#finalstretch2016

[theotherstephencobert]

Final Stretch Challenge  - December 31, 2016

Goals for next year?

I have given these some thought and have come up with some short- and long-term goals for 2017. I am also going to include a few non-goals at the end.

GOALS

I will continue to eat healthy on a daily basis, watching food intake and portions.

I will bicycle at least three times a week, at least 20 minutes each time, riding on an indoor cycle the times the weather does not allow for outdoor exercise.

Likewise, I will run for at least 20 minutes, at least three times weekly, indoors if weather is not permitting.

I will continue to do strength training at least twice each week.

I will run the four-mile perimeter track around Sedgwick County Park without stopping or walking before the end of March. And then I'm going to decide I like it so much that I'll do it a whole lot of times after that.

I will complete a sanctioned 10K run in the course of this year, most desirably the Wichita River Festival’s 10K River Run in early June.

I will complete another bicycle ride to a town no kess than 15 miles distant from my home this year. (And back.)

I will complete a ride of at least 50 miles this year, hopefully a sanctioned Half Century. If I cannot find one but can find a sanctioned Metric Century (100K or 62 miles) I will work to complete that in lieu of a Half Century.

A thought: An apple tree does not grow top quality apples because it decides "my apples damn well WILL be the best quality". Any plant's fruit is the quality it is because of how it grows: the sunlight it gets, the rain and air and even the adversity it endures. The fruit is not the goal of any plant; it is the offshoot of everything that went into the making of the plant.

With that in mind, I have decided not to set as part of my goals any numerical qualifiers. I am not going to decree that I will finish the 10K in less than 45 minutes or that I'll ride my cycle 50 miles in less than 3 hours. The speed will come as I put in the miles consistently this winter. Likewise I am not setting as a goal that I will lift so much weight by June or even by December 2017. I trust myself enough that I know I am not going to "slack off" just because I didn't say I'd lift this much or run this fast.

And likewise with that in mind, I am going to hold off on making a specific goal about how much I will weigh by whatever date. I am headed in the right direction, so I am going to let this particular fruit be an offshoot of my lifestyle rather than to strive to be under 200 by this date or to have a BMI under 25 by that date.

I am certain I will post stats about how fast I ran the 10K, and updates as to my current weight (in fact tomorrow I plan on posting a beginning-of-year weight post, maybe even with a selfie). But I am going to let that happen as it happens. I know from bitter experience that I can "fudge" my weight if I decide to, and I would rather report that I weight an HONEST 200 lbs than to report I weigh 190 that I know all too well I bent the rules into a pretzel to get to.

@ninja-in-training, thank you for this excellent challenge. I enjoyed completing it and I appreciate the added motivation to stay focused on my journey.

AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

[theotherstephencobert]

Final Stretch Challenge  - December 30, 2016

Highlights of the year

There were really two big highlights that I think I’ll remember 2016 by.

The first one, ironically enough, came just a couple of days after my low point of the year. On July 4, I made my annual long bicycle ride to a town, not all that far away but further than my regular rides. This year it was to Andover, KS. I had missed a fair amount of riding and training in the early months of the year and I wasn’t as confident about it as I was the previous year. But I did make it the 35-mile round trip. I was slower than most of the other riders out that day, but the important thing was I made it.

The second highlight (and I think I’ll remember this as the bigger one) came in mid Novermber when I finally got serious about getting back into regular running. Even in the early months of my current journey, when I ran it was sporadic and eventually took a back seat to my cycling. But in the last two months of the year I started running regularly and consistently. I am working of distance and stamina now; I figure speed will come in time. And I think it was in large measure that I FINALLY did something outside of my tried-and-true routine that my weight (which had been on platesus for years) dipped down below 210 and that part of my program got back into gear.

[theotherstephencobert]

Final Stretch Challenge  - December 29, 2016

Lowest point of the year. What did you learn?

I can pinpoint my lowest moment of this year to a day in early July.

From the first week in February to the end of July I was on a plateau where I averaged about 229 lbs; in fact, from the start of May to mid-June my weight went, and stayed, over 230, a high I had not seen since October of 2014. The leg injuries I've probably posted too damn much about were well behind me by that time, and anyway no injury in the world would have "forced" me to eat unhealthy. And that was the problem: I was eating like crap.

At the hotel I manage there are a number of regular guests who have watched my weight loss over the past three years and commented about it. On July 2, one of them candidly asked me, "Steve, excuse me for asking this, but,,, Have you put back on some of the weight you'd lost?"

THAT was an eye-opemer for me, my real wake up call and my unquestioned low point of the year. I had been basking in the limelight of, "You've lost so much weight!", and now I had to face the fact that it was obvious, even to the people who'd watched me in this journey, that I was slipping badly.

