blogosphering

I've been sporadically working out and not writing about it. I think the facebook has taken away from the blog. I went 3.23 miles today, according to mapmyrun. Even the VGFatdog was tired when we got home!

still trying

Had a tough day today....pollen counts must have been a gazillion. Walked 1.6 miles and then ran on the track, in a failed effort to do what was aptly called the "marquis de sade". ran 400. walked 400. ran 200, walked 200. Was then supposed to go 100 and then 50, and then back to 400, but instead opted to walk home because i couldn't breathe, and #1 son was suffering even more. mini-me complained of sore knees, and where he was pointing looked like it could be growing pains....

Had a great workout on monday. did plyometrics and sprints at the soccer fields. Kicked my donkey, to be certain.

back at it

took some time off from doing just about everything....no workouts no blogging, but we're back..back in a new york groove!( tip of the Mavs cap to Ace Frehley!)

Went 2.13 miles on Monday with #1 son and mini-me. Then came home after work last night and lifted.

This morning, with storms looming eminently to the west, we went for a 15 minute power walk and then did a set of wind sprints in the yard. The boys seem to be getting into it, but they could be just humoring the old man. Time will tell.

all for one...

My running partners decided that discretion was indeed the better part of valor and left me to my own devices this morning. Even the VGFatdog decided she had better things to do..such as take my still warm spot in the cozy bed.

I trudged on, however, and went 2.59 miles. I decided to be the anti Horace Greeley and went east, through my childhood stomping grounds in old town. The mighty Embarras seems to be settling back down nicely after last weeks' rains and I was hoping to see an Egret looking for a morning snack. All in all a nice morning in the village.

surprise surprise surprise...

(Tip of the Vancouver Canucks hat to Gomer, eh.)

Yesterday i was joined for my monday morning run by both sons. What a great way to start the week. Of course today i was met by abject indifference at work out time.

As i always say...baby steps.

wake up call

Got a pleasant surprise this morning when mini-me woke me up for a run. We went about two miles...increased my running splits by 30 seconds and didn't die. All in all a great start to our day.

He's got an ambitious summer program in mind. I hope we can stay on it.

thirsty thursday

You never know what sort of adventures await in VGFatboy land. Today, for example, we had the adventure of the dog who thought she should wet every blade of grass...followed immediately by fatty runs out of his shorts...on the FRONT STREET BRIDGE! I think only three cars came by at that exact moment. Anyway...we went 2.01 miles. After all the missteps we probably walked as much as we ran, but we were moving forward.

The mighty Sting fell to a good pitching Philo squad in their season opener. Too many little mental errors on D spelled the difference.

sweaty, finally

Went out at 5:30 today and the humidity had already kicked it up a notch. Cookie accompanied VGfatdog and I on our trot this morning...little bastard outsprinted me to the finish...wish i could say i let him win, but i was trying like hell and couldn't quite catch him. MMR says we went 2 miles. we walked quite a bit in the middle, but it was still good.

Work is interesting, to say the least. never a dull moment in college of nursing land.

great nite for a stroll

Took mrs fatboy, #1 son VGfatdog and noodles for a nice 40 minute walk...mmr says we went 1.92 miles. Enjoyed the company.

Going to Chi -town tomorrow for commencement. Should be a great day! So proud of the young nurses.

Guess who's back?

Back again. Hookie's back. Tell a friend! (tip of the memphis grizzlies cap to eminem)

I've taken a two week hiatus from just about everything due to work and worry and some nagging injuries that i didn't want to become debilitating.

I went 2.23 miles today with the VGFatdog. Ran the 60/60 splits and felt pretty darned good. Will clean up the garage tonight with an eye on lifting in the morning. The weight bench is surrounded by the detritus of my life.

inspiration

comes from many places. I usually find it in my bestie's marathon efforts. Sometimes it comes from by buddy the Rogue..as he too struggles to get back into regular exercise mode. This week, I found it in a group of ladies who don't even know that I monitor their efforts, via facebook. They've gone from zero to twelve milers over the course of the last several months and if they can do it, so can I. Here's to you Amy & company...keep up the good work and I'll try to follow in your wake. mmr says I went 2.25 miles today in 36 minutes.

back and bloggin...

I've been working out a couple times a week, but haven't felt compelled to write about it. Went two miles with the missus and dogs tonight. felt awesome.

I've started lifting again...(I am epic win!) a friend was kind enough to let us have his olympic weight set and bench. (tip of the everlast hat to mad mike!) The boys are starting a lifting program too. I am trying to ease them into it so that they don't burn out too soon, yet still feel the burn, baby.

