For the second week in a row, I made it to 3 days of CrossFit midweek. It was tough, but I pulled it off.
The first part of the workout last night was 20 minutes of "work your weakness". I picked barbell bench presses and sumo deadlift high pulls, using the same barbell for each movement. For 20 minutes, I alternated the two exercises doing 5 reps of one and then a minute later, doing 5 reps of the other. I kept the weight light, but it was getting harder as I approached the 20 minute mark.
Next, our conditioning work was to accrue as many reps as possible in 12 minutes of the following:
21 sit-ups
15 push-ups
9 jumps over a box
I did four rounds plus 9 extra sit-ups. Because I'm not yet ready to do box jumps quite yet, I simply stepped up on the box, down the other side and then repeated this to 9 reps. Overall, I did it at a controlled pace - not all out - hoping I'd be recovered in time to ski on Saturday.
I'm sore today, but I hope to feel better by tomorrow.
I was working out beside a guy in our gym who drives me absolutely nuts. It is possible that this person is simply incapable of counting. But, night after night, workout after workout, he plain and simply cheats. I've been watching this for months. He will do part of a set, rest for a bit, and then act like he finished the set and move on.
Last night, he wrote on the board that he completed 5 full rounds of the workout. Yet, I repeatedly counted his reps (and mine at the same time), and I was shocked at his rep totals. For example, his middle three rounds of sit-ups were 16, 13 and 18 reps - barely two rounds worth. One of his push-up sets was 2 reps, rest, 2 reps, rest, 2 reps, rest, 2 reps, rest, and call it done. The closest I saw him come to completing a set was 8 box jumps.
I have no problem with people scaling the workouts. Scaling is what allows us non-elite athletes to do these workouts without getting hurt. But, when I scale, I do one of two things. I either write on the board and in my logbook exactly what I did. Or, I don't even record a score on the whiteboard.
This person cheats his way through workout after workout, and then writes lies on the board. In this case, it probably makes me a bit crazier than it might otherwise because we are close in ability. On Wednesday night, it was almost comical. I'd start a set before him, but he would finish before me, despite the fact that I was moving faster. So, I'd start the next set behind him and I'd finish my reps before he finished his cheater set. So, I'd start first in the next set. He'd cheat his way to finish ahead of me again. And so on.
The "why" of this completely eludes me. Who benefits? Maybe no one gets hurt either, but why blatantly lie about what you've done? How do you know if you are improving if you have no accurate records of what you've really done?
It's just bizarre and I need to let it go. But, it drives me nuts.
On Monday, I watched one of our better athletes cheat his way through a very tough workout. This guy did all the reps, but did every single one of them poorly. If he was being judged for the CrossFit games, his reps would have been disallowed repeatedly. Again, why?
I have no answer. I admit I don't like finishing last in some of our workouts. But it happens sometimes and I just get over it, write my time on the board, and come back to fight again another day.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Upping the ante
It's now been 8 weeks since my surgery and I'm feeling physically better all the time. The past two nights at CrossFit, I pushed the effort a bit more than I have been doing in previous weeks.
I skipped a really hard workout on Monday night, a workout done in memory of one of our former members who died on the professional skiing freestyle tour a few years ago. I felt bad missing the workout, but I watched my wife and many others do it. But, I'm sticking with my schedule of skiing the weekends and limiting CrossFit to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until I'm done teaching skiing for the year.
Tuesday, the workout didn't really seem that hard, but it took a lot out of me. We started with 3x8 of back squats and then did 3x8/side of barbell step-ups - a loaded barbell on your back and you step up onto a box, alternating which leg goes first.
I kept my weight moderate for this workout, but when I recorded it in my workout log the next day, I noticed that I hadn't done any back squats since the surgery. I had done front squats, but not back squats. We finished the Tuesday workout with wall balls, power cleans and hanging knee raises.
Last night, strength work was focused on push presses. The prescribed rep pattern was 5332211. I started at 75 pounds for the 5 reps - way too easy. Then, on to 95 for the first set of three, increasing by 5 pounds every set. I got to 120 for the second single rep and still felt like I had more. To be honest, I don't even know what my one rep max is for the push press. I've done 145 for the strict press, although I couldn't do that now. And, I've done 195 for the clean and jerk, using a split jerk to get that weight overhead. So, my best for the push press is between those two weights. But, 120 still seemed easy, so I added single reps at 125 and 130.
