<p>I got in some weight machine work last night at the YMCA and slept soundly last night according to my wife. Also took some naps today. I think that the weather sapped some of my sleep during the week and things are catching up to me. I haven’t done any real weights for a while and I need to fit those in. Unfortunately I have a large amount of stuff at work which will put some pressure on my workout scheduling during the week. I also have relatives coming into town next week.</p>
<p>25 mile mountain bike ride.
Pretty warm and relatively muggy for the area, but enjoyable nevertheless.</p>
<p>Speaking of animals and exercise… D sent me this:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://24.media.■■■■■■■■■■/tumblr_m75vzvBmsf1qzcv7no1_400.png]Bears[/url”>http://24.media.■■■■■■■■■■/tumblr_m75vzvBmsf1qzcv7no1_400.png]Bears[/url</a>]</p>
![http://24.media.■■■■■■■■■■/tumblr_m75vzvBmsf1qzcv7no1_400.png]Bears[/url](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m75vzvBmsf1qzcv7no1_400.png%5DBears%5B/url){kind=link}
<p>LOL.</p>
<p>Would that be the tenth bar spike, BB?</p>
<p>In Eastern Pa for business. Planned a 4 mile run. Got lost. Ended up going 8 miles. Ughh.</p>
<p>I went in to workout this afternoon and my buddy told me that we’re apparently getting some new equipment in our gym. He said the bossman was in this morning telling him all the stuff he wants to order. Power rack, platform, new bikes, a VersaClimber, etc. We’ll have to add bumper plates and some new medicine balls to the order 
</p>
<p>I hope it actually does come true! :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah, that would tilt towards new! My strategy only works on cars that don’t have super-high resale value (so that rules out Toyota, Honda, etc.). I ended up with a 2009 Ford Fusion SEL AWD with 35,000 miles. It’s a Mazda 6 chassis stretched a couple of inches for the Ford and Lincoln versions. Midsize, in the same category as the old Taurus, the Accord, the Camry, etc. I got one the V6 engine and on-demand all-wheel drive, which shifts as much as 40% of the drive to the rear wheels when the computer says to. Doesn’t feel like a front wheel drive or a rear wheel drive car. The thing has every feature in the book, from moonroof to heated leather seats, to wireless bluetooth (which I might figure out someday). It even has the sensors across the rear bumper that beep faster and faster as you back up until a steady tone when 10 inches from an object.</p>
<p>Hot as hades here today, and I’ve gotten ridiculously little sleep for two nights as I sorted this all out, so no weight lifting today, back to it tomorrow. My arms will get a workout, turning pages in the owners manual trying to figure out what half this stuff is and how to work it.</p>
<p>I’ve gained a tiny amount of weight, even though I’ve been working out like crazy. I started a new job six weeks ago, so life is different. Hence the weight. I need to adjust a few things to get back to where I was. No biggie. It can be done.</p>
<p>Took a 2-hour nap today. Just wiped out from an intense week.</p>
<p>Spur of the moment decision–I did a run/walk today–it was a 3.1 mile run/walk for the local conservation trust. The course went right in front of my house, which is how I learned about it–signs saying the road would be closed today. I debated about participating because I figured as a walker I’d probably be dead last–my D and son-in-law decided to run and persuaded me to walk. Turns out I walked faster than some of the people running and I wasn’t last. The time on the clock was 50:23. Got home and fell asleep on a lounge chair outside.</p>
I didn’t do anything today except for some stretching. I felt totally sapped of energy - no fever, aches or pains; just very tired so lots of nap-time. I guess that this is a rest day. It may be a daily sleep-deficit buildup or I might have a short-term bug. I will do some more stretching and maybe a bit of weights tonight. My fingers have a smooth, slippery feel to them which I usually get when I am sick - it usually feels like an absence of skin oils.
I bought my Toyota Avalon new in 2000 for $25K and it has 240K+ miles on it and it is smooth and comfortable, even today. Maintenance costs have been low (the 6-cylinder may have something to do with that), and the car is incredibly boring but that works if you just need something to get you from one place to another - and you don’t have to worry about anyone stealing it. My previous car was a used 3-year-old Audi Quattro - a blast to drive but a maintenance nightmare.
<p>
</p>
<p>Funny thing. When you get to be my age, “incredibly boring” starts to seem pretty exciting… :)</p>
<p>When I bought the Avalon, the typical driver was 50-60 years old. I’d guess that that’s still true today. Insurance rates are probably quite low due to the characteristics of the car and the drivers.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Who says you can’t teach an ol’ (formerly) fat dog new tricks! I figured out how to connect the iPod to the USB connector in the center console and play music controlling everything from the steering wheel with the names of the songs displayed in the dash. Looks like that second iPod nano Apple sent me will come in handy after all…</p>
<p>There’s supposed to be voice activated control of some mp3 players, but I’m not sure that includes iPods…</p>
<p>And, I figured out how to toggle the LED “ambient lighting” from white to magenta to red to green to blue! It will probably take me at least a week or two to figure out why anyone would want LED ambient lighting in a car… Maybe it’ll make sense when I find the button that pops a disco ball down from the roof.</p>
<p>But will it drive you there with your eyes closed? And how quickly can it go from 0 to 90 when it sees a bear coming?</p>
Well, if that don’t beat all.
The iPod in the car is voice activated. If I say, PLAY ARTIST: LYLE LOVETT, it starts playing all the Lyle Lovett songs on my iPod. Or if I say PLAY PLAYLIST: LEAST RECENTLY PLAYED it starts playing my favorite playlist.
I need that feature when I’m doing the iPod nazi workouts: WAIT A MINUTE, LET ME CATCH MY BREATH…
<p>I think that some of the iPods have voice control - I suspect that I can do this with my Sennheisers.</p>
<p>This is somehow integrated with the car. The nice lady from Ford who apparently lives behind the dashboard is the one asking what I want to do and repeating commands. The nano is not one of the models listed by Apple with voice control.</p>
<p>It does not work with podcasts.</p>
<p>1 1/2 hour horse trail ride. Although, clearly the horse did more work than I did, definitely some inner thigh isometrics going on and actually kind of a workout.</p>
<p>Hey, that is something I could do!
Especially if you post - trot, that is great for your quads and glutes. ( i grew up by a stable) Galloping is more fun though. :)</p>
Today is the beginning of the 9th week of my program - I am totally exhausted. Please give me some suggestions and support.
I have a super well functioning digestion system. Whatever small amount of food I ate, my body converts that to weight. So, I have to do extensive exercise everyday to achieve 1 ~ 2 lb lost per week. By now, I am simply very tired. All I want to do is lay down and sleep. Every minute of the day, even during office hours.
So, today I decided not to run. Instead, I walked 1.5 hours to the local grocery store and got three peaches. Ate two of them for dinner with a bottle of water. Did have a relative heavy lunch - steamed dumplings.
The net result, I am not kidding here, gain 3.8 lbs from last night.
How do you balance total exhaustion and need to maintain weight? basically, no matter what I ate and no matter how active I am the rest of the day, I would gain weight if I don’t run 45 ~ 60 minutes that day.
HELP!!!