PROJECT CXC TAKES A BREAK:

I am on a one-week hiatus from working out, after spending another fruitless... depending on how you look at it*... day in the ER yesterday.

After my triumphant return to the below-10-minute miler club on Monday, I began to have the same kinds of problems that have plagued me in the past and while I made it to work on Monday, I had to leave at about 3:00 and go home, where I spent the rest of the night resting.

("Resting" in my house means "only occassionally giving in to Mr F's demands that I play "Ding-Dong" with him, with Ding-Dong being a game where I pick him up by his arm pits and hug him and then swing him like a bell, while saying "ding dong ding dong" until he gets tired, which takes a while, and "resting" also means that I only spent about 20 minutes playing Guns with Mr Bunches, using his new NERF pistols that I can't believe Sweetie got him because they're so clearly dangerous that she must have been distracted at the time)

When it came time to go work out yesterday morning, I opted to try to sleep in, since I hadn't so much slept the night before, and then when it came time to go to work, I instead opted for a dizzifying drive to the ER, where I was run through the usual series of tests to determine how serious my inability to breathe was this time.

(Their answer:  not very serious, in terms of inability to breathe.)

So I spent the day having X-rays taken, and pictures of my heart taken, and a stress test given

(Actual dialogue:

Doctor: So you passed the stress test.


Me: That's because I studied.)

and a student doctor sent in to talk with me for practice -- turns out he used to be a photographer for Sports Illustrated but gave it up to come back, at age 29, to medical school, so there's probably something inspirational in there for someone to latch onto.

And in the end, they decided that it wasn't my heart this time, just like it wasn't my heart last time, and sent me on home with directions to follow up with an entirely new set of doctors

(Actual dialogue:

Doctor:  I'd recommend Dr. [Name Redacted]

Me:  Is he good?

Doctor:  Well, he's funny.)

and now I have agreed with Sweetie that it wouldn't be the least prudent course of action to take a week off of working out, insofar as I somehow passed that stress test despite nearly throwing up during it and having to stop it earlier than they wanted.

So the song for today is Some Nights (Intro), by fun., and it's not the same song you heard the other day if you listen to these. 

*While I didn't get to work and I didn't get to work out and I didn't get any closer, really, to finding out why I can't do all those things as regularly as I'd like, I did read a lot of short stories by John Cheever and bought a new book about the Periodic Table Of The Elements, so there's that.

Da da da da dadada, dadada, dadada... (Project CXC, Day XXII)

So look, I don't put the dates up on these posts and I'm not responsible for what day Blogger says it is.  And anyway, I'm completely untrustworthy in that all my lesser senses have slowly been dying out.

Mr F's first Kindergarten project!

I don't mean things like sight or smell; I mean the senses like "am I hot or cold," or "what day is it?" and lately "what time is it?"

I've always had something of a sense for things like direction -- I could usually tell if I was heading, say, west, but in the past few years I've noticed that I no longer can do that.  I'll be driving along, and for some reason my mind will say something to me like "Hey, feels like we're heading south!" and I'll glance at the compass on my mirror (It came with the car, I'm not the kind of person who buys a compass because I live in the 21st century and don't need a compass any more than I need a dousing rod) and the compass will say "West." And I'll be tempted to argue with it.

My sense of hot and cold left next: now, my body just randomly picks a temperature.  I'll be sitting at my desk at work, comfortably pretending I'm up to something worthwhile (I'm reading celebrity gossip so I know what Sweetie's talking about) and suddenly my body will decide it's cold, and I'll get shivery even though it's still 72 degrees.  I don't pay it any mind because a while later my body will decide it's actually too hot.

The time of day is worrisome, though.  Take right now: it's 6:40 on my clock as I type this.  To my body though, it feels like, oh, say, 2 in the afternoon.  And that's not because I got up early or stayed up late; I've only been up an hour, and I was only up until about 10:30 last night.  No, my body just decided that (a) 2 p.m. has a feel, and (b) it feels like this.

I figure I'm somewhat responsible for this, though, in that I've got a bunch of clocks that don't agree on the time; my watch says it's 6:52.  My cell phone says 6:39.  The clock on the stove says 6:42.  The microwave clock three feet away says 6:40.  And so on.

