My Legs Are Beat!

Yesterday, I roughly doubled the length of my longest run since I began working on my comeback from plantar fasciitis. That 6 mile run will become my short day standard as I train to run the Boston Marathon next spring. My feet felt a bit tight and irritated later in the day yesterday, but any pain was minimal.
One of the changes to my thinking on fitness has come about as a result of Patti Lyons Catalano Dillon. Patti was the first American woman to finish a marathon in less than 2:30, a mark she set 25 years ago at the NY City Marathon. Patti works hard today, homeschooling her two children, and promoting running among today's youth, especially girls. She co-founded the Connecticut Home Schooled Harriers with her husband, Dan Dillon (another international caliber runner). One of the other things Patti does is to moderate the Girl Talk! thread on Dyestat, where she is frequently joined by Ruth Wysocki, another international class runner, who is, I think, a few years younger. On this thread, one of the things Patti has stressed is overall strength. I realized that I was lax in this area, and have begun to do some lifting and other exercises to build strength.
As I have looked at my performances in races over the last several years, I have been disappointed that my times have not been closer (or exceeded) my old high school perfomances. While exceeding them may be an unrealistic desire, I expect I should be able to come close to matching them. If I can do that, my recent personal records should quickly fall. Thus, I want to run Boston next spring, then attempt a long walk (I am hoping to cover 100 miles in 24 hours.), then turn my attention to real speed, racing on the track.
As we age, most of us lose muscle mass. I am pretty sure this is what happened to me, and is one of the reasons why I put weight on so easily today. The lifting should reverse this trend, allow me to drop weight more readily, add speed to my running, and help me to get through life more effectively. In the meantime, from the added distance and the weights, my legs feel like somebody was pummeling the muscles.

Walk Your Child To School Day

Yesterday, my son's school had "Walk Your Child To School Day," though for some reason, it was not held on the day that it was done nationally (early October). So, my son and I got up and dressed and headed off to his school on foot. One of the nice things that his school does is that the principal holds a drawing of scheduled participants with the winner getting to walk to school with the principal. What made yesterday extra fun was that as we neared the school, we passed the principal and the drawing winners. I also had to smile when, as we caught up to other kids walking, my son asked for his backpack (which I had been carrying in order to try to maximize walking speed). It was clear to me that having Dad carry the backpack carried a bit of a stigma.

I am fortunate to live in a community where walking to school isn't a major undertaking. There are recommendations made for new schools that tend to recommend more substantial facilities, but in achieving this end, take away the ability of the children to walk to school, thus adding costs to education (for busing) and reducing kids fitness levels. It's a one-two punch to the communities economic well-being.

The Skinny

John Cotey's blogging, and since he's a professional writer, his writing's quite good. You can find his blog here: The Skinny. John's making pretty good progress, and it's a good thing, as he refers to this as "Project Public Humiliation." From a starting weight of 250 lbs., Cotey is now around the low-220's, with a year-end goal of 210 lbs.

He just posted a column about his mom getting him one of Leslie Sansone's Walk Away The Pounds DVD's. I found it pretty amusing. You can find it here:
John's Recent Column About His Mom

He also recently posted this picture, and all I could think was, "Dude, could you find shorts any bigger? Maybe you could take some of that material and make your son some shorts."

One of the things Cotey does well is keeping a sense of humor about his journey. I know I enjoy reading his blog, and hope you will, too.

Good Design

Design, especially industrial design, can be a wonderful part of life. I have always been a fan of good design and believe I am fairly knowledgeable about it. Thus, when I encounter bad design, it irritates me. When I encounter bad design in a place that should know better, it drives me up a wall.

I remember being in a New York hotel a few years back - one of the places that was, at the time regarded as really hip (how's that for an un-hip word?), and needed to use the men's room. When I walked in, I saw several people befuddled by how to get into the stalls. They were lacking in good visual clues to how the enter them. I was fortunate to see one of the doors open, and from that, was able to figure the solution. I'm just glad that was not an emergency run! I tell this story to point out what I regard as the cardinal rule of good design - it must not inhibit function and should, ideally, make operation more intuitive and fluid.

