SlimCache

It really doesn't do my vacation weekend any justice to have to condense it down to one blog post, but alas I have to. Last week I went to my hometown of Orland and it's neighbor, Bucksport to visit family, staying from Thursday through Monday. I was a little apprehensive about the idea of trying to adhere to a weight loss plan while on vacation. I really didn't need to be though. I've learned enough in the past few months about balance and lifestyle that things really weren't that different after all. As I said in my last post, I wasn't concerned about finding workouts since I have feet and there's pavement in Bucksport too, just like here. So this is how I managed to get a solid workout in on a trip over the long weekend.

I've gotten to a point where I know I can afford to take 1-2 days of rest a week. It's actually advised. So Thursday itself went down as a rest day. I was going to have plenty to do over the weekend anyway. I was planning to go caching, and to focus on the more physically challenging and beautiful caches of the area. But what to do Friday morning? I figured a run would suffice and plotted this route as I had stayed at my grandmother's house that night. It's an interesting run. While mild, there are some hills and it never really seemed all that flat at any one point. The terrain seemed to constantly change. It proved good for the resistance as I had only for the most part run on flat terrain. Quiet road too. Oh yeah, I'm also doing longer routes now. Where 3 miles was a challenge a few months ago, I'm now running 4 - 4.5 miles regularly. This run would set the tone for the weekend.

That brings us to Saturday, the grandest day of my trip, and a day that totally changed my perspective. A little history : I was a lazy kid. I would much rather have chatted on the phone, eaten, or watched satellite tv than climb a mountain. As it so happens there is a decent sized mountain only 2 miles from where I grew up. Of course I never took advantage of this mountain as a child. I was too busy doing absolutely nothing. Saturday was my chance to prove to myself that I had changed. I'm no longer the lethargic oaf I once was.

There are 2 geocaches on Great Pond Mountain in East Orland and Saturday I summited the peak and found both. It's one of the two proudest achievements of my weight loss effort so far, the other being last weekend's 5K. GCJXV3 - Salmon 'R Us is located along a trail just off of the main route to the Great Pond summit. It lies along a trail called Mossy Rocks Trail that's appropriately named. There is something about the lush green color of mosses first thing in the morning. I don't think that color is present anywhere else and shouldn't be replicated anyway. The cache was a simple hide and not really the main focus of this trek so I had to get on my way. Bigger fish needed frying and so I got back on the main trail promptly.

GCGD3V - I'm Fond of Great Pond is at the summit. Unreal. That's really the only way to describe it. I was so proud of having climbed what is a relatively steep trail and at no time did I really feel taxed. I was certainly getting a workout, but it was never more than I could handle. Now I know why Eric has had me doing squats for the last 3 months. I decided to head for the top before making my way to the cache. I summited the mountain at 7:49 AM feeling immensely satisfied by my effort. I took in the sights of fog on the surrounding ponds, the new Penobscot Narrows Crossing in the distance, and hawks practicing aerials just overhead. After savoring the sights I pressed on to the cache, finding it not so different from others. It's a regular sized container with the ordinary swag and pencil. Somehow it felt more special than that. Maybe it's because in 5 years this cache has only seen a few dozen visitors. Only a few put in the effort to come up here to this one. Maybe it's too much effort for some, but I feel that the effort itself is just as much the reward.

While Saturday provided the greatest sense of personal achievement, Sunday was a great day of personal growth as well. Fitness and wellness has much to do with your mental health as well as your physiology. I spent a portion of my day Sunday connecting with my father. He's a long time outdoorsman and as long as I remember he's been involved in hunting, fishing, boating, and ATV riding. He tried to share all these things with me as a kid, but again, I was too lazy to take advantage of the things he knew. I decided to reconnect on Sunday by taking him out for his first geocaching outing. He's super familiar with the area and knew of the remote pond where I told him there was a geocache stashed. GC13QYB - Hothole Pond Cache is a traditional cache that has seen only a little action in the year it's been there, likely due to the difficulty of the terrain and accessibility issues. Again, the effort proved to be the reward. A rough haul, we had to portage over several beaver dams that my dad didn't remember being there. It should be said that the last time he was in here was 20 years ago. We paddled just over 3 miles round trip and saw probably one of the most majestic things I've ever seen. A gaggle of 18 Canadian geese came into Hothole to rest for the night as we were paddling out. They were only 20 feet overhead and the impact of the sheer size of the birds was only surpassed by the impressive sound their wings made so closely above. We got soaked and bonds were made. I love my father very much and was happy to finally spend this time with him I should have been spending all the while.

I returned on Monday feeling refreshed, and satisfied that even though I was away from home, I managed to adhere to a plan that allowed me to challenge myself physically. I feel rested even though I worked hard. My father said it's the best time he's had in years. I was overjoyed, and felt exactly the same way.

