Gene's Inferno

I really don't understand the reference there, but I DID sign out "Dante's Inferno" from the town's library today. That's right. A L-I-B-R-A-R-Y. Not a LIEBERRY. I, too, was surprised that they still exist.
To keep this post short, I'll let on that I am going through a bit of a metamorphosis. Not a mid-life crisis, that's for certain. I passed mid-life about half a decade ago. No fast cars for me! Or fast women. Or any women. Or men.Or cats, or dogs. Maybe a fish.
At any rate, I'll continue to keep everyone posted here, to some extent, as well as on "the Twitter".
Whatever it is that you do, give it 100%. Just sayin'.

Today's meditation quotation is:

When I let go of what I am,
I become what I might be. 
Lao Tzu 

I like lemonade....

well, at least i'd better. It seems that I am either being handed lemons or picking them myself. Do you ever find yourself in that kind of situation?

This past weekend was a whirlwind. Saturday was AWESOME. Bryce and I spent a great deal of the day together hiking, geocaching, indoor climbing, and exploring the area.
Sunday quickly turned to a complete pile of crap, and my life may never be the same again. Instead of focusing on the lemons, though, I am bound and determined to focus on the lemonade.
Without going into details, I'll be off of twitter and facebook for a while, perhaps a week. This is actually a fairly crappy time for that, as I usually 'crash' during the holidays and need the support that i get from my online friends in addition to the support i get from my family.
To that, if you'd like to reach out or check in with me, feel free to email me at boutdrz at gmail dot com. That'd be excellent. I promise, unless you are a spammer, I will write back.
No, I am not in prison...

Leaving on a great note, though, I'd like to announce that I have been accepted as one of the new #FitFluential Ambassadors!!!! YES!!!! I got the news on Monday, and hearing (reading) it was one of the few rays of sunshine into my day. I am VERY happy about it, and greatful to have been accepted into the #Fitfluential Family. Don't know much about us (I almost said 'them' ! :) ?? Look us up at www.fitfluential.com.

In the mean time, hit me up with some email, ok? Thanks!!!

Be Well!!!!

Gene

Dinky-do and Boobie-do

“There is a pestilence upon this land, nothing is sacred.” –Roger the Shrubber-

Warning: graphic images…

A few years ago I met a nurse who coined the phrase “dinky-do disease”. I’ve since expanded it to include boobie-do disease. Bear with me; I’ve been wanting to write this post for quite some time, and after I read a status update from Tony (the anti-jared) in which he stated that he was happy to be able to see a certain part of his body again, I became re-inspired.

Many of us guys are either currently suffering from dinky-do disease, know someone who is suffering, or have suffered ourselves and are now on the mend. I don’t want to say ‘cured’, simply because it is an ongoing process, and not just something that you are able to walk away from. Same thing applies to the ladies with boobie-do disease.

Granted, there are some who are born with a distinct….disadvantage (?), and are therefore excluded from the diagnoses. What on EARTH (the ONLY planet not named after a God, btw) am I talking about????

Ok, here are the definitions:

Dinky-do disease occurs when your belly sticks out farther (further?) than your dinky-do. (Caveat here is that the diagnosis CANNOT be made immediately after exiting a cold shower, pool, river, etc.)

 

 

Boobie-do disease is the diagnosis when your belly sticks out further (farther?) than your boobies do.

 

 

 

Seriously. Take a look down, next time you are in the shower. Do you suffer from either one (can’t be both, really….)? If so, are you presently, ACTIVELY, taking steps to rid yourself of the disease?

If not, WHY not? Do you need direction? Do you need motivational emails? Do you need….what? “Help me help YOU” –J. McGuire- Really. How can I help? How can WE, your online and IRL friends, help? We’re here for you. For us.

Help eradicate dinky-do and booby-do diseases. You’ll be glad you did.

Simple as that.

BOHICA2012

I try to stay away from politics. I really do. I do find it interesting, to a point, to hang out in the corner of the room and listen, though. 7 times out of 10 I end up walking away, shaking my head.

Wednesday morning was no exception. Truth be told, I am not happy with the outcome of our Presidential election. I’m not going to get into WHY.  I just won’t do it.

As I read through Twitter and FB before I went to work, I couldn’t help but notice that most comments reflected my sentiments. An idea came to me as I was walking across the parking lot at work:

Capitalism. Stimulate the economy. We need to dump money back in, and SOON, before we can’t afford to do so anymore. And I can help. I’m cool like that.

I highly encourage you to visit my newly opened/shutdownbymanagement/REOPENED cafepress store and buy a little somethin’ somthin’ for yourself. While you’re there, perhaps you’ll find something for that special someone on your Holiday shopping list.

Here’s the link: www.cafepress.com/bohica2012

Clicky click click. Tell your friends. Tell THEIR friends. Unlike most stores like this who donate monies to a charity that you may or may not support, I want to tell you that:

ALL PROCEEDS GO DIRECTLY TO MY PERSONAL FITNESS FUND.

That’s right. Me. (unless my wife reads this, in which case that statement is null and void, Honey, and umm….yea….) (jk. she’s cool like that…)

So click on over and start stimulating. Thank you.

