Day 586- we go riding on the freeway!!

As the days accumulate I thank god that I feel great. Had an awesome ride then a good strong ab session. I now have my eyes fixed on 600. Today I tied the great Frank Robinson in numbers he hit 586 - While I am at 586 consecutive days of doing a 60 minute at least of cardio vascular exercise. Me and Mr Frank! I remember that Mr Frank was on tough sob on the ball field. When i was young he used to tear up my beloved Yanks. My streaks and as I am out the door. The big E awaits!

Yes it was fun. Ah, let see there was a lot of places to eat and there were a lot places to eat. Excuse me, did I say there was a lot of places to eat? Nah, it was fun it was similar to being at a country fair nice easy going time.

Just to make note of yesterday's double work out. It was the fifth time in the last 586 days that I have done to 1 hour rides on the life cycle in one day.
Here is a list of the other days in which I have done two work outs in one day:

7/9/08- day- 138 calories burned 913 & 885
9/17/08- day- 208 calories burned 938 & 823
3/25/09- day- 397 calories burned 965 & 940 the most calories burned in one day of riding.
7/27/09 day--521 calories burned 834 & 713
9/30/09-day -585 calories burned 917 & 817

I seem to space out my energy bursts.

Day 585- Beautiful day! Let's do two!

Ah, it was such a lovely day and I felt so-oh good I decide to go for two rides. After I cruised in with a brisk 917 calories burned in 60 minutes. I NOTICED I was not tired. So, why not go for another 60 minute ride?

After a decent pace in the beginning I was well aware of my goal of getting a minimum of 800 calories burned in the second hour. I was challenged and just about spent but I NOTICED I had more in the tank so I finished strong.

Its funny the mind does freaky things while the body pushes it very hard. I wish a) everyday I could ride for 2 hours b) everyone in the world could experience that awesome, healthy beautiful rush that I feel while I am pedaling and when I finish. "Life affords us with such inner beauty if we just decide to tap into it". You can quote me on that.

My that was indeed fun - But I got to RUN!

Day 584- Establishing a pattern of action is far more challenging then repeating an action

Studies I have read tell us that 75% of what we thought about yesterday we will think about today. That generally requires little thinking on our part. If you believe that the percent of thought is repeated at that high of a rate that means we all go along with very consistent patterns of thought.

I suppose if you do want to accomplish your daily goals whatever they are you must do some things over and over. But to think that most of us go along in a programmed fashion of consciousness is kind of scary, sad, limited, call it whatever you want but just not right. We have so much more potential that we could tap if we just expanded our daily thoughts to focus on what successes we can reach.

When I speak of 75 % I am including to most, the same old stuff. By the same old stuff I mean all the limiting thoughts we all entertain in our head. The world today is filled with so much negativity that one can not help but be affected by it. The challenge to all is to not let us be guided by the prevailing thoughts of people that are being guided by a flow of non up lifting thought patterns. We must always be at the ready to unveil good in all. Our minds are so incredibly powerful that we still have not figured out its true strength.

It has been studied that we only use a small amount of our mind's potential. Now that is a scary thought! Yep the studies usually say we use a small fraction of the potential we really have.
Here is a great analogy imagine living in a house and only living in about 4 to 7 percent of its actual living space. That is what we do when we use or brain. That is not just one person we are referring to, that is EVERYONE!

Well enough deep thought. I am off to play again - I am psyched to use as much of my brain's potential today!

Love to all and keep searching for ways to use more of your potential -

Day 584 is in the books! Had an awesome 1st 30 minutes of riding. The second 30 a big difference. Now let us make note of this in the 1st 10 minutes I did a 162- in the next 10 I did a 162- That put me at 324 after 20 minutes.Which is a 972 for 60 pace- WOW! That would be phenomenal - After I nailed those good numbers I did a 148 in the next 10 minutes. So I was at 470 in the 1st 30 that is the best I have done in awhile. When I made the turn heading for my next 30 minutes of riding I noticed I did a 140 in the next 10 minutes. Then in the next 10 I managed 139. Now I was starting to feel my goal getting a 900 was slipping away. I was at 747 calories burned in 50 minutes.I was very determined to get back to a 150 +calories burned per 10 minute pace. I did all I could and did a 136 in the next 10 minutes. Which represented my lowest of my 10 minutes of riding within this ride. So I finished with a 883- OUCH!

As the lifecycle automatically switched to a cool down level I thought what can I do to get to the 900 level that I was dying to get? I knew I had missed my chance this time. So I decided to play a little game. I decided that I can burn 17 calories in the 1st minute of riding after the cool down I will earn the 900 for the day. I felt extremely confident in my ability to do it.

I started to think hey, why not do a sprint after every 60 minute ride. Just to see how much I have left in the tank.

So that was the deal, do 17 or better in the 1st minute and I get a 900 for the day. Well, I did it in fact I did 19 calories burned in a minute!

See this stuff is really fun and I love it! I did about 600 crunches along with 22 minutes on the plank and I was done.

EVERYBODY SHOUT!

I LOVE TO WORKOUT!

Day 583- After a day complete with work out, work and rest..

I am ready to go. Energy is the key. Having physical energy as well as positive attitude of mind is vital.

I am not bragging on oneself here so just check my schedule from yesterday:
up at 5:30am
work out 7am to 845am
work 1040am no break finished at 10:10pm
down at 1230 am

Sunday up at 6 am.
Folks the key is energy. The key to energy is working out it revitalizes the attack! Can I get an AMEN?

