HEALTHIERKEN's SparkPeople Blog

WNGD May 4

Mon, 13 May 2013 01:08:35 EST

And I went and missed it. How 'bout you?
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Unusual start to the day.

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:30:13 EST

Felt *so* good to wake up today. I've been looking forward to this completely schedule-free day for a couple of weeks. Time to Spark properly. Time to garden. Time to suntan. Bliss.

Woke up early without the benefit of the alarm. Gave thanks for the beauty of the perfect sunny morning. Got up, turned on the coffee, and did my customary walk from window to window, revelling in nature's beauty on all sides. When I got to the windows overlooking the lake, I noticed something s...

I ran all the way : )

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:52:35 EST

How could I not? Adrenalin! Excitement! Volunteers! Music! Good weather! Encouraging bystanders! Great running partners! The Sun Run was definitely a great experience for me, one I'll want to repeat. Plans already in place for next year--the 30th consecutive Sun Run!--and Sis and I have our eyes peeled for a HM event this summer.

Thanks so much, SparkFriends for all your encouragement and for sharing your own excitement at participating in Events. I think that was what prodd...

Inexplicably sanguine.

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 01:31:22 EST

That's how I'm feeling on this eve of my first major running event. It's the Vancouver Sun Run, 10K. 47,000 partipants registered, several thousand last-minute entrants in response to the Boston Marathon tragedy.

I expected to feel terrified at this point. I know I haven't trained as consistently as I should have. I know I didn't prepare mentally--it was a busy week leading up to now. But nevertheless, I feel sanguine about it. Excited--in a low-key sort of way. But quite ...

Not the world from which I retired!

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:40:49 EST

So, I worked as Teacher-on-Call in a secondary classroom for three days this week. Senior class of First Nations Studies; Grade 10 "Planning" class; grade 11/12 Communications (senior English for non-university-bound students), and 9th grade Social Studies. Nice kids, mostly. Well-planned lessons and classroom systems. Good back-up from the administration. But--teaching and learning? Wow! 'way out there!

When I was doing Teacher-Librarian training, we were encouraged to be t...

I bucked The Suck! I bucked The Suck!

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 01:33:12 EST

Thank you, GETSTRONGRRR of 50+ Males for naming the demon that was making it easy for me to postpone exercise! The Suck. The devious, insidious, deleterious *bleeping* Suck.

But I bucked The Suck today.

I knew I had to get in some miles or I'd *never* be ready for my 10K event in a week. So I dutifully changed, warmed up and began dreadmilling.

I hurt. The Suck said, "Better not exercise today. It kind of hurts, maybe you still need some healing time ...

wha happened?

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 01:27:34 EST

Wowsers, did this day ever get away from me!

A close friend who lives away for the winter phoned this morning to say she was back early this year. Of course we needed to catch up, so I invited her for lunch, not sure what if anything we had in the house for hosting a lunch.

DW had a sleepless night last night so needed to sleep this morning. It was all up to me! Found all the makings for turkey soup and cornmeal muffins and a dessert and flew at it, making lunch, ti...

New profile pic, new target.

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:31:43 EST

So. 21.097494?
The metric equivalent to 13.1 miles.

June 22, 2013?
12 training weeks from March 31, the day I'll start training to run a half-marathon.

New target?
To run 21.097494 km on June 22.

I'll probably be running by myself, unless I decide to organize a local HM event.
What's bizarre about this target is that until a year ago, I've never considered myself a runner. Then last year I trained for and ran 10k, plus. Wasn't *so* har...

Good start : )

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 02:26:30 EST

OK. So my body is still on Standard Time. Couldn't get up with the alarm this morning. Good thing I had no schedule today : ). Shoveled snow, ticking off two "Other" Goals: Do something energetic outdoors; and get some exercise minutes. Meals off-schedule with the clock all day but who cares? I'm retired. I'm on my own schedule this week. Well, at least today and tomorrow : )

So, did I do my 10K event training? Did I? Did I? YES I DID! Did it too late in the day, really...

We know where this is going

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:35:51 EST

39
I'm blaming it on "Spring-ahead" malaise. I'm blaming it on working 5 successive school days. I'm blaming it on too many meetings. I'm blaming it on too many trips to the 'city'. I'm blaming it on anything but myself. No matter what I blame it on, I can't pretend I don't know where this is going.

Two weeks without blogging. A couple of days not even spinning the SparkPeople log-in wheel. Ten days or so without 10k run training. A week without facing the...

Getting a head start

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 01:26:39 EST

Usually I do not expect to work out on a Sunday. I'm not home from church till well into lunch time, and who wants to miss his after-lunch nap? After napping I tend to want to Spark and putter at a bit of chores and then make some supper.