Influence v. Concern

This is not about running, though it could be. This is not about food intake, but it could be. This isn't about my job, my family, my friends, or my enemies. But it could be all of that and more. It is about Life.
Several years ago when I was riding a train to work in Sacramento, CA, I started listening to books on tape. Yes. Tape. Not CD. Tape. One of the first books I listened to was "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by the late Stephen R. Covey. If you haven't read it yet, or haven't re-read it in a few years, I suggest that you do so. Soon. Well, AFTER you read this, of course...
I want to spend a few minutes with you today a topic that is addressed in the first chapter (Be Proactive). After explaining that being proactive "is about taking responsibility fo ryour life", he goes on to discuss the concepts of the "Circle of Concern and the Circle of Influence." I shall paraphrase...
Each of us has each 'circle'. The one of Concern encompasses the things in our life which raise our awareness, but which we have little or no control. Weather, the national debt, the cost of gas, etc. The Circle of Influence is one that contains things that we DO (or CAN) have an impact on: our health, our children, problems at work, etc.
I've been thinking about this quite a bit, and how I can apply it to all of the things up there that I said this was not about (because, of course, it is about those things...). I've been looking at what I carry around in my influence sphere that really belong either in my concern sphere, or not in any sphere at all. (Weather would be a good example, but i haven't carried that one around at all for years. i just don't care about the weather).
Although I'm not quite ready to write down my lists, I am creating them in my head and working daily to stay within my Cirlce of INFLUENCE.
I leave you with this challenge: take out a piece of paper and pencil. make two big cirles (not overlapping). start to fill each one in with influences and concerns. if you find that there are more things in your Circle of Concern than there are in your Circle of Influence, you may have just found a way to reduce some of that stress in your life.
Take charge. Be in control. Move relentlessly forward.
What say you?

I’m slowly getting my groove back…

Yesterday I discussed how I managed to turn an afternoon of video games into an afternoon of video games AND a 10 mile walk. Today I tried to adhere to my schedule and do my Nooner workout from @DoBCx followed by a 5k run on the treadmill.

I took advantage of the time I had when Tracey and Bryce went to her parents’ house to see a slain deer. I’ve seen them. I’m not really interested, so I didn’t go. I vacuumed and did dishes before the workout, just to try to cover my bases. ANYWAY…

I managed to get through 3 rounds of the final part (“Happy Ending”). The title gives  a little insight into the twisted minds that  Steve and Bonnie Pfiester bring to their training. Lemme tell ya, the only happy thing about it is that the workout is ending…

By the end, I could barely do the burpees. I was struggling. I decided to slow it down and just get them done, rather than try to get them done fast, you know? I had to cut it a bit short (thank GOD!) because T and B were headed home and I needed to make dinner for B. (good excuse as any, right???)

I’ve written about the workout before, and will likely do so again. I really like how it manages to kick my butt in such a short period of time…

THEN I hopped on the treadmill to face down my 5k. I did the first mile at 7 mph (8:34 pace). Then I walked a lap at 3.5. Then ran a mile at 7.5 (8:00 pace), walked a lap, then ran 3 laps at 7.7mph (7:48 pace) finishing the last lap of the last mile at my “BQ pace” which is 8.2 mph or something around a 7:15 pace (or so). yea, lemme tell you. that was fast for me. so I walked another lap to get my HR back to normal before ending the workout. I was very happy with myself having done the scheduled workout!

I glanced at my calendar to see what is on deck for tomorrow, and was surprised to see the same thing for tomorrow. Hmmm….how could this BE??? well…..

I looked at the wrong day. I did tomorrow’s (Monday’s) workout TODAY (Sunday).

So? Nothing. Tomorrow, weather permitting, I’ll go for a nice walk in the woods, which is what I was slated to do today. No biggie!

Adapt, overcome. #relentlessforwardmotion.

Do you adapt well to changes or screw ups in your workout schedules??

Walk this waaaayyyyy….

yYesterday we were planning on a fun-filled day of shopping for provisions in the local town, but Tracey’s belly was not being cooperative, and we decided to stay home. She settled in to watch some DVR’d shows, Bryce went downstairs to play some NHL12 on the PS3, and I tried not to be obvious with my sulking.

I’ve written up a ‘training schedule’ (mind you, I am not yet an actual trainer or coach), and yesterday called for 15 miles. It is totally doable for me, especially at slow pace, and I just wanted to do it. I needed some time alone in my head, and was really looking forward to getting these miles done.

Of course, Bryce had different ideas, and wanted me to play hockey against him. I turn him down so many times that this time I just felt like I should play. So I did. Cool thing is that the treadmill faces the TV where all of the games are played, so I hopped on, set the speed for 3.5mph, and started walking. After the first period (never mind the score!), I was already starting to sweat, so we took a break so we could change into shorts and tshirts. I grabbed a sip of water, and we went back to the game.

He creamed me. So we played another. Toast. Another. Hamburger. Then we played best 2 out of 3 shoot out tourney. He won (I did win ONE game, though)! Another hockey game, then we switched to Madden13. Yes, he won that one, too. It was his day to win.

But I won, too! I ended up walking 10.3 miles while playing games with our son. In my book, that’s a double win. It wasn’t the 15 I was shooting for, but it also wasn’t the time management struggle that I had anticipated, either.

It felt good to find a win-win (kinda) solution. Here’s to many more, B!

What do YOU do when sudden changes impact your fitness plans?