This weekend, I went to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It is one of my favorite museums, but I am beginning to have second thoughts on that. After paying their $20.00 admission (too much if you ask me - museums should be affordable), I went to use the men's room and when washing my hands encountered bad design in action. The lavatories were small white conical undermount bowls mounted to a black counter with very striking stainless automatic faucets. It was a delight to the eye and a nightmare to use. The sinks were simply too small to use without spattering water all over the counter. The automatic sensors on the water were glitchy and I watched as a young European accidentally disassembled the soap pump when he couldn't get it figured out (that's one that I can't really blame the museum for - the design was pretty standard there - but it did show the difficulty of understanding visual cues when your frame of reference is different). Since this museum holds themselves up as the paragon of good design, and thus, should know better, I would think they would be embarassed by this crime of bad design in their bathrooms.

Some Changes

I finally got up my nerve to mess a bit with the code for my blog. You will see that I have begun to add a "Blogs I Like" section in the sidebar. I am going to post blogs that I like up there, but will certainly consider putting others up on an occasional basis. Those that I lose interest in will be dropped (keep your writing interesting!) and you'll stay. Several others will be added and I may eventually decide to categorize some of them.

Maybe The Cloud Isn't So Black

Yesterday, I weighed in at the gym, just two days after I last weighed, and the result was significantly different. This time I weighed 168, down six lbs. in just two days. I'd celebrate and say, "Yay!", but I know it's a fiction. The scale is at the local YMCA, and I suspect it's seen some hard use. It is a doctor's scale, but I suspect lack of lubrication, years of heavy service, etc. mean that linkages don't always move as smoothly as they should. Enough analyzing of the scale, it is really more than any of us need to know. Suffice to say, I don't trust it.

My scale at home is an electronic one and I just weighed 172 on it, but I had a bunch to drink and a bit to eat before this weigh-in, so I think the truth is closer to 170. Regardless, it's clear that I can't really trust the scale at the Y.

Meantime, I have gotten on the treadmill twice, and have found my pace slow, finding a 7.5 mph (8:00 pace) pace a bit too demanding, though 7 mph (8:34 pace) seems pretty comfortable. I think part of this is being fat, part is the inescapable warmth of treadmill running without a powerful fan blowing on you. I'd be outdoors, just listening to my body, not bruising my ego with pacing questions, but here in the northeast, we're just ending 8 days of almost constant rain, and I don't trust the drivers.

The Great White Whale

Call me Lardbutt. In six weeks of reduced activity, I've gone from a fairly lean 160 lbs. to a blubbery 174 lbs. as of this AM. So, if I am to succeed in running a good marathon at Boston, I have some work to do. Quick math tells me that I should try to be down to 160 lbs. before year end, roughly some 80 days from now. Thus, in 11 1/2 weeks, I plan to be 14 lbs lighter. I should say that I'd had a bit of fluids this morning, so I may actually be a tad lighter than I'm claiming. Regardless, I must now buckle down and "do as I say."

So, the "lose 10 pounds, fast" concept suddenly has value to me. I must lose a bit over 10 lbs. in fairly quick order. I have been preaching the gospel of sensible eating while living a life that proves I have feet of clay. Well, it's time to remake those feet and put them back to use in building my base conditioning for Boston.

I should further say that I am now almost 25! pounds heavier than I was last August at 151 lbs. - my recent low weight. So, it's not like this has been a surprise, though the magnitude of the recent change was. Over the next few days, I will share with you a bit more of my eating and tactics I'm using to get the weight down. I hope you enjoy seeing me actually walk the walk, in addition to talking the talk.

Canary In A Coalmine

In the old days, coal miners used to take a caged canary into the mines with them. If the bird died, you got out of the mine or there was a good chance you'd die too. The rapid respiration and delicate nature of birds made them an ideal early warning system.

Today, many owners of exotic birds have banished Teflon from their homes. Fumes from heating Teflon are known to kill birds. Dupont, the primary maker of PTFE (the chemical compound of which Teflon is the leading brand), has acknowledged that at high temperatures, Teflon emits toxic gases. What is less clear is how much risk this poses to humans.

I have not disposed of Teflon pans in my house, though I have scolded my wife for cooking at high temperatures in Teflon coated pans. The answers are not yet in, but I'd advise caution. Personally, I am a fan of cast iron pans. They have the added benefit of building up your arms as you handle them.