My usual plan is to run-train on Mondays, Wednesdays and one other day. This week, though, we go to the 'city' on Tuesday for GS's 4th birthday : ) Then I work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as a grade 4/5 teacher. I'll definitely be too ti...

A Good Week . . .

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 01:49:11 EST

. . . except for the weigh-in. And I don't mean the weigh-in was bad, it just wasn't good. Danged scale still won't dip : ( I only want it to hit 145 one time, just *one time*!

I did meet my exercise goals, though. Did 3 days of Sun Run training, a long session, a short session and a long session. The training regime at this point usually nets me about 3k in distance so after I finish the training pattern of run/walk, run/walk I just keep on walking till I've covered a total o...

Overcoming Adversity or Procrastination?

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:33:12 EST

Adversity or Procrastination, one or the other kept me from my run training for a few guilt-stricken days. Oh, I know I hurt my ankle on Friday and so I *could* claim adversity was keeping me sedentary. But really? Really, I suspect I could have run yesterday but I didn't "feel" like it. I think I have to call that procrastination : )

Whichever it was, I overcame it today by shoveling snow for half an hour, dreadmilling for an hour and stretching for 2o minutes. Fitness Tracke...

Shoulda when I coulda!

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 02:02:20 EST

Should have run a couple of times last week. Before I turned my ankle yesterday. Now it'll be a few days to a week till I *can* run again. Unloading some chairs from the van. Stepped on a bit of ice on the driveway, staggered and went down. Right ankle went completely u-shaped, or that's what it felt like. Nothing snapped and it's only somewhat swollen today, only slightly discoloured where a spat would cover the outside of the foot. Only slightly painful to walk on. Only a constant re...

Still sinning,

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:49:00 EST

as in archery (missing the mark) as opposed to endangering my hereafter (that's for a huge confessional time in a different forum : )

The mark was 145 lb by today. Missed it. I'm still hovering around 150.

Gotta get me a whole new quiver full of bolts and develop a much steadier hand and eye.
Gotta quit wavering and instead keep the target firmly in my sights.
Gotta believe the Nutrition Tracker when it says I've over-caloried or 0ver-fatted or over-salte...

A blog a week??

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 02:18:47 EST

Not good enough. I *thought* blogs several times this week, but did I write them??? Noooo!

I thought about blogging on Thursday when I dreadmilled to good effect--5 km; I thought about blogging on Friday at the end of a day being the teacher in a grade 2 class, but I fell asleep instead : ) Gosh, those little folk make a guy work hard. But they're so much fun. By the end of the day I had a stack of gifts: special "For you, Teacher!" drawings and Valentines. Did I ever notice h...

Drained.

Sat, 2 Feb 2013 23:39:56 EST

In a good way.
I gave blood today.
I always feel good about that.

I feel good that I'm blessed with health that lets me be a renewable resource : ) I feel good that I'm able to get to a blood donor clinic every 8 weeks so I can give regularly--all my working career I wasn't able to get to clinics as they were always on week days and 100 miles away from where we live. I feel good that somebody will survive some trauma because I had something to give today.
...

"I Feel Good . . . ."

Fri, 1 Feb 2013 23:59:40 EST

. . . on a couple of levels.

My psyche feels good (can pysche feel good?) because I *finally* started my training regimen in preparation for the Vancouver Sun Run, a 10k event I'm joining in April. I did it on the Dreadmill, not outdoors--DW thinks I shouldn't do long walks outdoors alone as there are reports of cougars-make that mountain lions-in the neighbourhood.

My body feels good because I exercised.

My confidence feels good (can confidence feel g...

I don't know how you do it!

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:31:00 EST

You folks who aren't retired.

I don't know how you have oomph to exercise on work days.

I've been called in to work every day this week, and boy! does that wear me out.

And it's not a tough assignment: Teacher On Call for the secondary grades science teacher. Five good classes a day, nice kids, well-prepped lessons, beautiful classroom, upbeat school.

So what's the deal? Well, I think it's this: when a guy spends most of his day pleasing...

Shoveling today was not for fun!

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 01:42:49 EST

Our unseasonal thaw gave me a major shoveling project overnight. When I got up this morning, the snow had slid off the roof, inundating the steps and blocking a lot of the parking space. Now, having slid down the roof and hit the ground hard, this snow was packed, and I mean PACKED! No more Mr. Fluffy Snow, no sir-ee! Had to chop at it with a spade before I could begin to move it with a shovel or pusher. But again, a couple of hours of reasonably strenuous work and hey, presto! I've bur...