Arod did not hit one yesterday he is at 581. We are at 582 looking to get to 583. Yes! Let us create some space. Lead by one, let's lead by two before he gets on the field!

A great workout! Felt awesome during and after. I worked on a life cycle that has been a little tough for me to burn 900 calories on. However in this ride I managed to get a good strong ride in. For the first time on this particular life cycle I burned 904 calories in 60 minutes. It felt very rewarding. Did a strong 16 minutes of plank along with 300+ crunches.

Day 582- Arod blasts 581 need today to pass him again

I knew this would be fun! If he hits a home run for everyday I work out until the end of the regular season he will have 590 home runs. It should be an interesting chase. This morning I am up early. Last night I went down late. Went down at 1:10 am up at 5:45 am. I had been getting more rest so I am excited for the challenge.

I have often thought about this concept and a question we can all ask one another. What is your preoccupation? What is your mind engaged in right now other than what you are presently doing. Everyone has a place they think about other than where they are now.

The biggest challenge we all have to be where we are now! To make the most out of every second. It sure sounds simple but then why don't we all do it? I am preoccupied with doing the work out and having fun and then getting ready for a day of work.

Here I go ready to pass Arod, again!


I always loved that movie. What movie? Running Brave. It is the story of Billy Mills the Olympic gold medalist who came out of nowhere to win the gold medal in the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
He did by never giving up in his life and in the race.The mememorable part of the movie is when comes from behind the pack to win the race. His track coach said he had no heart and no kick. Meaning he could not push himself to run harder at the end of the race.

Boy, was that coach wrong. Mills came from way back to out distance his opponents to win the gold medal that day.

That is the focus I try to garner when finish my ride. Today I did something I havehad troubl with in the past. That is to have a stonger second 30 minutes of riding than first 30 minutes of the ride. In my 1st 30 minutes I burned 448 calories which is okay. However in my 2nd 30 minutes I burne 459 calories. I had a good kick at the end. In fact, I burned 50 calories in the last 3 minutes which is over a 16 calorie per minute pace. When you compare that to my 957 calories I burned in the firsst 57 minutes that is a 15.04 per minute calorie burn pace. To put that sort of effort is awesome! That is the Billy Mills kick I always go for when I ride. I did some research and find out that Billy mills planned thru visualization that he was going to win that race!

Day 581- Say that slowly: Five hundred and eighty one

Here we are ready to pass Arod. How good is that? When you focus on the now, you have no time to look back or forward. That is why I believe it is the now. Today should be a good day to do just that because I have ample time for a good work out.

I was once told by someone who was very successful that all you got is what you know and time. I suppose everyone knows something a little different but time is pretty much the same. We are all given 24 hour days. Then, what we do in those 24 hours is considered our accomplishments for that day. The same goes for each passing second , minute or hour. Time: is the same for everyone. Knowledge on the other hand is something that is not justifiably equal. Knowledge is usually what spells the difference between what gets accomplished between individuals.

Knowledge is such an all encompassing word that just say it separates all of human accomplishment. Here is a powerful thought and one that comes to mind whenever I think of time and how to mange it.

People once asked Ben Franklin

If you were given four hours to chop down a tree how would you manage those four hours? Ben's reply was I would spend three of those hours sharpening the axe. Think about that. Why would ole Ben spend three hours sharpening the axe? After all he only had four hours to chop down the tree? Well, his answer was if the blade is sharp I do not need that much time to chop down the tree.
Which leads to another great concept. What if we looked at ourselves as the axe. In this case, the tool being used to do the job. What if the job was life. How would we use ourselves to get through life? Would it not be necessary for us to be as sharp as we could be to do the job? Focus on the NOW!

Alright that was some motivational speech! It certainly got me going! Did a splendid 933( calories burned) in 60 minutes of riding. Had a nice 27 minute plank along with 600 plus crunches. I was sharpening my axe!

I must say that what Franklin said and did was original what I just said and did was not. Also, I should say this concept of working on oneself in this particular way is not original. However, the way Steven Covey has explained it in his book "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" is indeed original.

In fact many of my thoughts are just a recall of many things I have read and heard over the years. In which I am no different than anyone else.

Either way 583 is the next home run record to fall the person that accomplished that just as Arod probably cheated to accumulate that total so I will not mention that individual by name.

One step at a time it is on to 582!

Day 580- Its funny when rest is deemed as an option its easy to take

Today we catch AROD! Yup, he sits there at 580. I realize after today's ride we will be tied and stay tied for the day because his team does not play today.Also, with the good lord willing will pass him before he plays on Friday night.

I remember when I targeted the great quarterback Brett Favre's number of consecutive games of 288 of performing as a starting quarterback in the NFL. I can recall the excitement of feeling the reaching of a big number in sports. The number to me represented longevity and endurance. In addition, I felt a sense of equality with a great player.
I know I was not on that level in terms of athletic ability but hey, I indulged with my mind to stand for one second shoulder to shoulder with greatness.

Now I sit here some having more than doubled that at one time lofty number. I suppose I should feel over whelmed with accomplishment , but I don't. Instead, I am looking for any number as a motivational tool that keeps this journey fun.

So, today its Arod, looking out for who is next?

