Tuesday, January 27, 2009

My progress so far...

After setting my goal to run the 10KM in June, we left town for two weeks which really does wonders for a fitness routine. Now that we're home again, I sat down and worked out a schedule that takes me up to June 27th (race day). I have it all on an Excel file (4 tabs, including cool little graphs to show my progress on my Saturday "weigh-ins", calculation cells to project my weekly targets...). This is one of the side-effects when a computer geek decides to get physically active. Some who read this will say I'm much more than a computer geek. There's Star Wars geek, Trek geek, Lego geek,...

For my aerobic training, I'm going to alternate running and walking days. I walked two miles tonight and tomorrow I'll see if I can still run a mile (that was back in July, so my expectations aren't really high right now).

For my strength training, I borrowed an idea from the Perfect Push-up workout where you do 3 or 4 sets with decreasing reps in a 2-minute period. For example, if your max reps at a specific weight was 10, you would do 8 reps, rest momentarily, then 6 reps, rest, 4 reps, rest, 2 reps. You end up doing 10 more reps than you normally would have done, which is really handy for things like push-ups (or leg presses on the Bowflex) when you can't easily add more weights or resistance. If your max is 20 reps, then you would do 14, 10, and 6 in two minutes. I'd like to say it has been more effective for me, but this is Day 2 and right now all I can say is "ouch". I've never been one to bulk up, it's just not in my genetic make-up. I wouldn't mind getting some tone back though.

One of my other efforts (not really a goal) is that I have been mostly carbonation-free for a month now. It probably shouldn't be so hard, but that could have sometihng to do with the fact my beverage of choice was Barq's Rootbeer (sweet, sweet nectar). So, to combat the withdrawal pains, I'm drinking more juice now. I know I should drink more water, but it gives me kidney pains (which I should probably have checked out someday). I'm trying to ease my way back on the water wagon, hoping it will hurt less. I choose to think of it as my body's way of saying I should drink something with actual flavor in it. The Slimfast & ice cream milkshakes help too, mostly because that's the only way I can swallow the horse pills someone is trying to pass off as multi-vitamins. I've seen my grandpa force-feed smaller pills to his dairy cows. Each morning I stare at the vitamin in my hand, wishing I had one of those long metal "thingies" they use to force the pill down the cow's throat.

Friday, January 9, 2009

One of my resolutions...

I'm still not exactly sure I'm doing this under my own influence, I'm more inclined to believe Jedi mind control.

This year, I will complete the Raymond 10KM Road Race. There... I said it. Now I'm accountable for it. Anyone who reads this can now poke and prod as to how I'm progressing in my training (which I'm sure will commence sometime in the near future).

Let's check to see if this is an effective goal...

1. Recorded. Yep. And if I do enough posts fast enough, I can bury this post before anyone can see it :)

2. Specific. As specific as I can get it right now. The race is usually around the July 1st celebrations. When I find the specific date, then I'll post it here.

3. Measurable. Yes. The results can be independently verified... I either cross the finish line or I don't.

4. Positive. Yes. I will finish.

5. Stretching. I should probably do a lot of stretching, don't want to pull anything. Seriously, running 6 miles will be the longest I've ever done before. I'm not starting off with a marathon or anything, so I think this is the right balance between stretching and attainable for me.

I'd love to hear from any of the runners out there who have tips on staying motivated. Sometimes I have a tendency not even to make it out of the starting gates before I reach for the remote and a comfy chair. I'll be following Becka's Blog fairly closely, so hopefully that'll keep me fairly on track. I keep saying that I want to choose to be healthy before I'm compelled to be healthy, but then I never really change anything. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need more ice cream...

Friday, January 2, 2009

New Year's Resolutions

If you're like most of the population, you looked at your resolutions from last year and probably set them again for this year's resolutions because you forgot about them. If you had them written down, you're already in the minority. I'm willing to bet that for about 95% of you, your resolutions aren't really goals but more of a wish list.

I don't mean to be a downer, but for your resolutions/goals to be effective, they need to pass a few criteria. Effective goals must be:

1. Recorded.
If you don't write them down, your goals are just wishes. Writing them down is part of the process which makes you feel accountable. After they're written down, make sure you post them in a conspicuous place so you'll be constantly reminded.

2. Specific
Fuzzy goals yield fuzzy results. Make your goal specific to you. You're only competing with yourself, not with anyone else. Make it clear what you want. Don't use words like "if" or "try", they are counter-productive. Don't use percent goals (eg. 'I will earn 10% more this year'). Figure it out and use a real number ('I will earn at least $50,000 this year').

3. Measurable
Your goal must be measurable by you and at least one other person. This means "I will be nicer to the kids" isn't a goal. What you feel may be nicer isn't necessarily measurable by others. Instead, you could say, "I will give each child __# of positive comments each day." Have a specific date by which you will accomplish your goal. An example of a measurable goal would be, "I will weigh 200lbs by 1 Mar 2009." When I step on the scales on Mar 1, it'll be very easy to determine whether or not I have reached my goal and it can be measured by anyone.

A quick note on sharing goals with others. If you are setting a "Give up" goal (eg. no more chocolate, Diet Coke, etc.), then share your goals with everyone. The more people who will stop and ask how you're doing, the better. If you are setting a "Go up" goal (eg. to be #1 in your department), share it only with those who can actually help you. If you walk around the office telling everyone you're going to be #1 by the end of the year, you might find an increasing amount of resistance.

4. Positive.
Your goals must be written in the positive. Your subconscious doesn't know how to deal with a negative. Let me demonstrate... For the next 60 seconds, do NOT think about blue bunnies. Keep track on a piece of paper. How many times did you think about blue bunnies before I told you not to? After? If your goal is to stop eating chocolate, your subconscious acts like airport security with a photo of the most-wanted terrorist. Everything that comes in gets evaluated against your image of chocolate. "That's not chocolate, that's not chocolate, that's not chocolate... hey, that picture of chocolate looks pretty good." And soon, all you can think of is chocolate. Rephrase your goal in a positive direction, like "I will eat ___ # servings of fruits & vegetables each day".

Setting positive goals also means they are in-line with your values. If you value honesty, then robbing a bank is not an effective goal for you.

5. Stretching
Your goals must cause you to stretch and grow to some degree. If it was easy, you'd already be doing it. The trick is to set your goals so they are challenging enough to be motivating, but not so hard as to be depressing.