Embracing my Inner Child

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:54:01 EST

The skating rink is done, I mean the Big People skating rink. Cleared of snow. Ready to use! Got it finished Tuesday afternoon.

So what to do for exercise next? Well, I had started a snow fort prior to the last big snowfall. It needed salvaging. That was yesterday's exercise, shoveling snow out of the fort and piling it high around the perimeter walls, placing extra in strategic locations so I can carve out observation towers after the snow packs. Then a thought struck me:...

It's done!

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 01:49:41 EST

The rink, that is.
That project that has given me blogging fodder for a week and a half : ) I finished clearing the Big People rink today--it was too dark to take pictures by the time I finshed, that's tomorrow's project. Today I clear the last snow-bound third of the rink, and then re-cleared the other two-thirds of the fresh snow that had fallen since I cleared them last week. Took about two and a half hours, I'm tired but it sure is fun entering 200 minutes of exercise in the fi...

Cold, dry snow . . .

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 00:35:24 EST

. . . is much easier to move than moister snow. Not surprised, just saying . . . .

With just 10 more degrees of cold (can you have 'more cold' or just less warmth??) here today than a couple of days ago I'm able to move rink snow like a snowblower! Well, not quite, but today I was able to move as much snow in one hour as it took two hours to move day before yesterday.

Now, I agree with all you commenters who suggested letting the Dads of the Grands clear more ice i...

The snow keeps coming down and I keep shoveling it off the rink.

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:34:00 EST

Shoveled on Sunday, again on Tuesday, and again today. Still haven't got the whole rink cleared. Yesterday it took 2 hours to clear a third of it! Fresh snow last night meant lots of shoveling to be done around the yard, no time to work on the rink. Forecaast is for a few clear days. Hope it holds--I've got more than 6 hours of rink clearing waiting for me if I really do manage to get the whole thing done.

What's more likely to happen is I'll end up with a generous-size rink...

New week, new resolve.

Mon, 7 Jan 2013 00:25:01 EST

OK. Last week I detoxed from holiday food and drink and lived with a cold-would-be-bronchitis. Got through that, but needless to say, no exercise. Today I got outdoors in the clear, cold afternoon sun and did an hour of snow clearing on the rink and paths. Feels good : ) Felt *really* good to have exercise to feed into the Tracker too : ) Between the food smarts, the cold, and today's workout, I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning's weigh-in. Wish me well!

April 21 is the day . . .

Fri, 4 Jan 2013 13:32:27 EST

. . . of my first 10K event of the year. I just signed up for the Vancouver Sun Run. I had registered last year, but a last-minute funeral kept me from participating. This year, I'll try again. Re-training starts Jan. 19. Run, walk; run, walk; run, walk till I'm finally back at covering 10k without stopping. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is having to train on the treadmill on those days when it's too wintery to train outdoors.

Thanks, SparkFriends for all your e...

Baseline Day 2013

Wed, 2 Jan 2013 21:39:50 EST

hmmmm. Have farther to go than I expected. I'm up almost 10 lb over the holidays. My BP and resting pulse were abysmal this morning. I'm hoping some that of the BP overage can be attributed to this cold that I'm halfway through. But it is what it is. I know where I'm starting, I know where I'm going, I know how to get there, and I know SparkPeople and my SparkFriends are the key components of getting there successfully. Weeeeeee're off and running!

A Renewal of Vows rather than New Year's Resolutions

Tue, 1 Jan 2013 13:23:08 EST

If I've learned anything from SparkPeople, it's moderation: moderation in terms of goal-setting, moderation in terms of nutrition, moderation in terms of exercise, moderation in terms of self-evaluation. There's no need to be The Best, there's no excuse for being The Worst. In that spirit, I'm not starting 2013 with extra-grandiose expectations.

It's still important to me that I dip to the lower end of my BMI range and then stay within between 145 and 150 lb. I may have to re...

What happened to the last 20 Days?

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 20:03:34 EST

Last blog: Dec. 8, 20 days ago. Not exactly stellar Sparking : (

I know, I know, most North Americans have too much to do in the weeks leading up to Christmas and then again between Christmas and New Year's. My failure to participate fully in SparkPeople over the past 20 days is more a comment on my time-management than on actual over-work : ) Anyway, apologies, *and* kudos to you dedicated Sparkers who carried the torch the whole time!

It's been a good-busy 3 weeks...

A Bad Week. A very, very, very Bad Week!

Sat, 8 Dec 2012 23:15:05 EST

That's what the Nutrition Tracker is telling me, loud and clear. Loud and clear and rather frostily, I'm afraid. 4 days out of 7 I went above my recommended caloric limit, and on 2 of those days, I went *seriously* above it.

