Mediaguy99 Rangers Again

[mediaguy99]

Just a quick dip back into Rangering after almost a year of wandering in the forest...

 

Goals for this session:

 

1. Work out five or more days per week--two days of strength training, three days of cardio

2. Reduce LDL cholesterol intake/Increase soluble fiber intake

3. Pick a race for April (10K)

4. Keep track of spending

 

Let's face it.  I've got a lot going on. I have a full time job, a seven year old kiddo, a delightful wife, and a dog that wants to run more.  Daylight saving time just hit so it's possible to run after work again.  Not that I *like* running after work, but it is possible.  Maybe I can give it a try. Meanwhile, I've been getting to the gym to actually lift weights lately, so I'll start tracking that better and being more committed.  Twice a week should be do-able.  Finally, the last blood work I had done indicated that I have passed the cozy ignorance of "borderline high" cholesterol and have plunged directly into "HIGH" cholesterol.  And not the good kind.  So I'm going to eat oatmeal or make my vegetable/raspberry/orange smoothie every day.  The former provides a decent ton of soluble fiber, and the latter provides even more.

 

I'll suss out the details but I wanted to get this on the boards before tomorrow.  No fancy theme, no well-crafted life goals, just some simple healthy rules to live by and the accountability of thousands of nerd rangers at my back. I can do it.

 

[Terra]

Welcome back!  

[Wild Wolf]

Good to see ya brother! How's archery going??

 

Wolf

[Xena]

I know several people who have had major success in lowering cholesterol with oatmeal. You can do it!

[mediaguy99]

On 3/15/2018 at 2:34 PM, Wolfpool said:

Good to see ya brother! How's archery going??

 

Wolf

Hey glad to see you too!  Archery is good, I'm still drilling holes in things from a great distance.  Haven't been up to the range much so far this year because it seems like it's always windy this time of year.  But that'll change soon.  How's adventure racing?  Quidditch?  And the kiddos!!!

[mediaguy99]

On 3/17/2018 at 3:52 PM, Xena said:

I know several people who have had major success in lowering cholesterol with oatmeal. You can do it!

 

Yes! there's something called the Lafayette (CO) Oatmeal Challenge which they do every year near here.  30 days of oats and they measure cholesterol before and after, and it's unusual not to see a drop.  

 

Thanks for looking in on me

 

[mediaguy99]

So the mini challenge for the week is to add stretching or pulling to the workouts this week.  So I'm just gonna go out and do pull ups at least four times this week.  Starting today.  Right now I'm at three sets of four on my home pull up bar and I'll look towards getting those numbers pulled up.  Doubt I'll make any significant progress but I'll see if I can be doing five pull ups for at least the last set, if not all three sets.

[TGP]

your into archery

that so cool; whats your flavor? do you do the long bow or compound?

 

anyways my daughter did archery for awhile.  its a surprisingly serious competitive sport in our neck of the woods.

 

good to meet you.

[mediaguy99]

8 minutes ago, TGP said:

your into archery

that so cool; whats your flavor? do you do the long bow or compound?

 

anyways my daughter did archery for awhile.  its a surprisingly serious competitive sport in our neck of the woods.

 

good to meet you.

 

Hey that's cool, indeed, lots of peoples' daughters got into archery a few years back.  Seems like every time I go to an indoor range I see a young gal shooting incredibly accurately.  My son who is seven likes the idea of archery but doesn't seem inclined to shoot more than once or twice every time I take him up.

 

I only have a compound bow, and I shoot mostly at an outdoor 3-D target range.  Every year I go for several days of armed hiking with it, looking for things with antlers.  It usually doesn't work out, but it's good to be outdoors! 

 

I think I'm going to use buying a nice takedown recurve this year if things go well financially and fitness-wise as a reward.

 

Thanks for checking in on me and good to meet you too!

[mediaguy99]

Found a possible race:

 

http://www.traintohunt.com/eventcalendar/train-to-hunt-wyoming-2/

 

All the ones that are near me are over weekends where I'm already tentatively planning to be out of town, the above race included.  But I'll see what else I can find...

 

 

[Xena]

Is that a running race? Looked like an archery competition...but maybe there's a race associated. Would say "hopefully not at the same time" but I guess that's basically biathlon with arrows.

 

I did a marathon in Casper a few years back. Beautiful!! Is that where you live?

[mediaguy99]

10 minutes ago, Xena said:

Is that a running race? Looked like an archery competition...but maybe there's a race associated. Would say "hopefully not at the same time" but I guess that's basically biathlon with arrows.

 

I did a marathon in Casper a few years back. Beautiful!! Is that where you live?

 

That's exactly what it is--a biathlon with arrows!  I'm into archery, though this challenge doesn't reflect it at all.

 

I live in Boulder, CO, a few hours south.  Not too far to go for a race.  

 

[Xena]

ok that's cool...for someone who's into archery and wants to throw in some running this sounds like it's worth rearranging the schedule for if possible :-)

[SkyGirl]

Hi! I was intrigued by your username because I'm a graduate student in science journalism ... I came for the media, but I'm staying for the archery!! I keep wanting to make time for my university's archery club/team because my dad is a good archer, and like most fantasy geeks, I'm obsessed with archer/ranger-style characters.    Never actually tried, though. I will someday!

 

Good luck on your challenge and getting your cholesterol down! That sounds a bit sobering - I hope your diet changes get you headed back in the right direction!