Today's workout: Biking, Level 5, 6 miles, 24:54, which is 6 seconds faster than last time. I swear I'm not doping!
Latest weight: 251.
Today's song that seems kind of creepy to have on a playlist but I really like it and also I can play it on the piano: In The Hall Of The Mountain King, Edvard Grieg

My answer: To spite the frog! (see if you can do better). (Project CXC, Day XXI)

Aaaand I see the posts are back to their regular dates.  How am I supposed to know what day it is, if the Internet isn't even sure?

In other news: 251

*does a little dance*

*gets winded from dance*

*realizes there's still a long way to go*

I lost another pound, which officially puts me... back where I was on July 24.  But it's a start! Or a re-start!  Whatever!  I'm in a good mood.

Also: I didn't mean for this picture:

 

to be a guessing game on this post the other day but apparently it was? So I'll tell everyone: The picture is a waterwheel at the Splash Park we take the boys to; it's about 10 feet up.  Here's a black-and-white photo of it:

And maybe I should make that a regular feature of my posts? Nah.  I hate gimmicks. 


Today's workout:  Running, 2.5 miles, 25:03.
Latest weight: 251!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today's song that relates to the title of the post; see if you can come up with a better answer and leave it in the comments! 

Why Did The Mouse Marry The Elephant? By David Grisman:

"No longer will I sweep for you/ for I am not your broom." (Project CXC, Day XVIII)

Just a little reminder: I post nearly a photo a day over on this site here, so if you like how I think but hate all the words, go ahead and check it out.  The photo at the left appeared there today.  Plus, there's Non Sequitur titles!

I'm not crazy about it being Monday again; this is going to be a busy week for me, but I've found that when I get up in the morning and I'm tired and sad, I can count on the fact that almost as soon as I begin exercising, I'll cheer up and be happier.

That's my thought for the day today. 

Today's workout: Biking, level 5, 6 miles, 25:00
Latest Weight: 252.
Today's song that doesn't seem as though it's inspirational but the next time you're faced with something tough try saying "I AM NOT YOUR BROOM!" and see if that doesn't get you through it:

I Am Not Your Broom, They Might Be Giants.

Also: In response to PT's question in the comments yesterday: Yes, I did.  I always raise my hands like Rocky.  There are a few tricks you can use to make your workout easier and more pleasant.

The first is: look up.  It's a proven scientific fact that looking up gives you a positive attitude while looking down gives you a negative one.  Don't watch your feet, watch the sky.

The second is: When you finish, remember that it's a big deal.  Every time I exercise, I figure it's better than NOT exercising.  So I raise my arms in victory, every time.

"You gotta be good/you gotta be strong/you gotta be 2000 places at once." (Project CXC, Day XVII)

Don't you think it's time we invented some new Roman numerals, for things like "twenty" or "fifteen" or "Pi"?

I'm sitting here a bit dizzy and soaked in sweat because I just finished my new weekend run route, which I call "RUN THE MOUNTAIN" because in it I run up the closest thing to a mountain in Middleton, Wisconsin.

Today, I took my phone with me to time the run and also to take pictures.  I ran for the first six minutes, and then alternated running for at least 60 seconds with walking for no more than 60 seconds -- and as I go on running this route, I'll increase that to 7 minutes/70 seconds, so on, with maximum walks of 60 seconds.

It all sounds scientific, doesn't it? Here's the pictures:

This is the start of the run:

 

Here is the top of the hill that features into so many of my earlier runs.  If you look in the middle top of the picture, you can see The Mountain.  That little split in the trees at the top of the mountain is my destination:

 

In the park at the base of the hill I just ran down:

 

Leaving the park:

I am now about a mile into the run in this picture:

 

And above that other runner and to the center of the picture is The Mountain. 

 In this picture:

 

...I am jogging along the base of The Mountain; the trail tacks back and forth up it.

 Here is the bottom of The Mountain trail; the picture is blurry because I was jogging at this point:

That picture above is about halfway up The Mountain.  

This one below...

 

Is about 2/3 of the way up and is where the song 

"Let's Go Crazy" came on my iPod.

