15 minutes & a Monkey Joke

So I know it probably doesn't sound like much, at least it does not to me, but running for 15 minutes at level 7 (mph?) on a treadmill is not an easy task for the novice. I'm happy to say that I did last night for the first time this season, run for a consistent 15 min. I may have been able to go longer but I did not want to pass out, smash my face on the machine while getting zipped off the back end of the quick moving belt, waking up to a group of people looking down at me asking me if I was alright, so I eased her back when the sweat was starting to go past my headband causing my vision to get a bit blurry.

Last night was a good workout session

• Warm Up - Bike 20
• Core - 50 crunches, 50 leg lifts, 30 second bridges (side & reg), 30 back extensions
• Stretch for running
• Treadmill - walk 5 run 15 walk 3 run 2 walk 5
• Cool Down - Bike 10

Randoms: Xmas tree was put up and decorated by Tor. Packers lost but it was a fun game to watch. Chest cold is still there and hope it goes away really quickly. Workout 1 tonight. Saturday morning ride tomorrow. Another inclusion from the Misc file...

Sensitivity Training 101

Last night's workout was the best one this week so far. I stopped by Walgreen's on the way to get some cough med's, I wasn't really hungry but thought I should munch on something to try and find the happy balance between full and empty. So I get the med and on the way to checkout I grab a Snickers w/ Almonds bar, (almonds are healthy right?) and eat it on the way. The reason I bring this up is the sugar, or almonds, must have given me a boost just when I needed it. My HR was up quickly like normal and I was able to maintain it fairly well for the 1 to 2 hours of work out. It wasn't busy at all which is always nice.

• Warm Up - Bike 12 min
• Core
• Work out 2 - legs, back, biceps, calves
• xtra's while waiting in between sets were sit ups on the roman chair & lunges
• Cool down on treadmill - Walk 3 run 5 walk 5 done
• The Xtra's helped the most in keeping my HR up while waiting, and I will do all the time now.

Cardio Tonight. Will try to run longer and stronger but it's not easy with the chest cold symptoms I have right now.

Big Big game tonight for the Pack. I think they'll win which will be nice for Farve as I don't think he's ever beat Dallas in Dallas. GO Pack Go! I think we are putting up the xmas tree during the game tonight.

Here's another vid from the Misc folder. Hope you Enjoy.

Step Bump Step Bump Bump

Cardio was ok last night - I again had a hard time getting my heart rate up, I think due to chest cold symptoms.
Bike 20 min - h.r. up at last couple of mins
Core - getting easier...50 crunches - 5o knee lifts - 40 second side bridges, etc - getting better
Treadmill - walk 3 Run 7 walk 4 Run 10 walk 4 done
I only felt 'in the zone' for about 2 minutes on the treadmill, the rest of the time it felt like my stomach was full of water and air and I was not light on my feet. This happens from time to time and causes lack of focus. So I was trying to breathe properly and get it together which worked but then the full feeling came back and I said to hell w/ it.
Overall I was glad I went.
The Triumph is for sale on Craigslist...testing the waters to see if anyone is interested. If no bites in the next couple of weeks I think I'm going to paint the tank and pretty it up some to make the Spring sale of it easier. This will go towards the car now that I have a date in mind for completion. Have to get radiator area modified and the unit installed before paint.
Why I don't know but I've had this tune in my head all morning..."I believe that is called Alfresco"
Here is something from my Misc file - have a good day.

June 2009

The goal now is to have the Mustang finished enough to participate in the 2009 Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour which takes off from Madison Wisconsin to a location that is TBD. http://http//www.hotrod.com/upcomingevents/hrpt_2008_tour_dates/index.html
Workout was ok last night - Cardio tonight
I slept like shit - I think I'm getting sick or something.

I like old pictures of Sheboygan....

Back at it

On the way into work I heard on the radio that today is now called "Cyber Monday" because they estimate some 7 percent of the 475 Billion dollars spent this holiday season will be with online shopping and today is the kick off day for that. I know I spent a nice chunk of change on Black Friday but it was at the local bike shop on gear for cold weather riding - and what a difference that stuff can make.

Tori and I put up the xmas lights on the house...I'll try to get a picture when it snows for you southerner's that may be checking this out.

