WMBO-Fitness Update-Weeks 7 & 8

A Grand Canyon side hike during my 2005 rafting trip.



The Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon.  About 7 miles from river to rim.




Mt. Rushmore through a rock crevice




Devils Tower in Wyoming




A real snake in the grass.  I don't have to worry about those too much on Hickory Road.

To my dear readers, I need to make two apologies.  First, for not writing an update last week.  I traveled to Gatlingburg, TN with the church youth group, and there just wasn't a good opportunity to post.  Plus, when I got back home, I was way too tired.  Secondly, for not posting any new pictures from my walking this week.  I hope you enjoyed the "replacements."  You see, I took my camera with me today, and I had every intention of finding something at least moderately creative to post, but I ran into a snag.  I settled on my first shot, and I took my camera out of a pocket, but it wouldn't turn on.  As I fumbled with it, I noticed that it was literally coming apart.  Upon closer examination, I found that five out of the six TINY screws that hold it together were missing.  Frantically, I reached down into my pocket and I found one in the bottom.  I suppose that the other four had come out at other times in other places and this last one was the one that let it come apart.  So, here I am standing on a cold, county road corner trying to put a tiny little screw back into the side of my Sony Cybershot....when....can you guess?....Yep....I dropped the stinking little screw.  So, no new pics this week.

But, the good news is that I found five tiny screws in a glasses repair kit at home and the camera is back together and ready for next week.

The last two weeks held some ups and downs for me with regards to my fitness goals.  For those of you who may not have seen my original posting, I am attempting to cover 2011 miles in the year 2011 by either walking, running, or cycling.  Along the way, I hope to feel better, and lose a good deal of weight.

Anyway, I have walked fairly consistently the last couple of weeks.  I also played some basketball last night.  It felt good to be on the court even if I'm way too slow, get winded really quickly, and can leap even less than I used to be able to....and that wasn't much.  I also went to the doctor this week, and my cholesterol is down well into the good range, my blood pressure is excellent, and I had lost weight since my last visit.  Plus, I have added an inch of size to both of my calves.  This is good news because it shows that I am regaining strength lost after my Achilles surgery.

The bad news is that I made a number of pretty bad food choices in the week.  Pizza twice.  The youth group trip included two hamburgers, fries, a rueben sandwich, and two McDonald's fish fillet sandwiches.  Bad Mike, Bad Mike, Bad Mike!!!!!

REPORT TIME:

Weight:  256.2 lbs.  This is down 2/10ths since my last report, but up 2/10ths from my unreported last weigh in.  This week represents the first weight gain since I started this program, and it a direct result of my bad food choices last week.  This is me kicking myself in my oversized booty.

Mileage:  71.6 miles completed.  Miles to go:  1939.4

Time to sign off and post this.  Look for another post from me in the next day or two.  I've got a concept for a spiritually-focused post on the front burner of my mind.

See you on the road...hopefully with some new pictures next time.

Mike