Ironman bike ride

I keep thinking about it and it just feels too unreal to even dream about it. Is it? It's not that I would really want to compete in one of these things, I am just really curious if I can train myself to actually finish it within the time limits.

So this weekend I did the Tin Man. I rode half the bike ride on Saturday and the other half today. It turns out that my Westminster-Boulder-Longmont-Westminster circuit is about 56 miles.

The bike still didn't feel right on Saturday and I was really watching my right knee, dropping a gear anytime I felt I had to pedal too hard. Still, about half way through Boulder my knee started talking to me. Eventually I stopped and dropped my seat by about 3/4 inch (that's about how much I raised it the other day) and I also moved it a little forward - probably about an inch. And all of a sudden I realized that I had more power and the muscle didn't complain too much. Interesting.

Saturday ride stats:
Lap 1

1. Westminster -> Boulder -> Jay Rd and Hwy 119
2. 1:39:58
   
3. 14.5 mph average
4. 147 bpm average (heart)
5. 24.27 miles

Lap 2

1. Jay Rd & Hwy 119 -> Longmont, Hwy 119 & Hwy 287
2. 0:29:05
3. 20.9 mph
4. 146 bpm
5. 10.14 miles

Lap 3

1. Hwy 119 & Hwy 287 -> Westminster, 112 & Federal
2. 1:31:23
3. 14.3 mph
4. 145 bpm
5. 21.86 miles

According to my Cat Eye bike o'meter:
56.31 miles @ 17.2 mph average in 3:16:51

The Cat Eye stops when the bike stops, so this time doesn't include my food and hydration breaks (or stoplights for that matter).

According to my Timex GPS o'meter:
56.27 miles @ 15.3 mph average in 3:40:27 with average bpm of 146


Sunday ride:
I programmed my Timex triathlon o'meter to split every 5 miles, so here are the stats for the 12 laps, 5 miles each:

Lap 1:

1. 23:41.63
2. 12.6 mph
3. 150 bpm

Lap 2:

1. 24:13.03
2. 12.4 mph
3. 142 bpm

Lap 3:

1. 23:37.32
2. 12.6 mph
3. 137 bpm
   

Miles 15-20:

1. 21:07.38
2. 14.2 mph
3. 123 bpm
   

Miles 20-25:

1. 16:14.63
2. 18.4 mph
3. 137 bpm
   

Miles 25-30:

1. 15:54.30
2. 18.8 mph
3. 139 bpm
   

Miles 30-35:

1. 16:33.23
2. 18.1 mph
3. 136 bpm
   

Miles 35-40:

1. 15:53.21
2. 18.8 mph
3. 150 bpm
   

Miles 40-45:

1. 17:29.60
2. 17.2 mph
3. 154 bpm
   

Miles 45-50:

1. 19:09.56
2. 15.6 mph
3. 147 bpm
   

Miles 50-55:

1. 18:23.16
2. 16.3 mph
3. 143 bpm
   

Miles 55-56:

1. 5:13.18
2. 16.1 mph
3. 154 bpm

Total:

1. 56.42 miles
2. 15.6 mph average speed
3. 142 bpm average
4. Time in zone (140-165): 1:59:50
5. Total time: 3:37:30
6. Overall time: 4:03:21 (I had to fix a flat in addition to food and water breaks)
7. Maximum speed: 38.6 mph (coming down Hwy 93 and also one hill on Hwy 287)

So, overall impression is that I am slacking off. I should be able to pull off average heartbeat of about 150. Considering I am still worried a bit about my knee, this not too bad. I was able to ride 112 miles in 2 days and not get hurt. Actually I had doubts even today in the morning - I thought of just finishing it, at any time. But my seat adjustments seem to make a huge difference - I think I was extending my quad too much.

Things learned:

1. Proper bike adjustment matters
2. I am more resilient than I thought

With those thoughts I went to play table tennis for 3 hours in the afternoon.

Only if I was this strong mentally. Working on it.

Bloody Tuesday

I gave blood yesterday. It has been 5 years - I suck, how could I have been so negligent?. I used to be pretty regular at Bonfils. The good thing is that my red cell count is at 47% and my blood pressure is 98/70 - last time I had it measured by the cholesterol dude it was 114/71. Likely a pretty minor deviation.

It felt rather enlightening to do something meaningful again. I am eligible to donate again on 9/20/05, I better be there.

Heavy weekend

I went swimming on Saturday afternoon and tried to practice what Jenny taught me. Almost drowned a couple of times. This is not going to be an easy transition. Although I did five practice laps trying to move right, breathe, kick, pull and roll. I averaged just below minute per lap. And I think I can sustain that pace. I'll need some practice.

I woke up Sunday morning and went for a bike ride. Westminster->Boulder->Longmont and back. I started feeling my right knee in about a 1/2 mile and had thoughts about turning back. Then I remembered what this is all about. It's about endurance, not power. Not yet, anyway. So I started shifting easy, as soon as a minor hill came up I would just drop and started spinning. Much better. It takes a bit longer to put the hill away but I am pretty fresh when I get on top of it and the knee does not hurt. Imagine.

Finished the ride in about 3:30 riding time, 4 hours total including food and water and other breaks. Averaged about 16.5 mph, my heartbeat in the 140-165 range most of the time. My position is still not ideal, I had to stop in Longmont and raise my seat by at least 3/4 inch, I think I need to raise my handlebars too. I'll experiment.

Obviously I didn't have enough so I went to play table tennis in the afternoon. I played for little over 3 hours straight. I have never sweated this much in my life. I normally start my day with a 24 ounce glass of water, I remember going to the bathroom after that. But then I drank 7 of these during the day (that's 164 ounces - 1.3 gallons) and didn't take a bathroom break once. It all went out through my skin. No wonder they call it the 3rd kidney.

Historical moment - I scaled 179.8 that evening. Well, it kind of doesn't count since it was at the end of a very heavy workout day, but it sure gives me an attitude boost and fuels my desire to continue. Other historical moment is that I noticed I have stretch marks on my ass. Hmmm, I think I am pretty close to where I need to be and then I need to iron out those marks.

Yesterday I went to work and just had to vent my frustrations somehow. Although I felt like giving my body a bit of rest, it started bugging me for some action, so I went for a 2.3 miles run. Just easy, a lot of stretching before and after and it felt very satisfying. Also went to Longmont to play table tennis for about 3 hours. Again, a nice day, relatively easy. I thought I need to go and give blood. I have not done it for past few years and I should, I used to be pretty regular.

I just got out of hot tub and scaled at 179.6 - cool beans.

Body fat

I had my body composition analysis done today. This is the hydrostatic body fat test - the very accurate stuff. Not too bad.

The stats of 2 years ago (7/29/2003):

1. Weight: 206.25 lbs
2. Lean: 165.3 lbs
   
3. Fat: 40.9 lbs
4. Body fat: 19.9%

Today stats:

1. Weight: 188 lbs
2. Lean: 160.8 lbs
   
3. Fat: 27.2 lbs
   
4. Body fat: 14.4%

Not too bad, the numbers speak for themselves. I am definitely not the fat boy anymore, this puts me in the 85th percentile of the population (85% of the population is fatter than I am).

A couple of thoughts:

1. I have not lost much weight for a past month. Well, somewhere around 4-5 lbs (188 on a good scale is about 185 on ours, I was about 189 - 191 (our scale) on July 4th). This may actually be a good sign. I thought I lost it a bit too fast, giving my body time to adjust is probably a good thing.
   
2. I have not been working out on regular basis, I do more of a burst workouts now
3. My eating is still pretty good, although I am aware I do eat more or worse foods than the time I kept my daily blog. Maybe I need to start the blog again? I'll give it another week.
   
4. Going down to 175 lbs would put me in about 8% body fat. I am beginning to have seconds thoughts about this. Somewhere around 180 would probably be more reasonable with around 11% of body fat.
5. I do like the fact that I start seeing the muscles under my skin.
6. I am 3 cm taller than I have ever been before. One word. Rolfing.
7. I went running yesterday. This was the first time since I screwed up the right ankle about a month ago. I really noticed the lack of weight.
   

Rolfing

I got rolfed again this Thursday, session #5.

I'll start with my usual warning: If you ever want to get rolfed and get an impartial, genuine experience, do not read this (read my first 2 rolfing sessions writeups instead). It's not because it would be scary, but I am talking about my experiences here so if you do keep reading, you may condition yourself to expect something similar and your mind may build a response before you have a chance to try it yourself and experience the genuine thing. In any case I love rolfing and I highly recommend it due to my experiences.

Still here, uh? OK, we took the pictures as usual, Ashlane made me walk back and forth again, did her usual "walk, stop, hmmm, turn this way, aha, walk, oh, yes, stop, ..." type of stuff, then up on the table and we did a second in the series of core sessions.

1. This time it was the muscle groups attached to the inside of my hips - of course she told me its name (it's something sounding very Latin) but I forgot it in about 3 seconds - and the upper core (my definition, not hers). Basically, around the hips, obliques, ribs and abs.
   
2. She also took a short trip down my right leg for some reason, like if she felt that there is something wrong there (I didn't tell her, but this is the right knee that I hurt a little when biking last weekend. And although she is aware of my blog, I don't think she really reads it. Maybe the rolfing writeups only. Hey Ashlane, are you reading this?).
   
3. Maybe she saw me walking somewhat funny and decided the leg needed a minor adjustment or something. Deep into the muscles she went and it was definitely worth it - well, I am going to put it through a test tomorrow on the bike, I promise I'll make a proper use of a derailleur this time :).
4. Then she went up to my right hip, the torso, under my ribs and around to the other side. Ashlane spends some quality time on me. She seems to prefer to do things right instead of fast and is very patient. I think that's really the essence of rolfing - the rolfer goes slow, goes deep goes in with a purpose. The rolfee job is to cooperate, relax, not resist and let go. The harmony is created when both are patient enough and take time. I really like that and I am grateful for it.
   