1 Barry Bonds 762
2 Hank Aaron 755
3 Babe Ruth 714
4 Willie Mays 660
5 Ken Griffey, Jr. (16) 627
6 Sammy Sosa 609
7 Frank Robinson 586
8 Mark McGwire 583
9 Alex Rodriguez (27) 580

Currently tied with Arod. Accepted the battle today. Wish I had more fire. Did a 902 in 60. Was @ 460 @ 30. Then 608 @ 40 minutes. Nine oh two in sixty minutes. No plank today. About 200 crunches was somewhat pressed for time.

Day 579- Today I actually got up after 7 am

Although I did not go down until 2amish I still managed to get a good rest. Will probably work out between 9 and 12. I look forward to challenging myself to a good battle on the ride. As long as my legs feel loose and fresh I can attack with vigor.

My goal is to practice CANI - Constant and never ending improvement. CANI is a very interesting concept. If you literally get better at anything for a period of time everyday you will be so much better at that task that it is unbelievable.

For example, let us say you want to improve on your endurance to ride a bike. So your goal is to increase your distance every day by 10 %. If your starting point is one mile in nine day you will be riding 2.12 number of miles a day.

Day 1=1 mile
Day 2= 1.1
Day 3= 1.1x.1= 0.11+1.1=1.21
Day 4= 1.21x.1 =0.121+1.21=1.33
Day 5= 1.33 x .1 0.13 +1.33 =1.46
Day 6=1.46 x .1= 0.146 +1.46=1.60
Day 7- 1.60 x.1= 0.16=1.6+ 1.6=1.76
Day 8= 1.76 x.1=0.176+ 1.76=1.93
Day 9= 1.93 x .1=0.1936+ 1.93= 2.12 miles

Within nine days you will be riding a little more than one mile more a day. So, this example proves that by just improving by ten percent per day you can be hundred percent better in nine days! The commitment to getting better at something every day by just a small amount can dramatically improve your performance in anything.

My Ride today was strong I hit a good pace and maintained it. Wound up doing a 911 in 60. Now the good thing about burning 911 calories in 60 minutes is that I did this on this ride I rode on the life cycle that i have been having trouble with. On this particular life cycle I have only been able to average a 15 a calorie per minute for 60 minute work out only a couple of times. i loved the challenge. I did 600 + crunches then a good 23 minutes straight on the plank.

I am chasing a moving target Alex Rodriguez hit his 580TH home run of his career last night. If Alex goes homer less today I can tie him with 580 consecutive days of work outs tomorrow. Its fun to chase a moving target. It gets me psyched to think any time I go there I have to best the other person's number.

Day 578 - The routine has been modified

I am on a little different schedule so my work outs should be at different times. However, I still plan on rising early. I love the early morning feel. The last couple of days I have been operating on limited rest. I was down at 12ish and woke up at 6:15 ish. That was a good rest. That is far more than I have had in the past couple of days. So I look forward to the work out today.

Alex Rodriguez is the next home run hitter that has huge numbers. As of yesterday, he had 578. Which I would have tied in consecutive work out days. However, Arod hit a homer yesterday to run his total 579 home runs. So after my work out today I will be one behind him.

That is enough reason for me to get out and get Day 578!
I am dressed, fed and ready to play!

A great day to be and feel alive. As was my want, I pounded out a good work out. A strong 926 in 60 minutes on the ride.After 600+ crunches did a good 31 minutes straight on the plank. A fun stretch and done!

The ride was solid did a strong 482 in the 1st 30 minutes which is awesome. My is always a minimum of 15 calories burned per minute. At 482 in 30 minutes that is over 16 a minute. I sagged in the next 15 minutes but kept my strength in the last 15 minutes. It calories burned in certain minute interval looked like this; 15 = 245 @ 30 = 482 @ 4o 625. There was the drop off in speed went from a 16 calories burned per minute to a 14.3 per minute calorie burn. However, I recouped and did a good 301 in the last 20 minutes. Which is 15 calories burned per minute. I find it takes a tremendous amount of effort to get up to a good calorie burning rate. Then when you slow down it almost seems like takes more effort to get close to that calorie burning level again.

Either way it was sweet. Keep charging and you realize it was worth the charge!

Day 577- A little different routine but a fun challenge

Challenged real hard to get back to level of 15 calories burned per minute for 60 minutes but, today I fell short. However after the work out felt great!

Day 576- A different venue for a refreshing act

Sounds like something out of Variety Magazine. No real simple I went to a different work out gym and worked out on the same equipment and felt great after I was done.

Day 575-I am getting into the right frame of mind

Now that is an interesting concept frame of mind. I suppose frame of mind is really the way you decided to look at something. Let us suppose your mind was a camera and it was ready to set up a picture. Well all that camera would focus on is what is in the FRAME right? That is all that it would show is what area the lens is looking at. Our minds can work the same way and it is funny how to large extent that is how are attitudes are determined towards various things.

So, when I say the right frame of mind what I am really saying is I am begin to focus on the work out the ride and its challenges. I went to sleep last night at 1:30 am ish and got up at 5 am ish. After a crazy night of work. I came home ate tried my best to relax and then sleep. You know the ole 1,2,3 combo. Eat, rest and sleep. Prior to going to sleep I was determined to get to the gym at 7 am. Well, here I am poised to get to the gym when they open the doors at 7 am.

Yesterday was an awesome ride did 502 in the 1st 30 minutes. I have to say that is such an awesome feeling when you can burn over 16 1/2 calories a minute for at least 3o minutes. WOW!
The most I have ever done is 520 in 30 minutes of course on the life cycle. Doing that amount which equals 17.33 calories a minute for 30 minutes is indescribable.

