Positively revivified from a weekend of low-impact skiing, I popped out of bed this morning like a jack-in-the-box. I hit the shed 15 minutes early in order to do a bonus-sized workout. Then, this afternoon (we had an 11:30 a.m. release due to inclement weather) I really tied one on, working out with Jake and Cara in succession, so that now I might just be a wee bit sore. Here's the day's tally:

--Squats with 20 lb. kettlebells -- 5 sets x 10 reps
--Crunches with kettlebell -- 3 x 10
--Oblique crunches 3 x 20 per side
--50 lb dumbbell press 3 x 20
--Pull-ups 3 x 15, 10, 10
--Knee-up crunches 3 x 20
--Wide grip pull-ups 8 x 5

Timer sets (30 seconds per exercise):
--Jump rope/plank push-ups x 8
--Jump rope/up dog-down dog x 8
--Plank position, jump side to side x 8
--Jump rope/up dog-down dog x 8
--Jump rope/jackknife sit-up x 8
--Jump rope x 8

Skied in the sun and splendor on a Sunday afternoon... but, alas, tomorrow it is back to the old grinding stone (who am I kidding, my job is fun; as I am constantly told I "just play games all day.") This vacation had a nice mix. First there was our most awesome visit to Boston, where my sister Alice put out a delicious plant-eater spread one night, then took us to a fab vegan restaurant the other. Then there was the slow "cool-down" period of relaxing at the homestead here in pastoral Marshfield.
I haven't been listing my workouts because I was feeling self-conscious about how tiresome they must get, but then Matt M. stopped by today and told me he liked reading them. So, once again the younger set has set me straight, and I plan to continue tomorrow. Plus, it's probably good for inspiration (not yours, mine) and I have a couple of doozys planned. It's all in my mind at the moment, but you can look forward to the Plank-a-thon and the Double Max (well, at least Jake can look forward to them, since he'll be stuck as my partner while Cara assists my mother in the teaching of the slow-slow/quick-quick).
Since I stopped recording my workouts here I've been listing them in an old Moleskin. While doing so I came across this entry from last year: "Anyway, I'm kind of into trying a donut of fruit smoothies and veggies. Talk about a funny slip--I meant to write diet and I wrote donut."
You see, I've got some good material, but I guess I keep it to myself.

Personally, I wouldn't mind if a million more of these buzzards bit the dust. Probably nothing a little $5 a gallon gasoline won't cure. But who am I to talk, having owned my share (much, much more than my share, I know) of 4-wheelers and trucks. Though I did finally figure out the reason for that--I had my head up my arse! And there you were, thinking there was some deep-seated psychological explanation.
Yet and still, I'm not here to be negative, but to bring you today's analogy: skiing is to snow as lemonade is to lemons. Enjoy the winter. It seems to have caught its second wind.

Do not despair my friends, the beauty of winter has not so soon departed. This is the view from inside the woodshed--from which I have just returned. Every so often I tell myself that I need not be destined to the life of a mechanical nit-wit. Today was one of those so-oftens, when I decided that I would repair the blown motor on my wood-splitter. Having no luck in freeing the stuck fly-wheel, I decided that I would take the motor off of my power washer and "trade it out"; or at least swap fly-wheels. Well, what do you suppose was the result of that? If you guessed that now I have two motors disassembled and strewn about the floor of the shed, you are correct! My question is this: what's so bad about being a nit-wit?

Update: Jake's innovative take on the pull-up. This is actually harder than using a bar, and does wonders for strengthening the grip. I'll have to try it. That's Cara in the background, taking a break from using the table to do rows. This is a good option if you're working up to doing pull-ups, but aren't quite there yet. I don't have a photo to prove it, but word is that the Sweet can now do two pull-ups.
Pull-ups rule!!!!

