Day 165: Jogging Ciro Marina and Strolling Crotone Ocean Front

We got up early this morning to jog along the ocean at Ciro Marina.  It is a nice stretch with a mostly a pebble beach that had old men out this morning wading out to fish.  We made it almost to the end of the marina before we had to turn around.  It was nice out with a little breeze coming off the water.  It was good way to start the day.

We then met up with our friend who had ventured farther into Crotone that we had gone the last time.  So we all set off to explore this new part of Crotone.  We parked and strolled all along the beach front. Their beach was sandier and much larger than the ones we have at the marina.  After having coffee at a beach front café we continued down. 

That morning alone we covered over 5 miles.  From there we headed back and had lunch at this awesome little restraint in Ciro where they just keep bringing you food.  We needed after all the we had done that morning.

FitBit said that we had completed over 7 mile today burning 3294 calories and we climbed 20 flights of stairs.  Again we are Champs!  This FitBit is pretty cool.

Daily Recap:

Matt and Kelly:  Walked all over Ciro and Crotone.  Was a really active Day!

Day 164: Ciro, Italy (Home at Last)

It was mid-afternoon by the time we made it to Ciro Marina and our hotel.  We check in, got settled, and headed right back out the door eager to see the kind of construction progress they have made on our house.

The hill side town of Ciro (pronounced chEE-Ro) is so small that you cannot access our place by car.  You have to park outside the city walls and walk in. From where we parked it was quite a steep hike up the road that leads to the town opening.  There is additional walking up the hill to get a look at it with the roof removed.  Then we walked down and around some winding alleys and tiny street to our place. 

From there I climbed on the roof to take a look at what they were doing to reinforce it.  After that we walked down to our friends place to take a look at all they had done there.  In all we spent over an hour walking around our places and the town. 

Here are a few photos:

Reinforcing our roof

Me on top of our roof

The view from our terrace

Daily Recap:

Matt and Kelly: Hiking Ciro.  According to FitBit we covered a little over three miles and climbed 49 floors, which I can believe after all we were staying on the second floor of the hotel and it’s quicker to walk than catch the slow elevator.  Not to mention the stairs that lead to our front door and multiple stairways at our friends house and so on.  We burned 3017 calories which makes us, according to FitBit: Champs!

Day 163: All Roads Lead to Rome

 It was to be a hectic day.  We had to get up early in order to make it to the Edinburgh airport for our morning flight to Rome.  Once there, as it seems everywhere in Europe, the airport was stifling hot.  We wondered around as I carried my extremely heavy back pack it didn’t take long before I was sweating profusely.  From the open waiting area to board the plane to the little shops in the airport it was HOT!

There was no relief on either the plane or the airport in London.  I was so hot in London I started feeling sick to my stomach.  I am not even wearing a jacket and not only am I drenching my shirt but I had sweat beading on my forehead.  This is insane. 

It was yet another hike through the airport in Rome, which was much cooler after all it was quite warm there so they actually had the air conditioning on.   We wound up having to wait over an hour for our rental car company to pick us up from the airport.  Then we had to drive to Agropoli where we were staying for the night before finishing the drive to Ciro.

We had a GPS, but that didn’t stop us from getting lost after all it had us literally driving in circles.  After a nice chat with a fellow running an gelato shop we got direction that actually got us to our hotel. The sister of the owner greeted us a little after 10:30 at night and offered to make us dinner which we happily said yes to. 

Dinner was served around 10:50 and we finished and were in bed by midnight. When we woke up the next day we had the following view: 

Daily Recap: 

Matt & Kelly: According to FitBit we walked almost 5 miles around the different airports and burned over 3000 calories.  There were a lot of stairs involved and FitBit tracked 35 floors climbed.  

Day 162: Ten Miles In Edinburgh, Scotland

Kelly and I started the morning jogging the gardens across from Edinburgh Castle.  Although there was a chill in the air we quickly warmed up with our jog.  It was a circular path that wound through the different areas of the garden and it wasn’t that big to circle the whole thing only took about 15 minutes. 

On both sides were stairs as the garden was a good 20 to 25 feet below street level.  We ran the stairs then the stretch that separated them and up the other stairs.  This made my lungs burn although I suspect it was the cold air that was the real cause.

After about 45 minutes of non-stop exercise we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the day.  An hour later we sat down to breakfast in “old town” Edinburgh just off the royal mile.  From there it was just a  jaunt up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. 

