Monday thoughts...

It is almost time for the Summer 2017 edition of 

this awesome Challenge.

It will give you an opportunity to challenge yourself

 and set goals that will enable you to 

become "the best you you can be"

Not only are the leaders like Elan and Eric inspirational,

I found that the SG community as a whole to be caring and supportive.

Having a tough day? Need some motivation?

Then visit the most positive Facebook pages around:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SleekgeekChallenge/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SleekgeekStepChallenge/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SleekgeekRACEDAY/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sleekgeek/

Thanks to my daughter, Jayne, I have been a member of SG since March 2016.

As a direct result of my involvement,I have regained my confidence

 and it has made me a more caring and considerate human being.

Have I achieved all of my goals?

No

Have I achieved the majority of what I set out to do?

The answer to that is a resounding "YES".

Monday Motivation

We all aspire to be "that" person who is our inspiration.

Can we all achieve it? Perhaps not.

But by being a member of this fraternity, 

we give ourselves better odds.

On Sunday, 29/01/2017 I ran the Johnson Crane Half Marathon.

I ran with a great "bus" that was driven by Oscar, a man who is almost exactly half my age...

and we ran every step of the way side by side.

My finish was not nearly as fast as the time I set for my first half marathon back in 1982,

but I was 35 years younger then!

I have set myself the goal of breaking 2:20 during the course of 2017.

And having been close in 2016 (2:22) I know that it can be achieved.

This was the medal and the badge that I got for running the same race back in 1982.

The course was slightly different, and I ran it as a full marathon.

But having done 53 marathons during a 12 year period,

I feel that I have earned the right to keep to the half marathon distances.

The medal has come a long way in the intervening years!

My running goal for 2017 is to complete a half marathon a month.

We start this week at Day 22...

I would like to have done the burpees, but my legs are still feeling the effects

of the 21.1km run that I did on Day 21.

Given that I did 21 on Day 21, I wish I had run it in 2:21...

Yes I can!

And YOU can too.

The age old question

"How do you eat an elephant"..."one piece at a time"...

applies to the tasks set in this challenge as well.

Need to do 50 push-ups?

5 sets of 10 sounds easier to achieve.

And a tip...

In the final set count backwards, 10 down to 1,

psychologically it makes it seem that there are less to do. 

Elan and I at the SG dinner in Johannesburg in 2016.

I look forward to the fisrt dinner in 2017 with eager anticipation.

This is my commitment to myself,
and by extension to my family as well.

There will be burpees and there will be days that I don't feel like training

or eating clean...but I will persevere!

30 day Healthy Habits Challenge.

Raise a paw if you have completed all the tasks set for this Challenge so far.
I started a few days late, but I am catching up steadily.
For those who are first time participants,
I trust that you are finding each day challenging but not taxing.
And remember there are no "fails"...
there are only "opportunities to try again".


For those who wondered how to block out the light on Day 12,
this was my solution to that Challenge.
I am certain that many of you have one of these in a drawer.


Day 14...I got my 50 push-ups done...
and then I did another 22.
The reason being that even though I have completed the 22-for-22 push-up Challenge,
 for PTSD sufferers, I still do a set every morning,
no matter what the daily challenge is



On Sunday I went out for a long run 
and with about 1km and a hill to go my watch battery DIED .
You can see that there is no line between the red and green dots.
But I did make it home.
I had planned to do Westcliff Stairs,but that was cancelled,
and the route that I ran (more by accident than design)
contained MORE than enough hills to make up for the lack of stairs.


Seeing that I work from home,
getting 10000 steps in is not easy.
I have set my daily quota at 8000 and even THAT is often not obtained.
Obviously on a run day, I am able to achieve the steps required.



We start this week at Day 15...
I would like to take this opportunity to say how much
 each and every member of our SG community means to me.


If the Healthy Habits Challenge is not enough,
Everey Monday I receive an email from Eric that contains the
Monday's movement mission... 

Yes I can!

And YOU can too.