This morning I woke up at 4:00 A.M., which sounds early, I know, but Cara and I outdid ourselves last night, allowing a boring British movie to lull us to sleep at about... well, I don't think I'm going to say, but it was kind of the early bird special of z's. No problem for me, since the morning is my favorite part of the day--by a long shot. This habit probably got its start when we were living on Franklin Avenue, hard by the Gypsum Plant, back in the late '60's and I used to go downstairs and beat the crowd (meaning Max) to the ice cream. I remember once sliding up and down the wood floors in my socks and polishing off an entire box of fudge pops.
No confections today but the blessing of a simultaneous setting full moon and rising sun. I jumped rope for 30 minutes, then did 3 sets of the squat, curl, press sequence with 20 lb. dumbells, bicycle crunches and push-ups (25 reps per set).
I then spent the day clearing the basement to make room to paint, setting up my apparatus for tapping the trees and washing my car. You can do the mundane and still be happy! I love the mundane, truth to tell, just appreciating the small moments of daily life.
As I'm writing this Jake and Cara are finishing up their workout (pictured above). Feels very, very strange to opt out of exercise, but I'm sure my joints will thank me for it.

Fog and rain and melting snow. Enjoyed a slog in the snow with Jake in friendly Marshfield. We talked about life--his plans and my memories--and pretty much solved all of the world's problems. What will we do for an encore? Drink our smoothies, share our love, and sleep the sleep of good health and fresh air.
Did the woodshed workout this morning, topping off the pull-ups of yesterday so that, sitting at my desk at work today, my arm hurt while drinking a cup of tea. A good hurt, though, a very good hurt.

This morning I had the happy condition known as let-there-be-light syndrome. I did 20 minutes with the speed rope in the shed, and as I walked back to house it was though The Big Guy (or Gal) had thrown the switch. It seems like only a few days ago I was walking up the path by the light of my headlamp, yet suddenly now, illumination. I mean, come on, what a perfect day, a perfect day blessedly longer than those of our recent past.
It was 44 degrees when I left work, and the town of Machias seemed to have burst a million vessels, water streaming off every roof and down every street. Yet something told me that the slush was a "city" thing, so I headed to the woods with my skis. The snow was slick and fast, and I had a blast skiing up hill, then coasting all the way home. And I got home with light to spare--so obviously this longer-day business work on both ends.
I also managed to sprinkle 100 pull-ups into my day--just to give you a full account.

This is how the interval workout works: Jake is about to press the medicine ball after coming out of a squat while I'm jumping rope. When the timer beeps, we switch and I do squats while Jake jumps rope. As you can see, Jake has a fair bit of blubber on him, so it's got to be cardio all the time. I jest, of course, but did you know that high intensity workouts with a strength component are actually better fat-burners than slogging around for hours on end? Yet people waste hours of their lives trudging in place on a treadmill while watching Fox TV--that just couldn't possibly not cause cancer or something. Again, I jest...
But about this, I kid you not: today is the day my most beautiful, precious, sweetest Sweetheart in the World turns 19. I love you so much Jessie, and I can remember the day you were born (an absolutely perfect sunny day) as if it was yesterday. I wish we were together so I could give you all the birthday kisses and hugs to which you're entitled. I LOVE MY SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!
For the record, the workout above: 5 sets, 8 minutes each, alternating jump rope/squats and jump rope/woodchoppers. In the morning we did the woodshed workout, even though it was 5 degrees outside. Once again, once out of the wind, no problem.

Whip it. Whip it good. The wind whipped me good today, knifing right through me as I prayed to the Big D. Well, that's what happens when you're a whippet of a man. Yes, I've lost a couple of pounds (not bragging!), so that I weigh 20 pounds less than I did a year ago, but 20 pounds more than when I moved to Maine. Muscle mass, right? Rationalization, it's not pretty.
Today's workout, with Jake and Cara: 5 sets of the 8 minute intervals, alternating jump rope with the following ab burners: bicycle crunches, medicine ball sit-ups, Russian twists, jack-knife to the side, knee-up crunches.
Then a soak in a hot bath!

