The week has been moving along pretty darn not bad, with daily workouts in the gym, including a 5-mile lumber on Tuesday that took me so long that the Dreadmill started going into cool down mode, and I had to hit stop and start again, just to keep walking my “sprightly for a fat man” 4 MPH. I guess most people don’t stay on a machine for over an hour, especially someone who is a shadow of their formerly fit self. I do love me some cardio, though, even if it is just a fast walk while listening to music and trying not to notice that there is a war going on via the rows of talking heads on the TVs in front of me.1
The whole thing reminded me of back in the early 2000s when I was obsessed with maintaining fitness and weight, and from time to time during my winter “training,” I would do two-hour sessions on the stair climber machine and would leave a six-foot circumference of sweat and other bodily fluids surrounding the machine when I finished. Forget about wiping the machine down upon finishing; I had to borrow Shop-Vac!! Oh, the memories, oh the sweat.
While nowhere near as mentally deranged or as difficult as 2 hours on a stair climber, the 1:15 of “cardio endurance” felt great, even if it didn’t leave the floor sopped with sweat and other soilage. I wish I could say I was “training” for some sort of event like in the old days, but all I want to do is burn enough calories to keep my beer and footy watching less guilt-ridden and not have to shop at a big man’s store as I did back in high school.
On Wednesday, I headed back to the gym for some higher cardio (2 miles of walking alternated with on/off .10 mile sprints), and during one of my .10 mile walking phases, the treadmill’s belt seemed to slip slightly (or I missed stepped), and I tweaked my left knee a bit. Oddly enough, the knee never bothered me while sprinting, but occasionally, I could/can feel a twinge of discomfort when walking. I guess my 50-year-old overweight body is telling me that I need to take it easy for a day or so, and maybe, dog forbid, hit the bike for my cardio in the coming days.
Rewinding a few days for something a tad more enjoyable, B-Man took first place in the Michigan Business Professionals of America digital media production category and earned the right to go to Nationals in Dallas. And then, just a few hours after he got home from Grand Rapids, his high school e-sports Rocket League team won the championship! It was quite a day for my dude, and I am super proud of him.
As you can see, I also took some photos at the event. After many years of shooting B playing soccer, I didn’t know if I had the skills (or attention span) to shoot e-sports. But, as it turned out, I had a great time shooting and got enough keepers that both the venue and B’s high school asked me if they could use my shots in some promo work. I guess they dug them.
For the event, I took my Sigma 70/200mm f/2.8 lens with the Nikon Z6, and it was a perfect combo. There was only one shot that I wish I would have had a wider field of view, but I made do and still got the shot. For the most part, the large aperture helped with the low light shooting, and 200mm helped me get some candids without being up in the faces of the competitors or getting in the way of spectators.
Well, there’s another post that I had nothing whatsoever to do with cycling. I’m getting pretty good at this. Be warned, though; things could change if the temps keep getting warmer. Or not.
Later.