Groceries are exciting!

Work out is done! I'm just slow in writing it down. Got my workout in first thing this morning. My warm-up was cleaning the bathrooms for my wife's party tonight. Certainly got down and dirty with that one and certainly broke a sweat doing it. The workout itself went just fine. Nothing terribly exciting other than it hurt. But in a good way.

After my workout, it was off to town to get groceries. I was trying to find a way to make it exciting but I'm pretty sure it's hard to do. But I tried anyways. After groceries, it was back home to unpack, eat, and go to therapy.

That's where the excitement began. A minor emergency at work meant a lot of driving around and getting way outside of my schedule. But I managed to get things back on track in time to go pick up the kids from school. Then it was back home to prep some more for the party, feed the kids, then off to my trail meeting.

Phew! Busy day. But it was productive and I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight.

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Day 3 - Routine

Working on getting into a routine of sorts around the house. Not even a week into the new life so I know it'll take time. Today's adjustment was my new job. Just like in the past, I won't talk about my current employer. Not that I have anything against them, I just find it not quite the right thing to do. Previous employers, sure, I'm more than happy to talk about them.

But talking about current employers has gotten me in trouble in the past. I've overshared certain things and had my hand slapped. And while I try to stick to the rule of "don't say anything you wouldn't tell your grandmother," sometimes it doesn't matter what you say, your employer doesn't like it. I also find it easier to keep my personal life and my work life separate when I don't mix them on social media.

It has nothing to do with the employer, my bosses, my direct-reports, my location, my security clearance, nothing like that. As it stands now, those are all great. I have no issues at all. I just don't want to compromise where I am and what I'm doing by opening my mouth and people thinking it's something my employer has sponsored when it's not. This is my channel, my voice, and I'm wholly responsible for what comes out of my mouth

So in the end, no, I won't talk about where I'm working.

But I'm happy to roast my previous employers over the coals. Or praise them for doing something right. I'm no business expert but I've learned a few things in my time.

Anyway, on with today's story. I started the day out with my planned 2 mile run. I went over a bit but that's just how the route worked out. Along the way I talked to my dad and we made breakfast plans. After breakfast, I vacuumed in the basement and headed off to work.

Work was, work. Nuff said.

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Weather:
Temps for the run were about 550F to 55F. The sun was out but there were some clouds. Wind was light.

Fluids and Fuel:
Had a little coffee before the run. Plain water during the run. Recovery was a veggie omelette, two slices of toast, and hash browns. And more coffee.

Aches and Pains:
Nothing hurt during the run. There were a few times I felt extremely light on my feet and totally in a groove. The rest of the time I felt like a blob oozing forward slowly in a herky-jerky fashion.

Gear:
Shorts and a long sleeve top. And my BUFF. Should have worn another layer on top. Should have worn gloves too.

Today's Motivation:
As much as I wanted to continue moving around the neighborhood, the chill air and the offer of breakfast drove me inside to take a shower. As I ran, I realized I'll run for boobs and food. And probably a few other things too.

Naughty Neil:
I really want to eat a cookie. But I'm going to do my best to avoid snacks tonight. I ate a bit more calorie-wise today than I had hoped for. And with my weigh-in on Monday of 246.2 pounds, I really need to knock some of that shit off.

Splits:
Lollipop 1 - 16:02
Lollipop 2 - 16:45
Finish - 32:48

Day 2 - How do you make going to the dump exciting?

Today's challenge was making a trip to the dump exciting. I'm pretty sure I failed but hey, at least I gave it a shot. Along the way, I pulled some serious Mr. Mom stuff. Dishes were done. Laundry was washed, dried, and put away. I did my workout this morning. Pretty much everything on my list was taken care of except doing my two hours of exercise. But after yesterday, I was wiped and was pretty sure I couldn't pull 2 hours of sweating to the oldies.

So instead I walked around like the old farts in the neighborhood. Which is what I felt like when I was out there walking.

The rest of the day was just boring stuff. Organizing things for the rest of the week, helping with dinner, blah blah blah. You get the idea.

Here's more information about Yahoo tanking it in the market. And keep in mind, they discontinued their Work From Home program and claimed that it worked perfectly. That was 2013. So while some think working from home is going to be the norm, it's not something that works for everyone. But for those that can work from home, it's a huge boon to the employee and employer.

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Weather:
Temps were cool, maybe 50F, when I did my walking warm up. Not much exciting going on early in the morning. I did the rest of my workout in the basement where it was a warm 74F.

Fluids and Fuel:
Coffee before the workout. Plain water during the workout. Recovery was more coffee, two eggs, four slices of bacon, some home fries, and two slices of toast.

