10×10 in 2010

Today I went for a one-mile run with my wife. Now, to be fair (to her) she’s been running for over 5 months and has turned into an honest-to-goodness true-blue runner.  I, on the other hand, haven’t been a runner since about 1992.  And oh yeah, I weigh about 100 pounds more than then, too.

In any case, I struggled along like a manatee on life support. She power-walked next to me.  They may take my man-card at the next guy-meeting.

She told me she’s proud of me for getting out there.  If she weren’t so serious, I’d suspect patronization.

Next week, maybe I can get her to break into something approaching a jog.

Having once decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all cost of tedium and distaste. The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labor is immense.
– Arnold Bennett

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Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
– Henry Ford

For a captain of industry, Henry Ford was remarkably pithy.  This week’s comment makes a lot of sense to me though.  Goals are critical to our success – without them, our entire day can seem like an obstacle.  With them, though, each day that passes is a step closer to reaching that goal. Read the rest of this entry »

This post is somewhat late, since “The Run” actually occurred on Monday or Tuesday this past week.  As many of you know, my wife started running about 5 months ago, and she’s been churning up the miles.

As part of this grand 10×10 in 2010 project, two exercises per morning simply won’t be sufficient to maintain a 2lb-per-week pace.  Years ago (18 of them, gah) I used to run a fair amount (6 miles 2-3 times a week), but then … I stopped.

So, I decided to give it a shot, got dressed, stretched out, headed out the door, and… Read the rest of this entry »

Hurried, and somewhat late post.  This week was tough – lots of opportunities to fall off the fitness wagon, but I did pretty well.  Evening engagements are the hardest, but bearable.  Sharing the project with people has helped a lot – people are aware that the project is under way, and have been tremendously understanding when tasty food is passed up.

This week also marked the first attempt at a run.  It was a run-walk-run for just over a mile, and although it was rocky (the mineral, not the movie), it got done.

Progress this week was: 2 pounds, right on target.  And I fought for every ounce.  After doing some reading, I think I’m going to try balancing out my protein intake to keep the metabolism a bit higher.  The results should be visible at the end of the week, right?