It’s a beautiful mid-evil castle that boasts that it has never been taken by siege.  It as fallen from trickery a couple of times but any army that attack is would be facing cliff walls 100 feet or so straight up.  After a complete tour of the castle, we made our way back down the Royal Mile for lunch before heading on to the royal palace at the other end of the Royal Mile. We completely toured it.

There was more shopping, rain, shopping, rain and so on until time for dinner.   After all that it was easily over a mile walk back to our hotel.    

What did all this walking add up to?  According to my FitBit I covered 10.86 miles and burned 3917 calories of the course of the day.  In addition I climbed 73 floor of stairs, that doesn’t surprise me in the least.  Everywhere we went had stairs.

This is well representative of what we typically do on vacation.  We walk everywhere because it is the best way to see and experience a city.  Sometimes you find things that you didn’t even know you were looking for.

Daily Recap:

Matt and Kelly: Walked over 20 miles combined and climbed over 150 floors

Day 161: Edinburgh, Scotland! Time to Eat Haggis!

Today we trained to Edinburgh, Scotland.  The first half was on the straight up commuter train.  That means that you have to ride with whoever gets on the train with you.  I may seem like a snob here but if you have ever rode a train in Europe you know that you always buy first class tickets.  We did for the second half but there was no first class for the first half of the trip.

The group we rode with was interesting to say the least. They were loud, swigging wine from the bottle, and quite funny to watch.  Their filthy mouths (and these were twenty-something girls) made some of the parents riding cringe as well. 

The second half was much different.  It was quite ride in a comfortable seat with plenty of room.  On arrival in Edinburgh we walked from the train station to our hotel.  Now that was a hike.  My back pack was easily twenty pound with all the stuff I had packed into it.  It was close to a mile hike.  I was covered in sweat by the time we arrived. 

We got checked rushed back out eager to explore Edinburgh.  We walked to Old Town across the river from where we were.  We strolled around the Royal Mile and back down to the Hop On/Off tour.  Again we got very lucky weather wise.  We sat outside atop the bus and for the tour we had sunshine and clear skies. 

After dinner we did a Ghost Walk tour of the city that took us into the dark underground section of the city.  By the end of the day according to FitBit I had climbed over 9 floors and had burned 136% of my daily calorie goals. 

Daily Recap:

Matt and Kelly: Walked all over Edinburgh.

A bit on Haggis:

Yes, we tried haggis at dinner.  We had to.  You know the saying, “When in Rome,” well why not.  At worst it would taste horrible and we could let everyone know.  Luckily the best is what happened.  Haggis is delicious.  No joke. I know what I thought but I was completely wrong.  It is not sheep’s intestines or sheep’s stomach.  Actually it is the left over parts of the sheep, heart, liver, and so on.  It is the parts that we make bologna out of.

It’s all cooked and finely chopped, mixed with oats and spices and packed into a sheep’s stomach.  You don’t eat the stomach rather it is used to hold the whole mixture while it is cooked by boiling it in water.  It’s served with neeps and tatties which are mashed turnips and mashed potatoes.  Delicious!

Day 160: One Day in Liverpool or Where is John Lennon?

I slept well for a little over four hours on a plane that was hot.  I sleep better when it is cold, but the warm temperature of the plane made me wake up a couple of times sweating in my seat. What is the point of putting pillows and blankets at all the seats when you plan on keep it at 90 degrees.  Okay, I may be exaggerating a little, but, come on!

I cleared customs and, after some confusion, found my ride to Liverpool.  I had a lovely conversation with my English driver about British cuisine.  I asked what type of food the English were known for and all he said was “fish and chips.”  I know that but what else? To which I was informed that if he were giving me recommendation on where I should eat in Manchester he knew a great Italian and a great Chinese restaurant that I could go.  I found this funny.

After a shower and a change of clothes it was time to hit Liverpool.  We walked the downtown area and went to lunch.  After lunch we pounded the pavement some more until it was time to catch our Hop On/Off bus tour of Liverpool.  We really lucked up on the weather.  We sat atop the bus and got some great shots of the city and the sights.  Spread throughout the city are statues of lambs with banana tails representing Liverpool’s biggest import and export. 

