The Fifteen-Minute Mile...It's A Start

 Last winter really did a number on me. After shoveling my last scoop of snow, I found things have changed...

And not for the better.

The biggest issue was my feet. They hurt like I'd never had them hurt before. I think it was all that shifting weight in big boots shoveling the snow. They call it plantar fasciitis, though I've never been diagnosed. A quick internet search and I have the symptoms. It hurt to walk. I didn't even want to think about jogging, let alone, running.

This summer I've tried to keep somewhat active. On work breaks I hit the treadmill and walk ten or fifteen minutes...not everyday, but enough to keep it going. 

Then came FanX weekend.

A weekend I dreaded, because of my feet.

From Thursday to Sunday (FanX and my Frightmares gig...), I'm on my feet more than I'm off. I wore my best walking shoes and I was surprise that after the first day, my feet didn't feel too bad. I thought, things would be bad--or worse--the next day. The day came and, once again, not as bad as I suspected. The weekend came to an end and I was shocked. Not only did I survive the con and my weekend gig, my feet felt surprisingly good.

I thought I'd try doing a little jogging.

Last week I would walk then jog then walk then jog on the treadmill. Two days ago I jogged for several minutes, longer than I had before. My ankles hurt, I had pains in places I'd never had before, but I kept going. I got close, but yesterday, I hit a mile under 15 minutes.

Back in 2021 I blogged about running a fifteen-minute mile. Things seemed so much easier then, as things do when thinking of past times. My goal going forward is to run that length without as much pain, then try and do a twelve-minute mile and see how that goes.

I'll keep you posted.

Shoveling Snow...Nature's Way Of Burning All Those Holiday Calories

 Relatively speaking, we dodged a snow bullet. That isn't to say we didn't some snow from this last wave of storms. We did, but not as much as others. And to add to the fun, our family is contracted out to shovel eighteen homes in our neighborhood when the snow reaches a certain level. 

In the last seven days, we were called out twice.

I'm beginning to not mind shoveling show. As long as it's not feet deep, I can clear a driveway and sidewalk relatively quickly. I must be doing something right because (so far...), I've not suffered any major back injuries or anything else. Yes, I'm sore after a few hours of shoveling, but I usually feel better the next day. Of course, the older I get (now in my upper 50s...) that may not be the case in the future.

As I returned home from a shoveling adventure the other day, I thought about the physical workout I've been doing with shovels and snowblowers. I know many of us disregard their diets at the holidays and enjoy all the delicious food that seems to be everywhere. 

I thought maybe shoveling is nature's way to burn some of those quickly-amassed holiday calories.

Doing some rough math, I've got to shovel a whole lot more driveways and sidewalks to break even--we had a lot of goodies this year and I partook.

I suppose there's a bright side to all this snow, other than it's desperately needed in our drought-affected areas, and that is burning all those calories. Good to look on the bright side every once in a while.

Million Dollar Idea...

 Last winter while shoveling snow, my earphone popped out of my ear. The earphone dropped into the shoveled snow and was gone...

It didn't help the earphone was white.

I actually had to wait a week or so until the snow melted so I could find it.

I was bummed, but in hindsight, even if I hadn't found it, I wasn't out much--they were on the cheap end of the earphone spectrum. Because they popped out of my ears so much, I decided to replace them. This time, I spent a little more money and bought some official Apple audio products. For me, they work great, so much so, I don't want the same thing to happen to my new pair as did my last.

This winter is turning out to be more snow-filled than last winter so I'm worried about losing an airpod. Last week I had an idea and I wondered it if would work. Turns out, it did. I stuck the airpods into my Chums eyeglass retainer.

There are products out there that do just that, airpod straps, but the what's great about using Chums is when you're done using them to make sure you don't lose your earphones, you can put them back on your eyeglasses. It's one item that can be used two ways!

Genius.

There is one thing I have not tested. I have no idea if you'll be able to use them for phone calls. I'm afraid the airpods will have too much surrounding them to be useful. Still, you can listen all you want and not be afraid to have one (or both...) fall from your ears and into a huge pile of snow.

In all honesty, this idea will probably not generate millions of dollars, but you never know. If the Chums people ever get a hold of this, maybe they can do a little marketing. I suppose time will tell.

If We'd Only Got A Little More Snow...

 It snowed last week, something that hasn't happened a lot this winter...not as much as we'd like. When we went to bed the night before, the snow was coming down, so much so, it was starting to pile up on the roads, sidewalks, lawns, cars, whatever was outside.

If only it had snowed a little bit more.

Some of our neighbors have hired us to shovel their driveways and sidewalks, however, there's a catch. We are only called out if the snow reaches a certain level. My wife ventured out into the snow in the morning to see if the amount of snow we received reached that level.

Turns out, it was just a smidgen too low.

We were not called out.

Since we got the gig, I've looked at snow differently. Since I work at home (and have done for years...) we usually don't have to go out so getting snowed in wasn't the biggest issue for us, especially since we bought an all-wheel drive car that is fantastic in the snow. But now, with others relying on us to clear snow, it's no longer a miner inconvenience. It's a responsibility, a calling almost.

We don't know if we'll be able to do the same thing next winter...maybe, maybe not. But this year, I wish we had a little more snow the other night. Actually, I wish we'd get several storms over the next couple of months...we sure could us them.