Middle-Aged-Man

This morning, I left the house at 4:45am to drive down to Temple City to meet up with Jim Pike, my wife’s cousins husband. We loaded up the bikes and headed to Bell Gardens. Since we were a bit early, we stopped at Starbucks for some coffee. We got to the John Aston Ford Park and Jim registered, I pre-registered. Due to possible rain, we stated upfront that we would do the 30 miler, instead of the 62. That made more sense, since I am so out of shape. I have only rode twice this calendar year. Once for 25 miles and last weekend for 36 miles.

The course was just beautiful and we cycled up the San Gabriel river for six miles and then up the hill to Montebello. Down we went and got some light rain. Cycling has really thin tires and with rain and a guy who is heavy, the center of gravity is also high, so I needed to be careful. I had to reduce speed around any corners just to be sure not to crash.

After the first stop about 17 miles, in the rain picked up again. We could feel the temperature drop and rain increase. When we got down with south bound river segment, and went west on Foster road, the rain just opened up on us. It rained really hard and filled the streets with plenty of water. Being we were riding in inches of water on the roads, there was not a dry spot on us. I feared for my phone not surviving (it did). We finished up in about two hours, wet and cold. The meal was nice (chicken, bread, and salad). We were some of the first to return, so we were able to find cover out of the rain while we eat.

My Garmin data.

Yesterday, I got and did a little exercise. I did 24,000 steps which includes my cycling of 22 miles. Today, I am a little sore. The wife and I went out this morning for a light walk/run. That hurt. I am so out of shape, it is embarrassing.

I got on the bike, the first time this year and cycled West. It was cold and the wind was way up. I thought of quitting before the first mile was done. I stuck it out and rode from the house to 30th West and went North; Just to keep the wind at bay. I rode out to 60th street West and Avenue B in Rosamond and returned. It took me an hour and 50 minutes to go 22 miles. I got chased by a dog on Avenue F, so my max speed was over 24 mph. My average speed was only 11.7 mph.

This is my GPS activity: Garmin Connect – Activity Details for Untitled.

I just signed up for a metric century called the Tour De Sewer, it is a road cycling of 62 miles starting in Bell Gardens on March 6th.

I have some big plans this year. I would like to revisit Mt. Whitney (mid July) and cycle more. With the High Schoolers each year we head up to Reedley. That is 200 miles from the house. I would like to cycle up there in two days.

So, I am way too out of shape for those events. I am starting to get back in shape. I am 210 lbs today and need to be about 190 lbs in July. So let the fat and laziness go away and let’s start being active.

If anyone local wants to join me in road cycling, local hikes, or walking let me know! Yes, I am still walking. I am about to reach 10 million steps. Today I am at 9,614,669 steps.

Pano on top of Grass Mountain

The day after Thanksgiving is a perfect time for a hike. I asked our friends the Avery’s to go on a hike. So, Romina and Jim with their son Jordan joined me. As well, my wife Teri and our daughter’s boy friend Ryan went. Of course my goofy dog, Chip had to go. We left the house at 9:00 am and drove over in two cars. My dog was so excited to go he was a real pain in the car.

We did the hike, for me. It was nice and not difficult. I had numbness in my left foot. I think my clothing including my socks are too tight, it may be that I need to loose some weight.

Overall we all had a good time, when we finished we headed out to eat some Mexican food.

Since I got my dog his hikin’ boots, I wanted to get out more with him. We went again (also last Friday) to hike Mt Rosemond. Here is a video.

Here is a map, click here to open.

Ok, here is my weight loss numbers…  I started on September 7th at 210 lbs and 30 days later I am 203.2. That is 6.8lbs in one month. You can see some stumbling but, it evened out. Charted, this is how it looks.

I  managed to get out of the house and go for a ride. I left the house in the afternoon in about 80 degrees. There was no wind, but it did picked up a bit and was a good breeze.

Overall, it was about 27 miles and an average speed in the 14 mph. Here is my Garmin data.

As you know, this blog is about a middle-aged-man trying to get fit. Yesterday, Teri emailed me at work and asked if I would grill some steaks and could we could go running after dinner.  I said, “sure”. So, after our meal, my youngest joined us (this never happens) for a short run.

We planned to run one mile (not much, I know), but first walked a mile as a warm-up. We got to  Ave. H and 20th Street, turned around, and started running. We run on the sidewalk; the traffic is way too fast to run in the street.

Did I mention that I had my dog? He loves walking and loves running even more. However, he thinks I am too slow, so he pulls me from time to time.

When two events happen at the same time, bad things happen. Chip, my dog, jerked me a little and my left shoe found the edge of some elevated concrete. I went down without any warning. I put both of my hands out, however, my right hand found something like another sharp edge of concrete. I landed face down and rolled over to see my right-handed pinkie turned completely 90 degrees. It looked like a second thumb. I knew it was broken at the second joint and bleeding. It was weird; I put it back in place.

My family is standing over me, and I asked Hannah to take the leash, although she thought she heard me say “call the police”. I repeated it and Hannah took control of the dog. By this time,  Chip was licking my face. Teri thought I had a heart attack and collapsed.

In a few moments, they ran off while I announced that I would walk the rest of the way home. After a few steps, I decided to run because  my pinkie was going hurt either way.

Upon arriving at home, I cooled off and began icing my hand. I then left for Urgent Care. Less than two hours, I had my x-rays, finger set in a splint,  and got a tetanus shot. My finger was bleeding and I got light headed when the P.A. moved it around. I was home by 11 p.m.

Blurry and bleeding...