[mediaguy99]

Got to the gym yesterday for 40 min of lifting followed by a 1 mile run and 10 min of stretching.  They have this awesome hamstring stretching machine (yeah, I know sounds weird why not just stretch) which lets me stretch my hams one at a time without having to engage my hip flexors.  I'm super inflexible so that's always been a problem.  Oats for breakfast and a big "corporate lunch" lunch.  Asparagus, pineapple, and the world's smallest key lime pie for dinner.  Today my hamstrings are quite sore, probably from the RDL's.  Should make running at lunch (or whatever cardio I end up doing) a bit hard...

 

OHP 3x8x45

Squats 3x8x95

Pull ups 4,4,4 +3

Bench press 3x8x85

Sit ups 40

RDL 1x45x10; 3x65x10

Ham stretch R 67 L 64

[mediaguy99]

11 hours ago, SkyGirl said:

Hi! I was intrigued by your username because I'm a graduate student in science journalism ... I came for the media, but I'm staying for the archery!! I keep wanting to make time for my university's archery club/team because my dad is a good archer, and like most fantasy geeks, I'm obsessed with archer/ranger-style characters.    Never actually tried, though. I will someday!

 

Good luck on your challenge and getting your cholesterol down! That sounds a bit sobering - I hope your diet changes get you headed back in the right direction!

 

Yes, cool to take time for archery! And yeah, the cholesterol thing has always been something to keep an eye on, but I've followed a paleo-ish diet for a long time and seen it cause it to creep upwards.  So now... changes.

[mediaguy99]

So muscle soreness kept me from running yesterday, but I've got a solid plan for foam rolling and stretching during the first half of the day today, and a run with Mrs. Mediaguy after work, so I am still on track.  Stacked my diet with solid soluble fiber choices yesterday, so much so that I was practically stuffed by the time I got home.  My crazy fiber smoothie makes such a good lunch!

 

Working from home today, and the apprentice ranger is home with me too because it's conference week at his elementary school.  So I don't think I'll be as productive as I want to be but we'll have to see.

[mediaguy99]

Some race options:

 

8 mile trail run:

https://runsignup.com/Race/CO/Larkspur/GreenlandTrailRaces?aflt_token=vkmwDmweQ4iCYn8otSOOnKQ3vCO8buOw

 

10K pavement:

http://lovelandclassic.com/

 

11K trail:

http://www.vailrec.com/sports-activities/vail-race/trail-running-racing/boneyard-boogie-vail-trail-run

 

Something different, that plays to my strengths:

http://www.crgov.com/2001/Climb4Change

 

Yep, that's right, climb up, run down, repeat, for one hour.

[MattSkywalker]

That climb up/run down events sounds pretty fun, and it's great that it's a fundraiser for a good purpose, too. I'm a sucker for those. And thumbs up for nice fiber meals!

[mediaguy99]

Ran with Mrs. Mediaguy after work yesterday.  The apprentice rode along on his bike too--super fun family exercise.  They turned back after a mile and a half and I stuck on an extra mile and a quarter for a 4.5 mile total.  Super fast second split too, running with just me and the dog.

 

We're looking at getting ANOTHER dog (not quite sure why, guess just to have an emergency backup dog in case the main one goes out?) which is fun and exciting... rode to work today, to the humane society, back to work, and the will ride over to the kiddo's school at 3, then home.  About 16-17 miles total which I think counts as a cardio day

 

Smoothie for lunch again today!  Wish I could find a counter that will tell me how much SOLUBLE fiber is in one of those things.

[mediaguy99]

Wrap up for Week 1:

 

Ran four days, rode one, and lifted two.  For the win!

 

Oatmeal (2.5g soluble fiber) or smoothie (4g soluble fiber) eaten every day.  Saturday and Sunday we were at a hotel out in the desert, but they had oatmeal as part of the breakfast buffet so I made sure to have that.  Sunday's run was amazing, off of Mary's Loop on the Colorado River near Fruita.  And who wouldn't love a dog whose tongue hangs out so far, yet doesn't drool?

[TGP]

that is Absolutely awesome! and he/she really is a very pretty dog.

 

:curious

do you see rattlesnakes out there?  I've never seen a poisonous snake.  they are around but they are rare; but I've heard the desert Southwest actually has quite a few of them.

[Sloth the Enduring]

That looks like a great dog.


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[Xena]

Also admiring your dog!

The 8M trail race looks sweet!

[mediaguy99]

On 3/26/2018 at 11:31 AM, TGP said:

that is Absolutely awesome! and he/she really is a very pretty dog.

 

:curious

do you see rattlesnakes out there?  I've never seen a poisonous snake.  they are around but they are rare; but I've heard the desert Southwest actually has quite a few of them.

 

Thanks much!  She's my baby girl    As for snakes, I've seen snakes on runs in Colorado. One of the places near our house is called Boulder Valley Ranch but it used to be called Rattlesnake Gulch and I've seen the majority of my poisonous snakes over there.  They typically let you know when they're annoyed with you.  

 

That particular run was out on the other side of the state and it was way too cold out to be worried about snakes.  Probably got up to 50F by the time we were done.

 

On 3/26/2018 at 3:26 PM, Sloth the Enduring said:

That looks like a great dog.
 

 

Thanks so much!

 

On 3/26/2018 at 7:46 PM, Xena said:

Also admiring your dog!

The 8M trail race looks sweet!

 

She says "Thank you" and yes she knows she's pretty  Yes that does look like the right race to start the season with.  I want to do summer biathlon races this year, or archery biathlon races, so anything that gets me motivated to train right now in the early season is good.