Exercise Log for 3-31-06

Neighborhood Walking

33 min
??? miles
Max pulse = 130 bpm

iPod playlist - Ebert and Roeper /On The Media podcasts

Exercise Log for 3-30-06

Neighborhood walking
33 min
??? miles
Max pulse = 130 bpm

iPod playlist – Marketplace Takeout podcast

Exercise Log for 3-29-06

Neighborhood walking
33 min
??? miles
Max pulse = 130 bpm

iPod Playlist – The Week in Whedon podcast/ Alanis Morrisette (Jagged Little Pill)

Exercise Log for 3-27-06

Neighborhood walking
33 min
??? miles
Max pulse = 130 bpm

iPod playlist - Evanescence (Fallen)

We also walked all over the Oklahoma City Zoo and by the end of the day I was actually a little sore.

Exercise Log for 3-26-06

Neighborhood walking
25 min
??? miles
Max pulse = 130 bpm

iPod playlist – Fun Rock/Jonathon Coulton

Exercise Log for 3-25-06

Today we went on vacation to Oklahoma. Other than chasing kiddos around the airport, I didn’t get a lot of measurable exercise. I did time myself for a brisk 8 minute walk from the parking lot to the airport after dropping off the family and the bags. Since I won’t be able to use the treadmill this week, I doubt I will able to keep track of my mileage, but I am still going to try to walk every day.

Exercise Log for 3-24-06

Treadmill
25 min
1.02 miles
Max pulse = 150 bpm

DVD - Alias (Season 1) - Parity

60 sec run/90 sec walk

Weekly Exercise Summary 3/17 - 3/23/06

178 min
6.72 miles

----------------------
Cumulative Summary
347 min
13.33 miles

Exercise Log for 3-23-06

Treadmill
23 min
0.83 miles
Max pulse = 130 bpm

DVD - Alias (Season 1) - So It Begins

Exercise Log for 3-22-06

Treadmill
22 min
0.92 miles
Max pulse = 140 bpm

DVD - Alias (Season 1) - Truth Be Told/So It Begins

I tried a different regimen today that I found here. It is supposed to train me to get to the point of being able to run a 5K in 30 minutes. This week I am to start with a 90 sec. walk, then a 60 sec. run, then walk, then run, for 20 min. I am supposed to alternate it with days of rest, but I am into a good routine so I am going to alternate it with days of walking only. We'll see how I do. This wasn't too painful.

Exercise Log for 3-21-06

Treadmill
25 min
0.94 miles
Max pulse = 140 bpm

DVD - Alias (Season 1) - Truth Be Told

Exercise Log for 3-20-06

Treadmill
25 min
1.00 mile
Max pulse = 140 bpm

DVD - Alias (Season 1) - Truth Be Told

Exercise Log for 3-19-06

Treadmill
23 min
0.83 miles
Max pulse = 140 bpm

DVD - Revenge of the Sith - the final battles - Obi Wan vs. Anakin, Palpatine vs. Yoda, the birth of Vader and the twins

Still sick, but feeling better

Breast Cancer Info

I found a great handout describing breast cancer, diagnosis, and treatment. If you are looking for some fact facts or want to print something out to give to someone you care about, start here.

Exercise Log for 3-18-06

Treadmill
30 min
0.97 miles
Max pulse = 120 bpm

DVD - Revenge of the Sith - Order 66 and the destruction of the Jedi

I am getting sick - a mild head cold - but I'm doing OK with a nap today I was able to still walk, just not as fast.

Race Info

One of my friends who has run the local Race for the Cure before confirmed my suspicion that it is a 5K (3.1 miles) run. I've done that before so it doesn't feel daunting, but I still want to be in the best shape I can be.

Exercise Log for 3-17-06

Treadmill
30 min
1.23 miles
Max pulse = 140 bpm

DVD: Revenge of the Sith (Wookies, General Grevious, and Anakin's RAPID trip to the Dark Side of the Force)

It feels like I'm getting a little bit sick. I'm still going to try to do a little each day until I can't.

