Fit[ter] by 40 - Part II

Ok.. so, first things first.. I won't be updating about this every other day, but initially.. you'll probably be hearing a lot about this.

So, I woke up this morning to it raining and went to go lace up my shoes and get Day 2 on. It wasn't pouring rain, but it was coming down steady. I figured if I start making excuses this early on, I'm doomed. Plus, I just got done playing softball last night in the rain and it was a blast. I love the rain.

My bigger concern was about my shins and whatnot... I was originally planning on just walking this week after my mildly uncomfortable first outing, but thanks to some gentle prodding and my ego I decided I'd try to  increase my number of run rotations (I only did 2 last time). Baby steps I kept telling myself.

It's about progress... not perfection...

Well.. I started off and sure enough the same discomfort returned shortly, but instead of just walking out the rest, I decided I'd just slow down my pace and go for just one more time. So that's how my routine went today.

except it went more like...

jog/walk...

slower than jog/walk...

lifting feet up/walk....

power walk/walk

but.. I made it through the whole routine this time.

So soaked, a little sore and smiley I got home. I'm thinking I may opt to do Week 1 for a couple of weeks, but we'll play that by ear.

Fit[ter] by 40 - Part I

As the day looms closer, I figured I'd set up some fitness goals for myself. Not because I want to be Jack Lalanne fit, but because I have a nephew/niece, friends/family and just a lot to stay around for.

I've flirted with being active most of my life and except for periods of 3-6 months here and there, I've done an ok job at it. Eating is a whole other issue though. I'm a far cry from terrible, but I can definitely do better.

So, that leads me here. I've decided I'm going to start training for a 5k as well as getting ready for P90X in October. I'm a firm believer in working your way up gradually into any new routine and I see no reason to change that now. As a part of my healthier living, I'm also going to just be more aware of what I eat. I'm going to start focusing on more whole foods and just cleaning up my eating habits.

I'll be keeping a running log (pun intended) of my routine and progress. I'm not big on scales, so I'll probably do weigh ins maybe every couple months. If I do it more than that, you have permission to tell me to stop. You also have permission to yell at me if I EVER start counting calories.

I'm doing the Couch to 5k program along with my regular biking, but with any new thing I had to get some sweet gear. So, with some help from Wendi I went and got some proper running shoes. Then, I went and got some socks, a new iPod Shuffle and an SPI Belt. Stuff motivates me, what can I say?

I opted to go ahead with the Couch to 5k podcast instead of just timing myself. (although I was totally thinking about buying a runners watch) I had this moment of paranoia that I would be so focused on my breathing, pace, form, the squirrel that just ran in front of me, the biker that I swear is looking at me, etc.. that I  would lose track of how many run/walk rotations I'd done. (Yes.. these are the things I worry about)

Week 1 (Day 1) - I found out really fast how unaccustomed my legs are to impact type exercises. I made it two rounds of running/walking and had to walk the rest of the routine. My shins were throbbing, so I decided that I should probably just take a week or two to just walk and then fire up the running program. My 5k date is in October, so it's not like I'm in a rush.

On the bright side, I walked 2.75 miles this morning and will be doing that 3x a week (and might even try to sneak in a 4th time) and will see how I'm feeling by the end of the week.

Sometimes quickly... sometimes slowly.

Games

There's so many "Game" themes in my life.. Game of Thrones (which is an AMAZING series) based off even more AMAZING books. - I'm sure I'll blog about this in the future.

Video Games - don't have time to get into this one today

Table Top Games - The topic of today blog

So, having said that.. it shouldn't surprise you that I'm a huge gamer. Not Pictionary or Balderdash, but video games (and old school pen and paper games). They've always been a part of my life.I just read somewhere that the average age of today's gamer is... wait for it... 37 years old.

*Flashback 1982*

3 kids hanging out in a garage with a slightly beat up copy of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, Monster Manual and a bunch of oddly sided dice.

*Back to present*

I have my old table top gaming group that I've known since grade school. (4th and 5th grade to be precise) We use to play constantly growing up and even through most of college. We hung out, let our imaginations run and enjoyed the company. As we got older, people got married, had kids and carried on with their lives. Well.. my friends have continued getting together and I bowed out for the last 6 years or so. That is.. until about 2 months ago.

Once upon a time... it was our bold band of stalwart adventurers journeying forth to either slay the dragon or save the maiden (well.. our stories were usually a lot darker - had nothing to do with maidens and typically involved rescuing all of existence from impending doom, but minor details). If you would've asked me to role play out a scene of flirting with a girl, I would've gotten an "F", but I could tell you the difference between a 2 handed sword, a bastard sword and a long sword. Or the difference between a footman's mace and a horseman's mace and why that is important. Needless to say, the ladies were not lining up to date me.

These last couple months have reminded me that it has never been about the games we played, but about the relationships we build during them.

