Water Work

So, I'm having trouble finding places to run while on the Greek island of Paros.  There aren't many trails for running around here, and there's absolutely no chance that I'm going to be doing any road running while the country's crazy drivers are on the road.  I had thought that I would be able to do some beach running, but the beaches on the island tend to be relatively short (less than 1/4 mile in most instances) and are usually packed.  These two things together make it difficult to run along the beach.  But, I think I've come up with a solution - actually, it's a solution that was given to me by a friend: Water Work.  In essence, what I do is try to start a run from knee deep water, and run directly away from the beach until the water is about chin level, I then turn around and run back towards the beach and stop when I get to knee level water again.  This usually is a relatively short distance (less than 50 feet), but each of these laps can be pretty intense.  I ran 50 laps this afternoon, and really felt it afterwards.  It's definitely not the same as running 10 or 11 miles on a trail, but if I can't find any other alternative, then it's better than nothing.  Plus, it has the added benefit of getting some sun and being in the water.

International Travel

I leave tomorrow for nearly two weeks on the Greek Islands (I know, you feel bad for me).  During that time, I'm guessing I won't be able to work out much - at least not with weights.  I'm planning on doing some long distance beach runs though, but that may depend on the quality of the beaches.  After a nine mile trail run yesterday, I'm thinking that a five or six mile beach run, with a little swimming mixed in, might be just in order.

I'm hoping to do at least one Tough Mudder internationally during the Mudder-A-Month project, so this may end up being a nice warm-up to see how doable something like that may be with all of the jet lag and issues of international travel.

Yard Work - A Great Workout

I haven't been to the gym in the last couple days, but rather, I spent some time outside doing yardwork.  It doesn't sound too strenuous to say that I fixed a fence and built a planter area, but if you factor in the 90+ temperatures, and the heavy heat index, it's easy to see how this kind of work could cause you to shed some weight.  The downside is that I caught a bit of poison ivy, which I'm prone to do when I work in one particular corner of my yard, but that will clear up soon enough.

Runkeeper

I've started trying to track my runs using an iPhone app called Runkeeper, but I'm getting a little frustrated with it.  The last three times I've used it, something has gone wrong with the GPS. Once it wasn't getting a GPS signal because of heavy rain (that's understandable), and two times it mysteriously added about a mile to my total distance after I was done running. This may seem like a relatively minor thing, but I'm trying to get a sense of how many miles I run each week and month, and these kinds of issues are really putting a cramp in my plans.  I think I'll have to try a few of these apps out.  Once I've settled on one, I'll post it here.

Non-Workout Days

It's interesting to be sitting in front of my computer on a Sunday, and thinking about the fact that I haven't worked out for the last two days.  It used to be that this would be the norm, and I wouldn't even give it a second thought to spend a day, a week, a month without ever going to the gym to work out.  Now, it makes me antsy to know that I haven't worked out in a couple days.  It's the new norm...and I guess I'm the poster boy of what life can be if you change your habits.

Just to be clear, I had plans to go running this morning, but my back is killin' me, so I had to put that on hold for today.  Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to get a run in.

16-Year Old Me

I was thinking as I shaved today about an earlier statement that I made on this blog.  Specifically, I mentioned that I see myself as a 16-year old boy.  Looking at myself in the mirror as I shaved brought that back to mind because I remember what it was like to start shaving around 16 and how foreign it always seemed.  It was the kind of thing that was expected, but wasn't really necessary.  I'm 40 years old right now, and I don't need to shave every day - imagine what my facial hair looked like when I was 16.  The Mudder-A-Month project isn't about trying to be 16 years old again, it's about trying to stay youthful.  The key thing about this project is that it's helping me to feel younger.  I know that the 16 year old me is lost, but that doesn't mean that I can't keep a bit of that feeling alive. 

Why Wounded Warrior?

The next natural question to ask is why I would feel so much motivation to raise money for the Wounded Warrior project?  After all, I'm not in the military myself and never have been.  Both my wife and I are "navy brats", and although neither of us joined the military ourselves, we're the products of military households.  That has given us both a very strong respect and admiration for the work that the people in the military do and the service that they offer.  It's almost cliche to say that they work hard to give us the freedoms that we all enjoy, but the reality is that this is true and the honor and dignity that they show in providing this service is admirable and worth supporting and honoring in return. 

The fact that their service has the potential for physical harm and injury makes their service even more worthy of respect.  I have come to the conclusion that anything that I can do to support them in their time of need - specifically if they've been injured - is the right thing to do. And that is why I feel that the Wounded Warrior project is the right organization to support.