5. At one time she had her fingers buried deep next to my hip and I felt like they extended a few inches and reached through the core of my body and touched me next to my spine. That was really warm and interesting.
6. Another time her hands felt like they are sculpting me from inside out. That was while she was kind of next to my obliques, on the inside.
7. My legs were in 90 degree angle and she made me lift the knee just a little bit while she applied pressure to this Latin sounding muscle and voila - her fingers were instantly 1/2 inch deeper. At least it felt that way. Magic.
   
8. After every other session I felt somewhat rearranged, something was strange and different. We had sessions after which I could not find my equilibrium, we had others during and after which I was shaking and yet others after which my muscles were very tender. I felt perfectly OK after this one, so in its own right, this was strange. Other than my emotional high, of course. I think I am getting used to this stuff, I don't think she is backing off by any means. I felt like things are where they are supposed to be. Maybe she started putting me back together. Way cool.
9. I am really beginning to like the morning sessions. I have time to think about stuff and practice it during the day. The evening session is fine but then I go to bed, roll over and there is just too much time of follow up inactivity. And I am a morning person.
10. I went running yesterday for the first time since I messed up my right ankle. I felt like I was gliding. It was really cool. I was using my legs from my hips and they felt longer. Not as long as your average Kenyan runner, but much longer than what I am used to.
    
11. Speaking of longer. I had my body fat test done today and I took the opportunity to get my height measured. I am 3 cm taller than I have ever been before. I used to be 180 cm, I measured at 183 cm today. I wonder if that has anything to do with rolfing. Maybe? :).
    
12. In conclusion - yet one more very cool rolfing session, none of my muscles are tender or sore, I don't even have to mention that "No, there are no bruises", do I? I am beginning to see a problem with the fact that there are only 5 sessions left and I question what am I going to do after we're done. I think you're supposed to lay off for a while, like a year or so. After experiencing rolfing, going back to a regular massage just seems pretty lame (sorry Nicole, Jeff, Leah, Safra, John, ..., whom did I forget?). Well, OK, I should put it about this way. Massage is great for relaxing and feeling good but it wears off pretty quickly. Rolfing is a body altering experience that, with any luck, lasts a lifetime or at least a significant portion of it. Body altering in a sence that the we allow my body to adjust itself.
    
13. At the end Ashlane taught me how to walk from the hips again. I really want to focus on this, it seems to be good for me, my legs and my back. This time I am not going to try it on a 7 mile walk again. Maybe only a couple of miles this time. I feel I my body is getting to the point we want it to be, so I probably should not screw it up should I?
14. Very interesting week. Jenny taught me how to swim, Ashlane taught me how to walk. Only if I had a running and bicycling coach, I'd be complete :). Oh yes, a brain coach,too. Santa? I've been good this year. Santa??
    

Swimming

I went swimming on Tuesday morning. During the swim I started thinking whether the rec center has a swim coach available for hire or at least somebody who would look at me and tell me how badly I suck. When I was about 5, my brother threw me in the local pond one day and said: "Swim". He would pull me out when I started sinking, waited for a while and then threw me back. So I really never had anybody teaching me the proper technique. I can hold my own, but I know I suck.

This lady came to my lane and asked if I mind to share (normally there are only 3 lap lanes opened at the rec center). "By all means", I said, but in the back of my mind I was horrified that I have a walker here. For some reason some people think that swim lanes are there for them to walk in the water and to irritate the rest of us who want to swim. Well, this lady took a couple of warm up laps and then she proceeded with just blowing right by me, freestyle. I could not keep up and she just looked like a dolphin. Just gliding through the water.

I did about 10 more laps and stopped to clear my goggles. She was just taking a break, she looked at me and said: "Do you mind if I comment on your breathing?". "Please do", I replied since by then I knew very well that she is by far a much better swimmer than I am.

Well, she spent about next 20 minutes teaching me how to swim, explaining things and I learned that she was swimming competition since she was 24. Her name is Jenny and she just made my day. That was just so awesome. She gave me homework, so I got to practice:

1. The pull - elbow up and bent a little, use my arm power
   
2. The triceps extension - that's where the power comes from
   
3. Kick - my kicking sucks, she explained that kick is really there to keep balance
   
4. Drawing on the bottom of the pool with my fingers/pencils - keeping my hand perpendicular to the force vector of the push.

Thanks Jenny, you're awesome, you don't know what you did for me. A truly random act of kindness to a stranger. I practiced today. I still suck but I am beginning to realize what am I doing wrong. I already noticed that I can do a lap in under a minute - and I can sustain this. Last time I swam, my average was somewhere around 1:05 and if I tried to do better, I could not sustain it. Cool beans.

The weekend warrior, part 3

I wondered if my knee will bother me while playing table tennis today and it did not. This is cool. So far I managed to hurt myself in pretty reasonable ways.

1. Got hurt while walking - I can still swim and ride a bike
2. Got hurt while biking - I can still play table tennis and probably swim and walk
3. Got hurt while playing table tennis pretty badly, twice in the past. Five years ago I screwed up my lower back and that put me out of doing any sport for a few months, a year ago I pulled my triceps - I could still run, walk, etc.

So it kind of looks like the only activity I have not hurt myself with is swimming. How long before I manage to do so?

Anyway, played for almost four hours straight, my knee didn't hurt, I don't get tired doing this anymore. This is cool. Well, yeah, I did not run today, I am really not that stupid.

The weekend warrior, part 2

Went for a bike ride yesterday. This time it was Westminster->Longmont->Boulder->Westminster.

Water and food management make a huge difference.

• Got up at 5:15 am, went to hot tub for 20 minutes, drank 16 ounces of water with lemon
  
• Had a good breakfast: 2 slices of bacon, 2 eggs, 1/2 of tofu block, 1/2 onion, coffee, 2 toasts with butter
• Drank another 16 ounces of water before I left at about 6:45 (about 1/2 hour after breakfast)
• I figured it would take about 2 hours for my body to process the breakfast, so I stopped after 1 hour and 45 minutes (Jay Road and Hwy 119), took a 5 minute break and consumed a power bar (protein, carbo)
• Kept hydrated during the ride - I have a 24 ounces bottle now, finished it when leaving Boulder (about 35 miles into the ride), took another 5 minutes, refilled the water bottle at a gas station at Table Mesa and Broadway, ate another power bar.
• Next fillup was at 120th and Main Street in Broomfield at Golden Bear bike shop. I am beginning to like these guys, they tuned my bike last week and did a good job. Finished off my bottle there, refilled with another 24 ounces.
• Got home about 20 minutes later, finished the water, ate second breakfast, scaled at 182 pounds, felt tired but didn't feel exhausted like I did last week.
• Took it easy for rest of the day, ate well (ate chocolate, too), spent some time in the hot tub, massaged my knee quite a bit, also used ice and hot wraps.
  

Problems

1. My right knee started bugging me shortly before I entered Boulder, it got to the point of feeling a sharp pain in it twice on the right leg push down. The dilemma was to finish the ride or call Nancy. I decided to finish the ride but I took it really easy on the knee.
   
2. So I was really using just 3/4 of my power stroke, I would push with my left while pulling up with my right, then pull up with my left and let the right leg glide down. I figured if I overload my left leg, I need to stop and call for a ride.
   
3. Well, it kind of went OK, even I had 3 ugly hills ahead of me, one of Hwy 93 coming out of Boulder and two more on Hwy 128.
   
4. It turned out this was a good experience since I also learned something about why do I have derailleurs and why I should use them climbing hills. I used to just push up the hill no matter what - and I think this has something to do with my knee pain. I would make the hill in reasonable time, but I would just be so freaking exhausted on top of it that it would take 1/2 hour to recover (I clocked my ticker in excess of 190 heart beats on more than one such occasion and I almost puked my guts out couple of times, too).
   
5. This time I would just take my time, realizing that this is not a time race anymore, this is about endurance and well, in this case, just finishing it without having to call for a ride. I would drop the gears to a comfortable level, keep my eye on the heartbeat and not let it go over 160. Well, before I knew it, the hill was over with and I wasn't exhausted, I would just glide over to the next one and tackle it, too.
   
6. Hmmm, I don't hate hills that much anymore.

The stats of the ride

1. Lap one - Westminster->Longmont->Boulder (Diagonal & Foothills), 33.11 miles, 1:45:47 at average speed 18.7 mph and 151 bpm (heart beats per minute). Just the way I like it.
2. Lap two - Boulder->Westminster, 24.9 miles, 2:05:52, 11.8 mph, 134 bpm - yeah, a bit slower. Well, you can't really zip through Boulder at 25 mph, then I had 3 ugly hills to climb with a crippled knee. However, now I think that next time I will not try to go any faster up the hills anyway.
3. Total: 58.02 miles, 3:51:53, avg speed of 15.0 mph, average bpm 142. I set my target heart beat zone to 140 - 185, time spent in it was 2:19:38. Not too bad. I think I need to set my zone to about 135 - 165 for optimal sustained burn. This will take some experimenting.

Things learned

1. Food and water matter
2. Derailleur is a good thing
3. I need endurance before I can aim for speed
4. I don't think I'll go running today.

The weekend warrior, part 1

Another week, another experiment. Or a few of ...

My normal jeans size has been 34 for a long time. At one time in 1993, I even had to buy a couple of pairs of 36's. I think last time I wore size 32 pants was in 1987. Well, I waltzed into Kohl's today and walked away with Levi's 550 comfort fit 32/32. And they do feel comfortable. Way cool.

