Dave's Not Here

My last business trip to Utah, I did some creative flight arranging so that I would be able to hit the slopes the Saturday after the trip.  I spent all weekend deciding where to go, and ended up going to my first choice, Brighton.  But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

On Thursday, I heard a commercial about night skiing.  I have seen night lift tickets on price charts before, but I had never considered it before.  I looked it up, and it was $32 to go night boarding at Brighton.  I googled a bit, and there didn’t seem to be any basic skill requirement for night boarding.  So, I decided to go.  I looked at the resorts in the area, and Brighton was the closest one that had night time boarding, so I went on Friday night.

When I got there, I learned that there was some two-for-one deal going on, so, I ended up getting a lift ticket for $16 by buddying up to some locals.  (Score!)  I started out on the beginner slope to warm up.  It was SOOOO flat.  It wasn’t a typical green, it was the green where people first learn to ski / board, so, bad choice on my part.  (But, it was a bit nostalgic.  My second time snowboarding was on that Brighton lift.  And, I managed to bust really hard.  Now I wonder how I got moving fast enough to bust on that flat slope

After my slow run, I headed over to the Magestic lift.  It ran to the middle of the mountain, with green and blue trails all the way down.  It was still light out, and I loved the runs.  The blues were pretty steep, and really wide.  They reminded me of the blues on the California side of Heavenly.  As I was going down them, I kept seeing piles of powder.  The powder looked a few weeks old, but, it was still deep.  There was a bunch on the edge of Shoulder, if you cut the corner tight.  I started taking that instead of Shoulder.  The powder was not soft — it was more like ungroomed snow — very bumpy.  I loved hitting it, but, I did bust several times . . and, it was steep enough, that when I busted, I’d keep sliding . . . but it was still fun.  I never conquered it . . it was just too bumpy and too steep for me.

After I got around shoulder, I would usually head over to the left (facing downhill).  There were several places where you could cut across the powder onto another trail blow.  There were many busts, but it was all fun.  And, all soft.  It really did not hurt at all busting in that packed powder.

On my last lift of the night, I took Crest Express up.  I choose my path poorly, and ran into many flat spots.  Flats are REALLY hard on a snowboard.  If you don’t keep up enough speed to get past it, you have to unbuckle, and sasquach-drag-a-board all the way to the crest, so you can go downhill again.

I was stunned how many runs I got in from about 6:00 to 8:45.  I was about a normal half day of boarding.  I was wiped out!  And, the night part just made it fun.  There were dark shadows in some places where the terrain wasn’t easy to see . . . and it just added more fun.

Saturday, I slept in a bit, and got to the slopes around 9:30.  I went straight to Magestic, and starting having fun again.  I found about a 3′ jump.  (Meaning the ramp, at the high part, was about 3′ over the snow).  It looked like a perfect one for me.  I’m a little scared to actually jump with my legs, so, I needed a larger ramp so that my momentum would give me air.  And it did.  I launched.  And I did not land well.  I got scared by the air, and leaned back.  So, I landed looking like a slalom water skier trying to get up out of the water, with my board almost vertical. My second attempt was even worse.  I didn’t get lined up quite right, and made an adjustment while I was on the ramp.  Because of that I caught an edge, and fell from the top of the ramp.  The board caught, and pretty much slammed me into the snow.  Owie.  I decided to start playing on smaller ramps, and doing actual jumps with my legs

I had a nice lunch, and another couple of runs, and was getting tired.  So, I decided to buy a lesson to keep me on the slopes for another couple of hours.  The instructor pointed out that I wasn’t bending my knees nearly enough . . . so I have a lot to work on.  Rod a lot more of the blue trails up at the top of the mountain with her.  Finally, when the lesson was over, I boarded back down the mountain and went home.  Was a great trip.

And, now that I know about night boarding, I will get in MANY more!

I’m not sure how I let things like this happen.  I’m a very anal person, and always check sources.  If you forward me an e-mail that sounds unbelievable, I will immediately ⌘-T (Open a tab), and check snopes, or google it. Then, I will of course, mock you for your ignorance. It’s just the anal elitist person that I am

So, why did I listen when the personal trainers [sic] at my gym told me I was doing my squats wrong, and my feet had to be parallel.  They blamed my poor flexibility (which is true), and said that I should lower the weight, and get my form right.  So, I did.  Without fact checking.

Fast forward a few months, and my squat really isn’t moving, but I’m doing it right now (in the eyes of the personal trainers [sic]).  I was bitching about something to Rafe, and he mentioned that I probably have my feet too narrow.  That they should be shoulder’s width or slightly wider, and the toes should point outward.  I immediately googled it, before calling him an idiot.  Luckily.  I was the r-tard.  Most sites recommended that your toes point out 30°.

Why did I trust the opinion of strangers, when I have plenty of friends that know way too much about exercise?  Why didn’t I fact check the trainers [sic]?

Anyway, in my googling, I also read that Smith Machines are not a very good way to do squats, and that squat cages are preferable.  I have access to both, so, today, I moved my squat workout to the cage, and I re-pointed my toes slightly outward.  It was like coming home again.  The squats were easier, I felt that they were working my glutes more, and I could go down lower.