Bring me a cat-o'-nine-tails. I must self-flagellate.
Lead me to the pebble-strewn floor. I must kneel in pain.
Give me a distorting mirror. I must see where I'm headed if I keep this up.
Feed me only beans and water tomorrow and the ...

OK. Enough folks said it was exercise . . .

Fri, 7 Dec 2012 21:05:21 EST

. . . so I did it again today. Only for an hour and a half, though. There was 'way less snow and it was dry and light so today's rink clearing was much less of a chore than Tuesday's. I did discover there had been some water on top of the ice, which froze with snow in it making for rough patches. I think I can do a flood tomorrow and take care of that little problem though. Gosh, it was great to be outdoors for that time--clear sky and brilliant sunshine on the new snow. Glad I had sung...

three hours . . .

Wed, 5 Dec 2012 01:35:46 EST

. . . of pushing snow counts as exercise, doesn't it? Happy to say I got the skating rink on the lake cleared off following a couple days of light-to-medium snowfalls, then a bit of rain this morning. The snow on the rink was only about 6" deep, but oh my! it was heavy.

I was able to find space for a reasonably sized rink under the snow--about 30' X 70' with only a few rough places that I should be able to smooth off or chop out and flood over when the temp drops a few degrees ...

This may just be my fitness salvation till after New Years : )

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:51:15 EST

http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=pr
event_holiday_pounds_with_the_12_moves
_of_christmas_workout

The ice is perfect!

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 00:04:04 EST

So, our lake finally froze over. Smoothly. The ice is clear--you can look right down to the bottom of the bay. That's such an eerie feeling--walking on ice clear enough that you can see through it into the lake below : ) Now if I can just keep up it clear of snow after each snowfall--a rink in front of our beach I mean, not the whole lake!--we'll be able to have a whoop-dee-do family skating party on Boxing Day : ) Here's hoping!

Naughty but in under the wire . . .

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 00:43:15 EST

OK. So today is "Stir-up" Sunday, the traditional day for making Christmas puddings. The plan was to make this year's puddings when I got home from church. We had one pudding left over from last year so I took it to church to add to the after-service coffee snacks. Of course I had too much. There was one piece left over that I had to bring home so of course I had it too. Fearfully, I looked up the nutrition facts for plum pudding. Not bad--125 calories per ounce-and-a-half serving.

One good side-effect . . .

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 00:53:24 EST

. . . of a week of feeling blah! is I finally slipped off my weight plateau and back into my target range, if only by half a pound : ) Now, if I can capitalize on that by continuing to eat just under my calorie range most days, and exercising just a *little* more faithfully than I had been, I can be safely into the range so that I can enjoy Christmas goodies and cheer without too much trepidation. Ever heard that before: eat less, exercise more to keep the weight under control??????
...

A half-speed week

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 01:15:14 EST

One of the things I really dislike about not being in top form is not having time/inclination to Spark fully. That's how my week has been. Spent a couple of days sleeping off flu symptoms and the rest of the week getting some stuff done, but still going slow and only skimming the highlights of Sparking. So, sorry SparkFriends who I haven't poked or nudged or joshed with. I've read most posts and blogs, and appreciated what you're all doing, wanted to engage, but just didn't get a Round ...

Friends, it's been a day

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 22:51:45 EST

Christmas Craft Fair in our village today. DW booked a table to sell her beadwork. My job? Porter and back-up memory (between us we doubt we possess one full memory ; )

That meant leave the house too early to Spark, but since the fair closes at 4:00 pm, I figured I'd be able to devote the entire evening to Sparking. There are *so* many Sparkers I want to catch up with.

By the end of the fair, I wondered if I'd eaten something contaminated for lunch--headache and th...

Feeling good about the future.

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 23:11:17 EST

Last week I worked as a Replacement Teacher in a primary classroom. Today I worked in a senior sciences and math classroom. Great young people in both places, great lesson plans, great atmospheres in both schools. I'm starting to feel again that the future will be in good hands : )

Going well,

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 23:14:15 EST

today is.

I had a leisurely morning, then drove 40 miles to visit Senior Friend in hospital over lunch, and did a 6+k Nordic Walk this afternoon. This evening I've got Chef Meg's Boston Baked Beans simmering in the slow cooker and 6 loaves of bread rising in the oven. I should be in bed by 11:00 o'clock, having kept my calorie count down enough to start compensating for yesterday's indulgences at the post-Remembrance Day social time.

Who says old guys just sit around...

A great day . . .

