Football Epilogue

  Image by 愚木混株 Cdd20 from Pixabay I have lived in three states in my adult life. Geographically physical parts of the United States, I’m sure I’ve lived in many more emotional/spiritual states (sometimes more than one at once) but that’s a different story for a different time. Most of my time away from Minnesota was in my mid-to-late 20’s; Northern California for graduate school and Maryland/DC for my postdoc. After 7.5 years away, and having had two kids, an opportunity to move home presented itself and we took it. Now, 16 years after moving back to the land of 10 kilo-lakes (order of magnitude estimate), the wanderlust is re-emerging. I’m finding myself tied to my exact location less and less and am becoming more curious about living in the greater world. While tourist-type travel may satiate some of that, I’ve grown fond of the idea of spending extended time elsewhere. By that, I’m thinking of the order of three to six months; something on the order of a sabbatical. This w...

Travel has perked up for me again. I'm currently averaging one trip per month over the last few months and I don't see that slowing down any time soon. The trips are multi-modal, ranging from regional automobile travel to international long-haul flights.  Along the way I have found that there are a few items that really up the comfort and convenience of my travels. These are beyond the usual collection of various chargers, sunglasses and enough socks and underwear for my trip (plus an extra pair).  A Breast-pocket shirt Oh hail ye, keeper of the pocket protector! While the time of fountain pens ending shirts is passed your need is still great!  This may be a little "old dude" of me but having a breastpocket shirt, at least on the days where I am in transit, is extraordinarily convenient in terms of ease of access to stuff. The two main things I keep in them are my phone and passport.  For the latter, when traveling internationally, it is good to just have a sound hom...

Fresh tracks. For some dumb reason, it's been hard for me to do much writing lately. At least anything beyond personal note taking. I've gotten a couple of hundred words written a few times, but nothing has really inspired or formed any kind of a hook for me to take off on. I've also been in more of an about state of things, which might create some fodder, but also increases my lack of patience for organizing my thoughts, but here I am giving it the old "college try". March has been a busy/fast month as most months feel to be lately. It started with a ski trip to Colorado with my kids. This was the fifth year we've taken a trip, and this year didn't disappoint. We did one day at Arapahoe Basin, followed by a day off while a snowstorm moved through the mountains and then skied a second day at Breckenridge in several inches of pristine powder.  The last couple of years skiing in Colorado, I'm finding I really need that first day to adjust to the altitude...

Home Designed/3D printed ornament, 4" diameter. Let me know if you want one, free with shipping.  I've often started my posts with the title only to find that my meandering words betray the initial intent. The title does start as a prompt, a passing thought that I think might be worth a few hundred words. The pivot usually happens a paragraph or two in, perhaps I've exhausted the idea or perhaps I'm already bored with it or think it then worth fewer words. For example, I'm already bored with writing about my blog titling process. I shall speak of it no more. Instead, it's New Years Eve! In hindsight the year went really fast. It's interesting how our brains perceive time in this manner. The future seems to creep up slowly while the present often feels like a mad rush (thinking navigating a rapids) while the past is further away than it feels it should be. Maybe it's just being in my 40s? Things I swear were a year or two ago are actually a decade passed...

 I'm relaxing in a Chicago hotel room waiting for both the Minnesota Vikings to start playing and for my daughter to emerge from one of what might be the best nights of her teenage life. The two of us ventured here to witness the spectacle that is Harry Styles. The original plan, still intact, is to attend his concert tonight, October 9th. We have tickets and are all ready to go.  However, in preparation for our travels I was informed that she'd like to try to find tickets for the Saturday night show as well and that she was willing to pay for them. So we headed down to the arena and found the ticket window line to stand in. Just like hazy memories of an old movie or two that I could never remember, the ticket window curtains closed, SOLD OUT, with about a dozen people to go before us. Maybe 30 tickets out of 30,000 short.  Defeated and hungry we went to find a little food and see if there was an online resale option that would work. There's a place on the corner from the...

The first lift up. This is going to be a quick one. I took my kids skiing in Montana a little over a week ago. It was a fun trip. The snow was great (at least for a Minnesota skier) and we left the rockies on Sunday sore, but ready for our next outing.  As with my recent flurry of trips, it's a good opportunity to reflect on the food and activity choices. So here's another report card: Item Score (1 to 4 with 4 = best) Notes Water Intake 2 I made sure to drink morning and evening glasses of water. I also bought a case of sparkling water. Intake in normal conditions was likely adequate, but the activity, high altitude and dry air had me feeling dehydrated. Alcohol Consumption 3 This was limited to beers at dinner.  Steps/Activity 4 Two full days of skiing and a decent chunk of time wandering mammoth hot springs. This was well covered Positive Attitude 4 Hell yeah! ...

