Day 525- that number has a nice ring to it star date year two day 160

Five hundred and twenty five days of repeating the same activity. Well, I typed a bunch more about 15 minutes ago but the computer froze and I lost it. So enough talk about the past I will just go out and create the future. I will say this prior to going. My comments had something to do with doing the same activity everyday for 524 days and four of the days doing the activity twice. In essence, that is a total of 528 times of doing an activity in 524 days. Praise the Lord. Also in the 528 times the activity has been done on the same equipment all but 3 times. The equipment used the other three times was the treadmill. The other 521 times the equipment used was the Life Cycle by Life Fitness. The activity was doing a cardio vascular workout for at least one hour.
Its a beauty isn't it? Ah, my home away from home.

After a great workout I always feel great. It is an extraordinary feeling. All aches and pains go away I feel like I am floating. Do not sense a care in the world all stress and tension is lifted. All that I am feeling is good. I know I said this before but I wish everyone in the world can have this feeling. I believe that if everyone was to enjoy this feeling just once there would 1) a lot more happier people in the world 2) a lot more people that work out on a consistent basis. In short I am talking about a runners high.
http://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/sarah.html

See, that is what I am talking about- I had a super workout and I feel great- Did 4000+ crunches did some weights. Did 902 calories burned in an hour on the previously mentioned life cycle. It was awesome doing 900 in an hour again! I love to workout!

Day 524- I want to I will: I want to what?

If you believe you can, you can. If you believe you will, you will. A good challenge lies before us all those simple words tell it all. Its sticky out here I feel I can do it. I am getting ready to do it- Heck, I know I can do it. The hour is coming - Let's GO! Broken machines be damned.

Happy Days! Did 854 today and played by house rules. Interesting, when I arrived at my life cycle someone was already riding it. So I decided to wait until they got off. It turned out to be a blessing I was able to warm up on another life cycle the recumbent style for 20 minutes. When the gentleman was finished I jumped on my cycle and was rearing to go. I did a 450 for the 1st 30 minutes something I had not done for almost 5 days. While my last 30 minutes were not as strong I still felt great. Time ran out so I stretched and left the gym.

I still love the ride and I am challenged by it. After I explained the game I play with attempting to hit a daily goal he suggested I approach a video game designer and see if he can not come up with some type of video game that interacts with the life cycle.HMMMMMMMMMM food for thought.

Third entry of the day.What? Get a life. Went to the gym one more time did the famous plank exercise then weights. Felt great! Which reminds of a classic sales technique.Whenever, someone objects to something that is offered your response should be feel, felt, found. All in that order. Allow me to explain. When trying to persuade someone to your point of view it is easy to say this I understand how you feel, many people have felt that way or you can say I have felt that way. But, here is what they or I found out.

Let us practice in a role play- Person says, "I hate to workout because I always feel so drained after I am done". You say, "I understand how you feel many people have felt the same way you do they feel so wiped out after they are done working out.". Then you say, "but here is what they found out, by going to work out on a consistent basis they have more energy during the day and they sleep better at night. All in all they feel great and are glad they took the time to work out. So what'd ya say, why not give it a shot, okay?" Thats works a lot more times than you think.Do me a favor, the next time someone disagrees with you about anything see if you can't winthem over to your point of view by using feel, felt, found,okay?

Day 523- As the humidity greets us early in the morning

My routine was interrupted today. They call that a pattern interrupt. Some say pattern interrupts are good because the can get you off a negative thought. Well, thoughts are things (I believe) and if a thing is is in your way you have 3 choices avoid it, go around it or go through it. My choice right now is to just go through it. I have a mission to get Day 523 done. I will ride the the cycle with the handle bars this time and not let the fact that my pattern was interrupted be a negative factor.

Well I rode it. The game is in the strength of the legs. When I was riding and scoring bigger numbers my strength was coming from my ability to generate momentum. I feel at this point using the level I am at now I can not gain the momentum I am looking to achieve. I have begun to experiment with different levels. I noticed by lowering my level I was able to pedal much faster.In an earnest effort to get back to the rate of calories burned per hour I will continue to experiment. My goal is to burn 900 an hour @ least!

Today was a good challenge and I met it head on- Tomorrow should be another challenge and I am curious how I can get back to 900 an hour again!

Day 522- While the humidity continues I intend to follow it

With day 521 in the rear view window. I am curious how my legs will respond to yesterday's double ride. I did not really push yesterday's 1st or 2ND ride to the limit but I did keep pressing on overall stamina. Since I still felt good I kept pedaling. The challenge is clear, don't stand up. The cycle I intend to use today has broken handle bars, so I can not grab the bars for support I must rely on my legs for all my strength. All in all this ride will be a fun challenge. I got up earlier(5:30 Am) to meet the challenge. I am ready to so here goes.

The humidity was my alley. Thanks to my alley I was able to work up a good lather and enjoy a real challenging ride. I have come to the conclusion that my numbers are going to be a little different than they have been. What I have done by deciding not to stand up while riding is to call upon a different group of muscles to ride with. I understand that my muscles are not quite strong enough now to battle the resistance level I am at right now. I need to test to find out at what level I could pedal hard and increase my calories burned. Although, I am pedaling at a fat burning zone I would like to get closer to a cardio training zone. When I was able to stand up I was able to get to the cardio training zone. I will continue to check that. Thanks to an excellent rest I was able to start early and finish early.

Here is a great thought "change is inevitable but growth is optional". I just googled that phrase and believe me their are no shortage of listings for that gem.

Any who, tomorrow I will see if I can grow with the change that is sure to come. I hope all can do likewise.















i

Day 521- Back in the day The Spendid Splinter and Stretch were Kings

Who and what the heck are you talking about? I am referring to Ted Williams and Willie McCovey two awesome Home Run hitters in the history of Major League Baseball.Today I am going for my 521st consecutive day of working out in which I do 1 hour of continual cardio vascular exercise. So where do these guys fit in? They fit in because they both ended their awesome careers with 521 Home Runs. Today, Good Lord willing,I will tie that number. I love watching the number grow.

Apparently the humidity has showed up in this neck of the woods. I am curious to see if it will play a factor in my plans to have a good long workout . I am off to capture my quest!

Today, I went bonkers! I worked out for 3 1/2 hours - 1 hour on 1ST ride, 1 hour on crunches, 1 hour on 2ND ride and 1/2 hour on weights. Man, it was a blast. I love that feeling. My heart was racing my body was moving the sweat was pouring out of me the endorphins were flowing. I wish everyone could have that feeling. I guarantee you that you would not want to miss a day of working out.

Oh, and by the way it felt good being in the humidity! So, I did a ride for each Home Run hitter. Also, today was the 4TH day during the streak that I did 2 60 minute rides in one day. Today however, was the quickest in which I did 2 1 hour rides in a total of 3 hours and 10 minutes

Day 520- Anxious to improve on yesterday's low number

Vince Lombardi said " if you chase perfection you may catch excellence". Now, that is something to ponder. What is perfection? What are we attempting to perfect. To bring it home, what is not perfect in our lives right now? As I mentioned in another entry, the haunting truth is we all know exactly what it is that we will not do to make our lives the way we want our lives to be.
I wrote this before and bears repeating.
As I wrote on Day 498- July 2ND of this year:

Here is a haunting thought: We all know deep down inside what it is that we will not do that prevents us from getting what we all want. I feel that with a little soul searching we all will agree.

