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Weblog -January 2008
I have a playlist for my Ipod shuffle now. It wouldn’t surprise anyone to know that around 90% of the songs fall into the Rock genre. Of course, I view the playlist as a work in progress. There are already a few songs that I am going to drop and a few more that I want to add.
Almost the only place that I can imagine using the Ipod is at the gym –especially when I am on the cardio machines. It would also be good on the TTC and on airplane flights.
I don’t really like the earphones that came with the Ipod because they don’t stay in my ears very well when I am on the equipment. I tried a different style of earphone, that Kaylee had, but they were worse. Then I tried a clunky set that features a band over the top of my head. Those ones work much better but appear to wear down the battery a lot faster. They also make me look dorky –but since I am not at the gym to pick up chicks it’s ok.
Just today, I heard a feature on the radio about increasing ipod use and how people use them to “disengage” from others around them. Apparently women find them useful when walking past construction sites.
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Another Canadian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan. It was the same old story – a roadside bomb. I did notice one thing though. The media have stopped reporting the count (dead soldier #??). I’ve got to say that the count was starting to bother me and I was starting to wonder if they were going to make a really big deal about the 100 th. So, I’m glad they’ve stopped reporting the count but I would love to know whether there is some sort of agreement (not to report the number each time) within the media.
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This (hypothetical) agreement would be in line with the Toronto media agreeing not to report jumpers –people who jump in front of subway trains and off high bridges. I have been told, at TTC training sessions, that it is felt that if this stuff is regularly reported it gives other depressed people ideas and we end up with more dead people.
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Today I received my very first set of eight 110mm wheels. As soon as I opened the package I thought of Amy’s description of my 100mm wheels. They are monster truck wheels! They seem outrageously big. You have to wonder where it will all end.
It seems to me that they are not going to be able to go bigger. The emphasis now surely must be on making the wheels lighter.
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I heard, through Mom, that my niece Emily sang, as part of a small group, at Carnegie Hall. She said it was very exciting and a real honour to be invited to sing there. Emily’s career seems to be right on track. She is still only 23. Right now she is living and studying in NYC. For a bit more on Emily click here.
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I have finished reading “Younger Next Year” by Crowley and Lodge. The book was a Christmas gift from my brother-in-law Paul, who is 62 and newly retired. It’s the first ‘self help’ book that I have read in 20 years. The subject of the book is how to get the most out of the last two or three decades of your life. The authors like to call it “the last third”. It’s a book about retirement. The target audience is men but they have now written another book for women since the original did so well (it was a New York Times Bestseller –whatever that means).
Although there is plenty of good advice on many subjects the big message of the book is that everyone, and especially old retired guys, should be exercising hard 6 times a week. The authors recommend 4 sessions of cardio and two serious weight lifting sessions (and one day off) each week.
The argument behind the advice is that humans evolved (in the natural world) and that our biology requires us to do strenuous exercise. The exercise triggers automatic biological responses that make virtually every part of your body (muscles, joints, bones heart, liver and other organs) stronger or better able to function as they should. The book states that much of what we think of as ‘getting old’ is avoidable –by exercising rather than wasting away as many do.
Plenty of amazing claims are made regarding scientific studies that have clearly demonstrated the advantages of exercise (or not smoking, or being married etc). Unfortunately, there are no footnotes or bibliography in the book –so the reader is asked to take this stuff at face value. There is a recommended reading list but these books are general interest or 'self help' books.
With me, at least as far as the exercise part goes, the book was preaching to the already (mostly) converted. I get more cardio than the book suggests but I only do weights in the winter. This book may inspire me to keep going to the gym, say once a week, all year around and I will probably go a little harder on the weights now. Of course the book contains other advice on things like making connections with others before you actually retire, diet, finances, exercise equipment and so on. The authors’ advice on these things makes pretty good sense.
My little peeve regarding the book is that they never mentioned inline skating as a great source of cardiovascular conditioning. I guess I’ll have to write to their website and point out this glaring omission.
This is a book worth reading for anyone 50 years old or more.