Back once again and feeling fresh as a daisy due to a few days respite amongst family in Bucksport and Orland. I think I learned something too. Your health doesn't pause for your vacations. It's important to be just as vigilant while away from your normal environs as when you're at home. Temptation is everywhere. For example I took tabbouleh and turkey burger to a family bbq where I knew the normal burger and dog fare would be. I exercised just as I would at home, maybe a little harder. I'm finally starting to catch my stride and understand the real lifestyle change involved in getting healthier and staying that way in the "real world". Plus anywhere you go, if you've got feet you've got a workout.

Down another 2.4 pounds this week. Finally broke past the point where I got tripped up two weeks ago. I didn't let it psyche me out and just plowed through it. I feel gratified right now. Check it out :

Starting weight - 315 lbs. Last week - 273.8 lbs.

This week - 271.4 lbs. Progress since previous weigh in - 2.4 lbs.

Total weight loss - 43.6 lbs.

I've been trying to be pretty active in posting to this blog. There have been periods where I've gone a few days without posting but I think I've been pretty good. I'm actually heading out of town for the next few days, and in an effort to unplug (as much as anyone can nowadays), I won't be bringing the laptop. I'm visiting my family in beautiful Bucksport, Maine and plan to spend the next few days relaxing on the pond where my family has a generations old camp.

That's not to say that I'll be ditching my efforts though. It's important to still visualize your goals even though you're on vacation. There is a cache that's just a few miles from camp. This cache has gotten rave reviews from those who visit. It's at a site I remember from my youth accompanying my father partridge hunting and I plan to revisit it when in the area. I'll be posting pictures here too when I get back since it's such a beautiful, scenic, relaxing place.

It's likely I'll also get a run in, nay, HAVE to get a run in while there. Maybe some swimming too although it's been years for me and some childhood traumas still haunt me making it almost impossible to simply relax and swim. Oh well, have to face your fears sometime I guess. Weigh in will also be done out to camp. That will be interesting. I look forward to trying to find level enough ground to try to get a decent read on the scale.

So you'll hear from me as soon as I get back from my respite. It's important to take care of your mental health as well as your physical, and I think this is just what I need. Expect pics and stories, caches and runs, when I get back Sunday. Have a great weekend everyone.

Not that NBC really needs my plug, but I just thought I would let it be known that I love The Biggest Loser. I've been watching for the last few seasons and have found the stories inspiring. I even mentioned trainer Bob Harper in earlier blog posts here.

I haven't really gotten a look at the contestants yet but it's another season of couples. That is 4 husband and wife teams and 4 parent and child teams. I'll be glued to this season more than any other before as I feel now that their struggle is also my own. The new season kicks off tonight at 8 PM EST.

Going out to the race today my primary goal was really to not die. I was pretty sure I could achieve that. In practice runs I had managed to run 5Ks and even 4.4 miles the other day so I was pretty sure I could survive. Next goal, to finish. I was pretty sure that wasn't going to be a problem either. So next, to possibly improve my time. I had been running 5Ks in about 36 minutes in practice. Since I'm just starting I've really only got two paces, stop and go. The idea was to try to get about 36 minutes again today. I set a goal to crack into the 35 minute mark. So how did I do? Read on.

I've never run in the rain before so today was a change. I really can't say as I even noticed the rain until after I stopped. The course was nice. Fairly flat and through an area lush with greenery. I've been running in Old Orchard Beach so it's flatter than flat down here with no trees. It was a welcome change of pace. I didn't really mingle too much as I was running a little late with little more time than to park the car and get to the starting line.

I could not have expected this in a million years. I was actually performing. That big bowl of oatmeal Eric recommended really did the trick. I felt great going in, and found that I could regulate my breathing easily and my heart rate, although high, was manageable. I actually pulled a 10 minute mile for mile 1! In the end I placed 248th overall with a time of 33:43! 2m 17 sec better than any time I had gotten in practice.

Nothing can bring me down today. I even enjoyed a somewhat indulgent lunch today, complete with french fries. That's the first bit of junk in a while. This could become an addiction. Not the eating, the racing. Look out for me at the next race.

This is to be an condensed update for the last 2 days. Been unable to post due to connection issues so I figured I would post both now while I had the chance. I've been keeping to a pretty rigorous schedule in order to make up for past transgressions. I've decided to keep with the concept of outlining a schedule for the upcoming week and then keeping to it religiously.

Thursday was a gym day. I may have mentioned that I've gone to a more time compressed circuit training schedule. It's more focused though and I think it's pretty much doing the trick. I love the chest presses on the ball and have actually enjoyed going back to the machines for my rows and lat pulls. In addition I did 28 minutes on the cycle at weight loss level eight, and 40 minutes on the elliptical at weight loss level 10. I ended up spending about 2 hours in the gym all told. I felt fantastic afterward! Average heart rate was 134 bpm and maximum heart rate was 165 bpm. I burned 938 calories! That day's good workout really helped exorcise any bad feelings I had about the previous weigh in.

In preparation for this weekend's race, I've fit another run in on the beach this week. I've decided that running is not that much unlike geocaching in that the goal of both is to get you outdoors, and now that I'm using mapmyrun.com, to be able to see new places I may not have gone before. It made my day to see some straggling visitors to our now relatively quiet town playing bocce out on the beach during my run. The sandpipers are constant company as well. I've really been feelin' the beach lately if you can't tell. It's good therapy.