From there, we moved to pull-ups, shoulder to overhead (any movement allowed - strict press, push press, push jerk, split jerk, etc.) and kettlebell swings.
Today, I feel like I've been run over by a truck. Every muscle in my body is sore, it seems. I'm sure most of it is from the strength work on Tuesday, but this is by far the worst I've hurt from a workout since my surgery.
Tonight's workout includes a "Work your weakness" segment, so I can pick movements that won't kill the muscles that already hurt. The latter part of the workout includes sit-ups, push-ups, and box jumps (step ups for me). I should be able to get through that before a rest day tomorrow and then skiing on the weekend.
I skipped a really hard workout on Monday night, a workout done in memory of one of our former members who died on the professional skiing freestyle tour a few years ago. I felt bad missing the workout, but I watched my wife and many others do it. But, I'm sticking with my schedule of skiing the weekends and limiting CrossFit to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until I'm done teaching skiing for the year.
Tuesday, the workout didn't really seem that hard, but it took a lot out of me. We started with 3x8 of back squats and then did 3x8/side of barbell step-ups - a loaded barbell on your back and you step up onto a box, alternating which leg goes first.
I kept my weight moderate for this workout, but when I recorded it in my workout log the next day, I noticed that I hadn't done any back squats since the surgery. I had done front squats, but not back squats. We finished the Tuesday workout with wall balls, power cleans and hanging knee raises.
Last night, strength work was focused on push presses. The prescribed rep pattern was 5332211. I started at 75 pounds for the 5 reps - way too easy. Then, on to 95 for the first set of three, increasing by 5 pounds every set. I got to 120 for the second single rep and still felt like I had more. To be honest, I don't even know what my one rep max is for the push press. I've done 145 for the strict press, although I couldn't do that now. And, I've done 195 for the clean and jerk, using a split jerk to get that weight overhead. So, my best for the push press is between those two weights. But, 120 still seemed easy, so I added single reps at 125 and 130.
From there, we moved to pull-ups, shoulder to overhead (any movement allowed - strict press, push press, push jerk, split jerk, etc.) and kettlebell swings.
Today, I feel like I've been run over by a truck. Every muscle in my body is sore, it seems. I'm sure most of it is from the strength work on Tuesday, but this is by far the worst I've hurt from a workout since my surgery.
Tonight's workout includes a "Work your weakness" segment, so I can pick movements that won't kill the muscles that already hurt. The latter part of the workout includes sit-ups, push-ups, and box jumps (step ups for me). I should be able to get through that before a rest day tomorrow and then skiing on the weekend.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Ski Season to Date
This has been an odd ski season in many, many ways. First of all, I lost three weekends after my surgery. Those 6 days easily exceed the total number of days I've missed in my previous 12 seasons as an instructor.
(I just typed a whole lot of stuff about goings-on at the mountain, but on the off-chance that anyone in management would see what I'd written, I deleted it all.)
We haven't had a good snow year at all. This might be the worst snow year I've ever seen at our mountain. With one exception, every major storm has gone to our south. A week ago, it looked like today would bring us lots of snow. Instead, that snow seems to be targeting Baltimore, a city that probably doesn't want the snow at all.
For the first time in 12 years, I have a brand new group of students - not a single hold-over from the previous season. For the most part, I like the children in the group, but they are the most challenging group that I've had. I've had one girl behave so poorly that she went home for the remainder of a day. I've had a student ask to borrow my phone to make an emergency call to her mother, and then change my pass-code without telling me, effectively locking me out of my own phone. Yesterday, I had to hike uphill a long way when the group decided to play a prank on me, and then a student slipped on some ice and claimed she was hurt. In reality, she wasn't hurt at all, but I was furious that they had done what they'd done.
And, they don't even want to ski. They just want to sit in the cafeteria and eat junk food and drink sugared water of one form or another. Or they want to play outside. Or, if they want to ski, they want to ski terrain that isn't appropriate for the conditions or their skill levels. As an instructor, I'm supposed to improve their skill levels, but they won't listen when I try to teach things to them. On more than one occasion, the group has defied my directions and skied terrain that I did not believe was safe. They simply took off on their own despite what I'd told them.