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I’ve been going to the same gym, but only in the winter, for 8 years now. This year I have been wondering why I haven’t been seeing the traditional after New Year’s rush. But I figured it out –the holidays aren’t really over until the school kids go back.
I’m sure I will notice a big surge starting tomorrow and lasting for a few short weeks.
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And on the subject of New Year’s resolutions I have decided what they will be:
First, I will try to have a better training plan when it comes to skating and other workouts. I will start writing down my plan at the beginning of the month and then see whether I have followed the plan or not. That said, especially with inline skating, there has to be flexibility because of all the variables that cannot be controlled. Really though -I want to stop trying to plan a workout from scratch as I tie up my skates.
Second, I will log my workouts in a more detailed way and start to include non-skating activities such as hiking and gym stuff in the log.
Third, I will eat less crap.
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I just checked to see whether or not I had a resolution last year –and I did. It was to stretch every day. I was not altogether successful as I slacked off badly the further into the year we got. I never really dropped it altogether and it actually became apparent that it isn’t really necessary to stretch every single day. Never-the-less, by late November I was pretty well out of the habit and guess what happened? I pulled my back. That should be a pretty good lesson. Right now, I am solidly back into a stretching routine.
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Other members of my family are giving me a hard time over an innocent purchase that I made. I saw a really good deal on an electric shaver at Canadian Tire so I got one. With Amy’s discount the darn thing will only end up costing 40 bucks.
But I have never used an electric razor in my life! Why would I get one now? Because I am planning for the operation on my right shoulder –after which I have been told I must keep my arm immobilized for a full 6 weeks. Only a physiotherapist (and not me) will be able to move my arm during this period. So essentially, I will be a one armed man for a month and a half. I am planning to keep my entire right arm inside a loose-fitting sweat shirt during this period -or I will be tempted to use the arm. Little movements will lead to bigger movements and before I know it I’ll be doing one arm pull-ups. And I really don’t want to compromise my recovery.
So, my family thinks it’s ridiculous that I would fret over an operation that is not scheduled until June/08. On the other hand, I believe that it is only sensible to consider the difficulties of having the use of only my left arm. Other things that will bother me are:
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How will I drive my truck and talk on the phone at the same time? It will be hard enough to work the gear shift lever, windshield wipers and controls for the radio. I suppose I will have to just let the phone ring when I am driving.
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How will I tie up my boot laces? I’ve never seen work boots with Velcro straps!
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Other things that I haven’t figured out yet: cutting my meat, popping zits, cleaning my glasses and wearing a seat belt.
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The recent warm whether has obliterated the snow cover in Toronto and I actually got out skating yesterday! It was the first time in almost 2 months. I put some old 100mm wheels on my new (110mm) frames and went down to the Eastern Beaches. Of course, things felt a bit awkward –but I started to feel the proper rhythm by the end. There was actually quite a long stretch of decent skating between Leslie Street and the swimming pool.
I seem to have the new frames installed a bit too far to the inside so I’ll have to adjust that before the next time out. That could be as early as tomorrow if the weather forecasters are right.
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I am still having fun downloading songs for my iPod –but perhaps someone can explain how the song “Eve of Destruction” comes under the genre “Inspirational”.
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A wierd thing has been happening to me on one of the cardio machines at my gym.
I noticed a program call ‘Fitness Test’ on the ‘Startrac’ treadmill –so one day for a little warm up, I decided try it. It turned out that fitness test #1 was a ‘sub-maximal” test that starts out at a speed of 3.4 mph at a 0% slope and gradually increases the incline to 12%. The test is terminated if your heart rate goes past 146bpm for more than 15 seconds.
The machine asks for your weight, age and gender and then the test begins. The first time I tried the test my peak heart rate was only around 120bpm (at the very end of the 12 minute test). The stupid machine reported that my max VO2 was 89 (ml/kg/min?) and that I was in ‘superior’ condition. Ok, I am in good shape –but my max VO2 is not anywhere close to 89 and, honestly, I only wish I could say I was in superior condition.
