Getting Loose

6

I know.  It's half a dozen.  It's the natural number between 5 and 7.

But it also happens to be the number of chin-ups I did in a row last Friday for the first time in over 40 years! (and this is a new sentence--I discovered after some research that this is my personal best EVER)

And I'm not talking about those kind of chin-ups where you jump up to the bar and on the momentum of the way up just happen to squeeze out one.  I'm talking dead hang, to chin over the bar, back to dead hang.

How do I account for it?  I changed up the way I have been working out.  I still do cardio-vascular 3 times a week, but now I do weight 4 days a week in addition.  And I have been doing weight exercises that have been targeting my bi's, delt's, and tri's.  I no longer do sets of exercises, but use more weight for a single set of repetitions.

26:26

I felt really good when I started.  I mean really good.  I mean better than I had in some time.  I could not believe it.  A mile went by so easily.  I was shocked.  I started smiling, and thought, I wonder if I can beat my old time?  It was just going incredibly well. 

I was shocked that I got through 1¾ miles and was doing all right.  I haven't done that well in a long time!  The second mile was not too bad.  I thought, I haven't done this well in ages. 

But, by the time I got to 2½ miles, I knew I was really huffing.  I thought, I'll not be able to beat it, but I ought to be glad I have done this well.  I mean, really!  So I slowed it down and walked for a few paces, and then went up to a rate of 7 mph.  I looked at the clock and I thought maybe I can do this.  The last ½ mile I knew I would end up somewhere under 27 minutes, so getting near the end I cranked it up to 8 mph.  And I'll be doggoned if I did not beat my old time by 1 second!  I'd say that that is darn good for someone who is 60--3 miles under 9 min./mile

Who's the man?

Ike Strike--4

I hate, I mean I hate exercising early in the morning. I just am not a morning person.

I can do it if I have to, but I hate to.

The mayor of Houston yesterday basically told everyone that only essential personnel should be working today.  We closed down the church on Thursday after some evening activities.

I usually work out on Fridays.  I did not know if 24-Hour Fitness (what a joke of a moniker—three nights a week they close at 10: some of my prime time to work out) was going to be open today, so, since my wife was going to be up at 6 a.m. anyway to run Viki Vizsla, wouldn’t I want to go ahead and run my 3 miles at the track?

Well, what a dumb question.  Of course I would not want to run 3 miles at the track early in the morning when I am grouchy and not yet woke up properly.  Besides I have a touch, I think, of the gout in my wrist of all places, and I still can’t do push-ups because it hurts too much when I bend that wrist (as if that had anything to do with running!)

But I jerked myself out of bed by the psychological scruff of my neck to put in my time (muttering a lot of the way internally) at the track—I was shocked that I did it in under 30 minutes.

It was so dark to begin with.  And then the first rays of dawn.  And then a few banded, high clouds.  Greyish.  Reddish. 

Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.
Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.

My wife reminded me of that.  Isn’t that how that saying went?

Chin-Ups

You know, I try to keep this from just being a brag sheet . . . But I don’t try that hard . . . heh.

Well, as most of my readers know out there in the blogosphere, I try to work out at least 3 times a week. And lately, I’ve done pretty well at keeping to that schedule.

Well, I hit another milestone for me. I was able to do 5 chin-ups in a row. And I am not talking about the kind where you do one and then just get your head below the bar and do a second, etc. No, I mean I started out at a dead hang, did a chin up went back down arms fully extended, did a second, third, fourth, and then a fifth. Do you realize (or maybe I should say, "Do you even care . . . ") that it has been literally decades since I have ever been able to pull off that feat? In fact, I’ll bet it has been over 40 years since I have been able to do that. Was I impressed or what? (And anyone who says, "what" is in trouble with me).

26:27

Oh, man . . .  I'm really clear this can't continue, and I have a hard time believing it myself.  But today I did even better by basically running 3 miles at a 6.8 m.p.h. rate.  After I had finished the first 1/2 mile, I was amazed at how OK I felt.  I thought sure I was going to be fagged out.  But I wasn't.  I got to the end of a mile and was no worse for the wear.  I got to the end of two miles, and I could tell it was taking a toll, but I was amazed at how well I felt.  2 1/4 miles went by, and then I thought, "Man . . .  I have come this far . . . can I do it?"

At the end of 2.5 miles, I was beginning to feel the wear, but I thought, "Man, I've only got 1/2 mile to go . . . can I do this?"  I was shocked that I wasn't feeling any worse.

I got to the end of 11 laps--there was only one m0re to go, so I even went a little faster.  I did not know what I would do as far as time.  I could not believe that I would hit it in the 26 minute range.  And then I saw 3 miles.  I looked at the time:  26:27.  I couldn't believe it.  I felt great.

27:17

Genesis says, "And Rebekah gave the savory meat and the bread, which she had prepared into the hand of her son, Jacob."

Exodus says:  All the posts around the Courtyard are to be banded with silver, with hooks of silver and bases of bronze.

Leviticus says:  If he dedicates his field during the year of Jubilee, the set value stays.

Numbers says:  to show the way ahead and bring them back home so God's community will not be like sheep without a shepherd."