Yesterday Jake and I snowshoed around the heath, following the trail of a coyote. It was a white wonderland that stays pristine until its oblivion, unlike the mounds of dirt-encrusted snow piled high along the roads. Nature is always beautiful, but human progress--not so much. Cars: I love 'em and I hate 'em on a personal level, but how much better would our landscape be if we relied on trains--or, I don't know, the horse and buggy (though apparently people used to complain about manure). As time passes I become ever more convinced that we need to beware of comfort. It's nice to lie down in a soft bed after a hard day's work, but you don't want to become too mushy. And so-called convenience food--forget about it.
Yeah, so, enough pontification. This morning we integrated dumbells into the bodyweight exercises in the woodshed. Pull-ups with a 20 lb. dumbell held between the feet, push-ups while holding the dumbells with a row at the top of the motion, squats with dumbells at the side, then curling and pressing to complete the movement. Finished it off with plain old sit-ups.
In the afternoon Jake joined me for the same workout but we added 30 reps of the 5 lb. heavy rope between each set. Brutal.

This is the groomed trail in City Forest in Bangor--the trail I described this past summer that's an oasis just a click from the cacophony of the Mall. I had a wonderful ski on Saturday morning while Cara and Jessie shopped for exciting items like car tires. It's nice to ski without the rumble of snowsleds, though you can hear trucks tooling down 95.
The night before we had Thai food with Jake and Jessie--what a treat!--where we feasted on 7 different kinds of tofu. We had some deep-fried tofu that tasted suspiciously like the fried dough I used to eat at the San Gennaro Festival on Staten Island back when I was a skinny teenager.
So it has been a somewhat laid-back weekend: woodshed workout on Fri. morn, ski on Sat, now minutes away from a snowshoe on Sun.
Not worthy of Jack, but a bit of a rest before I attack the Military 1000 again.

As soon as the school buses pulled out of the parking lot, I practically ran out of the building. All I could think about was getting out for a ski. Shimmering sun and perfect snow--"the way life should be," as they say here in the Pine Tree State. I thought about how, given the choice, I'd rather ski on a crisp winter day then lay on the beach in the hot summer sun. But then, in the big scheme of things, I suppose one complements the other. Having said all that, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't rather be trekking in Nepal!!! O Camille, you have so much to share.
Sad, really, how little I've traveled. Partly because I'm a garden-variety agoraphobe, partly because we didn't have the means while raising our beautiful children, and now partly because my wife will not get on a plane.
Still, you never know, and in the meantime: happy happy trails!

There used to be a restaurant called Dojo's in the East Village where I would go and eat crunchy vegetables (broccoli, etc.) on wild rice. It was pretty much my favorite meal and it came into my mind because that's basically what I made tonight for dinner. You see, I was always meant to be a plant eater.
This morning I did a woodshed workout variation (bicycle pull-ups, push-ups, knee-up crunches and kettlebell curls) in the 5 degree chill. We really weren't cold though--so long as you keep moving and stay out of the wind, you're good to go. And of course our workout facility is a practical palace. One other note: Ernie and I could actually see each other without need of our headlamps. So I reiterate: Spring is coming.
Jump rope in the afternoon for 45 minutes. But I'm not saying it's 45 minutes non-stop. I'm constantly getting the rope tangled up in my big feet. I have fun, and I get sweaty, but I'm no Muhammad Ali.

