Done

I finished skating the 19 miles back from work.

It took me about 2 hrs.

I’m incredibly tired.

13 Miles Along the Lakefront

Yesterday after work I skated 13 miles along the lakefront, past Navy pier to the Chicago Yacht Club at Monroe Harbor. I estimate that this is about 2 miles from where my turnoff from Roosevelt will be on Friday when I skate home from work.

Below is the loop that I took:

To calculate my distance covered, I’ve been using a nifty little tool called the Gmaps pedometer, a Google maps hack which allows you to draw and record the mileage that you’re covering (and is especially useful on areas like the lakefront trail, which has paths, rather than streets). It also allows you to calculate the calories that you’ve burned, based upon your weight and the distance you’ve traveled, although it’s more suited for running or walking than skating or biking.

To get an idea of how many calories I burned yesterday, I’ve used the In-line Skating Calories Burned Chart from the Rollerblade/University of Massachusetts Fitness Study. My 90 minute, 13.05 mile route converts to about 8.7 mph, which means that I’ve burned about 493.2 calories per hour, or almost 740 calories total. When done 6 days a week, this workout allows me to lose around 5lbs in a month from exercise.

Calorie Count = 739.8

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

On Sunday, I had 3 goals all of which I successfully accomplished:

1. Finish A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, who also wrote The Kite Runner
2. Skate south along the lake front trail to Navy Pier and back (11.5-12 miles)
3. Spend a few hours at work tying up some lose ends to be prepared for the week ahead

As of Tuesday, May 20th, the scale says

“-2 lbs”

I’m planning on skating home from work (15 miles) on Friday, so I’ll need to take 2 more trips to Navy Pier before I’ll be ready to make it back from Navy Pier.

Forward progress

After work on Monday, I stopped by Gunzo’s Hockey Headquarters and picked up some new laces for my in-line skates, as well as some oil to lubricate my skate bearings, which needed some attention.  The staff at Gunzo’s was incredibly helpful, and I’m thinking about dropping off my skates next week to have them replace my bearings and wheels.

This trip provided the necessary motivation to skate about 7 miles. Here is my route:

I’m planning to skate a few more nights this week, and then out to Navy Pier on Saturday morning. If I’m able to get the new wheels and bearings put on my skates soon, I’ll attempt to skate home from work (15 miles) next Friday. This is also assuming I’m able to find a route that has decent roads that I won’t get shot on while on my trip.

How do I intend to lose 40 lbs?

My strategy is a simple one. Create 2 lists:

1. A “start doing” list, and
2. A “stop doing” list

I got the 2nd idea from Jim Collins, professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and author of Good to Great, who argues that it’s incredibly important to have a “stop doing” list.

• Start doing list – running, biking, in-line skating, getting more sleep, drinking more water, eating snacks
• Stop doing list – eating take-out, drinking caffeine, making excuses

First Run

I woke up early on Saturday and ran 2 miles around the neighborhood. Overall, it was a decent first run, although not too quick.