Tuesdays with Nate: Gimme a break!

I know I have slacked off a little on the Tuesdays with Nate column, but I'm on my break! I need to relax with my wife. So, you can stop sending the hate mail and no more car bombs, please. Tuesdays with Nate will return shortly.

So, even though I haven't been blogging like I should, Julie and I have had extra time to exercise together. Well, extra time to do everything, like sleep. I don't think we've gotten out of bed before 10 in the past week! It has been awesome! Today, we decided to make the most out of our extra time and go for a little longer run than normal. We got on GoogleMaps and drew out a course for ourselves. About a mile of the run, maybe a little more, was supposed to be along a canal on the far west side of our neighborhood. When we got there we realized that it was all private property of the Arizona Canal Project and we couldn't run on it. So, we turned around and decided to take a short cut. The map we had drawn was supposed to be about 4 miles. So we figured we could take another road and it would just be a little shorter. Well, apparently we had both drawn out the map differently in our heads. When we got home and went back to GoogleMaps to map our route, we discovered we had actually run 5.3 miles. We were both pretty surprised but very happy with ourselves!

Anyway, stay awesome and I'm really looking forward to this walk to Zion thing! I think it will be super awesome! Love you guys!

A Challenge to you All!!

So, I walk a lot. I don't know if you've noticed, but with that crazy dog...I rack up some miles. And I've been thinking about that. And about this blog. And I've come up with a challenge...should you choose to accept it. And there are some details to work out, I'm sure...but here it is. What if our family all got pedometers and we "walked to Zion?" Basically, we all get a pedometer that measures distance, as well as steps. Then we wear them and track our distance each day. And let's see how long it takes us to walk from Nauvoo, IL to Salt Lake City, UT (approx. 1300 miles).

In thinking about this, I haven't quite decided how to go about it. Should we race? Should we make a goal for ourselves of when we need to make it by? Let me know your thoughts! And what you think of the idea. I just thought it would be kind of cool. :)

Okay - love your guts people. Peace out. Kakes.

Tuesdays with Nate on Thursday: My new exercise equipment

Well, this has been kind of a weird week with Julie being gone and what not. I have been studying quite a bit, and watching a lot of Lost. The whole TV show is based around cliff-hanger endings and it makes it extremely difficult to only watch one episode at a time. So, as dumb as it sounds, TV kept me from riding my bike this week. Never to happen again!

My new exercise equipment:
I know you guys will think this is ridiculous but I think I'm about ready for a new bike, rather I will be ready for a new bike come next summer. The bike I have my eye on is the Bianchi Infinito (pictured above). Thomas and I have decided to do the MS 150 together next summer and my goal is to have the bike before then. Thomas' goal is to have a bike by then. Right, Thomas?

I really enjoy riding my bike, the problem with it is that it's not a great full body work out. I mean the benefits of increasing my heart rate, increasing my cardiorespiratory health, decreasing blood pressure, etc. are all there but I have noticed a marked decrease in upper body strength (FYI when your muscles, or any tissue for that fact, decreases in size it's called atrophy).

So, here's my fitness tip for the week: perform exercises that work out your entire body. Exercises that work out larger muscle groups (i.e. legs, back, chest) or more muscle groups at a time, will increase your metabolism and help you burn calories faster. For example, doing a squat (doesn't have to be with weight) will work your legs, your butt, your stomack, and your back. Doing a pushup instead of bench press will not only work out your chest and shoulders but will also include stomach and back muscles in order to stabilize your body.

Well, that's it. And if anyone wants to join Thomas and I in the MS 150, that would be super awesome and I/we would really love it! I love you guys and I hope you're being healthy and stuff!

Just as a little follow-up to last week's Tuesdays with Nate, Julie and I have been trying to get more lutein and zeaxanthin and DHA in our diet. I don't think it's super hard. I had a tuna fish sandwhich, which is a pretty good source for omega-3 fatty acids and DHA. Also, we bought some fresh spinach, we put it in a salad with mandarin oranges, almond slivers, parmesean cheese, and chow mein noodles with some kind of sesame seed dressing. It was pretty tasty! Okay, I'm done.