This past year has been a year of change for my fitness and health. Nearly a year ago, I began a military training class at 211 pounds. Over the course of the 6-week class, I got down to 195. I lost another 4 pounds a month later when I had some wisdom teeth removed. In September, I injured my back, and put those 4 pounds back on. Through the winter holidays, I put on another 3 pounds. I lost a few pounds, but I was stuck between 195 and 197. In April, I did a two-week liquid diet (protein shakes and soups), which broke me out of that rut, and took me down to 186. As of this morning, I'm now down to 184, and the liquid diet has shrunk my appetite so that I'm eating at most half of what I used to at each meal.
Over the course of this year, during the periods of training, my focus has been on short-term goals - lose 1-2 lbs/wk. I've been thinking about what I wanted to select as a “high-water mark” - a weight that I do not want to ever be over again. I'm not planning on making any major changes in my training and diet, and I'm sure that my weight loss will slow. I've selected 175 as my first high-water mark, and set as a goal being that weight by my birthday, September 14th. That will put me at 3 lbs/month loss; along with running speed work and endurance, and body-weight-resistance strength training, I believe that's a reasonable rate of loss.
I also have performance-related goals for my running. By July 1st, I want to be able to do 1.5 miles in 14 minutes. (That's a requirement of my employer.) As long-term goals yet without dates, I'd like to do a 5K in 30 minutes, then a 10K in 60 minutes. All 3 goals involve running approximately the same pace, just for a longer period of time straight.
Why am I making this public? Well, first, I'm excited about the progress I've made; I'm in better shape than I've been in 10 years. Second, by making it public, it makes it a lot tougher for me to change them (to make them easier, anyway). So, to summarize, my fitness goals as they currently stand:
Friday, February 5, 2010
10:04 pm
Daniel J. Summers
The results are below, but first, the set up…
January 5th, 2010 was the first day back to work for me after the new year. I decided to put the radio on 91.5, which is our local Family Life Radio station. They were advertising a 30-Day Challenge - listen only to that radio station for 30 days. At the time, I didn't commit to it, but I thought “Eh, I'll give it a shot.” I only drive about 10 minutes one way to work, but driving home at lunch and back, then home for good in the afternoon, we start getting into some real time. At these times, they are generally playing music, or the DJs are discussing the topic of the day. A few weeks in, I befriended Dan Rosecrans, the local morning host, on Facebook. (He just recently got a national show on Sundays, playing praise music; congratulations, Dan!)
They also have talk programs. At work, I generally listen to podcasts or music from my computer, as I can't just tell people “Leave me alone - I'm listening to my radio program!” At my wife's suggestion, I subscribed to Intentional Living. They were doing a series of “If I Could Do It All Over Again” shows on different topic. Those weren't really doing much for me, and I asked my wife about her experience. She suggested I wait it out, as it was a show that she really enjoyed. She was right; I now wholeheartedly recommend it. I also, through driving my oldest son to scouts, heard Focus on the Family's daily broadcast. I wasn't new to FOTF at all, but I heard part of a show that interested me, and subscribed to their podcast as well. Their feed has about 4 months of recent episodes, and they have been hitting home runs every week! So, even when I wasn't listening to FLR, I was listening to a few of their shows, in a way where I wouldn't miss any of it.
The results…
The first week, it actually seemed like more things were going wrong than right. Work was stressful, home was stressful, and I wasn't handling it well in either place. Over the next few weeks, though, I began to have peace. The problems didn't go away, but I now have peace within them. More challenges have been thrown at me, and I'm not going to air a dirty laundry list, but in all of it, I have a peace about everything that is going on. Of course, that doesn't mean that I'm not trying to work through the problems and make them better; but, when I do what I believe God is telling me to do, I don't have to stress about the results - those are His problems now.
Even now, just shortly removed from them, I can see where some of these challenges (even those in the first week) have worked together for good, to help me address struggles that I've had as long as I can remember. 2010 is going to be an outstanding year, and FLR is a resource I'm going to keep.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
10:16 pm
Daniel J. Summers
(OK - that's counting years I missed it. Not missing it this year…)
This year, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday has been expanded to Sanctity of Human Life Week, beginning 17 Jan 10. The image you see to the left will be my profile picture on Facebook for the duration of this week. These days, with medical technology being what it is, the argument against abortion is really quite simple. Back in 1973, when Roe v. Wade was decided, ultrasound was in its infancy (pardon the pun). We had no clue, comparatively, to what goes on inside a womb the way we do today. Most babies' hearts are beating before their mothers realizes they are pregnant. All the activity that goes on in there is amazing, and 3-D and 4-D ultrasounds have opened up this world to us.