Back to weights tonight - gotta keep at it.

I've included a short video that a coworker sent me and I think if you have or had a cat you can relate. Have a good day.

First Beach Ride Ever

Today's ride was lots of fun. We rode some single track trails then the beach from just north of TA to Cedar Grove then the Interurban back to Oostburg for bfast. Wind was super chilly at first but not horrible after ya warmed up some. From bfast back to beach for a ride back to same spot in woods we jumped out. I'm hanging on better to group then before. I dressed almost perfect although my toes did get cold at first, my blood was pumping a half an hour into it that I didn't notice. 8:30 - 12:30 w/ a 45-60 min stop for food and coffee. We are going to my aunts house tonight so all I had for bfast was toast w/ jam and about four cups of coffee. Again w/ no pics...errr. I'm told we do about 30 miles or so. Sure feels like a lot more. Now it's time to go and drink wine and have some good food w/ good company.

Quick

Today is a Sunny Friday, looks cold. Tomorrow's forecast is cold, cloudy and windy w/ winds coming out of the SW at 20-30 mph. That should make for an interesting ride. I'm going to go and buy some winter booties to go over my shoes and a face mask type of thing. I should also get a thicker jacket and winter tights if I plan to keep up and not freeze. We'll have to see what the local shops have in stock.
MDM's memorial later then heading to South for lifting.
Today is going to be workout one. I rode my road bike on trainer yesterday for 45 minutes while the Turkey was roasting away...and it turned out awesome. I combined a couple of different recipes and used an over bag that Larry gave me and it was yummy. Pack is 10-1.

Gobble Gobble

So I didn't go out last night on the usual Holiday get together evening. Missed a couple of calls from friends but having to cook 14 lb Turkey today has me wanting to feel normal and not ill at all. Will try to enjoy myself a bit today w/ Family, Friends and Packers.
Turkey day is a day to reflect on what you're Thankful for and there is much I am.
Work out yesterday went well again... my body feels good and not at all like I've been doing too much which is cool cause it makes continuing that much more easy, where as if I felt like crap and sore all over I wouldn't want to continue. I'm starting to feel like I'm losing a little too.
So with that said last night was...
Bike 12 mins warm up
Abs Routine
Legs/Back/Biceps/Calves
Bike 12 cool down
Today I plan on riding my roadie indoors on my trainer for about 30-60 mins to make sure I sweat some.
Tomorrow back to gym for serious cardio...before or after MDM's Memorial.
cya

Getting cold & windy out there

Took a day of vacation today to get some things done around the house/yard. Did a lot of raking and got most of the leaves out of the main yard and into the back corner of property...doesn't pay to burn em cause they make a big smoke fest. I did burn a bunch of branches from the tree that fell down in a wind storm and that I cut up a week or two ago. Pulled snow blower out and fired up which made me really happy...must of been the Stabil that I did in the spring, I'm for surely going to do that to the rider in a couple of days, once ALL the leaves are in the back corner lot. Triumph is in the lower garage by the Stang to free up room in the upper garage for snow blower.
Tori's cousin Mandy went into labor today, about 4-5 weeks early I'd guess. She's in the hospital right now and will most likely have the baby tonight or tomorrow. Due to Mandy being in hospital I am now in charge of cooking the Turkey for tomorrow. Her mom Laurie was going to and has everything needed but she's occupied and will not have the time now. No big deal as I'm happy to help out where needed.
Workout went really good again last night - didn't lift weights just did cardio.
Bike 20 min
Abs
Elliptical 20 min
Stretch
Treadmill walk 5 run 5 walk 5 run 5 walk 10
went easy on the running since I did it the day before pretty hard
Tonight is going to be workout 2 which is legs, back, biceps and calves
My arms are finally feeling back to norm pretty much so I'm going to go easy on the bi's tonight.
I had a thought when I was driving to South yesterday after work...I really was excited about going to the school and 13 years ago I couldn't wait to get out of there. But now that I think of it, no matter where you are, after 8 hours you'd most likely like to be out of there.
Have a splendid Thanksgiving and Go Pack Go!