I've been using this blog to keep on with my fitness journey quite a bit. I've been writing less frequently as habits are being instilled. Still, it's good to check up and it might be getting time to pivot on to other things that this journey is enabling.  First off, a quick check in though. Since the holidays, I've been maintaining my weight fairly well. The added level of consciousness from daily weigh-ins along with having some good baseline habits is making this task easier. In rambling on with a friend this week, as well as some past discussions with others, being able to maintain in challenging times like winter is a victory in and of itself. I'll take it. When the weather warms and heading outside becomes more comfortable, work can continue on the "next level" goals. That's not to say I can't and shouldn't take advantage of some extra walking or cardio time when I can. Nor does it mean I shouldn't keep working on better eating habits...

Pants sizing is nearly ubiquitous with diet and weight loss. People have their "fat" pants and perhaps their skinny pants as well. I have several pairs of pants that fall into either category. Fortunately, I've now moved into the area where I'm now wearing my "skinny" pants. It feels good to have pulled them out of my closet and frankly I like the look.  One thing I'm starting to notice this time around though is a desire to wear my pants a little higher on my waist. This is particularly true for my bigger pants which now sit comfortably around my proper waist, i.e. where my belly button is. While feeling a little weird initially, as I still have a little bit of a tummy that is now in the pants instead of above, I'm finding that to be a more comfortable position. One trade-off though is I have now lost a couple inches on the inseam. This give me the Steve Erkle about to utter his "Did I do that?" catchphrase feel.  Upon doing some reading (...

Cacti can get pretty wiley. Another trip, another chance for some Noom introspection. Tucson, Arizona was the destination this time. Instead of a fairly regimented work trip, this was a mini-vacation and wedding. I had never been to Tucson and was eager to explore. Fortunately, the area did not disappoint for southwest history, art, nature and food.  This trip had some give and take as far as Nooming was concerned. There are a number of situations that I'm not really my best at as far as diet and exercise are concerned. I list travel as one of them. That said, it's important to reflect on what went well and what needs some improvement.  Two days of the trip were spent amassing over 40,000 step (20k/day) wandering downtown, the University of Arizona and up to "A Mountain". The Arizona dry heat felt good after leaving a rainy and cold week in Minnesota.  With the activity, there was some effort to stay hydrated.  There was also some effort to find the best tacos ...

Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay I'm now sitting in the airport in San Jose, ready to return to the chilly weather in Minnesota. I have a little time to kill, so I thought I'd do some reflecting on how the trip went in terms of Nooming and such.  The program is big into logging your food, water, weight, exercise, etc. One aspect I think it could place a little emphasis on though is the reflection. What went well? What could have went better? Where do I really need to up my game? Along with this might be coming up with a couple things to be grateful for that happened through out the day. Ultimately, the scale and weight graph and "end your day" food logs speak for the progress, but it is in the reflection that we learn and grow. If things go bad, it's important to keep shame and doubt off of the table. This can be hard to do. However, the goal is to get better moving forward so an objective and constructive analysis is what is required. This self-coac...

Do you know the way to San Jose? Many people often talk about "keys to success". Sports announcers often bring these things up before the start of a game/match. Coaches, I'm thinking football in particular, make these "keys" the theme for the week. What are the things that need to be emphasized and done well, the sine qua non (I'll let you look that one up), for success. The keys to success on Noom have centered around one concept: consistency. Most of the time the already existing routine helps to foster consistency. During most weeks I get out of the same bed at roughly the same time, use the same toilet, weigh myself on the same scale, grab the same two fruits and two proteins for breakfast and snacks, get the same cup of coffee, take the same mile-ish lunch walk, heat up the same-ish lunch, head home at the same-ish time, coach/work out/run at the same-ish time, unwind at similar times in similar ways, hit the proverbial hay around the same time and re...

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay This weekend I bought flights for the kids and I to visit my nephew (and sister and bro-in-law, I guess) in Seattle. I had enough miles to cover ALL THREE TICKETS. Here's to the price my butt played in flying those skymiles and the $33 in taxes! Hip, Hip Hooray!

It has been a couple weeks since my last entry. It was not entirely deliberate, but was the result of some deadlines and work and life stresses that sapped me of the energy to contribute to FE . I had a nasty cold/flu-type thing, a big proposal due, hosted a birthday party for my daughter and on top of that, tried to keep my sanity. By the last couple of nights I became worried that my sleep schedule was scarred. I knew all of it was coming. Despite some money concerns I decided that an escape would be in order. Opportunity had presented itself in the form of my girlfriend wondering if I could go with her to ski in Sun Valley, Idaho and partially crash her girlfriend's trip with her ski club. I can only say it would have been excellent to crash her full trip and stay the whole week. Sun Valley and the town at its base, Ketchum, were amazing. We arrived Saturday mid-morning and wandered the town waiting for our room to be ready. It's a small town with some of the friend...

