A Better Idea (2).

Daily Record Makes More Sense Now.

I record details re my exercise routine, motorcycle trips, and more*.

Many of us take a goodly number of photos per week as a way to "see again" or reveal certain aspects of our exciting lives. A few of us create written records as well, e.g., on a blog or in a journal of sorts, etc. I do both on a regular basis, and some of the items I record in a handy-dandy pocket calendar - related to my exercise/fun and fitness routine - are not only piling up but providing me with a fairly comprehensive look at how I'm progressing toward important goals.

I'm on my fifth yearly calendar (2019). I think I'm getting somewhere.

 My daily entries relate to my weight, distance covered via walks, runs, etc.

 I convert weekly (walk/run) mileage to a 10-week average. It's going north : )

'Total Miles' are higher because (at the YMCA) I regularly ride an exercise bike

for about 40 minutes before a walk/run on a treadmill.

 Record keeping is a good idea for some people!

Now, when I record my monthly totals for walk/runs I can see how I have been doing for the last five years. There's nothing really scientific about the numbers but they help me form a few reasonable impressions about my routine:

I get out the door (GOTD) 80 - 90% of the days per year (93.3% in April).

So, I've got a pretty solid habit re fun and fitness.

My monthly mileage total [for brisk walks, slow runs, and cycling (36 min. = 2 miles)] hovers around a manageable 180 mi.

My average mileage total per outing hovers around 6.5 mi.

My weight is solidly in the 145 - 155 pound range, down from 163 lb.

The number of pushups, situps and reps (on 6 weight machines) is at 2,000 so far for 2019, and approaching 7,000 total (since adding these efforts to my routine).

I have no aches or pains.

So, I feel I have a pretty solid and reliable routine - all within my limits - and keeping a record seems to make good, common sense.

And if I can maintain a positive routine for the next 25 years then I think ultimate svelteness is within my grasp.

: )

  Keep smilin'!*

*Two photos taken in Hamilton during a "boys' beer tour". I have the receipts!

Please link to A Better Idea (1).

Photos GH

A Better Idea (1).

There's Always More Than One Way to Go.

Neon "Great Idea" is found at Merit Brewery, James St. N., Hamilton*

As I get older I feel I am making fewer quick or snap decisions.

I drive slower too - and like it - but that's another story.

In my last entry I said the following:

I am thinking about 'pausing' my YMCA membership for four months, beginning the break near the end of May. And during the pause I will make full use of London's multi-purpose pathways in the hopes of becoming one of our city's slowest, steadiest and sveltest senior runners in modern-day history. So, the GREAT Canadian Comeback continues.

Well, I did think about pausing my Y membership, and well before stepping up to the main counter and saying, "Let's do it now."

Smooth move on my part, because a few good thoughts about 'the pause' have come to mind in the meantime:

I would not have easy access to a great pool during the summer months; I'd have to set up a sprinkler in the back yard and I have no idea if I even have one; I would miss what has become a regular cycling routine at the Y with a good book in my hand; I would miss the regular weight and stretching routine - and that's a lot of good stuff to give up.

So, now I'm leaning toward 'no pause.' Instead, I may just alternate trips to the Y and trips to the paths. I can enjoy both worlds (indoors and outdoors) while working toward the same goals as above, i.e., slow and steady efforts toward ultimate svelteness.

Paul and I pause in front of our reflections in Hamilton*, April 13th.

*My two sons and I walked a lot while in Hamilton for "a boys' beer tour" (the reflection above was captured at Collective Arts Beer Store) and trip to The Brain. All good ideas too, solidly connected to fun and fitness.

Please link to Still at the YMCA, But.... (4).

Photos GH

Still at the YMCA, But.... (4).

Progress is Progress is Progress.

London's off-street pathways will soon be home to a lot of activity.

I started the month of April by saying, "The annoyance of slight pain in the left hip has not returned, so I will very gradually increase the amount of running for a few weeks, with some minor increase in speed... and I will see where that leads."

To date, I have continued to walk to the YMCA regularly and combine 'very slow running' with walking on a treadmill. I cover 2.0 to 2.75 miles, alternating walking at a steady speed for e.g., 0.05 mi., with running for 0.15 mi. 'Easy does it' is my motto and I am gradually increasing my running speed and distance.

Pathways skirt the Thames River inside London. Time to walk/run!

I am thinking about 'pausing' my YMCA membership for four months, beginning the break near the end of May. And during the pause I will make full use of London's multi-purpose pathways in the hopes of becoming one of our city's slowest, steadiest and sveltest senior runners in modern-day history.

So, the GREAT Canadian Comeback continues.

Stay tuned for svelteness updates.

Heading home through Harris Park.

Please link to Still at the YMCA, But... (3)

Photos GH

Photographs: From Along the Way (2).

Road Trip vs Sidewalk Trip!

These late-March snowfalls make me think, "Gordie-Boy... road trip!"

If I had a larger VW camper I'd be packing it right now.

And forget the maps, we'll just follow our noses.

Detroit, the I-75 South, and follow the signs to Nashville. The rest takes care of itself.

But I don't have a larger camper van. So I'll be sticking to the sidewalk.

Photos From Along the Way:

Please link to Photographs: From Along the Way (1).

Photos GH

Still at the YMCA, But.... (3).

One Last Try for the Gipper?

I'm going to ride ze bull one more time. Slowest runner ever.

I stayed off the treadmill - running-wise - for a few weeks and my concern about a sore left hip lessened, as expected. I think I had been running too far too fast and the break from 3 - 6 mile runs did me good.

