall for Saturday’s race out of over 10, 450 (+ some ‘bandits’ who finished, too).   34.6% finished faster than me. 

Excellent news:  Brenda Boatman, 42, took  2^nd place overall for women on Saturday with a time of 28:15, so there is hope for me in my 42^nd year to kick some serious ass. 

An 80-yr old woman, Kim Robel, finished on Saturday in 45:38.  If I only slow down by another minute and a half in the next 40 years, that would be effin awesome.

Finished, medal on, free beer in hand

Having never participated in Warrior Dash before, 42 minutes was a good guess.  I gave it everything I had, and it was crazy, wicked fun for a Saturday afternoon! 

Smokin' hot on the quads

Max and I took the 10th ride to the Long Meadow Bridge today in 94 deg F heat and humidity.  The ride down into the valley is oh-so pleasant, and the ride back up out of the valley is a thigh-burning, heart-a-pumping cardio bonanza!

The wetlands are an interesting ecosystem.  This is the full span of the Long Meadow Bridge from the Bloomington observation deck:

Today, July 17th, with Max, my 15 yr-old.  He took the trip on a crappy mountain bike -- what a rock star!

42 trips to the Long Meadow Bridge

Had to cancel the Boundary Waters trip.  Substituting 42 bike rides from my house to the old Cedar Avenue Bridge (Long Meadow Bridge) which is a challenging ride and a cool-ass bridge built in 1890. 

The route is not without it's quirky features, either.  The wetlands are flooded, closing the roads to traffic. 

 The Long Meadow Bridge is chained off and marked with "No Trespassing" signs, and the old road to the bridge is grown over entirely. 

All of this just makes me glad I'm wearing a helmet and have a fun destination.

San Juan adventures

Completely exceeded my expectations for activity in San Juan.  I was also floored, absolutely amazed, by the lack of vegetables in the Puerto Rican diet.  I started asking waiters and restaurant owners what dishes they made with vegetables.  One of them answered, "red beans and rice".

We did shop at local grocery stores and at the farmer's market.

Did awesome against BDC plan; exotic drink discovered and the meaning of life found to be.....

TAMARIND MOJITOS

• Swam daily in the Caribbean -  maybe a couple of hours total
• Biked >84 miles around San Juan and Pinones, including at least 4.2 miles in drenching rain
• Hiked >4.2 hours in rainforest
• Danced >4.2 hours in clubs
• Walked several miles daily, >  21 miles
• Climbed up and down two enormous fortresses
• Raced up three stories of stairs in El Morrow
• Kayaked over 2.1 miles in bioluminescent bay

"Back and Biceps" Slayed

In week 12 of round 3 (of a crazy P90X, Insanity, TurboFire, hot yoga, Zumba hybrid) and did my last "Back and Biceps" for this round.  Thought it was a good time for the quarterly photo shoot; I tend to forget to do it. 

I feel good.  I was moving gravel and asphalt repair in 50 lb bags yesterday and we stacked three tons of wood pellets in the cellar last week and my back hasn't complained at all. 

Here is my messed up driveway (thanks to Minnesota mud season and a dump truck):

And here's my now-strong enough for my life back  : )

Max just made delicious fish wraps in low-carb, whole wheat wraps with sprouts and homemade coleslaw. 

Isn't Sunday afternoon the BEST?

Have also secured the time off for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area trip so I can catch all those monster-sized fish and take the portages required in my BDC.  Starting to worry about eating ten veggies per day for 42 days, but what the hell, it aint called Birthday Mostly Convenient.

"Chest and Back" made me do it

After 62 weeks non-stop of P90X, Insanity, TurboFire and other stuff every day, I couldn't make myself do my last 'chest and back' workout for round 3.  Two days went by.  I finally forced myself to do it, and I lifted heavy and beat my rep #s.  And then I couldn't make myself work out again for a week and a half.

If the name of the game for over a year was "mind over matter", even when I had a cold, even when I had injuries, then the name of this past week was "your mind says F off". 

That was an interesting experience.  The sky did not fall.  I just rested my rotator cuff, back and left ankle and got enough sleep.  Took a road trip.  Watched a couple of movies. 

Last night, I was back in the workout saddle.  Went to hot yoga at 8:30 a.m. today.  Looking forward to "shoulders and arms". 