Okay- I am off to beat yesterday's mark!


Mission completed, burned 904 calories in 60 minutes.I challenged myself to ride strong and I did. Although I started a little slow, I gained speed and confidence to hit my goal. I was totally pumped after the journey. I wish I had more time to workout!


A great coach once said, " most people do not believe in themselves" I guess that is not very original. However, he went one to say, most people don't believe they are special. Most people don't believe they were put on this earth to do something special with their lives. Most people don't have a high self esteem. Most people don't understand why they can not have the America they see on all those happy tv commercials. Most people don't have high expectations about themselves. Well, was he right? He saw the problem and he offered some things we can all do to get us all to believe in ourselves more. Do you want to know what they are? Of course you do.
" there are 8 things you can do to help you believe in yourself"

1) Always be excited. He said if you cannot be excited go in the closet and give yourself a pep talk.
2) Treat people good. Treat people like you would want to be treated.
3) Do not listen to the gloom and doom crowd. He went on to say, did you know every generation has seen the world exploding.Do not listen to them. Hey, the sun is going to come tomorrow and the sun is going to come up the next day!
4) Don't worry about what other people say. People are going to say things about you. Especially if you are motivated, excited and happy. Don't worry about what other people say
5) Don't worry about making mistakes. you are going to make mistakes. You make more mistakes when you worry about making them. Go there and let it rip! Do it
6) Don't worry about things you can not control. Hey, 99% of the things you worry about never happen, so why worry?
7) Get yourself a hero. Learn more about your hero.Find things about yourself that your hero has and before long you will like your self more.
8) ALWAYS BE EXCITED! ALWAYS BE PUMPED UP!

I am finishing the writing later in the evening. I hope everyone has a great rest and is excited about the coming day.

Day 519- The challenge is still out there

Enjoy the ride, do it in your seat, Burn 900+ calories in an hour and get to work by 10:40 am.
It is now 6:25 the gym opens @ 7 am. I went to sleep @ 1 am. I am motivated to meet the challenge with aplomb. : complete and confident composure or self-assurance : poise
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aplomb
Now, that is a perfect word to describe my emotion right now.
I would love to crank out a bunch of crunches to compliment my ride this morning. I figure if you add in 1 hour and 10 minutes of riding and forty five minutes of crunching and stretching along with the plank that should get me out of the gym by 9 o'clock. In that timeline, I should be able to shower and be ready for a nice full day of work. As any great planner knows it all looks good on paper, now let us put it into action- Can I get an AMEN?

It goes to show you even in a setback you find a victory. As I jumped up on the cycle i started pedaling and realized two things one my legs were very stiff and two this was going to be a real challenge. I figured my legs were stiff from using different muscles to pedal for 60 minutes all sitting down. Then I figured the challenge would lie in getting 900 calories burned in an hour. i suppose one option would be a good long warm up before I started the 60 minute ride. But I did not feel I had the time for that. So, I plowed ahead and it was a sluggish start. Probably my worst in 518 days. Why? Simple I generate a lot of my momentum by standing up and pedaling. When I stand up I use different muscles. By using different muscles it helps me gain strength and improves my stamina. Now, with this new plan I have to hold back my effort and work my sit down muscles on a broken machine! I love the ride and i love the challenge but this was unexpected. My focus now is going to have to be to get my legs ready for the clunky ride and doing it sitting down.

As it turned out despite a lousy start of only 350 calories burned in 30 min( that is correct only 350 where I usually do around 450+ ) I gathered myself for a strong finish of 456 in the 2ND 30 minutes of the ride. My juices were flowing after that strong finish so I charged ahead to some crunches and managed to do 13 straight minutes on the plank exercise. I wish I had more time because I would have workout a lot more today.

Inspiration- hey, we are only here for a flicker of time we must make the most of our allotted time. Chow for now-

Day 518- I sure got enough rest

Had myself a good sleep. Perhaps the late afternoon workout and the eating and drinking after the 19 hours of fasting helped me sleep. While today promises to be interesting and should be a good challenge. The day should be interesting because 1) its a new day 2) the approach I take to my ride has to involve some restraint. My challenge very simply is to burn off the calories in the hour and to do it without damaging the equipment.

As I spoke of yesterday, I realized I was being too hard on the life cycles. Mainly because I was standing up on the pedals when they were not built to be stood up on. One of my strategies for not standing up will be to lower my resistance on the setting level of the life cycle. I normally set the level at random level 22. Now, I have to decide to lower it to a good level of resistance and not stand up on the pedals.

Ah, life's little challenges- I am definitely curious as to how I will do. I envision it all turning out awesome and myself meeting this challenge with success.

Well, I was tempted to stand up a bunch of times. But, like a good little compulsive boy in a classroom I remained in my seat. In this, case I remained seated and pedaled.
I did 905 in 60 minutes. So hallelujah

Day 517- I went but I am coming back!

I had a good challenge today. I started reading a book which over 2 years I couldn't pick up. Then I started reading it and I couldn't put it down. Now I am in the final chapters and feel more compelled. Anyway my workout was delayed this morning. Along with the delay we had a equipment malfunction. Yes, I can not believe the pedal broke on my favorite life cycle again. As a result I switched off one life cycle and on to another. I managed to do a total of close to 60 minutes of riding. I did 14 minutes and 14 seconds on the one that broke and the remainder on the one that is broken but you could still pedal. my total on the last one was 675 on the first one( which I rode for 45 minutes) was 225 so I did 900 in less than 60 minutes which is good! Now, I am going back to do some ab work and arms work. I have been lacking in that area over the last 72 hours or so.

I know I have mention this before but I will repeat this another time. My routine when I workout is to take no drink or food before or after I work out until I am really ready. What that means is some days I take no drink or food until I have completed two workouts. I just fast until I really feel like drinking or eating. Today, I am prepared to do just that. My plan is to go to work go to the gym again and work on my abs and arms then come home shower and then have some vitamins and something to drink and eat. That should been a good challenge and a good fast.

Now, back to the book before I go to work.....

Managed to finish the book it was awesome.


All right 517 was a memorable one. First at the 14 minute and 14 second mark I broke the machine- AGAIN- Then after fasting for 17 or so hours -I went back to the gym to do 3600 or so crunches and some plank exercise with some arms work. After I finished my workout I so the manager of the gym and I explained to him that the pedal on the life cycle had broken again. His response was what you doing to these machines? I said "I stand up on them". His reply was you are not suppose stand up on these cycles they are not made for that. So, as the bard would tell us there in lies the rub. I have been breaking the life cycles because I am working them too hard. Now what? Work them softer I suppose? I will focus on doing a lesser resistance on the life cycle. That will be a challenge. What is the worse that can happen? I workout a little less strenuously.
Either way, I am excited about the challenge as day 518 awaits...

