Today was a great first day to try out an exercise DVD. We have a pretty well stocked library of them, so I thought it might benefit me to get going. I knew I was going to play tennis in the afternoon, so a morning workout would be nice. I had to do it. If there is nothing I hate more, it’s sitting around at night time wondering why I didn’t do what I had set out to do that day.
Let me tell you, the biggest challenge with getting more “fit” is motivation. I mean, what in the world is going to stop me from sitting around and being comfortable when being comfortable feels so damn good? Yeah, I really want to get up and jump around into an ugly sweat. I guess I just have to get past that. I do that with other stuff I do already, such as mowing the lawn. How is exercising any different?
I pulled out the Budokon DVD because it’s pretty well rounded. I am really going for flexibility, stamina and strength. As we get older, each one of those areas fade. I have never admired muscle heads or people who do yoga all day long. Or, those who just run on the treadmill for that matter. A nice combination of the three is nice.
The instructor, Cameron Shayne, is pretty awesome. He isn’t just some guy who can’t do what he is telling you to do; he can really move.
Take a look at some of his stuff. He’s the one with no shirt on.
As I got into the program, I quickly realized that the yoga section was first. I also quickly realized that yoga is really difficult. I think it will just take some practice, but those moves are pretty straining. I liked the cardio section more than the yoga. Partially because I was in the mood for some aerobic exercise and partially because there was less burning of the muscles. Take a look at some of the exercises.
Proudly enough, I completed the whole workout. I sweat like a pig, but I did it. My heart was pumping for a full half hour which felt really good. Later on, I met a friend up at the high school for a quick tennis set and now I’m back. Strangely enough, I feel full of energy.
I can’t wait to move on to more DVDs. I ordered one from Amazon the other day and after I complete it, I’ll let you know about it. This one is totally different and I bet will be more humorous for you to read about. I’m not sure I’m going to get through this next one.
We had a little adventure today. I decided that it would be a really nice day to go for a short hike at Devil’s Hopyard State Park in East Haddam. After all, we haven’t been there since last year.
We had to run down to Norwich for a little while, so the park wasn’t that far away. I even went as far as stopping off to get some Subway sandwiches. Boy, they really don’t taste that much different from when I used to eat them every day for lunch.
We didn’t do all that much at the park. We hiked down past the waterfall and then stopped off at the picnic area to eat our sandwiches. After that, we walked down to my favorite part of the park, next to the river. There is this area that is just chock full of Hemlock trees and moss that is really cool looking. Since I already exhausted every photo-op in this particular park, I decided to mix things up a little and take some photos of the river.
Looking down the river at Devil’s Hopyard State Park
Here’s a list of 15 ways to attract beautiful birds and songs to your yard, and 10+ more bird conservation tips from the National Audubon Society.
World’s largest hanging basket
Weighing in at more than a quarter of a tonne, the world’s largest hanging basket is certainly going to require a lot of watering. The giant eye-catching floral spectacular measures 20ft by 10ft and took a massive EIGHT hours to winch into position.
The idea of a living wall conjures up all sorts of images, but in reality it is nothing more than a wall completely covered in vegetation. This form of urban gardening is often designed as an art form to decorate buildings in cities and has been hailed as one way to make cities more enjoyable, healthier and ultimately greener places.
Eating You Alive? Try Eco-Friendly Garden Plants That Repel Mosquitoes
There are attractive garden plants that repel mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are horrible creatures that swarm around you and suck your blood. They cause itchy rashes and can carry disease. If you are interested in a more natural approach, consider these plants that will keep those pesky creatures far away!
Grow your own food and save money. “The square-foot gardening concept is simple: Build a raised bed, divide the space into sections of one square-foot each, and then plant vegetables (and/or flowers) in just the amount of space they need…
I had another tennis lesson yesterday with Mike. About 20 minutes into it, I was huffing and puffing away. Mike was too, but I am far more obvious. As he continues to play just a little slower, I toss my hands in the air, walk off the court and gasp for breath. My question is this: Why in the world am I still out of breath when I exercise more than anyone I know? It’s not even a gradual decline. It’s all good one minute and the next, I am completely exhausted and totally finished.