 

This picture:

 

...shows the top of the mountain, and this picture:

 

shows the view from the top.  I took that as I jogged by.  

(Note the Water Tower. That's where I started the run.)

It took 19 minutes to get there.

This is on the way down:

And here is at the base of The Mountain:

 

From there, I just had to finish the trail.  This is at about 26:00:

 

And at 30:00 or so I'm back in the woods:

 

This picture:

 

Shows the trail where Mr Bunches, Mr F and I went to throw rocks one night,  and where my runs usually end.

And here is where I break out of the woods into sunlight:

And here is the final hill, which I ran all the way up:

Today's workout:  Run The Mountain, 54:06.
Latest Weight: 252.
Today's song by a band that I love even though I think they might be a cult:

2000 Places, The Polyphonic Spree:

"I'm a man of means by no means." (Project CXC, Day XVI)

Today was biking again, and I've been exercising every day; I just haven't had time to post about them because I've been busy suing people and stuff.  You know how it is.  If you sue people, that is. 

As is my new weekend thing, I read a classic book while biking, so you should take a look at how interesting it is to read The Odyssey on an exercycle while it's still dark out on a Saturday morning, because I don't have very much else to say about today's workout otherwise, but I will foreshadow tomorrow's workout by noting that on the weekends, I try to work out longer.  Weekdays I go about 25 minutes, but weekends I try to extend that and so tomorrow I will be running, and I have a plan for my new outdoor running workout that will challenge me far more than anything I've run in years.

Until then:

Today's workout:  Biking, 11 miles, 45:45 (level 5)
Latest weight: 252.  (OH YEAH, DID I MENTION I LOST A POUND?)
Today's song that reminds me of when I used to listen to 45's on my parent's hi-fi:

King of the Road, Roger Miller.

Where I Am In The World:

I'm only going to do this about once a week, so there's some movement.  Since Monday, I biked, swam and ran, and went a total of 20 miles, so I am:

At the "Abraham's Wood's State Natural Area," in Green County, Wisconsin.  Affectionately known as "Number 38" by the Department of Natural Resources,

The woods is known for its spectacular display of spring wildflowers and is noted by botanists for its floristic richness including two rare species. Herbaceous plants include sharp-lobed hepatica, dogtooth violet, false rue anemone, nodding trillium, and dutchmen's breeches. There are large clumps of Goldie's fern in the amphitheater and wood nettle and yellow jewelweed dominate the midsummer flora. Typical of a mesic forest, it has few, widely scattered shrubs including chokecherry and American bladdernut. An active Great Blue Heron rookery is found in the woods.

"American Bladdernut," looks like this:

and its seeds come in little capsules that protect them as they float in rivers and the like. 

Just thought you'd want to know: That's what I'm (theoretically) seeing as I exercise.

I've decided to circumnavigate the globe top to bottom. (Project CXC, Day XII)

With the six miles I traveled today -- you're right, Anna, that biking would move me faster than swimming -- I've traveled South to approximately Elver Park, Madison:

Which you might remember from "The Great Sled Race," which occurred on that hill up and to the left of the minivan there.

In winter, obviously.

Today's workout: Biking, 6.0 miles, 25:07.
Latest weight: 253
Today's song that is actually the original version of the remake that I listened to, let me explain that: I listened to Panda Riot's cover of "Paper Planes," but M.I.A.'s original is better so I'm posting that:

Where in the world am I? (Project CXC, Day XI)

I know that lately I've been on sort of a tear about societal rules, and how dumb many of them are, but they still exist, and not following them sometimes sends a message, too, doesn't it? 

Take what happened this morning as I left the health club.  At the entry/exit, there was just the one worker there, and she looked up as I left, and caught my eye. 

So I'm compelled to say something, right?  And so I do.  I say:  "Have a good day," and wave a bit.

And she said: "Okay. Bye."

Which, this: she didn't want me to have a good day, did she?  How hard is it to say "Yeah, you, too?"  Not hard at all.  But she didn't say it.  She just took my wishing that she have a good day and then sent me off into the universe with no good tidings on my part.  Which to me is the exact same thing as wishing me to have a bad day.  Isn't it?

