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Patrick and I are spending some time up north with the parents :-)
Posts in category Life
The camping trip that never happened
Patrick and I had big plans to go camping this weekend, but the storms derailed us. We had planned to go to Glacial Lakes State Park a little northwest of St. Cloud. I had reserved us a cute-looking site isolated from everything else, and we would spend two nights there.
Looking back, I wasn’t properly prepared for the trip in the first place, so it was probably a good thing we called it off:
- I got a car permit through a donation to MPR, but I found out they wouldn’t ship it until June, so I had to scramble to borrow someone else’s. (And it arrived today, the day we were supposed to get back, btw.)
- I was planning on renting a tent from REI, but I waffled on spending the money because I could also have borrowed one from a number of people. I ended up grabbing one from my parents’ place the night before, and I didn’t know how to set it up.
- Our menu was a little haphazard, and I didn’t do any fancy prepping and packaging ahead of time. We would have rolled in with a Target bag.
- I packed a lot of stuff the morning of, and I don’t have the proper backpack gear.
- I felt rushed that whole week at work and had zero time in the evenings before, so there was never enough time to really prep properly.
So all in all, I’m out the fee for booking the site, and Patrick had bought the food, but at least we stayed out of the storms. We did watch the radar and several red blobs went over the park, so I’m sure it was the right decision.
Lessons I learned:
- Get your permits early!
- Don’t pay to reserve a campsite if (a) it’s before Memorial Day or after Labor Day and (b) the park is outside the metro area.
- Pack early, especially food. Just grab and go in the morning.
At least I know I’ll be looking forward to the next one!
Training
I finished the plan I was working on. Was fun to do and satisfying to finish, but then I felt a little stranded. After finishing it I got sick for a week and it totally threw me off.
So to get a fresh start, I signed up for a little personal training. I’ve been to three sessions already (at 5 in the morning, ugh) and I have six left. It’s great to have someone to teach me new things, give me feedback and push me harder. I think that last one is probably the most useful. I need a good kick in the pants to get me to where I know I can be.
In other news, our department is getting reshuffled and I think I’ll find details out this week. I’ll still have a job, but it might be different!
Last personal training session
Had the last session with the personal trainer today. I have to say I’ve really enjoyed going the past four weeks. I can’t say I’ll be paying for more any time soon, but it was great to have someone else logging the workout, telling me to keep going, etc. I also picked up a lot of new exercises that I’ll definitely be working into some workout plans (although not everything — there were some ridiculous things I was embarrassed to do in a gym full of people). I really liked that the exercises she gave me usually incorporated cardio and core/stability work. I’ll definitely be using the bouncy exercise balls from now on.
Dinner tonight: Yummy rice and beans — extra easy when you buy the pre-seasoned beans and use up some celery, too.
She kicked my ass!
Well maybe that’s a stretch. But my first session with a personal trainer on Monday was pretty intense. We spent an hour doing strength exercises, some with body weight and most with free weights. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t any cardio involved, so I think next time I’ll get there 10 minutes ahead and go for a jog to warm up.
Here’s a run-down of the exercises:
- Walking lunges, with twists (20 lbs.)
- Tricep dips (bodyweight)
- This strange lat pull that was like a row with some leg action mixed in (40-50 lbs.)
- Leg curls (20 lbs.)
- Something she called a “delt matrix” which was basically a couple different deltoid raises in a routine (10 lbs.)
- Dumbbell press on a Swiss ball (25 lbs.)
- Bicep curls while squatting against the wall (20 lbs.)
- Squats in a padded machine thing that felt like a roller coaster seat (80 lbs.)
I really liked that she incorporated some core work into standard exercises, like adding twists to the lunges (which was kind of embarrassing but worked well) and squatting against the wall with the bicep curls.
I was pretty damn sore the day after, and even today I was so exhausted that I couldn’t make it to the gym. I think I’ll make up for tomorrow after happy hour and Saturday after work.
Fitness
At the suggestion of the Get Fit Guy podcast, I’m going to try blogging my fitness experiences in the hopes that putting them out there for everyone to see will hold me more accountable and make me commit to them more. We’ll see!
On Monday this week I got a fitness assessment at Life Time. There were some goofy/gimmicky parts, like calculating my “body age,” but the most useful parts were when they gave me some reliable data about myself.