When I was a little kid, I was able to run a lot in short bursts. No one could catch me unless they could run a longer period of time than I could. By the time I got myself all tired out, I was too far away to reach. That’s the way it’s always been. In school, when we used to go out to the track during gym class, I could usually only jog a half lap. The rest was half jogging and half walking. I don’t think I came in last, but close to it. While I was the one who was at home riding my bicycle, running around and climbing trees, my friend who sat on a beach chair eating bologna sandwiches and devil dogs all day was beating me in a race around the school track. Strange. I will admit that I did pretty well in the 50-yard dash though.
I’m not sure if this is a typical experience, or if I am just weird.
As an adult, it’s hard to find out if this type of thing is still happening. When I do exercise and get out of breath, I just say, “Boy, I am out of shape” and chalk it up to being lazy. I know I need to get out there and work out more often, but it is just difficult to do without someone pushing me. That’s why I like to play tennis, but at once or twice a week, it’s not enough.
I woke up a few days ago with a goal. I told myself that I am going to work on my stamina once and for all. To be honest, I would really like to know what it feels like to be able to exercise for a long time without stopping. I envy those people I see jogging down the road for miles. I don’t know how they do it.
I ordered some crazy “beat me up” workout DVD this morning. It’s supposed to be pretty good. I’ll let you know how that goes if I do it more than twice. I fear being my own motivator.
I have been hitting the Bowflex again. It feels really good and I am mixing it up with a bunch of different exercises.
I have been in an all-out search for a local to semi-local “exercise” studio. I have something perfect in mind, but just haven’t found it yet. I visited a few places and talked to a few people, but my socks haven’t been knocked off yet. I am not sure I am going to write about this one though.
Let me tell you a funny little story. As I was standing out in the driveway yesterday, Laura walked out with her jump rope in her hand. She said, “Hey, why don’t you try this; it’s real hard to do.” I’m like, “Yeah right, it’s a jump rope.” She handed it to me with a smirk and let me “jump rope” about 20 times. I nearly fell over.
Okay, for all of my adult readers who are saying, “C’mon man, get up off that lazy butt of yours and jump that rope,” I say, “You try it. I bet you can’t do 100.” I just did 100 out in the driveway and my throat still hurts from all that huffing and puffing.
Jumping rope these days is a little different than when I weighed 80 pounds and was skinny. I would say the main difference is instead of lightly hopping up and down, it’s now like a cement block being dropped 100 times. It ain’t pretty. As I was jumping the rope a few minutes ago, a kid walked by and waved. I waved back and felt like a fool. I bet that kid could totally embarrass me at that activity. I am sure I would win at hopscotch though.
My point is, how in the world do I finally get in shape? Is there a “in shape?” If someone gets in shape, do they know it?
Boy, I really need to find a place to start working out. Some classes would be nice, but I don’t want to be the only guy in them.
This is a sweet, sweet present I have been looking forward to for many years.
About a month ago, there was a day that offered perfect weather. I would say it was about 55 degrees and sunny. Coming off a cold winter, this was just what we were looking for. I was outside just walking around, when Laura decided to join me. We talked for a little while and decided to have a seat on an area of mulch. It was warm and dry. We continued talking and after a while, we ended up laying there looking up at the sky. That’s when she said, “Wouldn’t having a hammock be really cool?” It was like a light bulb went off in my head.
Yesterday, I wrote about getting some stuff at Home Depot. What I didn’t write was about the hammock I bought. I wanted that to be a surprise. I also needed to set it up and take a picture of it before I wrote about it. Well, today was the day for that.
Pawleys 13 foot cotton rope hammock with pillow
The hammock I got was the Pawleys 13 foot cotton rope hammock with pillow. It was just the one I was looking for. There were a few more expensive hammocks, but they weren’t as large. This one is 60″x84″. That’s pretty big. I also like the rope because it’s really comfortable.
When I took this hammock out of the box, it looked kind of short. I really thought it was too small. I went out to the “hammock spot” and hooked everything up. The middle of the hammock was about 2 1/2 feet off the ground. I was very excited to try it out, so I got into position and kind of jumped on it. Well, I think I should have gone more slowly, because I landed on the ground. The hammock stretched out a good amount. I had to get up and adjust the chains; actually, I had to remove the chains. I just hooked the hammock directly to the hooks on the trees. After that, everything was cool. After the initial stretch out, it hasn’t stretched any further, even with both of us laying on it.
Is it tough to get off a hammock once you are on one? Well, not physically, but mentally it is. Once I had it all set up properly, I lay down on it, just to see how it felt. A half hour later I had to pull myself up before I fell asleep. I’m tellin’ ya, it’s a sweet feeling just laying there listening to the birds chirp.