Or did she just want to appear as though she didn't care what kind of day I have, at all?

Today's exercise: Swimming, 36 laps, 26:10
Latest weight: 253.
Today's song which I"m not going to say much about because I've got more to say after the song:

Gepetto, Belly:

And here is the more I've got to say: I found out that swimming 36 lengths in the lap pool where I swim equals a half mile, so today I upped my swimming to be a half-mile, exactly.  I also found out that at our club they have a "I Swam Lake Michigan" club where you sign up and record how much you swim and when you've swum a distance equal to swimming across Lake Michigan, but that strikes me as kind of a small goal, and so what I've decided to do is

Exercise Around The World!  I'm going to add to this a category where I add up how far I've gone, starting today, and see where that would get me if I were to travel around the world that way.  So here goes day one:

Where In The World Am I?  I swam a half-mile today, so starting at my house in Middleton, Wisconsin, I've gone...

... just up the street, almost to the McDonald's at the corner of Century Avenue and Allen Boulevard.

Well, you know what they say:  A journey of a thousand miles starts with wondering whether you should stop and get a McGriddle. 

(Someone ought to have said that, and now I did.)

My Very Excited Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants. (Project CXC, Day X)

I was supposed to swim today -- the new rotation is run, bike, swim, bike, repeat -- but when I got to the club at about 10:45, the only two pools that were open had a bunch of people in one, and in the other, the actual lap pool, there was what looked to be some sort of class with every lane full, and while I suppose I could have simply gotten into the pool and swum, I don't really like sharing a lane with someone in the first place, and I didn't want to have the awkwardness of walking into the pool to swim and being told that there was a class and I couldn't swim, which was a possibility, so that was two good reasons for me to not swim, there, and instead I went and biked again, bumping swimming to tomorrow.

And now I am back home, with the opportunity to post about Ulysses on this blog, and to now go help Mr Bunches re-read his book about the planets.  Key things we've already learned about the planets:

1.  Mercury is hot.
2.  Venus is cloudy.
3.  We only see Earth's moon at night.
4.  Mars is small, and red.
5. Jupiter is big.
6. Saturn has rings.
7. Uranus is tilty.
8. Neptune is blue.
9. Pluto is small and cold.

The latter is accompanied by Mr Bunches shivering and saying Brrr.  Also, he pointed out that the sun is exploding.

Today's workout: Biking, level five, 40:00.
Latest weight: 253.
Today's song, which I picked out because of the planets thing, I didn't actually listen to it while I worked out:  Why Does The Sun Shine? They Might Be Giants

That is, according to TMBG, the only song to ever be fact-checked by another song, by the same artist:

Which makes They Might Be Giants more factually accurate than the Ryan/Romney ticket.

Also, you should go listen to this very cool  song about the planets by Lisa Loeb.

It's going to take me hours to get to sleep. (Project CXC, Day IX)

The first day of fall, so far as anyone should be concerned, and I didn't work out until nearly 8 p.m.

We can't both go work out together, Sweetie and I, anymore, because we can't right now trust Mr F to the daycare at the club.  They're a good bunch of people there, but it wouldn't feel right, Mr F being all swaddled up in bandages and his winter hat (to keep him from picking at the bandages) and wandering around the playroom, with all those other kids and, like, three women there to keep him from trouble.

So we don't all go together to the club like we used on Saturdays, which is just as well because Mr F always expects to go swimming on Saturdays, anyway, and if we take him to the club he's going to think he's getting to go in the pool, but he can't swim for at least six weeks after his surgery, and who knows why that is?

Seriously: they told us after we left the hospital that he couldn't swim for six weeks, so we assumed that meant "couldn't get his head wet," but then when we had to take him back this past Monday because his head swelled up again -- it turned out to be just "normal" swelling; it would be nice if the doctors would give you some idea what to expect but they don't, so when you wake up your son on a Monday morning and his head is all swollen again you panic and call the doctors and end up sitting around the children's hospital again while they examine him and pronounce the swelling normal -- and when we got done with that exam they asked whether we had washed his hair, and when we said we hadn't, because, you know, can't get it wet, they said we should wash his head, gently, so now we can wash his hair but he can't swim.