First, the personal trainer measured by body fat percentage. I came in at 9.8 percent, which is very low and much lower than I was expecting. She measured it with a caliper, which is more accurate than electrical impedance but less accurate than other methods. She did it through my clothes, so I’m thinking there was a little overestimation there. Nevertheless I’m really happy with this result and I’m excited to see if I can get it any lower. The fitness assessment and some charts I found online say that going too low could get me into the unhealthy range, but I maintain such good nutrition and activity that I think I’ll be OK. Being underweight isn’t a big concern for me.
Second, the personal trainer measured my VO2 max, which is an assessment of my body’s ability to take in oxygen (aka aerobic capacity). She measured this with a program on a treadmill. I entered my weight, gender and other vitals, power walked/jogged for five minutes and then measured my heart rate with the on-board sensors. My result was 42.9 ml/kg/min. Again, this was an OK way to measure it, but there’s always room for more accuracy. The fitness assessment said this was average, so I guess I’m happy with it, but I know I’d like to work toward greater aerobic capacity.
This Monday is my first workout session with the personal trainer. Since I’m doing this with free “My LT bucks,” I’ve got nothing to lose. I’ll let you know how it goes!
My week
Upcoming highlights:
Wednesday: Going to a lecture by Dina Temple-Raston at St. Thomas. I hear the NPR folks every day when I walk to and from work, so it’s neat that one of them is going to be in town. (Sidenote: Do radio people ever turn out looking way different than you imagine? Every radio woman is brunette in my head.) I’ll be petitioning for a visit from NPR sweetheart and my news-crush Ari Shaprio soon.
Friday: Party at Pam’s! She wants an early night (understandable — I guess), but I fully intend to enjoy myself. Badger Chris to come!
Saturday: Highlight of the week! I’m going to Avenue Q with Chris! Additional exclamation point! I’ve heard the soundtrack and read about the play for about two years and I’m in LOVE with it, so it was awesome when Chris surprised me with tickets for Christmas. And we’re making a full-on date with drinks and everything.
Bonus! What I’m reading: Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman. Now I know I’m a bit behind on this one, but it’s been on my list ever since Chris got it for me for my birthday (noticing a pattern?). I’m three-quarters through it and enjoying it a lot. It moves at a nice clip and balances well-argued theses and philosophy with pop cult references and humor. Even though Klosterman tries too hard with his writing style (he hasn’t met a semi-colon or footnote he didn’t like), it’s an enjoyable read. I recommend it for any movie and music buffs.
Naps and cavities
This week has been up and down for going to the gym. Mostly it’s been after-work things getting in the way, but on the open nights I’ve have next to no energy for working out. Something just has me wiped; I’ve been taking really deep naps after work, which I almost never do. Hopefully I’ll shake it and get back on track next week. Not going to the gym really affects my mood for the worse.
I had my first cavity filled today! Not sure what everyone’s talking about, they’re not so bad at all. The doc shoots you full of meds and you don’t feel a thing. The bill will probably hurt more.
Work is busy. I’m processing all of the summer camps into the database so we can sell them online and on the phone. There’s about 225 programs, so it takes a hefty chunk of time. I think I might go over by a few hours next week and then just skip out a little early sometime else to make up for it. Always busy!
Something good
I’m skipping the gym tonight and putting it off until tomorrow, so I figured I should do something good instead. Hence the blog post! I laid down for a nap and overslept by about 45 minutes. After I was reoriented to the world and called my little brother, I decided it was just too late and I was too groggy to have a good workout. When I go too late I just have really lazy, depressing lifts and I end up pulling something. So I’ll head over there … tomorrow? Friday? Hm. This might get put off until Saturday.
I had a great meeting today about job responsibilities at work. A member of our team is transitioning out of the department to another part of the division, so we need to parcel out her responsibilities to everyone else. It’s not definite what will be put on my plate, but I’m eager to expand to anything.
Resolutions
I refuse to be one of those people who make a New Year’s resolution to post on their blog every day, and this year I really mean it! Bull. But I really do need to start writing here more. Owning a personalized URL (i.e., mwilcox.org) does cost me money, and who am I to throw away my money?
Speaking of New Year’s resolutions, I do have a couple of my own. I have some specific fitness and training goals (get to a 31 inch waist and a 44 inch chest, and run 20 minutes at five mph with ease), some specific financial goals (reduce dining spending to $50 per month, etc.), and some specific personal life goals (hang out with Seth three times per month, etc.). Wish me luck! They’re written down and on my desktop, so I can’t ignore them.
So tonight I’ll be tackling that first set of resolutions by going to the gym. I have one of my favorite workouts lined up, and while I’m thinking about it I should probably plan out the rest of them too. Pretty sure my gut got really big over Christmas, so wish me luck!