Mixing it up

It is so important to balance your physical activity.  It is pretty apparent to most of us that we have to mix it up.  If you are primarily a runner, don't forget to hit the gym for some strength work to keep those muscles functioning properly.  If you are a weightlifter, do your cardio and yoga to keep from getting 'muscle bound'.  If all you ever do is use the elliptical you are training your body to be great at the elliptical, but if you suddenly decide to become a swimmer you will be sore for a while until you re-train your body.  So it is important to mix it up.  Especially if, like me, you are a little older and your body on its best day wants to rebel against exercise. 

I look at it like this. I need to do cardio work, strength work and mind/flexibility work. The way many people approach this is to do cardio on one day, strength on a different day and maybe combine some flexibility and cardio work on another day and so on.  I take a little different approach.  I like to include all three in one workout.  Not everyday, but here is an example.   On Monday's I typically do a Spin class, usually about 20 miles in 60 minutes.  Then I go into a yoga class that is about 30 minutes in to the practice and join in for the final 30 minutes.  After the yoga class I do a 35 minute TKO kick boxing video.  This workout is a great combination of cardio, followed by some great stretching, balance and flexibility work.  The kick boxing at the end gives some more cardio plus the added benefit of working on my dexterity and balance.  And it even helps develop musculature in my back, shoulders and arms while I work through the various punching combinations.

 

Another combination that I do on Thursdays is this.  I start with a high intensity cardio session where I do jumping jacks, high knee's, various boxing moves and finish with more jumping jacks and high knee's.  Sometimes I will throw in some burpee's and/or some push-ups to mix it up.  I do all the moves one after the other with no rest and it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to complete.  Then I do a 60 minute yoga practice (power vinyasa).  I finish with about 30 minutes of weightlifting, mostly upper body.

These workouts leave me feeling energized for the day and burning calories long after the workout is over.

 

 

 

Blind leading the blind to Oats Peak

I just ran a tough run up Black Mtn yesterday, but when I am in Morro Bay I take advantage of the opportunity to do as much trail running as I can.  So when Kim asked me to go for a run with her I said yes, definitely, heck ya and let's go do it.  I told her I wanted to run somewhere in Montana de Oro State Park so she said she would show me some new trails that had recently been completed and which she had run once.  Admittedly, she did say that she may or not remember exactly how they went but I was more than willing to go and just see what I could see. 


Valencia Peak as it appears from the road

So we parked the car at the Bluff Trail trailhead.  Though it was a little overcast we could see Valencia Peak in the distance.  Since we were going to climb Oats Peak, that meant that we would be going around the back side of Valencia.  We started up the Valencia Peak trail right across from the Visitor Center at the campground which meant that we immediately started climbing.  After passing the intersection of the Oat Peak/Valencia Peak trails we soon came to our first new intersecting trail.  We stopped while Kim thought about which way to go to continue to Oats Peak.  Decision made we headed up the trail but hadn't gone very far before she realized that this wasn't the correct trail.  So we turned around and went back down to the intersection and went the other way.  From that point on we kept coming to new intersecting trails and we would stop, look around and try to determine which of the trails would head in the direction we wanted to go.  It was definitely the blind leading the blind but we eventually got to a place where we could see Oats Peak in the distance.  Soon we met a hiker and we

The final ascent to the top of Oats Peak

asked her if she had gone up Oats Peak and which trail would go there.  She said no, she skirted the peak and looped around. So once again we made our best guess and headed up the trail.  This time we chose correctly and soon arrived at the final climb to the peak, a very steep and challenging climb.  When we finally chugged our way to the top we had climbed from sea level to 1831 ft in less than four miles.  We were now on familiar ground for Kim and she said we had two choices.  We could continue on to Alan Peak which we could see far in the distance, or we could take her new favorite trail which wound down the mountain and came out on the Coon Creek Trail, one of my very favorites.  This turned out to be a very rocky, windy single track that zig-zagged down the mountain, going ever downward with no level sections to take a break.  We finally came out on Coon Creek Trail, turned left and ran about a half-mile to the end of the trail and then turned around and ran the length of the Coon Creek Trail,

coming out at a rest area at the end of Pecho Valley Rd.  After a brief stop, we crossed the road and accessed the Bluff Trail which would take us 2-1/2 miles back to where we had parked the car. The Bluff Trail was very popular today, unlike the previous 7 or 8 miles of back country trail where we had run in to very few people.  When we reached the end of Bluff Trail I looked at my GPS and saw that we had gone 9.87 miles.  Kim looked at me and said, come on, we can do another .2 miles to make it an even 10 miles.  So we slowly jogged down the road to Spooner Cove where we dipped our feet in the ocean, thereby making it official that we had gone from sea level to 1831 ft in a little over two hours.  All of this and I only fell twice!  Awesome!!