Okay, so I am off to see what I can accomplish today. I have challenged myself to be dressed, fed and ready to play.

A steadfast approach does the trick. Did a good 905 in 60 a refreshing wake up ride say hallelujah.

Day 574 - Get excited and focused and let her rip!

Came out like a true house of fire! Did 167 ( calories burned) in the 1st 10 minutes, 337 in 1st 20 minutes, 502 in the 1st 30 minutes. That my friends is a serious blast! To give you an idea how awesome burning 502 calories in 30 minutes is a life cycle consider this:

During this 574 consecutive day journey of doing a 60 minute cardio vascular work out of mainly riding a life cycle. It has only been on now six occasions have I burned 500 or more calories in 30 minutes. However, since September 7Th to today September 18Th I have done it twice.

Let me see, 6 days out of 574 is 1 out of 95.4 days. I wonder why I can not do it more often. Also, I have only done a 1,000 plus burn only 3 times. So let equals 1 out of 191.3 days.

Here is list of the occasions:

Day 324 Sunday January 11Th 2009=1003= special note in 2ND half did a 508!

Day 399 Friday March 27 Th 2009= 1006 508/498

Day 408 Sunday April 5Th 2009 did 520 on the 1st 30 WOW! - then 1,013

DAY 478 Sunday June 14Th 2009 did a 507 in 1st 30 minutes finished with a 927.

DAY 563 Monday September 7, 2009 did a 501 in 1st 30 minutes finished with a 958
Day 574 Friday September 18, 2009 did 502 in 1st 30 minutes finished with a 963

As we can see I have done 500 or more in 30 minutes within 11 days 2 times.

March 27,2009- April 5, 2009 is 10 days.

September 7,2009-September 18,2009 is 11 days.

We also keep in mind that i have completed 4 additional work out in this 574 day run. So my total rides total is 578. That makes this 500 in 30 number even more impressive. And this 1,000 in 60 minutes even more awesome!

The work out today was definitely fun. Anytime you could blast out 500 in a 1/2 hour in is very exhilarating.

Day 573- The weather is gradually getting cooler

Thursday, September 17, 2009
Day 573- The weather is gradually getting cooler
Last year, on this day, I was on day 208 and I did two rides in one day. I did them back to back with no rest. The first ride I burned 938 calories.The second 823 calories. I was weighing in at 166 pounds after the ride. I felt great I did the plank in three segments 1 1/2 minutes; 1 minute then 30 seconds. A total of 3 minutes on the plank. Prior to Day 208 the previous time I did 2 rides in one day was July 9, 2008 - where I did the first one and burned 885 calories. Then burned 863 in the second ride.So, today is the anniversary of a double ride. I hope to put in some more of those soon they are fun! Today will be great I need to go kick the jets into gear. A positive attitude is all it takes.Go get them!

There is always something magical about having an awesome ride! Did a solid 926 had a great pace and I kept it. In my first 30 minutes I burned 462 calories. Now that is a good pace. I maintained that pace by doing a 464 in the last 30 minutes. My plan was to keep burning 16 calories a minute for the last 40 minutes. Quick math says if I keep burning 16 a minute I would be 1 calorie a minute ahead of 15 calories a minute. So if I would burn a total 900 in 60 minutes I would be at a 15 calorie a minute pace. However, if I can burn one more calorie a minute for 40 minutes I would be 40 calories a head of the 900 calories I would be at 940 calories per hour. That would be awesome. But, I was not able to keep burning 16 calories per minute for the entire 40 minutes. Yet I still got a very respectable number. I love it . After I was done with the ride I did some crunches 500. I plan on going to the gym for a few minutes this afternoon.

Day 574 is where I can pass the great home run hitter Harmon Killebrew. Old Harm hit 573 HRS.

Went to the gym in the afternoon and did a record setting plank! 37 minutes ! Felt awesome
Did some arm work and stretches!

Day 572- Looking for jets

Today will definitely be interesting the need to get back into form is now. As I look at yesterday's performance 84 minutes of pedaling and burning 1,050 calories which is far below my average. I want to do much better. I seemed to be out of the usual 570 day flow. Its funny, not having that wonderful burst yesterday was not right. I noticed each time I attempted to blast it produced a feeling of something grabbing my legs to slow me down. I am determined today to charge hard and improve on yesterday's mark. Even though the results were not what I wanted and expected I noticed it was still fun.

Found some today- Did 904(calories burned) in 60 minutes. Felt great had a good strong finish. Did 22 minutes on the plank- That felt great had an excellent stretch today also.

I noticed once the hard pedaling begins and you start overcoming the resistance the key is to keep up that brisk pace until.... you find the flow. Keep searching for the brisk pace once you get it take hold and find the wonderful. I tell you my friends that FLOW is priceless. I wish I can live in that flow forever! I know I have spoken about this before. But I am sure anyone that really enjoys something knows what I mean by the flow.

He is an excellent thing to do. The next time you find yourself really enjoying yourself ask am I in the flow?

A dynamite question. What would it take to get a million people to start reading this blog?
Its real simple find 10 who find 10 who can find 10 who find 10 who find 10 people to read the blog.
10x10=100x10=1,000x10=10,000x10=100,000x10= 1,000,000

Imagine a million people reading this blog everyday? WOW

Day 571- What would happen if.................