The age old question

"How do you eat an elephant"..."one piece at a time"...

applies to the tasks set in this challenge as well.

Need to do 50 push-ups?

5 sets of 10 sounds easier to achieve.

And a tip...

In the final set count backwards, 10 down to 1,

psychologically it makes it seem that there are less to do. 

My commitment to myself for 2017.

And YES, there will be Burpees!

Some of my fitness goals for 2017.

How many times do you feel like this when the words

"EXERCISE REGIME"

are mentioned?

I had taken  almost 21 years many years off an official training routine.
Except for brief periods in 2006 and 2014 when I was training
for Kilimanjaro assent attempts.
(Both of which were successful)

My last "official" road race was in 1995!

So, you will understand, that it was with trepidation that I decided

that being healthy and back at training would be a good thing.

In March of 2016, my daughter asked me to join her in a Challenge

that was being undertaken by this awesome on line group.

I have to admit that I was somewhat sceptical in the beginning,

but as I soon came to discover, I was enjoying being able to once again

walk into a gym and not collapse after 5 minutes.

Although I was not going to participate in this Challenge,
I changed my mind and joined in on day 6...
I have a lot of catching up to do
(That being said, this was the Challenge that started off
my association with the SG community and that means that I
have actually already done Day1-6)

21 years ago, my then training partner, Bridgette Biggs
was killed as a result of a fall of a horse.
We had met on a run and she saw me through a tough time in my my life.
It was back in 1995 that I ran my final half marathon, The Old Eds,
which I did to honour her memory.

When I decided to return to road running in 2016,
I could not think of a better race than The Old Eds
to start my new running 'career' again.
Back in '95 I had carried her vest with me during the race,
and I did that once again this time.
Although I had not run 21km for 21 years,
my 2016 time was only 1 minute slower that back in 1995.

After a lay-off of 21 years,I once again belong to a club.

I look forward to running with Randburg Harriers...

I see that the ASA now have a law that prevents a runner from removing logos.

Something I was guilty of back in the day.

Not only have I joined a club,

but I have entered 4 half marathons!

The first being the Johnson Crane, which I last ran back in 1989,
as a full marathon.

Proof of my 1989 run.
Cloth track-suit badges are certainly a thing of the past.
(As is waiting for race results, which took forever. 
With the modern technology, results are received via sms,
within minutes of completing an event.)


Of the four that I have entered,
I have run three as full marathons.
The fourth, On Die Dam, is an event that I have not entered before.

Given my "being-seen-in-public-without-a-shirt" phobia,
This run will be a first for me in many ways...
not only will I be topless in public,
but I will also be in a Speedo!

Luckily for me, so will thousands of other men...

These are the two songs that I use to get myself through the
tough times when I am out running
The first one is an obvious choice.

Willie Nelson with "On the road again"...

https://youtu.be/Gdlyi5mckg0

However, I have no idea why I find this song motivational,
but I do.

Kenny Rogers, "The gambler"

https://youtu.be/Jj4nJ1YEAp4

There is no such thing as a "free" t-shirt,
but currently t-shirts seem to be given out when you collect your pre-entry.
This was not a service that was available back in the '80's.
Then you got a shirt and a medal AFTER
you had completed the event.

Yes I can!

My commitment to myself for 2017.
And YES, there will be Burpees!

#MoveMore Challenge...I look back at week 1

The first week is done and dusted...

I had to exchange Day 7 for day 8,

for reasons that will become obvious later in this posting...

Readers will have to believe that I did these 

as there is neither photo or video evidence that I can offer as proof.

A "gentle" way to start off this new Challenge.

I have to say that I enjoy the Challenges that have been set so far.

I am motivated on a daily basis to to the "tasks" that have been set.

Tuesdays is a run day for me...

According to sources that I Googled,

there are 1320 human steps in a km.

(Does that mean that primates have a different stride length?

or Aliens, or anything that is not "human")

My 5.2km run therefore equates to 6854 steps.

I did another 3000 steps during the course of the day.