At least, now, I’m back on track

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My father had a unique job during the holidays.  At least, he thought it was his job.  He would poor shot-sized drinks and peddle them out to all the people visiting us.  People would try to refuse . . . . but it was simpler just to take one.  He would buy the strangest concoctions.  Whatever was strong, and had an interesting bottle.  Or, whatever was on sale.  Occasionally, it was an off-brand of some schnapps that was actually popular.  But, usually, it was just interesting.

I, for one, thought it was great fun.  And, I’d like to continue the tradition.  But, I’d like to up the game a bit.  I’d like to serve quality shooters.  My goal is to have 80% of the people who try them, love them.  But, here is where the problem is:  my tastes.

In college, I was introduced to the “normal” gambit of shots.  First, comes the hard liquor.  While many (myself included) enjoy a quality shot of Tequila, or enjoy sipping whisky straight, most will gasp and try to put out the fire in their throats.  Next, was the . . .urm . . let’s call them, “schnapps style” shots.  Personally, I’ve never stopped loving Rumplemintz, Goldschläger, and Jägermeister.  But, most people I know did learn how to grow up . . .

So, what I’m looking for is the in-between.  The Grasshopper.  The Orange Creme.  Does anyone have any suggestions on liquors to serve to the masses?  I need to start working on my game before . . hmm . . what’s next . . . Easter!

Someone noticed in my post the other day , that I had consumed four 4 liters of water, instead of the recommended eight glasses. Putting that into archaic, non metric terms, I drank roughly 128 ounces instead of the recommended 64. The person was concerned that I might be headed for Water Intoxication (Water Toxicity).  In fact, there are many articles out there, that state the same thing!

So, what’s the scoop?  Did I drink too much?  Did I drink too little?  I decided to do a little research of my own.  The wikipedia water intoxication article states, “The recommendation from the medical field is to drink about 1.5-3 liters per day depending upon body mass.”  I think the key phrase there is body mass.

I started looking for how much water I should be drinking.  My friend, Rafe, computed that I should be drinking almost a gallon, a while back.  So, I looked through our IM logs, and found his formula, and googled that.  That’s when I found the rule of thumb equation that is splattered over the internet, in as many places as the water intoxication and toxicity articles.  The formula I found is:

Body Weight (in pounds) divided by 2 = Ounces of water you should consume a day.

So, for me, at 220lbs (at the moment), I should be consuming 110 ounces of water, which is just under a gallon.  So, I think I’m in the ballpark.  But, that just confirms that I’m drinking what half of the internet thinks I should be drinking.  What about the other half, the half concerned with water intoxication?  For that, let’s work the 1.5 to 3 liters a day in reverse.  First, let’s call quarts and liters equal, and do the rough math:

1.5 liters (quarts) = 32*1.5 ounces = 32 + 16 = 48 ounces.  Doubling and converting = 96lbs. 3 liters (quarts) = 32 * 3 ounces = 96 ounces.  Doubling and converting = 192 lbs.

So, in 1.5 to 3 liters, we have approximate coverage from 96 to 192 lbs.  (And, if we get all anal, and convert the liters to ounces properly, we get 101 to 203 lbs.)

Given all of the above information, I think four liters was a bit more water than I needed, but, in the ballpark.  And, far away from the amount of water it would take someone of my . . . . urm . . . girth, to have to worry about Water Intoxication or Water Toxicity.

Thanks to the guys over at tigertech.net, helping me with my Rewrite rule, I have now moved my blog over here to scriptonomicon.org.  I moved the database, moved the files, edited the wp-config.php, and I was back in action.  The rewrite rule allows people still using dave.frascone.com to be redirected back over here.  Yay!

Next, I’m going to move over my mercurial repository . . since it should be hosted under this scriptier name anyway

I am a social person.  I’m not a blogger.  I usually don’t have anything very “deep” to say.  But, I do like to say things.  I like to update my facebook status.  I like to let people know what’s on my mind.  And, I like to ask stupid questions.

Lately (over the last 8-12 months or so), most of what’s been on my mind is weight loss.  I enjoy discussing my loss publicly.  I don’t care how many people know my real weight — so long as they know that it’s 50 lbs less than what it used to be.  And, I enjoy studying trends in my loss with others. What I’m wondering is:  how crowded is my little world?  How many other people out there enjoy sharing as much as I do?  While I know I’m not normal, I’m wondering how abnormal I am?  And, I’m doing it with ulterior motives.

There are a lot of free weight trackers out there.  I think my favorite is over on http://dailyburn.com/  But, I hate navigating to multiple social sites.  I use tweetdeck or ping.fm to update my status’ across twitter, facebook, myspace, etc.  And, I only limit myself to those, because those are the place where I there are people that I know, that are not on the other networks.  I’d love to just have one. . . .  but I digress.