Mr F knew it was Saturday, too, and about 11 a.m. while Sweetie was at the club working out and I was cleaning the boys' room, he went and changed into his Angry Birds swimtrunks and came into the room, looking expectant.  I changed him out of them and explained that he can't swim until October 1, and he moped for a while.

(Later on, he put on his swimtrunks again.  I think he was hoping he could trick us into going swimming: "Oh, he's got his trunks on.  We'd better get to the pool, quick.")

So I was going to go work out after Sweetie, but we had to give Middle Daughter a ride home from work tonight because, and I'll quote, here, "Something something something boyfriend car", that being all I got out of the official explanation.  I pointed out to Sweetie that it doesn't take two of us to sit in the car and drive Middle home, so if she took the boys and did the chaufferation, I'd go work out then, and that's how I ended up at the health club, reading (and Tweeting about) James Joyce's Ulysses, and wondering why all seven of the televisions had to be tuned to the Alabama-Michigan game.

Also: I worked out yesterday, too -- my running workout, and I made it up the hill and didn't walk at all, in just 19 minutes, so now when I next run I'll be extending the route.  I'm gonna beat this thing yet (this thing being my flabby body.)

Today's workout:  Biking, level FIVE because I upped it because I AM THE MAN, I think maybe I am a little hopped up on endorphins, 40:00.
Latest weight; 253.
Song that I felt made a nice,  poignant, CB-heavy counterpoint to Ulysses:

Convoy, C.W. McCall.

All this time, I thought the song was by Kris Kristofferson.  For thirty yearsish I've thought that.  Now I find out it's C.W. McCall.  Who's he?  I feel as though the entire world has betrayed me and my whole life has been a lie.  But it's probably just the endorphins wearing off.  Here's a picture of Mr Bunches' new orrery toy that he got today, lined up into a syzygy. 

An orrery,  in case you didn't watch The Dark Crystal when you were younger, is "is a mechanical device that illustrates the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons in the Solar System in a heliocentric model."

And now you know.

It's getting a bit political in here. (Project CXC, Day VII)

Today was a biking day again.  It went pretty fast, mostly because I spent a lot of the time posting to Twitter a series of #paulryansbigideas.

And although I should probably put this on my political blog, I have to, have to, point out what really really makes me mad.

Ryan and Romney have made a calculated decision that obfuscation, lying, and flat-out ignoring the truth and reasonable requests will not come back to haunt them at all.

Romney will not release his taxes because then he can make any claims he wants, and when people claim otherwise, Romney will say "that's just speculation" and dismiss the allegations. 

Ryan and Romney get credit for being "serious" about the debt and the budget, but ignore that Ryan helped destroy the (not very good in the first place) budget deal last year, and neither will give specifics about how they would balance the budget without raising taxes -- and when they suggest closing "tax loopholes," neither will tell what tax loopholes they will close.

And now, Ryan has just loaded up his speech with a bunch of demonstrable falsehoods, lies that he has already been called on.

People will say "oh, we expect politicians to lie," but that's a dodge: we shouldn't, and when a politician lies you should never vote for him again, but I might be the only person who thinks so because when the Huffington Post interviewed one Ryan listener after the speech and pointed out that his claims, including a claim that Obama promised to save a GM plant that had actually closed in December 2008, before Obama took office, that person, confronted with the fact that her hero had just lied in a nationally-televised speech, shrugged.

Biking didn't get me worked up.  Getting angry at a country that hasn't got even the foggiest concept of the truth anymore did.

Today's workout: Biking, level 4, 25:00.
Latest Weight: 253.
Today's song that actually came on when I was biking and reminded me that most of our country's problems were caused by electing an admittedly incompetent puppet who presided over 8 of the worst years in our country's history:

When The President Talks To God, Bright Eyes.

Gravity really likes me, but I think I'd prefer to just be friends. (Project CXC, Day VII)

Swimming today.

And weigh-in today.

I weighed 253.

Again.

*sigh*

I was even feeling pretty skinny this morning, and thinking that weigh-in might work out pretty well.