I swam the full length (and then some) of the ironman swim today. Westminster pool is 25 yards, so 2.4 miles is somewhere around 167 pool lengths (83.5 laps). Well, somehow I got it mixed up in my head and thought it's 89 laps, rounded up to 90. First 45 laps took 00:48:01, the second 45 took 00:48:24, then I added another 10 for good measure at 00:10:55, for the total of 100 laps (2.84 miles) at 01:47:20 - I am pretty excited about this. Looks like I am averaging somewhere around a minute and five seconds per lap. All crawl, no more breast strokes. Way cool. A year ago I could swim 10 laps max in about 20 minutes and had to switch between breast and crawl every 2.5 laps otherwise I would not finish. And I would finish exhausted. Much more fun now.

My weight went up a bit, I now scale somewhere between 187 - 192. I think I am growing some muscle. I have not worked out too much this week. Rode to work 2 days, 2 nights of yogalates class (I love this stuff), full day off on Wednesday, swimming today. My body is shaping up.

My leg muscles were hanging loose - very nicely loose after last week's rolfing session. Now they seem to be bulging up again. Hmmm. However, I am still walking straight and better than ever before.

On the road to 175 lbs ...

So, I know I can sustain 185 (my scale) now. How do I offload the next 10 pounds?

Food intake
I think I am doing well on the food front. I eat before I workout, I eat after I workout, I supply my body with enough water - well, I can certainly improve on my water intake timing. I need to do some minor adjustments, like eating about a couple hundred calories per hour during 3 hour bike ride. I rode 58 miles yesterday (in 3:22) and I was pretty exhausted at the end.

Body harmony
Rolfing has a tremendos impact on my body, my mind and the relationship between those two. We're friends now, not enemies anymore. We reward each other with treats. I feed it, it feels good, I work it and it wants to give more. My body posture is changing because of rolfing, I feel straight and tall now. We have done 4 rolfing sessions up to date, we have 6 more to go.
Starting the yogalates class improves my flexibility and also has a great effect on my mental state. My right side is less flexible than my left. I need to correct it.

Exercise
I normally do something about six days a week, I go little heavier over the weekends. I hurt my ankle while walking, I have to be really careful. I didn't run or walk for at least two weeks now, all the exercise was on the bike, in the pool and yogalates. I feel my ankle to be back to normal, so I'll test it tomorrow. I am having the bike tuned up, so I'll walk home from the bike shop - it's about 3 miles. That should give me a good indication.
I think it would be desirable to do something different every day. The idea of doing ironman is still lurking in the back of my mind but it's one of those I am afraid to state out loud. However, I figured that biking to work a couple times a week and alternating between swimming and running/walking for the rest of the week should be a reasonable training. Good start would probably be if I could do 1/2 ironman in 3 consecutive days. Last weekend I biked 44 miles on Saturday, swam 50 laps Sunday morning. This weekend I biked 60 miles on Saturday and swam 60 laps on Sunday. It's the 13 miles run that I am pretty afraid of. I think I'll start with my small dose of 2.3 miles at work a couple times a week again. We'll see.

The basic plan

1. Eat well, no changes
2. Alternate biking, running, swimming, walking
3. Tone abs and obliques training on a ball
4. Take advantage of rolfing
   
5. Gain flexibility in yogalates class
6. Do not get hurt
   

Reality check

I set my goals on June 18th. It's 3 weeks later, how am I doing?

1. Weight - I frequently scale in the 185 range. Not too bad. I even scaled at 182 yesterday right after the bike ride but that doesn't count since I was pretty dehydrated.
   
2. Food - I did notice I slack off a bit here and there, but overall not too bad. I need to learn how to eat while exercising. I eat well, focusing on quality instead of quantity now. I don't really crave junk foods or sugars. Treat myself with chocolate (organic, of course) or glass of wine once in a while. NOT right after I excersize - I did learn something.
   
3. My body is gaining a definition, I move with a purpose now. I think rolfing is a major player here.
4. I have to be very careful not to get hurt - the ankle episode was rather discouraging.
5. Overall I am doing very well on the physical side. I think I am on track for my short and long term goals.
   

Rolfing

Session #4. I got rolfed again yesterday.

1. I'll start with my usual warning: If you ever want to get rolfed and get an impartial, genuine experience, do not read this (read my first 2 rolfing sessions writeups instead). It's not because it would be scary, but I am talking about my experiences here so if you do keep reading, you will condition yourself to expect something similar and your mind will build a response to before you have a chance to try it yourself. In any case I love rolfing and I do recommend it after my experiences.
   
2. Ashlane made me walk first and did her usual 'hmmm, hm, oh, hmmm, ...' type of a stuff (although not necessarily loud).
3. She worked my feet a little and then went deep into my inner legs. In the past I wondered how could she possible go any deeper (I think that was after the second session). She seems to be pretty good at finding a way.
4. The trick is to relax, as usual. A couple of times I just stopped and focused on enjoying the feeling. It's kind of cool when you can relax because someone is jamming their elbow ('the blade' seems to be the official rolfer's term) into your legs. Notice I said 'because' and I meant it. Good mental exercise.
   
5. I am also beginning to notice a trend here. We work on the torso in one session, legs in the next one, then upper body again, then legs ...
6. She wanted me to walk back and forth in the halftime when she was done with my left leg. It felt really heavy and I was a bit off balance.
7. Then she did the other leg and I regained my balance, although both legs felt pretty heavy.
8. Didn't have any jitters or shakes this time.
9. Although she went deeper than ever before - yet one more time, no bruises.
10. I rode my big bike (motorcycle) this time and I started questioning my choice of vehicles. I thought it's probably not a good idea to be a bit unstable and ride a bike. To my surprise, my legs just wrapped around the bike and I had a very good feeling of being in touch with the bike on my way back. Interesting. If I didn't know any better I'd have said that I have became one with the bike. I could feel the machine responses through my legs. Cool. BTW, if you don't know much about bikeriding, this is the bikers nirvana - you feel it talking to you through your body.
    
11. For the remainder of the day my legs felt burning. Like the burn you get after a good workout.
12. I noticed my kidneys filtered a bunch of crud out of my body. There seems to have been a lot of stuff flushed out of my legs.
13. I went to my yogalates class last night and noticed that my left side is more flexible than the right side. I can stretch further to the left.
14. I also noticed that I could see the definition of my muscles on my left leg. This was really cool - I could clearly see the dividing line between my muscles. Obviously there is some kind of a long triangular muscle there that I have not seen before. Cool.
    
15. During the yoga stretches, sitting on the mat with my feet resting, my knees at 90 degrees, I noticed that my leg muscles (both upper and lower leg) felt like they were suspended in a bag, just hanging down. This was really cool.
16. I woke up in the morning and went to the hottub as I have been doing lately. My legs felt quite tender and tired like after a heavy workout. The idea was to go swimming but then I decided to just stay in the hottub (for almost 1 1/2 hours, I started at about 5:15 am) and screw the swimming. I think it was a good call. Took a day off from exercise today.
    
17. Ashlane did some movement around my hurt ankle and I think it helped it quite a bit, too. I didn't feel any pain at the yoga class while stretching it (it did feel sore on Tuesday).
18. Ashlane corrected my walking and posture. I practiced it today, it makes me and my legs feel better. I started thinking of my legs as starting at my hips and I started to use my hips more while I walk. It feels like I can stretch them better when I walk and it seems like I can utilize all their strength. I promised I will not practice by walking 7 miles to work like this. An easy and slow transition is probably more desirable and longer lasting.
    

So I have to say one more time - thanks, this is really cool, I love going through this. It seems to be really helping my understanding and appreciation of my body. Excellent experience.

Yet another entry

Well, it's been a while. So far so good, well, almost. Major events and observations during the last 10 days or so:

1. I occasionally scale at about 186, normally I am around 189 - 191. Not too bad, pretty happy about it.
2. I have slept without a pillow for at least past 2 weeks. I think it forces me to sleep on my back and sides instead of my stomach. I am happy about that too.
3. My right ankle still bothers me. I am not happy about that. The bad news is that it hurts when I walk or run. The good news is that it doesn't hurt when I ride a bike or swim. So I ride a bike and swim. I rode the bike to Longmont on Saturday and back (44 miles), and I swam a mile Sunday morning. Still feel just fine. Took a day off today.
4. The other good news is that my infrared massager seems to help quite a bit. Need to totally lay off of it for at least a week. Which is hard to do, I do have to walk once in a while.
   
5. I had a few food slips but overall not too bad. There was the episode at a Chinese place in Louisville on Thursday, when my coworker ordered way too much food (family style lunch). Well, I know it doesn't make it much better, but I didn't have dinner that day.
6. Yeah, trip to Harry and David's and buying a bag of chocolate truffels didn't help much either.
7. On the other hand, my veggie intake has been pretty steady, likely increasing a bit. I make an effort to eat either meat and vegetables, or pasta (breads, rice, potatoes) with vegetables, but not pasta or bread with meats. Basically, either eat protein with veggies or carbos with veggies but avoid having both protein and carbos in the same meal. Slight change in my diet, I do think it makes sense. My wacky guy's guide to a healthier body claims that the typical American way of eating is about as bad as it gets. You're not supposed to eat meat and potatoes, hamburger is the pinnacle of atrocious foods. If you do have to have rice and meat, just eat a couple of tablespoons of it, for crying out loud, not a freaking casserol.
   