We bought a combo ticket that allowed us to catch the Mersey Ferry tour of the river.   While on the ferry the clouds gathered and it poured rain.  I was raining so hard that it was soaking the deck floor of the ferry five to six feet in.  Several times it was hard to make out the shapes of the building on the river banks.

After all that, we walked to the club were the Beatles originally played.  Interesting note here:  The club where the Beatles used to play doesn’t exist anymore.  The Cavern Club was the name of the place the Beatles played over 200 times. It went bankrupt in and was eventually demolished in 1973 to allow the construction of a subway ventilation duct.  What you now see is a replica of the club built on roughly 75% of the original site and constructed with bricks from the original club.  In 1997 a sculpture of John Lennon was placed outside the club.  Of course we took our tourist photos with the statue.

According to my FitBit I was pretty active and burned 2967 calories for the day.  Not Bad!

Daily Recap:

Matt and Kelly: Pounding the pavement around Liverpool    

Day 159: Liverpool or Bust

I know that I am going to be stuck on a plane for over 7 hours.  If you have never experienced this I can assure you its not good.  When you cross the pond to Europe you leave at night and arrive in the morning.  That means you need to sleep.  Now I usually don’t have any problem sleeping on a plane, actually I am so good at it it’s like I have a super power.

On multiple occasions I have fallen asleep after they have served dinner on the plane and woke up as they were serving breakfast. When the I land I have had 5 to 7 hours of sleep.  I wouldn’t go so far as to call it good sleep, but sleep none the less.  That is exactly what I intend on doing on this trip as well.

Why not help myself out a little and burn off some of the nervous energy I have.  When I got home I hit the pavement.  I ran as hard as I could for as long as I could knocking out the first half mile in under six minutes.  I slowed when I started feeling the oncoming side stitch and leg cramp.  Before the first mile I had to walk for a minute to catch my breath and walk out the pain. 

I then kept up a decent pace for the remaining time I had left.  Eventually doing just over two miles in 30 minutes and sweating like a fat kid whose counselor just found his Milky Way stash at Fat Camp.   Now I am ready for my plane ride to Manchester. 

With the remaining time I had left I set up my FitBit.  It’s another fitness monitor that keeps track of you exercise, how many minutes of activity you have, how well you slept, and so on. I am very interest in taking it for a spin on vacation.  We spend a huge amount of time walking everywhere and now I will be able to track it.

Daily Recap:

Matt: Run/Walk/Rualk before getting on the plane

Kelly: TBD

Day 158: Packing and Lifting Weights

There was a chance of rain most of the day and when I got home it was pretty cloudy.  In addition I had ran pretty hard the previous days before so it was time to give my legs a break.  Not that they were sore it’s just that history has taught me as I have mentioned that they need a break after or else I get diminishing returns on the run. 

I hit it heavy on my usual upper body work out.  By now you know the routine:  Shoulders, Chest, Back, Triceps, Biceps.  I loaded the weight as heavy as I could and still get out 10 reps the first set.  I hit each muscle group doing three sets and a minimum of 6 reps usually on the last set.  My muscles were shot.

Afterwards I still had packing to do for the my trip.  It had been a while since I traveled and I had that uneasy feeling I was going to forget something.  In order to make sure I didn’t I created a list and checked it multiple time.  Ready or not UK here I come.

Daily Recap:

Matt: Lifted Weights, Heavy Multiple Sets.

Kelly: TBD

Day 157: Can I Do It Again?

I have been trying to take a day in between jogging to give my legs time to rest. Today was such a beautiful day and my legs felt great so I decided to see if I could keep up the pace from the day before two days in a row.

I was able to keep a faster than normal pace breaking the first mile at 12:26 and the second mile at 12:58.  I felt good that I was able to keep up those hurried pace.  I am now constantly breaking that 13 minute mark. 

My legs did feel tired by the end; I had just abused them by forcing them to carry me at that speed two days in a row.  I know it’s not exactly a record breaking speed, but hey, I think it’s impressive for a fat guy.

Daily Recap:

Matt:  I pushed myself a little and kept going for a total of a 35 minute jog

Kelly: TBD

Day 156: Speed

It was an absolute beautiful day for a run.  I clocked the first mile in at 11:55 and the second at 12:18.  Despite being asked to move the girth of this body at a much fast than normal speed my legs felt good and had not fatigue.  I am beginning to believe that I by the time I’m done I will break the 4 minute mile.  Ok may not 4 minutes but I could get back up to my 10 minute mile from long ago.

