Fitness for entrepreneurs and leaders!
I’m continuing to update this site, and seeking out the best ways to make new information available. I will soon have a special report available for download, called 22 Days to Fitness, or something like that. I’m working on some new Gather No Moss t-shirt designs, and hope to have those available in our online store soon. I will also have a way to subscribe to a regular e-newsletter that I’ll be starting. Stay tuned!
Brian O’Keefe, the Gather No Moss guy
I want to hear from you! Others want to hear about you!
When I’m trying to learn something new, I like to have concrete examples. Rather than just getting the concepts, I like to have enough detail that would help me understand the “how to,” or at least, the “how did” of other people.
For this blog and for a book that I’d like to put together, I’m gathering as many examples as I can of people that have gotten healthy or are remaining healthy through active lifestyles. If you’d like to contribute to this project, please reply here or send me a few sentences about your “story.” I’ll follow up with you to get more information. And if you don’t want your real name in your story, I’ll change it to protect the innocent!
If I can ask another favor, please send the link to this blog entry to anyone and everyone that you think might be interested in this.
Thanks!
Brian
I’m really enjoying Dan and Chip Heath’s new book, “Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard.” These brothers also write a monthly column for Fast Company magazine, mostly talking about “sticky” ideas (based on their first book, “Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die“).
Their latest column is about a public service ad that has appeared all over New York City, sponsored by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Check it out. It may give you a whole new view of soda, especially as it relates to your kids.
I’ve tried not to blog too much about running. I realize that it’s not for everyone. But the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that it should be for almost everyone! So, if you’ll pardon me, I’d like to spend a few blog entries on running: about how it can be challenging, healthy, and fun all at the same time.
My early experiences with “jogging” were when I was an early teen, running the half-mile from our house to Thomas Road and back. I don’t remember how fast I ran it, but I do know that I was exhausted when I got home. Mind you, I didn’t make that run very often. I probably did it after watching one of the Rocky movies, or for some other silly reason. I preferred to get my exercise in fun ways like football, basketball, volleyball, or biking.
Fast forward to 1992. My friends Laura, Faith, and Steve all ran together, and when talking about it at a party one night, they made it sound fun. Fun! Fun?? I was doubtful, but I decided to run with them one night. I don’t know if “fun” was the word I would have used, but it was definitely tolerable. So tolerable, in fact, that I ran four miles in my non-running sneakers. (That turned out to be a mistake, since it was the night before an all-day doubles volleyball tournament. My legs started cramping half-way through the tournament. My doubles partner was NOT happy with me.). Lesson: buy running shoes.
We continued to run together regularly, at a “conversational” pace, which meant that we were running slowly enough to gab about anything and everything, and for about six miles. Within a few months, I found myself at the starting line of one of the largest 15K races in the country, the Utica Boilermaker. I mistakenly lined up at the front (with the Kenyans), and when the gun went off, I watched about 5000 runners passed me in the first mile. Lesson: line up near people that are going to run at your pace.
Somewhere after the midpoint of that 9.3-mile race, there was an uphill climb. It really slowed me down, so when I got to the top, I turned it on going down the hill. “Hey, this downhill section is easy! Hey, why am I passing everyone?” At about mile 8, I learned what hard downhill running does to your quads. Lesson: when going downhill, maintain your pace or slow down, no matter how tempting it is to go fast.
The Boilermaker has one of the best post-race parties of any race. I felt so bad after the race that I could only eat a popsicle. Final lesson of the day: train well enough to finish in a condition to partake of the post-race parties!
Stay tuned for more running stories.
Brian, the Active Lifestyle Guy
I haven’t blogged in a while, as I’ve been busy rethinking some aspects of Gather No Moss, and then revamping this web site. We now have a new look and some new goals. I’m finally adding an active lifestyle coaching service, which has been the plan for quite a while.
Now that I’m almost finished with the web site changes, look for more regular blogging about active lifestyles! I plan to soon create an e-newsletter, so stay tuned for that. Oh, and I’ll be using Twitter on a more regular basis too, so you can follow me there @brianokeefe.
As I was raking leaves today with my daughter, I realized that we saw this task in two completely opposite ways. I was putting leaves into a pile to get rid of them; she was putting leaves in a pile to keep them!
Is exercise something you do because you have to, or something you do because you can? (Or is it something you avoid like the plague?)
Attitude can make all the difference.
Gather no moss!