I became curious about these results and repeated the test on 3 different machines. Things changed for the worse. Since the first test, my heart rate has not climbed above 110 at the end of the 12 minutes. But the machines do not know how to interpret the results (you could say I am “off the scale”). At the end the machine tells me that my max V02 is zero and I am in the bottom 10% -condition-wise. I tried telling the machine that I am 25 years old but I still didn’t get a result.
Now, when I want to have a little warm up before starting something more intense at the gym I do the fitness test just to see if anything has hanged.
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I bought plane tickets to Arizona for Kathy and me –for March Break. We are going to have a somewhat similar holiday as we took there in 2005. The biggest difference is that this trip will be a little shorter,’ at only 8 nights, and we won’t have Kaylee tagging along.
So far, the transportation to Arizona is the only arrangement that I have made. In the next week or two I will have to decide where we will stay, what we will do and what we will drive around in.
I am trying to resist the temptation to drive a million miles and hit targets like Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon and Monument Valley. Except in Vegas, temperatures would be pretty cool. And Kathy wants HOT on her March Break excursions. That will pretty well keep us in the low lying desert regions in the south half of the state.
One thing that I am planning is to attend two or three Cactus League games. There are 3 teams that are based in Tucson and I have picked the Chicago White Soxs as “my team” for the month of March. The White Soxs are American League rivals of the Blue Jays but they play in the Central Division. I am planning to start reading the sports sections in the Chicago newspapers (on the internet) once spring training starts. That way, I will get to know the players a little and will probably enjoy the games a bit more. Perhaps I will also learn how to score a baseball game. I’ve always been interested in doing that.
Another thing that I want to do is visit the Kartchner Caverns. These huge limestone caves were discovered only recently and were kept secret for quite a while. The caves are “unspoiled” and have a fascinating ecosystem all of their own -flourishing underground in the middle of a desert. Great efforts have been extended to preserve the caves in their current, pristine condition –including severely limiting public access and shutting down some tours altogether (during sensitive times of the year). On our last visit to Arizona, we missed the caves because I did not book far enough in advance. It was a major disappointment for me and one of the reasons that I want to go back to Arizona. It’s unfinished business.
Hiking will be another major activity. I want to do a good hike through the Sonoran Desert with a ‘forest’ of 40’ high Saguaro cacti all around me. I want to go back to Chiricahua National Monument and see those amazing spires and balancing rocks. And, I want to hike up a canyon or two for good measure.
Poor Kathy may not have enough time for her normal sun-tanning regimen.
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I suppose that I should mention that I am not busy at work. I never seem to miss a chance to complain when I am all stressed out and feeling ‘hard done by’. Now, I have time to write things (as above), read the newspaper and take off early to go to the gym. I deserve this luxury!
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Kaylee was telling me that this year is shaping up to be the worst year of her life! Why? Because of the writer’s strike there won’t be any more new episodes of all her favourite TV shows.
I hope the poor girl never has to endure real hardship.
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Amy says she is ok with the strike because she prefers the “reality” shows over the dramas (nighttime soap operas) that Kaylee likes.
In my opinion, Amy is even more ‘disturbed’ than Kaylee.
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I know for a fact that contractors are held in pretty low regard by engineering firms and owners –so it is fun for me when engineers make boneheaded mistakes. I just heard a good one!
The company I work for got a contract to widen a railway bridge. The railway wanted to put in another track beside the existing ones. Our crew spent a couple of weeks setting up trailers, diverting a creek, excavating and pouring a mud slab. Then a representative of the railway came to the site and realized that we were working on the wrong side of the tracks. It was the other side of the bridge that needed to be widened but the drawings show the complete opposite.
The job has been shut down for an indefinite period of time.
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And speaking of mistakes by engineering firms, I was reading a preliminary report on the catastrophic bridge collapse in Minnesota last summer. As with most things, the cause cannot be pinned to one single thing. However, the short story is that some of the gusset plates, on the steel trusses which held up the concrete deck, were much too light. The gusset plates needed to be one inch thick instead of only half. The original contractor built the structure correctly but there was a mistake on the drawings. They may never discover whether it was a design error or whether the draftsman wrote down the wrong thickness. Either way, the mistake was not caught by the guy doing the checking and the bridge fell down as a result. It didn’t help that the concrete bridge deck thickness had been increased from 6.5” to 8.5” in subsequent rehabilitations. In fact, it’s a wonder that the bridge did not fall down during or shortly after the rehabs.
