Wednesday night I led a group hike at a local park.You know you need a reboot when something so simple becomes incredibly complex.
I first scheduled this hike for Wednesday in my head, but decided to do it on Tuesday based on weather reports. So last weekend I publish this thing on Meetup.com, and sure enough start getting attendees. So far so good, until I find out that I had a work-related event on Tuesday evening that was a must-attend. Of course it was not in my calendar ... and my dependence on technology these days will generate a handful of blogs later on. So back to Wednesday. A few people bailed, a few jumped over to the new night and a few complaints -- mostly teasing, I hope.
Wednesday started with me driving a sick pet to the vet for emergency surgery. Off to work. I get notice to pick up the ferret at 5 .. hike is at 7. Delays in the office push me to about 5:30. That's when I notice that my fuel gauge is below empty ... to the point where I was hoping for downhills so I could coast to save gas. As I beelined to the closest gas station, sick ferret sleeping in the cage, and my time clicking away ... a bad mix of adrenaline and frustration are building. I find a gas station and roll in with 1/2 gallon in my tank.
It felt like one of those nightmares where you are running in slow motion and getting nowhere! Every bad driver in Dayton was clogging the roads. Every light was red. 40 mph roads were crawling at 20 for no discernible reason. I finally make it home, settle the poor critter in and change for the hike. 6:30 ... my scheduled departure, comes and goes. But I get on the road. And make it to the hike on time! As the leader that is kind of an imperative.
The lot is full. Every single parking spot was taken ... someone was pulling out so I secure a spot but I still have about a dozen cars coming. I have never been to this park where there was more than maybe two cars there. Even on a weekend. A group of high-schoolers are having some sort of picnic. There is a glimmer of hope -- they are carrying coolers and folding chairs. One by one cars start pulling out as one by one my hikers start pulling in. Incredibly every single hikers finds a spot -- and thank you to the group of 4 who arrived in one vehicle!
This led to an incredibly nice hike in a beautiful park. Warm temps but a nice cooling breeze. A fantastic sunset. Fields of yellow spring flowers and smooth dry paths. We do around 3.5 miles in just over an hour, in time to depart before the park closes. Everybody is having fun and lots of locals have never found this park before tonight, so I feel a sense of pride that I have now given them a new place to hike whenever they want.
Most important I set a pace. Some folks would have pushed along faster, but for others it was just right or even a bit fast. I notice that some of my hard work is paying off .. I am not hot, sweaty and winded like I would have been just a month ago. That makes me feel good! And everyone seems to be having a great time.
So lessons learned? Let's not get too wound up ... even the best plans can go awry. Recap? Ferret is OK, car is fueled, the hike kicked off right on time, and I got my miles in while sharing a great experience with friends. Problems? What problems? Hiking as always is the ultimate way to de-stress. Maybe not quite a reboot, but I definitely closed a few applications that night.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
How I got to this point ...Part 1
I have a picture somewhere, not sure if it's printed or if there is an electronic version, of me standing next to the Finger Lakes Trail in Upstate NY. My dad took it right before I started my first ever solo backpacking hike. If I recall it was 2 nights. As a solo backpacker I had scoped out the area, planned for every possible contingency, had escape routes mapped, and plenty of food and water. I had packed just about everything I could think of. I was smiling and looked pretty happy considering I barely was able to heft the pack up on to my back.
So I have a picture. One way to share what you see in this picture is for you to use your imagination. Picture an ant carrying a loaf of bread. Or a Nepalese Sherpa at the beginning of an Everest expedition. I would guess at this point that the pack weighed in at close to 60 pounds. Maybe even more with water. Did not take long for me to stash some extraneous gear next to a tree by a road crossing, to fetch later when I had secured my car. Even so that pack still felt like I had strapped a small car to my back.
Since then I have learned a lot and had many more adventures. But I will never forget those first trips and needless to say I am glad I stuck it out. Now with more knowledge and some technology I plan on some great trips this summer. And if I ever find that picture, I will post it. Maybe ...
