Tim L
As unproductive as I feel I’ve been at collecting kilometers lately, I’m glad for the ones I have been able to get this summer on Whitemud Drive and Anthony Henday. It’s a shame to be having to nurse this pesky foot injury during the summer and only getting about 50 percent of the distance I’m hoping to achieve each week, but I tell myself it’s great to still be able to be getting out and getting something in. My goal for the end of the year is to at least have 1000km for the year. I could live with that. Either way, only a tiny section is left on the Whitemud, which I may or may not get to this summer, and Anthony Henday is nearly 50 percent complete. Other than that, I’d say I’m on track to have most of Edmonton south complete by the end of the year. There are still a bunch of range roads and the QE2 around Beaumont to do as well, but I’ll save those sections for next summer I think.
I was running through an alley in Brookside the other day, and saw one of those classic tire swings hanging from a tree and my first thought was to give that thing a try. I mean, who wouldn’t? Tire swings are awesome. After thinking about it though and knowing that I haven’t cut back on my Tim Horton’s Iced Capp consumption, I changed my mind since I’d probably break the branch and ruin some little kid’s number 1 source of fun. The irony here is that my spare tire prevented me from taking a ride on an actual spare tire haha. I am living proof that if you’re somebody that is looking to lose a few pounds then diet as opposed to exercise is the only way. I could use examples to support this going back ten or fifteen years that are based on my lifestyle choices but I’ll just use the recent past and look from when I started running again following my cancer surgery. Since the beginning of April, and by no means are these numbers exactly herculean, but I have consistently been logging 25-30 km per week running, and 60-100km per week on the bike. In this time I have only managed to lose about 5 pounds and I’m still sitting in the low 190’s. I really feel like if I can get to a weight of about 170 pounds, I might be able to stave off some of the injuries that plague people that are in their mid-forties and older and like to run. I’m going to test out this theory going forward and see what I can do before the end of the year. It’s gonna be tough letting go of the Big Mac but in the interest of science it needs to be done!
The Streets Initiative is raising money for the Stollery Children’s Hospital for the rest of the summer so that in itself is great motiviation no matter what. I’ll just keep plugging away and as always, thanks very much for your support, Edmonton, you guys are the best!
-Tim