A month later I took part in @fatmaninalittlesuit ‘s 90 Day Challenge (a program I almost passed on because I didn't want to commit to anything for ninety days!) I credit the fact that I was in an organized program with tasks and goals, not to mention the support of other fitblrs, with the fact that I got on track and got my weight down and my fitness up. I will confess that THAT is why I am taking part in this Final Stretch Challenge and also why I will be taking part in John's January Running Club. I learned (sort of the hard way) the value of the support of others over trying to go it alone.

[theotherstephencobert]

Final Stretch Challenge  - December 28, 2016

When was the last time you tried something new? What was it? Did you like it?

I am going to treat the word “new” in this case in a kind of relative way: I have taken up running in the past, outdoor running with distance in mind. However, I had not done it seriously in something like 20 years, and the few stabs at it that I took in the early part of my current journey... well, they sort of fell by the wayside as I made bicycling my exercise of choice. But what with my having lost a fair anount of weight in the last few months of this year - and maybe the fact that my bike has a flat rear tire - I decided to give jogging/running a serious try.

I have discovered I like it! I anticipate that, even when I get back on two wheels, I am going to continue serious outdoor running as part of my exercise program. I will never give up the bicycle, but I anticipate I will divide my cardio between running and cycling, probably taking in a little of both on some days, for the rest of my journey.

[theotherstephencobert]

Final Stretch Challenge  - December 27, 2016

Something you are looking forward to next year

I had a couple of unfortunate and unplanned setbacks near the beginning of 2016; as a result I missed a lot of training (and probably didn’t eat very well) in the first few months and wound up playing “catch-up” for most of the year. However, true to the oft-quoted meme I have turned the setback into a comeback and I am ending 2016 strong.

As a result, I am looking forward to fulfilling a lot of the goals I planned for 2016 that did not happen. I am looking forward to completing a bicycle ride of 50-62 miles (preferably a sanctioned half Century or Metric Century) this year. I am also looking forward to my running going into full swing and my completing a 10K during this year.

[theotherstephencobert]

Final Stretch Challenge  - December 26, 2016 ... Gratitude List!

Here are some things I am grateful for in 2016:

I am glad to still be alive after everything that happened this year

I am grateful that I am in good health

I am thankful that I am employed. In the current economy, especially considering my age, I am glad I am earning a living and making a difference in my community.

I am glad that, in spite of some setbacks, I have gotten back on track and am still on the journey I started in mid 2013.

I am grateful for the friends I have made on Tumblr

There is much more, but I am going to put as my last one the thing I am most thankful for at this time of year, and that is my family. Over the weekend I spent some quality time with my son and his children (my grandchildren), and I also contacted family members who live too far away for me to visit in person this year. My schedule made it difficult to take in many Christmas parties of gift exchanges this year, and it was really thanks to my family that I can look back and truly be grateful for how my life is today.

[theotherstephencobert]

Final Stretch Challenge  - Christmas 2016

Today is a “Free Day” where we can write a paragraph about anything on our minds. I might make this two paragraphs.

The celebration of the birth of the Son of God, or the deliverance of the Temple from the Assyrians, is a joyful event that should be enjoyed every year. But what this holiday has devolved into - in the United States at least - is something that makes me ill. All the damned “gotta get the trendy gift” and “gotta spend so much”, the tension of whether or not your gift is going to be “good enough” (check back a few posts on this blog to see my post about crappy reactions to gifts), the whole miserable tribute to greed and selfishness and how it’s our obligation to keep multinational companies in business... don’t try telling me that’s what Christmas is supposed to be about. I wish we could go back to the old-fashioned celebrations where children would get a lot of small presents and ONE major present to celebrate the season.

I know the rules said one paragraph, but I have one more thing I want to say: Telling anyone they HAVE to be happy this time of year just because it’s Christmas or Hanukkah or just the holiday season is just damned wrong. Tragedies, disappointments, injuries and illness (including mental illness) do not take a holiday in the last week of the calendar year. Showing a little compassion to people who might not have so much joy during this time of the year, is much more keeping in the spirit of the season than laying a fresh load of guilt on them by saying we;re “too blessed to be depressed”.

[theotherstephencobert]

Final Stretch Challenge  - December 24, 2016

Favorite Holiday Tradition

Over the years, many traditions have come and gone. But one that remains is Christmas morning breakfast with my family.

Christmas morning, my grandkids are up early to open their presents. Then my son and his family pick me up and we all ride to Grandma’s (my ex - we’re on reasonably good terms now) where everyone finishes the gift exchange and we have a nice big breakfast while listening to Christmas music.