So I have a picture. One way to share what you see in this picture is for you to use your imagination. Picture an ant carrying a loaf of bread. Or a Nepalese Sherpa at the beginning of an Everest expedition. I would guess at this point that the pack weighed in at close to 60 pounds. Maybe even more with water. Did not take long for me to stash some extraneous gear next to a tree by a road crossing, to fetch later when I had secured my car. Even so that pack still felt like I had strapped a small car to my back.
Since then I have learned a lot and had many more adventures. But I will never forget those first trips and needless to say I am glad I stuck it out. Now with more knowledge and some technology I plan on some great trips this summer. And if I ever find that picture, I will post it. Maybe ...
Monday, March 19, 2012
SMART Hiking
Raise your hand if you ever had to sit through a tedious corporate seminar, with some gawky young couple in khaki pants and corporate golf shirts guiding you through a 60 page Powerpoint on the latest motivational program your company has now completely invested in. For now ... I note that within a few months things have reverted back to the same state of utter and complete stagnation outside of a few whimsical quips from the office comedian about "FISH" or "Cheese".
I always wondered about the young couple from corporate ... they were obviously thrown together from the pool of underpaid newbies or lackluster interns -- they are incredibly young, good looking and just all together chipper. I pretty much always assumed they had spent the previous summer dancing at an amusement park in the Rock of Ages Revue. Now they are assigned to travel around the country delivering seminars to irritable branch office workers who mostly doodle, sleep and incessantly check e-mails on their Blackberries for the entire time. Do they head out at 5 and hit the bars? I figure I would. Or do they disappear into a hotel room together until their flight at 10 am tomorrow. Again, probably not a bad idea. Or some reckless combination of both. Best not to dwell on those scenarios unless you are the accounting person trying to figure out why there is only one hotel invoice and why the expense receipt is all Jaegerbombs.
Maybe the idea of being taught goal setting from two aimless, goal-free almost teenagers had made me cynical. But once in a while, if you pay enough attention, you can gleam the occasional nugget of gold from these programs.
I am referring of course to SMART goals. If you have spent the last 10 years in Paraguay or you have never worked for or around a large corporation, you may not have heard of SMART goals. It's simple to learn: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. If your goal does not meet these five tests, it's probably not something you are going to achieve.
So let's dive in! I need to walk 90 some miles carrying a backpack for over a week and still have fun. That could be a goal, It meets the five criterion at first glance. But it kind of lacks specificity and how do you measure the fun part? Do I measure it before or after the trip? Perhaps we need to bust it out ... smaller goals that lead to more immediate results in support of this big overarching goal.
For example: Running. I just started a 9 week program that purports to take me from couch to 5K in 9 weeks. Very specific. You are not a runner when you start and you can run a 5k when you are done. Measurable? Sure ... every week you follow a specific plan to slowly increase miles. You either do it or you don't. Attainable? Well the Web site says it is. It looks logical ... 4 minutes of running with 16 minutes of walking to start, and you ramp up from there. OK ... Realistic! You have to dedicate 30 minutes three times per week. I can actually do that, especially in the morning. Since it requires very little equipment or prep time and I can end up back home in time to shower for work, sure ... it's realistic. And finally Timely. Well it will be done before the trip, it wraps up in 9 weeks, it supports the overall goal during my training period and it will help me lose weight on schedule. Timely it is.
Get the picture? My big goal is just two big. Break it down to small, measurable, specific goals.
Weight loss is a category upon itself and even though it appears to be a specific goal, there are way too many moving parts to weight loss to consider that to be a single SMART goal. I will cover more about that someday ... but for now I have implemented a series of plans, or SMART goals, that will help me.
So thank you Dylan and Ashley, or whatever your names are. You may not realize it but your message got through. Actually I doubt you care ... by now you are married (no not to each other) and doing your best to forget about that horrible year. But I hope you listened to your own program and are applying what you learned to your lives every day.