When I said that were you thinking something good or bad? Ah, there lies the crux of the matter which way to you lean? Are you an optimist? Or were you looking for gloom and doom. How many of you want to know the world news when you first get up? Let me tell you whats wrong with that. Guess what? You do not need to know. You need to know where you are at, and what you can do today to make you life better by helping yourself and others. The focus of the world to a large degree is ASK; whats happening out there that I have no control of ?

What would happen if ..... someone gave you the best compliment you ever got and you did the same for someone else and they did the same for some one and so forth and so on?

Where would the world be then?

I tell you one thing, it would be in a lot better place than it is now.

Had to take a different tact to today the jets just were not firing so I took it a little easy but I worked out longer. Did 84 minute ride and burned 1,050 calories. Hey, you take what they give you. And you do your BEST to enjoy it. I enjoyed the ride and I got a work out. My goal now is to get the jets back. I feel they will be back by tomorrow.

Day 570- A nice fall day

Since I have no work to get to after the work out I will get to the gym a little later today. The key to all is having a great frame of reference. Its how you frame your life that allows you to create your point of view. Use your strengths to improve on your weaknesses.

My spirit was willing but my flesh was weak. had all good intentions of getting 900++ on the small pedaled life cycle but only got 876. Bummer, had 597 @ 40 minutes.Only 3 calories off the pace of 900 for 60. By 45 minutes I was fading and fading fast. gutted it up to get a 876. Felt good just to get that number. Did a good amout of ab work. Tried something different. Instead of just doing a whole bunch of continuos crunches on one machine I switched back and forth from doing 50 incline sit ups to 50 10 pound quantum crunches. I did that about 10 times and it was fun.

I did 50 of these-----------------------
Then 50 of these-------------------------

I did that 10 times -hence the 1000 crunches. I planked 18 minutes. Felt great -

Day 569- After a good day of work...

I woke up refreshed and ready to try out another gym. My plan today is to work out in this new gym and then go to work. The equipment I will be using is the same but my surroundings will be different. I am anxious to give it a go! Yesterday was a nice 12 hour work today. I had a good opportunity to be on my feet all day and spend some energy. I was up at 5:30 and down at 1 am. Then today I am up at 6 am and should be at the gym by 9am. I psyched to see what I got. I missed not doing the plank yesterday I chose to give it a break for a few hours. It would have been a tight squeeze time wise, so I passed. Today I will have more time to give it a go.

Let's see up yesterday for 2o hours slept 5. Not bad, I feel good.

Today is the 1st day of the 1st Sunday of the NFL. Last year at this time I was on day 198, it was September 7Th 2008 and I had done a record 2 minutes on the plank! That is a far cry from the 34 minutes I did the other day. I burned 914 calories in an hour on that Sunday a year ago.

Man, how time flies. Oh a quick joke: Why did the boy throw his toast out the window? Because he wanted to see the butter fly! Haha

So now its officially football season. The races in baseball are winding down and soon it will be October baseball where only a few get to keeping playing .

I plan on playing. How about you?

Get on a work out plan stay with the plan. Its all about plan,do and review.

Went to the other gym used their equipment worked out very hard. Pedaled like crazy ran out of steam but did a good 864 in 60 minutes. Which is probably equal to a 940 on the other gym's life cycle. Or, I am getting soft. Either way I felt great after the work out. That is what matters most, competing and giving it my all every time out.

Day 568- Its been a good week!

He looked back before he decided to leap forward. He had only to look out on the day and realize it was his day to make. The chance to do something special lie ahead. The journey which had begun on February 23rd 2008 was gaining speed. The challenge was there the opportunity was ripe. He had come to enjoy the morning ride. Although he was not outside on the pavement he was inside riding virtual miles. The total of miles he was approaching were huge numbers, a grand total which of course could only be estimated by multiplying 567 times 20 which did equal 11,340 miles. As he sat and typed he wondered how far he had come and where he would be if he had really rode that far?

Good question, save it for another day! Did 60 minutes burned off 891 calories fought like the dickens to get that 900 but although I had a 601 at the 40 minute mark I was unable to blast that extra 300 calories off during the last 20 minutes. I sweated profusely and got good and worn out but still, no go. It was a good week for burning off calories. Starting with Sunday through today I burned 937, 958, 962, 910, 916, 960 & 891. The average for that is 933 calories burned per day that is awesome. That is by far the best I had done in awhile.

See it is dopey stuff like that that can keep you moving and maybe have you wanting to say, "I LOVE TO WORK OUT"

Day 567- There will always be aches and pains

Today presents a wonderful challenge. I am searching for that great feeling . I have mentioned before that flow. The flow is where your body is moving effortlessly the resistance is limited and you feel one with every living thing.



I said not long ago that I would rather spend energy than rest. Now, that I reflect on that thought I realize that was a pretty bold statement. However, I know a thought like that can change quickly. Having the right circumstances like the flow makes it easy to say "oh yeah lets keep spending energy who needs the rest".



Okay! Right now, right here, I am getting myself up for Day 567 workout # 571 in the last 567 days. Looking for every ounce of inspiration and focus. I used to love this expression, " just gut it up on more time to go out there and compete".


Aw, shucks this is no big deal just get on, pedal and focus on riding faster with each passing minute. Look for the flow,Man!



Let us see how its done.