I don't know if I put on a bit of weight during the week Mr F was having all his problems and I didn't work out; I've heard that you can lose your conditioning in as little as a week, which is kind of funny because I don't think I was conditioned, in the first place, but also if that's the case then what about how I've worked out for the past week already?  What about that, universe?

I just need to know who to sue.

Anyway, for the past few days I've added another little bit to this exercise program.  I really really really don't want to diet or strictly count calories or anything, so I'm hoping this will help: I've cut out snacking after 8 p.m.

What I used to do was I'd eat dinner, and not have dessert at dinner time, because after the boys go to bed I like to take a few minutes to relax and read or watch TV and I'd usually have a snack then -- nothing large, but still, a snack.

I've also heard, though, that you're not supposed to eat before bed, so I decided: no more eating after 8 p.m.  At all. 

And so far I've stuck to that, and my reward is gaining a pound.

Knock it off, gravity.  I've about had it up to here with you.

Today's workout:  Swimming, long pool, 34 laps, 23:30.
Latest Weight: 253. pleh.
 Today's song that I was humming as I swam and then I realized that it talks about gravity which was probably why it popped into my head:  Down To Earth, Peter Gabriel:

 
 
While I was humming that, I was also thinking of Dory from Finding Nemo, and she inspired me to (A): just keep swimming,

And also to start a new series on The Best Of Everything, which you should check out: POP CULTURE WORKOUTS!

I'd like a tattoo that says "Pleasantly Inscrutable!" (Project CXC: Day V)

I had an idea for a SCIENCE! project this morning while I was biking.  I'm not going to say what it is, but it's easily the match of my last SCIENCE! project. 

That's all for today.  I mean, how much can you say about riding an exercycle at 5:45 a.m.?  Probably lots, but not today.

Today's exercise: Biking, 25:00.
Latest Weight: 252.
Today's song that isn't the song I was going to put up but I couldn't find a video for that one so I went with Love Astronaut by Murder Mystery, it's pleasantly inscrutable:

Project CXC: Day IV

This is the Project 190 Reboot; the daily exercises were interrupted by this, but I began working out against last Thursday and so I'm on Day IV (the Roman numerals show it's a reboot, not a sequel.)

For a while today, along the path towards the hill at the end, I had an honor guard of rabbits.  It was foggy this morning, barely able to see a couple hundred yards ahead of me, and about every 10 feet there was a small rabbit (probably not the same one each time, but maybe?) on the left of the path.  As I neared it each time, the rabbit would duck into the underbrush.  But the last of the rabbits -- or the last time the same rabbit came out -- jogged with me for a bit, going about five feet ahead of me, and then stopping, and then continuing, doing that for thirty feet or so.

He was like my spirit guide.

I'm only running every fourth day now, the same course, but I haven't been able to run the entire thing since that day I had to stop.  So I've let myself walk a bit of it, but each time I cut down on the walk.  Today, I walked only 90 steps; next time it'll be 80 steps, and so on.

And I read an article that said working out 30 minutes a day is better than working out for an entire hour, which made me first think Hey! I'm right! and then think Aww, man!.

HEY, I'M RIGHT: Working out 30 minutes every day is the way to go!

AWW, MAN:  Participants lost on average, 8 pounds in 3 months.

Today's workout:  Running, 21:57.
Latest weight: 252
Today's song that was playing while Thumper showed me the ways of the meadow:  Over The Rainbow, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole:

Not much to say... (Project 190, Day Thirty-Six)

Today was swimming.

The larger pool is closed, so I did 34 laps in the smaller pool.

That's all.

Today's workout: Swimming, short pool, 34 laps, 20:00.
Latest Weight: 253.
Today's song that I just found looking up songs about swimming:

Swimming, Vetiver.

"Vetiver" is also a common grass native to India.  And it's mentioned in the song "Find the River," by REM:

Which is a song I can play (and sing!) on guitar.  But it's not my favorite REM song.  My favorite REM song is It's the End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine):

But that's not my favorite REM video; my favorite REM video is Imitation of Life:

Here's a link to a bunch of posts I once did on REM, in case you're interested.  It includes a post about their version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

And here's an old post that talks about how I know about the Apocalypse thanks to REM (and Johnny Cash, and the New England Patriots*)

So, now that's all.