So, we have three weeks left in the teaching part of the season. I'm really hoping we get some snow soon, because the time when I can actually ski on my own starts at the end of this month. And, if we don't get more snow soon, a couple warm spells could quickly reduce our open trail count and limit my skiing options for late March and into April.
It's not over yet, but at this point in time, I'd have to call this my most difficult season as an instructor, in just about every aspect of the job and skiing in general. It's been the kind of season where I've told my boss many times that I've been ready to just quit. It's a job that costs me more to perform than I earn, and when it's a net negative cost, it should at least be fun. This year has failed in that respect quite a bit.
Friday, February 28, 2014
CrossFit!
In my last post, I mentioned that I wanted to get to CrossFit three times last week, and my body wasn't ready for that yet. This week, apparently, it was, and I even returned to a few movements that I hadn't done since surgery. And now, on Friday morning, I'm a bit tired, but feeling pretty good. Today is a rest day before skiing all weekend.
Tuesday: Power snatches and clean and jerks for strength, and then thrusters, pull-ups and burpees for time. These were my first burpees since the surgery and they didn't hurt at all. Well, other than the fact that burpees suck, I suck at burpees, and they always hurt. But, the burpees caused no unexpected pain. I have to admit that I'd had a rough day at work and I didn't want to be in the gym, so I probably didn't push as hard as I should have or could have. But, I still got through the workout.
Wednesday: Strength work was 7x3 split jerks, starting at a very easy 95# and gradually moving to 115#. My best ever on this lift is 195#, but that was before my shoulder injury last year, so between that injury and the surgery, I was happy to lift as much as I did. After that, we did 10 minutes, as many reps as possible, of snatches (light at 65#), dumbbell strict presses, and rope jumping. This was my first time doing rope jumping since the surgery, and I was worried about any potential incontinence issues. The things most likely to cause issues related to incontinence, in my opinion, are rope jumping, box jumps, or lifting really heavy weights (squats or deadlifts). No problems so far.
Thursday: Strength work was alternating sets of (10 of each movement) of 3 deadlifts at 225# and 5 bench presses at 95#. The deads were still nowhere near my max from last summer of 440#, but it's still a decent amount of weight to pick up. The bench presses were for form and deliberately light - less than half of my lifetime best. No incontinence problems or pain with the deads, so I may increase again next week. Then, we did a workout, as fast as possible, of rowing 1000m, 50 kettlebell swings, and 30 box jumps. I opted to the the box jumps as step-ups. I think box jumps will be the last movement I return to doing.
Tonight is the first workout of the CrossFit Open, where people try to qualify for a regional meet, where they can then qualify for the CrossFit Games. I did this last year, and it was kind of fun, but opted out this year due to the surgery. So, while everyone is killing themselves with double unders and snatches tonight, I'll be going out for a beverage with my wife and a friend and then going to see Ratdog at the Flynn Theater in Burlington.
Tuesday: Power snatches and clean and jerks for strength, and then thrusters, pull-ups and burpees for time. These were my first burpees since the surgery and they didn't hurt at all. Well, other than the fact that burpees suck, I suck at burpees, and they always hurt. But, the burpees caused no unexpected pain. I have to admit that I'd had a rough day at work and I didn't want to be in the gym, so I probably didn't push as hard as I should have or could have. But, I still got through the workout.
Wednesday: Strength work was 7x3 split jerks, starting at a very easy 95# and gradually moving to 115#. My best ever on this lift is 195#, but that was before my shoulder injury last year, so between that injury and the surgery, I was happy to lift as much as I did. After that, we did 10 minutes, as many reps as possible, of snatches (light at 65#), dumbbell strict presses, and rope jumping. This was my first time doing rope jumping since the surgery, and I was worried about any potential incontinence issues. The things most likely to cause issues related to incontinence, in my opinion, are rope jumping, box jumps, or lifting really heavy weights (squats or deadlifts). No problems so far.
