Stair Climb Results

"Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat." ~ Malcolm Forbes

I DID IT!!!!

It was by far the hardest thing I've ever done..... even more than the 10k run complete in my youth. Sherri sat at the dinning room table (that's near the basement door) and kept track of my progress and cheered me on for the entire event.

I completed the 1,778 stairs (up and down) in 37 mins, 27 seconds.... before crumbling in a heap on the floor at the top of the stairs. It took me the better part of 15 mins before I was able to convince myself to get up and try to navigate the stairs to the 2nd floor to have a hot soak in the tub. After I got up Sherri had to mop up the puddle of sweat that I left on the hardwood floor.

My legs are soooooooooo sore today (2 days later). My quad's and the muscle below my calf (which I found out is called the Soleus) are so sore that I'm kinda hobbling around.

Congratulations to my younger brother Kevin who completed the real CN Tower Climb in 20 mins & 10 seconds..... Way to go Kev.

Day 1786: Milestone Reached -- Weight

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." ~ Les Brown

On Thursday, March 24th, 2010 I weighted in at 228.9 lbs, and although it's lower than my weekly average of 229.6 lbs.... it's still a huge milestone for me.

The last time I weighted under 229 lbs was in November of 2004.

Day 1730

"Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment." ~ Morihei Ueshiba Founder of Aikido

I'm soooooo excited. Not only is today the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, it also marks the day of my first ever Aikido class (later today). Before I was a teenager I took Judo for about a year or so, and I absolutely loved it. Ever since I can remember I've thought about joining some for of martial arts, but for one reason or another (primarily my knee in later years) I never fulfilled that dream.

I chose Aikido because it's primary focus is on self-defense, fundamentals & techniques.

Aikido was developed in the early 20th century by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969), often referred to as O-Sensei (Great Teacher). He was a gifted martial artist who had trained extensively in ju-jitsu, kenjutsu (sword arts) and sojutsu (spear arts) and then combined and modified techniques from each to reflect his personal convictions concerning self-defence, peace and harmony. Consequently, the purpose of Aikido is not the destruction of an enemy but, rather, the control of difficult human aggression. Peaceful resolution of conflict is the ultimate goal of Aikido. These aims are reflected in the name which is made up of three characters: Ai (to meet or harmonize), Ki (energy, spirit or mind) and Do (the way). Combined these become the Way of Harmonious Spirit.

I'm so proud of myself for finally fulfilling this dream.

Day 1718

"Those who think they have not the time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness." ~ Edward Stanley

Yesterday Sherri and I went skating at the local arena... which is a huge milestone for both of us since it's been over 15 yrs since we've both done so. Sherri's been wanting to go skating for a really long time, but a few things were holding us (me) back. I was really worried about injuring my knee, but more importantly, I didn't even own a pair of skates.

I'm not sure if I've blogged about this yet, but just before I returned home from Ontario I finally purchased a custom made knee brace. I'll have to blog about my knee brace in more detail in the future, but for now lets just say that it goes a long way in helping to alleviate my fear in participating in physical activity.

The only thing I needed now was a pair of skates.... which I received as a Christmas present from Sherri (thanks baby).

So, knee brace on, and skates in hand, Sherri and I headed off to the local arena for the "Adult Skate" from 10-11am. I was really surprised by how easy it was after all this time. Don't get me wrong... I was anything but graceful, but it wasn't nearly as embarrassing as I had pictured .

We didn't break any speed records, but more importantly we didn't break anything. We didn't stay for the full hour, but we both worked up a bit of a sweat... and more importantly had a lot of fun.

We're already planning to return next week.