THAT'S THE FACT, JACK! (Project 190, Day Thirty-Five)

So everyone thinks I should just take a day off?

Okay, that speech didn't really fit.  How about this one?

No, that's the exact opposite of what I was looking for.

Anyway, I can't take a day off.  I'm 43 years old.  My body has been taking days off for years.

When you're 20, and you work out, your body kicks it into high gear in 0.00002 seconds (that's a Science Fact!).  You can lose weight, when you're in your 20s, by just existing.  A 20-year-old can burn calories ordering a beer at a bar.


But in your forties?  It's impossible.  By now, my metabolism has given up.  When I eat vegetables or fruits, my body is all "Eh, what's the point? He's probably going to wash it down with some Cap'n Crunch, so just send 'em on through."  Meanwhile, 98% of my cells are made of pizza and sugared cereal and Butterfingers, so when those things pass my teeth, all their former buddies are there saying "Hey, why don't you hang around a decade or so and we'll see how crazy it makes this guy when he somehow feels hungry despite having tons of fat stored up!"

(Which is how you know that at least some Science Facts, like "Your Body Stores Fat In Case It Gets Hungry" are wrong: if that was true, your body would never get hungry until you were out of fat, so either scientists, or your body, or both, are lying to you.)

So I have to make my body think it's 20 again.  Or make it realize that until it gets into shape, this continues and I'll be up at 5:45 every day.

Today's workout: Biking, level 3, 25:00.
Latest weight: 253.
Today's motivational song that I didn't listen to while I biked because my iPod battery wore down; lately it is impossible for me to keep all my electronics charged up.  I can't get my body to lose weight, but I can get my gadgets to shed electricity. Nice:

If you read to the end, you will get to decide whether Sweetie is a patriot or not. (Project 190, Day Thirty-Four)

There are victories, and then there are victories.

I wasn't going to raise my arms in the V-For-Victory today after my run because it was an awful run.  I got maybe 7 minutes into it, out there on the nature trail, and I knew it wasn't going well because my entire body was rebelling, constantly trying to stop jogging and not even walk, just trying to stop and sit down.

I forced myself to go the seven minutes, plodding through every minute of it, and then walked-and-ran the rest of the trail, walking 100 steps, then running 100 steps, and so on, until I got done, each step harder than the last.

Usually, fighting through that kind of job makes me at least feel proud, like I'm pushing myself the way Alberto Salazar might have (only about 1/1,000,000th as tough, if that) but today it didn't even do that. It was just grim determination that kept me going, the grit-your-teeth-I'm-not-giving-up-and-just-walking kind of thinking that made me finish up without just walking.

I jogged the last 100 yards, and the whole time I was thinking "No V-for-Victory today," but in the end I decided that this was a victory, because I'd gone on running as much as I could even in the face of my own mind fighting me.  So I raised my arms and went inside.

I was sitting on the floor, drinking a glass of milk, and I told Sweetie how bad it had been today.

"I just didn't have it," I said.

"Maybe you need to take a day off," Sweetie said.

I shook my head: "No.  This is DAY THIRTY-FOUR. That's the whole point.  No days off."

"It's just America," Sweetie said.

I nearly choked on my milk and asked her to explain, please, and she said:

"That's just America. You take a day off from exercise."

Today's workout: Running, the long outside run, 43:09. With lots of walking mixed in.
Latest Weight: 253.
Today's song that probably set the mood for me being in a grimly determined mindset:

Bale Out: The Christian Bale Remix.(NSFW)

PS: The picture on the front of this post is one of the hills I run up at the end of a run. 

When I swim, I fly. (Project 190, Day Thirty-Three)

I am really getting to like swimming. 

Today, I had an opportunity to swim in the shorter pool, while the boys played, because Mr F didn't want to go to the playroom while I worked out, so I took the boys to the pool and swam with them while Sweetie worked out.

When Sweetie was done, she came to watch the boys and I could have stayed in the shorter pool and swam but I got out and went to the long pool, where I did my laps.