At this point it’s building up the stamina to do it.  Although I have ran 3 miles or a little longer a few times in the past months I can’t tell you the last time I ran 4 miles.  Back in the day I could 4 miles in 40 minutes. 

That is what I should do.  Sometime in the next few week I am going to see how long it takes me to jog 4 miles. 

Daily Recap:

Matt: 30 minute jogging

Kelly: TBD

Day 155: Building Muscles

It was a late night at work.  I only have a couple of those a year.  It’s not the work that gets me at the end of the day instead it’s the traffic.  Atlanta traffic is, to put it bluntly, BRUTAL.  As I have mentioned in the past I try to leave at 4PM to miss what I had to drive through this evening.  Accidents, stalls, fires, you name it and I have seen it on my commute to and from work. 

I left work at 6PM and rush hour was still going full speed.  It took me 10 minutes just to get to the interstate.  Once there it a fight with other cars, trucks, 18 wheelers, you name it.  What a turn signal means to me: I am about to change lanes.  What a turn signal means to everyone else on the highway: speed up and cut that car off before it can change lanes.

Needless to say that by the time I finally got home the sun was setting and it was getting too dark to jog outside.  I toyed with going to the gym but the thought of getting back in the car and battling traffic there and back was just too much to even consider.

I have a full set of weights in my garage, as you know. I went heavy and did a full body workout.  I hit all major muscle groups for the upper body.  Shoulders, triceps, back, chest, and biceps.  My muscles were screaming at me for the last few sets. 

I did three 10 rep sets increasing the weight as I went.  I know I am going to feel this tomorrow but it felt good to push some plates.  I should have written down all my weight, I think by the end I had pushed six to seven thousand pounds total. 

It sure helped in burning off my traffic frustration and relieve some stress. I feel sorry for the people that have to deal with rush hour daily.  It’s bad enough when I get stuck having to drive in it.  If I had to do it normally we would be moving.  

Daily Recap:

Matt:  Weights: Shoulders, Back, Triceps, Chest, and Biceps.  Killed it.

Kelly: TBD

Day 154: Twenty Six Hours at Home

The morning was spent packing for Kelly’s trip to the UK.  There was running around that had to be done, things that had to gather, and so on.  By lunch she was pretty much situated.  We had her parents over and I grilled steaks. 

Afterward we leashed Chloe up and went for a long speed walk around the neighborhood.  We weren’t done yet.  If you have ever flown for an extended period of time on a plane you know that being physical and getting a good workout in before you fly will make you feel better and help you sleep on the plane.

Burpees were next on the list followed by push-ups, sit-ups, and finally curtsy lunges (I am unsure what they are technically called, they are performed by kicking over an object, sweeping your leg around and into a kind of squat curtsy).  They are really good for working out your hips and thighs.

That was the day.  This evening I drove back to the airport twice now within 24 hours and Kelly was back on a plane.

Daily Recap:

Matt and Kelly: 25 minute speed walk followed by a nice workout.

Day 153: Stuck on a Plane

I spent most of the morning running around.  Kelly was due in at 2pm.  I had to pick up the gourmet mushrooms for our steaks and wash the dogs.  Everything had to be set in motion especially since she was only on the ground for 32 hours. 

The morning went as planned and at noon I had my time carved out for my work out.  It was time to life some weights, push some plates, throw up some steel.  I used my free weights in the garage and took the time to run through a full body work out. 

I have the routine committed to memory.  Shoulders, Triceps, Back, Chest, Legs, Biceps.  Always biceps last. You use them the most throughout the whole work out you don’t wan them shot before you have a chance to kill the other muscle groups.

Then I got the call.  Kelly was stuck in LA.  Mechanical problems with the plane had her grounded and they kept pushing back the take-off time.  There is nothing worse than being stuck at an airport and being told to get off the plane and take everything with you. 

First off airports are miserable places anyway where everyone’s temper has run short and you just want to be there already.  If you have ever been on a car trip with siblings you know what I am talking about.

Mom, Dad, they are touching me…

Seriously it is amazing how many people travel with no regards to those around them.  I know this may be your first time on a plane, but guess what there princess, this is my second flight in two hours and if you don’t shut up…

Woo, I got off on a tangent.  So, Kelly was delayed and delayed again and again.  Luckily she was able to catch another flight out and landed about 7PM cutting her time at home from 31 hours to just 26.  If you have never had a turn around like this I can’t describe it.  All I can say is it sucks. 