8. I feel taller. Got to measure myself.
9. I am getting addicted to the scale. This starts to feel like a race between me and me. Can I really do it? I have friends I have not seen for a couple of months looking at me and saying: "What the hell did you do - you look great". Yes they do say it and I am not afraid to write it here. Makes me feel accomplished about what I did in past 6 weeks.
10. My shorts are falling off of me. Literally, I am losing my shorts. What a freaking wonderful feeling. A few more weeks like this and I'll be seriously looking at purchasing a size 32 jeans. I think last time I was able to fit into 32's was probably in 1987. I know there was a time I had to buy me 36's in about 1994. Serious blow to the ego, but obviously didn't learn at that time.
11. The other cool thing is that I don't think I have bulked up any. I do a lot more exercise than I did 2 months ago, I feel more energetic, but I don't think I have gained a whole lot of muscle. Maybe on my legs a little.
12. I am starting a Yogalates class tomorrow. I test drove it last Tuesday, signed up for the class. I want to gain flexibility.
13. I did some thinking about the cholesterol question. I think I have been doing reasonably well with my food (even before I started this blog), but the cholesterol doesn't seem to be moving. Hmmm, is it possible that my body knows something that our fabulous medical researchers don't? It seems like since I am depriving it of cholesterol, my body just makes some more. What if my body just wants to have it at that level and doesn't really give a crap about what I (or the medical professionals) think about it? How big of a surprise would that be? I decided I will keep going the way I am going and we'll see at the end of October/November when I go for my regular checkup. I am still very determined not to take any !@#$% cholesterol pill. While hate is not a family value, I do hate our drug industry (should I say drug pushers) with a passion.
14. My body and I are best friends now. We get along very well - other than my stupidity with the right ankle. I normally give it what it asks for and it talks to me in return. It's a two way street and it's so easy to listen to it. How could I have been so deaf for the past 44 years? Such an amazing machinery and I just totally ignored it. Well, those times are over. Only if I could straighten my mind now - well, I am working on it.
15. Working out is not a chore now, not something I have to do, it's something I kind of look forward to. How cool would it be if I could run a marathon one day? How about the Ironman? Wow. Setting my sights too high? I don't think so, it's never too late.
    

What's new on Saturday

Went to Wild Oats today to have my cholesterol, blood pressure and couple of other things checked at a portable lab they had setup there. They use a blood sample from pricking my finger, which may not be as representative as the flask they normally suck out of my arm at my regular doctor. The portable lab is probably not as accurate as the lab my doctor uses but I figured it's probably good enough to get some baseline numbers.

Overall the ticker (heart) seem to be running pretty good, they actually clocked me at 57 bpm resting rate, which is better than I ever clocked myself. I scored well on the blood pressure, but the total cholesterol is still kind of high. LDL is higher than I'd like (borderline), HDL is also high (better than average) so the ratio is actually pretty good. Tryglycerides level is excellent. I also got 'Framingham risk analysis' with the result of having 4% risk of coronary problems in next 10 years. That sounds pretty good, we'll see what happens when I visit my regular doctor in October.

Learned the difference between soluble and insoluble fiber:

1. Soluble fiber (oat bran) forms a gel when mixed with liquids and binds to bile acids, therefore prompting liver to produce some more. The major ingredient in the bile acid recipe seems to be cholesterol, therefore soluble fiber helps with removing cholesterol from your body.
2. Insoluble fiber (wheat bran) forms a sponge when mixed with liquids and acts largely as a scrubbing brush, seems to be beneficial in prevention of colon cancer, hemorrhoids and basically keeps your digestive track in balance.
3. Both fibers pass through the body largely undigested.

My right ankle didn't feel like a rusty hinge anymore, so I went to Boulder to Fleet Feet and got a pair of good running/walking shoes. Went for a 2.5 mile run/walk. Not too bad but as soon as I came back, I iced it and then soaked myself in the hottub. Hmmm, it starts feeling like the rusty hinge again. The shoes feel really good. Will I ever learn?

Rolfing

Session #3

1. I'll start with a warning: If you ever want to get rolfed and get the impartial, genuine experience, do not read this (read my first 2 rolfing sessions writeups). It's not because it would be scary, but I am talking about my experiences here so if you do keep reading, you will condition yourself to expect something similar and your mind will pre-build a response to it before you have a chance to feel it yourself.
2. You have been warned and you're still here. Fine, read on.
   
3. We definitely took better pictures than last time. We used a tripod this time and aimed the camera at little below my waist and tried to get the right angles really right. We have pictures from before the session, in the middle (after my right side was done) and after the session. I am still not posting them here - you'll have to wait until I scale at or below 175.
   
4. Session #3 is concerned with the sides of my body. Ashlane started working with my right hip and I did feel the heat there. Literally. She was right about at the limits of what I can handle as far as the pressure goes. Just about perfect.
   
5. Then she moved really slowly up to my obliques and up to my arm and moved to my back later on. Repeat on the other side.
   
6. I really enjoy the slow, meticulous, determined movement. Have you ever seen Andrei Agassi walk on the tennis court? He walks with determination and a purpose. He means to make that every step. That's what I would compare rolfers movement to. Very deliberate, patient, every move has a reason.
   
7. There was a time I stopped talking in the middle of a sentence - talking is optional, not always desired, I tend to exercise my right to free speech unless asked to shut up and breathe. Ashlane asked me what's wrong. Nothing was wrong, I was just savoring the moment, it felt so good.
8. She has never even touched my legs and they started shivering and shaking towards the end of the session.
   
9. This time I didn't do any reading beforehand (hence my warning above), I did know it's going to be on the sides of my body, I didn't know what to expect.
10. Physically, this session was a bit more intense than the previous one, I felt more pressure, more heat. That may not be too surprising when you consider you have someone's elbow melting the tissue right below your skin and right on top of your hips or ribs. Not too many places the tissue can escape to and there is not much muscle cushion there either.
    
11. On the other hand, when she did move over to the more masculine parts (no bones underneath, on my sides), these muscles felt like a flexible canvas she was painting on.
12. Couple of times I wasn't quite sure whether I should resist or let go when she dug into my back. I felt like if I give in, she'll push me off the table. Well, she didn't, she was nice :).
    
13. I have a couple of tender spots on my hips, considering this is a pretty tough area, it shouldn't come as a surprise.
14. Very good experience one more time. I didn't feel nearly as wired as the last time. I felt much more mellow, didn't have any equilibrium problems.
15. I like to stretch in the morning when I am still in bed. I felt like stretching after this session. I laid on the table and felt like I can reach both sides of the room with my extremities if I wanted to. My upper body feels taller and stronger, I don't feel any different in my lower body, my feet are firm on the ground, standing very upright, I would say. I kind of feel like a stretched rubber band in a slingshot, begging to be released. I guess that could indicate power and strength.
    
16. I talked to my friend at work yesterday and we stumbled on the subject of yoga. I asked Ashlane about yoga and she is of the opinion that it's likely to be very beneficial to me. Got to find a place to go to. I think it would be a good thing to do. I am very inflexible.
17. Nighty, night, I'll probably do an update in the morning or sometime tomorrow.
    

Other comments:
Nothing to do with rolfing, but since I stopped writing down the food, I just have to mention this here. Had lunch in all you can eat pizza place. Yup, one of those shops of horror. Had 1 slice with ham and pineapple, one slice with pesto and 2 plates of salad with no dressing. It was still a relatively painful experience, looking at all those pies there, just begging to be eaten. Although I felt like a reformed alcoholic in a liquor store, I resisted. I am winning this game!


My ankle is still swollen a bit, I am still laying off (well, today was a rolfing day and I don't work out on rolfing days anyway). I will go at least walking on Friday, maybe running. Maybe I should go swimming in the morning - hmmm, what an idea!

Update on Thursday 6/23/05:
Didn't go swimming. Came to work today and my friend, coworker and running buddy S. said: "You're grinning and you look taller. Did you get rolfed again?" I could not compliment Ashlane any better.

I'll add that although she was pretty brutal (in a nicest possible way) and applied a lot of pressure to my hipbone area (I think it's called suprailliac) which is still somewhat tender, there are no bruises. Very impressive.

I feel good, walk with my head up, look people straight in the eyes. Cool beans.

Westminster rec center offers a three week yoga classes. I'll see if I can get in. Probably a reasonable place to get acquainted with yoga.

Update on Saturday 6/25/05:
Finally, a couple of bruises showed up on my hips last night (Friday). Both were about the size of a quarter. Ashlane applied plenty of pressure there - yes, she did ask and I said I was fine. It took two days for them to show up. Actually, they are almost gone by now (Saturday evening). Still pretty impressive.

I'll go to sample 'Yogalates' class on Tuesday evening. Combination of Yoga and Pilates offered by Westminster recreation center. New class starts on July 5th, I'll probably sign up for it.

Status

Breakfast: morning mush
Lunch: had a green chili burrito at La Casita de Durango. A really good, local 'hole in the wall' (no offence folks, you have a great place) type Mexican restaurant. Also had some chips & salsa of course and as an added bonus, pickled pork skins.
Snacks: had a small piece of chocolate cake, about 2x2x2 inches, about a cup of trail mix
Dinner: cup of potato pork leak soup, 1 toast, 1 sausage, load (about 4 cups uncooked) of sauteed spinach.
Fluids: my daily gallon, glass of wine.

Exercise: none - laying low with my right ankle. I have been icing/heating it up, it seems to be a bit better than yesterday, I wasn't gonna do any exercise tomorrow anyway (no workouts on rolfing days), we'll see what it feels like on Thursday.

Comments: it has been a month. Wow. I scaled at 191.8 today in the morning at my regular time (after a cup of coffee and regularly scheduled trip to the bathroom). Not too bad. I will definitely post on rolfing either tomorrow or Thursday. I am thinking about moving the rolfing to a new, separate blog, don't know yet, we'll see how much of other stuff I'll be blogging from now on.

This has been an experience I will never forget. This blog has kept me honest with myself and I am very confident I have broken my overeating habit. Sure, the cravings still come, but I have means of controlling them now. Kind of like with smoking.

I am definitely much more in touch with my body, mind and spirit than I was a month ago. I will have my cholesterol tested this Saturday, I am really curious whether my morning mush combined with generally better eating habits and weight control had any effects.

I am losing my shorts and this time it's not during a poker game. I really mean it. Would it be possible for me to go back to size 32? Hell yes, I know it's possible, it may take another month, but it's doable. I want to go to Chatfield or Cherry Creek reservoir at the end of the summer, put on my Speedo (I do wear them anyway, I am a European) and have the guys be pissed at me because their girlfriends are staring at me instead of them (well, they stared before, too, but that was because they couldn't take their eyes off of a chunky boy in body clinging swimsuit). Hmmm, we're talking about a serious ego trip here, aren't we? Eh, no, not really, I really don't care whether the chicks eyeball me or not. It's a nice thought, though, everyone likes to be liked :). I prefer for people to like me for my mind :).

