Finally hit 3/week

Tuesday, Friday, Sunday. Finally I went to the gym 3 times in one week. Since that's my general goal that shouldn't be remarkable - it's remarkable I hadn't hit it yet. Ah well. With everyone moving (my mother, girlfriend, and good friend) at once, things have been busy. Still now that I've finally hit my 3/week and seen it can be done, I hope to continue the trend.
I screwed up my foot mildly - it's already getting better but because of it I decided to use my running time this week doing ellipticals instead due to the reduced impact. While I found the exercise to be as good or better a workout as running, I also found it much easier to maintain the effort for longer. I may start doing this more often with running being a more occasional part of my routine.

April gym visits: 5
Long walks: 2

Some gym stats:
Visit 1: ran some, didn't note the distance
30x45 lbs chest press
15x75 lbs and 15x90 lb leg extension
30x90 kb leg extension
70 crunches

Visit 2:
1.35 miles on elliptical (26 minutes)
30x45lb chest press
30x90lb leg extension
60 crunches

Visit 3:
1.35 miles on elliptical (26 minutes)
30x30lb shoulder press
30x90lb leg extension
75 crunches

Also! Donations have continued to pour in for the Summer of Garage Sales. I have a ton of stuff to try to sell, but can and will always take more. Today was a milestone as today proceeds from sale of donated items passed $150!
And in more fundraising news the May Movie will be Army of Darkness at the Grand Illusion. Exact date is still TBD for now.

Quiz for a Cause

Had a fun night at the Blarney Stone courtesy of Jon and Geeks Who Drink. Not the biggest fundraiser ever but a relatively low-effort one at which people had fun. Raised $174 for VSO.


April Stats:
Gym visits: 2
Long walks: 2
Miles Run: .83 (was running on a tight schedule)
...some machines

Pub Quiz! For a Cause!

Pub Quiz for a Cause (proceeds supporting Voluntary Services Overseas) is less than a week away!

That's right, it's on Monday, April 12th at 8pm at the Blarney Stone at 1909 3rd Ave. Entry is $5 per person - part of that will go toward a cash purse for the winning team and the rest of will go to charity.

That means now is a great time to figure out who you know that could best fill out your pub quiz team due to their deep knowledge in the domains of trivia you yourself lack, and recruit them. If you've never done a pub quiz before, read here to learn more about what to expect: http://www.geekswhodrink.com/blog/index.php?p=26&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Teams are normally three or four people. Up to six is ok and less than three is also perfectly fine. If you don't have a pal or two who are interested in coming, let me know and I'll help lone trivia-goers team up.

In addition to offering a cash purse, we have some great prizes available for the top teams and the second-to-last team all on the theme of eating, drinking, and being merry with extra cash in your pocket. And of course, we'll be simultaneously raising money to support a great charity that does important work in some of the world's poorest nations.

Hope to see you Monday! Let me know if you have any questions at all. Bring your friends to share the fun! Bring your enemies so you can taunt them about your superior skills! Bring your coworkers as a way to blow off steam after a long day in the office! Bring someone you'd like to know better! Basically, invite anyone you've ever met!

Two miles

I kicked off April with a gym visit on Easter Sunday. And I passed my next big milestone.

I ran TWO miles straight! I can confidently say I've never done that before. Ever. And moreover, I stopped partly because I was getting bored and mostly because I really had to get going to make it to a potluck. I can see the mental block is the next big thing for me to work on, but it feels pretty awesome to be able to do a thing I've never been able to do, and have it not actually seem that hard at all.

Though where the boredom is concerned, my newfound habit of listening to This American Life while working out is really working out well as it's giving me something interesting and external to focus on.

Also did a walk around Greenlake Monday evening with an old friend from high school, who is doing Team In Training and wanted to catch up in a format that was a little healthier and more in keeping with our training schedules than going out for a pint or two.

That being said, I should have gone to the gym tonight and didn't. <_<

April gym visits: 1
Long walks: 1

This visit-
Miles run: 2
Chest Press: 10 @ 45 lbs, 20@30 lbs
Leg Curl: 15 @ 105 lbs, 15@90 lbs
Leg Extension: 20@ 60 lbs

March - could be better

In February I went to the gym 5 times. It's less than I wanted, but it was a short month and I didn't even belong to a gym until a quarter of the way through. That was my excuse.