One footnote to today -day 517 is when the 17Th perfect game in Major League Baseball history during the regular season.The game was pitched in Chicago by Mark Buehrle vs the Tampa Bay Rays. Mark was pitching for the Chicago White Sox. The perfect game by Buehrle was 18th overall. In the 1956 World Series Don Larson pitched a perfect game. After the game, President Obama called Mark to congratulate him on the effort. Ah Hmm, I did not get a call from the president on completing my 517Th day consecutive day of working out. Maybe next time!

Day 516- Okay I got some rest

As the player approaches the forum he ponders the age old question did I get too much sleep. Lying around usually is not one of my favorite things. Yesterday was rainy and bogged down. It got slow. I read a book and slept. I generally choose more active things to do. Since the slowness of the day was all over me I just rested and caught up on the sleep I had the lost the night before.

The challenge lies ahead loosen up feel fresh and charge! - A person on a mission trains their self to act as if... Today I will act as if I am loaded with energy and can not wait for the next movement.

The is an old story about the famous Painter Matisse. Supposedly he had a very bad arthritic condition. However as he suffered this condition he would amble slowly to the piano. The old and worn out figure would barely get to the piano bench. Upon arrival at the bench he would start playing the piano ever so slowly. Then Matisse would speed up his playing and his fingers would dance across the keyboards effortlessly and the music would sound wonderful. In a short period of time this old man would come alive! Matisse would then get off the bench and go to his next passion and paint. I think anyone who has seen any of Matisse's famous works will agree the results were marvelous.

I hope that story inspires anyone who reads this. I know it just inspired me!

I was limited on time and did a good ride. Did a solid 911 in calories burned in 60 minutes. Had a slowish start picked up speed then leveled out and then cruised in with an average of 15.18 calories burned a minute. My choice of sleeping left me with no time to do any abdominal or arm work.

Its funny I meet people in the gym and I feel compelled to tell them about the streak. I do not want to come off as a braggart but I do want to be assertive. I want to let everyone know that it should be that uncommon for people to want to workout every day. I feel like I am on an island when I say this. I feel like I am a self promoter but I shouldn't because I know I am not promoting myself. I feel I am promoting good health. The reason why I feel I am promoting good health is working out everyday is healthy its probably the best thing you can do for your body. The body is meant to be moved and the more you move the better your body will. So, I feel working out every day is not only good for the body its good the soul. If you think about it whats usually good for the body and soul is usually good for the mind. Now I ask you if something is good for the body, mind and soul shouldn't every BODY be doing it?

Here is a quote I used in my High School Yearbook many moons ago.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Mahatma Gandhi quotes (Indian Philosopher, internationally esteemed for his doctrine of non violence

Day 515-Sleep was an inexplicable challenge

My focus today has to do with time management. Thanks to a great workout yesterday I felt awesome all day.My trip to the gym was a little later than planned. I was planning on a very early arrival and an early to bed early to rise would have helped that effort. As fate would have it early to bed did not result in early to sleep. Now, I am a wake and anxious to capture 515. My legs were very fresh yesterday and I am hoping for a repeat of that feeling in next 20 minutes or so.

My inspiration today is what one great philosopher once pointed out, life is similar to a rainy day. The human spirit can stay in and be dry, go out and be wet or can use an umbrella and be out and do something with the day. Which choice one makes determines their day. Of course I have paraphrased here but I think we all get the picture.

Well, its raining and I am going out sans the umbrella!

Yes, it is still raining, yes I got wet. Yes! I did capture day 515- Finished strong, burned 18 calories in the last minute which is a record breaking pace( 18x60 minutes = 1080). My determined goal in the hour was to get 920+ calories burned. I did 921 thanks to the super smash smudge of an effort in the last minute. Can I get a hallelujah- I am pumped now it's off to the rainy day where this time I plan on wearing a mental umbrella -

Hope you all have a great day and if it rains I hope you are singing in the rain!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmCpOKtN8ME

Day 514- I wonder what I have today

Dale Carnegie once said there are 4 basic ways we make contact with the world. Keep in mind Dale Carnegie was was born in 1888. Contact has a different meaning now than it did in Dale's time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Carnegie

There are four ways, and only four ways, in which we have contact with the world. We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say, and how we say it. Dale Carnegie

That is pretty straight forward - Today I will do the best I can, I will look the best I can, I will say the best I can say and I will say it the best I can.

Okay, thanks for the motivation Mr Carnegie

Today I got that old sparkle back - I worked out very hard and in the end it seemed effortless.
It had the feel of a sprinter crossing the finish line when they show it in super slow motion. As they get a close up view of the runners face you can tell that the runner knows that the race is over and the runner has won. The expression and the sense of ease that accompanies that look is how I felt at the conclusion of my workout today. The marketer in me wishes I could sell it. The humanitarian in me wishes I could give it to everyone in the world to enjoy free of charge.


My son just read the last paragraph and thought it was just all right.I am curious is the culture we live in today that makes things just all right. I thought what I put to print was awesome but then again he is not me he did not have the experience I just had so he like I suppose most of you can not relate to these workout stories or inspirations. but you know it doesn't matter what one person thinks about what I right. Who knows it may not matter what a thousand people care about what I write. The sole purpose of me writing this blog is to get the word out. The word is....workout.

My ride to was in one word strong. I started out with 157( calories burned) in 10 minutes. then 320 in the 1st 20 minutes. After 30 in had burned 480 calories which if you have following my chart is awesome. My motivates measure stick today was a goal of a pitcher in baseball. See if you can follow my logic. A pitcher in baseball has a goal of pitching nine scoreless innings. So here is my comparison, 60 minutes divides in 9 innings. Without a big math lesson every 6 minutes and 42 seconds equals one inning. 60/9 = 6.67 .( .67 x 60 seconds = 42 seconds) With all that in mind I decided to give myself a scoreless inning for every 6 min and 42 second mark of doing 16 calories burned a minute. That game kept me focused. I was able to stay scoreless up until the 42 minute mark which is exactly 6.54 innings and since that is not quite 2/3' s of an inning I guess you could say I gave up my 1st run before I got the 2ND out in the 7Th inning. That is strong pitching. However, after that I was challenged big time. As my numbers read out I had 683 @ the 42 minute mark and finished with 933 calories burned in 60 minutes. Which equals a finish of 150 calories burned in the last 18 minutes. I went nuts on my crunches and did 3600 + and on the plank I went crazy and did a total of 17 straight minutes which is for me a new record.

I will say it again I felt great. I posted this address on the wall in the locker of the gym I workout in I hope some one finds it, reads it and passes in to others.

KNOCK KNOCK HELLO, LOOKING FOR WORKOUT STREAKERS RUNNERS, CYCLISTS WALKERS LIFE CYCLE RIDERS HELLO, ANYBODY THERE?

Day 513- I wonder if keeping a good chart makes a difference

Spending the time to have record keeping of my workout activity could be a big boost to my effort. Everyday I chart my workout in three areas. One this writing,two my online calendar and three my wall calendar.I believe that sharpens the focus on the task everyday. It gives me three places of accountability. As I reflect on that for a second, that is kind of crazy. But hey, whatever floats the boat.



Today there are no home run numbers- Just a number sitting out there 513- I need to go out there and get it!