Pop Lockin Lock Stomping

Yesterday was work for 1/2 day, meet w/ kitchen layout lady, insurance agent, workout at South and TLC's John and Kate plus 8 and Small People Big world.
Kitchen lady had a few plans, none that really 'wowed' me. I gave her my idea and she liked it. She will now go back to drawing board. No update on lower bathroom yet, still waiting. My life is now insured however (I was before, just for not so much).

Workout - I think I said yesterday that I wasn't going to lift weights for a week and just do cardio plus switch over to a whole body routine, but the more I thought about it, if I wait and go back at it I may have the same results. So I decided to see how I felt after a warm up. Let me say that it was another one of those days where I almost stayed home and not went at all due to the tightness in my arms, but again I was very pleased w/ myself when it was all over.
So I warm up on the Elliptical for 12-15 minutes, arms achin at first but felt good after a while. Ab routine and then I did the Chest/Shoulder/Tricep's (actual workout 1) and it felt really good. I did keep the weight to a minimum and focused more on technique and form while completing the set. After lifting I ended the day on the treadmill - walk 5 run 10 walk 5 run 5 walk 5 - this I have to say went really good. I focused mainly on my breathing trying to maintain a consistent in/out rather than light and really heavy breathing. Was very happy and am going to state the obvious that not smoking has helped - plus burned up like 400 cals in 30 mins - good sweat.
I am going to switch from work each muscle group once every 2 days to once every 4 days w/ cardio in between. This will be the less aggressive way I was speaking of yesterday.
This may not seem very organized right now but I think from not lifting in a while, I have to tweak things accordingly to make it work. I'm now fairly confident that this is it although it may get tweaked again after my 'Fitness Eval' on Monday of next.
M - 1
T - C
W - 2
Th - C
F - 1
S - C
S - R

Too Much Too Fast

So I thought the bike rides and doing cardio for a week would be enough prep before going back at the workout I left in April...wrong. Even w/ dropping 10-20% of the amount weight I was lifting from the exercises and w/ doing proper warm up and cool downs I still have seemed to screw up. What am I talking about? My arms.
Thursday of last was legs, back, calves & bi's. My legs are great, back is good, but my biceps are unbelievably tight (hurts) and finally starting to be able to stretch fully. Friday I did a little raking but I was mostly shot had to rest. Saturday did the chilly wet ride then made a big batch of chilly. Sunday I was on and off computer and watched the Pack win again. I was popping Ibuprofen all weekend. I'll be back at it again tonight but think cardio will have to do until my arms are at least 90%. I'd say they're at 80 right now.
Going to have to back down a bit and change it to an easier single whole body workout on MWF to give me more rest & recovery. Once that feels too easy I'll then bump back up to the more aggressive MT ThF. Live and Learn. Just can't let this kill my motivation completely.

Ride

I was running late this morning and rolled into the parking lot right at 8:30. Only a hand full of riders due to low temps and rainy conditions. I hurried w/ my crap, thanked the group for waiting and off we went. A couple of laps in the woods and then we rode all the way to Oostburg along the lake. Stopped and had breakfast and coffee. Rode back the same way. Fun time. Muddy. The upper body is not used as much as lower during the ride so I made it fine but now that I'm back at home doing laundry (I already cleaned and lubed my bike) my arms are just freaking out yet. I had some of the worst pain last night as I was trying to sleep. Since I tend to sleep on my stomach and rest my head on my arm, my muscles were so tight that it literally hurt to extend my are like that. Still does.
I'm just glad I went for the ride. I really feel like I did something today and w/the smaller group there was really only one or two conversations going on.
Didn't do the South high workout yesterday - took a nap instead. May do the same now as Tori's off to party w/ the girls or I should just go to the bar and boozer up.