In March I still kept walking a good number of miles per week, and riding an exercise bike regularly (good book in hand), and completing sets on various weight machines, thus keeping the dream of "svelteness in this lifetime" alive.

 

I covered 182.25 miles in March, walking and riding combined.

Total miles per week, for the last 15 weeks, can be seen above, and my 10 Week Average stayed near 41 or 42 miles from Feb. 24 to March 30. Not bad for a geezer : )

Pumping iron w free weights and 5 machines, 25 or 30 reps at a time.

"Look at dem pipes!" (Yeh, right!)

Last week I started to include a minimal amount of slow treadmill running in my routine, and so far all is well. The annoyance of slight pain in the left hip has not returned, so I will very gradually increase the amount of running for a few weeks, with some minor increase in speed... and I will see where that leads.

Old South was hit with a bit of snow yesterday. Nice day for walking, for sure.

The thought has occurred to me that when I started running (or jogging; "out for a jog" it was 'a thing' in those days) back in the early 1970s, I thought it was a big deal to jog a couple of miles 3 or 4 times per week.

Last week I added a bit of running here and there. Slow as a slug. 

Hopefully, the snow will be gone soon. 

I've hit the YMCA over 100 times since November 1, 2018. $3.65 per visit.

I wonder if I'm heading toward a "going full circle" type of situation? 

I think I could live with that, heading out for an evening jog, feeling the breeze blow through what's left of my hair.

: )

Please link to Still at the YMCA, But.... (2).

Photos GH

Photographs: From Along the Way (1).

Have Camera, Will Travel.

To see this stylish eagle, you must stop your car.

You must park at the side of a busy thoroughfare (King Street, just east of Wellington) and take a moment out of your day.

Or, to appreciate this rare piece of local art, you have to stop walking.

You have to step off the sidewalk (south side of the street) and take a few steps around a cement support for an overhead walkway.

In my opinion, the time spent stopping to smell the roses, so to speak, is well worth it.

Squirrel Bridge. Looking east toward Downtown London.

The bridge is so named by a neighbour who saw a squirrel racing across it once.

Once across the bridge (from the opposite side, e.g., from the Downtown YMCA) I head south to the Wortley/Stanley St. intersection and head for home.

The sturdy structure is one of my favourite pedestrian bridges, and because my summertime walking regularly takes me downtown and north toward the university, I bet I cross it approx. 200 times per year.

Correction. It's also on my route to and from London Knights' hockey games and my favourite pub, so I bet I cross it about 250 - 300 times per year!

I am looking south from about the center of Squirrel Bridge. Two overpasses in the area seem to blend into one in this photo. York Street is first in line, then comes the CNR/CPR overpass that travels east-west through our downtown.

Beyond the pair of overpasses lies a trio of my favourite places - Thames Park and then Wortley Village and my home.

From the middle of the Wortley Road overpass I am 11 minutes (of steady walking) from my house. This part of my Wortley Road walking route is more familiar to me than Squirrel Bridge. I bet I've travelled past this same spot over a 1,000 times in the last 3 - 4 years.

But whose counting?

And I have likely posted similar photographs of this scene a dozen times.

Get used to it.

: )

Please link to Definitely YMCA Related (3).

GoPro Hero Photos GH

Still at the YMCA, But.... (2).

Sore Hip May Have been an Early Warning.

[Photo: I am studying "the details" to understand the larger picture*]

Remember the DEW Line, made up of radar stations in the Arctic (built when I was a child in the mid-1950s) to give an early warning if North America was attacked by the Soviet Union?

As a young elementary school student I didn't have the foggiest idea about the 'who (Soviets, Russkies? Is that a new cereal?), why, when or where' associated with the Distant Early Warning apparatus, but I do recall being told by an early-grade teacher how to hide under by desk for some reason. "Hiding under your desk" was a thing in the 1950s.

(Lessons about nuclear warfare or Soviet long-distance bombers or being blown to smithereens was not). 

Distant past memories came to mind recently after I made a decision to slow down - and stop for the time being - my pursuit to add more running miles to my fun and fitness routine. The sore hip I was experiencing in the very recent past (two weeks ago) seemed like an early warning of more problems to come if I kept running on a treadmill on a regular basis.

I'm old enough to know that there are some lines I should not cross 

So, my routine at the YMCA has changed over the last two weeks. I still walk downtown but I ride an exercise bike on a regular basis in place of the treadmill run. I don't think the change will affect my pursuit for svelteness very much at all!

March stats started with a 3.0 mi. walk and 75 minutes on the bike with a good book in hand. Totals for the week reached 40 miles by Friday, so I relaxed on Saturday. Average miles for the last ten weeks came in at 41.525 miles, and on Friday my cumulative total of reps (each, of various stretches, and situps, and sets of strength training exercises) hit 5,725. Will I hit 10,000 reps total by December 31? Odds are about 50-50, says the bookmaker.

Most of my March Journal is a blank slate at the moment but by the end of the month I will have covered many more miles and know if I want to give the running game one more try, slower, with more gradual progress.

How I will react to the idea, "I'm not a runner anymore," I'm not sure. I suppose as long as I can keep moving forward in other ways, then I should be able to maintain a positive attitude about various other fun and fitness routines.

So, I don't think the sun is setting on The GREAT Canadian Comeback!!
Not by a long shot, in my opinion.

*The top photo depicts a small portion of a mural I found on my way to the Downtown YMCA. What is the "larger picture?" More will be revealed soon.

Please link to Still at the YMCA, But.... (1).

And, stay tuned. News at 11.

Photos by GH