Work is crazy busy...just finishing our admission decisions for Fall, now have to orient them while continuing the recruiting thang and the current student advising thang....

fits and starts

The hammy is still a bit skitchy, so I'm sticking to walking for a while. went 2.18 miles this morning.

mini-me is showing all the signs of becoming a first class P.I.T.A. he's allowed his grades to fall a LONG way below acceptable. i guess i should have been monitoring more closely, but he's always been firmly entrenched on the honor roll, so i didn't do my diligence. He also decided to quit track, which didn't set well with me either. However, he will now have more time (LOTS) to focus on school. Xbox, laptop visits from friends and cell phone are soon to be surrendered.

I hate having to be the enforcer, but he really needs to learn about perseverance and to get better study habits.

On a funner note...found this reference to the NCAA tournament. Fitting, for the Big FAT Loser!

Bon Appetite!

Bluuuuuueeeee

(tip of the morehead st. hat to Leann Rhymes and the american idol chick who emulated her)

Once again, General Malaise has staged a bloodless coup on the casa del hookers...heh. A funk has descended recently, and I'm not talking Parliment/Funkadelic, earth wind & fire, or even pre-sell out commodores. I don't know if it's the last vestiges of winter, the time change or what, but I've been discombobulated all week.

The kids are about done with school...which is unfortunate because they've still got two months to go. More and more, I'm thinking year round school with three 6 week breaks might be a better option than the traditional schedule.

I did manage to shake the doldrums and walk 2.54 miles this morning. Onward and upward...supposed to be trending warmer.

ticking away

the moments that make up a dull day...(tip of the Illini cap to Pink Floyd)

Do you ever wonder, truly wonder, how good or bad your fitness level really is? I mean, I've been running semi-regularly since New Years, so I have to be improving, right? Yesterday provided me with answers to both questions and the truth hurts...and so do my hamstrings.

I found myself a little behind the 8 ball time wise yesterday so I decided to condense things. Walked for 5 minutes, and then ran a series of 100 yard dashes. Full out...as hard as I could push. I finished 4...and thought my time on earth was through. I ended the workout with a 10 minute cool down walk at semi fast pace. Today my hammies feel like piano wires and the quads are barking.

Mike Davis and the other Illini seniors might finally be beginning to understand the urgency with which you have to play to succeed at a high level. I hope they finish their careers on a bright note.

You don't know how it feels....

to be me! (Tip of the Chicago Bulls cap to Tom "thank god for Dylan or I'd be the ugliest man in Rock" Petty!)

Outside forces conspire to derail my fitness goals....gotta stay strong. did nothing yesterday. did the bw2 indoor workout this morning...with a guest appearance from mini-me, who set his own alarm in order to join me for 5:30 a.m. "jock"ularity.

If it's above 25 tomorrow I'm goin'. The mythical 3 mile milepost is in sight.

sunday fun day!

took a nice 2 mile walk to dollar store and back with the dogs and kids....fun times. We explored the old roundhouse too.

cat's in the cradle...

My boy is just like me...and it scares the hell out of me. He's whip smart...not a great athlete, but loves sports and listens to his coaches and understands the game he's playing, be it football, hoops or baseball. He can also be lazy with a capital L...and doesn't work hard at school or sports unless my size 9 is strategically placed. I am determined that he not go on the 15 year college plan like i was on...and it's causing some duress in FATboy land.

I did make him go on my run today...we went 2.93 miles...just shy of the 3 mile goal, and he finished strong, outsprinting me the last two blocks.

wacky wednesday

This is my confession...( tip of the New Jersey Nets cap to Ursher) I wimped. Pussed. caved. could only complete half of the bodyweight 200 on tuesday....cut all the reps in half. but that was enough to get the pulse racing and the sweat flowing...

I went 2.74 (or 2.79 depending on which mapping software you chose to believe!) miles this morning...inching closer to the mythical 3 mile benchmark. took a tour of McCoy subdivision and Mrs. Coombes was the only other fool on the streets at 6:30 am....

I thought the Illini repped decently last night. OSU will beat just about anybody when they're shooting that well. We HAVE to beat the frickin' squawkeyes this weekend.

Tomorrow brings another shot at the BW200. we shall see.

Blue Monday...

How does it feel...to run 2.6 miles in the rain. (Tip of the T Bayne NASCAR cap to New Order)

It feels pretty good, actually. the run/walk splits are glacially inching together. I still walk more than i run, but not by nearly as much as before. I can do this. and so can you.

Mama is doing the wii fit, even as i type this. We're making changes, although I ate criminally too much of Mama Romy's dip at the Daytona party yesterday. Speaking of Trevor Bayne..he looks young enough to be my son. Oh wait, I have a daughter that's his age? She has my permission to marry. :-)

here i go again, on my own....

