Wow, the last 2 days have been great workouts. Saturday evening was a mix of several different exercises with 15 reps of each. I did 4 exercises,15 reps each, back to back, then on to the treadmill for a 10 minute hard walk at 3.5 miles per hour. Off the treadmill for 120 seconds then back to the Total Gym for another cycle of exercises. I repeated this for 1 hour. Holy cow was the old ticker working hard. My heart beat was up between 120 and 140 beats per minute for almost the entire hour. Burned some serious calories.
Last night was all about the kayak. I started at my house and began paddling. It was really feeling good after about 15 minutes non-stop paddling so I just kept at it. One hour and 15 minutes later, with one complete trip around the shoreline of the west arm of Wixom Lake,non-stop paddling, I pulled back into the shore at my house. I got in a groove and the paddle just seemed to flow through the water on its' own. About every 20 minutes I would pick up the pace for a 5 minute kayak sprint, and then drop back to my steady pace.
I am ready to start increasing both my paddling and Total Gym workouts and will add some biking to it starting next week. Although it won't be long and the snow and icy roads will be here and the biking will have to wait until spring.
My wonderful in-laws are getting me a membership to the local gym so I can keep up good, hard training throughout the winter and be ready for spring to arrive. I am hoping to put at least 10 hours a week on the stationary bike in the gym, as well as an equal amount on the rowing machines and weights.
I can do it!
I will succeed!
I will help!
You can help also by spreading the word.
www.michigancoast2coast4acure.webs.com
or Pedal and Paddle to Fight Cancer on facebook
or PEDLnPADL4aCURE on twitter
Michigan Coast to Coast for a Cure. I am on a mission to help prevent,fight, and cure cancer. We have all been affected by cancer in some way and this is my way to fight back.
My Mission, My Goal
Well since this is my first blog for this adventure I guess it is best to introduce myself and explain what I plan to do and why I am doing it.My name is Frank and I am a 45 year old, husband of 27 years, proud father of 3 sons and 2 wonderful grandsons. I am an avid outdoorsman and love to ride my bicycle and paddle my kayak.I have been a kayak enthusiast since the late 1980s when I began kayaking in the Florida Keys. I am a self taught artist and somewhat of a writer.In my 45 years of life, I have lost a cousin to lung cancer. Her mother, my aunt, is a survivor of lung cancer as is my father-in-law. I have a very dear friend who has been dealing with cancer off and on for many years and know that in the years to come there will be others in my life who will be stricken with the horrible disease. I am sure at one point in time all of us will be directly affected by cancer, and many of us, like myself can't do much about it. This is where my little adventure comes into play.My wife and I have always been hard working individuals but have never made enough to do much more than keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. We are in no way financially capable of helping others, though we wish we could. But there is something I can do. I have always loved to ride a bicycle and been able to do so for long periods of time, and kayaking is now as much a part of me as eating and sleeping. For some reason the good lord blessed me with the ability to do both of these well and I don't believe it was just for my own personal fun. I can help out.I can fight for others.On Saturday, August 13, 2011 I will stand on the west coast of Michigan with my foot in Lake Michigan. I will then get on my bicycle and ride it just over 100 miles to the town of Grayling Michigan. Once I arrive in Grayling I will leave my bicycle and get into my kayak on the Ausable River. I will paddle my kayak from Grayling, 120 miles to the town of Oscoda, where I will step out of my kayak on the East coast of Michigan into Lake Huron. I will do this in the course of one weekend. Starting on Saturday, August 13, 2011 and finishing sometime on Sunday, August 14, 2011.I will soon have a website with all the information pertaining to sponsors,donations, and volunteering.My wife and son will be my major volunteers but there will be several more needed throughout the weekend to help with following me, getting me food and liqiud, bike or kayak maintainance, the possible emergency, or just encouragement. This is going to be a major task.I can do it but there is a lot of work ahead.Just to give you and idea of how much work I have cut out for me. Picture this. I had surgery just 8 weeks ago to repair a broken ankle. My cast has only been off for about 2 weeks. There is now permanently a metal plate and 7 screws in my ankle. I have not been on my bike since last fall and I put on a lot of extra weight being laid up.I am currently at 232 pounds, which is definitely to much for a guy of only 5feet 7inches, so the physical preperation is going to be quite rigorous. I did get back in the kayak last weekend and should be getting the all clear from the foot doctor next week to get back on the bike.Work outs officially begin tonight.I will regularly post here for those of you interested in keeping up with my progress.I hope everyone will at least take an interest in the fight against cancer and help in any way possible.
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