What's the difference if the baby is drinking through a tube or through its mouth? We don't euthanize preemies that have to have feeding tubes; and even after birth, the mother has the responsibility of feeding her baby. There are periods during pregnancy now when, depending on what the mother wants, she can either have a preemie (who, though challenged, will probably make it), or an abortion. Is that the “choice” that the pro-choice crowd is for? Why is it that, during this most precarious time, when they need protecting the most, people feel entitled to snuff out that life? There's a reason that I call my abortion category “Prenatal Murder” - that's exactly what it is.
And the numbers - these numbers are staggering! Current Red Cross estimates put the Haiti earthquake casualty count at 45,000-50,000. Around the world, there are 1,206,000 abortions a month; divide that by 30, you get 40,200 a day. In the United States alone, we're running at 1,206,200 a year, which means we take about two weeks to kill that many babies just in this country.
There's a Haiti-a-day going on in the wombs of women around the world. These precious babies' voices are too soft to be heard - will you speak up for them?
Monday, January 4, 2010
11:17 pm
Daniel J. Summers
Time for another history lesson; nobody learned from Y2K. Today is January 5, 2010, which is the last year of the first decade of the 21st century. The reason, of course, is very simple - the first year of the Gregorian calendar is 1, not 0. The first year was 1, so the first decade was from 1-10. The tenth decade was 91-100. The second millennium was from 1001-2000, so the “new millennium” did not begin until 2001.
This is different, of course, from birthdays. When one is born, your age is 0; your “first birthday” comes one year after your birth (at the completion of that year). So, when you turn 10, you've completed a decade. Your cars' odometer is the same; it starts at 0, so when it rolls 100,000, you've completed your first 100,000 miles. With years starting with 1, we haven't completed the last year of this decade.
Feel free to buy the hype if you want, but now you'll be doing it with full knowledge of the facts; just because the tens digit changes doesn't mean it's a new decade. Just think - if you get your facts straight, you can have a huge party 359 days from now to celebrate The New Decade!
Friday, October 9, 2009
12:00 pm
Daniel J. Summers
This week has been the 2009 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. I've been “live-photo-blogging” the event when I go, and uploading the pictures to Facebook. The album is public - even if you're not on Facebook, you can still view the album.
The final live photos will probably be Sunday morning during the farewell mass ascension, from 0700-0900 MDT. Hope you enjoy them!
Friday, September 11, 2009
9:12 pm
Daniel J. Summers
Note - This tribute is part of Project 2996, a blogosphere-wide effort to ensure that none of the Americans whose lives were taken on September 11, 2001 are forgotten. See the entire list at their site, linked in the previous sentence.
It is a crisp late summer morning. A couple is parting ways at an airport. While that's not an altogether uncommon sight, for Neil and Ellen Mariani, it would be the last time they would see one another. Neil was 59 years old; 4 of those years he had spent serving his country in the United States Air Force, and many more years working for HP Hood Dairy, from where he had retired. An avid photographer, he was known for his ever-present Minolta camera - he even developed his own film!
His step-daughter was engaged to be married on September 15, 2001, and he had decided to go out to California to attend the wedding. He made this decision at the last minute, so he and Ellen had different flights; Ellen had a layover in Chicago, while Neil had the cross-country UA 175 flight. Ellen wrote a letter to her husband after the wedding, and rather than put it in my words, I'll put in hers.
DEAR NEIL…
I, as your wife, have searched for sane answers to what happened on that beautiful, sunny, warm Tuesday, September 11, 2001. You, Neil, were so tanned and fit, happy to be leaving with me before dawn for Boston's Logan Airport. You and I were traveling on separate planes to the California wedding of my daughter, Gina, your step-daughter. You decided to go out for the wedding at the very last minute, and to help pay for the ticket, we held garage sales together.
Neil, I will never forget when we said goodbye at Boston Airport. Neil, you as a gentleman were always carrying heavy items for me, and that morning, you carried inside the terminal two large boxes full of toys for our grand-kids that were to be there for the wedding as flower girl and ring bearer.
You kissed me at the curb and said goodbye. Then you kissed me again inside and said “See you, Ellen. I'll arrive three minutes after your plane lands,” and walked away. But suddenly, you came back, gave me a third kiss and a big hug. It was then I noticed you seemed nervous. I thought it was because you were not used to flying. You then said goodbye for the third time, then left. I looked back to catch a last glance at you, Neil, but you were gone and out of sight.
Neil, you never made it to California for Gina's wedding that September 15, 2001. I left two hours before you and had a scheduled layover in Chicago. It was there that I found out what had happened to you. Your plane, United Airlines Flight 175, had crashed into the second tower of the World Trade Center. You, my husband, were gone in a ball of fire. The September 15th wedding of Gina's went on in defiance of what had happened on September 11th.
Now as I stood as a new widow of four days, Gina asked me to give her away to be married. I wore two yellow roses, and made a toast in remembrance of you.