Soft footfalls on Black Mountain

I

I love to do physical stuff. No secret there. I like Spinning, yoga, running, swimming, hiking, lifting weights and other great stuff.  My favorite thing to do though is trail running.  Once I get off the asphalt ribbon and on to the dirt it's like my whole self shifts into a different gear.  The rough surface under my feet forces me to become more aware of where I am and tune in to the environment around me.  Suddenly instead of being intensely listening to traffic and being watchful of cars coming at me I can hear my soft footfalls on the dirt beneath my feet.  I can hear rustling in the bushes of a bird or small critter as I run silently along the single track. I can even hear birds as they fly over my head.  Even if I am on a trail in the heart of a city, I am suddenly transported to a more natural place. Even though my heart rate increases I feel increasingly relaxed as I let myself move in tune with the rhythms of my breath and my surroundings.

It wasn't my intention to wax philosophical in this post, I really just wanted to talk about my run this afternoon.  I am fortunate to be in Morro Bay, CA for the week, my favorite place on earth.  After sleeping in and then spending some quality time at Starbucks and Barnes & Noble we got back to the RV park and I decided I needed to go for a run.  Morro Bay is a place that just makes you get out and run.  Whether you run on the beach, run on the miles of trails or even just run along the city streets it is a runners paradise.  Today I wanted a bit of a challenge so I decided to do a loop up the backside of Black Mtn all the way to the peak and then return on the road, a run I have done before. 

The first half mile is a bit nerve-wracking, running along the shoulder of the narrow South Bay Blvd.  Facing traffic coming around several curves where they may not see you until they are just a few yards away causes you to be super aware.  Finally able to cross the road and turn on to State Park Rd it gets better.  Just a short distance up State Park Rd, right where it intersects with Golf Course Rd comes the right turn on to the trail and the real fun begins.  From here to the top of Black Mtn is all uphill, with only one really short level/downhill section to break the climb.  My heart rate quickly went from the 120's up into the 150's as I kept my feet moving, climbing slowly up the single track.  Suddenly I heard rustling in the brush to my left so I slowed down and came to a stop to see if I could see who was about.  After carefully watching and listening for a few seconds, I spotted him.  A beautiful wild turkey was creeping through the underbrush, keeping one eye on me as he moved away.  These are the moments........ The thing about this trail that makes it challenging, along with the steep climb, is that it is continually crossed by exposed roots.  You have to pick your feet up on every step! Finally after about a mile of climbing I arrived at the peak, took a few moments to enjoy the 360 deg view and then started back down.  Clamber over the rocks back to the trail, line up on the single track and begin to stretch it out.  As much as the ascent to the peak was challenging uphill this section was an equally challenging downhill.  I was feeling so I was able to really open up the speed and finish this 3.9 mile run feeling awesome!!

Looking at the paleo lifestyle - Part 2

Still working out whether or not the paleo diet is for me.  In doing some research I discovered this study.  In 2009 Dr. Staffan Lindeberg looked at the Paleolithic diet versus a commonly recommended diabetic diet.  He studied 13 patients with type 2 diabetes.  The diabetes diet was almost a complete opposite of the paleo diet, featuring low-fat, low-meat, high-carb.  It included all those paleo no-no's, whole grains, vegetable oils and dairy.  It did, however, allow for fruits and vegetables.  I do not have diabetes nor do I plan on it.  But the results still have a lot of relevance for someone trying to live a healthy lifestyle.  The Paleolithic diet had better results for weight loss, blood pressure, waist size, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol and glucose levels. 

 

In another study, of the Kitava people in the Trobriand Islands, he determined that their diet was very close to what would have been the diet of the Paleolithic people.  And he noticed an almost complete lack of coronary heart disease, no signs of dementia or memory loss. He also noticed that people remained active right up until their last few days when they typically died of either some sort of infection or rapid degeneration of some sort. Also, no stroke, diabetes, or congestive heart failure. No overweight, excellent blood pressure and even no acne!  Sounds pretty good to me.

 



Looking at the paleo lifestyle Part 1

I don't need to lose a lot of weight.  So I really don't need a diet.  I am a lifetime member of WeightWatchers and that approach worked well for me in that it helped me lose about 25 lbs to get to where I am now.  I am comfortable with my weight where it is but at 66 it is important that I guard my health carefully which includes continuing to monitor my weight. 

 

I have been doing a lot of reading recently about "The Paleo Diet"  The paleo diet is based on what our ancestor's ate during the Paleolithic era of about 2.5 million years which ended about 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture.  It is felt by many that if we would eat like this today we would not have the obesity problem that we have and would have a much healthier life, with less incidence of things such as diabetes, certain cancers, high blood pressure, heart disease etc.  This certainly get's my attention!