The never ending list

It's time to finish up those things before the snow starts trickling down. Off today from work to work on yard/home. Was going to start the lower bathroom but that's on hold pending pro carpenter bids for shower, possibly covered by home insurance. That would be nice. Still waiting. But it's not like there isn't a ton of other stuff to do around here.
It's hard to get moving today...my body is feeling the lifting and running...everything is sore and cracking. I'm telling myself that this is like the first part of a hard bike ride and that after a few miles/weeks, it should go away and feel good. Once I see some downward movement on the scale and belly, I'll start to mentally get into the game, right now it's just messing w/ my head. I may have to not weigh in for a week or two and see what happens. It's just really hard today. Plus it's c old out which make getting the blood pumping even harder. I'll have to go and rake as that always seems to work. I really hope that this does not affect my Sat Bike ride negatively as that would really piss me off.
Last night was workout 2 which was primarily Legs and Biceps. Hard to get going but felt accomplished when complete. Day by Day
Warm up w/ Bike 12 min
Ab routine w/ a couple of stretches
Work out 2
Cool Down w/ Bike 12 min
On another note...In my dream last night I saw MDM walking through the production floor at North Ave saying Hi to the workers. Not his face but he was walking by the fire door by my area and only caught the side of him. He was dressed for summer. Kinda like a flashback if you will - as I've seen him do this time and time again.
This is becoming a common thing for me to see people that have recently passed on in my dreams. I rarely if ever see the face, only profiles and such. The one that was kind of scary movie like was of Jill...I'm not sure who's house it was but I was walking up some old narrow wooden stairs to the second floor and there was a bedroom door on the top of stairs to the left and a tight landing w/ rooms to the right. At the end of stairs was a window w/ a curtain or shade drawn, it was night time. I could hear people in the bedroom to left and see movement from the rooms light shedding out. As I came closer to the top of the flight I saw her outline/shadow on the window shade wall at the top of the stairs and I heard her voice. This was a couple of years ago and I'm not sure how it ended but was fairly vivid I recall.
Oh well...time to stretch and get active.

Call me Mike...

Yesterday we were told of the passing of our company's owner and the best boss I've had to date and maybe ever will. Truly a shock but sadly and honestly not a complete surprise with all the medical issues he's been through and the company drama over the last couple of years.
I met Mike for the first time in April or May of 1998 when I had my interview for employment as a CADD tech at the High Tech lane building. Mondo met me at the front, interviewed me and showed me around. The last stop before we were done was with Mike. I was surprised that the owner was going to meet w/ me and was quite nervous as one could imagine. I walked in, sat down and this is kinda how it went...
"Hello Mr. Muth"
"Call me Mike"
"OK"
"So you're fresh out of school looking for job?"
"Yes"
Finding it hard to gain experience when no one will hire you to get it?"
"Yes"
"Just need to get your foot in the door to prove yourself?"
He had this weird way of making you feel comfortable as if you were siting w/ someone you've gone to school w/ or hung out with. At least this was the case for me as I remember feeling not so nervous leaving and thinking I just might get this position. Maybe the fact that I left Madison to live back in my hometown of Sheboygan had something to do w/ this I'm not sure.
I started in June of 98 as a temp to direct hire. January of 99 it was official. Somewhere in between those dates I had one of those no one will ever forget or let you down moments. This is was the infamous Nate getting arrested at work incident. I was in my cube CADD'n away when I heard LMcCabe's voice, "Nate are you here?" "Yes" I replied "You have a visitor" she said. I popped up to see who the heck was here and sure enough it was a Sheboygan County Sheriff. I was like shit! and ducked back down. WTF! I was thinking...I'm gonna get shit canned for sure! Dam it.
He came around and asked me to come with him outside. It was a really nice day out and he told me that I had a warrant out for my arrest regarding unpaid fines I believe. So me and Sheriff are outside and he's parked right in front of Mike's office windows. I'm now hand cuffed and freaking out saying "can we just go please!" He was like "in a minute...I have to call something in." We were literally there for several minutes and was totally nervous. I'm handcuffed in the parking lot leaning against a squad car in the middle of the morning! Then all of a sudden MDM comes walking out towards us in his white pants,international flag belt and golden tan and asks me "What's going on? Is there anything I can do?" I said "no no...I'm so sorry for this...this is over unpaid fines that I have not taken care of yet" He chatted w/ the Sheriff and a couple of minutes later we were on our way to jail. I get out of jail several hours later after my dad bails me out and head right back to HT Lane to talk w/ the Pres and MDM. I tell the short version of the whole story and all Mike said "Get it straighten out and don't let it happen again, we'll see you on Monday"
Needless to say it never did happen again. I have other story's and many memories but the point is that I lost probably the best boss I'll ever had and in my eye's a good friend. RIP MDM...I'll see ya on the other side. I'll think of you often.
Last night's Cardio work out:
Warm Up - Biked for 13 min 100 Cals
Ab Routine and Runners Stretch
Treadmill
Walk 5 Run 5 Walk 5 Run 10 walk 5 400 Cals
Cool Down - Bike 13 min 100 cals
Big Ball Push ups
Really good work out again