Seriously now, I am much more appreciative of my well being - physical, mental and spiritual. That's kind of very important to me now. OK, enough rambling. The goals don't matter, it's all about the journey, master would say (and I dare to disagree). It's been a great, joyful trip. I'll make sure I heal so I can continue.

Status

Breakfast: mush
Lunch: my pork feet gello - low fat, pure protein, 2 small toasts, 1/2 onion, vinegar
Snacks: 1/2 cup of carrots, handful of trail mix
Dinner: 3 chicken drumsticks, 2 cups of broccoli salad, orange later on and handful of trail mix
Fluids: gallon +, no alcohol
Exercise: 2 hours table tennis, ran 2 laps:
Lap 1: 2.23 miles at 4.8 mph in 0:27:47, 136 average bpm (beats per minute)
Lap 2: 2.30 miles at 6.8 mph in 0:20:09, 175 average bpm (hit 191 once for about 5 seconds)


Comments: I can get my heart to go up to 150 bpm playing table tennis. Interesting. Morning scale: 192.0

OK, I am officially hurt. My right ankle is swollen. I need to lay off for a few days. This is a major bummer.

Status

It's Monday already, I am backposting (just like Saturday).

Breakfast: mush
Lunch: toast and herring
Snacks: orange, 2 bananas, handful of nuts
Dinner: Oh yes, party at my friends V & A. Get a load of this:
various chips and guacamole, cheese cubes and baby sausages as snacks
2 chicken drumsticks
1/2 cup rice and vegetables
1 cup broccoli salad
3 egg sausage pastries
3 glasses of red wine
1 shot of port wine

Yup, pretty hefty, but overall it was not too much. I could have eaten a bit less, but I decided that today was my day off from being good. And that is, I decided this before I had any wine. I am OK with it.

Exercise: played table tennis for about 2 hours, not too bad
Fluids: other then the wine, had my gallon of water, actually a bit more.

Comments:
pretty relaxed day, didn't work too hard, my right foot hurts a bit, I am thinking about running to work tomorrow morning but it will likely not happen.
Scale: 192.6

Status

It's really Monday night now, so I am backposting this (and Sunday) with fake dates. I did keep track.

Breakfast: mush
Lunch: potato latke (it's actually some sort of corn cake, relatively greasy), half a cup of sobe noodles
Snacks: banana, toast with herring
Dinner: 2 small steaks, yellow gold potato, bowl of spinach salad with olive oil and vinegar
Fluids: gallon of water +, glass of wine, chamomile tea
Exercise: woke up in the morning and decided I need to earn the food I eat. So Nancy and I walked to Wild Oats on 96th and Sheridan. At around noon. Very hot. Bought the food, dropped of Nancy at Barnes & Nobles and walk/ran home to get the car. Totals:
Walk 4.17 miles in 1:10:00 at average speed of 3.5 mph, average heartbeat (bpm = heart beats per minute) at 104
Walk/run 4.0 miles in 0:46:39 at 5.1 mph, 148 bpm.


Commentary:
The walk/run was interesting. Thanks to my new toy, I would just run until I reached about 160 bpm then start walking and let it drop to 135 and then run again. This way I can comfortably do 4 miles and still get a decent average.

I think I need to lay off walking for a few days, had to ice my feet. This business of walking kind of hurts - I think I am using muscles I have not used before. We'll see.

Scale: 194.6

Setting goals

Hmm, almost at the end of the experiment and I am about to set my goals. This is the way I function, I guess. I need a bit of experimentation to learn what I want.

Mission statement: to feel good, have a healthy, balanced and well functioning body and mind, have a nice dose of self-esteem while not becoming an arrogant asshole. That about sums it up. Damned, I am becoming a Dilbert organization, I have a mission statement now.

Background: last time I was in this kind of shape was back in 1994 when I worked for NREL and visited a 'Total body conditioning' workout 3 times a week. At the time my smoking, my 'I don't really care' attitude combined with a horrible diet worked against me, while my youth (relative) and my coworker in the next cubicle (who happened to be the aerobics instructor and pushed me to go the workouts) worked for me.

A typical breakfast would consist of the following variations:

1. a cup of 7-Eleven coffee with a doughnut (the bigger the better)
   
2. McDonald's coffee with Egg McMuffin and sausage
3. 2 eggs, sausage, toast, cup of coffee (at home)
4. my favorite, Taco Bell breakfast burritos (they don't make them anymore - eternal shame). I'd have about 3 of them for breakfast.

And of course, I would top the above variations with at least one smoke on the way to work, sometimes 2 or 3 (Marlboro reds, non of the light or nicotine free crap).

A typical lunch would consist of:

1. Arby's, Burger King, McD, ...., you name it. The bigger the better, don't forget the greasy fries. I was never too much into the giant soft drinks, so at least the damage was limited to the food (well, lets call it a 'food product', I dare not to call it 'food' anymore) source.
2. Chinese and other all you can eat buffets. Yup, make sure you clean up at least 3 plates.
3. Leftover pizza, or some of my own creations - normally pretty fatty and fried stuff.

A typical dinner would be:

1. Some form of home made fried food. Be it pasta, potatoes, rice, or even bread, I would fry it in bacon grease. Top it with some form of sausage food (ham on a good day), be careful not to add too many vegetables, they spoil the taste.
2. Once in a while pizza or takeout.
3. Add beer (2 - 3) or wine.
   
4. I didn't dine out much.
   

Add a generous portion of some kind of potato chips, Little Debbie apple pies, icecream, chocolate, toast with a load of butter, a half a pack of Marlboro reds and you have a pretty good picture of my normal day. There were times in my life when I drank beer for breakfast.

The above makes me realize how hard did I have to work out to get to the shape I was in. At that time I dropped from about 208 to 193, about the same drop as I did during past month, but in 1994 it took me 3 months of 3 times per week of about an hour workout. And I hated the workouts, so it was pretty easy to stop when I changed jobs and I was (very quickly) back to the vicinity of 210 and above. I think my worst ever was somewhere around 218.

Things have changed, I am a bit wiser (yeah, right) and I am motivated now. I don't know why, it seems like something is instructing me to get in shape and I seem to be pretty eager doing it. Which is likely a Good Thing (TM).

Body fat:
Last time I had my body fat checked about 2 years ago, it was somewhere around 23 - 25 % if I remember well. I know it changed quite a bit in past month, but I think I still sport a good 20+% body fat. Considering I weigh around 195 now, that's almost 30 lbs of energy reserves. I think I could do with a bit less.

Heart and body condition:
I have no indications that there are any problems with my heart. I have an ECG graph on my desk from last week's surgery - the nurses and doctors all tell me it looks really good, I had something similar done last October at my regular doctor - came out with clean bill of health as far as heart and lungs are concerned.
I did have a problem with high cholesterol. Well, the bad guy was a bit higher and the good guy was a bit lower. So the ratio kind of sucked. I don't remember the numbers and even if I did, I would not post them here for my insurance may read this blog (yeah, right).

Heartbeat:
There are 2 simple formulas for calculating your maximum heart rate. '220 - age = max' is the basic one, normally used for non-trained people, '205 - age/2 = max' is used for physically active people. I use the latter since I think I am pretty active. That puts me at 183 max. This number is not set in stone, of course, there are a lot of other factors involved. I know from experience that when my ticker hits close to 200, I can still function relatively well. Considering I live in Colorado where the air is thin, I think I can safely push myself to about 190 on semi-regular basis. However, this is kind of open to experimentation and I don't want to push it too far. So, I consider my max to be 185 now for all practical purposes. My resting heart rate is about 63. Therefore, these are my calculated target zones, which I can conveniently program into my heart rate monitor gizmo :)

1. 50-60%, light activity: 92 - 111
2. 60-70%, fat burn: 112 - 129
3. 70-80%, aerobic rate: 130 - 148
4. 80-90%, optimal conditioning: 149 - 167
5. 90-100%, peak performance: 168 - 185

Short term goals (by mid to the end of summer):

1. 185 lbs live weight on an accurate scale. Considering the added weight of muscle tissue growth, that should put me somewhere around 13-15% body fat. Maybe?
2. the target weight needs to be sustainable
   
3. resting heart rate below 60 bpm. As the heart condition improves, it can 'pump more for less'. However, there are just too many other variables to make this a too aggressive of a goal. My gut feeling is that I would probably clock at around 55 - 58 at sea level. I may be horribly wrong.
4. straight posture (rolfing)
5. better harmony between my body, soul and mind
   
6. I will reevaluate these goals when I reach them or sometime by mid to the end of summer
   

Long term (wishful thinking), I am due for physical exam mid October:

1. I think 175 is attainable, however, that may be pushing it too hard AND it may not be easily maintainable. I am not Lance Armstrong.
   