I like the feeling of swooping through the water.  I know I'm not swooping, as such, but it feels like I am, and whereas running is clunky and slow and hot and sweaty, swimming is all grace and clean lines and cool water.

Or so I imagine; I don't know what I look like as I swim.

Plus, when I swim, my thoughts are more and more dreamlike.  When I swim, I don't think in words, but I get pictures and images and ideas and I jump from subject to subject, my mind sort of tossing and turning the way my body does on a cool summer night when I wake up and realize it's only 11 p.m. and I've got hours left to sleep so I can relax.

Here is a story I thought of today while I swam -- it's a 250=1 story:

Icarus’ Lesser-Known Sister.

Sphyraena was her name, and she, like her brother, had her own adventure, but in her case it was not dangerous.  Where her brother flew to close to the sun, Sphyraena who was called Rae by her friends and her mother who doted on her swam to close to the water.

This did not pose any peril to her.  The water loved her, as it loves everyone.  Water, given a chance, will envelope you and caress you and support you, keeping you safe and sound, and Rae loved the water like it loved her, swimming in it as often as she could until one day she swam too close to it, or it too close to her.

In any event, whoever approached the other first that day, neither ever let go, but it was impossible for Rae to fall to her death with the loving embrace of her lifelong friend, and so she swam on endlessly, learning to dive deeper and deeper and come up less and less frequently.  She did not need her legs as much as she used to and kept them folded together and did not need her arms, they only got in the way and so she kept them alongside her.

She came to love the water so much, and it her, that she let it inside her lungs and the water did not drown her as it did others but fed her air, and Rae never came back up but swam forever.

**********************************************

Today's workout: Swimming, 30 laps, 21:20.
Latest weight: 253.
Today's song that I listened to actually last night when the boys and I were driving back from the pool because the classical music radio station was doing a tribute to Marvin Hamlisch:

The Entertainer (Scott Joplin; Marvin Hamlisch arrangement)

  

An armless Jimmy Fallon goes biking, or something. (Project 190, Day Thirty-Two)

Today's workout didn't really feel like working out.

I didn't do it first thing in the morning; I had to get up early to get on the road early to get to a trial that started early --

we won, so I am something like 20 for 21 in the last month or so

-- and I knew I'd be back from that by about twelve, so I decided that I'd then go do a workout after that before doing some work from home, and as a result, I got to the health club about 12:30 and did some biking on the reclining bike for 30 minutes, while I read (among other things) the short story Armless Maidens of the American West, which is a very good short story, the kind of story that creeps up on you and only after you're done reading it do you start to realize how creepy it is, really.

And what's notable about that, too, is that I remembered hearing about the story but hadn't saved the link so I decided to try to find it while I biked, and I googled what I remembered about it which was:

A. That it was about armless
B.  Women and
C.  Was in a magazine.

So I googled Armless Woman Magazine because that was the best lead I had, and it turns out that there are lots of links related to armless women, some of them inspirational, some of them weird, none of them really the story I was looking for.

But I found the story and I finished biking, but I think I'm going to have to up the levels again because as I began with, the exercise didn't feel all that much like exercise today.

Now I am going to take Mr Bunches and Mr F to the big pool.

Today's workout: Biking, level 2, 30:00.
Latest Weight: 253.
Today's song that I listened to while typing this because I can't remember what I listened to while biking, really, the 30 minutes just whizzed right by and I can hardly remember them even though it was only, like, 4 hours ago:

Streamline, Newton

Which you may also know as the Jimmy Fallon drinks Pepsi song:

But I had to watch "Home Improvement" on the club's TVs while I ran, which was a bummer. (Project 190, Day 31)

Here's how I know Project 190 is working, no matter WHAT stupid gravity has to say about it.

3 weeks ago, I jogged on the treadmill and did 2.5 miles in just over 30 minutes -- about a 12:00 mile.

Today, I did the treadmill again (it was raining out this morning) and did 2 miles in 20:47.

Today's workout: 2 miles, treadmill, 20:47.
Latest weight: 253.
Today's song that I listened to while jogging because I was kind of in a mellow mood on a rainy Thursday morning:

Music Box Dancer, Frank Mills.