I’m not even sure I know why. We just kept walking…and walking…and walking.
Lately, we have been making a left at the end of the road instead of a right. We need to mix things up a bit. To the left, we have a short piece of road and then a cul-de-sac which leads into the woods. We walked this way a lot last summer and fall, but when the snow hit, we were forced to stick to the road. Now that the snow is all gone, back to the trails we go.
The trail we took today lasted for about a half-mile and led to a nice, level road. It’s about a mile long. Usually, we just walk that road to the corner and turn around to head back. The whole thing is an invigorating three mile walk. I would say that’s what I’m worth…three miles at most. After that, I start getting anxious. Which makes me wonder about what we did today.
When we got to the corner of the nice straight road today, I said to Laura, “Hey, Liz lives up here past the golf course. We’ve never been on her road before.” She said, “Let’s go.” I guess the good weather made us delirious or something, because by the time we got to the golf course, we were ready to turn around. We kept going though and made it all the way to Liz’s road. It was a heck of a lot further than we though. In a car, it’s right there, but on foot, it takes forever.
We started walking down the road and began taking in the scenery. It’s a nice road with a bunch of nice houses. I thought I had the whole thing mapped out in my head, but when we came to the first intersection, I realized that I didn’t actually know where I was going. For some reason, I though the road was a loop, but it’s not. I kept waiting for it to loop around, but it never did. It just kept on going straight. When we got to the intersection, I was thrown for a “loop” and we were forced to turn around and start walking back. Now, mind you, at this point, we didn’t really feel like walking anymore, but I suppose we did get ourselves into this little situation.
A few minutes after we turned around, Laura informed me that she was getting a blister on her cute little foot. We tried to roll her sock in such a way that would minimize the blister pain, but nothing helped. I started getting a little concerned because we had a long walk ahead of us. Finally, I took my sock off and put it over hers and folded it back over to give her three layers of sock. It worked okay, because we are back and I am writing this. It wasn’t all that much fun walking wall that way…her with a blister and me with only one sock on. Hey, we did what we had to do. Good thing I was wearing socks or else I would have had to carry her all the way back.
After thinking about today’s walk, I have decided that six miles is far too long. Walking starts losing its luster after half that distance, so I think we are going to stick to our usual routine. You are safe for another day Liz. Oh, don’t worry, we were only going to walk by. C’mon, who do you think we are?
This is a very exciting day for our family. Let me be the first person to broadcast this message worldwide – my nephew, Connor, won 3rd place in the Pinewood Derby. Isn’t that just cool?
You know, I used to be in the Cub Scouts too. I don’t think I can remember too much of it at this point in my life, but I do remember participating in the Pinewood Derby a few times. I can clearly recall not winning any races, but if there is any really exciting activity that Cub Scouts do, the derby is it. Well, besides camping up at Camp Siwanoy in Wingdale, NY. That camp closed, by the way. You can read about it here.
From what I can gather, the Pinewood Derby is all set up these days. They have computerized racing stats, electronic finish lines and all that sort of stuff. When I was racing in the Pinewood Derby, we had some old man yelling “Winner” at the prettiest car that went by. Not really, but you get the picture.
Ready for some Pinewood Derby pictures?
Connor’s Pinewood Derby car
The fellas watching their Pinewood Derby race
Nice selection of Pinewood Derby cars
Has it really been that long? As I sit here, I keep trying to think of what my Pinewood Derby cars look like. I have no idea. The only thing I remember is that my father drilled a hole in the back of one of them, put some BBs in the hole and then stuck an ear plug in there to seal it up. The car may have been too heavy for the regulations, but that was the right idea.
If I had it to do all over again, I would have a serious car. I’m telling you, a serious car.
Wednesday has become quite the holiday around these here parts. We have a little system going on.
First, I wake up and get some work done. Then, I have a tennis lesson in the afternoon, just to get my head together. After that, I get some more work done and at around 7:30PM, I run out to get Chinese food from the local Chinese takeout place. Finally, we watch “Lost” from 8PM to 10PM. Of course, we always end the night just as frustrated as everyone else who watches that show. We want answers and only get them in drips and draps.
Last week, we tried a new Chinese place out. We received their menu in the mail and decided that it was worth a trip over to the neighboring town. Our usual items were about a dollar less (each) over at this new place. To make a long story short, I think we’ll stay with our local place. The new place’s food wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t as good as we have become accustomed to. Oh well. It’s nice to know that we have a backup for when I boycott our usual place. I have a long history of boycotting restaurants that tick me off.