Great pep talk! I competed I burned 960 calories in 60 minutes. I was on a major roll. I found the flow.
I must admit, I LOVE TO WORKOUT. I felt it coming on around the 5 minute mark I just sensed I was going to get stronger and then keep the strength throughout the ride.

The thrill of it all racing to the end of the ride knowing the difference between winning and losing is so close that its scary. Feeling that you are real close and you just know you are going to hit the number. Then hitting it is awesome! I know just about everyone has had that feeling in any thing they have attempted to do. Its the sense that yes, I going to get it, and yes I worked hard to get it. Upon completion of the ride I went ahead and took the time to work on my abs I did around 600 crunches and went on to set another personal; best in minutes on the plank exercise. I managed to hold my self in the plank position for 34 minutes straight. That breaks Wednesday's mark of 32 minutes.

On plank exercise, its another form of exhilaration. While I am planking my body is usually covered in sweat as my mind and body work together to keep myself in the position. I wish I could bottle this feeling I get from working out and distribute it to everyone just so they can share in the enjoyment of it. Sounds weird but that's how I feel.

Here is a thought anyone can accomplish anything if the they have the right- REASON-
Whenever I get that thought I always here the song reasons in my ear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NnXIxSAa1Q

Anyway, you get the idea. The motivation to get started is the REASONS. The way you attain your goal is with discipline. The game is simple come up your own reasons and you will find yourself playing harder than you ever could imagine.

Day 566- Focusing on the now

Last night I watched with great interest as one of my favorite players took a giant step towards baseball greatness. Derek Jeter the captain of the New York Yankees tied the great Lou Gehrig for the most hits as a Yankee. The greatness lies in the fact that Lou has held the record for most hits as a Yankee for over 70 years. The most impressive part of Jeter's accomplishment is that through his ability to stay in the game and repeat a standard of excellence he has been able to become the Yankee with the most hits in the entire history of the franchise.

So hats off to Derek Jeter. As I attempt to reach my 566Th day of just doing a cardiovascular work out I can not help being in awe of such a consistent achievement of excellence. Derek's number right now is 2,721. He is now shoulder to shoulder with a guy known as the "iron horse".
It has taken Derek Jeter 14 years to accomplish this feat, I am amazed.

Today, with this inspiration on go after my quest of the day ------

A start that was not to strong but with a great finish.Part of the reason why I got off to a slow start was because I attempted to chat while doing a maximum work out. I noticed I was not that good at working out to my maximum and chatting at the same time. Its almost like a half hearted effort. When I start I want to pedal as hard as I can and in order to do that I need to focus all my attention on that. Once I was done chatting, I started to focus on my goal of getting 900 calories burned in an hour. The 1st thing I did was the math. How many minutes do I have to go before 60 minutes is up? I saw that I had 30 minutes left to get to 900 calories . I also noticed I had only burned 422 calories- I needed to burn 478 calories! I gave it maximum effort and burned a total of 916 calories. My 2ND 30 minutes included me burning 494 calories which maybe one of my highest second half totals ever. COOL !

Day 565- A very early start

Up at 5am down at 11pm. I feel refreshed but am I dressed, fed and ready to play? That is a great question. I know I am definitely dressed; fed well emotionally , yes; Ready to play? Only time will tell - Having only positive emotions -H.O.P.E. - To be fired with the right kind of juice? Yes! Anxious to get to the day and see what I got? Yes!

Can I break yesterday's mark of 962? Can I break yesterday's time of 30 minutes. To me these are all exciting questions? You see, at this point it is a game. Its me and the clock. Not different than when we were kids and we go to do something and we would say to someone time me. I have a simple theory a body in motion wants to stay in motion and will stay in motion unless it in opposed by an opposite force. I believe in this case is 1) my body and 2) my mind. I believe anyone can stay in motion as long and fast as it wishes. I can say that with conviction especially if there is no opposite force.

Let's be real, there is no one trying to physically knock me off the machine or shoving me out of the plank position.

It is just me and the clock - Enough talk, JUST GO DO IT!

Had a very intense ride felt loose for a minutes then got tired FMCOUA( go see Patton)- was at 465 at the turn; the 30 minute mark. Wound up with a 910 BUMMER - thought I had more.

I did have more on the plank! did a awesome record breaking 32 minutes. Third straight day of setting a new mark- YEAH BABY!.

Day 564- Can I do a 964 or more?

What am I talking about? Well here is a brief recap: Today marks the 564TH day without interruption that I have done a 60 minute cardiovascular workout. Within the 60 minutes I give it my all to burn as many calories that I could. My record to date is 1,013 calories burned in 60 minutes. Yesterday I burned 958. Which included burning 501 calories in the 1st 30 minutes something I have only done 5 times in 563 tries. So now I feel good to give 964 or more a good attempt. Strength and focus is the key.



So here I go...

Yes! It was a wild ride! I was challenged. I started with a good strong 30 minute pace that I was determined to maintain. I maintained a 16 calorie burn per minute pace all the way to end. Which beat yesterday's total of 958. I pushed very hard to get the desired mark of 964 but fell only 2 burned calories short. Awe, but it was awesome charging after that magical number! Just gunning it, with all I had, that total empty the tank feeling. My legs are feeling good and I love it!

After a short rest(maybe three minutes) I did a record setting 30 minutes on the plank exercise. My mark yesterday was 26 minutes and the day before 24 all personal highs for me.

So with a great ride and a record setting plank I am finished with my workout for Day 564, the day Reggie's number was passed.

