I was going to do this as a second, secret, tumblr, but I can’t figure out how to format anything there, so you’re stuck reading this here on Milo. Sorry. Luckily, the vast majority of people who visit this site visit the BQ(Q) pages, so they should be spared my navel gazing.

 

Here’s the deal: I’m a reasonably fit 41 year old father, runner, and lawyer expecting a second child in June. In May, I’m running the Brooklyn Half Marathon in what will probably be my last race for some time.  I want to set a PR. More than that, I want to shake things up with my health and fitness. I want to crank things up a notch, challenge myself a little; see if I can meld the stupid and the healthy into a little mini project before the second baby comes and my life becomes a series of diaper changes and sleepless nights.

So, inspired by the funny and strangely motivational Live with a Seal, and that dude’s crazy project of eating like the Rock for thirty days, I’m doing my own little challenge. I arbitrarily set it for 62 days because that’s how many days it is from today until the Brooklyn Half.

The Challenge:

• 10 hours of exercise a week

My big one. To me, there’s something special about hitting that ten hour mark. It takes commitment, and it produces results. I’ve reached ten hours here and there over the years, but never consistently. Until now.

Exercise, for this goal, means physical activity undertaken to improve my health. It includes all the stuff you’d imagine: running, biking, weight lifting, push-ups. It also includes stretching, balance work, and foam rolling. It does not include just walking around, even when that walking around is to try to reach my step goals (see below)

• Stay ahead of the Garmin

I have a Garmin 225 that I use for running and daily step counting. The default setting on the watch is that every time you hit a step goal, it increases the goal slightly for the next day. For the past two weeks, I’ve met or exceeded the step goal every day and the goal keeps going up. I’m going to keep that going until it’s time to taper for the half.

• 100 push ups a day

These can be done throughout the day in sets of varying length. I just need to get 100 a day.

• Fruit till noon; vegan till six (Monday – Friday)

I’ve been following Mark Bittman’s Vegan till Six diet off and on for a while now, and I’ve seen strong results. Now it’s time to take it more seriously; recommit to it; and double down by sticking with fruit till noon. I’ll surely write more about this later, as well as about the Lean 13 Program from Nutrisystem . I hope this leads to some weight loss, but more importantly, a further drop in my cholesterol. I’m only committing to doing this Monday-Friday, but I’ll try to eat healthy on the weekends.

Note: I do not ask Thai restaurants if they use fish sauce in their tofu curry, nor do I ask the the guys at the deli if they used beef stock in the vegetable soup. I used to be a guy who did those kind of things, but that was many, many years ago.

• Five minutes of meditation

I’ll surely write more about this as well, but study after study has shown the benefits of mediation. I struggle to find the time for this, so set this goal at what I think is a completely doable, no possible excuse, 5 minutes. Honestly, I hope to do more, but to meet the challenge, 5 minutes is enough.

Caveats and Exceptions:

My little corner of the working world is obsessed with “smart goals” and “identified contingencies”. So here’s the caveats and exceptions:

I’ll be doing a mini taper in the two weeks before the half, so the ten hours of exercise and staying ahead of the Garmin, won’t be applicable for the final two weeks of the challenge.

Additionally, I’ll allow one “off” week of not hitting ten hours during this period. Shit happens, people. I want to make these goals “smart” and not give up on the whole plan just because one thing goes wrong.

For the next 62 days, I’ll be filling out a little template here with my work-outs, what I ate, how long I mediated, etc. It will be at least as fascinating as watching paint dry.