I have been working like a dog for the past few days. Everything always seems to come all at once. Good thing I am a fantastic multi-tasker. See, there’s one good thing I got out of college…the ability to manage a boatload of things simultaneously. When I feel like I am getting stressed, I breath and walk away. That’s what I am talking about when I say I play tennis to clear my head. It helps.
I was talking to my father the other night when I heard my mother yell in the background, “Send down pictures of the snow.” Yes mother. Here are your pictures of the snow.
Getting some natural solar heat through the front door
Simon and Flipperhuman Bodyman taking some time out to sun
Looking at the unshoveled sidewalk. It’s shoveled now
The unshoveled front steps
When it snows in March, you can count on it not sticking around for very long. That’s the kind of snow I like. I just shoveled the front walk and steps and found out that this snow is really sticky and heavy. Saturday is supposed to be around 60 degrees, so I have a feeling this white stuff is going to be gone soon. It’s actually really nice out right now. It’s only around 30 and I almost sweat while I was out there.
Boy, am I whooped. I told you I was in my last post. Well, today did me in.
Mike and I had a lesson with Jim today. It was called a semi-private lesson. These are great lessons and I am starting to prefer them over the regular one-on-one lessons for a few reasons. First, they are half price. I split the fee with whoever I am taking the lesson with. Second, they are a little easier on me. I don’t have to huff and puff as much as I normally do because the other player is taking half of the feeds. Well, sometimes they are. Other times, we get them fed to us just as fast as they would come in a private lesson. Third, we (the other player and I) get to hit back and forth, just like in the real world, but we get the benefit of a tennis pro yelling at us. That floats my boat.
As promised in my last post, I had Mike take a few videos of my tennis serve this afternoon. There are 9 total serves, 5 of which I probably made “in.” It gets more and more difficult to play towards the end of a lesson. Body fatigue isn’t kind to a tennis stroke. I can’t wait to see how this serve is ripped apart in YouTube by 12 year-olds who have never played the game. If you have ever watched sports videos on YouTube, you know there are a lot of “experts” out there. Trust me, I know what is good about my serve and what I need to work on.
I thought I would start off with a screen capture before the videos…
As you can see, this is why tennis is so addictive. I know the skill is there because I can do things 80% of the way. It’s the last 20% that gets time consuming and frustrating.
You know, I am not sure I like this whole “getting older” thing. I mean, I try and try and try to stay in shape by walking, playing tennis and working out on the Bowflex, but it seems like all my body wants to do is get tired and ache from it.
I am playing tennis four times this week. I already played two ladder matches (Mon and Tues), have a lesson today and then a clinic on Saturday. I did well on Monday’s ladder match because I had a lot of energy. I ate a nice big dinner and then went to burn it off. Last night, I ate at around 4PM, so by the time 8PM rolled around, I could only last so long. About half-way through the second set, I began to fade. Towards the end of the third set, I was almost crawling off the court. Mind you, we did play 30 games.
When the time came to roll out of bed this morning, my age started to show. I am sore and tired. Sounds rough, huh? Also, my feet are killing me and my shins hurt…not to mention my arm that has been aching for over a month. Boy, I feel like I am complaining a lot here. I only wonder what this lesson will be like today…these things give you a real cardio workout.
I keep telling Laura that I need to get past that “hump.” It’s like I am chasing it and once I catch up to it and get past it, I won’t get as red in the face, sweat and lose my breath as much. The only problem is…that hump might be unattainable. Perhaps I was able to catch it when I was 18 years old, but now, I am going to have to work twice as hard and I’m not even sure it’s possible.
I guess I have a few choices here. I can double down and start running, like I have always wanted to do, or I can just keep going as I am. There are a few runners who play tennis and it really helps their game. They are able to play a heck of a lot longer and are much faster on the court. They can pretty much get to any ball you hit at them because they are so light on their feet. As I try more new things on the court, that is becoming more important. The good ol’ days of me smacking a powerful ball over the net and admiring it are over. These guys are starting to return them to me.
Since I have written so much about tennis on this blog and have hardly shown any pictures or videos, I am planning on bringing my video camera today. I am going to have my buddy take some videos of my serve so I can post them here. We’ll see what happens with that.