Aches and Pains:
Well, my ass hurts from doing all those fire hydrants. But aside from that, I just felt old. I also managed to knock out two whole pushups. Yeah, beast, right?

Gear:Nothing fancy, just shorts and a t-shirt.

Today's Motivation:
I'm back to being addicted to the green box in Training Peaks. I also want to kill it this summer. You know, get that Ken Doll body. But with man parts.

Naughty Neil:
Breakfast was larger than planned but I was hungry. Hangry.

Day 1 of #mymidlifecrisis

Today was the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I'll go into plenty of details later about why I left my previous employer. Today, I wanted to focus on the positive side of a fresh start.

The first day of my midlife crisis is nearly complete and it was pretty good. A little more tiring than I expected but I did everything I wanted to do and a few things I needed to do.

My first, and biggest, goal for today was to go for a hike to my secret, but not so secret, beach at Caledon State Park. I had envisioned myself taking a quick jaunt down to the water, unrolling my towel, and just sunning myself for an hour or so. Turns out it was a hike, not a jaunt. The sun disappeared. And I felt restless. As I hiked myself back to the car, I realized I'm following my father's footsteps in not really taking to retirement. So I decided it's going to be more like a working retirement. And even though I keep saying I'm unemployed, I'm not. I have a job. That pays. It's all about the mindset.

My second goal for today was cutting the grass. Which turned out to be harder than expected. The hike really sapped my strength and gave me some hotspots to deal with. But I toughed it out, spent what felt like forever picking up branches, and got the grass cut. I was going to power through my lunch break and finish and I finally stopped myself and said screw this, I don't need to push so damn hard, I can stop and eat whenever I want.

So I stopped and had lunch then went back and finished cutting grass. By then I was wasted. So I cleaned up, took a nap, and did some laundry. I can envision myself watching Mr. Mom at some point as a training video on how not to have a mental breakdown.

Anyway, that was the meat of today.

The saddest part was the weigh-in this morning. I'm so damn fat. I've put on so much weight, it's scary. But today's just the first day. One step at a time. It won't happen over night.

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Weather:
Temps were about 70F and rose to about 75F. Sun was out but skies were overcast at times. Wind was light to moderate.

Fluids and Fuel:
Breakfast was one egg and one slice of toast. During the hike I had plain water and some NUUN. I had an apple granola bar when I finished my hike.

Aches and Pains:
Ball of my left foot is about a 2. Chafing is about a 2. Right knee is about a 1. Got way too out of breath hiking back. Not like a medical emergency kind of out of breath, more like "I shouldn't be this fat and out of shape" kind of out of breath.

Gear:
Wore shorts, t-shirt, and a hat. Also packed my Mystery Ranch bag with camera gear.

Today's Motivation:
Quitting my job yesterday. I've been dreaming about the hike to this beach for months.

Naughty Neil:
I caught myself dreaming about lunch on my hike today. I ended up eating hamburgers instead of fish like I had planned. But it's the thoughts that concerned me more than anything.

Splits:
Not exact numbers.
Distance - 4 miles
Time - 2:00:00

12 Years Old

Another run out of the blue. Really, it was my daughter's idea and it came out of the blue. I never expected her to want to run on her birthday. But she did. She got up, got dressed, and was ready to go much earlier than I expected. In fact, I put my PJs on expecting her to still be in bed. But no, she was in her running shoes waiting for me.

And did I mention it was chilly? And raining? And she still wanted to go.

So I chuffed along and tried not to slow her down too much while we enjoyed our wet, windy, and chilly morning birthday run. So glad to see each of us smiling by the end of it.

Along the way we saw Mrs. Brown walking her dog. We also chatted about life in general. Largely I unloaded a little on her about how financially stressful my new under-employed status will be but I tried to stress with her that we'll make it work. We won't be buying a mansion but we won't be cancelling Christmas. When I finally gave her some time to talk, she just wanted to invite some friends over for her birthday.

Sometimes I miss the simple things in life that were your biggest worries as a kid. Like who can come over to play.


Photo:

Weather:
Temps were about 50F. Light to moderate rain. Overcast. Winds were light.

Fluids and Fuel:
Had nothing before the run. Plain water during the run. Recovery was coffee and a cinnamon roll.

Aches and Pains:
Chest hurt (but not a heart attack kind o hurt) from trying to breath. I've lost most if not all of my conditioning.

Gear:
Wore shorts, t-shirt, and long sleeve top. Hat but no gloves. And a small water bottle.

Today's Motivation:
How often does your daughter ask to go for a run on her birthday? And is still willing to do it in the cold rain? That's enough motivation for me for a week!

Naughty Neil:
Um, can't really think of much at the moment. But the day isn't over.

Splits:
Finish - 18:20