This here is the junk food for plant eaters. Fat avocado, sweet potato fries and tofu fingers? And don't forget the twist of lemon. See, whether she's cooking a chicken until even the thought of salmonella has been pulverized (the kids used to call it "mom's sawdust chicken") or cooking up the health food like it's fish'n chips, my wife has got her wily ways. Does this sound like an early Valentine--or will I be sleeping on the couch tonight?
We had a two-hour delay this morning, so I spent a bit of time sitting in front of the fire reading the awesome book--On the Wild Edge--that Stan loaned me (he seems to have replaced my mother as the librarian to the stars), then hit the elliptical with the weighted vest for a 30 minute sweat frenzy before work.
In the afternoon I did a workout I happened across on YouTube called the Military 1000. It consists of 75 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups and 525 squats. The guy in the video said you're pretty much kickin' it if you complete it in 40 minutes, so of course that is what I shot for. Excuses: I did two bodyweight workouts yesterday, which slowed me down on the pull-ups--and didn't really help with the sit-ups either. Also, I'm so stupid that I ended up doing 600 squats, 75 more than required, because it's tough to do basic math when you can't breathe. At any rate, when I stopped my chronograph it was at 43 minutes. Subtracting the extra squats puts me (I would guess) at about 41 minutes. Obviously the thing to do is try again when I've had a day off from the strength training. I'll nail it: no doubt.
It occurs to me that this is probably beyond tedious; so, again, I apologize. But let me tell you how it helps me. When I did the woodshed workout with the heavy rope yesterday, I was surprised at how hard it felt, since I didn't recall it causing me so much difficulty the last time I did it. I figured it was just because I've been sick. But when I looked at the post in this blog where I last did the workout, I discovered that I'd only done 20 reps with the heavy rope between each set, whereas yesterday I did 30. So it felt harder because it was harder.
You don't give a flying banana, do you? I don't blame you, but, hey, thanks for stopping by.

Rolled out of bed and into some rolled oats with cranberries and bananas. Fortified and ready for the day! Did the woodshed workout with Ernie where we talked about this summer's big hike: the 100 Mile Wilderness. As its name suggests, it's the most remote section of the Appalachian Trail, and I'm chomping at the bit to get out there.
This afternoon I had a more agita-inducing session. It was Woodshed Workout II, where I did all the same stuff as this morning (3 sets: 20 push-ups, 10 pull-ups, 30 crunches) but with a set of 30 reps of the 5 lb. heavy rope between each set of the body weight exercises. That means when you're getting into position to do the pull-ups--which are already tough enough--you're panting like a dog.
After all that (which actually only took 20 minutes), I went for a slow snow-shoe that was just heavenly. Float on my friends, float on.

Yesterday at 5:00 A.M. I went out to remove the bonus snow from the driveway, then figured I might as well go do a woodshed workout since school was delayed and it was so beautiful out with the sun rising on the cottony landscape. Throughout the day I had a scratchy throat and had that feeling of a cold coming on, so when I got home I did a power station workout and called it good. Felt like an easy day from an exercise point-of-view, but a hard one in the health category. By evening I was just plain miserable. My head hurt, my sinuses ached, I was sneezing and wheezing. It ended up that I stayed home sick from work today, drifting in and out of consciousness and having strange dreams. Sounds dramatic, right? Of course, it's just a common cold, but I'm a man so I have to put it in a life-or-death perspective.
Pride is what does it. I haven't been sick in a long time, which I attributed to my smoothie lifestyle, and it's hard to accept that my immunity has broken down to the sting of a bug. Plus, worse than that, today is the first day of no exercise in over two months. So, it's official: the streak is over.
Supposedly rest is good, so good for me, and I hope all is good for you too.

This morning I did the power station workout, then told myself to make no other exercise plans as I thought I might need to save my strength for snow removal. Lucky thing. I spent over three hours (in a morning and afternoon session) shoveling, woveling, snowblowing and chipping ice off the roof. Then I had to lean my head in the door and call out for reinforcements. So my lovely, lovely (who made the best muffins ever in the morning--completely vegan; yes, indeed) came out to discover the snow rose to the tippy-top of her head (and she prides herself on being tall--at least in comparison to her grandmother Esther). So, together we carved out an escape route--now when does that plane leave for Costa Rica?

Beans, beans, beans.
Where you been?
No comments on the life of veganicity?

Tomorrow will be a snow day, so while the beans simmer on the stove, I'll read the book--The Long Walk--that Stan loaned me. Then, someday, we'll go see the movie together, and afterward we'll have Thai food, and I will eat tofu, and I will be happy.

Tonight Cara and I did a nice husband/wife tag-team torture-fest workout. Once again we set the interval timer to beep every 30 seconds, then switched between jump rope and burpees. We did 3 sets of 8 minutes (24 minutes total). We finished up with a variety of core exercises. All in all, a nice, compact and efficient session.

Am I ready to wield the Wovel? Well, I guess I better be...