Scale and Non-Scale Victories

Just some fun updates for this week...

First, the scale victory. I'm back to 30 pounds down, after five consecutive "losing" weigh-ins. This weightloss business is humbling. I hit the 30 pound threshold briefly before the holidays, then stalled. For as many ups and downs as I've had on the weight front, it's great to lose five weeks in a row, even it's just 4.1 pounds.

Perhaps it's because I'm turning down food these days. We got Subway on the night of my boys' school concert and I actually stopped at half a bag of chips, knowing the 240 calories would put me over for the day. I never had done that before with a small bag of chips.

Even free food. And Thursday, I went to get a bottle of water from the Little League concession stand before umpiring my eight year old's game. The volunteer staffing the stand recognized me as an umpire and told me I could have a free hot dog. Before the Pounds Off Playoff, I never would have turned down a free hot dog. But this time I did.

That's me umpiring. My mom was on the board of our Little League. Her job was to report scores to the local paper, such as Cougars 6, Lions 5. Nowadays, there are updates on Facebook and one of the team moms posts hundreds of pictures a week. Occasionally, she even gets the umpire in the frame. Hmm...it doesn't look like I'm working out...but at least I'm not sitting. Speaking of not sitting...

My new stand-up desk is going great after one week. I really feel good up there, and have gotten encouragement from some of my co-workers. You'll be hearing more about this, probably next week.

And I played SHORTSTOP. My new coed softball team played for the first time on Friday and the coach put me at shortstop. I played eleven years of baseball and played shortstop probably once or twice. Short is athletically demanding, and I never would have been there before the Pounds Off Playoff. But with my new stair climbing physique, I held my own. Limited range, but I caught everything hit near me. Look out, Derek Jeter.

Thanks for the continuing encouragement of my readers and commenters, and welcome new readers!

My New Stand-Up Desk

After an active week on vacation, I returned to daily life with a 60 hour week at the office. The contrast was greater than I expected. Walking from site to site on vacation, I felt younger by the day. But by Friday, after five days back in my regular routine, I felt "40 going on 80" again. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but my work is about 90% either in meetings or sitting at my desk. By late Friday afternoon, I decided I needed to self-diagnose why I had gone from spry to sluggish. Last week, I had spent over 400 minutes walking around mid-western cities. This week, counting my hour-long round-trip commute, I was sitting for nearly all of my waking hours. Something needs to change.

Years ago, a friend of mine mentioned that some on the cutting edge of ergonomics use a stand-up desk. I had dismissed it at the time as a bit odd, but with my renewed focus on health, why not try it? 

First, I had to figure out what do use. We are a public organization facing huge budget cuts, so purchasing anything is out. My sudden obsession with standing desks started with a scouring of the office for unused podiums and the like at closing time on Friday afternoon. No dice. I was going to have to get creative. 

Bookcases before...

After an awkward prototype where I balanced my keyboard on policy binders, I observed that my bookcases are elbow height to me, exactly the right level for comfortable use. I propped my laptop on one, fired off a few emails, and ran off to join my family for the weekend.

But I couldn't stop thinking about how a standing desk could compliment my new health and fitness routines, as well as my productivity. Saturday afternoon, after both my boys' Little League games were done, my eight year old agreed to accompany me to the office for the renovation. It was great having his company, and amusing to watch him use my old transistor radio. ("Was this your iPod growing up?")

Bookcases transformed into a standing desk, with my 8 year old looking on

I am fortunate to have inherited three bookcases from my predecessor the ideal height for a stand-up desk. After playing with various configurations, we landed on an "L" shape. I'm only planning to have my computer up there, as it's what I use for the majority of my desk time anyway. For now, I'll keep my conventional desk for paperwork, and as a safety net in case I want to place my laptop back on terra sitta for a while.

L.A. Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel

Long-time readers may recall that I studied music for a while. The resemblance of standing at a desk to conducting may be what I am most looking forward to about this new approach. As a younger man, I had many experiences on the podium and there's something about standing tall with good posture that promotes confidence. And you probably wouldn't be surprised to learn that conductors have great longevity, routinely working into their 80s.

Will this all work out the way I think it will? I'll report back in about a month to let you know how it's going.

Nine Innings on the Road

At Busch Stadium before the Cards game

A few of you may know that one of my favorite pursuits is visiting ballparks (now at 26 MLB, 21 MiLB). So for the kids' spring break and my birthday, my wonderful wife Shannon arranged a baseball road trip. Now this isn't your ordinary spring break trip to Florida, So Cal, or somewhere south of the border. We went to St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Louisville for baseball. But hey, compared to Seattle, the weather was tropical, so hold the "Baseball Geeks Gone Wild" cracks.