2. Reasonable cholesterol levels (I wish I could measure it myself within a reasonable margin of error, and inexpensively)
   
3. Resting heart rate of 55 - that may be way too much to ask. We'll see.
   

Status

Today was a great day. Last night I was torn about whether to walk or not and decided to sleep on it. The goal was to get up at 5:30, move my legs and see if they want to walk to work. Well, I woke up at 5:30 and decided I don't really want to go anywhere. At 6:30 my 'better I' finally dragged me out of the bed, I still really wasn't that enthusiastic about walking but convinced myself to listen to my body (yup, I am consciously doing it) and go. Learning from the past, I stepped on the scale, got 197.4 and had my

Breakfast #1: a cup of coffee and slice of cheesecake

As I said, I wasn't too enthusiastic, but it only took about 1/2 mile and I was grinning from ear to ear, I started talking and listening to the birds, poking fun at prairie dogs and in general started having an immense amount of fun. I realized I just got high drinking the morning sunshine. What an experience. Made it to work in 1:37 and proceeded with

Breakfast #2: bowl of morning mush and more coffee
Various snacks: about a handful of trail mix and blood orange
Lunch: 2 toasts (no butter) with a bowl of my creation from last night topped with 1/2 onion and bit of balsamic vinegar. The creation is really bunch of pork feet parts (skin, cartilage, tendons) that most people throw away, but I cook them in a pressure cooker and they pretty much dissolve into this rich protein soup that just gells up when cooled. If you ever had this thing they call 'head cheese', you know what I am talking about. It's loaded with collagen and actually has very little fat.
Afternoon snack: had a banana half way on my way home

My GPS heart rate monitor arrived, so I asked Nancy to bring it to me to work so I could use it on my way home. Since I didn't figure out how to work the speed+distance thingy, I only used it as a stopwatch and heart rate monitor. Made it home in 1:34, average heartbeat 136. Walking uphill I was ticking up to 160 at one time. Pretty good.

Dinner: 4 small toasts (equivalent to 2 normal ones) with my headcheese (this one is the other one I made last night, same technique, only used beef tendon and ox tails to make it), onion and vinegar. BTW, whey I talk about toast, it's normally either rye or sourdough bread from Wild Oats. Yes, I can't stand Wonderbread and other crappy excuses for bread. Topped it with bowl of raw spinach with olive oil and vinegar.

Fluids: again, I didn't quite finish my gallon at work but had few more glasses at home and half teapot of chamomile tea.

Alcohol: glass of red wine late in the evening

Exercise: walked to work and back - as far as I know, it is 2x 6.9 miles (no shortcuts today) for total of 13.8 miles, decent time.
total walking: 15.25 miles
running: 2.45 miles
other: did 25 crunches, 25 oblique crunches on each side

Commentary:
When I got home I started reading the GPS gizmo manual and in order to test it I decided to go for a walk. So I walked for 1.45 miles and then decided to run the rest of our bikepath loop. This was the first time I ran since the surgery and I did 2.45 miles at about 9 minutes per mile. I was really watching my heartbeat and I clocked myself close to 180 a couple of times. I need to set my heart rate alarms (I can set 5 zones) on the gizmo and keep myself ticking where I am supposed to tick. So, to summarize, today was just freaking great, only if it wasn't for the damn mosquitoes in the evening. I am so full of life it's not even funny. For some reason this seems to be pretty important. I realized I need to set my goals. Pretty late at the game, don't you think?

Status

Today was not my favorite day. I still have a bit of headache.

Breakfast: finally finished the chicken ginger plum sausage (one piece), one egg, cheese, spinach, buttered toast.
Lunch: vietnamese noodle soup (pho), medium with tendon. Still craving tendon.
Snacks: handful of trail mix, teaspoon of cacao nibs, orange
Dinner: small bowl of potato leak pork soup (made it myself)
Fluids: didn't finish my normal gallon at work (however, the soup is probably 1/4 gallon right there), had a few more glasses of water at home, teapot of chamomile tea, glass of red wine.
Alcohol: glass of red wine
Sugar: none
Exercise: none, took a day off.

Commentary: I woke up with a headache but was tempted to walk to work again. Decided not to push it. I really don't want to hurt myself, that would be quite bad. Took it really easy in the morning, spent 20 minutes in hottub before going to work. That was a good thing.

Had difficulties concentrating today. Not that I was tired or low on energy. I guess despite of my intentions, I was just pissed off at myself for yesterday's stupidity and just could not focus very well. I have a feeling that not exercising didn't help either.

Went home early, stopped at food store, got some stuff and spent evening cooking. I like cooking. I cooked beef tendon with ox tail as one dish and pork potato leek soup as another. I hope this is the end of my collagen protein craze. I do feel that my body is telling me to slow down a bit. Oh well, we have some really potent beef broth in the fridge now.

Feel fine physically, my legs don't hurt at all, maybe I can walk tomorrow? We'll see.

Scaled at 198.2 in the morning.

Things learned

I feel I need to make this extra entry to summarize what I have learned yesterday.

First of all, I need to correct my distance estimates. I measured the distance today with the truck and it is exactly 7.0 miles from our garage to the office parking lot. Since I don't walk to the parking lot and I took a shortcut at one time (cut across a switchback winding up on a bridge), I cut off another .4 miles from that. So, the errata:

1. I really just walked 6.6 miles each way
   
2. for a total of 13.2 miles
   
3. at combined time of 3:16 hours
   
4. resulting in an average speed of 4.04 mph.
   

Which is much closer to what I thought I can sustain.

Now for the other things I have learned yesterday.

1. Learn to listen to what your body tells you, stupid.
I came home last night, ate a bowl of split pea soup (very good) and then my mind landed on the icecream in the freezer. The little devil in my mind can justify just about anything and it just made perfect sense that since I did a pretty heavy workout, I can have icecream now. Right? That train of thought totally shuts up the little angel (who I think is the real voice of my body) telling me: "Hey, think about this for a minute". So, to totally drown the poor little angel, I had a slice of blueberry cheesecake, topped it with icecream and topped that with a shot of rum. And felt pretty good about it.

I woke up in the morning with a slight headache. I normally get headaches only when I get dehydrated or drunk. Searching for the cause of this problem I reiterated what I did last night and that's when it hit me. The sequence of events:

1. I get exhausted walking
2. I eat some body building blocks (peas, meat)
3. I eat a load of sugar
4. I have a shot of strong alcohol
5. I am a dumb ass, I should have stopped at step 2 and go to hottub instead. I can just hear the little angel grinning from ear to ear while he whispers: "Would this be a good time to say: 'I told you so'?".

To explain the logic of the above. Sugar and fat are just about pure energy with no other nutritional values. I think that eating sugar before or during the exercise is probably OK if I really have to have it because it will burn (well, unless I eat a pound of candy). Since the exercise normally just rips and damages my muscles, it's probably a good thing to help your body to rebuild right after it. Proteins appear to be pretty well suited to help with the job, sugars and fats are totally useless, they just get stored as the excess fat I am trying to get rid of in the first place. I am not a nutritionist, so I may be totally wrong, but the above logic seems to make intuitive sense. So, basically, I have worked my ass off first and then totally negated the effect of it.

I am severely disappointed in my lack of brains, especially after I was so confident last night, and told my friend about, of how I am learning to listen to my body and we're getting to be pretty comfortable with each other. Well, as one of my moments of Zen on my wall says: "Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment". So,

2. Don't beat yourself up over it and learn from your mistakes
sounds like a pretty reasonable thing to do now. My nutritional guidelines have been permanently altered to

1. Think first
2. If you want to have sweets, do it right before workout
3. Workout
4. Do not eat sugar and fat right after workout
5. Do not drink alcohol right after workout - in addition of it being just pure source of energy, it also diminishes my mental capacities, so there is a heightened danger of eating stupid right after I drink rum. Pretty obvious.

3. After you learned what your body told you, follow it through.
Learning to hear is different from understanding the words, which is different from using my judgment and doing the right thing. I have to be right on all three counts. Seems like the first step is to learn the voice of the little white angel. It should not be too difficult, normally he makes a perfect sense although I may need to think about it a bit.

Status

First day at work after the surgery. Certainly interesting. I got up at 5:30 and decided I'll walk to work, so, at first I had
Breakfast: slice of cheesecake and a little bit of coffee to get me started while I cooked up one of those plum ginger sausages with 2 eggs, handful of spinach and two toasts with butter and cheese. I figured if I am about to walk 7.5 miles, I better get my body going.
Various snacks: about half a cup of trail mix, about a teaspoon of chocolate nibs and a blood orange after I did my morning walk to work.
Lunch: a bit late lunch, about 2:30 PM. Started with bread and olive oil, then lentil soup and medium rare rib eye with garlic mashed taters. Good stuff, but hey, I walked 7.5 miles.
Afternoon snacks: about a cup of baby carrots
Dinner: cup of split pea soup, slice of cheesecake, cup of icecream topped with rum
Liquids: easy gallon of water, about a shot of rum
Exercise: about the best day I had in a long time. Walked to work in the morning, 7.5 miles in 1:35, walked back in 1:46. The distance is as good as I can measure with the pickup truck (and my road bike), I'll know better when I can measure it with my new toy. It should be here Friday. The times put me at about 4.5+ mph average, according to one web site I went to, I have burned somewhere around 2300 - 2400 cal today. Yes, I am tired, but I felt a real emotional high a couple of times when I walked. Almost a religious experience (that is if I believed in religions), being synchronized with the world around me. It was just a pleasure to be. I could get used to this ...

Other: I am very conscious about how I walk. I did have a backpack (not too heavy), and I walk with my head up and try to keep my upper body straight yet loose. I noticed yesterday that it is a bit more comfortable if I just let my legs kind of swing into the rhytm instead of forcing them to walk. This swing is pretty natural, I do it without thinking. I do have to think about using the full range of motion my ankles are capable of. Ashlene was working on those places last week, I hope I didn't screw it up. I don't think I'll be walking to work tomorrow. Time to go hottubing now ....

Also, I started drinking about a shot of aloe vera gel (pure, organic, just the plant's leaf gel) every day. Tastes like crap (got to take it like a tequilla shot), but I think it's good for me. And the healing continues ...

Weekly status

Well, whod'da thunk it, it's Tuesday again, hence the time for the weekly.

1. I have been doing this for past 3 weeks. Wow.
2. Looking back, what a change!
3. I am very used to the new regime, I have noticed I have a pretty reasonable control over the contents of the refrigerator and I don't even think about the fact that I have to write it down.
4. I have noticed that my alcohol consumption went down as well. I was used to having at least one drink per day, usually a glass of wine or shot of rum in the evening. Sometimes more. We have had a lot of beer in the refrigerator since the ping pong party 2 weeks ago. I don't think I had a single one of them. And I love beer - I am Czech.
   