While there are many trackers, I have not found any in my favorite (and arguably the most popular) social networking site, facebook.  So, I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a facebook application myself.  What I’d like is this:

• Weight Tracker
  • Regular
  • Averaged – for daily weighers — a running average will negate the daily water retention changes that cause most programs to tell you to only weigh once a week.
• Exercise Log
  • Will track minutes, calories burned, etc

For both of the applications, I’d like private and public visibility settings, and, hopefully the ability to embed into other blogs.

So — the purpose of this post is really to get a headcount.  Of the people here, how many would find such an application useful?  I shout my stats out all the time, but, there’s a good chance I’m shouting to an empty room.  And, if no one is really listening, and, if no one else wants to shout into the empty room, then I really don’t want to waste time writing it.  But, if there are others like me wanting to shout — or — if there are people actually listening, then I think a good, tool, on a more social site, could be really useful.

Thoughts?

I did a half-assed attempt at starting today.  Went almost low carb.  Just enough to give myself a little headache.  Maybe it will ease my pain tomorrow.  Tomorrow is for real.  5 Medifast meals a day, plus one Lean & Green one.  Tammy is doing it with me, so I’m pretty excited about it.

Today I cut my workout in half.  I removed all cardio, and, instead, did a fast circuit.  I did the Men’s Health “Abs Diet Workout”, Day 1.  It was pretty fun.  I did  this:

Crunch Twists – 15 Knee to Chest Crunches - 15 Side-Ups – 10 Back Extension: Plank Hold with Lift – 10 Back Extension – 15

Then, I did two circuits of this

Squats – 155#/12, 155#/12 Dumbell Bench Press – 70#/10, 70#/10 Wide-Grip Front Pulldowns – 110#/10, 110#/7 Seated Barbell Front Press – 75#/10, 95#/5 Barbell Upright Rows – 65#/10, 70#/10 Cable Pushdowns – 70#/10, 70#/7 Leg Extensions – 150#/10, 150#/10 Standing Barbell Curls – 70#/10, 70#/10 Lying Leg Curls – 110/10

It took me about 35 minutes, and I burned 347 kcals.  Perfect for a medifast workout, if I do say so myself!

Tomorrow, I’m supposed to walk briskly for 45 mins.  I may do a jaunt around Leita Thompson park.  I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to run – fat burning vs cardio zones and all

And, in unrelated news, today I registered for, and attended my first day at Southern Polytechnic State University.  Then, when I got home, I dropped the class.  It wasn’t that the class was hard, it was that attendance was mandatory.  Completely mandatory.  So much so that my unpredictable travel schedule would cause me to fail the class.  Time to find another class, that can actually work with my schedule.

The morning of January 1st, Tammy asked me what my new years resolution was.  I knew if I said, “Lose weight”, I wouldn’t be able to duck quick enough.  So, I actually gave the question some thought, and came up with my resolution(s) for this year:

1. Finish losing weight.  Instead of the normal thing, I think, by the end of this year (probably much sooner), I’ll finally be happy with my weight, and I can stop obsessing.
2. Slightly related to the first one, but dealing with Diet Sodas.  I have had a lot of problems in the past, giving up diet sodas.  I’ve gone cold turkey, for months at a time, but, with restaurants, and the occasional impulse buy, they end up back in my house, and before I know it, I’m drinking 6 a day again.  So, this time, it’s a bit different.  It’s manageable:  I will not bring any diet sodas into the house. Period.  I think this rule will keep my intake down, and still allow for eating out, an occasional at-the-register impulse buy, etc.

Well — I realized it yesterday.  Call it an epiphany, whatever . . . I found it pretty interesting.

I have lost a couple of pounds this week — while, in my mind, gorging. I have had a lot of trouble getting to 2000 kcals. And, I started thinking about why. When I realized it, it opened my eyes — but — leaves for many battles in the future.

While it is easy to eat 2000kcals of ice cream, candy bars, milk shakes, and chicken wings, it is actually quite a bit of healthy food. Since I’m eating right, I fill up on a chicken breast and a serving of brocolli. My breakfast is usually around 200kcals, and, I’m full after eating it. And, obviously, eating 10 of my normal breakfasts is hard! My problem has been, that 2000 kcals of healthy food, is actually a LOT of food. Divided into 5 equal sized meals, there are 400 calories per meal. That’s four low carb protein shakes. Eleven ounces of chicken breast. Forty cups of salad.

So, because of that, I have been eating too few calories, and I think, I have gone into starvation mode.

Strange — it is hard to eat healthy — not because I have cravings, but, instead, because I have to eat too much food.

Who would have thunk it?

On today’s Pain of the Day (PotD), I ran from my house, to the nearby park, did the absolute longest jogging trail, and then ran back home. I stopped once or twice, and let my HR drop down to 150, before starting again. (Ok, probably 3-4 times).

Google Maps has the distance from my house, to where I hit the trail, at .9 miles. The long trail is 2.25 miles. And, the extra part around the lake adds on .5 miles. So, that’s .9 + 2.25 + .5 + .9 = 4.55 miles. My Garmin clocked me in at 4.16 miles. So — I’m guessing the Garmin cut off some corners

I don’t think I’ve ever run more than 3 miles before . . . so, this could be a new record for me!

Anyway, here are all the gory details (click the image):

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