Thursday: Strength work was alternating sets of (10 of each movement) of 3 deadlifts at 225# and 5 bench presses at 95#. The deads were still nowhere near my max from last summer of 440#, but it's still a decent amount of weight to pick up. The bench presses were for form and deliberately light - less than half of my lifetime best. No incontinence problems or pain with the deads, so I may increase again next week. Then, we did a workout, as fast as possible, of rowing 1000m, 50 kettlebell swings, and 30 box jumps. I opted to the the box jumps as step-ups. I think box jumps will be the last movement I return to doing.
Tonight is the first workout of the CrossFit Open, where people try to qualify for a regional meet, where they can then qualify for the CrossFit Games. I did this last year, and it was kind of fun, but opted out this year due to the surgery. So, while everyone is killing themselves with double unders and snatches tonight, I'll be going out for a beverage with my wife and a friend and then going to see Ratdog at the Flynn Theater in Burlington.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Seven weeks out from surgery
A week ago, we finally got some real snow in Vermont. For the first time all season, I spent the weekend teaching off-piste. We explored tree runs all weekend and had a great time. I was fighting a cold through the weekend and I was a bit tired, but we had a lot of fun.
Last week, I hoped to get to CrossFit three times. I made it on Tuesday and Wednesday, but by Thursday, my entire body ached. I felt so beat up that I wondered if I had the flu. But, a couple days of anti-inflammatories, and I felt a lot better by Saturday. Regretfully, a rain storm on Friday changed the ski conditions drastically for this past weekend. The kids seemed oblivious to the weather conditions and wanted to simply charge into the trees again. For the most part, when we ventured into the trees, I felt the runs were much tougher and more dangerous than the week before, yet the kids did not seem to believe this at all.
My rule on the hill is that safety considerations trump all other considerations. Twice on Saturday, my students deliberately ignored me and went into a tree run that I had expressly said we would not ski. I was not happy, and the main offender got to go home early for the day on Saturday. After some discussions with her parents on Saturday, she returned on Sunday much more willing to listen to directions. Hopefully that will continue for the rest of the season.
This coming week looks cold and snowless. Snowmaking is done for the season, so we are likely to be looking at firm conditions next weekend. The children are really getting restless on the slopes at times. This is an "adventure" program and they want more adventure. But, despite record snowfalls in some parts of the country, and a fairly cold winter, snow is still less than normal in my part of the country.
In some ways, and I almost hate to say this, the lower snowfall amounts have been better for me physically. It is less demanding for me to teach on groomed trails than it is to teach in the trees or on steep icy terrain or steep mogul terrain. Yet, despite the easier than normal demands on my body, I am still struggling somewhat to keep up.
In the past two weeks, I've been fighting an illness, which has led to coughing (I did get some cough medicine that helped there) and sneezing. After a lot of sneezing, I noticed that I was starting to feel some discomfort near the center of the surgery - right where my prostate used to reside. This is a good indication that I'm still not fully healed. Of the six incision points for the robotic surgery, the largest incision has still not completely healed, although it's close.
I've been pretty lucky with incontinence, which normally resolves in 2-4 months. Even sneezing and coughing, I haven't been having any problems, so I seem to be at least 99% contintent. Other surgical side effects are taking longer to resolve.
But, the bottom line is that I'm still not 100% recovered. I'm napping and sleeping more than usual. A day at the gym or a day on the mountain tires me out more than it would have before the surgery. Even being at my desk for a full day of work can be a bit of a chore, and I find myself getting tired by the end of the day.
I know I've pushed myself back to a fairly full life much faster than most patients after surgery like this. For this particular surgery, I was probably a decade younger than the typical patient, so I think it's reasonable to expect that my recovery would be better than average. But, better than average has not translated into "full and complete" in a very short timeline.
So, I need to remain vigilant and do what my body lets me do. I'm glad I'm skiing again. I'm glad I'm in the gym. I'm hopeful the cancer is completely gone. I have my annual physical in March and my next appointment with the surgeon in April - 14 weeks after the surgery. PSA has a half life of about 3 days in the body. That means that my PSA level of about 5 should be undetectable within a month or so of surgery. I won't be tested at my physical, most likely, but I will be tested for the appointment with the surgeon. If the level is not undetectable, that will likely indicate that some cancer remains, and I'll be looking at radiation therapy. The surgeon thinks this is unlikely, but we need to do the blood test to verify.