I sweat like crazy at yoga today.  My new non-skid yoga towel had a perfect sweat outline, like a cop's chalk outline of a body.  Feeling very refreshed!  Now I'm back at it-- better, stronger, faster than I was before. 

X-Co skiing and teaching high school seniors about Jack

Took a lesson at Lebanon Hills Regional Park on an unseasonably warm February Sunday.  The snow was like mashed potatoes.  It was fun.  I learned some stuff.

Could defnitely incorporate hours of X-Co skiing into BDC next December if the weather and snow cover permit. 

I'm also pretty hooked on hot yoga on Saturday mornings!  Went today, and it was relaxing and sweaty and awesome.  My back and biceps are sore and it felt really good to stretch and warm up.

This week, on Thursday, my wonder dog is getting a knee replacement due to a severed CCL.  She is currently a three-legged dog.  This will require some serious dog rehab for 8-10 weeks.  I guess Mable won't be running with me in March when the snow clears.

Burnsville Seniors in science class and science club were interesting and good audiences.  I got to talk a little bit about Jack LaLanne.  I talked a lot about whole foods, drinking tap water, and moving one's body every day.  I also brought a live chicken, and she ran around the classrooms and was a good sport. 

Every classroom knew something about Jack ("the juice guy?") and every classroom had heard of P90X ("my _____ fill in the blank ____ is doing that!").  The teacher assigned a journal entry requiring the students to ask themselves what might they change in their diet and exercize, should they, and to ponder what they'd eaten in the prior seven days.  Woo Hoo!  

A day of fasting

I said I'd fast if the Packers won the Super Bowl, and so that's what I did yesterday.  I also wore black.

My calves were still sore from JJs on Friday.  My lack of gall bladder and over-consumption of lemon buttercream frosting gave me liver pain.  My back hurt from riding in a car too long,  or maybe it was JJs or maybe being 41 and whiney.

Whatever.  Yesterday was a day set aside for not doing things.  I actively not ate and not worked out.  Both rare.

Today was a great day of diet discipline and gratitude.  I'm actually glad I didn't have to eat a Roethlisburger (a beef burger topped with Italian sausage, fried egg and cheese UGH) which would also make me acutely wish for a gall bladder. 

I'm going to the high school on Monday to talk to four classrooms of science students about food choices and my evolution of eating recognizable whole foods.

Jumping Jacks

Baked a sinfully good lemon cake last night for Larry Klosner's 92nd birthday party and while it was cooling, I did a trial run of my jumping jack challenge.  I downloaded an app on my Blackberry that saves workout notes and has a timer, started the stopwatch, and started counting.  It's hard to count that high while doing JJs.

I was determined to do 1033 jumping jacks non-stop, no matter how long that took me.  I allowed a natural bend at my elbow, but did touch my fingertips above my head every time.  This is good aerobic work and apparently rockin' for one's calves, too.

No problem completing.  Time limit, to remind the reader, is under 23 minutes because Jack did his 1033 push-ups on his 42nd birthday in 23 minutes.  My first try took me 15.25.

Check these kids out, though: 
http://chandlerrecords.blogspot.com/2007/10/most-jumping-jacks-in-one-minute.html

Some kid named Maddeline did 112 JJs in one minute.  Go Maddy.  I'm inspired all over again. 

She can do other challenges, too.  Here she is again--

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Longest Hula Hoop

Record: Longest Hula Hoop Time
Name: Maddeline Brady
Date: Oct. 2 2007

On October second Maddeline Brady was at the Chandler school, in front of the Middle school library and hula hooped for 14 minutes and 10 seconds using a standard red hula hoop. Her witnesses were Mrs. Stevenson, Kobe, and Joshua. Maddie reported that her arms got tired.

 

 

Dang, I aint even got a standard red hula hoop! 

Hot Yoga

I googled "Yoga 42" and up popped hot yoga, which is done at ~ 42 deg C.  After locating a place to check this out , can now report that I finished my 4th hot yoga session this morning.  Eighty minutes of sweating profusely is a lovely way to begin a Saturday or a Sunday.  I did both this weekend, as there is an 8:30 a.m. session and that's not early to me.

http://yogapioneers.com/

This place is peaceful, welcoming, friendly and penetratingly hot and humid.  I'm usually not a big 'sweater', but I'm raining on my yoga mat by Warrior Two.  I leave there with my clothes and hair saturated, my brain calm and totally de-stressed. 