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 00:55:48 EST

for Sparking. Socked-in or snowing lightly all morning. DW unable to sleep last night so she was catching up most of the day. No errands, no pressing chores. Nothing to prevent me from catching up after almost a week of minimal Sparking. Feels gooooood!

I did get outdoors for a Nordic walk late in the afternoon. The clouds had cleared away by then and it was sparklingly pleasant. Got in 6.5 k all told, improved my pace from last Saturday by almost a minute per kilometre. I...

Is it possible . . .

Fri, 9 Nov 2012 00:04:13 EST

To go from this:

to this:

by Hallowe'en 2013?

That's my goal for 50+ Males Team's SUPERHERO CHALLENGE 2013. We've been challenged to develop some SuperHero's physique for our next-year's Hallowe'en costume. I thought even though Conan probably does not qualify as a SuperHero, it would be fun to revisit the charact...

I'm Blessed

Mon, 5 Nov 2012 01:00:12 EST

I so appreciate all the kind and encouraging comments you've given to my blogs, SparkFriends. Thank you.

Took full advantage of the notion of Sabbath today. Well, except that my body wanted to be up at the regular Daylight Saving time : ) That meant I had a *really* leisurely morning and got to church plenty early. Home from church an hour earlier by Body Time than Clock Time, so *had* to have my afternoon nap right away!

Leisurely afternoon acting on the fall seas...

A couple of good walks.

Sun, 4 Nov 2012 01:00:30 EST

Thursday I took the van in for the winter tire change-over. Guy said I should give him an hour. It was a mild day and I had dressed in my walking duds, so I walked. About 5 km in about 50 minutes. Felt good.

Today I Nordic-walked (walking with ski poles to include upper-body exertion). Covered 6.5 km all told, total of 63 minutes. 15 of those minutes were warm-up and cool-down walking. Strange day for a walk. The weather has turned very mild after a week of freezing temps...

No Boo's, please, we're rural!

Thu, 1 Nov 2012 01:21:16 EST

For about the 25th year in a row, we've had no trick or treaters. We just live too far from town, on a road with too few houses. When our kids were young, we'd take a passel of candy to a friend's house in town for distribution and our kids would trick-or-treat in town. Figured that was a fair enough trade. I miss seeing all the little'uns, and some big'uns, in costume, though : )

The only costume I dug out today was my mukluks and snowshoes so I could go snowshoeing, my *very* ...

The blessings of an early winter

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:59:00 EST

For one thing, now that the snowfall has stopped and the sun is shining again, afternoons are glorious. It's still a couple of months till the winter solstice, so we have daylight till dinner time. When the afternoon sun hits the fresh snow, the intensity of the light is something marvelous to experience. I took full advantage of that today, clearing the backyard rink of the accumulated 10 or inches of snow, shovelling paths so the little dog we're sitting can run and find private bathroom ...

We've got SNOW!

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 01:09:54 EST

Started snowing yesterday afternoon just as we were getting home from our drive to the 'city'. Snowed all night. Let up for an hour or so around noon today. Started again and hasn't stopped : )

This year I had done all the yard work before the snow came and I'm 'way more positive about the snow than I've been for a number of years. Gosh, everything looks clean and soft under a new fall of fluffy snow. I'd say we have close to a foot of new snow already.

Cleared t...

Just realized . . .

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 00:28:23 EST

. . . that last Sunday I did not log in to SparkPeople.

I BROKE MY LOG-IN STREAK JUST 3 WEEKS SHORT OF 365 DAYS!!!!!!!

I'm in BIIIIIIGGGG TROUBLE with myself for that. I was *so* looking forward to a full year of logging-in to SparkPeople. Dang-it all anyhow!

Nordic walking in the snow . . .

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 01:36:57 EST

. . . is how I exercised today. This evening, actually. After dark. While snow was falling. It was kind of neat : )

5-minute/half-a-km warm-up; 5k with good intensity for 48 minutes; 10-minute/1km cool-down. Total 6.5 km over 63 minutes, slightly quicker per-km pace than Monday's walk, but still no PB. A couple years ago I was Nordic-walking 5 k in about 38 minutes but that was at the end of several weeks of walking.

The other item I accomplished today, before ...

Coulda been a cardio day

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 00:03:43 EST

because my last cardio day was Monday and when I got up this morning I fully expected to Nordic Walk today. But Senior Friend is hospitalized 40 miles away and I decided to go in and take him out for lunch. Turns out he had a few, well a bunch, of errands to do while he had a ride. He's 89. The Big Deal today was to give up his driver's license. He was very sensible about it, realizing that after a couple of strokes he could have another at any time and could conceivably cause serious ha...