All in all, I'm guessing I'll really start to feel 100% by the end of March or so - right about the time that ski season starts to wind down. That will leave me 9 more months in the year to regain the fitness I've lost in the first three months of the year. If I can end this year as fit as I ended last year, I think that will be a very acceptable outcome.
Despite the fact that I'm enjoying being on the mountain again, I have to admit that I'm starting to dream of fly fishing and hiking in the high peaks with my wife. I'm always happy that I live in a place like Vermont, where we have real seasons that push us towards different activities throughout the entire year.
Last week, I hoped to get to CrossFit three times. I made it on Tuesday and Wednesday, but by Thursday, my entire body ached. I felt so beat up that I wondered if I had the flu. But, a couple days of anti-inflammatories, and I felt a lot better by Saturday. Regretfully, a rain storm on Friday changed the ski conditions drastically for this past weekend. The kids seemed oblivious to the weather conditions and wanted to simply charge into the trees again. For the most part, when we ventured into the trees, I felt the runs were much tougher and more dangerous than the week before, yet the kids did not seem to believe this at all.
My rule on the hill is that safety considerations trump all other considerations. Twice on Saturday, my students deliberately ignored me and went into a tree run that I had expressly said we would not ski. I was not happy, and the main offender got to go home early for the day on Saturday. After some discussions with her parents on Saturday, she returned on Sunday much more willing to listen to directions. Hopefully that will continue for the rest of the season.
This coming week looks cold and snowless. Snowmaking is done for the season, so we are likely to be looking at firm conditions next weekend. The children are really getting restless on the slopes at times. This is an "adventure" program and they want more adventure. But, despite record snowfalls in some parts of the country, and a fairly cold winter, snow is still less than normal in my part of the country.
In some ways, and I almost hate to say this, the lower snowfall amounts have been better for me physically. It is less demanding for me to teach on groomed trails than it is to teach in the trees or on steep icy terrain or steep mogul terrain. Yet, despite the easier than normal demands on my body, I am still struggling somewhat to keep up.
In the past two weeks, I've been fighting an illness, which has led to coughing (I did get some cough medicine that helped there) and sneezing. After a lot of sneezing, I noticed that I was starting to feel some discomfort near the center of the surgery - right where my prostate used to reside. This is a good indication that I'm still not fully healed. Of the six incision points for the robotic surgery, the largest incision has still not completely healed, although it's close.
I've been pretty lucky with incontinence, which normally resolves in 2-4 months. Even sneezing and coughing, I haven't been having any problems, so I seem to be at least 99% contintent. Other surgical side effects are taking longer to resolve.
But, the bottom line is that I'm still not 100% recovered. I'm napping and sleeping more than usual. A day at the gym or a day on the mountain tires me out more than it would have before the surgery. Even being at my desk for a full day of work can be a bit of a chore, and I find myself getting tired by the end of the day.
I know I've pushed myself back to a fairly full life much faster than most patients after surgery like this. For this particular surgery, I was probably a decade younger than the typical patient, so I think it's reasonable to expect that my recovery would be better than average. But, better than average has not translated into "full and complete" in a very short timeline.
So, I need to remain vigilant and do what my body lets me do. I'm glad I'm skiing again. I'm glad I'm in the gym. I'm hopeful the cancer is completely gone. I have my annual physical in March and my next appointment with the surgeon in April - 14 weeks after the surgery. PSA has a half life of about 3 days in the body. That means that my PSA level of about 5 should be undetectable within a month or so of surgery. I won't be tested at my physical, most likely, but I will be tested for the appointment with the surgeon. If the level is not undetectable, that will likely indicate that some cancer remains, and I'll be looking at radiation therapy. The surgeon thinks this is unlikely, but we need to do the blood test to verify.
All in all, I'm guessing I'll really start to feel 100% by the end of March or so - right about the time that ski season starts to wind down. That will leave me 9 more months in the year to regain the fitness I've lost in the first three months of the year. If I can end this year as fit as I ended last year, I think that will be a very acceptable outcome.