 

My step-daughter Jennifer has been on a strict paleo eating plan for about a month and already is feeling better, as well as dropping 20 lbs thus far!  Impressive.  So I am seriously considering moving to this nutrition lifestyle myself.

I have already make a couple of big steps by eliminating candy and soda pop from my diet.  I have a long way to go though to totally paleo.  I would have to give up bread.  One thing I totally love to eat are the Torta sandwich rolls from Costco.  Gone.  Also gone would be oatmeal, cheese, milk, processed meats, t.v. dinners, sugar in most forms, salt (except sea salt) and on it goes.  After a month, Jennifer says she has mostly lost cravings for the things she used to take for granted. 

 

So, Subway is out, grilled Adelle sausage on a torta roll is out, taco's at Taco Bell, Chipotle rice and bean bowls, KFC, Long John Silver - gone.

I still think it is worth doing.  Maybe I can lower my cholesterol and get off the pill.  Maybe I can get rid of the chronic heartburn which occurs even though I am taking medication.  I am going to give it a fair chance.  Stay tune for part 2

 



Getting your God self in gear

I have said previously that fitness is not only about physical activities and nutrition but also about spiritual health.  The Bible says "¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." (1 Cor 6:19-20) God says we are to take care of our bodies (exercise and nutrition) because our bodies are a place where He resides. So it is important that we keep our spiritual health in tune with our physical health to be the well-rounded 'temple' that God intended.

For many years I was really good about this.  I prayed, went to church, ministered the gospel and all the things you do to maintain spiritual health.  Then there was another long period of time where I wasn't practicing this level of attention at all.  I only went to church sporadically, prayed even less and did nothing to advance the kingdom of God.  I got caught up in the thinking that I could still be a good follower of Jesus Christ without going to church on Sundays.  I used Sunday's to run races, be lazy, sleep in..... I was doing a good job of making myself strong and healthy but my spiritual health was sadly lagging.

Recently I decided that it was time to change that.  Coincidentally (or not) it was right after my oldest son was killed in a shooting accident.  I was of course devastated and I hate to admit but one of my first reactions was "God, why did You do this?"  If I had been spiritually healthy that thought would not have crossed my mind.  I realized soon after the funeral was over and I was back home to my routine that I needed to get back into a church family.  So we visited a church where my wife went a few times but I never had - Bakersfield First Church of the Nazarene.  It wasn't far into the service before I realized that this was where I needed to be, especially since Pastor Shawna Gaines preached that morning on 'blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted'. (Matt 5:4)

Now I am on my way to spiritual health again.  I still have some struggles, some commitment issues, but God is once more in my life in the primary place of importance that He belongs.  I look forward to how He will use me in this wonderful church family.

Eating well - or, working on it!

One of the keys to fitness is to eat right.  No major intellectual breakthrough there, this is common knowledge.  What does that mean to you though?  I don't know, or at least it is not my place to try to shoe horn you into the 'correct' box.  I can only tell you what I understand and how I am applying the information to my own personal life.  I really like the Jillian Michaels approach - if it doesn't sprout from the ground, fall off a tree or have a mother it is probably better left alone.  This is a pretty simplistic approach.  Does it work?  For most of us it either doesn't work or at least we don't know if it works because we haven't tried it.  Think about it, if we follow this reasoning some of our favorite things are about to go by the wayside.  I can't remember the last time I saw a bag of Cheeto's fall off of a tree.  Have you seen a field of growing hot dogs recently?  Or, just exactly where are all the mom's that are giving birth to all those spice drops or Snickers bars?  See what I mean? 

 

The list is endless.  What do I do about it?  I think the rational approach is to start with the obvious and easy, eliminate it and then move on to something else.  For me that means no candy (finishing up second week), no soda pop (finishing up one week), next item to be determined.  Still on my bad list are white bread, added sugar, added salt, store-bought cookies, prepared frozen dinners, ok I'll stop there. 

 

Observation #1 - pizza didn't grow on a tree or in a field, neither does it have a mother.  Potentially it could be made only from ingredients that did so that is a challenge.  What about the cheese? What about the pepperoni?  There are many things like pizza that are combinations of good and bad ingredients, we just have to be aware.

 

Observation #2 - Processed foods should probably be generally avoided.  There are numerous things within many things that we eat that make them unhealthy for various reasons even though the main ingredient may be just fine.  Sugar, salt, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, chemicals.  If the ingredient list includes items you can't pronounce you should probably put it back on the shelf.

 

So we are presented with real challenges in eating healthy.  That is why I am taking baby steps, educating myself and taking it slow and smart.  Comments welcome!