Daily recap:

Matt: Full Body Weight Workout

Kelly: Stuck on planes all day  L

Day 152: A Beautiful Evening...

Currently evenings are hectic.  There seems to be too much to do and too little time.  Do you know what I mean? No matter how well I plan my time there is never enough of it.  I sometimes think that 36 hour days would be the solution to all my problems. 

I had multiple people ask me to join them for the evening.  Either would be fun but the simple fact is that I just don’t have the time right now to do much of anything. 

I don’t even know how to begin to describe the stress that I find myself facing.  Let’s use word association to see if you can understand…

Property…

Balance...

Europe…

House…

Exercise…

Ever have that point where you feel like you have been spread too thin. Stress knots your shoulders and gives you an upset stomach.

For relief I decided to go for a jog.  I let go of my stress as I jogged along concentrating on my breathing and enjoying the evening.  It was beautiful.  Temperatures were in the 70’s, we had a gentle breeze, and down the road I jog the smell of pine was heavy in the air.  It was one of those jogs were you feel happy just to be alive.

I waved to kids playing in the neighborhood and passed neighbors washing their cars and just sitting on their porch.  Butterflies fluttered in the air and dogs barked randomly throughout our subdivision.  It seemed like everyone and everything was out to enjoy the evening. 

Daily Recap:

Matt: 30 Minute Jog

Kelly: TBD

Day 151: My Own Circuits

In keeping with my mixing it up theme as well as my walking the day after a hard run, I decided to for a hard speed walk, really dig in and push my speed as much as I could, to semi rest the legs and at the same time get the blood flowing and work up a bit of a sweat.

After the warm up I had other plans in mind.  I had come up with a circuit that I wanted to try.  It went like this:

10 full body lifts (I did Dead-Lifts to Curls to Shoulder Press all in one motion).  No Rest.

10 Burpees.  No Rest.

Jump Rope for two minutes. 

One Minute Rest.

After three of these circuits I can tell you my body was feeling the pain.  Especially the last three burpees since they are full body function s.  My arms had a hard time holding me in plank, and  my legs were fatigued to the point where I could barely jump a few inches.

Daily Recap:

Matt: Speed walk warm up, Workout Circuits

Kelly: TBd

Day 150: Same Ole' Same Ole'

I got to admit this is hard.  Not the exercise, as a matter of fact, that is the easy part.  Blogging is the hard part.  I know some of my entries have been boring, heck I was bored writing them.  Trying to conceive of and jot down a daily topic takes more time than I thought it would.  No, I am not going to stop writing my blog and I am not going to stop exercising, that is not the point I am trying to make. 

Take today for example.  At 150 days in I am a little more than a month away of being half way through my year.  You would think that I would have a great topic to discuss or at least something other than just the facts.  The truth is, I am just like you, I am busy as can be and some days barely squeeze out the time I need to get some physical activity in.

Today, after work, I had multiple things that had to be taken care of and I didn’t get home until a little after 6pm.  I had to cook dinner, take care of the dogs, wash clothes, and get my exercise in.  I am not complaining, rather I wanted to show that just like you everyday there are multiple things that get in my way.

Today decided to take a long jog.  After all is said and done I needed to just get out and pound the pavement.  It is relaxing settling into a rhythm and just jogging.  I completed close to 2 and a half miles in 40 minutes, not a fast pace, but a comfortable one. 

When I was done I lit the grill and threw some boneless ribs on to slow cook while I showered. The ribs were for lunch the next day.  After I showered I grilled a T-Bone, not my favorite cut of meat,  but it was on sale. 

I loaded and re-loaded the washing machine and dryer and put away clothes all before crawling in bed around 9:00ish. 

My days are not exciting, they are just like yours.  I am finding time to carve out some exercise and so can you. 

Daily Recap:

Matt:  40 minute jog

Kelly: TBD

Day 149: Mixing it Up

I had all intentions of getting up early this morning and going for an early morning jog.  Notice I said intentions.  It didn’t happen.  I had one of those nights were you wake up at 3am for no reason and have a hard time getting back to sleep.  By the time I did get back to sleep the alarm went off and I hit snooze.  I admit it, I am a snoozer.  I am trying to break the habit but, is it just me, or does a bed feel better in the morning when you know you have to get up in 5 minutes.