Day 563-REGGIE REGGIE

Yes folks that was the chant on the night of October 18TH 1977 in Yankee Stadium. As Reginald Martinez Jackson put on a show for the ages. He hit not one or two but three home runs all on consecutive pitches from three different pitchers to help the New York Yankees win their 21st World Championship. For you trivia buffs the pitchers were Burt Hooton, Elias Sosa and Charlie Hough a knuckle baller.

In his career the great Reggie Jackson hit 563 home runs during the regular season. The home runs he hit on that night some 32 years ago were during the post season. For the record he hit more than 563 home runs. Since baseball only recognizes accomplishments in the regular season for the all time home run list we will keep Mr Jackson @ 563.

As for me put me @ 563 and counting! Had a great ride this morning did my highest since Day 450 when I did 961 in 60 minutes. I will tell you it is such an unbelievable, exhilarating feeling to pedal that hard for an extended period of time. Your body is flooded with endorphins .In all honesty you feel like you are on top of the world. For the past two days I have been going right from the lifecycle to the mat. On the mat is where I do my plank exercise. Now coincidence or not today was the second day I have broken the time for minutes of straight plank. Today I did the plank for 26 straight minutes- I tell you it is very close to meditation.

Here is a chronological list of my big numbers on the life cycle since the streak began:

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 a 507 in 1st 30 minutes finished with a 927.-DAY 478
Monday September 7, 2009 did a 501 in 1st 30 minutes finished with a 958- DAY 563

All these numbers reflect calories burned in 60 minutes.

I am a stat freak so I love keeping track of all numbers and dates.

Tomorrow we break Reggie Jackson's number!-

Day 562- Today should be awesome

The reason I claim that is it is a day I am not obligated to work. So I can work out as long as I wish! I realize it is getting a little later in the morning and will probably get to the gym around 11 ish but heck, I have got some free time.Happy Labor day all! I was asked yesterday what is labor day? good freaking question. I answered labor day is a day that was created to honor all workers especially the ones that harvest the food. I explained that it was created in the early 1900 by the fruit pickers to allow them a day of rest before the have the fall harvest. It sounded good to me. Now I am curious so without any more comment I am going to google it to see if I was correct.

http://www.dol.gov/OPA/ABOUTDOL/LABORDAY.HTM

Well, I was somewhat correct It had to do with workers and honoring them. Either way, Carpe Diem!

YOU ARE A WINNER!

YOU KNOW YOU ARE!

NOW GO OUT THERE AND

BE A WINNER !

All Right had a great ride did 937 in 60. Then did a fantastic 24 minutes straight on the plank. I feel doing the plank for anything more than 10 minutes straight is a form of meditation. The reason I say that is while your body is in the position of the plank it creates pressure on your back muscles, elbows and stomach muscles. All this pressure is worse if you focus on it so in an effort to not focus on the pressure I concentrate on other things. I have NOTICED when I concentrate on other things I do not even NOTICE the pressure. I have never practiced meditation before but feel this extended planking is in that realm. It is weird though because after a while it actually feels relaxing to be in that position. Strange Huh? Who would ever think that putting pressure on your core can actually feel relaxing?

So that's enough work out chatter for one day. Tomorrow we go after our 563rd consecutive day of doing a 60 minute cardio work out - OH YEAH!

Also tomorrow we tie Mr October! Old Reggie Jackson hit 563 home runs in his awesome career tomorrow we tie him. Awesome!

Day 561- WOW what a day already

Last night I came back after I had worked for a few hours about 7. Then I was motivated to knock out the ride @ night because I knew I would strapped for time in the morning after I awoke.


Then the fun started went to jump on my machine at home and it was broken.BUMMER. I could still pedal so I rode for 1 hour with weights to make it more like a real workout.The trouble was the weights were not a great idea so I just rode for 40 minutes without them. I ate and went to sleep.



However upon rising I went to get coffee( by the way the coffee is not for me in fact I do not do caffeine,the coffee was for my wife) and on my way back I said "I know I did not get a lot of rest but, I know I can do a good workout before I leave for work. So, with a burning desire that was borne more out of habit than anything else, I blasted to he gym. The power of the habit was like a huge magnet that was pulling me towards the workout. I went ahead had a GREAT ride and loved it. Went ahead to work and felt very energized all day.

So there it was I had done 3 rides in less than 22 hours. The only difference in the rides was that the middle ride was not a typical 15 calorie burn per minute ride. However, I did burn a decent amount of calories. I suppose to one day surpass that performance it would have to be a ride that burns 13 to 15 calories a minute for 1 hour or more.

And that my friends was the end of Day 561.

Day 560- Nice # gave myself some rest

I have noticed lately when I get a little extra rest I tend to be a little less loose when I start my work out. I went down at 11:30 ish and was up at 7:30ish. My gosh that is almost eight hours. Since I usually get six hours that is a big difference.

I once heard from a performance coach by the name of Dr Mitchell Perry that whenever you engage in any activity and your goal is to improve never say to yourself how am I doing? You might ask why? Why would I not ask how am I doing? After all we all want to know how we are doing on a consistent basis. The reason is simple, according to Dr Perry in an effort to not be too judgemental and hard on ourselves he suggests asking what am I noticing? Which is a much less judgemental approach. I agree with this thought process, rather than say I am not doing this thing good and try to just get better at it.We should break it down and say hmm, what am I noticing here? Am I nervous? Anxious? Not focused? Uninterested? Not ready? There are a huge number of things that are going on not just the result. Its only when you acknowledge what is happening can you start to develope a maximum performance.