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I haven’t made any posts for a while. This is mostly because I have been spending a lot of time reading a big thick novel. It’s called “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett. The story takes place in the 12 th century and is centered on the construction of a cathedral in the southwest of England. Follett is better known for suspense novels but he published this book in 1989 and it has apparently accumulated something of a cult following. Forsyth published a “sequel” to the original book (set 200 years later) last year and I picked it up at Christmas for Kathy. I had a suspicion that she had read the first book. This turned out to be true and Kathy was delighted to find that there was a second book.
I decided that I ought to read the first book so I went to the library and picked it up on a 7 day loan. Unfortunately, I am not one to read 1000 pages in a regular work week so I had to take the book back –unfinished. At that point, I decided to buy a paperback copy. That’s when that I discovered that it was an Oprah Book Club Selection. Normally this might sway me not to read a book but it was too late because I want to find out what happens. I will review the book when I am done –but I will say now that -it’s good!
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More and more in my workouts at the gym, I use the “calories functions” on the cardio machines to assess what I have done or to plan what I will do. A few years ago, I used to worry more about the amount of time I was working on the machines.
Lately I have been burning around 1000 calories in each trip to the gym. If I feel like a walk on the treadmill (I can’t run because it hurts my feet) I can burn around 9 calories per minute (when I set the incline to 15% and the speed to 3mph). Any faster than that and I don’t feel ‘comfortable’. 15% is the maximum incline.
I can burn up calories a bit faster on the stationery bike before I am out of my ‘comfort zone’. 14 calories per minute is about the limit.
On the arc trainer I burn calories at the whopping rate of around 20 calories a minute.
As a result, I could spend almost 2 hours to burn 1000 calories if I wanted to use the treadmill or knock it off in 50 minutes on the ark trainer. I use a combination of machines most of the time.
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Lately, in 4 different places, I have come across information regarding the minimum level of exercise that will benefit your cardiovascular system. Everyone seems to agree that you have to exercise at 60% of your maximum heart rate –or higher. I wonder whether my sources are all getting their sources in the same place or whether 60% is the true bottom line.
For me, 60% of my max is only 104bpm –but I can do a lot of work below this threshold. When I go for a good brisk walk my heart rate will only be in the 90s (unless I come to a good steep uphill section). I find it frustrating that this excellent form of exercise does almost nothing to increase my aerobic power -and I honestly wonder whether this is really true.
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On average this is supposed to be the coldest day of the year. Today was well above freezing but tomorrow will have a high of -8C.
Later: I had it wrong. It's January 30th thit is supposed to be the coldest day.
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I would like to know whether, in the whole history of the earth, a transport truck driver has ever climbed up on top of his trailer and removed the ice and snow that would otherwise cause severe distress to any other drivers within a quarter of a mile. More than once, I’ve seen some ridiculously big piles of snow whipping off the tops of fast moving trucks on the 401. Worse yet, is when sheets of ice come flying of the trucks. People could get killed.
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Fantastic news! I went in to sweet-talk the surgeon’s nurse and came away with a new date for my surgery. She moved it up to mid April from the previous date of June 6th. I’m ecstatic. Now I will be thinking about getting back onto skates at the time that I would have been getting the operation.
The nurse confirmed that I will be instructed to keep my arm completely immobilized for 6 weeks and not to skate for at least another month after that. This will be tough.
I’ve been thinking of more things that are going to be hard to do (or seem really weird) with one arm in a sling – (and totally immobile). Putting on deodorant, taking lids off jars and typing are all going to be difficult.
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Instead of the skating season being neatly cut in half into two mini seasons I will be just getting a very late start this year. I suppose I will be able to skate a bit in March and early April but I really will not be in any sort of condition by mid April. Then I'll have the operation and getting decent exercise will become tough.
