You Should Be Drinking Not Climbing or Month-End Review, December

One of my friends was taunting me by waving a bowl of Hershey's chocolate in my vicinity; she, essentially, beckoned me in a voice that said chill out about the sweet stuff.

I decided to retaliate in my own little way and asked her if she wanted to go rock climbing after our half day at work. She looked at me in horror when another associate actually voiced his horror. You should be drinking not climbing. Oh well, to each his or her own.

Plus, the taunter failed to realize that Hershey's would not make me cave. Kinder Bueno? Yes. Hershey's? No...

As I was belaying for Jessica, one of the Upper Limits folks came to give us the countdown to closure. What? We thought the gym was closing at 4 p.m. instead of 2 p.m. Can you say rock climbing interruptus?

Before I left the gym, though, I was able to make it up the 5.8 Face Plant route. So, I'm able to climb that route on every other outing. Ha.

I headed to the bank with the intention of going from there straight to the gym and squeaking in because, clearly, I hadn't worked out enough but, dang it, I didn't have my tennis shoes.

I headed by the house, ate a few Wasa crackers and hummus and headed back out. When I got to the gym, there were no signs about early closure and I was told that there would be no early closure. Hmmm, I could potentially play Biggest Loser contestant and really get my exercise in today.

When I got to the locker room, I discovered that I did not have my MP3 player. Ironically, I did not have the energy to put on my street clothes and go back to the car to retrieve my tunes. I blame my misplaced MP3 player on too many bags: bag with rock climbing gear, bag with work gear and another gym bag with my regular workout stuff. I did a little self-talk and told myself that I could gut it out for at least 30 minutes without the television or music. Almost the whole time, It Takes Two, was on loop in my head. It's all the fault of that goofy little flick, The Proposal.

Here's how things played out this month. I deliberately set aside more time for stretching which felt good...

10 Minute Solution: Fitness Ball Workouts (Upper Body), 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp (Fat Burning Blast), 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Tone Trouble Zones! (Stretching), 3 x's

10 Minute Solution: Yoga (Flexibility and Relaxation), 1 x

Adaptive Motion Trainer, 3 x's

Crunch: Candlelight Yoga, 1 x

Drills To Make You Sweat (Class), 1 x

Rock Climbing, 6 x's

StairMaster, 3 x's

Stationary Bike, 1 x

Step and Muscle (Class), 3 x's

Swimming, 6 x's

Treadmill (with bouts of jogging), 14 x's

Best sound of the day: Primal screams from a female lead climber as she made an ascent.

Honorable mention: Me. I'm told that I was making Serena Williams-like sounds going up the Face Plant route.

Phrase of the day: Amazonian Toes -- a male to his female friend after a discussion about rock climbing shoes.


And the song of the day?????????

Beats Per Minute

There's nothing quite as disappointing as getting ready to exercise and your MP3 player won't turn on even though the battery symbol is indicating that there should be enough juice for many songs to play.

There have been several articles published lately to verify that music does help you through your workout and, as long as it's music that you enjoy, the tempo doesn't matter.


Personally, I like up-tempo music when fatigue sets in and I'm trying to get over the workout hump.

Here are the beats per minute for some of my favorite "gut it out" songs.

125 BPM: Billie Jean, Michael Jackson

134 BPM: Easy Lover, Philip Bailey & Phil Collins

130 BPM: Flashlight, Parliament Funkadelic

119 BPM: I'm Every Woman, Chaka Khan

120 BPM: It's A New Day, will.i.am

124 BPM: Miss Me Blind, Culture Club

120 BPM: Now That We Found Love, Heavy D & The Boys

123 BPM: Please Don't Stop The Music, Rihanna

115 BPM: Say, Say, Say, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney

145 BPM: Sweet Dreams, Eurythmics

Of course, if the music does stop playing, I exercise unplugged...

The Road 'Drea Traveled

I'm completely enjoying The St. Louis Riverfront Trail. Okay, when I was in the industrial area, it did smell like Grant's Farm but, as I moved further along the trail, it wasn't an issue.

My goal was to make it to the nine mile marker today before I turned around. I never saw the marker but it certainly felt like nine plus miles. I caught a glimpse of the Chain of Rocks Bridge but I didn't have enough in the tank to push to that point but I'll make it there soon.

My MP3 player is doing something very quirky. It would only play three songs. I'm glad that I left it at home last time. So, riding unplugged was not a huge deal today. However, listening to up-tempo music does help me gut it out and I need to find out what is wrong with my little device.

Going The Extra Mile

As soon as I got on my bike, I realized that I had left my MP3 player at home which was a bit deflating.

After the first mile, I hardly noticed the lack of music and, on the way back, I provided my own soundtrack. My apologies to the other riders because I was definitely off-key.

I decided that I want to work my way up to the Chain of Rocks Bridge. Last week, I was able to do 14 miles and, today, I was able to bicycle for a total of 16.


I probably forgot my MP3 player because I was so busy packing my Gatorade, water, apple and camera. Oh well, I enjoyed myself on what is fast becoming my favorite place to bicycle, The St. Louis Riverfront Trail.

Disclosure #1

If I'm listening to my MP3 player and Sizzla's I'm With The Girls comes on, I start marching. Military riddim is perfect for this kind of exercise. The song is almost three minutes long and I consider the marching small but meaningful exercise. The post-marching boost to my mood and goofiness that ensues is a plus.

The marching inspiration comes from the 1-Mile Breakdown, a handout that a nurse practitioner gave to my mother.

1-Mile Breakdown
Put on fast music and keep a brisk tempo to this routine:

2 minutes of marching in place or walking

3 minutes of side stepping

1 minute of marching in place or walking

3 minutes of knee lifts

1 minute of marching in place or walking

3 minutes of kicks

2 minutes of marching or walking in place

Total time: 15 minutes

Total distance walked: 1 mile


By the way, the knee lifts are no joke.

Forest Park Unplugged

Since I was awakened early and my arms still smart a bit, I headed to Forest Park instead of the usual Saturday sojourn to the pool. As soon as I stepped out of my car, I realized that I had left my MP3 player at home. I felt bare and disappointed but I was not going to turn around and go home just to get my tunes.

My walk sans music was like going to a retreat where there are no televisions or radios. It was good, though, because I was able to think through a few things without the regular distractions.

About three miles into my walk, I came upon a group of friends and one of them was down on the ground. I hoped and felt like he would be okay but I also thought about the pretty penny that he would have to pay for the ambulance.

I finished my 6.2 mile trek and I definitely enjoyed the view along the way.

Weigh-In

The scale has not moved in a month but that's par for the course since it usually takes me about a month to move the scale. Plus, I see the telltale signs of weight loss. There's a looseness in my pants and my new glasses no longer hug my face.

I was relieved to find my beloved MP3 player under a mountain of clothes. I have yet to deal with old clothing. I really shouldn't keep my larger clothes around but I've toyed with the idea of having some items altered. My taste in clothing has changed though. I find myself drawn to flower, leopard, paisley and zebra patterns and, sometimes, a combination of two patterns. My swimming cohort refused to go with me yesterday once she heard me coughing. That unidentified doctor is right about the inability to shorten a cold. Mine is waning but still hanging in there and it's almost been a week and I've been downing all manner of Emergen-C, ginger tea and, still, my body produces impressive amounts of mucous.

Instead of my usual Friday night swimming, I watched the French flick The Grocer's Son while nursing a hot cup of Holiday Plum Spice tea. The movie was pretty good if you like laid-back foreign flicks that emphasize relationships.