5. I am not much tempted by chocolate, icecream and other sweet stuff. I am slowly consuming Nancy's cheesecake, which is pretty damn good, but just one slice a day. A month ago that thing would not last a day, I'd have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
6. I drink a gallon of water (normally with 1/2 lemon in it) every day (the surgery time was an unfortunate anomaly) and it does not seem to cause any major problems anymore. Granted, I do have to plan a bit ahead once in a while - you don't want to drink 3 glasses of water before you go and get rolfed or massaged, you want to drink them after - but overall, no big deal anymore. I don't even have to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes anymore, my body deals with the supply in relatively nice way.
   
7. The above leads me to a conclusion that I'll do the daily logging for one more week and then I'll try to wean myself off of the daily status and slow down to a once a week only. This hinges on me not screwing up by eating everything on the table next time I go to all you can eat chinese or pizza buffet.
8. I like the way I feel mentally. I walk more straight with my head up and I seem to feel very level-headed with my feet planted firmly on the ground. I feel tall and confident. I have had a very positive attitude lately.
   
9. The people from the surgery clinic called me on Monday morning asking how do I feel and I told them that if it wasn't for the surgery itself, I'd do this every week. I think this has to do with my inquisitive nature - I am naturally curious about things and since this is the first time I ever went under and the first time I ever had a surgery (well, I had to have 6 stitches when I was 15 and my friend accidentally cut me with a knife - young, stupid, screwing around with sharp objects), I was kind of looking forward to the experience. This is probably my defense mechanism, too - I know it's inevitable (well, you can always skip the town if you're willing to pay for the consequences), so I keep my mind busy with stupid questions and inquiries (asking anesthesiologist: "can you strawberry flavor that gas you're gonna zap me with?" - and guess what? - he can, so I got 'tutti-frutti' for my nighty-night) so it doesn't have much time to think about needles, knives and other sharp instruments which I am not too fond of.
10. My low weight was about 197.2, I think, although I don't always write it down. I think the high was somewhere around 202, in the evening with full stomach and loaded with water. Not too bad, I see the 195 mark steadily approaching. I did see as low as 194, but that's right after exercise with not enough water in my system so it doesn't count.
11. I ordered the GPS heart rate monitor. It tracks your heart and gives you exercise time with speed and distance data gathered through GPS. Oooh, aaah, I hope it's as cool of a toy as it sounds. If I was paranoid, I'd say uncle Sam has one more means of tracking my every step. I am not paranoid.
    

Status

Breakfast: finally had my morning mush again. Had to resist the plum chicken sausage - not too difficult.
Lunch: large bowl of chicken soup leftover from the weekend. Added some garlic and spinach, I was craving spinach.
Snacks: about a handful of my trail mix, cup of baby carrots, had a slice of blueberry cheesecake before my walk, one herring (pickled fish) and toast with butter and white cheese in between my walks.
Dinner: small bowl of split pea soup with ham shanks.
Exercise: today was rather interesting. I was curious to find out how long is my standard walk on the nearby bikepath, so I took the bike out to find out. It is 2.9 miles roundtrip. I added another 1.1 miles to the other side, so now I have a nice 4.0 miles loop I know about. This was in the morning, so in the evening Nancy and I did the 4 miles loop walking in a little over an hour (about 65 minutes), then I had my herring and toast and walk the loop again, this time in about 55 minutes. Not too bad. In a few more days I may even go running, I don't think I am ready yet, I think I'll stick with walking till next week.
Fluids: gallon of water, 2 cups of tea, teapot of chamomile tea with honey, no alcohol.

Other ramblings:
Since the surgery I have been craving skin, tendons and similar animal parts that most people normally throw away. I asked for head cheese at the local Super Target and the lady said 'Yeah, I remember, it's something my dad used to eat, but we don't have it'. Cooking ham shanks and eating the cartilages and sucking out the bones was about as close as I could get. Funny, with all the health craze it's becoming impossible to find the old fashioned fat foods. Thanks God for pickled herring and ham shanks. It's becoming difficult to find a good menudo anymore too (the one I had yesterday was very good).
I guess my body wants these things now. I strongly suspect it's after collagen in order to heal and I am desperately trying to listen to my body lately. It's kind of cool, we're becoming to live in pretty decent harmony. Only if I could get my mind to do the same ... :).
Very good day overall. Scale told me 197.2 in the morning.

Status

Breakfast: chicken ginger plum sausage (a bit too sweet for my taste), 1/4 onion, 2 eggs, 2 toasts with butter. One small blood orange (with the rind - stuff's good for you).
Lunch: tortilla wrap with turkey and spinach
Snacks: handful of banana chips with nuts and apricots, slice of Nancy's blueberry cheesecake (hmmm, good), cup of baby carrots.
Dinner: we went early, at about 5 pm. Of course the customary chips and salsa came in first. Then I had a small bowl of menudo (I have been after collagen lately) and a large plate of medium rare Mexican steak with refried beans, rice and green chili. Los Arcos on 80th and Sheridan is a good place to eat.
Exercise: walked before lunch about 2.5 miles (relatively fast), than walked again before diner for about 45 minutes (leisure pace).
Fluids: gallon of water with lemon, bucket of coffee, had a 'presidential' margarita at Los Arcos - good stuff.

Other: hmmm, not much exercise today, I made up for it with the Mexican dinner. Oh man. The scale is still good to me, 197.4 in the morning at the regular time.

Status

Breakfast: breakfast mush
Lunch: 1/2 onion, slice of bacon, 2 eggs
Dinner: two small toasts with white cheese, turkey
Late dinner: cooked chicken parts in a slow cooker with onion. Had it with pasta and sea weed. It's hard to get a piece of fat chicken at Wild Oats - I was looking for the skin - collagen for healing.
Fluids: 2 glasses of wine, gallon of water
Other: handful of banana chips, 2 bowls of icecream (and chocolate). Yup, fat city. About 2 cups of baby carrots.

Didn't do a whole lot today, some shopping, bunch of reading, watched 2 movies, no exercise at all.

Status

OK, still alive and relatively no pain. Life is good, I am not taking any pain pills.

Breakfast: one egg, 1/4 onion, shreads of mexican white cheese. Complemented with 50/50 oat and wheat bran mush.
Snacks: about two cups of banana chips with apricots and nuts
Lunch: toast, butter, white cheese, turkey
Early dinner: leftover banana squash 'stuff', 1 1/2 corns (boiled)
Dinner: same as lunch
Fluids: back to gallon of water, teapot of chamomille tea, glass of red wine
Exercise: went for a walk twice. First time to Walgreens - about 20 minutes each way, between lunch and early dinner. Second walk was before dinner, about 30 minutes each way.

Comments: I have seen the epiphany of laziness today. Walking by a house in the neighborhood I saw a few, not exactly lean people watching their automatic lawnmover robot cutting their yard. The last form of exercise known to Joe Sixpack is disappearing into the abyss of oblivion! What's next - a burger will walk itself to the grill and then back on Joe's plate? BTW, the cutter robot doesn't do that great of a job - definitely not the English lawn. Hmmmm, 60 % of our population is obese, how could that have possibly happened???

Status

Today was certainly interesting. I had my surgery today, so the last food I ate was yesterday noon, last liquids at 10 pm last night.

Food: stopped at Fazoli's on the way home from surgery and got pasta alfredo with chicken and broccoli, added a handful of spinach sauted on bacon grease. Hmmm, good.
Liquids: very little, had a teapot of chamomile tea and a glass of red wine.
Exercise: 2 hour walk

Overall: the surgery went really well (I think). They sneaked up on me and I went under a general anesthesia before I knew it. No counting, nothing, all of a sudden I was in the recovery room and the clock on the wall said 2:30. Not too bad, I was under probably from about 12:30. The good thing is I feel very little pain, just a little bit discomfort. So, to celebrate my survival, we walked to CB & Potts on 120th Ave in a search for a cigar. Well, they don't sell them, but I found one at nearby liquor store. There you have it, I smoked one Romeo y Juillette and had a glass of Merlot (I did ask, it was OK to do so). The staff at Denver West Surgery Center was superb, made me feel really comfortable.
The scale at home claimed 195.2 before I left and I got on the scale at the center, 198.2. So our scale is about 3 pounds off, I was kind of expecting that. Not too bad, but yes, I was totally empty, but realistically, the 195 mark is not too far away. I have to take it a bit easy with my exercise now, but if I eat sensibly and at least walk, I should be OK.
I am filled with goodness, so far I only took 1 pain pill. If it goes like this, I hope not to have to take any more. That would be really cool.

Added on 6/12/05 - I forgot to mention the observable benefits of smoking a cigar on the evening of me doing so, so here it is. Background info first. They stuck an IV tube into me before the surgery, this is how they put you under. Well, my IV went into one of the vains on my right hand. Here comes the fun part after I smoked the cigar (it took me an hour). I noticed a large blue spot on my right hand, centered on the needle entry point and also, while I have a relatively light tan on my arms, my skin was freakishly white. The bruise was not there before and it was not there next day in the morning. Also, looking in the mirror next day in the morning, the skin color was back to normal light tan. There is only one explanation for the bruise on my hand and the whitish skin. The cigar just shut down my capillaries. Big time. My conclusion is that smoking while getting suntan on the beach is likely to dramatically increase your chances of severe sunburn (shut down capillaries, less blood, less nutrients and less UV filtering ability. Whod'da thunk it ...

Status

The day after I got rolfed for the second time and still feel very good about it - no, there are no bruises, there was no beating, I still think it's pretty cool.

Well, my regime is changing for next few days due to my surgery tomorrow. I had to stop eating at noon today, have to stop drinking at midnight. One paper claims I can have clear liquids up to about 4 hours before the surgery, the other instructs me not to. I guess I'll keep it on the safe side.