I could probably write a week's worth of posts about the trip, but since I'm now blogging once a week, let's fit what we can into..."Nine Innings on the Road."

Three ways to lose weight on vacation

1. Walking is the key to vacation fitness. Amazingly, I lost 1.2 pounds this week. Amazing, because I didn't shy away from eating some tasty local eats. But I walked more in the six days on our trip than anytime all year - about 400 minutes worth. Shannon's good with hotel deals, so in St. Louis and Louisville, we did all our sightseeing without ever getting in the car.

Three St. Louis icons: Eades Bridge, Gateway Arch, and Miss. River

2. Sharing portions keeps vacation calories under control. Several times I ordered something and only ended up eating about 1/3 of it by the time the boys were through with it.

3. Indulging local food while avoiding everyday comfort foods. In St. Louis the first night, we stumbled upon Mike Shannon's restaurant. Shannon, an iconic former Cardinal and current broadcaster, has a great steakhouse and I enjoyed a strip steak, salad, and baked potato. Before going to Cincinnati, I solicited the advice of blogging friend Christina from Making Healthy the Norm. We got to Greater's ice cream (twice!), LaRosa's pizza, and Skyline Chili. A lot of high calorie yum there. But I rarely ate between meals or had ordinary snack foods and desserts.

Playing baseball in the shadow of the Arch

Three vacation memories

4. Playing baseball with my boys under the Gateway Arch. My sons, ages 10 and 8, absolutely love these trips. They are so adorable and rarely do the nagging behaviors that occasionally drive us up a wall at home. In addition to watching baseball, I got to spend time swimming with the boys and playing "run the bases" with the boys in the shadow of the Arch.

Arch views include the Old Courthouse and the ballpark

5. Quality time with Shannon. There wasn't much privacy, but was a rare treat to have six consecutive days where neither of us were running off to work or shuttling the kids to activities. We don't vacation much just the two of us, but this provided important time to connect.
6. Lots of great destinations. There just isn't time to write about...the amazing view atop the Arch...the old courthouse in St. Louis...a riverboat tour of the Mississippi...the wonderful hospitality of our friend from college in Cincinnati...the Louisville Slugger factory (a great time for baseball fans)...and a too-short stop at Churchill Downs...

Three ballparks

The bridge motif at the 3rd base gate (expand to see Stan Musial Statue)

7. Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals). "New" Busch Stadium is a very nice, modern ballpark on the edge of downtown St. Louis. A great location, with views of the Old Courthouse and Arch from many seats. Great views of the game and a tasteful brick ball yard, with beautiful outside statues and entrance gates, including one shaped like the historic Eades Bridge that crosses the Mississippi.

There were two big drawbacks, though. First, I was willing to play along and have one of the local brews, but at $8.75 for a 16 ounce Budweiser, I just couldn't do it.

The Cards aspire to the Red Sox least endearing trait: Superiority

Second, the Cards have a great history, but they never let you forget it. There was a scoreboard display that reminds people of the redbirds' 10 World Championships and 46 Hall of Famers...every inning. You're good. We get it.

Cardinals won 3-2 on an Albert Pujols RBI single. Pretty cool.

Ban? What ban? The Reds' ballpark is on Pete Rose Way!

8. Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati Reds). I was a bit skeptical after reading the reviews, but GABP is a great place to watch a ballgame. Good sight lines and just a baseball atmosphere, organ included. In fact, we saw a feature on the organist in Cincinnati Magazine where he says he tries to find Queen City related repertoire for the games, which would explain the rendition of "Dancing Queen" during the second inning.

The Ohio River adds ambiance to Great American Ball Park

GABP offers great views of the Ohio River from the upper deck, too. What it doesn't offer is the kinds of upscale amenities that come with an extra $200 million in ballpark construction. Which is OK, when you know that the financial impact of ballparks to their cities is usually grossly overstated. (I actually took a course on the economics of sports in college, my "blow off class", but I learned lots of interesting things.) There are bleacher seats in the outfield, for example, and virtually no beauty to the exterior of the stadium, like you would find at The Ballpark in Arlington (Rangers) or Safeco Field (Mariners), among others.

The Reds lost 3-2, allowing the winning run in the top of the 9th as Dusty Baker left flamethrower Aroldis Chapman in the bullpen, awaiting a lead that never came.