Chasing a big fat goal is frustrating. Chasing a smart goal leads to success.
I always wondered about the young couple from corporate ... they were obviously thrown together from the pool of underpaid newbies or lackluster interns -- they are incredibly young, good looking and just all together chipper. I pretty much always assumed they had spent the previous summer dancing at an amusement park in the Rock of Ages Revue. Now they are assigned to travel around the country delivering seminars to irritable branch office workers who mostly doodle, sleep and incessantly check e-mails on their Blackberries for the entire time. Do they head out at 5 and hit the bars? I figure I would. Or do they disappear into a hotel room together until their flight at 10 am tomorrow. Again, probably not a bad idea. Or some reckless combination of both. Best not to dwell on those scenarios unless you are the accounting person trying to figure out why there is only one hotel invoice and why the expense receipt is all Jaegerbombs.
Maybe the idea of being taught goal setting from two aimless, goal-free almost teenagers had made me cynical. But once in a while, if you pay enough attention, you can gleam the occasional nugget of gold from these programs.
I am referring of course to SMART goals. If you have spent the last 10 years in Paraguay or you have never worked for or around a large corporation, you may not have heard of SMART goals. It's simple to learn: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. If your goal does not meet these five tests, it's probably not something you are going to achieve.
So let's dive in! I need to walk 90 some miles carrying a backpack for over a week and still have fun. That could be a goal, It meets the five criterion at first glance. But it kind of lacks specificity and how do you measure the fun part? Do I measure it before or after the trip? Perhaps we need to bust it out ... smaller goals that lead to more immediate results in support of this big overarching goal.
For example: Running. I just started a 9 week program that purports to take me from couch to 5K in 9 weeks. Very specific. You are not a runner when you start and you can run a 5k when you are done. Measurable? Sure ... every week you follow a specific plan to slowly increase miles. You either do it or you don't. Attainable? Well the Web site says it is. It looks logical ... 4 minutes of running with 16 minutes of walking to start, and you ramp up from there. OK ... Realistic! You have to dedicate 30 minutes three times per week. I can actually do that, especially in the morning. Since it requires very little equipment or prep time and I can end up back home in time to shower for work, sure ... it's realistic. And finally Timely. Well it will be done before the trip, it wraps up in 9 weeks, it supports the overall goal during my training period and it will help me lose weight on schedule. Timely it is.
Get the picture? My big goal is just two big. Break it down to small, measurable, specific goals.
Weight loss is a category upon itself and even though it appears to be a specific goal, there are way too many moving parts to weight loss to consider that to be a single SMART goal. I will cover more about that someday ... but for now I have implemented a series of plans, or SMART goals, that will help me.
So thank you Dylan and Ashley, or whatever your names are. You may not realize it but your message got through. Actually I doubt you care ... by now you are married (no not to each other) and doing your best to forget about that horrible year. But I hope you listened to your own program and are applying what you learned to your lives every day.
Chasing a big fat goal is frustrating. Chasing a smart goal leads to success.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Why visualization is actually work ...
Some wise person taught me the power of visualization. You think of what you want, make it real in your head, and the path to success will follow. So long as you keep the vision real, you will achieve your goal.
OK close you eyes and visualize with me. Picture 90 plus miles hiking up and down hills on rocky trails with 40 pounds on your back in the late June heat of Tennessee. Got it?
Yep, I have the same picture and the more real it gets the more I can feel the aches and pains of 10 long days trudging through the Appalachian highlands. I have lots of experience backpacking and hiking and one thing rings true every time I step out the door ... I gotta get in better shape.
How about some math?
12 days total set aside for the trip. Subtract two for travel. There's our ten. One day off to party and resupply and hang out in Damascus VA (more on Damascus in a later post) That leaves me with 9 days of hiking to cover 90 some miles. Roughly ten miles per day. There are some hikers out there scoffing right now ... they can knock off 10 miles before breakfast and ten more after lunch, with energy to spare for a few miles in the evening to check out some special restaurant, or a really cool rock. I am not one of those hikers.