Breakfast: About the last solid food I will have for a few days, I slowly enjoyed a parmesan cheese square bagel with bacon and swiss cheese at Brueggers. And a nice cup of coffee from my favorite Peaberry's coffee.
Snacks: none
Lunch: cup of french onion cheese soup at Jason's. Very good and inexpensive.
Dinner: nothing
Alcohol: none
Water: drank only 1/2 gallon at work, working on a pot or echinacea tea, will likely have another one and some more water before I go to bed. Yeah, I'll have to get up during night, but I don't care, they'll put me to sleep tomorrow afternoon - preferably they'll wake me up, too :).

Exercise: walked to Jason's - I think it's about 4 miles, I got to measure it with the vehicle. Maybe tomorrow.
General mood: not too bad, but was kind of worthless at work. I have never had surgery or been under general anesthesia, so I don't worry about it too much. Learning to let go and accept things that are meant to be.
I am fully aware that my attitude may drastically change by tomorrow afternoon - it's been quite a few years since the last time I seriously freaked out. Actually, I can't even remember what was the occasion. I must have freaked out one time or another in this lifespan. Everybody does. I think.
The scale claimed 198.2 in the morning. Not too bad, I am pretty happy. I am probably going to drop a few pounds in next few days. I think I'll need to gain them back quickly before I lose them again. I think losing weight through fast, anesthesia and surgery is probably not a Good Thing (TM), although this method seems to be very popular in Hollywood and other upscale (pun intended) places.

Rolfing

I decided to post this as soon as I can, although I am a bit sleepy and tired. However, while I can still feel the effects full force, here it is.

The session

1. First of all, my rolfer gave me full permission to publish her name. So, she is one Ashlane Hale and you can either google her for more info, or look her up at the Rolf institute (Locate a Rolfer link, Boulder CO, USA), or you can call her at 303.859.1410
2. Today's session was #2 - I am pretty sure I got it correct this time, see my errata on last session in yesterday's weekly status. So, we did the feet and legs. Notice the 'we', although she did most of the work. My job was pretty easy today - relax, focus on my feet and let her do what she needs to do. However, I have homework to do.
   
3. We started with pictures today. Four shots, one from each side, if I figure out how to post pictures here, I'll do it but only if I can password them. Yup, not everyone gets to see me in my underwear, only selected few. The rest of you are better off. We also took the same shots after the session. Same light, same distance, no sucking in of my guts. This is for real, no faking.
4. Ashlane did her normal 'Hmmm, let me see what your posture is today' from all four sides, had me walk back and forth down the hallway, asked questions about which parts of my feet do I feel when I stand up, walk and bend my knees a little.
   
5. Then it was up on the table and Ashlane promptly proceeded with adding a new dimension to the word(s) 'footwork'. She spent significant time on my right foot loosening it up (top and bottom) and then she made me stand up, walk and bend the knees. It felt kind of silly with one foot worked on and the other still awaiting the good news. Well, definitely a bit out of balance.
   
6. The other foot also got what it needed and then Ashlane paid attention to my lower legs and then the final treat - she dug deep into my quads. I always had pretty strong quads. She went in deep, but so slow and gentle, that
   
7. she made it really easy for me to relax and not resist (which in turn makes it really easy for her to do the job, which in turn makes it really easy for me to relax, which in turn ... - whoa, infinite recursion ...). Actually, I don't think rolfing is really easy on her - while pretty strong, she is slim and this just has to take a toll on her body, too. I know, I know, if you learn to do it right, it doesn't take as much effort, but still, I have always imagined a rolfer to be a 200+ pounds bodybuilder, not a slender woman.
   
8. I am sure that by now, my dear reader, you're itching to ask the million dollar question: 'So, how the hell do you feel now?'. The short answer is 'Yes, I feel'. A bit more detailed insight is: 'I feel short and low to the ground'. I am a fine specimen of down to earth humanoid, but now I physically feel shorter, more bound to the ground I walk on, but somewhat lighter. Pretty weird, huh, and I didn't even smoke any funny stuff. My quads feel like they had Sombra or some other Menthol (Icy Hot, etc.) product applied to them, but I am pretty sure Ashlane didn't use anything like that - this time I was fully awake the whole time. My quads are currently nice and warm.
9. About half way through the adventures, my shivers came. This is really cool. Ashlane is working my right quad and my left one starts shaking and shivering, kind of like the entagled electron (google it). At one time towards the end of the session, when she worked my neck, it got to the point that I felt my teeth chatter. At the end of the session I was standing up and my knees were shaking - and it wasn't from fear, for I do not fear no rolfer :). I recall that other time while I was still on the table, Ashlane worked one of my quads and my upper body muscles were firing away (pecks, deltoids). I think it's my body's reaction to the loosening up and the detox process that's also happening at the same time (I am pretty sure, but I may be wrong).
   
10. The funny thing is my walking. For some reason the feet don't end up at their usual places and I feel I walk like a Neanderthal. Or like on a boat - a bit unsure. However, my steps are softer and I am more aware of which part of my foot I use during each phase of the step. It feels like my arches got flattened a bit and I use more of their surface now.
11. At the end Ashlane did something really interesting - kind of put her fingers on the top of my head while I was standing and got me to balance myself somehow. I started falling back at first, but somehow she got me to correct myself. I felt like an upside down lollipop, her hand holding the stick.
12. The homework - be more aware of what I do, how I walk and keep posture. Well, this already started happening. I caught myself adjusting my car seat the other day so I sit more upright, kind of like in a big truck.

Mental effects

1. When I bend my knees I feel moving down, when I straighten them, I don't feel moving up.
2. I feel enlightened and in peace with life, universe and everything. Point in case - I got severely cut of by an SUV from Michigan on my way home. To the point that I had to lay both on my horn and my brakes to avoid a collision. Normally my heart would rise up to my throat in a fraction of a second, my blood pressure would shoot sky high, and I'd curse the driver, his mother and her mother, followed by curses aimed at his offsprings for several generations to come. This time I called him a !@#$% moron just once and shrugged it off. Didn't even bother to establish nonverbal hand gesture communication. No big deal, yeah, whatever...

In conclusion
Cool stuff, enjoyed it immensely, looking forward to #3 in two weeks.

Update on the morning after (Thursday 6/9/05):

1. I slept really well, my feet seem to be firmly planted in the ground. Notice I said 'in', not 'on'. When standing still for a few seconds I feel like I am about to sprout roots (that's not the right English, is it?, hmmm, sprouting roots?). My upper body feels stretched, which is strange since she didn't touch it once. I feel the difference in the way I walk. I don't know whether it's good or bad and I don't know whether my mind will adjust to the new set of feet or my feet will adjust to the way my mind envisions them to be. I have a feeling that the former would be more beneficial.
   
2. There is a difference between learning a new language being 16 versus being 6 years of age. When you're 16, your mind has it's own ideas of what to hear and how to say things. Not too good for learning new sounds. When you're 6, your mind is more concerned with exploring butterflies, ghosts and other things that adults rarely see. Therefore much more open to the possibilities of new sounds. By the time we're 16, we're too stiff, both physically and mentally.
   
3. It is for the same reason I decided not to read about rolfing on the web or anywhere else anymore. In past couple of days I have read enough material on the web about the second session to get a mental picture of what to expect and of course my mind prepared itself by creating preconceived notions of how to react to it. Although the reality of the session was quite different, I think that my unconscious expectations likely skewed the results.
   
4. I didn't read enough about rolfing to be able to describe each session. From now on I will be testing the waters with both feet, no preparation other than what Ashlane tells me to prepare, preferably with the minimum knowledge of what's coming. Happy go lucky attitude and keeping my mind open to the unknown are the only ways to get genuine response unpolluted with prepositions. Yes, I am an overly analytical engineer, you bet.
   
5. As for you, dear reader, if you have any inclination to ever be rolfed or experiment with your body at this level, I am sad to tell you that you should probably stop reading my rolfing diaries right now. But if you never made it this far, you have nothing to fear, your mind is apparently still a rolfing virgin.

Evening update (6/9/05):
I was a bit unsure for the most of the day but I am gaining stability towards the end. It's not too bad, I am getting used to my new feet, I think. Basically, I was a bit off balance when standing or walking, went for about 4 miles walk to Jason's Deli for lunch and I was a tiny bit dizzy. Not enough to have to sit down or anything like that. It was like I had to walk with purpose, it wasn't totally automatic. My upper body feels stretched, my lower body feels short. Still get occassional wave of heat over my quads (that feels pretty darn good), I am in pretty mellow mood.

Status

Pretty simple day as far as eating and workout.

Breakfast: oat bran mush
Snacks: about 1/2 cup of nuts and fruits, about a teaspoon of cacao nibs, there were still cookies in the office kitchen from yesterday, didn't touch a single one. Ya-hoo!
Lunch: this was interesting. Three of us decided to combine lunch with exercise, so we walked to Jason's Deli, had all you can eat salad bar (1 egg, about tablespoon each of pasta salad, coleslaw, spiced peanut salad (yummy), the rest of my plate was onion, spinach (I like spinach), bell peppers, broccoli, okra, tomatoes, ...). Also had about 3 teaspoons of vanilla, chocolate and cream liquor pudding. Yummy.
Dinner: Hmmm, very busy, skipped dinner altogether. I guess once in a while it's OK to do so.
Alcohol: none
Water: didn't do the whole gallon today, well maybe I did, I am sucking down my teapot of echinacea tea right now. Pretty close.

Exercise: 25 crunches, 25 obliques on each side, 4 mile walk. Easy day.

Other: I realized yesterday afternoon that I didn't drink coffee neither on Monday, nor on Tuesday. Hmmm, maybe I am not too addicted to it, looks like I didn't miss it too much. Had half a bucket today (about 2 cups of my Turkish).
Scale showed me 199.2 - that's right, yesterday was a fluke. As I said, I suspect a bit of dehydration.