Speaking of closed track racing with the BMW X5, I thought I would post a nice little video of a Porsche Cayenne GTS vs BMW X5. A friend of mine at the tennis club has the Porsche Cayenne GTS. I am not really all too fond of the body style. I think the X5 is a little taller and I’m pretty tall. Also, I don’t like the Porsche hood. Unfortunately, the Porsche won this race.
I think I have been doing pretty well. For a few weeks now, I have been exercising like crazy. I like to do some sort of strength training along with cardio every day. It’s funny, because when I sit around and don’t exercise, I feel guilty. I remember that from way back when I was in shape a little more than I am now.
Just to start things off, I want to tell you that I did find a school where I could get more exercise. It’s three times a week and it’s really, really cool. I’ll talk more about that later.
So basically I am doing just a combination of things to keep me entertained. I do the workout DVDs, I use the Bowflex, I play tennis, I now go to the exercise school and I ride my bike. Oh yeah, I also jump rope. Believe it or not, I actually got up to 150 jumped ropes today and could have gone for more. I assume at some point, I will stop counting and just keep going. That’s going to be a rush.
I wanted to tell you about this really awesome workout DVD I got called “The Pit Workout.” It’s serious business for serious people and that’s what I am…serious. It’s a mixed martial arts full body workout taught by trainer John Hackleman (Chuck Liddell’s trainer). I did it for about 15 minutes yesterday when I realized that I had to get some sort of rug for downstairs. My feet were absolutely killing me from the burpies. Tile isn’t any good for the toes. I had to stop and hop on the Bowflex instead.
Here is a video of how to do burpies…
and here is a video of the Pit workout…
I do feel good because my stomach muscles have been hurting for two days. That means I gotta be doing something.
I seem to remember a conversation with a neighbor last year about all these wonderful gnats that swarm around people’s heads this time of year. The neighbor told me that it gets bad when they till the fields down the road. All I know is that the fields ain’t tilled and there are a whole bunch of gnats bothering the heck out of me. At least they disappear around here fairly quickly. We have lived places where they didn’t disappear…ever. Well, in winter they did.
I set the hammock up again this afternoon. This will be the third time I set it up, and when I say “set it up,” I mean, take it from the garage and hang it on the tree. It takes about 30 seconds. The reason I set it up is because it was really nice today. I played a little tennis this morning up at the school and got all sorts of beat up. I have a feeling that I wasn’t trying as hard as I should have been. I was just trying to run around a lot. Anyway, after I set up the hammock and layed around for a while, I decided to go inside to get the camera. There are tons of little plants sprouting up all over the place in the new garden in the back. It’s really wonderful.
I was going to take two pictures, but I ended up with nine. They are pretty good, so I think you’ll get a kick out of them. I looked up most of them so I could place plant names with the photos, but I am missing two. One is a “succulent” type of a plant and the other looks like cabbage, but that’s all I know. They really aren’t big enough to tell what they are.
Here are the plant photos.
(Remember to click once on the photos and then click again on the next page.)
A young coiled Fiddlehead Fern
A slightly more mature Fiddlehead Fern
A young Red Dicentra – Bleeding Heart
A young White Dicentra – Bleeding Heart
Some sort of Succulent plant
Emerald N Gold Euonymus climbing up a tree – It’s very neon colored
Sticking with the strategy of doing at least one cardio and one strength training activity per day, I decided to go for a bike ride this morning. Well, I decided this last night after one of those beautiful warm spring days. Unfortunately, this morning is a bit chilly and windy. It’s supposed to rain over an inch tonight. That’s okay, because I aerated the lawn again yesterday and the rain will wash all those little dirt plugs back into the ground.
Back to the bike ride. Since one of the areas I really have to work on is my legs, I thought a bike ride would fit in nicely. The legs have some large muscles in them that, if toned, can really help with overall fitness. I absolutely hate working on legs and pretty much avoid it if possible. Doing that doesn’t do me any favors though, so I try to at least do something that I don’t hate too much. That’s bike riding.
The ride I took covered about five miles. There were a good amount of uphills and downhills. Remarkably, I plowed right through all of them. The first big hill is usually the one I have to stop and walk a little on, but this time I just rode right up it. I wasn’t even that tired. I think it might have something to do with the weather though. It’s a heck of a lot easier to breath in cool weather than it is in hot, humid weather…and that was the type of weather I had to put up with the last time I tried to climb this hill.
Today’s ride was really good. I actually focused on my breathing, which helped. One of the things I always get yelled at during a tennis lesson is to “BREATH!!!” Umm, yeah, I guess oxygen would help.
The first 4 7/8 miles were on pavement and the last 1/8 of a mile was through the woods. I had to be a little careful while riding through the woods because there are those round rocks hidden under the leaves. If you go too fast, whoops.