Weekly Exercise Summary 3/10 - 3/16/06

169 minutes
6.61 miles

Exercise Log for 3-16-06

Treadmill
25 min
0.93 miles
Max pulse = 140 bpm

DVD - Revenge of the Sith (the boring politcal parts)

Training Set-up

My wife and I bought a treadmill before we had kids, maybe 7 years ago or so. We used to use it more regularly but it got buried for a while. We had some major work done in the basement in 2003 and it really just became a dump depot for stuff without any organization. There's still some of that feel to it, but last year we worked on the "finshed" half - the side with a ceiling and carpet of a sort. Half of it is occupied by a large table and our old office chair we rescued from destruction at her old office in St. Louis. Behind that, tucked in the corner, is the treadmill. It's not fancy. It has a timer, a slide control for adjusting the speed and up/down buttons for the incline. There are preprogrammed "routines" available, but I usually leave it on manual control. It has a cupholder and a remote holder. Next to it I mounted a TV with a combo DVD/VCR with a front jack for headphones.

I have to take my mind off of exercising to exercise. It's easy to do on a walk through the park or through the neighborhood, but when all I've got in front of me is a timer and a white wall, I stare at the timer. With the TV there, I can send my mind someplace else while my body does what it needs to do. Plus it gives me an excuse to work my way through my DVD collection. I keep joking with my wife that the only chance I'll ever get to sit and watch my DVDs would be if I was ladi up sick for a week or two. This is much healthier than the flu.

On the other side of the table in the finished room is a play area for the kids with surplus toys, exercise mats and an old loveseat with a denim slipcover. Often the kids will come down and play while I exercise and then when I'm done, I can swivel the TV around to face them and put in one of their shows that we watch together for 20 minutes or so. I might fold laundry while we watch ( the washer/dryer are beyond a safety gate on the "unfinished" side. So far its working OK, but I'm looking forward to exercising outside some.

Exercise Log for 3-15-06

Treadmill
25 min
0.95 miles
Max pulse = 120 bpm
DVD - Revenge of the Sith

Exercise Log for 3-14-06

Treadmill
21 min
0.85 miles
Max pulse = 110 bpm
DVD - Farscape Season 2 - The Ugly Truth

Walking after work is tough. I have very little energy.

Exercise Log for 3-13-06

Treadmill
23 min
0.75 miles
Max pulse = 120 bpm
DVD - Farscape Season 2 - The Ugly Truth

Exercise Log for 3-12-06

Treadmill
25 min
1.00 miles
Max pulse = 140 bpm
DVD - Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 - Eye of the Needle

Exercise Log for 3-11-06

Treadmill
24 minutes
1.07 miles
Max pulse = 140 bpm
DVD - Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 - The Cloud

I Run For Life

In 2005 Melissa Etheridge released a song describing her battle with breast cancer. I just heard it a few weeks ago and it was also part of the inspiration for me doing this year's Race For The Cure. Please seek it out if you haven't heard it. You can order the album that contains it here or do like I did and download it from iTunes.

"I run for hope. I run to feel. I run for the truth of all that is real. I run for your mother, your sister, your wife. I run for you and me, my friend. I run for life."

Why I'm Doing This

Breast cancer has been haunting me as long as I can remember. It runs in my family and took the life of my maternal grandmother Reba and my Aunt Carolyn on my mother's side when I was a child. When I was a teenager, my mother took preventive steps to protect herself from the genetic risk that this family history implied. When she did so, she encouraged her nieces - Carolyn's daughters - to talk to their doctors about their risk. They were a few years yonger than my mom at the time, but one of them already had cancer when they began their workup. My cousin Lisa was treated and is doing fine today. In medical school, my first patient to die was a patient who presented with an enlarged liver filled with tumor that had originated from her breast. There was nothing we could do for her and she died a few nights later. I lost a 36 year old patient 2 years ago to recurrent breast cancer. I am tired of being haunted by this disease. I want to do more to help. I'll be accepting donations and sponsorship for the NW Ohio Race For The Cure in September. Thanks in advance for your support. If you want to donate, you can mail me a check (email me if you need my address) or click the Make a Donation button on the right of the page.

Exercise log 3-10-06

Treadmill
26 min
1.06 miles
Max pulse = 130 bpm
DVD - Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 - Phage/The Cloud

Another Blogger's Story

Wil Wheaton recently completed his local (California) Race for the Cure. Must be nice. Read his account here.

Time To Put Up Or Shut Up

I have been looking for a reason to exercise more and I may have found it. I am going to walk, maybe run, in the NW Ohio Race For The Cure benefitting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Fund. It should be in September some time, so I need to get off my ass and start training.