There are many links on the web about this issue. One that seems to lay things out with some solid logic can be found here: http://www.ewg.org/reports/toxicteflon/toxictemps.php

Congratulations, Dr. Bannister

Tomorrow evening, that's Thursday, October 6th, ESPN2 will be pemiering their new movie Four Minutes, which chronicles Roger Bannister's efforts to break the four-minute mile. A mystique has grown up about the four-minute mile that has transcended time. Virtually all track races today are measured in meters and the "metric mile" is the 1500 meters race, but because of the mystique and the fact that most people don't know the comparison (a mile is actually 1609 meters) and there's a beauty to the "roundness" of the four-minute mile, the mile is still competed regularly.

Four laps of the track, each in 60 seconds or less, and you have a four minute mile. It's simple, the math is simple, it's an easy race to understand. Even though the current mile record stands at a bit over 3:43 (set by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1999), the four-minute mile is still the gold standard of miling. It's estimated that only about 1000 people have achieved this feat since Bannister first did it 51 years ago. I've had the pleasure of having seen several four-minute miles and quite a few near misses. Most of those I've seen were at the Millrose Games, the legendary indoor track meet, held the first Friday in February at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

A top miler can often run a four-minute mile at will today if conditions are good. Most others need both good conditions AND good competition to make one happen. I have it on reliable sources that the movie is quite historically accurate and enjoyable. The movie runs at 7:00 PM and again at 9:00 PM Eastern on ESPN2. For those of you planning to run a marathon this weekend (Chicago and Steamtown come to mind), what better way to get yourself into the mood?

A Happy Soreness

Yesterday, I was working as a volunteer at a local half-marathon. My job was with a group of bikers leading it. I had done some biking as cross training, but not nearly enough. Yesterday, I spent somewhere between 2 and 3 hours on bike, and often needed to slow down an re-accelerate. My legs today are sore, but a happy kind of sore. Every time I use them, I can feel it, but it's not at the level where it's pain, you just kind of know they're there. It's really a happy kind of soreness because you know the muscles will be stronger in a few days when they have recovered. If you train, this is the optimal level of discomfort, it doesn't intrude into your life, but it makes you stronger.

For those of you trying to lose weight, repeatedly pushing your body to the point where you feel this kind of soreness will increase your metabolism and thus, let you lose weight faster than you would have before.

September 2005 Index

Index To September 2005 Posts

General Health:

A Neat School Wellness Program With A Fun Twist is Described Here:
http://scootersweightloss.blogspot.com/2005/09/really-cool-school-wellness-program.html

The Dangers Of Excessive Drinking Are Addressed Here:
http://scootersweightloss.blogspot.com/2005/09/madd-madd-world.html

Hand Washing Is Discussed Here:
http://scootersweightloss.blogspot.com/2005/09/wash-your-hands.html

I Got Burned!
http://scootersweightloss.blogspot.com/2005/09/feel-burn.html

Dieting:

A Simple Way to Speed Weight Loss Can Be Found Here:
http://scootersweightloss.blogspot.com/2005/09/lose-weight-faster.html

When Watching Your Diet, You’re Often Warned About Empty Calories, But What Are They?
http://scootersweightloss.blogspot.com/2005/09/empty-calories.html

Want To Lose Ten Pounds Fast? Free Information Can Be Found Here:
http://scootersweightloss.blogspot.com/2005/09/lose-ten-pounds-fast.html

Inspiration:

Can You Imagine Walking Across The Country At About 350 lbs.?
Here is the story of a Guy Who is Doing That:
http://scootersweightloss.blogspot.com/2005/09/inspiring-story.html

Running and Fitness:

When Watching Your Diet, You’re Often Warned About Empty Calories, But What Are They?
http://scootersweightloss.blogspot.com/2005/09/empty-calories.html

Changing Fitness Goals Is Talked About Here:
http://scootersweightloss.blogspot.com/2005/09/good-judgment-finally.html

Other Stuff:

This Post Talks About An Amusing Incident At An Awards Show:
http://scootersweightloss.blogspot.com/2005/09/grace-under-pressure.html