Not too bad

First time lifting in a while went good. Did the chest, shoulders, tri & abs which I'm going to call work out 1 with the legs, back, biceps and calves weight work out 2 and cardio C.
M - 2
T- 1
W - c
Th - 2
F - 1
S - bike or c
S - rest

Wt today = 223
Cardio tonight - ab routine daily from now on, except rest day.
Food intake = attempting 1800-2200 cals
Wt loss goal should be 1 or 2 lb/week if I maintain
Almost 9 wks no smoking & min alcohol consumption
"All that's left to do is everything" Jesse James monster garage circa '06?

Shape up or...

Since the daylight savings change has gone into effect and the temp's keep dropping, I now find myself at the fitness center after work during the week. Sunday and Monday I could still feel Saturday mornings ride in my legs, a reminder to take 10 min and stretch which I did not do, and I could also feel Sat night bowling in my back and RH middle finger-which I must have pulled. Extreme Bowling.
So yesterday I checked in at 227 but the scale was off by 4 which would mean 223 - norm for now - but at least 20 over what I would like to be by Spring. Today I check in at 225. The plus/minus 2 lbs is norm but it's nicer when they are on the minus. So now the goal is to lose some baggage to make me faster and increase endurance. I will be going back to my lifting and cardio and this year I will ride Saturday's. I'm going to reread my motivational workout/what to eat books and try to incorporate as much as I can.
Yesterday after work was another one of those days where I must have not had enough food in the tank when I got there cause I did not fell like doing anything. I jumped on the bike and decided to see what the different settings had to offer. I tried a couple of things but ended up on 'Random' which is a pretty good workout. It increases and decreases the resistance to mock hills and flat. It really gets the heart pumpin. After about 15 min I was bored w/ that and still feeling like I should just go home and make something to eat I jumped on the Elliptical. This is another mindless workout so I just closed my eyes and went at it telling myself that it's just like bike riding: the first couple of miles/minutes suck but after you reach a certain point it all starts to feel better if not good. So sure enough, with my stomach growling and a bit sick feeling and my head a bit light - 13-15 minutes into it I feel some sweat starting and the sick feeling going away, not completely but tolerable. I lasted on the Elliptical for 30 minutes but had to stop cause my feet were feeling numb again. 400 cal's on that and around 100 or so (I forgot, but it was more of a warm up than anything) on the bike.
This is what I think will work for the next couple of weeks:
Monday - Legs , Back, Biceps, Calves
Tuesday - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Abs
Wed - Cardio
Thurs - Legs, Back, Biceps, Calves
Friday - Cardio
Sat - Legs, Back, Biceps, Calves - If bike ride then do Back and Biceps only? Will see how that works
May have to switch to a MWF routine if Sat gets to messed up seeing that the fitness center is only open until 1 pm.
TBD