Anyway, I didn’t get up so I didn’t jog.  I guess that because I had planned on exercising this morning I thought about what exercise I should do when I got home throughout the day.   Jogging is the old stand by and I seem to be doing it more often as of late. 

To mix it up some this is what I came up with.  I started with a 20 minute jog (still the best way to burn some calories and get the blood pumping)  Next I did several sets of full burpees.  I ended with jumping jacks, 50 of them to be exact.

I found that after a 20 minute jog the burpees were tougher than usual and I really had to push myself through the last few of them.  I did modify them by doing pushups on both the way up and the way down. 

Daily Recap:

Matt: Jog to Burpees to Jumping Jacks

Kelly: TBD 

Day 148: A Day After A Hard Run

As I have previously said, the day after a hard run my legs are usually shot.  Today was no different.  After work I considered going to the gym but decided against it since I didn’t make it home until a little after 5 and I knew two things. 1: the gym would be packed. 2: traffic to get there would be awful.

While I was thinking about what to do Chloe was dancing and barking around me, she was obviously full of energy.  It was decided then that I would take her for a walk. 

We hit the road speed walking.  I expected her to slow after a while but she never did.  We walked as fast as I could because she had no trouble staying out in front of me.  After reviewing the Run Keeper data I was surprised to find that several times we were walking as fast as I run, but never for any extended period of time.

In thirty minutes we walked almost two miles, which impressed me anyway.  Our average pace was 16:56 and we knocked out the first mile in 16:39. Again to supliment the speed walk I added three sets of pushups. 

Daily Recap:

Matt: 30 minute speed walk adding in pushups

Kelly: TBD

Day 147: Running Down a Dream

As you all know I have been chasing that sub 13 minute mile, and while I have achieved it for a single mile I have not been able to clear two miles at that pace.  I figured today would be different. 

I started out my morning as always with a Spark (it’s a supplemental drink with caffine and B vitamins, really good stuff)  after that I had a good breakfast and relaxed by balancing my checkbook, which I know my be anything but relaxing to some and boring to others, but it gave me some time to rest up. 

I had mentally started preparing myself by thinking of how hard it would be, but knowing I was capable all I had to do was keep one foot moving in front of the other.  I could do this.  I would do this.  A long time ago when fat Matt turned to skinny Matt he was able to run two mile in 20 minutes.  I am striving to do the same again.

I laced up, did some positive self-talk, and hit the road.  Chest up, head out, and concentrate on breathing.  I could do this. 

5 minutes in and Run Keeper chimed my pace 11:54.  Looking good, if I do say so myself.  I concentrated on running and breathing.  10 minutes in and I was doing even better than I thought I could 11:25.  The funny thing is after the 10 minute mark I start running up hill.  I dug in and pushed myself. I slowed down some I knew but running uphill was exhausting. One mile down.  My time: 12:04 so close to a sub-twelve minute time.

The back nine it would be called if I was playing golf.  I am not sure what to call it when you are running.  I know that at 15 minutes Run Keeper announced a 13:04 pace.  I was slipping and I could feel my body tiring.  I didn’t care I figured that if I passed out someone would find me.  I pushed myself to run faster.

At 20 minutes I had worked myself back into an 11:47 pace.  Remember it is all about averages. I knew I was slowing down and speeding up but at 25 minutes I was at a 10:53 pace and running downhill.  What happened?  I am not sure of much except that I ran out of gas.  I slowed, and slowed some more.  2 mines I had knocked out.  My pace for mile two:  12:40.  I had done it. 

I wasn’t sure if I was going to pass out or not but it didn’t matter.  Two miles with an average pace of around 12:30 I would take.  I am amazed at myself.

Daily Recap:

Matt: Killed a Mile!

Kelly: TBD

Day 146: Cleaning the Yard | Neti Potting

Don’t be alarmed there is more rain in the forecast and you should know what that means.  If it rains without me cutting my yard it will get out of control.  My yard still had some remnants of the oyster roast left, including the brick layout for my fire pit. 

I spent an hour picking up bricks, moving several large piles of fire wood, and raking the yard.  I incorporated curls into both the brick moving and firewood relocation.  I was feeling pretty smart for thinking that up. 