(Note: It really is spelled Great American "Ball Park.")

9. Louisville Slugger Field (Louisville Bats). While Busch and GABP are fine major league ballparks, they're generally not thought to rank among the very best. Louisville Slugger Field, home of the AAA feeder to the Reds, has to be in the top 10% of minor league stadiums. The entrance pavilions are grander than anything found in their parent club's facility and the rest of the park is just wonderfully crafted. Unlike the two parks above, you can watch the game from the entire concourse, the gold standard of new ballpark design.

Like most minor league parks, it's also affordable. We had front row seats for $7 (and $6 for kids). And it was a fireworks night, just a great deal.

My only objection was when I bought "roasted cashews", thinking they'd be a relatively healthy choice, only to find they were coated so heavily in cinnamon, sugar, and butter that they looked more like bacon bits than cashews. Shannon thinks everything's heavier in the south, a sort of Paula Deen effect.

The hometown Louisville Bats beat the Toledo Mud Hens (of M.A.S.H. fame) 5-3, and we walked back to the hotel, savoring our baseball road trip.

I'm kind of into this stuff, if you couldn't tell. ;-)

Spring Training for a Busy Life

For the past three months my workout decision was an easy one: hit the stairs. I was training to climb a skyscraper and I wanted to live to tell about it. Now that The Big Climb is behind me, it's time to commit to some new fitness activities. I've landed on four.

Biking the Local Trail to a Personal Record. I'm lucky to have a great eight mile trail to ride not far from my house. It's a manageable time commitment, and you get a good workout from the hills. Oh the hills.

I'm going for two personal records this summer. One  is a time based goal. The first time I rode the trail, it took me 66 minutes. By the end of last summer I had it down to 49 minutes. This summer I want to break 40 minutes. It won't be easy considering the weight of my steel frame. (My bike's pretty heavy, too.)

The second goal is to finish the trail without walking my bike up any of the hills. The first time I rode it I had to walk up eight hills. By the end of last summer, there were only two left I couldn't ride. One is pictured in my blog header, though that picture is taken from halfway up the hill, with the camera pointed down, so it doesn't really do it justice.

I had wanted to ride a "race" this summer, but I've come to the realization that I don't have time to train for distance, this spring anyway. Both our boys are on Little League teams and work and a few other things gobble up the rest. Maybe I can put on some miles when the schedule eases in mid-July.

Interval training combining walking and running. I have never been a jogger, and though it seems maybe I should since running is so popular in the weight loss community. I really worry that I could damage my joints, though, so I won't be a distance runner until I lose a lot more weight.

However, I've decided I really need to start moving better and I've settled on interval training. My plan is for 30 minute segments:

1. Five minute walking warm-up
2. One minute slow walk
3. One minute medium walk
4. One minute fast walk
5. One minute jog
6. One minute sprint
7. Repeat steps 2-6 for a total of four intervals
8. Five minute walking warm-down

I've actually done three of these already and I love the way they feel already. I don't usually get the exercise "endorphin high," but it's there with interval training. And at 30 minutes, I can fit it into my schedule. The beauty of interval training is that you get most of the benefit of intensity without the fatigue of going full tilt throughout.

My true motivation, however, is to get into shape to run the bases in...

Softball doubleheaders for eight weeks. OK, I know, softball is not really a workout. But I have to think two hours of running out to a position and back, running the bases, and holding in my gut so I don't look too fat in my uniform is more productive than a night on the couch. And this isn't the kind of league where your drink beer during the games (or after, generally).

Last year I played softball for the first time in nearly twenty years. My eleven years of baseball as a kid served me well, as I showed up swinging the bat well and still could reflexively "pick it" at first base. But I was the slowest person on the team - sometimes the third base coach would send me just for a laugh - and my gritty effort to overcome my lack of speed resulted in my first ever pulled hamstring. So let's hope I can play well AND stay on the field this year.

Umpiring my eight year old's Little League games. My schedule has kept me from coaching this year and my younger son was disappointed. At the parent meeting, his coach said the team needed to supply its own umpires. My little, baseball obsessed boy looked at me with excitement, huge eyes, and four words: "You should DO IT!" So I'm in. 

Is it exercise? Basically, it's the same logic as playing softball - it beats sitting. In fact, the plate umpire squats a couple of hundred times and the bases ump is often on the move if he's doing his job. All I know is that when I've done it before, I've broken a sweat and woken up sore the next day. If that's not exercise, I don't know what is.

And my son loves it. Except when he struck out.