Image from: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSNqrQJdEW6Ia89iD3qXeTLmuyA-fR0dRq48oPxVzxRqzmK2R4f Here I am in 18E knees tucked up in an A320 It's a place where a 56" chest is no good with no elbow rest but that's what I get for booking late at least it keeps my spine straight And the guys next to me are nice And only one is about my size So I'll sit here, content to be cramped What other choice do I have Fortunately on the way home Medallion privileges I still had some Thus when it's time to go I was able to get an exit row (c) 2017

I'm traveling for work over the next day or so. Attending a workshop in Washington DC on the topic of magnetic tunnel junctions. It's a collection of many of the usual suspects that I see at conferences and is a good venue for industry/academia. I love that I get to come back to DC every so often. I feel it puts me in a minority of people who do. However, after working as a postdoc in the area in, what is nearing a decade ago, I see the charm of the place. Not to mention there are familiar faces that I can meet for dinner and drinks. Sitting in here in this workshop I was trying to think of a tidbit on DC that's somewhat related to the (initial) intent of the blog. Then I recalled, "isn't this one of the fittest areas in the country?" Indeed, at least according to the American Fitness Index website. It's number 1. Interestingly, the Twin Cities are number 2! Now what does this mean? The reports summarize data across a number of areas from the ...

After my conference in San Francisco , my girlfriend and I took a couple of days in Sonoma County. It was a relaxed time, filled with wine tasting, driving the Pacific Coast Highway and relaxing on the beach. While not quite a tropical or Caribbean escape in terms of warmth it was nice to get some son and some quiet. The trip was a relief in that we were effectively "off-the-grid". Minimal cell phone and internet coverage. We couldn't even set our out-of-office emails and phone messages. It was wonderful. I'm hesitant to admit that I am even weary of sitting here in the airport and writing this. The peace it brought me was significant. It is an interesting transition going back. Fortuantely we have a red-eye flight and were able to spend today driving back to San Francisco through Muir woods, stopping to walk amongst the giant redwoods and had a little more time on the coast, chilly, windy, but sunny as my face feels the dosage of UV and vitamin D. Below are few...

I am in San Francisco for a conference followed by a couple days in the Sonoma wine country. When I am in a big city I am often amazed at the level of fitness the people seem to have. Now maybe it's a biased eye at work, but I don't think it's entirely that based on the fact that I'm walking...a lot. There's just no other way of getting places in town cheaply and quickly. Taxi's are expensive and often by the time you've waited for a bus or train you could be most of the way there. I think anything over a 1/1.5 miles (1.6/2.4 km) I start looking for a ride, but even then there's so much going on in town that walking is easily distracted. This is in contrast to living in the suburbs. In the 'burbs I drive nearly everywhere. My car is at my beck and call so even the 0.3 miles (0.5 km) to the grocery store is a more convenient drive. Particularly, when there are kids at home who leave my time limited. This may well be an understated reason for the...

I could use a cardio solution, but here's a workout that got the heart pumping without leaving the room in the morning: Superset pushups/squats, 20 reps each for 5 sets, hands over head for the squats Simulated high pulls, 20 reps for 3 sets, keep traps flexed, oddly a good burn Calf raises on the bathtub, 20 reps for 3 sets biceps curls with laptop case, 15 reps for three sets triceps dips on ledge with feet up on bed 15 reps for three sets Lunges, 10 reps for 3 sets It seemed to work, or at least get me moving and awake. I'll add some core stuff and burpees next time. I'm in San Diego so a run along the bay will work too :)

...a new record for me (I think). I was took a mental and physical holiday last weekend and stayed with my aunt and uncle near Portland. I had a dear old friend getting married which presented the opportunity. I decided I was just going to try to be helpful, but in the moment for the duration of the trip. I was able to maintain that for the most part. As the title says I got to play a bit of golf at Tri-Mountain Golf Course in Ridgefield, WA. Admittedly my diet wasn't the best as there were many beers consumed, some from a high school friend's brewery in Seattle ( Chainline Brewery ), but it was overall good for the soul to see good family, old friends and relax a little.

I'm in Chicago. I was wide awake at 6 am. I hopped out of bed to go for a run in the park across the street. I got "runner ready" which for me means teeth brushed, drink some water, splash some more on my face and get dressed. I was all dolled up to put in a 5K and then realized I DIDN'T PACK MY RUNNING SHOES. This is ironic as I've been accused of bringing more shoes on trips than many more style minded (women) do; from dress shoes to sandals to running shoes, most all in the name of functionality. I was hasty in packing light this time. Oh well, it was a 10 minute walk from my hotel to my conference. I guess that will have to do, although I might have to start recognizing training shoes as acceptible dress with slacks and a tie...