Despite the fact that I'm enjoying being on the mountain again, I have to admit that I'm starting to dream of fly fishing and hiking in the high peaks with my wife. I'm always happy that I live in a place like Vermont, where we have real seasons that push us towards different activities throughout the entire year.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Two days of CrossFit
For the first time since my surgery, I made it to CF two days in a row. I would have made it twice last week except for the head cold I was dealing with. Well, the doctor said it was viral bronchitis. Whatever it was, it knocked me down for about a week, and I'm still taking some cough medicine.
Last night's workout was as follows:
20 split jerks, ever minute on the minute. I did the first 10 at 95 pounds and the second 10 at 105 pounds. My PR is 195 pounds, so this was definitely taking it easy. But, it was easily the most weight I've had overhead since my surgery.
Then, as quickly as possible:
3 rounds:
15 x 65 pound front squat
15 band-assisted pull-ups
15 x 2 x 25# dumbbell strict presses
The three rounds took me 10:50.
Today was a "work your weakness" workout. For the first 20 minutes, we alternated between two movements, and as yesterday, did it every minute on the minute. I did the following:
4 x 185# deadlifts (vs. a best opf 440)
5 x 2 x 35# dumbbell bench presses (I could do this easily with 50s before the surgery)
Partway through this portion of the workout, I removed the stupid pad I'm wearing due to intermittent incontinence from the surgery. The incontinence is not bothering me during workouts, and the pad was uncomfortable.
Then, as many reps as possible in 12 minutes of the following:
15 Abmat sit-ups
15 x 35# kettlebell swings
15 x 20" box step-ups (I'm not ready for box jumps yet, which is what everyone else did)
I was most nervous about the sit-ups, so I took my time with them, but they didn't bother me at all. In 12 minutes, I completed 4 rounds plus 31 reps.
The big east coast snowstorm is almost here and I'll be skiing hard this coming weekend. Because of that, tomorrow will definitely be a rest day.
Last night's workout was as follows:
20 split jerks, ever minute on the minute. I did the first 10 at 95 pounds and the second 10 at 105 pounds. My PR is 195 pounds, so this was definitely taking it easy. But, it was easily the most weight I've had overhead since my surgery.
Then, as quickly as possible:
3 rounds:
15 x 65 pound front squat
15 band-assisted pull-ups
15 x 2 x 25# dumbbell strict presses
The three rounds took me 10:50.
Today was a "work your weakness" workout. For the first 20 minutes, we alternated between two movements, and as yesterday, did it every minute on the minute. I did the following:
4 x 185# deadlifts (vs. a best opf 440)
5 x 2 x 35# dumbbell bench presses (I could do this easily with 50s before the surgery)
Partway through this portion of the workout, I removed the stupid pad I'm wearing due to intermittent incontinence from the surgery. The incontinence is not bothering me during workouts, and the pad was uncomfortable.
Then, as many reps as possible in 12 minutes of the following:
15 Abmat sit-ups
15 x 35# kettlebell swings
15 x 20" box step-ups (I'm not ready for box jumps yet, which is what everyone else did)
I was most nervous about the sit-ups, so I took my time with them, but they didn't bother me at all. In 12 minutes, I completed 4 rounds plus 31 reps.
The big east coast snowstorm is almost here and I'll be skiing hard this coming weekend. Because of that, tomorrow will definitely be a rest day.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Looking Forward
I've had a cold for the past few days. It hasn't been terrible, but coughing and sneezing have been somewhat painful in the area where I used to have a prostate. I got some hi-test cough syrup from my doc yesterday and that is helping.
I managed to ski some moguls this past weekend and I felt pretty good. The weekend before, moguls were a tiny bit painful. I even hiked a decent distance on the Long Trail to get to some terrain that was open, but without lift service. I had a small group of students and that hike was our adventure for the weekend. Without a doubt, it was my best ski run of the season so far.
My time away from the gym and skiing and lots of other activities has given me time to think about what I do with all of the time in my life. And, what do I want to do?
My wife is very interested in getting back into hiking this summer. For a few years, we were intently working our way through the highest peaks of New York and New England. And, by "working", I mean having fun. And then, we pretty much stopped. So, this summer, we are going to return to the mountains. I've done over half of the 4000 foot peaks in NY and NE, but my wife has only done half as many, if that. We will try to spend weekends in NY and NH, hiking higher peaks.