You see everyday you can not knock it over the wall. Some days your body is not quite ready for the battle. But in the end of it you ask yourself one question and one question only. The question is are coming back tomorrow? My answer is, with the good lord willing yes I will be back tomorrow. Its funny even though I was aching in my knees and back I kept on pedaling .Despite the reality that my results were nowhere near where I wanted to be. I felt two things were getting accomplished I was breathing hard and I was sweating. I sensed since those two things were being accomplished I flushing my system. I suspect that flushing one's system on a daily basis promotes good health. Also, believe me or not believe me, I was enjoying the process. Since I was enjoying the process I was having fun. Which is primarily the main objective.

Okay so the numbers were ugly, did a 810 in 60 minutes. I started with a 130 in 10 minutes and ended with a 680 in 50 minutes. Did 600 crunches and 11 minutes with stops on the plank exercise and called it a workout.

Day 512-Good morning and welcome to an awesome challenge

Well, I never said doing a cardio vascular workout for 512 consecutive days would be easy. So, guess what? This is as best a challenge as any day. Right now as I punch at the keyboard its 6:39 am and muggy. Yours truly went down at 12:45am was up at 6 am and now is poised to get in the gym in hopefully about 10 minutes. I also never said my 511 streak was close to the accomplishments of hitting 511 or more major league home runs. The reason I pointed out the home runs was purely from a numbers basis. Today matches in numbers only, how many Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks hit for home runs in their illustrious career of playing major league baseball.

To quote Bozz Scaggs "outside the rain begins" - Here I go a little wet and groggy to the gym to take a chop at day 512. Move over Eddie and Ernie your number is about to get company.

Okay so Eddie & Ernie got company. I didn't hit a tape measure home run today.In fact I think I was over dressed and ready to play. As an aristocrat would say, "I perspired profusely" as I would say "I sweated like a pig". It was funny though. I guess I must have looked pretty distressed in my last few minutes. So much so that someone said " John, my god it looks like you are dying". My reply was oh know I am just having some fun. Well, I did finish the ride at 875 which is far lower than I would have liked to but again, I had fun anyway. The reason why I believe I was over dressed was I ran out of energy to maintain the pace I had ithe last 20 minutes. In the 1st 40 minutes I burned 600 calories. However, in the last 20 minutes I managed only to burn 275. I feel the reason why I was zapped of energy down the stretch was I just sweated way more than usual because I was over dressed. As I said at the beginning of today's writing it was more muggy than its been.

Day 511 - I am among the giants in all-time homerun hitters

As I continue my adventure I realize that the 500's represent to me numbers of home runs that have been hit by the career leaders in Major League Baseball. To some people that may sound wacky but to me its right up my alley. As I must confess here, I am a sports statistic geek. There, I said it,"geek". I could talk sports and go on endlessly( here is a new word I just learned "bloviate") about all the statistics-http://bloviate.net/bloviate.htm

I know about sports. Since baseball is my favorite sport when I woke up this morning and thought about the workout I said, "today is 511 Mel Ott". Mel Ott played for the NY Giants way back when and hit 511 career home runs.

Bottom line after today Good Lord willing, Mel and I will share a number. To me that is cool. Heck, ole Mel is a Hall of Famer and has Little League Baseball division's named after him. Here is a list of all the career leaders in home runs: This is the 511 to 586 club.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/HR_career.shtml

Frank Robinson 586
Mark McGwire 583
Harmon Killebrew 573

Alex Rodriguez 570 still playing

Rafael Palmeiro 569
Reggie Jackson 563

Jim Thome 555 -still playing
Mike Schmidt 548
Mickey Mantle 536

Manny Ramirez 536
Jimmie Foxx 534
Willie McCovey 521
Frank Thomas 521
Ted Williams 521
Ernie Banks 512
Eddie Mathews 512
Mel Ott 511- 7/17/09= 903

Now I need to go and meet Mr Ott!

Voila! By the grace of God!

The challenge was met! Did a 903. Man, I'll tell ya that was a battle. I kept track of every minute. Each minute I knew I needed to burn 15 calories to keep the pace and I did it! I love the battle. I was sore and stiff so I loosened up on the ride did a 151 in 1st 10 minutes then a 325 in 1st 20 then a 450 in 1st 30minutes. At that point I knew I was in for the battle! I got 600 @ 40 minutes / Right on pace @ 676 @ 45 minutes - Was at 750 @ 50 minutes. Man, at that stage you got the tiger by the tail you just have to hang on for the ride. It is kind of amazing your mind says "move it" your body says "are you nuts"? Also your head is swimming with the rush of endorphins asking can we keep doing this? Meanwhile, your mind is telling your body just keep on pedaling. When you take the time to break it down it is comical. It is comical because of all the crazy conversation that goes on in your head as you approach the finish line. When its over you got your total for the 60 minutes. You look at the minutes and your first reaction has got to be good! It is good because ;

1) you finished

2) its over

3) you feel pride of accomplishment on a challenging task

4) you've added to your streak

5) You have a chance to catch your breath

I do not think I left anything out.If I have I will talk about it at a later time.

Here is something I do that I wonder if any other people in training or are on a workout streak do. I take in no food or drink prior to the workout or during the workout. Also I hardly ever listen to an ipod or mp3 player. After the workout is over and I leave the gym and weigh myself then and only then do I drink or eat anything. I usually drink juice and seltzer( no Gatorade too sugary) Then I eat fruit. Sometimes, (I should do it more) eat oatmeal with fruit. I love that routine. The routine leaves me feeling strong and refreshed.

Well, here is to you Mel Ott- 511 is in the books!

Eddie and Ernie I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Day 510- Had an opportunity to rest before the workout

I am choosing to use the opportunity to rest a little before the challenge ahead. I am curious to see if I can improve on yesterday's ride. Yesterday's ride was almost effortless mainly because of the steadiness of it. I probably got 2 hours more rest than I have been. Like many I wake up with aches and pains but once I get going I feel great. I am confident that much of this movement stems from muscle memory. I am starting to think the body reacts to its movement and has it own memory built in. Once I get on the life cycle and begin pedaling my body says" okay here we go". I also wonder if its a state of mind. I recall at times if you are concentrated on a certain task and attempt to do the task at inconsistent times you must be ready to react quickly and thoroughly. My reference to that would be similar to a electrical switch. The switch is their in a seconds notice to deliver the electricity which in turn delivers the power to create the electrical function. It could bring light to a room, use of an appliance or any number of things. The key is it is ready to deliver when needed. I believe the mind can be trained to work with that same reaction. So, as I sit here and think about what makes me and others tick I am getting ready for today's challenge.

Did 920 in 60 on day 509 . Question is can I beat it? Which brings me to another interesting topic. Questions. When a person says to us I got a question for you what goes through your mind. To most people another question pops up what is it? Whats the question? At that point the mind is getting geared up to answer any question. My question is whats the difference between someone other than yourself asking you a question than you asking yourself a question. The difference I feel is the sense of truthfulness in the answer. Let us face it a question asked of others will probably get a different response than one we ask of ourselves. Here is an example, what did you do yesterday? Now from an ego stand point most people if they were answering another person would say something that projects how they want to LOOK to the person asking the question. However, should I ask myself "what did I do yesterday" I suppose who I am to myself will affect how I answer that question. I firmly believe that to varying degrees who we are to others we are different from who we are to ourselves.
O-kay now that I got that off my mind.

