50+ male after the holidays

garystrickland357

I’ve lost the holiday bump in weight. I’m also increasing running miles with my training plan as well as taking longer weekend rides on my gravel bike. My weight trend is still going down so I’m in the happy position of needing to eat more. Yea tacos, tamales, and beer!

MikePfirrman

Final stages of negotiations on the house in Tucson. Should get it this weekend. Working on getting Leasing companies lined up to go through my current house and get it ready to rent. We're holding on to that as an added retirement income. Thanks Millennials for paying rents instead of owning! Rents are ridiculous in my area ($600 more per month than my house payment). But the shite is getting real now. Wife is already working on selling our older dog run down furniture, pictures and such.

My middle back is actually slightly tweaked now but I did manage my full 6 days of workouts this week. I think I'm eating more at night due to stress. Really have to be careful with that. I have likely 9 weeks to get my current house ready and start moving to AZ. Got four inches of snow and ice today, so knowing this is my last Winter isn't all bad.

Bought an Air Bike (Schwinn AD Pro) for the wife last year. That's coming in really handy when the back is feeling off. Give me a nice break from the rower and it's a fantastic upper body workout.

The new house isn't close to a gym. At least for me to workout at lunch. I have about everything I need now to keep in shape at home. Son got me battle ropes for Xmas and wife got me those BowFlex Adjustable Dumbbells. That was a huge surprise. She had saved up for those for a while with her part-time job.

mtaratoot

CarvedTones wrote: »

I have a concern about upcoming down time. Shoulder surgery in a little over a week. i chose the date because I paddle SUP. I got a new board over the holidays (60th birthday) and visited FL family around New Year's and took it out a couple of days, all pre planned. So I avoided getting it done before that. I won't get to paddle again until late April and then not much at first. I have been going to the gym since it has cooled, but won't be able to do much of that for a bit. I will get to do a cycle cardio machine pretty soon. I know the real work is the kitchen, but note being active somehow makes bingeing easier. Fortunately I no longer drink due to some personal history. Unfortunately my history also means I won't get pain pills after surgery, another potential "look for comfort in food" trap. I just have to stay vigilant; keep tracking...

I don't know where you are located, so it's possible that the water is no longer liquid in winter. If it is, consider not stopping just because it's winter. You can dress appropriately to paddle in the winter as long as it's not ice. Drysuits arn't cheap, but you can pick some models up for a few hundred bucks. You can adjust your undergarments based on air and water temperature. You can get a very insulating wetsuit, but that's likely to interfere with your paddle strokes (think wearing big rubber bands on your arms). I'm a year-round kayaker. Many of the rivers and creeks in western Oregon only run in winter (rainy season). I am a big fan of the suit I have. It's made with a top of the line waterproof breathable fabric. I won't mention the name of the fabric or manufacturer of the suit for fear of it being considered advertising. It has latex gaskets at the wrist and neck; I am dry when I get out of the river.

Mine is a front zip so I can put it on and take it off myself. It has attached waterproof socks, so my feet even stay warm. Main issue is hands. Gloves have to be pretty thick to keep little fingers warm. I wear pogies. They attach to the paddle, and you put your hands inside. I often find them TOO warm. They also don't work so good on one-bladed paddles because you can only attach one to the shaft. When I canoe in cold weather, I wear neoprene gloves. Again, I have a favorite brand, but won't post here. Send me a personal message if you want details. This is what it looks like:




My partner has a paddleboard. At first I didn't really like it. I paddled it some on our last few Rogue River trips this year, and I've started to like it a lot. I almost bought one for myself in December when they had a sale so good it was hard to pass up. Three hundred bucks for a 9' board, paddle, and pump. I'd replace the krappie paddle with a nicer one, but still....

Don't go inside just because it's cold out. Get out there and PADDLE!

mtaratoot

When I looked at my scale this morning, it gave me good news. I was back inside my six-pound maintenance range for the first time since the end of November. Not far inside, but inside. My running average weight is still over my goal range, but I shall remain vigilant.

CarvedTones

@mtaratoot - Even in NE FL, where i visited, the water was around 60 and I wore a 3mm farmer john. I used to wear a dry suit back when I lived out west and did a lot of whitewater in the 1980s. I kayaked the Grand Canyon, was a professional raft guide on on the Arkansas in CO and did a bunch of other whitewater.

