There was some excitement in the Cook household this past week. We have a new granddaughter, Adaline Marie born on January 14th.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
New Granddaughter
There was some excitement in the Cook household this past week. We have a new granddaughter, Adaline Marie born on January 14th.
2009 In Review
Here it is January 20th and my last posting was October 19th. What have I been doing for the last 3 months? Or more correctly what have I been neglecting the last 3 months?
After returning from my elk hunt in Colorado I aged one year on Oct. 20th. Now I am a size 58. In late October and November I took a break from my exercise routines.
Finally in mid-November I returned to the bike and began the Power To The Pedals training program. This is the same program that I used last winter. It is broken into a twice a week routine over a 12-week period. Since I was starting this program early enough I decided to double each week and make this a 24-week program. This week I at week 6 of the program.
I have also continued to do some running, but the snow that we have had on the ground for the past 4+ weeks has prevented me from running on our trails behind our house. So I have jogged on the treadmill some and yesterday our gravel road was melted enough for me to began running again outside.
With all the snow I have been enjoying snowshoeing in our woods. Last fall I expanded our trail system. I built upon the 1/2 mile trail that all ready existed and added another 1/2 mile of new trails. This makes for a great work-out on the snowshoes. Patti also enjoys snowshoeing. We wanted to be able to snoweshoe together so last week I purchased a 2nd set of snowshoes. When I go snowshoeing I carry a backpack with around 40 pounds of sand in it. This gives me a much better work-out and helps build-up my leg strength.
So now for a review of 2009:
Last year marked the 40th anniversary of my running career in high school. I graduated in 1969 from North Harrison High School in Eagleville Missouri. That spring I participated in my last track and field events: 100 yard high hurdles, 180 yard low hurdles, 4x100 relay and 4x220 relay. I participated 3 out of my 4 years in high school in track and field and all 4 years in basketball. One year I was unable to compete due to having my appendix out. You would think with that background that I would have included running or some form of exercise, but I entered college and then the workforce and left exercise out of my daily routine.
In 2000 Patti and I purchased a pair of mountain bikes and I biked 289 miles that year. Slowly over the next several years I began to re-sculpt my dormant muscles and get my aged body back into shape. I finally took up running again in July 2008 on a dare from a friend. Mark Lofgren and I had planned to do the team division of the Du State Du, which is a duathlon. Mark was going to do the running and I was to do the biking section. A few weeks before the event Mark informed me that he couldn't participate and said I needed to find another runner or do the running part myself. A day or two later I decided to go out and try running. I did one mile and it about killed me. I had forgotten what all of my biking friends had told me: the muscles you use for cycling are not the same muscles you use for running. Slowly over the next few weeks I built up my legs to handle a 2-3 mile run. I finished the Du State Du that year and finished 2nd and my performance on the running sections was better than the biking portions. So since then I have included running in my exercise regiment.
In 2009 I entered two duathlons and six running events. On the two duathlons I finished 2nd and 5th. Five of the running events were 5K's (3 miles) and I finished 1st twice, 2nd once and 3rd twice. The last running event was a 4.5 mile run and I finished 4th.
After returning from my elk hunt in Colorado I aged one year on Oct. 20th. Now I am a size 58. In late October and November I took a break from my exercise routines.
Finally in mid-November I returned to the bike and began the Power To The Pedals training program. This is the same program that I used last winter. It is broken into a twice a week routine over a 12-week period. Since I was starting this program early enough I decided to double each week and make this a 24-week program. This week I at week 6 of the program.
I have also continued to do some running, but the snow that we have had on the ground for the past 4+ weeks has prevented me from running on our trails behind our house. So I have jogged on the treadmill some and yesterday our gravel road was melted enough for me to began running again outside.
With all the snow I have been enjoying snowshoeing in our woods. Last fall I expanded our trail system. I built upon the 1/2 mile trail that all ready existed and added another 1/2 mile of new trails. This makes for a great work-out on the snowshoes. Patti also enjoys snowshoeing. We wanted to be able to snoweshoe together so last week I purchased a 2nd set of snowshoes. When I go snowshoeing I carry a backpack with around 40 pounds of sand in it. This gives me a much better work-out and helps build-up my leg strength.
So now for a review of 2009:
Last year marked the 40th anniversary of my running career in high school. I graduated in 1969 from North Harrison High School in Eagleville Missouri. That spring I participated in my last track and field events: 100 yard high hurdles, 180 yard low hurdles, 4x100 relay and 4x220 relay. I participated 3 out of my 4 years in high school in track and field and all 4 years in basketball. One year I was unable to compete due to having my appendix out. You would think with that background that I would have included running or some form of exercise, but I entered college and then the workforce and left exercise out of my daily routine.
In 2000 Patti and I purchased a pair of mountain bikes and I biked 289 miles that year. Slowly over the next several years I began to re-sculpt my dormant muscles and get my aged body back into shape. I finally took up running again in July 2008 on a dare from a friend. Mark Lofgren and I had planned to do the team division of the Du State Du, which is a duathlon. Mark was going to do the running and I was to do the biking section. A few weeks before the event Mark informed me that he couldn't participate and said I needed to find another runner or do the running part myself. A day or two later I decided to go out and try running. I did one mile and it about killed me. I had forgotten what all of my biking friends had told me: the muscles you use for cycling are not the same muscles you use for running. Slowly over the next few weeks I built up my legs to handle a 2-3 mile run. I finished the Du State Du that year and finished 2nd and my performance on the running sections was better than the biking portions. So since then I have included running in my exercise regiment.
In 2009 I entered two duathlons and six running events. On the two duathlons I finished 2nd and 5th. Five of the running events were 5K's (3 miles) and I finished 1st twice, 2nd once and 3rd twice. The last running event was a 4.5 mile run and I finished 4th.
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