The Big, Big Loop

I don't enjoy jogging. I just have no fun with it. Besides all the usual reasons I've complained about, I have a weak right knee, so that can be a problem too. Sometimes, though, a jog through the woods is okay — cross-country running as opposed to the hamster wheel. I like to take a pair of heavy hands (2 pounds) while I run to get some upper body exercise too.

The only good thing is that I got some exercise in, and I found a well-done Star Trek podcast to listen to, which is good. It's called Mission Log, and it runs through each episode one-by-one. I also helped some hungry mountain bikers find their way to their car, which was amusing. I'm like a typical New Yorker that way. I love to give directions.

Jogged with two-pound Heavy Hands through Depew and Blue Mountain

Name:		The Big Big Loop
Date:		Jul 26, 2013 12:33 pm
Map: (valid until Jan 22, 2014)		View on Map
Distance:		3.26 miles
Elapsed Time:		44:40.0
Avg Speed:		4.4 mph
Max Speed:		8.2 mph
Avg Pace:		13' 40" per mile
Min Altitude:		174 ft
Max Altitude:		436 ft
Start Time:		2013-07-26T16:33:01Z
Start Location:
	Latitude:	41º 17' 11" N
	Longitude:	73º 54' 53" W
End Location:
	Latitude:	41º 17' 11" N
	Longitude:	73º 54' 53" W

I use MotionX as a GPS tool, and it isn't bad. The major problem is that the app is a battery vampire. I can't get more than about 2-2 1/2 hours of use before my iPhone is sucking air. It does make good maps, though. I post these as JPEGs because the MotionX ones won't last on the website more than six months.

I like these maps.

Cross Training

It would be so nice if I could get on the water whenever I wanted to. Man, I would paddle almost every day. Yeah. Unfortunately, I'm not a professional athlete, just a working person with three kids, trying to do his best with keeping in shape and training for some long-distance runs.

Yesterday I did a PaddleFit jog, which is what I call my cross-training runs. There I get onto the track (one block from my house) and run as much as I can take whilst I do a few extra exercises each lap. Is this fun? No. If it involves jogging, it probably isn't fun. I don't think I actually hate jogging, but it would be fair to say I do not like it. Jogging is painful. Jogging is stressful. Jogging is boring. Jogging is, well, it's just yucky! Why do people like this sport?

I did two miles yesterday, though. I'm quite aware that two miles is a pretty pathetic distance, but it's about all I can take going around in circles on that track. Drives me MAD. If I'm running cross country, I can happily do more, but that has the advantage of being a lot less boring than the track. Instead of running around a human-sized hamster wheel, I'm jogging through the cool forest. Unfortunately with all the rain we've been getting these last couple of days, the forest is a mud slog. So it's the hamster wheel for me.

It does look like a large, earth-colored hamster wheel, and yes, I can see my house from here.

Tonight I plan on doing a workout even more pathetic, an Indo Board balance session with a 12 lb. bar. Doesn't sound so bad, right? But, I'll also be glued to the TV while working out, watching the final episodes of Orange is the New Black. Am I working out to watch TV, or watching TV to work out?