Over the hump day

Wednesday, August 13

I got my butt up off of my balance ball and did my morning work walk. 

I walked 1.68 miles in 30:52 minutes  Don't you love seeing these maps?  I do.

Once again, when I got home, it started sprinkling.  No riding again.  I almost feel lost.  I'm missing something.  If you are In another part of the country, can you ride for me?



work walk

Flooded out

Tuesday, August 12.

Before I got up this morning, and all day long, almost until dark, it rained.  And it just didn't rain, it poured.  We haven't seen this much rain in a frickin' long time.

I was not able to walk this morning at work.  I did get my minimum goal of 5000+ steps today, but they were not good steps.  I worked out on my balance ball and that's about all I got accomplished today.  Not much moving.  Not real happy.

And that's the end of today's story.  Sorry.  Pathetic.

Thursday - last work day of the week

Thursday was a pretty normal day.  Same old walking and balance ball workouts.

work walk

I walked 1.82 miles in 34:37 minutes.  Today was a rough day for the balance ball and actually walking also.  It was tough to push myself today.

I'm wondering if I'm pushing too hard.  I know that probably sounds lame, but does your body know when it needs some down time?  I believe it does.  And being my age, I probably need a bit more than someone in a younger age group.

Does that sound right?  I need some help here.

So after work, I did not go biking.  Everyone was asking why I haven't ridden my new bike yet and the only explanation I can give is that I'm beat.  (and I had already planned my maiden ride for Friday)

Does anyone else ever get this way?  I want to keep moving and in the "movement", get fit and lose weight.  But when I get feeling like I did today, I fear that I won't reach my goals.


One good thing was, in the evening, I saw that I was only at 9100 steps on my fitbit.  So I did step that up and cross the 10,000 step line.  That made me feel good.  That's a plus, right?

Tomorrow, maiden bike ride! 

Rest (fail) day

So in my quest to move, on Wednesday, we were hosting my whole division at our satellite office.  One of my co-workers was already waiting outside of the building at 5:30am!!! when I got there.  Can you see where this is leading?

I did not get my daily work walk in, that sort of made me feel a little off.  I did exercise somewhat on my balance ball, but even that was stunted.  My whole day was wrecked.

This was a fail day to say the least, or I could turn that around and say it was a "rest" day.  Yah, that's the correct wording.  Rest days are good.

It was a 90 degree, hazy, hot, and humid day.  A nice day for a rest day.

After work, I started putting my bike together.  No, it was not in pieces, did you not see my picture?  I added my water bottle holder and I connected my new cheap bike computer.  It is a Schwinn something or other.  I got it working, I think.  My maiden ride will be the tell-tale sign that it is correctly hooked up.

I am planning my maiden ride for Friday.  As keeping with my other quest to not lose my "use or lose" leave, I am off on Friday.  Again.

I never did show you a picture of my bike, did I?  Were you dying in anticipation?  I'm sorry.  Here it is!

my bike

I need a name for my new bike.  Yes, I have names for my things.  My vehicles have all had names so it is only fitting that I have a name for my new bike.  Any suggestions?

It's here!

So let's play a little catch up, shall we?

When I last left off, I was anticipating picking up my new bike on Tuesday.  (just wait until you see the picture)

work walk

Tuesday was a pretty good, normal day.  My morning walk was over 2 miles, nice!  I walked 2.05 miles in 39.20 minutes.  These walks are starting to rock.

Matter of fact, I had over 5000 steps before noon!  That's awesome.


won't rotate

After work I am heading directly to the LBS.  Can't wait!

bike rack

Work gets in the way

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Today is going to be a loooonnnggg day at work.  I got my walking out of the way.  Walked 1.26 miles in 23:34 minutes and saw a friend!



Walking

My friend

I also got as much balance ball exercise in as possible.  I can feel these in my gut/abdomen.  Can't see the effects yet (well, maybe a little), but boy can I feel it.