I am a hiker with my visualization of perfect weather, cool breezes, and idyllic evenings lounging around a fire swapping tall tales with my group and the other hikers. These things are pretty much out of my control and I hope my strong visualization helps me to realize them. What I don't want is to struggle into camp after having completed a forced march of Biblical proportions, chest heaving, clothes soaked through, joints on fire and pain radiating through every muscle. I don't want to throw myself on the ground in exhaustion while the other members of my party take full advantage of the perfect weather, cool breezes, and idyllic evenings that I worked on so hard with my visualizations! I want to stroll into camp with a light pack and an even lighter heart having thoroughly enjoyed my entire day.
In other words, this is going to take more than visualization. I am going to have to work at this. Work pretty damn hard ... losing weight, building endurance and setting my body up to be a finely tuned hiking machine.
You see I have the fear factor kind of backwards when it comes to the outdoors. I am perfectly comfortable out in the woods sleeping in a tent. Most of my experience is solo hiking and solo backpacking and I am fairly secure in my outdoors skills. Bring on nature! What scares me is the physical output and becoming a drag on the group. To that end I know for a fact that I can do the miles. Otherwise I would not have signed on for this. How easy they are going to be is up to me.
I have been granted three months to prepare for this. That means I need goals...solid concrete goals that I can build on over time and measure the success. SMART goals ... more on that in my next post.
After our meeting on Sunday a week ago I think the same fitness idea struck another member of the party, since we immediately hiked about three miles after the meeting adjourned. I can only guess that we both kind of needed to get out and do something related to the trip and not postpone the fitness part indefinitely. It was only three miles but perhaps it validated that we can actually move forward, log miles and dedicate ourselves to reaching the fitness level needed to enjoy the trip.
Throughout the week I remained dedicated to slipping in some fitness here and there. I did two or three miles on Tuesday night when business commitments cancelled an organized hike I was due to attend on Wednesday. That kind of foresight traditionally would escape me ...but it proved to me I am "all in" on this fitness thing. Actually a bit too far in ... I worked out at the local recreation center on Monday evening, then did my morning walk/jog routine on Tuesday, then the additional miles that evening and by Wednesday was feeling it a bit until I realized that I had worked out three times in a 24 hour period. OK over-exuberance ...and just bad timing because of scheduling. Did another morning run on Friday and 4 miles in an organized hike on Saturday. That's a better mix .... and overall not a bad week. Call it 10 miles, not including the gym work (I never include machines or stationary bikes in mileage).
Best news was the scale ... and someday I intend to post before and after pics and maybe even relate some real numbers, but suffice it to say I am down 13 pounds from my winter high and planning on quite a few more.
I plan on routine updates as I set my SMART goals and keep better records. Suffice it to say I hope to post bigger miles and smaller pounds as I move one step closer to this trip.
Tomorrow morning starts a new week! Time to move ... one step closer to my reboot.
OK close you eyes and visualize with me. Picture 90 plus miles hiking up and down hills on rocky trails with 40 pounds on your back in the late June heat of Tennessee. Got it?
Yep, I have the same picture and the more real it gets the more I can feel the aches and pains of 10 long days trudging through the Appalachian highlands. I have lots of experience backpacking and hiking and one thing rings true every time I step out the door ... I gotta get in better shape.
How about some math?
12 days total set aside for the trip. Subtract two for travel. There's our ten. One day off to party and resupply and hang out in Damascus VA (more on Damascus in a later post) That leaves me with 9 days of hiking to cover 90 some miles. Roughly ten miles per day. There are some hikers out there scoffing right now ... they can knock off 10 miles before breakfast and ten more after lunch, with energy to spare for a few miles in the evening to check out some special restaurant, or a really cool rock. I am not one of those hikers.
