At almost this exact same point last year, I was moved from the beginner line to Line 2. I didn’t totally deserve the honor, but Paul Lacoste knew my body would respond. I thought Paul was freakin’ nuts.
Paul was right. My body did res
pond and I went on to lose 45-50 lbs and got into great shape.
Today, with a flick of his wrist, Paul moved me from Line 2 to Line 1. Line 1 is the Special Forces of PLS. It’s where the real athletes are. They are the athletes that push each other hard and take each exercise seriously. Line 1 isn’t just a line. It’s an attitude.
So fat boy is now in Line 1. Like last year, it’s up to me to rise to the challenge. To push myself even harder to earn the honor. And yes, I consider it an honor. I need to raise my effort level to make sure it just isn’t a social promotion — or worse, temporary. It is something that I need to take into all facets of my life: Social, Physical, Mental and Religious. It’s the next level that Paul takes about. In 2012, I suffered some pretty nasty setbacks. 2013 is the year I will soar. And it all starts with me leaving my sweat on the gym floor at 5 a.m.
Today we talked about organ donations. If you haven’t, it’s a good thing to do. You can help up to eight people with your give. Because I have had melanoma cancer, I’m not eligible. (melanoma cells like to hide out in organs and when the new host takes the immunosuppressant drugs, the cancer can come roaring back.) Check out Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency (MORA) here.
My right shoulder (my drawing hand) is bothering me. In high school, I had a nasty ACL seperation. A few years ago, I developed a rotator cuff problem from swimming. I need to build muscle up around it. It will take time.
We did the treadmill today. We inclined it to 15% and walked at 3.0 mph. I set it at 3.2. The team moved it up to 3.5 mph. It was a strong leg workout. When we did wall sits for a minute, my leg was shaking like Elvis. But my knee held up.
And finally, I’m reading a book called “Younger Next Year” by Chris Crowley & Henry S. Lodge, M.D. Crowley will be at Lemuria Books next Wednesday, February 6 at 5p.m. signing his new book, “Thinner Next Year.” I’m 45 and am now at the age where I am starting to notice some of the effects of age. I remember visiting my grandmother in the nursing home and seeing all the near zombie-like people just slumped over in their chairs. You’d always see one or two people up and around, playing tennis, laughing and just enjoying life. I decided back then I want to be THAT person. I used to want to get older (surviving cancer will do that to you). Now I want to really live. So I will blog some of the things I am learning from “Younger Next Year” here. Most of us think that it is a downhill slide to your 80’s. It can be more of a plateau with a steep drop at the very end. Basically we need to do a few simple things to make sure our body, which has not evolved to handle the lifestyle we now live, to function like it is supposed to. We’re biologically programed to exercise vigorously. Back in the day, you had to hunt for miles for your food. You have to at properly (I think we know that but we don’t do it.) and you have to honestly devote your life to something. You have to have a reason to live (I have read books by cancer survivors that touch on this.).
It’s an interesting book and one I think will be valuable in my quest to truly live. To live each of the 84,600 seconds I’m given each day.
Mr. H’s doctor gave him a copy of “Younger Next Year” a few years ago. Since that time, he’s eating better snacks and is now running about 5 miles 3 days a week and going to the gym 2 days a week.