How long are you gonna do this?

For quite a while now, I've been posting workouts and run reports to this blog, along with Facebook, Twitter, RunSaturday, MapMyFitness, Garmin Connect, and most recently, Dailymile, and just about every social network I'm involved with.

Why? I find it's a great way to stay accountable. By posting every day, if I miss a few days, I find that I feel guilty, not only about not posting, but for not working out if that's the case. I feel motivated to keep up the work if I know people will see it if I don't.

There's also the motivation that comes when people respond, even with something simple, "Great work, keep it up."

That's why it was so strange when, in response to one of my posts, someone posted the following: "How long are you gonna do this?"

My first question was, do what? Post to Facebook, work out, or both?

The answer to that, and the answer I posted to Facebook was, "Until I've done it longer than I didn't." What?

I turned 40 this year. It'd be great if I could say that I was an athlete in high school, then fell away, or say that I'd been working out my whole life, but that just isn't the case. In school, the only reason I exercised was that it was a requirement. I wasn't athletic, and when I tried, all I got was grief. I did poorly, and the punishment for doing poorly was do more of what I did poorly, so my response was, who needed it?

So I gained weight. I got sedentary. I did damn near nothing for 35 years, and got rewarded with bad health. I finally did something about it, started exercising, and started telling people about it.

The way I figure it, I sat on my butt for 35 years, the least I can do is exercise and tell the world about it for the next 35. So yeah, "How long are you gonna do this?" "For as long as I can. Enjoy."

From Twitter 02-13-2010

• 03:02:56: New post on my blog: From Twitter 02-12-2010: 03:03:03: New post on my blog: From Twitter 02-11-2010: 03:02:55: Ne... http://bit.ly/9Taj2s
  
• 09:59:30: Wt: 173.6, RHR: 49, BF: 17% #myhealthstats #fb
  
• 10:28:21: I was hoping to watch some olympics today, but it's all hockey this morning. BOO.
  
• 15:15:01: Ran 12 mi, 2:14:02, 11:11 average pace, 1278 calories -http://tinyurl.com/yhhpkzn
  
• 15:24:29: MapMyRun.com: Updated Long Run. 1,278 (kcal). 12.01 mi.. 02:14:03
  
• 15:32:18: Ran 12 miles in 2 hours and 14 mins and 2 secs and felt good. AMAZING weather today, 60 degrees when I started, 63 w... http://bit.ly/9Q3q3g
  
• 15:33:17: Ack, gotta watch those checkmarks, multiple posts again. :)
  
• 16:43:33: I'm at IHOP (1310 Franklin Rd, Yuba City). http://4sq.com/aBuXjr
  
• 16:52:52: They have to show calories on menus now. This omelette @ IHOP has a range, 990-2100. Nice. #fb
  
• 17:56:08: I'm at Goodwill (706 W Onstott Rd, Yuba City). http://4sq.com/5Bj0vb
  
• 18:40:58: I'm at Walmart (1131 North Beale Rd., Marysville). http://4sq.com/8Sezha
  
• 19:22:46: I'm at Food Maxx (6000 Lindhurst Ave., Marysville). http://4sq.com/4OwnMP
  
• 20:14:33: http://twitpic.com/1345qz - Here you go, @dwaynekilbourne, this is the new New York properties screen.
  
• 20:47:18: http://twitpic.com/134dgu - Spring weather, green grass, ppl enjoying the weather, 15 dogs (not at once), flowing river #seenonmyrun
  
• 21:45:24: I heard this on Slacker Radio on my run today for the first time in 20 years! Had to share. Pete Townshend, "Fa... ♫ http://blip.fm/~kxwuj
  
• 22:12:06: ... http://dailymile.com/e/45n5
  
• 22:50:41: Wow, they're using the Brisco County Jr. theme for the NBC Winter Olympics. Very cool. #fb
  
• 22:51:33: Brisco County Jr. intro: http://bit.ly/cdFZMN
  
• 23:19:37: I really wish Facebook would embed videos tonight.
  

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

Running Vlog #27: Ave Training Weeks 5-7

Long Run - 12 miles

Another Saturday, another long run down, and with it, week 7 of training. After last Sunday's race and the fabulous week I had, I decided to take it easy and not try to push the pace.

The weather was great, 60 degrees at the start. There were a few clouds in the sky, but for the most part it was all blue. The town came alive with people, everyone realized we should be taking advantage of the beautiful day.

I didn't walk at all during the first half. I gave Orange Gu Roctane a try, but found that it was a little too sweet for my tastes. This is the time to be trying new things like that, right?


See the activity on RunSaturday

Type:	Run - Long Run
Duration:	2:14:02
Distance:	11.99 mi

Splits
Mile 1: 10:00
Mile 2: 10:04
Mile 3: 10:22
Mile 4: 10:53
Mile 5: 10:53
Mile 6: 10:36
Mile 7: 15:05
Mile 8: 9:39
Mile 9: 11:28
Mile 10: 12:20
Mile 11: 12:58
Mile 12: 9:34

12 miles, 2:14:02, 11:10/mi average, 1278 calories burned

I punched it a little in the last mile. Things are going great, now it's time to make all these runs count.