Once everything was good to go I pulled the ole lawn mower and went to work cutting grass. In the end I spent over two hours outside.  I thought seriously about jogging but decided that I didn’t want to over do it. 

 Daily Recap:

Matt: 2 hours of yard work

Kelly: TBD

It’s fall and while there isn’t anything blooming there are plenty of things dying.  I assume that is what has been setting off my allergies lately.  This evening I was severely stuffed up and had to use my neti pot. If you have never used one or don’t know what it is, it is used for clearing your sinus passages with saline solution. 

A while ago my ear, nose, and throat doctor recommended I use a saline solution to irrigate my nasal passages: Enter the Neti Pot. 

I did a little research into how it works.  It turns out there are tiny hairs in the nasal passages called cilia.  These tiny hairs wave back and forth and their job, WARNING: this is a little gross, is to push mucus back into your throat where it could be swallowed or out into your nasal passages were you can blow it out.  The neti pot removes irritants and “crust” so the cilia can work more effectively. 

There is the biology lesson you probably were not expecting.  

Day 145: Resting and Recovery

I found that the day after a hard run my legs hurt and getting up to any kind of speed is almost impossible. Instead today I decided to walk and instead of just 30 minutes I figured 40 minutes of speed walking.  It allowed me to get my exercise in and not do it in pain.

I walked before timing my regular pace just to see what I walked at, it’s at a little over 20 minutes a mile.  So when it came to speed walking I  tried to go keep a much faster pace with the pain.  After a hard run the next day my legs always fell like Jell-O.  They are tired and achy.

I used Run Keeper to keep track of my pace and it ticked out my pace as always every five minutes.  I just kept chugging along.  To my surprise I really built up a sweat.  I wasn’t expecting that since it wasn’t exactly hot. 

In the end I did I walked for 40 minutes doing over 2.2 miles and keeping a 17:47 pace.  Not bad, at least I don’t think it was bad.

Daily Recap:

Matt: 40 minute speed walk

Kelly: TBD

I developed this run theory after looking back at some of my blogs.  There were days were I would have a really good run, then an okay run, and lastly a crappy day and slow run. Since I am exercising every day I guess my body needs some really low impact activity to heal in between the abuse I put it though. I am asking a lot of my legs to haul this bulk around at close to 5 miles an hour.  

Day 144: 5 Miles an Hour

I set out today with the express intent of running a mile as fast as I possibly could.  Not only did I want to break my previous time I wanted to break the 12 minute mark.  That is something that  has eluded me for quite a while.  After all it has been close to a decade since I have been able to haul this much weight over land that quickly without the express help of a bicycle of something motorized. 

Much to my surprise keeping up a quick pace was actually pretty easy.  I thought my problem would be my lungs supplying enough oxygen to my mass, but it was actually my leg muscles trying to keep this mass at a constant speed. I became a physics problem.

I dug in going uphill and not only beat the 12 minute mark I would like to think that I shattered it.  Results of my first mile:  11:38.  I know, I couldn’t believe it either.  The only thing about running the first mile flat out is you have to turn around and run home.  A minute or two into the run on the way back I hit the side stitch wall.   It slowed me to almost a walk.  I had to take some deep breaths and work it out.  The second mile was nowhere near as good as the first.  In the end I finished with a 13:39 pace. 

Well I achieved one goal and fell short on the other which is two miles under 13 minutes.  It didn’t happen. 

Daily Recap:

Matt:  Did his best but fell short in the end of keeping a sub 13 minute pace

Kelly: In Hawaii, TBD

Day 143: Three Reasons

Second verse, just like the first.  I didn’t get enough sleep the night before and therefore felt tired and achy all day.  To make matter worse Kelly left for Hawaii today and it’s going to be a while before I get to see her again.  I should start back to AM exercise but I am not getting enough sleep as it is.  AM exercise would solve some of the problems I am currently facing.

First: I would get my exercise out of the way.  I would have to deal with it in the afternoon. I wouldn’t have to worry about coming home, changing, and hitting the pavement. 

Second: When I was knocking it out in the morning I did feel like I had way more energy during the day.  I didn’t feel as sluggish and I feel like I could think better and faster.

Third:  It may help me get back into my routine of going to bed early.  Lately the time I the time go to sleep has been creeping up.  9:30 to 10:00 to 10:30 to as late as 11:00.  When the alarm goes off in the morning I abuse the snooze button, sometimes hitting three or four times.