The challenge I feel we all face in life is our questions. What we ask ourselves delivers our answers to what we do. Example, you are faced with doing a task your mind asks its self how do I do this task? Your answer is how you go about doing it. Its funny, the way and how we do the task is determined in a large part on our attitude. So if you go to do something ask yourself how can I have fun while doing this? As opposed this sucks I do not what to do it you will have an entirely different way of doing the activity necessary to complete the task. Like I said before only two things we really control it is "our attitude and our activity".

Day 510 just asked a question : How can you make today the best workout day ever?

Answer: By having a theme song in my head during the workout guess what it was? Beat it! Why that song? As I mentioned earlier the goal of today was to beat 920 from yesterday's ride. Well, I BEAT IT! Did a 927 in 60 minutes. I realize its the competition of it that keeps me coming back. I am sure if I would just go in a room and pedal for 60 minutes a day I could do it. I not sure how long I would keep doing it if it were not for the challenge of beating the day's before mark. There is just something in me that says " let's see if you can beat this?"

Day 510 the details of the ride....


I started off very strong I burned 16 calories in the first minute which to me is not that easy to do. I kept the pace for 30 minutes. Again which is very good. Bottom line, I managed to get a good enough pace in the other 30 minutes and burn some calories . Burning 447 in 30 minutes is a hair below 15 a minute. My pace was not as consistent as yesterday but my results were a little better. My challenge now is for tomorrow is;
1) beat today's 927
2) beat this months high of 956 (July 10Th)

Here is one question that can have an awesome answer? What if our body never got hungry it was just our mind that got hungry? Think about that one. In essence all
we are doing when we eat is feeding our mind.

Don't forget what the good book said "feed your head"- Jefferson Starship
Here is an interesting article
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/mindfulness/2009/03/mindful-eating-rethinking-our-relationship-to-food/

Day 509- The anticipation grows as the time draws near

As the summer rolls on and I get mentally ready for the next event. Some may say what event? To me any time I have an opportunity to put one more consecutive workout on the board its an event. I am certainly not putting myself in category of Lou Gehrig or Cal Ripken in terms of streaks but I wonder if they ever considered putting together a narrative of their consecutive streaks? I think what I am doing is interesting . Dah ? Which is a good reason to continue this activity. That word activity is one to chew on for a second. I believe the only two things we really can control are our attitude and our activity. Well off to do another activity- 509 awaits-

I had a nice fun workout today. It is a pleasure when you start a little slow then gradually pick up speed. I can feel my body getting a lift from the momentum being generated. The ride had a good pace 150 in 1st 10 311 in 1st 20 465 after the 1st 30 minutes. Was up tpo 697 calories burned in the 1st 45 minutes. That is a good stretch 232 in 15 minutes. Finished with a 920 calories burned in total. Overall that is a great ride a good steady pace. In the last 15 minutes I did 223 not quite 15 calories burnred a minute but very close. At 920 calories burned in 60 minutes equals 15.33 calories burned a minute. Finished up witha good 3 times around the weight machines and a 10 minute plank exercise.

I feel the core of a person's motivation to do something on a very consistent basis stems from their up bringining. As I think of what comments I hear when I tell people about the streak it makes me think of what is the big deal. When we were young most of probably did something 500 or even a 1000 days in a row. Played outside, ran around, watched some TV show or something. The fact that what I am doing as I assume tens of thousands of others are is no great shake. If I was in a community of people doing the same thing it would be just as natural as combing one's hair everyday or brushing our teeth.

With this desire I wish to find others who are doing the same kind of activity that I am. In an effort to help get the message out that being in shape and enjoying good health is worth it!

Day 508- I need my morning rush, don't we all?

Behold the average person, what do they do in the first hour of waking up? I am sure to many its a frantic time after the first 20 minutes. Most have a stupor period and perhaps sit still while collecting their thoughts. I have noticed I seem to for the most part just start moving and ready myself for the pending ride. Maybe, just maybe, thats the way it is with people on a workout streak. The streaker is ready to go and moving on to the workout. Like I am now!

508 done !

Sure enough I went down to the gym. Upon my arrival at the gym I confronted with a choice. A simple choice ride the broken life cycle or wait until the good one was free. I'm curious what most people would do? Quick math allows me to understand that I did have plenty of time to wait. However, I chose to ride the broken one. My plan was to ride the broken one until the other one was free. That"s how it turned out once the other one became free I got off the broken one and jumped onto the other one. Here is where the math gets confusing . I am not sure of exactly sure how many calories I burned in an hour of riding. I do recall riding the broken one for about 16 minutes and burning about 276 calories. I was on a real good pace. ( 276/16= 17.25 per minute) Then I rode the other one for 44 minutes and burned 643 calories. Again the more I think about it I did 276 in 17 minutes and did 628 in 43 minutes. For a grand total of 904 in 60 -That is fine with me i will take it.

My preoccupation during riding today was on realizing how such a some amount of people actually show on a consistent basis. Let alone everyday. Maybe I am a rare breed but the law of large numbers tells me;
1) a lot of people workout in gyms across the world maybe thereis at least one person in that gym that has not missed a day
2) there is plenty of gyms
3) 1 or 2 times plenty of gyms + # of people that do what I have done - See ya tomorrow!

day 507- Up a little later in the day but hey that's okay.

The Sleep of the laborer is sweet!

My chance to seize the day is here. Carpe` Diem - My time to visualize an awesome day is now . Here is a good saying to live by - One must sees it before one seizes it! It means expect great things before great things happen. I am anxious to compete today. Planning a good fun workout is exciting. Yesterday I was not able to do all that I had wanted to do. The stretching, abdominal exercises and arm work had to be eliminated.

There is an interesting phrase " had to". If you think about it what does it mean? You had no choice. That really is never true. We all have a choice all the time. As each situation is different we all have a choice always. It is our choice to bare the consequences that usually determines our decisions. Anyway, I could easily go on and on about this subject but I choose not to. I would rather go workout.

Man, I went for it today. The reality of my activity is did awesome for the first 2 hours. In the 1st 2 hours I did 3600 crunches did 10 straight minutes on the famous plank exercise

Proceeded to do 3 times around the machines on the weights. Then went to the life cycle where I started out strong burned 161 in first ten minutes then started to slow down. Burned a total of 312 in 1st 20 minutes. Then was unfortunately slowed down to consuming only 150 in next 10 minutes . Leaving with 462 burned in 1st 30 minutes which is not bad. However, I finished with only 865 in 60 minutes which is only a 403 in the second 30 minutes. I guess, in an effort to put a nice positive spin on it my front was better than my back. Also, for about 2 hours of my 2 and half hour workout I was awesome. Plus, I experimented with my routine. I usually do the ride 1st then the abs and weights second. Having the ride first on this occasion makes me wonder if I may have had a very strong ride today. All in all I was most impressed by my results and I definitely had fun. Hey, here is an idea let's try it again tomorrow! Ha Ha

Day 506- Check out this itinerary

Down 1 am up @ 6am ish- 2 the gym @_ - Back from the gym@_ in 9:30am ish- Press on my man; press on!