Neil, you are the perfect example of the type of American that makes this country great. Thank you for being the man that you were - America is a poorer place without you here.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
5:58 pm
Daniel J. Summers
I completed my second 10K this morning, running the inaugural Dam to Dam Run to benefit Brent's Place. Brent's Place is a set of apartments in Denver, Colorado, meticulously maintained to prevent infection, where families with children with severe medical conditions (cancer, transplants, etc.) can live together during important times in their life. I had never heard of them before signing up for the race, and hadn't really heard about them until the start of the race. It was nice to know that most of my registration fee goes to helping these folks do their great work.
On the performance side, I beat my Chunky Monkey (CM hereafter) time by 3:22. This was especially exciting because the CM course was pretty much flat, and this course was more like a cross-country course. I ran sub-12 minute miles at this distance for the first time. It wasn't an easy run, but I was exhilarated when I turned the corner towards the finish line and saw the clock.
Starbucks, Keva Juice, and Great Harvest Bread were three of the sponsors of the event. I felt better after this one than I did after CM, and the water, bread, 1/2 pint of chocolate milk, and bold coffee really hit the spot. Plus, during the awards ceremony, they picked some runners at random to give a door prize. When they called out 102, it took me a second to realize that was me! :) I got a pair of sport socks that are themed from Brent's Place - a picture of them is at the end of this post.
Up next, I'm still undecided. The next Athlete's Edge run is a trail run - not quite sure I'm ready for that, but not unsure either. We'll have to see how that goes.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
10:34 pm
Daniel J. Summers
Come 1 Sep, I'm going to register for the Dam to Dam Run 2009. This route for this run starts at Tramway and Academy, and goes north along the dams on the arroyos coming down from the Sandias. There's a 200-foot gain throughout the run (and a 200-foot loss, as the course is an out-and-back), so this should be a bit of a challenge, especially the hill between miles 2 and 3.
I'm looking forward to this, as I had to miss the race I was going to do on August 16th due to my wisdom tooth extraction. You Albuquerque people, come out and join me! Registration is open until September 3rd.
I've been asked by some, regarding my last post, what my solution is for the problems that plague our current health care system. I was also accused of being too verbose - so, here is my solution, minus the qualifications that tend to make my explanations longer. So, no griping about sweeping generalizations - just ask for clarification. :) Without further ado, I present Dr. Daniel's Prescription for Health Care Reform.
Illegals Gone
With the number of people who are in this country legally, we cannot support those who are not. This extends to emergency care as well, because if we leave that open, we'll just have illegals using the ER for their everyday health care. Raises the stakes a little, but we can't afford to fix everyone “for free.” Additionally, insurers must verify citizenship for their standard policyholders. They are still free to obtain health care at their own expense.
End HMO/PPO Discounts
This is the #1 thing that drives the cost of health care for the uninsured. To get what they need, providers have artificially inflated their charges; so, when they apply the HMO/PPO discounts, they get what they wanted to begin with. Make these post-markup, post-discount prices the standard prices, and health care becomes much more affordable, even for the self-insured (AKA uninsured).
Choose Your Own Coverage
There is no reason that a single male should buy a policy that, by law, must cover OB/GYN services. People should have the ability to select only the coverage they need, and companies should have the right to sell it to them. Don't want prescriptions covered? Don't buy the coverage - buy the $10 90-day supply from Wal-Mart instead. This will let premiums be lower for people who only desire catastrophic coverage, and would bring health insurance more in line with homeowner and auto insurance.
Just the Total, Please
There is absolutely no reason that someone should receive 4 bills for one visit. However, go to the ER, and you'll likely end up with a hospital bill, a doctor's group bill, a radiology bill, and maybe even a laboratory bill. Funnel all billing through one of these; the hospital or doctor's office is the one I would pick. This will make it easy to get estimates and totals for the consumer, and I'm sure that, given this requirement, these organizations could come up with an efficient way to make it happen pretty quickly. I see this as a parallel to the standard “Nutrition Facts” labels on food - one bill from one place, with no hidden charges.
There you have it. Take four of these and call me in the morning if pain persists.
This year, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday has been expanded to Sanctity of Human Life Week, beginning 17 Jan 10. The image you see to the left will be my profile picture on Facebook for the duration of this week. These days, with medical technology being what it is, the argument against abortion is really quite simple. Back in 1973, when Roe v. Wade was decided, ultrasound was in its infancy (pardon the pun). We had no clue, comparatively, to what goes on inside a womb the way we do today. Most babies' hearts are beating before their mothers realizes they are pregnant. All the activity that goes on in there is amazing, and 3-D and 4-D ultrasounds have opened up this world to us.
It is a crisp late summer morning. A couple is parting ways at an airport. While that's not an altogether uncommon sight, for Neil and Ellen Mariani, it would be the last time they would see one another. Neil was 59 years old; 4 of those years he had spent serving his country in the United States Air Force, and many more years working for