I want to get back to running. In 2008, when Western States was cancelled, I was in really good ultra shape, ready for a great race. A year later, I tore a hamstring tendon, got pulled early from Western States because of that injury, and ended the year with fewer than 1000 miles for the first time in many years. From 2010 through 2013, my running really dropped off. I want to get back to some regular running this year, just because I want to. I have no mileage goals, no race plans or any other reason to do this. After a few years away, I finally miss running and I want to do more of it.
I still want to go fly fishing as much as I can. I really enjoy my time on the rivers, whether I'm solo or with my son. In my many years of running ultras, I really got away from fly fishing. Now that I've returned to fishing, I want to stick with this hobby, which I find a very peaceful way to relax while still actively doing something.
I intend, of course, to continue with skiing, CrossFit, riding my bike, etc.
I intend to continue to work hard for my company. I've recently been promoted to Chief Technology Officer of the company and I intend to do what I can to make the company successful.
And lastly, I want to be a more social animal. I have a tendency to have a small, core group of friends that I spend my time with. Outside of that group, I'm often uncomfortable and a bit of a loner. During the last six months, I've received such an outpouring of support from close friends and many, many past friends (high school) and acquaintances. I need to make the effort to be more social, to be more available to others, as they have been to me. After all, what do we really have here other than each other?
I mentioned George Sheehan in a recent post, talking about the battle he lost to prostate cancer. One of my favorite quotes from George was not originally his, but rather stolen (and re-interpreted somewhat) from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "First, be a good animal."
The web is full of more on what this quote means, and what both Sheehan and Emerson meant when they wrote it. The googling is left as an exercise to the reader.
But, my real goal, going forward, is to be a better animal than I've been in the past.
I managed to ski some moguls this past weekend and I felt pretty good. The weekend before, moguls were a tiny bit painful. I even hiked a decent distance on the Long Trail to get to some terrain that was open, but without lift service. I had a small group of students and that hike was our adventure for the weekend. Without a doubt, it was my best ski run of the season so far.
My time away from the gym and skiing and lots of other activities has given me time to think about what I do with all of the time in my life. And, what do I want to do?
My wife is very interested in getting back into hiking this summer. For a few years, we were intently working our way through the highest peaks of New York and New England. And, by "working", I mean having fun. And then, we pretty much stopped. So, this summer, we are going to return to the mountains. I've done over half of the 4000 foot peaks in NY and NE, but my wife has only done half as many, if that. We will try to spend weekends in NY and NH, hiking higher peaks.
I want to get back to running. In 2008, when Western States was cancelled, I was in really good ultra shape, ready for a great race. A year later, I tore a hamstring tendon, got pulled early from Western States because of that injury, and ended the year with fewer than 1000 miles for the first time in many years. From 2010 through 2013, my running really dropped off. I want to get back to some regular running this year, just because I want to. I have no mileage goals, no race plans or any other reason to do this. After a few years away, I finally miss running and I want to do more of it.
I still want to go fly fishing as much as I can. I really enjoy my time on the rivers, whether I'm solo or with my son. In my many years of running ultras, I really got away from fly fishing. Now that I've returned to fishing, I want to stick with this hobby, which I find a very peaceful way to relax while still actively doing something.
I intend, of course, to continue with skiing, CrossFit, riding my bike, etc.
I intend to continue to work hard for my company. I've recently been promoted to Chief Technology Officer of the company and I intend to do what I can to make the company successful.
And lastly, I want to be a more social animal. I have a tendency to have a small, core group of friends that I spend my time with. Outside of that group, I'm often uncomfortable and a bit of a loner. During the last six months, I've received such an outpouring of support from close friends and many, many past friends (high school) and acquaintances. I need to make the effort to be more social, to be more available to others, as they have been to me. After all, what do we really have here other than each other?
I mentioned George Sheehan in a recent post, talking about the battle he lost to prostate cancer. One of my favorite quotes from George was not originally his, but rather stolen (and re-interpreted somewhat) from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "First, be a good animal."
The web is full of more on what this quote means, and what both Sheehan and Emerson meant when they wrote it. The googling is left as an exercise to the reader.
But, my real goal, going forward, is to be a better animal than I've been in the past.
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