Now back to forcing myself to do thing.  I forced myself into a jog.  My body hated me and through a temper-tantrum the whole time.  My legs felt like I was running in a swimming pool.  Each step was pure labor.  I am not lying when I say that I could not have been happier when it was all over. 

So, I just want to say thank you for reading it has helped motivate me. 

Daily Recap:

Matt: Evening jog

Kelly: TBD

I had planned on adding my pushup routine in as well, however, after two days of pushup my lats and triceps were sore to the touch.  I think I need to rest them so they have time to recover.

Day 142: Work Makes You Lazy

What is it about getting off work that makes you not want to do anything?  Seriously, if it wasn’t for this blog I would have never have done half the exercise I have.  This is the thing that keeps me going.  Ever work in an office?

It is funny how sitting all day make you tired and robs you of your desire to even go for a walk.  Today is a good example of one of those days.  My job, while not stress full, can be mentally taxing from time to time.  I know I’m not doing brain surgery but sifting through multiple data bases looking for a diamond among grains of sand can wear on you a little.

Some days you just want to come home, have an adult beverage, and veg out.  For me that is when this blog hits me in my face.  Maybe that is why so many people have such a hard time exercising or staying health.  You want to, you plan to, and then life trips you, you land face first in the mud, and it points and laughs at you. 

By pure force I got out the door and hit road for a jog. After I start jogging and the blood starts flowing I wonder why I was having such a hard time.  Jogging does clear my mind and give me time to think.  After reflecting on the benefits it produces I wonder why I have such a hard time motivation myself to just get out the door. 

I think of exercise as ripping off the band-aid.  You have to trick yourself.  You have to give it the ole’ count of three routine and pull at two. 

Daily Recap:

Matt:  Typical afternoon jog with Pushup exercises

Kelly: TBD

Day 141: Happy Birthday to My Beautiful Wife!

 Happy Birthday to Kelly!

There was a lot to do when I got home today.  We roasted oysters on both Saturday and Sunday so everything associated with that needed to be picked up.  My plan was to go for a jog afterwards but after an hour of lifting and carrying tables, logs, bricks, and so I had worked up a good sweat and considered that to be a good enough work out.  Besides I had to get ready to cook my wife’s birthday dinner. 

To complement the yard work I did sets of Pushups.  I had read an interesting article today on how to increase your pushup level.  They recommended doing as many as you could at one time and then cutting that number in half.  No the object is to do three sets of your half number in 90 seconds.  From there you increase the number of pushup you do as the third set becomes easier and easier.  Eventually you will be able to do pushups for the whole 90 seconds and then eventually even longer.

It was a good evening we had steaks, wine, and good company.

Daily Recap:

Matt: Yard work, 3 sets of pushups

Kelly: Yard work

Day 140: Vitamin D

Vitamin D is one of the more interesting vitamins needed by the human body.  Unlike other nutrients that must be digested vitamin D can be synthesized by the human body when exposed to ultra violet light.  To sum it up in 1925 a scientist named Alfred Fabian Hess simply stated “light equals vitamin D.”

In the 1920s the scientific community was searching for ways to cure rickets.  A biochemist named Harry Steenbock demonstrated that UV light increased the content of vitamin D in food.  He fed this food to rodents with rickets and it cured them.  By 1945 rickets had all but been eliminated in the US.

According to the Mayo Clinic the major function of vitamin D on a biological level is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus.  Vitamin D is a major building block used to increase bone density.  Research also suggests that Vitamin D may help high blood pressure, cancer, and other autoimmune diseases.

There are few foods that contain vitamin D, they include: Fatty fish (tuna, salmon, mackerel, etc.) beef liver, cheese, and egg yolks.  It has also been found that some mushrooms synthesize vitamin D contain variable amounts of vitamin D as well.

The best source of Vitamin D is sunlight.  Interestingly cloud cover reduces the bodies ability to produce vitamin D by 50% and if your in the shade it reduces farther to 60%.  The type of UV light a body needs does not penetrate glass so exposure to sunlight indoors does not produce any vitamin D. 

The amount the body needs varies from male to female and with age.  I found some research that suggest a little as 400 IU for adults to 2000 IU.  Most of our food has now been fortified with vitamin D as well. 

Daily recap:

Matt and Kelly: 30 Minute jog.