Now I am in NC. I will go on decent days when the water isn't too cold for 3mm, but I really don't care for water sports in cold weather anymore. I am an active 60 year old, but what the cold does to the joints I beat up in my youth is not very pleasant. I will be heading south to FL (lots of family and history there, in addition to wanting warmer winters) within a few years to retire.

mtaratoot

I was on the North Santiam River yesterday. Water temperature was 42 degrees. I was actually overdressed! But I didn't really get wet. I think my passenger was colder than he let on, but he refused my repeated offers of extra layers. You might find you actually can stay really warm on the water. I aim to be kayaking into my 70s, or at least rowing.

Drysuit technology has improved a LOT. My first drysuit was coated nylon. Waterproof, but didn't breathe. So if you get too warm, like as in if you have to make some big moves, you get damp. We used to put a COTTON shirt on the outside of our thermal layers and just inside the suit to absorb the water and keep our skin a little drier. That suit also had ankle gaskets, not waterproof socks. My feet were always cold even in wetsuit booties WITH wool socks. My current suit is great. The only time it can get colder than I want is if I let the durable water repellent get worn down. When the fabric wets out, it doesn't breathe as well, so I get a little damp. Also, if the fabric is wet, some evaporative cooling happens. When the fabric repels water, it's cozy in there! I have a fuzzy one-piece undergarment for when it's really cold. So it's just my fingers I have to deal with.

I'm not sure I want to kayak the Grand Canyon again. Only because rowing is so much more comfortable, and 20 days in a kayak can get a little tiresome. On our last trip, we ran across a fellow on a solo kayak trip. He was paddling a fiberglass boat that he made in 1964 and wasn't his first time taking it down the canyon.

Being in Florida should open up more opportunities to get out without all that extra gear, and yeah, maybe it's not worth the investment for just a couple years. But paddling! It's so good for our bodies and our minds. Good luck, and just keep moving! That's what one of our paddling club members says, and we celebrated his 89th birthday last year with another paddle. Expect to do the same in June for his 90th.

CarvedTones

I enjoyed rowing quite a bit also. Tips were way better when you didn't have to yell at the customers, sat on a cooler and doubled as beertender for the oar boat passengers. Once while kayaking, I swam the long rapid in Westwater Canyon (I never really had a bulletproof roll; got pretty good, but not super dependable) in a drysuit one time in early spring. I was wearing a poly shirt under a wool sweater and expedition weight capilene long johns under the drysuit and was sweating most of the day. It actually felt kind of good to be in the water. Shoulder won't take kayaking anymore, other than some flatwater. Getting the second one scoped on Friday. Other was ~3 years ago. SUP paddling has different mechanics and doesn't bother me as much. I did some SUP whitewater last spring. Kind of a mild intro run. Kind of fun, but I think I will be doing more in the ocean; touring and light surfing. Yeah, I love to paddle. I have pretty much always had something to paddle for the last 40 years or so.

mtaratoot

It's great that paddle boarding came along. It's another way folks can enjoy the water. I'm glad you get to keep doing it. Good luck finding warmer weather. Salt water is also very healing.

MikePfirrman

mtaratoot wrote: »

It's great that paddle boarding came along. It's another way folks can enjoy the water. I'm glad you get to keep doing it. Good luck finding warmer weather. Salt water is also very healing.

I'm looking into converting our new house's pool and hot tub into a salt water pool. My Brother-in-Law used to take care of pools years ago at Wright Patterson AFB. He told me you can actually use some Epsom Salts in a pool. I'd rather swim in the ocean though! At least moving from OH to AZ, I'll be a heck of a lot closer now.

My wife has Fibromyalgia, which is mostly reversed after years of eating better and supplements, but she still doesn't react well to chlorine. I'm thinking about tackling that myself or having my BIL come down for a weekend and do it with him once we get settled in to the new house. Taking possession in 8/9 weeks.

Had a foot of snow yesterday here. Hopefully that will be my last time shoveling that much snow! Most snow we've had in Cincy in a few years. That was my workout yesterday -- 90 minutes of shoveling.

We were choosing between moving to Tucson or Phoenix (around Gilbert). The only disadvantage is I would have been right down the street from an outdoor rowing club in Gilbert. Would have really loved to go from my rowing machine to learning to row in a 4 or an 8. Likely won't happen in Tucson!

reversemigration

I hear you on the shoveling here in Cincy - I was tempted to log it!

CarvedTones

reversemigration wrote: »

I hear you on the shoveling here in Cincy - I was tempted to log it!

You should. That requires serious exertion.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

Weekend was too fun! Gotta get off the carbs. Exercise going well.