That's how 84 minutes of 42 deg C yoga becomes part of my 42 BDC.  It'll be awesome anywhere in that last 42 hours, as December is a great time to sweat your ass off in Minnesota!  : )

Jack LaLanne

My family was just recently jazzed about Jack's accomplishments and started formulating our own Birthday Challenges.  My 15 year-old is already scheming his 16th BDC. 

We are grateful to be able to learn from Jack's example and enjoy his enthusiasm, as his influence clearly extends well beyond his own time. 

Thanks for a lifetime of inspiration and energy, passion, entertainment and throw-down challenges -- the likes of which I could spend the rest of MY life trying to match and never run out of Jack's one-up's!

Stepping up my X-Co Ski game

Just registered for a two hour classical cross-country skiing class to get the form right and try out some new trails near home.  It's hard to come up with a good 42-hour countdown challenge that can be executed in December in Minnesota.  Even X-Co skiing is a little iffy -- need a good 6-8" of snow cover to take miles of trails.  Some years we get it by early December and some years we just don't.  For the same reason, I could commit to 4.2 snowmen or 42 snow angels, but it all depends on the quantity and stickiness of the snow. 

Checked for any triathlons in December in the Twin Cities.  Indoor or otherwise, no luck.  I did learn that there have been sky way bike races and indoor running races in high heels, however. 

There's a women-only biathlon nearby in September (The 'Iron Girl").  Run-bike-run.  There is also an off-road race that looks tempting in August that is swim -mountain bike-run.  What I really want is that "WOW" factor for the final 42 hrs.  Still working that out! 

On an unrelated note, am dismally upset that the effin Green Bay Packers made it to the Super Bowl.  Good damn thing the Steelers will drag them up and down the field and we'll all be laughing in Minnesota. 

Chickens in the winter and eating frozen eggs

Temperatures this week reached -28 deg F.  When my 18 backyard chickens lay eggs, the pretty brown eggs freeze solid and crack open.  Even after thawing, eggs frozen this cold never recover their normal viscosity.  The yolks remain permanently gelatinous and the whites are also not appealing. 

Like many people adhering to healthy diets, we eat a lot of egg white around here.  I feel a little guilty throwing out the yolks, but this morning, I don't feel guilty about throwing out all the eggs, as they are frozen, covered in chicken poo, and altogether unappetizing.

Traditional Fritter Challenge

The fritters cause significant trepidation.  King Pin fritters are clearly a feat of grease, mass and absurdity to be reckoned with, and many other BDCers have failed solely owing to their over-commitment to the fritter. 

I'm not going to attempt 4.2 fritters on my birthday.  This would clearly ruin my last 42 BDC hours, and I am grateful for the wisdom of those who have gone before me hauling their own dead-weight fritters. 

My challenge will be the old-school sort:  Two apple fritters and one jelly donut, shipped to me from King Pin Donuts and consumed in the 4.2 days preceding my birthday.  Sounds like I'm gonna need to pace myself just to accomplish it.  Anyone know if they will ship em to Minnesota??

Working out the challenge

  

42 weeks (begins Feb. 19th) to do:

San Juan events (just for fun!):

4.2 hours hiking/ziplining in Rain Forest

42 minutes swimming in tide       ?? kayaking in bioluminescent bay

4.2 mile run

4.2 exotic drinks

Complete 'Warrior Dash' 7/23/11 in under 42'

14 x  3 mile runs

Catch 42 fish, or 10 Northerns > 4.2 lbs, or 1 Muskie >42"

Take 4200 rods of portaging or 42 portages in BWCA

Canoe 42 miles

42 days (begins Oct. 29th) to do:

Seven x 6 mile runs

Eat 10 raw vegetables per day (ala LaLanne)

Classic King Pin Fritter challenge in the 4.2d          prior to b-day (12/6/11 -->)

42 hours (begins 11:30 p.m. on 12/8/11):

Jumping Jacks for Jack (ala his 42nd BDC):      1033 jumping jacks in 23 minutes 4.2 hours X-Co skiing

420 pull-ups in sets of ten or more

420 Ab crunches

84' of Hot Yoga @ 42deg C