Now that it is done a chance to reflect. Down 1 am up @ 6am ish- 2 the gym @7:05am_ - Back from the gym@ 8:20 am_ in work 9:30am ish- I pressed on my man; I press on!Did a courageous 903 in 60 for the third consecutive day 900 or more calories burned in 60 minutes.Here is to the ones who challenge themselves everyday to do more. A salute to the one's that everyday give more than they realized they could.

Do not hate me for challenging myself everyday. Do not hate congratulate. Remember my purpose of this blog is to start or continue a streak of days of constructive behavior. I will feel fulfilled if one person after reading this blog decides to do something on a consecutive basis to improve themselves.

Steven Covey said it best when he said we should all strive for private victories.


http://www.motivational-depot.com/speakers/authors/a-e/stephen%20covey/quotes/quotes-stephen-h.htm
The ''Inside-Out'' approach to personal and interpersonal effectiveness means to start first with self; even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self -- with your paradigms, your character, and your motives. The inside-out approach says that private victories precede public victories, that making and keeping promises to ourselves recedes making and keeping promises to others. It says it is futile to put personality ahead of character, to try to improve relationships with others before improving ourselves.

As night follows day I look forward to day 507

Day 505- Are we ready?

We know we are ready when we want to go . We know we are ready when no one has to say go. We know we are ready when the flame starts to glow. We know we are ready when the will says let’s go. We know we are ready when that inner voice says “its on with the show". We know we are ready when I am thinking of freakin poetry to get there..We know we are ready when you cannot wait anymore..We know we are ready when you are there and they have not opened the door.We know we are ready when you can’t wait for what”s in store. We know we are ready when we are ready to knock down the door! We know we are ready when we ask ourselves what are we waiting for? Day 505 lets go already!

Did it! Done // Oh what a beautiful morning; down @ 1am up @ 6 am in gym @ 7am finished with 914 in 60 minutes. Out of the gym @ 9 am - Did 600 crunches & did 10 straight minutes of plank. A good amount of stretching and now ready for work. My riding was fullenergy did 468 in 1st 30 cruised in with an additional 446 in next 30.

I think Abe Lincoln said it best on the subject of happiness. "Folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."
Here is a neat article supporting happiness.
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/05/science/sci-happy5

Happiness is growing check them out on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10644279659

Day 506 promises to be a big challenge- Can't wait - Be happy!

Day 504- The bounce back and be excited Day

I must point out since I have been posting this blog this the most I have been challenged. I must forge ahead and get this done. Shove all ailments to the side and go!

Strategy worked shoved all ailments to the side and floored it.
Go I did--- Did a 167 in 10 minutes , 334 in 20 minutes(equals 167 in 10 minutes again ) ,492 in 30 minutes( 156 in 10 minutes) ,had 800 in 50 minutes( 308 in 20 minutes ). Its funny right about at 30 to 45 minutes it gets cloudy and I can not remember so good. That must be when the endorphins are kicking in big time! Finished with a 956 in 60. That is a 156 down the stretch the final 10 minutes. A great ride beat yesterday by 103 calories burned in 60 minutes!

Yesterday 853 today 956.

I thought about this yesterday, a quote from Jim Rohn.

~ You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change. ~
Jim Rohn

Those are awesome questions because it helps a person put things about their life in perspective.

Day 503- The opportunity is ripe

My body seems ready as I head towards my chance at burning 900+ calories in 60 minutes. Yesterday I had a good kick in me as I battled to maintain a strong start. The key to getting and keeping a 15 calorie burn per minute is to get loose while pedaling. Once the legs feel warmed and loose everything flows easily. The challenge lies in the early morning starts. Where the body feels it needs a little more rest. I enjoy the effort that is needed and I am ready.


I was not, but you know. I gave it a shot. Although I came nowhere near my goal I finished the ride. A little frustrated and bummed out I finished. My thought is I was just too sore and tired to get it done today. Hey, my 503 is still intact.I did a 853 in 60, ouch! My pace was weak. I was within 5 calories burned then slipped badly after the 1st 30 minutes.I will hitch it up tomorrow and go for it. Both General George S. Patton and Vince Lombardi said

"Fatigue makes cowards of us all."
Question one: What is fatigue? Answer; it is a lack of energy and motivation. Agreed?
Question two: What is a coward?Answer; One who shows ignoble fear in the face of danger or pain. Agreed?
Does the quote stands on its own for logic?
Well, for me its been awhile since I felt as much fatigue as I did today. It has been awile since I felt almost if not cowardness. However, when I felt pain today and decided it was better to slow down than risk injury I held myself back. I suppose that was a classic example of the quote.
Part of me wanted to blast through and see what I had but the other part of me held me back.


I once heard that we have three driving forces in our being they are your body, ego and your soul.
Here are the goals of the three forces individually.
Your body wants to feel good.
Your ego wants to look good
Your soul wants to do what is good.
Just about every second these three go at it in your mind . Who wins and who gets more of the choices are up to you.
Personally I am rooting for your SOUL!

Day 502- The challenge is definitely there

Racing around frantically to serve the general public in the evening after concluding a day of preparing to serve the general public, makes one eager to capture the 502ND Day. Ah, the thrill of it all, gathering up the juices to go out and compete. I know its early morning and seems like only a few hours since I have taken the ride but, I am coming back! I hit the hay at 11 pm and rose at 6 am - Give or take. A side of torrential rains and high winds I managed to rest. To re coop and return anxious for another effort. If I sound motivated I am! I enjoy the challenge of today. Today is getting back into the curve day. Today is the answer to all the rest I have had over the last 6 or 7 days.

Came out of the gate strong and maintained the pace did a 472 in 1st 30 and finished with a 922.Now, only 19 more at 900 to set a personal best of 20 at 900 or better in consecutive days.
The weather this morning is beautiful its awesome! Warmish with a nice cool breeze. Extremely energizing. That's a neat word. ENERGIZING ! Just the sound of it gets me fired up. Well, my time is up. I everyone out there is fired up to have an awesome day!

Day 501- I think courage is a tough word that gets overlooked

What if god’s gift to us was our life and what we make of our life is our gift back to him.

I once asked someone to fill in the blank on this statement. Life is ____________. The person’s reply was what you make of it. That is true. We all are dealt the cards and have to make our cards work for us. One American stood in front of a huge crowd chanting his name and proceeded to give one of the greatest speeches in history. The crowd and the world were shocked to find out that the speaker used no notes and just spoke from his heart. Here are the words that speaker used that day:

Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.
Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career to associate with them for even one day?
Sure, I'm lucky. Who wouldn't consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert - also the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow - to have spent the next nine years with that wonderful little fellow Miller Huggins - then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology - the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy!
Sure, I'm lucky. When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift, that's something! When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies, that's something.
When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles against her own daughter, that's something. When you have a father and mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body, it's a blessing! When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed, that's the finest I know.
So I close in saying that I might have had a tough break - but I have an awful lot to live for!
I think we all know who delivered that speech.

http://www.focusonals.com/louspeech.htm

Thanks to Mr. Gehrig's speech I am ready to embark on another day on my journey.