I am a hiker with my visualization of perfect weather, cool breezes, and idyllic evenings lounging around a fire swapping tall tales with my group and the other hikers. These things are pretty much out of my control and I hope my strong visualization helps me to realize them. What I don't want is to struggle into camp after having completed a forced march of Biblical proportions, chest heaving, clothes soaked through, joints on fire and pain radiating through every muscle. I don't want to throw myself on the ground in exhaustion while the other members of my party take full advantage of the perfect weather, cool breezes, and idyllic evenings that I worked on so hard with my visualizations! I want to stroll into camp with a light pack and an even lighter heart having thoroughly enjoyed my entire day.
In other words, this is going to take more than visualization. I am going to have to work at this. Work pretty damn hard ... losing weight, building endurance and setting my body up to be a finely tuned hiking machine.
You see I have the fear factor kind of backwards when it comes to the outdoors. I am perfectly comfortable out in the woods sleeping in a tent. Most of my experience is solo hiking and solo backpacking and I am fairly secure in my outdoors skills. Bring on nature! What scares me is the physical output and becoming a drag on the group. To that end I know for a fact that I can do the miles. Otherwise I would not have signed on for this. How easy they are going to be is up to me.
I have been granted three months to prepare for this. That means I need goals...solid concrete goals that I can build on over time and measure the success. SMART goals ... more on that in my next post.
After our meeting on Sunday a week ago I think the same fitness idea struck another member of the party, since we immediately hiked about three miles after the meeting adjourned. I can only guess that we both kind of needed to get out and do something related to the trip and not postpone the fitness part indefinitely. It was only three miles but perhaps it validated that we can actually move forward, log miles and dedicate ourselves to reaching the fitness level needed to enjoy the trip.
Throughout the week I remained dedicated to slipping in some fitness here and there. I did two or three miles on Tuesday night when business commitments cancelled an organized hike I was due to attend on Wednesday. That kind of foresight traditionally would escape me ...but it proved to me I am "all in" on this fitness thing. Actually a bit too far in ... I worked out at the local recreation center on Monday evening, then did my morning walk/jog routine on Tuesday, then the additional miles that evening and by Wednesday was feeling it a bit until I realized that I had worked out three times in a 24 hour period. OK over-exuberance ...and just bad timing because of scheduling. Did another morning run on Friday and 4 miles in an organized hike on Saturday. That's a better mix .... and overall not a bad week. Call it 10 miles, not including the gym work (I never include machines or stationary bikes in mileage).
Best news was the scale ... and someday I intend to post before and after pics and maybe even relate some real numbers, but suffice it to say I am down 13 pounds from my winter high and planning on quite a few more.
I plan on routine updates as I set my SMART goals and keep better records. Suffice it to say I hope to post bigger miles and smaller pounds as I move one step closer to this trip.
Tomorrow morning starts a new week! Time to move ... one step closer to my reboot.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Reboot? Why not!
I hope we all are familiar with the computer term "reboot". You know the routine: your computer is junked up and running slow as a dog on a hot southern day. Just seconds before you drop kick it out the window, you give it one more chance. You reboot.
Soon enough the screens are back on, you click on Explorer and ... there it is. No hourglass. No fans whining at full speed accompanied by strange grinding noises and nuclear reactor heat pouring from the little vents on the side. It's back to normal ... well, at least for now.
So why is this blog called Reboot? Because our lives get full of debris and junk too. Unfinished business, unreturned calls, stress from every angle and danger behind every corner. You wake up every morning with a sense if impending doom - another repetitious day of the same old thing, followed by more of the same. You need a clean start!
Some people reboot every morning. They are the chipper, happy folks you see every day that seem content to relive their existence as part of some dreadful routine. They don't care, or perhaps they just have no memory of the day before. I have never been able to comprehend that sector of society ... I am glad for them, but it seems they are missing out on something bigger, more important than today.