Brian
Can I ask you for help? I’m going to conduct my own personal semi-scientific study, and I would like to have some other test subjects besides myself.
I’m looking for friends who are not currently exercising, and that would be able to commit to walking 1 hour a day, 5 days a week, for three weeks.
I’m going to set aside my current exercise routine (no running, no biking) and do this workout to see what will happen to my weight and my heart rate. A brisk walk for me is 4 mph, so this simple walking routine will provide me with 4 miles per day and 20 miles per week.
This routine should burn about the same amount of calories as my current workout of running 40 minutes three days a week and riding a bike for 40 minutes two days a week. Although this workout will take more time than my current one, my theory is that my weight should stay the same and my resting heart rate will actually improve. For someone that doesn’t currently exercise, this workout should result in a non-strenuous and steady weight loss.
What’s in it for you? Well, besides the fame that will come with being part of this ground-breaking study, you’ll also receive one of the first batch of my new “walker” Gather No Moss t-shirts (or whatever design you’d like), and the possible loss of a few pounds.
Think that walking for an hour is boring? Here are some ideas to make it enjoyable:
If you’re ready to accept this challenge, simply send me email (brian at mossless dot com) to let me know when you’ll be starting your challenge. At the end of your three weeks, I’d like to know if you lost weight and if so, how much. And your t-shirt size, of course!
I’ll have to limit this to the first 25 people who respond, so sign up now and take advantage of walking in the nice October weather!
Gather no moss!
Brian O’Keefe
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. This past Saturday I survived my first triathlon. I was born in Erie, PA, and was wondering if I’d die there, ironically within sight of the hostpital where I was born.
I had trained well for it, but was most concerned about the swim. Over the past couple weeks, I had become confident enough that I’d be able to do it, albeit probably more slowly than most of the others that would be in it. What I hadn’t trained for, though, was water that wasn’t calm.
The swim was in Lake Erie, but it was in a bay that is largely protected by the peninsula that makes up Presque Isle State Park. These weren’t large waves, but the small waves were enough to make me swallow water every time I tried to take a breath when doing a freestyle stroke. I quickly abandoned plan A and moved on to plan B, the side stroke. It was slow going, but I didn’t drown!
After I got out of the water, I knew I could do the 13-mile bike ride and 3.5-mile run, so I was home free.
There’s something very cool about putting three endurance sports together, back to back, and I’m looking forward to improving in my next tri.
Have you tried something new and challenging lately?
Gather no moss!
Brian O’Keefe, Chief Activangelist
Are you busy? Most of us are. In fact, most of us probably have important things on our daily todo lists that just don’t get done, and not for lack of intention, but for lack of time.
Unless you’re a professional athlete or Hollywood star whose job it is to be in great physical shape, it may be difficult to set aside the time to be intentionally active. I fall into that category at times. I try to squeeze my exercise into a day filled with working for my employer, building my own business, raising our three children, taking care of our house, and other responsibilities. Sound familiar? You’re a juggler.
It’s not easy. There are days when something has to give. When we have to allow one (or two, or three) of the balls we’re juggling to drop. The question that each of us has to answer for ourselves is: which ball?
I’d like to suggest that each of these balls has a different value, and each should be handled accordingly. Some balls need to be protected at all costs. Others can be dropped without a second thought. Some balls are somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.
My paycheck is pretty important to my family’s livelihood, so it’s easy to make the time every day for my employer. That ball is gold–considered valuable by most people, but not extremely fragile. Spending time with my kids every night is like a family heirloom–common to others, but priceless to me, and irreplaceable if broken. This ball cannot drop.
Where does exercise fit into this juggling act? I think it’s a rubber ball. On any given day it’s not really that important, and it can be dropped and it’ll bounce back to be there waiting for me the following day. But the key is that it’s a ball that should be in play each day, and it’s pretty important on a weekly basis (by “weekly,” I mean four or five days a week). Thinking weekly allows for some flexibility and accomodates a drop here and there.
Exercise isn’t the most important thing in your life, but it does need to be given some priority and some time. Hint: it’s higher on the list than painting the shed.
Brian O’Keefe, Chief Activangelist
Here’s a story from Yahoo about the worst drinks (healthwise) in America. The nice thing is that the article doesn’t leave your mouth high and dry…it also provides an alternative drink in that same category. And follow the other links to get similar information for some foods.
Gather no moss!
Brian O’Keefe, Chief Activangelist