Deuteronomy says:  God's curse on anyone who moves his neighbor's boundary marker.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

And I say that that's the best I have run 3 miles in years.

27:44

   No, I am not quoting some book of the Bible.  That was my time today for running 3 miles.  That's the best I have done in literally years.  I was running at a 6.5 mph rate.  I did not know if I was going to be able to keep up the pace or not, but I did it.

The Scruff of the Neck

Well, I went to the gymn last night. I usually try to go on Wednesday nights, but one of our sons was in town and I was helping him to move boxes. I was so tired and worn out from that, that I crashed in bed on Wednesday, so Thursday had to be my make-up day.

I can remember reading a column by Mouzon Biggs years ago when he was into jogging big time, that it never got easier for him—exercising, that is. You just had to have some discipline about it and do it. There is no way to store up your fitness. How nice it would be if there were! I almost always have to pick myself up by the psychological scruff of the neck and make myself go. I don’t wanna go. I’d rather stay at home and do any number of things. (Oh, let me tell you my wife’s favorite. I bought a SLR digital camera a while back, and still have never sat down to try to figure out how to use it: how lame is that?)

Anyway, I did my chin-ups (I can do 4 in a row now), my dips, push-ups/chest press, and I’m now doing sit-ups on an inclined plane that makes it harder. I can easily do 3 sets of 40, so I’m trying to challenge myself. I’m sure that I could do 80 sit-ups in 2 minutes the normal way. And then I go run.

Now unlike Ed Young who can skip rope and burn 100 calories/minute doing so, I can only burn about 17 calories a minute as I am cruising at 6.5 miles an hour. For me that is a tough pace to keep up. I’m good for maybe ¾ of a mile that speed, but then I got to rest for a while, though each time I after I rest (walking all the while), I then crank up the speed to a little higher until I fag out again.

Oh well, in my vocation it is often difficult to see a sense of accomplishment, but at least when I exercise, I can look back and know that I’ve gone through that grind and finished it one more time.

Ah May Be Sa-Low, but Ahm Shure

Well I’ve been told by a couple of people that I need to update my blog.  And maybe they are right.  It is a lot of fun to read others . . . some I anticipate eagerly to see what the latest issues are, and I don’t stop to think about there being any interest in mine.  And what is so sickening is that I had practically this entire post done, and something in TypePad wiped it all out . . . that is now the third time that has happened to me.

I worked out tonight. Still doing 3 miles in less than 35 minutes. That’s not too shabby, but it is not great I know. Every time I get sick or away from it, that time gets higher and the distance gets lower. There is just no way to store up your fitness. I try to religiously (no pun intended) go to the gymn to work out 3 times a week. I’ve done it three times this week, and am I proud? Well you can just pat me on the back any old time you please.

I’ve been reading the granddaddy of all the blogs. (The New York Times calls him the protoblogger). Dave is the guy who got the entire web logging genre started. He also invented RSS (. . . not sure what it is or does, but I gather it must be really simple . . . )  He’s interesting to read. His blog format is so naked and simple . . . such a contrast from these people who have so many splashes of color and fancy formatting, and bells and whistles.  He loves to rant about his Jewishness, but will also say he is not religious . . . he is liberal out toward the radical end of the spectrum and thinks he is somewhat mainstream, and he is intense with firm opinions. I read him to learn about what I do not have a clue about, namely, this entire weblogging medium. I am still such a neophyte with it all. I can see that reading these blogs you find out about stuff way, way more quickly before it ever gets onto any of the popular mass media. My problem is that I am so clueless about what I am reading from the geeky ones that I have to ask one of our sons to translate it all for me. One case in point is the phenomenon of FriendFeed. I   really   do   not   get   that    at    all.   Nor do I get Twitter.  But then it also took me over a year to begin to grasp about blogging.

I recognize blogging probably has a lot of power and potential that I am not effectively tapping into . . . but then, so does prayer. So maybe I’m guilty on two fronts there. Not to say that I don’t keep plugging away at both (and hopefully the prayer part way more than the blogging part).

It Never Gets Easier

   I have to pick myself up by the psychological scruff of my neck to do three things. 

   One was back in seminary at SMU.  And that was going to Chapel.  Without fail, I had 20 other things I needed to do other than that.  But I was always glad I went.

   Hospital visits.  They always take a lot of time, and again there are so many irons I have in the fire, that I can always find a reason not to . . . but invariably I am the one who gets the blessing by doing the visiting.  That has happened so often that you'd think I'd learn by now.

   Number three--going to the gymn.  I hate it.  In fact for some reason I woke up at 5:15 this morning and went in order to get it over with.  I usually go late at night sometime after 8 p.m.  But last night I was thoroughly and completely in a state of frustration trying to hook up a new amplifier/tuner I had bought for our home theatre system.  It was enraging not having the logic go the way I thought it should.  At one point things began to work OK, and then like a dew in the morning, it disappeared.  I eventually got it fixed in a fashion by midnight, but I never, never thought it would EVER take THAT long.  All of this is a long-winded way of saying that I missed working out last night (I usually go 3 times a week) . . . but . . .  when I go, I always feel better afterwords.