I gave it my all. I was challenged once again @ 30 to 45 minute mark. With no intention to be dramatic but that is where I lost my streak. I chugged to a 462 in 1st 30. Which is okay if you have a big kick lined up. When you have no big kick ready to roll you risk the chance of losing your shot at 15 a minute and 900 an hour. Well, that is what happened. I made a strong maniacal run at the end when I needed 22 in the last minute but fell short. So now, I have a new target to shoot at 20 in a row of 900. Just as 1014 is my aim everyday.I can now add 20 @ 900+ everyday.

As I think back on certain feelings I had when I was young. I remember enjoying running. I enjoyed the freedom it allowed me to feel. My two favorite movies when I was around 12 to 15 years of age were "The loneliness of the long distance runner" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056194/plotsummary
and "Running Brave"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086220/
It may explain my love for riding and working out.

Now I am off my non go to work mode. End of vacation? I suppose.
Well, 502 awaits - Since 501 is done!

Day 500- Here we go looking @ a milestone!

I am excited and looking forward to the challenge. What song or thought is running through my head? How about this work hard, live right and find something you believe in? What does that mean exactly? As I get set to go workout, I will attempt to answer that. First work hard that's easy to understand it means give it all you got. Second live right, means take notice of your personal habits. If you are a person of good morals and integrity you are living right. The third is the most challenging of all. Anyone that can find something they really believe in in my opinion is a dynamic force. Once you are fixed on a belief and firmly believe in it you create an indestructible bond that can not be broken.You and the belief are one and the same. I hope that my efforts in the last 500 days have served that purpose of working out. I also, hope and pray that God blesses the streak that I have put together. The time is now, to work hard, live right and find something you believe in!

The 500TH day is done! I told one of the other gym members that today is the 500Th consecutive day. We joked about breaking the machine a few times. I got more psyched by talking about it and raced off to do a 168 in the 1st 10 minutes. Quick tells us that 168 times 6= 1008.Friends 1008 is awesome.I was on a good roll and had a 252 @ 15 minute mark. Which of course is again a 1008 pace. I was blasting had a 334 @ the 20 minutes mark which was a 1002.
However kept a good pace for the next 10 minutes another 168 for a 502 in 1st 30 which is rarefied air. In the previous 499 attempts I have only burned 500 or more calories in 30 minutes about 5 or 6 times. So, I was at 502 in 30. If I get a 498 or more in the 2ND 30 minutes I do something I have only done 3 times out of the last 499 attempts ( you know that is not totally accurate because in the last 499 days I have done 502 60 min rides. Reality check is in the previous 502 attempts I have burned 1000 or more calories in 60 minutes 3 times.

Here is a list of those Days:

Sunday January 11Th 2009=1003= Day 324 special note in 2ND half did a 508!
Friday March 27 Th 2009= 1006 508/498 = Day 399
Sunday April 5Th 2009 did 520 on the 1st 30 WOW!- then 1,013 = Day 408

Sunday June 14TH 2009 did 507 in 1st 30 minutes finished with a 927.

It is okay in the last 30 minutes I could only do 446 and wound up with a 948. Not too shabby when you consider that I have done 900 or more in 60 since June 19TH. Back to day 483, a total of 17 straight days. Also, I beat yesterday's total of 938 in 60. I wish I could relish in the moment but I choose not to. Its on to Day 501--- Where I get to practice CANI-
Constant
And
Never ending
Improvement

Day 499 - Paying tribute to our Forefathers

There is a guy who made a decision- Rudy. Here is a group who also made a decision-Our Forefathers-

As I set to start this exciting workout. I am reminded of why our country is here. There are conflicting reports that the early leaders of the US faced a tremendous amount of opposition to become a free country. I believe that a challenge was definitely there. However, here is the biggest reason we became free. We became a free country because a few people made a decision. These people made a decision and stuck by it. They never lost their belief. While these decision makers made their decisions others stood idly by and watched. The statistics I heard were that only 5 % wanted and were willing to fight for their freedom, 45% believed in the British and helped them stop our march toward freedom.While the rest didn't side one way or another.

The more we consider what rock we were cast out of the more we can realize how powerful a simple decision can be. Since this is a health blog with a motivational message to promote positive thinking and good health let us make good positive decisions to workout and strive to get into the best shape of our lives both mentally as well as physically. Good Luck to all- Hope your 4Th of July holiday is the best ever!

Now, its on to Day 499!

Day 499 is and was great did an awesome 938 in 60 minutes.( 938 = calories burned) I have a mini streak going within this streak of 499. Since June 19Th(day 483) I have burned 900 or more calories per 60 min workouts- COOL! That makes 16 straight days. The key to my strongest number of calories burned in 60 minutes since day 491 was good balance. Did 474 1st 30 then 464 2ND 30. Felt good all the way.

One thought that kept racing through my head was

"a man's reach should always exceed his grasp."http://thinkexist.com/quotation/ah-but_a_man-s_reach_should_exceed_his_grasp-or/150975.html

A quick study of that quote reveals the quotes passion for optimism. The next line says

“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand who saith, 'A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!'”

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/grow_old_along_with_me-the_best_is_yet_to_be-the/150979.html

When we focus on the future as being bright we get a zest for whats around the corner. With an optimistic spirit you never know the best is yet to be.

As for me, its onto day 500. Man 500. I never thought I would do anything 500 times that was worth discussing. I am so psyched about hitting that plateau that cannot wait to hit 1000! To focus in on 1000 would be cool. According the calendar tomorrow is the 187Th day of the year there are 178 days left in the year 2009. So to get to 500 days from tomorrow you need to find 322ND day(178+322=500) of the year 2010. The 322ND day of year 2010 will be November 18Th 2010.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about this journey as much as I have enjoyed writing about this fun journey. Its funny once you start writing about something it kind of takes on a life of its own.

Day 498 - Do I detect a sniffle? Boo who! Do it anyway

Charging ahead with a clarion sound of no retreat the mission is at hand. Sounds good, sounds determined. Ah, the spirit is willing but, the flesh is weak. I am sure we have all heard that. As the great Jim Rohn is fond of saying " I am no authority on the bible". I have got a health challenge today. I suppose one has got expect one every now and then. I am not going to elaborate on that now. I believe what ever one focuses on expands.

I do have a running log of this streak to look back on. Its interesting to note that my log has become consistently more detailed with each passing day. Here is a look back to July 4th 2008. Hey, that was 365 days ago. Day 133- Here is what I wrote -7:45 am-8:45 am -an interesting ride, went in spurts did r 22 4 1st 20 then did 150 + cals in 10 min then ended w/ a 10 min r 25 - some lady came up 2 me and said she had never seen a human being sweat some much- don't u drink water she asked.last night had 2 beers- WOW ! bought a hockey stick it felt great shooting the ball! did 25m after whew!

Its kind of unclear what I meant but, I think I meant I was messing around with different resistance levels on the Life Cycle. The highest level is R25 .I also suppose I did an extra 25 minute ride after my 1st 60 minute ride.

That is pretty good inspiration to know I was that fired up to do an extra 25 minutes of riding just for the fun of it. Let the game begin...................