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January 30/08 (A Second Hand Story Worth Repeating)
When I told Kathy that we could go away for March Break she said she wanted to go to Costa Rica. I felt bad about it but I was not much interested in going there. I had the feeling I would see poverty and I really am averse to that. I also wanted to do some skating and I knew that it would not happen in Costa Rica. I told Kathy I would go along if she made the arrangements but she didn’t do anything so I decided we would go to Arizona (where the poverty is not so pronounced or noticeable, where almost everyone speaks English and where I can easily pursue my love of skating fast on rollerblades).
Then, last week at school, Kathy heard a horror story about Costa Rica. Apparently, the brother-in-law of a fellow teacher flew into the main airport with his wife and rented a car. They promptly got lost in their rental car. It was night. Then they were boxed in by 7 men in two cars and forced to stop on the highway. A gun and a knife suddenly appeared and a shot was fired at their tires as they took off driving the wrong way on the highway. After trying to get accommodation at several resorts and being rudely refused entry into the any of the high-walled compounds they finally found a place that would take them in. As they drove through the gate an armed guard in military fatigues appeared out of the bushes to ensure that nobody followed the car into the compound. The front desk sent someone to bring their bags to the room but when they got to the room their bags had been rifled through and anything of much value had been stolen. It was not much of a start to a vacation.
Now I have been forgiven for my reluctance to go to Costa Rica. (Bum to Hero in only a few minutes)!
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End of the Month Skating Report:
For a January, I managed to get quite a lot of exercise. I only took 6 days off in the whole month.
Around mid-month I discovered some dry pavement down at the Eastern Beaches. I skated 3 times in a period of a few days. It was heaven. Before and after his brief period the pathways have been snow covered. All of my remaining workouts took place at the gym. I’ve started doing weights and my body seems to be getting used to the effort. I can’t do anything at all with my arms but my legs are getting a good workout and I am doing ok on my core. (A lot of core exercises require some sort of effort or support with the arms but there are enough that do not).
I built up my efforts on the cardio machines to the point that now I am burning 1000 calories each time. This year I decided to separate my cardio and weight workouts at the gym. Before this, I usually did a bit of both on every visit. Now I do two cardio workouts followed by a single weight session before repeating the cycle. I always do at least a fast stretching routine in every visit to the gym. Often I stretch for half an hour.
I have fully recovered from my back woes –thanks in part to the stretching. I am about as flexible now as I was last Spring (before I started to slack off).
My weight climbed a little more –to 178. This is understandable. I have too much opportunity to pig out in the winter.
Training Plan for February:
Of course, I can’t count on any skating during the month of February. However, if it is possible to skate then I will do so as often as possible. A typical workout would be at fairly low intensity for around an hour.
Assuming that there is no skating I will to ramp up my cardio activity at the gym. I will maintain the current schedule of two cardio workouts followed by one weight session. I’ll throw in a rest day when I have no time for the gym or when I feel that I really need one.
I will burn a minimum of 16,000 calories on the cardio machines at the gym during the month of February. More would be better.
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Book Report * * * “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett
Simply put, this 1000 page novel revolves around the building of a cathedral in 12 century Britain. It was published in 1989 but there has been renewed interest in the book because Follett published a sequel to the original story last year.
The book gives the reader a realistic glimpse into the living conditions, social structure, politics and religion of the Middle Ages. It was a tough life for most people. (My daughters would be horrified to learn that there was no Lulu Lemon, no cell phones and no tanning beds back then).
Character development is skillfully done and the lives of the main characters crisscross as the various subplots unfold. The reader becomes immersed in the lives of the characters and really cares about the outcome of the book. I encourage anyone with time on their hands to give this book a try.
I bought the sequel for Kathy and she offered to let me read it before she did (right now she is working through "Younger Next Year"). I wouldn’t read Kathy’s book before she does but perhaps I will get into it while I am recovering from my surgery. According to the cover notes, a major aspect of the sequel is the Black Death. There’s nothing like a good plague to liven up a novel.