Had to leave the office at 10:30am and head to DC.  Actually, pretty excited about this adventure.  We are going to assist a law enforcement entity with booking in their arrestees.  There is a demonstration going on at the White House and they expect at least 100 arrests will be made.  This law enforcement entity is one of the users of my law enforcement records management system.

We are going to be there to get hands on with how they enter their information and how we can help to improve this process.  (I got a few ideas already)

I don't talk about my job much, but I absolutely love it!

So biking after work was not happening.  I got home at 7:30pm (after being in the office at 5:30am) and it was a really long day.

I will say, one of the highlights was taking my inaugural ride on the Silver Line.  It just opened 5 days ago.  Nice!

Hump day

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Wednesdays are the roughest day of the week for me, at work.  We have 3 standing meetings (meaning every Wednesday, not that we stand during the meetings, hmmm).  And everyone else always seems to want meetings  that day also.  So not much thinking, developing, configuring type work going on on these days.

Today I walked around the Butterfly Meadows park.  At least that's what I think it is called.  It is some sort of conservation meadowland park or something or other.  It's just a nice little area right in the middle of town.

I walked 1.37 miles in 27:35 minutes.  Did the usual balance ball exercises (I am keeping up with this).  I did not bike when I got home from work.  I am learning that you need to take some rest days here and there (at least weekly) in order to keep your mind fresh.

These are pictures of Butterfly Meadows.



Butterfly Meadows

Butterfly info

 

Conservation info

Flower info



Walking Butterfly Park

Sort of a down day

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

I really am going to catch this blog up to be current, I promise.

In an effort to not be too repetitive, today was a fairly normal day.  Did the usual walking, balance ball exercises, and biking after work.  The difference was I was just not feeling the biking.  Do you ever get that way?  I don't think I am really worn out, but maybe, sometimes, you just aren't feeling it.

So, I did get out on the bike, but I didn't go very far.  At least I kept moving and that's my goal.

I walked 1.73 miles in 34:53 minutes.  I just love all these different tracks.  And if you haven't used it, I use an app on my Galaxy S5 called My Tracks.  I think I have had this app for a couple of years and on multiple phones.  It is easy to use, precise in its maps and stats, and I love it.  I would highly recommend this app to everyone.

My biking this afternoon was a short one.  It was the mood, I guess.  I biked 2.71 miles in 24:52 minutes.

Walking

Biking

A new pair of shorts

Monday, July 28, 2014

About 6 weeks ago or so, I pulled a pair of shorts out of the closet and put them on.  I could button and zip them BUT, OMG, they cut into my sides so bad.  I could hardly move.  Every move made me think that they were going to explode open.

I wore them for about an hour and finally threw in the towel.  Off they came and into a more comfortable (bigger) pair.  I was not happy.  They were a really nice pair of cargo shorts that I had only bought a year before.  So into the dirty clothes basket they went to be washed and put away (far, far away).

So fast forward to today.  Getting dressed and I came across the pair of "shrunken" shorts and thought "you know, I want to see how bad these shorts actually are, I don't quite remember".

AAAGHHH!  Put on the shorts and they fit just fine!  How did that happen?  Yes, they were washed and were not in a pre-worn state.  Wow, so this is a minor body quick-change?  This is a quick win?  This is awesome.

Being able to wear those shorts confirmed (in my mind) that attempting to get in shape was actually working and pushed me to do more  I have not weighed my self since that first Saturday of biking, and I don't intend to for at least a month, but this is a bonus.

It's the little things that reinforce and keep me moving!  Do the little things help you along your way?

Did my normal, tend to the important things at work and then off to walk.  I'm liking this walking, balance ball, and biking routine.  And, I do believe it is working.

Walked 1.49 miles in 27:46 minutes.  I'm trying to do different routes when I walk at work and there are plenty of different roads and parking lots I can walk in my office complex.  Can't let it get monotonous.

Walking

Biking

Did my usual balance ball exercises during work.  Even introduced a couple of new ones that I made up.  Okay, I probably did not make them up, but they are new to me (and pretty intense as they make me huff and puff more than usual).

After work, got back on the bike and off I went to down (or up) the W&OD trail.  I biked 5.44 miles in 45:58 minutes.  I'm not intentionally trying to go faster, but it is happening.