Forgot the Camera Again

Good Sunday Morning. Yesterday was a pretty cool day starting out w/ a 4 hour mtb ride. I still don't have a computer on the mtb but I'd guess it was at least 40 miles, not that it matters but it's a cool way to log ride. I left the house at 8 am, rode to Shooting park where the group meets, then we were off to Black River, then thru the woods for the single track laps. Two female deer ran right across the trail in front of the pack super fast (it would really hurt if you were to get hit by a spooked deer that's running/jumping at least 25 mpg. I looked left to see if there were more coming and there was a big buck starting to walk the other way. I saw the rack. It wasn't very far from us either. That was cool. We did a lap and I had less of an issue this time around and kept up really good. I bet the 8 weeks w/ out smoking has helped tremendously plus hitting the gym and using the bikes and elliptical and improved my endurance. I was better but knew this was only the start of the day and didn't want to 'pop' (use all energy prematurely) to soon so I didn't do the additional single track lap. Instead I headed w/ a couple of others to the meeting place. After that we rode to Cedar Grove and then back to Oostburg for bfast. I had the scrambled eggs special. Not bad at all. The coffee was starting to get to my gut a bit but held off. After the 30-60 min break it was back at it. We then headed back to TA for another lap in the woods. Someone broke a chain as we got in so we stopped to fix. 5 mins later we start to take off and I'm finishing cleaning my lens so I'm last. I'm following this guy and there was a log that needed to be hopped over. Well he lifted up the front wheel to soon coming down right before it instead of on top or after it and flipped over his bars super quick. I was like holy shit are you alright? He said yeah that probably didn't look good huh? I said don't sweat it. I yelled at the group rider down but no one heard me. Next time I need to yell louder to stop the group. So we get him all straighten up and I take off in front of him about 3 bike lengths and I'm looking ahead and pedaling quickly to find the group. I lost track of them and didn't take the right turn so instead rode a trail that follows the lake shore from TA to Black River (BR). As I'm cruising down and know where I'm going to end up I look behind and don't see the neon green of the dude that crashed. My bad for not keeping tabs on him as he could of crashed again and would have been alone. I know now that if this happens again I will shout louder for the grp to hold up and if that does not work I'll ride slower w/ the crashie. So I get out in BR and meet up with group on the trail head and tell them about the guy and there like where is he? I said I don't know. Then he popped up down the road and once again we were all back together. We did some more BR trails and ended up at Sunnyside area. It was now noon and I still had a 4 mile ride home so I split off from the group. It was a really cool ride and the weather was really good as well.
Dano has pic and vid from ride...I'm in the red jacket on both. Click here to check out.
I was a bit shot from the ride but still did a couple of home fixes. Due to such an intense morning everything that was in my gut was not having it and wanted out. I spent a good bit of time in the 'library'. Took garbage to the dump, ran into Larry who asked me to help him move another huge piece of furniture.
Got home and was ready for a nap but we had bowling at 6:30. Totally glad we went. Ran into Fish and Charles and company. Plus I bowled the best game ever! 185 and I could/should have busted 200 easily but screwed up on the 10th frame. I was nailing all spares until the tenth and then I had the split and muffed it. Oh well. Still was pretty pumped. We are on some couple league. Once a month until Spring. Cool people we bowled with and it was fun to hang with Danny and Jamie. I wish I would have taken my camera for some cool shots but maybe next time. I need to get batteries.
OK time to get outside for some more chores until game time.

What's up?

Couple of mental notes. I haven't googled this yet but I'm sure it's out there.
Bloggercize = Exercise for the mind thru typing your thoughts online? Wow, that almost rhymes too. Pure Genius I tell ya.
Same wt this morn - did bike for 20 and ellip for 30, another good sweat - easier than the day b4
Hopefully good things come to good people...more another time.
I'll do the gym again tonight...go home and prep clothes for Sat Morn Group Ride. Looks to be about 37 degrees at 8 AM per Weather.com.
After ride tomorrow I'll have to look into a mounting plate on the Triumph, remove gas tank and prep for paint. Handlebars and petcocks should be arriving late next week. Also need to modify exhaust pipes to make clearance for the kick start lever/pedal.
Winterize Rider/Mower - Pull out Blower fire up. Put away outside furniture & canopy. Turn off outside water valve, change furnace filter, check heating oil level, open lower level heat ducts, clean yard debris, cut up tree...I'll stop there for today.
Bowling Sat Night.

Thursday

Just a quick post while I'm thinking about it.
Today I weighed in at 223...kinda the same as b4 but feels up a bit most likely due to LV trip.
Last night went to South to use fitness room.
Biked for 20 then did Elliptical for 30. Good Sweat.
Will go back tonight. It gets dark to quick at night. Makes 6 pm feel like 9 pm.
I've been having those thoughts again that I need to sell everything I have to switch things up.
Sell the Jeep & Stang to get little wagon...sell Triumph to get Buell - save a ton more stop spending every penny.
I even know what kind of wheels and suspension I want for my little wagon.
I get these thoughts often. Sell house to get different/newer one w/ better layout/less yardwork.
These come and go. Just wanted to write it down.
Game on

Back in Vegas...SheVegas that is

Pics from Sema
http://picasaweb.google.com/biglakecity/Sema2007