Keep this in mind, the difference between having a peak performance and not having a peak performance is very small just the slightest thing spells the difference.

My theory is winners win because they do things people who do not win do not do. Man, that is indeed a mouthful. Sometime study a winner and see if this holds true.

DAY 560 AWAITS- that me see what I can notice?

I noticed I felt a little tight in the first 5 minutes then felt looser and looser. By about the 20 minute mark I was really pedaling hard and noticed that flow. Flow is a great word to me it means you are one with it all. Your moving and everything is moving with you.I am referring back to that Henry David Thoreau concept. Day 554( see the entry with pictures). As fate would have it I blasted to a 640 in 40 which is 16 calories a minute which in my book is sensational. I noticed my strength start to sag and wound up with a 925 which allowed me to practice CANI. Especially since I did a 903 yesterday. After I did my 925 in 60 minutes I proceeded onto the crunches where I did 1,000 and 17 minutes on the plank which is better than the 16 I did on Wednesday. So, I CANI ed myself happy today.

Tomorrow, I will be challenged. I have not decided whether or not I will do my Day 561 tonite around 1045ish until about midnight when I get out of work or get up at 5 am and get the workout in before I go in at 9:30 am . I like the idea of getting it done tonite. Thus giving myself a 30+ hour break in between my next work out.

Day 559- Life is loaded with ...........

Habits! I know I talk a lot about habits. According to Steven Covey you need 3 things to form a habit. Without looking up his 3 things I am going to say desire in one and skill is the other and the last part of a habit is discipline. Those are tough words when you bunch them all together. Desire, skill and discipline - WOW - What a punch!

Now, back on that thought. Our habits rule us. Oh yeah we are all creatures of habit. I'll bet there are 5 habits you all have that you do not even realize you have. Things you do repeatedly and are not even aware of. I should not say aware of. What I should say is conscious of. I believe that everything we do we are a aware of. However, whether or not we take conscious inventory of it is different.

A habit is so powerful because it can be linked so far into your sub conscious that you are not aware of it at the conscious level. That is how people will do things without even realizing it.

Take for example my crazy streak how much conscious thought do I really give it prior to my workout each day? Not much I just do it. I feel that people that are not on a streak probably give it about the same level of thought. They are on a habit of not thinking about working out.

Today I attempted very hard to practice CANI but fell short. My ride ate up 903 not 930 or more and my plank was at 14 minutes instead of my desired 17 minutes.
But, the great thing about having a goal and a determination to stay on it is that tomorrow I can build on today.
I kept thinking of that dopey old little kids song: The itsy bitsy spider

The itsy, bitsy spider, climbed up the water spout.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain,
So the itsy, bitsy spider went up the spout again.

See, the spider just keeps coming back for more. Because the spider has a habit it must keep!
God Bless All !

Day 558- Early to bed early to rise makes a man Happy Healthy and Wise

That is the saying coined by Ben Franklin many years ago. I have decided to get on this track. My focus is to go down earlier. With efforts to rise earlier. If you consider what really gets done later is not that productive. At least in my case. I have noticed I wind up eating more the later I stay up. Who needs that? When I wake up earlier I do not feel rushed to work out and I will try to work out longer. Well this is day two of this plan. The concept here is motivation gets you going but habit gets you to reach your goal. I am motivated to try something a little different. Will habit be formed. They say it takes 21 days to create a new habit. I agree its all the turning around of a mind set. Focusing on CANI opens the door for a good habit to be created.



Now to go off on a macro tangent. According to Schopenhauer:


All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.Truth Arthur Schopenhauer quote

I feel the same process goes through all individuals whenever they attempt to change from a bad habit to a good habit. Your mind first says yeah right? Then you have this tremendous battle will I change? will I not change? Can I change? Can I not change? It goes on for awhile. Until, it finally comes to pass, you change your habit and its done- it is self -evident.

So what the heck am I saying? Whatever is in your way move it. Change your way to make yourself who you really want to be!

Did second straight day of CANI - 929 IN 60! 16 straight on plank-sayonara!

day 557- A very early start as September arrives

There is a hint of fall in the air. I feel refreshed. It is now time to charge ahead for the fall run. I feel my strength returning. My focus now is on incremental improvements. After all this how I started this whole thing. Some how along the line I fell out of that thought pattern.

We all must learn to practice CANI.CANI Stands for constant and never ending improvement.
The old saying is you cannot whip a u turn with the Queen Mary but you can turn the huge ship gradually in a different direction. Be thankful for the little things and who knows the big things maybe heading you way.

So that is my pep talk for this early start to this wonderful month we all call SEPTEMBER!

Wow! I know its a little late but if you have not been outside yet today. Whoa its glorious out there today. Of course you have to be where abouts I am. However the weather is beautiful. A nice cool refreshing breeze beautiful sunshine blue skies. Get there and enjoy the weather.

Had a good workout had a lot of pep for early in the am. Did 902 in 60( 871 in 60 yesterday) - that's practicing CANI.
Did 15 minutes straight(did 14 minutes yesterday) on the plank exercise that's practicing CANI.

CANI is fun. See if you can't practice it in some part of your life today!
http://ezinearticles.com/?Tony-Robbins-CANI!-System-Explained&id=5380