I feel great!  (Please don't get tired of me saying that, it keeps me moving)  :-)

Absolutely nothing (hardly) accomplished

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Today was a failure.  Okay, not a complete failure, but definitely lacking in the exercise category.

I got to work and only had about 45 minutes before I had to go grab the shuttle and head downtown to HQ.  I work in a satellite office and every now and then my presence is required in DC.

So I got a single balance ball shift in and then headed to DC.  I got back to my office about 1:15pm.  Did another balance ball routine and all of a sudden just died.

I was seriously beaten.  I almost couldn't move.  I was exhausted.

After I thought about it, I believe my body needed a break.  It was saying "What the hell are you doing?  I haven't moved this much in years.  You need to slow down."  Yep, that's what I heard.  My body was probably right.  After being fairly sedentary for years, all of sudden I crammed 4 days of pretty intense newbie exercising into my body, and I think it was rebelling.

So I listened.  It helped that it was another 93 degree scorcher when I got home from work, so I didn't feel so bad.

Listen to your body.  Every now and then you just need a break.

Walking it off

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Today and tomorrow are supposed to be back in the 90's.  Sunny, hot, and humid.  Uggggh.

Just to make sure I get some exercise in today, I am continuing my morning work walk.

Walking

Based on yesterday's work walk, I know how much further I have to go to at least get a mile in.

Today I walked 1.18 miles in a time of 23.57.  Not too bad for 6:30am at work.

Of course, I exercised my butt off on my balance ball while at work (at least I wish the butt would fall off).

And as I suspected, when I got home from work, it was way to hot and humid to attempt a bike ride.

But that's okay.  I got moving some today and that's what counts.

Back to work

Monday, July 21, 2014

Back to work it is.  Got there at 5:15am (early right?) and hopped right back on the balance ball.  I have a Gaiam Eco Balance Ball 75cm.  You might think this ball is rather large and it is, but when trying to use it as your desk chair, you need it to be that big.  I am not tall at all, but this ball is perfect for me to sit at my desk and work all day, amidst exercising on it also.

Surprisingly, this ball is awesome.  Even after a long hiatus, it held its air great.  No deflation at all.

Since it is a Monday in July, I had my doubts about riding my bike after working 9+ hours.  So I compensated by taking an early morning walk.


After I got the absolute, first thing, necessities done, I took a walk.

Not a long walk, but I was moving!  Isn't that the whole point, keep moving?

So my early morning walk was only 0.74 miles in a time of 13:11.  Something is better than nothing.



Walking 7/21/14

 As it turns out, I ended up biking after work anyhow.  It was cloudy and warm, but I think the clouds made it okay.  If the sun had been out full force, it would have been rather nasty.

Biking

My tracks  today were 3.18 miles in 29.51 minutes.  I'm getting faster.  I do stop at various times for a water break, but this is good!

The reason this ride was a tiny bit longer is that if you pass the Smith Switch bike station, just a few yards further is Smith Switch Road.  I went the little bit further and turned around at the road.  Keep pushing it, go farther, that's the way to do it.


Today, walking, balance ball workouts, and a bike ride.  That's
what I call exercise (and hopefully, losing it)!

What do you think?

Step back a few weeks

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

It's really just a coincidence that I started this endeavor on the first of July.  Seriously, it is.

I dusted off my balance ball that I had at work.  My co-worker and I bought them last year and used them for a couple of weeks, but, I guess we lost interest.

So, pulled it back out and plopped my butt on it.  The first day, I think I only lasted 3/4 of the day.  If your butt is not used to sitting on these, it starts to ache after a while.

 

Since that first day, I have only used my balance ball to sit on at work.  After the first week of getting used to sitting on it again, I started the exercises.

My exercises included crunches, push ups, planks, and other made up movements.  I did one or a couple of these at least every 2 hours, some times more often.  I really did work at it.

I felt awesome (after the initial aches and pains).

So that's the lead story, now back to my other "losing and getting fit" chronicles.