In the Way

Sickness and Exercise

As you may recall, a few weeks ago I started a plan to start running 5 days a week.  Im not in terrible shape, but nobody really wants to see me with my shirt off either, so I decided this was a worthwhile goal for the fitness of it - but really what Im after is the ability to make a plan and stick with it. 
Its been almost a month since i started running, and I've been diligent - I get up every morning early I run, and it makes for a great start to my day:  Im up earlier, I eat a healthy breakfast, and I have more energy for the day. 

A few days ago, I felt myself starting to get sick.  Sore throat, cough, general achyness.  I persevered the first day that I felt poorly and ran anyway, but day 2 I decided to rest.  It wasa  tough call - I knew that even a small break in my routine and the whole thing could fall apart.  3 weeks in is way too soon to have developed a true habit that requires little or no self discipline to maintain (at least for me), so I was pretty concerned about whether or not Id be able to pick it back up once I was better.  I wasnt too concerned about the lost training potential, because as I said, thats really a secondary benefit in this endeavor.  Finally, I decided to rest for a few days - I figured the extra sleep would help, and resting (as opposed to running) had to be the better choice.  After all - the sooner I get better, the sooner I can start up again, right?

That was about a week ago.  Im not back to running.  I cant get up early.  Im sleeping through my alarms.  Im definitely better by now, and theres no reason for me to not be back on the wagon.  Complete, utter, failure. 

At this point its looking like I should have run through the sickness - or at least somehow made an effort to keep the habit - but what?  Get up early and walk?  I dont know.  Regardless, I need to find some motivation to get back to it. 

HouseCarers.com?

I like adventure, at least in  theory - I like new things, decisions on the fly, and most of all, doing things that other people wont (or can't) do.   Now, Im married and I've settled down, which cuts down on my adventures quite a bit, but I try to keep my eye out for interesting opportunities. 

Enter Housecarers.com.  Apparently (I say that because I just found out about this a few minutes ago, and have had no experience with it myself) the deal is this - people who need housesitting for anywhere from a few days to a few months list their homes on the site - and you (as the vagabond) get to travel to whatever fantastic place their house happens to be in and stay for a while.  They get free peace of mind, you get free housing.  Sounds like an excellent deal.

Memberships run from a limited free to an inexpensive $45/year.  No get out there and housesit someplace exciting.

Rock Band Rocks

So, there's been a lot of hype around the new game Rock Band, the new game from Harmonix.  Having played guitar hero, I was mildly intrigued, but nowhere near the level found on the internet.  However, last night I got m first taste - and to be honest, it was delicious.

Rock Band captures everything that makes Guitar Hero great - the music, the incredible feeling of playing your favorite songs (in spite of the fact that all you're really doing is pushing buttons on a controller),
but it adds another element that I didnt really count on - rocking with a live band around you.  Having the other instruments surrounding you while you play absolutely changes things - suddenly, youre not playing a video game, you're jamming in a band, right there in your living room.  You're yelling at your bandmates for screwing up, or praising them for acing a difficult guitar solo on medium.  Whatever it is, you're interacting with real people in a way that I have never seen in a video game, and its awesome.

Oh yeah - and the drums.  The drums rock.

Resolutions round 2

So, its been about a week. Heres where I stand:

Running: 

I actually ran every day this week.  Incredible.  Im only planning on running on weekdays (I read somewhere that you're supposed to give your body a couple of days a rest a week.  I dont remember where I read that, or if the source was credible, but Im going with it), so its 1 week down.  Monday it was -10 outside when I left.  My breath froze to my eyelashes, making it difficult to see. Im still feeling strong, but Im not sure how many -10 degree days worth of self discipline I have.

Getting up early:

Less stellar results on getting up.  I was up before 7:30 every day, but I was really hoping for 6 every day.  Better luck next week?

Getting to work on time:

Ive certainly done better than I have in the past - every day before 9:05, most before 9:02.  Not too shabby.

Resolutions

It's early in the year, and Im anxious.  I've done a pretty good job of convincing myself that this is going to be a big year for me - Ill get in better shape, stop procrastinating, eat healthier, work harder, and be successful.   Its all ridiculously cliche - it's a new year, I'm overly ambitious, and in 3 months Ill be worse off than I am now.  Normally, that type of thing would stop me dead in my tracks - I hate being cliche, and I hate people thinking they can see where Im headed better than I can.  This year, however, something is different.  Im not sure what, but somehow I've truly convinced myself that this is going to be a big year for me.  We'll see. 

Here are a few of the goals I'm after:

Running:
    I'd love to be a good runner.  Most of my family were very competitive runners in high school (I was not), and they've continued to do so as life goes on with remarkable success.  I want to be in great shape, and I can see that running is a pretty clear path to that goal, so I'm determined to become a runner.  In the past, my attempts have been thwarted by a number of things, but the common thread is not making time to run.  Im going to try to overcome that doozie with goal #2:

Getting Up Early
    I want to be a morning person.  Bad.  As it is, I roll out of bed 10 or 15 minutes before I need to be at work, take an incredibly fast (but startlingly inefficient) shower, and cruise into work 10 minutes late.  If I could just get up at 6, I could run, shower, eat breakfast, get a little work done, and still show up to work on time.  Genius.  Speaking of...

Go to work on time
    My job isnt too hectic.  I work at a sporting goods store.  Nobody really notices if Im on time or not.  Its great motivation to not be on time.  However, this is my big year, and Im going to be a more responsible person - and what do responsible people do?  They go to work on time.  Responsibility, here I come ...

First!

Welcome to In The Way!  My name is Peter, and I've started this blog really just as a way to keep myself entertained.  Ill be writing about everything that interests me - Technology, Personal Development, the outdoors, or whatever else strikes my fancy.  Check back soon for something far more interesting than this..