I extended my run on Thursday to 4.4 miles just to see if I could do it. It was great. I plotted my run, again on mapmyrun, to determine just how far I had gone after I got home. I impressed myself. Average heart rate was 161 bpm. This number is possibly skewed since my monitor also told me my maximum was 219 bpm. Anyway, another 727 calories down and the gratification of knowing I can actually run four and a half miles! A great day! Next post is race results!

I've been waiting all summer for this. The time when this small destination town in Maine would finally lose the interest of travelers and I could finally get out on that beach and run. That happened yesterday. It's been a few months since I started out on my mission, and a few months ago I attempted the same thing. Please refer back to GC9DB8 - Norge Troll, posted early June. I can't help but think back to how much that run beat the hell out of me. Now I'm out there running with ease.

I basically did the same run as I've done down here before. Previously it was on the pavement but since I have a race later this week and I didn't want to beat my feet up, I figured the sand would be more forgiving. Right way to go. I felt great afterward with no pain on my tootsies. I ran a course previously plotted on Grand Avenue in Old Orchard. That street runs parallel to the beach and is only separated by 100 yards, so from my starting point on the beach I could see my previous starting point on the road. The turnaround point likewise. The curve of the beach might have forced me to run a little further than 5k, but the difference was slight, and I think a good practice run for this weekend.

Time was 37:24:68. Not bad as I consider the sand slowed me down slightly. Average heart rate was 168 bpm and the maximum was 182 bpm. Quite high but still felt manageable. According to my monitor I burned 468 cals along the way, 30% of which were from fat.

It's important not to get discouraged by minor setbacks. It would have been easy to have been derailed by yesterday's weigh in, and yes, I did some emotional eating. However, I think my self-image has improved to the point that even though I experienced a gain this week, I'm not questioning my worth because of it. Plus I've worked too hard and come too far to give up over something so piddly. It would be an insult to my efforts thus far.

So with that in mind, I'm back at it. I'm visiting my brother-in-law and his wife who just had their first child. I'm an uncle! To give the new parents and baby some much needed space, we're staying in a nearby motel (the one mentioned in the title of this post). I was excited to discover their on-site fitness room for the use of the guests. Have they always had these? Maybe I overlooked them because I was too busy watching free cable and ordering Chinese food in, the latter of which was a repeat offense last night.

My point is that I could have let this beat me, and give up on it just like everything else I've ever done in my life. Instead I turned all that frustrated and resentful energy into an hour long cardio exorcism of that angst. I'm glad I did. Here are the results.

30 mins Elliptical, Hill interval setting level 8

GCR0AT - By Rail or by Sea

My wife on how proud she is of my progress.
"It's more tears than talking."

I found out a few things about myself today. Like that I'm capable of bouncing back after being knocked down, and that the encouragement of others REALLY means a lot to me. The highly complementary comments I've received here, through Twitter, or on PodCacher and LiveStrong.com, have thrown fuel onto the fire. Today was the proof.

I was back into the fitness room with a vengeance today. I went in on Tuesday as dictated by my self contract for this week, but I can't say it was especially productive. I didn't even post it here. I had forgotten just how hard the gym could be, how unforgiving. With the encouragement of the SlimCache readers as ammo, I reloaded, and made a second run at it for this week, with encouraging results.

I'm looking at this time for a more compact workout. I need something that's quick but focused and thorough. With Eric's help we tweaked a little, finding a shorter routine that could be done in the gym. A few other exercises will be done at home in a circuit workout, on cache days, to supplement my efforts in the gym. Today I did one set of each of the following.

15 reps/70 lbs Row/Delts
15 reps/20 lbs Chest Press with stability ball
15 reps/20 lbs Deadlift/Curl/Press with hand weights
15 reps/120 lbs Lat Pull Down
15 reps/15 lbs Squats with hand weights @ sides

This was followed by cardio which was invigorating today.
30 mins. Treadmill 2.3 miles
30 mins. ARC/Elliptical, weight loss program level 8, 128 strides per minute

Average heart rate during today's workout 147 bpm with a maximum of 168. 45% of the 679 kcals burned were from fat.

Thanks again to the very supportive readers of this page. You're encouragement is appreciated far more than you'll know. You keep me going.

GC12NQH - Brooke and Koda's Jumpin Cache

The biggest thanks to Sonny and Sandy of PodCacher for their recent mention on the show. PodCacher is probably the most widely known podcast on geocaching. Their show is absolute quality! The sound and production are great and since caching is such a family friendly activity, their show is much the same. If you haven't checked out their show (and if you fancy yourself a real cacher, you probably already have) please check it out in the link to the right. Also thanks to all the supporters who have found their way over to SlimCache via PodCacher. Your encouragement and support go a long way toward helping me on my mission.

On the same episode they've got Dutch bomb scares, a discussion on cheating, Sonny's plan to get his 900th find at Half Dome in Yosemite (WOW!), and the next World Wide Flash Mob. Thanks again PodCacher for your support. Stay safe, and keep on cachin'!