This last week, we spent our first 1 1/2 hr with character sheets, dice and pencils at the ready. We've since replaced red wine or mixed drinks with bottled water and coffee and just talked and laughed. These are people I've known for nearly 30 years and as much fun as it is to get together and "take on the bad guys", it's even more fun to see how the kids are doing and how are their parents.

Today, my 12 year old me as the geeky gamer guy is a lot different. Even though I can still tell you the difference between swords, maces and pole-arms (although I probably won't ever bring it up on a date) , I realize that I'm just another guy who has friends who share a hobby. And because of this hobby, I have been blessed with the opportunity to have my life enriched by some of the most incredible people I know.

Let Me In (2010) - Movie Review

*NO SPOILERS*

This movie was amazing! I think IMDB has it tagged as... horror, fantasy, romance and who knows what else. I'm here to say, it is definitely has elements of the first 3, but first and foremost it's a love story.

The whole reason I even looked at this movie (totally missed it when it came out) was because it has Chloe Mortez in it. You might know her as Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass (which kicked ass in case you haven't seen it). I loved her in that movie. I remember finishing watching it and just thinking.... WOW... she has some really shocking lines in that movie for a 12 year old.

Anyhow.. this is an American adaptation of an original Swedish movie titled "Let the Right One In.", which in turn is based on a book by John Ajvide Lindqvist of the same name. (which I will now be tracking down thanks to this movie coming to my attention)


Without getting into spoiler territory, this movie is deeply moving and the young actors (who are the main characters), do an incredible job of adding depth and weight to their roles.

If you enjoy any of the above genre's you owe it to yourself to put aside a couple hours (running time 116 mins) and check out this movie.

IMDB - Let Me In (2010)

8/10

Something (foodie) dawned on me...

You know when you have one of those moments where the light bulb just goes off? When something in your primordial reptile brain snaps to attention and comes barreling through your forehead so hard your head snaps forward? Like your own personal spidy-sense just red-lined and went WAY past 10... to... 11!

This wasn't one of those...

This was just more of a gentle merging... like a 6 to a 6.2. See, one of the things I've always loved about Minneapolis is the wonderful variety of restaurants. I eat out. A LOT. When I lived in Atlanta, it was always one of my gripes. I never found that special alchemy of affordable and really good neighborhood place.

One of the beauties of the Twin Cities is that there's a host of local, neighboorhoody eateries.

So I was running late today after an appointment in Downtown Minneapolis and got on this Philly Cheese Steak mission. In my experience, I've yet to find a decent Philly in Minneapolis, but I've learned to allow a certain margin of error when looking for a regional food in the Twin Cities. It's like wanting a Chicago-dog outside of Chicago.. or asking for sweet tea anywhere except in the South. It's just not the same...

So.. Yelp comes to the rescue with Caffrey's. I've eaten there a handful of times and I'm always happy with them. They're hip, fun and nice. Plus the sandwiches are really good. So, while I'm surfing the web, eating my philly... I do the equivalent of an internet stream of consciousness. I find myself trying to track down a place that serves a decent fish taco. (it's on ongoing quest)

I'm just really curious as to find out where people think the best fish taco in Minneapolis is (I've always thought the ones at Baja Sol are ok. - but I know there has to be better out there). So after a few minutes of frantic searching, I come across La Sirena Gorda, only to come home and find one of my friends singing praises about Taqueria La Hacienda and how it's the most amazing taco she's had since leaving Southern California. Which.. lead me to writing this...

I love this town and all it's eateries and how dynamic and fun they are. There's no reason to settle for a boring meal when you have literally hundreds of places to accommodate all types of foodie cravings within a 30 min drive.

With that, I think I'm going to go track down some dessert. ;)

Spring Fever

So.. spring is finally in the air, the sun is out  (when the tornado's aren't out in force) and I am definitely feeling the bug. You know.. THE bug. The one where you find yourself thinking it's not such a bad idea to go for a walk. You gotta stretch your legs... it's good for the body.. yada, yada, yada.
 
I've got a lot of projects planned for this spring/summer and this is one of them. Yes, I put a blog down as a project and I'm checking it off the list as I type this. ;)

But a little foreshadowing... I'll be well... talking about whatever is on my mind and like the title of my blog... it'll probably be A little bit of everything...

I have no idea what's going to happen, but it'll be honest, sincere and hopefully fun. If I had to guess, I'd say we'll end up talking about: Food, Kittens (and my older cat Sammy), Movies/Anime, Books, TV (well.. technically 1 t.v show), video games, technology, tattoos, the True Source Recruiting softball team, being sober and probably some work.

Well.. that's enough for my re-boot.

I'll talk at ya later.

Truth be told...

I only set up this account so I could comment on my friend and her husbands blog as they gallivant around the world.

*Edit: Now... 4 years later, I've decided to resuscitate this account and start my own blog. ;)