Consistency is what consistency does


Had a good battle early but had a strong finish! Did 457 in 1st 30 minutes. In the second half did 461 that is an awesome finish. I kept my focus I knew I needed to stay 30 seconds ahead of the 15 calorie a minute pace. When I realized I was going to get 15 calories a minute I set my sights towards beating yesterday's 909 mark. The game within the game is so much fun. The only thing I am a little surprised about is my weight-It is now up to 181. The last time I was up to that weight was on day 31.


Wow, that was 467 days ago! Biggest difference in my habits are my appetite and exercise schedule.I am doing more ab work and lifting more weights when I started to lose the weight I rode and did very little ab or weights.I had a very low appetite and ate a lot less. I knew when I increased the exercising I would increased my appetite. Check it out, even though my riding is still strong my eating has increased enough to put on weight. Another difference is this week I have not been as active as I usually am. I usually spend a good 50-60 hours on my feet. This week has not been the case.



Here is a haunting thought: We all know deep down inside what it is that we will not do that prevents us from getting what we all want. I feel that with a little soul searching we all will agree.

Day 497- I love the challenge- A broken life cycle awaits a rider

The time has come I have rested long enough. I want the ball, put me in coach. Dr Mitchell Perry a performance coach reminds us to focus on what we are noticing not only our results of our actions. He also cautions us on not to use negative words while completing a task. Example, never say why don't we do this. Instead say let's do this. The reason is obvious, when we ask why don't we? It conjures up reasons not to do something. On the other hand, if we say" let's do this" it is a more positive question. Here is a great book by Dr Perryhttp://www.amazon.com/Zone-Dr-J-Mitchell-Perry/dp/1889153133



Anyway, time to go get # 497- One little note about my streak of 496 straight days of a cardio workout lasting at least 60 minutes. On three of 496 days I did 2 workouts of 1 hour or more . If you want to be technical I have done 499 straight workouts and today would be the 500Th.

Had a great workout - It was like Christmas, the pedal was fixed! I got to attack the workout on a working machine- I came out as the hockey players say "a house of fire" did a 168 in the 1st 10 minutes. Did a 326 in the 1st 20, a 474 in 30 minutes. Then as has been the normal I slowed in the second half and wound up doing a 909 in 60 minutes. Felt great after the ride. Went onto to do 3000 + crunches did the usual 10 minutes of consecutive plank.( that's where I support my self on my elbows and balls of my feet.)http:/http://exercise.about.com/od/abs/ss/abexercises_10.htm/
Did weights: which included three sets of thirty. Altogether the workout took about 2 1/2 hours.

Shared a few thoughts with some people at the gym.
1- people don't care how much you know until, they know how much you care.
the thought is people want to know you really care about them before they will listen to your advice or well wishes.
2- in the good times you put it in your pocket and in the lean times you put it in your heart.
the thought here is simple when things are good your happy.However, when times are tough its hits your heart and you remember how you got through the tough times.
http://www.getmotivation.com/lesbrown.htm

My focus now is on 498- I am psyched! A working life cycle. I am pumped for the next day's opportunity. I love it!

Before I go any further I have got add this link: htthttp://www.facebook.com/s.php?q=USRSA&init=q&sid=c1afc7996019ec0445566d046de1394d#/group.php?gid=40859848807p:// Read this and you be as Oliver Wendell Holmes said "a mind stretched to another dimension will never return to its original dimension."

Day 496- Dressed fed and ready to play

I suppose we all are to some extent but we really do not know to what extent until we go out and see what we got. Thats the promise of a new day. What have you got to offer the world today? A lot of that is determined by that simple concept are you dressed, fed and ready to play? I am confident that I am, so here I go- Out to play!

Play I did. I had fun. Got off to a flying start a 480 in 30 minutes. It flowed nice and easy. Once again by the time I hit the 45 minute mark I was battling. I strongly believe that the challenge has to be the condition of the lifecycle. As I pedal I hear a grinding sound. The resistance does seem to increase as I pedal. But that does not matter. I am not here to offer any excuses the only thing I am interested in is a good workout and to have fun. While I have an interest in the numbers or how many calories I burn its all to increase the fun of working out. I finished with a 910 in calories burned for the hour.

Today after my workout I went to a life sports talk show. It was held in a meeting room at the library. The forum is very relaxed and friendly and if you like sports as I do its a must attend.
http://www.espnradio1300.com/pages/jox/insideyankeebaseball.html

As I was working out today several positive thoughts came to mind. One was the great Dale Carnegie's view on the concept of contacting people. Mr Carnegie said that we really contact people four ways
1) How we look
2) What we say
3) How we say it
4) What we do
That is a pretty powerful concept - as you think of those four ways of contact you notice each way has a significant influence on how we are judged. If we take the time to look at all four of these points of contact its easy to realize the positive influence we will have on how people react towards us. That certainly is great to know. To a large degree we actually control how the world will respond to us.

Hear is the other concept I was thinkink about. The organism or individual that can relate to the most organisms or people on their level usually controls their world. Think about that for a moment. If I understand you on your level what will that do? I feel it will do a lot. For one you will probably feel more understood and should lead you to trust me more. That trust should lead to a better relationship. We all know if, two people or organisms have a good relationship they usually act more in harmony. Following that thought the more organisms and people I have on that relationship level the more I can control my life and my world.

I realize I threw a lot of philosophical thoughts out there today. I hope it was helpful.

Tomorrow is day 497 - I hope to make it a great one!

Day 495- A fresh start new month

Slept quite a bit. It felt needed, we will find out.I am excited for another challenge. I am interested in finding out two things 1) is the pedal fixed 2) how powerfully I can blast through the ride.

Today is Wednesday July 1st 2009. I feel strange because no planned work is scheduled at my place of work, due to shut down. So, I guess I have the week off.

Day 495 is done!

This is why I love to workout. I came out flying, did 345 calories burned in the 1st 20 minutes which put me on a pace to break my own record of 1,013 in 60 minutes (20 min x (3)x 345= 1,035 in an hour). Come think of it, that would shatter, my record of 1,013 in 60. I felt great, I had everything going and finished the 1st 30 minutes at 510 calories burned, which is only 9 calories off the record for 30 minutes of 519 calories burned . All I needed to do was to repeat the 510 from the 1st 30 minutes and I would have the record of 1,020 in 60 minutes. Sounds good now, but hey, I got a little slowed. My pace slowed down and I realized I was riding a broken life cycle. Little mattered at that point, I was in a fight for the record, but by the time I caught my breath, the record was gone. All that was left was a chance to beat yesterday's mark of 926.However, in the back of my mind I was saying hang in there you are not going to lose that mark. Good news. I did beat yesterday's mark by 3 calories burned by coming with a 929- Hooray!

I feel today was an awesome example of my real reason why I ride everyday. Its the sheer joy and love of the competition. Give it to me, I love it. Give me the play that decides the outcome. the final shot, the last second play and the last pitch. I live for that and have lived for it since I was a little boy.

I hope all who read this finds something that have a passion for. I also hope, that whatever they choose is good and healthy.

Cannot wait for the next ride! Day 496 here we come!