Thursday, January 02, 2014

2014

It is with a renewed enthusiasm that I return to blogging after a long hiatus. Recently Paulette and I watched a BBC series drama titled: Cranford, starring one of my favorite actors: Dame Judy Dench.

In one scene, her character described a ritual taught her by her father, in which she would record an entry in her daily diary in two columns. At the beginning of the day, in one column she would write what she hoped, or expected the day would bring, and in the other column she would record what had actually happened. I thought, "what a wonderful way to evaluate our hopes and dreams versus reality."

I will attempt this for awhile, just to see what happens.

January 1, 2014: I had hoped to attend the 12th annual Polar Bear Swim at the Osborn Aquatic Center in Corvallis, OR. The event began at 1:00pm and ran until 3:00pm. Unfortunately, I awoke with a sore throat, and stuffy head. In order to regain my health quickly so that I can get back into the pool for some serious Master's swimming, I skipped the event. Very disappointing.

I watched the Michigan State Spartans triumph over the Stanford Cardinal in the Rose Bowl. I must say I was cheering for the Spartans, since the Cardinal beat both Oregon State and the Ducks. Way to go Spartans!

I also watched the Baylor Bears play against Central Florida, hoping that the Bears would win. I went to bed at halftime and when I awoke this morning, learned that Baylor had lost; much to my chagrin.

Today is January 2, 2014, and my dad's 81st birthday. Last year we celebrated his milestone 80th in California with my family. It was a wonderful occasion! Not to rob anything from that event, I returned home one year ago feeling lousy . . . overweight, run-down, and looking like hell. I resolved to do something about it, but not to pressure myself too much.

I started swimming with the Master's again at the Osborn Aquatic Center, along with my sister Pam. I started with 3 days per week for one hour per session. Soon I realized that I had enough time to walk from the swim center to work, so I did that each time I swam. When I lost my first 10 lbs I thought, I could probably swim 5 days per week and walk too; so I did.

By August I had lost 55 lbs and was feeling great! Since then I have gained a few pounds back, but I am going to renew my effort this year to continue swimming, walking, and even weight-lifting, in hope that I can drop some additional pounds. I have been tracking my weight, swimming and walking using a Fitbit Wi-Fi scale, a Fitbit Flex activity tracker, and the USMS FLOG.

Last year I swam a total of 525 miles, walked over 1300 miles, and as I mentioned earlier, lost over 50 lbs. Onward to 2014!