(tip of the old cap to David Coverdale) Went 2.06 miles according to mapmyrun.com. #1 son got up when i was doing my postrun stretches and joined in.

Slowly but surely he's warming up to this exercise with the old man thing.

workout partners

wussed out this morning, so i did the bw 200 on my own. I'll coerce them into giving me some excercise tonight....maybe an abridged version of the 200.

I am not getting my wind back as quickly as i would like, but that's probably because OMW has been wreaking havoc with my running for 6 weeks....the bastard.

whoa, nellie!

went for a slipping and sliding 2.17 miles this morning. About lost it 3 times....incorporated some different types of stretches into my post run cool down. my hips and hammies are SO tight.

Happy valentine's day to all.

shave my legs...

and call me Nancy, but there was no way I was running in this weather.

I did shovel snow and push two vehicles out of my driveway along with taking the littles sledding. all in all, a decent cardio workout.

The big one...

You want the big one? I've got the big one! (Tip of the BYU Cougars cap to The Hollywood Knights) It looks like the storm of the century's blowing in, so i wanted to make sure that i got one run in, at least, this week. MMR says I went 2.15 miles....next quest is to stretch it to 3. The jogging splits are glacially becoming more palatable.

This just in...I'm thinking about changing both my boys' names to Jimmer. What that kid is doing is phenomenal...a living, breathing, shooting testament to my son that relatively small, slow white boys can become tremendous basketball players through hard work, hustle and heart.

The Arcola mountain proved too tall once again as the Devils fell to their nemesis. I hated to see the season end. Finished 15-5, with 3 of the losses coming at the hands of the Riders. We'll get them next year.

back at it....

I am always amazed at how easy it is to get out of the habit of doing something. I missed a Friday run, and then a Monday run....and before I knew it a whole week of workouts had gone untended.

It's tough, but I got up off the mat and went 1.41 miles Monday after work, and followed it up this morning by reaching the (in my mind) near mythical 2 mile distance, 2.18 to be exact.

I am very proud of the 7th grade boys hoops team. Missing several players due to illness, including their leading scorer, they fell behind 24-12 at the half to a very strong Heritage team, only to storm back and win in Double Overtime by a 46-43 count. They have one more mountain to climb...an Arcola quintet whom they've never beaten in 8 attempts covering 3 seasons. They've gotten close twice this year, and the game is in Arcola, but I am confident that they can do this.

brrrrrrrrrr!!!

Old man winter sent a cold westerly wind into God's country today so I limited my run to the inner streets. I ended up only doing 1.5 miles, but i did lengthen the running portion of the splits a little bit. All in all not bad for a strangely still motivated fat guy.

Brat burgers don't have school today...apparently the wind is wreaking havoc with the country roads. Illini laid a tremendous egg last night...don't know what it is about the nitty kitties, but we sure can't beat them.

Tuesday bluesday

I went 1.96 miles yesterday...then did the bodyweight 200 this morning. I think even my hair follicles are in pain right now!

Still pimping my route, trying to get t0 the mythical 2 mile distance. Then 3. Then 4. Then 5. then fuhgetaboudit.

Stupid Illini continue to toy with my emotions. I should know better than to become attached to this particular squad...they're like the little red haired girl...suck you in and then leave you hanging.

weekly wrap

Went 1.72 miles this morning, after beers and illini game.

Had my semi-annual check up this afternoon. fun. or not.

mythical creatures...

Include Unicorns, pixies,..... female VGHS grads in the 80's who kept their virginity.....and motivated VGfatboys. Until now. For some reason, and I'm almost afraid to talk about it for fear that it will disappear into the ether, I am actually looking forward to my thrice weekly torture sessions. Maybe my internal clock is ticking. Maybe I'm tired of being gi-normous. Dkdc at this juncture. Just hope it stays with me.

No Al K Haul since Sunday, no fast food, no nothing except for the occasional reeses minature from my colleagues' desktop source.

I went 1.97 miles today.... I'll add a couple blocks on Friday to try to get to 2 miles. Baby steps, Francis. Baby steps.

Blue Monday

How does it feel? To treat me like you do? (Salute to the boys from New Order)...MMR said that I went 1.7 miles today. Wind was in my face for the first half....pushing me home for the last part. About half way , I felt a tweak in either my medius or aponeurosis....that's right, I had a pain in my butt! Not the big gluteus maximus, but just above it. I walked it in and it's ok, just a bit sore when I sit too long. which was all day at work.

I've been reading that people who have sendentary jobs tend to have REALLY stiff hip flexors, so I've been stretching them post run, along with some hamstring and calf stretches. All of which make for some interesting moments when I stand up after sitting for a couple of hours.