I tried running with my cell phone,

but it was not comfortable in my pocket

and I don't see myself running distances with it clutched in my hand

During a previous Challenge, I had a note from my Mom 

excusing me from doing this exercise.

Unfortunately, it was no longer valid,

so, like everyone else involved in the Challenge,

I had to "suck it up" and do them.

I wanted to raise the bar on this exercise,

so I completed in in a jacket and tie!

And here is the proof:

https://www.facebook.com/david.batzofin/videos/10209062011721582/

No video footage,

but I have this image from the summit of Kilimanjaro.

I have successfully climbed the mountain twice,

2006 and 2014.

The Challenge exercise, however, was completed in my lounge...

A mixture of #FlexFriday and the Dance Challenge

I first had to explain the training vest

(Wasted Youth)

and then I videoed the dance routine.

In the end I must have done about 10 minutes in total,

as I kept messing up the recording.

This I only discovered at the end of each three minute segment.

Here is the final result, once I had sorted out the technicalities:

https://www.facebook.com/david.batzofin/videos/10209078803981378/

Carbo loading for my 21.1km road race on Sunday(Day 7)

and the reason that I have had to "shift" my push ups to Day 8

I ran this 21.1km road race in memory of a training partner

that died as a result of a horse riding accident in 1995.

 During that Old Eds Road Race I carried her vest with me.

Bridget and I completed several marathons together,

including both the Two Oceans and a Comrades Marathon.

After 22 years, a new number and an old one

will once again take to the streets of  Johannesburg.

The Liberty Life vest belonged to Bridget...

and it was, once again, in my pocket for the race.

E-tags for runners!

A new method of result recording in order to make certain

that there is no cheating.

I had placed this chip in the wrong place

and I had to stop during the course of the run to re-position it.

Once that change had been made, the second lap was more comfortable.

21.1km done and dusted!

And I have the medal to prove it...

I set myself a time of 2 hours,20 minutes and I did it in 2.21...

Not too shabby for a 63 year old who has not tackled this distance since 1995.

The palm in the background was a gift from Bridget 20+ years ago.

The 7000 steps were more than covered on my Sunday run.

21.1km is equal to 27852 steps.

Now I don't have to do any more steps for the rest of this Challenge?

Here are my post race comments:

https://www.facebook.com/david.batzofin/videos/10209088710949046/

My cat and I post push-ups...

Needless to say, he DID NOT participate.

The push-ups were done on Day 8,

and here is the proof:

https://www.facebook.com/david.batzofin/videos/10209099069568005/

I look forward to meeting many of the Gauteng participants

 on Wednesday at Huddle Park Golf Course.

#MoveMore...another 30 day Challenge from Sleekgeek.

I was told by my team mate this this is a mascot and not a new logo.

But is it a Batmur? Or is it a Leman?

Does it really matter? I don't think so.

But it will be fun as Jayne and I

 continue as Batz Buddies.

Or should that be Team Batz?

Either way, these Challenges have brought us closer together

and we are having "fun" at the same time.

I thought that I would brighten up the post election morning with this video:

https://www.facebook.com/david.batzofin/videos/10209062011721582/

We even have our own personalized Challenge calendar!

Not too shabby...

This Sunday will be a big day for me.

Thanks to the encouragement of my daughter,

I will be running my first 21.1km race since 1995.

I will be running it in memory of the woman in the picture.

She was my training partner through a very difficult time in my life

and she sadly died after a horse riding accident,

that left her on life support.

Her mom chose not to continue treatment and had the difficult decision

to turn off the ventilator.

In 1995, I ran this 21.1km with her vest tucked into my shorts,

only bringing it out to hold in front of me as I crossed the finish line.

I did this so that she could "beat" me,

something she had not managed to do in all the races that we ran together.

On Sunday, I hope to complete the race once more,

but this time her vest and I will finish together.

Something that I have become very consious of
as I move from Challenge to Challenge.
I look forward to meeting some of you
at the Johannesburg Sleekgeek dinner.

Follow me as I tackle  this #Movemore  30 day Challenge.