A few lucky people "format". They go out for a cup of coffee and disappear. A few years later you see them featured in a magazine article talking about how they became mountain guides in Wyoming, or boat captains in the Caribbean. We are awestruck at the courage and simultaneously dismayed at the path of destruction they left behind. You're never quite sure if they are happy or hiding.
A reboot does not substantially alter the computer. You have the same programs. You have the same files. Everything is in the same place, or even better, where it is supposed to be. But all of the clutter and debris and stuck processes and overloaded memory that was causing the slowdown is gone. I sometimes refer to a reboot as a "fresh start". Now we are getting somewhere ... sometimes we ALL need a fresh start.
So how do you reboot a human? No handy on/off switch, so the best you can do is go radical and just unplug from the wall. In my case it involves heading off on an adventure.
I will talk about life altering experiences, and the Zen of hiking, and the joy of being outside in the woods with no cell signal. I will post about long workouts, and aching calves, and assorted disasters. I will document my journey and tell you about how I reboot myself. I will even let you know if it was successful.
Starting on June 22 I am embarking on a 90+ mile backpacking trip on a section of the Appalachian Trail. I will get into details as we go ... we have three months together to prep for this trip!
I hope to gain additional perspective and insight by sharing my thoughts and experiences here on this blog. I also hope that I can inspire you to find your own personal on/off switch, take some time off from your everyday life, reach down, throw that switch, and see what happens! I can't guarantee your life, or my life for that matter, will become magically better, but I can say with some assurance that you will definitely be better off for having at least tried.
Join me as I reboot my life on the Appalachian Trail.
Soon enough the screens are back on, you click on Explorer and ... there it is. No hourglass. No fans whining at full speed accompanied by strange grinding noises and nuclear reactor heat pouring from the little vents on the side. It's back to normal ... well, at least for now.
So why is this blog called Reboot? Because our lives get full of debris and junk too. Unfinished business, unreturned calls, stress from every angle and danger behind every corner. You wake up every morning with a sense if impending doom - another repetitious day of the same old thing, followed by more of the same. You need a clean start!
Some people reboot every morning. They are the chipper, happy folks you see every day that seem content to relive their existence as part of some dreadful routine. They don't care, or perhaps they just have no memory of the day before. I have never been able to comprehend that sector of society ... I am glad for them, but it seems they are missing out on something bigger, more important than today.
A few lucky people "format". They go out for a cup of coffee and disappear. A few years later you see them featured in a magazine article talking about how they became mountain guides in Wyoming, or boat captains in the Caribbean. We are awestruck at the courage and simultaneously dismayed at the path of destruction they left behind. You're never quite sure if they are happy or hiding.
A reboot does not substantially alter the computer. You have the same programs. You have the same files. Everything is in the same place, or even better, where it is supposed to be. But all of the clutter and debris and stuck processes and overloaded memory that was causing the slowdown is gone. I sometimes refer to a reboot as a "fresh start". Now we are getting somewhere ... sometimes we ALL need a fresh start.
So how do you reboot a human? No handy on/off switch, so the best you can do is go radical and just unplug from the wall. In my case it involves heading off on an adventure.
I will talk about life altering experiences, and the Zen of hiking, and the joy of being outside in the woods with no cell signal. I will post about long workouts, and aching calves, and assorted disasters. I will document my journey and tell you about how I reboot myself. I will even let you know if it was successful.
Starting on June 22 I am embarking on a 90+ mile backpacking trip on a section of the Appalachian Trail. I will get into details as we go ... we have three months together to prep for this trip!
I hope to gain additional perspective and insight by sharing my thoughts and experiences here on this blog. I also hope that I can inspire you to find your own personal on/off switch, take some time off from your everyday life, reach down, throw that switch, and see what happens! I can't guarantee your life, or my life for that matter, will become magically better, but I can say with some assurance that you will definitely be better off for having at least tried.
Join me as I reboot my life on the Appalachian Trail.
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