In March, though, a full length month during all of which I belonged to a gym, I only managed to go 6 times. I also went on 1 hike, but still, kind of lame even if I'm jogging far more than I ever had before. I definitely need to kick it up a notch. I'm really liking the "bring my gym stuff to work and stop by on the way home" thing, though, so I'll try to keep that up.

March gym visits: 6, hikes: 1
Miles jogged: 1.7
75 crunches
10x3 @ 30 lbs chest presses
10x3 @ 90 lbs leg curls
15@60 lbs and 15@45 lbs leg extensions
30 @ 90 lbs leg presses

Goodbye Rongai, Hello Lemosho

"Hi everyone,

I just wanted to provide you a brief update on a few things that have been happening behind the scenes over the past week or two, and also let you know of some actions that you will be required to take over the course of the next few days.

As you will be aware from previous comms, to make the trek worthwhile and affordable there is a minimum level of participation required, which we haven’t managed to yet meet. At the moment there are a number of places still open, meaning that costs would be prohibitive if we went ahead.

The result is that we have been asked to consider moving those already signed up to this trek onto another open trek a couple of weeks earlier. This would bring both treks up to the numbers required to allow everyone signed up to take part.

What Changes?

Aside from the dates of the trek nothing else changes. You will still travel the same amazing group of people on the same fantastic route. You will still get to visit one of VSO’s projects. You will still get very, very tired and grumpy as you get closer to the summit.

Some Details

The trek we propose to merge with runs from the 26^th August to the 5^th September. There is no change in costs."

So begins an email I got just over a week ago. That's the email that tells me that the trek I was going to go on isn't going to happen. That if I want to go on a similar trek, I would have to miss my sister's wedding (the one she moved the date of so I could attend the original one). That email was the beginning to what turned out to be a hellish week for related and unrelated reasons, and, as you might imagine, a lot of stress. I wanted to take on Kilimanjaro as an all-consuming personal challenge - the fundraising, the mental and physical preparation. I wanted to take it on as the major focus of this year - of something I could be proud of having the guts to take on. And here was me being told actually, it might not happen. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. I did not want to post here until I knew what was going to happen. A weeks worth of frantic emails back and forth later, I finally stand on somewhat solid ground again.

The good news is I AM STILL TREKKING UP KILIMANJARO.

The good news is also ALL THE MONEY I RAISED IS STILL GOING TO VSO.

The may be good may be bad news is that I am now taking a different route up. The open dates I could find are for a trek following the Lemosho route, not the Rongai route. Since I haven't been up either I can't really say if this is good or bad. Lemosho is supposed to be very beautiful, and it takes a day longer so allows greater time for acclimitization. I think it's overall longer, more arduous, and possibly more crowded. But as I won't know the difference I'll call it a draw.

The bad news is that I will no longer be doing a VSO site visit. While the money is still going to VSO, I cannot make the VSO specific trek dates. So while previously I would have been hiking with my colleagues from around the world, all in support of the same cause and having the chance to see where the money is going, now I will be hiking with whoever else from where-ever else happened to sign up for this date. And since this trek is not for any particular charity, there's no site visit associated with it.

The bad news is also that it's also more expensive. It's longer and thus has greater costs, and the deposit is a whopping 340 gbp more, more or less. That's over $500 USD more to go on the trek I didn't really choose. That's not from money I'm raising, that is all out of pocket. I think I'll get some of it back since I'm not actually using the flight from the UK that's part of that cost.

I also believe the fundraising targets are very slightly different. When I have confirmation of all the numbers, I'll update my targets and re-assess where I am in fundraising.

But again, the important thing is that this is just one more challenge on the way. One that can be overcome. I'm still doing the trek, damnit.

V

Went to the gym as I won't be able to work out for a couple days after I get my wisdom tooth out. It was a pretty crappy day and I'm not sure why - I couldn't even run a mile. Usually I have the physical capacity, not the will. Tonight I had the will but my side seized up and it was starting to hurt. And when I called it quits my scooter wouldn't start and that is an entire other epic adventure. So while I'm glad I went, it was a pretty rough night.


March gym visits: 5
March hikes: 1
Miles run: .8
Crunches: 60
3x10@30lbs chest press
10@75lbs + 20@90lbs leg curl
15@45lbs + 15@60lbs leg extension