Overall, the ride felt great. I am probably going to mix riding in with all the other cardio activities I have thought of over the past week. By the way, if you want to learn a little more about why cardio exercise is important, just click here.
Riding my Mongoose mountain bike in the middle of the road
Preparing to ride my mountain bike through a wooded trail
This is getting really frustrating, but I’ll get into that later.
I woke up today with every intention of playing a tennis match this afternoon. My buddy canceled, so I needed to find another exercise for the day. I played tennis yesterday, so I didn’t feel too bad about it. Although, I didn’t go to the tennis clinic this morning because of the afternoon plans. Whatever.
To make up for the loss, I decided to do a little jump rope outside. I now do this activity after dark, so I don’t look like an idiot to people who may be passing by. I’ll give it a few weeks to jump rope in the daylight again. I thought that some jump rope and a little Bowflex would be just fine.
I went outside to the driveway and got started. Now, if you remember back, the last time I tried jump roping, I did it about 100 times and was totally exhausted. This time, I did it in five sets of 25. I thought that little breaks in between sets would be better. I’ll tell you, it was slightly better, but I still had to walk up and down the driveway with my heart pumping out of my chest. I really don’t understand what the problem is here.
I suppose I am doing better than a year ago when I did absolutely nothing at all. I guess we walked, but that doesn’t raise the heart rate (for us, anyway). It basically doesn’t do all that much. I thought it did, but now that I’m trying to do real things, it has become apparent that we don’t put enough pep in our steps when we walk. That’s going to have to change.
I am aware that this whole thing is going to take some time, but as I said above, I’m getting frustrated. Here, take a look at what’s causing it. I ask: How in the world do these people do it? I just have to keep going. It’s just that it seems so effortless for them.
I will say this; for the past few days that I have been exercising more than I normally do, I have a lot of energy. I’m not sure if it’s from the exercise or the mean cranberry cocktail that I have been drinking.
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.
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.
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.
Valentine’s day was here. I wanted to wash the car and have it nice and clean, so my lady and I could drive down to Foxwoods in style. It was pretty dirty and needed a good wash.
On my way back from tennis yesterday morning, I dreaded the idea of going downstairs, turning the water valve to “on” and then going back outside to hook up the hose on the water spigot at the front of the house. I think the part I hate the most is hooking up the hose outside and then having to unhook it to put it back in the garage. The reason I would have to go downstairs to turn the valve on is because of freezing in the winter. No valve downstairs, frozen and broken water spigot upstairs come spring.
I had a great idea. Why not install a water spigot inside the garage? This way, I can keep a hose hooked up all the time and not have to worry about the spigot freezing over the winter. I could use the spigots that are outside for watering and things like that over the summer, but for washing the car and things like that, I could use the inside one. I thought it would be very handy.
Since the area I wanted the spigot located in the garage was right on the other side of the washing machine hookups down in the basement, I figured it would be a pretty easy job. Somehow, I would just tap into the cold water feed for the washing machine. I really look forward to these types of projects because I have to get imaginative. I enjoy standing in the pluming aisle at Home Depot trying to figure things out. I really do.
Before I left for the Depot to get all the parts, I decided to drill a hole through the 2×10 that the floor was resting on. This 2×10 is up in the ceiling of the laundry room and down towards knee level in the garage. I would drill a 7/8 inch hole to see what I would find.
I drilled the hole from the basement and saw daylight. Lucky me. I went upstairs to the garage and saw a hole right where I wanted the spigot to be. Really lucky me. I started getting my thoughts together and made a little list. Then, I hopped in the car and drove over to Home Depot.
I am not going to give you the list of parts I bought here because I forget what they are. Hopefully you can see them in the pictures I will show you. As I post the pics, I will probably remember what they were. Take a look at the finished product.
Water hose splitter and on-off switch on cold water laundry feed
125 psi hose going through 2×10 from laundry room to the garage upstairs
Water spigot mounted to 2×4s in garage
Let me do a little explaining. I know the proper way to do this is with copper piping. I may change that some day. For this application, I used hose. Since I am aware that this is not a permanent thing, I put an on/off valve down near the splitter in the laundry room. I saw the hose in the store and couldn’t pass it up. When I am not using the spigot, I can just go downstairs to turn the valve off.
Also, the reason the spigot is mounted to 2×4s is because I wanted it really solid on the wall. I am probably going to tug on the hose as I pull it outside and I didn’t feel like having the spigot tear off the wall. It’s not the prettiest thing, but you should try to give it a wiggle. Nope. I know there is a 2×10 on the other side of the sheetrock, but the hole I drilled was a bit too big and the mounting screws weren’t sitting right.
After everything was all set up, I hooked up a nice brand new no-kink garden hose I bought last autumn to the spigot in the garage. I went downstairs to turn on the easily accessible on/off valve and then came back upstairs to drag the hose out into the driveway. I turned the spigot on and…well, that’s for the next post.
