I got started on my new under desk exercise cycle last week. I am very surprised I like it so much. By Saturday, I was forgetting that I was cycling–it had a very minimal impact on my ability to work at my desk. I think this will continue to get better. I really do need to get myself a new office chair. My old one has been great, but is getting worn out.
Since I made good progress on the cycle, I decided I should not let it go to waste when I flew to work at the home office in Boston. I am got to Boston last night and am off to a pretty good start. I was frustrated that the hotel where I usually stay across the street from the office was full–partially due to a remodel of a third of their rooms. I got into a Marriott a little over three miles down the road and decided to try to walk into work in the morning and then home in the evening. I was worried it might be dangerous because this is a high traffic area, but there were sidewalks the entire way and stoplight controlled crosswalks across the heavily trafficked streets.
I stopped at Whole Foods (I really wish there were a better option than Whole Foods–they really do not have much of a selection of the kinds of healthy foods I like) on the way and got myself a sandwich so I do not have to leave the office at lunchtime.
This has been an enlightening Saturday. My plan today was to do a minimal amount of exercise and then celebrate Mother’s Day with Lorena. So, that I had the biggest exercise day in my new start on exercise was a complete surprise. In addition to that, it was a spectacular sunny day.
My friend, Gloria, has been using an “under desk” exercise bike for years. It works really well for her, so I thought I might give it a try. I bought the thing for $149 + tax and was honestly not expecting much. I have been very, very surprised with how much I like it. It is very quiet and as unobtrusive as can be expected. They even have a web site that converts my efforts on the cycle to steps and calories and posts it on Fitbit for more.
Lorena missed a day or two in her exercise routine over the Thanksgiving break. The first day she returned to work out, she broke her previous record by a good chunk. Maybe it was the additional rest and maybe it was all that good turkey and mashed potatoes, but she is less than a minute away from hitting her longstanding goal of rowing 12,000 meters in under an hour. It is hard to describe what a herculean effort was required to get this far. She has been rowing consistently now for eight or nine years, rarely missing any of her workouts–two days per week on on elliptical (45 minutes) and two days per week on a a Concept 2 rower (60 minutes). Congratulations on the new record.
For the first time in several years, I did a workout last night that was more rigorous than a brisk walk. I spent just a 1000 meters on a Concept 2 rowing machine and felt pretty pathetic when compared to Lorena’s 12,000 meters in an hour. Working out and eating right while I travel is hard for me. Still, I do not have any excuses. I am within walking distance of a Whole Foods (not my favorite grocery store, but it will have to do) so I can eat OK foods. There is no workout facility at the hotel where I stay, but we have access to a great workout facility with three rowing machines just like the one we have in our workout facility at home.
I ordered a bright red raincoat and had it shipped to the Boston office. Bright red because it gets dark early in the winter and I do not want to get hit by a truck. It is not really a winter coat, but something more than just a windbreaker. The plan is to wear sweaters underneath and get some weatherproof shoes when the snow hits. My decision to take Uber from the airport to the hotel and back seems to still be a fine decision because it forces me to walk the mile and a half to the Whole Foods (not a fan, but it is the only grocery store within shooting distance) and driving in Boston in the winter is, I think, a sport for younger men with faster reactions. The raincoat will join my Boston scale and a large container of skin moisturizer that I keep in the file cabinet at my desk. I am sure that repository will grow.
We LOVE 
After a month of upheaval, we have to admit we spent most of the weekend just trying to catch our breath and start in again. Now, though, Lorena is back in the game with her rowing. I think this has to be her personal best on the Concept II rowing machine down at Anytime Fitness. Only 400 more meters and she will have hit the goal she has worked on for over seven years now–12,000 meters in one hour. Kelly is on her game, too. She ran five miles on Saturday with plans to run six next Saturday on the way to a half marathon sometime in February. Last night, we called Christian, but he could not talk because he was at the gym. This is all good and well, but it is making me look pretty bad. I am still typing furiously most of the day, but have not lifted a finger to do anything other than to go on some medium distance (4-5 mile) walks and even that is awhile ago. I still have about 15 lbs. to lose on my current trajectory, but hope to be in the gym again before spring.
Sadly, I no longer have any excuses for avoiding exercise. Bob and Gena invited us over for dinner (of course) last Sunday and during the course of the conversation Bob tells me has a treadmill he is not using. Bob gets plenty of exercise at their property and he works out at the pool so he has no plans to use the treadmill for awhile. Honestly, these people are too good for us.
We still don’t have any appliances, but Mark is scheduled to bring them here and install them next week along with the propane tank and gas lines needed to run the stove. In the mean time, Lorena is on a regular schedule at Anytime Fitness again and I am working full time from my (somewhat messy) home office with the view of Rainier. This is ALL a very good thing. Mark will be here to do his work next week while we are gone. It is nice to have someone watch the house. The week after that is painting week and we should be all done.
Lorena is so close she can taste it. Three days per week on the Concept 2 Rowing Machine and another couple of days, hard on the elliptical. Her goal is to row 12,000 meters in less than an hour. She is only 25 seconds from that goal, but today (well, she might take one more shot on Thursday, but we are not talking about that) was her last scheduled rowing day in Texas. Of course she will take it up again when she gets to Centralia. One of the reasons we picked the place we picked is the Anytime Fitness right down the road from our new (to us) house. Lorena has been amazingly consistent over the last seven years or so with the last two years focused on the rowing machine. She has shamed me into agreeing to up my game when we get to Washington.
I have been wearing the Fitbit Kelly and Christian got for me for a present a couple of years back and my miles/steps are pretty good during the week. I kind of fall off the wagon a little on the weekends because of volunteer programming and church, but I am going to try to remedy that starting tomorrow. I have not been so great on the diet end of things–that self denial thing is not nearly as fun as getting outside and getting some fresh air. Still, I am down about ten pounds from my high and going the right direction. My buddy Lyle W. and I are competing a little with the steps thing over the Internet, so that is a good thing too.
Down 7.4 of 60
If I can walk to work and back every day and also walk to the grocery store for lunch every day (I am doing that now), I will have put in four miles and reduced my gas bill. No down side to that.
Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon day sun. I walk to and from a grocery store every work day to buy myself some lunch and get some exercise. I am beginning to realize that unless I want to remain damp from the exertion for most of the rest of the afternoon, I need to think about doing my exercising in the gym after work. That is really not nearly as satisfying as walking outside everyday, so I will probably just be damp until things start to cool down in a month or two. The walk was optimal at my last job in Oregon–it was a little further and a lot cooler. Still, I am thinking it is going to be great here in the Dallas area for all but a couple of months in the winter and a couple of months in the summer.